Challenge for settings:GURPS TOON

[dataweaver]

I think that for a Toon setting, you'll want to apply and/or invent some setting options. Liberal use of such things as flesh wounds will go a long way to address the resilience that toons demonstrate: it's not that they never get hurt badly; it's more like the injuries (and sometimes the deaths) never stick.

[Refplace]

Yeah I thought about Elastic skin and Flexibility but its not really always voluntary.
I also thought about Supernatural durability but its not really a good fit for most.
Yeah Flesh Wounds is a good option. I am sure there are more and the metatrait was just a start. And probably not a complete one either.

[Psychotime]

I assume we're talking Tex Avery/Warner Bros toons?

[dataweaver]

Unless you're mixing toons and norms in the game, I don't see much reason for a meta-trait at all: just work up a "slapstick combat system" where you have lots of pain and afflictions but little in the way of lasting injuries (with the occasional exception; I recall a Roadrunner cartoon where, unlike most, the Coyote's injuries accumulated throughout the course of the short), and where the success of the attack has more to do with how satisfying it would be to see the target suffer rather than on how skilled the combatants are. This has the additional advantage of letting you add humorous injuries to otherwise-serious games, such as the hyper dimensional mallet that has a disturbing tendency to crop up in anime series.

[JCurwen3]

Originally Posted by dataweaver

Unless you're mixing toons and norms in the game, I don't see much reason for a meta-trait at all: just work up a "slapstick combat system" where you have lots of pain and afflictions but little in the way of lasting injuries (with the occasional exception; I recall a Roadrunner cartoon where, unlike most, the Coyote's injuries accumulated throughout the course of the short), and where the success of the attack has more to do with how satisfying it would be to see the target suffer rather than on how skilled the combatants are. This has the additional advantage of letting you add humorous injuries to otherwise-serious games, such as the hyper dimensional mallet that has a disturbing tendency to crop up in anime series.

I believe you could get some tips for a silly combat system from GURPS Goblins as well (3rd Ed, but very fun).

[dataweaver]

Likewise with GURPS IOU (I never did figure out what that darn "O" stands for).

[Refplace]

I think the metatrait helps bundle some of the advantages together for simplicity. So it has value even if not in a setting where your mixing normals and toons.
OK what about the various Toon worlds and such do we want to try to implement and can we separate them into various traits and rules?
Roadrunner and Wylie Coyote
Tom and Jerry
Daffy Duck
Darkwing Duck
Bugs Bunny

I dont think Scooby Doo really fits.
Animae is a whole different thing and has several types as well.
What are some of the core features and which are just optional?

Not dying is core. Able to take a licking and come right back.
Movement also pretty common.
Flesh Wounds are a good way to handle Stars vs. Extras.
Success also.
Odd skills.. Wildcard skills and the rules on them from MH could be attractive.
That can cover a lot of Schticks right there.
Wish I had a copy of Toon, or Goblins as was suggested but those long gone.

Edit: Ninjaed on the Wild Card :)

[dataweaver]

Originally Posted by Refplace

I think the metatrait helps bundle some of the advantages together for simplicity. So it has value even if not in a setting where your mixing normals and toons.
OK what about the various Toon worlds and such do we want to try to implement and can we separate them into various traits and rules?
Roadrunner and Wylie Coyote
Tom and Jerry
Daffy Duck
Darkwing Duck
Bugs Bunny

I dont think Scooby Doo really fits.
Animae is a whole different thing and has several types as well.

This is part of why I'm suggesting a slapstick combat system: by applying it judiciously, you could end up handling any or all of the above.

Originally Posted by Refplace

What are some of the core features and which are just optional?

Not dying is core. Able to take a licking and come right back.

I'm not so sure about that. I recall at least on short featuring a guy who was so desperate to get into a vaudeville show that he mixed up a bunch of explosive chemicals, drank them, and swallowed a match. After the resulting explosion, the crowd went wild and the host asked for a repeat performance, to which the performer's ghost said that the only problem with the trick is that you can only do it once.

Originally Posted by Refplace

Movement also pretty common.
Flesh Wounds are a good way to handle Stars vs. Extras.
Success also.
Odd skills.. Wildcard skills and the rules on them from MH could be attractive.
That can cover a lot of Schticks right there.
Wish I had a copy of Toon, or Goblins as was suggested but those long gone.

Edit: Ninjaed on the Wild Card :)

The core ability of the Toon is the ability to ignore the limitations imposed by reality if it's funny.

[starslayer]

I think it also comes down to WHICH cartoons. Disney toons are much less resilient then WB toons. The Hanna-Barbara toons, while every bit as classic, are only about a resilient as any comedy protagonists would be. Popeye gets a lot of weird flailing about but things as mundane as bricks and punches are a serious threat to all individuals within (unless they've eaten there spinach). Wile-E-Coyote on the other hand seems to be completely unkillable. Tom of Tom & Jerry seems unkillable, but I am not sure if the same invulnerability extends to Jerry who we never see seriously hurt. Potentially it's a situation of 'villainous verisimilitude'- The bad guy is invincible because we want to show bad things happening to the bad guy.

[JCurwen3]

Originally Posted by starslayer

I think it also comes down to WHICH cartoons. Disney toons are much less resilient then WB toons. The Hanna-Barbara toons, while every bit as classic, are only about a resilient as any comedy protagonists would be. Popeye gets a lot of weird flailing about but things as mundane as bricks and punches are a serious threat to all individuals within (unless they've eaten there spinach). Wile-E-Coyote on the other hand seems to be completely unkillable. Tom of Tom & Jerry seems unkillable, but I am not sure if the same invulnerability extends to Jerry who we never see seriously hurt. Potentially it's a situation of 'villainous verisimilitude'- The bad guy is invincible because we want to show bad things happening to the bad guy.

Don't forget Itchy & Scratchy!

And on Family Guy, sometimes the main characters get their faces torn off (at least one time Peter did this to Chris in a cut-away), or get shot in the head (at least one time, Peter to Meg), or even decapitated or have their heads explode. Of course, a lot of that happens in the cut-away gags. Also, non-main characters can die and don't seem especially resilient. But then you have guys like recurring cameo character James Woods that can even come back from the dead using super-science that sucks the life force out of young people.

On Futurama, it can take minutes to die from decapitation, all the while the head can talk and everything, even jump and attack, as per IT:Independent Body Parts, which many toons seem to have.

And for some of these settings (actually, many toons), you basically have to build them as nigh-sociopaths... possibly with Callous, Bloodlust, Bad Temper, etc. Toons generally get written as highly emotionally reactive yet mostly self-absorbed creatures with little concern for long-term consequences, which, if you think about it, makes complete sense for creatures that for all intents and purposes can't die or get permanently harmed.