Reading through the book, with Gotham in the hindbrain. I loved that show because all the characters totally cared about their city and wanted it to be something. I can see the show’s best moments when the writers follow the principles (why, yes, the rich orphan and the street thief can totally get together in the same scene, however odd it may seem), and the parts I dislike the most are when Gotham isn’t front and center. Now, I just have to figure out which characters map onto which archetype…
Reading through the book, with Gotham in the hindbrain.
Reading through the book, with Gotham in the hindbrain.
Aren’t they all kinda mortals?
Penguin is an Immortal for sure. Schemes within schemes, very definitely dealing with Power.
Alfred is totes a Veteran.
Beyond that, dunno! I kinda fell out of the show about halfway through the season. If I went back in without the delusion that Gordon is the main character, I think it would be much more enjoyable. I’d be curious how much of Urban Shadows maps to it, too…
Maybe Harvey’s the Aware or the Tainted, with Gordon as the Werewolf because of the turf thing?
I feel like Harvey might actually have more claim to the turf thing; he’s got a lot of underworld connections, from what I recall. Though that might just be good Hit the Streets focus on his player’s side.
The mobsters are likely Vampires or Mortals, y’think?
I’d say Fish seems like a Vamp; she’s got strings wrapped around everybody, and in a really twisted way they love her for it.
Jim is sliding towards becoming a Tainted as he makes deals with Oswald, but I’m not sure he ever gets there. Alfred is definitely the Veteran.
I think Oswald is either Fae or Oracle, but I’m not sure.
I haven’t watched Gotham myself, but the one bloke I trust to nail this stuff at a Professional Level, suggests that actually only two of the characters are actual characters; the rest are NPCs.
Penguin and one other guy are actual playbooks (in this instance, Battlebabe and Touchstone, because his examples were all about apocalypse world). The rest are crew, fronts, threats, storms, backdrop, how we you want to put it.
I found that perspective to be enlightening! We want to reflexively assign all the important characters playbooks, but making them all archetypes is like making any important character de-facto level 20 in D&D.
Which characters only really move the plot because they have relationships with one other guy? You should find two or three characters who are the center, and the rest of the cast revolves around and through them. They’re the PCs. The rest are dressing. 🙂
That’s a good general question, yes. It’s tricky in an ensemble show. Last year, I’d peg Gordon, Penguin, and Fish as PCs, and possibly Falcone (who seems like an NPC, but I can make a case for his PC-hood). Second season shows, what, eleven characters in the promo shot? But, probably not all of them are PCs. Again, Gordon and Penguin. Nygma — and possibly he was a PC last season. I’m not yet sure about Bruce Wayne and Selina, as it will depend on how things shake out, and I’m not sure about Galavan, whether he’s a threat / front / storm or PC.
Think it was penguin and Gordon, actually.
But see, I view this as a strength of the PbtA engine… The answer changes depending on which kind of game you want to showcase! There needn’t be one right answer, exactly. We just need to think, “what is this episode/season about if I look at it this way?”. As the bloke who told me this said, ‘this guy is a great MC and I am taking notes on how he runs things and which moves he makes’. That’s a great way to approach media!
I look forward to watching Gotham with an eye to urban shadows though. It’s so much richer than AW for the games I want. ^_^