What 80s TV Show Would you Run an RPG Campaign About?

jcfiala · September 06, 2017, 12:28:45 PM

The first thing that came to mind was Knight Rider. A little difficult to do as a team - mostly it's the guy and the car, but it could work out for a very small party, where you just have one or two players.

The second thing that came to mind was the A-Team.

Wasn't there a Starman tv show in the 80's, based on the movie? That could work - one alien, his half-alien son, and a collection of badass normals travelling across the country together being pursued by the government or something.

Willie the Duck · September 06, 2017, 12:39:34 PM

Yep. Starring Robert Hays (Ted Striker in the film Airplane! ) and Christopher Daniel Barnes (Prince Eric from The Little Mermaid). Lasted one season.

Skarg · September 06, 2017, 12:46:23 PM

I probably wouldn't run any of them.

I could see running GURPS A-Team just as another variant of my "use the deadly realistic tactical rules to demonstrate how wrong the combat choreography was" one-off combat scenarios.

Joey2k · September 06, 2017, 12:58:36 PM

Galaxy Rangers
Silverhawks
Centurions
Starcom
Misfits of Science

Quote from: sniderman;989557Pirates of Dark Water -- An amazing setting. I don't think the series ever got a proper ending.

There actually was an RPG sourcebook for this. This blog has a link to some of the material.

Tod13 · September 06, 2017, 01:45:35 PM

Quote from: Dumarest;989561There was a novel, a movie, and a comic book...all in the '70s...what TV show?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan%27s_Run_(TV_series)

Dumarest · September 06, 2017, 02:31:33 PM

Quote from: Tod13;989604https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan%27s_Run_(TV_series)

Q: What 80s TV Show Would you Run an RPG Campaign About?

A: Logan's Run is a 1977 American television series, a spin-off from the 1976 film of the same name.

Hmm...never knew this show existed...or that 1977 was considered the 1980s! :confused:

In that case, I'm starting up my Saturday Night Fever campaign! I figure a 1977 movie is as much an '80s TV show as anything else...!

Armchair Gamer · September 06, 2017, 06:41:07 PM

The one real thing holding back from running a He-Man and the Masters of the Universe game is the concern of finding people whom I could trust to play it straight.

Christopher Brady · September 06, 2017, 07:01:13 PM

Quote from: Armchair Gamer;989727The one real thing holding back from running a He-Man and the Masters of the Universe game is the concern of finding people whom I could trust to play it straight.

I hear ya.

Dumarest · September 06, 2017, 07:25:06 PM

Quote from: Armchair Gamer;989727The one real thing holding back from running a He-Man and the Masters of the Universe game is the concern of finding people whom I could trust to play it straight.

I'd volunteer but I only have a bare familiarity with the cartoon. Otherwise I'd play She-Ra.

colwebbsfmc · September 06, 2017, 08:20:22 PM

Quote from: Christopher Brady;989448The A-Team.
Because I was a kid in the 80's:

Bionic Six.
M.A.S.K.
He-Man and Masters of The Universe
Thundarr
Thundercats
Jayce and The Wheeled Warriors
Blackstar

...wow, all of these would be on my list. I'd add The Visionaries, Tales from the Gold Monkey and Star Trek:TNG Season One. Why? Because Season One had a completely different setting than the rest of TNG. The Ferengi were supposed to be sinister and scary. The Enterprise herself was often questioned as a new ship that might just have hidden flaws. Things like the T'Kon Empire existed that were never again explored. Tons of neat little points of trivia that were retconned, forgotten, or never again explored. What about those parasite creatures? Remember when Holodecks were new and not overdone? Remember when the ship was meant to separate any time the civilians aboard were in trouble?

colwebbsfmc · September 06, 2017, 08:22:39 PM

Quote from: Armchair Gamer;989727The one real thing holding back from running a He-Man and the Masters of the Universe game is the concern of finding people whom I could trust to play it straight.

Eternia could be an AMAZING setting, it's got ancient tech, ancient magic, tons of things to weave into a great game. I've even thought about doing a game 2,000 years or so after He-Man, where a 21st Century-tech Eternian archaeological team comes across artifacts of the MotU time period, inadvertently unleashing Skeletor and his minions into the modern world along with magic. The team must use other artifacts to grant them the Power of Grayskull.

Barbatruc · September 06, 2017, 09:34:52 PM

Tops for me would be Les Mystérieuses Cités d'or, hands down

Voros · September 07, 2017, 01:58:29 AM

Hmm..not a big fan of most 80s TV despite growing up in that decade. Quantum Leap is a good choice.

To me something like The Changes, The Prisoner or The Avengers seem more promising.

TrippyHippy · September 07, 2017, 06:25:59 AM

Quote from: Voros;989883Hmm..not a big fan of most 80s TV despite growing up in that decade. Quantum Leap is a good choice.

To me something like The Changes, The Prisoner or The Avengers seem more promising.

There was a GURPS supplement released for The Prisoner, sometime I recall.

Barghest · September 07, 2017, 07:05:49 AM

Quote from: Dumarest;989631Hmm...never knew this show existed...or that 1977 was considered the 1980s! :confused:

Well, if we're going to be picky little shits about it, Pirates of Dark Water debuted in 1991...