What's your Best Gimmick?

[Delemental]

So, if you had a bunch of pre-teen superheroes running around a mall, what kind of encounters, puzzles, and gimmicks would you throw at them?

Discount Clothing Rack Maze of DOOM!! (You all tried to hide from your parents at the mall by crawling under/through the racks, right?)

Impenetrable Wall of Teenager Shoppers! Preferably in front of a store like The Gap.

Transforming Battle Kiosks! (Everything for this setting seems like it should have an exclamation point on the end.)


Perhaps they can have one of those "construction" puzzles you mentioned, where the device in question can only be built using materials you can find at the food court (straws, lids, ketchup packets, plastic serving trays, plastic silverware, napkin dispensers, funny hats from Hot Dog on a Stick, etc).

Maybe the heroes have to find "The Store That Time Forgot", an obscure little business that sells strange occult devices (or costume jewelry, your choice). The problem is that no one can see the entrance to this store; it can only be found by solving a riddle that involves visiting other stores in the mall in a particular sequence and/or obtaining particular items of merchandise.

(You know, like "Find Ye the Emperor in his Orchard, and Wrest from his Grasp a Hound of Hell", which means "Go to the Orange Julius and buy a hot dog.")

If you use the "Lost Kid" idea mentioned before, then this could tie in - the kid wandered into The Store That Time Forgot by accident, and was never seen again... but used the strange wares found in the store to take over the mall... AND ONE DAY THE WORLD!!! (bwa ha ha).

 

[Xath]

How about a Scooby Doo-esque type of mystery (without all of the pot).

 

[NCSUCodeMonkey]

Delemental, I like your style . Pretty much all of those ideas are viable options.

How about a Scooby Doo-esque type of mystery (without all of the pot).

Somehow I don't think that it'd be the same without the pot

NCSUCodeMonkey

 

[diaglo]

A day at the movies...
with 3D glasses. but the glasses cause the monsters to escape the screen.

the kids have to round them up and send them back into movie land.

edit: this will also involve the kids finding every last pair of the glasses and destroying them after using them to do their round up.

cause any glasses left means a possible reoccurance.

so it involves teamwork. coordination. problem solving. and then doing the right thing.

 

[megamania]

BLOCKBUSTER: THE REVENGE
Something involving movies and throw in many motiffs from the movies
Indiana Jones= traps
Terminator = Evil robots

etc...


HORRIFIC SLEEPOVER: Freddy Jason visits
More movie antics while thinking Scary Movie 1-3


IT'S GOOD TO BE THE DM ( I tried something like this once)

They play 8 year old superheroes playing a DnD character. Gets crazy but that's the whole fun of it

 

[megamania]

This reminds me of episodes of "Kids Next Door".

 

[Xath]

A day at the movies...
with 3D glasses. but the glasses cause the monsters to escape the screen.

the kids have to round them up and send them back into movie land.

That's so cool. But somehow I think I saw something like this in an episode of The Twilight Zone.

 

[diaglo]

That's so cool. But somehow I think I saw something like this in an episode of The Twilight Zone.

that's the problem with being old. sometimes you can't remember if the idea you just had was a new one. or one you read somewhere.

 

[Mark Causey]

Lost Store? How about a Lost Floor? An entire level (or sub-level) that an elevator can be taken to ... but only if the key to unlock its button can be found.

Maybe the reason for going to the mall is to get the perfect Mother's (or Father's) Day gift?

Riffing on that, maybe a mad scientist/disgruntled guard/baby store cashier upset at the world that she can't have children that's been mutated by too much Food Court food (or maybe because of the food) goes to the mall to punish the kids there that AREN'T getting him/her a father's/mother's day gift because gal durnit I ain't a mom/dad!

Maybe the quarter riding machines could serve for the race you wanted?

So, I could see you having a secret sub level, the most resourceful children showing up or being abducted, all as a punishment for this new Lord or Mistress of the Negative Floor Mall, forcing gladiator style races and fights (with nerf weapons!) for his/her amusement.

Does that help? Sorry it doesn't have pirates, robots (necessarily), or ninja.

BTW, if you run this on any day I can make it, I wanna play

 

[Henry]

If you ever get a chance to watch the local ABC affiliate at 8:00 am to 11:00 AM, Fillmore and Recess come on in that block. If you can't watch or train a VCR on to the channel:

Episode Guide to Fillmore:
http://www.tvtome.com/Fillmore/guide.html

Episode Guide to Recess:
http://www.tvtome.com/Recess/season6.html

Just looking at the Halloween Episode at the top of this column has half a dozen ideas.