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The Dresden Files => DFRPG => Topic started by: prophet224 on June 28, 2010, 05:41:54 PM

Title: Role-playing and 80's tv shows
Post by: prophet224 on June 28, 2010, 05:41:54 PM
Not what you think!  No interest in recreating the A-Team in FATE form, but:

I'm going to revert back to the 80's for a minute.  Most games are, I think, more like "Magnum P.I." than either "The A-Team" or "Stingray", and I just want to throw this out there for fun and for those folks who remember said shows.

There is a lot of talk about starting a game, introducing certain things, and generally how everything works together, and in another thread this metaphor, if you will, occurred to me.  So this is a way to think about game types.

A-Team
"(Ten years ago / In 1972), a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire... The A-Team."

Stingray
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stingray_(NBC_TV_series)
Single mysterious individual travels the country responding to cries for help from the few people who have learned how to reach him.

Magnum P.I.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnum_pi
A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Thomas Magnum served as an officer in the navy and served several tours in Vietnam as a SEAL.  He resigned his commission and lives in Hawaii, working occasionally as a P.I.  Two of his buddies from Vietnam, both Marine vets, also live on the island, occasionally helping him (being suckered into helping) with his cases and occasionally vice-versa.


The point of this is that the A-Team is a tightly connected group, and what happens to one effectively happens to the rest.  They are automatically on 'missions' together.  Stingray is a solo individual, and the type isn't easy to incorporate.

Meanwhile, I think that as a framework, Magnum and company best show how a Dresden-esque campaign might look.  Magnum and his friends are tightly connected, have some interesting contacts (from rich authors to the island's crime network to local Naval intelligence) and have their own lives.  Magnum does jobs and chills (and deals with Higgins), TC runs a tourist and travel helicopter business and Rick manages a country club.  While Magnum is clearly the main character, though, stories come from all angles, and each of the 'party members' brings something different and interesting to the table.  They work within 'the islands', which covers quite a bit of area and land types.

So... just throwing this out there to see what I catch. :)
Title: Re: Role-playing and 80's tv shows
Post by: pfloyd on June 29, 2010, 05:46:00 PM
Okay, let me bring this one up, one of my personal favorites, and connected with Magnum...

Simon & Simon

Two brothers (older is a Viet Nam vet Marine, carries a big S&W .44, lives on a houseboat in his brother's yard... younger is college-educated, dresses smartly) run a PI firm. Local contacts usually involve the local police, rival PI firm, and the like.



Too bad we're sticking to the 80s, because I can think of two good shows that are on now that would be good in this category... Burn Notice and Psych...
Title: Re: Role-playing and 80's tv shows
Post by: JustinS on June 30, 2010, 03:48:30 AM
I've been discussing a possible Boston game, and if it pans out, I may see about reminding myself about Spencer for Hire (There are apparently books too).
Title: Re: Role-playing and 80's tv shows
Post by: FutureGameDesigner on June 30, 2010, 04:12:25 AM
Moonlighting

Scarecrow & Mrs. King

Maybe Beauty & The Beast?



Most other shows are too comical, too dramatic, or too "lone wolf" style.

Though, what I'd like to see is The Equalizer, MacGuyver, Remington Steele and Michael Knight all get together for some jobs.  lol
Title: Re: Role-playing and 80's tv shows
Post by: prophet224 on June 30, 2010, 05:43:10 PM
Simon & Simon... haven't seen that in forever! :)  But yes, great example. :) 

I could see Spenser for hire, too.  I do think Beauty and the beast would be tough... though the setting would be good to use. :D  It just always seemed to come down to "She gets in trouble, he gets her out of it."

Title: Re: Role-playing and 80's tv shows
Post by: FutureGameDesigner on June 30, 2010, 07:28:40 PM
Quote from: prophet224 on June 30, 2010, 05:43:10 PM
Simon & Simon... haven't seen that in forever! :)  But yes, great example. :) 

I could see Spenser for hire, too.  I do think Beauty and the beast would be tough... though the setting would be good to use. :D  It just always seemed to come down to "She gets in trouble, he gets her out of it."


True...but there was greater potential for more cooperative story than in shows like The Equalizer.  Father, Mouse, etc.  Vincent had plenty of "party members" he could've called on.  The writers just didn't do enough to expand on it.
Title: Re: Role-playing and 80's tv shows
Post by: Morgan on July 01, 2010, 10:16:40 AM
Miami Vice could work pretty well for a series focusing on two Warden partners trying to keep order in a lawless environment.
Title: Re: Role-playing and 80's tv shows
Post by: skakid on July 01, 2010, 12:30:26 PM
Of course for those out there with True Believer templates there's also the Father Dowling Mysteries (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father_Dowling_Mysteries)  ;D
Title: Re: Role-playing and 80's tv shows
Post by: prophet224 on July 01, 2010, 12:46:03 PM
Oh my gosh... I love the 'Miami Vice Wardens' idea... :)

Just followed the 'Father Dowling' trail... interesting that it is set in Chicago, eh?
Title: Re: Role-playing and 80's tv shows
Post by: Morgan on July 01, 2010, 04:11:48 PM
Quote
Oh my gosh... I love the 'Miami Vice Wardens' idea... Smiley

The more I think on it the more I like it too. I am curious about all these ideas though, are you thinking of a Dresden Files games set somewhere in 80s TV Land, or are you more looking for classic 80s shows that have decent campaign structures to mine for ideas for a modern game? Either way that's pretty cool, but it also got me thinking about Dresden Files Miami Vice in two different directions.

First would be the modern setting of two Wardens in Miami holding the front line during the
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The other would be set in 80s era Miami, again with the two Warden's trying to keep order in a chaotic border city, but the tone, color, setting, and threats would be radically different.
Title: Re: Role-playing and 80's tv shows
Post by: prophet224 on July 01, 2010, 09:50:17 PM
Honestly I was thinking of it more as a way to compare and contrast game types... the shows are more metaphors than anything else.  Though some of the Magnum shows have certainly given me some ideas.  Oh, Kolchak is another one that would have some good ideas, though again he is a bit more of a loner.