Catalyst Castle

Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog is a short musical film about a super villain’s rise to power. The film consists of three acts, each about 14 minutes long, which were originally released online before being compiled for the DVD release. Dr Horrible was created by Joss Whedon, creator of several popular television shows including Firefly. The story focuses on Dr. Horrible’s efforts to be accepted into the elite criminal organization called the Evil League of Evil, and on the love triangle involving himself, a social worker named Penny, and Captain Hammer – his superhero nemesis.

This film is pure comedic genius from concept to execution. The songs are clever and well written. This film was produced independently, but looks professional. The writing team penned the musical during the WGA writers' strike. The idea was to create something small and inexpensive, yet professionally done, in a way that would circumvent the issues that were being protested during the strike. This effort was a success, and Joss Whedon has announced that a sequel is in the works.


Roleplaying
Because of my obsession with roleplaying games, I tend to watch most movies and shows with an eye for what I could take from it and apply to gaming. Here are some ideas from Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.

Playing Villains: Dr. Horrible presents a villain who is relatable and appealing as a character. It would definitely not become the norm for me, but it makes me think it might be amusing to play a game where all of the player characters are villains. Necessary Evil, a setting for the Savage World RPG does this. Another fun idea would be to play a Star Wars campaign where all of the player characters are Sith in the Old Republic or Legacy Era.

Sing-Along Session: OK. Just once this has to happen. For one session of an ongoing game, everyone has to sing. Minor bits of dialog can be spoken, but the majority of it must be sung. That would be very entertaining.