Blockbuster: A Game of Cinematic Action
Hey... insert usual apologies for sporadic entries here.
So... as most of you who know me know, I'm something of an insomniac. The bad part of the whole deal is that I keep Bella Lugosi's hours. The good news is that 'round about three o' clock in the morning I get damned creative. Take Blockbuster, for instance...
A few days ago, I was up all night - as usual - and 'round about three in the morning - again, as usual - I started hammering away at something. That something was Blockbuster: A Game of Cinematic Action. Within three hours of beginning work, I had the core of what would become a very simple, very bare-bones pen-and-paper roleplaying game. It's hardly Dungeons & Dragons, or World of Darkness, but it's a neat little toy, something to blow off a little steam with. I'm kinda proud of what I came up with so far.
Blockbuster, as the name might imply, is an action movie roleplaying game. Understand, most of the rules involved were formulated and written up over the course of three hours. It's not meant to be especially detailed. What it is intended to be is fun. Action movies are possibly the most shallow, mindless form of entertainment on the planet, short of porn. I'm certain I could come up with a roleplaying game for that too, but... let's face it: getting a bunch of people together in a room to play a roleplaying game intended to simulate sex instead of doing the real thing is kinda sad.
Of course, that doesn't mean I'm not seriously considering it. Who knows? It could be fun...
Anyway, the purpose of Blockbuster is not to provide a realistic roleplaying experience. It's meant to deliver all the guns-blazing, bone-breaking, scenery-chewing excitement and entertainment of an action movie. I'm not even talking about the thought-provoking, intelligent action movies either.
No, I'm talking about the kind of movie where the producers basically gave Bruce Willis a submachine gun, locked him in an office building with a bunch of terrorists, and told him to do what comes naturally. I'm talking about the kind of movie where Jeff Goldblum programs a computer virus to infect an alien operating system he's never seen before while Will Smith snaps off snarky one-liners. I'm talking about the kind of movie where the plot is just an excuse to have Chuck Norris punch people with that third fist he hides behind his beard.
Character creation in Blockbuster takes maybe five minutes, tops. You can run a game with six Stars and a Director (player characters and gamemaster, respectively) using only a single d20. It's slower that way, but you can do it. This game is no more and no less than what it pretends to be: an excuse to get together with a bunch of friends and visualize your characters blowing up everything in sight! I mean, we all love plot, and character development, and realistic motivations and dialogue, but let's face it... every once and a while, you just want big explosions and bad guys that make a satisfying thump when they hit the ground.
Anyway, the purpose of this particular entry is to introduce the concept of Blockbuster, and to test the waters. You see, the system's just about ready to be used, and I was thinking of doing the first official playtest this wednesday at the RP Party. Now, I don't know exactly who reads this journal, but I know that enough people in the roleplay crowd do that I thought I'd put the idea out there and see who was interested. If anyone thinks it might be fun to try the new game, go ahead and leave a comment. If you just feel like taking pity on me and helping me test it out, go ahead and comment too. I'd love to see who would be up for it.
Cheers,
The Wolfman
So... as most of you who know me know, I'm something of an insomniac. The bad part of the whole deal is that I keep Bella Lugosi's hours. The good news is that 'round about three o' clock in the morning I get damned creative. Take Blockbuster, for instance...
A few days ago, I was up all night - as usual - and 'round about three in the morning - again, as usual - I started hammering away at something. That something was Blockbuster: A Game of Cinematic Action. Within three hours of beginning work, I had the core of what would become a very simple, very bare-bones pen-and-paper roleplaying game. It's hardly Dungeons & Dragons, or World of Darkness, but it's a neat little toy, something to blow off a little steam with. I'm kinda proud of what I came up with so far.
Blockbuster, as the name might imply, is an action movie roleplaying game. Understand, most of the rules involved were formulated and written up over the course of three hours. It's not meant to be especially detailed. What it is intended to be is fun. Action movies are possibly the most shallow, mindless form of entertainment on the planet, short of porn. I'm certain I could come up with a roleplaying game for that too, but... let's face it: getting a bunch of people together in a room to play a roleplaying game intended to simulate sex instead of doing the real thing is kinda sad.
Of course, that doesn't mean I'm not seriously considering it. Who knows? It could be fun...
Anyway, the purpose of Blockbuster is not to provide a realistic roleplaying experience. It's meant to deliver all the guns-blazing, bone-breaking, scenery-chewing excitement and entertainment of an action movie. I'm not even talking about the thought-provoking, intelligent action movies either.
No, I'm talking about the kind of movie where the producers basically gave Bruce Willis a submachine gun, locked him in an office building with a bunch of terrorists, and told him to do what comes naturally. I'm talking about the kind of movie where Jeff Goldblum programs a computer virus to infect an alien operating system he's never seen before while Will Smith snaps off snarky one-liners. I'm talking about the kind of movie where the plot is just an excuse to have Chuck Norris punch people with that third fist he hides behind his beard.
Character creation in Blockbuster takes maybe five minutes, tops. You can run a game with six Stars and a Director (player characters and gamemaster, respectively) using only a single d20. It's slower that way, but you can do it. This game is no more and no less than what it pretends to be: an excuse to get together with a bunch of friends and visualize your characters blowing up everything in sight! I mean, we all love plot, and character development, and realistic motivations and dialogue, but let's face it... every once and a while, you just want big explosions and bad guys that make a satisfying thump when they hit the ground.
Anyway, the purpose of this particular entry is to introduce the concept of Blockbuster, and to test the waters. You see, the system's just about ready to be used, and I was thinking of doing the first official playtest this wednesday at the RP Party. Now, I don't know exactly who reads this journal, but I know that enough people in the roleplay crowd do that I thought I'd put the idea out there and see who was interested. If anyone thinks it might be fun to try the new game, go ahead and leave a comment. If you just feel like taking pity on me and helping me test it out, go ahead and comment too. I'd love to see who would be up for it.
Cheers,
The Wolfman