NOIRpg

[trodgers]

Having done not nearly enough playtesting of the PBTRPG mechanic, I think it would be fun to get a specific setting going for the game. So I've decided on NOIRpg, which I see as a noir retelling of (mostly) US history in the late 1940s. I'm no history buff, or at least not about that time period; I am a film noir fan though. So I see the game being more about mood than historical modeling.

[trodgers]

I'm brainstorming a few modules for NOIRpg. I want them to be snippets, the kind of thing you'd see in a film logline. And I want them to be genre appropriate. I have the following ideas:

Rescue a Dame
After making eyes at a woman in a diner, you're about to join her when a suit strolls in. She and the suit have a hushed argument before they get up and leave. Soon after you realize she's left a ring behind on her seat. When you investigate, it's sitting on top of a napkin with lipstick writing on it that reads: "Please save me."

Tail a Mark
Lauren Blake, daughter of local bigwig James Blake fears that her fiance is stepping out with another woman. She offers you five hundred bucks to put a tail on him and see what he's up to.

Get Outta Dodge
Someone put the screws on a childhood friend. Under pressure, he gave up your name. You don't even know what you're accused of, but you know it won't matter when the crooked Chief of Police, who has had his eye on you for a long time, catches you.

Crack a Safe
Delicate job here. Melanie Smith, wife of a a retired politician turned drunk, wants you to break into her in-laws' house and bring back some letters from the safe there. She desperately wants a divorce, but her husband says there's no record of the marriage agreement (undoing their prenup) she knows is present there.

Knock Some Heads
A small time local gang has been harassing kids in the neighborhood. That made you angry. Now they've picked on your little brother. That crossed the line. Pay them a visit and put a hurting on them.

[trodgers]

NOIRpg Module: Eyes the Color of Money
This is a scenario built from the "rescue a dame" template. In brief, the PC sees an attractive woman in a diner. The woman is soon joined by a man who seems to "possess" her. They leave after a hushed argument. Something metallic catches the PC's eye...the woman's ring. And it's sitting on a napkin that has a lipstick message reading "Please Save Me."

This sets off a web of intrigue wherein the woman asks the PC to help her catch her fiance with evidence incriminating him as an illegal gambler. Meanwhile, the fiance is hoping to frame the PC for the woman's eventual death. I'm working on making a PDF of it, but I'm sort of playtesting it on the fly.

[trodgers]

Eyes the Color of Money Overview:

Bridget Rooks is a woman of Irish descent living in Pier Town, a large town or a tiny city. She’s a proud woman, a good looking woman. Her fiancé Wayne Barton came from money. So her family was happy to see her off and she was happy to escape from under her father’s thumb. But she went, unfortunately, from one controlling drunk to another. Wayne has lost most of the family money, and Bridget is only beginning to suspect this.

She’s looking for someone to help make it real easy for the police to put Wayne away. That should buy her some freedom. Meanwhile, Wayne is planning to find some sap to mug by letting him think he's saving Bridget. It has worked before for the duo. Bridget thinks Wayne just gets off on it, but secretly Wayne desperately needs the money they bring in from these escapades. Unfortunately, that’s not the last twist.

Deep down Bridget wants her fiancé not in prison but dead. If she finds out about Wayne’s financial situation, she’s even more adamant about this. She can cash in on the insurance money and win her freedom. Deep down Wayne wants his wife dead, and he would love to frame someone for the murder and get the insurance money himself.

Enter the PC. Savior? Murderer? Murder victim? Things are what you make them, and here’s a golden opportunity for the PC.

[John Stryker]

Sounds like a cool idea. Have you considered that noir doesn't necessarily preclude the possibility for the mystical either. See for instance the cataclysmic Maguffin of "Kiss Me Deadly" (1955).

[trodgers]

I have no problem with that aspect of it. In fact, I've written a good deal of fiction that addresses these issues. I particularly like the blending of classical horror with noir. I have a script for a hardboiled detective novel called Between Life and Death that deals with vampires.

Caveat: I don't know that you have to see the box as mystical in the least. Some have suggested that it's just a dirty bomb.

[trodgers]

You know, I've been thinking about something unique for the NOIRpg campaign. Aside from changing the names of aptitudes and attributes (from Brains/BrawnBravado to Muscle/Smarts/Swagger) and using "authentic" feeling dialogue in writing the text, that is. So I've decided to include something called The Darkness.

I think Call of Cthulu has some idea like this...where you interact with so much weirdness eventually you lose your mind. I could be wrong. Never played the game. Just heard about it.

So my idea is that The Darkness is something that can accrue...and it will make things more difficult on the party, make things seems bleaker. Working on exactly how to flesh out this aspect. My thought is that the game will be rather adult in nature, driving characters to drink, for instance, and engage in other adult behavior (but nothing grotesque, mind you) in order to combat The Darkness.

[trodgers]

First Thoughts on Darkness (From my blog)

[J.K.Mosher]

Interesting.
Reminds me of how Angst works in Wraith (In theory not mechanics).

Correct me if I'm wrong but, wouldn't in Noir the idea of darkness
fit more with a character's mind then "the super natural?".
Guilt, remorse, anger eating away at the character driving him/her to
drink,smoke, gamble, visit houses of ill repute, etc . . .?

[trodgers]