(Bias note: I know the artists, though not the designer.)
“Vicious Demons. Mighty Axes. Flaming Skulls.
These things adorn the covers of hundreds of Heavy Metal albums every year.”
A game where you create a band instead of a single character.
Umläut is designed for one-shots with a three hour timer, with players’ Bands battling for the approval of the Audience and the Glory that follows, Statistics rising and falling, and each Band’s saga ending in fame and fortune, success on their own terms, obscurity, or the kind of thing they make documentaries about years later and half the Band refuse to participate.
Bakersville
Next-generation West Coast grunge kids
The book has some suggestions based on the archetypal Paths of Metal, with a random name chart (which predates the rise of Party Cannon) and a sidebar that you can come up with anything.
Hence, Bakersville are part of the LA next-generation grunge scene, which can currently all fit in the Gas House and you’d still be able to get to the bar.
And yes, it took my longer to come up with a name than everything else.
The Band also has Members. You only need to name one (usually the lead singer) right away.
Kelly Carver is the lead singer and rhythm guitarist, her sister Julie is on lead guitar, their friend Scarlet is on bass and keyboards, and her boyfriend Harris is on drums.
A Band also has four Statistics. “Set each to 1, except Cash, which starts at zero.”
Hope 1
Ego 1
Fanbase 1
Cash 0
And three Performance Traits. Assign 7, none of them can be less than 1 though. (I have definitely heard bands with less than 1 in these, but never mind.)
Technique 2
Power 3
Stagecraft 2
Driven more by joie de vivre than common sense, Bakersville seem set to be a loved-by-few oddity on college radio and mix tapes. But maybe something will unexpectedly launch them to stardom. And how will they cope? Will they end up Famous or Happy, or neither, or even both?
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