Untitled Shakespeare Game Playtest

[vcczar]

After @Bloot911 does his, I'll just assume you all seek costumes from your patron before purchasing them. 

[Bloot911]

1. Generic Cycle of Mystery Plays

2. Abraham 

3. King Xeres

4. Timoclea at the Siege of Thebes

5. Gammer Gurton's Needle

6. Liberality and Prodigality

7. Jack Juggler

8. The Play of the Weather

9. Mankind

10. EveryMan

[vcczar]

@WVProgressive @Willthescout7 @ShortKing@10centjimmy @Bloot911 @OrangeP47 @ConservativeElector2

The companies have purchased their plays. I'll now see if the companies have any luck getting any hand-me-down's for costumes from their wealthy patrons. 

@ShortKing gets nothing from his patron, the penny-pinching Lord Treasurer.

@WVProgressive gets accurate wealthy costumes from Lord Buckhurst, a former playwright.

@10centjimmy The Earl of Oxford gives no help. 

@OrangeP47 Saves a fortune as the Earl of Leicester gives him both accurate royal clothing and noble clothing!

@Willthescout7 Gets weapons and armour from the Earl Marshal. 

@Bloot911 gets nothing from Lord Chandos

@ConservativeElector2 gets no help from the Earl of Essex

See your Company Cash (not personal cash) to see what you have remaining for funds. You're all in a decent spot, I think. 

You'll now cast your plays. Fill out the following:

1. Of your five adult actors, who is:
   1. Lead Dramatist (Best if has high skill, tragic boost, and has Lead Dramatist ability):
   2. Lead Clown (Best if has high skill, comedy boost, and has Lead Clown ability)
   3. Lead Support (Best if has high skill and some sort of boost)
   4. Support 2 
   5. Support 3
2. Of your Three Apprentices, pick the best to be
   1. The lead apprentice (This actor will play your lead female roles.)
   2. Apprentice 2 (plays female or minor character)
   3. Apprentice 3 (plays female or minor character)
3. You can leave the Boy Actors where they are as there isn't a lead boy. They play children and servants typically. 

The actors will play these roles for all of the plays this months. You'll certainly have actors playing roles that are out of their league, but that will slowly change. 

Lastly, good work on picking plays. It's interesting to see who picks what plays based on the data/names of plays. 

Note: I'm pretty busy tomorrow (Wednesday), but I should be able to get all of this processed if you all respond before, say, 3pm EST. 

 

 

[WVProgressive]

1. Of your five adult actors, who is:
   1. Lead Dramatist is William Barfly
   2. Lead Clown is Robert Wilson
   3. Lead Support is Lawrence Fletcher
   4. Support 2 is Joseph Waltham
   5. Support 3 is Robert Mead
2. Of your Three Apprentices, pick the best to be
   1. The lead apprentice is Henry Coffin
   2. Apprentice 2 is Anthony Greenfield
   3. Apprentice 3 is George Washington
3. You can leave the Boy Actors where they are as there isn't a lead boy. They play children and servants typically. 

[ShortKing]

Lead Dramatist: William Mason
Lead Clown: Richard Tarlton
Lead Support: John Archer
Support 2: Osmund Norton
Support 3: Mathias Hall

Lead Apprentice: John Lanham
Apprentice 2: Lewis Cheney
Apprentice 3: Edmund Fogg

[Bloot911]

1. Lead Dramatist: James Baurage
2. Lead Clown:  John Dutton
3. Lead Support  John Garland
4. Support 2  Thomas Shipwash
5. Support 3  Henry Makepeace
6. Lead Apprentice William Knell
7. Apprentice 2John Towne
8. Apprentince 3:Samuel Hammer

[ConservativeElector2]

Lead Dramatist Giles Walton

Lead Clown Stephen Field

Lead Support John Bentley

Support 2 Lawrence Dutton

Support 3 Mathusela Francis

Lead Apprentice Joshua Asplyn

Apprentice 2 James Carter

Apprentice 3 Matthew Pigot

[OrangeP47]

Of your five adult actors, who is:

Lead Dramatist (Best if has high skill, tragic boost, and has Lead Dramatist ability):  Thomas Cheddar

Lead Clown (Best if has high skill, comedy boost, and has Lead Clown ability):  Robert Sherman

Lead Support (Best if has high skill and some sort of boost):  Philip Ander

Support 2 : William Sheraton

Support 3:  Richard Wrecke

Of your Three Apprentices, pick the best to be

The lead apprentice (This actor will play your lead female roles.):  Nicholas Bishop

Apprentice 2 (plays female or minor character): Abraham Lincoln

Apprentice 3 (plays female or minor character):  Benjamin Flower

[Willthescout7]

Of your five adult actors, who is:

Lead Dramatist (Best if has high skill, tragic boost, and has Lead Dramatist ability): William Johnson

Lead Clown (Best if has high skill, comedy boost, and has Lead Clown ability): Edward George

Lead Support (Best if has high skill and some sort of boost): Jerome Savage

Support 2: John Goodluck

Support 3: Jacob Garrett

 

1. The lead apprentice (This actor will play your lead female roles.): Elisha Millet
2. Apprentice 2 (plays female or minor character): Richard Warner
3. Apprentice 3 (plays female or minor character): David Michaelgrove

[10centjimmy]

1. Of your five adult actors, who is:
   1. Lead Dramatist is John Alleyn
   2. Lead Clown is Henry London
   3. Lead Support is John Perkins
   4. Support 2 is Edward Cod
   5. Support 3 is Thomas Clarke
2. Of your Three Apprentices, pick the best to be
   1. The lead apprentice is Abraham Hardy
   2. Apprentice 2 is Thomas Jefferson 
   3. Apprentice 3 is Richard Nixon
3. You can leave the Boy Actors where they are as there isn't a lead boy. They play children and servants typically

[vcczar]

@WVProgressive @Willthescout7 @ShortKing@10centjimmy @Bloot911 @OrangeP47 @ConservativeElector2

Alright! Your cast is processes and I've applied loyalty. Only @ConservativeElector2 has to worry as several of his actors are unhappy with their roles, but he can make up for that next month. 

It's now time to give me a list of the 26 plays you wish to stage for your 26 performance places. To make it easy for you, just post the plays in order of 1 through 26 and I'll apply them to your venue schedule for you. You'll all have to repeat plays because none of your have 26 plays. Here are some things you'll want to keep in mind: 

• Try not to repeat keywords "Classical" "Comedy" "Morality" etc twice in a row. You want variety. 
• Avoid staging the same play back-to-back. 
• Ideally, you don't want to restage a play twice in a month, but that is unavoidable right now. So ignore this for now. 
• I could get bogged down into other strategies you can attempt but I'll talk about that once every company has a full set of plays. I also need to playtest performances to get a good idea of this. 

In short, watch keywords and avoid back-to-back plays for now. 

Once I get your plays in order, it will probably take me several days to process 26 play performances for 7 companies and determine audience numbers, profit, etc. 

[ShortKing]

1. Everyman
2. Ralph Roister Doister
3. Mankind
4. Jack Juggler
5. Abraham
6. Liberality and Prodigality
7. Abraham
8. Ralph Roister Doister
9. Interlude of Youth
10. Gammer Gurton's Needle
11. The Castle of Perseverance
12. Jack Juggler
13. Everyman
14. Abraham
15. Ralph Roister Doister
16. Mankind
17. Gammer Gurton's Needle
18. Interlude of Youth
19. Jack Juggler
20. Everyman
21. Ralph Roister Doister
22. The Castle of Perseverance
23. Gammer Gurton's Needle
24. Everyman
25. Ralph Roister Doister
26. Liberality and Prodigality

[10centjimmy]

1. Mankind

2. King Xerxes

3. The Castle of Perseverance 

4. Gammer Gurton's Needle 

5. The Play of the Weather

6. Abraham

7. King Xerxes

8. Liberality and Prodigality

9. Abraham

10. Jack Juggler

11. Chariclea 

12. The Disobedient Child 

13. Chariclea 

14. Mankind

15. Gammer Gurton's Needle 

16. The play of the weather 

17. Jack Juggler 

18. King Xerxes 

19. Liberality and Prodigality 

20. Abraham 

21. The Castle of Perseverance 

22. Gammer Gurton's Needle 

23. Mankind

24. Jack Juggler 

25. Abraham

26. Chariclea 

[OrangeP47]

1. Everyman

2. Gorboduc

3. Mankind

4. Interlude of Youth

5. The Play of the Weather

6. Generic Cycle of Mystery Plays

7. The Castle of Perseverance

8. Jack Juggler

9. Everyman

10. Gorboduc

11. Mankind

12. Interlude of Youth

13. The Play of the Weather

14. Generic Cycle of Mystery Plays

15. The Castle of Perseverance

16. Jack Juggler

17. Everyman

18. Gorboduc

19. Mankind

20. Interlude of Youth

21. The Play of the Weather

22. Generic Cycle of Mystery Plays

23. The Castle of Perseverance

24. Jack Juggler

25. Everyman

26. Gorboduc

Edited July 6, 2022 by OrangeP47

[WVProgressive]

1. Ralph Roister Doister (Comedy, English)
2. The World and the Child (Morality)
3. Jack Juggler (Comedy, English)
4. The Castle of Perseverance (Morality)
5. Gammer Gurton's Needle (Comedy)
6. Generic Cycle of Mystery Plays (Morality)
7. Chariclea (Romance, Classical)
8. Interlude of Youth (Morality)
9. King Xerxes (Classical, History)
10.  Liberality and Prodigality (Morality, Comedy)
11. Mankind (Morality)
12. The Disobedient Child (Morality, Comedy)
13. Everyman (Morality)
14. Ralph Roister Doister (Comedy, English)
15. The World and the Child (Morality)
16. Jack Juggler (Comedy, English)
17. The Castle of Perseverance (Morality)
18. Gammer Gurton's Needle (Comedy)
19. Generic Cycle of Mystery Plays (Morality)
20. Chariclea (Romance, Classical)
21. Interlude of Youth (Morality)
22. King Xerxes (Classical, History)
23.  Liberality and Prodigality (Morality, Comedy)
24. Mankind (Morality)
25. The Disobedient Child (Morality, Comedy)
26. Everyman (Morality)

[Bloot911]

1.Abraham 
2. Man Kind
3. Jack juggler
4. Everyman
5. Gammer Gurton's Needle 
6. Generic Cycles of Mystery Plays 
7. King  Xerxes
8.Liberality and Prodigality
9, Timoclea at the Siege of Thebes
10.Gammer Gurton's Needle
11.The Play of the Weather
12.Liberality and Prodigality
13.Abraham 
14. Man Kind
15. Jack juggler
16. Everyman
17 Gammer Gurton's Needle 
18. Generic Cycles of Mystery Plays 
19. King Xerxes
20.Liberality and Prodigality
21., Timoclea at the Siege of Thebes
22.Gammer Gurton's Needle
23. The Play of the Weather
24.Generic Cycles of Mystery Plays 
25.  King Xerxes
26. Abraham 
 

[ConservativeElector2]

1. King Xerxes
2. Generic Cycle of Mystery Plays
3. Ralph Roister Doister
4. Gorboduc
5. Palamon and Arcite
6. The Castle of Perseverance
7. Damon and Pythias
8. Chariclea
9. Timoclea at the Siege of Thebes
10. The Play of the Weather
11. King Xerxes
12. Generic Cycle of Mystery Plays
13. Ralph Roister Doister
14. Gorboduc
15. Palamon and Arcite
16. The Castle of Perseverance
17. Damon and Pythias
18. Chariclea
19. Timoclea at the Siege of Thebes
20. The Play of the Weather
21. King Xerxes
22. Generic Cycle of Mystery Plays
23. Ralph Roister Doister
24. Gorboduc
25. Palamon and Arcite
26. The Castle of Perseverance

[Willthescout7]

1. The World and the Child
2. Gorboduc
3. Everyman
4. Damon and Pythias
5. The Castle of Perseverance
6. King Xerxes
7. Interlude of Youth
8. Palamon and Arcite
9. The Play of the Weather
10. Abraham
11. The World and the Child
12. Gorboduc
13. Everyman
14. Damon and Pythias
15. The Castle of Perseverance
16. King Xerxes
17. Interlude of Youth
18. Palamon and Arcite
19. The Play of the Weather
20. Abraham
21. Interlude of Youth
22. King Xerxes
23. The Play of the Weather
24. Damon and Pythias
25. Everyman
26. Gorboduc

[vcczar]

@WVProgressive @Willthescout7 @ShortKing@10centjimmy @Bloot911 @OrangeP47 @ConservativeElector2

I'm finally getting around to processing the performances. This is going to be quite lengthy. I'm going to create a shortcut way to playtest this because what will take me a week will take a computer like seconds. I think we will use your first play to represent how your entire month did on average. I'll make further adjustments based on your locations and plays you selected and etc. 

Anyway, the first step is Attendance:

Every theatre has a % chance of the theatre being sold out, being 2/3 full, half full, and 1/3 full. Apparently, half full was the norm. A theatre's natural chance of capacity is based primarily on two factors: the theatre's location and the impressiveness of the theatre. For instance, staging plays in a space designed primarily for bull baiting, bear baiting, for in an inn is going to be hard to book to full capacity. A painted theatre that is designed specifically for staging plays is going to be much better for gathering attendance. 

The initial change of attendance aboved is then modified by:

• - Advertising. We'll do this next month since I just added this as a thing. 
• - Unfavorable weather. We're in Winter so any outdoor theatre will be affected.
• - Neighborhood Competition. The company that did better in advertising will steal more of the local crowd. There are also penalties for staging the same kind of play as another theatre in your neighborhood if you performed worse in advertising. 
• - Variety. Repeating the same kind of play as the previous day, a play already staged this month, or staging the same play as another company is staging on the same day, all bring penalties. 
• - New plays, revised plays, former hits. Any of these will provide boosts to attendance. 

Considering the above, here's how you all performed in attendance and income. Note: The CPU version will probably allow for a greater range for income and attendance. I'm using full house, 2/3 attendance, half, and 1/3 to simplify the process. 

@10centjimmy got 1/3 attendance at the Tabard Inn in Southwark for staging Mankind. This inn south of the Thames is famous for being the initial meeting point of Chaucer's characters in Canterbury Tales. It's an old carriage inn. His audience is composed primarily of out of towners who are only passing through London. The Tabard Inn has a capacity of 500 and this venue is 1 penny per ticket. That's 165 pence in income. That's rounded up to 14 shillings (you need 20 shillings to equal a pound). 

@Bloot911 got 1/3 attendance at the George Inn in Whitechapel for staging Abraham. This inn, East of the City of London, is in one of the faster-growing parts of London, which is filling up with low-income tenements, but still has a lot of dilapidating cottages. The main throughways are probably the only decent areas in the neighborhood. This inn probably houses mostly sailors on leave or domestic immigrants who are between jobs or seeking work. The capacity, like all inns, is about 500, so this company also rakes in 165 pence, rounded up to 14 shillings. 

@ConservativeElector2 got 2/3 attendance at the Saracen's Head Inn in Aldgate, in the Eastern section of the City of London, for the staging of King Xerxes. This neighborhood is probably the only truly poor neighborhood within the city walls (City of London). The major streets have some well-to-do housing, but it is, overall, very overcrowded. Homelessness is very common here. This in is probably mostly filled with job-seeking apprentice artisans and people visiting family or friends from out of town. This company takes in 330 pence or rounded up to 1 Pound and 8 shillings. That's a great showing for an inn! 

@OrangeP47 and @ShortKing got only 1/3 attendance each, primarily because they both staged Everyman on the same night nd in the same neighborhood--Bankside, south of the Thames. One company has the Bull Ring and the other the Beargarden. Everyman is the most well-known miracle play and probably the most frequently staged among touring companies in the past. Both of these are primarily used for animal blood sports. Bullbaiting, bearbaiting, cockfights, dogfights, etc. were popular entertainment, sort of equivalent to how football, baseball, soccer, hockey, and basketball are popular now. These two arenas were right next to each other. These plays are likely staged in-between baiting events. The stench is probably unbearable. Both of these companies make 14 shillings. 

@Willthescout7got half attendance at the George Inn in Southwark, not too far from the Tabard Inn, for staging The World and the Child. This George Inn actually still stands today. It, like the Tabard, is an old carriage inn. It's primarily people passing through or visiting someone in the neighborhood. He takes in 250 pence, which rounds up to 1 pound and 10 pence. That's a good showing for an inn. 

@WVProgressive got half attendance at the Bull Inn, which is in Aldgate, which I mention as an overcrowded neighborhood earlier. The play staged is Ralph Roister Doister, arguably the first English Renaissance comedy. The inn is probably composed mainly of jobseekers, artisans and possibly sailors and soldiers. 1 pound and 10 pence.  

 I'll apply the income to your tabs after I determine how successfully staged the plays are. In addition to income, you want to have the "hit of the season." (The best play staged in a three month period). This will raise the company prestige and make it more likely that your company stages at special venues. 

This took me about 90 minutes to two hours to do and type out, so I'm going to wait until tomorrow to do the next part. 

 

[vcczar]

@WVProgressive @Willthescout7 @ShortKing@10centjimmy @Bloot911 @OrangeP47 @ConservativeElector2

 

Here's how production turned out. The acting score is based on rehearsal, acting skill, and any bonuses actors provide, and then a die-roll. The Lord Treasurer's Men actually have the best actors, but they had a bad die-roll. Lord Buckhurst's Men are kind of geared toward's playing comedies. They played a comedy, so had some mega bonuses. Everyman and Ralph Roister Doister were the best natural plays. A play's natural power is combined with a die roll. A freshly-written play automatically gets +20 to production, so you'll want to crank those out. Also note that these are all low scores. You're actors have not developed yet and the plays are not yet strong. Nevertheless, the score for play of the week this week is strong considering this. 

Oxford's Men production of Mankind:

Acting = 15

Play = 15

Total = 30

 

Chandos's Men, producing Abraham

Acting = 17

Play = 9

Total = 26

 

Essex's Men, producing King Xerxes

Acting = 17

Play = 11

Total = 28

 

Leicester's Men, producing Everyman

Acting = 12

Play = 15

Total = 27

 

Lord Treasurer's Men, producing Everyman

Acting = 14

Play = 18

Total = 32

 

Earl Marshal's Men, producing The World and the Child

Acting = 18

Play = 13

Total = 31

 

Buckhurst's Men, producing Ralph Roister Doister

Acting = 23

Play = 20

Total = 43

 

Buckhurst's Men's production of Ralph Roister Doister is the play of the week. 

[10centjimmy]

1 hour ago, vcczar said:

Buckhurst's Men's production of Ralph Roister Doister is the play of the week

Will trade fish for competent actors

[vcczar]

I'm adding up everyone's total income for the month based on these performances. I'm not a computer so I'm not going to run 25 more plays for everyone. One thing I'm realizing is that I need to decrease the rental costs for the Beargarden and Bull Ring. They're draining the companies dry. 

[vcczar]

@WVProgressive @Willthescout7 @ShortKing@10centjimmy @Bloot911 @OrangeP47 @ConservativeElector2

So I've calculated your profits/debt for the month

@10centjimmy paid 18 pounds in theatre rentals alone, by far the most of any impresario. This is about equal to the amount of income he made from theatre goers. He saw a total net loss of over 21 pounds. He's in the red and will be forced to take out a loan.

Others that also got a net loss and who will need to take out a loan include @Bloot911@ShortKing@WVProgressive. The latter despite Buckhurst's Men staging the best play (see today's earlier post if you haven't yet). 

@OrangeP47 and @Willthescout7 saw a net loss, but they still have company money left over from startup cash, so neither are in the red. 

@ConservativeElector2 made a net profit of 5.4 pounds. He was the only impresario to see a profit in his first week, although a company should hope to make 10 pounds a month 

Here are some money-wise things to consider:

• Rent out a place that collects 1/2 the gallery costs for rent. This means your income on the theatre will always be greater than the rent for the theatre. You'll want to get a permanent theatre like this as soon as possible to avoid the costs of moving around from inn-to-inn and from beargarden to bull ring
• Go on tour. You won't make much but your costs will be much lower. Touring is an option to gain money, so you can save up for a real theatre. However, it decreases the loyalty of actors since some of them get half wages. Touring is cost-effective because you don't have to pay rent, but the population is so much smaller out in the country side that you won't gather in as much. 
• Avoid paying for the Beargarden and Bull Ring. I may lower these costs if they drain you all again. I don't want to make the adjustment unless they become an issue again next time.

In total, we have three companies that aren't in threat of being dissolved. 

Here's what I need to know from you all next:

1. Do you want to take out a Loan? There's a 50 and 100 pound option but they must be paid back Jan 1577. I'll randomize the interest, since there weren't standard interest rates. If you are in the red, you must take out a loan or you will be homeless and will have to dissolve your company. 
2. If you made a profit, how much of that profit do you want to transfer to your personal account? Personal account money is used to buy things for personal use. 
3. Room & Board. If you aren't in the red, you're room & board will come out of your company money, which I'll calculate later. 
4. As Buckhurst's Men staged the best play of the month. One of their actors who has a potential greater than their base acting will see an increase in ability lead clown Robert Wilson is now a 2 skill actor. 

[OrangeP47]

I suppose no actions that require my attention then, I think.

[ConservativeElector2]

Since I made profit I won't need a loan.

I live without any luxury goods, so I won't withdraw money for personal use unless I have to keep a minimum sum. Just keep the company floating with the money.