Random Game-Design Challange!

[The Incredible Hatboy]

I started doing a couple of these on the old forum, but failed to keep making new ones. So I'll try to keep them on some kind of regular basis now - say, on Sunday, or somesuch.

The "rules" are thus: Take whatever random guidelines or topics I toss out and make something RPG-centric with it. Setting, task-resolution system, chargen mechanic, all of the above, whatever.

Before anyone comments on it, I don't expect to be responding to my own challanges most of the time. If I could, I'd just say "hey, look at this neat idea!" rather than seeing what other folks came up with. I'll do my own when I can, but that won't be hugely often. If this makes you annoyed with me, you're free to print out the current challange and shove it where the sun don't shine (namely, Alaska during the winter).

I now present the first challange of the new board:

Kitchen utensils.

The definition of "utensil" is pretty iffy. Feel free to make your own judgements on its restrictions, within reason - ovens are out; blenders are your call; forks are definitely in. Now, you strange-brained gamedogs, let me see the results of your twisted mind-thinkings!

[Joshua BishopRoby]

Whether you are a nurturing Spoonkin, aggressive Fork-Person or one of the wild and crazy Cork Remover Folk, join the battle for a Free Kitchen.

Fight the tyrrany of the Knive Dynasty and their evil overlord, King Cleaver.

Explore the uncharted depths of the Underworld of Oven, or the ethereal realm of the Top Shelf.

Battle across varied terrains, including the Dinner Table Mesa, Countertop Plains, Drainer City and the sudsy Sink Sea.

Fight valiantly, fight bravely, before King Cleaver cuts off all hope of freedom for the Utensilmen...

[ChapinoMuse]

Okies, I suppose you mean make an RPG system using utencils, so I'll write one up tomrrow and attach it to the post. This should be interesting.

[kabael]

You know, this is such the Teeny Little Super Guy role-playing game. Remember that show? From the old Sesame Street?

It was this great little story about a guy who was a picture on a little cup, and his adventures around the kitchen, moving through cupboards and talking with other wares. Great, crazy fun.

It could be easily done with Puppetland - just replace the puppets with glasses and dishes and bowls 'n' stuff. Though having the dead creator wouldn't be the same, and there would be this ritual soiling and cleansing tradition. That would make for a strange society, I must say.

[leviathan]

Okay... I'm going to go REALY stupid here! So.. be prepared! WHOOOHOOO! Keep in mind, this will just be a starting idea.. and I haven't really done this before.

~~~~

In the world of five-star resturants and culinary artists... one wonders where a master chef gets her master flare! Her grace with the knife! Her.. well.. you get the picture! But the truth is, it all comes from the utensils.

Yes that's right. The utensils! Within a chefs blood is the affinity to channel the true energies from the kitchen utensils you an I eat and cook with.

<i><b> Culinary Institutions </b></i>

Culinary institutions are where appretice chefs hone their powers to channel the energy from their utensils to create delicious dishes. Each institution specializes in crafting different skills for different styles of cooking and different types of dishes. Spheres of influence, so to speak. <i> ...And so on and so on... I was thinking of some sort of inner society of chefs with some sort of hierarchy of cooking magery.</i>

<i><b> Channeling </i></b>

From each instrument a chef uses certain spheres of energy can be channeled. The chef can then use this energy to add to their precision with the instrument, alter the flavor of the food, perform and impress audiences with flashy displays, etc. <i>Blah blah blah... Yeah... each utensil would hold a certain energy and represent a different quality in the chef. The chef can 'tap' energies based on his skill with the instrument type. Fork, knife, cleaver, spoon, spatula, and blender paddles would be considered utensil types with their own effect. For example, the cleaver could make the savoury elements in stand out more when channeled... and the blender attachments can cause the sweetness in foods stand out. And the fork/spoon/chopstick could make your accuracy in taste increase when channeled. "Mmm! ONE MORE GRAIN OF SALT!" </i>

Okay.. that enough for now. I'm hungry now. :P

~Lev~

[Mock]

Utensil: The Etiquette

The word “D NER,” traced in flickering pink neon highlights the battered, rust-stained side of the airstream trailer. Inside, greasy smoke clogs the air, and the hunched-over shapes of long-haul truckers, prostitutes, and itinerant salesman line the dismal tables.

Behind the hazy grill, where the short-order cooks sling hash and the waitresses chew their Juicy Fruit, in the shadowy back room, here is where you cross into the land of the Utensil.

Utensil is a game of desperation, bravery, and savory good eats. You take the role of a Forkou, a shapeshifting eating implement in a last ditch struggle to win out against your arch-rivals, the Spoon, and the cold and mysterious Sharp Knives.

The Factions:

Forkou: shapeshifting forks, they struggle to maintain their dominance in the world of eating. In their early years, in a fit of self-righteousness, they waged war on their fellow utensils: the Spatula, the Whisk, and drove them out.

Spoon: the nemesis of the Forkou, they are powerful enemies—their superior ability to hold foods like rice, soup, and gravy make them powerful in battle.

Sharp Knives: coldly logical and frightening, the Knives control the kitchen, running everything from the Butcher Block, their impenetrable command center.

Table Knives: mindless servants of the knives, they know only that they must cut and cut again to win their masters’ approval.

Character Creation:

Character creation consists of three steps:

1. Define character concept: are you a toughened fork warrior? a mystical dessert fork? a tiny, but steely, escargot fork? Or are you a confident, experience soldier in the spoon army?

2. Reach into the utensil drawer in your kitchen, and draw a utensil at random.

3. Live with what you’ve got; forget your original character concept.

Rules:

The Rules of Utensil are quite simple: whenever you attempt to do something that you stand a chance of failing at, throw your utensil into the air. If it lands right side up, you have succeeded. If it lands upside down, you have failed. Landing on its side means something unusual has occurred—the Chef (what many games call “Gamemaster”) will determine the result, be it humorous or disastrous.

Shapeshifting:

Forks and Spoons possess the ability to shift from their normal forms to hulking, powerful, bestial war-forms.

Tinos form: when a fork shifts to its war-form—known as Tinos—it gains two feet in length, all of its tines become razor sharp, and it is immune to damage from rust, soap, or tarnishing.

Spoonos form: a spoon shifting to war-form will gain a blinding, mirror-bright bowl, which can deflect all food, or can be used to scoop up enemies and put them in the sink. The spoon gains two feet in length, and can also cause the reflection of its enemies to appear upside down, thus confusing them.

[Inu_Kozaki]

Do not forget!

There is the solitary outcast faction. They have only recently been brought to light in the Kitchen, as they were discarded by a waitress that went to KFC on her dinner break.

The Spork Faction: Neither spoon nor fork, they stand as outcasts in the known utensil arena. Forks seem to be the most willing to allow them into their collective, as they seem to be primarily used for stabbing food.

Powers
Forkshatter: Capable of very selfless deeds in their battle for acceptance, they will bend themselves backward until they explode in a claymore-like detonation of shrapnel towards their enemies. Only used as a last resort, it is lethal to the spork... as well as their foes.

[Mock]

That made me laugh out loud at work. People are looking at me strangely. ...claymore-like detonation...hehehehe...

[leviathan]

*snickers* Kitchen utensils. hahahaha. We could even apply some sort of abstract game concept to this... Like, chefs having personas in the form of kitchen utensils that live second lives in the drawers of their kitchens...

hahaha it's so funny, I can't even write it. (;

~Lev~

[The Incredible Hatboy]

I hereby declare this Random Challange a success! Expect the next one next weekend, probably on Sunday.

[Just Me]

Loved them!!!!!

[Tim Gray]

Originally posted by Mock
[B]Utensil: The Etiquette
The Rules of Utensil are quite simple: whenever you attempt to do something that you stand a chance of failing at, throw your utensil into the air. If it lands right side up, you have succeeded. If it lands upside down, you have failed. Landing on its side means something unusual has occurred—the Chef (what many games call “Gamemaster”) will determine the result, be it humorous or disastrous.


Embedding itself painfully in some important part of your anatomy is generally counted a fumble.