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Girls of Gore: Morticia Addams from The Addams Family

Monica Valentinelli — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:38:40 +0000

*cue ominous music*

They’re creepy and they’re kooky… Mysterious and spooky…

My first nomination for the Girls of Gore series went to Eve from THE MENAGERIE, the world’s first female (and vampire). In this edition of Girls of Gore, I’d like to turn your attention to the lovely Morticia Addams, who is definitely more than what she seems. Now, you might think that Morticia is just another pretty goth that’s all dressed up with nowhere to go, but you’d be wrong. Dead wrong. She may dress in the finest, black gowns and take extra care of her appearance, but Morticia is definitely a Girl of Gore. Why? Well, read on.

First, I’d like to share with you a little history about where Morticia’s character came from. Charles Addams (1912-1988) was an American cartoonist whose work has been described as macabre, bizarre and dark — yet humorous and saccharin-sweet. The Addams Family originated from his cartoons, many of which were featured in The New Yorker. The 1960s TV show was based on Addams characters, but his work also inspired a couple of animated series, films and The Addams Family musical, too. (Morticia is also rumored to be behind the inspiration behind Magica De Spell from Darkwing Duck!)

In horror comedies, you might expect a Girl of Gore to be a woman with more guns, but in this case — she’s the woman who is smooth as silk with poison on her lips. Morticia is literally the glue that holds The Addams Family together; whenever the wealthy family gets into trouble, it’s her wit and calm demeanor that helps see them through sticky situations. Whether it’s some con artist going after the family for their money or someone’s commenting on her children’s behavior, Morticia “takes care of it” any way that she can.

In my opinion, Morticia Addams (like the well-known version played by Angelica Houston)offers us a different kind of “Girl of Gore,” for even though she doesn’t dress like a gunslinger — she’s still pretty fearless and she’s arguably the smartest and bravest member of the family. Lurking beneath that calm, quiet demeanor is a woman who will not hesitate to protect her loved ones. Sure, we may laugh along with her jokes, but Morticia isn’t afraid to stay true to her love of the strange, the bizarre and the macabre, regardless of what other people may think of her. Not to mention, Houston’s version of Morticia is deadly, but silent. Never raising her voice above a whisper or speaking out of turn, her manners always seem to remain intact. Even though she’s cold and calculating, Morticia isn’t afraid to share her love with Gomez or the rest of her family. Under the guise of black comedy, her complex nature offers us the chance to see both the best and the worst parts of what it means to be a woman.

I happen to like Morticia Addams quite a bit. Like her, I also prefer rainy days and stodgy Victorian houses; probably because I’m a writer who has been known to lurk in the dark on occasion. Morticia flaunts her dark side, though, regardless of the situation. Even though she’s a fictional character, she always seems to rise above any obstacle because she ignores the naysayers. In my mind, the best analogy I have for her is a poisonous viper: once she has made up her mind about what needs to be done, she will strike. Hard.

Would you like to nominate the next Girl of Gore? Post your suggestion in the comments below!

Designing Ganakagok: The Certainty of Change

Flames — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:32:56 +0000

Our game design series continues with a new essay from Bill White telling us about his fantasy RPG, Ganakagok.

Ganakagok is a fantasy where characters are members of a tribe that lives in a night-time world on an island of ice who must deal with the coming of the Dawn and the changes it brings. Play involves the use of a deck of cards to generate situation, prompt narration, and inspire characters; each session produces an authentic-seeming myth of an imaginary people.

Designing Ganakagok

When people ask me what my game Ganakagok is about, I say, “It’s a fantasy.” I tell them that it’s about a people called the Nitu, who live on a starlit island of ice in a world where the sun has never risen. They live in darkness, revering the Stars, honoring their Ancestors, and marveling at the handiwork of the Forgotten Ones, who long ago wrought Ganakagok into its current form.

Each game begins the same way: There are portents of change in the world, and over the course of the game the dawn grows closer and closer, until at the end of the game it is morning, and the final fates of the world, the people, and the individual characters are decided. So the game is about how the Nitu confront the certainty of change in their world, both as individuals and as a people. In play, the action ranges from hard-fought arguments with stern village elder through desperate flights across the ice to epic battles with creatures out of legend, cannibal-ghouls and the Father of Walruses. “This game produces myths,” I tell prospective players, and the players who really like the game are the ones who enjoy that aspect of it—it feels mythopoietic, which is a fancy word for “myth-producing.”

But it’s an unusual setting, and I often have to explain that the game was originally written for the “Son of Iron Game Chef” design contest run in 2004 by Mike Holmes on the Forge, a discussion site for small-press tabletop role-playing games. The way Mike ran the contest, entrants had to pick three out of four keywords he’d provided and write a fantasy game using those “ingredients.” The four keywords were “ice,” “island,” “dawn,” and “assault.” I picked the first three, envisioning a gigantic iceberg floating waiting for dawn to come. Several other popular small-press games came out of that contest, including Ben Lehman’s Polaris (ice, assault, dawn), Timothy Kleinert’s The Mountain Witch (dawn, assault, island), and more recently Dev Purkayastha’s The Dance and the Dawn (island, dawn, ice—same as me!).

Mike gave Ganakagok an honorable mention in Son of Iron Game Chef, and I thought it was ready to run. I took it to a small gaming convention in New Jersey in the early months of 2005, and played it with three guys. One was Dave Petroski, a grad-school friend and gaming buddy who lived near the convention hotel; another was Andrew Morris, who had taken a look at the game on the Forge and thought it had potential—both would become strong supporters of the game. Their Nitu warriors journeyed to the far side of Ganakagok to defeat the prophet of the Sun in his ice-castle and forestall the rising of the Sun.

Still, the game had problems. A lot of them. I had built in a funky resource system intended to motivate characters to act: your village is low on meat, better go hunt. But the system was clunky and opaque. In other words, it was difficult for players to read the implications of the numbers. Did the people face famine or plenty? Additionally, players had a tough time coming up with character conceptions—I’m a hunter, I guess—and other bits of in-game color, flavor, and detail. The genre that the game most often winds up emulating—quasi-Inuit myths and legends—isn’t one to which most gamers have a lot of exposure, and so players often wonder what they ought to be doing in character.

So I ditched the quantitative system and added a qualitative one. I had been thinking for a long time about how to use a tarot-style “oracle” in a role-playing game, because I was fascinated with the way that divination methods like tarot and the I Ching provided powerfully suggestive grist for the interpretive mill. In other words, divination methods seem to work by providing an ambiguous image of which one makes sense in the context of the current situation or problem. Because our minds are designed to see patterns, make connections, and find order, the appropriateness of the divination seems uncanny.

To make the Ganakagok tarot, I essentially “reskinned” a normal 52-card playing card deck, changing the names of the suits and the court cards to make them seem more icily primitive—Tears rather than Spades, Stars rather than Diamonds, and Ancient, Man, Woman, and Child in place of Ace, King, Queen, and Jack. Then I went back to the divinatory meanings associated with the corresponding card in a tarot deck, coming up with two “motifs” for each one, a noun phrase that I called the card’s “image” and a verb phrase that was its “meaning.” So, for example, the Ace of Spades became the Ancient of Tears, or “Polar Bear,” with the meaning “to master or overcome.” And the Two of Clubs became the Two of Storms, or “Depths of the Sea,” with the meaning, “to be troubled by the unknowable.”

The cards worked great! I knew they were a winner during the first playtest with them, with a bunch of high-school-age D&D players, one of whom was the son of a friend of my wife’s at work, which was how I found them. They were all together hunting a polar bear on the ice—never split the party!—and one player, Max, described his character’s rival, an NPC, putting himself in harm’s way to distract the bear so that another PC could scramble up from where he’d fallen. That PC won the right to narrate the consequence card (in Ganakagok, one of the things you’re fighting over is who gets to narrate the consequences of your actions), which turned out to be the Child of Stars, “Reflected Image,” meaning, “to meditate or think introspectively.” And he said something like, “I guess I think about what [Max’s rival] did, and I see myself in him, and so I like him better.” And Max grimaced and went, “D’oh!” That was very gratifying: the cards could lead play into unexpected places.

Development of the game slowed after my daughter was born and I started to concentrate on getting tenure at the university where I worked. The real world intrudes! But I would show up at conventions with newer versions of the game, tweaked to fix problems that previous playtests had revealed, with copies for sale that I’d had printed on Lulu. Ganakagok started to attract aficionados, and got a lot of help from its friends. Jason Morningstar sent me images he’d scanned from accounts of 19th century expeditions to Alaska, and Dave Petroski found public-domain art to use in designing a Ganakagok tarot deck. Andrew Morris made it a point to play the game and send other people to play when I ran it. My brother Mel ran the game down in Virginia, at the Thursday night small-press game group at the Compleat Strategist in Fairfax, and at a small con called Camp Nerdly. Don Corcoran ran a gonzo version of the game that he called Crouching Polar Bear, Hidden Orca, where high-flying Nitu warriors with crystal swords defeated star-men suspended from the sky by slicing through the wires that held them in the heavens. And Alexander Newman bought an early version of the game and ran it at Origins and Gencon 2007, giving me even more feedback—both positive, in terms of the play experience, and negative, in terms of the “currency” of adversity available to the GM (i.e., how many resources the GM had available with which to oppose the player-characters) and the design of the game as a physical artifact.

The physical design of the game proved to be one of the biggest stumbling blocks to its completion. I’ve always been a textual person—bookish, I mean—and going to grad school only made that worse. So the visual design of Ganakagok was not something I spent a lot of time worrying about, which was a mistake. My design-savvy friends in the indie-gaming world would wince at the Ganakagok book like it was a train wreck. Nathan Paoletta of NDP Designs even mocked up an ashcan to show me what a good design could do for the presentation of the game.

Luckily, I had a lot of help fixing it. Larry Wick pointed me to the work of cover artist Jeremy Mohler, who had done other Inuit-themed art projects. Dave Petroski agreed to lay out the game and re-design the tarot in light of feedback that we’d gotten in play.

It was about this time, too, that I began to suspect that the game was only “half-baked,” which was a term being bandied about in small-press game circles to denote a game that had been released too soon, with rules explanations that really needed to have the game designer packaged in the box with the game to ensure that it was playable. No one ever came right out and accused Ganakagok of such a thing, but I could see that the rules as written didn’t get reader the same experience as playing the game with me or someone who’d learned to run it by playing with me. So I decided to rewrite the game completely.

This time, I would write it as an explanation to the Game Master of how to run the game, from start to finish. So the rules begin with an overview of the game’s progression, move into an explanation of the Ganakagok deck, and then lay out what the GM needs to do to create an initial situation in the world, guide players through character creation, run those characters through scenes, manage the coming of the Dawn, and then facilitate narration of the Final Fates of the World, the People, and the individual characters. My friend Michael S. Miller, designer of games like With Great Power and Serial Homicide Unit, edited the text I wrote to make the explanations and descriptions clearer, and Travis Farber volunteered to run a blind playtest without me present that let me know that, with a few tweaks, the rules worked as intended to teach the GM how to run Ganakagok.

So I took the game to Gencon 2009, new books and new decks, and ran demos at the Indie Press Revolution booth in the exhibition hall. I ran it at after-hours gaming at the Embassy Suites, and at Games on Demand on Sunday morning right before I left Indianapolis. Both were really good, strong games that produced images of play that will stick with me for a while: two veteran warriors battling the Father of Walruses out on the ice to defend the village; a Nitu hunter leaping from a tower of ice to his death amid the horde of bloated, unnatural animals that thronged below. After five years, the game still surprises and delights me.

Now the game is out. The reports that are coming back to me are generally positive, though not everything is perfect: a group in England reports having to deal with “trait-bombing,” overwhelming the GM in the contest for narration rights with a host of too-relevant traits; a friend reminds me to attend more closely to issues of cultural appropriation. But the game is out in the world, and people are playing it. Even as I write, there’s a woman in Israel running a parlor-larp version of Ganakagok for the annual Israeli science fiction and fantasy convention. The game is done, and I’m proud of it, even though as you’ve seen it is in large measure the work of others.

– Bill White – 2009

For more information visit www.ganakagok.com or Indie Press Revolution.

Eddy Webb “Finding Horror in the Eighties”

Flames — Mon, 04 May 2009 11:45:08 +0000

Eddy Webb, Alternative Publishing Developer at White Wolf Publishing, brings us a new design essay today. Eddy tells us how New Wave Requiem was developed, what some of the challenges were and how the project came together.

Finding Horror in the Eighties

New Wave Requiem started as a joke. A bunch of us were clowning around in the Vampire office (where both the developer and art director had their desks) and joked about all the vampire movies in the eighties. The idea stuck in my head long after the conversation ended, and it led to me spending hours doing research, watching movies and constantly rewriting an outline until I really felt that we could do a Vampire product on America in the 1980s and still have it be a horror game. The biggest barrier was trying to find the horror in a decade that has been recently smothered in nostalgia. But once I started looking, it actually wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be.

For my research, I pretended I didn’t live through the eighties and did a skim of historical events, taking note of ones that still had a strong resonance with events of today. I kept an eye out for core elements like terrorism, war, disease, technology and intolerance – things that strike a cord with us in any kind of horror, regardless of the decade. And once I started looking, it was easy to find threads: the Cold War, AIDS, the Satanic scare, fear of personal computers, crack cocaine. From there I moved to watching some select movies from the time, but I ignored supernatural and fantasy movies to focus on dramas, figuring those would focus on what resonates with people at that moment, in that time. From there I found the undercurrents of vice, greed and the speed of history that ended up shaping the core of NWR.

Once I had a ton of notes, I started pouring through the Vampire property, looking for connections. We already had an entire group of demonic vampires (Belial’s Brood), so mapping the Satanic scare to them was simple enough. Malkavia was a vampiric disease introduced in Lords Over the Damned that struck me as a good metaphor for AIDS, so I tied those together. There were lots of connections to be made, but one thing I tried to keep in mind as I pulled pieces together was to think of what scared people at that time, and figuring out how I could twist it to scare a vampire instead.

At some point, though, I had to put a stop to the outlining and get some other folks to do the heavy work. I had some amazing freelancers and an insanely gifted art director help me on this project, and they deserve the credit for taking my hodge-podge of ideas and putting them into the awesome product we have out now. I think part of what makes NWR so special is that everyone involved really had a passion to not only find what was horrific in the eighties, but also what was uniquely vampiric in the time period. They would constantly surprise me by taking ideas I sketched out in a few sentences and push the material to the next level.

I came away from the project having learned two important points about historical horror. First, don’t get caught up in the trappings – look for the fundamental elements first, and build up from there. It would have been easy to get lost in the Hammer pants and music videos, but by focusing on the basics and building up to the tropes of the time period instead of the other way around, a lot of connections practically suggested themselves. The other point is that horror is all about the fears or everyday people, and understanding those fears is far more important than deciding if you want to crowbar a werewolf or a mummy into a particular story. Once you know what people are scared of, you can build an engaging supernatural shell around that fear.

Eddy Webb – 2009

M. Joseph Young “Multiverser Horror”

Flames — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 13:04:11 +0000

Author M. Joseph Young has joined our ongoing Horror Design Project here at Flames Rising and tells us a bit about writing horror elements for his Multiverser RPG.

Multiverser Horror

Some people think that horror is easy: dial up the kill rate, and soon every character is terrified.

What, though, if the characters are immortal?

This was the fundamental question we had to face in writing horror scenarios for Multiverser. Player characters are “versers”. Death is the doorway to take you to the next world, and the next world is where the next adventure awaits. Dial up the death rate, and for the verser it becomes a game of choosing how to die, how to end the horror and get somewhere nicer. Thus if we were going to create horror scenarios, we were going to have to figure out how to frighten someone who is completely unafraid of death. That meant understanding fear, and its more fundamental causes. Here are a few of the things we learned. Each has value.

Most players most of the time believe that they are in control. As long as they are in control, they are not afraid. Thus the first step toward creating fear is creating uncertainty.

In developing Haunted House, we wanted to use a poltergeist in a modern home to terrorize the character. We gave it useful abilities. It can manipulate the lightning, create sounds, push and throw objects, play with illusions. Heat and cold are within its ability, and it can sabotage flashlights and other devices, slam doors and windows, and similarly interfere with the character. Yet for all this, that makes it little more than an invisible magician. Most gamers will take that in stride, and fight. What makes the scenario work is not that the player faces a powerful invisible opponent, but that he does not know what he faces. The ghost starts with little things, spooky sounds, a cold draft, the moan of the wind. Brief shadowy illusions suggest horrors that then vanish. The character trips over something unseen in the dark. The battle will escalate, but initially it is about uncertainty: is this just a spooky place, or is there real danger lurking in the dark?

Something similar is done in Slasher Summer Camp. Here people start dying, but at first the authorities believe these are terrible accidents. Gradually the player realizes that someone is targeting the people around him. If he does not figure out what is happening, he might be next–and if he is not, he will be suspected. The uncertainty exists, at first because no one thinks that this has been anything more than bad luck, and then because no one knows who is behind the killings.

Slasher Summer Camp brings up another point. There is more to fear than loss of life. Threaten something about which the player cares, and he will fear the loss. In this scenario, before there is any hint of horror, the character meets the circle of friends who will become the victims. An effort is made to create points of contact: all but one are gamers, and they invite him to play. By the time the first “accident” happens, these people are his friends.

Similarly, in The Web we recognized that there are worse things than death. Here, characters are more likely to be maimed or paralyzed but kept alive and tortured. The worst enemy has the ability to steal the character’s strength, stamina, even his mind, while holding him prisoner over long torturous weeks. You might be immortal, but some injuries stay with you a long time.

The Web also recognizes another aspect of horror, one which recalls the aspect of loss of control: the futility of effort. The loss of control is closely tied to helplessness and hopelessness. One way that is achieved in this scenario is by selective penalties against skill use. These are not rational penalties, that some tasks are more difficult, or that all tasks are more difficult. Rather, a task is penalized “when it matters”. Whenever something important is at stake, whenever the character is fighting against the horror, when success matters, it is exactly then that the penalties attach. The result is a greater chance of failure at those critical moments, and the consequent feeling that the world is against you–because it is.

Not only is the world against you, its people are, too. In The Web, the creatures who are most human are predatory and cannibalistic. It need not be so blatant as that, though. Post-Sympathetic Man builds a modern society around the concept of the survival of the fittest. Not only will everyone take advantage of you in every way they can, they will commend themselves that they did the right thing. That evil permeates the world, and attempts to drag the character with it.

These have all been examples of insidious horror, the sort that frightens over time, wearing down the character’s–and the player’s–courage. There is, however, another type of horror, exemplified by The Cask of Amontilado.

In the original Poe story, the mood of horror is set by the narrator, Montressa, as he details the steps by which he lured Fortunato into a fatal trap. The Ray Bradbury replay in Usher II similarly has an oblivious victim walk to his own death. In running this scenario, the referee through the non-player characters attempts to keep the player at ease and unsuspecting. It is when the trap is sprung that the horror strikes with abrupt force, as the character realizes he now faces a lingering painful death in the darkness.

You might be immortal, but I can still terrify you.

M. Joseph Young – 2009

About the Author:
M. Joseph Young is co-author of Multiverser and its various supplements and fiction, and other books and articles on many subjects on his own web site and many others.

Post Sympathetic Man is published in Multiverser: The Second Book of Worlds. The Cask of Amontilado is by Edgar Allan Poe; it, along with Haunted House and Slasher Summer Camp, was used in the Multiverser novel Old Verses New, and the three adapted for gameplay in Multiverser Triple Play: Horror. The Web is co-authored with E. R. Jones for publication in Multiverser: The Third Book of Worlds.
All are copyright © Valdron Inc and the authors.

A Look at the Origin of Horror Tropes

Monica Valentinelli — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 20:51:05 +0000

As a horror and dark fantasy writer and fan of the genre for years, I’ve noticed certain horror tropes that are used time and time again. For example, in supernatural horror you will almost always see the pentagram used as a satanic symbol and the story will typically revolve around the Catholic religion. In slasher flicks, typically there’s always one modelesque female who ends up getting slaughtered viciously in a gory bloodfest. Vampire stories range from the horrific to the romantic, but almost always center around a Master Vampire who is deathly allergic to sunlight. I’m sure you can name several horror tropes that you recognize, but do you know where these tropes began?

If you’re a fan of horror, you probably know that the genre has been saturated with conventions that have helped to shape and define “what” horror is since the middle ages. Interestingly enough, the horror timeline shows that Dante’s Inferno was really the first definitive work of the horror genre, but I would argue that that was the first recognized “Western” work for two reasons. One, because up until that time certain publications may not have physically survived the passage of time. Keep in mind the first “recognized” printing press wasn’t developed until 1440. Two, the historical record in literature, art and film tends to be fractured between East and West. It’s very rare to find a timeline that ignores geographical boundaries.

Of course, it’s pretty easy to take a horror trope and trace its origin to a point in Western history, not only because we’ve been ingrained with Western culture, but also because there are fewer cultural and language barriers than there are with Eastern. However, as Japanese horror films have shown us (Ju-On, Doll Cemetery), there are marked distinctions between Eastern and Western horror that stem from cultural, philosophical and religious differences. Take something as simple like a ghost. In Western horror movies, the team almost always has to find out “what the ghost wants” to help it find peace. You might not see this in Eastern horror, simply because some ghosts cannot be redeemed.

Time and geography have both played their parts on our social consciousness, answering the question “What is horror?” in unique ways. During the days of the Inquisition, there was nothing scarier than being accused of heresy, because you might lose your life as a result. Fast-forward hundreds of years, and the effects of the Inquisition are evident throughout history in the form of “witch trials” that took place in Europe and in the U.S. Truth be told, many modern horror tropes originate not from the Middle Ages, but from Milton’s epic poem, Paradise Lost published in 1667. That legendary “war in heaven” has been used as a key concept in a wide range of literary and cinematic words, including properties like The Devil’s Advocate, Murder Mysteries (Gaiman), Constantine and The Prophecy.

Although there have been other major developments since the 1600s in the horror genre, most of what we consider “classic horror” really originates from the 1800s. Shelley, Lovecraft, Stoker, Poe, Wells, Stevenson and several other authors helped shape the horror genre (and science fiction as well) through the ages of Industrialism and Spiritualism. (If you love ghosts, read up on the history of the Spiritualist movement for some very fun reading.)

Through the twentieth century, even though there have been evolutions in the horror genre from decade to decade, certain themes have remained prevalent from those days of the Inquisition. Although our culture is arguably not as “religious” as it was in the Middle Ages, there are some horror tropes which have been more prevalent in today’s modern era than in the past. Physical and sexual abuse is a trope that has crept its way into horror since the turn of the Century. Many “new” writers to the genre default to descriptions of abuse for women or children, because in their mind that is what makes horror horror. Even though violence is a small part of the horror genre, its presence tends to put any “weaker” characters (i.e. women, children, emotive types) in a bad light.

Horror tropes have been used to “tag” creative ideas as part of the horror genre, but they’ve also been used to develop plot and create fascinating characters. What horror tropes can you identify? What sub-genre of horror do you enjoy?

Monica Valentinelli

Player’s Handbook 2: A Look at the Shaman

Matt-M-McElroy — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 11:45:28 +0000

From the bright towns and darkened wilderness they come: mighty heroes intent on exploring dungeons, slaying monsters and battling evil.

The Player’s Handbook 2 offers Dungeons & Dragons players new options with new Races, Classes and more. This book introduces the primal power source, which draws on the spirits that preserve and sustain the world. Wizards of the Coast has offered up a handful of previews and excerpts on the Dungeons & Dragons website and a few lucky gamers out there have already received their pre-ordered copies of the book (some have even posted spoiler threads if you have the energy to dig through them).

Flames Rising was lucky enough to get an advance copy of the book for review and we are teaming up with a handful of other websites to explore some of the new options being made available to players of Dungeons & Dragons. Specifically we are going to be taking a look at the Shaman Class today. After our Look at the Shaman you will find a series of links to other sites examining other sections of the book.

The Shaman

“The spirits surround us, guide us, and hold all the knowledge of the world.”

The Shaman is a very primal character class, both in regards to their Power Source and how the characters interact with the world around them. Shamans are connected to powerful nature spirits and together they lead an adventuring party through battle.

Initially when I was looking at the new book I was wondering just how the Shaman was going to be different from the Druid. At first glance, I thought the two classes might have a lot of overlap. I found I didn’t need to “worry” too much about it. While both classes are primal type characters, the Shaman assumes the role of Leader and the Druid is a Controller. The classes may be allies and may share a bond with nature, but it is how they interact with spirits (and other members of the adventuring party) that set them apart.

When a character becomes a Shaman they acquire a spirit companion that guides them on their adventures. They must choose either a Protector Spirit or a Stalker Spirit. The default choices are bear and panther, but the book offers ideas on customizing the appearance and traits to better fit the character’s overall race and experiences (a Dragonborn might have a rage drake for example). While all Shamans have the powers call spirit companion, healing spirit and speak with spirits it is the choice of Protector or Stalker that determines if the character gets spirit’s shield or spirit’s fangs as an additional power.

Many of the Shaman Evocations call upon the spirit companion to either strike the Shaman’s enemies or to heal the character’s allies. My personal favorites are those that add bonuses to the Shaman’s allies such as the Level 2 Utility Evocation Spirits of Battle which “creates a zone filled with ancestral spirits that lasts until the end of the encounter. While within the zone, your allies gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls.” At higher levels the Shaman is quite powerful and an incredible ally to have in the party. For example, the Level 22 Utility Evocation Call the Dead affects dead allies in the burst and returns them to life.

One the things I like the best about the Shaman Evocations in this book is the bits of flavor text that start each entry. For example Lightning Panther Spirit (Level 3 Encounter) reads:

With a rumbling growl, a panther spirit appears and strikes your foe with lightning before it vanishes. Your spirit companion channels the panther’s swiftness to your allies.

These little bits of flavor add some great story potential to the character and offer players a chance to enhance descriptions of the character in action. Instead of just saying, “1d10 +Wisdom modifier lightning damage.” the player can describe the spirit’s attack with style. The entire book is full of great little bits of text like this that make it a fun read.

The Shaman Paragon Paths allow players to further refine their character in new ways and add a bit more customization to how that character interacts with the world around them. The Player’s Handbook 2 offers four Paragon Paths for the Shaman, each with three new Evocations.

The Disciple of the World Serpent is a defender of the natural order and uses the power of the World Serpent to battle creatures from beyond the mortal realm.
The Ghost Panther use a combination of stealth and cunning to strike at foes, even using the spirit world to teleport during battle.
The Great Bear Shaman is a protector of the weak and fearsome opponent to those that would harm the Shaman’s allies.
The Spirit Tempest channels the spirit winds to lash out at enemies and heal allies.

Naturally this is just a brief glance at the Shaman class features offered in the new book. There are many Evocations not covered in this review that will be a lot of fun to play around with as your character grows through their adventures. The Player’s Handbook 2 offers a lot of new material to explore. New Races, new Classes, Racial Paragon Paths and much, much more.

Matt M McElroy

Want to learn more about Player’s Handbook 2? Read on…

Atomic Array: Episode 018: Player’s Handbook 2
Kobold Quarterly: Review: Player’s Handbook 2
Game Cryer: Review: Player’s Handbook 2
Gnome Stew: A Veteran GM’s Take on GMing and the PHB2
Critical Hits: The Avenger
Campaign Mastery: The Barbarian
Uncle Bear: The Bard
Critical Ankle Bites: The Druid
The Core Mechanic: The Invoker
Stupid Ranger: The Sorcerer
Musings of the Chatty DM: The Warden

The EVE Online Retail Box and You

Flames — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 12:43:09 +0000

If Science Fiction is Your Thing…

…then, come March 10, you will be a very happy camper indeed! That is the day that Atari and CCP Games will be releasing the ultra popular MMORPG EVE Online to the retail world. And why, do you ask, would this be any different than, say, subscribing online? Several very good reasons, one of which is financial and the other is simply geekish.

First, the financial aspect. EVE Online will be retailing for about $34.95, which is a good $15 cheaper than many new games that come out. To quote their press release:

Breaking with tradition, the collection of extras will also include 60 days of free game time, a departure from the standard 30 days offered for most MMORGs, allowing players to sign up and get started without paying any subscription fees for the first 60 days of a new account. Alternatively, the included game time may be used to extend an existing subscription or be split into two 30-day codes known as “Pilot License Extensions” (PLEX) that can be sold to other players through the in-game market for in-game currency.

For U.S. customers, that is the equivalent of purchasing the game (and all 10 of the games expansions!!) for a grand total of $4.95. But wait, there’s more! What this means is that you can play for free for 60 days, or split it up into two 30-day units and actually SOLD for a great deal of in-game money (known as isk) to give your character an even greater boost in his or her career in Space.

Now, having been playing this game for a mere three months myself, I can say that a LOT can be learned and done in this short amount of time…and with other people in the game and Corporations filled with people willing to help n00bs (new players), the learning curve is that much easier to handle. CCP will also be making changes, beginning with this newest expansion Apocrypha, to the entire character creation process, making this aspect of the game simpler and more streamlined for the new player.

For the geek in all of us, purchasing this game gives players the following bonuses:

INSTANT WAR ACCESS: This certificate allows rapid access to organized combat (through increased standings), helping new players get into the action quickly.
EXCLUSIVE CAREER GUIDE: Accessed via the website to allow for dynamic updates, the guide includes insider tips and tricks.
VIP PASS: Use this card to invite a friend to try the game for 21 days. When that friend becomes an EVE Online subscriber, you will get an additional 30 days of free game time.
And my favorite one, because I am a sucker for new, shiny toys (as anyone in my Corp will attest to, with both a giggle and a frown):
EXCLUSIVE IN-GAME SHIP: An exclusive new ship, the Interbus Shuttle, will allow players to fly in style with an increased capacity cargo hold to ferry those extra crucial items at high speeds.

Okay, the drawbacks:

1) Online games are addictive. In the case of EVE Online, there is always a new skill to learn, a new part of the Universe to explore, a new ship to fly, a new pirate to hunt down, a new agent to go on missions for, a new player to recruit into your Corporation or a new gate to gank (EVE’s unique descriptors are all part of the joy, from ganking to podding to null-sec ninja mining…it’s all fun and games). What kind of a player are you? Do you like long-range sniping? How about Drone fighting? Do you prefer up-close-and-personal projectile barrages or, perhaps, you like creating the havoc that is EWAR (electronic warfare)? Maybe you’re a carebear and love to sit between a pile of rocks and mine your EVE life away, making millions in the process? Whatever the case, there is a career…and I do mean a CAREER…for you in EVE. So, this isn’t so much a drawback as it is fair warning. You will become hooked.

2) Lag. This is an issue that happens at certain times when a great number of players are all at one place at one time doing something enormous (like the time I was pod-killed by a group of 20+ pirates ganking a gate with EWAR, warp scrambling and heavy tackling…I didn’t die because I was ineffectual, I died because the overload caused my video card to lock up. Pay close attention to your computer specs. Sometimes, lag cannot be avoided, especially in systems (I can think of only one right now) where there are routinely 1000+ players strolling about at any given time. The system I am in, for example, averages somewhere around 25.

3) EVE is not a pleasant place to go out for a stroll in your uninsured cruiser class starship. If you are looking for a nice quiet place to do your thing in a science fiction setting or if you enjoy social networking with your pals while waiting for those giant ore rocks to be gobbled up by your mining barge…forget it. Pirates will hunt you down and destroy you. NPC ships will harass you repeatedly and can flippers (another colloquialism you will learn once you’re hooked) will rob you blind if you aren’t careful. EVE is the wild west of space, where lawlessness is the order of the day. There is one bit of advice I’ve heard over and over and I will repeat it here for you: Never fly a ship you cannot afford to lose.

4) Did I mention that EVE is addictive? Okay. Moving on…

EVE Online is fun, it is challenging and there is ALWAYS something new to do or some place new to explore, if you have the intestinal fortitude. It is relatively inexpensive and you do, indeed, meet some really good people (despite the proliferation of pirates, most of which are pretty nice…after all, even pirates need to make a living). Best of all, you will have two full months to explore the possibilities, take advantage of isk-making opportunities and, best of all, stories to tell your friends of the pirate that couldn’t escape, or the null-sec rats you avoided while mining an ice field, or a moon!

If you are a science fiction fan, then EVE Online is what you’ve been looking for. With its rich back-story, incredible visuals, atmospheric music and up-to-the-moment news updates from all four main factions (Amarr, Caldari, Gallente and Minmatar), you will feel as if you are living amongst the stars. Some very deadly stars, to be sure, but lucrative and exciting nonetheless!

Joe Rixman – 2009

About EVE Online:
Set tens of thousands of years in the future, EVE Online is a breathtaking journey to the stars, to an immersive experience filled with adventure, riches, danger and glory. From brokering business deals to waging war, you will have access to a diverse array of sophisticated tools and interfaces to forge your own destiny in EVE. Learn more and sign up for a free trial at www.eveonline.com.

About the author:

Joe Rixman is a freelance writer for White Wolf, a screenwriter, filmmaker and avid EVE- Online player. He can be reached in-game by Eve-mailing Joren Kain, his nom-de guerre.

Hurts so Good: A Friday the 13th Retrospective Part 2

Jason Thorson — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 11:50:29 +0000

Hurts so Good: A Friday the 13th Retrospective Part 1 wrapped up with Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives. Be sure to check out Retrospective Part 1 before continuing here.

There are so many Friday the 13th movies, even this retrospective gets a sequel. So let’s continue with our bloody stalk down memory lane as we try to answer the question: Despite these movies being so bad, why do I and millions of others love them?

Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)
As a youngster, Tina Shepard accidentally kills her father by drowning him in Crystal Lake using telekinesis. When she returns to the Crystal lake with her mother and her therapist in tow, she senses a life force in the lake and using telekinesis she calls it up. Whoops! It’s not dad. It’s Jason. As he’s wont to do, Jason kills nearly everyone until a climactic confrontation between Jason and Tina puts Jason back in the lake. This episode was directed by effects guru, John Carl Buechler and it boasts some very violent and creative kills which is why the raping and pillaging of the movie’s gore by the MPAA is most disappointing and inexplicable. The final cut of this episode could have been rated PG-13. Despite much clamoring for a unrated DVD release the prognosis is grim.

Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)
Honestly, the name of this one by itself should warn viewers that this is indeed the second in a long list of shark jumping expeditions taken by this series. Jim’s houseboat snags an underwater power line in Crystal Lake and wouldn’t you know it? It electrocutes Jason, reanimating him yet again. Meanwhile, Rennie Wickham boards a ship with her senior class headed for New York City. Unfortunately, Jim’s houseboat drifts past and Jason jumps aboard to stow away with Rennie and the rest of the gang. Eventually, the ship ports in Manhattan with several dead passengers and Jason, who proceeds to reek havoc on New York wise guys, street thugs, etc. A showdown between Rennie and Jason ensues and Jason is inexplicably turned into a little kid by a large quantity of toxic waste. Yep. Don’t ask.

Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)
The sharks get bigger and the jumps get higher. Ignoring his demise at the end of the last movie, the FBI basically does a sting on Jason and blows him up with explosives back at camp. At the federal morgue, Jason’s heart, in the form of an autonomous slug-like creature, possesses the coroner. The folks at the morgue end up dead and Jason’s body goes missing. Enter Duke Creighton, a bounty hunter, and Diana Kimble, Jason’s sister. They hatch a plan to kill Jason involving a special dagger and the need for one of Jason’s blood relatives to wield it. Meanwhile, Jason’s heart creature jumps from person to person and they assume Jason’s power and penchant for murder. Diana is killed which means the onus of killing Jason falls on her daughter, Jessica. Jason’s heart monster finds Diana’s corpse which officially resurrects the real Jason, but Jessica eventually uses the knife and puts Jason down with the assistance of demons from hell.

This episode was a huge disappointment to many fans, myself included. Perhaps the only redeeming factor is its final shot: We zoom in on Jason’s mask as it lays on the ground, demons having pulled Jason down to hell, when suddenly the familiar red and green sweater-clad arm and knife-gloved hand of Freddy Krueger bursts through the dirt and pulls Jason’s mask down to hell as well. This was not a completely unexpected moment considering this was the first episode released after Jason had moved from Paramount to Newline, AKA the house that Freddy built, but it was exciting nonetheless.

Jason X (2001)
Ok, picture Evel Knievel setting a new world record for jumping 19 sharks lined up nose-to-tail. So, the infamous Camp Blood has been turned into the Crystal Lake Research Facility because it seems Jason is indestructible. Thus, scientists decide to freeze him and thereby contain him. This of course goes horribly wrong. Jason and Rowan, a researcher, both end up cryogenically frozen.

Fast forward to the year 2455 when Earth is no longer habitable, but archeology students from Earth 2 come down and make a fascinating find – Jason and Rowan!. They bring the two frozen specimens back with them in their space ship. Rowan gets revived by the crew and unfortunately so does Jason. He resumes his murderous ways until the ship’s droid, Kay-Em 14, lays the smack down on Jason, futuristic droid-style. Ironically, the ship’s nano-technology repair system attends to Jason’s mangled remains, upgrading him to Uber Jason status. He promptly kills again until Sgt. Brodski, the lone marine survivor on the ship, sacrifices himself to take Jason into Earth 2’s atmosphere.

Freddy vs. Jason (2003)
This episode spent a long time in development hell possibly hanging out with its two title characters. When it was finally released it wasn’t half bad. In fact, it’s easily the best made movie of the bunch, which isn’t saying much, but it’s an accomplishment nonetheless. It’s been so long since Freddy sliced up the kids on Elm St. that he’s been rendered impotent. In order for Freddy Krueger to get his mojo back he needs Springwood to be populated with scared teenagers. He resurrects Jason to do his dirty work, but Jason predictably kills a few too many of teens Freddy needs to regain his power. This sets up an entertaining battle between arguably the two most iconic horror characters in film history. And not even Freddy, it seems, can keep a good killer down.

So, again this list begs the question: Why do these movies continue to be successful?

It’s all about Jason.

These films don’t utilize the classic protagonist/antagonist dynamic to tell a story. Our window into the world of the Friday the 13th movies is not through our empathy for any particular hero or heroine. Instead, we’re voyeurs of the goings on at Camp Blood, much like Jason is. The most utilized shot of the entire series is the POV shot from his perspective and thus he anchors our perspective. We watch horny teens go at it, then we watch them die. It’s a pattern: We watch characters doing all kinds of things that are considered private or solitary including drug use, bowel movements, showers, hitchhiking, jogging, swimming, you name it, all followed by death.

When Jason appears in an episode we don’t hiss and boo, but instead we feel an urge to applaud. When Jason kills it’s cathartic and, dare I say it, fun. We root for Jason. He’s the star and he’s who we want to be. And the truth is that these films say more about us than about their own deficiencies.

The Friday the 13th series establishes early on that these movies work best as horror for horror’s sake without such burdensome artifices such as plot, character development, or even likable characters. They’re a collection of adrenaline-fueled, creative, and graphic kill sequences preformed by an iconic murderer who’s the embodiment of unstoppable violence. They’re essentially the popcorn flicks of popcorn flicks – pure and easy entertainment made for horror fans by horror fans and on February 13th, 2009 I’ll be among them watching the next chapter of Jason’s killing spree.

Jason Thorson – 2009

Watch for Jason’s review of Friday the 13th (2009) at Flames Rising coming soon!

Hurts so Good: A Friday the 13th Retrospective Part 1

Jason Thorson — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 12:14:26 +0000

On February 13th, 2009 a new installment of horror cinema’s most prolific series opens, unlocking Camp Crystal Lake and unleashing Jason Voorhees on yet another generation of horror fans. By way of Michael Bay and Platinum Dunes, Marcus Nispel’s (Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake 2003) Friday the 13th re-imagining/remake will mark the twelfth time in the last 29 years that we’ve been given the opportunity to spend an hour and a half at Camp blood.

The Friday the 13th films are guilty pleasures one and all. They’ve contributed as much to the global pop cultural make up as any other film or film series made. The iconography in these movies is among the most recognizable, comparable to The Wizard of Oz and Star Wars. The hockey mask-wearing, machete-wielding maniac is now considered cliché. Harry Manfredini’s musical score has been imitated arguably more than any other. And we all know what happens to those morally bankrupt youngsters who have sex, do drugs, and decide the investigate strange noises – rules that have become permanent fixtures in the horror genre.

Yet, despite the numerous contributions the series has made to film and pop culture, there is no denying that the first eleven of them have been for the most part as bad as movies can be. This begs the question: Why do I and millions of others love them so damn much? Well, I’ll get to that, but first let’s look back at how it’s all gone down so far….

Friday the 13th (1980)
Jason Voorhees drowns at Camp Crystal Lake way back in 1957. His mother Pamela, the camp’s cook, does not take this well. The following year, two horny camp counselors are slaughtered. The camp’s attempts to reopen after the murders are thwarted by mysterious fires and “bad” water. Two decades later the camp finally reopens despite dire warnings from crazy Ralph, the all-knowing, yet bat-shit-crazy local. Soon camp counselors are dropping like flies, including Kevin Bacon. Alice, the lone survivor, inevitably comes face to face with the murderous stalker. Surprise! It’s middle-aged Pamela Voorhees exacting revenge on the negligent camp counselors whom she blames for Jason’s death decades earlier. No worries, though. Alice beheads Pamela and saves the day…or does she?

Friday the 13th Part II (1981)
Two months after Mrs. Voorhees was put down, Alice opens her refrigerator to find Mrs. Voorhees’ severed head. Alice is then promptly stabbed through the brain with an ice pick. Apparently Jason didn’t drown after all. The events of the first film were just a huge misunderstanding, but now Jason must exact his own revenge on all camp counselors since one of them killed his mother. This episode is in many ways better than the original, not to mention it’s the first time that Jason is the baddie. Like countless other horror films, this episode uses the real life exploits of Ed Gein to give us a disturbing psychological element as Jason hangs out in an abandoned shack in the woods in which he’s erected an altar featuring his mother’s head. Sporting a burlap sack over his disfigured face, long hair and patchy beard, the pre-iconic Jason is a frightening sight.

Friday the 13th Part 3 (1982)
Chris and her friends are on a get away vacation to the family cabin. While stopping in town for supplies they have an unfortunate run in with a biker gang. The bikers follow the horny teens to the cabin. However, Jason kills the bikers before they can get retribution on their teenaged antagonists. Later, one of Jason’s teenaged victims happens to be in the middle of pranking the others – a prank requiring that he wear a hockey mask. One sliced throat later and Jason’s got a new disguise and we’re given the first example of iconic Jason. Chris and Jason eventually face off, but not before a slew of creative butchering occurs. Did I mention this all happens in 3-D? That’s right. You will be compelled to duck away from spears, eye balls, and implements of juggling, among many other things.

Friday the 13th Part IV: The Final Chapter (1984)
This star studded event features Crispin Glover, Corey Feldman, and effects by Tom Savini who also handled them in the original. Jason’s body is taken to the morgue, but wait! He’s not dead. He kills his way back to Crystal Lake where another batch of teens have rented a lakeside home situated next door to the Jarvis Family Home. After Jason dispatches nearly everyone, twelve-year-old Tommy Jarvis (Corey Feldman) kills Jason with a machete. And that’s that, folks. It’s over. Final chapter. No?

Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning (1985)
Tommy Jarvis, now a teenager, resides in a halfway house for troubled teens. Soon a resident named Vic butchers another resident, Joey, with an axe. The ambulance comes to take away the Joey’s corpse and that night more Jason-style murders begin. Sex seems to be the quickest route toward butchery in this episode although all roads eventually lead to murder. Tommy must once again kill Jason and when he does he discovers that the killer isn’t Jason, but rather it’s ambulance attendant Roy Burns! That’s right – the father of Joey burns whose body he had taken away in the ambulance earlier. And thus we’re treated to the first proverbial shark that the series jumps over with gusto.

Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)
Fresh out of the mental institution, Tommy Jarvis and his friend, Allen, go to the cemetery and dig up Jason’s corpse just to err on the side of caution, of course. Once they uncover Jason’s body, Tommy impales it with an iron bar and lo and behold lightening strikes it thereby reanimating Jason. Back at Camp Crystal Lake Jason kills most everyone leading to a showdown between him and Tommy. Once again Tommy, who at this point should be given a uniform and an official title, is forced to kill Jason by luring him into the lake and anchoring him to the bottom with a weighted chain around his neck. This run of the mill episode contains the most intentional humor of the series to this point, bordering on self parody at times.

Watch for Hurts so Good: A Friday the 13th Retrospective Part 2 later this week.

Jason Thorson – 2009

Maurice Broaddus “Religion and Horror”

Flames — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 12:52:14 +0000

A new horror design essay has arrived here at Flames Rising. Author Maurice Broaddus tells us a bit about the creative process that went into his recent project with Wrath James White.

Religion and Horror

Some people have asked about what the thought process behind bringing Orgy of Souls to light. So I thought I would explore that for a bit.

At the World Horror Convention 2007, Wrath James White and I were telling award-winning writer, Gary Braunbeck about our collaboration. If I could capture a facial expression of his reaction to just the IDEA of the two of us writing together, and use it as a blurb, I most certainly would have done so.

Wrath James White and I have very little in common beyond being bald, black horror writers. Our writing styles, our lifestyles, our politics, our worldviews, our spiritual perspectives – on paper, we shouldn’t even be friends. He writes for those with “a taste for the violent, the erotic, the blasphemous,” while I write introspective, atmospheric stories. He’s a hedonistic humanist and I’m a Christian, the facilitator (a nebulous title coming from the Greek meaning “we don’t want to keep explaining to the congregation that one of the church leaders is a horror writer”) at a church called The Dwelling Place.

Religion and horror are inextricably tied to one another, probably because both deal with the unknown and try to come to terms with the fear of it. Since spirituality is a fundamental part of the human experience, an examination of faith, especially against the backdrop of the horror genre is something that is near to my heart. Doing so with a voice diametrically opposed to mine, that’s a challenge that I’ve looked forward to.

The a “big idea” to Orgy of Souls is the examination of the idea of faith and in a lot of ways is a continuation of the kind of conversations (read: arguments) Wrath and I typically find ourselves in (in fact, my story recently published in Apex Science Fiction and Horror Digest #12, “Broken Strand” is another story stemming from one of our arguments, that time on free will. Just like “Nurse’s Requiem”, in the Dark Dreams III anthology examined the idea of faith stemming from another argument; and my story “Rite of Passage”, in an upcoming issue of Space & Time Magazine stemmed from an argument we were having over the history of slavery. In other words, we do this a lot).

Seen as a crutch by some, faith is that sometimes tenuous, sometimes stronger-than-we-think thing that keeps our world in order. I believe that we’re all people of faith in our own way, it’s just a matter of what we choose to put that faith in, be it in ourselves, science, humanity, or in God. As such, we each are on our own spiritual journey.

I don’t know much for sure and I’m certainly not afraid of questioning or going through a period of doubt. Faith includes doubt. God is big enough for us to question, doubt, and wrestle with. In fact, I believe He expects us to. The opposite of faith isn’t doubt, it’s certainty. Finding faith is like falling in love: there is an element of mystery to both and let’s face it, there are times when we feel like we have been chosen and times when we choose to do it (which is what marriage has taught me).

As for “how can a Christian write horror?” (you can imagine the variations on this question I tend to field … and my sometimes less than helpful responses) or justify any story, much less one about faith, set against a backdrop of plenty of sex and violence and the occasional demon … the best answer I can offer is that sometimes exploring faith can be messy.

Orgy of Souls is as much about the collaboration as anything else. It’s important to choose wisely in your collaboration partners because it’s a lot like entering into a marriage (and divorce can be just as messy). The idea is to come together without losing the distinction of your individual voices. The way we looked at it was that I do what I do. Wrath does what Wrath does. I get to play in Wrath’s sandbox (though I swear, he wrote all the naughty bits. Absolutely. He’s solely to blame. I definitely had no role in any of that. For sure.) Wrath gets to play in mine. It was every bit as much two friends coming together to do what we love, writing, just to enjoy the give and take and learning from each other. And have a ball doing it.

Then we invite the reader to join in our fun. You can’t ask for much more than that.

About the Authors

Maurice Broaddus‘ work has appeared in Weird Tales, Horror Literature Quarterly, and a wide variety of anthologies. His story “Family Business” won first prize at the World Horror Convention Story Competition in 2003. Often known as the Sinister Minister, Broaddus says of the religious aspects of his writing: “As writers, our worldviews–from nihilistic to religious–are a part of us and thus a part of our writing. What we believe, why we believe, it’s all in there.”

Wrath James White is a professional fighter and writer, two pursuits that blend together to create unrelenting prose. His novels include Teratologist (co-written with Edward Lee), Poisoning Eros (co-written with Monica O-Rourke), and Succulent Prey. “If you have a weak stomach, a closed mind, rigid morals, and Victorian sexual ethics, then avoid my writing like the plague,” says Wrath. If, on the other hand, you want hard-hitting fiction where nothing is taboo, you’ve found the right author.

Joe Rixman “Ancient Vampire Tales”

Flames — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 19:48:00 +0000

The Horror Design Essay Project continues today with a little something from freelance writer Joe Rixman. Joe recently took part in our Halloween Horror series with the Tear-Drop Rattler.

Today he is going to tell us a bit about the work he did on a couple of books for White Wolf’s Vampire: the Requiem RPG.

Ancient Vampire Tales

I was lucky enough to be friends with a writer at White Wolf who thought my writing was good enough to open a couple doors. Thankfully, Matt McFarland signed me on for two books that he was developing freelance for Vampire, Ancient Mysteries and its sister book, Ancient Bloodlines. I have to tell you that I am probably the luckiest guy in the world to have gotten this opportunity and grateful to both the developers and the other writers I had the chance to work with on them. As to the actual books…

Matt was ruthless with his redlining (editing). Absolutely ruthless. Having said that, he also praised where praise was due. He had a very specific vision of what both books would be and I was just one of a group of writers whose talent I continue to marvel at (two of which are also freelance developers for White Wolf as well as writers, Chuck Wendig and Howard “Wood” Ingham). Matt is all about communication and it made working on these books such a joy. The suggestions he provided made my writing appear infinitely better than it was and I will always be grateful to him for that. I also learned a great deal on these books about writing for a game product. It ain’t for the faint of heart, let me tell ya! It’s tough. As a screenwriter and wanna-be novelist, I can tell you, the creative muscles used for game writing are totally different! Wow!

Both books demanded an intimate knowledge of the Vampire core rulebook, as well as the World of Darkness core book. I was encouraged to look through all the other supplements and gaming materials, but was told not to reference them unless it could be explained in our work without a player or storyteller having to go out and purchase that one. So, there will be some easter eggs for those savvy enough to catch things, but nothing that will make someone scratch their heads in confusion.
I can tell you that I actually saw the cover of one of my books before we had turned in our final drafts and quickly reworked a short piece to incorporate the cover into the storyline. The covers on both of the Ancients…wow…they’re absolutely stunning and I can’t wait for people to see them.

If I ever get the opportunity to write for White Wolf again, I would jump at it. However, I would make sure I’ve boned up on the mechanics and, in terms of advice for other potential writers out there, there is absolutely no substitute for playing the game. Playing the game helps you understand the structure, the mechanics and the overall tone of the line. Every White Wolf line has its own tone and feel. Make sure you know what you’re doing and listen to your developer. These are their books and you are their worker-bees. They’ve been at it a lot longer than most of us and they know what they’re doing and what they want. Listen, learn and keep writing.

Joe Rixman – November 2008

About Joe Rixman
Joe Rixman is a writer based out of Southern California. His credits include fourteen screenplays (including a short film he wrote, produced and directed) and a foray into the challenging world of game writing, having recently completed three projects for White Wolf’s Vampire: the Requiem line. The experience was overwhelmingly positive and he looks forward to writing more for White Wolf, as well as other gaming companies. Joe blogs fairly regularly at: sheriffjoe.livejournal.com and is currently at work on his first novel.

Paul Alabaster “Chasing His Nightmares”

Flames — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 20:52:40 +0000

Our ongoing Horror Design Essay Project has a new contribution today. Horror author Paul Alabaster offers a peak into his creative writing process and gives us a look at what he has in store for the future…

Chasing His Nightmares

My love of stories came from my mother – Jacqueline. I always remember whilst tucked up in bed, my mother reading me bedtime stories of Winnie the Pooh. I would listen with eager delight to what misadventures Pooh Bear had gotten himself (and his ever-forgiving friends) in to. Another beloved treasure I adored my mother reading to me was C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe.

When slightly older and discovering reading for myself, the ingenious and treasured Roald Dahl was my number one source of escapism, amusement and general delight!

For my love of Horror, I have my father to thank – Huw. My love of horror however was not initially born through books, but through movies. I remember waiting one evening for my father to come home from working down the coal mine and seeing, by accident, a scene from the movie Alien on television. My fear of monsters was born! I then remember sitting on my father’s lap aged around five and watching the movie Jaws (my fear of sharks was born!)

In later years I began to piece my love of stories and hunger of horror together, by discovering authors such as Stephen King, Dean Koontz and Thomas Harris.

I think my early experiences of watching horror movies and reading tales that made the shadows in my bedroom seemingly come to life had a strong influence in projecting me to want to create my own tales of horror, fantasy and terror.

I seriously started writing around nine years ago when I finished college and was heading to University to study English Literature. Before I put pen to paper (or should I say fingers to keyboard), I had been doing years of research through my escapism in books and movies in the thriller/horror genre. This is something all artists need to do and not just escape in their own niche, but embrace all types of art – books, films, art, music and drama.

To fine-tune this wealth of knowledge, I emerged myself in a mass of critical essays and articles about the genre I had fallen in love it.

My first writing venture was Corinthia’s Cancer – a modern ghost story, followed by Living Art – a psycho/thriller story – and while I treasure these early stories, they remain to be my building blocks – working and playing with concepts of the horror genre, applying and developing characterisation, plot, atmosphere, pace and much more. Like all artists, writers must play with their tools and ever develop their craft.

The first piece of work where I felt I had fine-tuned my skills as a writer was The Pink Room. Here is a blurb of the concept:

What turns you on? What would you do if every time it rained, you became sexually aroused, yet at the same time, an unnatural urge to take someone’s life surfaced. Walter Manning suffers with this exact problem and has done so ever since he saw a prostitute being murdered outside his bedroom window as a young boy. Now, as an adult living in the rainy city of Seattle, when the rain falls, the body count rises…

In my final year of University, I chose to do a creative writing dissertation and utilized The Pink Room to my advantage – I already had the creative piece done and dusted and simply needed to write an accompanying reflective piece. Happily, I received a first for my dissertation, with very constructive and supportive comments from my assessors.

Since The Pink Room, I have completed two further novels, Dolly Carter Island and Trauma. I am currently writing my sixth novel The Condition. Trauma was entered in to a writing competition hosted by W.H. Smith’s, for which I received a cash prize! My first writer’s payment!

In nine years, I have only allowed a select few to read my work. In my opinion, this was not a bad thing. I think most artists are their own worst critics and by arguing myself (often repeatedly) allowed me to fine-tune things without a number of different people guiding me in various directions.

Of the select few who have viewed my work, some have been publishers and agencies. I have always received warm feedback, but the crunch has always been a problem with the marketing angle –publishing is big business and an investment in a writer always needs to be given some series thought. All writers (even the great Stephen King) have encountered piles, boxes, sometimes an entire room, filled with rejection letters. So far, I am on one box…

In order to kill two birds with one stone, I decided to launch my own website that could showcase my work – thus increasing my audience and proving there is an keen interest and place in the publishing market for my work. In February 2008, www.paulalabaster.co.uk was launched. The site has extracts of all my work and will soon be showcasing some of my short stories.

The site has had a good number of hits and some great comments have been left on the blog section – for which I am truly grateful.

In February 2009, a year since the site was launched, I will be contacting publishers and agencies once more, and I am hoping the marketing angle won’t prove a problem this time around. The dream is for my work to be taken from the screen and made in to an actual book to be found in bookshops all over the world! In order for this dream to become a reality, I need your help!

So, if you really want to make my wish come true, please visit the site and if you like what you read, please leave a comment on the Blog – there are also many topical articles to comment on too!

Happy reading and I hope to hear from you soon!

– Paul Alabaster 10/08 –

Do you Know the History of Halloween?

Monica Valentinelli — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 12:47:41 +0000

Like the origin of the number 666 in our pop culture, Halloween conjures claims that it’s a satanic, violent holiday. Horror movies like the Halloween series with Michael Myers have fictionalized this view for decades. Recently, Rob Zombie offered his version of the Halloween remake review which happened almost thirty years after the Halloween movie debuted in 1978. With many myths and urban legends circulating about the safety of Halloween night — you may remember your parents warning you about the razor blade in the apple — is it any wonder that in some circles Halloween has gotten a bad rap?

Probably the most telling feature of this holiday, though, is the fact that it isn’t celebrated world-wide. According to Wikipedia, Halloween is primarily celebrated in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Ireland, New Zealand and (more recently) Japan. Sometimes Halloween, which is also known as All Hallows Eve, Samhain, Hallows End and Noche de la Brujas (Night of the Witches), is recognized in Sweden, Australian and many Latin American countries. So what is the history of Halloween, a strange holiday replete with costumes, Jack O’ Lanterns and candy?

Halloween’s origins trace back to those who celebrated Samhain, a word that means “November” in many Gaelic languages and signals the end of the harvest, or the end of the Gaelic year. (1) Celebrated by the Celts, the holiday signaled the end of summer and the harvest. It’s hard for us to imagine what life must have been like back then, but to the Celts? Their calendar year was split into two — a period of light and a period of darkness. This “dark half” began with Samhain, and was rife with many symbols we continue to associate with our modern version of Halloween — apples, bonfires and even honoring the dead (for those that celebrate a more religious take on the holiday).

The word “Halloween” does not have roots in Celtic traditions, however — but Catholic. The original name of the holiday was “All Hallow’s Eve” and was used to describe the “eve” (or evening) before All Saints’ Day which occurs on November 1st. The word “hallow” means “to sanctify” (to purify or set aside for purification 2) in Old English. So, breaking down the meaning of the word “Halloween” further, it might be translated to mean “evening before all are blessed.”

Even though the two holidays are celebrated seperately today, at one point both All Hallow’s Eve and were recognized on the same day. (3) Also known as All Souls’ Day or Hallowmas, and this holiday was first celebrated between 609 A.D. and 610 A.D.(4) Shortened from “All Hallow’s Eve” over time, Halloween has shifted and changed over the centuries into the holiday we think of today.

History of Halloween in the United States

Although Halloween is celebrated in several countries, the night of October 31st continues to be popular in the United States. According to the History Channel’s feature on how Halloween came to America, European immigrants brought their unique customs over to the colonies with them, and like all other traditions transported to a new culture, Halloween was slow to take hold. It wasn’t until fairly recently, less than a hundred years or so, that Halloween started to take shape in the American culture.

In the second half of the nineteenth century, America was flooded with new immigrants. These new immigrants, especially the millions of Irish fleeing Ireland’s potato famine of 1846, helped to popularize the celebration of Halloween nationally. Taking from Irish and English traditions, Americans began to dress up in costumes and go house to house asking for food or money, a practice that eventually became today’s “trick-or-treat” tradition. Young women believed that, on Halloween, they could divine the name or appearance of their future husband by doing tricks with yarn, apple parings, or mirrors. –SOURCE: History Channel’s History of Halloween

However you regard Halloween, it is clear that the holiday has continued to evolve beyond those early days of our ancestors. Whether you choose to celebrate All Hallow’s Eve from a more religious perspective or not, there are several traditions rooted in many, different cultures that you can explore. From Jack O’ Lanterns to Trick-or-Treating, Flames Rising hopes that you and your family enjoy a fun and safe Halloween.

For more about the history of Halloween, we recommend:

History Channel and Halloween

Wikipedia Entry for Halloween

The Holiday Spot History of Halloween

Halloween History and Origin

Here are some books about the history of Halloween:

Halloween: An American Holiday, an American History by Lesley Pratt Bannatyne
The Pagan Mysteries of Halloween by Jean Markale
Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night by Nicholas Rogers

Ahoy There! Celebrate Talk Like a Pirate Day with Flames Rising

Monica Valentinelli — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 12:28:11 +0000

From the very depths of the blackest hell we’ve come to parlay with ye about International Talk Like a Pirate Day. All that it requires, is that ye talk like a pirate, for certain. But why stop there?

You see, mateys, after ye watch the Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy, to study up on the lingo, ye might find yerself in a strange predicament. One that involves dice, your fortuitous pirate accent and a night with your fellow pirate friends.

If it’s a video game you seek, look no further than Sid Meier’s Pirates, a role-playing game of legend, to be certain.

Originally released in 1987, Pirates! received unprecedented critical acclaim for crossing multiple game genres to offer unique, unrivaled gameplay options. Pirates! set the industry standard for innovative game design with its unique blend of open-ended role-playing, real-time adventures and thrilling action sequences.

For the kiddies, one cannot forget the pirate world in Kingdom Hearts II, where Sora meets up with dear ole’ Captain Jack. ‘Course, ye can always create a version of musical chairs substituting a boat or a plank. For such a game, we recommend pirate music like Fanez-Vous Pour Noircir: a soundtrack for plunder and mayhem or Nox Arcana’s new swashbuckling tunes Phantoms of the High Seas.

If pirate movies, music and video games aren’t enough to fill your black heart, why not try your hand at an RPG that takes place on the seven seas? Pirates of the Spanish Main uses the Savage Worlds system, and delivers high adventure to those brave souls who would seek it. Buccaneers of Freeport, offered by the fine folk over at Green Ronin Publishing, is a sourcebook compatible with any RPG system that ye prefer.

Of course, no talk of pirates would be complete without mentioning a few good books. High Seas Cthulhu is a collection of the finest stories about pirates facing uncertain death (and deep-sea monsters) throughout the ages. If ye prefer a bit of magic and wonder, be astounded by Sails and Sorcery: tales of nautical fantasy.

So what are ye waiting for? Let loose your sails and set a course for the open sea, it’s nothin’ but a pirate’s life fer me!

Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day from Flames Rising!

Timothy Brannan “Ghosts of Albion”

Flames — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:49:24 +0000

Recently we’ve had Greg Stolze tell us about creating his new game A Dirty World and Jason Morningstar fills us in on the development of The Shab Al-Hiri Roach. The design project continues today with Tim Brannan telling us about the work he did on the Ghosts of Albion RPG for Eden Studios.

Set in London at the dawn of the Victorian age, players join in the fight to keep the ever-present forces of evil at bay. Whether fighting a demon prince or even a band of infant stealing faeries, the battle wages on. Characters can join the fight as normal humans, ghosts, mysterious faeries or even wield the magic of the Protectors themselves. All against a backdrop of Victorian England with a dark supernatural undercurrent.

Based on Amber Benson and Christopher Golden’s wildly popular BBCi drama “Ghosts of Albion” and includes new material from the creators themselves, featuring new fiction and a complete, ready to run adventure.

How to Create a Game World When the World Belongs to Someone Else.

Writing games are tough. I had done some work in the past where the crunch and the fluff were both mine to create. So I thought that if I only had to create one of those it would be half the work for all the benefits.

Yeah. Right.

Back in the Summer of 2002 I was talking to horror author Christopher Golden. He was contributing items to a charity auction I was in and we talked about a few of the things we had in common include both of us working on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer RPG with Eden Studios. I had mentioned to him that I thought his “Shadow War” novels would make a great game and that Eden should be the one to do it. He agreed but said he something else planned with Amber Benson and he wanted to make a game out of that.

In 2003 the “Ghosts of Albion” series “Legacy” appeared on the BBCi website and soon I was talking Chris and Amber up to George Vasilakos and Alex Jurkat at Eden. Later that year we had all decided that Ghosts should be Eden’s next property. I pitched the idea to them in a three or four page synopsis of the world and how it could be made into a game. I included things like the work I had already done with them on Buffy and the unpublished WitchCraft stuff, as well as a litany of Victorian era games I have played before. We settled on using Eden’s Cinematic Unisystem rules, the same rules as found in Buffy and Angel. I originally wanted to go with something more like the Classic Unisystem rules found in the WitchCraft RPG, but saw the logic of the Cinematic rules and now could not imagine doing it any other way. I big design concern was to make it as compatible with other Cinematic Unisystem games as possible. Not that it mattered to me much, I wanted to make a game that was the best way to represent the world of William and Tamara Swift, but I saw the logic in it. In fact when I mentioned it to Amber she seemed very amused of the thought of playing Buffy in the Ghosts universe.

I spent the next few months doing research into the early Victorian period. I researched gold exchanges to determine how much things were worth, rifle ranges and what sort of firearms were available in England at the time. All the while I was conversing with Amber and Chris via phone and email asking them particulars of their world and how they would see things done. We didn’t always see eye to eye things either. That might be the first thing I learned about doing a licensed project; this is not my world, it is theirs. I can’t recall if there was anything we deeply disagreed on, I do recall there were a couple of things I put in that I didn’t agree on and a couple things left out, but in the end I saw it their way, and that is assuming that they were in agreement. Sometimes it was me and one of them against the other! Highlights though were working with Chris and he asking me to help him on one of his own projects and going out to dinner with Amber Benson. Which was especially cool for me given what a huge Tara fan I was (am).

Among my varied inspirations were Celtic myths, the ancient histories of the British ilses and the works of Shakespeare. Among my more modern inspirations were tons of Hammer horror films, especially Christopher Lee’s Dracula, and a lot of Black Sabbath. I talked to friends about cockney slang, about guns, and I even had playtesters out taking pictures of sites around London.

The mechanics though is where I really put my skills to the test. The Cinematic Unisystem is as elegant of a game system as you are ever going to get, C.J. really out did himself, literally. Classic Unisystem had been my favorite game system to that point, but now I think I’ll stick with the Cinematic version. I am particular proud of the revised magic system of casting thresholds, flourishes, and arcane battles. Magical philosophies give the magic flavor and help to really add to the occult secrets feel I was looking for. And I love the Occult Poets maybe even more than the Protectors themselves! The new rules for Faeries and other supernaturals are very useful and compatible with the demon rules in Angel. Combine the two and you could make just about any creature in myth or fairy tale.

While this all sounds great, the truth is I never could have gotten through this without the help of editors like Alex Jukat at Eden and Garner Johnson or the work of all the playtesters. I have been on many playtest lists and sometimes it seems the people there are in it only to get a free copy of the rules, the Ghosts playtesters were given the orders to break it and bring it back to me to be fixed. One I still see on a regular basis always mentions how he broke one of the early versions of the magic system.

Now I have never been a huge fan of writing by consensus, but I have had enough experience in my day job so I knew how to work with people. I would have to say in Ghosts that things came together rather nicely. There were arguments, but nothing that was ever heated. There were times I butted heads with pretty much everyone, including Amber, Chris, Garner and Alex, but they worked out in the end. Even bad playtests were laughed at later and comments on how something really good came from them.

In the end I hope I came up with a game that people like in world they find intriguing and interesting enough to want to save it from the ever present forces of darkness.

– Timothy Brannan

The Ghosts of Albion RPG is now available as an eBook at RPGNow. Visit the Ghosts of Albion website for news, reviews and other updates. Check the links below for exclusive Previews of the game here on Flames Rising.

Greg Stolze “A Dirty World”

Flames — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 12:15:58 +0000

Greg Stolze (REIGN, A Hunger Like Fire) has recently released a new game called A Dirty World.

The black and white images conceal a world of baffling gray moral complexities. Noir is about secrets, deception, betrayal and hidden vice. “A Dirty World” rebuilds the One Roll Engine from the ground up to support those themes. Action has consequences, but it’s the only way to make progress. But be careful: Your character’s effectiveness hinges on the choices he makes. It doesn’t matter how nice you say he is: If he acts like a rat, soon a rat is all he’ll be able to be.

Today, Greg takes part in our ongoing design project and tells us how A Dirty World came together and what his goals where while writing the game.

How I Wrote “A Dirty World”

There’s a story behind why I wrote “A Dirty World,” and it can be summed up pretty quickly. I was approached about using the ORE for an extensive film noir setting, and I got an idea of how rules could reinforce character drama. When the aforementioned setting gets ready to roll, it will probably use this ‘Dark ORE’ mechanic, but in the meantime it seemed like something that could stand on its own, so I released it that way. Not terribly interesting, really.

Film noir is all about internal tension, all about conflicting desires and urges and needs. A lot of game mechanics have worked on driving that sort of tension through play, my own included. In “Call of Cthulhu” do you conserve your precious sanity, or spend it on what you may need to survive? How close is a Requiem vampire willing to get to frenzy? Are you willing to rat out your lover (literally) in “It Was a Mutual Decision”? That was one element of the ‘Dark ORE’ design.

Another was an impatience with complicating abstractions, especially with damage. Hit points work fine for tactical fights, but having to keep track of injury, and also track impairment to skills from injury, seemed needlessly complicated. Why not (I asked myself) just take damage right to your skills? Then they’d drop of their own accord. That was another element.

The drive for an internally consistent mechanic for all circumstances also seemed like a worthy design goal. Why should attacking someone’s body with a lead pipe use entirely separate rules from attacking their confidence with a surprise revelation? Was there a way to unify those?

Finally, I was tired of experience points. I admired the XP-less advancement of “Call of Cthulhu” and contemplated something similar for UA (specifically, that you’d gain 1% in a skill the first time you failed it in a session) but I wanted it to have a hard, tight tie to the events. I wanted it to be dramatic, not merely mathematical.

What arose from all this is the engine of “A Dirty World.” Your ability to get things done fluctuates depending on your mood and circumstances. Instead of a series of temporary modifiers, everything is in play all the time. If you want to retain your purity and courage, you have to work for them. If your character undergoes experiences that are going to turn him into a rat bastard, he’s gets rat bastard abilities whether the player wants them or not.

The result is a game where character is always critical, because explaining your character’s reactions to events is what builds his ability to change events. His struggles and discoveries impact your character directly. Drama and mechanics fuse.

– Greg Stolze

Visit the A Dirty World website more information, a pdf character sheet and more. A Dirty World is now available at Lulu.com and RPGNow.com.

Jason Morningstar “The Roach”

jmstar — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:57:29 +0000

The Horror Eassay Project continues this week at Flames Rising with game designer Jason Morningstar (who just won a Diana Jones Award for Grey Ranks). For the project Jason is telling us a bit about the design process that went into The Shab Al-Hiri Roach RPG.

The Shab-al-Hiri Roach is a dark comedy of manners, lampooning academia and asking players to answer a difficult question – are you willing to swallow a soul-eating telepathic insect bent on destroying human civilization?

The Shab Al-Hiri Roach

Game Chef is always a fertile ground for new games. The Game Chef contest challenges designers to build games based on specific “ingredients” in a week or two. In 2005, the ingredients were Accuser, Entomology, Wine, and Companion. A lot of fun games saw the light of day as a result of this contest – Nathan Paoletta’s carry: a game about war, Clinton R. Nixon’s City of Brass, and Paul Czege’s Bacchanal. It was my first time in the contest, and I wrote a game that pulled equally from my love for Lovecraftian horror and my everyday experience working at a University. I didn’t really know what I was getting into.

My only goal was to finish the contest with a functional game. I didn’t exactly succeed, but the first draft (and that’s all any Game Chef entry ever is) of The Shab Al-Hiri Roach was playable – barely.

It wasn’t tested and it wasn’t refined, but it worked well enough that a group with no connection to me played and enjoyed it. Their experience was a powerful motivator for me, a real epiphany, and I set out to refine the design and publish it post-contest.

The Roach was published about a year later and has enjoyed small press success (about 750 copies sold to date). Between the Game Chef draft and holding the perfect-bound book in my hands were months of playtesting, editing, and layout. Two friends and I formed a company, Bully Pulpit Games, to usher it into print. It’s a game that was definitely au currant for the 2004-2005 Forge crowd – stake-setting is front and center, it is GM-less, and it has a tight thematic focus.

This is more accident than intention, but that’s how it turned out.

The game takes place on the campus of a tweedy New England University in 1919 (a year I chose so that I could easily acquire public domain art to illustrate it – and to tie in with the whole Lovecraft thing, I suppose). There’s a professor who has brought back a new species of roach from the Levant – present-day Anbar province in Iraq. It’s weird and remarkable; it escapes, and soon all manner of hijinx begins. Professor Appleby-Jenkins has awakened a telepathic Sumerian God-King in the twentieth century, and it’s going to stretch its oily legs and kick some ass.

You’ve got the classic tropes of paranoid horror – a faceless, mind-controlling force that is multiplying exponentially, a hierarchical organization into which the monster fits perfectly, and a few foolish, helpless people in the know. If you played it straight, that’s all you’d have, and Call of Cthulhu does a pretty good job handling that. I wanted something different. The linch-pin was the academic setting – I have a pretty good feel for University politics, and I realized that there was the potential for great hilarity in what Ken Hite calls “the wainscot game”, with the unnatural truth hidden behind the walls. I was also excited by the potential of humor through juxtaposition – the most banal and pointless academic squabbling on one side, and world-consuming black horror on the other.

I engineered this by focusing the game on the fall semester – the faculty senate meeting, the homecoming football game – but requiring heinous, bizarre things of characters enslaved by the Roach and its offspring, who are running around behaving like they are in ancient Babylon. These two themes collide and combine, and it isn’t unusual for the nasty side of University politics to be far worse than anything The Roach demands of its slaves.

The game is flexible enough for players to indulge in a very subtle, truly horrible wainscot game, but nobody does that – at least their first time out. Given almost unlimited authority over their own scenes, players typically turn the game up to eleven and go absolutely crazy. The events of the fall semester become talking points in a narrative of depravity, violence, and moral turpitude. It’s pretty
fun, but also a little troubling. Sometimes it seems like the game serves as a dark, cathartic mirror. People do some messed up things, but they almost always have a great time doing them.

I learned a lot from The Roach. Perhaps the biggest design take-away for me is the notion that you can incorporate elements of game play that are completely deterministic and still have a great time. In The Roach you have no control over whether or not you’ll be enslaved – it just happens. I thought this would be problematic, but once I abandoned the premise that everything needed to be carefully balanced, it all fell into place. The cruel determinism just reinforces the game’s theme. Sometimes you are just screwed. For a dark, dark game, it’s all part of the absurdity and mayhem. Similarly, there are recurring NPCs and fixed scenes, and this works brilliantly on two levels. First, it provides a consistent framework that players can rally around, and second, it provides a shared story that different groups have in common – if you meet someone who has played The Roach, you can always ask them what happened to Regina Sutton, and they will have a gruesome reply.

Another thing I learned is that people like competition a little too much sometimes. There’s a competitive element to The Roach which informs play and focuses the action wonderfully, but it is a polite fiction. You can “win” the game, but as I say in the rules, it’s like winning a mustard gas barrage. People who play to win get confused, then they get mad, and then they lose. Were I to revise the game, I’d spend some time thinking about the competitive economy and how to make
it have more mechanical weight. I think it could be improved.

I’m very proud of The Shab Al-Hiri Roach and its approach to horror gaming. I’m always gratified when I hear about people playing and enjoying it.

– Jason Morningstar

Look for The Shab Al-Hiri Roach and other Bully Pulpit Games products at Indie Press Revolution.

Eloy LaSanta “Apocalypse Prevention Inc.”

First Oni — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 12:39:09 +0000

Our horror design essay project continues. Last week was Monica Valentinelli’s Initiation to Exquisite Replicas and other essays can be found in the Articles page here at Flames Rising.

Next up is Eloy LaSanta telling us about his new game Apocalypse Prevention, Inc. and how he created his company Third Eye Games.

Apocalypse Prevention, Inc.

Apocalypse Prevention, Inc. came from a culmination of ideas that have mulled around in my head for years. I’ve been writing and roleplaying for over fifteen years, written articles for webzines, and been published a handful of times. I found a sense of pride in being able to twist my ideas to fit into someone else’s titles, but I also wanted to share my own visions with the world. The decision to strike out on my own was easy and I then became the one-man operation that is Third Eye Games. I was lucky that had more experience and contacts than some attempting the same and I’ve been grateful to those that I’ve worked with in the past for a strong foundation. They taught me that it’s important to understand your goals and implement them.

When it came to creating my action horror, I realized that it’s really hard to truly scare someone nowadays. You can’t scare everyone with the same trick and our society is quickly immune to horror in a traditional state. The site of a dead body may be quite scary for a newb, while veteran are rarely freaked out in the least by even the largest fountains of blood. Then, I looked back to horror inspirations that I grew up with, from Nightmare on Elm Street to Halloween to Candyman. The first viewing of any of these movies easily made me hide behind couches, cower at going near a mirror in the dark, or even go to sleep sometimes. But I progressed each time I watched them, desensitizing myself to the violence and introducing a new element… humor. I’ve found that horror is often the funniest of genres after getting over the initial scare factor. Yes, slightly morbid, but true.

Instead, I really tried to tackle this while writing Apocalypse Prevention, Inc. by using the surprise approach. Players take the roles of agents for a shadow corporation, investigating prophecies, miracle sightings, dimensional portals, and other supernatural occurrences, but they don’t perform these tasks alone. Demons from other worlds face these threats by their side, including some monsters that humans have been scared of since the beginning of time. Even in their strangeness and horror, they are stilled scared by other investigated monsters. This should tell you something. Again, each of these threats has some hint of comedy after you look past the initial horror they present, which was important to the setting. In any game and in life, making assumptions on appearance can put a character off their game, risking their lives and those of their friends, and reintroducing a sense of terror into the game. My goal was to definitely make a setting where appearances could not be trusted. For instance, one of the most gruesome-looking demons in the game works in a cancer ward and wouldn’t hurt a fly.

This was a huge part of my personal design goals. They are things that I have always been interested in playing (or GMing) and I can only hope that others share my enthusiasm. The setting itself is a lot of fun, but the other part of game creation that I loved writing was the system itself. I’m a mechanics-whore and I love games that have an enjoyable setting AND system. No game out there fulfilled both for me. It would always end up that I either really liked the setting or the mechanics individually, but never both. Development between the creations of the Apocalypse Prevention, Inc. setting and the Dynamic Gaming System (DGS) mechanics were about equal, each taking several months to get just right after dozens of independent play tests.

As a one-man operation, it became quickly apparent that in-depth play testing was going to be needed. It was important for me to not just get “the rules work”, but to single out good and bad elements. The things that were wrong needed to either get cut or get an overhaul. Combat, for example, took way too long in the original iteration of the mechanics. Then not long enough in another. Good things needed to be made even better. Many of the available magic options in Apocalypse Prevention, Inc. came directly from play test input. I remember back to some of my first play tests and laugh now, seeing how far the game has come from then.

It did eventually get to a state where I am now happy. The setting has enough horror, intrigue, depth, and purpose that I had hoped for, and the mechanics infuse action and creativity into the game with carefully crafted combat rules and wholly customizable magic. Apocalypse Prevention, Inc. is currently in its last editing stages and I couldn’t be more excited. Please check our web site, www.thirdeyegames.net.

Monica Valentinelli “Initiation to Exquisite Replicas”

Monica Valentinelli — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:48:09 +0000

So far in our horror design essay project we’ve heard from Preston DuBose on Degrees of Horror, Clash Bowley on The Evolution of Blood Games and A.W. Gryphon regarding Witchcraft, Magick, and Tackling The Unknown. Three different projects with different goals, methods and styles of writing.

Next up we’re going to take a look at the design process of the Exquisite Replicas RPG from Abstract Nova Entertainment. We’ve had several Previews of this new game on the site already. Now we get a chance to hear from one of the authors about the creative process that went into its development. Monica Valentinelli tells us about the setting of Exquisite Replicas…

Designing the Initiation to Exquisite Replicas

The Initiation chapter in Exquisite Replicas is told from the point-of-view of a senior citizen, a rock-of-the-earth woman who used to own a landscaping business. Her code name is DM-107864923Q-AAP and she is what Exquisite Replicas is all about. Imagine a woman at peace with herself and the earth. She’s lived to see past her middle ages and she has that sense of calm that comes with experience. Now think about what happens when she realizes something is wrong–very wrong–and she’s not sure who to tell or what she should do about it.

As I put myself in DM’s shoes, things got a little muddy for me. You see, Lee (Mr. Abstract Nova, himself) had told me that this was “the” setting chapter and had to include all of the game’s setting and character descriptions for the game. Once we (by “we” I mean our team) fleshed out the growing skeleton of the setting, villains and the like, I was given an outline to make sure I nailed each and every point. My creative side and my game design began to clash, because I felt that the formatting and headers in the chapter might detract from what I wanted to do with it. In my mind, every last piece had to be intentional–moreso than any other project I’ve worked on. I didn’t want this to be a long diatribe with jarring breaks; nor did I want to fall back on stilted text to factually describe what the “horror” in this game is all about. Luckily, Lee was kind enough to entertain my thoughts on what I wanted to do.

The result of my efforts to integrate outline with narrative from the point-of-view of an extremely paranoid (yet justified in her paranoia) woman, was an experience I will never forget. I mentally donned DM’s cheap, black suit and feathery mask, to get inside her head. Forcing myself in a dark room, filled with shadows, I pushed myself to write like she might write. The first thing you’ll notice about the Initiation chapter is that the text is very organic. Instead of standard chapter headings, there are medium and font changes. You’ll notice podcast scripts, letters, map notes, and journal entries. There are times when DM’s emotions get the best of her, and force her mind to travel to a place she doesn’t want to go. Then, whoosh! All of a sudden, she’ll snap back in the best way she knows how, to continue on.

One side effect of writing DM’s narration was that I felt I had to give her a role within her group, The Anonymous. You see, in order for her to know all of this “stuff,” I needed to be able to justify why she knew it so I made her a keeper of the group’s official documents.

There were other intentionally-written nuggets for DM’s character, which you might not catch. One thing you might notice is that she sometimes mentions a different god or goddess as a throw-a-way line.

He showed me his wall of pain the day I got initiated. Words spray-painted in all directions; notches of the people he had lost fighting the aliens. Words like: “Who is real?” “Human, means hue-man?” Now, you may think I’m crazy (Amon-Ra may think so) but you never know. Sometimes, the craziest people in the world know more than you do; sometimes they can talk to gods.

Her world turned upside-down, you never find out DM’s real name–just her story. I’m very grateful to Lee, John, Werner, Todd and Anita for their work on this project and Eric and Keith? If you’re listening, you guys did a bang-up job on the artwork and graphics.

Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about the work I did on Exquisite Replicas. You can meet me in person at various conventions throughout the year. At GenCon, I’ll be manning the Abstract Nova Press booth (Booth # 2115) so be sure to stop by and say “Hello.” Don’t forget to look over your shoulder before you do, though, because you never know when a Black Eye or a Boogeyman will be there waiting for you.

– Monica Valentinelli

Visit the Abstract Nova website for more information on Exquisite Replicas and other games.

A.W. Gryphon “Witchcraft, Magick, and Tackling The Unknown”

Flames — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 14:31:01 +0000

So far our horror design essays have featured creators of horror role-playing games talking about the development of new projects and the systems that went into those projects. We have more horror game design essays on the way over the next few weeks as well as other creators.

Today we are going to feature our first horror novel essay. Author A.W. Gryphon tells us about her novel, Blood Moon, as well as the challenges that went into writing that elusive first page.

Witchcraft, Magick, and Tackling The Unknown – Writing Page One

From A.W. Gryphon, Author of Blood Moon.

Witches, magick and the threat and excitement of the unknown are things that have fascinated me for as long as I can remember… and page one as a writer has always been my greatest horror.

I’ve always been a storyteller and a great fan of legends and lore. As a teenager, I watched every witch movie and read every book that I could get my hands on, but was endlessly frustrated at the lack of material out there. That being said, when I decided I was going to write for a living, I quite naturally settled on the idea that my debut story would be about a witch.

First I made the decision… then I really thought about it. My interest in witchcraft and those involved in that realm had run so deep and so long that the moment after I decided to write a witch story, I decided to wait. The idea was bigger than I was. Page one was a daunting task and I didn’t want to force it. I’d wait until the, “right moment” and when that would be, I had no idea. I’m a big believer in listing to my intuition, going with my gut and allowing myself to wait for an idea to take me over and let me know when it’s time to start working… so that’s exactly what I did.

A handful of screenplays, short stories and other odds and ins, and quite a few years later I found myself faced with the day. It was time to write Blood Moon and I had no idea what it was going to be or where I was going to start. All that I knew is that it was going to be a story about a witch and it wouldn’t be told with the typical devices we see in witch stories. It would be written from an approach that embraced the history of the craft and the beliefs of our practicing pagan ancestors and the modern day witch.

I went to my collection of materials on witchcraft and the surrounding beliefs and history, and I dove in. A few months later I was faced with my first challenge, which was putting the research down. I had immersed myself so deep within the subject that I wasn’t seeing very clearly. I realized then, had things gone a different way in my life, I might have been a librarian and read all day every day.

Once I stepped out of the comfortable fog of my research, I saw the story and my main character, Amelia, was born. After she came to me I started brain storming about the many ideas that would be delivered through her. Amelia would be wise, strong, endlessly romantic, painfully human, and the most powerful witch the world had ever known.

After a lifetime of awe and months of notes and study, I had a plan. I also had a very blank sheet of paper staring back at me.

I had come to my next, and most difficult, challenge, page one. I carried around a legal pad for days trying to wrap my head around how to start. I had done the research, I had bits and pieces written, I knew the characters, but when it came to page one, I was horrified.

Finally, at 5am on a Tuesday morning, page one woke me up and pulled me out of bed. I have to say that was one of the best days of my life. The flood gate was open and I couldn’t stop. I wrote until my fingers hurt. I wrote in a frenzy of spurts for months until I arrived at the end of the story, full of passion and love for the most amazing and intense woman and witch that I could fathom… and then I started the processes of releasing her on the world.

Blood Moon has just hit book store shelves and all I can think about is sitting down with my pencil and my legal pad to find out where the most powerful witch in the modern world will take me next. The Witches Moon Series is just getting started. Blood Moon is out, the second book is down on paper, and I am currently working on book three. Again, I’ve done the research. I’ve got the notes. I know how it’s going to end, and I’m staring at a blank page one.

About A. W. Gryphon

A.W. Gryphon is a novelist and screenwriter. Blood Moon is the first book in her Witches’ Moon Series. Please visit www.awgryphon.com for more information.