Abandoned Idea Clearinghouse: Bad-Ass Bluff
A basic principle of dramatic fiction is that we learn about characters by what they do, not what they assert about themselves*. So if you see a film where a character labels himself a bad-ass at the outset, but does nothing to demonstrate it, you eventually come to suspect the truth of his assertion. Exactly this dynamic occurred in a film I caught at this past TIFF. (As an unswerving adherent to the non-spoiler’s oath, I won’t mention its name.) When the character finally does get into a fight, about two-thirds of the way through, it comes as a gratifying surprise to see him implacably mow his way through a pack of opponents.
In your standard RPG experience, what characters can do is tightly defined outside of their actions in play, numerically quantified on players’ character sheets. Your halfling thief might be indisputably kick-ass at Ferocious Underhand Strike even if the player never bothers to use it.
The mechanical premise for an indie game lies therein: each of the players claims to be a terrifyingly competent warrior. (Any ability celebrated in genre works would do just as well for this purpose: gambling, archery, computer hacking, whatever sport you care to name...) However, the players know that when their abilities are finally tested, some of them will turn out to be fakers. The twist is that no one knows whether they’re playing a bad-ass or an impostor, until the dice come out.
What this mechanical idea lacks is the narrative hook to match. Without a “You are X who do Y” core activity**, it lacks the spark needed for further exploration. Like all entries in the abandoned idea clearing house, I am freeing this idea into the wild. Anyone who wants to develop it further is free to do so.
*In literary forms we might learn about them from their internal monologues, but these stand to be contradicted by their actions, especially when they turn out to be unreliable narrators.
**Sample core activities:
You are vampires engaged in an political intrigue in a supernatural underground.
You are fantasy heroes who loot dungeons.
You are religious moralists who clean up small western towns.