This week Justin and I talk about icebreakers, exercise and games to remove inhibitions and get everyone’s creative minds moving.
Hosts: Sean Nittner and Justin Evans
Length [28:25]
[00:26] Intro to the show. Talking about icebreakers, getting people comfortable playing together.
[00:54] RPGPodcats.com Promo
[01:05] Did you go to band camp?
[02:01] Why do we care about camp? Oh yeah, because we can rip off ideas from them.
[02:55] Links to camp games: http://www.ultimatecampresource.com/site/camp-activities/common-ground-icebreakers.page-1.html, http://www.humanpingpongball.com/
[03:39] Games at Gamestorm – camp style.
[04:39] Scalagrim the Barbarian Prince. Our Icebreaker routine.
[05:22] Part 1 – The Tale of Woe. Practicing “Yes, and…” (a little over two minutes)
[08:17] Part 2 – The Epic Journey. Practicing reading other players flags and sharing the spotlight. (just over a minute)
[10:41] Part 3 – The Oracle’s Answer. Practicing not interrupting each other and being flexible. (about a minute and a half)
(Total time for both explanation and performing the exercises, about seven minutes)
[12:57] Recap of what we got out of these icebreakers.
Games that have Icebreaker exercises built into them
[14:56] Prime Time Adventures pitch session. Gets everyone on the same page about what kind of game everyone wants to play.
[15:43] Character creation in Spirit of the Century. Building on each other’s pulp novel.
[16:42] Dogs in the Vineyard accomplishment. Playing out one question you ask about your character.
[17:17] Mouse Guard Prologue. A reward for recapping the previous game. An icebreaker that also reminds everyone that happened last time and shows what parts they were excited about.
[18:35] World of Darkness Preludes. Often a longer event, but we’ve done it as a single session where everyone ran their preludes simultaneously.
Games that you could play with people who haven’t role-played before
[20:47] Once Upon a Time. A card game with fantasy tropes. Mixes card game elements (like Uno) and storytelling.
[21:49] Are you a Werewolf. A very scripted game that gets everyone talking, trying to discover the Werewolves. Very much like reality TV elimination.
Role Playing Games that act as Icebreakers themselves.
[24:12] Breaking the Ice. A game about two people meeting each other, but structured for two people (or more) learning to play a role-playing game.
[25:43] Sons of Liberty. A game that encourages fast play and, like Once Upon a Time has a very visible mechanic that aids you in narration.
[26:33] Discussion of common elements in these ice breaker games. Cards, cues, directions. Let’s throw Zombie Cinema in the mix as well.
Direct Download: NC_Episode_029.mp3
