Smarter Than A Speeding Bullet

"Welcome to Charlie's Restaurant sir. I am Grover and I will be your waiter today. May I recommend the Alphabet Soup. It is both tasty and educational."

"Grover! Thank goodness I found you. It's me, Adam. I need Super Grover's help."

"Super Grover? What would I, loveable, furry, little Waiter Grover know about this amazing, superhero? I may know someone who knows him but..."

"OK, fine. Who? Who knows him?"

"A customer of mine. Grover Kent."


"Seriously?"

"Why would I kid you?"

"OK, where do I find this Grover Kent?"

"He's sitting in a booth by the window."

"Grover, that's imposs..."

(Looks around and Grover has disappeared. Over by the window Adam sees...)





"Wow. OK. Mr. Kent, a word if you would..."


"Kumquat."


"Yes, that...is a word. Mr. Kent, I'll be frank. I need Super Grover's help. Can you get a hold of him for me."

"I am just a mild mannered doorknob salesman but I'll see what I can do...Frank is it? Wait out front Frank."...

It really doesn't make much sense in the context of Sesame Street to use ideas like Upstaging and Stealing The Show. When a character learns something (or teaches something to another character) and improves their A-B-C's, what do they do with all those Sunny Days?

Well, they can spend them to get extra dice to add to their next roll just like in the regular Muppets game. Now if they spend all five Sunny Days, which is the most you'll have at once, you can 'Sweep The Clouds Away'. Similar to Stealing the Show but both more practical and more powerful. When a character Sweeps The Clouds Away they can undo one major stroke of bad luck. This could mean they find the lost dog, know where Luis left the keys to the Fix-It Shop, figure out the perfect gift for Oscar's Birthday, etc. Here's the catch...

First, Sweep The Clouds Away can solve the problem at hand but never the entire adventure.

Second, You can only Sweep The Clouds Away for someone else.

Sweep The Clouds Away can never be used to solve your own problem. It can only be used to help someone in need. This is much more in line with the feel of Sesame Street and contrasts Stealing The Show which all about you hogging all the glory (my apologies to Miss Piggy for the unintentional 'hog' pun).

Now in regards the solving the problem and not the adventure...

You find the lost dog but still need to get it back to its owner.
You know where Luis left his keys but need to go get them and make it back to the shop in time to open. You figure out the perfect gift for Oscar's Birthday but still have to get it.

Sweep The Clouds Away can overcome a major hurdle but it can never be a 'push the button, save the day' action.

A few other things you can do...

Each episode (that is, game session) is Sponsored by two letters and a number, though you can change this if you wish. If gaming with younger kids, whatever you decide to use, try to be consistent. If you use two numbers and a letter, try to keep that up for a while. If you prefer three letters and two numbers, that's cool but continue to do so.

Now, each player may, once per game, substitute The Number of The Day for his or her dice in a Specialty (remember, that's the Sesame Street name for a Shtick). So, let's say The Number of The Day is 6. If you want to replace your Specialty of Kite Flying-2 with a Kite Flying of 6 so your Kite can get Ernie's Frisbee out of a tree you would say, "I'd like to use The Number of The Day, the number 6!" and then tell the Director what you're using it for.

Now, as for the other uses of Sunny Days...

If you spend 2 Sunny Days you can gain an Exploding Die instead of a regular added die when using a word, any word, that starts with one of The Letters of The Day. In this example let's say that the episode was brought to you by D and R. You spend 2 Sunny Day points and say you're adding an Exploding Die to your Kite Flying Specialty of 2 because you're 'Rescuing and Recovering' Ernie's Frisbee.

Used in combination, The Letters of the Day and The Numbers of The Day are powerful stuff.

"Powerful indeed! I, Super Grover, am impressed by the might of these letters and numbers. I shall consider them allies in my fight for justice."





"Super Grover! Finally! I'm so glad you're here. I need help telling everyone about a special part of my Sesame Street RPG."


"If I can help I will stranger-I-have-never-met-before."


"It's me A...Adam. My name is Adam, Super Grover."


"OK Adam...I thought it was Frank...OK...What is this special part you need help with."


"I need to explain....Playgrounds."


"What, pray tell, is a 'Playground' in your game?"

(Whispers into Super Grover's ear)


"Wubba wubba that's a toughy. I think we may need to upgrade for this one."


"You mean...?"


"Yes...Super Grover 2.0!"


AD
Barking Alien



Muppet Quotes

"Smarter than a speeding bullet.
Furrier than a locomotive.
Able to leap tall sandwiches in a single bound.
Look...up in the sky!
It's an eggplant.
It's a meatball.
No!
It's Super Grover!"
-Sesame Street, 1984


Here's A Sesame Street News Flash!

Like the Pigs in Space post, I've been wanted to do a post on Super Grover forever. This one isn't as 'about him' as some of the follow-ups you're going to see but I worked really hard on the dialog so it would be just right for my main monster.

Gone now, sadly, due to damage from a move, is a Muppet like puppet of my own construction I named Addison. He was essentially a yellow, Grover looking thing with a slightly more conical head, a red nose and bushy eyebrows. I intend to remake him one of these days and when I do I'll most the images on my blog.

Originally I identified the Muppet Quote above as coming from 1974. That was not correct. Super Grover first appeared in 74' but the dialog is from 84'.