I've got an idea for a "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" game set in the 1980s. PCs would be able to play fictional characters from TV shows, movies, books, and video games released in the 1980s, as long as said material took place in the 80s.

What I'm looking for here are system suggestions. I like Feng Shui, but I'm not terribly happy with how it works in play-by-post.

Fate's another possibility - and would allow for characters of vastly different power levels to adventure together with equal narrative power.

Other system suggestions?

That's a lot of fictional characters.

How about White Wolf's Adventure! game?

How about Savage Worlds?  I played in a game with a similar theme, but it was the American LXG from the 1970s, so PCs were stuff like Evel Knievel, Starsky and Hutch and Philo Beddoe (from Every Which Way But Loose) with an orangutan animal companion named Clyde.

It worked pretty well for tabletop and I've seen some pretty good Savage Worlds games run on RPoL.

Unisystem, FATE, Mutants & Masterminds, Classic Marvel?

This message was deleted by a moderator, as it was against the forum rules, at 05:53, Thu 01 Dec 2016.

Cartoon Action Hour?

Depending on whether you're edging closer to the graphic novel or the movie, it could also be treated as a low-level superhero game, in which case any of the superhero systems (such as MnM) might work.

I'm a bigger fan of the comic. Really, I'd like for people to be able to represent themselves as anything from one of the Breakfast Club to John Rambo to a T-800 without the rules getting in the way.

I'm going to say that acceptable sources are movies, books, video games, and television shows set in the 80s. Comics, not so much, unless they also had a movie or TV show - there's too much "baggage" with their universes otherwise.

Superman, Supergirl, Batman... they're the only superheroes implied by their movies, and that's fine. But taking the same characters from the comics really inflates what's out there.

(I am going to say that Superman himself is reserved for reasons of Plot, and possibly Supergirl as well.)

In terms of what I'll be looking for: Variety. There are a lot of brawny action heroes played by Stalone, Chuck Norris, Schwartznegger, etc, and I don't see a reason to take more than one of them when there are so many weird and interesting characters to choose from, like Tattoo from Fantasy Island, Chunk from the Goonies, or, I don't know, Mr. Belvedere.

Other details: I'll pick a specific year to set the game. Part of character creation will be extrapolating what's happened to your character between the air date of their medium and the start of the game.

Example: Danny was 6 when the Shining took place in 1980. If we set ourselves in 1988, he'll be 14.

Further, if a property exists as a book and a film (as in the Shining) we'll use the dates and version of the latest adaption.

So the system involved will have to be able to deal with characters of vastly different capability seamlessly, without letting players feel less useful for playing more down to earth characters.

This message was deleted by a moderator, as it was against the forum rules, at 05:54, Thu 01 Dec 2016.

This message was deleted by a moderator, as it was moot, at 05:55, Thu 01 Dec 2016.

This message was deleted by a moderator, as it was moot, at 05:55, Thu 01 Dec 2016.

This message was deleted by a moderator, as it was against the forum rules, at 05:59, Thu 01 Dec 2016.

This message was deleted by a moderator, as it was against the forum rules, at 05:52, Thu 01 Dec 2016.

What about series that began syndication in the 80's?

This message was deleted by a moderator, as it was against the forum rules, at 05:57, Thu 01 Dec 2016.

I'm inclined to let the players have a certain amount of leeway with what sort of tone they want to bring to the characters - light or dark, serious, postmodern, deconstruction, etc, but part of choosing which players to include would be characters who, together, make the most interesting grouping. Seriously clashing tones would likely be avoided.

I'll note further that LoEG has a fairly dark tone, being an Alan Moore joint, so I'd naturally drift in that direction a bit.



I'll be measuring by first run.

While I don't mind answering questions, I still need to decide upon a system. Right now I'm leaning towards Fate Core, Fate Accelerated, or some Gumshoe variant. Any last comments or questions before I decide upon a system and open recruitment?
This message was last edited by a moderator, as it was moot, at 05:59, Thu 01 Dec 2016.

What if their last appearance as that character was in 1980?

Use the system from that Marvel game you tried back in the summer.

Aspects-Only Fate?

Yeah, I could do that.

Okay, I've settled on Fate Accelerated. Made a few changes to the premise as well.

The year is 198x, and strange things are afoot at the Circle K... and just about everywhere else. Killer robots tumble through time. Werewolves stalk dark alleyways. Aliens want to befriend us, invade us, eat us, study us. And the CIA keeps losing track of psychic children.

Most people are blissfully unaware, obsessed with new technologies like "computers" or the latest news of the Cold War with the USSR. But not you. You know better.

Maybe you used to be a cop. Or a robot. Or a freelance paranormal investigator. Or you're a simple immigrant new to the country, staying with your cousin Larry, and you walked through the wrong door and all hell broke loose.

"Don't be ridiculous."

Now you've been recruited into The Foundation, a clandestine organization dedicated to protecting Joe and Jane public from the real dangers out there. You know the Truth, and Knowing is Half the Battle.

1980s is a League of Extraordinary Gentlemen-inspired game set in the 1980s, with the basic premise that all fiction is real. All those 80s movies? They're happening. All the TV shows. All the books. All the video games. Players are taking up the roles of the characters from these shows, or at least, an interpretation of them, and working together to fight the forces seeking to tear the world apart.

Gameplay involves investigating unusual situations and circumstances, resolving things the best you can, saving who you can.

Interested? Go RTJ.

link to another game