Clerks - Sorcerer Style

[Zak Arntson]

Okay, saw Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back the day after I read my Sorcerer book ...

So ... has anyone run Sorcerer with a comedic bent?  I can imagine the characters from Clerks bearing their own bizarre Demons.  Although instead of using Demons for power, you are constantly fighting a battle to remain normal.  The premise here would be to cope with your Demon who is CONSTANTLY ruining your life.

The Clerks Cartoon would be the perfect resource ...

The way I see it, everyone has a world view, and their Demons conspire to either a) go along with it, or b) fight it.

Dante is always fighting his Demon to retain his life.  His Demon is primarily responsible for him getting called in to work every morning and pulling him into all the crap that goes on.

Randall works with his Demon to cause bizarre situations that fit his world-view (getting the military to cordon off the Quick Stop because of his fear of the virus from Outbreak, for example).  But then he suffers by consistently getting the shaft (tortured by pyramid builders, married to a Japanese businessman).

Jay is pretty much all Demon.  Maybe he's Silent Bob's Demon?  (Or the other way around?)

I'd like to see other people's thoughts on this, and funny Sorcerer roleplaying in general ...

[Time]

All I can think of when I read this post is "Sluggy Freelance."

-Time

[Ron Edwards]

Hey,

I put off responding to this post until I'd seen the movie.

Funny Sorcerer is possible; it comes in several flavors.

1) Dark. Have it be horrific and violent, but all too satisfying or appropriate. I cite "Death Becomes Her" in the rules as a good example. The kind of thing that you laugh or nod at, knowing you're going to the extreme.

2) Slightly parodic. Send up the very idea of scariness, toss in some light-hearted cruelty, but ultimately keep it fast and ironic. "Practical Demon-Keeping" is a great example. The demons can be really awful, but engaging too.

3) Lighten it up. This isn't funny so much as a little relaxed, such that the demons are more like sidekicks and horrific elements are more grotesque and dramatic than scary. "Demon Cops" is written from this perspective.

These are pretty different kinds of funny and I'm pretty sure that they don't mix well. There are probably others too, like what most people CALL horror in cinema but is really a combination of startlement and comedy.

Best,
Ron