Monday, January 30, 2017

Superhero TV Show RPG

Below you will find the initial ramblings of my current RPG project, Superhero TV Show (or STVS) for short. STVS is my love letter the Batman TV series of the late '60s starring Adam West and Burt Ward.  This RPG will hopefully ooze with camp humor, double entendre and silly '60s era sexual tension. 

The game will use a mashup of OSR White Box and Barbarians of Lemuria mechanics.  Also, the Narrator (GM/DM/REF) will set up adventures in "Episodes" with a TV script like format.

Below is what I have so far (please note this has little to no proof reading and may be rough):



EXTERIOR – FALCON CITY – DAY

We open close on THE MUSEUM OF ARTIC ART.  An ALARM is blaring, CITIZENS are running for their lives, a robbery is in progress!

NARRATOR
What is this?  A crime?  In our peaceful city?  Oh, the villainy!  This sounds like a job for Ratgirl and Turtleboy!

                                                CUT TO:

ZOOMING around the corner, a supercharged furry brown van, THE RAT VAN, races onto screen and screeches to a halt outside the museum.  Two familiar masked crime fighters spring forth from van and charge inside.

NARRATOR
          Thank the heavens, our heroes must’ve been nearby!

INTERIOR – MUSEUM OF ARTIC ART – CONT

We see TWO VERY LARGE MEN dressed in FUZZY WHITE ZIPPER PAJAMAS stuffing DIAMONDS from BROKEN display cases into black bags.  Behind them, a sultry damsel in a BLUE SKIRT DRESS watches on while taking puffs from her classy CIGARETTE HOLDER.

FROZEN FIONNA
Polar and Bear, push your paws to snatch that ice!  We must hurry if we’re going to make our cool getaway.

POLAR AND BEAR
          Yes Boss!

TURTLEBOY (OFF SCREEN)
You can take your time, Tubby and Chubby.  You’re not going anywhere!

The camera PULLS BACK to reveal RATGIRL and TURTLEBOY.

RATGIRL
Frozen Fionna, you fiend!  I should’ve known that The North Pole Diamonds were just too much ice for you to ignore.



FROZEN FIONNA
Bratgirl!  Once again, you and your pre-pubescent partner are trying to heat up all my frigid fun.

TURTLEBOY
          Hey, I’m definitely pubescent lady!

FROZEN FIONNA (CONTINUED)
But you’re too late.  I’m about to ski out of here with enough ice to keep me cool for an ice age.

RATGIRL
          The only place you’re going is back to jail!

FROZEN FIONNA
We’ll see about that.  Polar and Bear, swat these salmon and let’s take our leave.

POLAR AND BEAR
          Yes Boss.

Polar and Bear rush across the floor towards Ratgirl and Turtleboy and the screen freezes.

NARRATOR
Oh no!  Will these criminals defeat our heroes or will our heroes put villainy in its place?  Find out when we return after a few short messages from our sponsors.

Fade to black.

Commercial break.




[Artwork:  BIFF, POW, BAM, ZOOM]











SUPERHERO TV SHOW RPG



Welcome True Believers to grooviest, swingin’est, coolest of the cool Superhero TV Show RPG.  Get ready to thwart dastardly villains and foil their sinister plans while protecting the good law-abiding citizens of your fair city. 



Superhero TV Show (or STVS) is a throwback to a simpler time when superheroes were always heroic, supervillains were over-the-top theatrical spectacles and the storylines were intentionally cheesy, gimmicky and stuffed full of as much innuendo and camp humor as possible.  A time where guns were almost nonexistent, most disputes were settled by fisticuffs and jails seemed to have a revolving door installed for easy escaping.  



THE BASICS



What is a roleplaying game?  Great question!  A roleplaying game is a game that’s played by a small group of people, usually around a kitchen table, that involves several players who, like yourself have created characters and they then take their characters through a world and scenario created by the Game Master and role play or do battle to overcome the situation or to reach a goal and advance their character up in levels.  In Superhero TV Show RPG, characters are called Heroes and the Game Master is The Narrator. 



What do I need to play?  You’ll need some paper and a pencil, this game book and some six-sided dice.  And most importantly, you’ll need your imagination.  Don’t forget that!



Some terms that you’ll quickly become familiar with are:



THE NARRATOR:  This is the person who is responsible for narrating an episode for you to play in.  The Narrator could be thought of as the “Woman or the Man with the plan”.  The Narrator should have a good understanding of the rules and the mechanics and be able to answer any questions a player might have.  If you’re ever unsure about what to do, The Narrator should be able to provide guidance.



PLAYER:  That’s you!  A player is the person who The Narrator writes an episode for to enjoy.  A player is not to be confused with a Hero.  A Hero is who the player controls in the game.  Furthermore, during game play it is okay for one Hero to disagree or even be mad at another Hero, but you wouldn’t want one player to be mad at another player; remember we’re all playing this game to have fun!



DICE REFERENCE:  In the coming pages, you’ll begin seeing over and over what is referred to as dice reference.  An example would be:  1d6.  What this refers to is what type of die you will role and how many times you’ll roll it.  In the example of 1d6, means you will roll 1 six-sided die, 1 time and total would be the number that lands face-up on the die.  If you were to see 3d6, then you’d roll 3 six-sided dice once (adding the dice totals together) or roll one six-sided die 3 times for the total.  If you were to see 1d6-1, that means you roll 1 four-sided die and subtract 1 from the roll leaving you with the total.



GAME OVERVIEW



Superhero TV Show is designed to be fast, fun and often silly.  This game is more concerned with the amount of fun that your gaming group is having as opposed to game balance or the amount of tactical or “crunchy” game mechanics that gets stuffed into it’s pages.  This RPG should be classified as rules light but it is this designer’s belief that the rules that are presented here are solid and are there to support the gameplay as opposed to hinder it.



THE CORE MECHANIC



Any action attempted that has a chance of failure requires the player to dice.



First: Roll 2d6

If doubles (except double 1s) are rolled then roll an additional d6 and add that to your total.



Next:  Add/subtract any relevant Attribute.



Next:  Add/subtract any relevant Combat Ability (if fighting) or any relevant Career (if not fighting).



Next:  Add/subtract any relevant Modifiers.



A total of 10 or higher is a success.  A total of 9 or lower is a failure.



Note:  A natural 12 or (2) Sixes rolled, is always a success.  A Natural 2 or (2) Ones rolled are always a failure.



HERO CREATION



Every player is STVS needs to make at least 1 Hero but can make as many as they want.  To make a Hero, it is recommended that you as a player, come up with a Hero concept.  This concept could be based on an existing Hero from one of the many comic book companies that are out there or you can come up with a Hero of your own design.  When making original Heroes, it is important to create a theme that your Hero can use when creating weapons, vehicles, hideouts, etc.  Also, each Hero will need a secret identity as well.



ATTRIBUTES



Once you have a solid Hero concept in mind, the first step to bringing that concept to fruition is to determine your Hero’s Attributes.  In STVS, each Hero has 4 core Attributes:  Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence & Charisma.  The base score for each Attribute is 0 (0 represents a normal person).  You can add or subtract from this score by dividing 4 Attribute points as you see fit.  Note:  You cannot start the game with an Attribute score higher than 3.  Also, if you choose, you can take a -1 in one Attribute to add that point to another score.  You can do this only once.



STRENGTH:  This Attribute encompasses your Hero’s physical strength, body build, endurance and toughness.  Hero’s with a high STR score can more easily kick in a locked door, carry someone to safety and exert themselves longer than Hero’s with a low Strength score.



Use Strength for lifting, throwing, bending, breaking things and for activities like grappling, jumping, scaling buildings and arm-wrestling.



DEXTERITY:  This Attribute encompasses your Hero’s speed, prowess, agility and general coordination.  Heroes with a high DEX score can more easily jump from one surface to another, tumble or roll and move faster and more gracefully.



Use DEX when dancing, running and landing and for activities like jumping across rooftops, tumbling and rolling and for tip toeing or sneaking up on villains. 



INTELLEGENCE:  This Attribute encompasses your Hero’s mental strength, willpower, focus and determination.  Hero’s with a high INT score can last longer when under pressure, fight hypnotism, figure out complex clues left by villains.



Use INT when remembering, spotting and calculating outcomes and for activities like creating a new weapon, repairing a damaged vehicle/weapon or concealing a secret identity.



CHARISMA:  This Attribute encompasses your Hero’s appearance, appeal and charm.  Hero’s with a high CHR score can more easily convince others that they are telling the truth or to follow their lead, attract a potential love interest and win the approval of the citizens of their city.



Use CHR when intimidating goons, distracting villains and working with the police.


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That's it so far.  I'm very open to collaboration.  Feel free to hit me up here, on Facebook or at my Email EricBloat@yahoo.com


2 comments:

  1. Glad that the video prompted you to make something fun. Good luck polishing and adding more to this in the future.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Sir! This one should be a fun one when done.

    ReplyDelete