Monday Mashup

Bryant's weekly offer for you to write a RolePlayingGame? scenario combining some book, movie, TV show (sports team, whatever) with any game you choose.

Other gaming memes - Wednesday Weird (bring something fresh to a gaming cliche) http://www.skyseastone.net/nuadha/ and WISH (Weekly Idea Sharing Hegemony) http://www.whiterose.org/wish/

Just to keep from repeating (no TFOS? aw) i think i'd do Toon. Watch some old Wacky Races and then imagine up what Cartoon Networks would do with it today. Plus a little of that Bakshi Mighty Mouse feeling. Mickey Mouse would make an interesting participant, and would have to fight an army of Disney lawyers trying to stop all kinds of things along the way. News & blog coverage features prominently, with journalists and fans always getting in the way, and vain racers wasting time. Of course the race and plot twists go through areas that i or other players have visited or know about.

Also see BookShelved:AroundTheWorldInEightyDays

Some interesting responses, but all pretty straight fantasy. How about a space opera version? Traveller or GURPS Space, whatever...

The GameMaster starts with rumors of messiah-types with weird similarities showing up among many (eventually all?) species. The different messiahs' stories could reflect the differences among the gospels (check out the apocryphal ones to get more ideas). Increase the rumors until the characters decide to investigate (or you decide to get them directly involved.

The messiahs really do miracles, gain followings (size depending on the spiritual tendencies of their species), etc., and declare that they are all facets of the same son of the same one God. Technology gets weird readings, some theories could emerge about what's "really" going on (for the secularists), but no satisfactorily complete explanation. Some of the player characters might become followers or investigators, dragging the others around. Eventually the messiahs start meeting and merging (with appropriately spectacular special effects), creating controversy among some of their followers (especially any xenophobic species). But doubt fades for those who are ever in any merged-messiah's presence. The PCs could get dragged into all kinds of small or large fighting in this.

Governments & other large-scale agencies become concerned and involved at some point, working with or against the players depending on what the players have done. In the end, a "Pilate" high mucky-muck of some boring secular government or other group) is present at the final merging and, (paid off by high priests of various religions losing their followers), has the messiah killed on the basis of an ancient, little-known galactic law authorizing this in times of extreme religious frenzy.

Player character attempts to stop this almost succeed, but fail tragically in the end (the messiah of course doesn't cooperate with all of their efforts). If it makes sense, pull one of them into the Judas role, otherwise, have it be one of the earliest, most earnest followers they meet. Of course there are rumors of the messiah's appearances a few days later (maybe one or more of the PCs get to see him), and many new religions are formed.

Update: A deeper angle to take this would be to emphasize the political consequences of the messiah's radical NonViolence (read Walter Wink's EngagingThePowers).

Okay, just to not do the weird thing, i'll set this in a DungeonsAndDragons? universe. The lady is a lawful neutral illusionist princess, who's attempting to conjure a stairway to her people's heaven (her love has died, she wants to be with him, and suicide would send her to the wrong place). She hires the PCs to get some of the bits that she needs to complete it. If the players are not hireable then she hires someone they know and they get drawn into things. Her angst should be the over-riding theme whenever the players are in her presence.

As the players get the first two or three items, give them lots of clues that this is a bad idea. In truth, completing the stairway will automatically open a similar portal to one of the chaotic hells, and of course the players will have to deal with some of the consequences (if they're chaotic or evil, the might actually enjoy or be able to take advantage of this part).

The princess sends the piper with the players to keep them in line. He seems like just a powerless old man to them at first, but he's actually a druid under a slavery spell to the princess. He has a set of small silver handpipes which can be used with any control, sleep or similar mental-related spells and gives a -7 on saving throws. Characters who sing or play their own tune while the pipes are playing can ignore the handpipes' effect, and if doing so allows them to make the save then the spell that the princess has him under will break (and "the forest will echo with laughter").

The last piece she needs, a magical ladder in an abandoned castle in an ancient forest, is an artifact with subtle magical power that keeps the forest from being put under the plow. If the druid hasn't already been freed, he will shake off the spell himself before the ladder is removed, and at this point ask the players to help him betray the princess. For bonus points, work in "rings of smoke through the trees" and "the voices of those who stand looking" and best of all, a difficult choice for at least one player ("There's still time to change the road you're on", see the lyrics).

If the princess gets the ladder, she will cast the spell that opens the stairway. This should be described in great big fashion, with winds whipping up storm clouds and a big tornado-like thing down onto her dark tower, earth-shaking thunder, blinding beams of light from heaven, etc.

For every person who travels up the stairway, one powerful being from the chaotic hell makes its way into the dungeon of the princess' tower. She travels the stairway of course, and finds her lover, but he refuses to return with her, so she turns chaotic and returns to help the chaotics busting out of her dungeon make a mess. So whether she gets the ladder or not, the player characters may end up having to face her, maybe even have a new long-term enemy.

The teens are walking out of the school when they encounter big excitement from behind the baseball stands (they can't see the field). Whether they look into it or not, they quickly find out that the Red Sox are visiting the school to play the part-alien high school team. One way or another the teens get into the game, crushes on players manifest themselves, and whatever else will stimulate havoc...

Pedro is starting of course, and will trouble some of the aliens with some serious trick pitches he's been learning but not shown yet. The batters of course are great up and down the line. Bring in your favorite old players and managers who just happens to live or be visiting nearby (time travel?). Consult http://mlb.com/ for statistics to help some in getting the characters right if you don't follow the Sox.

Working the Green Wall & the Citgo sign into the game would be a nice touch, even though the game's being played at the high school (heck, why not mass teleportation mid-game? and then batting order changes...?). What if one of the umpires is an alien who thinks baseball violates his religion? Or the ghost of Babe Ruth appears?

Okay, you can make the rest of the havoc from there.

The first attempt to clean up the havoc will come from The Baseball Coach, a mildly beer-bellied guy who knows how to yell, although he's not really mean. More likely it will come to the Vice Principal, or maybe even (gasp) the Principal [note: in TFOS no one *ever* actually sees the Principal -- those 'sent to the principal' have foggy but vigorously unpleasant memories].

If the players enjoy the session, bring them back in a story to end the curse of the Bambino! Other possible long-term effects/arcs: One of the players' characters (or a well-known non-player character) leaves school to go play for a Red Sox minor league team. One of the aliens' relatives has a sports team that sends a scout who's now interested in one of the Red Sox (or school team!) players. Effects on the Red Sox could include injuries, interactions with trade talks, somehow-enhance abilities, who knows? How will Major League Baseball rule on use of alien knowledge or technology?