Amber Zone - Josie and the Pussycats

Last Updated 11 January 2004.


By: Peter H. Brenton
From: traveller@mpgn.com [Digest 165]
Dated: Wed, 26 Jun 1996
Subject: Frivolous campaign idea: request for suggestions/ideas
[Peter's comments, 165]

I am planning to run a frivolous campaign based on the 1970's cartoon "Josie and the Pussycats".

No, there are no Aslan involved (see possible exception below). For those too young to remember this show, it was based around a Terran "girl group" of rock musicians, led by Josie, which when touring a spaceship of the latest design one member of the group, Melody, accidentially hits a lever launching them into space and subsequent wild adventures.

The problem is I can't remember any of the adventures from the original. All will be roleplaying adventures (they're a girl group! what do they know about guns!) which probably end with the band playing a great rock tune and making everyone happy.

Possibly, one of the players will insist on playing the Aslan bodyguard (at which point it will become the "Josies and the Pussycat" Adventure). Something I oppose only mildly, since the possibility of the completely (almost) non-technical band being matched up with a by nature non-technical Male Aslan has its own possibilities.

Ok, so here's the setting:

Josie and her band, "The Pussycats" accidently launch and misjump a TL16 100-200 ton (merchant?) vessel. Obviously this experimental vessel has a high degree of automation, but being experimental it is also quite tempermental. They can't get it to reverse its course and end up exploring planets (Sword Worlds area?) at the whim of the computer (and the GM) making friends and playing gigs, and getting into all sorts of trouble.

The following characters are present:

Josie
The leader of the group and just about the only one who can keep her head in a crisis.
Skills: Performance (Musical Instrument)-4, Leadership-1, nothing else important.
Melody
The drummer. Her amazing ability to do exactly the wrong thing at exactly the wrong time is what caused the group to end up in outer space in the first place. At any given time, when she attempts a task she has a 1 in 6 chance of doing exactly the opposite of what she was supposed to do.
Skills: Performance (Musical Instrument)-3.
Valerie
The bass player and techie. The only one other than Josie who isn't flighty (at least not all the time). Also the only one who can fix anything. She has what equates to a Jack-Of-All-Trades in Electronic, Computer and Mechanical items. To me this means she has about a 1-in-6 shot (once) at fixing whatever is wrong with the ship, after which she will identify a part or ability which the group needs to find (wherever they happen to be) to fix it "So we can finally get home!" Significantly, Valerie was the only Hanna-Barbera African-American character I can remember (aside from Uhura on the Star Trek cartoon).
Skills: JoT (Electronic, Computer, Mechanical only; see explanation above)

There are two other Pussycats who aren't as memorable - anyone remember this strange and entertaining show? I looked for a "Josie" web site, but surprisingly, Alta Vista failed to find one (I thought it might be just culty enough...).

Any suggestions welcomed - especially if they come by email (traffic yaknow).

Pete


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