ComedySystem (Part Two)

Let's assume that our hypothetical ComedySystem is going to look a lot like DramaSystem through a different lens.

A lot of the character creation stuff would probably look the same as standard DramaSystem, with maybe a little tweak in the language here and there. Instead of a long-arc Desire that drives the characters, which probably isn't going to work in a setup that's essentially (static) situation comedy, we probably need each character to have a "Bit". That is, the part of the comedic glue they provide to the ensemble. Going back to our Brooklyn Nine Nine example, Boyle's primary function is as the loyal (even doting) sidekick to Jake, our cocky leading man, and by extension he's the nice guy who gets pushed around by pretty much everyone. We might call his Bit "Enthusiastic Pushover". Rosa might be a "Tough Girl with a Heart", Santiago is the "By the Book People Pleaser", and Captain Holt is the "Incredibly Serious Commanding Officer".

ComedySystem (Part One)

Yeah, it's been a while. The last month or so I've been heavily invested in the Canadian election, which took a toll on my mental health, but at long last it's over. Our shithead government of the last decade is no more, and a handsome new government has taken its place. We'll see whether they live up to the hype.

But let's get back to talking about some games, shall we?

I've recently been going through a phase where I've been thinking about future games to run again, some of which have started to gel in ways that I know will lead to good gaming. Something I've had a real hunger for is to run something from my bucket list: a straight-up comedy game. There are lighter games, where the joking is part of the fun, and games where jokes help to defuse the tension, but playing a comedy game where comedy is the intention of play can be a hard sell with players. Sure, they say, we make jokes all the time during game play, but setting out to tell jokes and make each other laugh? That's doomed to failure!