So I’m watching Gotham and actually enjoying it despite my expectations. So naturally I think of gaming it.
What characters in Gotham get playbooks and what sort of archetype would they be?
My List:
Fish Mooney – Crime Miniboss (needs better name)
Edward Nigma – (future madman)
Jim Gordon – (maverick cop)
Harvey Bullock – (cynical cop)
Bruce Wayne – (rich orphan)
Selina Kyle – (street kid)
Alfred Pennyworth – (ninja butler, again how do you describe him?)
Don Falcone – (city crime boss)
Oswald Cobblepot – (scheming survivor)
Don Maroni – (rival mob boss)
Ivy – (orphaned crazy girl)
Delware or Flass – (cop on the make)
Barbara Kean- (drugged out heiress)
Allen and Montoya – ( upright cop in a twisted world)
Sara Essen – (frazzled police chief) (I’m not too interested in her but could see this ending up fun)
Butch Gilzean – (loyal enforcer)
And most of the single episode villains, visitors, vigilantes could be fun playbooks if thought about.
Some of these probably overlap but I’m loving it. Maybe pull from The Hood and that other gangster game I saw and bring it together for a fun session? I’m just brainstorming here.
Alfred is the Veteran, he’s been and done and seen it all especially as S2 continues on.
I wonder about making most of the crime bosses something like The Foil or The Mirror Darkly kind of Playbook.
Eric Duncan Love the idea of making him the veteran. That hits both his resources/skillset and his psychology. That marriage is really what gets me about the show and what I’d want to bring in.
As for the crime bosses it seems like Maroni, Falcone, and Fish might have similar resources (to a degree) but different psychology…? Maybe make them the same playbook and make the psychology a part of the modified playbook? You could do something similar with the thug characters who have similar skills but different motivations and take different story actions.
I’m blanking on the specifics of the Foil and the Mirror Darkly right now.
In regards of naming Maroni and Falcone could get a “Don” playbook as they are clearly on top of their respective organizations.
Fish Mooney would be a “Capo” with obviously some more skills than the Russian guy, the others. Trying to snatch the “Don position” from Falcone.
Penguine might rank under “Right Hand”, later on switching to Capo as Butch takes his Right Hand Job.
Jennifer- interesting approach. I like it. If we took Maroni and Falcone (for example) as the same playbook I’d want moves that differentiate between them since I feel they have a very different narrative tone.
What I mean is:
Maroni seems to make moves like ordering his guys to smash and grab, take over whole districts, and the line “I move pretty fast for a big guy”. He’s seems like the don equivalent of the hulk to me.
Whereas Falcone seems to be more of a Black Widow/Hawkeye type to me. He does pinpoint strikes at individuals instead of wholesale attacks (usually). He is better at secret plots and suprise twists. He’s also more focused on his past (like his relationship with his mother) which is a weakness that I’d like in to let him earn experience (maybe).
He also is better at setting up systems than Maroni is in that his organization involves a complicated nesting of bribery and blackmail that functions largely without his direct interference and Maroni needs to take direct action and tends to bludgeon people (like just point blank cutting off Penguin’s liquor).
Thoughts? Doable? I’d prefer to minimize playbooks (as few as possible but no fewer)
A full playbook needs anyways moves to chose from.
So the Don playbook could have moves for,…
…, political influence. Falcone appeared to be very well connected to the Waynes, to the police and to politians. A bit like in The Godfather where one of the main issues in the third part was that the Corleones had all the politians pocketed.
…, espionage recruiting & intelligence. Maroni appeared to be very good to have others infiltrated. Like he used Pinguine to get to Fish. Fish to bite at Falcone. The chick I forgot to be trained by Fish to get Falcone into Mommy-issues.
…, brute-force. Penguine in power appeared to be prone to brute force even doing murders himself, threatening employees and torturing people.
How about…
The Don has a Network which covers Crime Gigs, Faction Influences, and Muscle Gangs…
Getting to be the top-pop in a family-biz of being beholden to Anti-social Miscreant, Criminally Minded, or Desperation Motivated people, usually involves some diverse skills, several more ‘Choose From Another Playbook’ than usually seen, would be likely… so one might be a scholarly shadowmaster type operating out of speakeasies as an off-the-record civic-minded social-justice-troubleshooter of sorts, another a brute-n-shoot type keeping the hood fed and the competition dead, and one merely a legit-union-guy with a not-so-classy restaurant and a bit too much unmanaged zealous angst for securing the comforts and luxuries of his fellow working stiffs… eh?
yeah, there might even be one wildcard that just does it all for the lols…
I don’t watch Gotham regularly, but I’d avoid the temptation to tie playbooks to a character’s occupation and tie it more to a character’s personality and role. Working mostly off your list and my knowledge of Batman in general, how about:
The Steadfast – solid, dependable, reactive, physical (Gordon, Alfred, Allen and Montoya, Butch Gilzean)
The Spider – manipulative, connected, works through others (Falcone, Essen, maybe Cobblepot)
The Promise – small, relatively powerless, destined for greatness (Bruce, Nigma, Ivy, maybe Selina)
The Cannon – proactive, destructive, driven, unpredictable (Harvey Bullock, Maroni, maybe Fish)
The Wealth – rich, indolent, powerful, self-interested, opportunistic, treacherous (Barbara)
There’s some overlap in these, of course. Cobblepot is not The Promise, but probably has Promise moves (e.g. When you foreshadow your destiny, roll +something). Bruce is not The Wealth, but will have Wealth moves (as might Falcone and other mob bosses, although they’d have different ones than Bruce).
Good ideas +Stephen Morffew and with a quick & dirty hack of #TheHood :
The Steadfast = The Heavy
The Spider = The Lever
The Promise = The Rebel
The Cannon = The Ice
The Wealth = The Tourist
Interesting stuff, James Mullen. I didn’t know The Hood worked that way. I may have to check it out.
The Hood is career based rather than personality based, just to be clear, but those playbooks map well to the archetypes you suggest.
James Mullen I was more inspired I think by the tone and moves of the hood as it relates to Gotham though running a straight The Hood game set in the city could be pretty cool.
Stephen Morffew I like the way you have them sorted. I especially like the idea of putting Butch in with Gordon and the MCU squad. Helps move keep what I would want the game to be about (the psychological and narrative roles of the character as opposed to their careers).
I’m not sold on the Wealth since to me so much of Barbara seems to rely on her inner issues and how they project on the world around her (second half of season 1) but she also seems to be the hardest to archetype at this point.
The Spider is interesting though I can’t remember Essen off the top of my head. The thing I thing is really interesting about Falcone is that he is a builder, lawful neutral evil, visionary with a goal of stability type.. maybe?
I personally feel Fish and Penguin end up in the same archetype because (to me) their signature moves are their social skills and hidden (or not so hidden) volatility and a move I might call “survive certain death”. Actually that could fit with the spider name since I see them as clinging to life desperately no matter how much the story tries to kick them out.
Maybe rework the Spider to something like the Networker for people like Loeb or Falcone (and maybe even that narco guy dating Kringle).
Then The Spider could be the characters who keep showing up no matter how damaged or destroyed they end up (mostly Fish and Penguin).
I could see it going narrative archetype or career archetype. I’m just personally more interested in narrative archetype. I do like some of the network ideas and move ideas that Jennifer Fuss and William Mims came up with.