Juke Box Hero Wouldbes

This is a game using a hack of the ruleset Lasers & Feelings, called Sweet Riffs & Power Chords. These rules are designed around characters being in a band that end up having eldritch power of some kind, able to fight off other-worldly beings.

Rules

"You are a musical adept, a powerful bard whose very rhythms, chords, and riffs can summon, command, and banish Elder Things."

Choose Your Number

Players choose a number between 2 and 5 to represent their character's leaning toward the Mundane (lower) or the Musical (higher). The basic mechanic of the rules will be to roll at least 1d6 and compare to your number. If rolling multiple d6's, each die counts separately against the target number.

If rolling against a 2 or 3, players are trying to roll above; if rolling against a 4 or 5, players are trying to roll below. A player that rolls their number exactly are said to strike a Sweet Riff or a Power Chord.

Sweet Riff

Rolling a Sweet Riff lets a player add 1d6 to the next attempted roll and tell the Game Master one new truth about the world.

Power Chord

A Power Chord lets a player count the die as a success and they may ask the Game Master a question that must be answered truthfully.

Players can roll an extra 1d6 if:

• The action matches your role or style
• If you have a plan for a Mundane action
• If you're practiced for a Musical action
• If someone's helping you
• If your last roll had a Sweet Riff in it

Mundane things include:

• cautious actions
• forethought
• logistics/logic
• planning
• responsibility
• mature and "boring" behaviors

Musical things include:

• reckless actions
• spontaneous
• passionate
• creative
• primal
• powerful
• eldritch

Number of Successes

• 0: The Game Master tells you how things get worse
• 1: You kind of accomplish what you were going for, but there's a cost
• 2: You accomplish what you were going for
• 3+: As 2, but you tell the Game Master one additional good thing that happens

Choose Who You Are

Style

Reckless, Feckless, Cunning, Lusty, Drunken, Stoned, Exhausted, Manic

Role

Lead Guitar, Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar, Backup Vocals, Electric Violin, Drums, Bass, Keys, Wanna-Be Roadie

Starting Equipment

You start with an instrument that matches your role (or a pawn store ticket), a credit card that isn't maxed out, a vehicle or a friend's couch and a bus pass.

Define The Band

Players will need to create a band name, choose a genre of music to play, and choose two Strengths and one Problem.

Strengths

• Impeccable Rhythm
• Perfect Pitch
• Steady Gigs
• Honest Manager
• Friends in the Industry
• Steady Supply
• Free Practice Space
• Bitchin' Bus

Problems

• Bad Debts
• Manager Died
• Stalker
• Crazy Ex
• Police Attention
• Papparazzi
• Fading Career

Characters

Kobayashi Kanako

Played by: Malkavian Grin

Role: Rhythm Guitar

Style: Stoned

Number: 2

Kanako is very "laid back and chill" and able to take pretty much anything in stride. She keeps the underlying motion of the song flowing, especially when her sister Yukiko gets amped up. On the flip side, being a stoner means Kanako thinks a lot but is very go-with-the-flow so she's happy to just chill and do nothing too. That can be a bad thing, as sometimes she gets lazy and doesn't act on things she needs to do. She's also got a bad habit of chain-smoking cigarettes and some of the only times she gets antsy is when she's out of smokes or can't because of the venue.

Kobayashi Yukiko

Played by: Squidheadjax

Role: Lead Guitar

Style: Manic

Number: 5

While Yukiko's style is manic, she's manic like a housecat - when in motion, she's a cannonball, but when at rest, she is at rest, and doesn't have a lot of energy for mundane planning and organization. She can give off the impression of a corpse occasionally animating into a hungry ghost; someone snarked that at her once, and she's worked it into her style. The group's songs with more of her influence tend to the spooky side, and on gigs where they have full lighting she'll usually stay still and hooded in a dead spot in the lights, remaining a looming presence until it's time to kick things off with her furious riffs.

Non-Playable Characters

Okada Mari

Role: Drummer

Personality: Mari is a nerd and enjoys giving people nicknames; some more strange than others.

Band Details

Name: TBD (tentatively Nanigoto Shimai)

Genre: Symphonic Metal

Strengths: Bitchin' Bus, Perfect Rhythm

Problems: Crazy-ex