Matchmaker
a roleplaying party game for four or more
So okay. Two players are the Destined Lovers, they stay the Destined
Lovers for the whole game. The other players take turns being Cupid
and Everybody Else in the World. Cupid's job is to get the Destined
Lovers together.
Character Creation
Destined Lovers: go into the other room together. Come back
when you've made up three things about your characters: What do we
have in common? ("We have the same lawyer." "We're both really into
big boots.") What one thing could you do that would turn me off
to you forever? What one thing could I do that would turn you off to
me forever? ("Dis the poor." "Invite me to coffee." "Mention a
sports team by name.")
Also, each of you, make up some sort of way to introduce yourself.
Your job, for instance. ("I'm an out-of-work actor." "I'm a sports
physician at the University.")
The Game
When you're Cupid, your goal is to get the Destined Lovers to fall
in love. This happens when they discover, in character, in play, the
thing that they have in common. (The players already know. Your job is
to get their characters there. Since you don't know, it'll be
tricky.)
Destined Lovers, you get to goof off and make it challenging
and fun. Give Cupid hints and clues and red herrings, string her along,
and keep her guessing.
Everybody Else in the World, you get to play all the supporting
characters that Cupid and the Destined Lovers introduce.
Got it? Cool.
Responsibilities
Cupid is responsible for:
a. Framing the scene;
b. Introducing things that happen;
c. Introducing NPCs; and
d. Suggesting in-character things for the Destined Lovers to say.
When things seem to be going your way, feel free to just let them. If
they start to go bad, though, jump right in. End scenes with no
warning and cut to radically different scenes with minimal transition
("Okay. Two years later you bump into each other on a ferry
boat..."). Toss in extreme elements ("There's a sudden flash of light
outside and thousands of cocktail onions start pouring out of the
fireplace..."). Most of all, involve yourself in the conversation
("Say how much you like the Mets. Say it! Why did you say that
instead, are you deranged? Say about the Mets! Okay, then say how
sorry you are about the mayonnaise!"). You're the god of love. Make
a pest of yourself.
As soon as you feel stuck, exhausted, irritated, or done, end the
scene and pass Cupid to the next player. (We play with a loose and
wiggly rule of one scene per Cupid, to keep everybody in, but we make
fast and free exceptions and mostly just go with the flow.) Now that
person's Cupid and you're Everybody Else in the World.
The Destined Lovers are responsible for:
a. Playing their characters, and
b. Introducing NPCs.
Cupid can introduce NPCs at will ("Your accountant arrives") but you
should introduce NPCs more discreetly. "Oh, I'm here with my
accountant, have you met?" or "I go into the back hallway and call my
brother on the pay phone." Make sense?
And Everybody Else is responsible for:
Playing all the NPCs that Cupid or the Destined Lovers introduce.
My advice is, make funny voices, change your posture, and use props.
But you're definitely not responsible for having conversations with
yourself. Nobody wants that. If anybody suggests that you do have
one, give them a dirty look and just summarize instead.
An Example of Responsibilities:
"You meet in a bar," Cupid says. "Robin, you oughta say 'What's your
sign?' to Pat."
"What's your sign?" Robin says. "I don't know why I said that, you
must get sick of people coming up to you like this."
"Actually, yes," Pat says. "Excuse me, I have to go away now."
"Uh oh," Cupid says. "Okay. A guy with a gun bursts through the
door."
"On the floor! Now!" Everybody Else says. "Pat, I warned you!"
"You know this guy?" Robin says. "I get between the gun guy and Pat,
you know, to use my body as a shield."
"Oh please," Pat says. "I shove Robin aside. Come on now, Mitchell.
Put the gun down. I know you never load it."
And so on.
Mechanics, which god forbid you do without
If anybody thinks that the outcome of something is uncertain, here's
what. Every player does this. Look at the situation and choose one
factor that you think could determine the outcome, or one possible
outcome, or something that makes sense in the moment. Write it on a
scrap of paper and toss it in a hat. You should feel free to discuss
and debate what you're writing, but try to keep it short. Anyway,
somebody pull a piece of paper out of the hat. That's what, and
whoever's paper it is gets to narrate.
An Example of Mechanics:
"I shoot the gun!" Everybody Else says. "I hit Pat!"
"No way," Pat says. "Let's roll for it."
Pat writes on a paper: Mitchell never loads his gun. Everybody Else
writes: I do too. Robin writes: I'm still kind of in the way. Cupid
writes: Mitchell is too upset and misses. They put them in the hat,
pull one out, and things go from there.
It's worth pointing out that you can call on the mechanics if Cupid
says something controversial, too.
Design Notes
Silly I know. Actually I just like having a section called Design
Notes.
Thanks to the fine people on
the Forge forums for
their enthusiasm and feedback.
Thanks to Meguey, Emily Care, Serena, Gideon, and Nancy for playtesting
with me.
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