Pitch Session v2

Last night, the CP crew and our new gaming buddy Mick Bradley (of The Game That May Be and The Game Master Show podcasts) completed a pitch session for a game of Primetime Adventures (PTA).  A pitch session is where the entire playgroup, players the GM (called the Producer) sit down and discuss the TV show they want to play (PTA is an RPG where the goal is to emulate a television show).

I wanted to be the Producer for the show and previously asked if it was cool.  We’d already pitched a show previously, but since time had passed and Mick wasn’t part of the original pitch, we scrapped the original pitch and started clean.

I decided to hang back during the initial stages of the the pitch to let the players make a show that grabbed them.  Interestingly enough, the group started off with sci-fi space opera like we did before, but this time I sat back and let them work through it.  The players moved on to other ideas, but kept thinking sci-fi during all but one (that other one was a supernatural modern take).  We went through five different show ideas with a few permutations on each. 

Mick and I were pushing for a Reece Cup show (his idea, my monicker): somethign where two different ideas are combined that you don’t normally see together.  An example is Firefly the TV show: Old West in space. 

The end result is pretty exciting:

• The setting is a kind of DMZ between a group of dfferent aliens that are on the brink of war between each other; space travel is common for these races and they all have territory nearby
• This DMZ was once a very important stop in a major trade route, but over time, a new faster route was devised that made this place a non-factor (imagine Route 66 in space)
• Due to changes in the importance of the DMZ, resources have been pulled back by each of the separate alien races and only a skeleton crew is left behind to manage the place
• Due to the decreased resources and the still viable route, lesser desirable traffic still comes through the DMZ
• The player characters are all diplomatic representatives of different races that are technically enemies of each other outside the DMZ
• They are charged with administrating the DMZ and while they aren’t police officers toting guns, they are responsible for making sure peace is kept
• The PCs have become friendly over their years and while they send back reports speaking ill of each other, it is actually an onging game they play to keep up appearances
• There is a desire by the entire group for the tension between the races to affect the DMZ

So yeah, I’m more hyped about this show than the food show, honestly.  During the character generation (which we didn’t quite complete during the meetup), I was able to create an opening sequence that I’m pretty interested in.  I can’t wait to see the players flesh out their PCs and to play next week.