Hi guys. I'm aiming to play Starchildren with my group in the near future.
Because it's often the case that one or more people will be out of the country on any given weekend, I kind of need each session to work as a self-contained episode.
General outline: the PCs are an underground rock band (most music is outlawed in the Starchildren setting), on their way to a hidden rock festival in Mexico somewhere in the mountains, playing three or four gigs en route as a warm up.
Planned episodes so far:
1 - the introductory session, intended to familiarise everyone with the system and setting.
The PCs are in their van and are stopped at a road block. They need to decide what their band is called. They arrive in a small town to play a gig. Their van is robbed and some equipment stolen. They have to find replacement stuff (i.e. on the black market). They play a short gig.
2 - The group arrive in the town of San Desdinova to play in the cave complex beneath the Four Winds Bar. They encounter a group of aquatic Starchildren known as the Oyster Boys. A murder takes place, which turns out to be due to an experimental mind-control satellite operated by a nearby branch of the Osterberg Institute. The band make contact with the rock underground and, potentially, free several Starchild test subjects from the Institute.
And um.... that's all I've got so far.
Any thoughts or suggestions very welcome.
Are you running the game just as written, setting-wise?
Seanchai
Pretty much, yeah, but to be honest it's vague enough that you can make up loads of stuff.
I don't know why I have a predilection for setting my SC games in Mexico. In fact, maybe I should make it more globe-trotting. Different country each session?
It could be a bit like the end of each episode of Glam Metal Detectives.
"Hey, look! We're number one in Tibet!"
"Well, that's good. Because we're going there... next week."
Mexico is good. A lot of flavor.
Personally, if I ever get to run Starchildren, I'm going to play more with nanotech and maybe make MOM more sinister and secretive. Maybe less public and more private.
Seanchai
I could see that working. MOM could perhaps be covertly endorsed by the New World Order if it is undercover.
"What? No, rock music isn't banned. It's just not in the charts because... it's not popular, I guess. The lead singer of who went missing? I've never heard of him."
I was thinking of something like that. But have shadowy cabals within MOM. MOM has a public face and a legion of front-line agents who truly believe that suppressing music, etc., is beneficial for all. Then there are factions, powerful factions, that have other agendas.
Seanchai