Define some genres

[Desdichado]

So, sjgames has a list of all 258 GURPS sourcebooks; maybe not all of them. I imported the list into Excel, generated two random numbers between 1 and 258 and got Traveller: Alien Races 2 (Aslan and K'kree) and Martial Arts Adventures, the sourcebook for 70s Hong Kong Chok Socky.

This would be fun for Gamesdays and other things with one-off type of stuff. Pick up an extremely rules lite engine (so you don't have to make up rules to get started, mostly), pick two sourcebooks at random and create a one-off game about it.

 

[Dark Jezter]

ELFSPLOITATION.

D&D meets blaxploitation. This is a tricky one, because "race" is important in each, yet carries a very different meaning.

But take one fantasy race [doesn't have to be elves] and put them in an urban environment where they has suffered a long history of segregation and oppression by another fantasy race. They maintain a unique culture, but lack economic and political power. But a new spirit of self-empowerment and pride is spreading, and it's making some people nervous.

The heroes walk a fine line, battling threats from outside the community [The Man. Or The Dwarf. Or whatever.] and from within [those members who collaborate with The Man, or who prey upon their own people, or adopt techniques worse than the oppressors themselves to further their goals].

As awesome as that idea is, the elves don't have anybody as awesome as Isaac Hayes or Barry White to create the soundtracks for this genre.

 

[JPL]

As awesome as that idea is, the elves don't have anybody as awesome as Isaac Hayes or Barry White to create the soundtracks for this genre.

Well, the elves in this setting would've had a native music similar to Celtic, which eventually developed into a improvised form analgous to jazz.

The current popular music typically features a lot of elf-jazz flute solos, but has more hand drums playing complex polyrhythms, and many of the lyrics deal with the themes of rebellion, oppression, and elf-pride --- sometimes through subtle double meaning and metaphor [necessary in earlier days]...but lately, the call to power is being voiced openly.

 

[d4]

I like the suggestion above of taking two or three GURPS sourcebooks at random and combining their themes into a single setting. Is there a tool that could select GURPS sourcebooks at random, I wonder? I suppose I could always put a bit list in Excel, generate random numbers and pick them...

i know someone had a webpage at one point with a script that would do it. can't find a working one at the moment, though...

 

[Kaleon Moonshae]

The single weirdest thing I've ever actually played in: Call of Cthulhu + Bunnies and Burrows. With some Winnie-the-Pooh thrown in for just plain weirdness.

Bunnies and Barrows.

That is the most twisted, sick and exciting game i've heard about in a long time, Ifeel dirty and sated at the same time, I'm just a weirdo. I can see pulling in Watership Down, Secret of Nymm, and peter rabbit with the mouth of madness and horror of insmouth all together.....wow

 

[Fate Lawson]

Do you use d20 for this? And if so, how? I'd love to see how it's done.
-Chris

Yep. d20 all the way. We started with 3.0, migrated to 3.5 (for the most part), and when the current story arc concludes (which should be shortly) we will be switching to a d20Modern base.

We really haven't made any sweeping changes to the basic rules, but (and this may sound weird) we have toned down the "common spellflinging" and the "magic as a technology" a bit. When you actually have to make a deal with a spirit through roleplaying to access the big magics, it gives a whole different flavor to the world. The fighters and rogues come into their own during melee (flashing sword action) and the shaman's, clerics and wizards come into their own outside of combat (political maneuvering, long-term planning etc.).

 

[Desdichado]

Someone quite off the wall once asked if I preferred Watership Down or Blackhawk Down. I say, give 'em both to me at once!

 

[beta-ray]

I like that. And it reminds me of another unjustly neglected genre...STUNTPUNK.

Characteristics: The adventures of stuntmen / daredevils doing daring deeds of derring-do, both for Hollywood/giant stadiums of screaming adrenaline junkies, and in the furtherance of real-life adventures. As in TEAMPUNK, it's all about providing a plot where the deed of athleticism and derring-do becomes essential. Very cinematic --- anything that would look good in a movie --- pre-CGI! --- is fair game for the PCs

Examples: "The Fall Guy," the old Hanna-Barbara cartoon "Devlin", the seventies Marvel Comic "The Human Fly."

Jackie Chan movies are great inspiration too --- just imagine a campaign where the heroes are members of a "Jackie Chan Stunt Team"-type organization, and do action movie stunts in Hong Kong and L.A. You got your martial arts, your crazy stunts, and potential for big-city private eye-type adventures.

[Someone call Ray Park and Russell Wong --- I think I got a pitch for a TV show here. Sounds like the perfect thing for Saturday afternoons on WGN.]

What? How dare you leave out Marvel's "Team America" and Mr. T's cartoon in the 80s!

 

[Mister Underhill]

Not to mention Hooper in which Burt Reynolds, Brian Keith, and Jan-Michael Vincent rock the house and Terry Bradshaw doffs his bridge in a kickass cameo.

 

[Starfox]

Genre-bending anf genre-mixing has always been a favourite of mine, with games like TORG and Feng Shui being favourites.

My personal genre mixes pulp-style action and things man was not meant to know - I have GM:ed a 1930:s dogfight over the risen ruins of Rlyeth. - and this was at an early stage in that campaign.