RPG Sketch (Old): Fab Force!

Note: This is an old sketch from my personal journal.

It occurred to me a while ago that those lifestyle shows really are one of the closest, non-nerd analogs to superheroics around. Thus, Fab Force: The RPG of Style!

What You Need

At least two Fab Force experts, one person to play the client and one for the judge. You need lifestyle magazines appropriate to each expert, magazines representing the client’s current unsatisfactory lifestyle, pencils, paper (optionally, some of this can be thick paper to mount collages) a manila envelope, scissors and glue. Lastly, you need a digital camera.

Setup

Fab Force is a TV show devoted to providing lifestyle makeovers to random dowdy people. Fab Force expert players should choose one area of expertise each. The client’s player picks a current goofy lifestyle as a a guy with no style — a guy in a D&D t-shirt with a combover, maybe, or somebody who never takes off his goddamn ballcap. The judge doesn’t come into play until the end of the game, but should choose a point of view. (The judge should be a casual player or even somebody who doesn’t care about your game, really. They just show up at the end.) The judge could be a spouse, a panel picked off the street, customers (if a business is involved, a la Restaurant Makeover, though I should emphasize that unlike that show, the experts should be able to succeed.

The experts and client grab magazines that represent their lifestyle fields (in the client’s case, his actual lifestyle). Now they can start.

Game Play

Lame Phase

The client creates his current lifestyle with a collage from his chosen magazines. Each element in the collage should represent something an expert can help him with. A cheeseburger represents a pedestrian approach to cuisine, for instance. The central collage should be a composite figure representing the client himself.

Bitchy Phase

Here, the client walks the experts through his life, his likes and dislikes and so on. This is where it’s time for the experts to tell him how lame he is. The client takes notes about the reasons why he’s lame. These need to be concrete observations, not mere insults. Each one earns the group (client and experts)a point — two points if it elicits genuine laughter — to a maximum of a single 1-2 point bonus per expert.

Makeover Phase

Now, the experts provide advice in order. As they do so, they map out an alternative collage. They do *not* glue the collage together — they just place it. They may not add an item without providing a justification.

While this is going on the client may make a map of the collage on a separate sheet of paper to help jog his memory. He can also write down the experts’ justifications.

Once the collage elements have all been placed, one of the experts takes a picture of it. Then it’s time to put all of the cutouts in a the manila envelope and shake it around, to randomize them.

Presentation Phase

Bring the judge in. Now it’s time for the client to try and carry off his makeover. The group decides on a scenario (a housewarming or a big date, for instance). The experts get the picture of the collage printed — and they do *not* show the client. It’s the client’s job to glue his collage together so that it resembles what the experts put together as much as possible. The experts watch but make no sign of the client’s accuracy until he fixes a cutout with glue. If the client’s right, the experts celebrate. Otherwise, they sling catty barbs at the client. We assume this is either a post-facto meeting being edited in or the experts are watching a video of the client’s misadventures. Each correctly placed piece (don’t be too much of a stickler) earns the group a point as long as the client narrates and accompanying story (he talks about cooking the recipe or doing his hair). If not, no points. If the client screws up but makes the experts laugh doing so, he gets a point anyway.

At each placement, the judge marks down (without saying) whether she likes, dislikes or is neutral about a style element. If she likes something, add +1 point. If she dislikes it, remove a point *unless* she or the experts laugh — this makes her attitude effective neutral. She may play the character’s reactions, but doesn’t reveal her mark sheet.

As usual, all laughter must be genuine.

Evaluation Phase

Once all the cutouts have been glued on, the experts reveal the photo of the pre-collage and compare it to the actual collage. Each one dresses down the client for inaccuracies according to specialty. The client can defend his mistake by coherently referring to one of the experts’ justifications. The judge decides whether or not this is total bullshit.

Finally, the judge reveals the mark sheet and modifies the total points by the sum of positive, neutral and negative marks. She then gets to modify the score up or down by the number of other players (experts + client). Compare this total to the number of cutouts in the collage and express the former as a percentage of the latter. This determines the degree of success and the client’s fate.

Final Marks

0% or less: A total disaster. The judge narrates some terrible consequence. The client’s date bombs, his business collapses, whatever.
1%-50%: It didn’t take. The client narrates his stylistic fall from grace in a followup. The experts are aghast. The judge decides how to react to the schmoe.
51%-100%: Looking good! The client picks up some new tricks. He narrates his life as a changed man (or woman, but really, usually a man. I mean, watch What Not to Wear some time. They give *terrible* advice most of the time. Exceptions made for interior decorating and design). The judge reacts positively as appropriate for her specific role, but adds one catch.
101%+ Lifestyle transformation! The client is a suave, stylish man. He narrates a better life. If the player cries tears of joy, that would be great, but simulation is permissible. The judge is totally enthralled.

Tags: rpg sketches