Monsieur Beauregard’s Hollywood Speakeasy
Monsieur Beauregard’s Hollywood Speakeasyis an ELGL event taking place at WyrdCon on Friday, June 11 from 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm in the Presidential Suite.
GMs: Ray Lavoie and Richard Becker
Monsieur Beauregard’s is rated 18+ for adult themes and mature humor. Alcohol will be available – proof of legal drinking age will be required to be served alcohol.
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General Information
The game takes place at M. Beauregard’s, an imaginary speakeasy in the Los Angeles of 1928. Its proprietor, the eponymous M. Beauregard (either of two brothers, actually) is a large and cheerful fellow from New Orleans who maintains a policy of offering hospitality to all comers. As a consequence, his establishment has evolved into an informal meeting place for those individuals who might otherwise not feel comfortable meeting each other elsewhere, be they rival politicians, studio heads, or even mob bosses. This eclectic clientele of movers and shakers in turn attracts the cream (and the dregs) of Los Angeles, as everybody who’s anybody will find there way at some time to M. Beauregard’s.
The game’s focus is on social and political intrigue. Characters will all have goals they wish to accomplish during the evening, scandalous secrets they wish to keep hidden, and information that will be of value to other characters to use as currency and leverage in attaining their goals.
Mechanics
The nature of this game requires very few mechanics. All players are ordinary people, and the management enforces a strict ban on weapons. Thus, players will rely mainly on their keen senses, sharp wits, and glib tongues (and perhaps notorious reputations!) to accomplish their goals. Thus, character actions map almost identically with player actions. If you wish to eavesdrop in a conversation,for example, simply move close enough to overhear. Players will be briefed on the extent and nature of the influence they, and their fellow players, wield, or are reputed to wield. You are free to make any sort of promise or threat you wish – it is up to the object of such blandishments to decide how much weight he will give to it. Players of more perceptive or well-connected characters will be better-informed in their briefings of the true extent of their fellow players to make good on various threats and promises. Can Gilda the Gossip ruin your reputation in town? Can Mick the Mobster have your kneecaps broken? Can Sal the Studio Head make you a star? It’s up to you to decide.
That having been said, there are three in-game conventions of which all players should be aware:
Name tags: To facilitate character interaction, each player will wear a nametag indicating their character’s name. Unknown characters may simply have a blank nametag, but well-known characters will be recognizeable by anyone, and these nametags will help faciltate that.
Red dots and green dots: Some characters will have a red or green dot attached to their nametag. A RED dot indicates a person who looks physically intimidating in some way – they may be big and strong, or they may just have that glint of sociopathic madness lurking behind their eyes. A gangster, an athlete, or a leading man who does his own stunts might have a red dot. A simple mnemonic: red means stop! A GREEN dot indicates a person with movie-star good looks – a particularly handsome leading man or gorgeous starlet might have a green dot. A simple mnemonic: green means go! va-va-voom!
Combat: Les freres Beauregard wish all their guests to enjoy a relaxing evening free of troublesome violence. As in any high-class nightclub, bouncers circulate discreetly through the crowd, ready to break up any fisticuffs. Nonetheless, even in an establishment where guns and knives are not allowed, tempers might still flare. Bar fights can still take place. If your character wishes physically to attack another player, a simply system of rock-paper-scissors modified by any advantage in physical ability will determine the result.
If a character wishes to attack another, he or she should utter some unmistakable fighting words (eg, “I’ll knock your block off, buster!”), make a fist, and brandish it clearly. The two players should then quickly do one round of rock-paper-scissors. If neither player (or both players) has a red dot on their nametag, they are equally matched. The winner of the rock-paper-scissors round connects with a solid blow or two before the combatants are separated by the staff. The loser should hold a napkin to the eye or nose for the next ten minutes to indicate they are recovering from being bruised. In the event of a tie, both players are mussed up and should indicate it with a napkin to the eye or nose for the next ten minutes.
If one player is physically superior (ie. possesses a red dot) and he wins the rock-paper-scissors, he knocks the loser down. The loser is dazed for a full minute, and then bruised as above for the next *fifteen* minutes. In the event of a tie, the red-dot character inflicts damage equal to a victory between equally matched opponents. A loss results in the same result as a tie between equally-matched opponents.
A player still recovering from losing a fight who is attacked a *second* time treats an otherwise equally matched opponent as if he were a red-dot opponent.
As you can see, the rules are very simple. It is my hope that this will encourage roleplaying, and prompt players to seek to meet their goals through interaction with other players. Please bear in mind, while you might not come to any serious harm while you are a guest of M. Beauregard, what happens after you leave might be very different indeed!
Characters
Players will be provided with pre-generated characters – they may play studio moguls, gangsters, movie stars, aspiring starlets or leading men, gossup columnists, spiritualists, any of the many eclectic types that populated Los Angeles in 1928. A list of possible characters may be found here.
Please note that to facilitate plots, some characters must be filled first. Preference will be given to pre-registered players; some roles have already been filled.
Background
Costuming should follow the styles of the 1920s. This clothing catalogue (http://www NULL.costumes NULL.org/history/100pages/1928CATA NULL.HTM)from 1928 will give you some idea of the look of the era. More generally, gentlemen should consider suits or a blazer and slacks. Ladies should consider flapper-style dresses. Althogh we appreciate efforts to wear suits and dresses of the appropriate cut, any suit is fine for gentlemen – a hat can do wonders to evoke an earlier era. For ladies, if a flapper-style dress is not possible, a blouse and skirt of about knee length would suit as well.
All necessary information about the plots will be provided in the charater write-ups. No knowledge of LA history from the 1920s is necessary to enjoy the game. However, some passing familiarity with LA History would certainly enhance roleplaying. You may find more information about various aspects of LA history that might help deepen your enjoyment of the game at the pages below: