Tag: RPG

Sweet Valley Hell – Principal’s Instructions

This is the game I’m working on during my pre-week of summer classes. This is the Principal’s instructions and I’ll soon be releasing the Monsters section. Enjoy!

PRINCIPAL’S INSTRUCTIONS (DRAFT)


So like, you’re in charge? Wow! You have a really good chance to make the players have loads of fun, so grab a seat and listen up.


Your first responsibility as the Principal is to like, set the scene. This is pretty cool. You get to decide who will be in the world and what the current events are. You can probably sum it up in a paragraph, and you can make a few predictions for the future. Keeping a handful of index cards or scrap paper with your notes would be a good idea, or even a notebook, and always have some blanks on hand to take down really important events and new non-player character names. Non-player characters are suuuuper important, so make up a few! You’ll need to assign them skills, too, so think about how tough and how clever these dudes are, and write down a die type for their Sosh and their Fight. Don’t stress about spending points on them, just be reasonable.


Setting
This game is set in the Valley in the year 1994, right after the Hellhole opened. Everyone knows about the Hellhole, but not everyone deals directly with it – most people, honestly, just try to keep it a secret from anyone outside of the Valley. The main players in town are Azazel, a demon with aspirations of mayorhood, and Laurel, the queen of vamps, who has tons of minions crawling around the town. The player characters are all seniors at the local high school.


Non-Player Characters (NPCs)
Coach Wilson – the coach of the Stallions, the football team of West Valley High. Stubborn, funny, and surprisingly caring, this guy knows the students better than anyone. He also supports the Fillies, the cheerleading squad. Fight: d8, Sosh: d6
Mayor Andersen – the town mayor. He’s prickly and like, really doesn’t like kids. His politics are pretty ace, though, so he’s not too bad to have in power. Unfortunately, he has little social klout. Fight: d6, Sosh: d6.
Lindsay Golden – the mayor’s right hand, and the power behind his words. Without her, the mayor has no chance of keeping his political position. Fight: d6, Sosh: d10.


(see the Monsters section to skill up Azazel and Laurel.)
Shelley Winters – a local reporter who knows way more about the Hellhole than anyone else, and no one is quite sure why. She is friendly and useful, but kind of creepy, really. Fight: d8, Sosh: d8.


There’s your starting setup. You can create more NPCs on the fly, just make sure you write them down so you can bring them in for later scenes.


Running the game should be pretty chill. What you want to do is try to encourage the players to have a good time, while like, not forgetting to make them feel like the bad guys are a real threat. Pull from media resources to get the feel just right if you want to, y’know, like TV shows and books. The players’ enjoyment comes first, so be okay with flexing your story a bit – don’t get too attached to the plot and forget about having fun.


In the player’s instructions you can find an example of play, and for what you are doing, things go about the same. FYI, fights are over when the baddies are knocked out (at zero hit points), or when they or the players retreat. What you need to know is how to build your dice pool for Fights and Sosh encounters. It’s easy!


The Principal gets an allowance just like the players do, based on how many players there are in the game. You start with two Pops and $100, and then for each player in the game, you get one Pop, and $200 in Daddy’s Money. You spend them just like the players do.


Remember, you’re representing like, bad guys, superiors, and people in power, for the most part (sometimes you’ll be other teens or whatever, too, but they should be pretty breezy for the players to deal with). You want to make it a challenge without ripping any hearts out… unless you’re representing something that like, rips hearts out.


Sweet Valley Hell doesn’t have like, totally strict scene framing. This is kind of cool, but makes things a little tougher when you’re in charge? You’ll want to try to keep players focused, and the best way to do that is by keeping it interesting. If an in-character conversation starts to die down, move on and come back to it later if you need to. If a fight seems futile or boring, call a retreat.


Retreats are simple: the baddie backs off and gets away. You’ll want to give the players a Pop for this to make up for it, but it’s just a good way to keep the villain active without like, totally boring everyone? So keep it in your pocket, just in case.


The Principal’s agenda is on-point, man. You want to:


Give the players a good time.
Creep people out.
Make the baddies feel real.
Encourage players to build the fiction.

Create a good story.

Sweet Valley Hell – A like, Hellhole in the Valley

This is the game I’m working on during my pre-week of summer classes. I’m hoping to write up the Principal’s instructions and the monster section over the next couple of weeks. Enjoy!

SWEET VALLEY HELL (DRAFT)

PLAYER’S INSTRUCTIONS


“Oh. My. God. Did you see the dagger that Azazel was carrying last week? Did you know it like, devours souls?”


“No way!”


“Yes way. It was totally rad!”


—


So like, in this game, you play valley gals and guys in this totally sweet alternate universe where a portal to Hell has opened up in the Valley. There are like, really rad monsters, demons, and dead-walkers roaming the ‘burbs and like, magic is a thing. It’s bitchen.


Most of the time, you’ll be hitting up the mall and hanging with your friends, so sosh skills are like way important? But, you’re gonna find out how dangerous it really is living on the edge of Hell, too, so whether you’re into football or cheerleading, rock those abs.


In the game, you’ll see demons – some are friendly, others are, like complete jerks? I mean, what is their problem? Then, there are the monsters – you know, dudes and chicks who are like, not human and stuff, and they range from vamps to werecritters to like, other creepy stuff. Last are the dead-walkers. They’re like zombies or whatever, but most of the time they’re totally grody and used to be like, murderers, so you gotta watch out.


When you start the game, you get like, anywhere from 4 to 8 points to build your character’s skills, depending on how hard the Principal (the like, person running the game?) wants the game to be, or how long after the Hellhole opens they want it to be. You have two skills: Sosh and Fight. Life is simple in the Valley, so don’t bum anybody out by making it complicated. Your skills buy you die sizes in your skills. The first point in a skill buys you a four-sided die. This is like, sooo lower than average. So you can spend another two points to buy up to a six-sided die. Each die up costs two points, so if you wanted to start the game with a six-sided die in Sosh and an eight-sided die in Fight, you’d spend 3 points in Sosh and 5 points (3 for six-sided and 2 to move up to eight-sided) in Fight. This makes you a little tough for fighting and pretty average in social situations.


Your hit points are on your character sheet. There are both Body and Mind hit points. You only get 5 of each unless you get a magic boost. 

Each player (like, you guys) starts with these things called Popularity Points (We’ll call them Pops, because yeeah) and duuuh, some of Daddy’s Money! Pops are really cool because you can spend them to increase the size of your dice when you are rolling against the baddies. Daddy’s Money buys you more dice to roll! The dice you buy are equal to the die size that your base die is or to the size that is bought with Pops, so like, if you buy your base die up to a ten-sided die, all of your dice you buy with Daddy’s Money would be ten-sided. Sweet!


Each session of the game, you get a bit of each of these – kind of like, an allowance or something. Along with setting the difficulty of the game with the skill points, the Principal will decide how many Pops and how much of Daddy’s Money you get. Typically you’ll start with two Pops and, since Daddy’s Money only comes in hundreds, like, $400? Each die you add with Daddy’s Money will cost you $100. Cha-ching! If it’s going to be an extremely long game or the Hellhole is going to bite you hard, the Principal might up it a bit. You can always gain more Pops by doing sweet things in game, like risking your life for another player or a bystander, or maybe like, doing something epic. Daddy’s money, though, only comes once a sesh.


Fighting demons, monsters, and dead-walkers is pretty rad. You like, run up to them, or try to trick them, or something like that, and then you grab a die from the table – a like, six-sided one sometimes, or bigger. You can change the size of it and totally add more dice.


You’ll roll the die and the Principal (the like, person running the game?) will roll a die or a couple of dice to represent the monster (find more on that later), and you compare them to see who has the highest numbers, and how many of them. The roller who has the highest number on a die wins, and the loser takes hits equal to how many dice show a number higher than their highest.


So like, if you’re rolling against a vamp, and the Principal lays out like, four dice – all six-sided – based on the vamp’s powers? You put out the same number of dice, using your base die (In this case, for your Fight skill), which you buy up to an eight-sided die, and then some added ones. You both roll. You get a 6, 8, 3, and another 3. The vamp’s results are 4, 5, 3, and 2. You win because you have the highest number – 8. They take 2 hits because you have two dice (6 and 8) higher than their highest number (5). Bam, bam! You kick ass.


Social situations are simpler, because bystanders and non-player characters (like your BFF or your Dad or your Coach) mostly have skills equal or lower than yours. If you’re going up against them, this is normally a time you can be pretty chill, unless it like, means a lot. If you’re in a social situation with a demon or a monster, it rolls like the Fighting scenes, except you use your Sosh skill. Dead-walkers can’t be reasoned with – they’re raw and stupid, just filled with rage.

You’re ready to start the game. The next part of this is for the Principal’s eyes only – like, seriously, dudes, you don’t want to be totally uncool.

Hearts in Crisis – new project

Hey everyone!

I started working on a new project yesterday that I’ve had in mind for a while. It may be a long-term project because of how research intensive it might be, but I wanted to tell you a little bit about it.

The game is called Hearts in Crisis. It is set during the Vietnam war, and focuses on the lives and stories of the women (primarily nurses) who worked in the war. It’s focusing on drama and personal relationships while dealing with intensely difficult crises.

I’m really excited about it. Here is why.

I grew up hearing a lot of stories about Vietnam – from people who opposed the war, people who carried legacy racism and bigotry from the war, and people who served. Most of the people I knew who served were men, and hearing stories of women working in the service during that time was really rare and that actually makes me kind of disappointed. Most of the stories I heard were not heroic or even hopeful, they were stories from the perspectives of snipers and soldiers who had to do awful things just to survive and protect their fellow soldiers. From everything I know, the Vietnam war was a horrible, terrifying experience for everyone involved.

There were not a ton of women who served in Vietnam. The total numbers I can find are at highest around 10,000, but more likely around 7500, and over 6000 of them were nurses and medical personnel. While I wouldn’t ever discount the experiences of women who served in administrative roles, from what I have read, they typically were far from most of the trauma and immediate danger. Those who were are the kind of characters I would see being played in this game, but most of the characters will probably be nurses. Nurses were not in combat, but they dealt with some of the most tragic and intimate crises, saving lives and comforting the people who were suffering.

One of the stories that really inspired me was not of a nurse, but of a stenographer, Karen Offutt, who was awarded the Soldier’s Medal around 32 years after her actions in Vietnam saving injured children from a fire (when she would have initially been awarded the medal during the war, she was given a certificate and told that women weren’t awarded the Soldier’s Medal). The actions of women are so often forgotten and dismissed, and I think that we can take the step forward to tell these stories.

I intend to do a fair amount of research about this piece of history, and I want to really work on telling the stories that many people have let fall through the cracks.

As far as mechanics, I’m working on structured scenes with token exchanges and flipping tokens for success/failure. For me, the mechanics will be important, but will have to be very strong and support the feel of the game as well as possible in order to ensure that the mood isn’t lost.

ETA More details on the mechanics:

Right now, I have it set up so that there will be three scenes: one intimacy scene, one crisis scene, and another intimacy scene. Each player will have certain numbers of tokens that they start with and that they can earn, and during intimacy scenes players will give each other one type of token that can be used in the crisis scenes to save casualties who are brought in to the triage. The main way to determine who lives or dies is by flipping the tokens and seeing which comes up heads or tails. The main characters themselves cannot die unless they elect to for story reasons, because part of the point is that they have to live while others don’t.

I’m looking forward to sharing my progress with you!

Hangout with Brie and PULSE Creators

Interview with David Pulver – Laboratory of the Forsaken!


Today I have a brief interview with David Pulver, a freelance writer in Canada, just for you! David is working on an adventure game for Crafty Games‘ FANTASY CRAFT Roleplaying system called “Laboratory of the Forsaken“.

B: David, do you want to tell me a little about Laboratory of the Forsaken?

D: The soon to be released “Laboratory of the Forsaken” is my first adventure for Crafty Game’s FANTASY CRAFT roleplaying system.

It takes place in the Realm, the same setting used in their earlier TIME OF HIGH ADVENTURE book, which features a conflict between the Circle (free-thinking but occasionally out of control scientist-arcanists) and the Church (nice folks unless you get on the bad side of their inquisitors).

The adventurers get to investigate the manor house of Doctor Magnus Croatalorn, a Circle member who has been performing experiments to investigate the origins of life. The Church has decided to shut him down (since he wants to prove life was magically rather than divinely created) but the inquisitors they sent after him haven’t reported back. Magnus has also dropped out of touch with the Circle, however, so they suspect something has gone wrong. 

The adventurers can either be servants of the Church sent on a follow-up mission, or agents of the Circle attempting to protect Magnus and his research before the Church can get their hands on it, or mercenaries who blunder into the situation. As they explore the manor they’ll piece together its secrets from the doctor’s lab notes and experiments. It’s a cross between a haunted house and a dungeon adventure, with elements of dark fantasy or horror thrown into it.

B: How long did it take you to create the adventure?


D: It took about two days to come up with the basic concept of a dark fantasy horror adventure set in the laboratory of a vivisectionist-alchemist who was obsessed with finding the secret origin of life. Crafty Games and I batted the concepts back and forth for a couple more weeks to set the specific details and parameters of the adventure. Then it took about a month to write it.

B: What suggestions would you have for others looking to write adventures – best practices for level design, flavor text, etc.?
D: For me, the key thing is to have a solid, interesting theme and concept and a careful outline. In this case the theme was mad fantasy science, so the adventure contained a lot of research notes, crazed experiments, and so on. Usually I work out a background first, but then get down to the nuts and bolts (e.g., what’s where, paths through the adventure, mapping, and so on).

It’s probably best to leave flavor text for last after you have the skeleton of the adventure. I’ve found that if you start with the flavor text it’s very easy to overwrite and end up with something that is too long.

That said, doing a bit of flavor text first is useful to give yourself a feel for what you’re doing. In my case I wrote a short biographical letter written by the mad scientist (Dr. Croatalorn) to a friend of his, laying out his philosophy, a key event in his childhood that led him away from the teachings of the Church and toward exploration of darker truths. I didn’t actually use this in the game – it was a bit too long – but it gave me a sense of his character and motivations, which helped me.

I did something similar for his wife Lunalia, who is another key character and possible ally of the adventurers in the plot.

Ideally you should playtest an adventure, but often players will not have time to explore all the paths. A trick you can use is to “talk through” an adventure with someone else – essentially skipping all the game mechanics (assume they win all the fights, make all the skill checks, or whatever) but just narrate what they see, who they meet, and have them tell you what they do.

This is a good way to get a sense of whether any mysteries, level design concepts and so on are too complex or too simple, and also it can sometimes reveal options and strategies you didn’t think of when you wrote the adventure.

The most difficult part of the adventure was striking a balance between a coherent, dramatic narrative (e.g., building up action and an exciting conclusion) and giving the players different routes and options. This had to be considered from the very start of the adventure, as Crafty Games Fantasy Craft setting tends to forgo a traditional good vs. evil structure in favor of different factions, any of which the adventurers could be aligned with. The adventure is set in the “Realm” background that Crafty Games introduced in their prior adventure collection Time of High Adventure. This introduced a conflict between religion and magic (The Church vs. The Circle, a group of arcane-scientists).

This became a central conflict in Laboratory of the Forsaken, but I set up the adventure so that the players could choose which side to support, or remain neutral, and also ended up writing three different variations of the adventure’s opening to accommodate different player character motivations or alignments.

Thanks to David for taking the time to share with us about his writing and design process! Check out the adventure, Laboratory of the Forsaken, at DriveThruRPG!


THOUGHTY LOGO © JOHN W. SHELDON 2013. USED WITH PERMISSION. UNAUTHORIZED REPRODUCTION STRICTLY PROHIBITED.
ALL CONTENT WITHIN THIS BLOG AND ANY OF THE ALTERNATE SITES LINKED ARE SUBJECT TO FAIR USE UNDER U.S. COPYRIGHT LAWS. THE OPINIONS AND CONCLUSIONS WITHIN THIS BLOG ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR ONLY, UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED, AND ARE NOT INTENDED TO REPRESENT ANY CORPORATION OR OTHER ENTITY.

The Song of My People


The leather wraps scraped across the callouses on Lilylen’s palms as she twisted the wraps around her hands. She tied them tightly. The wraps served as good protection from the wooden sticks she picked up and spun through her fingers. It was time to go, and she was nearly ready.


Lilylen stared out from the window of the holding, counting the rows of soldiers. There were near a hundred, armored and standing at the ready. Those were her chosen enemies. Chosen, yes, because there were so many different men to fight, so many threats to her home and in this case, her soul. The lord in command of these soldiers was a dark mage who had stolen the souls of his soldiers to bring himself more power. Lord Niccen, ruler of the city of Donwyn, what he called himself.


Untrue, though. She stood in the halls of Donwyn now, ready to protect it from his army of soulless men. If her side lost, then he would take over and hold the small city under thrall. This was not what she wanted. Donwyn was not her home now, but it had been for many years. She had no home, and her family had all aged away and left for the northern lights. Still, she wished to protect Donwyn, and her magic was strong.


She adorned herself with her armor now. Silver tips on her pointed ears, twisted and pierced through the skin, were enchanted to protect her from the raucous sounds of battle and hone her hearing. She pulled on a chain shirt and belted it with a leather strap that shone bright when she cinched it – her protection spell activating and spreading over her body in a shield. Finally, she raised her only weapon: her drum.


The drum was a gift from her mother on the day of her turning. Her mother had promised her the moon, and true to her promise, the large drum was made with the whitest of leathers stretched tight and it played the deepest rumbling. Her turning was a celebration of her sixteenth anniversary of birth, and marked the day her magic came true.


Now was no time for reminiscing, though.


Lilylen joined the warriors below in the great hall who all were armored and ready after enjoying midnight feast. There was a small party of adventurers standing in the center of the hall. Her companions were the fighters Dor and Leaf, the magician Wend, and trickster Fig. They had come with her to Donwyn, excited for the prospect of battle and as true friends. She would owe them everything if they won this battle. She raised her voice loud.


“Friends!” She clapped Dor on the shoulder. “It is time for the cries of battle and the victory! Let us feast our eyes now that we have feasted our bellies, and take down Lord Niccen and his thralls!”


Her words were met with a roar of approval from the crowd. Some warriors banged swords against shields in echoing clangs while they shouted and she cheered back at them.


“That’s the spirit, my good men and women! Join me now on the field!”


The warriors began to pour out of the hall, taking their places on walls and near gates. The battle was not long off, and Lilylen’s blood began to rush in her ears.


“Dor, Leaf, Wend, Fig – you are all my companions through battle again.”


“Lilylen, we fight for you as much for glory.” Dor’s eyes were bright behind her raggedy bangs. “Once we finish this, we will go back to the road and beyond.”


Fig slipped something sneakily into Lilylen’s hand. She looked down to see a small jeweled dagger, sheathed in shadow. She looked at Fig, raising one eyebrow in question. Fig just smiled and crossed his fingers.


“To war, to win!”


—


The adventurers made their way to the head of the warrior’s ranks, and Lilylen called for the gates to be opened. There was a loud creaking and clamoring as the large double gates opened, revealing the battlefield ahead. The warriors and Lilylen’s companions poured out onto the field, readying for the first light of dawn.


The sun rose slow and lazily, peeking through behind the holding and shining light on the thralls. Lilylen spun her drumsticks and rolled them on the drum, creating a deep, low rumble. A light mist fell down from the sky and settled over her fellows, providing cover from the soldiers and putting a protective shield around her fellows. The thrum thrum thrum echoed across the grass, and with that, the soldiers lurched forward, the warriors began to run, and they reached each other in a glorious crash.


The warriors had the strength of their heart and home pulsing through them, and all who heard the sound of Lilylen’s drum were given more power to resist their enemies. She strode forward, slowly, between the fighting, ducking and dodging while Dor and Leaf cleared her path. She had one responsibility only: to get to Niccen.


Dor and Leaf before her ran into the broken ranks of soldiers. The soldiers were technically powerful – precise in movement – but they lacked the intuitive skills of the warriors and adventurers, which failed them. In essence, they were strong only in numbers, just landscape to trample.


Wend walked behind her, casting bolts of mana into the surrounding crowds of soldiers and calling down fire from the sky. Fig was nowhere to be seen, but that was best. His tricks were not to be noticed until they had already been done.


They were nearly through the soldiers, pushing through while the warriors battled against the twice-strong army. At the back of the ranks was Niccen, not even fearful enough to be on a horse, standing proudly as though he were untouchable. He caught Lilylen’s gaze and there was no emotion in his eyes but sneering cruelty. She quickened her pace, leaving Wend behind unknowingly.


She was pressing forward and focused on Niccen, continuing to drum the slow rumble, when she felt a sudden sharp pain in her back. Her breath caught, she felt something within her go empty, and she struggled to breathe. She looked around behind her only to see Fig jump out from behind a soldier and land on another man – a man holding the jeweled dagger she had been carrying. Fig slashed the man’s throat with one sharp swipe, then he collected the dagger and returned it to Lilylen’s pocket.


“Be more careful!” He shouted, and the noise rang in her ears as she gasped for air. She began to lose her footing. Fig’s eyes widened and he placed his hands on her back, whispering an incantation. She felt her heartbeat pumping throughout her body, and slowly felt the pain ease and the air fill her lungs again. The battle pressed in close to them, and there were soldiers moving to attack. Lilylen braced herself.


Suddenly, a clap of thunder sounded and lightning struck, spreading through the bodies of the soldiers, turning them into crisp wastes. Lilylen sighed in relief and doubled her speed, trying to make up for lost time. She reached Niccen quickly.


He didn’t even move. She stood ten feet away from him and all he did was stand there, unafraid, undaunted. She gritted her teeth, and began to pound her drum faster, harder. She opened her mouth, and the sound from inside her was a deep bellow.


“Long we fight and long we live,
we do not fear the dark.
Strong we are and never gone,
we do not fear the burning light.
Hold back the night,
the night so cold.


We fight so long,
long will we live.”


She sang it again and again, her voice becoming louder and louder. Niccen stood there, quietly at first, then laughing. He did not notice the red light growing behind him, growing larger with each drumbeat.


“This is your plan?” He yelled above the drumming. “Sing me to death?”


Niccen moved his hands, muttering an incantation she couldn’t quite catch, even with her unique hearing. There were corpses around her from the battle, and they slowly raised themselves to their feet. Her breath caught in her throat, straining her voice. She found her voice again as she spun around with her drum, changing the beat and singing faster as she slammed bodily into the undead monsters surrounding her. They pressed in on her, grabbing at her clothes and scratching her face. Her heart was pounding in her head. She knew she didn’t have much longer until she would lose control, so she stopped moving and planted her feet. The song was sung.


Lilylen’s voice stopped mid-verse, and she banged on the drum three times in succession, and from behind Niccen appeared a giant, red, translucent dragon. The dragon was massive, a full-sized red dragon with a long crest on it’s head. Its flesh was nothing more than red light, the body of a spirit of vengeance. Niccen turned in response to its roar, and Lilylen imagined that his eyes grew wide. The dragon devoured him in one bite, and inside the dragon Niccen tumbled into its stomach. Lilylen felt elation welling up inside her, until there was a loud pop and Niccen disappeared. She spun around in panic, running into the corpses crowding around her who toppled over, the incantation controlling them no longer held.


“Fig! Dor! Leaf! Wend!” She called for her companions, who were fending off the soldiers. “He’s gone!”


None could hear her. In that moment, she felt a gust of wind burst against her side and tear through the leather of her drum. She gasped and turned to face Niccen, who was spinning a whirlwind. The wind blew so hard that it wrested the drum from her hands and took the air from her lungs. She felt as though her very soul was being pulled from her, but she staggered towards him, her face contorted with rage.


Blood boiling and rage overtaking her, her muscles grew and flexed, and her eyes tightened as the irises turned to bright red. She felt the dagger in her pocket and pulled it out, pressing her body against the whirlwind, her rage strength allowing her to resist it’s power. She screamed and bellowed at Niccen, at the wind, at everything that was in her way of tearing the mage apart.


“I will eat your soul!” Niccen cried out, and now she could hear the fear. She would always hear the fear when her rage rose within her. She breached the wall of wind and watched him tumble backwards. The look of terror on his face was all she needed to see. She tackled him and stabbed the dagger into his heart, twisting and wrenching it. The shadow of the blade spread out through his skin in a spiderweb, blackness filling his veins. She watched until the light left his eyes, hearing the crunch of cartilage and bone beneath her weight.


Soon, she felt the blood draining from her face. Her muscles weakened, and she staggered, falling to the ground beside Niccen’s blood-covered corpse. Around her, the thralls fell down, slowly but surely being overtaken by death.


She felt weightless as Dor and Leaf picked her up and carried her off the field. The warriors crowded around as she was taken to the hall. As she drifted off into weary rest, she heard the song of her people. The depth of their voices. The love in their hearts.


“For life! For victory! For Donwyn!”





THOUGHTY LOGO © JOHN W. SHELDON 2013. USED WITH PERMISSION. UNAUTHORIZED REPRODUCTION STRICTLY PROHIBITED.
ALL CONTENT WITHIN THIS BLOG AND ANY OF THE ALTERNATE SITES LINKED ARE SUBJECT TO FAIR USE UNDER U.S. COPYRIGHT LAWS. THE OPINIONS AND CONCLUSIONS WITHIN THIS BLOG ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR ONLY, UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED, AND ARE NOT INTENDED TO REPRESENT ANY CORPORATION OR OTHER ENTITY.

Talk about Geek Culture

I hear a lot about Geek Culture, and I know a lot of Geeks and a lot of geeks. I wanted to kind of ruminate (really navel-gaze) about what Geek is and what geek is and who takes on that label. This is all just my stuff so I don’t really care too much if people agree, I just felt like writing it.

First, I don’t think anyone has to be a geek or that they should be labeled one without wanting to be one. I do think that people can participate in Geek culture without being a geek or a Geek.

Let’s clarify some stuff (these are my descriptions and definitions only):

Geek Culture = the overarching media and social constructs surrounding enthusiasts and Geeks/geeks.

Geek = someone who is a geek and active participant in Geek Culture. When used as “a Geek (thing)” or “Geeky”, something that is mainstream geek, common to a larger majority of the community, or something that is geeky.

geek/enthusiast = a person who enjoys media or activities and participates actively in enjoyment, whether it is sharing experiences with others or simply investing time and/or money in their hobby or interest. A person can be an enthusiast without being a geek, but rarely a geek without being an enthusiast, and geek is a self-identified label. When used as “a geek (thing)” or “geeky”, something that is any type of hobby or preoccupation, any level of commonality in the community, but not necessarily part of the larger Geek community.

fan = a person who enjoys a thing or activity, with varying levels of interest.

Not all geeks are Geeks but all Geeks are geeks, geeks can be fans but not all fans are geeks, all geeks are enthusiasts but not all enthusiasts are geeks, and so on.

As an example, I’m a Geek and a geek and a fan. I consume mainstream geek media like Star Trek and Star Wars and Harry Potter, and actively participate in the enjoyment – I share it with friends, I talk about the meaning and theories addressed in the media, and I invest money in clothing, jewelry, posters, etc. about these things. I’m an RPG geek, not just playing but also discussing theory and investing money into the products, and a participant in the overall gaming community. Someone just the same as me might say that they’re just a geek, or just an enthusiast, or just a fan, but they have the option of a narrower label.

I think one of the big problems right now is that one, we’re applying the geek or Geek label to people or things without it necessarily fitting. See, someone can be a geek about football but not consider themselves a geek, instead using the label of fan. However, someone who is a fan of football might consider themselves a sports geek, because they know the gritty details of the statistics, details about the players, and other things that indicate a deeper level of involvement.

Sometimes people are geeks or enthusiasts because of their profession – academics, experts – but don’t use the geek moniker because it has a negative component for a lot of people. Geek was used as an insult and has a kind of yucky history, and some people don’t want the label because of that. That’s totally okay! They don’t have to be geeks! We can think of them in that context to understand them, but that doesn’t make them geeks – you can’t be a geek without consent. This is part of why the Fake Geek meme is so outrageous. Geek is a self-applied label, so telling someone they aren’t a geek or that they don’t do enough of whatever you think they should do to be a geek is utter nonsense. Just as someone can behave in a manner of a geek and not call themselves a geek, someone can behave in a manner not like a geek and still call themselves a geek. 

Another problem is that geek has become Geek – mainstream – in many arenas. Geekiness carries so much baggage that being a part of the mainstream or there even being mainstream geeks or Geeks is just weird, man. Geeks are used to being separate from the norm, a niche market, outcasts. Now we have TV shows that feature geeks prominently and often not flatteringly. Non-geeks adopt our image – geeky references on t-shirts, black rimmed glasses, even attaching themselves to our media and our gadgets. 
We feel defensive. I feel it, too, even though some might consider me a Fake Geek, when people on the periphery claim, “I’m such a geek!” when in my mind, they’re really a “Geek”. They’re enthusiasts and consumers but they are more than that a part of the larger Geek Culture. They might like Avengers (the film) and have never picked up a comic in their life, and that’s cool! They can be a part of Geek Culture. They can consider themselves geeks, big or little G, because it’s perception that matters. How you perceive yourself – a geek, an enthusiast, a fan, or a Geek – is what matters, not how I look at you, or some stranger looks at you. You judge if your amount of investment into something counts enough to make you a geek. 
Geek Culture has some biiiig problems, though. One, the Fake Geek thing, which I’ve addressed above, is total bullshit and needs to die die die. Two, there’s still so much rampant sexism and racism and classism. 
Classism? Yeah, I said it. Being a Geek costs money a lot of the time, and because collector items often require a lot of investment (and sometimes geeky endeavors in general take a lot of time and money), it can give people the impression that if you don’t have the funds to participate in all of geek/Geek, you aren’t allowed to be a Geek. Maybe someone only saw Avengers and doesn’t buy the comics because they only have a small allowance and $4 comic books multiple times a month really add up, but seeing one movie this summer at the shitty local theater was just affordable. They can still be a geek if they want to, because we shouldn’t have a buy in to be a geek. Geek isn’t a country club!
Racism and sexism? You can’t throw an Xbox without hitting an article about the sexism and racism in Geek Culture. From video games to movies to comics to historical reenactments – these things are pervasive in normal society, and geek communities have no special exception. The thing is, we all should care enough about this community and about the media we consume to actually give a fuck about changing it. 
What we consume as Geeks or geeks or fans or enthusiasts, whatever label you want to put on it, contributes to the image we present as people or as members of Geek Culture. And we need to change it. If people look at us and see these negative aspects first and foremost, it gives all of us a bad name, and that’s part of why people deny identification. Geeks shouldn’t be known for being assholes or ignorant. We should strive to make our fandoms and our interests look better, not be negligent or dismissive and make them look worse. 
But, so many of us don’t. After all, it’s just a game! It’s just a movie! It’s just a comic! 
It’s just a huge part of our lives. 

Just some stuff to think on.

<3,

BCS







THOUGHTY LOGO © JOHN W. SHELDON 2010. USED WITH PERMISSION. UNAUTHORIZED REPRODUCTION STRICTLY PROHIBITED.
ALL CONTENT WITHIN THIS BLOG AND ANY OF THE ALTERNATE SITES LINKED ARE SUBJECT TO FAIR USE UNDER U.S. COPYRIGHT LAWS. THE OPINIONS AND CONCLUSIONS WITHIN THIS BLOG ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR ONLY, UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED, AND ARE NOT INTENDED TO REPRESENT ANY CORPORATION OR OTHER ENTITY.

Monsters – Doppler


Doppler


One of the most frightening things for many people, next to public speaking, is to have their identity – their personhood – taken away and used for nefarious purposes. That’s what the Doppler is all about. They can duplicate any living being down to DNA with ease and accuracy.


Dopplers in their natural state are long-limbed, light grey creatures that are about 7 foot tall. They are emaciated. Each hand has three long claws, and each foot has two short claws with a third larger, curved claw. Their legs are shaped like a dogs leg, to enable them to leap higher and run on all-fours if they prefer. They are intelligent, but not very smart unless they are mimicking someone who is more intelligent. Their eyes are small slits in their face, and they have no nose. Their ears are shaped similar to bat ears, and they are nearly as large as the head of the Doppler.

The Doppler has found its pray, by Emily Vitori. 



Dopplers find their prey by using echolocation – above human hearing, but able to be heard by many other creatures. They do not need to touch their victims – they only need to get near enough to them to identify them with their screeching, and then they can easily replicate their form. Like Hanging Men, Dopplers rest in peripheral vision, normally undetected by humans. They often take the form of furniture or small animals to track people. Their goals with their mimicking are varied, from hired identity theft to personal desires for a human body.


Today’s art is by Emily Vitori. Thanks to Emily for her contribution to the project! 

Note: If you decide to use any of the monsters in a campaign, please let me know! I’d like to see how they work out.







THOUGHTY LOGO © JOHN W. SHELDON 2010. USED WITH PERMISSION. UNAUTHORIZED REPRODUCTION STRICTLY PROHIBITED.
ALL CONTENT WITHIN THIS BLOG AND ANY OF THE ALTERNATE SITES LINKED ARE SUBJECT TO FAIR USE UNDER U.S. COPYRIGHT LAWS. THE OPINIONS AND CONCLUSIONS WITHIN THIS BLOG ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR ONLY, UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED, AND ARE NOT INTENDED TO REPRESENT ANY CORPORATION OR OTHER ENTITY.

Monsters – Siren

Siren

On the coast of every ocean, there can be found one shore – it may be rocky, or sandy, or a moist clay, but one may always find a Siren. To the naked eye, the Siren is their viewer’s greatest desire – a chiseled, muscular man; a beautiful, voluptuous woman; a statuesque androgynous being. Whatever the beholder wishes, the Siren takes on their visage and draws their victim nearer.

The Siren has a distinctive call, a long, sad song they call out in a clear, haunting voice. They sing of loneliness and longing. The call has a strong effect on landlubbers and sailors alike, gripping at their heart and mind and pulling them ever closer into their arms.

A Siren viewing its true reflection, by Jason Cox.

However, like the myths say, it is a lie. Beneath their unearthly beauty lies a monstrous creature. Their body is like that of a human, but is dirty and covered with lichen and barnacles. Their face is where the horror lies – wide open and unblinking eyes that take up the sides of their face, and a vertical mouth lined with sharp teeth. When they capture their victim, pinning them, they devour them face first, drawing out the life energy and filling their bellies with raw flesh.



Note: If you decide to use any of the monsters in a campaign, please let me know! I’d like to see how they work out.

Today’s art is by Jason Cox. Thanks for contributing to the Monsters collection!



THOUGHTY LOGO © JOHN W. SHELDON 2013. USED WITH PERMISSION. UNAUTHORIZED REPRODUCTION STRICTLY PROHIBITED.
ALL CONTENT WITHIN THIS BLOG AND ANY OF THE ALTERNATE SITES LINKED ARE SUBJECT TO FAIR USE UNDER U.S. COPYRIGHT LAWS. THE OPINIONS AND CONCLUSIONS WITHIN THIS BLOG ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR ONLY, UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED, AND ARE NOT INTENDED TO REPRESENT ANY CORPORATION OR OTHER ENTITY.

Monsters – The Kid


The Kid


The Kid is five foot nothing, snotty nosed and petulant. The Kid is every bully in elementary school, and every kid who is bullied. He sneers and cringes all at once. He never meets your eyes, but can see into your soul. The son of the Flesh King never sleeps.

The Kid, by Susan Knowles.



The Kid is always around. He just finds a couch in every town and never seems to leave. He’s only one person, but he’s everywhere. Everyone knows The Kid. He eats everything in your fridge. He rubs his nose on his sleeve and spreads the common cold like a plague. When you’re feeling down in the dumps, The Kid knows just the right thing to say to make you blame yourself.


If you talk to The Kid, he will flinch away like you slapped him. If he talks to you, he’ll find any weakness you have – any feature you have that you are sensitive about – and exploit it. He’s the Kid who got beat up at recess. He’s the Kid that locked someone in a locker. An enigma wrapped in a bologna sandwich.




Note: If you decide to use any of the monsters in a campaign, please let me know! I’d like to see how they work out.


Today’s art is by Susan Knowles. Thanks, Susan, for your contribution to the project!

THOUGHTY LOGO © JOHN W. SHELDON 2010. USED WITH PERMISSION. UNAUTHORIZED REPRODUCTION STRICTLY PROHIBITED.
ALL CONTENT WITHIN THIS BLOG AND ANY OF THE ALTERNATE SITES LINKED ARE SUBJECT TO FAIR USE UNDER U.S. COPYRIGHT LAWS. THE OPINIONS AND CONCLUSIONS WITHIN THIS BLOG ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR ONLY, UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED, AND ARE NOT INTENDED TO REPRESENT ANY CORPORATION OR OTHER ENTITY.