Role-Play Crazy 80’s Movies
Bad movie madness spills into the realm of role-playing games with Straight to VHS. Ryan Mellon, the creator, gives us the scoop on how we can role-play our own bad movies.
When did you begin playing RPGs?
Well if we’re not counting being Power Rangers on the playground and assigning power levels to everything in the toy box… I was either 14 or 15 and a friend introduced me to a roleplaying website. It used a d100 system, free-form skill creation and had this wonderful focus on the characters themselves. And I became hugely enamored with this whole process of collaborative storytelling. It’s a melodramatic and cheesy thing to say, but it sorta felt like coming home, ya know?
How did you come up with the idea for Straight to VHS?
Once upon a time, I was braving the wilds of the internet and came upon a person asking for ideas on how one might evoke the spirit of bad movies in an RPG session. I probably made some strange involuntary noises at the mere idea and I tasked myself with utilizing my love and knowledge of bad movies to just knock this person’s socks off. I replied with a battery of ideas and then I replied to my own post a couple times to add more and more. I couldn’t stop. I started work on a document the same day. I had no real goal in mind but I was just having the time of my life with a blank page and this concept of intentionally playing out a bad movie.
Then I was struck by an epiphany. A “bad movie” RPG simultaneously addresses two of the biggest obstacles to ensnaring reticent friends and family into the RPG hobby.
“RPGs just seem too nerdy.” It’s lame, but for some folks, the typical fantasy or sci-fi themes tend to reinforce what they think they already know about RPGs. Skateboarding ninja werewolves and cyborg cops tend to be an easier pitch.
“I’m not good with stories and characters.” The whole bad-movie theme immediately sets up a low-pressure environment that says “don’t worry, just have fun”. The expectation is for the characters to be absurd and two-dimensional. The plot is expected be a shlocky mess. It’s hard to worry about, and it’s hard to not have fun.
So armed with this rationale, I decided that this was not only a fun idea that appealed to my love of bad movies… it just might be my best idea.
Tell us more about Straight to VHS. What’s the system like, how’s character creation handled, etc.
Yeah, let’s start with character creation. The rulebook has a selection of character “tropes” like Sentimentalist, Mad Scientist, Wheelman, Vampire, and so on. Each of these comes with strengths, weaknesses and special abilities called Cinematic Actions. When you make a character you mix and match any two of these tropes. The resulting parties of sexy doctors, wrestling geezers and cybernetic gangsters definitely set the tone at the outset. The tropes give stat bonuses and penalties, but the players get to further tweak their stats, pick out some items and select a character “perk”.
I wanted to avoid a complex ruleset, but I also didn’t want to leave it to the players to have to “find the game part”. I like to think the result is a system you can lean on, but which doesn’t lean back. In many ways, the rules are typical. Roll a die and add a stat. If it’s opposed (like an attack), the game’s GM does the same. If you rolled higher, the difference is the size of your success. Combat uses initiative, but benefits from a snappy action-point system that makes it simple and intuitive to hold back an action until someone else’s turn.
Really though, the game is brought to its high-energy goofiness by the various Cinematic Actions the players have access to and the incentive to capture the spirit of the VHS bargain bin in order to earn extra die rolls. The system’s job is to give some support and guidance and then step out of the way.
What makes Straight to VHS unique?
The mix-and-match character creation might have been a decent answer, but if there had to be one single thing for me to point to, it would have to be the Script Change mechanic.
A couple things have to happen for a player to earn a Script Change, one of which is partaking in the cinematic tradition of highlighting one of your character’s weaknesses, the other is merely rolling and using a 1 or 20. After one step is completed the player chooses from a list of Script Change Concepts. These are broad things like “a thing is at hand” or “a character arrives”. Once both steps are completed the player is permitted to hijack the narration at any time to insert their Script Change. This is one of those things baked into the game to pretty much ensure the story devolves into absurdity and it’s just a lot of fun for the players and I personally love it as the GM. I get to be surprised too!
What are your plans for the game? Where will it be available?
The game is currently available for free at lostcatgames.com. The plan is to continue refining and expanding the game and to launch a crowdfunding campaign early in 2017 to make a kick-ass paid version. I want to continue providing a free version of the game past that point, though it won’t be quite as feature-rich as the paid version. Regarding that paid version, I would absolutely love to offer printed copies, but I don’t want to promise it without having done all my due diligence. It’s a vision I hope to make real though.
How can people learn more or pitch in?
I’m so very glad you asked! The hope is that people will spread the word and give feedback. The game isn’t finished yet and every bit of feedback is critical in helping Straight to VHS become the best game it can be. The game has a subreddit at reddit.com/r/straighttovhs where anyone can discuss the game with myself, Kirsten Hostbjor (who helps design the game with me) and others who are following its progress. We’ve organized some online games there as well, so if anyone wants to try it out but doesn’t have a group available, swing on by and ask for a game!
There is also the official website at lostcatgames.com which includes a development blog, a feedback survey, links to social media pages and even a digital character sheet.
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