A Blue Dilemma

This past Wednesday I received an email from Maestro Media indicating my physical, hardcover copy of The Smurfs The Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook has shipped and is on its way to me as we speak.

Hopefully the package will include the custom dice I added on 'cause who could resist a bunch more themed 6-sided dice, right? (See previous post)

I also got to run a Smurfs one-shot with most of my regular Wednesday night group, my first time running or playing it this year. Next week the group make up will be a little different - the one person out this week will be back but one or two others will be out - so I'll be running it again [with a new scenario] so everybody gets to experience the magic.

This is awesome and I couldn't be happier. Well...unless...unless I could get a full campaign going I suppose. 

In addition to adoring this game for the comedic elements and really liking the mechanics, its turning out to be something I didn't expect...a Fantasy RPG that I enjoy. Crazy right? 

The reason for this can be, at least partially, attributed to my deep dive into the Smurfs' comic book origins, as well as French and Belgian folklore. A curious item I just picked up is a Smurfs 'Graphic Novel' called The Smurfs Monsters, a collection of Smurfs comics that each feature our favorite little blue people facing various fantastical creatures. I feel a potential 'Monster Manual' coming on, taking these beasts and beings and giving them write-ups in the Smurfs RPG. If the cover is any indication, I'm going to be getting some very interesting looking critters. 

If the game has a flaw it's that one of my favorite aspects, creating your very own personal Mushroom Cottage, is difficult to work into play. As I gain more and more experience with the game, I realize this element truly shines in a campaign and is rather tricky to implement during one-shots or even two-parters. 

Usually, the PC Smurfs go on some adventure that takes them out of the village and don't return home until the scenario is complete. Perhaps they are chasing Gargamel, who just captured some Smurfs. Maybe Papa Smurf has sent them out to gather a rare magical ingredient. Whatever it is, the Smurfs are going away from their Smurfhouses and only coming back to them if they finish their quest or get totally Smurfed! 

I imagine in a long term campaign, more adventures and general activities would be occuring in and around Smurf Village and Smurfy Grove. Because of this, characters would be visiting their Mushroom Cottages (and each others') far more often. This, combined with the usefulness of the mechanical bonuses supplied by Smurfhouse, would make the inclusion of these homes more appealing to the PCs and more vital to the success of particularly difficult scenarios.

I've noticed that some players take the idea of a Smurfs RPG 'seriously', while others default to assuming they're playing a silly, comedic 'break' from their regular, more meaningful campaign. This makes sense given the natural of one-shots combined with the Smurfs themselves being comical characters from comic book and animated origins. As someone who has run and played some dramatically rich 'humorous' games, I think that given an open mind and a full campaign, I could get some great Roleplaying and World-Building moments from the Smurfs RPG with little trouble. 

These are just some thoughts I find myself having on a lazy Sunday in May. More to come, not to mention an idea for a new professional project. 

Smurf strong and stay tuned!

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Barking Alien

The Smurfs depicted are all original, Player Character Smurfs; all the ones I've seen so far in the Smurfs RPG games I've run and played [that I could remember]. They are:

Row 1 (L-to-R): Fisher Smurf, Adventure Smurf, Science Smurf, Lookout Smurf, Sir Smurfsalot aka Questing Smurf, and Champion Smurf.

Row 2: Smurfamaryllis, Suave Smurf, Apathy Smurf, Smurfcornflower, Brash Smurf, Smurfhoneysuckle, and Gamer Smurf.

Row 3: Smurfpepper, Helpful Smurf, Spelly Smurf, Frontier Smurf, and Smurfanise.