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RE: [DL] The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne
Okay, this conversation has drifted SO FAR off topic
(see below I actually brought it back ON TOPIC) and
I'm just repeating myself but I can't let this go.
My three favorite shows on Sci-Fi are:
The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne
Lexx
Black Scorpion
In that order. I can skip Black Scorpion but if
there's nothing else to do I'll watch it.
The three shows I DON'T like on Sci-Fi?
First Wave
Farscape
The Invisible Man
In that order. I watch the Invisible Man quite
regularly but I can live without it.
So why do I like shows like Verne and Lexx? Because
they are BOLD enough to be Cheesey, and Silly and
Weird and Just Darn Right BAD on PURPOSE. They pay
homage to GREAT shows like the original Batman, The
Avengers, The Original Star Trek, Wild Wild West.
Those shows, WERE GREAT and part of their charm was
the cheap sets, silly costums, foam rubber rocks,
wierd characters, and cheesy dialog.
In this day if it doesn't have a 2 million dollar
budget and is flawless it's thrown out the window.
Nobody appreciates camp anymore. No one appreciates
cheese. If it isn't an ongoing network of plots and
subplots with thinly diguised soap opera characters
with deep evolving character structures than no one
wants it.
A perfect example of this is the X-Files. I LOVE the
one-off weird episodes that have nothing to do with
anything else in the series. But what does everyone
who are fans of the show RAVE about. The very
Episodes I HATE. That stupid Conspiracy Theory
thread. Mulders missing. Scullys pregnant/has
cancer. Krichek here or there. Mulder's sister blah
blah blah. I could give a damn! Give me the ghosts
and goblins anyday!
To put this back ON TOPIC I'll share with you
something about my skills as a Marshall. It wasn't
until recently that I truly understood the concept of
a campaign. In the past a campaign meant that the
characters didn't change between individual stories.
Every session I hold is a complete adventure. I HATE
breaking up an adventure over multiple sessions. But
basically every adventure was a unique story that had
NOTHING to do with the previous ones.
Basically I was running my games the way I would like
to WATCH the X-Files. I'd like to be able to skip 3
weeks and come back and still know whats going on
because none of the episodes really have anything to
do with each other except that the cast is the same.
But I guess I'm just weird. The effect was that I was
having trouble keeping my players involved. They
weren't playing their characters. They were just
being themselves walking through my stories.
And then I got it. I don't like my TV shows
interelated because I don't like HAVING to watch in
order to stay 'in the know.' Soap-Opera elements
leave a bad taste in my mouth because I know they're
just slimy capitalist marketing tricks to keep the
viewers hooked and forced to watch if they want to
know what's going to happen 'next' so to speak. So
rather than write quality stories that people want to
watch just because the quality of the stories are so
good (ALA Tales From the Crypt and Twilight Zone) they
use cliche cliffhangers to cover up half-baked stories
that even the authors don't know where they're going.
BUT!
I HAVE to be at my games. Otherwise there's no game.
And that's okay. So I started giving each of my
characters ongoing story lines. My Huckster is
following a treasure map. My Saloon Girl is pregnant
with a mysterious strangers child. My Muckracker is
trying to get to Tombstone and wants to land a job
with the Epitaph. A lot of my scenarios are still
capsule adventures but I keep mixing in bits and
pieces of everyones personal storyline and
occasionally theres a WHOLE adventure dedicated to
sort of a Global Posse storyline I've developed. I've
even introduced recuring NPCs.
And Voila! I suddenly have characters. My players
actually CARE about their characters and all their
personality quirks. They actually start ROLE-PLAYING.
They work towards their goals, they develope
relationships and repores with my NPCs. It's
facinating.
Okay, I'll stop ranting now.
Thanks for listening.
Jesse
--- "Derek D. Bass" <wangenstein@mad.scientist.com>
wrote:
> I believe I can answer that question at:
>
http://www.cnn.com/2001/CAREER/jobenvy/02/05/hammer/index.html
>
> Farscape is cool, the best thing on SciFi since
> MST3k was canned.
>
> Derek D. Bass
>
> Etheric Musings - The Science of the Sons of Ether
> http://members.home.net/wangenstein/ether.htm
>
> >
> > >>two words: Black Scorpion<<
> >
> > Three: Black Scorpion, Lexx.
> >
>
> Come to think of it the whole friday night lineup
> pretty much sucks save
> Farscape (IMO, the best sci-fi shows on TV right
> now). Who allows this
> stuff to be made? or aired for that matter.
>
> Loco
>
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