Pairing it down: The Princess Bride

                                               Picture by Gwendolaine and taken from www.deviantART.com

By Kiel Howell

Welcome and hello! My name is Kiel Howell, and I'm honored to be writing for you as part of this wonderful blog, The Flying Pincushion, that Frank and J-Man have put together. Let me talk just a bit about myself then we can move on to the good stuff.

I've been gaming in various forms my entire life, playing card games, board games, TTRPGs, MUDs, MMORPGs, and good old fashioned single player games. I'm an avid reader, science-fiction and fantasy mostly, as well as consumer of movie media. I entered Paizo’s RPG Superstar for the first time in 2012 with an item I loved at the time, but ultimately proved boring. Ever since, though, I've been actively writing items, archetypes, and stories during any moment I can spare.

I also got jackwagoned out of a PS4 preorder because of poor service from an unmentionable game store, but that's worthy of its own post.

So Pairing it Down! What is it?!

Very simply, I'm aiming to go through my process (important point which I'll get to later) of taking a theme and picking an idea out of the multitude of possibilities. Followed closely of course by bringing that idea into fruition by statting up the beasty, constructing the item, or whatever the case may be.

This week's theme: The Princess Bride, one of the constants in my ever-revolving Top 5 favorite movies. Which, by the way, if you haven't checked out; 

"http://flyingpincushion.blogspot.com/2013/11/mishelved-princess-bride.html">Frank's Mishelved

"http://flyingpincushion.blogspot.com/2013/11/jeff-crunch-magic-swords-and-chocolate.html">Jeff's Magic Swords and Chocolate

"http://flyingpincushion.blogspot.com/2013/11/mythic-monster-monday-rats-of-unusual.html"> the ROUS by Andrew, then do yourself a favor and read those now. I'll wait.

So what piece of The Princess Bride am I going to do? Let's kidnap that princess together.

Wait! Here is that important point I mentioned earlier. The process for coming up with a viable idea and writing it is going to be different for everyone. I won't pretend that how it works for me will work for anyone else. All I can do is hope that this series helps others to come up with their own process.

            

          What are the most memorable moments of that movie? Personally, I would start with the scene at the end of the Fire Swamp where Westley and Buttercup are so happy to have made it out alive. The joy of discovering her poor farm boy is alive, and he's now rescued her from quicksand and an ROUS. Fire has been no hindrance to their love. Then Count Tyrone Rugen and Prince Humperdinck (and several nameless soldiers) are there waiting for them.

There are many, many other scenes in the movie that are great, the series of hero's tests; strength, training, and intelligence. The "You can die too for all I care" hill scene or the final confrontation between a bed-ridden Westley and Prince Humperdinck, the list goes on.  And don't forget Miracle Max and his not-a-witch of a wife!

            

           How do I choose? I put myself in the story. I think of how the story affected me as I watched it through various ages. If I were writing this post a few years ago, then I probably would have chosen the Fezzik in a Holocaust Cloak scene. Don't try to capture a feeling from a time when you were a different person. Your passion now will result in a better item/archetype/monster/etc. at this moment. The captured after the Fire Swamps scene gives me goose bumps now. Perhaps it's because I'm a father of a 5 year old and am about to get married after being divorced a few years ago, but the love lost just after hope is rekindled gets me.

Ok, I've got a scene. What's in the scene to choose from? This particular one has a LOT. There's the aforementioned moment of lost love to use as inspiration for a story. There's the fact that there are these men (one of which is planning to marry and kill the love of the protagonist's life) waiting for the two in ambush. That's a pretty good encounter practically written for you! I like to look for something that's not so obvious though. Something where I can give a nod to the source by using, one that those "in the know" will get, yet avoids a “ripped off” feel.

Fine then, who's the most interesting character at that moment? Arguably, it is the six-fingered Count. We've heard about him from another character's (Inigo) back story, we've seen his character brilliantly portrayed by Christopher Guest, and he's the most mysterious at that moment. Westley has been revealed already. Buttercup's been old news for 20 minutes. Prince Humperdinck's also been featured enough by this point. Count Tyrone it is.

Here is where I will go to the obvious...his six fingers on his right hand. Now what may be the not-so-obvious thing I can focus on is his glove. I'll take an assumption that he's not actually six fingered. His glove adds the six fingers to his normal hand, which could also explain why he NEVER takes the glove off in the movie.

So what could a glove that adds a finger to a humanoid's hand do? Why would it be created? The simple route would be a glove that gives a bonus to holding onto whatever is in that hand when something attempts to steal from or disarm that hand. That's a good, solid idea. But I want to dig a little deeper into the character for inspiration. It's hinted at in the movie, but Count Tyrone is responsible for developing the machine that sucks Westley's life out of him (another great scene and a great idea for a trap). He's interested in "scientifically" studying pain. So what if the six fingered glove enhanced the wearer's ability to create traps? I like that idea.

Now, I'll write this as a wondrous item for the Pathfinder system, which means that a glove can't give a simple Intelligence stat bonus. That's job is generally delegated to the headband slot. The first thing I like to do is come up with a good fluff sentence to use as the introduction to the item.

"These black, leather gloves are soft and easy to flex. The gloves are plain except for a sixth finger on the right hand. No matter how many fingers the wearer possesses on the right hand, the six fingered glove magically flexes and grips the empty fingers to the wearer's mental commands."

Alright, I've got a first sentence that describes what I am envisioning. A name is the next thing I tend to work on. The name is nearly all-important to me. It helps me come up with the powers and mechanical aspects of the thing I'm writing. Six-fingered Glove. Trapper's Glove (don't like it because it loses the references to the Princess Bride). The Count's Glove (this has promise, but it could be easily confused with The Count from Sesame Street or Count Dracula). The Count's Machine Gloves (Oooo, I think I'll go with this. It keeps the reference and has potential plot hooks to a count where a party could find it).

Now I have a name, The Count's Machine Gloves, and an introduction sentence. Now it's time to come up with the real meaty mechanical paragraph. I want to give a bonus to trap making, but not just a straight mechanical bonus. I also want it to be flavorful. Probably a generic "trap making" bonus would not be viewed as flavorful. That means I'll want to narrow down my focus to traps that require someone to operate it. I like that.

"Wearing these gloves allows any humanoid to create and place a trap much more safely. The count's machine gloves cuts the DC to craft a trap, those that require someone to operate them, in half. This applies to mechanical and magical traps."

Now, this feels like it has enough of a reference to The Princess Bride that some people would make the connection. It is still far enough away that it's not a blatant rip off. All that is left now is to come up with the standard wondrous item things like aura, price, and construction requirements.

To get an aura, we need a spell! Crafter's fortune seems like a good fit. It's a 1st level Sorcerer/Wizard transmutation spell that gives a +5 to the next Craft check. That puts it at a faint transmutation aura. The spell also gives us the caster level, in this case 1st.

I use the spell level as a baseline for pricing items. A 1st level wizard spell item is usually available relatively early in a character's adventuring life. Coupled with the flavor I want to give it (a Count's glove) this could easily be a pretty cheap pair of gloves. Looking at the wondrous item gloves in Ultimate Equipment from Paizo in the range of CL 1st gloves is between 1,000 and 3,000 gp. I'll split the difference and price it at 2,000 gp. That feels right, makes it cheap enough to be disposable at later levels, but expensive enough to be decent find at low levels.

Now I just put it all together! The weight is kind of arbitrary (I'll put these at 1 lb.) just as long as you don't make it obviously wrong. Gloves like these shouldn't weigh 30 lbs. and a wondrous 20ft. high stone shouldn't weigh 1 lb. (unless of course its wondrous ability was to be weightless).

The Count's Machine Gloves

Aura faint transmutation; CL 1st

Slot hands; Price 2,000 gp; Weight 1 lb.

 Description
These black, leather gloves are soft and easy to flex. The gloves are plain except for a sixth finger on the right hand. No matter how many fingers the wearer possesses on the right hand, the six fingered glove magically flexes and grips the empty fingers to the wearer's mental commands.

Wearing these gloves allows any humanoid to create and place a trap much more safely. The count's machine gloves cuts the DC to craft a trap, those that require someone to operate them, in half. This applies to mechanical and magical traps."

Construction

Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, crafter's fortune; Cost 1,000 gp

           And there we have it, from a broad theme, to an idea, and finally ending at a completed wondrous item. Thanks for sticking with me, and I hope this served to help create or refine your own process for designing and writing.

Mishelved: The Princess Bride

               picture by BogapeJane and taken from www.deviantart.com

By Frank Gori

When I think about The Princess Bride what comes to mind is a collection of small moments that endear me to the film.

-Andre the Giant saying in a forlorn voice “my way isn’t very sportsman-like” after Vizzini tells him his way to kill is to throw a rock at the man in black’s head from a hiding place.

-Both Wesley and Inigo declaring that they are not left handed in their duel.

-Humperdink being bluffed into surrendering, then being tied to a chair and left to contemplate his own cowardice.

-Billy Crystal yelling “Have fun storming the castle” and the exchange afterwards.

Small moments can make a film, and consequently a game. They are also the province of a good player. The difference between a good game and a great game is often not on the GM but on the players.

I’m a fantastic GM but I can’t make a group of people bring fun characters to the table that’s on my players. A good player builds in quirks, flaws, and motives that make a game and their characters more memorable.

To put it bluntly, if your character is too perfect it’s boring. If you want to “win” all the time play a console game on easy mode. Tabletop RPGs are about making a fun shared story and that is as much on the players as it is the GM. Your GM is busy making every bit part and setting entertaining while as a player you get to make one of the star characters.

Just like a GM it never hurts to borrow aspects from your favorite characters, just don’t rip off everything (no one is excited about your drow ranger dual wielding rapiers and using a tiger animal companion so stop it.) The key is to either separate concept from mechanics or use mechanics to flesh out concept.

For example one approach to building a character might look like this:

I want to play Inigo Montoya…

Why?

The two core elements of the character are this: he is a son looking to avenge his father’s death and he is an expert swordsman. The latter is caused by the former and that can be taken to any character. Does obsession with vengeance drive a man to study evocation magic to face the wizard that slew his father. Maybe instead your character pursues alchemy to achieve the perfect balance to defeat said wizard? If you want to be the best swordsmen perhaps a different motive make you so dedicated, like a tournament to win the hand of a princess in marriage that takes place in a year when she is going to turn 18.

Either way you have a character different from Inigo that you can make your own.

Another approach is to take something you admire for mechanical reasons and build a story to explain the numbers.

For this example let’s say we want to play something like Fezzik.

For the size you might see if your GM will let you play a half ogre as it allows for allot of the stats that would make sense like size, strength, con, and perhaps not the brightest intellect.  For the unarmed mastery perhaps monk is the proper class but now you’re lawful. For an opening feat throw anything seems appropriate based on Fezzik’s boulder tossing antics.

Explaining this combination builds a great character. Was the character a product of rape, or a strange love that would be forbidden to both cultures? Did the baby get left on the doors of a monastery? Did the child grow up with ogres and find himself too lawful and gentle for their ways?

Borrowing from your favorite characters need not amount to something blatantly plagiaristic. There is nothing wrong with liking a character and wanting to pay homage to it, just try not to take everything or maybe mix and match it with another character you love.

Jeff Crunch: Magic Swords and Chocolate

Montoya Family Honor Blade
Aura very strong transmutation, moderate conjuration (healing); CL 10th
Slot weapon; Price 39,500 gp; Weight 2 lbs.
===== Description =====
The family honor blade of the Montoya’s was made not to serve the family, but as a costly custom order by a rich man with six fingers on his right hand.  However when the man came for his sword, he instead murdered Inigo’s father, the smith, and left young Inigo with scars on his cheeks as a remembrance.  That day Inigo took up the sword his father forged, and repeated for the first time the mantra that would stay with him for many long years, “My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die.”

The sword itself is a +2 living steel healing impervious keen speed rapier.  The weapon is an example of perfection, razor edged silver steel and the balance of a dancer.  The hilt is an intricate golden affair that protects much of the hand.  The Montoya family honor blade also has the ability to heal those that wield it for a noble purpose.  When reduced to one quarter of your total hit points or less, as an immediate action, the sword is able to cast the cure moderate wounds spell on you healing 2d8+10 points of damage.  This ability functions whether or not you wish it, and can be performed by the Montoya family honor blade twice per 24 hour period.  This ability and all others of the sword do not function for an evil wielder.                              

===== Construction =====
Requirements Craft Magic Arms and Armor, cure moderate wounds, fabricate, haste, keen edge, make whole; Cost 19,750 gp

Miracle Max’s Restorative Chocolate Pill
Aura strong conjuration (healing); CL 9th
Slot slotless; Price 5,000 gp; Weight 0 lb.
===== Description =====
As they say, there is dead, and then there is dead dead.  However if one is not dead dead, and just dead, Miracle Max’s Restorative Chocolate Pill can fix you right up.  The coating of chocolate, provided by misses Miracle Max, makes the medicine go down easier.                                                                                    

The pill itself is about the size of an ioun stone, it’s strange ingredients kept secret by a delicious chocolate shell. However, because there are many types of dead, Miracle Max’s Restorative Chocolate Pill cannot always return its consumer to life.  A successful fortitude save of DC 30 is required for the pill to return a character to life.  This role has a number of circumstances that provide a modifier to the roll however.  A good aligned character receives a +2 bonus on this roll, a neutral character receives no bonus, and an evil character receives a -2 penalty.  Also characters that are married or have found true love receive a +5 bonus on this fortitude save.  A successful save means the character has been returned to life as with the raise dead spell, while failure means they are in fact, dead dead.                                                                                                                          

===== Construction =====
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, raise dead, 9 or more ranks in the Craft (alchemy) skill; Cost 2,500 gp