another funny little game
from gargoyle13
another funny little game
from gargoyle13
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Places to Go... ...People to Eat |
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The Insidious Doctor Toothpull by the Insidious Mike Mearls The elders speak of them in hushed voices and never talk about them in public. They say that the last time they were in town, you were lucky to get a single jelly bean, never mind a chocobomb or a sugar stick. They have the most hideous instruments you've ever seen, terrible enough to leave the toughest spook crying for mercy. They're dentists, and they won't leave until they gotten rid of all the candy and given every last troll a check-up! Dr. Toothpull Background Dr. Toothpull has always been a stern guy. Nothing ever got him excited. Until he saw that dental school recruitment film, that is. He always thought his mouth was for talking, kissing, and stuffing candy, but then he learned the awful truth: there's germs in there, tons of them! And even worse, they like to eat teeth! During recess, and science class, and English class, and on the bus ride home, and at dinner that night, all Toothpull could talk about was tooth decay. Why didn't anyone else understand how gross plaque was? Toothpull's mind was made up: he had to go to dental school, and he had to do everything within his power to awaken the world to the horrors of tooth decay. If people wouldn't listen, he'd take matters into his own hands, for the world's own good. Dr. Toothpull doesn't want to hurt anyone, but he knows that not everyone is wise enough to look out for their own dental health. That's when it's time to pull out his trusty pliers and go to work! Personality Dr. Toothpull is a completely personable guy right up until the point where he's stealing your candy and trying to get his pliers into your mouth. The doctor is prone to rapid shifts from pleasant to outraged once he figures out that Pumpkin Towners don't want any dental help. The doctor doesn't want to hurt anyone, but yanking teeth and stealing candy don't count as hurting people in the Doc's book: that's his idea of helping out. Appearance The Doc is in his mid fifties, with gray, thinning hair. He wears a pair of thick glasses and never goes out without his lab coat and his trusty black leather bag of dental tools. Traits Focused (+1), Calm (+1), Smart (+2), Fanatical about dental health (-1), Afraid of tooth decay (-1) Skills Dentistry (+4), Steal Candy (+3), Scare you with a Nasty Looking Dental Tool (+3), Lie about how much this is going to hurt (+1), Pull something handy out of his leather bag (+1) Stuff A long white lab coat, a collection of evil looking dental tools (including a scraper, a cleaner, a water pick, and a pair of pliers), a fold-out 8 foot long toothbrush, a tube of toothpaste, a framed diploma from Shecky's School of Dentistry and Auto Repair, black leather bag of dental mayhem. GM's Notes The Doc is easily distracted by even bigger goals on his quest for dental hygiene. He's a fanatic, so he's pretty clueless when he's trying to figure out if someone is really interested in dental care of playing him along. The Doc does sometimes feel a little guilty about his methods, but he has managed to convince himself that any price is worth paying for sound dental health. Cool Stuff to Do If you can get your hands on a lab coat, wear it when you're playing Doctor Toothpull. One of those headlamps that doctors wear would be a cool idea, and if you have a spare toothbrush, wave it around when the Doctor is speaking and menace your players with it. Jimbo and Jumbo, Toothpull's Assistants - Mike Mearls Jimbo and Jumbo are twins. When they were young, they dressed the same, played all the same games, wanted all the same toys, and joined all the same clubs. Whenever they went to the library, they could only take out a book that they could get two copies of, since they both wanted to get the same book and read the same pages at the same time without looking over each other's shoulder. When they graduated from school, they looked around for a place that was hiring two movers, two weightlifters, two of anything that had to lift big things and carry them around for a while. They looked and looked and looked, but big, strong, tough guys were in such rare supply that no one dared place an ad asking for two. One was hard enough to come by! Then one day, Jimbo and Jumbo met Dr. Toothpull. They were a little confused about the good Doctor's line of work, but once he made it clear that he needed someone strong, preferably two someone strongs, to help him move his equipment to Pumpkin Town and to keep patients in line, they signed on. What the Doctor doesn't know is that Jimbo and Jumbo are addicted to chocolate. They've been eating all the candy he has given to them to destroy. So far, they've managed to hide this from the Doctor (he trusts them too much to give them dental exams) but given how dense they are, its only a matter of time before something goes wrong. Personality Take a five year old kid, give him the strength of your average pro wrestler, and you've got Jimbo and Jumbo. The duo is very childlike, which is both good and bad for your players. On one hand, they are rather easy to trick and can be pacified with candy or games. On the other hand, they can pitch a temper tantrum like nobody's business and tend to solve most every problem they run into by either punching it or breaking it. Appearance Jimbo and Jumbo like to wear matching outfits, usually corduroy overalls, rainbow propeller caps, and big battered work boots. The two of them have short blond hair, with beady blue eyes and pudgy baby faces. They are both quite fat, looking more like beach balls than buff bodybuilders, but they are quite strong. Traits Strong (+2), Tough (+1), Big (+1), Slow thinkers (-1), Inseparable (-1) Skills Look tough (+2), Pick up and move heavy stuff (+2), Restrain patient (+2), Wrestle (+2), Hide Candy (+1), Eat a lot and not get full (+1), Dentistry (-3) Stuff Overalls, boots, propeller hats, candy hidden in their pockets, weight belts, body building magazines, dumbbells GM's Notes Jimbo and Jumbo don't necessarily like hurting people, but a job is a job and it took them so long to get this one that they're willing to go that extra mile to hold on to it. Remember, they are not evil or malicious. They don't know their own strength, and they would never intentionally kill or maim anyone. Cool Stuff To Do Your speech should reflect Jimbo's and Jumbo's mental capabilities: slow and childlike. If you can get one of those propeller hats, it would make a great prop for the duo. Try carrying on the twins conversations with yourself to keep the players confused and to establish the two as an inseparable pair. Queen Fiona Knuckles Background Once in a great while, a real live human child will sneak into Pumpkin Town to steal candy. Usually, the Pumpkin Towners scare the bejeezus out of children and send them scurrying back home. Except for one time, when one little spitfire of a girl managed to scare the sheets off the ghosts and the warts off the trolls. Fiona Knuckles is the roughest, toughest, downright meanest kid to step foot into Pumpkin Town. Her momma is a pro wrestler and her daddy is a football player who is so mean that all the other players got together and payed him to NOT play. She arrives in Pumpkin Town every night to pull off the craziest pranks and eat more candy than the fattest troll. You can tell when she's around because there's always someone hopping around on one foot, clutching his achy shin (she kicks REAL hard) and all the houses are egged and there's candy wrappers everywhere. Rumors fly around Pumpkin Town about how Queen Knuckles can so easily move between the mundane world and Pumpkin Town. Every midnight, she shows up somewhere in town, and just before twilight she dissappears as suddenly as she arrived. No one has discovered her secret. Yet. Personality Queen Knuckles has three ways of dealing with a problem: shrieking, kicking, and shrieking and kicking at the same time. She's afraid of nothing and loud, bossy, and brassy enough to brow beat just about anyone to her point of view. This makes her the perfect ruler of Pumpkin Town's night. The only thing she's afraid of (and she would never admit this to anyone) is getting trapped in Pumpkin Town, seperated from her parents. Despite her claims, her parents are typical suburban parents, fair and loving, though they do sometimes spoil her. Queen Knuckles loves rampaging around Pumpkin Town with her troll and ghoul friends, and though she's one tough cookie, deep down inside she's still a little kid just out to have fun. Appearance Queen Knuckles is a ten year old normal (well, that's a relative label) human girl with long, dark, hair and big brown puppy dog eyes. She wears dainty little dresses and a pair of hard leather shoes with the nastiest, pointiest tips. Traits Nimble (+2), Deadeye (+1), Inventive (+1), Fearless (+3), Homesick (-2), Candy addict (-1) Skills Climb trees and fences and stuff (+4), Kick shins (+4), Intimidation through angry shrieking (+3), Eat lots of candy (+3), Throw eggs or anything else small and round (+3), Run pretty durn fast (+3) Stuff Candy, rotten eggs, a dead rat, a dress, shoes designed by some fiend for kicking shins. GM's Notes The best way to use Queen Knuckles is to talk up her evil reputation, her propensity for violence and mayhem, and then have the players meet this sweet looking little girl who promptly kicks their butts all over the place (well, kicks their shins all over the place). So what's the secret of Queen Knuckles' entrance to Pumpkin Town? It's whatever you want it to be. Really, this can be as much of or as little of a plot device as you wish. Would a paint manufacturer tell an artist what paints to use where? No, and RPG writers shouldn't tell RPG players exactly what to do with every little bit of their games. This is a game, not a book. Cool Stuff to Do A spooky looking doll might make a good Queen Knuckles prop. Hide behind it, shriek your lines, and whack players with it. Toss things at the players (eggs might get messy; try ping pong balls), berate them, shriek, pitch a tantrum, ham it up! You're ten years old and in charge. Gill, everyone's favorite UnLifeguard By Jared Sorensen, everyone's favorite Sp!ke Gill is the young, athletic and good-looking, err...fishman that sits atop the unlifeguard chair at Cauldron Point's "Blood Beach." He's 6'2" with yellow slit-eyes, webbed hands and feet, scaly green skin and a smile that sends the girlies' hearts a'flutter. He has a tattoo on his left bicep of the Pisces zodiac symbol ("Dude...water child all the way, man!") and is never without his silver whistle, sunshades and PTHS Diving Team muscle shirt ("Go, Deep Ones!") . Gill is a pretty cool, mellow dude. He's a bit spaced-out and being a ladies man will hit on just about anything with two legs (or more...or less). Gill is totally ripped (+2), laid-back (+1) and handsome-in-an-icthoid-kinda way +1. Unfortunately, he's also vapid (-1) and slimy...in both senses of the word (-1). Gill is also an excellent swimmer (+4), adept at unlife-saving techniques (+3), fascinated by astrology (+1), a great sushi chef (+1), and a wiz volleyball player (+2, +1 other sports and +0 hockey). Gill has 14 hit points. The Skeleton Krewe By Mike Mearls Background Skeletons used to be the most boring residents of Pumpkin Town. They all looked alike, they didn't wear clothes, and they couldn't eat candy. Every ghoul and zombie has his own unique case of tomb rot, every troll has his scabs, pimples, and warts. Skeletons have bones, and that's it. No style, no pizzazz, just boring bleached white bones. Seen one, seen 'em all. That all changed when Rufus Oldbone rolled into town. He was a skeleton with style in spades. He opened his own nightclub, The Hip Joint, and helped pull his fellow skeletons from a morass of utter squareness. Nowadays, skeletons are the swingingest, most happenin' ghouls around. They've adopted the dress and style of Hollywood gangsters, in that they seem to have gotten their ideas of who and what the mafia is from TV cop shows. Personality The hip crowd of the Skeleton Krewe tends to follow every trend that Oldbone sets. Nowadays the Krewe, following Oldbone's lead, is kicking it old school. The Hip Joint has been converted to a speakeasy, and the gangster look is HOT, baby. The Skeleton Krewe tends to look down on a lot of the typical Pumpkin Town activities as childish. Of course, that doesn't stop them from egging houses (drive by style, of course) or shaking down people for candy. They're just business men, they'll tell you. Appearance The Skeleton Krewe dresses to the nines: pinstripe suits, silk ties, imported Italian shoes for the gents, hot-hot-HOT dresses for the molls. Oh yeah, and they're skeletons, so without their threads the Krewe all look pretty much the same. Traits Stylish (+1), Confident (+1), Vain (-1) Skills Dance up a storm (+2), Fashion sense (+2) Stuff A classy outfit, a moll on his arm (or a gangster on hers), a cocktail. GM's Notes The Skeleton Krewe makes a good foil for your characters. They're stuck up, arrogant, and tend to prey upon the weak. Their current obsession with the gangster look has spilled over into gangster activity. If you borrow a chocobomb from the Krewe on Wednesday, you better have two sugarsticks for them by Friday or they can get nasty. The Krewe isn't violent, but they'll steal your candy, throw pies at you (from a passing car, of course) and generally dog your steps 'til you pay up. In short, use them to harass your players when things are getting quiet and safe (boring). Cool Stuff to Do If you can do a gangster voice, go for it. Pull out the Godfather schtick and go to town. Adventure Ideas *A friend of the characters is in debt to the Krewe. Can they help him out? *If the characters are out to find or recover something, what do you know, the Krewe is after it too. *The characters are invited to a super swingin' party at the Hip Joint. At the party, maybe a character gets a little too close to a jealous gangster's moll, or some other sticky situation comes up. The characters can either smooth things over or make some lifelong enemies. Lunch Lady Witch - by Nathan Hill (with some additional ideas by Doc Fortune) The players begin as regular Other Place (Earth) Children. One afternoon, one of the players gets a letter from a friend that tells the players that he is "suspicious of the school cook". He thinks "she is hiding something". The player might dismiss it *you could even roleplay the next day at school in the lunch line* but the following day,The friend turns up missing. The cook is there, so this is how the players would get involved - deciding to get together to learn about this school cook. (And the cook could be an old, scabby lady with a wart on her nose, graying wispy hair.. the stereotypical witch look, or she could be more of a 'mom' look.. or perhaps even a sexy older woman that wears fishnets and everyone secretly fantasizes about. That last idea is entirely Doc Fortune's. Sick bastard). The players go on an adventure that somehow leads them in a chase after the cook, which eventually through some kind of portal and into Pumpkin Town. The witch (the cook)actually lives at Cauldron Point, on an island in the middle of the Cauldron, in a gingerbread house. She goes back and forth, day by day, cook by day and witch by night. Note from Doc Fortune: Have her peel off her human skin in sight of the characters, especially if you went with the seductive silver fox idea and got some hormones churning. She wears the human skin like a set of clothing. She may have quite a collection of alternate skins. Or- and this might also be fun- give her a 'Hall of Heads' in her Gingerbread House where she can select what she looks like that day by remoiving her head and selecting a new one, perhaps screwing it on in a clockwise fashion. Yes, its an absolute Oz rip, but its scary. And fun. And thats what Pumpkin Town is all about. The Original friend who sent the letter might be held hostage by the witch, at which the players would have to figure out a way to rescue her. They could also have a nice romp about the place, dealing with all the people, exploring and finding allies who might help them. Maybe they unexpectedly meet up with a few of the less violent citizens during the Twilight shift and have an opportunity to find allies or explore before they attempt a rescue. One humorous twist would be to have the friend as a willing prisoner, and the Old Witch just trying to get rid of him ("He eats all my candy! I can't even afford any more toads for next week's lunch!"), or you could take it down the frightening path. The Witch is planning on serving a new lunch tomorrow at school - YOU! One twist is to have some or all of the players actually killed in Pumpkin Town and rise again as spooks of some sort. They can never return to Earth but they are now permanent residents of Pumpkin Town. This is a good idea for a group that has no idea what game they are getting into: Theyve started out with regular human guys but things just keep getting weirder and weirder- a good introductory adventure for Pumpkin Town. |