By The Intrepid in Lasers & Feelings — 02 Oct 2025

Rhythm & Blues: A Blues Brothers RPG

We're on a mission from God.
Based on Lasers & Feelings by John Harper

THE HACK: RHYTHM ↔ BLUES

You are trickster saints on a divine mission. Your tools are music, chaos, and unshakeable faith. Your enemies are authority, racists, and anyone who'd silence the song.

Your Number

Choose a number from 2-5. This is your place on the Rhythm ↔ Blues spectrum:

Rhythm (2-3): Planning, persuasion, criminal competence, staying cool under pressure
Blues (4-5): Passion, chaos, divine madness, miraculous improvisation

Rolling the Dice

Roll a d6:

Roll under your number: Rhythm succeeds (calculated, smooth)
Roll over your number: Blues succeeds (chaotic, inspired)
Roll exactly your number: Success + earn 1 Spectacle Point

Spectacle Points

Spend SP to escalate the scene toward Looney Tunes absurdity:

Add 10 more cop cars to the chase
Turn a song into reality-bending magic
Introduce Carrie Fisher with heavy ordnance
Declare a miraculous coincidence
Chain together impossible stunts that somehow work

The goal isn't to avoid chaos—it's to compose it into the biggest possible gag.

Spectacle Economy: Scenes naturally climax when 5-7 SP have been spent total. At that point, cut to the aftermath—the dust settling, the sirens fading, the next complication arriving. Don't let scenes drag on past their peak absurdity.

PICK YOUR ARCHETYPE

FRONTMAN (Jake-like) Rhythm-leaning schemer and silver tongue

Goal: Keep the band together through charm and cons
Drive: "We can talk our way out of anything"

MYSTIC (Elwood-like) Blues-leaning deadpan prophet

Goal: Trust the mission and divine timing
Drive: "It's all part of the plan"

PREACHER Blues-leaning fiery visionary

Goal: Inspire through music and righteous fury
Drive: "The music is the message"

DRIVER Rhythm-leaning stoic miracle worker

Goal: Get everyone there in one piece (somehow)
Drive: "We're not stopping for anything"

FIXER Rhythm-leaning hustler and problem solver

Goal: Handle the logistics nobody else thinks about
Drive: "I know a guy who knows a guy"

HOTHEAD Blues-leaning explosive wildcard

Goal: Escalate everything into beautiful chaos
Drive: "Sometimes you gotta break things to fix them"

THE FURY Rhythm-leaning relentless pursuer

Goal: Make them pay for past wrongs
Drive: "You can run, but you can't hide from what you did"

THE MISSION STRUCTURE

Act I: The Call (1 session)

The divine message arrives. Define:

What needs saving? (orphanage, community center, sacred site)
What's the deadline? (tax bill, demolition, final show)
Who's hunting you? (cops, ex-partners, angry spouses)

Act II: The Gathering (1-2 sessions)

Get the band back together. Each member is:

In a different predicament
Needs convincing to rejoin
Brings new complications when they do

Remember: the band is the real treasure. Saving the orphanage is the excuse—rebuilding community is the mission.

Do the gigs. Each performance:

Raises funds for the mission
Escalates into a set-piece
Attracts new enemies

Music as Sacred Power: Whenever you perform, you may spend SP to transform the scene into a miraculous event—furniture dances, enemies are moved to tears, the building itself seems to sway in rhythm.

Act III: The Convergence (1 session)

All pursuers converge for maximum spectacle. Success isn't measured by survival—it's measured by how absurdly big the finale becomes while still accomplishing the mission.

Victory Condition: Mission accomplished, consequences accepted with grace.

The Endgame Paradox: At the finale, authority always catches you. That's not failure—the true victory is that the mission succeeded before they did. The System gets your bodies, but you've already won the only war that matters.

Authority as Buffoon

The world is full of cops, bureaucrats, Nazis, and petty officials who exist to be humiliated by cartoon physics. They're not evil masterminds—they're Elmer Fudd with badges. When authority shows up, it's to be outrun, outwitted, or buried under an avalanche of their own making.

The Holy Vehicle

Every mission needs its miracle machine—the Bluesmobile, the monastery's ox cart, the smuggler's ship. It's not just transport; it's a vessel of faith that does impossible things because the mission demands it. When physics says "no," the holy vehicle says "watch this."

The Recurring Fury

Someone from the past won't let go. An ex-partner, betrayed colleague, or jilted lover who escalates alongside your mission. They're not evil—they're righteous in their anger. Use them to punctuate quiet moments with sudden violence, always at the worst possible time. The Fury makes everything personal.

THE PANTHEON

Every mission needs its saints. These are the gravitational centers that legitimize your chaos:

THE PROPHET Delivers the call to action Divine authority figure who sets the quest in motion

THE KEEPER OF RESPECT Guards what must be earned Won't give up their piece until you prove worthy

THE MERCHANT OF MIRACLES Provides tools and wisdom Supplies what you need while teaching how power works

THE BRIDGE Connects past to present Embodies the tradition that gives meaning to the mission

Note: In play, these figures are untouchable. The chaos happens around them, never to them.

Pantheon as Gravity Wells: When the Pantheon shows up in play, the chaos bends toward them. They don't participate in the spectacle—they anchor it, giving it meaning and weight. Players instinctively straighten up, speak more respectfully, and let the music/wisdom flow through them rather than trying to control it.

HOW TO PLAY IT STRAIGHT

The comedy lands when the characters never break. Jake and Elwood don't think they're funny—they're deadly serious about their divine mission. The absurdity comes from the contrast between their deadpan certainty and the escalating chaos around them.

Player Advice:

Never acknowledge the spectacle as weird
Respond to rocket launchers and car pile-ups with mild inconvenience
Treat the mission as the only thing that matters
Let the situation be ridiculous; keep your character sincere

GM Advice:

Make authority figures pompous before they're defeated
Let Spectacle Points create impossible coincidences
The Pantheon never looks foolish; the chaos bends around them
End scenes on deadpan one-liners, not punchlines

SAMPLE FIRST SESSION: "GETTING THE BAND BACK TOGETHER"

Opening Scene: The Call

The Preacher (James Brown equivalent) delivers the mission. Players define what needs saving and why it matters. Each player introduces their character and picks their number on the Rhythm ↔ Blues spectrum.

Scene 1: The First Recruit

Find the bass player working at a gas station / teaching at a music school / playing wedding gigs. They're reluctant—life is stable now.

Rhythm approach: Logical persuasion, promise of good money
Blues approach: Appeal to the old days, the music, the mission
Complication: Their significant other/boss/students don't want them to leave
Spectacle opportunity: Turn the recruitment into an impromptu musical number

Scene 2: The First Gig

A simple venue: church social, dive bar, wedding reception. Just trying to raise some money and shake off the rust.

Rhythm approach: Professional performance, crowd management
Blues approach: Let the music take over, inspire transcendence
Complication: Wrong crowd, equipment problems, or unwanted attention
Spectacle escalation: Someone spends SP to turn it into a dancing riot / religious experience / impromptu block party

Scene 3: The First Pursuit

Your past catches up. Ex-spouse with a shotgun, cops who remember old warrants, angry club owner who got stiffed.

Chase scene: Each player describes how their approach (Rhythm or Blues) helps escape
Spectacle cascade: Each SP spent makes the chase bigger and more absurd
Resolution: You get away, but now you're on someone's radar

Session End

You've got one band member, enough money for gas, and one group actively hunting you. The mission continues next session, but the stakes just got higher.

Spectacle Level Check: If players spent 3+ SP total, the local news covers the "mysterious musical incident." If 5+, it goes viral. If 7+, the feds take notice.

HOLY FOOLS: ALTERNATIVE SETTINGS

The core structure works beyond 1980 Chicago. Here are some generic frameworks:

MEDIEVAL PILGRIMS

Mission: Deliver a sacred relic to save a monastery
Pantheon: Mystic saints, wise abbots, miracle-working hermits
Chaos: Bumbling through noble courts, escaping bandits, accidentally starting peasant revolts
Spectacle: Cart chases, collapsing bridges, divine interventions

SPACE SMUGGLERS

Mission: Transport refugees to safety before the sector purge
Pantheon: Alien prophets, ancient AIs, station masters with hearts of gold
Chaos: Asteroid chases, customs officials, angry crime syndicates
Spectacle: Fleet battles, hyperspace mishaps, space cantina brawls

PUNK MESSENGERS

Mission: Get the word out before the corporate takeover
Pantheon: Underground DJs, veteran activists, keeper of the pirate signal
Chaos: Security forces, rival crews, system crashes
Spectacle: Motorcycle chases through server farms, hacking reality, music that breaks barriers

WANDERING MONKS

Mission: Preserve the old teachings in a world forgetting wisdom
Pantheon: Elder masters, keeper of forbidden scrolls, spirit of the mountain
Chaos: Imperial bureaucrats, bandit lords, philosophical rivals
Spectacle: Kung fu car chases with ox carts, meditation that stops time, wisdom that moves mountains

The pattern holds: sacred mission, earthly chaos, music/wisdom as divine authority, trickster protagonists who bend the world through faith and spectacle.

Note: These are variations on the trickster-saint myth, not equal swaps. The Blues Brothers' cultural specificity—that bizarre Trojan horse of R&B education wrapped in slapstick—is what gives it power. Use these alternatives to explore the mythic pattern, but know that Jake and Elwood's particular magic comes from their specific time and place.

AN ANALYSIS: THE FOREIGN COUNTRY

"The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there."

What We Saw Then (1980)

A screwball comedy about two ex-cons in matching suits trying to save an orphanage. What made it special:

Black musicians as gods, not cameos. James Brown didn't just appear—he delivered divine revelation. Aretha Franklin wasn't background music—she was the embodiment of earned respect.
Chaos that served, never mocked, the music. The car crashes were cartoon physics. The gospel was treated as literal truth.
A Trojan horse of cultural education. White suburban kids discovered R&B legends through slapstick, but the music was never the joke.

What We See Now (2025)

The same film, but the soil has changed pH. New questions have taken root:

Who profits from cultural transmission? Even respectful bridging still centers white protagonists in Black musical traditions.
What does representation really mean? Giving legends screen time isn't the same as giving them agency in the narrative.
How do power dynamics work in "harmless" entertainment? Good intentions don't automatically negate structural inequalities.

A Fanzine Position

Both perspectives contain truth. The Blues Brothers was progressive for its time in ways that might read as insufficient by today's standards. That's not hypocrisy—that's how culture evolves.

What endures: The mythic structure. Trickster saints on divine missions. Music as sacred authority. Chaos that serves higher purpose. Individual agency mattering even when the system "wins."

What we carry forward: The joy of transformation through play. Taking something apart to see how it works, then rebuilding it as a game. Cultural criticism through enthusiastic engagement rather than distant analysis.

Sometimes the most honest response to a complex cultural artifact is to play with it—to see what mechanics make it tick, what stories it wants to tell, what kind of fun it enables at the table.

That's the fanzine impulse: turn love into craft, nostalgia into game design, analysis into adventure.

We're on a mission from God. The mission is joy.

CREDITS

Original Film: John Landis (Director), Dan Aykroyd & John Belushi (The Blues Brothers)

Lasers & Feelings: John Harper

This Hack: Assembled by holy fools who believe music is sacred and chaos is divine

The Grey Ledger Society + CGCG Helix = CC BY-SA 4.0

"We're putting the band back together."