Gaming in the Tarantino-Verse

 This is just a little something I've been thinking about over the past couple days as I decided to revisit the Tarantino-Verse courtesy of my Tarantino XX Blu-ray boxed set and my copy of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which I consider to be Tarantino's magnum opus. It occurs to me that the universe created in Tarantino's movies is ideal fodder for gaming, and just about any modern game could handle the genre, so long as it's not overly tactical in nature. Let's take a look at the kinds of game that best suit such a campaign, and what gaming in the Tarantino-verse requires, from tropes to alternate history and universes within universes.

Choosing the Game

The first step in running a Tarantino-verse game is choosing a game with the right qualities. It's important, first of all, that the game you choose plays fast, fast, fast. You don't want a game that requires you to leave the dice on the table, compare several different dice against each other, build complicated dice pools, or wait for rounds of contested rolls. You definitely don't want a system that uses a ton of symbol-covered dice which require you to interpret results in order to drive the story forwards. 

You want a game that is rules light and has a system that gets the Hell out of the way so you can get on with the action.  

Old School

Besides being fast playing, however, you also want a game with a robust combat system that allows for theatrics and over-the-top heroics. Many heavily abstracted "old school" systems are ideal for this as the player can be encouraged to simply describe what they are doing in the course of a round, and the GM can grant bonuses or situational positioning based on this description. This can be an advanced form of improvisational play, however, and isn't for everyone. 

Games in this genre include Original D&D through second edition AD&D as well as newer takes on the style of play like Amazing Adventures, Night Shift: Veterans of the Supernatural Wars, and even Labyrinth Lord or other retroclones. These systems are class-and-level based, but they also offer fast playing, abstracted combat which lends itself well to imaginative play and descriptive combat. If you haven't tried a modern game using old school rules, don't knock it until you have. You might find that new schooler complaints aside, they're not nearly as complicated or arcane as you thought they'd be and they're actually worlds of fun. 

New School

When it comes to newer games, those created after, say, 1990 or so, those like Savage Worlds can be ideal for a Tarantino-verse game as they allow for tricks and stunts which work just like anything else in the game. It's one of the few systems I've seen where you think, "it can't be that easy, and then you crack a book, and hey, it's that easy." 

The Unisystem, particularly the cinematic version, is also a great option for such a game; their combat maneuvers offer a whole world of fun and dynamic options that don't remotely slow down the game. Add in Chi Abilities from Enter the Zombie and you've got yourself a fantastic set of high-action blood-and-guts rules. 

Finally, there's the elephant in the room: the Fifth Edition D&D rules set. Amazing Adventures 5e gives you a complete modern version of this game that is ideal for playing a Tarantino-verse game. Yes, it's not lost on me that Night Shift: VSW and AA are games that I wrote, and I make no apologies for that. These movies were something of an inspiration on all of those games, so they're custom built to handle it. 

These are just a few of the games that can work to cover the kind of play you need. The key is fast playing, open, and simple. 

The Tarantinoverse

Now we move into the 'verse itself. If you're already a big fan of Tarantino's works, a lot of this will seem obvious to you, but if you're only a casual fan, some of it may come as a shocker. We all know that the movies are full of ultraviolence and near-supernatural feats of gun- and swordplay. Let's break the universe down a little further, though. 

Near Supernatural is not Supernatural

First things first: "near supernatural" heroics does not mean supernatural. While in a system like the Unisystem, Chi abilities can be used to mimic some of the feats seen in Tarantino's films, they should not be couched as supernatural abilities. There is no magic, no psychic powers, no inhuman monstrosities. These movies, though clearly they play fast and loose with physics, are still grounded in reality so far as the types of phenomena we see. There's guns, there's swords, there's evil people, but that's it. If you want to run a Tarantino game, there's no supernatural. Period. 

It's Not the History You Know

First things first: this is VITAL to the world and surroundings of Tarantino's universe. This universe is an alternate history 'verse. In the Tarantinoverse, things turn left in 1944, when World War II ends a year early after a suicidal and ultra-violent raid on a movie theater in which Hitler is viewing the latest Nazi propaganda film, by an elite black ops team of Americans who mow the Fuhrer down with submachine guns. They receive unwitting help by a French Jew who locks everyone inside and burns the theater to the ground, thus taking out the entire elite of the Nazi party (Inglorious Basterds). . 

Germany falls overnight, and the act becomes legendary, an heroic near-myth that leads (probably indirectly) to a world that is even more violent than the one we live in today. Later, in the early 1960s the event was fictionalized (and glorified) in the Rick Dalton (fictional) film The Fourteen Fists of McCluskey, in grandly gorrific fashion. Later, in 1969, the Tate-La Blanca Murders take an entirely different twist when the Manson family goes to the wrong house--the house next door to Tate's--and are themselves brutally killed by stuntman Cliff Booth and former Western actor Rick Dalton in self-defense (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood).

It could be said, however, that even as far back as the 19th Century this world was more violent and brutal than our own (Django Unchained and The Hateful Eight). 

Following these events, the world becomes on that is essentially ruled by crime novel and noir tropes--ultraviolent, gangs rule the streets, police are determined to root them out, but often are outclassed by the criminals they face. The only police that do manage to succeed are those who are as violent as the criminals  (Natural Born Killers, True Romance, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown*). 

*Technically, Natural Born Killers and Jackie Brown aren't part of the Tarantino-verse, but there's literally no reason they couldn't be. It's worth mentioning, though, that while Tarantino wrote the original screenplay for Natural Born Killers, he absolutely hated the final product, and personally doesn't consider it part of his oeuvre. Likewise, True Romance wasn't directed by Tarantino, but he personally does consider it part of his universe. 

Rated R for Ultraviolence and Strong Language

That's essentially it. If you're running a Tarantino-Verse game, you want ultraviolent crime movie tropes, war movies, spaghetti westerns, or alt-history, all of which take an ultraviolent twist.  When you're in combat, describe the blood and guts, and don't skimp on the blood. Foul language is essential--drop the F-bomb every other word.  

One aspect of Tarantino's films that very likely won't translate well to the modern gaming table is the use of racial slurs. Within the context of the films they work just fine because they're used properly (if such a thing is possible) and Tarantino's use of epithets like the n-word has been defended by people like Samuel L. Jackson. 

At your table, however, it may just be best to forget about that and not use it, unless everyone at the table is okay with it, understands how potentially problematic it can be, and is willing to move past that. If anyone is remotely uncomfortable with such language in any way, don't use it. Period. 

We live in a world right now where racial tensions are extremely high, and people are highly sensitive (arguably as they should be) to such language. In the end, like everything in gaming, it comes down to respecting your table. 

What About Kill Bill? From Dusk Till Dawn? Death Proof? 

Good question! What many people don't realize about the Tarantino-Verse is that there is a "Universe within a universe." Movies like Kill Bill, From Dusk 'Till Dawn, Death Proof, Planet Terror, the Machete movies, and even Sin City and Sin City: A Dame to Kill For are all part of this sub-universe, which is formed of the movies that people in the core Tarantino-verse go to see. So, for example, Vince and Jules from Pulp Fiction would go to the movies to check out Kill Bill, the latest action hit. 

Yes, it's true that Planet Terror and Sin City are directed by Robert Rodriguez and not Tarantino, but so is From Dusk Till Dawn, and both PT and the SC movies contain references to Tarantino's verse (PT and FDTD both feature Earl McGraw, and the SC movies feature Miko using a Hattori Hanzo sword) so it seems clear they're intended to be part of the secondary universe. Indeed, Hattori Hanzo and Earl McGraw are good ways to determine whether a film is in the "core" or "sub" universe. 

The specific films that can fit into the movie-within-a-movie 'verse are very much left to the imagination of the viewer, and presumably include many of the films we have in the real world. Some of those I've listed here aren't listed in the linked Tarantino wiki, like the Sin City films, for example, but I think the references are clear enough to merit their inclusion. In fact, one could easily include Rodriguez' El Mariachi trilogy as a tangential part of this 'verse as well. 

These films, as we see in FDTD, PT, and even the SC films, do have supernatural elements. This opens the door to a different sort of Tarantino-verse gaming, which takes place in this sub-universe beneath the core alt-history of the 'verse. The tropes are largely the same, but taken to a whole separate level of superhuman feats, and even adding things like vampires and zombies to the mix. It's important to remember, however, that while this sub-universe includes elements of the supernatural, we still don't see things like psychics and spell-slinging wizards. The closest any PC might get to supernatural powers is mystic martial arts abilities. 

If one desired, you could take this a minor step further and assume that the From Dusk Till Dawn TV series is part of this sub-universe as well (if you're playing in that universe you'll need to decide whether the film or TV series is canon, because they diverge significantly). If that's the case, PC vampires may be an option, but that's something for you to explore on your own. 

Isn't Kill Bill Mia's Pilot?

There's a fan theory that Kill Bill is the failed pilot Mia says she was involved with in Pulp Fiction. I don't subscribe to this theory. It relies upon the fact that the characters fit Mia's description; unfortunately it completely falls apart unless you really squint and turn your head left just enough while looking at it. 

First of all, Mia's pilot was about Fox Force Five, not the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. They were secret agents, not assassins. In Fox Force Five, Mia's character was the expert with knives, while in Kill Bill it was Vernita Green who was the knife expert, not Beatrix. Finally, Fox Force Five was a squad of all women. Deadly Viper had Budd as a member. I think it's clear that the genesis of the idea for Kill Bill was rolled up one way or another in the Fox Force Five description, but the two are very clearly separate and distinct entities. It's best to treat them as such. 

That's the Basics!

That's basically it--the campaign setting requires no book or guide. Just watch all the movies and shows listed in this blog. If you feel the need for extra research, read the crime novels of Elmore Leonard, one of Tarantino's biggest influences. Learn the tropes of Spaghetti Westerns, of crime and gangster movies (both classic and modern, from The Untouchables to New Jack City), and look into the alt history genre. This is a universe and sub-universe where just about anything is possible so long as it's gritty and grounded.