Before I dive into the meat of this post, let me get some general information out of the way. Stick with it readers, and let me know how I do in the comments!
Future Man is an original Hulu series, from executive producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. Already renewed for a second season, the entire 13 episode first season can be viewed now on Hulu. It stars Josh Hutcherson (as Josh “Future Man” Futturman), Eliza Coupe (as Tiger), Derek Wilson (as the stylish Wolf), the unfortunately deceased Glenne Headly (as Diane Futturman), Ed Begley Jr (as Gabe Futturman), Keith David (as Dr. Elias Kronish), and, surprising to me, Haley Joel Osment (as Dr. Stu Camillo).
Future Man follows everyman Josh Futturman, a twenty-something janitor who still lives at home with his parents and is obsessed with beating an unbeatable video game, despite being tormented by some of his peers.
Then, the unbelievable happens!!
Well, no, not that unbelievable if you’ve ever seen The Last Starfighter. What? You’ve never see The Last Starfighter?!
Go. Just go. No, go watch it. I’ll wait. Or just read the IMDB synopsis.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087597
Back? Okay, good. With that covered, we can move on. So, that’s basically the plot of Future Man, only...not. It’s also about time travel, but more importantly to yours truly, it's full of pop culture call backs, especially of the 1980’s.
It’s a fun, funny ride filled with pop culture, video game tropes, and some real gems of inspiration for tabletop roleplaying - which (finally) brings me to the meat of this post.
What can we take away from Future Man for roleplaying?
- Build the scene: One of the things that I really like about Future Man is the attention it pays to the details of a scene - whether it's Josh Futturman’s bedroom and the homage it pays to his obsession of the video game, “Biotic Wars” with posters and collector items, or the entire time they are in 1980’s (the clothes, the cars, the music….so good).
So, when you’re building a scene for your players, try throwing in just one or two “details” specific to it. Is your players’ contact a paranoid conspiracy nut, but trying to hide it? Explain how there seems to be an unusual amount of colored string and thumb tacks found in various drawers, or how there appears to be a copy of Catcher in the Rye in nearly every room. Choosing obvious call outs like this can quickly establish the feel you want, with minimal effort.
- Actions Have Weight: Throughout the 13 episodes, Future Man does a great job showing that actions and decisions can play out in big ways, even the seemingly small changes (such as the pronunciation of a name).
You can easily incorporate this into any of your gaming sessions without needing to do any extra preparation. Simply pick something one of your players did recently, and play the “if, then” game. For example, in a recent session of my Savage Star Wars game, one of my players reprogrammed a bartender droid at a local biker dive bar, giving it a far more advanced database of cocktails. Next time they return to the area, they will find that the dive bar has become the planet’s most popular nightclub, with the droid becoming a local legend (similar to Tom Cruise’s character, Brian Flanagan, from the movie Cocktail.)
- Recurring Characters: Future Man has quite a few characters that show up repeatedly, but - by far - my favorite is a simple unknown police officer they first encounter in 1969, who they run into again and again throughout time, with various results.
This is also important in roleplaying, as not only does it reinforce that your setting is “a believable world”, but it also allows you as the gamemaster to influence the players’ future actions. It can, if used properly, be a mirror with which the players’ actions are reflected, or a lens with which to show how society views them. This doesn’t need to be a villain nor even a nemesis, although that can be a great motivator for your players when used correctly. For example, it could be an average taxi driver, who in a world where the players are super-powered vigilantes, begins to wear a bullet-proof vest, installs thick windows in his vehicle, or refuses to travel through downtown for fear of yet another “super fight”, due to the commonplace street fights and increase in super criminals (hey, the player characters need someone to fight, right?!)
- Individual Strengths: A common quote throughout the first season is “That’s Time Travel 101”, when they try to explain something you should (or shouldn’t) do. For example, one of the quotes is “We need to blend in - its Time Travel 101”. This is simple way to clue the audience in to just how “fish out of water” some of the characters are, as well as an easy way to show how the main character has what he thinks is common sense, but the others consider it advanced knowledge.
In a roleplaying game, it can be difficult to put this into game mechanics. Savage Worlds does it admirably well (I won’t get into it here though), but in most cases a simple rule can handle it in most systems. I call it The First Rule, and it goes basically like this:
The First Rule: If this is something the character should know or be able to do, give a small positive modifier (for example, in a d20 based game, +2). If it’s something the character has little to no reason for having, straight die roll. If it’s something the character considers special training or advanced knowledge, apply a small negative modifier (again, d20 based game example, -2 to the roll). It’s simple, fast, and should be just enough of an adjustment to be felt, but not game breaking.
Okay guys, that’s it. Yes, I could go on and provide more examples, but I want to try to keep these short and (hopefully) easy to read. Time is valuable, and I appreciate you giving me some of yours.