otherdoc
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Jim - Yes, THAT Jim
Posts: 84
Preferred Game Systems: AMBER Diceless, Savage Worlds, D&D/Pathfinder, Fiasco, Apocalypse Engine
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Post by otherdoc on Apr 24, 2014 17:03:57 GMT -8
I'll start by saying I may have lost my mind here.
I've been struck with a very odd idea that's still in the process of forming. It's for a convention scenario.
I'm thinking of doing a con game in which each PC is a physical embodiment of a piece of music - in this case, each would be a different John Williams score. One person would be the theme from Star Wars, another would be the theme from Indiana Jones, another would be the theme from Jaws, etc. They'd be kind of like action heroes fighting against other pieces of music - I haven't decided on specific nemeses yet, but it might be amusing to trap them in a world created by Beethoven's 5th or make them fight the music of Phillip Glass or escape from the clutches of John Tesh or Danny Elfman. They'd have personalities and abilities reminiscent of the music they represent and the movies the music appears in.
I'm currently thinking of doing it in something like QAGS or FAE - and possibly having one Gimmick/Aspect on each character sheet be spelled out as a bar of sheet music that the player will have to hum when using it. (That one stat could possibly be the most powerful on the character sheet because it might support a wide range of possible actions.)
I'm thinking it could be hysterical or it could be disastrous.
Could this kind of scenario work, do you think? Any thoughts on implementing it? And if I were to tackle it, what system would you recommend?
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Post by Kainguru on Apr 25, 2014 2:24:17 GMT -8
The one snag that would concern me would be being a Con Game with unknown players - ie: will they be the right generation/type to 'get' the pop culture references with the music selected. Eg: I sure all Jedi in waiting know the theme to Star Wars and John Williams but will they know about the likes of Jaws etc? Could be you could have several 'musical PC's' to choose from, from a variety of genres - would different 'musical themes' interfere with the scenario premise? Aaron
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D.T. Pints
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JACKERCON 2018: WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY June 22-July 1st
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Post by D.T. Pints on Apr 25, 2014 6:20:30 GMT -8
Yeah what the aussie said. Don't surprise 'em with a "zinger!" game reveal. But a bunch of players all yelling out their various songs "Dah! Dah! Dah! Dah! Dum! Dum!" (my horrible attempt at phonetic representation of Indiana Jones) and all of the personality quirks associated with each piece of music...like Close Encounters. Could be pretty damn hilarious. Then at some point the big bad hits them with his "Smooth Jazz Ray" and they all have to sound like this guy... The True Face of Evil.
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Post by ericfromnj on Apr 25, 2014 15:28:01 GMT -8
Make sure you have each piece of music to at at the table. For their rivals I suggest other music you can bring but make it as far from classical as you can like 90s grunge. I would play in a game where I got to kill Nirvana songs...
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Post by ericfromnj on Apr 25, 2014 15:28:31 GMT -8
By each piece of music at the table I mean have it playing on your phone on repeat or something
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otherdoc
Supporter
Jim - Yes, THAT Jim
Posts: 84
Preferred Game Systems: AMBER Diceless, Savage Worlds, D&D/Pathfinder, Fiasco, Apocalypse Engine
Currently Playing: N/A (on a hopefully temporary hiatus as a player)
Currently Running: N/A (only con games, at the moment)
Favorite Species of Monkey: Squirrel Monkey (Peru, Ucayali Region)
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Post by otherdoc on Apr 26, 2014 13:43:53 GMT -8
Good points. And yes, Kenny is terrifying. lol I suppose it doesn't all have to be John Williams music, but I was struggling to put all the PCs into a single category (and for some reason, in my youth I liked to connect all the John Williams stuff together in my head). However, a premise for this just occurred to me: A playlist has broken open and all the music has escaped. A group of the most heroic soundtracks have banded together to hunt down the most dangerous songs and bring them to justice before they wreak havoc on mankind.
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D.T. Pints
Instigator
JACKERCON 2018: WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY June 22-July 1st
Posts: 2,857
Currently Playing: D&D 5e, Pathfinder, DUNGEONWORLD, Star Wars Edge of the Empire
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Post by D.T. Pints on Apr 26, 2014 18:08:43 GMT -8
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Post by Kainguru on Apr 27, 2014 3:17:31 GMT -8
OR Original Music versus the Evil Cover Versions . . . especially if you want to be a bit clever and pick tracks where the cover version is better known than the original eg: 'Tainted Love' (originally performed by Gloria Jones* in 1964 not Soft Cell in 1981) Aaron *and she was Marc Bolands lady, such a sad story . . .
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otherdoc
Supporter
Jim - Yes, THAT Jim
Posts: 84
Preferred Game Systems: AMBER Diceless, Savage Worlds, D&D/Pathfinder, Fiasco, Apocalypse Engine
Currently Playing: N/A (on a hopefully temporary hiatus as a player)
Currently Running: N/A (only con games, at the moment)
Favorite Species of Monkey: Squirrel Monkey (Peru, Ucayali Region)
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Post by otherdoc on Apr 27, 2014 7:33:22 GMT -8
It seems the list isn't linking, but I know what you mean. My only concern is that it IS a tad tricky in that at least some of the players would have to be familiar with movies that are less well known nowadays - let alone those movies' soundtracks. True, I could play the soundtracks to remind everyone, but it wouldn't help if the player hasn't seen the movie or has forgotten most of it. So I'm not sure. And then of course, I was thinking it might be amusing for one of the soundtracks to be from Inception (so, Hans Zimmer), if only to have a stat called "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHMMMMMMM." (But then, that might just be fodder for a sequel to this thing.) It also occurred to me that some of the soundtrack choices might work well as villains ( Jaws, Jurassic Park - heck, Star Wars). It's tricky, this. I had the thought that the physical form the soundtracks take on can be any roughly humanoid character from their associated movies, but that they'd have a "primary" form they'd choose at the start. The stats wouldn't change, necessarily, if they changed form, but the way in which they could apply them might. (Of course the bad guys might have learned how to circumvent this problem.) This is one of the reasons I'm starting to lean more toward FAE. More elbow room with the Aspects (or possibly some aspects can be descriptions of alternate forms - fill them up and that's your limit). If I DO go exclusively with John Williams, the pool I'd be making the PCs from would probably include: Star Wars Indiana Jones Superman Jaws E.T. Harry Potter Jurassic Park And perhaps two more, but I'm not sure which ones because they get a bit more obscure, soundtrackwise at least. The only other one I can think of that people might know (even though I don't, myself, so much) is Schindler's List, but including that might lead to its own problems... I typically like to create more PCs than player slots to give more of a choice, so for a six-slot game I typically like to have nine PCs ready. It might be funny to throw something into the mix like The Poseidon Adventure or The Paper Chase or Goodbye, Mr. Chips, but while I vaguely remember those movies, I can't remember their soundtracks AT ALL.
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D.T. Pints
Instigator
JACKERCON 2018: WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY June 22-July 1st
Posts: 2,857
Currently Playing: D&D 5e, Pathfinder, DUNGEONWORLD, Star Wars Edge of the Empire
Currently Running: DUNGEONWORLD, PATHFINDER
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Post by D.T. Pints on Apr 27, 2014 8:03:16 GMT -8
Fixed the link. I was just amazed at 1959-apparently Star Wars VII 2015. You could definitely make it a bit "silly gamey" by playing a more obscure track and the players might have to mimic it in order to infiltrate the secret Kenny G lair (did I mention I don't like Kenny G ?). Anyway, I'd play this in Jackercon IV if some kind person wanted to try running it via G+. Especially if there could be a few monologue scenes where the rest of the party has to hum the theme to Superman really quietly and then crescendo on the final line in order for it to really rally the down and out, beleaguered pieces of James Horner...HACK!
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