Band Name Game Rules
History:
Back when GooGWuh and I moved in together, 1000 miles away from our families and friends, we had a lot of time sitting around staring at each other. We were broke; we were mildly anti-social; we had tons of crap that either she or I wanted to do, but not both of us.
I was sitting, pondering how I wound up with a quarter-ton of gaming equipment but a non-gaming fiancee. And I thought about Mad Libs (which we both did like playing) and I thought about multi-sided dice (in which CooGWuh had no interest) and I thought about band names.
The demented gremlins in my brain outlined some quick rules, and I jotted them down.
CooGWuh and I passed many hours with the Band Name Game. WryGuy liked the Band Name Game. My brother Shell likes the Band Name Game. Tempest was amused by the rules for the Band Name Game, which I threw at her when she was having problems titling her NaNoWriMo project.
So, hoping that people will enjoy the game once they try it (since I can't figure out a way to incorporate these rules into something marketable), I present them in this forum.
Required Materials:
Writing implements.
Lined writing paper.
Scraps of paper.
One six-sided die. (D6)
Three twenty-sided dice. (D20)
Basic mathematical comprehension of what an average is.
How to Win:
This isn't really a winning thing. This is a non-competitive time-killer for people who like each other and are broke.
Instructions for Set-up:
01) Take one writing instrument.
02) On one sheet of lined paper, draw a vertical line down the middle of the page, forming two divisions.
03) Title the left-hand division "Adjectives".
04) Title the right-hand division "Nouns."
05) Along the left margin of the paper, number each line from 1 to 20.
06) At the bottom, write the following table, titled Name Structure:
1: Noun
2: Noun Noun
3 or 4: Adjective Noun
5: Adjective Adjective Noun
6: Adjective Noun Noun
07) Pass the first sheet around to the other players, telling them to fill in their share of adjectives and nouns on the sheet. (If you have 4 players, everybody puts in 5 adjectives, 5 nouns. Fudge it a bit when the number of players is not an integer factor of 20.)
07) On another sheet of paper, write the title "Creation".
08) On that second sheet of paper, write the name of each player in turn, proceeding from your left, down the left margin. Circle through the players' named five or six times. You want everyone to have a few chances to come up with something decent, but you don't want more than twenty-five entries.
09) On the right of the second sheet of paper, make separate columns for each player, and a column for the average score.
10) On a third sheet of paper, write the title "Final Voting".
11) Along the left margin of the third sheet of paper, number each line from 1 to 6.
12) On the right of the third sheet of paper, make separate columns for each player, and a column for the average score.
13) Take a deep breath.
14) Make sure you've got back the first sheet of paper, and that twenty adjectives and nouns are there. You might need to have some discussions about what adjectives and nouns actually are. Announcer can veto any adjective or noun, and ask the player to choose another.
15) Take another deep breath.
16) Your group is ready to start play. You are the Announcer, and you are going to write down the various names rolled up, and administer the voting sessions afterwards.
Instructions for Play:
Creation Phase:
01) Play starts with th player to the left of the Announcer.
02) The player rolls the D6.
03) The Announcer looks up the value rolled on the table at the bottom of the first sheety of paper, and reads the Name Structure out loud. ("Okay, 4, that's Adjective Noun")
04) The player takes the appropriate number of D20s for that Name Structure, and rolls them.
05) The Announcer looks up the numbers rolled, writes down the name on the Creation Sheet, and reads it out to the group in a suitably Announcer-type voice. Ad-libbing other info is encouraged. ("Hey, kids, climbing up the charts to the number 5 spot, the hot new group from Tallahassee, Florida, Hanging Chad, with their single, 'Not Quite What I Intended.' " ) Other players can ad-lib this info, too. ("Loose Briefs." "With their song, 'Way Too Breezy'.") Write the extra info down, or not, depending on how much it amuses you.
06) Turn passes to the next player clockwise. Play proceeds until the Announcer has filled all the entry lines on the Creation Sheet.
First Voting Phase:
1) The Announcer reads the first name created.
2) Each player tells the Announcer a number from one to ten, indicating how much the player likes that band name. 10 is the absolute worst, 5 is half-good, 1 is so mind-scramblingly incredible that you can get groupies just by saying the name in public. ("I dunno. I gotta say "Inflamed Tissue" is about a 5 for me." "Are you kidding, that's a 3, at least!")
3) The Announcer writes the score from each player into that player's column, then averages those scores for that band name and writes the average in the average column.
4) As a further aid for the Final Voting, the Announcer should circle any average that get a 3, 2, or 1.
5) Averages can be expressed to decimal places, if necessary.
6) Voting continues until each band name has been assigned an average score.
Second Voting Phase:
1) The Announcer writes down the five top-scoring names on the Final Voting Sheet. (In case of ties, you can write down six names.) This is where the circled 3s, 2s, 1s, can be useful.
2) The Announcer asks the players to rank the names on scraps of paper, The name they like best gets a 1. The name they like next best gets a 2. The name they hate the most gets a 5.
3) The players hand in the scraps.
4) The Announcer writes down the scores, and averages them.
5) The Announcer can announce the final results in any amusing way - a top 5 countdown, a battle of the bands applause meter, whatever.
What About Verbs?
Some of you may be asking why there's no column for verbs.
Answer: Because I'm lazy.
I wanted a quick game, with rules easy to remember.
However, I do point out that in English, a lot of verbs in the present tense also get used as nouns:
I'm going for a run.
Well, that's a real kick.
Here, have some punch.
Also, many verbs with -ing or -ed endings get used as adjectives:
Did you see that running man?
I can't believe it was in that deleted file.
I am totally slammed right now.
So, I think players can easily make adjectives and nouns out of verbs.
Back when GooGWuh and I moved in together, 1000 miles away from our families and friends, we had a lot of time sitting around staring at each other. We were broke; we were mildly anti-social; we had tons of crap that either she or I wanted to do, but not both of us.
I was sitting, pondering how I wound up with a quarter-ton of gaming equipment but a non-gaming fiancee. And I thought about Mad Libs (which we both did like playing) and I thought about multi-sided dice (in which CooGWuh had no interest) and I thought about band names.
The demented gremlins in my brain outlined some quick rules, and I jotted them down.
CooGWuh and I passed many hours with the Band Name Game. WryGuy liked the Band Name Game. My brother Shell likes the Band Name Game. Tempest was amused by the rules for the Band Name Game, which I threw at her when she was having problems titling her NaNoWriMo project.
So, hoping that people will enjoy the game once they try it (since I can't figure out a way to incorporate these rules into something marketable), I present them in this forum.
Required Materials:
Writing implements.
Lined writing paper.
Scraps of paper.
One six-sided die. (D6)
Three twenty-sided dice. (D20)
Basic mathematical comprehension of what an average is.
How to Win:
This isn't really a winning thing. This is a non-competitive time-killer for people who like each other and are broke.
Instructions for Set-up:
01) Take one writing instrument.
02) On one sheet of lined paper, draw a vertical line down the middle of the page, forming two divisions.
03) Title the left-hand division "Adjectives".
04) Title the right-hand division "Nouns."
05) Along the left margin of the paper, number each line from 1 to 20.
06) At the bottom, write the following table, titled Name Structure:
1: Noun
2: Noun Noun
3 or 4: Adjective Noun
5: Adjective Adjective Noun
6: Adjective Noun Noun
07) Pass the first sheet around to the other players, telling them to fill in their share of adjectives and nouns on the sheet. (If you have 4 players, everybody puts in 5 adjectives, 5 nouns. Fudge it a bit when the number of players is not an integer factor of 20.)
07) On another sheet of paper, write the title "Creation".
08) On that second sheet of paper, write the name of each player in turn, proceeding from your left, down the left margin. Circle through the players' named five or six times. You want everyone to have a few chances to come up with something decent, but you don't want more than twenty-five entries.
09) On the right of the second sheet of paper, make separate columns for each player, and a column for the average score.
10) On a third sheet of paper, write the title "Final Voting".
11) Along the left margin of the third sheet of paper, number each line from 1 to 6.
12) On the right of the third sheet of paper, make separate columns for each player, and a column for the average score.
13) Take a deep breath.
14) Make sure you've got back the first sheet of paper, and that twenty adjectives and nouns are there. You might need to have some discussions about what adjectives and nouns actually are. Announcer can veto any adjective or noun, and ask the player to choose another.
15) Take another deep breath.
16) Your group is ready to start play. You are the Announcer, and you are going to write down the various names rolled up, and administer the voting sessions afterwards.
Instructions for Play:
Creation Phase:
01) Play starts with th player to the left of the Announcer.
02) The player rolls the D6.
03) The Announcer looks up the value rolled on the table at the bottom of the first sheety of paper, and reads the Name Structure out loud. ("Okay, 4, that's Adjective Noun")
04) The player takes the appropriate number of D20s for that Name Structure, and rolls them.
05) The Announcer looks up the numbers rolled, writes down the name on the Creation Sheet, and reads it out to the group in a suitably Announcer-type voice. Ad-libbing other info is encouraged. ("Hey, kids, climbing up the charts to the number 5 spot, the hot new group from Tallahassee, Florida, Hanging Chad, with their single, 'Not Quite What I Intended.' " ) Other players can ad-lib this info, too. ("Loose Briefs." "With their song, 'Way Too Breezy'.") Write the extra info down, or not, depending on how much it amuses you.
06) Turn passes to the next player clockwise. Play proceeds until the Announcer has filled all the entry lines on the Creation Sheet.
First Voting Phase:
1) The Announcer reads the first name created.
2) Each player tells the Announcer a number from one to ten, indicating how much the player likes that band name. 10 is the absolute worst, 5 is half-good, 1 is so mind-scramblingly incredible that you can get groupies just by saying the name in public. ("I dunno. I gotta say "Inflamed Tissue" is about a 5 for me." "Are you kidding, that's a 3, at least!")
3) The Announcer writes the score from each player into that player's column, then averages those scores for that band name and writes the average in the average column.
4) As a further aid for the Final Voting, the Announcer should circle any average that get a 3, 2, or 1.
5) Averages can be expressed to decimal places, if necessary.
6) Voting continues until each band name has been assigned an average score.
Second Voting Phase:
1) The Announcer writes down the five top-scoring names on the Final Voting Sheet. (In case of ties, you can write down six names.) This is where the circled 3s, 2s, 1s, can be useful.
2) The Announcer asks the players to rank the names on scraps of paper, The name they like best gets a 1. The name they like next best gets a 2. The name they hate the most gets a 5.
3) The players hand in the scraps.
4) The Announcer writes down the scores, and averages them.
5) The Announcer can announce the final results in any amusing way - a top 5 countdown, a battle of the bands applause meter, whatever.
What About Verbs?
Some of you may be asking why there's no column for verbs.
Answer: Because I'm lazy.
I wanted a quick game, with rules easy to remember.
However, I do point out that in English, a lot of verbs in the present tense also get used as nouns:
I'm going for a run.
Well, that's a real kick.
Here, have some punch.
Also, many verbs with -ing or -ed endings get used as adjectives:
Did you see that running man?
I can't believe it was in that deleted file.
I am totally slammed right now.
So, I think players can easily make adjectives and nouns out of verbs.
posted by Useless Information Man at 22:30
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