Song Commissioning

[Scrambler]

I wonder if Doug would ever commission a music artist for specialty songs? It would be an interesting job to specifically create songs primarily as a catalyst for Doug's power. And, if it were done in his home universe, the pay would be quite substantial, considering what his apparent bank statement looks like.

[Bob Schroeck]

I've thought about it, within the context of the original game, and came to the conclusion that I didn't want to do it because it smacked too much of "cheating". It would be too easy to say "I commission a song to do X" -- or worse, "I commission a dozen!", just to make sure something works. I really preferred the idea of powers as "found items", serendipity in song form. That said, "realistically", Doug could certainly afford to throw money at Sting, Paul Williams, Jim Steinman and half-a-hundred other songwriters. And he would certainly get something out of it. But for the purposes of the story, it wouldn't be fun for the reader. I make it clear that Warriors' World has a slightly different history, with slightly different bands and songs. But I don't want to use a song that no one's heard of, because -- as this forum area testifies -- part of the fun of the story is guessing what a familiar song is going to do when you hear the title. But if you hear Doug say "System! 'Bamboo Man!' Play!" (to use an example cited in the story) how can you do that? Sure you can make a guess based on the title, but I feel it's better for the reader to cite a song they actually have a chance of knowing. (Of course, since my readership varies wildly in age, and Doug's repertoire seems to exploit 70s and 80s music for most of his powers, even using a real song is no guarantee.)
Anyway, the upshot of this is that, in order to play fair with my readers, I don't use any "made up" songs. And that sadly excludes the possibility of custom-composed songs.

-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Scrambler]

Very true, and besides, the GM would likely require a certain amount of time for the song creation, and it might be that it causes a similar but not-quite-what-you-wanted effect after everything was said and done.

[Bob Schroeck]

Exactly. And I have had some, um, sadistic GMs rule on Doug's power in the past. (Hi, Helen! )

-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Bard J]

In DW2 when Doug is explaining backfires to Lisa, he says that his subconsious doesn't like him trying to boss it around and tries to get even any way it can. Having someone write a song for a specific effect definintely falls in that category, I'd say it's asking for trouble.

[Bob Schroeck]

Yup, that too. I never thought of that connection, but you're right.

-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.