Haruto Suzuki, Three Minute Hero

Okay, it's time to get serious about creating some Agents of SKA.  First up is Haruto Suzuki, who came to be thanks to a little randomization and AI decision-making.  He's a trumpet player from Japan.  His band?  Hmm.  I reserve the right to say this is one that he was just in for a few weeks in high school or something, but let's go with Ringo SKARR.

Yep, still faceless.  I mean, he has a face.  Just not an official one yet.

Because I like to come upon RPG specifics that aren't critical to the story at hand via (1) randomness, (2) undeniable destiny, or (3) other people's ideas that I can bring to life (all perhaps pointing more toward laziness than a devotion to principle), I asked my buddy Jake, who lives in Japan, to write a brief background for Haruto.  Jake isn't an RPGer and probably had a bit of a wtf reaction to the request, but he was gracious enough to toss that aside and help me out.  I found out Haruto was born in 1980.  Some more details:

Haruto Suzuki loves natto for breakfast. He loves the stir of the sauce and the mustard, and he likes that it’s slimy. He likes slimy things. Later, he’ll go to the studio to practice his trumpet, but first he’ll hit the 7-11 for cigarettes. At night, he has a show at Salt Peanuts. He’s not feeling his best, but he’s gonna give it a go. Ganbarimasu!

Stats (3d6+1 in order, no rerolls): STR 11  DEX 9  CON 9  INT 17  WIS 12  CHA 12

Class:  Hmm.

Pretty sure I want classes for this game, but I don't think everyone should just be a Rudie.  So, I'm looking at basing them all on classic ska (and related) songs:

Monkey Man - The big bruiser.

Gangster - The clever rogue.

Three Minute Hero - The magical charmer.

Keasbey Knight - The paladin of making the best of life with your friends.  (Thanks for the idea to whoever it was who has/had that as their handle on some forum or platform...!)

Maybe some more.  I'm thinking about a Special Brewmaster/Brewmistress (but probably not).  I also think the negative connotations of the Monkey Man class may require a rename (or scrapping it).  We shall see.

Haruto is a Three Minute Hero.  He's a star!

Geeky SKAturday: It's "Christmas Time Again"! (Bad Manners)

December is here.  It's Christmas time again!

I think I'll share some of my favorite holiday ska tunes this month.  Here's one I've posted before that is always worth revisiting, from the band that is probably the goofiest and maybe my favorite of the 2 tone era...

No notes.

And while I definitely have a big interest right now in turning Christmas songs into spells...that's a whole different project.  Instead, here's my favorite Bad Manners tune and a sound to accompany it...

Special Brew

2nd-level Sound

Casting time: 1 action

Range: 30 feet

Duration: 1 hour

Save: Presence

This sound targets one being that can see you and has a Knowledge score of at least 1.  On a failed save, the creature regards you as their best friend.  We're talking soulmate type feelings, although no romantic notions are necessarily involved.  They know that you want to spend all your money on them.

When the spell wears off, the target will remember what has occurred but will not necessarily feel deceived unless you have coerced them into doing things contrary to their usual wishes.  You will simply be regarded as a former friend.

2 Tone Tuesday: My favorite video on YouTube

If not my favorite, it's pretty darn close.

Is Buster Bloodvessel the greatest entertainer of the 2 Tone era?  I'm really starting to think so.  Here's Bad Manners performing the song at the height of ska's second wave...

2 Tone Tuesday: Special Brew

I've decided to let Tuesdays be a day to remind myself that as much as I love traditional '60s Jamaican ska and modern music in that style, there are times I could probably convince myself that I love its late-'70s (largely British) descendant even more.  My AM work was accompanied by a pretty killer 2 tone mix.  Here's one of my favorites from this morning...hopefully it'll brighten someone else's day as well...

Holiday Music Fest: Bad Manners - Christmas Time Again

Tiny bit of background here (although I completely disagree with the "not a great song" comment).

A little holiday cheer(?)...

Here's one of my favorites to put on rotation each December...