TOON - ZOONATICS

In order to provide context to my next 3w Day Character Challenge entry, I think it's finally time to post a Campaigns I Have Known installment covering one of the greatest games I've ever done.

This one defies all logic [except its own]. It goes against what makes sense to most gamers - a long term [Semi-Dark] Comedy campaign with strong player 'buy-in' and immersion. 

'Here's Our Show (It's really funny!)

Here's Our Show (It's how we get our kicks!)

Here's Our Show (It better make us some money!)

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Zoonatics!

Here's Our Host, Jekyl the Jackal,

Trouble Won't Leave Him Alone.

His Nemesis is The Killer Emu,

Heir to the Dinosaur Throne!

His Sidekick is Uhaul the Rhino,

There's Manny the Mannequin Bird.

There's a Frog and a Toad and a Ninja Zebra*,

After that it just gets absurd. 

Here's Our Show (It's really funny!)

Here's Our Show (Sometimes we take our licks!)

Here's Our Show (It better make us some money!)

Without further adieu its The Zoonatics!'

Campaigns I Have Known

Proudly Presents...

ZOONATICS

Title: Zoonatics

System: Toon, Steve Jackson Games. Houseruled (See below).

Circa: 1993 (I believe)

Gamemaster: Me.

Like playing the AI in a Red Dwarf campaign, I was both the GM and an active Player Character here. In fact, I rarely Gamemastered in the traditional sense. I think this was the first time I had done this and I would later adopt a similar approach when running my homebrewed The Muppet Show game. Obviously I suggest going this way in The Googly Eyed Primetime Puppet Show if playing in a setting where there is an announcer, host, or Master of Ceremonies type of character.

It was extremely freeing to just act in character and make references to a possible story or adventure and see where the players take it. I honestly miss that.

Player Base: The players in this game were a collection of various friends from what I tend to refer to as 'The NJ Group'. Said group has changed and shifted its membership over the years as friends have come and gone. 

This outing featured about five regulars other than myself: Allen, Lynn, Martin, Nelson, and Anna. Others came in and out in 'Guest Star' roles. These players included Beverly, Phil, and Big J. There was a roughly even mix of male and female participants, of a variety of ethnicities, the major being older than myself by two or three years. I was in my early 20s.  

Origins: It's genesis was somewhat accidental. My friends and I were at the house of an aquaintence (a sort of mecca for much of the fandom/nerd crowd we knew) discussing the [then] brand new Warner Bros. animated series Animaniacs, which had come on the tail end (all puns intended) of Tiny Toon Adventures.

For no particular reason I went into this first-person riff where I pretended to be Jekyll the Jackal, host of a children's variety TV show (animated was the implication but never stated outright) who was putting the first episode together as it aired. I gave Jekyl an accent both Latin and Slavic, making it sound like his name was either Jekyll the Jekyll or Jackal the Jackal as I pronounced the two words nearly identically. As I went on I spoke directly to the 'audience' but not necessary to any one friend present, clearly breaking the fourth wall. 

Then What Happened?:

I did a number of very odd things to give Jekyll more character, such as make references to the 'behind-the-scenes' staff of the show (Denise the Stage Manager, Joe the Cameraman, and Andrea in Craft Services were mentioned most often), talk about his admirations for Abraham Lincoln (leading to one of the best, organically forming running gags EVER to come from one of my games), and the fact that unlike 'that silly Coyote', everytime you think Jekyll has been crushed by a rockside, run over by the stage cleaning machine, or blowtorched by the Killer Emu, it wasn't him. Of course not, he's the Star of the Show! Jekyll has people for that! There's a group of Stunt Jackals who all look nearly identical to him and are paid to get injured instead of their boss.

Next I started going on about auditions for other parts on 'the show' and my friend Martin stepped up as Uhaul, a Rhinoceros who was going for the part of Sidekick/Co-Host. We interacted and ad libbed the idea that the 'part' was that of a dumb sidekick, while Uhaul was a formally trained Shakespearean actor, thoroughly mortified that he'd been reduced to taken such a role. He read for it and then almost walked out until I said, "There are no small parts, yes? Only small actors.". Looking him up and down - Martin was a head or more taller than me and we assumed the same scale between Uhaul and Jekyll - I added, "And you my Rhino friend are NOT a small actor!".

After having Uhaul except the job, Martin has a true stroke of genius and introduced a new character, simply called 'The Emu'. The Emu was there for the part of Master of Ceremonies. He wanted to be the host of the show. Jekyll informs him the HE, Jekyll the Jackal is the host. We already have that thank you. Martin goes full melodramatic villain, whipping a black cape he found around him and declaring "You have made a grave error this day Jackal the Jackal! From today forward I shall be your arch-nemesis. I am now the bane of your existence! I shall not rest until you and your show are totally destroyed! Call me, 'The KILLER EMU!'! Muwa-hahahahaha!" He then ran into the kitchen leaving everyone, myself included, laughing hysterically. 

He also opened the flood gates. Nelson starts mimming a silent Zebra who we would later learn was a ninja. He could flawlessly (kind of) disguise himself as any Black and White animal. The new sound guy who's a Panda, that Penguin messager from yesterday, this skunk fella over here...all the Ninja Zebra! He had a tell though; he was easily distinguished by the can of Coca-Cola he always had in hand regardless of his form.

Lynn become Flamingo Rose, femme fatale singer, dancer, spy, and love interest of both Jekyll and The Killer Emu, with the latter hiring her to get intel on our Jackal host.

 

Ludwig and Livingston

Allen was Ludwig W. Wombat, host of a Wildlife Show-within-the show segment, 'The Wombat Walkabout' with his assistant, a Puffin named Livingston who only spoke in small, soft caw/chirp sounds. The two had a very Bunsen and Beaker vibe. Ludwig would come upon some ferocious animal, describe their environment and behavior, make it sound extremely dangerous, then tell Livingston to, "see if you can wake the Orca and ask if we can interview him. Go on now." Ludwig's voice was...I can only describe it as an Middle Aged Australian English Professor on Safari. 

There were rival talk show hosts, The Frog and The Toad patterned after Johnny Carson and Ed McMahon. Someone was a Possum Maintenance Worker always complaining about the 'Higher Ups' and working conditions and invoking his Union membership whenever he could. There was this Toucan, I wish I could remember his name; an easy going fella who sang and joked with a Caribbean Island accent (patterned after Bob Marley for the most part and a little like the Muppets Tonight host character Clifford - originally created for the Jim Henson Hour.).

I myself added The Killer Emu's sidekick Manny the Mannequin Bird (one of my all time favorite characters I've ever played! Inspired by Marcie from the Peanuts). Although the Killer Emu hated Jekyll, the latter couldn't be bothered to even remember who the Killer Emu was most of the time. Meanwhile Uhaul and Manny were on very good terms, often described eating with each other or playing chess in the background in some scenes. 

I thought this was an RPG campaign

We improved this whole thing for over an hour until we couldn't speak from laughing so hard. I looked up to notice others in the house watching and laughing along; a true audience! Finally, someone off to the side said, "Is this a game? WHY ISN"T THIS A GAME!". I looked over at Martin and Nelson to see they were looking at me with a questioning expression. Lynn did the same, nodding and wiping tears from her eyes. 

And so it became one. I wrote up everything in Toon, though I'll admit to being even looser with the mechanics than Toon already is. The rules had to support the improv and not the other way around. 

Highlights:

There were several re-occurring sketches/skits such as Animal General (an 80s style Soap Opera), Good Cop, Boar Cop (Police Drama Parody), Great Birds of the Galaxy (All Avian Space Adventurers), And Then You Add Bamboo (a Cooking Show featuring a Red Panda that always adds Bamboo to every dish), and the aforementioned Wombat Walkabout. These along with the Killer Emu constantly trying to destroy or take over the show and/or kill Jekyll and Jekyll's Lincoln themed outro.

Every 'episode' ended with me as Jekyll saying, "And remember kids, if Lincoln were alive today...", followed by some humorous, sometimes odd or morbid, statement. Examples include:

"If Lincoln were alive today...that would be impressive. He'd dead you know. Very dead."

"If Lincoln were alive today...he'd say, (in a muffled voice), "HELP! Open this box! HELP!"

"If Lincoln were alive today...the smell...I'm thinking the smell would be unbearable."

The best part is that I did this for the first few sessions but then one time I started to say it and when I got to, "If Lincoln were alive today...", and then Martin stepped in as Uhaul and said: "If Lincoln were aiive today, he'd likely be complaining of a headache at the very least." Another time Allen stepped in and did one. Then Lynn did it. Then Martin did one, Lynn did one, and Anastashia did one, all in the same session. 

I swear, one time two of my friends visited me at work in midtown Manhattan and sometime after they left my supervisor walked over and said he was about to head home for the day (he had the Opening Shift, I had the Closing Shift). He said, "Before I go I just want you to know...

If Lincoln were alive today...he'd be doing this", he proceeded to vibrate his right leg in spasms, "because he had that problem."

I stood there slack jawed. Completely and utterly dumbfounded before bursting into laughter. How?!? Who?!? He wasn't in my gaming group! How did he know about the gag??? Turned out he overhead my buddies doing it, laughed, asked where it was from and after they told him he was like, "Oh...I got one." Then he waited til his shift was over to deliver it to me. So well done! I tip my hat you sir, wherever you are.

Finally, there were hints, very subtle usually, that something about the entire Zoonatics 'show' was off somehow. There was something deeper and weirder going on. Over the course of the campaign, some of the players started to catch on and by the end (nearly) it finally clicked. I forget who figured it out but it was spoken aloud following a scene featuring Mr. Tycho, a Tiger.

The Tiger was a sponsor of the show. His supported it in an unclear way that was implied to be something like a key advertisers. We needed to key Mr. Tycho happy. He told everyone how much he liked the exciting sequences, thought the Soap Opera parody was too slow, loved it when Flamingo Rose did a song and dance number - "More of that! That's great entertainment!", and wanted more gazelles and deer on the show. All the while he paced back and forth. Well, I did. Back and forth. Back and forth. Sometimes leaning forward as I/Mor. Tycho spoke...

"Wait a sec...", one of the players started, "he's a tiger and he paces. He paces like a tiger in a zoo. In a...". All the players went wide-eyed and looked to one another. "A ZOO! Are we in a zoo? Is this a zoo? OMG! We...all these animals are animals in a zoo!"

"Denise...Joe...", said another player, 'they're not a Stage Manager and a Cameraman. They're Zookeepers! Maybe Denise is the Zoo's Manager but...Holy Sh**!" The player stood up, "Andrea...Craft Services...she feeds the animals! She's the Zookeeper that feeds the animals!"

"Now hold on...", said yet another participant. "What about the show? There's a show and I guess the kids in the audience are those children looking at us...through the bars? *Shudder* But...but...there is a show right? Or...is there no show at all? Are we all...crazy?"

"TYCHO! The Tiger is the key! He's pacing...he's definitely disturbed. And Jekyll...OMG. It's. like an insane asylum for beasts! A Zoo caring for crazy animals! We're All MAD!"

And there it was. My plan from the beginning. The idea behind the idea. I got honest applause from my group that day. Pats on the back. Like I said, one of my best campaigns ever. 

Legacy:

Many years later while I was developing my own TRPG, The Googly Eyed Primetime Puppet Show, my (now departed) friend Dave Cotton about Zoonatics, he said he didn't realize it was Toon that I had used. He said, "Whenever you've mentioned this game I always saw the characters as Puppets. It had to be live action for the Stage Director and other staff to make sense. Yeah, I pictured an animal kingdom themed Muppet Show."

As a result of that conversation, Zoonatics appears in the published TGEPPS books as one of the campaign examples, complete with character sheets for Jekyll, Uhaul (under the name Yuhall. It was also occaisionally written U-Haul), and Flamingo Rose. 

I think about this campaign all the time. If you search Zoonatics in the blogger search on the tool bar at the upper left (on desktop) you see a few references to the game, always promising to do a full write up of it. I'm happy to have finally done made this post. Felt good.

Now...a new, Second Edition of Toon is coming...could we see a Return of the Zoonatics?

Now that you know about Zoonatics, check out my next 31/31 Character...

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Barking Alien