Blog To-Do List of Tall Orders

Having now thoroughly promised more on this blog than I can deliver unless I set priorities and timelines, I’ll ‘fess up to what readers can realistically expect, in descending order of priority:

1.  Notes related to the games I’m running at Big Bad Con next weekend: two scheduled games, Rob Wieland’s CAMELOT Trigger using Fate Accelerated Edition (FAE) instead of Fate Core, and Emily Care Boss’s Colony Wars series pitch for Robin D. Laws’ Drama System; and two stand-by packs for Games on Demand, The Muppet Show for FAE based on Tom “Blue” Tyson’s playset, and Jared Sorensen’s psychotronic game of post-apocalypse octaNe.  Since I’ve committed to those months ago and the whole thing is going to be over in a few days (Big Bad Con runs October 4-6, 2013), they go first.

2. Notes related to writing the War of Ashes RPG for Evil Hat Productions.  The project is on a short schedule, it’s a contract commitment, and it’s fun.  I’ll probably concentrate a lot of effort on this through March 2014, then  it should decrease as the book will then belong to other team members.

3. The last post in my Fate of the Budayeen series.  I’ve had it outlined since I posted the previous entry, and I started writing the first section but the other commitments must take priority for now.  Still, I’ll slip it in as soon as I can while I still have momentum, so I hope to post it in October 2013.

4. The occasional cooking post.  They don’t take much time to write and I like sharing recipes.  Posts of opportunity only.

5. The book club notes, maybe.  It looks like the Goodreads book club is moribund right now, but should it rise from its ashes, I enjoy writing pop culture notes on the monthly selections.  If it lives, and if I can fit it in, monthly posts.

6. Occasional game reports.  I’ll continue to post my character sheets and pictures when I play, and if I have time, mini-reviews of games I try.  Posts of opportunity only.

7. Wild promise #1: Fate of the Skyrealms.  Yes, I announced I wanted to use FAE to adapt Skyrealms of Jorune and I still think it’s a great project, but it will have to wait.  Probably a lot, like summer 2014 at the earliest.  I’m pretty sure I made other equally ambitious project announcements I can’t recall right now, and they will have to wait too.

The Muppet Show in Fate Accelerated: Update

Huzzah, I updated the character sheet for my Muppet Show playset in Fate Accelerated.  Since last iteration, I’ve added one stunt to each character sheet (many of them courtesy of Tom “Blue” Tyson), as suggested by the players, to provide an example; the players can then customize their muppets by adding one or two Aspects and one or two stunts.  I also added a couple of pages showing the sets of the Muppet Theatre.

Here is the full package with character sheets, handouts, and prep notes.  It’s a .ZIP archive containing PDF and Open Document (.odt) versions of the files.  This is the set I will be using in Games on Demand at Big Bad Con 2013 (October 4-6, 2013 in Oakland, California.)

If you do try it, I’d appreciate any comments and suggestions you may have for improvements!

FAE: The Muppet Show — Game Prep Notes

Following last weekend’s Muppet Show game using the Fate Accelerated Edition (FAE) rules, here are the notes for general play, including comments received from the players:  Open Document file or PDF file.

Some of the key suggestions I received included:

• Treating the audience or the show itself as a character, taking consequences based on the success of individual numbers.  This is so very much in tune with the way FATE and FAE are supposed to be played, I was embarrassed I had not already thought of it!
• Starting the show with a few consequences already, tied to the episode issues.
• The players liked having the characters semi-generated (three or four aspects each, which the players were free to add to in order to customize), but recommended that I add one stunt to each character, serving as a sort of model for them to add more.  Right now, only a few of the Muppet characters have received such a stunt, so feel free to post your own suggestions!
• Making a worksheet to help players create the line-up of acts performing in their show, so you will find this as the first two pages of the updated Muppet character sheets (PDF file)

EDIT: Here are some examples of inspiration pieces I printed for the players: Muppet Rehearsals (Open Document file) or Muppet Rehearsals (PDF file).

FAE: The Muppet Show – Secret Service

Fate Con was this Saturday and as promised, I ran a Muppet Show game using Fate Accelerated Edition (FAE).  The character sheets can be found in a recent post.

I ended up with five players, the wonderful Karen (playing Scooter), Jefferson (An-i-mal!), Amy (Gonzo the Great), David (Miss Piggy), and Edmund (Sam the Eagle), plus walk-on parts by other muppets as the fancy took us.  We started by singing the Muppet Show theme (I had printed the lyrics for everyone.)

Despite Kermit’s absence, the Muppets had to put on a show as best they could, starting with finding a guest star, and staging numbers.  Seizing his opportunity for moral reform, chronically disapproving Sam decided that this would be a good time to set an example with an inspiring, high-minded, patriotic show — by inviting the President. He had heard that a petition to the White House gathering at least 100,000 signatures in 30 days had to receive an answer, so he laboriously started  e-mailing repeatedly.  Rizzo and the rats soon turned this into a valuable opportunity by assisting him in exchange for cheese.

Gonzo and Animal, meanwhile, were interested in something loud involving cannons, a bit like 1812, so Sam talked them into a John Philip Sousa-style march (probably “The Thunderer”, I was ignorant and couldn’t tell which.) Buoyed by this success, Sam then decide to invite Bill Clinton to come play saxophone with the Electric Mayhem.

Soon, everyone was into this patriotic theme, with Gonzo planning to read the Declaration of Independence while jumping over the chorus line on his motorcycle, and Miss Piggy getting a sequined red-white-and-blue dress to wear for her singing number.  Scooter was doing his level best to channel everyone’s enthusiasm in a more-or-less show-building direction.

Again, Rizzo was delighted to assist with the project since, a month after the Fourth of July, flags and bunting were cheap and he was able to resell them at a cheesy profit.  But meanwhile, Sam’s project kept growing the closer he seemed to be to his goal, and he started wanting to bring in every living President of the United States — plus Muppet Ronald Reagan. 

FAE: Muppet character sheets

I’ve mentioned recently that I will be running “Raise the Curtain”, a Muppet Show adventure for FATE Accelerated Edition (FAE) for next weekend’s FATE Con at EndGame in Oakland.  I’m basing it on Tom “Blue” Tyson’s write-up, but I slightly modified the characters.

I’ve created character sheets that are available in PDF here (updated Aug. 16, 2013); they all leave space for customization in play by adding one or two aspects and one or two stunts.  Cooments, improvements, and other suggestions are welcomed.

FATE Accelerated can be downloaded here from the Evil Hat Productions website.

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Drawing of Kermit by GroovyGecko.  Muppets © Jim Henson Company and Disney.

Raise the Curtain! — A Muppet adventure for FAE, coming soon

Yesterday at Endgame we heard that more game proposals are needed in order for FATE Con to be a success on August 10.  That’s a whole Saturday of games showcasing the varied ways in which Evil Hat Productions’ newly revamped FATE system can be used — free, in a friendly environment with great gamers.  Edmund and I have sent our own game submittals, and I hope to see my Bay Area friends there!  The system is available free in PDF, ePub and mobi formats from Evil Hat.

So here is my game outline:

Game System: FATE Accelerated Edition (FAE)
Scenario Name: The Muppet Show – Raise the Curtain!
GM: Sophie Lagacé
Variations: None; suitable for all ages, kids welcome.
Power Level: Muppets
Number of Players: 6
Characters provided? Yes; add aspects as needed
Description: The Muppets must put on a show — but they have no guest, strange noises can be heard backstage, and the chickens are acting even stranger than usual… Based on Tom “Blue” Tyson’s mini-setting “FAE: The Muppet Show – A New Season”.

There are some neat resources available online which I’m using in order to make nice character sheets.  If I can, I will post my full game notes.

• The Muppet Wiki: Extensive fan-made site that covers not only The Muppet Show, but Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, etc.
• Muppet Central, another fan site with perhaps more focus on the merchandise aspect.
• The Muppets’ Ultimate Picture Gallery, a fan site by Michael Alan Baldasare.
• A pretty comprehensive Wikipedia section.
• The official Muppets site from Disney, who bought the rights from the Jim Henson Company back in 2004.
• The Muppets Studio YouTube channel.
• Kenny Durkin‘s awesome Muppet illustrations, especially the movie poster spoofs.
• The Top 25 Muppets in History, Ranked — an article on Cinema Blend with some good memories, even if I can’t forgive them for relegating Miss Piggy to #11.  “Eeeee-YAH!”
• The Stories Behind 20 Muppet Favorites — and article on Mental Floss.  In fact, Mental Floss has several additional interesting tidbits on the Muppets.
• Naturally, there are lots more clips on YouTube…