Originally shared by Oli Jeffery
PBTA at a basic level could work for almost any genre, but playbooks only work in a genre with codified roles and a group dynamic. So, not every movie could be playbookified because most movies don’t follow that formula.
But which movies would suit a playbook set-up? I’ll start.
LA Confidential The Thug, The Celebrity, The Golden Boy, The Civilian.
Bridesmaids The Bride, The Old Friend, The Genial Weirdo, The Interloper
Ghostbusters The Face, The Heart, The Brain, The Workman, The Secretary
Firefly The Captain, The Pilot, The Badass, The Mechanic, The Right Hand, The Conscience, The Doctor, The Experiment
Aliens The Survivor, The Company Man, The Fool, The Leader, The Synthetic, The Kid, The Ultimate Badass, The Rookie
Your turn.
A Hard Day’s Night – The Smart One, The Cute One, The Funny One, The Quiet One.
As If Would play.
Teen Girl Squad! Cheerleader, So and So, What’s Her Face, and The Ugly One
I think to get a really good set of playbooks, you need to zoom out, just a little, and look at other very similar pieces of media so you can mix and match a bit more.
So, to use Bridesmaids, as an example, you can maintain your tight focus, but look at “pre-wedding crazy party” movies and add in movies like The Hangover, Bachelor Party, and, for a little darker humor, Very Bad Things.
I think I’d be kind of interested in seeing a broader Sci-Fi Horror game that took in tropes from movies like Pandorum and Event Horizon, and used that as inspiration for a broader range of playbooks.
Sorry, drifted a bit there.
A Hard Day’s Night Modern Boy Band Expansion Set: The Hot One, The Bad One, The Old One