Silent Movie RPG

[Onix]

Hmm. I really like the music timing idea. What if you had a clip of an old timey song that is clipped to say ten different lengths and then you hit shuffle on your computer/stereo and you had to try and do the scene, not knowing when it would end.

[DavidEBest]

Lots of stuff to go on - so when are you releasing this, Onyx?

[Onix]

I've got more than a few pans in the fire right now. I'll think about how to tie the elements together and then post again. I might not be able to complete this in any short order.

[DavidEBest]

That was meant half-jokingly. If you would like any assistance, I'd be glad to help.

[Onix]

Ok I'm thinking of how to put some of these together.

There would be a stack of "The End" placards (ok cards) that would have some improbable saying on them. Things like "I'm sorry, I've already paid for that chicken twice", "No I will never sing in your opera!" or "The butler killed him in cold blood!". It is the goal of each player to be able to deliver their "The End" placard. If they try and play the placard without acting out how they would come to say the line (for instance finding a body, evidence and then establishing the existence of a butler) they loose the game. The first player to successfully establish how they would deliver their placard wins.

That is the end phase each player would also get a whiteboard/pad of paper. They can write down lines that they want to say to get them to their goal.

At the beginning of a round everyone writes down what they want their placard will say. Two players are given "Editorial Rights" (haven't figured out how this is done on the first round) and can shuffle or remove one placard each.

The old timey music is started and the first player starts their act. They have until the music ends to act out a scene and cannot end early. The music has a definite beginning middle and end so the player tries to match the music. They can bring any other players into their scene by pointing to them.

After the scene the acting player shows their placard and all the other players say what they think is supposed to have happened. The actor chooses the best answer from the group and they get "Editorial Rights" I'm debating if the player can choose not to use their placard.

What do you think so far? What "the end" placards would you like to see?

[SheikhJahbooty]

LoL, hilarious. This is going somewhere, and I like it.

Have you seen ? Some clever ideas in there, and lots of goofy fun. It might be helpful.

[tygertyger]

Silent movie rpg? Heh. I can just imagine a session of Out of Frame run this way.

[Onix]

[Onix]

I think the most informative part about The Penguin Harlequinade is the character types. I started to look for anything on common Silent Movie character types and didn't find anything. At most, maybe there could be a list of the most famous silent characters and how they would be played. Obviously "The Tramp" is one I'd have to work to single out others. I realize that a lot of Silent movies probably drew from the character types in The Penguin Harlequinade but communicating that to a lay person would be difficult.

And I've been playing around with the idea of the Mime style of play. I was thinking, that this type of player can't speak until it's their time to act out a part at which point they can speak. The other players are free to ignore or purposely misinterpret what the mime wants while not acting. It's really just a silly idea, maybe just used as an optional rule.

[tygertyger]