Tuesday 24 March 2015

Slackers - a USR concept game


Mallrats 2, guys! Actually, I'm generally seeing a tonne of hate for Kevin Smith and his View Askewniverse, but I don't care because I love those flicks.

A while back I was noodling with creating a game called Slackers - a while before USR - that would emulate films like Clerks, Dude Where's My Car? and Mallrats. Aptly, I put Slackers together but never got around to publishing anything.

Can Slackers be done with USR? I'm not sure, but that's not going to stop me from trying. You'll have to download USR 2.0 for free to play along at home.

Slackers: A USR Concept Game



Create a character or whatever

In Slackers, you play a regular schmo - average or below. You're probably young, poor and things don't tend to go well for you. You've probably just starting out on the job ladder that you hate and not many friends. Think Jay, Silent Bob, Randall and Brodie. Oh, and it's probably set in the 90s - the height of slackerdom.

Roll for your job. 1d10 please.

1. Video store clerk
2. Delivery boy/girl
3. Chain restaurant server
4. Unemployed
5. Arcade clerk
6. Convenience store clerk
7. Call center agent
8. Fast food clerk
9. Gas station assistant
10. In college



Roll for a goal. 

1. Win back your ex
2. Win the heart of the person you love
3. Have one amazing night
4. Throw the greatest party of all time
5. Get your high school diploma
6. Get your dream job
7. Get laid
8. Hang out with your buddies
9. Escape from a gang
10. Discover the greatest drink ever

Setting or something

Generally, a slacker film is set somewhere in the suburbs, probably in a more run-down area of the country. You'll have a convenience store (Kwik Stop), video store (set in the 90s, remember?) and a mall. These are all locations more familiar to people living in America, but you can be a slacker in any country.

What kind of stuff happens in Slackers, anyway?

Slacker films can be pretty tame on the violence (a la Clerks) or go all out (Pineapple Express), or fit in somewhere in between. The point is that your characters are going to be regular people thrown into a situation that they're not prepared for. It could be a road trip, a run in with a gang, or simply encountering a series of crazy people in a store. You're going to be doing more talking than fighting, in Slackers, so you're not going to be equipped with weapons from the get go or anything like that. Everyone has their own goals, so it's about how you attempt to achieve those and in what order you do them.

Don't think that everything has to be grounded in reality, though. Feel free to bring in supernatural elements, aliens, time travel. Whatever. Just make it funny.



Inspiration

1. Clerks
2. Mallrats
3. Chasing Amy
4. The Big Lebowski
5. Dude, Where's My Car?
6. Super Troopers
7. Fast Times at Ridgemont High
8. Slacker
9. The Hangover
10. Dogma






1 comment:

  1. You have touched good quality points here. In whatever way continue writing.mu online

    ReplyDelete