Idea for consideration: Nemesis Dice

[Danny_K]

Possibly dumb idea, but I'd like to put it up for discussion.  I was watching the Incredibles for the twentieth time or so with my kid, and I was thinking about what a cool character Syndrome is, and I thought, "he's so cool, he'd probably get dice in a PTA game."  

So I was thinking, right now in PTA, the nemesis is purely Color, no mechanical effect.  When the Protagonist clashes with the Nemesis, it's just part of the show, and it has no more power than what the Producer wishes to give it.  

What if the Nemesis got some dice of his own -- let's say 3 per episode.  To keep from overpowering things, the rule is that the Protagonist gets a die in his pool for every die the Nemesis uses.  He/she can immediately use that die to counter the Nemesis, or could save it for later.  

This would help reflect the scene in almost every TV show or movie where the nemesis kicks the protagonist's butt, and the protagonist comes roaring back from defeat a scene or two later.  

Any thoughts? Too unwieldy?  Unneeded, since the Producer can do the same thing at any time by spending dice when the Nemesis makes an appearance?

[Danny_K]

55 Views and no Replies = dumb idea.

[xenopulse]

Now, don't be so hard on yourself :)

It does seem to me like it can just be done with Budget--importantly, that way, players actually have to earn the extra dice via fanmail instead of just being given them.

[TonyLB]

Wouldn't Syndrome be handled by one of the players, not the producer?  He seems very much like a player-character to me.  At which point his coolness is a direct factor in the fan-mail economy, right?

[Ben Lehman]

Player characters work great for nemesiss.  Nemesises.  Nemesese.  

Whatever.

yrs--
--Ben

[Mike Holmes]

Well, the problem is that we're comparing apples to oranges. The Incredibles is a movie, not a TV show. The question would be, if it was a TV show, with the lengthy plot lines, or episodic nature, would Syndrome be a character throughout the length of the series. Perhaps. If he's like Lex Luthor in Smallville or something, then yes. If he's just a single villain to be dispatched, then no.

But, generally, yes, if the character is a long time antagonist, I think that they probably should be handled like a protagonist.

Mike

[Ron Edwards]

Hiya,

My experience with PTA is that if people value a character as a bad guy (Nemesis or not, doesn't matter), then they'll pour their available dice into him, against whatever player-character is up against him.

Yes, that's right: the player of superhero B, even though superhero B hates the villain, will pour dice into the villain against superhero A - B's buddy!

You can rely on this. It's central to how the game works. No special adversity dice or character-centric dice are needed for menaces, as the Director can always rely on the players who aren't in the scene to make sure the villain is a real ass-kicker.

You get the same thing going in the game The Great Ork Gods, by the way. Worth checking out.

Best,
Ron