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HEY, ROCKY! Watch me pull adventure ideas out of LiveJournal!*
Songs and song titles make great adventure seeds. In the past, I've had GMs who constructed entire campaigns around albums by Jethro Tull or King Crimson.
It's especially appropriate for comic book games -- Stan Lee loved to play on pop music for his story titles. The right combination of words and the songs they describe can suggest entire, baroque scenarios. It's kind of like the way Silver Age DC (and Golden Age Pulp SF) editors would commission a cover, hand it to a writer, and say, "I need a story to go with this."
The questions to ask when you try this:
So, LiveJournal HiveMind, Your Obedient Serpent has the request lines open: give me song titles that you think would make good adventures, particularly superhero adventures.
Don't feel like you have to be obvious, but don't feel like you have to be obscure, either. "Eve of Destruction" is obvious; "Winds of Change", a bit less; "I Don't Like Mondays" sounds like a Garfield punchline unless you know the song and the story behind it.
Give me titles; if you feel like it, give me the scenarios that come to mind when YOU hear them -- or just toss them down as a challenge.
My players all read this, so I'm screening replies!
*"But that trick never works!"
It's especially appropriate for comic book games -- Stan Lee loved to play on pop music for his story titles. The right combination of words and the songs they describe can suggest entire, baroque scenarios. It's kind of like the way Silver Age DC (and Golden Age Pulp SF) editors would commission a cover, hand it to a writer, and say, "I need a story to go with this."
The questions to ask when you try this:
- What kind of scenario does the title suggest?
- Does it describe an event? An adversary? An ally or a victim? Just a general mood or theme?
- How much of the song itself can I lift to help flesh out the adventure?
So, LiveJournal HiveMind, Your Obedient Serpent has the request lines open: give me song titles that you think would make good adventures, particularly superhero adventures.
Don't feel like you have to be obvious, but don't feel like you have to be obscure, either. "Eve of Destruction" is obvious; "Winds of Change", a bit less; "I Don't Like Mondays" sounds like a Garfield punchline unless you know the song and the story behind it.
Give me titles; if you feel like it, give me the scenarios that come to mind when YOU hear them -- or just toss them down as a challenge.
My players all read this, so I'm screening replies!
*"But that trick never works!"
no subject
Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin: For this I'd imagine something to do with gaining access to space. In particular, perhaps a plot involving a space elevator, and the construction/sabotage/control thereof? The elevator in question needn't necessarily be of terran origin, of course...
Dark Side of The Moon - Pink Floyd: Album title rather than a song, in this case. Something sinister is going on way out on the far side of the Moon, and it must be dealt with. Naturally, this presupposes a storyline with aliens, or terran villains with the resources to exploit space.
Blitzkrieg Bop - The Ramones: Cliché time travel adventure involving someone trying to rewrite history in WWII. Possible cameo by someone who strongly resembles Captain America but for legal reasons is simply referred to as The Star-Spangled Commissioned Officer.
Manic Monday - The Bangles: A plot is uncovered involving the release of a psychotropic substance into the air or water supply. On a Monday, of course.
Offered without plot suggestion:
Mr. Roboto - Styx
Invisible Touch - Genesis (Phil Collins era)
Offered as a challenge:
Cheeseburger in Paradise - Jimmy Buffet
Crackerbox Palace - George Harrison