[P.T.A.] Bounty...Hunters

[Judd]

We sat down, six people who had never gamed before and had a splendid game.

Well, okay, a few had gamed together but only a few.  I put out an e-mail in my local game clubs and got a few replies.  Last minute, my girlfriend signed on and last, last minute Julie called and said she'd love to play if we had room.

The concept came out fast and easy:

A reality show in which the five people are being trained to be bounty hunters, schooled by a bad-ass bounty hunter named "Panther" Martin.

Playing at the university game club allowed us to use the blackboard, which was useful when I put up a chart for us to chart out our splotlight episodes.  Bret had this great suggestion that his spotlight episode be the last, because his character is all about becoming something through this training.

We didn't use a pilot, but just launched into the first episode.  The players just naturally used "The Confessional" as part of their play.  It was great stuff.

The characters:

Player Name: Amelia

Protagonist Name: Sherri (with a heart over the -i-)

Concept: mid-life crisis mom

Issue: Mid-Life Crisis

Edges: Nympho, Mother

Connections: Sons (4 from ages 8-16)

Nemesis: Husband (seperation, divorce pending)

Player Name: Pedro

Protagonist Name: Glen

Concept: Asian News Reporter

Issue: Self-Worth, trying to find self

Edges: Brilliant, Manipulative

Connections: Law Enforcement Brother

Nemesis: none

Player Name: Julie

Protagonist Name: Robert Smith

Concept: Paranoid Conspiracy Theorist

Issue: Paranoia and Blaming others, taking responsibility for own actions

Edges: Explosives, Random Knowledge Paranoia

Connections: Army Surplus Store Owner

Nemesis: none

Player Name: Bret

Protagonist Name: Ash (Ashleigh)

Concept: Geeky kid

Issue: I want to be a testosterone poisoned bad-ass but I'm just a geeky kid.

Edges: All drive-no skill, Awkward and Bullied

Connections: Trish, his crush who just sees him as a buddy

Nemesis: Dirk (bounty hunter trainer who rides him HARD)

Player Name: Janaki

Protagonist Name: Butch

Concept: "Big Guns, No Ammo"

Issue: Masculinity Issues

Edges: Hyper-Masculine

Connections: Boyfriend, Personal Trainer (these are two connections, a boyfriend and a persona trainer)

Nemesis: Damien Steele, kid who used to pick on him way back when (we've decided that late in his spotlight episode he is gong to have to bring Steele in and possibly come out to the group...we'll see.)

It was Amelia's character's spotlight episode.  It seemed obvious that a show like this would start its season with all eyes on the mom but we got a decent handle on the other characters and got to see the evil prick that Pedro birthed in Glen.

I don't know where to start.  There were so many good scenes, it was nuts and Fan Mail flew well, with people laughing and throwing poker chips at one another with great abandon.

Amelia talked about her character staring into the camera in the first scene saying, "This is where it all begins.  It begins here with me."

We had a group therapy session, having decided that the trainees have a group therapist who wrote the best-seller, Bounty-Hunters: The Relentless Search for the Self.  Yuck.

The therapist, Dr. Theodore Wallace came to talk to the group after Sherri had accidentally shot a camera man in the foot during their first trip to the firing range.  He pointed out that training would be difficult, as would focus, with children around.

The show ended with a conflict, entirely sought after and framed by Amelia, in which she had to confront her children, who had been sent to stay with her.  She was going to send them back to their father but would she move past it and become all the bounty hunter she could be or would she hang to her motherhood and be stuck in two worlds?

She won and sent her children away in a heart-wrenching scene between her and her son.  She won, sending the children away to become a bad-ass.

It was awful.  I was a bastard.

"I'll be good, Ma.  I can stay in Ash's room."

Amelia narrated her character walking away and crying.  Panther followed her, patted her on the shoulder and told her it was the right thing and she was a tough mama.

"This is where it all begins.  It begins here with me."

Roll credits.

I knew we had hit it when Julie said, "If TV were half this riveting, I'd watch it all the time."

We made good TV and more than that, we made some good gaming.

It was a fun night.  PTA has become my go-to game. for 4 or more people.

We are planning to get together when we can to do another episode.

[Judd]

I am just remembering how the brainstorming went that led to the concept becoming solid.

Amelia: A reality show!

Janaki:  Where we fight evil...or something...or hunt evil.  I dunno.

Me: A reality show about super-heroes who are just starting out.

*tepid murmurs*

Who was it who said, "A reality show about bounty hunters."

*CLICK*

The table lit up.

Pedro: Like that show, Dog, The Bounty Hunter but mixed with that MTV one where the kids become pro wrestlers.

And we were off to the races.

[Bret Gillan]

This is one of the best games I've played in, and definitely the best group I've played with, and I'm not screwing around when I say that.

People were freely offering feedback on one another's ideas and play, and in general there was just this really awesome flow of ideas that I've always dreamt of having at a gaming table, but never actually seen (and never been able to coax out of a group). I don't know how much of it was the player group and how much was the game.

Also, this was the first game I've ever been in that was half composed of females. I'm not in any way going to try and start a "women be different from men!" conversation, but the ideas in the game and the way it was approached was a good deal different from the games I've played in with men who've been D&Ding all their lives. One thing that was very gratifying and noticeable was that my character was received as very sympathetic. When Ash was trying to posture in front of his crush and she compared him to her little brother, all the girls went, "Awww!" This would never, ever, ever happen in my traditional gaming groups. Ash would have been a comic relief character at best.

[Matt Wilson]

Awesome stuff, guys! Thanks for posting about it.

[Judd]

I was writing up an e-mail for the players in this game, trying to get everyone together for a second game.  I am amazed at how easy it was to get a quote from each character, directly from the game, entirely from memory.  There were some really great moments at the table.

"It all begins here; it all begins with me."

- Sherri (with a heart over the -i-)

"If you want to take part in this "group therapy", that is your "business" but let me tell you, I "know" what it is all about."

- "Robert Smith" (going over-board with the finger quotes)

"My Camera-men are getting shot all of the time, like that time in Africa.  It is their lot in life."

- Glen

"I think if anyone is disturbed by the camera person getting shot...they're a pussy."

- Butch

"I think this is going to be the coolest thing...ever."

- Ash (Ashleigh)