Tanya-J Posted March 25, 2005 Report Share Posted March 25, 2005 I'm running a solo game, and the character has bounced back in time and has lost her powers--she's normally a bargain-basement Green Lantern. Supers didn't appear until the mid-80s, and she's currently in the mid-70s, which is one reason for the power loss--I wanted to keep overt metas out of that timeline until the proper time. I originally intended on only keeping her back in time for a short time, just long enough to run a Call of Cthulhu-style story-arc as a change of pace. (The character works for the government, and could normally call in more resources than my plot would allow, so I dropped her back before these resources existed.) We made it through that block, but the player has asked to stay in the 70s for a while longer, and I'm trying to figure out a way to accomodate. The character is a musician with a 70s fixation, and she's hired on as a roadie for one of her favorite acts, just before they hit it big. Our last session ended with Patricia taking out the Cthulhu nasty and rescuing the woman (her best-friend's mother back in 2005) about to be used as a sacrifice to the elder gods. She found out that the group has been hired as the opening act of a current hit band, so she's going to be heading on a larger tour than she'd anticipated. So now I have to figure out how to do this. I have lots of characters with interpersonal problems that can come into play. Two of the bandmembers are sisters, and they are dating two brothers, who are also in the band. One of the relationships is stable, but the other is shakey. There are all sorts of sudden-fame problems that can come in. I can play with some of those. Patricia has just bedded her best friend's mother, two years before the mother marries the father. Patricia barely knew the mother prior to bouncing back in time, since they just met for the first time. Since both women know the relationship is temporary, they are both throwing themselves into it pretty hard. Given this, it's not unlikely that they'll fall in love, setting up a Casablanca-style session. However, the road doesn't leave a lot of time for non-soap elements of the game. They aren't going to be anywhere long enough to really get into the local scene. So, do you guys have any suggestions for developing plot threads that will fit into the frame? Any help would be appreciated! Tanya Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supreme Serpent Posted March 25, 2005 Report Share Posted March 25, 2005 Re: Rock Tour Champions? Scooby-Do. Seriously. They're travelling around, and the plot just happens to be coming to a head when they arrive. Could be something at the venue they're going to play at, something at the hotel they're staying at, whatever. "And I would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for those meddling long-haired hippie musicians!" Have something happen so that she realizes that one of the band's songs was written about her. "Oh my god! The 'Devil in Blue Jeans' was...*me*? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanya-J Posted March 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2005 Re: Rock Tour Champions? Doh! Yes, that'll work out great. It'll also give me an excuse to rewatch some of the classics. Thanks! And, of course, the other roadies, managers, etc. can have illegal ties as well. Thanks! Tanya Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanya-J Posted March 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2005 Re: Rock Tour Champions? Also, Patricia's working both as a roadie and as a music tutor/understudy. She knows a lot more instruments than the bandmembers do, and they are trying to experiment with sounds. She'll be emergency stand-in if any of the members go down for one reason or another. ("What do you mean the bassist has been arrested?!?!?") Tanya Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hooligan x Posted March 26, 2005 Report Share Posted March 26, 2005 Re: Rock Tour Champions? Did anyone ever notice Scooby-Doo and Murder, She Wrote are almost the same show? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aylwin13 Posted March 26, 2005 Report Share Posted March 26, 2005 Re: Rock Tour Champions? Yeah, I always thought that they should have given Jessica Fletcher a talking dog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hooligan x Posted March 26, 2005 Report Share Posted March 26, 2005 Re: Rock Tour Champions? I always wished that on the final episode of M, S W we would find out that Jessica Fletcher was a serial killer who had been framing the innocent for years. Hey, that's almost on topic! Have the sound guy or lighting tech be a serial killer! Your girl could find bodies in every city and slowly figure out who the killer is. Maybe he's a band member and the record execs are covering it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haerandir Posted March 26, 2005 Report Share Posted March 26, 2005 Re: Rock Tour Champions? Did anyone ever notice Scooby-Doo and Murder' date=' She Wrote are almost the same show?[/quote'] I think Warner Bros. noticed. It's what inspired them to create the Sylvester/Tweety Mysteries, with Granny as Jessica Fletcher and her pets as the Scooby gang. Now my head hurts. As for things that can happen on the road, let's see: The other band (the one they're opening for) could have occult ties. You've already established that there's Cthulu Mythos-type stuff happening in this timeframe, so there's no reason that the big rock act of the day couldn't be a front for some sort of cult, perhaps using magic to enhance their popularity, or fueling spells with the life-force of their fans, that sort of thing. If your PC can interrupt the big ritual at the Shea Stadium concert, she can save thousands of innocent lives AND explain why that band's popularity suddenly dwindled... She could uncover evidence that a new drug gaining popularity on the concert scene is actually part of some sort of Evil Government Conspiracy . Or other sort of evil conspiracy, but if you're going for the '70's rock'n'roll counterculture vibe, you just KNOW that The Man is behind everything. Might be fun, what with her government ties in the future, to pit her against the forces of authority. Could even tie into any sort of inter-departmental conflicts you might have going in the future timeline. Don't know exactly what year you're working on, but you could hit the history books to see if there were any significant anti-war or civil rights demonstrations that year. Could be interesting to see what happens when a de-powered superhuman gets caught up in a perfectly ordinary civil rights demonstration that turns violent. She's got no powers, no authority, and little or no prestige, but she's bound to want to help people. Time to think outside the box, I suppose. Hmm... If she manages to get arrested for any reason, she has no papers and no one to vouch for her but a bunch of hippie musicians. Cops love people like that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanya-J Posted March 28, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2005 Re: Rock Tour Champions? This helps quite a bit. I've had her run into a standard serial killer already, but I might work in one with a metahuman flair--the old vampire/werewolf masquerade ploy, for example. Also, bringing in the energy drain works quite nicely. I was planning on using a modified Scarlet from the Vibora Bay sourcebook once the character gets back to modern day, and this could be a lead-in to that, especially if the other-world contacts are the same. And, of course, the two could tie in together. Maybe the bigger band's manager has mystic ties and is using the group to drain audiences, and one of the flunkies has started doing things to endanger the masquerade--sort of like what happened in The Howling. "Might be fun, what with her government ties in the future, to pit her against the forces of authority." This is one I'm going to have to play with. Thanks for bringing it up! "Time to think outside the box, I suppose. " Which is why I turn to you guys! Seriously, I appreciate the help. What with grad school and everything, it's easy for me to overlook opportunities. Thanks! Tanya Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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