Big Red Couch Podcast - Turning Bad Ideas Into Games

[kedamono]

Good show! I had trouble logging in earlier, so I posted my pitch for next episode's theme in the show's comments section. Really curious to see if Kedamono will come up with a Harbor City Irregulars angle or not.

As an explanation, Harbor City is a long running campaign with my friends here in Seattle. It's gone through several different systems, from Savage Worlds, to PDQ, and even ICONS. It ranges from Mystery Men level heroes to A-List supers. I've run a couple of scenarios on the Sunday Skypers and wouldn't mind running a few more in the future.

But to the point for the current topic:

Crisis Angel is a douchebag

Debbie Farnsworth is just another teenager at Montague High, or so it seems. In reality, she's more than that, she's a Magical Girl, gifted with superpowers... if she could figure out how to use them properly. The other Magical Girls at Monty High treat her like a bomb waiting to go off. Because, despite being a bit of drama queen and accident prone ditz, when she gets her act together, she is the most power Magical Girl around. But for most of the time, she's Crisis Angel. And she's a bit of a douchebag about it.

So for this game, one person gets the Ditz/Stupid ball and has to run with it. I'd use Ewen (Pronounced Aaron) Cluney's Magical Fury rule system for this. Debbie, AKA the Crisis Angel, starts out with a shift when she first assumes her magical girl form, either a Magical or Trauma shift, depending on how evil the GM is. (Shifts are bad 2 out of 3 times in the game, and to have her start out with one...) and everyone around her has to deal with it. By starting her out with a bad shift, you make it more certain for her to experience an Extreme Shift. Which can be bad for everyone.

You need a player who doesn't mind being the Butt Monkey for the game, but as always, can have a Crowning Moment of Awesome on occasion. While being a complete douchebag about at the same time...

And the obligatory story pitch:

The Maya God-King, 6 Rabbit, has a mission for you, if you choose to accept it.

[Pruthian Caveman]

Episode Seventy Nine – Crisis Angel Is A Douchbag



Some people can keep their head in a crisis. But if it means that everyone else loses theirs, it’s probably best not to get them involved.

Stage magicians duel in the darkness behind the curtain, working to defeat frauds, cultists, and sinister magical threats.

Crisis Angel to the rescue! BTW, you’re coming with her. Now. Ready or not.

When their ward is driven to acts of horrible revenge, what’s a guardian angel to do? Roll up their sleeves and pitch in?

There’s one every group of friends, right? The high-maintenance disaster magnet? What happens when your group of friends wields incomprehensible cosmic power?

[Borborygmus]

And now a special, if somewhat delayed, report from Craig on this year's GenCon!

Gen Con 2016 – The Craig’s-Eye View On The Best Four And A Bit Days In Gaming

[zircher]

Dragon hoards, I'm coming up with stories and existing games like Epyllion (http://www.magpiegames.com/epyllion/) or Tiny Dragons but wow, the pitches are wide and weak. So, plan B! Here's an oracle about dragon hoards. To use, draw a card or two from the deck. Use the suit and the card value to determine what's in the dragon's lair.

Dragon Hoard-o-matic

Spades - a trophy befitting the drake's cunning or physical prowess
Hearts - it's more of a sentimental thing
Clubs - odds and ends and eclectic bits for an eccentric mind
Diamonds - greed lies at this wyrm's heart

A - it's a single item, but it is very precious.
2 - a lovely pair, perhaps of contrasting materials.
3 - surprise, the hoard is a horde of these.
4 - gathered from the four corners of the land.
5 - you can feel the magic radiating from it.
6 - crystals of all kinds and colors.
7 - dice, cards, and other trappings of a gambler. Try your luck?
8 - it reeks of blood and chaos.
9 - the hoard is huge, like how are we going to carry that thing out of here?
10- it may not be worth much, but there sure is a lot of it.
J - something that a hero might have left (or dropped in haste.)
Q - fine goods that you would not expect a dragon to admire.
K - royalty would love to get their hands on this, crowns and rings that grant authority.

Let's try this out with...

The eight of hearts: Five years ago Tyrghar lost his mate and it drove him a little bit mad. He's been collecting every necromantic book, scroll, or device that he can get his claws on. The center piece of this dark collection is a black altar that hums and whispers to any that will listen.

The two of spades: Widowmaker is an old drake and she didn't get there by being a push over. Her prize possessions are Glymdr and Flamist, matching swords of ice and fire that were wielded by the great hero Loric Goldenhair. She still has his head in one of these chests...

Big Red Challenge! Draw a card 'on air' and describe a hoard for your listeners.
--
TAZ

[kedamono]

Why would a dragon horde that?
"Dragons? They are rare these days. If you find one, he might have a bit of gold, but more than likely he'll have a horde of first edition comic books, a big pile of catalytic convertors from cars, or a pile of Beanie Babies. Those are worth money these days."

In the modern era, dragons have a hard time creating a horde of gold and gems. Most of that is securely locked up behind a lot of security and guys with big guns. Bullets hurt. So they go for things that are just a valuable, but much easier to get ahold of.

That semi truck full of the latest collectable "figures" that went missing, probably a dragon adding to his collection. The comic book shop that burned down? It's dollars to doughnuts that you'll find that all the rare editions were snatched first.

And the Bureau has to deal with all of these events.

Dragons are reclusive and tend to get shot at by jets if they wander into restricted airspace. So they live in the mountains, far from civilization, and, if they know the right magics, transform into humans to satisfy their needs and wants. They might have a penthouse in Manhattan, but only for the weekends. Magic being what it is, with dead zones and all that cold iron about, can go wrong. It ruins everyone's day when a dragon returns to her true form in the middle of Central Park.

And for the most part, Bureau 13 leaves them alone, well, as long as they don't break the law or harm folks. But every so often, some great wyrm will wake from his multi-century sleep and find his horde long gone and goes looking for a fair maiden to ransom or a big source of gold for his out of date yearnings. And when that happens, the Bureau has to step in.

You are all members of a specialist team, you're all part of the DragonBusters. You are all trained in dealing with dragons and the issues they cause. Since dragons tend to be attention whores, your main job is to keep them out of public's eye. Or come up with a decent prop that's convincing enough to fool folks into thinking it was faked.

I'd use the Bureau 13 setting and use either Savage Worlds or Fate Core. Probably more SW that FC, as this would be more dust up than story telling, that is, of course, the dragon stays a dragon. A dragon that turns into Drake Cooper, Millionaire, and has a mansion and yacht, is a different beastie to deal with. He has connections and isn't afraid to use them.



And in keeping with Taz's challenge, I draw the 5 of Spades: Giander, the Great Wyrm, has in his possession something sacred to his kind, the Shield of Vermithrax Pejorative, the last of the ancient drakes from before time itself was a thing. It is made from her own scales by the wizard that help kill her. It's imbued not only with his magical essence, but her own. In the hands of a human, it give the wielder complete protection from all flame and fire attacks.

But in the hands of a dragon... They can tap into Vermithrax' ancient power and rain fiery death on all who opposes them. And now, Giander has found another treasure to add to his horde, St. George's lance. And you Dragonbuster, you're the only thing between him and it...

Obligatory Game Pitch
It's all Beer and Skittles until someone gets the Pixie drunk...

[zircher]

Obligatory Game Pitch
It's all Beer and Skittles until someone gets the Pixie drunk...

I don't drink beer. So, I'm not familiar with this tradition. Is the sole purpose of this combination to have rainbow colored vomit?

[kedamono]

Obligatory Game Pitch
It's all Beer and Skittles until someone gets the Pixie drunk...

I don't drink beer. So, I'm not familiar with this tradition. Is the sole purpose of this combination to have rainbow colored vomit?

Wrong kind of Skittles:



Though you could paint them in rainbow colors...

[zircher]

I beg to differ...

[kedamono]

Speaking of "Why would a Dragon horde that?", this just popped up in my Deviant Art watchlist:

http://fav.me/dafzs3m

[Pruthian Caveman]

Episode Eighty – Why Would A Dragon Hoard That?



Dracoarchy in Action – “Yes, we elected a Dragon as our head of state. His campaign had some very compelling points… …and not just on his teeth.”

A horrifying discovery in the middle of the dungeon puts the party into high gear. Reverse gear, that is, and wishing they’d dealt with the tricks and traps rather than just circumventing them.


We recorded this one a little earlier than usual, thanks to ... well, thanks to Craig being constantly on the move ... and the audient ideas didn't make it into the episode - Sorry.