The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: 1976 & 1979

How have I never put this up? I wrote it up in 2014, inspired by a couple of homages to the excellent League of Extraordinary Gentlemen comic by Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill.
(Not the movie. Never the movie. Which was never made.)

Like my own efforts, the spoof 1988 and 1996 incarnations of the LoEG consisted of characters from US movies, rather than Moore and O'Neill's more literary source material:
http://comicsalliance.com/top-shelf-announces-league-of-extraordinary-gentlemen-1988/
http://comicsalliance.com/the-league-of-extraordinary-gentlepersons-1996-art-parody/

Subsequent to my writing the pitches below, some of the characters I used cropped up in the ongoing comic series (see Nemo: River of Ghosts), so I guess I was in the right groove.

If anyone fancies their ability to draw decent team shots of either group, please do get in contact and save me several hours swearing at Photoshop.

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: 1976

Gathered by the rumpled man in the hat calling himself K, a new League is assembled to face a satanic threat to America and the World:

• Teenage demonic possession survivor Regan MacNeil

• Fearless marine biologist Matt Hooper

• Driven narcotics cop Popeye Doyle

• Haunted outdoorsman Lewis Medlock

• Taciturn martial artist Lee

Together they overcome Texan cannibals, murderous trucks and rampaging grizzlies before finally storming the Bramford, an unassuming New York apartment building where they must face the ultimate evil: the child Damian Thorn and his resurrected consort Carrie White.

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: 1979

Recruited, blackmailed and in one case literally rewired by shadowy New York businessman M, a new League is tasked with putting a stop to a sinister force intent on uniting all the city's street gangs under one charismatic leader. They are:

• Resourceful babysitter Laurie Strode

• Never say die debt collector Rocky Balboa

• Historian and runner Babe Levy

• Nurse turned avenging angel Coffy

• Quiet taxi driver Travis Bickle

• The silent, black-clad Gunslinger

They must run a deadly gauntlet through the turf of the Gramercy Riffs, not-so tranquil Crystal Lake, past Illinois Nazis and finally to sleepy Stepford, where visionary youth leader Jack Curry and his mentor Dr Christian Szell are busy creating the perfect society.

Suze's Do - Act Two

Here's Act Two of my Choose Your Own Dinner Party gamebook (see Act One here), in which sloe gin may or may not be drunk, past lives may or may not be revisited and the Burgess shale shelf may or may not be discussed.

Click Pop out on the preview below and then download the PDF so you can make use of the handy go to links at the bottom of each section.

As with all trad gamebooks, you'll need a pencil and paper to keep track of a few numbers and codewords. Make sure you have played Act One first.

Suze's Do - Act One

Hello. This is the first part of a Choose Your Own Dinner Party that I have written. If you are familiar with Choose Your Own Adventure books, Fighting Fantasy books or any of the other so-called gamebooks that followed them into the 80s and 90s, then the structure will be familiar to you.

Loyal pouchwatchers may also recall my earlier effort The Fright Before Christmas, which I wrote for the 7TV game a few years ago. There's also the thrilling half-orc detective adventure Murder Run which I will endeavour to post to the Pouch shortly.

Unlike traditional gamebooks, Suze's Do draws on a very different genre for its source material, that of the 70s Mike Leigh drama. Classics like Nuts in May and (of course) Abigail's Party. Not an obvious choice for a Choose Your Own I know, but I think it has legs as a play with many branching plotlines, though I pity the drama group that attempts to put it on the stage.

Please do have a go at this first act of the book. Click Pop out on the preview below and then download the PDF so you can make use of the handy go to links at the bottom of each section.

As with all trad gamebooks, you'll need a pencil and paper to keep track of a few numbers and codewords, but it's nothing too onerous. You may be relieved to know that there is no die-rolling in this; I prefer to let players stand or fall according to their own decisions rather than blame the capricious D6.

Disclaimer time: I should probably also mention that the tone is intentionally comic / darkly comic / dark, depending on the choices you make. Themes and subject are meant to homage both the source material and the period in which it is set. The author does not endorse the views of the characters. Apart from the bit about caravanning holidays.

Finally, I had specific actors from the 70s in mind for each of the characters in this story. See if you can work out who's who. One actor is actually the template for two different characters.

Fear not; the rest of the book is written and ready to go. If there is sufficient interest in Act One, we'll see about publishing the entire thing.

Enjoy.

Act Two is here.