I've Moved

I've consolidated my bloggenings over on my website. Feel free to check it out.

A Recipe for Myth

I want a game that allows my group and I to collaboratively tell a series of related yet stand-alone tales that fit together in an anthology of shared mythology. As we tell individual, engaging stories, a rich and faceted body of myth should follow.

Inspiration and Influence,
or Sources I Intend to Steal Dutifully From:

Games

- Polaris
- In A Wicked Age
- Microscope
- Mist-Robed Gate
- Capes
- Mortal Coil

Literature

- The Silmarillion and The Children of Hurin, by JRR Tolkien
- Tales from the Flat Earth series, by Tanith Lee
- Various real world mythology; particularly the Nibelungenlied, Ramayana, Illiad and Odyssey.

Strangely Nostalgic: X-Men Forever

For those unaware, Chris Claremont has returned to writing the X-Men in a new out-of-continuity, ongoing series called X-Men Forever. The book picks up directly from where he left of at X-Men #3 in 1991 and takes a direction Claremont claims he couldn't have written when he had to "worry about corporate needs."

The interesting thing about me reading this book now is that I never read any of Claremont's original run. In fact, despite being the huge geek I am, I didn't start reading comics on a monthly basis until I went to college, and then I primarily focused on Marvel's newly launched Ultimate imprint. Before that my entire X-Men lore -- and comics in general for that matter -- was gleaned from the 90's X-Men animated series and the internet.

Despite this -- or maybe because of it -- the book feels strangely nostalgic. The art and writing style are definitely a throwback to 90's sensibilities. For example, the dialogue is a tad overwritten by today's standards, but that adds to the whole package having a charming feel, in a retro kinda of way.

One particular thing I've found interesting is my own reaction to some of the significant changes to the status-quo that Claremont has introduce into in the first five issues of the run. Particularly since he has stated that he intends for them to remain permanent, in direct opposition to the usual comics tendency for things to eventually revert to their iconic status or condition.

Without going into spoilers, I'll admit that at first these changes were a bit off putting to me, until I realized how hypocritical those feelings were. The entire point of the hugely successful Ultimate X-Men -- and the entire Ultimate Marvel line by extension -- was to use past continuity as a spring board of reinvention for new tales; and I ate those stories up with a spoon. They are what got me back/into comics in the first place. I think that's what Claremont might be doing here, at least in part. Or at least specifically, he's exploring where these iconic characters and their themes can be taken when you're not constrained narratively by the need to maintain the 'familiarity' these franchise figures.

That I find interesting.

Edit: In this article Graeme McMillian of io9.com takes the words out of my mouth, and puts them back together in vastly superior arrangement.

Quick thought on distributing narrative authority

I want to remember this for later...

Drama

• One player decides the outcome
• A segment of the group decides the outcome
• The entire group decides (majority) the outcome
• The entire group decides (unanimous) the outcome

Fortune

• The resolution system constrains the outcome

Karma

• The resolution system constrains the outcome

Edit: Josh reminds me that in the case of fortune and karma, the resolution system constrains the outcome, rather than decides it.

Pull List - July 26, 2009

My current comics pull list:

Ongoing Series

1. Absolution
2. Air
3. Amazing Spider-Man
4. Astro City: Dark Age - Book 3
5. Nova
6. Avengers, Dark
7. Avengers, New
8. Batman and Robin
9. Captain America
10. Incognito
11. Irredeemable
12. Secret Six
13. Secret Warriors
14. Unknown Soldier
15. The Unwritten
16. Wolverine: Weapon X
17. X-Factor
18. X-Men Forever

Ongoing Series (on Probation)

1. Astonishing X-Men
2. Avengers, Mighty
3. Avengers: The Initative
4. Batman
5. Black Panther
6. Deadpool
7. Fantastic Four
8. Flash: Rebirth
9. Jersey Gods
10. New Mutants
11. Red Robin
12. Thunderbolts

Limited Series

1. Avengers/Invaders
2. Destroyer
3. Ultimatum
4. War of Kings
5. War of Kings: Ascension
6. War of Kings: Darkhawk

PTA Pitch: Synchronicity

This will be the first in a series of show ideas I've had for Primetime Adventures. Considering that creating the premise for a PTA show is intended to be a collaborative exercise, these are posted here mostly for fun - though if you find it useful as a jump-off point for your group, please do, rock on.

Synchronicity

A group of seemingly unconnected individuals each wake up to find the details of their lives drastically altered from the ones they knew the day before. Slowly they realize the differences extend to the rest of the world itself, in subtle ways at first, with more drastic alterations emerging the deeper they probe. As they are inexorably drawn to one another, can they discover those responsible and regain the lives, and world, they've lost?

• Inspirations and Influences: LOST, Sliders, Fringe, Feng Shui
• Buzz Words: alternate reality, chaos theory, correspondence, destiny, fate, many worlds, parallel universe, synchronicity

Broken - Situation

Ok, some more details about 'Broken'.

The Situation

As summarized in the previous post, the protagonists the players will portray are trapped in a potentially dangerous set of circumstances from which there seems no escape, or at least any apparent avenue of escape is itself fraught with danger. Part of the setup process that takes place before play is the brainstorm. During which, the players agree on the particular incident or situation that will bring the protagonists in their story together and keep them there for the gruling duration. This will be different for each group and serves to help personalize the story and build a level of creative investment on the part of the players.

Two examples from the works inspiring this design are 'a plane crash on a deserted island in the middle-of-nowhere' (Lost), and  a lonely mountain town engulfed in fog and falling ash whose only roads have been cut off' (Silent Hill).

Now obviously, these two examples deal with locales exhibiting strange and supernatural characteristics. However, while these are very much within the milieu of the game, the place or situation trapping the protagonists is not limited to such. The circumstance could also be something much more mundane, though no less dangerous or frightening. A 'power outage in the subway', 'an antarctic research station', or 'a squad of marines cut off from support in the Vietnam jungle' would all be viable examples.

I should note that the the basic requirement is that the situation should keep the protagonists together for the duration of the story and not be easily escaped. While it isn't necessary for the situation to be threatening in and of itself, any apparent or revealed danger can easily be used to heighten the sense of drama and suspense.

There is always the possibility for the situation to be directly tied to the supernatural manifestation of one of the protagonists issues. Though a great example of reincorporation, this is also not a requirement. If such a dramatic turn is incorporated, it is probably best if it is not explicitly declared before play begins. A plot point like this should be given a chance to emerge (or not) organically through play and the development of the story.

Broken

Ok, I'm going to try and start breaking down the basics of this game idea and what I want to accomplish with it, piece by piece.

BROKEN

Inspirations and Influences

• Lost, television series
• Silent Hill, film, video-game series
• Solaris, film
• Fight Club, film
• Sunshine, film
  

Premise

The players take on the roles of a group of seemingly disparate individuals trapped together in a desperate situation. Each of them is saddled with a painful issue from their past that threatens to tear them apart both figuratively and literally. As they struggle to escape they will discover the subtle connections between them as well as the personal secrets they have each worked to keep buried. However, above and beyond the apparent physical danger of their circumstances looms the supernatural manifestation of a deep-seated regret or loss carried by one among them - but who's? Can they come to terms with their strange connections and work to free themselves - emotionally and literally - before they are all consumed?