The 1980s: The RPG

Krakatoa · Post by **Krakatoa** » Tue Jan 04, 2011 4:42 pm

I'm planning an RPG that is essentially based on the cheesiness of 1980s popular culture, using tropes, classes, and villains from the movies of that decade. So far I'm trying to determine the roles of the classes.

Defenders
Barbarian (Inspired by Conan)
Underdog (Inspired by Rocky)

Controllers
Mad Genius (Inspired by Doc Brown, Ghostbusters)
Gamer (Inspired more by gaming culture. Has stuff such as Power Glove as a weapon proficiency)

Leaders
Rock Star (Inspired by Bill and Ted, Marty McFly)
Cheerleader (Inspired by a glut of movies where the lead lady is one)
Accountant (Inspired by Wall Street)

Strikers
Ninja (There was a huge ninja craze in the 80s that lasted into the 90s)
Action Hero (inspired by John McClane)
Dweeb (Basically the kid from E.T, fights primarily with some paranormal companion)

shadzar · Post by **shadzar** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 7:45 pm

so you are making a 4th edition D&D adventure set based off the 80's?

Parthenon · Post by **Parthenon** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 10:44 pm

Are you really suggesting a game with a party of a boxer, the kid from The Last Starfighter but less exciting, an accountant and another kid hiding behind a short, ugly alien who can make his finger glow.

You're better off writing fan-fiction. Please do so, and post it into the Hilariously Bad (and Good) Fanfics thread. I could do with a laugh.

Krakatoa · Post by **Krakatoa** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 4:19 am

Are you suggesting that a party comprised of Rocky Balboa, John McClane, Conan the Barbarian, and a Donatello the Ninja Turtle wouldn't be fun? I'm seriously not comprehending your confusion here.

Leress · Post by **Leress** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 4:57 am

Then I suggest you play RIFTS or BESM.

Krakatoa · Post by **Krakatoa** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 5:32 am

Um, okay? I'm not sure what that has to do with anything.

TarkisFlux · Post by **TarkisFlux** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 5:41 am

I believe Leress was pointing out that such a game already exists (either of those two will work, seriously), and you don't really need to reinvent the wheel unless you want to.

Krakatoa · Post by **Krakatoa** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 5:44 am

Oh, yeah. I see what you're saying. I guess that's true, but Rifts is... well, Rifts, and BESM is easy to go completely off the rails in terms of balance. I recently played a rather long BESM campaign in which one character was just ridiculously overpowered to the determent of most of the group's fun.

Plus it's a fun exercise for me, even if it's basically a reskin/adjustment of 4E.

I think the way Dungeons and Dragons, especially 4E, handles character death isn't really tonally appropriate, so instead I'm borrowing this mechanic from video games. Each player has a Stamina that are effectively the same thing as Hit Points--lose them all and you go down. Instead of death saving throws, each character gets an effective number of Life Points which work basically like Extra Lives. You regain all your Stamina after a day of Rest but have to go to a hospital to regain life points. (Or possibly use magic items and high-level powers.)

If you lose all Stamina with no Life Points left, then you die. I think this will allow me to skew game balance a bit more heavily towards enemies since it's less likely that characters will be completely dead from one fight. That way fights can be more tense.

Leress · Post by **Leress** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 6:24 am

What determines Life Points and Stamina Points? Also you are going to have to rework the entire Skill Challenge system into to something that is good.

Juton · Post by **Juton** » Thu Jan 06, 2011 3:47 pm

You want something like this?

Source: http://culturepopped.blogspot.com/2010/ ... -1988.html

I think a multi-genre system like Gurps or Mutants and Masterminds is probably the way to go. Give your players a long leash in what they can create and you may be pleasantly surprised.