I’d Play That

I was trying to figure out what today’s topic would be. I was talking with my husband and he suggested talking about RPGs that we both think would be fun to play if they were made. Now admittedly, with the various game systems out there, these could probably be played now. And after writing this, I may have to actually work on rules for doing so for conventions and one-off games.

Highlander – Ok, I am a big fan of the movie (there could be only one) and the series. It sounds like they are going to redo the first movie, so this game could potentially happen. There have been various rumors of an RPG none have come to fruition. There was a great Net Supplement for old World of Darkness, which I have played around with.

Of course the downside to an RPG version of Highlander, is in the end there can be only one immortal. Getting a group of immortals to not kill each other during an entire campaign may be nigh impossible. This could make for a great one shot, where they investigate the doings of evil immortal. Character in-fighting will run high as they squabble over which one is going to take the immortal’s head and quickening. Combat would ultimately be a main focus of this game, so it would need a system that had smooth combat that didn’t take hours to run.

Possible spin-off of this gaming universe would be to play a group of Watchers. Try to get close enough to your immortal without them knowing and if you get caught coming up with reasons you are stalking them.  This would be where great roleplaying would come in. Of course, the characters could go rogue and decide to off all of the immortals. They can’t feel you coming and you know the only way to keep them down for good.

Tron – They made it into a computer game and I think it could be a fun RPG. Perhaps I am more excited to see what the inside art of the books would look like. There are a few approaches to this game. You could play based on the original movie and be fighting the tyranny of MCP. Or perhaps, your characters take on the fight against CLU. Perhaps you want to explore other areas of the Grid looking for lost ISOs.

Someone had told me about a Tron-esque game they were working on using the d20 system. They really focused on the idea that you were a living program, and your class was represented by your file type. Warriors were .EXE, Bards would be .MP3, Wizards would be .DOC, etc. But at the heart, it is a D&D game that takes place inside of a computer. Perhaps if the characters didn’t know that they were files and found out through game play, this could be an interesting route. Other suitable game systems might be ShadowRun or a good ole percentile.

Transformers – Again, I think this might be more of a thematic interest. I mean holy cow I am playing a giant friggin robot that can transform. And there is such a history to explore with this one. Perhaps your game takes place on Cybertron, before the Transformers crashed on Earth. You could take part in the Cybertronian wars or you could be on Earth trying to defend against the Decepticons. Or maybe you play as a group of Decepticons? I love the idea of a gaming group that has the ability to form into one big transformer together. Talk about team work.

As far as a system, again this could be a pretty simple game. You don’t really have any super powers to work with, so you can go with a simple system for resolving effects. I could see this being a modern d20 game or really any system that doesn’t necessarily have classes. However, I think you should get things for leveling up.

Alternatives of this could involve playing a Voltron force. Of course if you go that way, you really aren’t necessarily leveling your giant robot, so using the mech-warrior system might be better if you went that way.

Care Bears – You and your friends take up the mantle of various Care Bears or Care Cousins to defeat the forces of evil and rescue hapless children that have been duped by the bad guys. You can be people like Love-A-Lot Bear, Cozyheart Penguin, or Cheer Bear. Of course, there is always room in the Care Bear universe for new characters as well. You could create characters like Emo Bear, Fhtagn Squid, or Touch-Me-Here Bear. You would have a Cuteness attribute that could be used to disorient people as they Ooh and Ahh at how adorable you are. Ultimate power would be the Care Bear Stare which would allow you to increase your cuteness while devastating your foe with the power of your tummy symbol.
Almost any existing system could probably handle the Care Bears. It could be an interesting use of the Grimm d6 system. It is simple enough. Variations of this game could include My Little Ponies or Rainbow Brite. Perhaps they could all join together. I am not sure that I would be able to retain the contents of my stomach with that much cute running around.

Almost any ‘80s cartoon – Think about it, you could play as Gummi Bears, Smurfs, Thundercats, He-Man/She-ra, Jem, TNMT, etc. How cool is it to relive or re-create adventures you saw on TV as a kid. I miss these cartoons and I think it would be fun to play any of them.

How about you? What RPGs would you love to play, even just for a few games? Or, if you have translated on of the above games, share what system you used and how it turned out. Share using the comments below.