| Copyright © 2000 by Mark Damon Hughes. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to print and use free of charge, but do not redistribute - always refer others back to these originals at <http://kuoi.asui.uidaho.edu/~kamikaze/DUDE/> |
Alan Smithee is the nom de guerre of directors and screenwriters who have had their movies released in a form they did not intend or approve of; when this happens, they have their names replaced with "Alan Smithee", which is an anagram for "The Alias Men". The Alan Smithee Project (TASP) is a roleplaying game of movies that should not be; bad crossovers, bad sequels, bad adaptations, bad remakes, and even bad new movies, they're all grist for this mill. See IMDB's entry on Alan Smithee for full details and a list of movies attributed to him.
TASP uses the DUDE roleplaying game system, so read that first.
The Dealer is always referred to as "Alan". Any time a player calls Alan anything else, especially Alan's real name, during the game session, the player must pay Alan one white chip to "edit that out", or pay Alan half of all money as he sues the player's ass off.
TASP is unusual in that your character is an actor who will be playing a on-screen character. The lines between the two are extremely blurred, however; you play out the on-screen parts in almost exactly the same way as the off-screen politics and machinations.
In TASP, DUDEness primarily represents Screen Presence - the one trait that determines almost everything else in a movie. DUDEness isn't about appearance - Angela Bassett and Cathy Bates, for instance, both have an awesome screen presence, regardless of their different appearances. A score of 1 is a non-speaking part from an unknown and forgettable nebbish, while a 10 is a super-mega-star, usually grotesquely overpaid and overly influential on any movie they're in.
In most movies, only equipment powers are available, and will be designed and placed by Alan. In science fiction, sci-fi, fantasy, and horror movies, Alan will decide what powers, if any, are available to each character. No powers may be used off-screen unless Alan specifically allows otherwise.
Drawbacks are often assigned by Alan as part of the character's role in the movie. Other Drawbacks may be taken as the actor attempts to flesh out the character. It's worth noting that Drawbacks are a great way to steal a scene and get noticed... Who do you remember more clearly: Igor, or Victor von Frankenstein? And yet Igor is supposed to be a bit character. Keep it in mind.
White chips are "bargaining chips" - favors the actor can call in from the director, screenwriters, backers, and so on. White chips may be used to switch from on-screen to off-screen or vice versa by calling "Cut!" or "Roll 'Em!" and paying a white chip. If anyone opposes this, they can pay a white chip to counter yours; players may continue bidding this way until someone gives up.
Alan may call "Cut!" or "Roll 'Em!" at any time, or declare the day a wrap, at no cost and with no opposition possible.
Unmodified.
Unmodified.
Most combat will occur on-screen, but off-screen violence is not impossible, nor even all that improbable. However, cutting words are more useful, and less likely to bring the cops and wreck the movie.
Any death that happens on-screen will put the character out of the game until the end of the adventure, unless Alan can find some way to work the character back in, but will not permanently kill the character. Off-screen deaths are permanent. A player whose character has been killed on-screen can still participate in off-screen scenes, and Alan may allow the player to help run extras on-screen.
If a player fails to achieve their actor-character's goals, they lose automatically; for most actors, the goal is to complete the film, but this is very much not a universal goal. Anyone who achieved their basic goal can compare cash as usual. The movie doesn't have to be good (and almost certainly won't be, or it wouldn't be in this game), and the villains may or may not be defeated. It's not like anyone's going to watch this turkey, after all.
After the adventure ends, the players may vote for the "best actor/actress" award, which doubles that player's cash OR remaining white chips, player's choice. Players vote in a secret ballot, and may vote for themselves (this is Hollywood - narcissism is their religion), and may attempt to bribe each other, with cash, white chips, or anything else.