The Three Pillars of TOG

As an introduction to writing a TOG campaign, let’s compare TOG to the most popular fantasy TRPG system, D&D. D&D has three essential elements; aspects of the game that a DM must utilize for the game to be fun. When a DM can utilize all of these elements, their campaign will be awesome and fun. These are the Three Pillars of D&D: Combat, Roleplaying, and Exploration. TOG has a similar set of essential elements, and DMs must focus on them to provide a good gaming experience. The Three Pillars of TOG are Combat, Music, and Roleplaying. We’ll explore each of these, but first, a quick note on why exploration got the boot.

TOG will normally take place in a modern day setting. This means that while it is still important (very important) to give players very detailed verbal descriptions of locations and people, letting the players roam in your setting is usually a bad idea. The first reason is that you probably don’t have that much material prepared for your setting, and if players wander they should be able to investigate buildings, talk to NPCs, and generally have an immersive experience wherever they go. This isn’t really possible for most DMs, as they would prefer to build one area of the setting at a time. Secondly, PCs in TOG should act like real people; that is to say, your average person doesn’t just wander around unknown territory that could be quite dangerous. They tend to only go places that they need to. Anyway, all this is to say that Exploration is unimportant in TOG.

First up, Combat. Combat is the most important element in most TRPGs because it is simply what the system revolves around. Most of your character sheet is about how long you can endure bodily harm, how much damage you can inflict on people, how skilled you are at various weapons… hell, even the Fashion section helps determine how much damage you take. Combat in TOG can most easily delivered in two ways: questing and random encounters. Quests are basically odd jobs in which NPCs will request that you help them with something. This can be anything, but commonly the end goal of any given quest will be to defeat some guys. The other delivery method, the random encounter, is simple enough: when you pass through unfamiliar territory, there is chance you will be ambushed by some manner of sketchy hoodlums. Now, in D&D, combat usually involves the party facing some grotesque monster. The reasoning behind this is easy enough to grasp: “Oh, no! Disgusting evil creature that wants to eat us! We have no choice but to slay it!” This method eliminates the need to morally justify killing. So how does one do this in TOG? And are monsters even allowed? In TOG, everyone has lives, earned by hard work and being cool. Thusly people who you kill that are decent people will just respawn somewhere to reflect on how they ended up dying, while shitty people will either respawn with only a life or just flat out die. While some TOG players who take the game extremely seriously might choose to play their characters in a pacifistic way, most people will not care. As far as monster go, there are no general rules, but bear in mind: demons have been shown to exist in Scott Pilgrim, and really powerful people are sometimes capable of summoning or transforming into beast-like creatures.

Music is actually somewhat similar to combat. However, the delivery methods for music are different. The method you will probably use the most will be scheduling concerts. Plan it out, then do it. As a DM, don’t forget to describe the whole experience in detail. No one can really ambush the PCs musically, but you could create a music battle disguised as a concert. Music can even act as a replacement for exploration. Create a map of the setting, then divide it into districts. Make a band to rule each district, then have the players do shows at each area to dominate the entire map. At each area, you can describe the location that the venue is in, as well as the venue itself. This is also a good way to introduce NPCs.

Last but not least, Roleplaying. Roleplaying is more a matter of ‘practice makes perfect’ than anything else. As long as you make an effort to present the NPCs dramatically, you should be okay on this one. Something that helps greatly is to write up a short bio for every important NPC. If are meaningful to you, the DM, that will shine through and they will become meaningful to the players. Just be careful that you don’t A) Rip a character concept straight out of another story or B) Design characters that no one will appreciate except you. Also, you should probably make at least a couple rival-type NPCs. They just make everything better.

While it is possible to completely take out any one of these pillars, it is not recommended. Combat and Music are much easier to run than straight Roleplay. Taking out combat results in infinitely more work for you, the DM. Taking out Music results in a lack of strategic geographical play, which is really fun. Taking out roleplay turns the campaign into a glorified video game, which just sucks. The most efficient way to run the campaign is to have a main villain be the driving force, since it’s easy for people to get behind. This can be a rival band you compete with for a record deal, a zealous mage-type guy who is just ridiculously evil, or something more original. If you come up with that something, leave a comment.