Let's Dread: The Recap (Take Three)

So this weekend I ran my Dizney Zombies Dread adventure for the third (and probably final - though I'd be open to doing it again) time. This session was with some of the ol' Ghosty Teen gang, and it was pretty funzo.

There were only five players, which I think is my ideal number. It never felt too crowded or unwieldy and I don't think anyone spent too much time hiding safely in the background.

Also, the character choices were probably my favorite (after the dynamic duo of Gonzo and Mushu will never be beaten): Mary Poppins, Basil the Great Mouse Detective, Susan and Sharon from The Parent Trap (played by one person, a la the Ice Climbers in Super Smash Bros. Brawl), Jessie the Yodelin' Cowgirl and Dumbo.

Interesting because two characters are tiny enough to be carried around in one's carpetbag, one of whom is a doll, one character can't talk (but can fly), and no one brought along any weapons, unless you count Basil's mouse-sized rapier.

I mean, when the group's tank is a toy, you've gotta plan your battles wisely. Though, to be fair to Jessie, she was really effective - zombies don't tend to notice things made of cloth and plastic.

Still, scenes where I originally planned for several zombies I'd often reduce to one, because one was stressful enough.

In retrospect, maybe I shouldn't have gone easy on them. But I also think that working with numbers is tricky. If one is scary, is two scarier? Or does it dilute the horror? It's a good question. The single zombie propels them to a confrontation. If there were two or more, these non-fighters might choose to run, or avoid the situation, even though I ultimately needed them to move forward and accept the adventure.

Anyway, a more random collection of survivors I couldn't imagine, but survive they did... for the most part. The twins, sadly, did not make it to the end.

And for a group of non-gamers, a lot of their decisions surprised me, which is impressive. Nobody ever surprises me. I thought I'd seen it all and was prepared for any eventuality, but apparently not.

At one point in the game, the characters saved a number of Dalmatian puppies (this is probably my favorite and, according to the looks of anguish on most players' faces, most horrific scene of the game). Basil and Jessie decided to keep one apiece that they could ride as a mount. I allowed it, as something similar happens in both of their movies, and those Dalmatians have enough gumption to learn quickly. And the twins wanted puppies, too, because they are giddy girls who like cute things.

Then, later in the game, when the twins were being chased by the scimitar-wielding zombie Aladdin, they threw their puppies at him as a cruel sacrifice.

I was shocked. It was as if they, to quote Ben Linus, changed the rules.

I mean, it's a technically sound, even brilliant, tactic. It's just one that I'd expect from a blackguard like Scar or Captain Hook, not from Hayley Mills. But in a moment of terror, yeah, I could see it happening. And I like to think it was karmic justice that caused the Tower to collapse later on in the game, leading to the twins' own deaths in the final act.

That's an internal debate I have with Dread. Survival is determined by the whim of the Tower (unless a player chooses to make the ultimate sacrifice). In this game, the twins died "well," but in previous games, death was random. Unlike movies or books, the game kills without regard to story or character or justice. You're either good at Jenga, or lucky, or you pull a bum piece and die.

And yet, although I don't always like it, I understand. That's a part of horror. You've got no safety net, even the main character, the hero, the doll, the baby elephant, the magical nanny, they're all beholden to the Tower.

I tried to do the same thing in my book (and even though these games are played primarily for fun, in the back of my mind I'm always looking for ideas and possibilities I might have missed to go in the novel). I'm in charge of the characters' destinies, but I don't like the usual "main hero is invincible" idea. Especially in these dangerous worlds, virtue or skill might not be enough. A lot of the time, it's just random luck.

One of the biggest villains in the story gets a happy ending, while others are sacrificed. The survivors aren't great and mighty heroes, the Princes and Princesses of the world, they're the ones who just happened to survive.

(Yet on the other hand, I didn't have the heart to kill Dumbo. At least, not in the first draft. I figured he's suffered enough.)

As the old professor said in that Doctor Who Christmas special, "Of all the people to survive, he's not the one you would have chosen, is it? But if you could choose, Doctor, if you could decide who lives and who dies... that would make you a monster."

What does that make me, then?