Bite-sized thoughts 8

-Childhood XP

One thing I wanted to do for the Spectrum RP was have a section where the players- as children- go to a carnival. They meet each other there, become friends, yadda yadda.

Of course it would be a series of mini-quests. Dunk the clown. Win at the claw machine. Don't flinch in the haunted house, etc. It would be the makings of a good childhood memory, in gameplay format.

Then I realized something. Our childhood years are very formitive- more than teenage years, and certainly more than adult years. What we do then shapes who we are in our futures... just like in an RPG. This explains why people with more major events in their lives tend to be more mature at a younger age, etc. They have more encounters in their life, and have more XP as a result.

As people "develop-" spend XP on levels- they become more defined (unless if they evenly distribute, to be average at everything). So, the gameplay of RPGs very, very closely resembles that of real life. Hostility encourages growth. This is why someone only gets, say, ten levels in their childhood- and several dozen of the course of their harrowing adventure.

At some point, I will do this in an RPG. I'm a huge fan of Fallout 3's backstory (Sorry New Vegas, but the Lone Wanderer actually has history, and some characterization). It was immersive, informative, and fun. It would be much harder to do with multiple people, so I don't plan on copying the formula exactly... but I will try to get the same effect. Find who's strong, who's smart, who's quick... all the essentials of being a teenager.

-Paladins vs Clerics

I loved DnD. Still do, to an extent. But one thing that always baffled me was the difference between a cleric and a paladin. Where is the line? And is a Druid just a nature cleric?

They both come from the same principle- a person is tasked (by themselves, the church, or the deity itself) to be a deity's presence in the world. For good gods, this means feeding orphans, turning undead, and keeping your prayers strong. For evil gods, it usually means starving the orphans, raising the dead, and spreading the vile sacrament of your god on the quivering minds of those below you.

"Paladin" conjures images of helmeted crusaders, mulching through bodies with holy symbols brazed onto their equipment. It's obviously someone strong, someone driven- almost like a Fighter, but they give praise before and after battle.

"Cleric" seems more laid back. Perhaps a temple priest, or a ritual herbalist. Obviously nothing dangerous here... until that large, iron-bound book comes out, to be greeted with the wails of "Rez Plz" by fallen comrades.

As an interesting dynamic, paladins usually get access to low-level healing and buffs, while clerics can cast high-damage spells occasionally. So, they are united in purpose- representation of gods. The difference is how much testosterone they put into their "worship."

KISS

Out of context, that title could be very misleading. Fortunately, nothing that sexy happens on this blog.

Maybe I should switch that up in the future?

For now, Hacktest is on. I have an ideal plot (short and kinda funny), basic gameplay principles, and two ideal testers.

The testers are actual computer nerds, which will help me greatly in terms of feedback. As long as it's not unrealistic (usually by being vague, sorry real-life hackers D: ), I'm happy.

Only basic rules yet, and they don't appear to violate my three tenets (Simple, usable, fun). We'll see how they hold up in an actual gameplay environment.

I have a bit too much fun, at times... =D

Frickin' Progress

There's a gameplan, now.

Hacktest, Locktest.

I'm actually glad the Hacking is the first thing I'm working on- it's a personal message of sorts, and one of the more complicated bits. It's certainly lacking the "fun" part so far, but it appears simple and usable. Dice save us all.

The bit in the nuclear reactor is going to be Locktest. I've got a basic outline for it, but it has to wait. Just like EVERY other test I've proposed, it needs to be shelved for a bit.

-Spectrum is still on
-Project Ascension is still on
-Project Sunburn is still on
-Project Elvis is still on

Just a matter of time. And I should have some more mythological creatures soon, right after I spend a few hours thinking about zombie sex.

...

... This is why no one takes my hobby seriously.

Bats, Wolves, and Termites

For a while now, I've been thinking about vampires, zombies, and werewolves. Specifically, what's my take on them? There's a lot of popular examples (most boil down to Bella Lugosi's Dracula versus Kate Beckinsdale in Underworld), but I wanted something to be my own.

Ironically, it was my psychology teacher who highlighted the literary basis. It was in a lesson on Freud's basis of humanity: sex and aggression. Vampires are sex, werewolves are aggression.

The vampire is a mysterious, beautiful thing. Pale skin, opulence, dresses sharply (all Cullens are required to leave the building). It's captivating, sexy, and dangerous. And, at the end, what does it do? Screws you and drinks your blood.

The counterpoint is the classical werewolf. Giant, hairy things with large teeth and an appetite for destruction. Not to mention- they don't have a say when they come out. There is no nuance, or poise in what they do- just blood, savagery, and howling at the moon.

For whatever reason, both of them are incredibly hostile to each other. I, personally, think it makes sense for both of them to team up against the humans, but c'mon... vampires fighting werewolves. It's much cooler that way. (It's also more symbolic- the urge to love against the urge to hate).

I find it ironic, considering how much they have in common. Both are creatures of the night (the sun literally kills one), both are classically solitary, and both transmit their "affliction" by biting.

That sounds very familiar. It sounds like... zombies!

~

It's no secret I've got a bit of a thing for well-written zombies. Read World War Z sometime (but dear God, not the movie). And, zombies also fit this pattern, if not with a few caveats.

Zombies are hungry. That's their defining nature. Vampires are sexy, werewolves are aggressive, and zombies are just... hungry. They lack the intelligence and creativity to be anything else.

The biggest point for me was- the teeth. True to nature, they transfer their form to an innocent human by biting them. This conflicts with the urge to consume the victim's organs and flesh, but more on that later.

For this reason, I've decided the zombie "spirit animal" is termites. They're a parasitic organism, one that likes to work in groups. One- a single one- can latch onto something wooden (representing human), and eat the entire piece. A city of humans becomes a city of not-so-humans.

I also wanted to integrate zombies into a triangle, consisting of vampires, werewolves (aka lycans), and other flesh-eaters.

~

My first idea is that a zombie is the cross between a vampire and a werewolf. Not proud enough to be territorial, and not pretty enough to be sexy. All it knows is violence. It is the deformed child of both, only carrying their worst traits. This gives vampires an easy out to flick their noses at it, and a lycanthrope mother may have thoughts about carrying a bastard child who can't howl at the moon effectively.

This concept had merits- and I think I'll keep it- but I wanted something a bit more visceral and dangerous.

The deciding factor, I think, is that vampires are always vampires. In almost every mythology, werewolves can become human again. Blood-suckers, on the other hand, can't. They always have teeth. The sun always burns them. The only thing they can "change" into is a bat, and that's... sketchy.

Prototype 2: Zombies are inbred vampires. This one makes sense. Its physiology is distorted, the normally high intelligence is beyond miserable, and any coven would rather go tanning than keep it around. This is also a good plot device to keep George R. R. Martin away.

Pardon the pun, but I needed something with a bit more... bite. #tooeasy

Prototype 3: Zombies are half-humans. If a vampire does the dirty with a human... it ends horribly. This brings tremendous consequence to interspecies sex, and brings a sacred nature to vampire bloodlines- one which I fully intend to keep, in all incarnations. This also makes zombies less than vampires, by nature; only slightly better than humans, they would still be considered lower-class, and barely privileged above dairy cattle humans.

I think I really like options 2 and 3. Vampires, in my humble opinion, have it too easy. They're rich, they're stuck being sexy, they can recover from severe wounds by drinking blood, and they get all the cool toys.

Young man, you need to earn all this.

~

Things that go "chomp" in the dark are important to me. The Trifecta all have very different storytelling elements, and I want to make something unique and fun to play out of all of them.

Zombies are the first one I've gotten so far. I'll write more about them in detail later. For now, I'm catching up on monster movies so I can fully flesh out the other two.

Revised V1 test

There's going to be some more upheaval in the first EE test.

For one, there needs to be more gameplay. The lockpicking is looking pretty fine so far, but that sounds REALLY dull as a solo mechanic, fancy-schmancy storytelling aside. So, I'm at a bit of a loss at what to add. I've considered combat, as well as stealth and basic crafting.

For now, I need to settle on a setting. The idea of a dreamscape is pretty appealing, but vague. Entirely vague.

Fortunately, I've just watched a documentary about the state of nuclear power in America. And, to be honest, a crawl through a nuclear power generator sounds pretty damn appealing. There's lots of locks (to be picked, or exploded), it's a generally eerie atmosphere, and it's easy to shoehorn dangerous scenarios into it.

For the time being, the plot can go screw itself. This is a game test. If a story comes along, great! Otherwise, I'll just be up-front with the players. The atmosphere lends itself to a story... but what story? The singular, outspoken scientist who finds a tritium leak? An adrenaline-soaked rush to de-couple the reactor rods before it explodes (due to an error, of course)? Or; a steamy romance between two water pipe inspectors? No idea, but a combo seems best. I'll sleep on this one, and try to crunch out more mechanics. 'Til later, keep it weird.

Onward. Upward?

Wow, that day went quickly.

My life is taking on some interesting shapes right now... but that's not going to keep me from updating. This blog is one of the few things I really enjoy doing, so I plan to write something every week or so. Probably Mondays, and possibly Thursdays. I'll figure out a schedule. Until then, just "once a week."

~

On the gaming front, I'm putting Project Malaria down. The EE demands some work, and I've gotten intrigued by lockpicking. It seems a simple enough mechanic, and I need to do some research into it. The tumbler is the encounter, individual pins are the enemies. Easy, right?

I hope so, at least.