I have been wanting to work on some science fiction gaming topics for some time, now, but I have not had the time. Just recently, as an exercise in practicing some new programming skills, I began writing a simple gaming app.
What the project consists of is a way to add system information to a planetary system for Traveller. It assumes you already have a UWP (Universal World Profile) and then fills in details as per the new Mongoose book on Scouts.
This got me thinking, what if I wanted to run sone Traveller? Would I use an existing setting (Spinward Marches, Vanguard Reaches, Gateway Quadrant)? Would I generate my own sector (14 Suns)? Or would I dispense with interstellar travel altogether, and have all the a tion take place in a single super high population system (with lots of planetary, sattelite, and artificial environments that are populated)?
After a few days thouts, I think I am going to use the Gateway Quadrant, the Crucis Margin sector in particular, and start developing some settings, patrons, and Amber Zone encounters. This will probably migrate to a different blog, with announcements here on interesting postings.
So, I have been thinking about starting up some day related themes on Gaming with Chuck, and I believe that Thursdays are a good day (as good as any) to explore music, and the relationship between gaming and music that is inspirational for gaming.
So why the Theremin?
Well, first, because it is a fascinating and geeky instrument.
Second, because it goes so well alliteratively with Thursday.
And third, because - it is often (mistakenly) credited as the secret behind the soundtrack of one of the best Science Fiction movies of all time.
The movie, of course, is Forbidden Planet. By all means watch it again, and soon. The movie really is better than you remember - and responsible for SO MUCH more that comes after it in science fiction in popular media (which includes not only Movies, but Music, RPGs, and Computer Gaming - amongst other things).
The soundtrack was done completely as electronica, although not using the Theremin. The soundtrack for Forbidden Planet was composed and written by Louis and Bebe Barron, and they referred to the revolutionary music as Electronic Tonalities. This was done largely on scratch built equipment - crude synthesizers hand built by Louis, some 8 years before the first Moog. But it was not on a Theremin. There is a nice short on youtube talking about the project and the results.
Here is a sample of the electronic tonalities from Forbidden Planet - this is a composition inspired by the long forgotten civilization of the ancient Krell.
The first (perhaps only?) movie that featured a soundtrack including a Theremin was Spellbound, by Alfred Hitchcock. A great movie in it's own right, but not nearly so influential (at least at Gaming with Chuck HQ) as Forbidden Planet. Spellbound features the theme of madness - so features art inspired by Salvador Dali, and also the lovely Theremin infused with the orchestral score.
Which brings up an excellent segue - There is a great Zelda Medley composition that has been put together and performed by Lindsey Stirling. Lindsey is a very geeky - and extremely talented - musician. Here is her Zelda Medley (she plays the violin - incredibly well).
An unscientific poll has found that most gamers find Lindsey to be a much cuter Link than Link.
In addition to her Zelda Medley, Lindsey has done some other pieces that might be of interest to gamers. These include:
Before going on to the gaming connection, it is only right to point out that the instrument that started this conversation - the theremin - has been featured in one of the cultural icon programs of our time - Big Bang Theory. Here is a clip of Sheldon Cooper playing his theremin (which I think is a Moog Etherwave).
Segue - Although Sheldon Cooper was inspired to take up the theremin, it was NOT used in the soundtrack (or theme music) for the original Star Trek series (or any follow on). It was, however, used in The Day the Earth Stood Still (second best early Robot sci-fi film, after the before mentioned Forbidden Planet). That movie segues into other conversations related to films and gaming, which we will not pursue here, other than to say Klaatu Barada cough-cough-cough.
Okay, the tabletop gaming link to all of this.
Well, first of all there is a HUGE impact of classic sci fi on one of my favorite RPGs of all time - classic Traveller. Available still today, 35 years after its initial release in 1977 (same year as Star Wars). The current version that is a favorite at Gaming with Chuck is the Mongoose Games reprint, also known in some circles as Riki-Tiki-Traveller. But when playing a classic Traveller adventure, such as Shadows, or Annic Nova, or Research Station Gamma, you can just hear the theremin music playing in the background. More on Traveller in postings to follow soon.
Okay, Lindsey Stirling was mentioned. While not at all related to the Theremin, it is music that has a STRONG relation to gaming. Lets look at her songs. First there is the Legend of Zelda composition - based on a game series (a very popular one) on a variety of different game platforms.
Next is the theme song from Skyrim. An incredibly popular game, and soon to be the basis for a new MMORPG. The other day, while perusing game books in a book store, I found an impressive "cheat" book for Skyrim, located with the RPG books. I flipped through it - even if you never played the electronic game (on a PC), the amount of material in there could make for a quite impressive table top RPG setting. Dungeons, background, history, etc etc etc. Well done.
Next up from Lindsey Stirling and Peter Hollen is the Game of Thrones piece that they did. Impressive, and based on the tv series' that have been on (and no doubt, yet to come). There are a number of really interesting games out for Game of Thrones, for the tabletop, including a great living card game, and several board games. One of my favorite is the tactical battles game, Battles of Westeros. The base game comes with armies, cards, and scenarios for clashes between the Stark family and the Lannister family. Lots of add-ons expand those two, as well as adding lots of other factions (and armies). Great looking map, great scenarios, and really nice plastic miniatures. It is also related to one of my favorite board game designs, which has been covered on Gaming with Chuck before - the Command and Colors games (including Battle Lore).
There is also a multi-player game, that covers the power struggles between the different households, as they all struggle to become high king. Great game, with really nice components, out of print for a while but Fantasy Flight Games recently released a second edition. This game was designed by Christian Peterson, who does a lot of the designs for Fantasy Flight, and is becoming quite a good game designer (some say, all Ameritrash, but I don't think so - this one title, at least, shows heavy Euro influence).
Finally, of course, from Lindsey is her Lord of the Rings medley (she even sings on that one). Great job, again, and very inspirational. The number of games influenced by the Lord of the Rings is, of course, too many to number here. I will mention, however, the FANTASTIC job that Iron Crown Enterprises (ICE) did, at one time, of chronicling the man lands and sites of Middle Earth for gaming purposes. Their guides and modules were aimed primarily at their own Middle Earth Role Playing game (still very good, and very playable), and also their magnum opus Rolemaster (RM). RM started out as an add-on to Dungeons and Dragons, presenting modules that could replace weapon combat (Arms Law), beast and monster combat (Claw Law), and magic (Spell Law). The first two were later combined into Arm Law/Claw Law. ICE would go on to produce their own core game, in the book Character Law. They would add to it, a monster and treasure book (called Creatures and Treasures), and some modules in their own world. They would eventually produce a much more interesting world, Shadow World. But the best stuff (hands down) that they ever did for fantasy was the extensive Middle Earth series. They produced Middle Earth Roleplaying as an introductory version of RM, and suited for more casual gamers. Many of their products are available as cheap (or sometimes free) PDFs on sites such as Drive Thru RPG, or RPGNow.
One of the most fabulous things about many of the Middle Earth products from ICE was the Angus McBride cover art. Wow. Other than the Brothers Hildebrandt, I think that Angus McBride inspired me the most in thinking about the visuals of Middle Earth.
French Language release of the excellent Middle Earth module, Carolan
Without getting into the equally impressive list of Science Fiction games that were based on Star Trek, I will call an end to this article, but tune in again next week for more on Gaming and Music, on Theremin Thursdays, here at Gaming with Chuck.
This
is awesome, and really hits on something I have felt for a long time.
Sure, the stereotype of gamers is weird, out of touch, strange,
unwashed, kind of socially backward, etc - you get the idea. But most
that I have known (most, not all) rise above that. They become quite
social. After all, gaming is basically a social activity - lots of
human interaction, and a self organized hierarchical structure emerges
in any game, or gaming group. Of course, they still do retain their own
language, culture and mannerisms - but if they can project the social
skills into other arenas of life, then (as the article suggests) the
fact that they are gamers gives them a leg up. Now roll some dice....
Imagine a wiki page that has a bunch of entries listed on it, and you click on one, and the content at that page is randomized. Now imagine that the randomization sequence is actually designed to create content suitable for a fantasy RPG.
That is what Abulafia has created. This includes the (very awesome) dungeon overview generator.
This works like this -
From the main page, chose "places" as your category.
Next you get a list of the different types of randomly generated "places you can find.
We can chose "Dungeon Overview"
This now gives us a random history of what and why the dungeon is (or was) all about - which could generate ideas for all sorts of cool flavor and content in the dungeon.
Activating this (just this one time) gets me the following -
The dungeon was originally a palace that is the holy land of spooky
children with psionics but has been forgotten by most civilized races
for eons. It was rediscovered due to the recent death of the medusa
responsible for the statues from which the surrounding stone was
quarried. Near the West entrance, a clay golem of unusual intelligence
suspects it may contain a sussurus--one of particular interest--and so
has dispatched bewitched innocents into the complex. They communicate
via sign language.
Meanwhile, a group of righteous goat-headed
warriors who entered through a secret door to the Northwest suspects it
may contain a werewolf that they value. Their leader is said to be
strangely cloned and is also a sinister pet with a dangerous pet--a son
of kyuss that appears to obey his/her every whim. It roams the halls
looking for sustenance but is afraid of winter. It's also far more
intelligent than the typical member of its species. This group uses a
species of creeping vine that records sound to spy on the other group of
intruders.
(In recent weeks, the two factions have begun to skirmish in the halls.)
Unbeknownst
to either side, a lamia noble --wielding powerful magic--lives deep
within, inside a network of tunnels leading eventually to a pearl which
it prizes beyond all things.
It has constructed traps around its
lair--for example, a sturdy cage ready to close on whatever steps inside
--but also two stranger traps, informed by its bizarre alien
intelligence, which cause intruders to be destroyed by despair. It can
avoid the traps easily because of its unique abilities.
The other
factions have made about four traps each as well, but they are cruder,
since they've been recently and hastily thrown together.
In
addition, there are many hazards that are the legacy of the dungeon's
original inhabitants. No-one has yet discovered the secret passage near
the dais on the first level.
Due to the subtle influence of a
morningstar (behind the scale model on level two) with a powerful curse
on it, nearly all of the inhabitants have become increasingly compulsive
and some have gained additional bizarre physical and mental
deformities. Some have become obsessed with despair for reasons unknown.
Perhaps
the most disturbing room in the dungeon is the so-called "Chamber of
The Claws" which the intelligent creatures in the dungeon fear above all
else. However, beyond it there is a androgynous half-orc alchemist who
hails from the homeland of one of your PCs and may aid him/her, though
s/he covets the PCs' (whatever they have that's unusual) and is repulsed
by the sight of every piano s/he sees in the dungeon.
The dungeon's architecture resembles an overgrown prison, however every stairway in it is made of Aquamarine and Pearl.
In
addition to these things, it is said by some that, hidden deep within
the complex, where no mortal has been in eons is the Child of Despair
and the EnigMan, returned from a centuries-long journey beyond the sky,
awakening from his slumber to a world gone mad.
So, now that we are getting settled pretty nicely in our house in Georgia, I have been giving some serious thought to (1) a new painting area, and (2) a new painting project.
As I got busy the last few years of my PhD in Virginia, I pretty much neglected painting, and my painting room really become more of a storage room, with all kinds of stuff stacked up in there, so I wasn't able to paint.
The new house has a really nice, really large garage, and I have a plan for organizing it (really it will take about 1 serious Saturday to get it done - mostly it involves building some modular shelving and putting a bunch of bins of holiday stuff, etc, up on those shelves.
Once that is done, I plan to convert one wall of the garage into my work space. There was a really nice, large industrial desk left behind, with a separate piece that was used as a printer stand. With a pretty nice large cutting mat, or a piece of wood or plexiglass laid down on the surface, it will make a perfect painting desk.
The only problem I see is this - Georgia stays pretty warm most of the year (at least the part we are living in). I can put a window A/C unit out there to keep me cool while working there (along with a rotating fan or two, and I should actually be pretty comfortable). But what about paints. Is it okay to (permanently) store hobby paints (vallejo; craft store acrylics; artist acrylics; GW paints; etc) in a space that routinely gets into the upper 80s in temperature?
So, over on my old school Fantasy RPG blog, I have posted a Wilderness Encounter System that I have been working on. This first version of it is keyed for the region of the world that I have been slowly describing. What I have been doing is to describe the various interesting cities and sites of the region, and then describe an adventure (dungeon, quest, adventure nuggets, etc) for each.
The region (the Darkearth Plains) is a cold, ice age type environment, complete with the mega-mammals from Earth's last ice age (mammoths, irish deer, saber tooth tigers, dire wolves, etc). Along with the usual fantasy flair, and some interesting human and humanoid cultures (Storm King Barbarians, Shagmen, Broo). There is a map here.
Check it out if you like, and let me know what you think.
