I was flipping through the boob toob last night - and I flipped over to TV Land and caught a couple of episodes of Batman and Robin (the old show).

It occurred to me that InSpectres' Confessional Mechanic could almost be used for something for Cheezy 60s Superhero Shows (and I am assuming the show is from the 60s). As Batman and Robin went to an old western amusement part, a evil cowboy opened up fire on them. Batman immediately said, "Quick -- behind the BULLETPROOF batmobile."

Seemed to me - we could play all sorts of terrible superhero games if we could only define things as we go along -- or some sort of in-game mechanic would let us define things as we go. "Oh, no his evil ray is going to kill us -- quick, I'll let go of this vial of ANTI-RADIATION gas to save us!"

But, of course, this probably has nothing to do with anything. Anyone else see the Confession mechanic in InSpectres as useful in other genres?

Thanks,
Nathan

That's not really a Confessional, Nate. It's more of a "Do we have anti-shark spray? *rolls the Utility Belt stat* Yes! We do!"

How come you aren't on ICQ punk?

And no - it's not a Utility Belt roll, man. In a Confessional, a character talks about the scene in past tense and usually drops in an item or something that the character previously didn't know he had that helped him succeed.

I am assuming that in my superhero tv show, I didn't actually know that the Batmobile was bulletproof. But by Batman instantly saying - "Let's get behind the BULLETPROOF batmobile!", I know now that it is BULLETPROOF. So, it is the same method, though the mechanic would be slightly different per the genre.

The vial of anti-radiation gas doesn't work -- but maybe, like so: Robin says, "Holy Contamination, Batman, the Joker just detonated a gas bomb full of terrible radiation. We're doomed!" Batman frowns but then perks up, "Just a minute, Robin. Get behind my cape -- it screens out harmful radiation!"

So maybe it doesn't work... But the key would be your powers and your equipment's properties are defined as you go.... Though it needs work.

*sigh*

So, how about using the Confessional Mechanic in a game of Call of Cthulhu? Interesting, no?

Thanks,
Nathan

The whole idea behind the Confessional isn't that it lets you muck with the story directly. It's that it allows the character to speak to the players.

And as far as using the Confessional in CoC goes, check this out:
http://memento-mori.com/inspectres/UnSpeakable.pdf