Today on SuperIdols! RPG, the club has a gig! Gasp! How is that possible? Find out and see how our heroes respond! Then after things settle down, we take a little time to get to know the newest members a bit better.
Today on SuperIdols! RPG, the club has a gig! Gasp! How is that possible? Find out and see how our heroes respond! Then after things settle down, we take a little time to get to know the newest members a bit better.
Episode 5 Transcript: https://superidolsrpg.wordpress.com/2021/08/26/episode-5-transcript/
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Cast:
- Dana Lexa (she/her, @AuthorX) as Valerie Pearce / Violence Violet
- Tea (they/them, @Theawinde) as Evangeline "Angie" Blake / Bane Raven
- Maria (she/her, hir/hirs, @ThatAceGal) as Ann Davil / War Cry
- Drak (he/him, @Drakoniques) as Jaiden Lott / Elementum
- Luca (he/they) as Queen Bee
- ErynCerise (she/her, @eryncerise) as The GM
NPC Name Spellings:
- Karen
- Ms. Doyle
- Kenzie (Mackenzie)
- Ramie (Laramie)
- Professor Phillips
- Drew
- Mr. Taylor
- Jen Corsair
Featured Patrons:
- Matthew F.
- Amairylle
- Kitty Lynn
- LadyPlague
Featured Podcast:
- Fables Around the Table: http://www.projectderailed.com/fables/
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Logo Art: Prissmbell (@Prissmbell)
Character Art: Onsta (@onstamonsta)
Opening Theme: "Le Chevalier Noir 'version_instrumentale'" by Cyborgjeff (used under license from Jamendo Music)
Ending Theme: "Born To Drive Me Crazy - Instrumental Version" by Lance Conrad (used under license from Storyblocks.com)
This episode uses various other royalty-free music tracks licensed from Storyblocks.com. It also uses some additional sound effects from Freesound.org. For inquiries about specific tracks, please contact the GM at superidolsrpg@gmail.com.
This campaign is played using Masks: A New Generation, written by Brendan Conway and published by Magpie Games, with custom moves by ErynCerise and Zak P.
SuperIdols! RPG is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Eryn: Previously on SuperIdols RPG.
And standing in the doorway are three exasperated figures.
Jaiden: I transferred today actually.
Drak: Even though Jaiden’s just met you, he’s already a huge fan.
Ann: Nah, this is kind of my always, so no light show for me.
Luca: And that’s definitely all there is to Queenie. Again, why do you keep asking if there’s more?
Jaiden: Oh you’ve got an agent? How do you get an agent?
Dana: Valerie breaks eye contact.
Karen: Angie lied about being the president at first.
Valerie: No, she has a clipboard, she thinks that’s the same thing.
Angie: It’s a nice clipboard, okay?
Eryn: You see a very excited-looking Ms. Doyle in the doorway. And she’s smiling brightly at everybody. And she announces,
Ms. Doyle: Guess what everybody! You have a gig.
[electronic music plays]
Eryn: Hey there everyone, and welcome back to SuperIdols RPG. As always I am your GM, ErynCerise and with me today are Dana,
Dana: Hello.
Eryn: Tea.
Tea: Hello.
Eryn: Drak.
Drak: Hey.
Eryn: Maria
Maria: How you doing?
Eryn: And Luca
Luca: Hello.
Eryn: Hello one and all. We left you off on a very exciting point last episode, so I suppose we probably shouldn’t dally around too long and probably just get on with it and not drag things out and not drag out the suspense of what’s going to happen oh no. Uh, no, we’re coming back directly into where we left off last time. Ms. Doyle has just burst into the room and she’s panting looking very excited like she’s just ran over here and has said,
Ms. Doyle: Guess what everyone, you have a gig!
Eryn: What do you do?
Tea: Angie drops her clipboard on the ground and says,
Angie: Shut. Up.
Ms. Doyle: I am not kidding. Do you know who I was just on the phone with?
Jaiden: Who?
Ms. Doyle: I was just on the phone with a very popular music venue downtown. You may know them. They are…
Eryn: Actually I’m going to break in here. This music venue, I actually have not named it yet. And I would like for this to be a collaborative thing. I’d like for you all to come up with a name for this music venue that’s downtown.
Maria: Oh, awesome.
Drak: Oh boy.
Tea: Uh, okay. Is this going to be an all ages one like the Bronze?
Eryn: Sort of. It has a nightclub aspect but it will allow under 18 in the early evening and daytime.
Tea: Okay.
Eryn: They’re a very hot ticket place. Their spots usually are booked up all the time. They’re very welcoming of Superidols.
Maria: I have a suggestion but I want to know if anyone wants to go first and see if they have ideas also.
Luca: Go ahead.
Drak: Yeah go ahead, I don’t have an idea right now.
Maria: It’s called the Stormlight something. It’s just called the Stormlight since everyone nearby says it sounds like thunder when it gets going.
Eryn: Oh goodness.
Tea: I like that!
Drak: I like it.
Tea: I like it.
Luca: Yeah.
Maria: It’s an expression from a hall that I grew up by called storm. So when you said that it came to my mind.
Tea: Yeah I like it.
Drak: I like it.
Eryn: Yeah. That also makes sense for me because I feel it’s a place where people of the caliber of Starry Night Sky would go and put on their big light shows.
Drak: Yeah.
Tea: Yeah.
Eryn: Alright let’s go with the Stormlight then. Do we want that to be one word or two words?
Drak: One word.
Tea: One word, yeah.
Drak: Yeah.
Eryn: Cool, alright. Let’s unfreeze time. And Ms. Doyle continues.
Ms. Doyle: You may have heard of it, it’s called the Stormlight?
Eryn: Even an old fuddy-duddy like Ms. Doyle knows the Stormlight. This is a very popular music venue. This is a properly jaw dropping.
Valerie: The Stormlight?
Angie: No. Way.
Ms. Doyle: I was not expecting anything like this, especially because you literally just started a few days ago. Um, but apparently someone put in a good word for the Fort McNally Idol Club after one of the slots for the weekend amateur hour dropped out. And those slots are usually booked up months in advance. I think the person who gave the tip was someone from Rain Shadow records even?
Jaiden: No way.
Valerie: Oh that, yeah, I guess that makes sense. Rain Shadow is the company that represents me. So that’s obviously they are helping out the club and myself.
Jaiden: That’s awesome.
Ms. Doyle: That would make sense given what they said was the condition for the gig, which did make me a little bit hesitant. It’s still an exciting opportunity for you all, but I wanted to give you all an opportunity to talk about it first, because there is a condition on the slot. And that is, apparently, they want Violence Violet--I take it that’s you Valerie--they want Violence Violet to be the headliner for this gig.
Valerie: Oh well that, that makes perfect sense of course.
Angie: So we don’t get a group name. We’re just support for Vivi?
Ms. Doyle: I believe so. They’ve booked you as the Fort McNally Idol Club, but they want it to be something along the lines of Violence Violet featuring the Fort McNally Idol Club or whatever name you end up deciding on.
Jaiden: Oh.
Maria: Ann looks to the whole group.
Queen Bee: Are we even ready for something like that?
Jaiden: Hell yeah we are.
Ms. Doyle: That was the other reason I was a little bit hesitant. Because it is relatively soon, it’s in about two weeks.
Eryn: The in game current day is Friday, September 4th.
Ms. Doyle: The slot is on Saturday, September 19th at 6 o’clock pm. Do you think that is too soon for you to be ready?
Queen Bee: Two weeks? No problem.
Valerie: That’s fine.
Angie: I think we can do it.
Valerie: This is perfect. For now we can focus on one main part of the act and I’m sure that will help. We don’t have to worry too much about finding a sound for everyone. And once we’ve figured out how well we can work on this we can try to see if we want to expand our act beyond that.
Queen Bee: This is going to be a one-off thing.
Valerie: Sure, sure.
Eryn: Ms. Doyle clasps her hands together.
Ms. Doyle: Lovely. In that case, I will call the booker back and let them know it’s a yes for you. I’m very excited for you all. This is going to be such a great opportunity. especially if you end up participating in the CING Star tournament in a few months. This will be a great leg up for you in that.
Jaiden: I can’t wait.
Ann: Violence Violet and the rest. It has a nice ring to it.
Angie: Uh, that’s a work in progress.
Valerie: I’m sure we’ll be able to come up with a better subtitle.
Ann: Just point me where to make noise and I’m grand.
Angie: Okay so we have a lot of planning so….
Tea: I look at Ms. Doyle to be like you can go away now without saying it.
Eryn: Ms. Doyle gives you all a wink.
Ms. Doyle: Alright. You guys are going to rock it, literally. Alright, here I go. Boring teacher, gone now.
Jaiden: You’re not boring Ms. Doyle.
Ms. Doyle: I have borne my good news and now I shall leave you to your devices.
Eryn: And she turns around and leaves.
Angie: Okay. Now that she’s gone.
Tea: I bend down and pick up the clipboard.
Angie: This is our first gig. The first thing we need to do is know the size of the stage, right?
Valerie: Yes.
Jaiden: Yeah, that makes sense.
Luca: Good thinking
Angie: And then set up, maybe we can book time in the auditorium. Because I don't know – Valerie, have you performed in front of people before, like an audience?
Valerie: No but I’ve practiced my own routine plenty of times, I’m sure it’s not that different.
Angie: Of course. I’ve done dance recitals in front of people, but it’s very different, I’m sure, from a concert situation. But let’s see if we can book the auditorium for at least half of our practices then we’ll have an idea of what the lights will feel like and all that stuff to get us prepared.
Jaiden: I agree. You all sound like you know what you’re talking about, so I agree.
Queen Bee: Oh yeah.
Ann: Like I said, I make noise.
Jaiden: Where is Stormlight, by the way? I’m kind of new in town, so I have no idea where everything is.
Eryn: I guess this is for the people asking. This is a pretty downtown club in one of the high traffic areas in the city.
Angie: Yeah, there.
Eryn: If you want you can name the neighborhood too.
Tea: What’s a trendy name for like a club area of town? The Neon District or something? That may be too cyberpunk, I don't know.
Drak: I don’t see why not.
Maria: Sounds good.
Eryn: I just brought the city map up here. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s somewhere near Starforge and Starview in that music-y area.
Tea: Yeah, especially if a lot of groups are performing there already
Dana: Sorry you say it’s too cyberpunk and I think it’s on Deckard Street.
Eryn: Yes, it’s absolutely on Deckard Street.
Tea: We should just roll with it.
Drak: Yes.
Maria: That’s good.
Eryn: I will definitely add that to the map later for sure. It is on Deckard Street in the Neon District. I like this. I was already imagining this.
Tea: With all the holographs.
Eryn: Yes, all the giant holographs. It’s already a slightly more futuristic world we’ve been living in. And also, to clarify, since we started recording this whole podcast before the whole pandemic hit, this is obviously an alternate universe where there was no pandemic in the year 2020.
[everyone generally agreeing]
Eryn: Living out our fantasies of going outside.
Dana: Meeting up in groups.
Tea: Being able to go to school every day.
Drak: Oh, I got sad.
Eryn: Oh, sorry. A little too real.
Angie: Yeah it’s in the Neon District.
Tea: I don't know how other people are picturing it, but since it’s near Starforge Records and stuff, maybe there’s some other smaller ones and as you’re walking down this one street it’s just video holograms of some of the Idols they have performing and stuff like that.
Eryn: Absolutely.
Drak: That’s awesome.
Eryn: They would absolutely be that extra.
Luca: And there’s a few late-night noodle places.
Tea: Of course, there has to be.
Jaiden: Oh yeah, my aunt told me about those noodle places.
Angie: Oh yeah we’ll have to go there after the show because it’s so good.
Eryn: It’s kind of weird how the noodles themselves are kind of neon, but I’m sure they’re safe.
Drak: Oh god
Angie: Oh yeah it’s totally fine. Like, anybody who’s grown up in Cadence absolutely knows the noodles look weird but are amazing. And perfectly safe.
Jaiden: So does anybody want to go there and check it out. Do you need tickets? How does entry work?
Angie: Oh yeah….
Tea: …um, how does entry work?
Eryn: Like I said, there are under 18 hours. People can go in without ID during daytime hours and maybe before 7 PM. But it is fairly crowded a lot of the time. And there is a high cover charge. But if you are talent, you probably could get in on the "oh you need to see the venue and prepare for your show", that kind of thing.
Tea: Are there measurements online that we can look up as students who have access to the internet?
Drak: I keep forgetting that. I play too much DnD.
Eryn: You probably could. Since it’s such a big venue and a lot of performers want to know this sort of information yeah it’d be online.
Angie: Yeah so we could know and see if Ms. Doyle could call ahead and schedule a quick, half our moment before it opens in the day where we could go check it out before school starts.
Valerie: Oh I could try to get that set up through Rain Shadow Records.
Dana: Because I have a move for when you call upon the resources of your sanctuary, which is the Rain Shadow office, to solve a problem…
Eryn: Oh.
Angie: Yeah, sure. I mean that’s way easier than trying to get Ms. Doyle to do it I think.
Valerie: Easier for people who aren’t me.
Angie: Yeah, I guess.
Dana: Alright, so it says when you call upon the resources of your sanctuary to solve a problem, say what you want to do. The GM will give you one to four conditions you must fulfill to complete your solution. There’s a list of conditions for the sanctuary move on the Doomed Playbook. However, I also have one of my Doom Signs, the only one I’ve unlocked, is Burning Bright, mark your Doom Track to ignore one of the GM’s stated requirements when calling upon the sanctuary.
Eryn: This probably wouldn’t take much because the venue already knows you’re going to be performing there at some point. So it probably wouldn't be a lot. I’m going to say one of the requirements is first you must talk to Mary Rain herself because she has a big say in where the talent makes appearances and whatnot and is probably very interested in what your first performance will be and wants to control that. So you’ll want to actually have to speak to Mary. And you’ll also need help from Grace to work out the nitty-gritty scheduling details and all of that.
Dana: Alright, I’m okay with both of those requirements.
Eryn: Alright. When would you like to contact Mary.
Dana: Did we have anything else we wanted to talk about as a group before trying to set up this venue?
Tea: I think our first step is to see how we can book the auditorium as much as possible.
Dana: Mm-hm.
Tea: Maybe in the second week though. Because maybe the first week is figuring out what song we’re going to do and then figuring out everybody’s parts and then getting the rehearsal part of it down.
Dana: Sure.
Tea: If that makes sense to everyone.
Drak: Yeah it makes sense.
Valerie: Yeah I’ll talk to my contacts and see if I can get us access to the stage.
Angie: That’s great. Yeah. So we’re all very talented individuals here that do have some opportunity to show off our skills even if it’s just highlighting Vivi in this particular performance. But we all have a part in that, and it will be our first experience on the stage.
Jaiden: I think we’ve got this.
Angie: I can help with some choreography.
Queen Bee: I think that would be wonderful.
Angie: I think we’d need at least maybe two people to support Valerie when she’s on the stage. I don't know if we’ll have the Disco Bees ready in time. I don't know if we get the little hats or…
Jaiden: Little bumblebee hats.
Angie: Yeah we’ll have to think of some ways to incorporate them into – maybe we can incorporate them into the choreography. I’ve seen you do that before and that went pretty well, so I don’t see what else could go wrong.
Jaiden: The bee ended up in my face. And I’ve never been more scared in my life.
Angie: Right, you’re allergic.
Jaiden: Yeah. I should be fine as long as they don’t sting you.
Queen Bee: They are almost certainly not going to sting you. But there may be other allergic people who may not appreciate it.
Angie: That’s true.
Queen Bee: I’m willing to be graceful and take a step back and keep my bees for an open-air concert.
Drak: Jaiden is nodding like yes please. Please!
Eryn: Karen’s shoulders slump.
Karen: Aw, no disco bees.
Valerie: Yeah maybe in an enclosed space it’s not such a good idea.
Angie: Yeah it’d probably have more oomph in an outdoor concert. They could spread out more and we could have visual sky effect. Maybe we could get them to spell words. The possibilities are endless. I am inspired everyone, I have to say.
Valerie: Keep them far away from the audience.
Angie: Exactly.
Jaiden: I’m pretty good at music. So if we need someone to play something to back us up, I’m good at it.
Valerie: Yeah I just have the existing music that I’ve practiced with or licensed from Rain Shadow Records. But if we have original music to play and sing to, I think that would be much better. Something to play off of. You’ve heard what I usually practice with.
Angie: I think it would set us apart from the other schools if we were playing an original work and we nailed it.
Jaiden: I’m on it. Does anyone else want to help. Anyone else have decent musical talent and place?
Ann: I can make a particular noise, generally just the one, but I’m pretty good at it.
Jaiden: We’ll do it together then.
Maria: Ann just smiles slightly and nods.
Drak: Jaiden is very excited. His smile hasn’t disappeared the whole time he’s been here.
Eryn: Karen crosses her arms and looks weirdly determined for Karen. And she takes on arm out and points a light stick at each person in term.
Karen: So Valerie, vocals. Angie, QueenBee, dance. Ann, Jaiden, music. Makes sense.
Jaiden: Wait, Karen, so what are you going to do.
Eryn: She just raises up the light sticks.
Karen: Someone’s got to make up for the disco bees.
Angie: She’s right.
Jaiden: Good point, good point.
Valerie: She’s our number one fan.
Queen Bee: That’s fair.
Dana: I give her a slightly awkward thumbs up.
Eryn: She flashes the six light sticks she has between her fingers still all at once.
Angie: Okay so we have a plan.
Drak: Who do I talk to about the auditorium?
Eryn: Probably you would have to talk to the main office about that for booking rooms.
Jaiden: How early would we have to book it?
Angie: I would say we should probably go there tomorrow.
Tea: I’m going to assume this is after school and us and the other clubs are here and maybe a few faculty but the people who would be in charge of booking probably wouldn’t be.
Eryn: And there are other clubs you might have to compete for the room with like the drama club and the dance club.
Maria: Oh.
Angie: The slots we get might not be the greatest. I’ll go down there tomorrow if anyone wants to come with me.
Queen Bee: I’ll come with.
Angie: Yeah, maybe we all go and we can emphasize the importance of this.
Jaiden: I think that’s a good idea. We’ll show that we’re serious about this.
Ann: Sounds like a plan.
Valerie: Hope we don’t have to deal with the drama club. They’re always so dramatic.
Angie: Dramatic.
Eryn: Karen narrows her eyes.
Karen: Drama club.
Angie: Exactly. Okay, so we have a plan on that.
Tea: Eryn, how much time do we have left in our club time. Did that take up our time for the day?
Eryn: I think so because you spent a lot of it beforehand going through everybody’s abilities and musical talents and whatnot. So I think that probably brings us to the end of the club meeting.
Angie: Okay, how about we meet in the office at 7:30 am before school starts.
Eryn: I should remind everybody by the way it is Friday right now.
Angie: Monday!
Drak: Oh yeah.
Angie: But maybe we should get started on some dance practices sometime this weekend. Even if it’s just in the gym or something?
Queen Bee: I’m free.
Jaiden: I have no plans so yes. Yeah.
Valerie: Mm-hm.
Tea: I’ll just say I go through the motions on my clipboard because it also has a calendar because of course I’m prepared.
Eryn: I’d be surprised if it didn’t.
Tea: I bought stationary just for this. So we’ll just maybe schedule some time on Saturday.
Angie: Is that okay with everyone?
Valerie: Of course.
Angie: On this specific time we totally agreed on.
[all chuckle]
Eryn: I should say we’re not going to do this right now because there’s something else we want to do after the club meeting first, but for future practices and whatnot, if it’s not a specific practice session you want to play out as a scene, we do have the Idol Activities move that can abstract out multiple practice sessions or other group activities you want to carry out like advertising for the show or trying to book things or doing the busy work, that kind of thing.
Tea: That’s awesome, yeah.
Dana: Mm-hm.
Eryn: So we won’t have to play out every single practice session. Don’t worry. We can move forward to the good stuff when we want to.
Tea: Yeah, maybe the first one would be kind of fun.
Eryn: I’m thinking we could probably do the Saturday one because that will be the first real practice session. I’d like to see that played out. But for the two weeks intervening, whatever scenes you don’t want to play out during that time we can abstract.
Tea: Sounds awesome. Do a montage if you will.
Eryn: Exactly. So you’re all wrapping up for now, gathering your things and whatnot?
Tea: That’s right. We’re all done for today and we’ve agreed to meet Saturday.
Eryn: Okay.
Dana: And I am – a few of us did use the transform move in the last session. I don’t think we resolved that.
Eryn: Oh yeah you were still transformed when you were talking to Ms. Doyle!
Angie: Yeah, we’re all transformed.
Eryn: Which I guess explains how she knows Valerie is Violence Violet. Although you probably would have given her some of that information when the club was formed too because a responsible adult does have to know the details of what’s going on in the club and who’s in it and what not.
Dana: Hopefully.
Eryn: Yeah, you would hope.
Tea: We’ll say she’s totally in the know. Because you know teenagers love telling adults stuff.
Dana: Mm-hm.
Eryn: I guess I should clarify. For Luca, do you think Queen Bee would have signed up just as Queen Bee?
Luca: Absolutely.
Eryn: Yeah. I guess Ms. Doyle would not know who “Queen Bee” is but understands there’s probably a privacy reason for that. Alrighty, so you all are packing everything up and getting ready to go and heading out. But not all of you are heading home. I’m going to do sort of what we did for Angie, Valerie, and Synthia a couple episodes back and we’re going to have some one-on-one sessions with our new characters so we can get to know who they are outside of the Idol Club.
Dana: Before we do that, the reason I mention we’re still transformed is if we should do the de-transformed now that the club meeting is ending.
Eryn: Yes, thank you for keeping me on top of that. Anyone who transformed during the last session and who is detransforming right now, I know Queen Bee probably wouldn’t do it until she’s gone. Um..
Maria: And Ann physically can’t.
Eryn: Yeah. I’ll start with Angie. I’m going to say since you were in organizing mode, that’s a pretty mundane aligned thing so I’m going to put your mundane up one and your danger down one.
Tea: Okay.
Eryn: And Valerie…
Dana: I actually wrote down that I had my – I put my Superior Up and my Savior Down when I transformed.
Eryn: Yeah, I think let’s just reverse that. So I’ll put your Savior up and your Superior down.
Dana: Alright.
Eryn: And then Jaiden, I’m going to lower your Freak by one and raise your Mundane by one.
Drak: That makes sense.
Eryn: Because Jaiden is such a nice and affable guy.
Maria: That he is.
Tea: I really like this system too because if your character is changing overtime, your labels change too.
Drak: Oh yeah.
Tea: I didn’t expect Angie to be so good at organizing the rest of the team and stuff like that so I’m glad there’s already mechanics in there that fit into changing her into actually I love stationary and planning stuff, let’s do this.
Eryn: She puts herself out there as a snobby fashionista, whatever. But she’s really into dance and also into planners and spreadsheets.
Dana: Maybe she’s surprising herself right now.
Eryn: Okay.
Queen Bee: Oh yeah everybody’s de-transforming and I’m like, what?
Eryn: And then Ann just gets to be Ann.
Maria: Yay.
Eryn: Steady as a rock. So I think we’re all good with de-transforming now. Anyone else have anything last minute before the group breaks up?
Tea: I get everybody’s email addresses so I can email them the spreadsheet.
Maria: I would like to say Ann doesn’t have a Gmail, she has a really outdated email and doesn’t explain why she hasn’t upgraded.
Tea: We set up a Discord Server.
Drak: I’m absolutely for it.
Tea: Yeah so all that stuff, she would just take all that information down. And she’s vibrating with excitement about putting together the spreadsheets. She’s got a spreadsheet for everybody’s strengths and weaknesses and what we can do to improve.
Luca: Awesome.
Tea: That’s going to be her Friday night.
Eryn: Alright, so everybody wishes each other a goodbye and a good weekend and I’ll see you tomorrow. Most of you head home, I would imagine, or out of the school grounds at least. But one of you does not. One of you is going to stay on the school grounds, and that person in Queen Bee, who, once we said, as everybody is gone, is going to de-transform into…
Luca: Into Allen Micucci.
[Relaxing electronic music with a light beat plays]
Luca: So it turns out that maybe there is a little more to Queen Bee than meets the eye. Allen Micucci is a skinny teen with pale skin, gray eyes, a mole under the right eye, and short light-brown hair. They’ve always been an unassuming kid, uncomfortable in the spotlight. It’s not like they don’t love performing, dancing most of all, but criticism has always hit them harder than it does for most. Never mind that Allen has been struggling a bit with the whole gender thing as well, which makes people's criticism of their image hurt that much more. How fortunate that Allen’s powers recently manifested. The ability to transform into someone else has been like a wish come true. Allen can now create an alternate persona for themselves. That way they can perform and hone their craft without being ridiculed. Maybe they can even build up the kind of superstar confidence they could only dream about before. Still, being an idol isn’t going to solve all of Allen’s problems in an instant. They’ve a lot of commitments to keep up with outside of the idol club. School work, chores, a part time job, and most important of all, they are a longtime member of the Fort McNally Environmental Club. And so, we follow on their way to the Environmental Club now. Like the ancient Janus of myth, Allen passes through a door between lives, hoping they can keep everything in balance.
When they detransform, they just give out a deep sigh and go
Allen: Whoo, okay, that went well.
Eryn: I assume I know where Allen is headed, is that right?
Luca: Yes, I have to swing by the eco-club. I was a little worried because the idol meeting was running a bit long.
Eryn: Yes but thankfully the eco-club has fairly long meetings because their activities are fairly labor-intensive a lot of the time. So you know they’re probably still on campus and probably on the same area they always are, out back of the school beyond where the track and field area is, near the back fences of the grounds, where there is a compost area the club has set up. And also a collection of bee colonies, the boxed bee colonies that beekeepers have. And there you find the members of the eco club or the environmental club or whatever we want to call it, headed up by the illustrious Professor Phillips. Not a real Professor, he mainly calls himself that to seem more important and erudite. He’s the school science teacher, he’s the TA for the Environmental Club. He’s a pretty well-meaning boomer environmentalist type. Definitely has a long ponytail and goatee, that kind of person. He has a good heart. He’s very protective of his bees. With Allen’s help, built all these bee colonies himself, partly with his own money because the school didn’t have enough money to set up the colonies himself. He’s very protective of any harm that might come to his precious bees. You find Professor Phillips there and also various other members of the club there including your childhood friend, I hope you don’t mind I’ve come up with details for some of these NPCs that you’ve described to me.
Luca: Go ahead.
Eryn: You find your childhood friend, her name is McKenzie. She goes by Kenzie. She’s a girl straight kind of dark-brown air with a reddish tint. She waves you over, she’s doing some work in the compost area with some gloves on. Nearby is her boyfriend, his name is Laramie but he goes by Ramie. And he’s very adamant that no one should call him Larry. He’s a shaggy skater boy. And they’re both doing their work in the compost right now. So that’s who you find along with a bunch of other randos.
Luca: Walk pretty quickly up to them.
Allen: Hey guys, hi. Hi Kenzie, how are you doing, sorry I’m late.
Kenzie: Hey Allen, no worries. I know you said you were going to – uh, what is it, the?
Allen: I was just catching up with some homework. My mom’s going to be away and I have to take care of chores over the weekend.
Kenzie: Oh right, you always have like a million and one things to do. I know, you’ve always been an overachiever.
Eryn: And she elbows you a bit.
Allen: Uh, yeah. So how’s the compost going?
Kenzie: Oh good, good. We’re just putting some new worms in right now. It’s hard to keep them from fighting, you know. The interworm colony wars they like to have.
Allen: It’s a worm meet worm world.
Kenzie: Yeah. Nobody has any homework of any big importance now, but it doesn’t surprise me that you do Allen. You’ve always been such a big overachiever. You big nerd.
Allen: I’m just trying you know? I wasn’t doing so well last year, I need to pick up the pace.
Kenzie: I don't know why you’re so hard on yourself. You’re already a million years better than, I don't know, fuckin' me.
Allen: Come on, you’ve got all the extracurriculars. I’m probably going to be really busy the next few weeks. I’m trying to get some extra credit.
Kenzie: Fair. I know the Professor is going to be real sad that you’re not around more often, but I’m sure he understands, yeah?
Eryn: And Professor Phillips waves from over near the bee colonies. He’s in his beekeeper’s gear.
Allen: So are the bees alright?
Kenzie: They did all kind of swarm off at one point earlier. That’s always been a little bit weird.
Eryn: And Professor Phillips hears this and actually comes over and says.
Professor Phillips: Yeah, it’s really odd behavior. I have not seen this in these colonies at any point before now, but lately they’ve all been leaving in giant groups lately. I don't know what’s causing it, it’s most perplexing.
Allen: Could there be some new flowers around or, maybe, cell phone towers?
Professor Phillips: Your guess is as good as mine, it could be the chemtrails for all we know.
Allen: Yeah, chemtrails are fine. That’s a good hypothesis.
Professor Phillips: It’s as good as any I’ve got right now. Again, I don't know what would cause every bee in a hive to leave all at once. It’s as if they were summoned. I suppose that’s not out of the realm given the world we find ourselves these days.
Eryn: And you know that Professor Phillips is not a big fan of the whole superidols Phenomenon.
Allen: Yeah, I like the laws of physics to work the normal way. But they came back, right?
Professor Phillips: They did come back, that’s a good thing at least.
Allen: They’re looking good?
Professor Phillips: They’re all healthy. They even seemed a little energized. It’s weird, it’s like they were all out at the club. They were energized and almost happy looking.
Allen: Well unless the colony is suffering, I don’t think we should worry too much. The bees know what they’re doing better than we do.
Professor Phillips: That is true. You don’t mess with nature and nature seems to know what it’s doing.
Allen: Yeah you don’t mess with nature.
Eryn: And Kenzie kind of pokes you again.
Kenzie: Yeah or nature pokes you back, am I right?
Allen: Yeah. You want to hand me the shovel, can I help you?
Kenzie: Yeah, sure, sure. Hey, Raimie, give me the shovel, alright?
Eryn: And Raimie kind of gives a glowering look like,
Raimie: Can you not get it yourself? I’m not your manservant.
Eryn: And Kenzie kind of rolls her eyes.
Kenzie: Oh not this again. How much do I actually ask of you? Like seriously….
Eryn: They’re having an argument at this point. This is fairly common for them.
Allen: Oh gee.
Eryn: They’re kind of an on again off again couple. You’re used to their cycle at this point.
Luca: Yeah, we’re on the low tide.
Eryn: This is the low tide for them.
Allen: At least it’s not wound up make out days.
Eryn: One of the nearby random students kind of shudders nearby. They know what you're talking about. So they’re kind of arguing nearby and Professor Phillips knows better than to get between them at this point. So he’s going to take you away from the compost and more towards the bees and be like,
Professor Phillips: But anyway, how is your first week of the new year been, Allen? I know things have always been busy for you, and I know they’re going to be even moreso this year from what you’ve told me. But I understand you have a lot of commitments that need to be met.
Allen: Yes professor, there’s a bit of pressure but so far I’m handling the workload pretty well I think. I feel like it’s going to work out. I even found a couple people to study with.
Professor Phillips: Oh wonderful, that’s so good to hear. I know that making friends has always been a little bit difficult, but I have confidence that once people get to know you, they will see the same strengths that I and your other club members see in you. You’re a kind person with a good heart and a strong work ethic. I don’t see why anyone wouldn’t want to be friends with you.
Allen: Yes Professor. That is very nice of you to say. Thank you.
Professor Phillips: I don’t say it randomly. I say it because over the last year you’ve been such a great help for me and the bees.
Allen: I just like them. They’re a calming presence.
Professor Phillips: They certainly seem to like you.
Eryn: The bees know that Professor Phillips and you are friendly presences and as long as there are no sudden movements they fly lazily around the both of you.
Allen: Do you mind if I check on the queen really quick?
Professor Phillips: Absolutely, I’m sure he’s dying to see you.
Luca: I put on the gloves and the head gear and slowly lift the top of the colony and say hi.
Eryn: Even though you aren’t able to physically hear anything from the bees now other than the buzzing, I get the feeling that you look down at her and she looks up at you and kind of there’s a – you can almost imagine there’s a glimmer of recognition there with you as you are now and the other Queen Bee that’s not physically present but still present now.
Luca: Probably the best relationship two queen bees have. She hasn’t tried to kill me yet. That’s good. I say hi, thank her for earlier, and keep an eye at them, I won’t put them at risk. And I close the colony up.
Eryn: Professor Phillips nods are you and commends your technique at putting the panels back I suppose. I don't know how beekeeping works.
Luca: It’s not that hard, you just have to be careful not to get anyone caught in the middle.
Eryn: That is true.
Allen: Thank you Professor
Professor Phillips: No trouble at all.
Allen: I wanted to know if the club was planning anything for two Saturdays from now/
Professor Phillips: Let me think. I don’t think we’ve nailed down all of the details yet but I know there is going to be sort of a neighborhood cleanup initiative coming soon. We don’t know exactly what the dates and times will be yet, but I assume it will be on a weekend coming up. If there’s something specific you need to attend to two Saturdays from now, I can probably take that into account.
Allen: My cousin is going to be in town and we’re hoping to spend the evening with him. But if it’s a morning thing, I’m there.
Professor Phillips: Absolutely. It’s definitely the sort of thing that would happen during the day. I don’t think anyone wants to pick up trash on the dregs of the evening on a nice crisp autumn afternoon, picking up litter.
Allen: That’s wonderful professor. I wanted to make sure. I want you to know you can count on me.
Professor Phillips: I absolutely know you can. You’ve certainly saved my bacon and the bee’s bacon more than once.
Eryn: I think this is a potential influence shift here. Professor Phillips is trying to tell you who you are and how the world works. He’s saying that you’re a help to him and a help to the bees and you sort of protect them in a way. He’s going to try raise your Savior and lower your Danger, or actually lower your Freak because we talked about him not being a fan of superidols in this conversation as well so he certainly doesn’t want that in you either. Would you accept Savior up and Freak down or do you want to try to reject that?
Luca: I think I’m going to try to reject that.
Allen: I mean, Professor, I like to do what I can when I can. This is important. I want you to know even if sometimes I can’t be there, it’s because I can’t, not that I don’t want to.
Professor Phillips: That’s absolutely fair.
Eryn: Did you say you’re actively rejecting it.
Luca: I’m attempting to reject it.
Eryn: That does require a role for that. It’s just a flat 2D6 role, there is a button for that on your sheet.
Luca: Okay.
Eryn: Ooh nice, full hit. On a 10+, you tune them out and hold to yourself and you get to choose two from the following list. You can either clear a condition or mark potential by immediately acting to prove them wrong, which I think you’re starting to do. You can shift one label up and one label down, your choice. Or you can cancel their influence and try to take +1 forward against them.
Luca: Hm. I’m not going to cancel their influence. I think I’m going to have to immediately prove them wrong.
Eryn: You’ve already started that by explaining to Professor Phillips the "it’s not because I want to but because I have to" kind of thing. You’re definitely already starting to prove them on. You don’t have any conditions marked, so you can mark a potential there.
Luca: Perfect.
Eryn: And you can shift one label up and one label down of your choice.
Luca: I’m shifting my Freak up and my Savior down. No, my Mundane down, sorry.
Eryn: Sure, sure.
Luca: My Mundane down.
Eryn: So that would put your Freak at a 1 and your mundane at a 2.
Luca: Perfect.
Eryn: Alright in that case I think Professor Phillips accepts that from you and is like,
Professor Phillips: That’s understandable as well. I don’t think it makes you any less of a helpful person. But I understand that obligations can force things as well.
Allen: Thank you for being understanding.
Professor Phillips: Not at all. I think the couple is starting to wind down. At this point I’m starting to see them move to opposite points of the compost area. I think you’re safe to return to your work if you want to.
Allen: Thank you Professor.
Professor Phillips: You’re welcome.
Eryn: Is there anything else you want to do before the scene ends?
Luca: I’m going to Kenzie and I’m going pat Laramie on the shoulder and say,
Allen: I get it.
Eryn: Ramie kind of flinches away because he’s a little less familiar with you than Kenzie is. But after flinching initially he calms down a bit he sighs and doesn’t say anything and digs in the dirt and putting worms in.
Luca: When he flinches I kind of flinch back and just a bit maybe it was too much. It’s an awkward moment.
Eryn: Kenzie just shoots him a glare from across the other side of the area as well.
Luca: I go back to composting.
Eryn: Alrighty. In that case, we leave Allen. They’re going to continue their work at the compost area with the rest of the club. Probably going to be there for a little while longer. We’ll leave them there. As we leave the Fort McNally Campus and catch up with Ann who I believe is heading somewhere to meet with someone right now.
[calm guitar riff plays]
Maria: Ann is heading to her usual meeting spot with her best/only friend Drew at the Alley Store. It’s right next to an alley in her neighborhood.
Eryn: That’s good. I like it, I like it. You’re going to meet up with Drew in front of the store?
Maria: Yeah they always meet up there after school and pick up fizzy drinks in the store. I like to think that Ann doesn’t have to eat or drink anymore in her transformed form and only does it with people she wants to. I’m making this angsty as hell.
Eryn: This is probably too much information, but now I’m wondering what happens if she does eat or drink.
Maria: She can but she doesn’t need to. I don't know how to describe it.
Eryn: Fair. You’re heading up to the store and you’re making your way. You see a familiar face. You see Drew. What does Drew look like? I didn’t get the chance to come up with an appearance for him.
Maria: Drew is Latinx, has a short to mid ranged black hair. He dresses usually in an orange t-shirt and a pair of jeans.
Eryn: Alright well you see that. You see Drew up against the side of the shop front, arms crossed, headphones in, listening to some music. He sees you coming around the corner and gives you a big wave. He’s very energetic. He’s going to jog up towards you and say,
Drew: Ann! How’s it going?
Ann: Usual. Well not usual, actually different today. But it’s been a day. Doing some normalcy.
Drew: Ooh, different, do tell!
Maria: Ann begins explaining the day like,
Ann: Went to a club of girls – people like me. Ones that didn’t make the dumb decision I did. Yeah, went there. They transformed. They transformed back, I didn’t. Remembered the fact I couldn’t, and now I just want to drink something that I don’t even need to anymore to forget the fact that I can’t transform back.
Drew: Say no more, we absolutely need piles of sugar right now.
Eryn: And he ushers you into the building. You definitely know the shop keep very well, both of you. Even before you transformed, the shop keep was very grateful for the both of you keeping trouble out of his shop. He gives you the friends and family discount at this point.
Maria: Even before she transformed Ann was a 6’3” brick shit house.
Eryn: Yeah I think people don’t want to mess with two scary looking punk rockers hanging around in front of the store.
Maria: One who is now a golem made of stone.
Eryn: Yeah. You head to the area where the drinks and slushies are. Shop keep gives you a wave. Say his name is, I don't know, Mr. Taylor.
Maria: Awesome.
Eryn: He says,
Mr. Taylor: ‘Ey you two, ‘ow’s it goin’? ‘Ow are my best two customers?
Ann: Same as usual, Taylor, same as usual.
Mr. Taylor: ‘Ay’s good, that’s good. You have a good day at school the both of ya?
Ann: Of course we did. Drew always has good days and if he doesn’t I make sure his day goes good.
Mr. Taylor: That’s what I like to hear.
Maria: Ann kind of runs her hand, scruffs Drew’s hair because she’s a lot taller than them.
Eryn: He gives a nice laugh there as he loads up a giant Slurpee cup with every single color available.
Drew: So tell me absolutely everything, what was different about today?
Ann: Like I said, I went to the Idol Club, the one we have at our school.
Drew: You mean with all the sparkles and ruffles and stuff or are they actually cool?
Ann: Column A, Column B.
Drew: Right on.
Ann: Yeah it was nice, I guess. I’m not used to people that are like me, the way I used to be. It’s nice. You’re great, don’t get me wrong. Literally I’d kill everyone in that school for you, Drew.
Drew: I’m always appreciative of your offers to murder people in my name.
Maria: Ann chuckles a bit.
Ann: Yeah, it’s weird. I fucked up, I know I fucked up, and now I’ll be like this until forever. But they’re small I feel like. They won’t do what I did – they won’t just throw themselves into it and try to stonehand me just to get away from life and shit like that.
Drew: Oh man, yeah, it still stinks the big one. I wish I could tell you otherwise. But I still think regardless you’re still the fucking awesomest person I know. I think you’re going to bring some great level of hardcore to whatever this club is going to be doing for how long.
Maria: Ann has grabbed a basket and is dumping random bottles of Coke, 7-Up, and pretty much everything into the basket.
Ann: Eh, I’m just going to be me. Wherever I go, you go. Wherever I rise, you rise.
Drew: Hell yeah.
Eryn: And he sort of like gives you the Arnold Schwarzenegger Predator handshake kind of thing. The big muscle handshake kind of thing.
MARIA: Yeah – the You Son of a Bitch, I know.
Eryn: Exactly, the you son of a bitch hand shake.
Maria: Ann returns it, but he’s not using full force because she could probably crush his arm if she did it in full force.
Eryn: Yeah. I think he feigns a little bit like "Aah!" But he laughs quickly enough to show you’re not actually hurting him. So you both pay for your drinks and slushies and whatnot and you head out to the alley of the alley store and hang out where you usually hang out.
Maria: Ann sits down and drinking whatever crap she got from the store and Ann goes,
Ann: I know I’m a rocky person, don’t laugh, to hang out with.
Eryn: He absolutely will not, not laugh.
Ann: But I think maybe I should loosen up with the people back in the place. Maybe could help? What do you think Drew?
Drew: I don't know, depends on what kind of people they are. If you think they’re cool, yeah, sure, open up to them. I know a lot people from the band kind of turned out to be shitheads when you transformed and kind of left you in the lurch. Still…
Eryn: He shakes his head and sighs. He still hasn’t forgiven those guys for leaving you behind like that.
Drew: I don't know, if they’ve already accepted you they’re already doing a hell of a lot better than what came before.
Maria: Ann wraps an arm around him in a friendly way and brings him into a half hug.
Drew: Aw, come here big girl.
Eryn: He gives her a hug as well.
Maria: I think that’s good for me for the scene.
Eryn: Alright. From here we move down the rest of the streets away from the alley store and we end up at Jaiden’s current abode. I wouldn’t call it the Lott family home because as it turns out, Jaiden is the only Lott living here, isn’t he?
Drak: Yeah. He is living with his aunt, who’s a Corsaire. So I think, since he’s still not used to the study, he’s probably looking at the equivalent of Google Maps trying to figure out how to get back.
Eryn: Yeah, how recently did Jaiden move here?
Drak: I think probably like a couple of days ago.
Eryn: Oh that recent.
Drak: Yeah. He’s still getting used to the layout of the plan. He probably gets back a little later than he probably should have.
Eryn: That’s fair. I think your aunt is understanding of that, that you don’t quite know your way around yet. But she has offered to pick you up and give you a ride. You have her number for sure.
Drak: Yeah. Even when he does get lost, I think he refuses to ask for help. He’s like it’s fine Jen, I can do it myself, I can figure it out.
Eryn: But this time you have definitely managed to find your way home, eventually.
Drak: Yeah.
Eryn: Is there anywhere you would have stopped on the way back, or did you head straight home, do you think?
Drak: Oh I headed straight home because I was excited to tell her everything that happened today.
Eryn: So you head up to your front walk, you finally get there, it’s starting to get a little bit dark, but not too bad yet. You head in the front door.
Jaiden: Okay, I’m home.
Drak: As I close the door behind me.
Aunt Jen: Hey, how was your day?
Eryn: She sort of pokes her head out of the kitchen. She’s clearly making something intensive in the kitchen right now.
Jaiden: It was great. It was – okay I need to tell you everything that happened.
Drak: And I drop my schoolbag on the ground, take my shoes off, and just rush into the kitchen. And just sit on the counter and watch as she’s cooking.
Eryn: She’s just about done too because it took a little bit longer for you to get back. She’s working on a great chicken and veggies very saucy kind of dish right now. Sorry I’m no very creative with food.
Drak: That sounds delicious to be honest.
Jaiden: That looks amazing.
Aunt Jen: It’s just about ready. Absolutely let’s sit down and talk about it. I know you’ve been very excited. Tell me all about it.
Jaiden: Okay so classes were kind of okay. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t listening too much. I was busy thinking about…
Eryn: Jen does give a bit of a frown at that because she knows that, like, she promised your mum and dad that she would make sure that your grade are up to snuff.
Drak: Yeah, I think he picks up on that and he’s like,
Jaiden: I promise I will listen next time. I’m just really excited. It’s kind of hard to concentrate.
Aunt Jen: It’s understandable. School can be not the most exciting thing, that’s for sure. But definitely make sure that you keep on top of it for the rest of the year going forward. That’s, I want to make sure I’m doing right by your mum and dad.
Jaiden: I will, I promise. So, um, okay, we had to go on a Scavenger Hunt to find the Idol Club House.
Aunt Jen: Ooh, how fun!
Jaiden: It was a lot. I was not prepared for it, I’ll be honest. But we eventually found it and all the members are amazing. There’s Valerie and they’re – oh my god, they are so cool. They are so cool. I want to be as cool as them. And then there’s War Cry. And Queen Bee. And Angie, who’s, um, Doom Raven, I believe. We’re going to be – I think we actually have got a chance to be famous, honestly.
Aunt Jen: You heard some of their talents then I assume.
Jaiden: Yeah, well.. yeah.
Aunt Jen: Are they all like… are they all like…
Eryn: Actually does Jen know – Jen knows that you have powers I assume?
Drak: Oh yeah, yeah.
Eryn: Like some people keep that secret, some people don’t, I just wanted to make sure.
Drak: Yeah, Jaiden is definitely not trying to hide it. Jaiden wants to become famous and fight for his family, so he doesn’t care that his name is attached to all of that. He kind of wants it to be attached to all that.
Eryn: Right so Jen asks,
Aunt Jen: Are they all like you? Are they all superidols or are they just really super enthusiastic I guess?
Jaiden: No, they’re all superidols. Or want to be. And I think they all have, like, they have the perfect skills and amazing abilities to be superidols. So I think we’ve actually got a chance. Actually, we’ve already got a gig.
Aunt Jen: Really?
Eryn: Her eyebrows shoot up.
Aunt Jen: Alrea- that is super quick. How did you all swing that?
Jaiden: I have no clue. I think it was, um, Ms. Doyle. She’s in charge of the club. She sort of got that together. Oh wait, no, it was Valerie. She’s already connect with a record label.
Aunt Jen: Oh really?
Jaiden: And they got us…
Aunt Jen: Like Starforge or someone else?
Jaiden: No, Rain Shadow I think.
Eryn: And at that her expression kind of, like, lowers a little bit again and she says,
Aunt Jen: Oh, um, well then. I suppose that it’s good she has a starting point, that’s for sure.
Eryn: And she’s looking a little bit concerted, trying to hide it the best she can.
Drak: Ooh, I don't know. Can I roll for it to see if I notice? Because I’m real excited so I don't know if I would.
Eryn: Yeah, do you want to roll to Pierce the Mask?
Drak: Yeah. Oh.
Eryn: Ooh. That is a 6. Uh, so on a miss, I get to take a hard move against you. And you also don’t get to ask anything. I think I’m just going to inflict a condition on you. It’s fairly simple but I think it’s the best I have at the moment. So you already have, it looks like you still have Guilty marked.
Drak: Yeah.
Eryn: I’m going to say you’re going to mark Insecure because you’re not sure why she’s suddenly acting weird to this and you’re not sure what to say in response. She tries to change the subject at this point.
Aunt Jen: Well I’m sure – it sounds like everyone is really talented. I’m sure that everybody is going to be fantastic. When is this gig?
Jaiden: It’s in about two weeks’ time. September 19th at the Stormlight – Stormlight?
Aunt Jen: Oh that’s amazing! I know you haven’t been here long, but the Stormlight is absolutely one of the premier venues in town. This is amazing. I knew you were going to be amazing I just didn’t know it would be this fast. Oh, sweetie.
Eryn: She takes you in her arms and gives you a big smack on the forehead, that mom kiss kind of thing.
Drak: Yeah and I’m just giddy like a little child, giddy about it all.
Eryn: She’s kind of shaken off the Rain Shadow thing at this point. And she’s going to like kind of layout plates on the table.
Aunt Jen: Well for your success I’m glad I made you this wonderful dinner, You absolutely deserve it. This going to be so exciting.
Jaiden: I Think you’re going to be even more impressed when you see everyone. Can you come? Will you be free then? Can you watch?
Aunt Jen: I think so. I think it should be fine.
Jaiden: I definitely want you to be there.
Aunt Jen: 6 pm you said? I think that should be alright.
Jaiden: Yes.
Aunt Jen: Oh I will absolutely be there then.
Jaiden: Oh good. I need to tell mum and dad as well.
Aunt Jen: Absolutely and call you sister as well, your sister will be over the moon.
Jaiden: Yeah, I definitely will. I really want to see what she thinks about this.
Aunt Jen: You have always been her Idol if no one else’s, and it’s going to be the world catching gup from this point.
Jaiden: Oh god, I can’t wait.
Aunt Jen: Oh!
Eryn: You sort of both excitedly chatter over the rest of dinner. Obviously the food is amazing. Is there anything else you want to do before you head to bed for the evening? Are you going to call them tonight or save that scene for another time?
Drak: I’ll save that scene for another time.
Eryn: Okay. Anything else you want to do before you head to bed?
Drak: Yeah actually. I have a little keyboard in my room. And I would like to think up different tunes and melodies and stuff I could present to the team.
Eryn: Ooh I like this. You’re going to take on the role of the team’s composer it sounds like.
Drak: Yeah.
Eryn: Awesome. Alright. In that case, I wonder if there’s a move I can have you do for that. Probably Idol Activities would be good for that actually.
Drak: I’m all for that.
Eryn: How we’re going to do this is I have a custom move for this campaign called Idol Activities. The usual description for the move is when time passes and the team works together on an idol-related group activity such as practice, planning, or advertising, everyone says what they’re doing and a representative for the group makes a flat 2D6 roll, there’s a few conditions by which we can add to the roll. We can add 1 if the whole team is working towards the same goal, add 1 if there’s at least one participant no conditions marked. Subtract 1 from this roll if one or more team members have spoken out against the activity. Subtract 1 from this roll if all participants have at least 2 conditions marked. That could be interesting for this roll for sure. And then we have some conditions for depending what your roll is.
Drak: Oh no I just realized.
Eryn: Considering you’re doing this by yourself and you have two conditions marked you are going to take a -1 on this roll.
Drak: That makes sense… oh.
Eryn: Oh and you still got an 11!.
Drak: Hell yeah.
Eryn: Goodness, that would have been a full 12 without the -1. You’re just very inspired, which makes sense for this day that you’ve had.
Drak: Yeah.
Eryn: Alright, so on a 10+ your idol activities truly sparkle. The GM will detail an opportunity or benefit the group gains from your efforts. It’s not a 12+ but if it was a 12+, you would also gain a potential. I think the rest of the move doesn’t really apply since you’re doing this solo right now. Bottom line, you succeed with flying colors. I’m going to say you’re so inspired is that you write a really great first draft of this song that you’re going to have everybody practice to on Saturday.
Drak: Ooh, okay then.
Eryn: What kind of song do you think it is?
Drak: As a player I’m not very musically inclined so I don't know if this would work. But I would probably have it more rock, but every so often shift slightly in genre and touch on everyone’s genre at least a bit.
Eryn: Ooh sure. Mostly rock with sort of a gothic overtone since Valerie is the star of this particular show but with occasional interludes into more of a hard punk rock for Ann and more of a synth section for Queen Bee and a hip hop inspired break maybe between the chorus – like in the bridge, right? The bridge, that’s the term I’m looking for where Angie can show off her hip-hop dance moves. And for yourself, I guess, what would you want to put in for yourself?
Drak: I’d probably give myself a bit of time for a drum solo if I can get to it.
Eryn: It sounds like it’s going to be a fairly long song but I think it can work. The fact it’s kind of patchwork is it’s indictive it’s still an early song, you’re not an expert at this, but it’s surprisingly good considering it’s one of your earlier efforts.
Drak: Yeah.
Eryn: Alrighty. And with that, we’re going to say that the evening ends with everybody feeling excited for the practice on Saturday. Anything anyone else wants to do before their characters go to bed. Do we want to touch base with anybody who didn’t have a scene, Valerie or Angie?
Tea: I feel like Angie would be, um, actually wouldn’t excitedly tell her parents about the gig. She’d just go to her room and start working on spreadsheets and stuff for everything, but she wouldn’t tell her parents about it I don’t think.
Eryn: And your little brother Freddy is absolutely bouncing a tennis ball on the wall of his room which is right next to your room.
Tea: Yeah so while I’m trying to concentrate on the spreadsheet I’ll be like,
Angie: Freddy! Knock it off! Mooom!
Tea: Etc.
Eryn: Very familiar evening for you.
Angie’s Mom: [muffled] Freddy cut that shit out right now!
Eryn: You hear from downstairs.
Tea: Yeah. My mom swears like a sailor.
Eryn: Anything for Valerie?
Dana: Yeah. I think I end up talking to my sister, Alice, and just like you know, we saw at the beginning of the previous day I was nervous and she was kind of hyping me up to go back to school and at the end of the day I come home and the mask comes off and I’m just like.
Valerie: Oh my god. We got a bunch of new people to the club and we got a gig and apparently I’m going to be the headliner, which is cool, but scary. I tried to act like I deserved it but I don't know, everyone else seemed a little weirded out because it was the studio set it up. And I wanted to be the headliner but I don't know if having the studio strongarm everyone into it is going to be the best way to do it. But we’re going to have music and we’re going to have coordination. And one of them can control bees and I don't know how I feel like that.
Eryn: I think Alice is like – we won’t do this in detail because we don’t want to drag the episode too long. But Alice excitedly talks with you about that and tries to make sure you’re not hyperventilating because this seems like a lot right now. She’s very obviously supportive of you. And at the very least she’ll say,
Alice: I think it’s definitely going to work out. You’ve got some really good teammates and I think you’re going to knock them dead.
Valerie: Okay. [sighs] Thanks.
Eryn: And everybody is finishing up their nights and getting ready to go to bed for the next day. And elsewhere in the city, at Rain Shadow Record Headquarters, we see, sitting in a darkened dressing room, lounging on a sofa, we see a tall woman with long, wavy, blonde hair with green highlights, smoking a cigarette and smiling to herself.
[upbeat music plays]
Eryn: Thank you so much for listening to SuperIdols RPG. Our cast for today was Dana Lexa as Valerie Pearce, Theawinde as Evangeline Blake, Maria Fanning as Ann Davil, Drakoniques as Jaiden Lott, Luca as Queen Bee, and ErynCerise as the GM. Special thanks go to today’s featured VIP Patrons: Matthew F, Amairylle, Kitty Lynn, and LadyPlague. This campaign is played using Masks: A New Generation, written by Brendan Conway and published by Magpie Games, with custom moves by ErynCerise and Zak P. Our opening theme is "Le Chevalier Noir (Instrumental)" by Cyborgjeff and is used under license from Jamendo Music. Our ending theme is "Born to Drive Me Crazy (Instrumental)" by Lance Conrad. This song and all other music for this episode are royalty free tracks under license from Audioblocks.com. This episode also uses additional music and sound effects from freesound.org.
If you liked this episode, please consider liking and commenting on the YouTube upload, or leaving us a review on your podcasting platform of choice. Stick around for a teaser from an Anthology RPG podcast which plays short campaigns from various indie game systems, Fables Around the Table. Thank you again for listening, stay well, and goodbye until next time.
Female Announcer: It’s 1997, there’s been a turf war between the Visigoths of the fifth century and the Mall Goths of today raging for a full year. Now, with the mysterious chain letter creating new conflict, the Gospel Fight for Dominance over the Hawthorne Shops. But what happens when feelings get in the way?
Man 1: We’re just going to go mess with the Visigoths.
Man 2: Erik’s just going to make kissy-sounds.
Man 1: There’s just a coy little wink back.
Female 1: To a woo dark heart. Would this woo your dark heart?
Female 2: She’s so pretty and she makes my heart beat so fast and I don't know who.
Female 3: Visigoths, Mall Goths. I guess the most important thing is that I’m free.
Female Announcer: Join Project Derailed as they play Emmy Nominated Visigoths vs. Mall Goths. Fables Around the Table, Season 2, Tainted Love. Sometimes love bites.
Transcription by Cassie Hauschildt: https://www.chtranscription.com/
Proofreading by ErynCerise
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