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Turning Toothbrush into Tentacles • 2018 rpg

WH Arthur • https://twitter.com/Aryl_Ether

You play as individuals who discovered they have the power to turn the mundane into something wonderful.

Setup:
GM and 3-5 players
Pen and pieces of paper
Containers

Each player writes two mundane items on pieces of paper (e.g. ketchup, toothbrush). Fold and place into a container.

Repeat with two cool/weird things (e.g. fire, tentacles). Place into a separate container.

Each player draw one from each container. Their PC has the ability to turn [mundane] into [cool/weird].

Each player answers the following about their PC:
Name and occupation.
How did you discover your power?
You did something you regret with your power. What was it?

Afterwards, each player describes how their character knows one or more of the other PCs.

Using the regrets that the players provide, GM devise scenario that brings together and engages the PCs. Play to see what happens.

For actions that are challenging or have potentially interesting consequences, roll 2d6.

10-12: Success.
7-9: Success with consequence.
2-6: Failure.

If a PC's power is activated, failure can be turned into a success with disastrous consequence. This can be done after the roll, as long as it's narratively plausible.

Author Comments

The turn X into Y power is inspired by The Law of Ueki anime. The mechanics is inspired by PbtA games, especially Urban Shadows.

Having each player put two items into each container is to increase the randomness, and to allow the GM to make NPCs with powers on the fly. I was going to write about NPC generation, but couldn’t fit it into 200 words.

Other things I had to take out: The GM goes through the pieces of paper before they go into the containers to prune out the duplicates. The player gets the option to draw a new piece of paper if they picked out their own. Rules clarification for people unfamiliar with RPGs.


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