Now Playing - Carnivoregames
Now PlayingRoleplaying the W orld of Television
Writing and Game DesignBradford YounieProofing & EditingRalph Mack, Carol Pandolph, JoePandolph, Derek “Malcus” BelangerCover ArtThomas DenmarkPlaytestingDerek “Malcus” Belanger, Carl Bobo,Peter Daigle, Ralph Mack, ThomasMartin, Scott Mazzaro, MarkMcShane, Matthew Papajohn, MikePento, Michael Rhys, Bill Schreiber,John Sussenberger, Lisa Sussenberger, Matt Woodard.Art ConceptsRalph Mack (Cover), Bradford YounieInterior ArtThomas Denmark, Ben Van Dyken,Cartography by Anna M. Dobritt,Ralph MackAbout FudgeCarnivore GamesPO Box 846Londonderry, NH 03053-0846Now Playing, some specific game terms, icons andpersonalities are copyright 2003 Carnivore Games.No part of this book may be reproduced withoutwritten permission from the publisher, except forreview purposes. Any similarity to characters, situations, corporations, organizations, etc. is strictly fictional or coincidental. This book uses some adult settings, characters and themes, are fictional and intended for entertainment purposes.Comments and questions can be submitted via theInternet at support@carnivoregames.com or via a letter with a self-addressed, stamped envelope.For product updates and releases, visit the Carnivore Games web site at www.carnivoregames.comFirst Printing. February 2004Stock CAR1000ISBN 0-9749150-0-9Printed in CanadaFudge is a role-playing game written by SteffanO'Sullivan, with extensive input from the Usenetcommunity of rec.games.design. The basic rules ofFudge are available on the internet athttp://www.fudgerpg.com and in book form fromGrey Ghost Games, P.O. Box 838, Randolph, MA02368. They may be used with any gaming genre.While an individual work derived from Fudge mayspecify certain attributes and skills, many more arepossible with Fudge. Every Game Master usingFudge is encouraged to add or ignore any charactertraits. Anyone who wishes to distribute such material for free may do so; merely include this ABOUTFUDGE notice and disclaimer (complete with Fudgecopyright notice). If you wish to charge a fee for suchmaterial, other than as an article in a magazine orother periodical, you must first obtain a royalty-freelicense from the author of Fudge, Steffan O'Sullivan,P.O. Box 465, Plymouth, NH 03264.DisclaimerThe following materials based on Fudge, entitledNow Playing, are created by, made available by, andCopyright (C) 2003 by Carnivore Games, and are notnecessarily endorsed in any way by Steffan O'Sullivan or any publisher of other Fudge materials. Neither Steffan O'Sullivan nor any publisher of otherFudge materials is in any way responsible for thecontent of these materials unless specifically credited. Original Fudge materials Copyright (C)19921995 by Steffan O'Sullivan, All Rights Reserved.
Table of ContentsChapter One: IntroductionThis is RoleplayingThis is Now PlayingWhat is Roleplaying?How Roleplaying WorksRoleplaying TVCastingChapter Two: Creating CharactersCreating A StarCharacter TraitsScalePowersNon-Human SpeciesAdvancing CharactersChapter Three: SkillsSkill DescriptionsChapter Four: Gifts & FaultsGiftsGift DescriptionsFault DescriptionsChapter Five: PropsStandard of LivingWeaponsExplosivesArmorVehiclesThe ZooActingChapter Six: FilmingPerforming TasksThe Use of LuckCombatHealingVehiclesMagicConverting SystemsChapter Seven: DirectingThe Job of DirectingPrepare for the SessionThe ScenesActingChallenges of Directing12 Screenwriting2Chapter Eight: Shows4The Show4The Formats6Adapting a Real ShowCreating Your Own ShowPowers and TechnologyThe Cast13Choosing a Genre14Action & Adventure16Cop Shows20The Drama22Situation Comedy22Mysteries & Thrillers24Cartoons25Chapter Nine: Writing EpisodesAnatomy of an Episode45Planning the Season46Goal of the Episode47Episode Formats52Planning the Episode6364 FPI: The Show6773 Chapter Ten: FPIThe Foundation75Organization76Art of Ghost Hunting81Show PlotlinesThe CastEpisode Guide8990 Chapter Eleven: The ParanormalWhat is Paranormal?92Psychic Powers94Ritual Magic103The Spirit World104Strange Creatures106Extra-Terrestrials108109 Episode: The Big Dig28110110Episode: Haunted 172172175176178180201195
IntroductionNow PlayingThis is TelevisionThis is Now PlayingTwo police detectives track down a serial killer. Thecrew of a starship encounters a derelict ship adrift inspace. A team of superheroes matches wits and brawnwith a new villain. A reporter from a local tabloid investigates the story of people being bitten by vampires, onlyto find out that it may be true!Now Playing is a game that blends the rules andstructure of both television and roleplaying into a gamethat plays like a roleplaying game, but feels like a TVshow. It has the same basic structure as all roleplayinggames. It also follows the same formats and standardsthat all TV shows adhere to. When you have finishedreading this book, you will be able to take the setting ofany television show that you already know a lot about,and create and run your own episodes of the show as aroleplaying game. As you play your games, you will feelas though you are in a TV show.What do all these story ideas have in common? Theyall sound like episodes of some TV shows. The fact is thatall television shows have a lot in common. They have to;it's the nature of television. They all must be shown onthe same networks during a very rigid schedule. Allshows must fit in either a half-hour or a full hour timeslot. One episode must air every week. Each episode musttake a certain number of commercial breaks. They mustbe episodic, which means that every episode must be acomplete story in itself, but must also maintain continuity with every other episode that has aired. There areother standards that shows typically follow, but you getthe idea.Summary of ChaptersThe chapters of this book have been split into fourmajor sections. These sections divide the content of thebook into logical categories. These categories are as follows:Casting: Contains everything you need to know tocreate characters for the game.This is RoleplayingActing: Contains everything you need to know to playthe game.“ Freeze! Police!’ I shout then charge after the suspect, and try to tackle him.” Both the Director and theactor roll some dice, then the Director says, "You both runhard, and eventually you begin to catch up on him.” Theyboth roll some more dice, then the Director says, “Youleap at him, and land square in the middle of his back. Asthe two of you tumble to the ground, he squirms and youfall off him. He now jumps to his feet and runs. What doyou do?” I grimace, then say “I draw my pistol and fire itinto the air. ‘I said freeze!’ I shout at the suspect, then aimthe gun at his back. If he runs, I’ll shoot him!”Screenwriting: Contains everything you need toadapt an existing show into a roleplaying game, createyour own "shows," and create episodes of a show that youcan run. This chapter is designed specifically for Directors. Anyone who plans to just play a role does not needto read this section.FPI: The Show: Contains a fully defined TV show,created specifically for Now Playing. This includes a fulldescription of the show's setting, as well as one completeepisode. Once you know how to play the game, you canread and run this episode right away. The first two chapters are open to both Director and actors. The last is not.A roleplaying game is much like the old "cops and robbers" game that we used to play as children. However,instead of running around outside with toy guns, we takethe game inside and sit around a table. One person is chosen to describe the setting to everyone, and to act out allthe roles that no one else is playing. I'll call this personthe Director, although she has had many other labels,like Game Master and Referee. Everyone else acts out therole of one of the leading characters. The acting is doneverbally and with what body language can be used whilesitting at a table. The actor simply tells the Directorabout any physical action that his character wants tomake. Of course, to avoid all the senseless squabblingover who shot whom, we must introduce a system orrules. These rules govern how a character can performphysical actions while his player is sitting at a table. Thisoften involves rolling dice.Chapter Two: Creating Characters covers all ofthe rules for creating characters. All of your traits areexplained here, such as attributes, skills, gifts, faults andpowers. The rules for purchasing traits is described herein detail, as is the means for advancing your charactersthrough Experience Points.As you can see, roleplaying games have their own setof commonalities and standards, just like televisionshows have. The details may differ from game to game,but the basic structure always remains the same.Chapter Five: Props lists and defines all of theequipment that you can outfit your characters with. Italso includes definitions of a variety of animals and othercreatures that you can use in your games.CastingChapter Three: Skills lists and defines all of theskills that are available to your characters.Chapter Four: Gifts & Faults lists and defines allof the gifts and faults that are available to your characters.2
Now Playingare meant to add clarity to a rule or concept being presented.Chapter Six: Filming describes all of the rules forplaying the game. This includes using FUDGE dice, performing tests, handling combat, healing, luck, vehicles,and magic.Chapter Seven: Directing teaches the art of directing, or game mastering, a roleplaying game. The advice itoffers will help you direct your game as a television show.ScreenwritingChapter Eight: Shows instructs you on how toadapt an existing TV show into a Now Playing game. Italso explains how to create your own TV show as a roleplaying game. It discusses how to help the actors createcharacters that fit well in your show. Finally, it describesall of the most common genres of TV shows, and offerstips on how to deal with them in Now Playing.Show: ConventionsScene: SidebarsChapter Nine: Writing Episodes gives you all thetools you need to know to create episodes for your showsthat will have the feel of TV. This chapter takes many ofthe methods and tools used in crafting real televisionshows and applies them to creating roleplaying scenariosyour can run for your friends.This represents a sidebar. Sidebars containadditional, optional information that is related tonearby content, but is not necessary for the game.The Show: FPIThis represents a full-page example or sidebar. In most cases, it is used to illustrate how aspecific rule or concept in the text can be usedduring roleplaying. This means that you will seeexamples of actual roleplaying sessions withinthese boxes.Chapter Ten: The Foundation describes the setting of the show FPI. It explains how the Foundation forParanormal Investigation was founded, how it is organized, and what responsibilities its members have.Chapter Eleven: The Paranormal describes howparanormal phenomena exist in the world of FPI, andhow it can be handled within the game.GenderChapter Twelve: Haunted Holiday is a complete,ready to run episode of FPI. It includes both the leadingand supporting cast, as well as a setting and story. Onceyou know how to play Now Playing, you can simply readthis chapter and run the game.Every roleplaying game struggles to find the best wayto handle gender balancing in the examples and text oftheir books. Some omit gender altogether in exchange forthe term "the character." Others switch back and forthbetween gender for every chapter or major section.ConventionsIn Now Playing, gender balancing is handled verysimply. All references to the Director will be female. Allreferences to actors or characters will be male. In caseswhere two or more actors or characters are being referenced in the same section, both genders may be used toavoid confusion.Text ConventionsThere are a number of different types of informationbeing presented in this book. Each type of information ispresented with a different graphical look. The text youare reading here represents the standard text of the book.About the AuthorBoldfaced italics are used to represent works offiction designed to add flavor and atmosphere tothe content being discussed in the chapter or section.Bradford Younie was born in Weymouth, Massachusetts and has spent most of his life in southern NewHampshire. He has worked most of his adult life as a software engineer, but his passion has always been for fictionwriting and roleplaying games.Normal italics are used to denote examples that arescattered throughout the text of the book. These examples3IntroductionActing
CASTINGSCENE 1 CREATING CHARACTERSSCENE 2 SKILLSSCENE 3 GIFTS AND FAULTSSCENE 4 PROPSI stood outside the door to my office, looking around, still not sure what to do. The director was watching me expectantly. "I wish I had a script." I said."You've got a character," she replied confidently. "You've got everything you need. Just do what SamDiamond would do."All right, I thought, get into character. You’re Sam Diamond, private dick. Well, here goes. I took a deepbreath, and opened the door. A woman sat at a desk beside the door to my office. She looked up. "Hi Boss,got mail for ya", she said in the heaviest Bronx accent I have ever heard."What is it?" I replied."Bills. The electric company wants to get paid. For that matter, I do too."I rolled my eyes. I can see my work is cut out for me. "Don't worry. You'll get paid soon.""Yeah, right," she replied derisively, "You always say that." Her tone then changed, but only a little. "Yaknow there's a better way to pay me. A little wining and dining goes a long way with a lady." Her voice hadthe hint of hope masked heavily with humor.I wasn't interested, but I bet she wouldn't be bad if she'd just let her hair down and took off thosehorned-rims. "Yeah, yeah," I replied, trying to remember her name. Christ, they had just told me before thescene began, but then, this whole thing was tough. "Keep dreaming. Maybe I'll take you up on it some day."She chuckled, "I ain't countin' on it anymore."I went into my office and closed the door. The office was dark, dingy and sparsely decorated. I walked
behind my desk, tossing my wet trench coat on the couch as I walked by, and looked out the window. It hada great view of a brick wall. A neon sign hung directly beside the window. It read "Joe's Bar" with a bigred arrow pointing down. The "o" was flickering. I hadn't been here a minute yet and it already annoyedme.I sat down in my chair, picked up the newspaper sitting on the desk and leaned back, setting my feeton the desk. No sooner had I done this, than a knock came at the door. Sally stuck her head in Sally!That's her name. Anyway, she stuck her head in and said "Boss, there's a lady here to see ya. Says it'simportant.""Sure," I said, not moving from my spot. "Send her in.""Sure thing, Boss," she said and her head disappeared.Then she walked in. Wow! What a lady! I practically fell over as I scrambled to stand up. She was talland leggy, with big painted lips and lots of blonde hair. She was dressed to kill, too. Her dress clung toevery curve of her body like skin, and a slit up the side showed a hint of leg as she stood there watchingme.When the door closed, she spoke in a deep husky voice that I felt all the way to my toes. "Mr. Diamond,"she said, "I need your help.""Um, sure." I stumbled over the words. Christ, this improv thing is tough! As it is, I have no idea if she'sjust gonna talk or tear my clothes off! I hope the latter. "Here, have a seat." I gestured the chair that sat infront of the desk.She sauntered over with a swing I ain't never seen in my back yard, and sat down. She crossed her legs,showing lots of creamy skin through the slit in her dress. She saw where my eyes were and smiled. Iblushed. "How can I help you?" I asked, forcing myself to sit down."My husband's been arrested." She didn't sound too upset, but then again, my mind was elsewhere."So," I replied, trying to keep my cool. "I ain't a lawyer.""No, you don't understand. He's innocent. He's been framed.""Oh " Light dawns over Marblehead. "And you want me to catch the guys who did it and prove his innocence.""That's right. I can pay you. My husband is rich.""Okay, so who is he," I asked. I had a feeling there was a catch to it.She put a newspaper down on the table, folded open to one page. The headline read "RestaurateurArrested for Murder". There's the catch. I just read that article before she came in. The cops thought it wasa Mob killing before they caught him. If he's been framed, then the Mob's behind it. "Whoa, honey!" I said,holding up my hands as though the paper were toxic. "That's too rich for my blood. It's outta my league.""Please, Mr. Diamond. He won't last long in jail." She looked at me, and for the first time I saw the helplessness in her eyes. I began to melt."Look, we're talking about the Mob, here. You know that. It's too much for me."She stood up. She straightened the wrinkles on her dress slowly and carefully; so that I could watch herhands touch every curve. Then she walked around to stand over me. She leaned over and whispered in myear. The smell of her perfume and the sight of her voluminous breasts so close were almost impossible tobear. "Mr. Diamond," she whispered. I knew she was just acting, like me, but right now, she could've talkedme into buying a bridge. "I can't bear to be alone. I'm too young to be alone. I need to be touched; to be held."As she said this, she cupped my cheek with the palm of her hand. "Please, Mr. Diamond. I will do anythingto get my husband back. Anything."Aw, that did it. I caved. I shook my head like I was going to say "no". Perhaps that's what I meant tosay; I'm not sure anymore. "All right. I'll poke around a bit, and see what I can find. But I can't promiseanything."She hugged me then, long and hard. She didn't need to, but I was glad she did.
Castinggraphic memory, cybernetics and superpowers are allexamples of Powers.GiftsPowers are not available in all shows, and how theyare handled is up to the Director. If you want to give yourcharacter a power, ask your Director and work it out withher.A gift is something special and positiveabout you that you just have. It helpsto define who you are, but it is notsomething that will change overtime. Some gifts have a directeffect on the mechanics of thegame, either by modifying a skillor attribute roll or by enabling aspecific ability. Some gifts, however, may simply be a roleplaying element, and have no directeffect to any dice rolls or actionresults.Gifts are always beneficial andare befitting of the term “gift”.The list of available gifts and theirdescriptions can be found in ChapterFour: Gifts and FaultsSince most gifts do not have anydirect game-system rules associatedwith them, it would be easy to add more gifts as needed.FaultsLike gifts, faults are just something you have. Theyare not something that you can roll against, and they donot change over time: either you have it or you don’t. Inmany cases, you are born with it, but sometimes you gainit later in life.Unlike gifts, however, faults are usually bad. Theseare things that have a negative impact on your character,either by placing a penalty on certain rolls or simply bymaking your character challenging to roleplay. A birthdefect or disease could be a fault, but phobias and othersuch physical and psychological problems could be aswell.Obligations are another form of fault. They are notnecessarily negative traits, but they constrain the character’s actions, making certain situations very difficult.Code of Honor is a prime example of this. It is in no waya bad trait, but it does restrict the character’s actions.This can cause some great problems in times of crisis.Powers vs. GiftsSometimes it can be hard todecide if a certain trait should be agift or a power, since they can b
but the basic structure always remains the same. This iis NNow PPlaying Now Playingis a game that blends the rules and structure of both television and roleplaying into a game that plays like a roleplaying game, but feels like a TV show. It has the same basic structure as all roleplaying
basic structure always remains the same. This is Now Playing Now Playing is a game that blends the rules and struc-ture of both television and roleplaying into a game that plays like a roleplaying game, but feels like a TV show. It has the same basic structure as all roleplaying games. I
So if you start playing the major scale pattern on the 7th fret you will be playing the B Major Scale. If you start playing the minor scale pattern on the 10th fret you will be playing the D Minor Scale. If you start playing the minor pentatonic scale on the 3rd fret you will be playing the G Minor Pentatonic Scale. Have fun! !! !
The playing area includes the playing court and the free zone. It shall be rectangular and symmetrical. 1.1, D1a, D1b 1.1 DIMENSIONS D2 The playing court is a rectangle measuring 18 x 9 m, surrounded by a free zone which is a minimum of 3 m wide on all sides. The free playing space is the space above the playing area which is free
(3) role playing as a teaching tool -- planning role playing exercises, starting the role playing, directing the role players, and critiquing the role playing exercise; (4) film and video tape as a tool in training; and (5) teaching interviewing techniques--principles and issues. Also included are 10 exercises for applying the'.i-sterviewin skills
Press the DIRECTV button once to go to DIRECTV Central, or twice to go to the Now Playing List. LIST brings you directly to the Now Playing List. Press (FORWARD) and (BACK) up to 3 times for 3 speeds. Press a fourth time, or press PLAY, to resume normal play. INSTANT REPLAY replays the last 8 seconds of a program. Press CLEAR to delete a title in a list (like the Now Playing list) or to
Learning to play the guitar is not hard. The basics of playing are the same no matter what type of guitar you have or what type of music you want to play. You don't even have to be able to read music. Idiot's Guide: Playing Guitar is designed to get you started playing guitar right away, even if you've never even held a guitar before.
resume playing 3 7 18 36 resume playing 4 8 19 37 resume playing 9 38 Activities Online (Student Personal Profile) 2 HOURS S tudents r epeat the l i fe pl anni ng ac ti v i ti es now that they hav e m or e k now l edge and ex per i enc e - - c om par e i f pl ans hav e c hanged. ACTIVITY ONLINE 2. My Money Profile - Student Personal Profile
Always ask for help and support from your health care professional, family, friends and work colleagues. In time you will become more confident and in control”. Dr Frances Cole is a GP and Pain Rehabilitation Specialist and Cognitive Behavioural Therapist in Yorkshire UK. She is a member of the British Pain Society and co-author of the self help guide “Overcoming Chronic Pain”. Pete .
