Game Setup with Jump the Shark

 Jump the Shark is an interesting RPG where the players build a TV show that is long past its prime. It has excellent tables for choosing genre and story type, as well as main character development which then prompt the other players to make up a detail about the main character.

I've threw this at my middle schooler table to round out their party.

So far we had a Lion that is also a driver, a Scarecrow that is a healer / tinkerer, and a Witch that likes to burn things.

We began last session (yesterday evening) naming their characters. They became Canola, Sesame, and Perilla. We then rolled on the main character development table.

One character now has a tempestuous romantic relationship with a crow. The other players made the crow.

One character is now flat, meaning she can be counted upon to always be the same. She yells everything, and has a catch phrase, "Can I eat it?"

The last character always causes trouble simply because she is an angry nihilist. So the group was able to make a rival.

We then rolled on the genre and story type tables. I let them all roll a die, and we selected to genres. Our first story will be a comedy-horror sports team story.

The PCs are now highschool cheerleaders. Their team mascot is the Greased Lightning, and they will be having a homecoming game tonight (in game time). 

My idea for the game is to have a reoccuring location (a diner), and after each small story is completed, reroll the genres-story type, and have the PCs keep playing the same characters. So the rest of the setting, and world might change, but the PCs and this one diner will remain the same.

So far the students seem to like it. They made the server and the cook, picked out a window booth, and ordered waffles, french fries, soda, eggs, ham, and toast for breakfast. Their Rival, and the Crow from the tempestuous relationship were conspiring in the corner.

And that was all the time we had for yesterday's lesson. I think the students like this story. We'll see how it progresses on Thursday.