Have you ever wanted to get involved in running tabletop roleplaying games and thought “But I have no ideas!”? The Big Red Couch is designed to show exactly how easy it is to get from random notions that stick in your mind to playable concepts, all through the medium of the kind of casually weird spitballing that gamers engage in at the best of times. In every issue, the intrepid contributors to the Big Red Couch brave the noisome wonders of The Mystery Box to produce a randomly-selected seed idea, then return Some Time Later to share what they came up with and discuss how those concepts might work as games. If we can do it, anyone can: that’s the whole idea. Along the road, we discuss what RPG systems might work for implementing different concepts, together with reasons how or why. This frequently involves adaptation of systems from their original settings to the point where they creak under the strain.
https://hoarde.net/bigredcouch
Episode One Hundred And Thirteen – Never Go Full-Force On An Éclair, Son
A rowdy bunch of biker mice, looking to make their bones pulling off a big score, are about to learn a lesson about hubris.
The mentor of an impetuous adventure attempts to tease out the story of how their student has most recently misapplied their patient instruction.
Further ruminations of why pillaging the people of the past for “good stock” is morally, and existentially, perilous.
Trapped in time-loop that resets upon death, formerly cautious chrononauts resort to more and more desperate strategies, trying to dodge their own previous iterations.
Éclair
Film – Jean de Florette (1986)
I can find no reliable connection between “idiot” and “speaking the one language”, though it original came from a Greek referring to a private citizen, but would reassure Ben that if you manage to screw up calling yourself an idiot that badly, you haven’t. ~ T. Jones
Film – The Thing (1982)
The Mandela Effect
RPG – Heavy Metal Biker Mice
Film – The Secret of NIMH (1982) with “Mrs Brisby”
Book – Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
Film – Turner and Hooch (1989)
Film – Van Wilder (2002) AKA Van Wilder: Party Liaison
RPG – DragonQuest
TV movie – Chrome Soldiers (1992)
Film – Battlefield Earth (2000)
Captain Disillusion – a YouTube hoax video debunker and “The Mandaellah Effekt”
Film – Wild Hogs (2007)
Film – Dirty Harry (1971)
Film – Death Wish (1974)
Children’s Books and TV – Munch Bunch ~ Fascinatingly, there were New Zealand specific characters? ~ T. Jones
Comics – Strontium Dog
Poe’s Law
Rule 34
The First Rule of The Big Red Couch – “Always consider the minimum use case of any rule or attribute you add to a game.”
( If it’s vore, you’ve had a wrong turn somewhere. Trust me. ~ T. Jones )
Novel – Through the the Alimentary Canal With Gun and Camera by George S. Chappell
Film – Tropic Thunder (2008)
The Original Speight’s Advert
Eden Park
The Origins of the Phrase “OK”
RPG – Baron von Munchhausen
“The Game” ~ Memetic Stupidity. Perfect. ~ T. Jones
RPG – Zombie Cinema
RPG – Grey Ranks
RPG – Steal Away Jordan
RPG – Misspent Youth
Episode One Hundred and Twelve – Volcano Day
TV- Travelers
Novel – The Great Train Robbery
Film – Westworld (1973)
Film – Runaway (1984)
Novel – Eaters of the Dead
Novel – The Terminal Man
(That is one fuggly cover. Admittedly memorable, but not in a good way. ~ T. Jones )
Film – Groundhog Day
RPG Accessory – Grimtooth’s Traps
SGU – Stargate Universe – S01E08 “Time”
Happy Death Day (2017)
2000AD Time Twister “Chronocops” written by Alan Moore and drawn by Dave Gibbons (~ Also with characters inspired by Dragnet and a Mad magazine spoof from the 1950’s ~ T. Jones)
RPG – Timewatch