{"id":1766,"date":"2013-07-02T13:39:23","date_gmt":"2013-07-02T20:39:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/?p=1766"},"modified":"2013-07-02T13:44:25","modified_gmt":"2013-07-02T20:44:25","slug":"better-angels-one-roll-supervillain-soap-opera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcdream.com\/home\/2013\/07\/better-angels-one-roll-supervillain-soap-opera\/","title":{"rendered":"Better Angels – One-Roll Supervillain Soap Opera"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Better-Angels-cover-v4-front-612px\"<\/a>Written by Greg Stolze, \u00a9 2013<\/em><\/p>\n

Better Angels<\/em> is practically designed for unbalanced plots. Not only do the characters\u2019 goals and motives and morality lurch all over the place, so do their very stats. So it\u2019s uncommon for things to settle down and get dull. But it can happen. If things get a little too stable in your plotline\u2019s ecosystem, making things more interesting may be as simple as throwing another shark in the tank. Or a cow in the piranha tank.<\/p>\n

Just fill in the following paragraph, Mad Libs\/Fiasco<\/em> style, with ideas from the tables below. Some of those tables require you to supply details from your own game, but that\u2019s what makes it feel like a brilliant, creative idea instead of just something you got off the Internet. Try it and see!<\/p>\n

It\u2019ll take a roll of ten dice (or six if you don\u2019t need an NPC name). Don\u2019t look for sets\u2014just assign each of them to one element.<\/p>\n

[NAME 1] [NAME 2],<\/strong> aka [NICKNAME 1] [NICKNAME 2],<\/strong> is coming to town to [GOAL]<\/strong>. But this is complicated. It\u2019s not just that s\/he is [ADVERB] [ATTITUDE] [ISSUE],<\/strong> it\u2019s also personal\u2014s\/he [RELATIONSHIP WITH A SPIRIT]<\/strong> and it [SPIRIT COMPLICATION].<\/strong> That clearly puts them on a collision course with the PCs!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
D10<\/th>\nNAME 1<\/th>\nNAME 2<\/th>\nNICKNAME 1<\/th>\nNICKNAME 2<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
1<\/th>\nAlethea<\/td>\nBraxton<\/td>\nBlack<\/td>\nBat<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/th>\nBarbie<\/td>\nCrowe<\/td>\nBlood(y)<\/td>\nBlaster<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3<\/th>\nDeon<\/td>\nCyr<\/td>\nGhost<\/td>\nDefender (or Offender)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4<\/th>\nEdgardo<\/td>\nFagan<\/td>\nGiant<\/td>\nHand<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5<\/th>\nFrancis<\/td>\nGrier<\/td>\nGreat<\/td>\nLamprey<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6<\/th>\nGabriella<\/td>\nGuillory<\/td>\nKiller<\/td>\nLightning<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7<\/th>\nJody<\/td>\nHestenfedder<\/td>\nRed<\/td>\nNails<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8<\/th>\nNapoleon<\/td>\nHough<\/td>\nSerpent<\/td>\nShadow<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9<\/th>\nTrey<\/td>\nNaylor<\/td>\nStorm<\/td>\nShot<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10<\/th>\nZenobia<\/td>\nNunn<\/td>\nWhite<\/td>\nWave<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
D10<\/th>\nGOAL<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
1<\/th>\nstart over after a disastrous divorce<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/th>\ntake advantage of a business opportunity<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3<\/th>\nget away from the suspicious gossip down in Georgia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4<\/th>\ncome to grips with a mid-life sexual awakening<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5<\/th>\nshow up [ONE OF THE PCS], a high school rival, once and for all<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6<\/th>\nelicit slow, deniable revenge on a dishonest former partner<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7<\/th>\nbe part of one last heist before getting out of the game, for good this time!<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8<\/th>\nfind and deal with the demon that tormented his\/her beloved parent into an early grave<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9<\/th>\ninadvertently help out with [ONE OF THE PCS\u2019 ONGOING GOALS]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10<\/th>\ninadvertently screw things up with [ONE OF THE PCS\u2019 ONGOING GOALS]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
D10<\/th>\nADVERB<\/th>\nATTITUDE<\/th>\nISSUE<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
1<\/th>\nreluctantly<\/td>\nopposed to<\/td>\n[SOMETHING A PC IS REALLY BOTHERED ABOUT]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/th>\nenthusiastically<\/td>\nsupportive of<\/td>\n[SOMETHING A PC REALLY SUPPORTS]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3<\/th>\nvehemently<\/td>\ninterested in<\/td>\nabortion<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4<\/th>\ndisgustedly<\/td>\naroused by<\/td>\nthe war in the Middle East<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5<\/th>\nperversely<\/td>\nshocked by<\/td>\nthe injustices inherent in capitalism<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6<\/th>\nmysteriously<\/td>\nagainst<\/td>\n\u2018sinister\u2019 immigrants coming to \u2018steal\u2019 American \u2018jobs\u2019<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7<\/th>\nvocally<\/td>\nin favor of<\/td>\ninterlocking hierarchies of gender, class and racial oppression<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8<\/th>\nhypocritically<\/td>\ncurious about<\/td>\nthe claims of evangelical Christians that they are marginalized in society<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9<\/th>\nreligiously<\/td>\nconfused by<\/td>\nthat damned, screwed-up electoral college<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10<\/th>\nviolently<\/td>\nfascinated by<\/td>\nsatanic cults<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
D10<\/th>\nRELATIONSHIP WITH A SPIRIT<\/th>\nSPIRIT COMPLICATION<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
1<\/th>\nhas an angel companion s\/he loves<\/td>\nlongs to be sexually intimate with the host of [A PC\u2019S SCREWTAPE]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/th>\nhas an angel companion s\/he hates<\/td>\ncraves the destruction of [A PC\u2019S SCREWTAPE]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3<\/th>\nhas a conflicted relationship with an angelic spirit<\/td>\nhas a longstanding grudge against [A PC\u2019S SCREWTAPE], but feels the need to express it by messing up its plans instead of outright destroying it<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4<\/th>\nloves his\/her Sly demon<\/td>\nfeels a need to apologize and make things right with [A PC\u2019S SCREWTAPE] for transgressions lost in the mists of long-ago time<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5<\/th>\nloves his\/her Cunning demon<\/td>\nthinks that [A PC\u2019S SCREWTAPE] holds the key to the ultimate triumph of its faction<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6<\/th>\nloves his\/her Devious demon<\/td>\nknows that [A PC\u2019S SCREWTAPE] is an essential component of its long-term, complicated master plan<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7<\/th>\nhates his\/her Sly demon<\/td>\nwants to position itself at the area\u2019s premier superhero<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8<\/th>\nhates his\/her Cunning demon<\/td>\nwants its host to ignore his\/her hopes to [GOAL]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9<\/th>\nhates his\/her Devious demon<\/td>\nhas a mysterious clue to a great threat, and only [A PC\u2019S SCREWTAPE] can interpret it<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10<\/th>\nis hosting a demon and is unaware of it<\/td>\nkeeps messing up the host\u2019s love life<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Written by Greg Stolze, \u00a9 2013<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Better-Angels-Supervillain-Submarine\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by Greg Stolze, \u00a9 2013 Better Angels is practically designed for unbalanced plots. Not only do the characters\u2019 goals and motives<\/p>\n

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