Pairing it Down: Farscape...What's in a name?

    

    By Kiel Howell

     

     Welcome back from Super Bowl madness, dear readers! If you watched it...I hope your team won. If you didn't, I hope no one berated you for not watching it (I did not watch). This week's focus here at the Flying Pincushion is Farscape. If you haven't checked out this wonderful show then you should really do yourself a favor and queue it up on Netflix...it's even on Instant Watch!

     I've decided pretty quickly that my topic is something near and dear to my heart: naming. Naming is an art and a science at the same time. A name can conjure up images of a rough and ready tumbler or a thin and wispy know-it-all. You can (usually) determine gender, ethnicity, or even if a character is human by the name. Weapons that have names generally indicate it is legendary or powerful. What's in a name but the first thing a reader sees. It sets the stage for everything to follow. Even as far up the ladder as the name of game, book, movie, or whatever it is you are looking at.

     So what makes Farscape bring up this topic? First, the name of the show. Far and scape mashed together. What do those words mean?  I think we all know what far means. Scape is the far more interesting part of the name. Scape has multiple definitions ranging from zoological, modern, botanical, biological, or archaic. The different types of meanings are interesting in and of themselves but we'll focus on the modern usage, that being "a scene or view". Quite literally, Farscape would be a far scene or a far view. This right here is a great choice of words for a name for this show. An earth astronaut who gets sucked through a wormhole to the far reaches of space. New locales, peoples, and technologies. And we, as the audience, are viewing this from the comfort of our living rooms (or beds or wherever you happen to watch). The various names in the show like Moya, Scorpius, and the Peacekeepers all have great meanings and portents of what they are.

     Let's come up with the name for something then shall we? This may sound like a bit of a no brainer but we need to decide what to name first. When we have something to name that can often give us the first step in naming it. I'd like to name something big...something like a story or campaign or even game system. Alright then, we're starting at the top of the pyramid.

     Which brings up another interesting point when it comes to design. There's 2 main approaches to designing something, whether it is a character, a city, a world, or an entire campaign or story.  There's the top down approach in which you come up with the generalities like name of a country and work down from there until you've built regions, cities, shops, people, and items. Then there's the reverse of that, the bottom up. You start specific—maybe a person—and work out from there until you've built a shop, city, region, or world.

     I personally prefer the top down method as once I have the overall established my mind spins stories off from there. Whichever method works for you is OK, as long as it works for you then it is the right way. Right then, so I want to figure out a name for a campaign system. Something that sparks imagination, is broad enough to have countless stories spun inside of it, yet specific enough to give a good idea of what it's about at first glance. I know I need to dial in my first instinct to be clever. There are countless clever people in the world but not everyone is clever in the same ways. I probably won't base this around ancient greek or some obscure language. I want some steampunk involved (because airships that's why) but I still want it to be fantasy. Magic and science side by side. Magitek would be great but that was already used in Final Fantasy VI (U.S. III) as the powers for the walking armor suits. It's got to roll off the tongue too so simply mashing words together doesn't always work like Magivention (magic and invention). You know, maybe I can steal from Magitek. Spelltech. Oooo, I kind of like that. It's got enough in the name to give me an idea of what it's about.

     Spelltech. I already can think of 10 different stories to tell involving spells, technology, and people. There's probably a dictatorship that's kidnapping the top of both scientific research and magic. There's probably a city that's devoted to one and a diametrically opposed forest state. Cyborgs. Airships. I could go on.

     I won't though, I leave it to you the reader to leave ideas in the comments for Spelltech or your own name for something. Until next time in which we explore Homer's The Odyssey.

Pairing It Down: Abandon All Hope

By Kiel Howell

     Hello and good day (or night) to you, dear reader! This week’s theme at the Flying Pincushion is Dante’s Inferno. Ah yes; an epic poem, movies, animes, and countless fictions inspired by this testament to man’s creativity. I am not generally a fan of verse, but Dante’s Inferno transcends time and medium. Shakespeare wishes he could write comedy like this (please feel free to berate me in the comments for that statement).

     Dante Alighieri had a real life worthy of the greatest stories told, but that is another topic for another day.

  
     So let’s get down to it, what shall we pair from this literary monument? When I think of Dante’s Inferno, I think of the inscription above the gates of Hell. Specifically, the last line. “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.” While I’m far from a literary scholar or a linguistics expert I can recognize the inherent...classicality of this line. There is so much aura dripping off of this phrase that I have to make a Will save (and fail) each time I read to avoid shuddering in glee. This same type of phraseology can and should be applied once in a great while (overuse will absolutely dilute it) on a spellcaster’s spellbook’s cover, the entrance to a lich’s crypt, or on a long forgotten relic.

     In fact, I would like to do just that...a long forgotten relic. That tickles my fancy for this. No magical properties, no secret powers, just a plain item that has an evocative inscription. No back-story excepting a knowledge check result. Leaving an evocative inscription and a snippet of knowledge leaves the players wanting more, creates ambiance, and gives the GM limitless possibilities for story.

     Let’s get to it then, what kind of relic would accomplish this lofty goal the best? Something religious. In game or out of game, religion has an effect on the psyche that no other thing does. So then, a religious relic, long forgotten. What should it look like? There’s always the classic chalice. An ankh? How about a stone in an impossible shape of the infinity sign? I like that.

“This line of stone curves back upon itself, impossibly, meeting itself in the middle in a shape somewhat akin to the number eight.”

     We’ve got a good basic description that has imagery to it. So let’s construct our phrase of mystery, intrigue, and hopefully a slight bit of terror. Too bad I can’t just steal the phrase. This is a part that I can’t, unfortunately, walk you through or write a formula for. For me, I have a leap of intuition. It helps that I’m an avid consumer of literature, music, and movies. Good or bad, once you’ve consumed enough of anything you start to recognize good and bad and what makes it that way. So here’s my crack at a good inscription (I promise I did not edit this and it was off the top of my head):

“Perish your light, for all light darkens”

     Oooo, that sounds a bit end-of-times and religiously apocryphal. Now then, let’s finish it with a Knowledge (religion) check result table (fun fact, tenebrae is latin for darknesses):

DC	Result
15	The Infinite Tenebrae cult has been defunct for hundreds of years.
20	The herald of the cult was said to carry an impossibly shaped key.
25	The key was lost to time, never found on the herald’s body when he died.

     There we have it. A fledgling line of stories and side treks that any group could get positively lost on.
 
     I challenge you, the reader, to leave a comment giving me your best one-liner to intrigue and terrify a table. Until next time, in which the theme is the show Farscape!

Pairing It Down: The Doctor - Sonic Boom

By Kiel Howell

     
     Why, hello there dear readers! Greetings and salutations. This week’s theme here at The Flying Pincushion is Doctor Who.

     This is starting to feel like a weekly thing but I need to confess something to you. I have never, up until 10 days ago, seen a single minute of Doctor Who. I know, I know, revoke his nerd card! In these last 10 days I have watched 30 episodes and found a new show to love and analyze to death.

     Before I get to what I’ve paired down, let me tell you a quick story about my introduction to Doctor Who. I asked a coworker and fellow nerd friend of mine about the show. His face lit up with an intensity rarely seen outside of a Con hall and he began to spew forth facts, likes, and dislikes about the show and its various incarnations and actors. I had the rare (for me) experience to be on the other side of a fanboy discussion...the side that has no vested (at that point) interest or knowledge in the topic at hand. It was refreshing and cheering to experience that love for something from the outside. Which, incidentally, is an important aspect of the Doctor character and how he enjoys seeing the universe through his companions’ eyes.

Now, on to the pairing!

     What is the most recognizable thing about the Doctor and the show? The TARDIS? Very likely, but I want to go a little deeper. The sonic screwdriver! I’ll be honest and say that my first instinct was to simply stat up the sonic screwdriver. A quick chat with one of my editors, thank you J-Man for the impetus behind this idea, and I quickly rewrote much of this to stat out the process for sonicing an item.

     Why is this a good idea? Well, that’s subjective, but a spot in Series 1 Episode 10 (on Netflix) struck me. Captain Jack, Rose, and the Doctor are running through a building and Captain Jack uses his sonic gun he stole, and the Doctor pulls out his sonic screwdriver. After a very amusing exchange about what it is, Captain Jack says, “Who sonics a screwdriver?!”

What a lovely question!

     It is a good idea when building a world or a game system to have a process, a magic spell, or a deck of cards that allows someone to customize items, equipment, or both. So let’s get down to it!

     What is the process of sonicing a tool? Well, judging by what I’ve seen it is the process of altering a tool’s function to allow it to do multiple (and possibly unrelated or at best loosely related) things all while removing the need to have the tool interact physically with the target. It sounds an awful lot like putting special abilities like flaming or fortification or a +X on a weapon or armor. Alright then, we’ll build a set of properties that can be added to tools to represent sonicing it. I’ll also modify item creation by giving each ability a flat price, even to add abilities multiple times it will only cost the flat price again.

Name	Price	Description
Durability	Double current tool value	Doubles the hardness and hitpoints of the tool.
Extra Power Reserve	1,000 gp* *per power reserve	Allow extra 5 uses before needing to recharge the unit.
Memory and Recall	10,000 gp* *per additional memory slot	Store the last thing done with the tool and reverse that action upon pressing the recall button or switch.
Miniaturization	750 gp	Shrink the entire package down to handheld size. Does not reduce any effectiveness and increases power efficiency by 33% (rounded down)..
Non-Physical Interaction	1,500 gp	This special ability allows a tool to perform its functions without physically touching the target with a range of 5 ft. The range increment can be increased 5 ft. by doubling the base price of this special ability. The tool can be used 5 times before needing to be recharged.
Pocket Protector of Holding, Type I	1,000 gp	Holds up to 3 hand sized tools in a small extra-dimensional space located inside a pocket on your clothing.
Pocket Protector of Holding, Type II	5,000 gp	As the Pocket Protector of Holding, Type I but holds up to 10 hand sized tools.
Universal Adapter	5,000 gp* *per additional interface	This special ability allows a tool to interface with anything. Different sizes and shapes, analog or digital, electronic and mechanical—any method of interface is accommodated with this special ability.

     Now obviously this is only a short list and it doesn’t really quite fit a sonic screwdriver...but the makings are there! Let’s build a soniced tool using this table. And in the spirit of the Doctor, this will be a little whimsical with a nod to what it borrows ideas from (in this case the wondrous item template from Paizo).

Sonic Toothbrush

Aura moderate universal; CL 8th

Slot —; Price 29,000 gp; Weight 0.5 lbs.

This hand sized cylinder has a thick round bottom and a tapered off top. One button adorns it near the center of the bottom section.

The sonic toothbrush is a toothbrush that has been modified with the durability, miniaturization, non-physical interaction, and universal adapter special abilities, with the durability special ability applied last. This allows the toothbrush to brush, floss, and an application of mouthwash to any creature’s mouth within 5 ft. regardless of size and shape. Using the sonic toothbrush on oneself gives a +5 to diplomacy checks.

Construction

Requirements Craft Sonic Tool, 5 ranks in Craft (Tool); Cost 14,500 gp

     There we have it! One sonic toothbrush from our newly minted table of tool special abilities. I challenge you, the reader, to leave new entries for the table, a tool crafted from the special abilities, or just your thoughts on Doctor Who in the comments. Until next time in which we tackle the classic Dante's Inferno.

Pairing It Down: Happy Hunger Games

                                             Image by muffincheese and taken from www.DeviantArt.com

By Kiel Howell

     Hello all you readers out there! After our short break here at the Pincushion we are ready and raring to go. This week’s theme is The Hunger Games. I’ll be honest, because I feel like we are friends dear reader, I haven’t read the books. I didn’t even know about them until the first movie came out in theaters. I have only seen the first movie (at the time of this writing).

     Still, The Hunger Games is a very compelling world to game in. There’s a horrific government, wanton slaughter, no freedom, class disparity, and still there’s hope—the only thing greater than fear. In many ways we as gamers like to explore the depths of darkness and grim insanity and what our responses to that would be.

What creates a good place to explore those kinds of things? Does it have to be grimdark? Horror?

     I would argue that the answer is no. In a prior week we covered Firefly as a theme. That show was very witty and could be described as light-hearted. But it had a pretty grim universe. Government oppression, banditry, and class disparity. Sound familiar?

     That’s what we can focus on pairing down. What kind of setting do we want this to be and how we convey it. The Hunger Games features the title of the series as a terrible annual event that occurs in the world. Selection of two children from each of the different sectors to fight to the death. That’s an awful thing...and yet it has attractiveness in terms of wanting to explore that world and (likely) save it. As a writer you have to prey upon emotions and human tendencies. It’s part of the job and it sounds bad but it’s all in how you think about it. You have to be calculated and clinical to pick a topic or a theme that others will react to. That’s the key, reaction. Positive or negative, an elicited emotion is what brings people back for more.

     Does your world have a history of brutal cannibalism stemming from an eternal tyrant? Does your world feature a timed event where people must make a deadly pilgrimage to avoid catastrophe for everyone? Does your character have murderous tendencies because they grew up in a fighting arena or a gang?

     Sit down and think about your world. What drives the most prevalent nation on your world? Is it a fear generating government? Is it religion? There should be one thing that each significant populated place has or does that shapes life for the people there. “Teldip has a few shops, an armorer, and a castle” isn’t nearly so exciting to explore (multiple times) as “Teldip is famous for its Gastro Games every year where people are the meal”. The physical stuff can come later, but figuring out what is the center of the story, world, city, or person will make sure that someone wants to come see that physical stuff.

     I challenge you, the readers, to leave a comment about what makes YOU want to come back to a world time and again. Until next week in which I try to pair something down from Dr. Who. (and I’ve only started watching it a few days ago!)

Pairing It Down: Evil Dead Baby

By Kiel Howell

     Welcome back from all your festivities around this time of year! I hope you didn’t hurt yourselves.

     This week we are looking to a cult (and arguably no longer just cult) classic horror movie; The Evil Dead. Ash and the gang. The plant/hentai scene. The Necronomicon. Madness. This movie has it all.

      I know I write this every week, but what do I choose? The one-liners? The encounter setting (creepy cabin)? A bestiary entry? The options are so open here that I might be in trouble. Let’s try to pair this down into something we can take away to further our player and/or DM abilities.

     When I think of The Evil Dead, I think of two things: Ash and madness. At the heart of it, those are the two main characters in the story. Ash (thank you Bruce Campbell) is looking to have a good time with his friends. Then they find the Necronomicon. I would argue that the book itself isn’t what is evil...it brings madness (and a supernatural madness at that). Nothing is inherently scary about a book. The way it is presented and found make the object something to be feared. Ash isn’t inherently a hero but it is how he survives to the end by any means that makes him the hero of this story.

     And there we have it. At the end, how does Ash survive? He cuts his own hand off. That’s what we can pair down from the multitude of greatness that comes from this movie. But what is it about this act that makes it worthy of being paired down? The madness that affects him from the recent happenings with the Necronomicon and his friends. It even presents itself in the very end making the whole “good guys win” thing go right out the window. It keeps us looking over our shoulders in fear. Find a core story idea, in this case madness, and make that central theme intertwine in every aspect of your story. I believe that is what makes Lovecraft’s stories so good. Whether it is your character or your dungeon, a central theme that binds everything together will make for a memorable thing that will be talked about for a long time.

     The Evil Dead, with a remake out, has become a classic because it keeps so strong a central theme that it permeates and resonates our beings. What streak of madness lies within me, indeed?

     I challenge you, the readers, to leave a theme in the comments that could fill a story and even a world. Until next time, dear readers, groovy.

Pairing it Down: Mistranslated Heroes

By Kiel Howell

     Come in and sit by the fire as the cold rages outside (at least, here in the USA it’s pretty cold). Listen to a tale about brave men, selfless sacrifice, deception, and love. The Last of the Mohicans is this week’s theme. If you haven’t seen it then you should at least listen to the soundtrack as it is one of the best soundtracks this writer has ever heard.

     So what do we pair down this week? In this column, I’ve gone pretty gaga over story and characters. The games we play are pretty devoid without at least some bit of motivation behind what our characters are doing. Even in games where story is not the main focus, there is still some semblance of an overarching theme. There is also, I’m willing to bet, something the player pictures or has written in their heads for every action they decide their avatar does.

     Perhaps your character is only very broadly defined. The nuances to their behaviors have nothing more apparent than a gruff exterior and tactical acumen. Perhaps they are overly emotional. When it comes down to it, the player has some reason for making their characters they way they are.

     Here’s where I will get straight to the point in this week’s article. Major Duncan Heyward, played brilliantly by Steven Waddington, deliberately mistranslates a key point in Hawkeye’s words and takes his place at the burning stake. The heroic sacrifice. It is a device that is used relentlessly in literature and film but hardly seems to feel cliche. This single act shows truly how good of a person Duncan is despite his earlier actions. It can do wonders for a character who is a heart-of-gold type. It will spark memories for years when a player takes a character he’s lovingly and painstakingly crafted and acted and sacrifices that character for another’s benefit.

     I challenge you, the reader, to relive a memory like that in the comments. Give us a tale or two (or three!) about a time when such and such did something that saved so and so. Keep that memory alive and maybe it will ignite your own character to take that step.

     Until next time dear readers when the wizards tackle The Evil Dead. Remember to shop smart...shop S Mart!