Bianca Signen was an orphan, something of a rarity in these times. The origins of this status were unclear at best, however her adoptive parents loved her, and she didn't think much on her mysterious beginnings. Her adoptive family was quite large, she had 3 sisters (all of which were adopted), and a plethora of aunts uncles and cousins. Her parents, and much of her family worked for Stein Labs all over the country. Her father worked on improving and updating the BluEyes, while her mother was a receptionist.
Since about the age of 12 boys have liked Bianca. She liked the attention, and would hop from guy to guy leaving them heartbroken and unsatisfied. She never really found a boyfriend that she could stay with for more than a few months tops, they were all imperfect, and she always found a fault in every single one (which her therapist said was a fault of her own, not the boys).
Bianca graduated in the top 5% of her high school class, and was accepted to II. But after one semester, she dropped out, and through her strong family ties with Stein Labs got a job as a lab assistant. She was relatively happy there, she washed beakers, held test tubes filled with god-knows what, calibrated various machines. When they discovered that Bianca was in fact quite intelligent, they allowed her more interesting responsibilities and even a couple hours a week to work on her own experiments that usually didn't go anywhere.
A week before 'the emergency' Bianca got news that her favorite aunt had passed away. When Bianca arrived at the funeral, she learned that her Aunt Beatrice had left Bianca everything, including her beloved cat, Mr. Sniffles. What Bianca didn't know, was that attached to Mr. Sniffles' collar there was a crystal memory chip with a very important message. dun-dun-DUN!
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
Shakespeare mash-up
I would be surprised if this was an original idea, however since I hadn't heard of it, it's original to me :)
I often find myself lacking in story ideas, and this method is meant to be the foundation of a story arc as well as a fun exercise people can do as a group and then maybe end up roleplaying it along the way.
So this is what you do: Find yourself a copy of the complete works of Shakespeare (my house has at least 3 copies, so that wasn't very hard). Then turn to a random page. You could either pick a line randomly, or find a line on the page that you like (after the first one, I think it's better to pick one off the page). Copy down or bookmark that line, and then pick another random page and find another line. Do this as many times as you see fit. Now that you have a bunch of lines together, turn them into a script of sorts which becomes the basis of your story. Each line can be said by different characters, or it can be a conversation between 2 or more, or even a monologue, if it works.
This is what I came up with on my second try:
Male Character 1: "The fairest hand I ever toucht! O beauty, Till now I never knew thee!" ( King Henry The Eight I.iv)
Female Character 2: "Worthy sir, thou bleed'st; Thy exercise hath been too violent For a second course of fight." (Coriolanus I.vi)
Male Character 1: "Go, you wild bedfellow, you cannot soothsay." (Antony and Cleopatra I.ii)
Female Character 2: "Follow me; thou shalt serve me: if I like thee no worse after dinner, I will not part from thee yet." (King Lear I.iii)
Two strong-willed and rather aggressive soon to be lovers (maybe soldiers of some kind) have gotten into a fist fight. As the woman is dutifully kicking the ass of the man, he blurts out that he loves her more than anything. The woman stops fighting for a second and realizes two things 1. the man is pretty beat up and 2. she in fact loves him too, but does not want to admit it. She comments on his injuries and suggests that he give up. The man knows this to be true, but takes it as an insult none the less, calls her a whore and tells her to leave before he catches his breath. The woman, not wanting to leave his company, but not wanting to say so directly tells him that if he takes her out to an expensive restaurant and he behaves, she might forgive him for whatever it was that started the fight.
I often find myself lacking in story ideas, and this method is meant to be the foundation of a story arc as well as a fun exercise people can do as a group and then maybe end up roleplaying it along the way.
So this is what you do: Find yourself a copy of the complete works of Shakespeare (my house has at least 3 copies, so that wasn't very hard). Then turn to a random page. You could either pick a line randomly, or find a line on the page that you like (after the first one, I think it's better to pick one off the page). Copy down or bookmark that line, and then pick another random page and find another line. Do this as many times as you see fit. Now that you have a bunch of lines together, turn them into a script of sorts which becomes the basis of your story. Each line can be said by different characters, or it can be a conversation between 2 or more, or even a monologue, if it works.
This is what I came up with on my second try:
Male Character 1: "The fairest hand I ever toucht! O beauty, Till now I never knew thee!" ( King Henry The Eight I.iv)
Female Character 2: "Worthy sir, thou bleed'st; Thy exercise hath been too violent For a second course of fight." (Coriolanus I.vi)
Male Character 1: "Go, you wild bedfellow, you cannot soothsay." (Antony and Cleopatra I.ii)
Female Character 2: "Follow me; thou shalt serve me: if I like thee no worse after dinner, I will not part from thee yet." (King Lear I.iii)
Two strong-willed and rather aggressive soon to be lovers (maybe soldiers of some kind) have gotten into a fist fight. As the woman is dutifully kicking the ass of the man, he blurts out that he loves her more than anything. The woman stops fighting for a second and realizes two things 1. the man is pretty beat up and 2. she in fact loves him too, but does not want to admit it. She comments on his injuries and suggests that he give up. The man knows this to be true, but takes it as an insult none the less, calls her a whore and tells her to leave before he catches his breath. The woman, not wanting to leave his company, but not wanting to say so directly tells him that if he takes her out to an expensive restaurant and he behaves, she might forgive him for whatever it was that started the fight.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Barely Success
So Tim and I have been looking through the Doctor Who RPG (which also uses a 2d6 mechanic) and they had an interesting concept about degrees of success. A lot of points below the DC means uber failure, a few points below is a normal failure, and a tiny bit below is a sort of failure (ie you convince the guards not to kill you on site, but they will throw you in the dungeon). And similarly for successes (sort of success, normal, and super awesome success)
We've decided to add a new optional rule that says when you get exactly the Difficulty level, it counts as a barely success. A few examples: John's character is trying to jump from rooftop to rooftop, John's roll plus his strength plus athletics is a 12, which is what the DL is. The GM could say, "You make it to the other roof, but only barely, and you're hanging on by your fingertips."
Another example is if you're trying to pick a lock and you roll exactly the DL; it takes the character longer to pick the lock and therefore has a higher chance of getting caught. Or, you pick the lock, but your pick breaks in the lock, leaving you without your pick and unable to relock the door.
We've decided to add a new optional rule that says when you get exactly the Difficulty level, it counts as a barely success. A few examples: John's character is trying to jump from rooftop to rooftop, John's roll plus his strength plus athletics is a 12, which is what the DL is. The GM could say, "You make it to the other roof, but only barely, and you're hanging on by your fingertips."
Another example is if you're trying to pick a lock and you roll exactly the DL; it takes the character longer to pick the lock and therefore has a higher chance of getting caught. Or, you pick the lock, but your pick breaks in the lock, leaving you without your pick and unable to relock the door.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Act I: EMERGENCY!
A mass announcement was proclaimed through everyone's blue eye and every holo-board. The white letters and automated voice said, "This is wide spread emergency, please head to the nearest Tele-pod station immediately. This is not a drill."
Naturally, people panicked. They collected their most valuable belongings and did just as the announcement told them. Dr. Baiocchi could not remember the last time a mass message was sent like this, not even tests, he concluded that this must be taken seriously and went straight for the New New York Telepod station.
Zebbi, who does not wear a blue eye was informed of the announcement by her body guard. She decided to pack up her luggage train, and set up shop, singing and selling posters of herself in the crowded station while everyone waited for further instructions.
George, who also does not wear a blue eye for fear of the government reading his paranoid mind heard of the emergency through his system of numerous holo-boards that he had set up in the basement. George felt it necessary to go and report back to his 3 loyal blog followers.
The station was packed, and the anxiety was tangible. Searching through the news channels brought nothing but the usual dribble, and did not speak of the mass announcement, though many underground channels did, each of them having their own idea as to what was going on. The intercom system switched on and told people to cram as many people into the Tele-pods, that they were to be evacuated.
A few minutes later, as Dr. Baiochhi was trying to decide what to do, the overhead sprinkler system went off. Normally a whiteish chemical is released, which puts out the fire, makes a mess but leaves everything else unharmed. (Can you believe they used to use water in these things?! Everything got destroyed!) However what came out of the valves was in fact an extremely fine green powder.
George pulled out a gas mask and a tarp from his trench coat and ducked underneath. Dr. Baiochhi and Zebbi found their way underneath as well. People that had breathed in the substance started coughing, and a dozen or so collapsed to the floor. The group grabbed who they could and escaped to an exit.
In the emergency stairwell, where the air was clean and circulated with the outside, they had time to think. Bianca, a 20 something attractive female clutching a black cat and a large suitcase and Johnny, an ordinary looking 12 year old as well as Zebbi both had inhaled quite a bit of that green powder and were bent over coughing. Dr. Baiochhi administered some stimulants which calmed down their coughing fits. Bianca seemed to recovered fully, but Zebbi and the boy noticed that their fingers were tingling.
Dr. Baiochhi went through his expansive knowledge of chemicals and knew of three green powders that were likely suspects. Though none of them fit exactly, the closest being an old style anesthetic, but he was pretty sure that it's paralyzing effects started from the spine and core of the body before moving to the extremities, and that it hadn't been manufactured for at least 50 years.
The group along with about 20 others who decided to use the emergency stairwell found themselves outside along next to the station's massive parking lot. Two people were bent over a young man who lay motionless on the pavement. "He had the North River Fevers. but I didn't expect him to go so soon." Dr. Baiochhi knew the North River Fevers was a terminal illness that has no cure, but if well treated, victims can live into their late 30s. The Chemist secretly drew a blood sample of the deceased and moved on.
Not 3 minutes after they had left the building, large military trucks entered the parking lot. Unaware of the military's intentions, Dr. Baiochhi, Zebbi, Bianca and Johnny tried to sneak their way out of the area while George hid in a nook in a wall to watch. The group was spotted quickly, though the soldiers only told them to clear the area which they were doing anyway.
Zebbi used her fame and womanly ways to try to get information out of one of the truck drivers and distract him enough her her to steal his RoboLabor Unit that had parts Dr. Baiochhi wanted. The tingling in Zebbi and Johnny's fingers started to spread, and by the time the ambulance came, it had spread all the way up Johnny's arm.
Johnny and several others were taken to the hospital. Zebbi refused to go.
The group, along with Mr. Sniffles (Bianca's cat) collected blood samples and took them back to Dr. Baiochhi's lab where they made some interesting discoveries. The substance that came from the fire extinguishers was an extremely complex organic molecule whose atomic weight fluctuated so much that it was impossible to get an accurate reading. Samples from dead subjects contained a similar molecule with a weight of 3,028, the people that seemed unaffected still had the substance in their blood but with a weight of 3,024. And those that were tingling like Zebbi had molecules that varied in weight and were much lighter than the others (Zebbi was at 1,016)
Dr. Baiochhi tested the green powder on 100 lab rats with different genetic codes. None of them died, and one rat acted oddly until the water container poured water all over the cage without anything touching it. The Doctor terminated all the rats and uploaded all the data he had collected.
Before they could preform any more tests, a huge earthquake shook the ground, and dislodged several items from their shelves, and a minute later, another larger earthquake followed. The Laboratory building creaked and groaned from the pressure, and they decided to get out. Buildings fell around them, and then they saw it. A shiny floating box about 8 feet tall was hovering around the huge terraforming machine. Johnny left his hiding spot and claimed to call it with his mind, the cube rotated and then floated over to Johnny and the others.
On being a good player/nice person in general.
Inspired by an article posted on LRPGSW
I've decided to make a list of simple things players can do to improve games on a social level, many of which apply to outside the game table as well. Now some of these things may seem obvious, but trust me, I've seen them happen all the time. If you have more, post a comment!
1. Don't talk when someone else is talking. Not only is it rude, but it can't mess with the flow of the game. If you're in a big group, it's ok to have quiet conversations on the side while someone else is deciding what to do on their turn, but don't let it get out of hand. Sometimes when the GM is your friend, they may not be inclined to tell you to shut up because they don't want to abuse the power of being a GM, so do them a favor and shut up before they have to tell you.
2. Remember you are a guest in a person's home. Games are often held at someone's house. And I don't know about others, but my house is my personal space. If someone asks you to take off your shoes, don't complain. Don't touch the fragile glass trinkets without permission, and please don't go through the medicine cabinet (tempting as it is).
3. Cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze. Gamers are usually in close quarters around a table, please don't sneeze on them.
4. Keep away from controversial topics (unless you know the person's views and are close friends already) RPGers come from many walks of life and like everyone else in the world, can be extremely opinionated. Talking about real-life politics can make people very upset.
5. Be on time. It can get frustrating for the GM and the other players if they have to start multiple times. If you know you're going to be late or absent, call the GM and let them know.
6. Keep criticisms constructive. Most people don't mind getting suggestions on what to do or how to improve the game, however most people do mind being told that they suck.
7. Clean up after yourself. Please don't make the host pick up you banana peel or half eaten tuna sandwich.
I've decided to make a list of simple things players can do to improve games on a social level, many of which apply to outside the game table as well. Now some of these things may seem obvious, but trust me, I've seen them happen all the time. If you have more, post a comment!
1. Don't talk when someone else is talking. Not only is it rude, but it can't mess with the flow of the game. If you're in a big group, it's ok to have quiet conversations on the side while someone else is deciding what to do on their turn, but don't let it get out of hand. Sometimes when the GM is your friend, they may not be inclined to tell you to shut up because they don't want to abuse the power of being a GM, so do them a favor and shut up before they have to tell you.
2. Remember you are a guest in a person's home. Games are often held at someone's house. And I don't know about others, but my house is my personal space. If someone asks you to take off your shoes, don't complain. Don't touch the fragile glass trinkets without permission, and please don't go through the medicine cabinet (tempting as it is).
3. Cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze. Gamers are usually in close quarters around a table, please don't sneeze on them.
4. Keep away from controversial topics (unless you know the person's views and are close friends already) RPGers come from many walks of life and like everyone else in the world, can be extremely opinionated. Talking about real-life politics can make people very upset.
5. Be on time. It can get frustrating for the GM and the other players if they have to start multiple times. If you know you're going to be late or absent, call the GM and let them know.
6. Keep criticisms constructive. Most people don't mind getting suggestions on what to do or how to improve the game, however most people do mind being told that they suck.
7. Clean up after yourself. Please don't make the host pick up you banana peel or half eaten tuna sandwich.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Plastics
The guy from The Graduate had it right. Plastics. The way of the future. Plastics had become increasing popular, with better and stronger types coming out every year. Instead of needing fossilized organic matter, labratories developed ways of using corn and recently dead organic matter to turn it into plastics.
Plastech is a plastic that is capable of sharing electrons, and conducting electrecity faster and more efficently than copper.
Plastix is extremely strong, and is used to build buildings.
Plastik is the cheap stuff that many things are made of, it's more breakable but it has it's uses
Plastique is a term used for many different kinds of plastic, it can refer to gem-stone replicas, metallic-looking stuff uses for jewelery and decoration. Plastique is also used in cosmetic surgery and can very closely resemble human skin. Similar to modern-day piercings and tattoos, teenagers often get external Plastique implants around their ears, eye brows and wherever they can think of. These implants are removable without permanent scaring which makes them very popular.
Plastech is a plastic that is capable of sharing electrons, and conducting electrecity faster and more efficently than copper.
Plastix is extremely strong, and is used to build buildings.
Plastik is the cheap stuff that many things are made of, it's more breakable but it has it's uses
Plastique is a term used for many different kinds of plastic, it can refer to gem-stone replicas, metallic-looking stuff uses for jewelery and decoration. Plastique is also used in cosmetic surgery and can very closely resemble human skin. Similar to modern-day piercings and tattoos, teenagers often get external Plastique implants around their ears, eye brows and wherever they can think of. These implants are removable without permanent scaring which makes them very popular.
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