Alas, the lonely life, just me and some dogs for the week.
(Michelle's out of town for the week.)
The Game: Bubblegumshoe
The Publisher: Evil Hat Productions
Degree of Familiarity: None with this particular game, though I'm well familiar with Gumshoe and I'm pretty familiar with the teen detective genre
Books Required: Just the one.
I'll say this about Bubblegumshoe - it is readable as hell. A lot of RPGs aren't. "Readable" doesn't always equal "fun at the table," but a lot of times it does, just because the more accessible a game is the more I can visualize how it would play, which is kinda the first step toward putting it on my "I should run this" list.
(All of this to say, I could totally run Bubblegumshoe.)
Anyway, making a character here isn't entirely unlike making a character for We Used to Be Friends, though of course the systems are very different and WUTBF, in general, leans a little more adult in tone. We start off by figuring out some sort of concept. I wanna play a lifeguard. His name is Dean Cullen (no vampire jokes, thanks), and during the summer you find him with sunscreen on his bod and shades on his eyes, making sure no one drowns at the municipal water park and rec center. During the school year, he's on the swim team at JFK High. I picture Dean as being lean (swimmer's build), tanned all year round, black hair, green eyes, freckles all around his nose. That's a good enough start, let's do some Investigative abilities!
Well, if I were playing this, I'm sure there would be at least 5 players, so I get 5 Academic points, 8 Interpersonal, and 12 Relationship. For Academic, I go 1 each in Fashion, Notice, Pop Culture, and Town Lore, and Outdoors (Dean is not the fellow you call when it's time to do historical research). For Interpersonal, I'll take one each in BS Detector, Flirting, Gossip, Grownup Face, Reassurance, and Taunt, and the other two in Intimidation ("NO RUNNING, GUYS!").
General Abilities are actually before Relationships. I get 40 points, and 4 free in Cool (which doubles as Health in this game, because hurting teens isn't the point in this genre). I want Dean to be cool as hell, so I'll dump 6 points and boost his Cool to 10 (athlete, hot bod, lifeguard, and freckles? c'mon). I have 34 left. I'll put 8 into Athletics, 6 into First Aid, 4 into Driving, 4 into Repair, 4 into Sneaking, and 6 into Throwdown (social combat). Two left, I'll put 'em into Athletics, making my rating 10.
Relationships are next; I get 12 points. If I were going to play this, I'd leave some points free because you can use Relationship points to create relationships on the fly. I may do that (I note with some displeasure, however, that there's no slot for unspent points on the sheet).
Well, I think that the rec center would be an important place in the town, so I'll take Mr. Vaughn as a Like. Vaughn is the groundskeeper and general handyman at the rec center, and Dean shovels his walk during the winter. I choose an Ability that Vaughn can lend Dean; I'll choose Repair. I'll put 4 points into that. Oh, wait, it's supposed to be an Ability not on the list. Hmm. Let's say Mechanics (sub-specialty of Repair).
Dean needs a girlfriend or two, I think. I'll take Myra Hopkins as a Love - she and Dean have been on-again, off-again sweethearts for the last couple of years. I'll make her Location her house, and her Ability is Russian (her mother is Russian, and she grew up speaking both languages). I'll put 2 points there.
That leaves 5 points remaining. Do I want any more relationships? I don't think I do, but I'll add one if I think of a good one.
Now I do Class, Club, and Clique. I'll say that Dean is Upper Class (yeah, he works, but he doesn't need to). Clique and Club need to be different; I shouldn't say his Clique is "Jocks" and his Club is "Swim Team."
Hmm. Is his Clique the Jocks? I think maybe it is. Dean mostly hangs out with other swimmers. But then what for his Club? I'll say Dean sings baritone in the Church Choir. He's not necessarily devout (he's very clear on where he falls on the subject of, say, the sins of the flesh), but he's been going to church since he was a boy and he likes the choir. It's fun to do something that's not physically exhausting. And hell, while I'm at it I'll add the Reverend as a Relationship (Rev. Loy, Like (cool uncle figure), 3 points, his Location is the church and his Ability is History).
And then I need a Drive; this is what compels Dean to get involved in mysteries. I'm gonna say that Dean is Protective - he probably wouldn't admit it, but it's why he's a lifeguard and why he always keeps his CPR training fresh. He wants people to be safe.
Finally, I need a Story Arc. This is jut a goal for Dean that doesn't involve the mystery at hand, whatever that might. I'll say that Dean wants to figure things out with Myra. If that means they're just friends, fine, if it means they're a couple, fine, but this on-again, off-again is bugging him.
And that'll do it!
