Inkwell Shopping Arcade
Those who know me well, particularly the ones in my gaming group, know (and often times are annoyed by the fact) that I constantly come up with ideas for new campaigns.
Usually they never become more than mere ideas.
That’s a bit of a waste isn't?
So I've decided to start writing these ideas down and sharing them here.
If I can’t turn them into a game, maybe someone else can?
In any case, welcome to Ramsey’s Exploding Campaign Brain #2!
For the longest time I've been toying with the idea of what I'd like to call an "electro-swing" campaign setting.
Music is frequently a big inspiration to me and lately I've taken a liking to the electro-swing genre, which often takes little known songs from the 1930s and 40s and remixes them with modern day musical technology!
I also feel like the cartoons from that era are experiencing somewhat of a revival with modern video games like Bendy and the Ink Machine and Cuphead, that borrow a lot of their art style from early Fleischer cartoons.
In any case, the idea is that the story takes place in a universe that is basically a take on cartoons from the 1930s and 40s and also mixes in some elements of pulp fiction (the genre, not the movie).
It has mainly anthropomorphic animals running around, but also robots for some reason. Probably not humans though, because most cartoons in that era didn't really star regular people.
Think cats in zoot suits, tube-limbed robots wearing top hats and wolves in tuxedos!
I also like the idea of the robots being an actual race in this setting.
And they make more of their kind by, of course, building them.
"When a mommy and daddy robot love each other very much, they will go to the hardware store and build a baby robot..."
The story revolves around a shopping arcade full of competing businesses, called the Inkwell Shopping Arcade.
This wouldn't be a shopping arcade as in a mall by the way, but a singular street which is covered by a roof. An example of two competing businesses would be a fancy hair salon that has a rivalry with a barber shop on the other side of the road and they'd regularly not only would try to sabotage the other business, but often an all out brawl would break out. All of the shops in this arcade would literally be fighting each other to attract customers. The player characters would either all work at the same shop or maybe a few shops that are "allied" with each other, and on a regular basis they would have to fight off an attack of a major rival.
Personally I think that having them all working in a single, large store would be the best set-up, since that way it's easier for the GM to get them all involved in a plot in a quick and non-contrived manner. My main inspiration for the competing businesses came from the cartoon OK K.O.!, a relatively new series which just hits all the right marks for me.
Inkwell Shopping Arcade would also be a very musical setting, because of the influence of the 30s and 40s cartoons, which often had a lot of music and singing in it.
Not sure how this would reflect on the actual game though, since most players aren't likely to be musically inclined…
GMs should definitely play a lot of music to get the players in the mood though, especially during action scenes. You’ll find a list of some inspirational music at the end of this post.
Note that it’s often daunting for players to take part in a campaign set in a historical period they know little about. Luckily you wouldn't really need to know much about this particular time period, as it takes place in a completely fictional setting that is only loosely based on that era. There for instance would also be a lot of retro futuristic technology in the setting that of course didn't exist then, like the aforementioned robots, rocket propelled Zeppelins and who could forget about ray guns?
Okay, that’s my idea for Inkwell Shopping Arcade so far.
I sure hope someone out there will feel inspired by this silly, little idea of mine.
And hey, if you think you've got any ideas to add to mine, then PLEASE, shoot me a line!
Inspirational Music
Parov Stelar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eco4z98nIQY&list=RDEMg2RWszP5Rfch7akDjdeGDg&start_radio=1
Peggy Suave: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtXMeMR81q4&list=PL6r4LZWFKtZlTCtscnpnsyHETFOu8wJ_v
Cuphead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSRHJmNJuQU
Swing Republic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBnbTdeNaAw&list=PL1fIU72-EgAy_RGBjzSaHusnfZW-PiwXH