Outsourcing: Justified

As a side effect of being the chronic DM of the groups I travel between, I find myself constantly trying to "outsource" material to include in my games. I don't want to make it sound like my games become episode of the week, but I think that DMs do benefit from an incredible library to pull from in the form of popular entertainment.

This week i'd like to take a look at FX's new series Justified. I think this has a lot of interesting potential for a modern game of any genre.

Setting: If you're setting is/requires a rural locale, these episodes give you a great close-up of the scenery. From seedy motels with buzzing, flickering neon and tacky carpet to Boyd's church on the edge of town with rotting boards and cobbled together interiors, a few lifted details from one of these episodes can intensify any description.

Characters: The show is still developing a lot of the secondary characters, but Waylan or Boyd could both be dropped into any campaign as ready made villains/antiheroes. Need a stone-cold killer or iron-handed peacekeeper? Just watch a single 'showdown' scene with Waylan (the opening of the pilot is a great example for persons not wanting to invest in the series). Boyd could easily serve as a psychopathic killer. Obviously you can magnify these traits or combine them with another element of your setting to suit your needs - I'm personally thinking of Boyd as a backwater preacher serving the Old Ones, gifted once or twice in their graces.

Theme: Instead of listing all the episodes and how you can pull out their story elements, i'll try and keep this brief - Long in the Tooth [s1e4] shows how to pace a chase session. You could put your PCs on either side - fugitives trying to escape detection from the authorities or law enforcement hunting a rabbit heading down the hole.

Hope this helps. I'll start to flesh out more of these in the future for you.