Mundanity for Adventure/Campaign Inspiration

[MGibster]

Well, the TV show Leverage is mostly based on entirely mundane abuses of power in the real world. There's already a role playing game for it (Cortex-based), but it can be inspiration for all kinds of shenanigans.

Good point. Even cheesier shows like the A-Team mostly dealt with local mundane abuses of power. I kind of like the idea of adventures with high stakes that don't necessarily involve the whole city, country, or world. Helping a neighborhood, one building, or even one family can be a satisfactory adventure.

In a recent Traveller session one of the PCs had to write a report that would inform an Imperial officer's decision about whether or not to implement First Contact protocols.

One of the highlights of my last Vampire 5th edition campaign was the Ventrue PC who rolled incredibly well for her Power Point presentation. I can't help but wonder if that's a negative commentary on the excitement of my campaigns.

 

[J.Quondam]

One of the highlights of my last Vampire 5th edition campaign was the Ventrue PC who rolled incredibly well for her Power Point presentation.

My immediate thought was: "Power Point presentation? Does that have something to do with psionics?"

 

[zarionofarabel]

Good point. Even cheesier shows like the A-Team mostly dealt with local mundane abuses of power. I kind of like the idea of adventures with high stakes that don't necessarily involve the whole city, country, or world. Helping a neighborhood, one building, or even one family can be a satisfactory adventure.

One of the highlights of my last Vampire 5th edition campaign was the Ventrue PC who rolled incredibly well for her Power Point presentation. I can't help but wonder if that's a negative commentary on the excitement of my campaigns.

I'll go out on a limb and say it speaks to the excitement. After all, having players say things other than "I loot the bodies" or "I search for treasure" or even "I hit it with my axe" means your game is probably far more exciting than most.

 

[pemerton]

Not everything has to be trying to be stopping an invasion of slaadi. Those rats in the tavern cellar aren't going to get cleared out on their own.

If the main payoff from playing the game is imagining my character defeating foes, I think rats may be a rather non-compelling foe.

If I'm being invited to imagine my character in such an ignominious context, I need something else at stake in the fiction to make it compelling.

I would argue the main playoff is "overcoming obstacles."

Sometimes those obstacles are compelling foes. Switching it up, of course, keeps things interesting!

Asking a bunch of adventurers to, say, clear out rats or help get someone elected or plan a feast allows the players an opportunity to use their abilities in new, fun ways!

If I'm overcoming obstacles in the form of clearing out rats, then why not overcome obstacles in the form of clearing out wererats? Or trolls? It's not really clear what the "new, fun way" is that distinguishes rat-catching from more glamourous forms of clearing out unwanted residents.

That's why I said I would want something else to be at stake, beyond just these are the foes the GM has put forward as an obstacle.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

Good point. Even cheesier shows like the A-Team mostly dealt with local mundane abuses of power. I kind of like the idea of adventures with high stakes that don't necessarily involve the whole city, country, or world. Helping a neighborhood, one building, or even one family can be a satisfactory adventure.

One of the highlights of my last Vampire 5th edition campaign was the Ventrue PC who rolled incredibly well for her Power Point presentation. I can't help but wonder if that's a negative commentary on the excitement of my campaigns.

One of the best moments of my (short lived) L5R campaign was a haiku competition. Players were literally on the edge of their seats.

 

[MGibster]

Since I haven't been able to place face-to-face since March 2020, I've had a lot of time to come up with campaigns and scenario ideas. I thought I'd use a 1993 incident involving the Barbie Liberation Organization as an inspiration for a Cyberpunk scenario. For those who aren't interested in a Wiki link, the BLO took Barbie Dolls and GI Joe dolls, switched their voice software, and returned them to the store. So Barbie would say stuff like "Vengeance is mine" in a gruff voice while GI Joe would say things like "Math is hard" in a feminine voice.

In Cyberpunk Red, the Inquisitors are a religious hate gang who think cybernetics are blasphemous and I'm going to go ahead and make them bigots who are staunch traditionalist when it comes to gender roles and as the book says, everyone hates these guys. The Philharmonic Vampyres are a prankster gang, yeah, that's right, they're dedicated to performing pranks, and they've decided to play a joke on the Inquisitors because %#%# those guys, that's why.

There's a new shipment of Midge the Kid© and Major Annihilator© dolls being shipped to Grammy Smith's Good Time Toy Emporium in the Pacifica Playground near the Playland by the Sea amusement park. The PCs are hired by a fixer to hijack the truck, deliver it to a warehouse in the South Night City combat zone, and then deliver it to Grammy Smith's before they open the next day. Both dolls are produced by SegAtari, and although they're cosmetically different their inside components are essentially the same. The Vampyres will switch their programming chips so Midge the Kid will be aggressive and talk about killing her enemies and Major Annihilator will make cute faces for imaginary photographs and voice his concerns about looking pretty. These are both hot toys this season and many an Inquisitor will be lining up to purchasing one for their child, their nieces or nephews, or perhaps a little brother or sister. This will no doubt be a lot of fun. Oh, and no killing the delivery driver or anyone at Grammy Smith's. That just wouldn't be funny. Use a cattle prod if necessary. That's hilarious.

 

[Esau Cairn]

to look into Boot Hill

the idea of ... scenario around the election of a mayor, city council, or even county sheriff ... concepts that are grounded in mundane aspects of life.

Any ideas?

A scenario like an episode / seasonal arc-story of Deadwood.

 

[MarkB]

When we were preparing for a Dresden Files game set in Detroit I did a lot of research into any magic-related history of the city. I learned that Harry Houdini had died there, and when looking into his biography on Wikipedia I found out that, around the time of his death, he'd been beginning a collaboration with H P Lovecraft to write a non-fiction book in which they would debunk various spiritualists and supposed religious miracles. By the time of Houdini's death, they hadn't progressed much beyond Lovecraft writing a foreword and synopsis, and Houdini's wife refused to allow any of the existing material to be published after his death.

In the real world that's just an interesting footnote about an almost-collaboration between two public figures. But in an urban fantasy setting? Two figures setting out to investigate apparent magical events with a view to disproving them, and the works being suppressed after the untimely death of one of them? That's some pretty serious plot hooks right there.