0: A Buffy Season Introduction
1: Season Premiere
2: Monster Of The Week
3: The Metaphorical Menace
4: The Big Bad
5: With Great Power Comes Great Inconvenience
6: The Spotlight Episode For Somebody Quiet
7: Love Makes You Do The Wacky
8: Buffy In Pain, Show Better
9: The Horror Episode
10: The Funny Magic Episode
11: The Two-Parter (Part One)
12: The Two-Parter (Part Two)
13: Format, Schmormat
14: The Special Occasion Or Holiday Episode
15: Whoa, Our Lives Are Really Weird
16: The Genre Standard
17: Inconvenient Issues You Can't Just Hit
18: The One Where Everybody Acts Out Of Character
19: A Whole New World
20: The Big Bad's Big Bad Plan
21: The Build-Up
22: The Season Finale
22+: Season Roundup Special Feature
Saturday, 26 November 2011
A Buffy Season: Season Roundup Special Feature
Right then. That's ten thousand words.
And I haven't touched on the use of information NPCs like exposition guys, shady underworld contacts, untouchable human villains like Wolfram And Hart lawyers, weird occult things that speak in riddles.
Or much on the practicalities of casting your show - I always stayed within budget, and got into the habit of looking for up-and-coming British actors as well as occasional stunt casting. Strangely, "Casting by The Watch House" became a semi-regular feature on my LJ due to things like Sophia Myles starring in Moonlight, James McAvoy playing a psychic Oxbridge student and then the young Professor X, Emilia Fox as a mystical Big Bad from Arthurian mythology (albeit a different one) in Merlin, and Henry Cavill going from Captain Rugged to Superman.
Or about Buffy's occasional prophetic dreams, dream logic and surreal high fantasy episodes.
Or...
So. Questions, comments?
And I haven't touched on the use of information NPCs like exposition guys, shady underworld contacts, untouchable human villains like Wolfram And Hart lawyers, weird occult things that speak in riddles.
Or much on the practicalities of casting your show - I always stayed within budget, and got into the habit of looking for up-and-coming British actors as well as occasional stunt casting. Strangely, "Casting by The Watch House" became a semi-regular feature on my LJ due to things like Sophia Myles starring in Moonlight, James McAvoy playing a psychic Oxbridge student and then the young Professor X, Emilia Fox as a mystical Big Bad from Arthurian mythology (albeit a different one) in Merlin, and Henry Cavill going from Captain Rugged to Superman.
Or about Buffy's occasional prophetic dreams, dream logic and surreal high fantasy episodes.
Or...
So. Questions, comments?
A Buffy Season: 22: The Season Finale
The Big Smackdown. The End Of The Season-Slash-World.
The dénouement of the season is, as a rule, pretty heavy on the fight scene.
This is for the title, so make it big. Failure will lead to an apocalypse and possibly cancellation of the show.
Of course, Buffy being as weighted in favour of its heroes as it is, this isn't really a concern. Individual characters may fall, if it's dramatically appropriate. Generally, however, evil is going to have its ass kicked and it's all about how.
I don't like to restrict the narrative-y flow of fight scenes with maps, but sometimes the tactics get involved enough that it's necessary and this may be one of those times. And if not, then do have some interesting environmental features to throw in, like a collapsing building, shafts of sunlight when fighting the king of all vampires, a horde of zombies in the way, anything that either side can use to their advantage.
But while the monster mash is the main focus, if this isn't a one-session double feature with the Build-Up there may still be time for making plans, joking about the failure to make plans, resolving character plots, pointing out the lack of resolution in character plots, foretastes of next season, last-chance sex, gloating by the Big Bad, extra gratuitous violence like clobbering an underworld contact or casually staking a vampire on the way to the main event... That kind of thing.
--
Example: Rock Hard
The city is slightly in ruins and the Siren now commands a giant sea monster planning to eat everybody.
Fighting her will involve getting into the ruined, still-quaking arena, or chasing her through the cracking, flooding streets and over collapsing rooftops to get high enough.
Are we gonna let this go?
I don't think so.
The dénouement of the season is, as a rule, pretty heavy on the fight scene.
This is for the title, so make it big. Failure will lead to an apocalypse and possibly cancellation of the show.
Of course, Buffy being as weighted in favour of its heroes as it is, this isn't really a concern. Individual characters may fall, if it's dramatically appropriate. Generally, however, evil is going to have its ass kicked and it's all about how.
I don't like to restrict the narrative-y flow of fight scenes with maps, but sometimes the tactics get involved enough that it's necessary and this may be one of those times. And if not, then do have some interesting environmental features to throw in, like a collapsing building, shafts of sunlight when fighting the king of all vampires, a horde of zombies in the way, anything that either side can use to their advantage.
But while the monster mash is the main focus, if this isn't a one-session double feature with the Build-Up there may still be time for making plans, joking about the failure to make plans, resolving character plots, pointing out the lack of resolution in character plots, foretastes of next season, last-chance sex, gloating by the Big Bad, extra gratuitous violence like clobbering an underworld contact or casually staking a vampire on the way to the main event... That kind of thing.
--
Example: Rock Hard
The city is slightly in ruins and the Siren now commands a giant sea monster planning to eat everybody.
Fighting her will involve getting into the ruined, still-quaking arena, or chasing her through the cracking, flooding streets and over collapsing rooftops to get high enough.
Are we gonna let this go?
I don't think so.
A Buffy Season: 21: The Build-Up
"Are you ready to be strong?"
The final phase of the Big Bad's plan, and the Cast's attempts to thwart it.
Allies, enemies, possibly a really cool stand-up fight with a lieutenant of the Big Bad, planning, arguing about plans, relationship issues coming to a head with all the stress and the "You're proposing to me 'cause we're gonna die!"
And the terrible omens of doom and the panicking citizens running for cover and the noncombatant supporting cast expressing their entirely understandable fears and...
Often a good idea to run this in a single longish session with the Season Finale, unless you really want to play on a cliffhanger, because most of the finale's runtime is given over to (a) dénouement and (b) extreme violence, so it's good to keep up that momentum.
Either way, this is the time for late-innings moves - like kidnapping PCs so rescuing them becomes part of the final session and they don't miss a few sessions chained to a wall.
And for the side of good, lost lore is found, allies return (possibly to die to prove the scariness of the Big Bad) and enemies betray their side, providing vital clues and real hope of victory to contrast with the otherwise relentless rush of bad news.
And any personal plots are resolved as well, at the best or worst possible moment. Love, heartbreak, uncertain power development, quests for souls, stuff like that.
And someone should deliver a rousing speech. Just not too many: "The other day, I gave an inspirational speech to the telephone repair man."
And just time for one last plot twist.
--
Example: Shake The Earth
The storm has come, and is surprisingly earthquake-y. And sea monster-y.
A Buffy Season: 20: The Big Bad's Big Bad Plan
The Big Bad makes a decisive move, advancing towards their ultimate probably-apocalyptic goal. Acquiring a magic item, sowing chaos, raising the first of an army of monsters, that kinda thing.
This is about as bad as things get. But also a glimmer of hope.
Because now, after hints and threats and possibly some violence, the Big Bad's plan is revealed. And that also reveals how to stop it.
Because if they're doing that it means they're planning to do that so therefore if we do this...
It's impractical, crazy, dangerous, probably all of the above and then some. But. It. Just. Might. Work.
Oh, and the Cast need a few bits and pieces. And so does the Big Bad. And some of them might be the same things.
And even if they aren't, this is probably the Big Bad's last opportunity to taunt from a position of safety. Use it well.
This could be a series of arc story scenes throughout preceding episodes, or all put into the third-last episode of the season, depending on how much weight you want to put on the Big Bad. A whole season could be made up of arc episodes, but that can get pretty wearing.
Take a look at previous episodes and see which plot threads could become Chekov's Guns. That troll hammer comes in handy weeks after being left behind in an apparent MOTW episode.
Any allies the Cast can call on in their hour of need? Any of the Big Bad's camp likely to betray the cause?
--
Example: On The Rocks
The Siren plans to destroy the city, draining the life from her victims and extending her lifespan by a thousand years. For this she needs the remaining pieces of the Stone of Fire, so that she can call up the storm she needs. And she's already arranged a captive audience, as her first show has sold out completely...
Thursday, 24 November 2011
A Buffy Season: 19: A Whole New World
In which a spell, dimensional portal, time warp, or some other kind of phlebotinum drops the Cast into, yes, A Whole New World.
Like The One Where Everybody Acts Out Of Character (which despite the order I'm putting these up, you should not run right next to this) A Whole New World takes advantage of the flexibility and kitchen-sinkiness of the Buffyverse so you can take a break from the regular game while still playing it.
It lets you spend a week in an evil mirror universe where half the Cast are vampires, a future cyberpunk dystopia, a visit toGreyhawk Pylea, a Descent into the Underworld, a world without monsters, a world without shrimp... a Days Of Future Past post-apocalypse nightmare the Cast then have to stop, a House Of M world where everyone is happy but somehow they know it's wrong, a historical costume drama with the Cast fighting knights or punching Nazis or saving Dickens from The Ghost Of Christmas Future... and all kinds of What If? stuff that you can't get away with in some games.
The Cast might be mentally fitted in, making this One Where Everybody Acts Out Of Character as well. That can be fun to play, particularly when it doesn't affect everyone and the one or two sane PCs have to make the others see sense. And if they're up for it (generally best to check in advance) some of them can play the alternate PCs all the way through, even acting against the heroes trying to set things right.
They might also have to dress the part, particularly if it's embarrassing and/or likely to turn heads. Oh, and if you cast your characters, now is a chance to use a photo of a given actor which totally does not suit the character they're cast as. Indeed, sometimes I've been tempted to do A Whole New World episode because of such a picture.
And if you want to add a maudlin element, one or more of the PCs might find the Whole New World appealing, especially if the real world is treating them like crap at the moment. Harder to do with the post-apocalypse-Hell world than the everybody-gets-what-they-always-wanted world, obvs, but even there what if you fall in love with someone who might never be born if you put the world to rights?
--
Example: Friendly Neighborhood Vampire Slayer
Heading out on patrol, Billie finds herself being followed by reporters. Who all want to ask her about slaying. Then a little girl asks for her autograph. Then the crew from that paranormal investigation show come over to get a piece to camera. Then she gets a call from the Mayor's office about getting the key to the city tomorrow.
Some of the band seem unfazed by suddenly being as famous as the Ghostbusters, like it's been this way for ages, while some are aware that they never used to have a police liaison and the news stories of their heroic exploits which go back months didn't exist last night...
(This could also happen gradually in a world-changing development, as partially happens in Season Eight.)
Alternate version which is way too close to The One Where Everybody Acts Out Of Character example: Fame At Last
Like The One Where Everybody Acts Out Of Character (which despite the order I'm putting these up, you should not run right next to this) A Whole New World takes advantage of the flexibility and kitchen-sinkiness of the Buffyverse so you can take a break from the regular game while still playing it.
It lets you spend a week in an evil mirror universe where half the Cast are vampires, a future cyberpunk dystopia, a visit to
The Cast might be mentally fitted in, making this One Where Everybody Acts Out Of Character as well. That can be fun to play, particularly when it doesn't affect everyone and the one or two sane PCs have to make the others see sense. And if they're up for it (generally best to check in advance) some of them can play the alternate PCs all the way through, even acting against the heroes trying to set things right.
They might also have to dress the part, particularly if it's embarrassing and/or likely to turn heads. Oh, and if you cast your characters, now is a chance to use a photo of a given actor which totally does not suit the character they're cast as. Indeed, sometimes I've been tempted to do A Whole New World episode because of such a picture.
And if you want to add a maudlin element, one or more of the PCs might find the Whole New World appealing, especially if the real world is treating them like crap at the moment. Harder to do with the post-apocalypse-Hell world than the everybody-gets-what-they-always-wanted world, obvs, but even there what if you fall in love with someone who might never be born if you put the world to rights?
--
Example: Friendly Neighborhood Vampire Slayer
Heading out on patrol, Billie finds herself being followed by reporters. Who all want to ask her about slaying. Then a little girl asks for her autograph. Then the crew from that paranormal investigation show come over to get a piece to camera. Then she gets a call from the Mayor's office about getting the key to the city tomorrow.
Some of the band seem unfazed by suddenly being as famous as the Ghostbusters, like it's been this way for ages, while some are aware that they never used to have a police liaison and the news stories of their heroic exploits which go back months didn't exist last night...
(This could also happen gradually in a world-changing development, as partially happens in Season Eight.)
Alternate version which is way too close to The One Where Everybody Acts Out Of Character example: Fame At Last
The band suddenly find they're at number one, scheduled to appear on the MTV awards, being covered in a special episode of glee, mobbed by fans everywhere they go...
A Buffy Season: 18: The One Where Everybody Acts Out Of Character
Possession, body swaps, misfiring magic, curses, amnesia, evil twins, an existing alter ego like the demon inside an ensouled vampire taking over, de-evolution beer, everybody turning out to be an actor in a TV series...
The One Where Everybody Acts Out Of Character is a staple of the genre, often done every season or two to give the actors and fans a bit of fun.
They can be completely different beings from the regular PCs, or warped reflections or exaggerated aspects of their true personalities. Magically-Paranoid Buffy is different from Vampire Buffy is different from Possessed Buffy.
Whatever the cause, The One Where Everybody Acts Out Of Character lets you play a different game in the same setting with the same players and sort of the same characters, which can be a lot of fun if the players are so inclined.
Warning: Do not do The One Where Everybody Acts Out Of Character in the first few sessions of a game. We need to get to know these characters so we know they're acting out of character. One Cast Member acting out of character after a couple episodes is fine, and easily hidden. But doing The One Where Everybody Acts Out Of Character as your second regular episode will just confuse people. I'm looking at you, Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Despite the name, The One Where Everybody Acts Out Of Character need not involve everybody acting out of character. Having one or two sane PCs in a world gone mad is often essential to stopping the effect.
The new personalities can solve the problem as well - like the ghosts in I Only Have Eyes For You who just need a chance to talk, and so they possess superhuman bodies that won't die while they argue. But that makes the normal PCs into bystanders, so don't make a habit of it.
To be properly playable, the alterna-selves need their own agendas as well as fun shticks to mess around with.
Besides how and why Everybody Acts Out Of Character, the main question to consider here is whether to tell the players, or some of them, in advance.
If they have to be sly about things, prep them - so if one of the Cast has been replaced by a doppelganger with a dangerous secret agenda, tell the player in advance and work out some plans for how this can revealed at a suitably dramatic moment.
If you're not sure they'll go for it, ask ahead. I find asking "do you want to be mind controlled and attack the party?" gets better results than saying "you're mind controlled and attack the party" does.
If the new personalities reflect or reveal secrets about their real selves, discuss those in advance.
If you want showboating scenery-chewing performances, generally best to give them time to rehearse.
If you want to throw everybody in at the deep end, this can work, but generally works better with the same characters in a different setting.
--
Example: Creative Differences
The band signs to record an album... and their style isn't quite what the producer wants... so the producer starts to change them.
A Buffy Season: 17: Inconvenient Issues You Can't Just Hit
As the Cast plan a move against the Big Bad something else comes up, often a reminder of how the Cast have to straddle the normal world as well as the weird one.
Grounded on your way to fight the monster? Stopped chasing a monster by the Principal? SATs
Moved along by police while staking out a lair? The vitally important artefact has been sold at auction?
Or similarly, the Cast could be attacked by a force of good (or good-ish) like the Initiative or the Knights of Byzantium, because they're supernatural and therefore suspect.
Or, horror of horrors, you could be surveyed by the Watchers.
As well as a reminder that the Cast generally have to operate in the "real" world and maintain secret identities and the like, it widens the setting.
Mundane(ish) inconveniences can lead to recurring characters, often thorns in the Cast's sides that they can't do anything about directly.
Meeting other good guys - possibly including the classic misunderstanding leading to a fight between superheroes - can make the fight less lonely than being the only heroes in the entire series. And it gives you someone clued-in to kill off to show how scary the Big Bad is.
--
Example: Wrong Direction
The band's van (by which the band mean Zora's van) is impounded. With the Stone of Frost, the only thing that can neutralise the Stone of Fire, inside.
Wednesday, 23 November 2011
A Buffy Season: 16: The Genre Standard
Into every genre show a few familiar stories must fall.
Because it's almost been a year, might as well look again at six staples of SF/F series.
The Bodyswap
The Time Loop
Ascension To A Higher Plane Of Existence
Alternate Dimensions
The Doppelganger/Double/Duplicate
The Dream Episode
I'll be addressing a couple of these later on. For now, note "I only did three of them in the course of The Watch House and the Bodyswap wasn't actually my idea. Mostly because I was sticking with the Buffyverse and there had already been high-profile Ascending, Dream and recent Time Loop episodes."
Still, there's fun to be had in letting players loose on a well-known fictive structure, seeing how a particular bunch of characters deals with a familiar problem.
So I'll throw in some other tropetastic options, like...
Descent Into The Underworld. (There was some talk of doing this at the start of Buffy season six.)
Crossover. (With Buffy, with Angel... or Bureau 13 or Grimm or Pirates Of The Caribbean or any other series that looks like it could happen in the Buffyverse without changing much.)
The Hero Loses Their Powers. (Helpless, of course. And Angel in I Will Remember You, where it's totally awesome for him until it almost kills him. Also the less common flipside, The Hero's Powers Go Into Overdrive. Which I did to Jake the psychic in The Watch House, a bit like Earshot. And which latterly Buffy sorta-kinda did in Season Eight.)
Days Of Future Past. (The Wish is almost like this, but with the present rewritten to allow a villain already safely slain to win.)
Protect A (Possibly Vitally Important) Child. (Buffy never did a babysitting episode - Dawn doesn't count - but Angel had to save oracle children from a killer Daredevil-wannabe and defend a pregnant woman from weird knights after accidentally killing her champion, and had plenty of trouble with his own son to boot.)
Amnesia. (Buffy and Angel did this in the same year!)
--
Example: Power
The Hero's Powers Go Into Overdrive. First applied to the slayer in SteveD's Elvis Buffy season.
Pursuing a vampire, Billie throws a mailbox at him. And I mean a street mailbox, not a house one.
A Buffy Season: 15: Whoa, Our Lives Are Really Weird
Our heroes have been stomping the forces of evil for a while now. They may even have special stomping the forces of evil boots. They might have a growing sense of ignorance being bliss, regular folks having it easy and the like. They might not think that much about it, though.
Time to show them just how strange their routine is.
The main way to do this is to have someone (a new PC or a potentially major NPC) come in who is or would be at least as weirded out by the discovery that vampires are real as Willow and Xander were back in the day. And the Cast have to make sure this doesn't get the new guy, them, and possibly everyone else killed.
A lot of folks handle introduction to the terrors of the Buffyverse pretty well, but some don't. We first see this with Owen in Never Kill A Boy On The First Date, And while Joyce copes fairly well, when Gingerbread comes around she's the one that falls under the spell. Xander and Giles both lose possible love interests over this. And then there's Kate in Angel...
Outside perspective can also come from the other direction - those involved in supernatural business, who can appear just about as strange to them as they do to the "straights" and act as cautionary tales for the more extreme go-for-it PCs. Kendra's a good example here, a slayer who's all about the slaying. Maybe the Cast can get them to chill a bit. Maybe they can't.
So take a look at the characters' situation, their attitudes to the fight and to those they're fighting for. If they're getting a tad blasé about the whole thing, here we go.
--
Example: Thicker Than Blood
Hope's sister Joy visits, down in the dumps following a disastrous breakup, just as the gang has to stop endless darkness consuming the Earth. Keeping her unaware of the supernatural would involve a lot of farce-style hiding of inconvenient monster attacks, especially when she takes an interest in one of the boys in the band...
Time to show them just how strange their routine is.
The main way to do this is to have someone (a new PC or a potentially major NPC) come in who is or would be at least as weirded out by the discovery that vampires are real as Willow and Xander were back in the day. And the Cast have to make sure this doesn't get the new guy, them, and possibly everyone else killed.
A lot of folks handle introduction to the terrors of the Buffyverse pretty well, but some don't. We first see this with Owen in Never Kill A Boy On The First Date, And while Joyce copes fairly well, when Gingerbread comes around she's the one that falls under the spell. Xander and Giles both lose possible love interests over this. And then there's Kate in Angel...
Outside perspective can also come from the other direction - those involved in supernatural business, who can appear just about as strange to them as they do to the "straights" and act as cautionary tales for the more extreme go-for-it PCs. Kendra's a good example here, a slayer who's all about the slaying. Maybe the Cast can get them to chill a bit. Maybe they can't.
So take a look at the characters' situation, their attitudes to the fight and to those they're fighting for. If they're getting a tad blasé about the whole thing, here we go.
--
Example: Thicker Than Blood
Hope's sister Joy visits, down in the dumps following a disastrous breakup, just as the gang has to stop endless darkness consuming the Earth. Keeping her unaware of the supernatural would involve a lot of farce-style hiding of inconvenient monster attacks, especially when she takes an interest in one of the boys in the band...
A Buffy Season: 14: The Special Occasion Or Holiday Episode
Special occasions include things like characters' birthdays and anniversaries, Homecoming, The Prom, Graduation Day... this is starting to sound like a season three episode guide, but there are a few others here and there.
And there haven't been a lot of holiday episodes in the series - every other Hallowe(')en, one Christmas, one Valentine's Day and one Thanksgiving, am I missing any? But that's nearly one a year, so here we go.
(And a comic strip covered New Year's Eve for 2000, featuring - yes! - a bug concerned with the millennium.)
Hallowe(')en ties in to horror naturally, hence its three episodes, putting it on a par with Buffy's birthday. These were more Funny Magic Episodes in actual fact.
Basically this episode is about any normal event big enough to interfere with the Cast's nightly misadventures. The civilians around them who aren't preoccupied with monsters and stuff concentrate on something else, something which might seem trivial to world-saving heroes but is a reminder of the nice normal world they work so hard at saving. With the marking of time in a normal world and regular rites of passage for characters who've been through much more testing ones, the juxtaposition of the everyday and the uncanny is a bit more juxtaposy than usual.
And there may be buying presents and/or dancing.
And buying presents leads to all kinds of shades of meaning and opportunities for misunderstanding or understanding-only-too-well. And dancing leads to getting dressed up all fancy and occasional slow dancing and public displays of affection and the jilted and heartbroken and... well, you can see why there are loads of these in season three.
--
Example: Straight To The Heart
Despite assorted breakups and disasters, Will Play For Food are still booked for a college Valentine's party and Hope is determined the show must go on. So there they are doing their best to play cheerful, when inevitably things start going magically wrong with couples breaking off and pairing up all chaotically. Did somebody spike the punch Puck style?
Tuesday, 22 November 2011
A Buffy Season: 13: Format, Schmormat (aka The Episode Joss Directs)
One of the advantages of the Buffyverse as an ongoing setting is that you can excuse just about anything and the players will accept it and probably make jokes in character. A silent movie? A musical? A shared dream? Parallel universes? The Hero turning into an off-brand Muppet? A three-episode visit to Greyhawk Pylea?
Examples I got away with in The Watch House included Natalie discovering she was a fairytale princess, Victorian times leaking out of a cursed mirror and infecting the world around it, a descent into the underworld complete with an army of evil ghosts including undead Nazis, a Days Of Future Past post-apocalypse nightmare, and (borrowed with thanks from Eerie Indiana and latterly used in Supernatural) the one where William and Sunita discovered The Watch House was actually a TV show and everybody else was a bunch of actors.
So as long as your players are up for it, you can get away with just about anything. The only real trick here is going back to normal the week after. Too much of this and you could end up in total format meltdown - The Xena Syndrome. So only go this kablooey once a season. Maybe twice.
--
Example: The Facts In The Case Of Billie Griffin
The players take on the role of a group of paranormal investigators, searching the supposedly haunted Mason House at the edge of town, piecing together clues relating to the disappearance of the band Will Play For Food five years earlier...
--
Example That Apparently Supernatural Did: Video Killed The Vampire Slayer
A paranormal reality show (OB crew, night vision cameras and all, more Most Haunted than Mysteries Of The Bizarre) comes to town, looking into stories of strange occurrences around campus. The completely sceptical production team miss blatant clues, look the wrong way as vampires run past, accidentally alert monsters the band are hunting and allow them to escape, enlist false witnesses to produce an inconclusive and untrue story, and generally cause trouble that means the band have to save the world from the forces they've inadvertently allowed to threaten it. And all while Hope practices her telegenic screaming and fainting as she tries to get an interview which in the final edit lasts three seconds.
Examples I got away with in The Watch House included Natalie discovering she was a fairytale princess, Victorian times leaking out of a cursed mirror and infecting the world around it, a descent into the underworld complete with an army of evil ghosts including undead Nazis, a Days Of Future Past post-apocalypse nightmare, and (borrowed with thanks from Eerie Indiana and latterly used in Supernatural) the one where William and Sunita discovered The Watch House was actually a TV show and everybody else was a bunch of actors.
So as long as your players are up for it, you can get away with just about anything. The only real trick here is going back to normal the week after. Too much of this and you could end up in total format meltdown - The Xena Syndrome. So only go this kablooey once a season. Maybe twice.
--
Example: The Facts In The Case Of Billie Griffin
The players take on the role of a group of paranormal investigators, searching the supposedly haunted Mason House at the edge of town, piecing together clues relating to the disappearance of the band Will Play For Food five years earlier...
--
Example That Apparently Supernatural Did: Video Killed The Vampire Slayer
A paranormal reality show (OB crew, night vision cameras and all, more Most Haunted than Mysteries Of The Bizarre) comes to town, looking into stories of strange occurrences around campus. The completely sceptical production team miss blatant clues, look the wrong way as vampires run past, accidentally alert monsters the band are hunting and allow them to escape, enlist false witnesses to produce an inconclusive and untrue story, and generally cause trouble that means the band have to save the world from the forces they've inadvertently allowed to threaten it. And all while Hope practices her telegenic screaming and fainting as she tries to get an interview which in the final edit lasts three seconds.
A Buffy Season: 12: The Two-Parter (Part Two)
Cliffhangers need to be resolved. Gamechanging results need to be looked at. The Big Bad's plot or MOTF's rampage need to be put down. Differences need to be put aside for the moment. Mangled friendships need to be patched up, or space and time need to be given.
And most importantly, after all the fallout something that people will still want to play needs to be left. This is shaking things up, not changing the series into something unrecognisable and unwanted.
--
Example: All Fall Down
The band has split up - and the Siren has Adam and wants Billie to steal the Stone of Fire in exchange for his life - and Josh made a pass at Zora - and the Watchers have sent a group of agents to try and clean up this mess - and -
And most importantly, after all the fallout something that people will still want to play needs to be left. This is shaking things up, not changing the series into something unrecognisable and unwanted.
--
Example: All Fall Down
The band has split up - and the Siren has Adam and wants Billie to steal the Stone of Fire in exchange for his life - and Josh made a pass at Zora - and the Watchers have sent a group of agents to try and clean up this mess - and -
A Buffy Season: 11: The Two-Parter (Part One)
We're halfway through the season (unless we're making season one) and we've covered many of the real classic episode types, with a couple of exceptions. And here's one.
A two-parter generally marks the Big Bad stepping its game up, or some other change to the status quo. Welcome To The Hellmouth introduced the status quo and changed it, What's My Line? brought in a second Vampire Slayer and Surprise and Innocence and then Becoming were all pretty big news too.
So what merits a double-size session in the middle of a season?
Things Change - This can happen in any episode, even the most seemingly innocuous filler MOTW. So given all the weird stuff that can happen in any given episode, an extra level of changiness is required. This change sticks, as well. Look at things you'd like to do different and plot hooks you haven't pulled on lately. Is the Big Bad not as big and bad as you intended? Turns out he was a fake Big Bad, the real one is way worse. Is that romance going too well? Turns out the nice sweet-natured guy is really a werewolf. Watcher too fatherly? Fire him.
Things Change For The Cast Too - Try and line up character development moments for the Cast as well. What's My Line? had Buffy questioning her role even before a much keener slayer turned up, and Surprise and Innocence was a huge change for her, and not just her, all the group dynamics moved.
High Stakes - The Big Bad makes a major move, or a bigger-than-average MOTW (technically MOTF, Monster Of The Fortnight) threatens what we know, and may succeed in smashing something up. Very possibly an important something. If you generally restrict yourself to a TV budget, now's the time to do something rather impractical. Small army of vampires? Giant monster attack? Pirate ghost ship?
A Cliffhanger - Ideally a good big hurty multiple cliffhanger. A straight "arg, we could all be killed" cliffhanger works fine, but try and throw in some other development as well. Buffy's about to be bitten by a vampire! (Back when that seemed like a real threat.) That girl isn't one of the horde of monster assassins out to kill Buffy, she's another slayer! The Judge is here and Spike and Dru have him and Buffy and Angel just did it and now he doesn't look at all well! The world's about to end and Spike's plotting and Giles has been kidnapped and Kendra's dead and Buffy's been arrested and -
One thing I'll note about cliffhangers - most players will not let them sit. In most of the cliffhanger-y writeups in The Watch House the end of the session was actually around the pre-credits of part two, because the players wouldn't stop. If you really want to try it, pack your bags before saying "to be continued" and then run for the door.
--
Example: Spin Around
The Siren moves directly against the Cast - just as Hope manages to secure a major gig so the last thing she wants to hear is "sorry, I have to hunt a monster" - just as Adam's ex walks in on him and Billie sharing their first kiss - just as Josh's girlfriend dumps him - just as -
Monday, 21 November 2011
A Buffy Season: 10: The Funny Magic Episode
Another of the archetypal episodes, where we find that magic is capricious and troublesome, often in a funny way, and particularly when applied to Cast Members.
These mostly happen to Xander.
Sometimes they hit somebody else (like Giles in A New Man) or everybody, as seen back to back in Once More With Feeling and Tabula Rasa. Some of them abruptly segue into a different plot type entirely, causing dangerous narrative whiplash, and I only recommend this for the brave amongst you.
The kind of magical effect will define the kind of comedy, and how much work is involved. Once More With Feeling would be rather difficult to do with weeks of preparation, let alone with the players getting no warning. And you'd also need to plot and scheme with players in advance to pull off something like Fred's audition scene for Angel where Wesley and Gunn start "talking Elizabethan crazy talk".
But a "play characters a bit differently" spell like "all the girls are in love with Xander" in Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered would be less of a stretch, as would "one character is changed amusingly and possibly dangerously" like Fyarl Demon Giles. You could spring those with little or no warning.
The most planning involves making sure it gets as out of control as possible. Amy and Buffy fighting over Xander, the Cast losing their memories as they're about to be besieged by vampire mobsters...
Since these stories are about unpredictable effects be prepared for extra-very-unpredictable effects, like Willow's what-she-says-goes spell in Something Blue (which were I GMing I'd set up in advance with Willow's player so she says plenty of problem-causing things) nearly leading to a marriage, or Xander's love spell affecting Drusilla as well. The stranger and harder-to-explain-later, the better.
Serious stories about the abuse of power also occur, but this is mainly a light show, so play at least some of these for laughs. Farce, slapstick - look at magical comedies outside of the Buffyverse too, entire sitcoms about witches and genies run on this.
And if there's a sorcerer among the player characters or their circle of friends, one of these might happen when you least expect it. The Watch House episode Secret Identity was entirely the players' idea, beyond the initial setup of Matthew being jealous of Natalie and Thomas...
--
Example: Sugar And Spice
Bass player and girl trouble magnet Josh is nearly settled with a new girlfriend, much to the annoyance of a recently jilted girlfriend who goes to the local magic shop and buys a curse so that he'll know how it feels for a woman...
(I okayed this with Josh's player, since it throws him (or for the moment her) into the spotlight in a potentially cringe-inducing manner. He responded: "You're cruel. I like that in a GM.")
The spell naturally hits while he's with the sure-to-be-cruelly-amused Hope rather than the will-help-sensibly Billie, and he was with Hope because he was shopping so she'll be sure to play with that, and that's because he needed a new shirt before a big date with the unaware-of-all-this new girlfriend, and while there's a monster targeting women on campus who already got too good a view of the band for their female members to be able to work as bait, and...
These mostly happen to Xander.
Sometimes they hit somebody else (like Giles in A New Man) or everybody, as seen back to back in Once More With Feeling and Tabula Rasa. Some of them abruptly segue into a different plot type entirely, causing dangerous narrative whiplash, and I only recommend this for the brave amongst you.
The kind of magical effect will define the kind of comedy, and how much work is involved. Once More With Feeling would be rather difficult to do with weeks of preparation, let alone with the players getting no warning. And you'd also need to plot and scheme with players in advance to pull off something like Fred's audition scene for Angel where Wesley and Gunn start "talking Elizabethan crazy talk".
But a "play characters a bit differently" spell like "all the girls are in love with Xander" in Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered would be less of a stretch, as would "one character is changed amusingly and possibly dangerously" like Fyarl Demon Giles. You could spring those with little or no warning.
The most planning involves making sure it gets as out of control as possible. Amy and Buffy fighting over Xander, the Cast losing their memories as they're about to be besieged by vampire mobsters...
Since these stories are about unpredictable effects be prepared for extra-very-unpredictable effects, like Willow's what-she-says-goes spell in Something Blue (which were I GMing I'd set up in advance with Willow's player so she says plenty of problem-causing things) nearly leading to a marriage, or Xander's love spell affecting Drusilla as well. The stranger and harder-to-explain-later, the better.
Serious stories about the abuse of power also occur, but this is mainly a light show, so play at least some of these for laughs. Farce, slapstick - look at magical comedies outside of the Buffyverse too, entire sitcoms about witches and genies run on this.
And if there's a sorcerer among the player characters or their circle of friends, one of these might happen when you least expect it. The Watch House episode Secret Identity was entirely the players' idea, beyond the initial setup of Matthew being jealous of Natalie and Thomas...
--
Example: Sugar And Spice
Bass player and girl trouble magnet Josh is nearly settled with a new girlfriend, much to the annoyance of a recently jilted girlfriend who goes to the local magic shop and buys a curse so that he'll know how it feels for a woman...
(I okayed this with Josh's player, since it throws him (or for the moment her) into the spotlight in a potentially cringe-inducing manner. He responded: "You're cruel. I like that in a GM.")
The spell naturally hits while he's with the sure-to-be-cruelly-amused Hope rather than the will-help-sensibly Billie, and he was with Hope because he was shopping so she'll be sure to play with that, and that's because he needed a new shirt before a big date with the unaware-of-all-this new girlfriend, and while there's a monster targeting women on campus who already got too good a view of the band for their female members to be able to work as bait, and...
A Buffy Season: 9: The Horror Episode
Horror isn't actually that big of a thing in Buffy, it's a ways behind fantasy and superheroics and comedy and drama. "Vampire" may be the longest word in Buffy The Vampire Slayer but it's just ahead of "The" in actual importance. So most of the vampires and demons just ain't that scary, and seeing Buffy demolish horror stereotypes is part of the fun.
But now and then they crank up the nightmare fuel and go for it.
We'll be using Hush as our set text here. Open your DVD collections at Season Four.
See also Killed By Death, Helpless, Where The Wild Things Are, Bring On The Night, I've Got You Under My Skin, less seriously Halloween, and in a different direction Normal Again. Look at how they work compared to regular episodes as well as how they work compared to the pure horror genre works they take inspiration from, how focus shifts and the characters behave differently.
In Hush you can't call for help, essentially isolating you if you're out of sight. And while Buffy isn't particularly bothered by this, look at the focus on Willow and Tara - Tara brought in to be vulnerable and Willow hurt to make her so. Switching out to temporary player characters like Tara, isolated and not so powerful, or playing up vulnerabilities and inflicting them on our Heroes. We may suspect Willow isn't really in danger (after all we know how the Drama Point system works, none of the PCs are really in danger in this game) but Tara could be.
"And the idea that basically, we had a new Willow. Because Willow had become so self-confident and at ease with herself, she wasn't as helpless as she used to be. And so we wanted somebody, particularly for this episode, who could act as a kind of Willow character. Somebody we would be invested in, who could be put into danger, who would not necessarily know how to take care of herself off the bat. Because you need somebody like that, and Willow - and Alyson herself - had both matured to the point where it took a lot to get them into that kind of peril."
- Joss Whedon's DVD commentary for Hush
So look at things you could take from the main Cast, like their voices, Buffy's artificial weakness and enforced isolation (and the trust of Giles) in Helpless, or their ability to attack the threat in a ghost story.
Killed By Death is sort of a prototype for this - nobody but kids or the highly feverish can see Der Kinderstod, Buffy has to fight him while down with flu, and with most of the Scooby Gang outside of the hospital we shift focus to the brave but very very vulnerable kids. It's not quite like Buffy guesting in a session of Little Fears, but it's part of the way there.
The MOTW will be a big factor here, so go for something suitably unnerving. Nosferatu-style old guys in suits with long fingers and big smiles may be a bit too familiar by now, but if you can imagine Doug Jones or Camden Toy playing it, that's a good start...
"What I basically set out to do, and I realise that it's very ambitious, was to have a generation of children say "Do you remember the Gentlemen from that episode of that 'Buffy' show? That traumatised me!" the way I and my generation talk about the Zuni doll in 'Trilogy of Terror' with Karen Black. I wanted something that creepy. And I think I got it with my boys.
Talk a little bit about the Gentlemen. What I was going for with the Gentlemen was very specifically a Victorian kind of feel, because that to me is very creepy and fairytale-like. The politeness, the suits, the crazies who are like the crazies in the asylum in 'Dracula'. The metal teeth representing 'Science... Defeats Cavities!' Everything is very Victorian era. To me that just bespeaks total creepiness, and it has very classical...
When I designed them - because I drew a very specific picture of what I wanted for the Gentlemen which was realised beautifully by Vulich, John Vulich our makeup and effects guy, and Todd McIntosh - I was drawing on everything that had ever frightened me, basically. Including the fellow from my dream, Nosferatu, Pinhead... Mister Burns... anything that gave that creepy feel.
You know, we get into a lot of reptilian monsters and things that look kind of like aliens. And what I wanted from these guys was very specifically, and again I say it here, fairy tales. I wanted guys that would remind people of what scared them when they were children. I believe the thing that scares us most when we are children is old people (laughs) - is the idea of age."
- Joss Whedon's DVD commentary for Hush
So look at what might unsettle you or your players. Nothing that will actually traumatise them - no handouts showing the scale of the giant spider to the arachnophobic player, please - but ideas that can get them thinking "yeah, that might creep me out". You can probably talk about the giant spider relatively safely. Probably.
For an outside expert masterclass in childhood fears, see the average Steven Moffat episode of Doctor Who. Inescapable zombie types, monsters under the bed, statues, shadows... I'm surprised he hasn't done clowns yet.
Finally, these episodes end with lost strength regained, power discovered, the heroism of the Heroes proven and reinstated and the scarier-than-average MOTW thus defeated. The show's creep factor returns to normal in time for the end credits, and while they have some ongoing fallout these episodes mostly stay isolated incidents. Mostly. (Passion, which demonstrates that the recurring vampires can actually be terrifying while also being a big pain episode, is the main example where this doesn't happen.) But they're fun while they last.
--
Example: All Alone
Download this one here!
A supernatural threat spreads out across town, and everyone who is out after sunset vanishes as soon as they go home. (Or everyone asleep at midnight disappears, or stays asleep and is impossible to wake, leaving only those up late like partying students, night shift workers and monster hunters.)
And the monsters responsible are stalking the streets, ready to grab and disappear anyone as they hunt the Cast down.
This happens early enough, and with little enough warning, that the band are alone in an almost abandoned city, possibly with helpless sleeping people to defend or vanished people to recover. How do you deal with that level of isolation? To throw in a bit more hurting, play up any sense of abandonment (parents divorcing, say) and emphasise new connections (like the start of a romance) which are messed up by the attack.
But now and then they crank up the nightmare fuel and go for it.
We'll be using Hush as our set text here. Open your DVD collections at Season Four.
See also Killed By Death, Helpless, Where The Wild Things Are, Bring On The Night, I've Got You Under My Skin, less seriously Halloween, and in a different direction Normal Again. Look at how they work compared to regular episodes as well as how they work compared to the pure horror genre works they take inspiration from, how focus shifts and the characters behave differently.
In Hush you can't call for help, essentially isolating you if you're out of sight. And while Buffy isn't particularly bothered by this, look at the focus on Willow and Tara - Tara brought in to be vulnerable and Willow hurt to make her so. Switching out to temporary player characters like Tara, isolated and not so powerful, or playing up vulnerabilities and inflicting them on our Heroes. We may suspect Willow isn't really in danger (after all we know how the Drama Point system works, none of the PCs are really in danger in this game) but Tara could be.
"And the idea that basically, we had a new Willow. Because Willow had become so self-confident and at ease with herself, she wasn't as helpless as she used to be. And so we wanted somebody, particularly for this episode, who could act as a kind of Willow character. Somebody we would be invested in, who could be put into danger, who would not necessarily know how to take care of herself off the bat. Because you need somebody like that, and Willow - and Alyson herself - had both matured to the point where it took a lot to get them into that kind of peril."
- Joss Whedon's DVD commentary for Hush
So look at things you could take from the main Cast, like their voices, Buffy's artificial weakness and enforced isolation (and the trust of Giles) in Helpless, or their ability to attack the threat in a ghost story.
Killed By Death is sort of a prototype for this - nobody but kids or the highly feverish can see Der Kinderstod, Buffy has to fight him while down with flu, and with most of the Scooby Gang outside of the hospital we shift focus to the brave but very very vulnerable kids. It's not quite like Buffy guesting in a session of Little Fears, but it's part of the way there.
The MOTW will be a big factor here, so go for something suitably unnerving. Nosferatu-style old guys in suits with long fingers and big smiles may be a bit too familiar by now, but if you can imagine Doug Jones or Camden Toy playing it, that's a good start...
"What I basically set out to do, and I realise that it's very ambitious, was to have a generation of children say "Do you remember the Gentlemen from that episode of that 'Buffy' show? That traumatised me!" the way I and my generation talk about the Zuni doll in 'Trilogy of Terror' with Karen Black. I wanted something that creepy. And I think I got it with my boys.
Talk a little bit about the Gentlemen. What I was going for with the Gentlemen was very specifically a Victorian kind of feel, because that to me is very creepy and fairytale-like. The politeness, the suits, the crazies who are like the crazies in the asylum in 'Dracula'. The metal teeth representing 'Science... Defeats Cavities!' Everything is very Victorian era. To me that just bespeaks total creepiness, and it has very classical...
When I designed them - because I drew a very specific picture of what I wanted for the Gentlemen which was realised beautifully by Vulich, John Vulich our makeup and effects guy, and Todd McIntosh - I was drawing on everything that had ever frightened me, basically. Including the fellow from my dream, Nosferatu, Pinhead... Mister Burns... anything that gave that creepy feel.
You know, we get into a lot of reptilian monsters and things that look kind of like aliens. And what I wanted from these guys was very specifically, and again I say it here, fairy tales. I wanted guys that would remind people of what scared them when they were children. I believe the thing that scares us most when we are children is old people (laughs) - is the idea of age."
- Joss Whedon's DVD commentary for Hush
So look at what might unsettle you or your players. Nothing that will actually traumatise them - no handouts showing the scale of the giant spider to the arachnophobic player, please - but ideas that can get them thinking "yeah, that might creep me out". You can probably talk about the giant spider relatively safely. Probably.
For an outside expert masterclass in childhood fears, see the average Steven Moffat episode of Doctor Who. Inescapable zombie types, monsters under the bed, statues, shadows... I'm surprised he hasn't done clowns yet.
Finally, these episodes end with lost strength regained, power discovered, the heroism of the Heroes proven and reinstated and the scarier-than-average MOTW thus defeated. The show's creep factor returns to normal in time for the end credits, and while they have some ongoing fallout these episodes mostly stay isolated incidents. Mostly. (Passion, which demonstrates that the recurring vampires can actually be terrifying while also being a big pain episode, is the main example where this doesn't happen.) But they're fun while they last.
--
Example: All Alone
Download this one here!
A supernatural threat spreads out across town, and everyone who is out after sunset vanishes as soon as they go home. (Or everyone asleep at midnight disappears, or stays asleep and is impossible to wake, leaving only those up late like partying students, night shift workers and monster hunters.)
And the monsters responsible are stalking the streets, ready to grab and disappear anyone as they hunt the Cast down.
This happens early enough, and with little enough warning, that the band are alone in an almost abandoned city, possibly with helpless sleeping people to defend or vanished people to recover. How do you deal with that level of isolation? To throw in a bit more hurting, play up any sense of abandonment (parents divorcing, say) and emphasise new connections (like the start of a romance) which are messed up by the attack.
A Buffy Season: 8: Buffy In Pain, Show Better
... Buffy Not In Pain, Show Not As Good
Often closely paired to the romantic episode, the heartache episode. Buffy is urban fantasy superhero horror comedy drama, and here's the drama.
Loss, romantic pain, the crushing burden of responsibility, the essential meaninglessness of existence... These can be woven into regular episodes and dealt with somewhat obliquely, or put front and centre for memorable results if the director and players are up for it. Some folks are just here for the lighthearted monster-hunting after all. Personally I can watch Passion again with relatively little wincing when running through the series, but I pause before putting on The Body and don't always go through with it.
So big emotional episodes are generally talk-to-your-players territory, but this can ruin surprise and immersion for some players. You can crank up the drama and angst for some at the table even if not everyone is keen, as long as the rest of the players don't mind being close to the fireworks.
--
Example: Haunted
While investigating a supposed haunted house, Billie meets the perfect guy... sixty years after he died.
Often closely paired to the romantic episode, the heartache episode. Buffy is urban fantasy superhero horror comedy drama, and here's the drama.
Loss, romantic pain, the crushing burden of responsibility, the essential meaninglessness of existence... These can be woven into regular episodes and dealt with somewhat obliquely, or put front and centre for memorable results if the director and players are up for it. Some folks are just here for the lighthearted monster-hunting after all. Personally I can watch Passion again with relatively little wincing when running through the series, but I pause before putting on The Body and don't always go through with it.
So big emotional episodes are generally talk-to-your-players territory, but this can ruin surprise and immersion for some players. You can crank up the drama and angst for some at the table even if not everyone is keen, as long as the rest of the players don't mind being close to the fireworks.
--
Example: Haunted
While investigating a supposed haunted house, Billie meets the perfect guy... sixty years after he died.
Saturday, 19 November 2011
A Buffy Season 7: Love Makes You Do The Wacky
Love, romance, sex, heartbreak - these are often as key to Buffy as the monster violence and snarky asides.
I've seen from personal experience that a romantic plot (especially a complicated one with multiple interested parties where someone's bound to get hurt) can turn a regular monster-hunting game into full-on Buffy with all the trimmings.
There are articles, even entire sourcebooks and indie games dedicated to romance in gaming. They show how it can drive plots like nothing else, and also generally demonstrate that the players have to be willing to let their characters get hurt emotionally for it to work.
Romance can be an awkward thing for a lot of gamers, so there are some who won't want to go for this. If that's the case, there's no point pushing and annoying your players. You could suggest a limited single-episode romance plot and see if they're willing to try it in a clearly separated box, but the answer might still be a no.
If Young Player Characters In Love is a no-go consider a romantic plot at one remove, with NPCs as the fools for love. It'll lack the defining hugeness of a PC-centric affair, especially if you don't like playing multiple NPCs in a single scene, but it's enough to reflect the importance of love in the setting hopefully without squicking anybody at the table.
Anyway, PC or NPC, what does a love-centric Buffy story involve?
Generally, a happy couple is a subplot, not a plot. We're here for angst, people.
So Character A loves Character B. Does Character B reciprocate? What if they're dating Character C - who is a friend of Character A and an ally in the fight against evil? And Character D is into Character A too.
And Character C's parents don't approve of Character B, and can good friend Character A cover for them?
And Monster X has the hots for Character B as well. Much to the annoyance of Monster Y, who has loved Monster X for centuries and so wants to kill Character B, even though that screws up the plan to use Character B's power to open the portal to Dimension Z...
The Smallville RPG (a game built around the dramatic interconnections of a show that could at times look a lot like a Superman fan's Buffy game) has everybody's power defined by their feelings for everyone else, complete with antagonist PCs. Its relationship maps might be a good guide for when the love dodecahedrons in a game get hard to follow.
And that's just regular could-happen-in-any-high-school-drama love. Add love spells and succubi and things can get way more puzzling. The Sexy Monster is a recurring subset, sometimes MOTWs who just look the part and sometimes Big Bads or Big Morally Uncertains or Big Damn Heroes or some shifting combination of all of the above. After all, we're dealing with vampires here, and while regular Buffyverse vampires are mostly just snarly and bumpy, there are plenty who still have the allure of eternal youth and a liking for love bites...
--
Example: Heartless
Hope has a new guy, which among other things reminds her former guy in the band how cute she is - nothing like being off the market to make you tempting. But is it just jealousy that makes her ex suspect the new guy is connected to the girl found on campus with her heart torn out?
A Buffy Season: 6: The Spotlight Episode For Somebody Quiet
Spotlight episodes for big damn Heroes are pretty easy. Spotlight episodes for the Zeppo, the wallflower, the Watcher, those can be a bit trickier.
So look at the quieter, less automatically attention-getting characters - and players. Of course, there are players who pick these characters because they don't really want the spotlight, so don't drag them into it kicking and screaming. But there are also players who would like a "look at me" moment for their less front-and-centre characters or playing styles.
So look at ways to get them in trouble. Conspire with the player if they have ideas of the kinds of conflict they want, or the other players if you need them to step back and let our White Hats save the day.
--
Example: Not OK Computer
Adam, keyboards and main songwriter and borderline roadie, discovers that someone is using the college computer lab to create an AI that can hunt down anyone. Chances of it going rogue in three... two... one...
So look at the quieter, less automatically attention-getting characters - and players. Of course, there are players who pick these characters because they don't really want the spotlight, so don't drag them into it kicking and screaming. But there are also players who would like a "look at me" moment for their less front-and-centre characters or playing styles.
So look at ways to get them in trouble. Conspire with the player if they have ideas of the kinds of conflict they want, or the other players if you need them to step back and let our White Hats save the day.
--
Example: Not OK Computer
Adam, keyboards and main songwriter and borderline roadie, discovers that someone is using the college computer lab to create an AI that can hunt down anyone. Chances of it going rogue in three... two... one...
Friday, 18 November 2011
A Buffy Season: 5: With Great Power Comes Great Inconvenience
So this show's about supernatural heroes as well as mundane ones, and even the mundane ones now have "secret identities" by association, as telling everybody you hunt monsters is not good for your safety or liberty.
So the practicalities of fighting the forces of evil on the down-low can make for interesting additions, with the obvious "nobody understands me" metaphorical dimension.
This gets even stronger when the PC having these problems is full-on supernatural as well. There are a whole lot of puberty metaphors in werewolf stories for a reason. Likewise there's a fair bit about the duties and responsibilities of the slayer in Buffy, and these are often about finding your own way to be a hero.
"Clark Kent has a job! I just want to go on a date!"
--
Example: Come Back To Bite You
What would a werewolf do if offered the chance to give away the power... without knowing who would pick it up and use it?
So the practicalities of fighting the forces of evil on the down-low can make for interesting additions, with the obvious "nobody understands me" metaphorical dimension.
This gets even stronger when the PC having these problems is full-on supernatural as well. There are a whole lot of puberty metaphors in werewolf stories for a reason. Likewise there's a fair bit about the duties and responsibilities of the slayer in Buffy, and these are often about finding your own way to be a hero.
"Clark Kent has a job! I just want to go on a date!"
--
Example: Come Back To Bite You
What would a werewolf do if offered the chance to give away the power... without knowing who would pick it up and use it?
A Buffy Season: 4: The Big Bad
Whether they were introduced in the Season Premiere or not, it's time for the season's Big Bad to make a play and get a bit of spotlight time.
This could be a scheme that looks like a MOTW and can be stopped like one but the overall threat proves larger than expected, a feint where the Big Bad is introduced under false pretences, even a blatant attack that leaves the Cast wondering what just happened.
So this seems like a good place to discuss what makes a good Bad.
Face time where you can't kill them: See the Mayor being immortal, Spike chatting with Buffy at a safe distance, Angelus in particular and his head games. This is a character, not just a monster. They could be relatable as well, if you can make it work.
Power: The average Big Bad is more powerful than any MOTW, more powerful than any of the Cast on their own, and more powerful than last year's Big Bad. The show started with a pretty old vampire and ended with Evil Incarnate. This can vary, but undercutting the threat can leave the players unimpressed.
Betrayal: A villain that tricks you hurts more than one that makes it clear you're not going to be best buds from the outset. This also increases their face time, and lets the Cast see...
Weaknesses: Other than hitting them a lot. Although hitting them a lot should be very satisfying by the time it comes down to it.
Metaphor: Not essential, but a definite added bonus. Angelus as the boyfriend who turns scummy after sex, Faith as the temptation of power.
Bigness: Fake Big Bads feature in several seasons before the real big brewin' evil shows up, and get killed off (sometimes by the actual Big Bad) after a couple episodes and a decent fight around the mid-season break.
The most successful Big Bad I've created is Victoria Valdermar in The Watch House. She's just a vampire, but above that...
She has screentime outside of fights. As noted above, she does the Bond villain bit of showing up to chat when the PCs are in no position to attack her.
She's similar to the group leader, Milli, in some ways, and very different to her in others, so a very unfriendly rivalry has developed. And she will insist on flirting with her boyfriend...
Above all else, I've tried to keep her consistent while showing different sides of her in different situations. She demonstrated a further depth of evil in season four, but it wasn't a real surprise because we knew she was capable of it from the get-go. A consistent villain gives the players something to hate that they can rely on in a pinch.
And she's been around long enough that the PCs have differing views of her. Milli, our hero, despises her immensely, partially because Jake was always scared but (never admitting this) intrigued by her interest.
--
Example: Siren Song
A routine patrol goes sideways when the vampire being chased disappears without a trace in a dead-end alley. Where did he go, and... is that the time?
Thursday, 17 November 2011
A Buffy Season: 3: The Metaphorical Menace
Sort of a MOTW, this one leans particularly heavily on the central metaphor of the series premise. In Buffy, it's "high school is Hell" so look at the episodes that warp a particular high school event, like wannabe cheerleaders eliminating the competition, or other parts of her life, like someone she doesn't like dating her mom who then (fortunately) turns out to be a killer android.
So look at the metaphorical dimension of the series you're creating. Probably focus on the Hero in the first of these, with others directed at the White Hats and other Cast Members later on.
The Watch House is about growing up and assuming responsibilities, the burden of duty, and whether family or personal choices mattered more. So any time the trainee Watcher PCs' lessons were foregrounded or their parents turned up I was generally playing on this theme, and it also reflected through with things like Ziggy's rejection of the family goals, a player choice that encouraged and focused the theme.
Band On The Run is about choice versus duty, so anything that relates to the band can play into this, especially if you focus on some issue that a band trying to make it big would expect to deal with and add monsters to it.
--
Example: Ghosting
The band have a shot at a studio session, but do they really have enough material? Oh, and the studio is haunted by a songwriter the manager ripped off and killed when he came after him.
So look at the metaphorical dimension of the series you're creating. Probably focus on the Hero in the first of these, with others directed at the White Hats and other Cast Members later on.
The Watch House is about growing up and assuming responsibilities, the burden of duty, and whether family or personal choices mattered more. So any time the trainee Watcher PCs' lessons were foregrounded or their parents turned up I was generally playing on this theme, and it also reflected through with things like Ziggy's rejection of the family goals, a player choice that encouraged and focused the theme.
Band On The Run is about choice versus duty, so anything that relates to the band can play into this, especially if you focus on some issue that a band trying to make it big would expect to deal with and add monsters to it.
--
Example: Ghosting
The band have a shot at a studio session, but do they really have enough material? Oh, and the studio is haunted by a songwriter the manager ripped off and killed when he came after him.
A Buffy Season: 2: Monster Of The Week
As the name implies, the Monster Of The Week is the bread and butter of a monster-fighting action series. I could list this as 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10-12... but as the show tries to ring the changes I'll show some different ways to do one. For now, this is the ordinary episode that the others deviate from, where the really important things are any resulting developments between the Cast, which are largely up to their players anyway.
All you really have to provide is a monster. These should be something you can imagine a weekly TV show being able to afford, for that matter. A subplot (which may also connect to what the monster is about) is good too.
These can involve variations on your standard monster like Dracula compared to regular vampires, classic archetypes like ghosts and killer cults, knockoffs from popular culture that you duly lampshade, scary things you thought up yourself. Grab some from here if you're stuck or use Scream Team as a visual guide or open another game's monster book.
Optional variants include the Minor Recurring Villain Monster, the Mystery Monster, the Creepy Monster and the TV-Friendly Eight-Strong Horde of Monsters.
What matters is that it threatens the peace and provides a decent fight, ideally with something interesting about it like a tactical option or a setting that could add flavour.
Their plans tend not to be very complicated - "get all up in the Hero's face until you get smacked down" is surprisingly popular - so you can always have them attack the Cast or kidnap one of the designated helpless victims if the players get stuck.
Mostly, MOTW episodes let the players talk in-character and air various issues without a serious danger getting in the way. If the MOTW itself is fun that's an added bonus. It's a dirty job but something's gotta do it.
--
Example: Don't Go There
The band have to arrange new digs, ideally including space for a decent practice room. Meanwhile, ninja demons trying to kill Billie. For a bit of added interest, they're trying to kill her in a peculiar way, like properly arranged duels to the death or something.
Another Example Because MOTWs Are So Common: Battle Of The Bands
A pretty obvious MOTW or possible recurring enemy-slash-irritant for a monster-hunting band. A rival band with a bit of magic of their own, which they use for their own self-aggrandisement. (Got a copy of The Magic Box? Turn to page 16.) This can escalate to a full-on ritual-disrupting fight, possibly partially through music and partially through violence in proper Scott Pilgrim style.
All you really have to provide is a monster. These should be something you can imagine a weekly TV show being able to afford, for that matter. A subplot (which may also connect to what the monster is about) is good too.
These can involve variations on your standard monster like Dracula compared to regular vampires, classic archetypes like ghosts and killer cults, knockoffs from popular culture that you duly lampshade, scary things you thought up yourself. Grab some from here if you're stuck or use Scream Team as a visual guide or open another game's monster book.
Optional variants include the Minor Recurring Villain Monster, the Mystery Monster, the Creepy Monster and the TV-Friendly Eight-Strong Horde of Monsters.
What matters is that it threatens the peace and provides a decent fight, ideally with something interesting about it like a tactical option or a setting that could add flavour.
Their plans tend not to be very complicated - "get all up in the Hero's face until you get smacked down" is surprisingly popular - so you can always have them attack the Cast or kidnap one of the designated helpless victims if the players get stuck.
Mostly, MOTW episodes let the players talk in-character and air various issues without a serious danger getting in the way. If the MOTW itself is fun that's an added bonus. It's a dirty job but something's gotta do it.
--
Example: Don't Go There
The band have to arrange new digs, ideally including space for a decent practice room. Meanwhile, ninja demons trying to kill Billie. For a bit of added interest, they're trying to kill her in a peculiar way, like properly arranged duels to the death or something.
Another Example Because MOTWs Are So Common: Battle Of The Bands
A pretty obvious MOTW or possible recurring enemy-slash-irritant for a monster-hunting band. A rival band with a bit of magic of their own, which they use for their own self-aggrandisement. (Got a copy of The Magic Box? Turn to page 16.) This can escalate to a full-on ritual-disrupting fight, possibly partially through music and partially through violence in proper Scott Pilgrim style.
A Buffy Season: 1: Season Premiere
In which we meet the Cast, possibly get a hint of things to come, maybe introduce the Big Bad, and most importantly show what the series does.
It's probably largely a Monster Of The Week episode, so see below for talk about those. It differs from a regular MOTW because it shows the Cast coming together to fight some threat and save the day, re-establishing the group dynamic, and also proves the power of the Chosen One, which has to be demonstrated generally by being questioned.
"I'm Buffy. The Vampire Slayer. And you are?"
The first of these is the Series Pilot, where you have to lay out pretty much everything audiences can expect, the basic rules of the setting and all, while also telling a story that makes them think they'd like to see another one next week. Hopefully your players are relatively keen to begin with, but you still have to hook them good.
But every one has to be a good jumping-on point for new arrivals. So if your show is called Buffy The Vampire Slayer then Buffy should slay some vampires. You can get away with her slaying other kinds of monsters every third Season Opener, as long as there are special circumstances like abandoning her mission or coming back from the dead. (In the latter case, I suspect new viewers on the new network would still have been very confused, but never mind.)
It should give all the player characters in the cast (and any major NPCs, such as a handy exposition Watcher) a moment in the spotlight as well as establishing the Hero's badass credentials.
If it isn't the pilot, then there may be changes in the status quo to deal with.
New player characters (possibly with new players attached) are the most important. How are they introduced? The Watch House had the subtle-as-a-brick tactic that new PCs would, by default, be of interest to the Watchers and would therefore be introduced to the Cast at the start of the academic year / season. More character-specific methods can be woven in with a bit more warning. And you can say "you always had a little sister" but that's really a one-time trick.
Other changes can be logical fallout from the previous seasons, new developments (which may or may not make any sense to begin with), new NPCs arriving much like new PCs and so on.
If the Cast killed the ancient vampire who ran the town in secret for centuries, this creates a power vacuum that a new Big Bad could fill. If the whole town fell into anarchy when Pandora's Box was opened, the new season can start with it being declared safe to return to, you bet. If one of the PCs was thrown into Narnia and the player wants to play them again, you'll need to dress for cold weather.
And in amongst all this, you also have a MOTW. It can be simpler than average, but also bigger - see above re hooking the audience. A big gang of vampires planning some evil ritual is fine, you can get away with that two years in a row in fact.
--
Pilot Example: Number One Hit
Will Play For Food forms at Totally Not A Hellmouth U, Billie the hella-fast drummer being one of the potential members to try out. But little do the rest of the band know that she has a dangerous secret and she keeps those drumsticks with her everywhere she goes for a reason...
And meanwhile, drawn to the blood of the slayer, an ancient evil stirs...
--
Opener Example: One Two Three Go
After Billie and the band defeated Crossroad, lead singer Hope has been robbed of her talent and the group has split up. What would it take to bring them back together?
A Buffy Season for the use of
Since the feature that attracted most attention to The Door In Time was a series-ful of plots, I thought I'd steal my own idea and bolt together a short campaign for another game here.
Obvious choice: Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Applicable to any monster-hunting urban fantasy or low-key superhero game with a sufficiently high Weird Level.
Some ground rules before we start: It's a world that looks like ours, but has monsters and magic and sundry other kitchen-sink stuff going on. One of the PCs is a slayer or similar marked-by-fate monster-killing superhero. Some kinds of supernatural beings, such as run-of-the-mill vampires, are there to be killed by our heroes without a second thought and no "paladins killing orc babies" moral questions. The police and other authorities don't generally get involved, and when they do it's a problem. Buffy canon may or may not have happened, depending on whether we do a crossover episode. Either way, I'm making every effort to make the series feel Buffyish...
The Buffy magazine had a guide to story structure based on the series in one issue:
1 2 3
Before the game begins, establish premises in your pitch as well as ground rules. You could let the players create any kind of somewhat applicable character, but this would probably result in a very strange Cast and very possibly some characters that are only there because they're PCs.
For example, The Watch House was about the training of Watchers, the occult experts who guide slayers among other duties in the war to save the world from evil. This gave all the PCs and recurring NPCs a reason to be there (they were trainee Watchers, or people/beings of interest to the Council, or in a few cases voluntary hangers-on) as well as giving lots of monsters a reason to attack them (kill the intelligence division of the forces of good) that could be added to on a PC-by-PC basis. It was also set around a normal campus so there were normal characters and normal activities to highlight the strangeness of the Cast's lives, and an option which was occasionally exercised to bring in clueless PCs.
So, to give us a working example, a game idea I had at the same time as The Watch House and have recycled for an RPGnet play-by-post game and my Nationals one-shot.
--
Example: Band On The Run
The PCs are a college band. One of them is a Chosen One of some kind. (Let's say the drummer as a slayer.) Others can have supernatural connections as well - they could be musicians who are coincidentally magical, or as less of a stretch non-band-members could be there because of the Chosen One. This could set up a bit of friction between the norms and the supers, which might be good for story fodder if it doesn't lead to trouble out-of-character. Supernatural stories will revolve around the Chosen One and others, mundane stories will revolve around college and music, trying to get gigs, trying to get through gigs without monsters attacking the stage... On a metaphorical level it's about how hard it can be to do what you want, and balancing it with what you need to do.
So...
Obvious choice: Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Applicable to any monster-hunting urban fantasy or low-key superhero game with a sufficiently high Weird Level.
Some ground rules before we start: It's a world that looks like ours, but has monsters and magic and sundry other kitchen-sink stuff going on. One of the PCs is a slayer or similar marked-by-fate monster-killing superhero. Some kinds of supernatural beings, such as run-of-the-mill vampires, are there to be killed by our heroes without a second thought and no "paladins killing orc babies" moral questions. The police and other authorities don't generally get involved, and when they do it's a problem. Buffy canon may or may not have happened, depending on whether we do a crossover episode. Either way, I'm making every effort to make the series feel Buffyish...
The Buffy magazine had a guide to story structure based on the series in one issue:
1 2 3
Before the game begins, establish premises in your pitch as well as ground rules. You could let the players create any kind of somewhat applicable character, but this would probably result in a very strange Cast and very possibly some characters that are only there because they're PCs.
For example, The Watch House was about the training of Watchers, the occult experts who guide slayers among other duties in the war to save the world from evil. This gave all the PCs and recurring NPCs a reason to be there (they were trainee Watchers, or people/beings of interest to the Council, or in a few cases voluntary hangers-on) as well as giving lots of monsters a reason to attack them (kill the intelligence division of the forces of good) that could be added to on a PC-by-PC basis. It was also set around a normal campus so there were normal characters and normal activities to highlight the strangeness of the Cast's lives, and an option which was occasionally exercised to bring in clueless PCs.
So, to give us a working example, a game idea I had at the same time as The Watch House and have recycled for an RPGnet play-by-post game and my Nationals one-shot.
--
Example: Band On The Run
The PCs are a college band. One of them is a Chosen One of some kind. (Let's say the drummer as a slayer.) Others can have supernatural connections as well - they could be musicians who are coincidentally magical, or as less of a stretch non-band-members could be there because of the Chosen One. This could set up a bit of friction between the norms and the supers, which might be good for story fodder if it doesn't lead to trouble out-of-character. Supernatural stories will revolve around the Chosen One and others, mundane stories will revolve around college and music, trying to get gigs, trying to get through gigs without monsters attacking the stage... On a metaphorical level it's about how hard it can be to do what you want, and balancing it with what you need to do.
So...
Monday, 14 November 2011
So how does one run a 24 hour game?
Consider your sleep patterns and food intake and such, not just on the day/night but for a few days beforehand. Okay, that's how to be active for 24 hours, but run a game?
Don't ask me, I avoided even trying.
Alright, I have observations.
Nothing too intricate. That would take a lot of prep and be subject to you and the players passing out and forgetting everything. The chances that they'll recall the enigmatic phrase of the mysterious man who appeared in the first five minutes is very low, even if there's a handout in front of them.
Likewise, nothing too atmospheric. Horror from dusk till dawn might work wonderfully, but then you have till dusk again and you've had so much sugar that everything could suddenly be funny.
A milieu you know well enough to run in your sleep, as at times you may well be doing so.
Go for action and stuff. It's a good basis for many games, being able to go "sod it, ninjas attack" helps when stuck, rolling dice is a physical activity that keeps players awake, and the charity reroll is a valuable addition to the fundraising effort.
It being a milieu that can go surreal as you get increasingly wonky is a bonus.
The four that went for it this year (one of which managed the 24 if you count the power nap in the middle) were two dungeon bashes, a non-dungeon standard fantasy, and an SF zombie apocalypse with lots of explosions.
Jumping on and off points. Essentially eight three-hour sessions, or six four-hour ones, or something to that effect. You could try running a shortish campaign or series (it's been done) but episodic with a bit of escalation and a biggish final battle would be safest.
You might consider GM relays, as playing while loopy from exhaustion and artificial stimulus is less game-exploding than GMing in such a state.
Before half a dozen people offered to run games the whole day through I did consider some options, though none over twelve hours seriously.
All Night Vampire and then sleep through the day. Not seriously thought through.
Superheroes, which we had too many of already.
Buffy, which I've fallen asleep GMing once at a convention (I had a cold) so could do again. Basically superheroes, obvs.
Doctor Who And The Most Episodic Game Ever, where every couple of hours it's a new planet and century. And if somebody wants a Dalek episode they can put money in the charity reroll jar.
Uncharted because, hey, successful video game launch recently apparently.
I had my Buffy and Uncharted adventures from the Nationals ready. I halfway wrote a World Of Darkness plot but decided it was too heavy for the target audience.
But as is I played and administrated, did not GM. And not even for 24 hours. And that was tiring enough.
Don't ask me, I avoided even trying.
Alright, I have observations.
Nothing too intricate. That would take a lot of prep and be subject to you and the players passing out and forgetting everything. The chances that they'll recall the enigmatic phrase of the mysterious man who appeared in the first five minutes is very low, even if there's a handout in front of them.
Likewise, nothing too atmospheric. Horror from dusk till dawn might work wonderfully, but then you have till dusk again and you've had so much sugar that everything could suddenly be funny.
A milieu you know well enough to run in your sleep, as at times you may well be doing so.
Go for action and stuff. It's a good basis for many games, being able to go "sod it, ninjas attack" helps when stuck, rolling dice is a physical activity that keeps players awake, and the charity reroll is a valuable addition to the fundraising effort.
It being a milieu that can go surreal as you get increasingly wonky is a bonus.
The four that went for it this year (one of which managed the 24 if you count the power nap in the middle) were two dungeon bashes, a non-dungeon standard fantasy, and an SF zombie apocalypse with lots of explosions.
Jumping on and off points. Essentially eight three-hour sessions, or six four-hour ones, or something to that effect. You could try running a shortish campaign or series (it's been done) but episodic with a bit of escalation and a biggish final battle would be safest.
You might consider GM relays, as playing while loopy from exhaustion and artificial stimulus is less game-exploding than GMing in such a state.
Before half a dozen people offered to run games the whole day through I did consider some options, though none over twelve hours seriously.
All Night Vampire and then sleep through the day. Not seriously thought through.
Superheroes, which we had too many of already.
Buffy, which I've fallen asleep GMing once at a convention (I had a cold) so could do again. Basically superheroes, obvs.
Doctor Who And The Most Episodic Game Ever, where every couple of hours it's a new planet and century. And if somebody wants a Dalek episode they can put money in the charity reroll jar.
Uncharted because, hey, successful video game launch recently apparently.
I had my Buffy and Uncharted adventures from the Nationals ready. I halfway wrote a World Of Darkness plot but decided it was too heavy for the target audience.
But as is I played and administrated, did not GM. And not even for 24 hours. And that was tiring enough.
Saturday, 12 November 2011
Propulsion
... has already raised £300, before sponsorships have been collected.
... had 38 attendees, which isn't bad for a foolish endeavour such as this.
... included a 22-hour game (with a nap in the middle) and another which ran a mere 20 hours but made over £100 in charity rerolls alone.
... also featured a World of Darkness game in Polish.
... gave me time to write a WoD oneshot that would probably be too intense for such a setup.
... proved that nobody apart from Ben played Mythos.
... had 38 attendees, which isn't bad for a foolish endeavour such as this.
... included a 22-hour game (with a nap in the middle) and another which ran a mere 20 hours but made over £100 in charity rerolls alone.
... also featured a World of Darkness game in Polish.
... gave me time to write a WoD oneshot that would probably be too intense for such a setup.
... proved that nobody apart from Ben played Mythos.
Saturday, 5 November 2011
Propulsion: 24 Hours Of Gaming
... starts 9pm Friday night at the Pleasance here in Edinburgh.
... will not feature me attempting the full 24, I plan to be there at the start and then on the Saturday from lunchtime-ish.
... will feature me offering to GM various things, while others GM one thing for the full 24. Not that I have any particular ideas what I'm going to offer yet. Erk.
... is in aid of the Sick Children's Hospital.
... will hopefully go well. Wish us luck!
... will not feature me attempting the full 24, I plan to be there at the start and then on the Saturday from lunchtime-ish.
... will feature me offering to GM various things, while others GM one thing for the full 24. Not that I have any particular ideas what I'm going to offer yet. Erk.
... is in aid of the Sick Children's Hospital.
... will hopefully go well. Wish us luck!