Pineapple Express: Someone Is Wrong on the Internet?

[Autumnal]

Most people do not, of course, particularly want to make war. And when they do, it’s very often what gets called “big game, small war” in the context of indigenous American nations. Those are opportunities for individuals to show off their bravery and general awesomeness, and to score trophies - everything from significant trophies to leaving highly visible scars. (Scalping got introduced from Scots-Irish soldiers.)

It appears that warmaking is one of the reasons government as we might think of it developed. It made it possible to scale up “big game, small war”-type activities into much larger, more organized, and longer-lasting kinds of things. And the surrounding social institutions like patriotic fervor and religious sanctification of the cause developed in the wake of that.

(This is all intensely speculative based on necessarily fragmentary evidence, and so on, many disclaimers are active in this area.)

As people who live inn societies, we inherit a lot of social luggage that has complicated origins and can and deserve a lot of purposes. And there’s no “original” pure state to recover - the very first humans came with a ton of baggage from their nearest primate neighbors. But it is to say that we are in the vast middle ground between the most violent primates and the most peaceful ones, more behaviorally flexible than most species, and kinda weird.

 

[MNblockhead]

I will look into it. Do you happen to have an elevator pitch for it?

ELEVATOR PITCH: "An improv-heavy game, with easy to pick up and fun to play rules, where you play a Ghostbusters-type crew of paranormal investigators on a reality TV show. The mechanics support players changing the story. As much of a party game as a TTRPG. Works best when you DON'T take it seriously."


The only bad thing I can say about it is that when I've played it at conventions we annoyed nearby tables because of how loud we were. Every time I've played it at a convention with strangers we were all laughing our asses off the whole time.

When I first ran it as a home game, I still had a scenario built out and put in some prep time. It was a lot of fun but I had created more pressure on myself than I needed to have a satisfying story arc. When I first played it at a convention with a DM who had been running it at the same convention for years--and did an AWESOME job--her prep was literally "Chupacabra" sightings in the area in which the convention was being held. You DON'T need to prep out a setting and detailed story (though you can). Just chose something paranormal and throw it into an area in the real world that you and the players are familiar with and let the shenanigans begin.

If you do decide to run it, lean into the "confession booth" mechanic. Have a separate chair put aside away from the table and have whomever is going to "go into" the confession booth, get up and go sit on the chair. A small touch that adds a lot.

 

[MNblockhead]

I have also played and run this game, exactly once each. I no longer remember any details, as it was in the heady days when I could go to a convention and actually just play games for 48 hours straight (minus the occasional shower break, I wasn't raised in a barn).

EDIT: I need to pull this out and Don't Rest Your Head. Cool games that I don't see myself ever using for a campaign.

Haven't heard of Don't Rest Your Head, looks interesting. I've put it on my Wishlist in DriveThruRPG.

 

[trappedslider]

The other rule 34: War is good for business.

Rule 35: Peace is good for business.

 

[MNblockhead]

There it is!

Say it again!

 

[overgeeked]

If only there was a history book you could read that went into depth about the subject you're talking about. Hmm...

 

[Autumnal]

 

[RealAlHazred]

Haven't heard of Don't Rest Your Head, looks interesting. I've put it on my Wishlist in DriveThruRPG.

I remember it's trippy as heck. I think I remember the evocative backstory and interesting setting more than the mechanics, which I guess is true of a lot of the Indie games from back then.

EDIT:
ELEVATOR PITCH: "You haven't slept in a week, but every day the True Reality becomes clearer. You can see the monsters that the Sleepers can't. And they're planning something, the monsters, and it won't be good for any humans, Asleep or Awake."

You use your exhaustion to use superpowers you've developed through your insomnia, but the more power you call upon the greater the risk you'll slip into madness. Some clever dice mechanics in it, it played very fast and light. I remember it lost Indie Game of the Year when it came out to Spirit of the Century.

 

[Staffan]

View attachment 365707

 

[Meech17]

ELEVATOR PITCH: "An improv-heavy game, with easy to pick up and fun to play rules, where you play a Ghostbusters-type crew of paranormal investigators on a reality TV show. The mechanics support players changing the story. As much of a party game as a TTRPG. Works best when you DON'T take it seriously."


The only bad thing I can say about it is that when I've played it at conventions we annoyed nearby tables because of how loud we were. Every time I've played it at a convention with strangers we were all laughing our asses off the whole time.

When I first ran it as a home game, I still had a scenario built out and put in some prep time. It was a lot of fun but I had created more pressure on myself than I needed to have a satisfying story arc. When I first played it at a convention with a DM who had been running it at the same convention for years--and did an AWESOME job--her prep was literally "Chupacabra" sightings in the area in which the convention was being held. You DON'T need to prep out a setting and detailed story (though you can). Just chose something paranormal and throw it into an area in the real world that you and the players are familiar with and let the shenanigans begin.

If you do decide to run it, lean into the "confession booth" mechanic. Have a separate chair put aside away from the table and have whomever is going to "go into" the confession booth, get up and go sit on the chair. A small touch that adds a lot.

That actually sounds awesome