Monday Mashup #37: Full Metal Jacket

This week’s mashup is another xiombarg suggestion, Full Metal Jacket. Seems timely.

Before I get to my setting, I think I’ll talk about setup. Full Metal Jacket is about, in part, the lengths men go to to avoid that which they cannot face. In some cases, that’s death. In some cases, it’s something else. I think I’d want the definition of the things the characters fear the most to be an integral part of character creation, in some way, because my mashup of the movie would be oriented towards catching the harrowing mood that Kubrick produced.

And there’s no suspense: the characters are going to wind up smack dab against the things they want so badly to avoid. The question, in this game, is what they’ll do exactly once they realize where they’re going.

So, setting: street gang in the World of Darkness. I’m going to make a leap of faith and use the 2.0 World of Darkness, only because I like what I’ve read about the rules better. They’re humans. Maybe that will change by the end of the campaign, maybe not. They start at the bottom of the totem pole, though, not only in the mystical sense but in the pure hard calculus of the street.

The game has to start with initiation, as Full Metal Jacket starts with boot camp. It is possible that some characters will meet their limits during that period, but not necessary. Following initiation, the direction of the game really depends on what the fears of the characters are. The GM’s job is to get those fears front and center.

I’ll, uh, do something less grim next week. Promise.