Still Kicking

Welcome back! It's been a while, hasn't it? (I'm kidding, I know this blog has 0 followers)

In between work and life I've been playing with some layout ideas for a first-draft rulebook for Nobody Poops on TV. I don't think I'm quite ready to show that off just yet, but I thought I'd discuss a counter-balance I've been working on to the "growing pains" a group might experience in the early game. Your Talents and Techniques are all fairly low when starting out, and your Motivations might be quite high, so you need some abilities that will encourage your audience to stick around and not Heckle you quite so much.

The old, "hey, I know that actor--they're from that other show I like! Maybe I'll watch an episode or two!" that draws in a lot of new viewers to a TV show.

Introducing...

...Claims to Fame!

These are bonus Talent-like abilities that every Actor starts with. It's part of what got the Actor cast in the role--acting ability and Technique only gets you so far. Like many millennials who grew up watching Twins, Junior, Space Jam, Hercules, and Matilda, Danny DeVito is one of my favourite actors of all time. That man is my childhood.

But he wasn't cast on It's Always Sunny because he's a great actor (though he is). He was cast because nobody watched season one and they were gonna be cancelled if they didn't cast him.

Sometimes, name recognition matters, and that's what Claims to Fame hope to represent. They're a reason besides an ability to act that causes the audience to tune in.

In-game, the difference between a Claim to Fame ("CTF" for short) and a Talent is that a Talent can increase in rank, while a Claim to Fame is always a set number of d8s, plus an additional bonus.

For instance, an actor with the "Household Name" CTF might allow the whole party to start with a higher Rating score, another might be able to generate Applause in particular situations, and so on.

My WIP, quickstart version will have these tied to particular characters, and from there I'll be able to separate them out into more customisable character classes.