Agent X Posted June 7, 2005 Report Share Posted June 7, 2005 Golden Age and Trebuchet's example newspapers and my own experience with the use of headlines has made me think it might be a good idea for us GMs to share ideas and workload here. We could write up fictional headlines and summaries of news articles that could function as plot seeds. If they aren't made too, as in about specific PCs, specific in nature then they could be a whole lot of fun. This could be a great utility for everyone, much like the plot seeds threads of the past. So, what do you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Watchdog Posted June 7, 2005 Report Share Posted June 7, 2005 Re: News Headlines as Plot Seeds Thread GROND DENIES BALCO LINK Insists substance was "flaxseed oil" (AP) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hermit Posted June 8, 2005 Report Share Posted June 8, 2005 Re: News Headlines as Plot Seeds Thread Golden Age and Trebuchet's example newspapers and my own experience with the use of headlines has made me think it might be a good idea for us GMs to share ideas and workload here. We could write up fictional headlines and summaries of news articles that could function as plot seeds. If they aren't made too, as in about specific PCs, specific in nature then they could be a whole lot of fun. This could be a great utility for everyone, much like the plot seeds threads of the past. So, what do you think? Something like this? Bogus Blackouts leave officials In the dark Dallas King, The Daily Bystander Campaign City-Both government and corporate officials seem completely baffled by the "faux" blackouts that have been occuring. Faux, they say, because despite entire city blocks going dark, electricity is clearly running. Air conditioners continue to work, refrigerators run, and no one is needing to break out the batteries to listen to their favorite CDs. "We've never seen anything like it," Energy Commisioner Daniel Blank admited in a quick Q&A meant to ease the concerns of the people, but some say did quite the opposite, "Illumination, and -only- illumination appears to be lacking during these blackouts. There's no explaination for them, but judging by the apparent lack of pattern, we don't believe there's any direct threat to folks indoors." Indeed, the authorities were eager to assure citizens that everything would be fine, and there was no danger to anyone, provided people stopped whatever they were doing and waited for it to pass. Elec-co, a main supplier of our city's electricity confirmed the same. David Addler, PR spokesman for Elec-Co clairified, "As has been confirmed by outside agencies as well as our own men, the electricity is still on during these 'bogus blackouts'. The cause is unknown, but we're sparing no expense in trying to get to the bottom of it." There is little doubt of that. Downplayed where the numerous injuries that occured while the lights were off, but blenders and other potentially harmful devices stayed on, often to the painful surprise of those operating them at the time. Elec-Co is rumored to be facing various lawsuits threats, and scrambling to clear itself of any liablity. "People are scared," Admitted one Elec-Co executive who agreed to speak to us if his name was not mentioned, "And they want -someone- to blame. We happen to be the most obvious target, except we really are holding up our end." Most citizens who've been caught in these don't really care who to blame, they just want it stopped. "It's been happening every other night for the last week in my neighborhood," said Bill Meekums, a resident of the Norwood district of Campaign City, "Normally it lasts only an hour, but once it went on for about three! And NO light works, not even flashlights with batteries!" Elec-Co has offered a $200 reward for any information that leads to the source of this seemingly impossible phenomenon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zornwil Posted July 1, 2005 Report Share Posted July 1, 2005 Re: News Headlines as Plot Seeds Thread Hmmm, I don't have any great ideas, but this is a great thead idea so I'll bump and at least make an effort...wait, why don't I just plunder my own campaign? Here you go - exerpts from an in-depth coverage of Origin, the mutant city formed in the desert, a sort of mass squatting: Point of Origin - special report by Lisa Walters ...As I speak with the civil government of Origin - which is apparently still unsure as to whether it's a city or a nation - I get the sense of excitement akin to that our Founding Fathers must have felt. Whether one considers the city illegal and its residents criminals, one cannot help but feel the thrill its leaders are experiencing. They are trying to recreate society itself, conducting a grand social experiment like none seen since at least the French Revolution. Of course given that historical precedent, we all wonder if the Reign of Terror is around the corner - as do some residents of Origin... ...The city government does have a sort of vigilante flavor, perhaps because that's the strongest legal experience mutants have had in our society, both as victims thereof and enforcers. They deputize at will and basically create posses to go round up the bad guys... ...While I wandered the modern boom town, I marveled at the strange juxtaposition of: water shortages and architectural miracles; children flying through the sky and grown pig-like men burrowing into the dirt as a make-shift bed; Magneto holding court and a human being pelted with garbage. I don't think they're making the desert bloom, rather it's more like they're making the desert reach critical mass... ...In conclusion, tears are in my eyes as I pack up to leave Origin; it's the last time I'll ever see it in person. It's a doomed experiment, an unruly mess intolerable to its host nation. Yes, they've "really started somethin'" here, but it's nothing they can control, and, I have decided, nothing desirable. It's a hermit's approach, a self-imposed reservation system. And when seen in that light, it's a dead end road. When I spoke with Magneto [ed. note - see ABC special broadcast this coming Tuesday at 8 AM/7 PM Central for the Walters/Magneto interview], he had a lot of answers - often before I asked my questions. I asked why Origin, or rather what it symbolizes, would succeed when every prior racial or pre-historical primate separatist movement has ended in ignominy or oblivion. I asked him why, assuming the mutants followed his path, 50,000 years from now the archeologists won't be scratching their heads wondering what happened to the mutant population as it now wonders about the Neanderthal. He answered simply, "Because we are right, and at times it is enough to be right." Good words for philosophers. Bad words for revolutionaries. Perhaps he was simply tired... I must close with a brief open letter to the many mutants who watched over me and whom I had the good fortune to meet on this journey: Goodbye, my many friends in Origin. I hope to see you all soon, safe and sound, wherever you may end up. I hope for all your sakes that little guy was right when he said, "Follow the yellow brick road..." Oh, and this: Flaming Carrot Vows Justice Flaming Carrot, long famed as Detroit's "common man's super hero", has thrown his hat, so to speak, into the ring and declared that he will bring the Devil's Night Gang to justice. FC was quoted at a local hot spot last night as declaring "Ut, Flaming Carrot is not afraid to take on pumpkin-headed man and his cronies. Bring them on! They will not escape my iron grip of justice as they have others. I am more experienced and have fought many monsters in my time." Shortly thereafter he unveiled his latest piece of free association poetry, "Leprechaun in Keychain Kitchen"... ...when asked later in the evening if he was referring to the Duct Tape Squad in regards to the Devil's Night Gang not "escaping" him, the Carrot responded, "I know not what this Duct Tape Squad is. If you mean good guys who have a pretty lady, a statue, a flying man, and ugly man in the group, they are not as hip as the Carrot and have no chance against a flaming pumpkin! Funny flying man in tights, though, make Flaming Carrot laugh, make me drink more beer and cheer life. But that not way to fight crime. I fight crime with grim determination and moxie! I fight crime with punches and weapons! No news story for the sad, vigilant Carrot, who flies by the night like a pigeon who has no crumb of bread! Ut!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted July 1, 2005 Report Share Posted July 1, 2005 Re: News Headlines as Plot Seeds Thread My favorite real-life headline of all time: "FIVE KILLED BY DRUNKEN ELEPHANTS" Gist: In India, a herd of wild elephants were attracted to the smell of a moonshine liquor operation. They ate the corn, slurped down several vats of hooch, and it turned out they were angry drunks. More or less destroyed the compound. It's unclear whether they were just angry, or angry that there wasn't more booze.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKJAM! Posted July 2, 2005 Report Share Posted July 2, 2005 Re: News Headlines as Plot Seeds Thread I'll never forget the time I got my hometown's weekly paper, and the top headline was "BLOOD RUNS IN THE STREETS." What had actually happened was that the meat packer's septic tank had overflowed and spilled out into the neighboring block's gutters. The reporter/editor, towards the end of the article, admitted he'd been wanting to use that headline for over twenty years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mightybec Posted July 2, 2005 Report Share Posted July 2, 2005 Re: News Headlines as Plot Seeds Thread Phone Book Killer Strikes Again. Anna Aavadore Goes into Protective Custody Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubba smith Posted April 22, 2008 Report Share Posted April 22, 2008 Re: News Headlines as Plot Seeds Thread champions martial artist loses court battle movie studio given go ahead to title fantasy movie the SEEKER Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yamamura Posted September 15, 2008 Report Share Posted September 15, 2008 Re: News Headlines as Plot Seeds Thread Unidentified submarine detected between Shikoku and Kyushu Modern day espionage, covert secret, villains up to no good. So much can be attain from this one. http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20080915a3.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boll Weevil Posted September 21, 2008 Report Share Posted September 21, 2008 Re: News Headlines as Plot Seeds Thread I'll never forget the time I got my hometown's weekly paper, and the top headline was "BLOOD RUNS IN THE STREETS." What had actually happened was that the meat packer's septic tank had overflowed and spilled out into the neighboring block's gutters. The reporter/editor, towards the end of the article, admitted he'd been wanting to use that headline for over twenty years. Sorry, I know this is not "funny real headlines" but once here in Cincinnati, a tank truck carrying Olestra (faux cooking oil) overturned on I75 during rush hour. The actual headline the next day in The Enquirer was "FAT CLOGS MAJOR ARTERY". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.