Play Though of Dave ex Machina

 Dave Ex Machina play through 10-31-22

Who am I?

Dave, of course.

What are Dave’s knacks?

Rearranging frozen pizza toppings

Playing ping pong with my non-dominant hand

Using the remote control with my eyes closed

What do I have on me?

Empty glasses case

What’s the deal?

It’s like Star Wars meets Pride and Prejudice Meets Gundam

Everyone is a Wookiee but they are living in Jane Austin’s England. And there are giant  gundum battle mechs all over the place. No one knows where they came from but there they are.

What’s the job?

I have been summoned to kill Lady Gorchunku’s prize rose bush.

What stands in Dave’s way?

Unseen Force - pesky poodles made out of magnetic waves

Adverse weather - it’s a sharknado but the sharks breath flames!

Wild creatures - the McWookies! They’re Wookiees… but they’re Scottish!

***

I was right in the middle my weekly watching of the Back to the Future trilogy  when I felt myself getting pulled through a vortex of time, space and extra planar energies. When I could actually see again, I was standing in the middle of a pentagram.

A big furry woman with fangs and an elaborate dress with lots of lace stood before me. ‘EROOONK” she said to me.

‘You, you want me to kill some lady’s rose bush?’

‘GERRRRON!’

Man, some people take garden parties really, really seriously.

So, anyway. This place was wild. Everyone, except the kids, were like a foot taller than me, totally covered in fur and wearing really fancy duds. Oh and there were giant robot space ships standing around.

And there was this big mental countdown clock in my head. I had 19 ghurries to smash that rose bush. Otherwise, I’d never see pepperoni pizza or Back to the Future ever again.

And I’ve got this mental compass thing going on is. I don’t know which way is north, if there is a north here. No, I know which way that rose bush is.

Anyway, I was making my way to wherever that rose bush was, walking around a giant robot space ship, when my internal compass went wild. I couldn’t tell where the rose bush was. When I closed my eyes and tried to find the magic arrow behind my eyelids, I saw… fluffy poodles.

Clearly, I was dealing with poodles made out of magnetic waves.

Well, I know that poodles can be pesky but they also can be particular. I had to distract them and nothing distracts dogs like snacks.

Just like an automobile has a repair kit, I found spare giant robot spaceship parts. Had lots of nuts and bolts, which I figured magnetic poodles would love. But I had to sort it all out. Well, I can sort a frozen supreme pizza irnto six slices with one topping each. So, I had this.

17 - 15 = 2

1 ghurry

Well, they liked the snacks but their magmatic waves still messed up my internal compass.

So. I put a wooden bucket on my  head to block them and walk away from them.

15-12 = 3

2 ghurry

And I just walked in circles because I had a bucket on my head and I couldn’t see anything.

Fine. I’m going to talk to the poodles and ask them to leave me alone. And I will take my time and give lots of reasons to leave me along.

12-5 = 7

The poodles listened to my argument, discussed among themselves and agreed my case had merit. Then went their way. I got my mental compass back and I went on my way.

3.5 ghurry

And that’s when the sharknado showed up. It’s like a tornado. Only with sharks. And the sharks were breathing fire.

I ran screaming.

10-9 = 1

Turns out that whatever force brought me to this crazy world protects me. I grew back that leg and my spleen in seconds. But not dying didn’t help get away.

4.5 ghurry

Okay. Time to see what Elizabethan Wookie sewers are like. The fire-breathing sharknado can’t follow me there! I’ll take my time. Pick out a good looking manhole. (Wookie hole?)

12-7 = 5

Hey, Elizabethan Wookie sewers are pretty nice. Really good stonework. Plenty of headroom. Fire proof. Don’t want to think about what Wookies eat, though.

6 ghurry 

Downside of Elizabethan Wookie sewers, I ran into the McWookies. Kilts. Tam o’ Shatners. Claymores bigger than me. Murderous attitudes. 

Time for me to sing the Proclaimers biggest hits.

14-16 = -2

Turns out the Proclaimers and Wookies don’t mix. I’m just lucky I could regrow both my arms. Well, if music doesn’t work, alcohol will. Got to get the McWookies to the nearest bar and drinks for the house!

7 ghurry

12-8 = 4

Okay. Since I don’t have any money, time to sneak out of the bar. Slowly and carefully. 

13-7 = 6

8.5 ghurry

I’d better kill that rose bush and bamf back home before the bar owner finds me!

You know what would definitely kill that rose bush? A sharknado full of fire breathing sharks. By a total cosmic coincidence, that sharknado was still looking for me.

Good bye rose bush. Good bye garden. Good bye manor house. Good bye neighborhood and nearby forest.

And good bye me.

I need to watch Marty in the bad timeline and eat some pizza.

Embracing your inner Dave

In the journaling RPG Dave ex Machina, you are an ordinary muggle named Dave who was accidentally summoned instead of a demon or some kind of other supernatural being. You’re still stuck doing whatever act you were summoned for and you only have a limited time to do it. 

Dave ex Machina shot to the top of my list of journaling on the basis of concept alone.

Character creation and world creation are fairly easy. You assign some trivial skills, none of which can be combat-based, to Dave, along with some random item. You build a world by mashing three different works together. Figure out what Dave has to do (which is implied to always be assassination) and roll up some random challenges.

You have 19 time units (you decide what kind of time units) to complete the job. Journaling, you describe the challenges Dave encounters and how he tries to deal with them. 

Conflict resolution is simple. Roll 3d6. Decide if that roll is Dave’s or his opposition. Roll three more dice. If Dave exceeds the opposition roll by more than three, he succeeds. If he is over by less than three, it’s basically null. Failure is failure unless you fail so spectacularly that Dave succeeds. Every action costs time. 

The two things I like about Dave Ex Machina are the core concept, which is hilarious, and the world building. The X meets Y meets Z method of world building isn’t complex or deep but lends itself to quickly making something fun and silly.

What I don’t like is the conflict resolution and the time limit.

While, honestly, the game includes ways of mitigating luck (honestly to the point where failure isn’t likely), the randomness feels counter to the rest of the structure of the game. And I would rather have a ‘yes but’ result rather a null result.

The time counter is actually a bigger problem. If you have one roll resolve each scene, you’ll never run out of time. If you make conflicts more granular, then you’ll never have enough time.

That said, the mechanics of a journaling game aren’t the point. They are simply prompts, giving direction and focus to your writing. What matters is what you write.

From that viewpoint, Dave ex Machina was successful for me. I had fun and I was inspired to write. However, I think there is plenty of room for improvements. 

A question I have to ask ‘Will it work for someone who doesn’t write all the time as a hobby?’ And, as much fun as I had, I think the answer has to be no.