Planet Terror

[northerain]

So I watched Planet Terror a few weeks ago and bought the dvd today(Birthday present to myself). I then decide to make an rpg based not on the movie, but the general movie genre, namely, Grindhouse movies.
I want to make this short and sweet and hopefuly finish it in a couple of days, just to get it out of my system and possibly help myself get over my writer's block and continue work on my game, Fallen.
For those of you who haven't seen the movie, here's a synopsis:
''After an experimental bio-nerve gas is accidentally released at a remote U.S. military base in Texas, those exposed to the gas turn into flesh-eating, mutating zombies out to kill. An assortment of various people who include stripper Cherry, her shady mechanic ex-boyfriend Wray, a strong-willed doctor, the local sheriff, and an assortment of various people must join forces to survive the night as the so-called "sickos" threaten to take over the whole town and the world.''

The game will be about kicking some ass in ridiculous ways against a supernatural(or maybe not!) foe, like zombies, huge spiders, serial killers, cults, mutants, aliens, etc. It'll be fast and gimmicky.
I'll focus on the character creation right now, and I'm going to use a character from the movie, Cherry. From watching the movie, this is what I came up with.
Characters have a gimmick. An easy way to describe their personality and behaviour. Rose is a ''Tough Stripper''. She is a stripper, but she is also a badass that doesn't take shit from anyone.
Characters have a catchphrase/joke attached to them. Cherry wants to be a stand up comedian.
Characters have a power/weapon/awesome thing. Cherry has only one leg, but adding a weapon to her stump makes her a killing machine. This can be upgraded(she started with a wooden peg, upgraded to a machine gun, then upgraded to a heavy machinegun).
Characters can learn stunts. Cherry can use her grenade launcher(comes with the machine gun leg) to jump very very high. She can also do spins that kills enemies at 360 degrees.

To make things clear, this isn't a game about Planet Terror per se, but I will be using Planet Terror and Deathproof as archetypes from which to derive the ''rules'' of the genre.
What kind of feedback I'm looking for:
System ideas(existing ones or brand new)
General feedback(does this suck?)

Cross posting this to SG.

-George

[earwig]

Well two games come to mind immediately.  The first is octaNe(http://www.memento-mori.com/octane/).  This is a cool system (and a cool game), but it is heavy on shared narrative, and if you're the type of GM that likes to be in control (as I was) then this can take a bit of getting used to.  octaNe is all about cool.  Characters aren't very limited in what they're able to do, and success on the die roll is more about how much or little control over the outcome the player has rather than "skillchecks."  The gameworld is a post apocolyptic, but really the rule system would be easy to use in anything as long as it's crazy, fast, and loud.  Also, octaNe comes with several modes of play, one of which is "Grindhouse."

The second is Over the Edge.( ) his game setting is more Naked Lunch than Planet of Terror, but the system might work really well.  Like octaNe, there is almost no limit to the character you can create, and things like Machine Gun Legs and Deathproof Cars would not only be easy, but probably encouraged.  One bit of warning on converting this system: The setting is fairly gunplay free.  There are guns on the island, but other than the Peace Force and members of the Government, guns are illegal.  So the rules for gunplay may not be "meaty" enough for your setting.

Unknown Armies would probably work out well here too.  It's nasty, gritty, and violent.  With inspirations you could easily push characters over the top.

Really, just about any system could work with this.  Is this something you're looking to distribute?  If so, the above games are obviously the property of their creator(s).  If this is just something you and your buddies are going to sit around and play, then I would recommend octaNe.  Like I said, GMing takes a bit of getting used to if you're not used to sharing the plot creation, but it wont take long.  It's a hell of a lot of fun, simple to learn, and before you know it, you and your pals will be telling outrageous out-of-control grindhouse sleaze-fests in no time.  Get bored with that, there's several other modes to try.

Whatever the case, keep this in mind:  Grindhouse isn't so much a genre as an overall vibe.  It's not something that can easily be described, but you know it when you see it.  The Grindhouse films were great, but if you want to go into the real-deal, I can give you some places to start. 

Check out (if you haven't already):

1. The Toxic Avenger- This is a must for any "grindhouse" library.  If you haven't seen this, make sure that you do.  It is beyond belief.  I don't know your age, but you also have to take into account that this movie hit theater in the 80s.  There was nothing else like it.  Not as easy to find as it once was, but if you can rent it, make sure you get the version with the "head crushing" scene in tact.  Apparently there are versions out there with it removed.  I've never seen this "edited" version, but I can't fathom this film without it.
    You can count on almost anything put together by TROMA (www.troma) to be full of "grindhouse" coolness.  However, Troma has also gone into distribution of films on DVD as well.  So they carry alot of non-Troma-created material, but you see the "Toxie" logo and you have a pretty good idea what you're about to get yourself into.  Plus, Lloyd Kaufman is truly a friend to independent cinema.  If you can appreciate movies that have no problem going against the grain, you have people like Kaufman (whether you like his films or not) for that.

2. I Spit on Your Grave- Sick.  Sick.  Sick.  Still essential to the whole grindhouse feel.

3. The Human Tornado (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074653/) - Dolemite!  Blaxploitation cinema at its best.  Much more "grindhouse" than Shaft.

4. Blood Sucking Freaks (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_Sucking_Freaks)- Another sick one.  Yet, this movie has a strong cult following and definately fits into the "grindhouse" category.  While not a Troma-made film, it is distributed by Troma. 

5. The Incredible Melting Man (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Incredible_Melting_Man)- This 1977 film should not be in any way confused with Mattheson's Shrinking Man.  The main character of this flick's problem isn't getting smaller, but rather his skin keeps oozing off of him.  This good for those looking for him, as he leaves a nice gooey trail for them to follow.  Lack's the "wink and a smile" brilliance of the Toxic Avenger or the overall squeemish nightmares of I Spit on your Grave, but still very "grindhouse" and not the worst way to waste and hour and a half of your life.

6. Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071650/ )-Um...yeah.  I'm just listing these films, not endorsing them.

7. Vanishing Point (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067927/)- Car chases.  Lots.  I think there's a point to them, but who cares?  Oh,and there's some car chases.

8. Night of the Lepus (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069005/) - This is something that has to be seen to be believed.  The less you know going in, the more fun the suprise.  As soon as the "monsters" make their appearance, you have to stop and wonder who thought this was a good idea.


That's enough to get you going.  Perhaps you've seen all of them, maybe not.  There's a million more, but I feel those are the essentials.  I'm sure there are plenty who would argue.  But you'll notice these films are very different than one another, yet there's something "grindhouse" about them.

Enjoy...just not too much.  At least don't admit to enjoying them.

Later


Chris

P.S. I think a sleazy grindhouse game could be a lot of fun.  Good luck with it!!!

[northerain]

Hey man, thanks for the extensive response.
I'm actually a long time fan of exploitation/grindhouse movies so most of that I'm familiar with.
Octane is good, but you're right, I'm a bit on the traditional side(I want a GM damnit). Ultimately, I want to create a simple system(probably a derivative of Fate) that can concentrate about what grindhouse really is about.
To be more specific about my idea, I want to make a game based on the ''rules'' of the grindhouse genre. That is reflected in character creation, for example, but will also be reflected on the setting and story creation. For example, cops will always be useless power-hungry rednecks that shoot more innocent bystanders than the bad guys, the military is always late and ineffective, nazis are behind everything, etc. This depends on the setting though(is it attack of the martians style game or a revenge flick?). I think it would be cool if I dissected the most common storylines in grindhouse movies(alien attack, experiment gone wrong, revenge, slasher flick) and used this as storylines, all with their own ''rules'' and characters and setting.

[earwig]

Cool.  I'm a big fan too.  Check out ( http://www.myspace.com/bestfreakinmovieever if you're interested.  This is a film that I am trying to get made called "Hot Rod Zombies from Hell"  It has a bit of a grindhouse flair to it, but not quite exploitive enough to be considered a true "grindhouse" film.  We have the screenplay done, the casting done, etc.  We're just trying to put together the money to make this badboy happen.  Since we're discussing grindhouse, we did get Lloyd Kaufman to agree to a small cameo in the film, which should be fun.  We also got Mike and Mark from American Movie, Ari Leihman (the first Jason Vorhees (yeah yeah, the kid who jumps out of the lake in the first one)), and Chuck Williams of Bubba Hotep.  But like most things, everything is contingent on the money.  Anyway, check it out if you want.  Our website's down, so we're using the myspace page for now.

Anyway, back to RPGs.  Way back in the day, I ran a Shadowrun game that I wanted to have a bit more of a "grindhouse" feel.  What I did was during character creation I let everyone get extra points to build their characters for each "sleazy" trait they took for their characters.  This could be the characters background (former/current prostitute/pimp, jail time, uncaptured killer, AWAL soldier in hiding, etc.), personal habits (drug addict, inability to commit/objectifies opposite gender, dangerous arrogance, etc.), or dabilitating physical setback (one leg (can't afford cycberware), "Sees red" in a firefight, etc.).  In order to spend the Sleaze Points (yeah, I know, just because someone has a physical disability doesn't make them sleazy) they had justify how the sleaziness figured into where they were spending the points.

    Ex. As a drug addict, the character has more street contacts than the usual starting runner, as he needs to keep up with his sources.  (spends points to gain more levels in contacts) or Since the character lost his leg during a run turned sour, he went into a period of feeding his brain on simsense chips to quell the depression (now addicted to SimSense gets more points), but also discovered that in the world of Netrunning there was physical deabilitation.  He spent a good portion of his recent years going back and forth between the two (simsense and the net), and has become a bit of an infamous hacker.  In cyberspace he is king, a near diety, an unstoppable force.  However, no one is truly unstoppable, and it is just a matter of time before he gets burned by crossing the wrong IC.   (gains points for physical disability, simsense addiction, dangerous arrogance.  Spends these points on his netrunning skills and resources, prestige level in cyberspace)

   I would have them underline the skills/abilites/etc. that they purchased with the points.  When they would truly role-play these "sleazy traits" in a cool way, or if these traits set them back in the story, I would give them a "sleaze point" which they could spend to "go over the top" on any success they rolled.  So if they were successful on a roll involving driving a car, and their piloting (or rigger skills) skill was one purchased from the sleaze traits, they could spend the sleaze point and come up with some ridiculous stunt that pushed things over the top, and pushed their success to limits of plausability.  In the above example, they might have stolen a truck from a warehouse in order to escape in tact.  They are being pursued by twelve security motorcycles armed to teeth, and taking pretty heavy fire.  The rigger makes a drive roll and succeeds.  He spends a sleaze point (since Drive was a skill he purchased with the sleazy traits), and gets to narrate the success in his own way.  He cuts the truck hard to the left and releases the trailer from the rig.  The first motorcycle is unable to to clear the way, and crashes head on into the trailer.  The trailer happens to be full of a highly explosive material that reacts with the impact of the motorcycle, resulting in a fireball that sweeps across the warehouse lot, engulfing the eleven remaining pursuers.  The characters rig makes it out of the reach of the firestorm by mere inches."

Anyway, I think that's how it works.  We're talking years and years ago. 

The point is, the extra points for sleazy traits fullfilled a trifold purpose:

1) It encouraged the characters to play more Grindhouse-typical characters.  Yeah, it has hints of munchkin-ism, which is why I added that they had to justify what skill(s) the points were spent on vs. the trait that gave them the points. 

2) With all the extra points the players were able to create high-level characters that were over the top in both attributes and background.

3) The sleaze points encouraged players to not only use their skills more often and role-play their "sleaziness", but also pushed the envelope several times in a session, leading to all sorts of ridiculous cinematic silliness that made it all memorable.

Hope that helps. 

Chris

[northerain]

That's cool, I'm currently designing posters for a film called ''Gutterballs''(about a serial killer in a bowling alley. Kills with bowling ball and pins, mask is a bowlingball bag)by Ryan Nicholson(did ''Live Feed''). It's along the line of exploitation serial killer movies of old.

On to the game, I think I have figured out what I want to do for the most part. I'll keep character creation light, no skills or attributes, just what I mentioned in the first post(Stereotype, Gimmick and Stunts). This will ensure players actually play their characters, since this is all they have to work with(at least my players usually create characters with special talents and end up never using them, aiming for more boring but ''surefire'' ways to play.). I might add a ''vice'' trait that adds a little flavor to characters.
I don't mind powerful characters, in fact I think if you're playing a game about grindhouse movies your character should be a badass that never fails and always does awesome things.

[earwig]

Absolutely.  If I were going to do the game, I would keep the stats minimal, like you said.  Over the Edge and Heaven and Earth do a great job of this.  Basically you pick a trait that defines your character (Mail Man, Doctor, Writer, Soldier of Fortune, etc.) and that trait represents everything that type of person would be able to do.  So a "doctor" would role that trait if he were setting bones, giving a check up, performing first aid, doing surgery, or suddenly needed to know something about anatomy.  Then you get a couple of other traits that define your character is less broad but more unique terms like "Communicates with Aliens Through a filling in his teeth" or "Detachable Machinegun Leg" or whatever.  Something like that might be nice and simple, but still allows for the ridiculous of grindhouse folk.

[northerain]

I'm planing to do a Fate hack more or less. Use d10s instead of fudge dice and change char gen a bit. It'll probably focus on the setting for the most part, all the different type of stories you can play(slasher, exploitation, aliens, zombies, infected, etc) and the rules of each ''genre'', a bunch of characters(primary and secondary) and enemies you can pit the players against.

[earwig]

Fate (or a hack-thereof) seems like a good choice.  I was thinking Fudge originally.  Another thought is PDQ system.