I Know Which Show I'll Be Playing First With Toon

Since Toon has just wrapped up, I'm wondering: Has everyone else decided which show they're most excited to be playing? I think I have. Please don't get upset that I chose an anime!

I think One Piece works perfectly in the spirit of Toon. Almost no one has died in the over 1,100 episodes. Usually they just fall down and get back up a few minutes later. (OK, sometimes a few days . . . ) Everyone has a schtick. The species are a bit limited, but there are fish men, mermaids, and notable animal sidekicks throughout the show. There's even a sentient storm cloud the Animator might give the OK for you to play. 

But what about gaining experience? Haven't the crew "leveled up" significantly throughout the show? Well, yes, but wherever they go, the next group of adversaries they encounter is just as powerful as they are. The baseline always remains the same. So for the sake of gameplay, the characters don't really need to gain stat points like they would in a traditional RPG. But they do occasionally gain new Schticks, or find new ways to use the ones they have. That's very Toon.

But most importantly (One Piece fans saw where this was going), One Piece is funny. The crew are constantly humiliating themselves in various ways that could be great roleplaying opportunities in a Toon campaign. Luffy never manages to take down the bad guy without first falling off a building, getting lost in a tunnel, and/or forgetting what he was doing because he found something to eat. But you don't even have to play as known characters. You can make up your own pirate ship full of weirdos with their own hilarious quirks.

If you think I'm on to something here, I say start that One Piece Campaign running. After all, despite being one of the biggest animes of all time, there is currently no official pen and paper RPG for it!

-- Ben Williams