Friday, January 17, 2014

Lit to Legit: The Hunger Games



By Frank Gori                                                                                                                                                       
“Destroying things is much easier than making them.”  ― Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games.

     If I had not already read the books, I might have had a knee-jerk hate-vomit reaction to Then Hunger Games based on the marketing. It is a forgivable reaction to the way the movie was shot and marketed, and I had some apprehension about using it as this week’s theme. Based on our page views and reddit reactions I was a little right in that we got a somewhat negative reaction.
For better or worse Collin’s work has been caught in the wake of Twilight’s tidal wave of success. In my opinion the movie suffered for that somewhat. Drawing comparisons between the two (having read the books and seen the movies because some gamers do indeed have lady-friends) is still quite unjust. In one we have a strong female protagonist complete with description and flaws, the other is an empty shell trying to fill her life with a supposedly perfect male figure that fits the criteria for an abuser.

     The plot of Twilight can be summed up by saying that relationships can work as long as one person completely bases their entire existence to suiting the needs of another. The Hunger Games has much more depth. Frankly, The Hunger Games draws more parallels to The Running Man and “V” is for Vendetta. If that sounds awesome to you pick up the books.

     There are plenty of great themes to explore in The Hunger Games: coming of age, the cost of fame, the tradeoff of freedom for security, the role of perceptions to one’s reality, or my favorite the ultimate underdog prevails through straight out stubborn persistence. I’m not talking about Katniss Everdean, I’m talking about Peeta Mallark.

     If you think the male protagonist isn’t as much of an underdog as the female, you might be a sexist. Katniss is an amazing archer with essentially the skills of a ranger going in; Peeta is an expert baker with decent strength, intelligence, and charisma scores.  
Peeta is also an excellent model of taking a so-so character class with good scores and making it work with creative play. He uses Bluff and Diplomacy to ingratiate himself to a gang of higher CR characters in the early part of the game. He uses his Int and Cha on the audience to create a sympathetic dialogue to win support form an audience that saves his life later with sponsored healing potions. He uses his Profession (Cake decorator) skill to greatly enhance his stealth score to avoid danger when he gets injured. This helps him survive for days.
I could go on but read the darn books, now here’s your crunch:

Haymitch’s Medicated Burn Crème- This works as a regular light healing potion for most injuries, but acts as a moderate healing potion if the wounds suffered are from acid or fire damage.
Price: 150 GP

Peeta’s Paint kit-
This kit has water resistant makeup that is enchanted to work with unskilled users. Painting exposed skin adds a bonus of 2d6 to wearers stealth roll. There are 5 doses per kit, if the user has an appropriate art skill the kit can produce 10 charges. The makeup remains effective for up to 24hrs for the unskilled, up to 24hrs per character level for the skilled. Washing it off negates the duration.
Price: 500gp

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