PRIMETIME ADVENTURES
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So far, I've managed to rope a few reluctant friends into the game, but I'm hoping for a regular group. Here's the series me and my pals came up with (some of whom are hardcore D&D fans as well.)
Line-Up:
MON, 6:00pm UNKNOWN ARMIES: TO GO: THE SERIES - a group of burger-flippers take off on a mystic road trip to witness the unfolding of a dangerous "internet prophecy." Along the way, they find themselves manipulated by a strange entity who might either be a low-rent version of the Devil or America's own Merlin.
SAT, 1:00pm WORSEN - a group of strangers find themselves trapped in a too-hip-for-comfort fantasy realm where they must join the malingering forces of a traditional Dark Overlord in order to find a way home.
FRI, 9:00pm THE BRUMMAGE PAPERS - a team of researchers in an alternate Jazz Age use unspeakable occult sciences to visit the inhabited cities of Mars, the dinosaur tribes of Venus and other lost world planets in an arms race against the growing Nazi menace.
SUN, 6:30pm APARTMENTS ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER - the underpaid maintenance crew of a normal-looking high-rise, the Constellation Building, must work together to stop cosmic threats on the various parallel worlds which the Constellation Building straddles.
SUN, 2:00pm RELICS OF EARTH - a dangerous team of castaways on a quarantined future Earth search for a missing ship full of True Humans that could through the transhuman cultures of the galaxy into chaos.
I recently bought a copy of this nifty game by Matt Wilson of Dog-Eared Designs. I'd been meaning to for a while, but I have to admit I was at odds with the rising prices of new games while clawing my way out of five years of crushing debt.
The game has a solid place in the on-going "Story-Games" revolution and I have long sought for playable systems which downplay or even outright bypass the need for a GM.
You still need a GM for Primetime Adventures (she's called the Producer) but the job is treated more like the Banker in Monopoly. The style of the rules allow you to switch GMs within a single campaign without destroying play or even sacrificing the current story arc. This is mostly because each individual player controls his or her own story arc. Now that's what I call first-rate object-oriented design!
A few other nifty things that I liked were enforced modesty on the part of the Producer (you can still throw your own favorite character into the mix, but for sessions where you're the producer, your PC must take a backseat to the others. You even have less power to enforce your PC's will on the scene, so no Golden Boy characters here! That is SO GREAT!)
Having gushed about this great game for a few paragraphs now, you can check out your local game store (I bought mine at Compleat Games and Hobbies, a store I frequent every time I find my way back to Colorado Springs... which isn't as often now that my folks have moved) or you can go straight to the source at Dog-Eared Designs.
Sponsorship Cards
The current version of Primetime Adventures requires the use of a deck of regular playing cards. However, being the smart-alec I am, I worked up a deck of "sponsor" cards for a different random effect. Now, the score you get for each card is printed at the top, rather than using the suits.
If you want to increase your score for a card you play, you may try and include the cliched line on it for an extra point towards your side of the conflict. Ties are broken by the three types of suit markers at the bottom of the scene: Plot Development (clubs) Personal Story Arc (star) or Relationship with Other Protagonists (heart.)
In addition, for no very good reason, each cliched line is sponsored by a different fake company.
Feel free to download the sponsorcard.pdf here!
Contact "Trading" Cards
Sometimes, players need little reminders and props to help things along.
My wife strongly suggested that she needed something to indicate that, not only were her contacts not part of her character, not really, but they were also beyond her control.
So, I've been using some Generic NPC Trading Cards that I was originally developing for the long-unawaited update of PANELS, PANELS: MOREOVER, as an aid d'memory for players... when I actually have some (players, I mean.)
Individual Episode Plot Generator
I've cooked up a rather horrid plot generator for this game. It allows you to plug in the names of up to six protagonists and set their screen presences, giving you some intial scenes to play off them as well as a central conflict; making it something of an aid to rushed producers, I hope.
Check it out at pttv0ge.html. It still needs a little brushing up.
I don't feel particularly ashamed of this webpage, but I didn't spell check it either. They call me Arpie and you can e-mail me at yokeltania@yahoo.com.. Oh yeah! Livin' rough! No Spellcheck!