Friday, April 18, 2014

Getting Gigs in High Strung

Gigs in High Strung are how the game is paced. Each gig is the center of the adventure, and performing well at a gig means a likelihood of more gigs in the future.

When you create the city your band plays in and around, before starting play, you roll randomly for the number of clubs that want live original music. The more clubs, the more gigs you can possibly get. Small Cities like Syracuse have 1-4 such clubs, while Large Cities like Boston or San Francisco have 2-7, and Megalopolises like New York or Toronto have 3-10. Each club also has a randomly rolled Importance rating - a measure of how important this gig is to the band's reputation. 5 of 11 clubs are of Local Importance, 3 of 11 are of Metropolitan Importance, 2 of 11 are of Regional Importance, and one of 11 are of National Importance.

Of course, the more important the club is, the harder it is to get a gig there! The band's reputation comes into play here, as does the band's Agent. The number of dice the band rolls varies by the band's rep - 3 dice for a Fledgeling band, 4 for Struggling, 5 for Aspiring, 6 for Up And Coming, and 7 for Sizzling. You need 3 successes - at or under your Target Number - to get a gig at that club. Of course, the TN varies by the importance of the club - Local needs 15, Metropolitan needs 13, Regional needs 9, and National needs 5. Agents have "ins" with various clubs, which can get you bonuses on the TNs.

All bands start out at Fledgeling, unless half the members are over 25, in which case some of the older members' reps with previous bands carry over and the band starts out at Struggling. The band can increase their rep by accumulating Notice in several ways: Successful Gigs - with more Notice from more important clubs, Important Songs, Schmoozing at parties with Important People, and Demo Tapes. There are also ways to lose Notice. Notice is an abstract representation of word of mouth, press pieces, gig attendance, and radio play for your Demo Tapes. GMs, let the band know how they are doing by giving feedback by this method. For example, hearing your band's Demo Tape played over the radio, or seeing a gig reviewed in the paper is a huge thing.

Next - Performing at a gig!

6 comments:

  1. Can a band create a scandal to gain Notice ?

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  2. Not one I have come up with yet, but I don't see why not! It's on the list! :D

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  3. For your gigs, does that include the Pot Belly's live entertainment nights?

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  4. If you want it to, sure, Bonni! :D

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  5. Cool. I could see having to do Pot Belly's or other chain restaurants as a down and out, group. It's their last shot to gain some rep or something before living on the streets. For anybody who reads this that DOES play in those places, I don't mean to offend. Good for you that you can play in places and get your craft out for people to hear you.

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  6. Anything that keeps hope alive is worth doing.

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