Roadies: A Risus Adventure

So, to get my planning and writing muscles going again (in part, in prep for the RT/UA conversion), and my desire for a little bit of silliness, I'm going to expand on a concept I popped up here last year: Roadies.

SexGunn are (currently) the biggest band in the world. They have 5 platinum records under their belt (not bad, considering they've only released three albums), their music featured in adverts for the biggest companies, in every movie from the all-action summer blockbuster to the light-hearted indie romcom, on every radio, mp3 player and music TV station across the globe.

It's the night of their biggest tour yet - The Codpiece of Lustre Tour. The opening night, in [insert your hometown here] is shaping up to be a beast of a gig - no doubt because half their onstage antics will be scaled back for future performances (either due to destruction of equipment, lack of budget, or new laws being hastily written to cover such eventualities).

But tonight, tonight... shit, where did they go?

You are the Road Crew - managers, sound technicians, bouncers, PR specialists, or The Man With The Briefcase of Money Who Makes The Problems Go Away. Your job is to find the band, get the Show on the Road, and sit back and watch as the permed, crimped, drugged up, spandex-clad manchildren of SexGunn take all the glory.

It's a hard life. But someone's got to live it.

Players

Characters should follow the 4, 3, 2, 1 method of assigning cliches - and remember, make the 4 something you are really good at, and the 1 something you can fail at hilariously (or succeed at, against all odds, in the most dramatic way possible).

Assign yourself a role within the group - things like Fixer, PR, Manager, Security, etc. You can overlap roles, but it's way more fun if everyone has their own shtick. Now add cliches and extra bits and you're set.

Example Characters

Bob, Overworked Manager
Overprotective Tour Manager 4
Get Them There At Any Cost! 3
Surprisingly Competent Legal Wrangler 2
Too Old For This Shit 1

Milton, Mild Mannered Lawyer
Master-Expert Legalese Consultant 4
"I Have a Form For That..." 3
The Catholic Sort of Nervous Disposition 2
Took Self Defence Classes... Once 1

Bud, Lifetime Roadie
Well-Trained Hauler of Stuff 4
Full-Time "Social Enhancer" Aqusitionist 3
Capable Bus Driver 2
Quality Lookout 1

Chantelle, Professional Groupie
Been There, Done That, Fucked The Bassist... 4
Somehow Always Backstage  3
Part-Time Receptionist 2
An Interesting and Self-Actualised Person 1

GMs

So, the game (preferably a one-shot) takes place over 5 smaller adventures - one to find each band member, and a final setpiece.

Easiest is Bob Bobley, the drummer - he's unconscious in the dressing room, having drunk an entire bottle of floor cleaner. It's time to use your First Aid/drug mixing/sheer manager determination to get him back on his feet.

Valerius Daarkthrone (real name Jack Clark) is SexGunn's guitar virtuoso - and he's outside, having some trouble with the law. It's up to you to find out exactly what was he doing with a baggie of talcum powder, a schoolgirl uniform (in his size), three chinchillas, two Black Cat firecrackers, and a very eager groupie... wait, she's how old?

Bassisst Nikki 5 is allegedly somewhere under the tour bus. He is under the impression that "the Leprechauns" are "gonna try and fuck him" if he comes out. Whether or not this has anything to do with the passing bus for the Little People of America's World Tour, you need to enter his fragile psyche, and try and set him straight. And, of course, watch out for those fucking Leprechauns.

Singer Johhny Pocketrocket (sadly, his real name) was last seen wandering the way of the exit, with a broad senseless grin and a pamphlet for The Church of Scientology Entirely Legitimate Religionology. Can you break into the cult Church's headquarters, crack some heads and rescue the poor bemused vocalist?

And finally - once you have the band back together, it's a race against time to get back to the gig, with but minutes to spare - but is that a police blockade? Or a picket line for Mothers Yodelling Against Rock Star Excess? You'll need to use all your skills to get through here on time!

Of course, it'd be easy enough to change... hell, nearly anything here and make it a fun one-shot game. Try and make the game most appealing to your players - whether that's through more pop culture references, in-jokes, whatever, remember - nothing is set in stone, and with Risus, it's barely scrawled in the sand.