fa/tg/guy from /cgl/ here.We have this namefag who is pretty cool, but he just posted this and became my new hero.>>Silly girl, EVERYONE knows that REAL clowns get their noses is hunting down a male proboscis monkey, and fighting it to the death with nothing but a polkadoted loincloth and rolled up newspaper (week print, with the ads taken out, not the sunday edition. You can read the funnies before the hunt if you like).>>The prospect, if successful with then tear off the mighty schnoz of the proboscis monkey, and craft his nose under a moonless sky, the blood of his slain foe dyeing the prize as red as the sunrise that will don upon the newly initiated clown.>>And thus the cycle of life continues.I want to start a clownpunk game with my group now. What else would "clownpunk" entail, /tg/?
Cannon Transport
Races are replaced by sizes.Big/fat clown: Tough, strong, slow, low int.normal: Averagemidget: Fast, skillful, weakClasses are clown typesHobo: Ranger/rougue type (living on the road, being sneaky)magic clowns: mage typepunch/judy style clowns: barbarianmime: bard/psionic?
>>19498196Acrobat clowns are rogues.Hobos are leader-types, like warriors or ardents.Rangers are slapstick clowns, using arsenals of pies and seltzer.Naturally, some of the other races than "clown" would be circus. To fill in the "large" role, strongmen. To fill in the "small" role, midgets. Elves would be mimes, a snooty, "superior" version of the clown. Kobolds would be urchins, who hang around the circus stealing from the other races.
>>19498229In my opinion, elves are commedia del'arte clowns. They predate modern clowns, are "more sophisticated" and believe they are more cultured than the others.Trust me, i'm a clown.
>>19498262Cool beans.Now, for mounts. Natural choices would be clown cars and unicycles. clown cars would work like vehichle-versions of bags of holding.
Confirmed for awesome.I'm picturing roving gangs of clowns in itty bitty cars; driving through a world-spanning, run down carnival/circus. Fighting rival clown gangs and patrons driven insane by carnical-magic or some shit.
A reclusive Eastern kingdom of monks that has taken a vow of complete silence.Though they are unflinchingly mute, their skill is in illusion, and tales often recount them manipulating objects that were all but invisible to their surrounding audience.They all respond, wordlessly, to the name "Mime".
This has potential....Bump.
What about other circus acts? Like say, The freak show?And maybe this world span circus is controlled by a mysterious figure known as the ring leader?
>>19498752That's where the "beasts" of the world are. Sub-clown (and other civilized carnies) creatures doomed to roam the world for the amusement of the insane visitors. Urchins, again, would be like kobolds. Some see them as thieving creatures that need to be dealt with, others as cute, potentially tameable friends. On the other hand, you have the elites of the circus, "The ticket-takers", so called because they patrol the world to check for people's tickets, which are the equivalent of passports. Anyone caught without one is sent to death. They report directly to the ring-leader, and often employ bands of sentient thugs, like enemy clowns and strongmen, to deal with trouble-makers.
>>19498848This is amazing.You are amazing.We need more ideas for this. Fast.
>>19498925The worst of the freak-shows are the "Exotics". Supposedly beasts from a far off time and place, these abominations roam the areas under circus.The ring-master controls the entire crap-sack world from "The Big Top", a giant tower shaped vaguely like a tent. Inside is an arena, where various competitors fight for both his amusement and the opportunity to join his elite posse.For variety, there are two other big areas, than just the underworld (or sideshow) and the main circus: "The Park" and "The Arcade".The park is a twisted landscape of wood and metal, filled with poorly secured buggies shipping people from one area to the other. The small "towns" throughout it resemble ports of pirate stories, and the residents act much like piratey-thieves.The Arcade is a bit more... futuristic. A steampunk-y area filled with a variety of skill and luck based games, it is patrolled frequently by animatronic guards and uses old-fashioned "security cameras". It's like a large, steam-punk casino.
Oh! How about instead of the generic mage clowns that's been thought up, Instead we have magicians, Who use a variety of gadgets and tricks in order to appear like they are using magic. They could have things like exploding flowers, Summoning killer rabbits out of hats, Card tricks with razor sharp cards, Think of those cheesy magicians you hear about all the time, And make them a bit deadlier, Thats where i'm going with this.
>>19499050>The park>Inhabited by pirates>not by hordes of unwashed carnies"There's a bearded lady on our six, inbound! Big Mouth, erect a barrier!""...""Tiny, you got pies?""Aye, Boss. Pies in hand. Am afraid of corn dogs.""Don't worry, Tiny, we just gotta make it through this gauntlet of stuffed obstacles before we're out of the park."
>>19499242Yes.Also, you could draw a lot of inspiration from Fallen London. good game, lots of interesting, slightly disturbing stuff that fits well with "clownpunk"
>>19499242Who's to say that the pirates aren't unwashed carnies?I'm thinking of a giant theme park, With a big "Ocean" that conists of bumper cars and buggies, We'd have to change it from normal bumper cars and buggies in order to stop people from just walking over it.These ports would likely be gift shops, Ticket booths, And maintenance areas, With "Docks" to park your buggies.The "Pirates" would go around in either a large buggy or multiple small buggies and bumper cars, And rob you.Of course, There is the alternitive of going across the many unstable, Hellish contraptions that used to be roller coasters.
>>19499242>not wanting pirates versus clownsWhat's wrong with you?
Urchins, aside from being silly rabble and low level enemies, also make surprisingly good allies. Easy to bribe, you can get them and their orphan gangs to spy on whoever you want, or be back-up to assist an escape.Fungineers, a class based more in science than the others, hail from the Arcade. used to making the machines of the areas work, they draw on a range of skills to fix up solutions to problems, from animatronic underlings to get-away carts.>"Looks like we're bein' trailed by some 'a them Fire-eaters!">"Don't worry boss, got just the thing.">"Do what you gotta, Cogbrain.">"Boss, they're comin' straight at us!">"Eat fire-hose, you lowlife scum!"
>/cgl/Please go, before more of your awful kind arrive.
this......this is amazing. I'm doing this now.
>>19499350I can't help to think that at least one other board thinks the same way about us. I mean, I've only ever been in /tg/, So I would have no idea what those other boards do.
The currency would be tokens. In some areas, though, they wouldn't accept them, and would use their own, such as "points" in the Arcade, or "trinkets" in the underworld. Tokens would still be exchanged there, though, as they are "Worth" the most.Now, settlements for each area. Big Top towns would be what you expect: A ton of tents, filled with whatever is inside, like shops, or houses, or inns.Arcade towns would be very secretive, as they aren't officially allowed. They're generally hidden inside shut-down shooting-gallery type games.Park towns are, as previously mentioned, ticket-booths and concession-stands shoved together, with little ports to park your vehicle.Underworld doesn't have "towns", per se, but most of the things living there make caves out of the trash from above, like lairs created out of old food-baskets.
Lets talk alignments.I'm thinking that lawful good would be something along the lines of your happy go lucky clown, Always trying to make people smile.While the chaotic evil equivalent would be those really creepy, Murder clowns you see in horror movies. Maybe the alignments could be a scale of your mood versus how you treat other people? Like in place of chaotic good would be sad clown or something?I'm not very good at expanding on ideas, So if some one else would take a crack at it....
>not having a Beast Master class as an analogue to the Hunter I shiggy diggy. I want to wield a barstool and whip like the guys in this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzxtpg9HKbU) while my tamed lions rip up bitches.
>>19499465Good, neutral, and evil work the way you'd expect. Good is helpful, happy. Neutral is "in it for myself and for the job", and evil is "I'M GONNA PUT A SMILE ON THAT FACE, ONE WAY OR ANOTHER."Rather than chaotic, lawful, or neutral-legal, though, you have "styles". Chaotic is replaced with "slapstick". Slapstick clowns (and other creatures) take a sillier, more care-free approach to their work, tending not to care what others think of them. neutral becomes "witty", which is a pretty middle of the road, playing it silly, but keeping it safe. lawful is replaced with "sophisticated", a higher brand of humor focused more on the verbal ways and the jokes, rather than the violent comedy.
What would the GM be called? Ring Master?
>>19499518CM. Circus Master. Ring Master is the big-bad.
>>19499504I can see a beast master class working in this, But our version of beasts are those people from the freak show. How would you go about taming them?
>>19499514Someone needs to make a chart of this.
What if this is like Sigil or Ravenloft where its a demi-plane of sorts? That way we can even forgo logical ecology and physics in favor of clown-logic and clown physics.
Specific classes have alignments they lean toward:Mimes are Sophisticated-Neutral.Beastmen are Witty-Good.Clowns are Slapstick-Neutral.Fungineers are Witty-Neutral.Strongmen are Sophisticated-Evil.Urchins (Yes they're their own class, can't give an urchin a job) are Slapstick-Evil.The Ringmaster is a Witty-Evil character, given his cruel tendencies and unpredictability, but also his specifically hands-off approach.
>>19499570I was thinking more like literal circus animals - lions, tigers, and bears, oh my. Could be that there's like an alternative to the "clown school" where young would-be "Beast Masters" are paired with one of them, making them a separate class? We have "Strong Men", "Dwarfs", and "Magicians" already, so I could see them fitting in.
>>19499604The "exotics" are literal beasts. Lions, "Dragons (generally just mutant lizards)", Rhinos, Kangaroos, mostly dangerous animals from Africa and Australia, with the occasional actual mutant monster.
>>19499604Like a familer of sorts? Yes, I think that could work.>>19499599I like this idea, Since we already have little cars that will fit 50 people comfortably.
How would fighting work? Since this is a punk setting, I assume people die, But for weapons we have pies, Squirt gun flowers, And those guns that shoot a flag that says "Bang:Would these be modified to be deadly, Like making the flower shoot acid, The gun fire the bang flag like a harpoon, And the pies filled with something deadly, Or would the clown physics of the place make them do damage for reasons only known by clowns?
For some reason this thread makes me want to make a WoD splat for clowns. I'd call it... Clown: the Honking
>>19499747Two types of damage: Pride damage, and physical damage. Good alignments lead towards pride, evils lean toward physical.You take pride damage from "humiliating" weapons, like pies or seltzer-flowers. When you run out of pride HP, you become "shamed", a state that is like "whiting out" in pokemon, running away with your tail between your legs.Physical damage leads to death. this is the primary choice of classes that deal in brute force. The exception to these "alignment" damages are beastmasters, who deal mainly physical, and urchins, who deal mainly pride.Also, Magicians are witty-neutral as well.
>>19499786Err, magicians are SOPHISTICATED neutral.
>>19498262>Comparing elves to clownsTake it back
>>19499786GENIUS.Putting a chart together by the way so that we can keep up with this easier. And I'm digging the tripname.
>>19499786Well I'l say, You are a fungineer indeed!
>>19499747What about theres some 4th wall of existance that an audience is watching. When you hit someone with a pie, the audience laughs. The laughs generated create some kind of, in our pocket demi-plane, tangable energy that either harms or heals you? Just spitting out ideas, but it goes with the whole funky clown-physics theme since real logic is not an issue any further.
>>19499827Sounds like the basis of a clown religion too.
>>19499504BRILLIANT.What about elephant riders?What about balloon animals?What about some SUPER freaks a la Ripley's believe it or not style?
>>19499827That...Creeps me out a little, Actually.You are a clown, just out in this crapsack world trying to survive, But everywhere you go there is a bunch of people watching you. Everything you do makes this crowd laugh or boo you. You will never please them enough to make the show end. All you can do is try and keep them entertained, Make them laugh and smile, And hope that one day, The curtains will fall, And the show will be over, And you can finely be alone.
Of course, being the big-bad, the Ringmaster needs some close henchmen, to rule over his various domains!So, here ya go:The Arcade is ruled by Walt (*wink wink*), an animatronics-obsessed fungineer who absolutely despises real-people. secretly, the guards that patrol the Arcade are the brains of urchins put into robots, the vile creations of Walt. Also, he's a failed cartoonist.The Park is ruled by Captain L. Chuck, (more winking). A pirate- carnie known for his rotting stench and his gigantic beard, he is truly a force to be reckoned with. He's an incredibly violent type, and has only two soft-spots: Urchins, who he'd never hurt, and Bearded-Ladies. he loves him some bearded-ladies.As for the underworld, you've got Bob, a sociopathic side-show freak (JESUS THESE WINKS). Known for his crazy hair and exotic dress, Bob hates two things. Everything, and urchins. He can't stand the little fuckers. This often puts him at odds with L. Chuck, but the Ringmaster controls this feud. From a distance, that is.
>>19499864Forgot to add that they are judging everything you do.
>>19499864when you put it that way, it is incredibly fucking dark... Maybe knowledge of this kind of shit breaks clowns from the lovable jesters that we wish they were into the nightmares that terrify "clown"-phobics
>>19499895Also, Walt's secret is, in fact, "A SECRET TO EVERYBODY", even the Ringmaster himself, due to all his spies ending up victims of said secret.
>>19499900Doesnt God (Santa as well!) do the same? Only this is in real time with IMMEDIATELY dynamic results. And since its not a simple Good/Bad spectrum, but rather an Amused/Unamused one, that would mean you have to CONSTANTLY be doing new shit. It would make everything chaotic as shit. Would explain why the clown world is zany and colorful and what not. To NOT be this would be to anger most the audience.Mimes, since they tend to be unpopular by the masses, tend to focus on the select few who enjoy them. If we have them out to be like monks, they seclude themselves to attract only mime-fans because its dangerous for them to anger too many non-mime fans.
hmmm....those shooting games where you shoot ducks or plates or whatever? They're now the only adorable cute animals left in this hellhole, or fellow clowns scheduled to be executed by the ticket takers.
>>19499984Shut down ones are where gamblers hide from the animatronics when they owe tons of money.
Oh dear audience this is gold.Is some one writing this down?
>>19499991I'd still like to see some kind of fucked-uppery to this extent. Make the players really feel the weight to this world, kinda like killing/saving little sisters in Bioshock.
This is fucking genius.
>>19499864And that what makes it fit so well.
when I go to bed, I'm going to take a series of screenshots of this thread (because I have no idea how to archive). This will allow me to present it to /b/ later, to see what shit they can add.
Why not combine the two damage systems? The pride damage, which is far more random, is controlled by the audience. The physical damage, which is, well, physical, is not.
It's very crude, and took longer than it should, but here's a character blueprint. I figure after we decide the true alignments we can go through and change them to what kind of damage they do (blue being Prideful, red being Physical).What do you think?
>>19498196Rodeo clowns as fighters. Tough, but more focused on taking hits. We gotta include all the clowns here
>>19500025Don't do it, I can predict it:>LOL SIDESHOW NIGGURS>BOOB MUTANTSSeriously, please don't. I already archived it, we don't need /b/'s shit.
>>19500033That's fucking amazing. You are the best.
>>19499827This also works to force the players to keep things fresh, keep coming up with new things.Audiences don't like repeat performances after all.(Okay well they do but its like New->Stale->Old Meme is Old->Dead Horse and then Dead Horse could branch off into Zombie Horse (Where it gets funny again, but not as funny as new) or the dread Bad Joke. NO ONE wants to be the one to make a Bad Joke)
>>19500061No, you. I'm greatly enjoying this thread.
>>19500069This is actually a really good system. Maybe if you do something incredibly crazy awesome, It does massive damage, But it goes straight to dead horse.
>>19500099Jumping the Shark?Also, where does Perky and Sad Clown fit into the alignment?
Perhaps animatronics could be recruited as NPC companions. Not PCs, though, because that's a bit too Mary Sue/Off-Color. There'd be plenty of varieties as well. Bandito animatronics (from shooting galleries), animal companion animatronics, helpless damsel & shadowy assailant animatronics... The list is endless. If you can find it in an amusement park, it belongs here.
>>19500025http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/19498130/ It's archived. Head over to http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html and vote up the thread, if you like it.
>>19500108Maybe those would be subclasses for the Clowns class, depending on the players' actions? They start off Neutral, but if they make Evil decisions they turn Sad/Grim, or if they make Good decisions they turn Perky/Happy?
If memory serves me correctly, clowns have ranks.At the top are the whitefaces. Top whitefaces have unique colorations that no other clown can adopt. They are leaders and straight men. They do no clown, they are clowned upon and direct clowns. Perhaps they are about to regain their soul and escape from The Ring?Below them are augustes. Faces of red with comical, exaggerated features. They do the bidding of the whitefaces and are incompetent. A rare breed is the contra-augiste (yes, I'm past the memory point now, this is Wikipedia) who tries to assist the whiteface.The character clown is horrid to behold. A mockery of some human archetype, butcher, baker, candlestick maker, policeman, noble, magician. They are grotesque exaggerations of human foibles and flesh-toned skin. Are they the newly damned, or do they revel in their freedom to violate societal norms? None but the clowns know.There are rarer clowns yet. The fabled troupes of the commedia dell'Arte and the one spoken of in whispers by the coulrophobic. The rodeo clown, the lawful-good paladin clown. The one who will throw his own life on the line to save humanity.If such exist, they are rare and they leave no evidence of their passing. Legends have it that rodeo clowns can dive into barrels and vanish when their work is done.
>>19500046noob/newfag here.Where is it archived to? How does one archive?
>>19500108Sad Clowns are clowns that have "fallen". They've gone from Slapstick to Sophisticated, and not in a good way. All their humor becomes self-depricating, and although this still gets the audience to laugh, it also deals damage to the clown.
>>19500099Entire schools and sciences are dedicated to finding the secret to Comedy (and its more violent brother, Komedy) yet still, many use the old standbys to decent effect. Its when you make those old standbys your own do you really shine.And that makes sense too man. Pull off some awesome shit and you'd get massive damage but then...I dunno, maybe not right off, but it would probably have 1 or 2 uses left before become a Dead Horse.Unless you're Boffo. God rest his comedic soul.
>>19500069How about at each of the levels of audience approval they apply a multiplier to your actions. For example you pull a tiny umbrella out of your pants to stop an avalanche. The audience finds it hilarious and give you a 3x multiplier to the save to survive being crushed. Now if you were to do that a few more times your fans would find it boring, and you get a 1/2x multiplier to your roll.
Also, combo attacks: Acts.Acts are attacks that take more than one turn, but are potentially encounter ending. It takes lots of cooperation, but pulling one off gains you massive approval from the audience. For instance, "The Aristocrats", or "Niagra Falls". They also require checks on various feats (which work the same as in D&D) to do well.
>>19500147That's pretty much EXACTLY what I wanted! Rewarding players for thinking creatively and thinking comedically! Also de-fangs rollplayers as a good roleplayer can get bonuses + dice, which is always nice.So, what should the categories be?
>>19500188Creativity: Straightforward, read as labeled.Pain Factor: How much harm this causes the user. Gives better multipliers for slapstick-aligned.Risque Factor: How inappropriate it is. Gives better multipliers for witty, but can hurt sophisticated acts.Nostalgia Factor: When you use an oldie but a goodie that hasn't come up in a while.Participation: How much action/effort was involved?Wordworking: How well projected/performed the joke was. Helps sophisticated, can bore slapstick fans.
>>19500069Winkles had been in hiding for months before Bobo caught up to him. Bobo was cruel and ruthless, a master of the acid flower. Whenever people owed him money, he invited them to sniff his flower. When they inevitably refused, Bobo had his monstrous strongmen force the poor soul to do it. The way Bobo laughed as the flesh melted off their skulls like so much greasepaint had churned Winkle's stomach. Ultimately, that's why he had run away. His boss paid well, no doubt, but Winkles couldn't handle the things Bobo had forced him to do. Every time he broke an old clown's legs for being a few tokens short, he remembered his mother's face and died a little inside. So he had fled, out of the big top and into the wild Arcade. Of course, Bobo took Winkle's desertion as a personal insult. Squad after squad of his former comrades had come to root him out of the Arcade, but somehow Winkles had been able to lose them. Those that he couldn't lose he had somehow managed to kill. But only by the grace of the Audience. Winkles had no talent for death, but he told wonderful jokes. So the Audience had spared him from death, time and again, their raucous laughter echoing from the skies like thunder as shadowy, inhuman hands held his pursuers down so Winkles could strike the final blow. Winkles stared at the vaguely human-shaped blots on the horizon, praying silently the shadows that ringed the world and observed him night and day. Their whispers carried on the wind. Winkles could not understand their tongue, but he knew impatience when he heard it. Bobo himself stood across from him atop the rickety old coaster Winkles had foolishly climbed, hoping to escape him. "Gotta give the people what they want," Bob chuckled, adjusting the flower in his lapel. "And I bet you'll look hilarious with your face melted off..."
>>19500188Laugh Riot-3x, Hilarious-2x, Chuckle Worthy-1.5x, All Right-1x, Stale-1/2x, Boring -1/4x, Get Off The Stage!-1/8
>>19500266
>>19500266Amazing
>>19500188I think that could end up with a lot of annoying bookkeeping. I have three ideas.1. Audience GridTake the alignment chart we just made and put an "audience" token on it. After each joke roll 1d6, 1=up, 2=right, 3=down, 4=left, 5,6=no move. Playing a joke sharing both axes nets double pride damage, one axis = 1x damage. No axes could be 1/2 damage or none at all.2. Setting & SceneYou could get an additional +1 bonus for referencing something recent/relevant (vetoable by the players). i.e. if a player just drowned, or you were in a flower garden a squirt flower could get another +1 multiplier3. Audience = TablePlayer start each scene with a number of applause tokens. These can be spent to either preemptively buff an allies attack (physical or pride!), increase pride damage after the fact or soak pride damage for the holder.
>>19500266This is one of the best things I've ever read. Oh god... I actually feel proud for having participated in something for once.
>>19500225If slapstick fans get TOO angry, it rains rotten vegetables and animal carcasses?If they get incredibly pleased, the player gets an bonus strength modifier?If soph. fans get pissed, the PC loses strength and dex.If they're pleased, PCs main gain flowers, or random gifts from adoring gods.
>>19500225Oh wow, neat! Not what I meant, but super neat! I meant more along the lines of what are the bonus categories going to be called and what should be their multiplier/additions?And audience tendancies!? Its like we're suddenly a clown version of Demon Souls and that's awesome!
What about different skills? Like say, A musical skill, Where you pull out a instrument and play a funny song. Since we are going of amusement as well as laughter, A catchy song would give a small positive modifier, And a bad song would hurt your act. Depending on what you role, Of course. And the instrument in question, Seeing some one play a ridiculously tiny ukulele is always funny.
>>19500302Maybe the applause tokens could only apply to gags on one more axes with the current audience mood.
>>19500315Basically. Witty fans are basically regular schmucks who go to these things just for a quick joke, nothing too idealistic.Different classes can have different types of jokes, too. Beastmen entertain witty-lovers by awing them with spectacle. Fungineers entertain them with cool gadgets and futuristic razzle-dazzle. Magicians do magic tricks, acrobats do acrobatics, etc. Only urchins don't entertain because they're urchins and that's not why they exist. However, the audience might sympathize with a cute, dancing orphan kid, so that'll probably help you.
>>19500266Oh my audience.You are the greatest person EVER.
>>19500334>>Maybe the applause tokens could only apply to gags on one more axes with the current audience mood.Makes sense. You rarely see a clown solo. They travel in packs. The gags switch from sophisticated to painful because The Audience will never be amused by the same thing twice in a row. Instant excuse for parties forming.
>>19500319Skills are generally the same as in D&D, as in a skill does what a skill says it does. And in regards to instruments, those also fall into the slapstick, witty, etc. For instance: Flutes are sophisticated, trumpets are witty, tubas are slapstick.
>>19500266If there is ever a book on clownpunk, this has GOT to be a fluff piece.
First, lets define the "audience." Instead of having some arbitrary mechanic that is predictable since it has to be easy to understand, lets have the audience be everyone at the table (or paying attention).For the game system, we could have dice pools. To keep this from turning into massive bricks of d6 being thrown, you aim to have the smallest dice pool as possible. Still, everything adds more dice to the mix. The "Audience," your skill at a task, and whatever other modifiers needed, would determine how many and how few dice are in your poll when you throw. Since comedy seems to grow and fall rapidly, audience bonuses contribute MORE to the NEXT action, not the current one. That is why you want good warm up acts and following a bad act is suicide. Also why you line your jokes up in a certain order. You don't lead with certain jokes.
>>19500405drums and tiny ukeleles?Why do I feel that it would be hilarious for the party to dress up like redcoats, march into the top playing music. They're mime class characters. They pull out invisible rifles to combat the approaching army of marauding, sadistic clowns. They all drawback, like the rifles went off. Suddenly, the entire force is reeling in pain. It was all a front. They sprung a trap that fired the cannons set up on either side of Bozo's army.
>>19500266"Hilarity is objective," a cool voice called out, "and objectionable. It's all a matter of opinion, really, and I find your opinion to be utter shite."Bobo turned to survey the intruder. "And who're you, lad? I'm in the middle of an act over here, if you don't mind. Your turn will come soon enough." He grinned toothily."My name is unimportant," the man replied easily enough. "Fuzzy's is the one you need to look out for."Bobo's face frowned in confusion before the panther leapt at him from above on a higher curve in the roller coaster. He yelped and reached for the flower on his chest pocket, but the beast-man's whip caught his wrist and kept him from touching it. A pull of the whip brought him crashing down on a stool in the front seat of a precariously-placed coaster car."I think it's time we sit down and talk this out. Or you do, anyway. But it seems our act is over, so until next time," the beast-man paused, grinned, and said, "Bazinga!" before he kicked the car down the rail, sending Bobo to his likely-doom.
>>19500466>two 66 getsWell aren't you lucky.But other than that, CONTINUE I LOVE THIS
>>19500448This. What we want to do is have each part of the routine build off each other, so that each action will affect the next.We want combat to play like an act, so we should have the system rely on using early stuff to build up into the heart of it, each clown playing off each other, then bring down the house with your grand finale.Ideally, of course.
>>19500466>>19500266This needs to be a thing, seriously. And anybody else notice the posts are only one digit apart? It was meant to happen.
>>19500466Not me, but go on. I had a continuation written out but I'd rather see what someone else does with it.
>>19500464Because that WOULD be hilarious, And would probably net a rather nice bonus.>>19500466Still amazing, And it even ends in the same two numbers!
>>19500516>>19500509>>19500508>>19500487>>19500486Thanks guys. I'm really loving this concept, but I've got to be at work in a few hours so I can't continue it... I've got to get some sleep, but hopefully I can catch up on it later. Failing that, we can always start a new thread/keep this one alive for a while.Keep up the good work!
>>19500548Aw, damn. I was hoping to see how you ended it. To be honest I'm liking your ending better than the one I had originally written.
Some some strange reason, I feel that professional comedians would be really really good at this game.
>>19500487So then what will constitute the mechanism of the chain? I like the idea of varying along a single axis at a time, perhaps not repeating any specific combination in a buildup?Maybe the chain spans both side of the combat, so each side is building up and up and up the tensionCANNON SHOT:NEUTRAL SLAPSTICKMove up to 3 spaces, gain 2 pride and deal 10 physical damage.Minimum tension: 4
>>19500556Sorry bro. I really had no clue beyond "chill as hell beast-master and Fluffy the black panther interrupt things to score some quick Audience favor".If nothing else, this would make for an awesome short story some day. Good thing it's already archived, so I can come back to it.
So, what do you think of painting clowns? Clowns that make art, or paint the faces of their allies?Or does a servant of the ringleader bestow new face paint to PCs?
>>19500572Considering that we're trying to base combat based off of how comedy acts go, yeah that makes sense.
WE NEED GROPEY! SOMEONE GO GET HIM FROM /cgl/! NOWHe's an actual clown an sideshow guy. like, for real. Besides, op started this because of him.
>>19500572I think that's exactly what we want.
>>19500585The paint on one's face is a matter of pride. A particular pattern shows a particular personality and opinion. To purposefully change another's face-paint without consent is an act of great disrespect in the manner of spraypainting their house. It's a common method of intimidation among clowns to change rival's face-paints while they sleep, to both scare and humiliate them.
>>19500585For some reason, I feel as the style of makeup a clown chooses is incredibly important to them.Think of the luchador kinda thing, Where they never take off their masks, And doing so would be dishonorable. The makeup they have is unigue to them, It is them, It's what makes them a clown.A painter clown as you call it, Giving clowns a new face, Would probably be seen as an incredibly evil person.
This setting already has a theme song.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NVTFnmav4s
Well, uh, good night. I'm off. Would someone remember to keep archiving? You need to constantly update it, or else it stays the same forever.
>>19500642he draws mustaches, fake beards, etc. on other clowns. Wears a smock coated in paint and blood. occasionally fights face to face by painting the enemies in rainbow splashes of paint...or making the ground slippery. Or painting the wall to look like a tunnel. Or pretending to and a train pops out and runs clowns over. Or a tiny car drives out and gently bops the enemy. He's teamed up with a fungineer. The car was a bomb. It doesn't go off. A loud bang goes off. It's not the car. It was an actual cannon the was so OBVIOUSLY placed in the arena. Neutral evil.
Titles? I like "Clownpunk: You'll Laugh to Death!"
>>19500701Describing exactly what we want combat to be in the game, Wonderful
>>19500692I got ya buddy
How exactly do you update an archive, Anyway?
>>19500701I'm reminded of this.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMDL5jOH58U
There was a brief thread on this subject years ago I wish I'd saved-it wouldn't jive with this, but it was about how clowns were an offshoot of humanity closely related to baboons. The whole set of antics was actually a hunting ritual, and it was suggested that you starve the clowns for a day before a show, and then feed 'em immediately afterward.
Once we get this into a playable state, Anyone want to try it out over Skype? I can't CM, But I would really like to play this.
>>19500803YES. YES PLEASE.
>>19500736>>How exactly do you update an archive, Anyway?Suptg should poll and scrape the site on a regular basis as long as the thread is active. Don't know the timeframe.
>>19500731If its uploaded on Sup/tg/, it automatically updates itself. No need to reupload it, it just clutters.
>>19500803I would definitely play this. Roll20 > skypeHere, I wanna start banging out the rules in a better format:http://typewith.me/p/clownpunk
>>19500830Anon who wrote the first half the Winkles and Bobo writefaggotry here. I'd like to do some more clown writefaggotry, but I'm blanking on ideas. Someone give me a topic and I'll write a little something on it.
>>19500803HELL YES. I DM pretty much all the games I play, and would be happy to try my hand as a CM
>>19500612I've been lurking this whole time. So far, its awesome. Only think I would do is actually impliment the actual types of clown and their personalitys. Just going with American clown tradition (the simplest) we'd have Auguste, whiteface and Tramp.WHITEFACE: (see pic)The aristocrat of all clowns. An elegant clown, artistic, colorful, bright and cheery. In a setting with other clowns, the straight Whiteface would be in charge. Its performance is highly artistic and skillful, but done with a comedic or dramatic flair. When performing with the Auguste and/or Tramp, this clown will remain in charge, setting up the routine, throwing rather than taking the pie, slap or kick. Although more comical than the European Whiteface, this clown is a bit more reserved than the impish and gregarious Auguste.
>>19500872forgot my tripAUGUSTE:The most comical of all clowns. He/she is impish, gregarious and thrives on slapstick. His/her actions are big, clumsy and awkward. He/she does not have much in common with the Whiteface except for the makeup and costume. His/her personality is that of a rabble rouser. When appearing with the Whiteface, the Auguste (German meaning "foolish") is the brunt of the joke. However, with the Tramp, he becomes the instigator in control of the situation.
Did this thread die? Please don't tell me this thread died.
Where do puns fit in, in this?I make a lot of puns. Would I depend on enraging/infuriating the enemy instead of amusing the Audience directly?
>>19501036We thought 4chan was down for abit. The typewith.me is looking very productive!http://typewith.me/p/clownpunk
What about a character type that thrives on pissing the audience of? A "You love to hate him", dastardly sort of guy?Most others would hate them because they subvert the natural order.
>>19501121I think most others would be impressed if he could pull it off, Because that is an INCREDIBLY risky thing to try and pull off.
>>19501121I'm not even sure what that would look like.
I think we invented a system where everyone involved in a fight would go "Damn, I'm good".It's impossible to be repetitive, You have to think of increasingly clever things to pull off.I really want to play this game.
>>19501121Hipster clown. He gains the adoration of neutral and good clowns?
We need to keep this idea alive.It is just too good to let it die.We need to make this a thing.It deserves to become a thing.
>>19501070A punster would be in line with the "We love to hate him" character type, I think, for both the Audience AND the enemy. And in this character type, they could be one in the same.
Information from this thread is collected and organized somewhat here:http://typewith.me/p/clownpunkAlso, contact details for can be found there if you are interested in joining an eventual game based on this...circus.
What about like, schticks? Is that the right word? Like, a clown has a stunt or an act that he performs regularly, it's his main attraction. Also, I'd like to list some other performers I reckon could be useful additions: trapeze artists, daredevils, fire eaters, knife throwers and fortune tellers.
Oh god...I...I love you /tg/. So much.
Right /tg/, it's 7am and I have a hankerin' for some mechanics to be done, for the Motherfuckin' Crab Goddess Herself has inspired me to do so.To start with, you're gonna need some d4's. This is cause Clownpunk is a game of short, dark, hilarious humor, and no one likes a joke that goes on too long. So the numbers are gonna stay small. For lo' the Crab Goddess is wise, and I ain't qestionin' that shit.On top of that the Circus Manager (CM) needs a d10, but just one of 'em. Whenever a scene starts, the CM rolls the d10 and on a 1-9 moves the Audience Token where it needs to be. All comedy matching the space the token is on gets a +2, adjaent spaces +1, 2 spaces away a -1, and 3 away a -2. No neutral squares, a joke is either funny or not.The chart is of course <Serious-Witty-Slapstick> (L/N/C) and <Happy-Neutral-Unhappy> (G/N/E). So unless there can be anywhere from 0-3 -2's but 2-4 +1's at any time.Cont.
>>19502699For offense and defense we have two sorts of HP. Pride and Health. For attacks we've got Jokes, Tricks, and Violence. Jokes target Pride, and are usually used by Happy characters. Violence meanwhile targets Health, and is likewise a sign of someone being seriously unhappy, or maybe /too/ happy. Lastly Tricks can target either or both Health and Pride depending on the Trick, but are never as effective as Jokes or Violence in the long run.Attacks and defense work like this, along with levels effectively. All players get markers when making a character of a number up to the CM. These should be distinct for each player (eg, one player uses coins, another bottlecaps, poker chips, etc.) These are then placed in spaces on the Audience Chart to show how proficient they are in those kinds of jokes. Each marker in a square is a +1, so players should get them sparingly, and gain them like levels.Anyways, to try and mess with someone you roll a d4, add your bonuses, and compare it to the opponent's Pride (For Jokes) or Health (For Violence). A character's Pride and Health are also determined by their markers. They get 2 Health for every marker in Slapstick, 2 Pride for each in Serious, and 1 for both for each in Witty.If you roll higher than your opponent's defense, subtract the difference from that defense. When a defense hits zero they're either dead, unconscious, or to ashamed to do anything but run.Oh and before I forget, when rolling for the audience, on a 10 either the crowd is in a good mood or a bad one. Roll again, and on a 1-5 every square is -1. On 6-10 they're all +1.
>>19502794Lastly, every character has a Performance. Something they're naturally good at that defines their routines, and gives them benefits. These work by giving them 3 things, a Natural Routine (What Preferred Alignments [PA] they're best at, and so get a free +1 to. If they have multiple options, pick one.), a skill (something only they can do), and a Unique Skillset. Here's a quick listing of a few, but feel free to make up others.>Regular Clown, PA:Any, Skill:Clowning AboutA Regular Clown is the most varied of Performances and can be any alignment, from classics to sad-clowns to psychopaths. They don't get a bonus to a routine, but once a fight can add +3 to any roll to get some laughs.>Rodeo Clown, PA:H/NWitty, Skill:ResiliantA rodeo clown knows how to take a hit, and is always counted as having one extra Health and Pride when taking damage.>Strongman, PA:N/USlapstick, Skill:MusclesFor any job or routine that needs strength to be done, a Strongman gets a +1. And since this applies to Violent attacks, many Strongmen turn to crime.
>>19502867>Carnies, PA:UWitty, Skill:BorrowCarnies are devious circusfolk, and can ensure things aren't going as someone expected. Once a fight, a Carnie can reduce someone's roll result by 2.>Mime, PA:NWitty, Skill:Invisible Plot DeviceMimes are silent master performers capable of making invisible objects by sheer will power. Given enough time they can make anything up to the same size as themselves. Assuming they're uninterrupted of course.Unfortunately mimestuff is not quite as good as the real deal despite the required dedication to learn the art. Not only do Mimes take a -1 to all attacks, but they also do not get an Alignment Bonus though they must be NWitty regardless.That's all I got. The Crab Goddess has left me for now, so feel free to work out more for yourselves if you want to.G'night /tg/
bump
You are all the best people.
JUST WOKE UP: HAVE SOME MOFUCKIN' GAMEPLAY ELEMENTS:Now, the audience is the large, barely seen force that controls who lives and who dies. However, they aren't exactly "omnipotent". You ever seen a heckler? Well, they're there too. That one guy who doesn't understand that it's not audience participation. This is basically an "audience" member that has gone bad. His abilities to affect the material world are greatly increased, but he is far harder to please. He can even appear in the world, occasionally, to fuck with things. think "Daedric Princes" from Skyrim. Far more present, and evil, than regular gods, but very useful if you get him to like you.
>>19503653Why not have Hecklers actually provide some divine smackdowns? Let's say a clown tells an especially shitty joke. It's just terrible, the worst pun you can think of, just hearing it makes your balls hurt. The Heckler decides to make his displeasure known. Maybe creepy shadow hands tear the punster to pieces. Maybe he gets struck by lightning. Or maybe a rain of popcorn, cotton candy, and various circus trash just falls on his head constantly for a week or so.
>>19503653Sometimes, they come in pairs.(Muppets can be a splat)
>>19503675That actually works. Mind you, the heckler isn't actually LIKED by the other audience members. This can be seriously detrimental if one has taken a shine to you. So you tell a joke, and his far-too-loud laughter follows it, poorly timed. This decreases YOUR score based on his being a drunk buffoon.
I was thinking the Audience be the crit system. So if you crit fail, you get screwed by the Audience, and if you crit succeed you get showered with applause and other benefits.
will I be able to play as Bongo Hitler?
>>19503693Thing is, Clownpunk: The Dangerous World of Carnies (Haha I love that name, that's what it's archived as) is very different from other RPGs. Dice-rolls are very, very unimportant. You can go an entire session without any. But yeah, they sort of are. If they are EXTREMELY pleased with how funny you are, they might just give you something very useful, like new shoes, or a fuckton of tokens. If they hate you, they may well start throwing tomatoes and rotting animals at you.
>>19503733A Sophisticated Evil Clown? I don't see that going over well with the audience.
>>19503742you missed out charismatic"The great masses of the people will more easily fall victim to a big prank than to a small one."
I'm trying to wonder if this should be a gritty and dark WORLD of clowny death, or maybe a show they're putting on for their circus? An act, within a game? Also, the mime class seems totally awesome. People crashing into invisible walls, slammed onto invisible bars and shoved down them. Maybe certain Clown classes should have slight reality bending powers. Like, they do the exaggerated "walk down stairs behind a wall" thing, and they actually appear elsewhere.
>>19503779I'd go with making it real, because it's meta enough already. Maybe not a whole WORLD of clowniness. Maybe just a single land. Who knows what the rest of the world holds...
Damn, this is some good shit. Like, really good shit. There are some rough edges, but it we could work in a core mechanic, you might have something here.I had to go digging, but this reminded me of something I saw ages ago on /tg/. It was a chunk of writefaggotry about a small kingdom that had been taken over by jesters and clowns called The Royal Circushttp://archive.foolz.us/tg/thread/14385361/
So, is Marcel Marceau a top lieutenant of the Ringmaster?
>>19503844The lieutenants are already a bunch of references. I don't think we need anymore...
Also: an example of what a "mutant" exotic would look like, courtesy of Shwig.
>>19503779I think it should be more over the (BIG)top. If this is in its own physics and shit, then EVERYONE should be reality bending. Anvils and brick walls falling (although not to confuse clowns with cartoons mind you) kinda stuff being coming, but this shit should be like depraved MC Esher paintings, the world is twisted into a mockery of reality where the only thing that matters is a good laugh at someone else's expense. Life and Death is the price of admission to see if your worthy to live another day in the Plane of Comedy/Tragedy
>>19504038Not EVERYTHING is over the top. That's what slapstick alignment is for. Sophisticated stuff is generally more serious, if less violent.
I love you guys.I really do.
>>19504773Welcome back, Zork! Got any more bright ideas?
>>19504946Not really.I had an idea last night for a large broken down cannon in the park that would take you to a different part of the world, If it still worked, But I sorta forgot about it when I fell asleep.
BUMP FOR GREAT JUSTICE!We could use some more ideas. I'm all clowned out.
>>19505397Alright, so I was considering how you might clown someone into submission, and I had considered the idea of the parallel damage stats, as I was reading the thread, then it turns out people had the same idea.Anyways, so I was considering how this might play out and I imagined this scenario where a Clown is just pranking a person non-stop. Never hurting them, but combat is a hail of pies (blinding), Seltzer water, (stunning), trips, prat falls to avoid punches, whoopie cushions, and so on, until their enemy is just so flustered and angry that the clown goes for knock out, where they goad their enemy into doing exactly what they want. At this point, the target is pretty much their patsy and walks into every set up. In this case, the clown urges him to charge, he does, and the clown side-steps at the last second and their enemy plows face first into a wall. Instant Knock out. They are too stressed and flustered and cannot continue.I was also considering there being a certain interplay between Health and Pride/Stress. For instance, a strong man can bash around a guy, lowering his health, then the clown can finish him off by receiving a bonus to his pranks and gags because the enemy is injured and unable to overcome the insults as easily. Likewise, a stressed out character with his pride injured might be easier to hit by physical characters because he is more reckless and worked up.
You guys... you guys are AMAZING.BUMPING THIS LIKE THE PATSY OF A SLAPSTICK.
With this talk of strongmen, I can't get this guy out of my head.He would be sophisticated good, Though...
So, Last night I talked to some other people about clown religion. We agreed that the presence of the audience in undeniable, So varying religions wouldn't work too well.We talked about what happens when a clown dies, And I think that every agreed that good clowns got to become a part of the audiance, "Taking their seat." And so forth. But i'm not quite sure what happens to bad clowns, Is there a clown hell?
>>19505833Bad clowns want nothing more than to fill the gaping hole that being called a bad clown makes. Of course, since they suck so badly, there's only one way to make themselves feel better: ruin other clown's prospects. And thus the most fear audience members are made, from the fires of hate and self-loathing: CRITICS.
THE GOLDEN BUMP OF JUSTICE!
>>19505998If you have no talent, You yell at people who do have talent!Genius!
>>19506023Tis logical! Of course, as with actual critics, the most you could ever get at one time is two complimentary critics (like Siskel and Ebert), but that's rare. Most of the time, you'd get one critic at a time and they'd be a big fucking deal. Like....like how warmachine in FF1 was a bigger deal than most of the bosses but ultimately they are noooooooothing.
This bump is brought to you by the letter C.
So, Would a magician be able to saw you in two, And you would then be able to double team someone with yourself?
Knowing my bumps, As soon as I post this, Some one else would have already posted, Making my bump worthless.Oh what the hell, I want to see this go on as long as possible.>>19498130
>>19506291Mayhaps it'd be best to focus on the general stuff before getting into specific skills and what not?
>>19506425Well, We DO have a lot of general stuff.I'm just trying to make small talk and get the ball rolling again.
>>19506440Until most of the other fellows return, not much progress will be accomplished by two fellows.
>>19506451There is a lot more people on /tg/, Lad. Some one else might want to share their ideas.
>>19506182So a player is killed in game.Rather than them making a new character, they take over as a Critic, if they are evil, and have to fuck with the players. Any chance the players get to get a bonus from the audience, the Critic can fuck with it. Likewise, good characters can emphasize jokes and urge the audience to laugh harder at things, kind of like a guy hired to laugh at jokes, a plant(?)
Not really much substantial input but for the sake of flavor I figure better names for the alignments would be Daffy and Boo for Good and Evil (I can't think of anything for neutral, and I wonder if it's even appropriate given the context, humor involving good vs evil doesn't need and possibly is detrimented by moral grey-zones) and the Fancy, Shmancy and Slapstick for the modifying lawful, neutral and Chaotic.
>>19506291do you suppose a magician could ask for a volunteer from the Audience? Perhaps doing so would cause the Audience to provide more direct intervention, but at a greater risk for damage to the magician, should his act go poorly?
>Is /tg/ ready for their BBEG?
Clown technology. It's always bigger on the inside.
>>19506522Maybe...Maybe...If we do that, Maybe magicians can act sort of like the priests of this world, Since the audience is abit like the gods.
>>19506489>Hey, that idea isn't half bad!>It ain't half good either!>DOHOHOHOHOHO!
>>19506547I can imagine a joker type play style working in this game, Dealing mostly psychical damage, But in a funny way, Making the audience laugh and giving him buffs.
>>19505833They go to a place called Pagliacci where the audience never laughs.
>>19506579He's right, Clown rape IS funny.
>>19506547>Implying that the BBEG isn't John Wayne Gacy, aka, Pogo the clown.
>>19506489>Likewise, good characters can emphasize jokes and urge the audience to laugh harder at things, kind of like a guy hired to laugh at jokes, a plant(?)And they have to be played with over-the-top booming voices, with great deep belly laughs.Yes, I suggest the good-aligned critics are Brian Blessed
>>19498196>mime: bard/psionic?>MIMETHIS IS CLOWN HERESY
>>19506638Actually, The big bad was agreed to by a guy named the ring leader, Who lives in a giant tower shaped like a circus tent, Called the big top.
>>19506676Yeah but I see conflicts with him ending up like the Lady of Pain and Caine: You lose. Period. Audience laughs you out for even trying while the Ring Leader chops your head off and uses it for monolouges.
>>19506669...
>>19506703Oh! Well then.I can defiantly see that happening.
>>19506669AGREED BROTHER CLOWN, THOSE BLACK-AND-WHITE BASTARDS NEED TO BE PURGED WITH HOLY SELTZER WATER!>>19506719THERE'S ONE OF THE BASTARD'S NOW, WE'LL SEE IF THEY MAKE A SOUND WHEN I'M TEARING HIS SKIN OFF!
I can try to complete a character concept here: Jimmies the Clown, basically being a walking you rustled my jimmies joke, he tends to lose his temper quite easily. sporting a hobo clown look with a brown bowler hat atop his balding head. his make up gives him the crying clown look. brown clip on suspenders hold up his yellow and red striped trousers, that run down to his brown torn up shoes that his big toe just wiggles ever so slightly out of. he is no green horn of clown fights actually more like a seasoned veteran aiming more to actually cause bodily harm to the other clown rather then hurt his pride. This is how i clown brawler.
http://bogleech.com/mortasheen.htmScroll down to JOKERS. Have fun with your new nightmares.
>>19506789...!
>>19506807Oh man, I love bog leach.
>>19506291More likely they could saw THEMSELVES in half and come out unharmed, but doing it on a non-magician inevitably causes comical injury.
>>19506771Someone needs to stay on top and who better than the master of ceremonies, the Ring Leader? Otherwise, PCs gonna PC. And try to kill/loot errything.
>>19506869Capturing some one in a box and sawing them in half would be a cool way to end a battle.
>>19506899The sawed-in-half gag nets you some Nostalgia points, but is a bit old hat at the moment. Much more in vogue is spearing the box with swords or long flat blades from various angles.
>>19506889The ring leader has an elite group of mooks called ticket takers.You don't have your ticket? You are going to die.They are the "Guards" Of the place.The arcade has anamatronic robot guards,And the park and sideshow are lawless, I guess. The park is inhabited by pirates.
also what happened to harlequins? are they actually in this setting?>>19506789i see him, i see him. get your water squirting flower ready.
>>19506937I've been thinking about that, But I really can't think of a way to fit them in. The only thing I know about harlequins though is that Harley Quinn is based off of them, Though.
>>19506937Harlequinns are probably a female-specialized example from the Commedia del'arte
>>19506968IIRC, they're generally acrobatic/aeorbatic types who tend to produce amusement through a combination of semi-sexual titillation and a whimsical, detached sense of freedom.
>>19506987We have an acrobat class, Maybe we can replace that with harlequins?
>>19507002It's not quite the same. Maybe make it a kind of prestige class thing?
>>19506970>>19506968>>19506937lrn to wikipedia.>One of the origins postulated for the modern Harlequin is Hellequin, a stock character in French passion plays. Hellequin, a black-faced emissary of the devil, is said to have roamed the countryside with a group of demons chasing the damned souls of evil people to Hell. The physical appearance of Hellequin offers an explanation for the traditional colours of Harlequin's mask (red and black).>The primary aspect of Arlecchino was his physical agility. While generally depicted as stupid and gluttonous, he was very nimble and performed the sort of acrobatics the audience expected to see. The character would never perform a simple action when the addition of a cartwheel, somersault, or flip would spice up the movement.I swear to god, you have these resources and you don't even USE them! You just extrapolate and bastardize based off what you know from comic books!
well harlequins back when they were around were actually very cutting in their humor, they spoke mostly in satire about high authority figures and were generally seen as rebels. they are very acrobatic, and no they are not always females.
>>19507011Why? I know some bastard's just gonna do it for me. :V
>>19507011I never brought it up before because of the fact I had no idea what a harlequin was besides what I saw in comic books.
>>19505750Because of that, I kind of hope alignments aren't required to play a specific "class".Also, regardless of what alignment you are, ALL Clowns can fit into the absurdly tiny cars. Strongmen, Magicians, Tamers and Urchins have no such blessing, and must contend with hanging on top of it. It's actually quite the boon with a slapstick leaning audience, done correctly.
>>19507185Tamers would ride on top of their exotic. (Which are lions and tigers and such.)It depends on the CM on what you can do with alignments, I guess. I mean, In D&D, You can play a lawful good necromancer if you wanted to, But I'm assuming some DMs wouldn't allow it. Same goes for here.
BBEG is the ringmaster. Come on, people, do the reading. And also quit being shit. This is supposed to be ORIGINAL, not ripped off of other systems.
>>19507327Who's ripping off other systems?
I've actually been reading like twenty posts up... Ugh. Bad ideas.
So a few Clown idioms:Washing Faces. Telling someone to "Wash their Face" is equivalent to telling them to go jump in a lake or to go to hell. Actually washing off the paint off of a clown's face does massive pride damage to both sides. Such displays anger the Audience. Of course taking the makeup requires more than just a splash of water."The Audience abides.." more or less "Thank heaven" or "Thank god." Also used as a way of convincing a fellow Clown (or other circus folk) to cooperate on a joke or bit. "See, these sophisticated guys, they see me clamber out of the car, makin' an ass of myself and they groaaaan, cause they fuckin' hate me. Then I trip over my own two size fifteens, and then you walk over me, cool as a cucumber smoking that goddamned cigar. Kills. The Audience abides."
>>19507264Or Ride on top of their Exotic which is hanging onto the Buggy.Cause it's funny.
The mimes as elves comparison is sorta fun.Just imagine, you're walking through the circus when you stumble upon a large tract of empty land. So you keep walking, when suddenly, you bump into something unseen. After probing for a few minutes, you realise it's an invisible tree trunk. So you keep walking, bumping into trunks and branches, when you suddenly see some figures seemingly floating in the distance. A group of mimes, casually walking in the air, interacting with what you eventually realize is a fully functional tree house. And there's more. An entire invisible village built on an invisible forest.You've entered the mimespace.
Giving someone the "Silent Treatment" is a very disturbing, evil mime practice. They hold down a clown and cut out his tongue, and proceed to repaint his face. He then faces the stigma of a mime, with none of the powers. It's a cruel punishment.
>>19507397>>19507400...*Thumbs up*
>>19507400It's not limited to Mimes of course. But if somebody's getting the silent treatment, it's because the victim is a horrible monster or the victimizer is. It's not considered quite as monstrous as removing their makeup completely, but it's damned close.
>>19507445Dammit Mime, this here is an Image Board. You gotta use Images or the kids'll get pissed.
These are awesome ideas.Just bloody brilliant. I have nothing to add, I'm just bumping.
For some reason this thread reminds me of a section of MSPaintAdventures where the future is ruled by juggalos
>>19507486
>>19507327There are no original ideas, just ideas refitted to a specific purpose/setting. Piss off, you pretentious ass.
Soo....Anyone have any ideas as to what the character sheets would look like?
>>19507746Hey now, This IS pretty original. And no need to call him an ass.Besides, There is a difference from ripping something off and refitting an old idea to fit a new setting.And I still don't know what he was referring too.
>>19507784I phrased it really fucking poorly. Intended message was "Come on, guys. Some of it needs to be gameplay, not just references to stuff". Because, while references are fine and good, you can't make a game out of "LOLINSIDEJOKEUSGAMERSHUEHUE".
>>19507824Well like I said, Maybe we could work on the character sheet and what would go on said sheet?
So guys, what about harlequins? Tall, lanky, dressed elegantly, always in control, I see them as Evil Outsiders, or maybe agents for the Ring Master. Either way, having them about is bad news, and devastation follows them.After all, schadenfreude is still humorous.
The tiny car zoomed over the streets. It swerved crazily, dodging traffic while also trying to hit anyone standing on the sidewalks. The car was small, but with so many clowns packed in it had a mass that was comical. If you were lucky, you'd just be knocked to the ground as the car glanced you, but it was far more likely you'd be flattened like a whoopee cushion.As it raced, the roar of the Audience followed, echoing throughout the streets. They were in a slapstick mood, and clearly enjoying the spectacle greatly. Their more subtle echo of a laugh was easily matched by the uproarious laughter of the clowns inside. Hopped up on the ol' nitrous oxide, the small-time clown gang was having a gas. That is, until a figure decided to step into the path of the oncoming clown car, instead of diving away like most.Pickles stuck his head out of the driver's window, "Hey! Get out of the way!" he yelled while honking his horn, but making no actual move to avoid himThe figure, rather than listen to the onrushing clowns, chose to ignore them and continued standing there. Suddenly, a shocked expression came over his face, which was exaggerated by the black and white makeup covering it. Gloved hands rose, and began to feel the air in front of him, always stopping the same distance away. It was as if he had discovered an invisible wall was standing there..."Hey Bubbles, what's that guy doin', huh?""I'm not sure, Pickles. He's pro'ly just crazy. I mean, crazier than usual, ha-hah!""Wait a minute," Tiny boomed, "I think I've seen this before... SWERVE OUTTA THE WAY!" Tiny grabbed the steering wheel, but ended up yanking it from the car entirely.
>>19507913The car, which should have hit the figure, instead slammed into the air immediately in front of it. The clowns were flung through the ceiling and landed on the pavement in a dazed pile, while the car began to catch fire and launch confetti everywhere."My car!" Pickles yelled, and grabbed a setzer bottle to try and put out the flames."Hey, what's the big idea? Tryin' to stop our fun, huh?" Bubbles asked of the figure, who silently wagged his finger in response. "Oh, you're one a' them mimes, ain't ya? Do ya think you can take on all us clowns?" The dozen or so clowns who were contained in the car surrounded the mime, brandishing pies and squirt flowers in a threatening manner. The mime crossed his arms. From the Audience, a soft "Ooooh" could be heard. The clown car act was getting old, but a fight could be interesting...
>>19507913You are a gentleman and a sir.
>>19507928I'm loving these clownpunk stories, They can somehow be dark and hilarious at the same time.
I wonder what the inside of a clown car looks to the clowns. Does the clown car just expand for every clown attempting to get in it, Is there a giant windshield so everyone inside the car can see what is going on, What?
>>19508101It's like a huge bus.
MIMESPACE.There is a place beyond this chortle coil. Where giggles and gaggles give way to silence and drear. To get there, one must pass beyond both mime and space. A vast wasteland of black and white, like the elder pictures. The trip is arduous, rife with apple, cherry, even blueberry mines. The flowers and trees all bounce and whistle, but no sound escapes their colorless lips.
I think we have a basic system down, don't we?We need to get around to creating a character creation system.Create a clown.
>>19508172>chortle coilI fucking laffed.
>>19508172
>>19507928"I'll get 'im!" One of the clowns suddenly shouted. He tossed a pie into the air a couple of times, and then threw it at the mime. The mime matched the clown, and made a throwing motion towards him. It was a two way pie collision, but with only one pie, which splattered harmlessly onto the ground.Deciding ranged attacks wouldn't work, Tiny decided to take matters into his own ironically large hands. As Tiny loomed over him, the mime made several imperceptible shifts in posture, and suddenly he appeared to loom as much as Tiny, even though one was over a head taller. Unperturbed, Tiny moved to punch him, but the Mime ducked the blow, and then imitated Tiny, punching him square in the jaw. His opponent now dazed, the mime bent down to pick something up, his overexaggerated struggling motions conveying the extreme weight he was trying to lift. With a heave, he tossed it at Tiny, who was sent sprawling.The Audience could be heard to cheer. They loved an underdog. Intimidated by both the cheering and the posture of the mime, the other clowns decided to leave him alone and instead struggle with the enormous weight that was crushing their comrade.The mime, his performance over, bowed silently towards the sky. He ran to the nearest building, and began to walk up the side to escape, looking as if he held a rope, although no rope could be seen.End.
>>19508172>this chortle coil>beyond space and mimeFuck you how do you get peach soda out of a keyboard
>>19508172Well, It seems the audience is rather pleased with your performance!
MIMESPACE.The inhabitants are strange. They float through the air without the aid of umbrellas or enormous rockets. Their houses are invisible, but made of the finest metals and jewels. Or so they tell us. Their homes could be made out of jelly donuts for all we know. It's fairly likely, actually.
So, Anyone still going to update this?http://typewith.me/p/clownpunkThe guy who made it is also going to eventually set up a game, When it becomes playable. We still need a CM, Apparently.
>>19508448I'll do it.
>>19507913>>19507928>>19508262Bahahaha.So, character creation. Are there any simple templates we could follow or repurpose? I'm thinking that simpler is better for our purposes, so no elaborate backstories, skill sets, or things of that nature would be necessary.
MIMESPACE.The locals became rather...grumpy...when i mentioned some of the paint on their elder's faces. It seems that they actually STAB the color into their own skin! They called them tattoos, right before sicking their invisible hounds at me. I was chased out of their realm, dodging what i can only assume were gunshots, cannons, rabbits, jackalopes, a few grand pianos, and Gilbert Godfrey. I'll be back again. If hose jive turkeys can't handle my inquisitive nature, then they can stew in their monochrome hell for all I care. Fucking mimes.
>>19508438I really like the idea of using umbrellas to glide.
>>19508526MIIIIIIIIIIIIMES!
>>19500131>Rodeo clown paladinsGIVE ME ITI NEED IT
I noticed somebody mentioned rodeo clowns. Now imagine that they carry two big barrels opened on one end around at all times. They'd use them like the Portal gun - place one barrel in one place and the other in another, then jump in one to come out of the other.
>>19508622Rodeo clowns are rather tanky. I mean, They run out in front of a bull so the person riding the bull won't get hurt.If that isn't a tank, I don't know what is.
>>19508646>>19508645>>19508622>Rodeo clown mindSo we'd have teleporting Rodeo Clown paladins. I can dig it!
>>19506970>>19500131>>19498262>People mention Commedia Del ArteTHANK YOU BASED /TG/
This is an awesome thread.I should know, I've seen a lot of awesome threads in my time.
>>19508665I'm throwing money at my screen but it's not having any effect!
First part of the possible Character Sheet:General Information: A basic blueprint for your character.-Name: Your character’s name and any aliases or nicknames.-Class: Which class your character belongs to, out of.~Equipment: Cars, exotics, weapons, armor, whatever. Just a basic rundown of your inventory.~Alignment: Choose a combination from Good/Neutral/Evil and Sophisticated/Slapstick/Witty.-Background: Your character’s background. Be sure to specify any conflicts/alliances in place with NPCs.
>>19508872Other important slots:Equipment: Duh.Type: What type of your class are you?Familiar: This only applies to Magicians, Fungineers, and Beast-tamers.Home: Which area your from. Certain bonuses to characters from certain areas of certain classes.
>>19508872I don't think background is needed. Sure, It would be interesting to have that extra bit of story, But you really don't need it to play the game.
>>19508920>>19508906Yeah it's just a blueprint, we can change it as needed. Here's the stats portion:Statistics: The numerical attributes of your character, based on a scale of 1 (terrible) to 5 (wonderful). “Attack” dictates their physical offensive potential. “Defense” dictates their physical defensive potential. “Special Attack” dictates their mental offensive potential. “Special Defense” dictates their mental defensive potential. “Charisma” dictates who gets initiative in combat and conversation.I copied it from Pokemon. I'm thinking what we could do is assign our characters a rating based on a points pool (say you have 20 points split between the different stats). When two characters are fighting, the offensive stats are matched against the defensive ones - whichever scores higher wins that round, and deals damage based on the Audience reaction. I've never RP'd like this before so it's probably a convoluted mess, I'm just trying to get the ball rolling.
God dangit bobbeh ya ain't bein' no rodea clown.
>>19508966I would suggest not naming the stats the same as pokemon stats as it makes them feel too detached from the flavour. I like the 1-5 thing though.maybe have them define the style of the character more like having a character with subtlety 4 slapstick 1 etc.
>>19509088to continue, this is a flexible narrative game. imo this suggest we should use stats as something that furthers the character building and reminds people what their character is like rather that arbitrary numbers that have little to do with the elastic nature of oneupmanship of combat in the awesome combat writefaggotry in this thread
I agree, it's just a shart.
Skills should be something along the lines of how well a clown can do slapstick comedy in general, Or how long they can keep a joke funny, Something like that.
>>19509302Ahem...I forgot to change my name back.Wonderful.
so, what are the tenets of comedy, and the stats one would use for a performance?Subtlety could be one such stat. Higher subtlety is useful for sophisticated characters, slightly less so for witty, and actually a bad thing to have for a slapstick character.Some kind of physical stat is needed, for strongmen and such. Perhaps strength is inversely related to flexibility/agility? Although that prevents acrobat stuntmen..How the clown reacts to attacks is important. Some kind of stat should affect this. Maybe call it "Poise". The higher their poise, the more easily they can handle pranks and gags thrown at them, preventing loss of pride.
BUMP OF JUSTICE!
I think we should make a new thread, This one is getting kinda old, And no one likes old jokes.
No mention of the Dexter's Laboratory episode where Dexter becomes a were-clown and DeeDee has to go to mime school to defeat him?
>>19509613I never saw that episode, Sounds really cool though.
Feats - Funny bone: whenever you break someone's arm with a blunt object (or your bear hands), the audience roars with laughter, increasing the multiplier by .5 for the remainder of the combat.Boozehound - You have a drinking problem and must drink at least one alcoholic beverage a day. By consuming 3 or more, you gain an increase to strength, and wittiness. You also gain a 1 in 5 chance to dodge any attacks made directly to you.Master of Dezguys - You can don a rubber mask, a wig, and other props to make it appear that you are another class to the audience and to other clowns.Clownicopia - You have a knack for squeezing objects into other objects, including this clown's head into that one's ass. You effectively double the size inside of an object whenever you want to store things inside it.tick tick tick... - You can make it appear that any object is a bomb (roll 1d4. 1 makes it a REAL bomb, 4 fails the check).Stave off madness - Any pride damage that would deal more than 1 point of damage to kill you only deals 1 point instead.Doctor chuckles - with some ancient mummy wrappings, a stethoscope, and some candy, you can use a turn to repair 2 points of physical damage (not funny unless a character can somehow make it funny).Pyrotechnics - This clown is adept at fire displays. Gains a bonus to rolls made to impress audience using pyrotechnics. 5/day he can make fire appear on his thumb by snapping/flicking his thumb up.
>>19509633I like it.Plus, Drunk clowns are funny clowns.And I had a chuckle at Clownicopia.
Shock and awe - gain an audience bonus whenever using electricity to kill a clown.Hunter seeker - Your thrown objects will actually home onto their targets if you so wish, so long as you take 2 turns to throw them. Diabolos and Friends - Ancient gaming knowledge has been passed down to you. You can now use yo-yo like tools to increase audience levels. Players suffer an additional 50% increase to difficulty each turn they attempt to continue using one in combat.Wham boom - Give 'em the ol' one two, skip to the loo! Whenever you crit, you may flip a coin. If heads, you roll for damage again.Fungineering school - You went to school for this schtick and it cost you an arm and a leg. Dunno who they belonged to, but damnit it's expensive. You can create more elaborate props and setups in half the time it would normally take.Marching band - You are 50% more effective making attacks with instrumentsMimeology - when combating enemy mimes, you can see only the basic outlines of their invisible creations, within 3 meters.A-blooga-blooga-boo! - Scary is the new funny! Anytime you attempt to scare a clown, roll a 1d4. If 4, they shit themselves, making the audience roar with laughter, maxing their love for you. Painter's tape - Any painting check made adds a 50% decrease to time.Painted rape - A check to painted on another clown is 25% more successful.Statutory - When standing still, roll 2d4. If a 1, they cannot see you. If a 2, enemy clowns mistake you for a statue. Cannot be done in plain sight.
>>19509779I added all of these to the WIP rule book, I really like these.
Liar liar - if you catch another clown lying, they instantly catch fire, taking 1d4-1 point of burning damage per turn, for 6 turns or until put out.Heave ho! - Poop jokes are funny. As is vomit, apparently. If you vomit on an enemy clown, the audience will approve, resulting in an improved multiplier. Flock - You are allowed an additional familiar (maybe be taken multiple times)Fellows - You are allowed an assistant with 2d4hp (plus your HD bonus). Roll starting stats for them. They gain exp at half the rate you do. May be taken multiple times, but the exp rate is cut in half each additional time.Piper - By playing music, you attract urchins at a rate of 1 every 5 minutes. They will disperse if you do not attack or command them within 5 minutes of stopping the music. Any urchins in the area will become memorized unless they roll a 1d4 and roll a 1.Blast zone - you can reduce both the area of effect and the direction of any explosion within 10 feet. (Each rank allows an additional 1 radius reduction, or a row of blast reduction)Strange and horrible secret! - You have a strange and horrible secret. You are a mutant and have mutant powers, whatever they may be. Revealing that you have these powers will make the audience hate you for sometime, unless you can appease them immediately with your new-found powers.
make it magical realism. give them wands of dream and balloons of pressurized joy. Make them play roles in comedies and tragedies that resound with power and vibrate with the truth of the universe. Make one of the most demeaning and humiliating jobs in the entertainment industry a vital role to empower humans to sanely persist in the apathetic world they have constructed, to save the living hearts and minds of men from the darkening machines they have wrought who feed on their very souls.Also, make them traditional clowns as well as post-Barnum & Bailey's clowns, to ensure they have a wide variety of roles.They are storytellers, tricksters, fools, romantics, villans, they are a caricature of the deepest portions of human emotion.
>>19509938i suppose, after reading, this really doesn't fit. apologies for non-sequiter posting.
>>19509929I have to say, The only ones I like from this is flock and piper.The others seem...Off.
Thriller - You are a master of DANCING and ART and CULTURE. An additional 25% to avoid a slapstick attack. Stereotype - You have an affinity for music. An additional 25% success rate to music checks.Vanishing act - Through years of practice in the halls of hammerspace, you have learned to avoid most of the hammers and can safely travel from one place to another, provided that NOBODY can see you inside. Hammer time - All construction efforts are done 50% faster!Rebel without a cause - If you would take physical damage that would kill you, roll a 1d4. If 1, you live, and an allied rodeo clown saves the day.Tons of makeup - Nobody can see those battle scars! Add an additional point of max pride health for every 5 points of pride health you have. Meals on wheels - If you ever run out of seltzer, pies, or any food related weapon or prop, just ring a bell! Take 2 turns, and a rocket trolley will fly in, restocking you to pre-battle numbers.Sharpshooter - Any ranged attacks are sure to hit now! Increase the max range of all ranged objects by 3 meters. Add +1 to any attack roll made from a range.Nuclear powered banana - Bananas still work as intended. Except now, the player may choose to detonate any banana like a landmine if someone steps on it, peels it, it when it mushes onto a target.
*Looks left.**Looks right.**Deep breath.*BUUUUUUUUMP OF JUUUUUUSTIIIIIIIIICE!~
>>19510000>quads.I'm out of ideas for feats. Sorry guys. It's rather hard making all the backwards puns and stupid jokes and double meanings. I think I'd work best as a beast tamer or a joke teller, but this is kinda difficult with all the puns. Anywho, hope this helps.
>>19510094Most of them were pretty cool. If you'd like, You can check out the WIP rule book here: http://typewith.me/p/clownpunk
>>19510153>worked on it and talked in chat until like...4am last night>ILU OP, and other clownies
Every Magician has a host of tricks up their sleeve-and one even when shirtless that marks them as a true member of that creed-the ability to call up a Volunteer from the Audience.A Volunteer is not lightly summoned; to do so without a plan to amuse the Audience even more is to court Disaster while her father runs for his shotgun. But the power of the Volunteer is not to be underestimated. Power beyond chortle ken, advice from those who've left the Ring to take a Seat, even the most traditional barrel-of-swords are potent weapons in a Magician's Harsenal.
>>19510161You worked on it?Sorry, It's kinda hard to tell anons apart.
A bit. Just throwing in my two cents and a little copypasta from this thread. I'll continue to lurk moar.
>>19508906>>19508872How about a mechanic.We can sort out names and spots for everything after we've figured out how things interact and how they are represented at the table.I've seen and run enough projects on /tg/ to know that people can easily rattle off some of the most basic shit and pretend they are playing game designer without ever getting anything done.So, please, if you want to do this, start at the roots.>What kind of game is this? Narrativist? Simulationist? Lite? Crunchy?>What is the core mechanic? Dice? Cards? Points? Roll under/over? Stats+/- bonuses + die roll? Percentile?>What sorts of play will be rewarded and encouraged and which will be discouraged?
>>19508872Am I well liked?
>>19510212 durr. You're pretty radical.
>>19510210You should really read the rest of the thread, Bro. I'm pretty sure most of you questions were already answered a bit ago.
>>19510212If it means anything, I like you quite a bit.
>>19510212Agreed, you're pretty rad. Hopefully this project will take off and find some success.
What else do we need for this, Anyway? What makes an RPG?
I know, I'l bump the thread.People always posted the exact moment I bump the thread!
We should get a new thread.This one is getting a bit long. Plus we can put what we already have in the first post.
JUSTICE BUMP!
I've not read the entire thread, a little too drunk for that if I'm honest.But I feel the work of Commedia dell'arte, whiled mentioned early in the thread, is misrepresented in the concept of this setting. Commedia dell'arte is wildly represented, if not acknowledged, in modern works of slapstick farce. That favourite figure, the harlequin, was born from this fine tradition of performance. To lose sight of these works is to lose sight of some of the valuable and accessible stories available to the concept. If all the world be a stage in this twisted life we present to these players, then how can we ignore the opportune of Columbina and her suitors? The erstwhile zanni of our players can be instruments to the fulfilment of their ring master's daughter's love, driving off the unwanted attentions of our dear il'capitano's attentions and bringing the innamorati toghter? Currying favour with their ring master 'gainst the ill will of their cruel brighella. The world of clowning is so rich and ripe with stock characters it seems a shame to focus on the popular american interpretation that seems to purely exist in film. Of you who have been to circus in the last few years, how many performers were purely of your native descent? Where, in this setting lies our precious russian acrobats and indian mystics? The talents of the world needs must be represented by such a game.
>post a neat idea for Magicians>the namefags all get self-congratulatory insteadDo you even /tg/?
>>19510784I'm sorry sir, What are you reffering too? Did some one else post about magicians before me?
>>19510243Understand that these things need to be stated clearly, instead of relying on the random posts of several anons, buried amongst other, contradictory and conflicting posts.Clearly stating such objects, as redundant as it may be is an important first step towards actually making something instead of just tossing around "what ifs"
>>19510847That's why I keep suggesting a new thread, Where we actually organize this stuff into a couple posts at the start.
>>19510844I mean this. >>19510170Give it a read.
>>19510878Oh, I read it.It is a very neat idea, I must say.However, All the namefaggtory congratulating is on a completely separate matter. Also, I'm pretty sure we had the same idea in a chat last night. That might have been you, I wouldn't know if that is the case.Like I said earlier, Very had to tell anons apart.
>>19510935I was not in the chat, so.
The only reason I'm not going out and making a new thread for this is because 1. I'm bad at making starting posts,2. No one is saying anything in with or against the idea of a new thread, 3. I can't just do something without knowing if people would actually like that or not, It would be rather rude.
>>19510847Oh, Also, We have thishttp://typewith.me/p/clownpunkIt hasn't been updated in a bit, Except for me adding in feets, So it might be missing a few things.
>>19511052Just make a new thread man. The idea got a fair amount of support, and it would be a shame if it died here because of bump limit.
The first three or so posts of the new thread should be organized information of the game, And i'm not good at making new threads or organizing things. I'l probably screw it up...Could some one else maybe do it?
I'm going to have to make the new thread, Won't I?Why does the idea of making a thread make me feel uncomfortable?Maybe it's because i'm going to have to search through all of this thread and organize everything.
Made a new thread.>>19512086I did not listen to my own advice.
