Here's another weird play-variant thing.

It occurs to me that some of the more popular cartoons- notably TRANSFORMERS and G.I. JOE- had or rapidly acquired casts of characters that were so big, they really wouldn't fit in a single episode. So sometimes they'd show up, sometimes they wouldn't- heroes and villains rotated in and out.

It seems to me that the best way to simulate this would be to first draw up a big batch of characters for the series, and change 'em around each session- give most players different characters from the pool, maybe have one hang around for a few episodes (based on his "centrality".)

Experience could be awarded to the players instead of their characters, and in between "seasons" they'd get together and decide which PCs to improve and how much and so on.

This would also allow the GM to do the kind of shifting focus that the shows frequently indulged in- the Dinobots might get a whole show to themselves one week, and be sidelined the next.

Anyone else thought of something like this?

I've actually been pondering a similar idea.

WHat I was thinking was for a GI Joe game. I'd design each episode around several characters (Missions that require specific skills, with RP oppurtunities for said characters), and each Episode I'd let the players pick their PCs.

Not sure I could really do it right now... I have a smallish RL group, and time is limited, but itw as something I was thinking of doing.

Bull

I hinted at something along those lines in the CAH book, though I never thought to have a common pool of characters. Very, very cool.

When I run games, I often do rotate the villains in and out. Sometimes, Spydar will be there...sometimes he won't be. I think this keeps the show fresh.

Furthermore, if you hold back one or two villains and only use them on rare occasions, it becomes something of a treat for players to come up against them ("Sweet! It's Von Blood!").