Sunday, October 2, 2022

👽(Risus) Dr Buckaroo Banzai 👽

As I explain many times on the blog, my blog drafts  are a repository of every cockamamie idea or concept I find on Twitter, other blogs, or the internet in general.  There are hundreds of future games, scenarios, ideas, and even awesome pictures waiting for a time to be used or implemented. 

One of those ideas was to stat out Buckaroo Banzai, and set it up for posting on any August 10th, the anniversary of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension's premiere.  

I didn't get around to doing it this year, and as I move posts forward into 2023 to work on, I made a ridiculous, forehead slapping realization.  I could have just started with Risus: The Anything RPG

I mean, Buckaroo Banzai is a perfect pulp, serial character, the hyperbole of cliches!

Dr Buckaroo Banzai
Brilliant Globe-Trotting Neuro-Surgeon (6)
Adventuring Half-American, Half-Japanese Physicist (5)
Rock Star with a Heart of Gold (5)
Test Pilot Breaking All the Rules (4)

I would love to just go down the list that he's always presented as "Physicist, neurosurgeon, test pilot, and rockstar," but in re-watching the movie, I realized that's he's far more competent as a neuro-surgeon than anything else, and perhaps the special effects of the time downplayed the incredible aptitude piloting the jet car across the 8th dimension.

At best, the Hong Kong Cavaliers and Blue Blaze Irregulars are single cliche characters in Risus, and competent henchmen with one skill boost in Savage Worlds, but we shall see!
Posted by at
Labels: , ,

3 comments:

  1. timOctober 4, 2022 at 11:57 AM

    A Buckaroo Banzai game would be super fun!

    I loved that movie when it came out and I'm sure I watched it dozens of times. I was a little afraid to watch it again in recent years as, when I've done so with other movies of that era that I remembered loving, ended up being so very, very disappointed and wondered why I'd liked it in the first place?! I did rewatch this with the kids a few years back and was not disappointed at all!

    I'm a little surprised this hasn't been picked up and rebooted and had board games and role-playing games published as so many other franchises of the same era have in the last decade...?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Viscount EricOctober 5, 2022 at 8:00 AM

      You're right, outside of a vague and simplistic card game listed on boardgamegeek, there's been nothing game related. Heck, I'm having trouble finding knock-off miniatures, and I feel everything is available (under an assumed name).

      It was fun sitting down to rewatch the movie, and not only thrive off the right amount of cheesiness, but to sit there with a notebook and gauge skills of all of the characters. Both Lectroid races seem to be above average and competent, until they are threatened, then they seem to fall apart.

      I have Savage Worlds stats set up to post later, but I may turn to a new project of just statting out every Clancy Brown character he's ever played.

      Delete
    2. timOctober 5, 2022 at 1:03 PM

      Right!? Like you can get knock-offs of EVERYTHING from the 80s... I have three different not-Jack-Burton miniatures... and I know of at least two others that are out there!? I know of at least two full teams from the original Predator - maybe a third...? And that's just production miniatures. There are probably printable files, but I just... i just CAN'T get into 3d printing, or I will need to buy a second house to store all the unpainted miniatures I'd end up printing for myself!?

      Delete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)