Mesopotamians
Mesopotamians
Mesopotamians - a little game about undead warrior kings making it big as a rock and roll band
The game Mesopotamians by Nick Wedig is a game inspired by the song Mesopotamians by They Might Be Giants, and from the tag line above you can see why I was interested in this game.
You might remember I wrote about Runeblade a small narrative game with interesting dice mechanics. As I have stated before, I like simple games and I like narrative games, and although I don't mind more complex or mechanics intensive games I like having something I can put onto the table quickly when the need arises.
I had come across Mesopotamians recently when I picked up in an indie game anthology - it was actually in on one of the Level 1 game anthologies by 9th Level Games for Free RPG Day I got at a recent event.
I thought Mesopotamians was interesting and having had experience of Runeblade I thought I'd like to give this a go.
I decided to type out the character cards, the character concerns and the van card myself and then print and laminate these so I had some playable cards which would take some abuse at the game table.
I also realised in a quick play test of the game, I needed more dice! Specifically more d6 and d10 dice. So after buying these I was all prepared to get a game organised.
I have been carrying the game around for the past six months or so and although telling everyone about the game and getting interest from others, there was never the opportunity to put this on the table. Until now that is!
Through player illness and forewarned absence the crew of players for my current Labyrinth Lord game was about cut in half. I had considered playing something else, or possibly continuing with the Labyrinth Lord campaign itself with fewwe palyers, but decided to wait and ask the remaining players when they turned up. The consensus was to pause the Labyrinth Lord game and play something else, which is where the moment of inspiration hit me and I suggested we play Mesopotamians!
We all had a thoroughly good time, even though I got the dice mechanic wrong when I walked the players through the first round of play. A quick correction so everyone knew what to do going forward and I guided them through the second round of play. It was only after the game I realised I forgot to use the Goal tracker (which is part of the Van card) but having had my first play actual through with other people I think it all went well and I am looking forward to getting this onto the table again.
As far as the recent game goes I have the abridged the highlights of the game below, and if you think it sounds ridiculous and hilarious, that is because it was.
The Larrys
The unnamed band headed away from the clutches of the Evil Sorceress Azita as far as the end of the road to Darleen's Bar to set-up a gig. They gained Bob "Larry" Wiseman as their band-manager, invented the "Gilgamoshpit", settled a dispute with law enforcement regarding excessive crowds, and became an internet sensation with their first live-gig video all before leaving town for the big city.
On the way to the city they were beset by van troubles (flat tyre), dodged hitmen sent by Azita, gained a couple of magical artefacts (magical whips), recorded their world-sensational track "Bumpin' in my Transit" and finally defeated Azita in some sort of kaiju-esque final battle after she turned into a giant snake and rampaged through the city.
The unnamed band finally became known as 'The Larrys' in honour of their lost Band Manager 'Larry' who died in the final battle with Azita.
J