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The Lounge => Media and Inspiration => Topic started by: Koltar on April 24, 2007, 02:53:06 AM

Title: '80s Videos, Pop culture and RPGs
Post by: Koltar on April 24, 2007, 02:53:06 AM
Back in the '80s, music were REAL Music Videos. MTV  actually showed them.

 I was gaming almost every weekend .
 This video fit perfectly the mood of a relationship I was in back then : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X69xQl-xF1k&mode=related&search=

The young lady had actually played in 2 or 3 game sessions of a TRAVELLER game that I was running.

 That was when videos were more like "mini-movies". If you compare Motion Pictures to Novels or Novellas , then the better videos were like shortstories.

 That was also back when I deciided that i'd never be in a role playing group that was "all guys" -  tried to do that a few times . It just felt unnatural. Every group I've been in since has had at least 1 woman , sometimes 2 to 3 as players.

 Another good one from the 80s , that I also associate with RPGs :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcOZ6xFxJqg
"Safety Dance" Men Without Hats.

- Ed C.
Title: '80s Videos, Pop culture and RPGs
Post by: Dr Rotwang! on April 24, 2007, 12:59:08 PM
You know that my ideal cyberpunk game is like a Duran Duran video shot on the Blade Runner set, right?

That said, I've used a few New Wave references in gaming through the years, and in my current D6 Space game moreso than usual.  There's a guy named Nik Kershaw, who captains a pirate cruiser aclled the Human Racing; there's a Wiedlin Station, named after Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Go's; there's an upcoming NPC named Webber, after Gary Webb AKA Gary Numan; somewhere, there's gonna be a ship called the Spring Session M, which is a Missing Persons album - and an anagram of their name.
Title: '80s Videos, Pop culture and RPGs
Post by: Pierce Inverarity on April 24, 2007, 01:39:51 PM
Quote from: Dr Rotwang!There's a guy named Nik Kershaw, who captains a pirate cruiser aclled the Human Racing

:haw: :eek: :haw:

That's just sick and wrong.
Title: '80s Videos, Pop culture and RPGs
Post by: Dr Rotwang! on April 24, 2007, 06:29:01 PM
Quote from: Pierce Inverarity:haw: :eek: :haw:

That's just sick and wrong.
Yeah, I know, I mistyped "called".

Oh, and link (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Racing), if the reference doesn't ring a bell.
Title: '80s Videos, Pop culture and RPGs
Post by: beeber on April 24, 2007, 08:11:36 PM
Quote from: Dr Rotwang!You know that my ideal cyberpunk game is like a Duran Duran video shot on the Blade Runner set, right?

That said, I've used a few New Wave references in gaming through the years, and in my current D6 Space game moreso than usual.  There's a guy named Nik Kershaw, who captains a pirate cruiser aclled the Human Racing; there's a Wiedlin Station, named after Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Go's; there's an upcoming NPC named Webber, after Gary Webb AKA Gary Numan; somewhere, there's gonna be a ship called the Spring Session M, which is a Missing Persons album - and an anagram of their name.

i would love to play in that game :win: :swoon:
Title: '80s Videos, Pop culture and RPGs
Post by: zomben on May 04, 2007, 12:21:12 PM
Every time I hear Huey Lewis and the News, or ZZ Topp, I want to run a RQIII game....
Title: '80s Videos, Pop culture and RPGs
Post by: Sosthenes on May 04, 2007, 12:50:04 PM
Hmm, in the eighties my games always looked  like this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4qTi7cDtI4) but I always wanted them more this way (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FiPak28viE)...
Title: '80s Videos, Pop culture and RPGs
Post by: RedFox on May 04, 2007, 01:32:13 PM
Quote from: beeberi would love to play in that game :win: :swoon:

You ain't the only one, beeber.  I've been itching to be in one of Rotwang's radical games since I first heard about 'em.
Title: '80s Videos, Pop culture and RPGs
Post by: pathfinderap on May 05, 2007, 03:08:44 PM
For years this Video (and space hunters) WAS Traveller to me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10Cf_92rXeg
Title: '80s Videos, Pop culture and RPGs
Post by: pathfinderap on May 05, 2007, 03:44:42 PM
Spacehunter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbrSIpi3fjE

We've all been there
Title: '80s Videos, Pop culture and RPGs
Post by: zomben on May 06, 2007, 02:43:03 PM
Quote from: SosthenesHmm, in the eighties my games always looked  like this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4qTi7cDtI4) but I always wanted them more this way (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FiPak28viE)...

It is a sad fact, that in the 1980's, while most of us wanted our games to be like "Lord of the Rings" or "Elric", they generally ended up like "Hawk the Slayer"...
Title: '80s Videos, Pop culture and RPGs
Post by: Sosthenes on May 06, 2007, 04:47:17 PM
Quote from: zombenIt is a sad fact, that in the 1980's, while most of us wanted our games to be like "Lord of the Rings" or "Elric", they generally ended up like "Hawk the Slayer"...
If only. I'd gladly sacrifice random barnyard animals to get a decent Jack Palance voice for my baddies...
Title: '80s Videos, Pop culture and RPGs
Post by: zomben on May 06, 2007, 04:50:10 PM
Ha!  Excellent!
Title: '80s Videos, Pop culture and RPGs
Post by: pathfinderap on May 07, 2007, 10:13:34 AM
Quote from: zombenIt is a sad fact, that in the 1980's, while most of us wanted our games to be like "Lord of the Rings" or "Elric", they generally ended up like "Hawk the Slayer"...

Hey don't knock it, I started out aiming for "Hawk the Slayer"

:D
Title: '80s Videos, Pop culture and RPGs
Post by: zomben on May 07, 2007, 10:32:59 AM
My first character in Sandy Petersen's RQIII playtest campaign was an Orlanthi 'hunter' named Toran.

He was a direct ripoff of the Toran character from "The Archer: Fugitive From the Empire".

Man, they don't make 'em like that any more...
Title: '80s Videos, Pop culture and RPGs
Post by: Sosthenes on May 07, 2007, 11:28:38 AM
Quote from: zombenHe was a direct ripoff of the Toran character from "The Archer: Fugitive From the Empire".

Snake-men, shape-changing chick, evil dude with mask?
Title: '80s Videos, Pop culture and RPGs
Post by: zomben on May 07, 2007, 11:32:42 AM
Quote from: SosthenesSnake-men, shape-changing chick, evil dude with mask?

That sounds about right...  Haven't seen it in 25 years or more, but I remember loving that show as a kid...
Title: '80s Videos, Pop culture and RPGs
Post by: Sosthenes on May 07, 2007, 11:37:26 AM
Yes, I kinda miss those low-budget fantasy movies. Most of them had crappy actors and silly plots, but that was quite right for Sword & Sorcery. Nowadays we just get Tolkien and Potter clones...

And both contain significantly less boobage.
Title: '80s Videos, Pop culture and RPGs
Post by: Brimshack on May 07, 2007, 02:45:51 PM
The bands I liked weren't getting on MTV, but for me the classic soundtrack for a D&D game will always be early Black Sabbath. Still remember hearing Ozzie scream "Please God Help Me" for the first time while rolling up "The Gnome Ranger" in one of the first campaigns I got to play in.

In my First Edition Pantheon, The Electric was a major God. Another was "The Wizard." Both came with musical accompanyment. I had one NPC, a Red Dragon who was good (the cliche moral switch, I know) who always brought a terrible noise with him. He had the ability to project music, and it was always Heavy metal or Hard rock. We figured most characters from the day would have found it anything but musical, but of course our characters (the cool crowd) liked it. So, they heard what we heard on the stereo while playing.

...High school.
Title: '80s Videos, Pop culture and RPGs
Post by: Ronin on May 07, 2007, 05:16:43 PM
The D&D game I ran sunday. My roomate put on a CD for background noise during the game. His choice was an excellent one. The Conan movie sound track!:D  I cant think of anything better to be playing, while we gamed!:win:
Title: '80s Videos, Pop culture and RPGs
Post by: Sosthenes on May 07, 2007, 05:23:18 PM
Hmm, I once had a scene patterned after Queen's "The Fairy Fellers Master Stroke" (yes, I know it was a painting first).
Title: '80s Videos, Pop culture and RPGs
Post by: zomben on May 07, 2007, 05:29:20 PM
Quote from: RoninThe D&D game I ran sunday. My roomate put on a CD for background noise during the game. His choice was an excellent one. The Conan movie sound track!:D  I cant think of anything better to be playing, while we gamed!:win:

Nice!  For years now, whenever I run fantasy, my choices of background music are the following soundtrack albums:

Conan the Barbarian
Gladiator
Robin of Sherwood ("Legend" is the album title)
Fellowship of the Ring
Two Towers
Return of the King

Further, with the advent of a laptop and MP3 technology, I've broken it into two distinct 'playlists'.  One is the "General Ambience" list, the other is the "Frantic Action" list.

I also use the first "Chant" and a couple albums by the Medieval Baebes whenever the PCs are in a 'courtly intrigue' type scene.
Title: '80s Videos, Pop culture and RPGs
Post by: zomben on May 07, 2007, 05:31:14 PM
Oh, damn, I sould also mention that I once ran an entire SuperWorld campaign based on the Sting album "Dream of the Blue Turtles".  Each session in the campaign was based on one of the song titles.

Only thing I really remember about it was that for the "Russians" song, I introduced the Soviet version of the DC hero, "Green Arrow".  He was called the "Karl Marxman".
Title: '80s Videos, Pop culture and RPGs
Post by: Ian Absentia on May 07, 2007, 05:40:06 PM
Quote from: zombenOnly thing I really remember about it was that for the "Russians" song, I introduced the Soviet version of the DC hero, "Green Arrow".  He was called the "Karl Marxman".
Did you earn a beat-down for that pun.  Did ya? :haw:

Man, all the cheesy supervillain/commie-hero concepts that got flushed down the toilet with the end of the Cold War. :(

!i!
Title: '80s Videos, Pop culture and RPGs
Post by: Dr Rotwang! on May 07, 2007, 07:59:23 PM
I ran a Classic Traveller session with Lavalounge (http://www.thelavalounge.net/) for background music.
Title: '80s Videos, Pop culture and RPGs
Post by: pathfinderap on May 08, 2007, 04:22:48 PM
Quote from: RoninThe D&D game I ran sunday. My roomate put on a CD for background noise during the game. His choice was an excellent one. The Conan movie sound track!:D  I cant think of anything better to be playing, while we gamed!:win:

I think that would rock for a pirates game
Title: '80s Videos, Pop culture and RPGs
Post by: Drew on May 08, 2007, 05:07:05 PM
Hawk the Slayer, Ladyhawke, Krull, The Beastmaster... yep, they all had an influence on my early gaming.
Title: '80s Videos, Pop culture and RPGs
Post by: Koltar on May 15, 2007, 09:59:44 AM
We're talking "BIG TRouble in Little CHINA"...

 Not only was the movie basically a D&D romp through the underground of San Francisco's Chinatown - it also had a huge-ass battle while two wizards did a duel. It had a so-called "Hero" whose dump stat was his IQ , but he had a perfect 18 for his dex. ("ITS all in the reflexes, baby.")

 The movie also had a kick ass theme song done by the director himself John Carpenter, every time I thi nk of adventure that might have a touch of magic ... I think of this song :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D03E9kUTTtQ

- Ed C.
Title: '80s Videos, Pop culture and RPGs
Post by: Dr Rotwang! on May 15, 2007, 11:06:01 AM
Runnin' through the mystic night!
Title: '80s Videos, Pop culture and RPGs
Post by: Ronin on May 16, 2007, 02:31:16 PM
Quote from: KoltarWe're talking "BIG TRouble in Little CHINA"...

 Not only was the movie basically a D&D romp through the underground of San Francisco's Chinatown - it also had a huge-ass battle while two wizards did a duel. It had a so-called "Hero" whose dump stat was his IQ , but he had a perfect 18 for his dex. ("ITS all in the reflexes, baby.")

 The movie also had a kick ass theme song done by the director himself John Carpenter, every time I thi nk of adventure that might have a touch of magic ... I think of this song :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D03E9kUTTtQ

- Ed C.
Big Trouble in Little China in the shit! I love it. I would totally play that as a one shot. Or hell a campaign! (http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/8717/bigtroubleinlittlechinaiq9.jpg)
Title: '80s Videos, Pop culture and RPGs
Post by: Sosthenes on May 16, 2007, 02:49:34 PM
Somewhere I still got this movie RPG ("Extreme Vengeance"?), and one possible plot I came up with involved the guy from "They Live" (Rowdy Roddy Piper) revealing the existance of some leftover aliens to Jack Burton. Those aliens basically are the big cheese of the PRC... They Live meets Big Trouble in Little China meets the Matrix meets other Carpenter movies...
Title: '80s Videos, Pop culture and RPGs
Post by: Zachary The First on May 16, 2007, 03:32:14 PM
For me, one of the best things to come out of the 80s was Toto's "Africa". God, I love that song.  It'd goy the hint of adventure, far-off locales, a peaceful nighttime undertone...love it.
Title: '80s Videos, Pop culture and RPGs
Post by: Dr Rotwang! on May 16, 2007, 04:31:01 PM
"Extreme Vengeance" is a beautiful, underrated RPG.

And I played a character named Antonio Machísimo.
Title: '80s Videos, Pop culture and RPGs
Post by: O'Borg on May 17, 2007, 09:44:48 AM
Quote from: Dr Rotwang!That said, I've used a few New Wave references in gaming through the years, and in my current D6 Space game moreso than usual. There's a guy named Nik Kershaw, who captains a pirate cruiser aclled the Human Racing;
I bet it would be good to be in his shoes, even just for one day.
 
I can rarely listen to Zeppelin's The Lemon Song without imagining a hot cyberchick and a vatgrown ninja stalking each other around a derelict skyscraper end ending in a savage, stylish melee. I sometimes wonder if St Bill of Gibson got inspired by the same song. A lot of the Cult's Sonic Temple LP is good CP theme music for me too.
 
If I ever run anything set in the Vietnam war, I've got an entire MP3 playlist sitting on my hard drive, dominated (unsurprisingly) by CCR. You just cant beat the eerie opening of Run Through the Jungle or their atmospheric version of Heard it Through the Grapevine for imagining nervous GIs patrolling the bush
Title: '80s Videos, Pop culture and RPGs
Post by: JongWK on May 19, 2007, 05:34:31 PM
Another classic of the '80s is coming back from the dead:

JOHN RAMBO trailer here. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ColXeVm-gxY)

Holy. F...ing. Shit. :worthy:
Title: '80s Videos, Pop culture and RPGs
Post by: Koltar on June 15, 2007, 01:42:15 AM
Hell, I still remember this one fondly and once wondered if I could work it into a role playing game :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvHhngeD2K8

Chris DeBurgh  "Don't Pay The Ferryman"



- Ed C.
Title: '80s Videos, Pop culture and RPGs
Post by: Bradford C. Walker on June 16, 2007, 04:10:50 PM
I am quite interested in the new Rambo film, and I hope that the trailer doesn't misrepresent the film.
Title: '80s Videos, Pop culture and RPGs
Post by: Serious Paul on June 16, 2007, 08:11:57 PM
I'm wary of said film. So far the trailers haven't much impressed me. But I am patient.