Con on the Cob 2007: Day 1 – Gaming
The first day of Con on the Cob 2007 wrapped up at just after midnight.For Gus and I; when we left there were still several games and the con suite was still abuzz with activity, including Larry Elmore and one of the convention volunteers bouncing some sort of ball back and forth across the table. Was it a game? I don't know, but they seemed to be enjoying it. Following four rounds of the Quick Draw competition—the first three I've already mentioned, the theme of the fourth was "A Sentient Tub of Butter Fomenting an Agrarian Uprising Against the Cow From Whence It Came" and resulted in two equally fantastic drawings—and some pizza, Gus and I adjourned to our first roleplaying event.
Introduction to Mutants & Masterminds
Game Master: Steve Kenson
Scenario: The Wreck Room
The intro to Green Ronin's Mutants & Masterminds setting was a (relatively) short one; only two hours. Game designer Steve Kenson gave a brief overview of the game, explaining character stats, powers, feats and skills and how the basic game mechanics work. Mutants & Masterminds uses a single twenty-sided die for all skill checks, so there's never any fumbling around and wondering which of your many colorful polyhedrons apply to the task at hand. Roll a d20, add the appropriate modifier and report the result to the Game Master. Piece of cake.
After explaining the game and answering a few questions, Steve launched right into the scenario. We were all members of The Freedom League, training in The Wreck Room, a highly advanced danger simulator designed to put our powers and abilities to the test. In this exercise, we were split in two teams and pitted against one another in a game of Capture the Ball, in which the object was to simply find the ball and possess it for eighteen consecutive seconds. A complex array of interlocking steel rods turned the Wreck Room into a jungle gym, just to complicate things.
Team One: Bowman (played by gus), a deadly accurate archer; Dr. Metropolis, who embodies the spirit of Freedom City and bends the very environment to his will; Johnny Rocket, a man who moves even faster than his namesake.
Team Two: Daedalus, immortal Greek inventor who uses his mighty power armor to dispense justice; The Raven (played by me), the dark detective who has several clever tricks in her utility belt.
The game was very quick and a lot of fun. Everyone got plenty of chances to show off their powers (or, in The Raven's case, the contents of her utility belt) and the ball changed hands quite frequently. Johnny Rocket was able to grab the ball in the first round, but Daedalus took it by force two round later. The Raven used a smoke bomb to conceal Daedalus and then Bowman accidentally plunged the Wreck Room into darkness with his EMP arrowThe EMP arrow wasn't in Bowman's equipment, according to his character sheet, but Gus spent a Hero Point to declare that he had one. A moment later, I spent a Hero Point to declare that The Raven carried a pair of night vision goggles on her utility belt (which, again, wasn't on the character sheet). In the introduction to the game, Kenson had likened this method of expending hero points to the scene in Batman: The Movie, where Batman just happens to have Bat Robotic Shark Repellent when he is being attacked by a robotic shark. Other ways to expend Hero Points include re-rolling in the event of a bad die roll at a critical time or immediately shaking off the effects of being Stunned.. Ultimately, The Raven failed to learn the lesson that it's nearly impossible to catch Johnny Rocket off-guard; she failed to dazzle him with her flash bomb or trap him with her adhesive pellets (another Hero Point expenditure) and wound up on the receiving end of his whirlwind vortex, which rendered her unconscious until the end of the game.
We ran out of time before either team had managed to hold the ball for the required eighteen seconds (three game rounds), but the adventure was a good way to introduce the Mutants & Masterminds system and showcase some of its unique features.
Now that we'd been introduced to the system, it was time for Gus and I to dive into a four-hour session with power-level 14 characters.
Mutants & Masterminds: A.G.E. of Heroes - "The Walls Come Tumbling Down"
Game Master: Sean P. Fannon
Characters: Shiva (played by me), a four-armed martial artist; Incendus (played by Gus), a fire elemental; Nerys, the Excalibur-wielding modern-day incarnation of the Lady in the Lake; PDQ, a speedster with the ability to turn himself insubstantial; Sarge, a living weapon; Alexander Running Wolf, a Native American powerhouse, strong enough to throw a garbage truck into orbit.
The game began with the heroes gathered in Washington, D.C. as a host of punk angels assaulted the Washington Monument to the sound of heavenly thrash metal. Though outnumbered at least two-to-one, the heroes made short work of the winged vandals and discovered that one was not quite who he seemed to be.
Joseph, the angel whom Running Wolf captured, revealed that the marauding seraphim were members of the archangel Gabriel's army, and that their attack was but a diversion, meant to keep the heroes of Earth busy while a dark force known as The Shadow Host attempted to use an ancient and powerful artifact to free a powerful ally and ultimately to destroy all of mankind. Joseph, an agent of the archangel Raphael, infiltrated the ranks of Gabriel's army to learn more about his nefarious plot and to enlist the aid of Earth's heroes.
Joseph and the heroes journeyed to the UNISO base on Storm Island, an underground facility that houses the Storm Gate, a carefully controlled wormhole. With the assistance of UNISO personnel, Joseph enabled the Storm Gate to transport himself and the heroes to a strange dimension where the angel used his sword to rend a hole in the very fabric of space. Explaining that he would die if he entered the Dark dimension where the ancient prisoner was held in eternal stasis, Joseph sent the heroes onward.
The heroes found themselves in an eerie and unsettling landscape of rocky platforms, over the edge of which was the Dark abyss. In the distance, the glimpsed a mighty castle, surely their destination. Without a second thought, Running Wolf split off a large section of the rocky platform and, holding it above his head, invited those heroes lacking the power of flight to climb atop it. Once PDQ, Sarge and Shiva were aboard the stone slab, Running Wolf took to the air, still holding the rocky platform over his head. Nerys and Incendus, both capable of flight, led the way to the castle, where Incendus blasted through the werewolf guards and ignored the door in favor of melting a large hole in the wall.
Inside the castle, the forces of evil were already at work. A mighty battle ensued and the villains (whose names I cannot recall, save for The Ghoul and Baron Gnaw) were forced to flee, leaving behind the Spear of Longinus, the artifact they had planned to use to free a being so vile that he had been ejected from Hell. Spear in hand, the heroes returned to Storm Island, victorious, if only for the moment.
And that about wrapped it up for our first day. Two gaming sessions totaling just over six hours. On the menu tomorrow: the exhibitor's hall and...more gaming.
Con on the Cob 2007: Day 1 – Quick Draw
The third annual Con on the Cob has officially begun! The Quick Draw competition is underway, pitting two artists against one another in a rapid-fire, grueling duel to illustrate wacky suggestions suggested by the audience. Round One: Nazi Potatoes (3 minute time limit). Round Two: Monster Truck Square Dance (4 minute time limit). Round Three: Oh My God, The Second Best Thing Ever! (60 second time limit) Round Four: Jabba of Starfleet (3 minute time limit).
I'll see if I can get photos of some entries and post them soon.
Nerdstuff: Con on the Cob 2007
Con on the Cob 2007 starts in about two and a half hours and ends Sunday evening. This is good news for my inner geek and bad news for my aspiring writer. On the other hand, maybe a little geeky distraction is just what I need to push through to 20,000 words. Ideas come from the strangest places, after all.
There are a handful of reasons I'm going to the con instead of writing:
- Miscellaneous G™ is one of the organizers.
- Fantasy artist Larry Elmore will be there.
- Green Ronin's Wild Cards expansion for their Mutants & Masterminds RPG. If you've been reading KJToo.com for a while, you probably know that Wild Cards is my favorite sci-fi/superhero/alternate history series in the history of ever, and it's a perfect setting for a roleplaying game.
It's after 1:00 already and I'm carpooling with Gus, who's going to be here in 30 minutes or so. I've got to get ready. Beard pictures when I get home tonight (probably after midnight).
NaNoWriMo 2007: Oh, crap, my protagonist is smarter than I am.
I attended the first official Lake County NaNoWriMo Write-In last night at the Morley Library in Painesville, Ohio. There were seven people there, including myself, and everyone seemed to be having a good time and at least making an effort to get some writing done. And there were snacks: pretzels and tortilla chips and those rectangular wafer cookies with the frosting...yum.
Every year, I see at least one person writing their novel longhand with pen and paper, and sure enough two of the people at the write-in were busy writing in their notebooks when I arrived. On one hand, if they're planning to upload their novel for official verification at the end of the month, this means they've essentially got to write it twice: once on paper and then a second time when they transcribe it to electronic format. That's a lot of work. On the other hand, I've never seen a pad of paper run out of battery power after only about an hour of writing, and I doubt very much that anyone has ever spent twenty fruitless minutes (or more) trying to get their spiral-bound notebook to connect to a library's wifi. The pen and paper may not be the most high-tech of noveling tools, but it's very reliable and far more portable than even my laptop.
I did manage a meager 442 words before my laptop battery died (and me without a power supply), and would likely have gotten a lot more done had I not written myself into a bit of a sticky spot.
Chief Inspector Timothy Remington, Sergeant Michael Shaughnessey, Bannister Proulx and Emma Caldwell are all at the house on Ridgebury Lane. Emma, whose knowledge of human anatomy far surpasses that of Bannister Proulx, has finished her preliminary examination of the two murdered women. In reporting her findings to the Chief Inspector, Emma makes a fairly obvious observation: if the women were killed elsewhere in the house, the killer must have been strong enough to carry them to the bedroom. Chief Inspector Remington notes that it would be a simple matter for a strong man to do so and an even simpler matter for multiple men, at which point Bannister Proulx states that the murders are the work of a single person, acting alone. Remington, quite naturally, asks Proulx how he could possibly know this, especially since the detective had earlier suggested that the killings were done as ritual sacrifices, and rituals are often performed by groups of people.
That's all well and good. Bannister is certainly correct: there is only one killer. The problem is that I don't know how he knows. I'm sure he has some terribly logical explanation based on observations he has made since entering the house, but I don't know what that explanation is.
So I finished typing the question, closed the quote, pressed Enter twice, opened a new quote...and stopped. I haven't the faintest clue how Bannister knows what he knows, but I'm pretty sure he does. If he doesn't...well, I'm not in editing mode, so there are no takebacks right now. Perhaps if I decide he doesn't, I'll have him explain his reasoning and then have Remington or Caldwell or, worse, Shaughnessey, point out the flaw in his logic. Wouldn't that just get his goat?
But Bannister cannot know just because I know. I mean, I'm pretty sure he's not writing the story...yet.
How Not To Grow a Beard: Week One Progress Report
Okay, so the week isn't quite over yet, but can you blame me for jumping the gun a little? As today's photo clearly shows, the beard is making definite (not to mention impressive) progress. After less than one hundred and forty-four hours, my chin and my roundhouse kick have something in common: they both put Chuck Norris to shame.
Oh, yeah, I went there.
I'm sure I'll go back to talking about NaNoWriMo tomorrow, but that's it for today. Short, sweet, and delusional.
NaNoWriMo 2007: Drawing Back the Curtain, Part 3 – Plot
I wrote about 2,400 words yesterday, which would be fantastic were it not for the fact that the first 1,667 of them were supposed to have been written on Saturday. The allure of Arkham Horror was too much to resist, and so I spent several hours Saturday evening battling nameless horrors from realms beyond mankind's understanding in a futile attempt to prevent the Ancient One from awakening and destroying Arkham, Massachusetts. Chris, Gus and I played two games. The first, against Shub-Niggurath, was a dismal failure; when the Great Old One awakened, we soon discovered that were were entirely unable to deal it any damage. The second game, against Yig, was much more successful, and I found that Sister Mary the nun kicked far more beastly ass than the gangster I was playing in the first game. Power of the Almighty, indeed.
Enough of that, let's get to the meat of today's post: the plot of my novel-in-progress, which involves neither nuns nor gangsters, nor slumbering horrors that will rip your sanity from you like so much plastic film off the top of a microwave dinner when they awaken. Well, not yet, anyway.
Cleveland, Ohio. January of 1938. The city has a new mayor, elected to the office under dubious circumstances, and a killer roams the streets, able to slay young women with apparent impunity. Chief Inspector Timothy Remington enlists the aid of Bannister Proulx, a detective whose consultations have proven quite valuable to the constabulary in the past two years.
Unfortunately for Remington, the new mayor sees Proulx as a threat to the department of police and the city of Cleveland. The mayor demands that Remington turn over and and all police files pertaining to Bannister Proulx and suggests that some very influential people are concerned that Proulx's involvement with high-profile murder investigations paints the constabulary in a poor light.
On the heels of this news comes another slaying, apparently the work of the elusive killer who has haunted the streets of the city for some four months. But it's worse than Remington suspects; the killer he has been pursuing since autumn of the previous year is merely an imitator of the true menace, and the gruesome new slaying is more horrific and more puzzling than anything the Chief Inspector has ever seen.
Despite the mayor's admonitions, Remington again calls upon the aid of Bannister Proulx and his partner, the young, attractive, and exceptionally intelligent Emma Caldwell. Proulx quickly confirms Remington's darkest fears. The murder of a mother and her grown daughter on Ridgebury Lane is not the work of the same individual who has been terrorizing Cleveland since the previous September.
Proulx determines that this new killer is far more meticulous and exacting than his imitator and reveals a supernatural element at work. The mysterious symbols and diagrams written on the walls of the murder scene are familiar to the detective, who is no stranger to the arcane and the occult. While Proulx attempts to determine the exact nature and intent of the symbols, he encourages Remington to continue his pursuit of the copycat killer in hopes that catching the imitator might gain them valuable insight into the identity of the true menace.
During the course of his investigation, Proulx learns that the grisly murder on Ridgebury Lane is not unique to Cleveland. Similar incidents have occurred in the cities of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and even Pittsburgh. Not only are the murders practically identical, they all took place on the same street in their respective cities: Ridgebury Lane.
While Remington races to find the copycat killer before he strikes again, Proulx and Emma Caldwell travel to New York City, where their investigation leads them to a secret society that has existed for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years. This powerful group has influenced the architecture and infrastructure of every major city of the United States and western Europe, ensuring that certain elements—all but invisible to those who don't what to look for—were included in the cities' designs. Bannister learns that the presence of these elements, combined with the appropriate arcane knowledge, will allow near instantaneous transportation between any of these cities, and the thoroughfare connecting them all is Ridgebury Lane.
But who is using this arcane secret to commit gruesome murders from Cleveland to London, and why? The key to the mystery lies in finding the elusive copycat killer, but can Remington and Proulx find him before he, too, falls victim to the true terror of Ridgebury Lane?
Audio Novel: Playing For Keeps by Mur Lafferty
Mur Lafferty's new audio novel, Playing For Keeps, tells the story of Keepsie Branson, a young woman with a unique ability: nothing she owns can be taken from her against her will. Unfortunately, in a world where superheroes are subsidized by taxpayer dollars, Keepsie doesn't quite make the grade; she's just not powerful enough to be officially sanctioned as a full-fledged hero. Denied the opportunity to use her ability for the betterment of humanity, Keepsie has opened a bar across the street from the Academy, the home base of Seventy City's A-List superheroes. Keepsie's Bar is a popular watering hole where Third Wavers—people like Keepsie, whose powers have been designated useless by the elitist metahuman snobs at the Academy—gather to commiserate.
Despite being shunned by the Academy, Keepsie and her friends find themselves swept up in the action as the criminal mastermind known as Doodad brings his latest evil plan to bear on Seventh City. Keepsie finds herself in possession of a strange object that both heroes and villains want, and suddenly her power doesn't seem so insignificant anymore. Neither side can take the object without her permission, and now Keepsie finds herself in a position to help the heroes she despises...or the villains who just might destroy everything she loves.
The first chapter in this unconventional superhero tale is already available at the official Playing For Keeps website and a new chapter will be published each week. While you're there, read the official PFK blog, listen to promos, download wallpaper and Twitter icons, and more!
But wait, there's more! To enhance the Playing For Keeps experience, Mur has enlisted the help of some very talented people and created Stories of the Third Wave, snippets of radio broadcasts from Seventh City. Tune in for morning drive-time radio, the evening news, interviews, talk radio and more! Subscribe to The Playing For Keeps Experience to receive the audio novel, the Stories of the Third Wave segments, and a PDF of each chapter that you can read on your PC.
Go to the website. Subscribe to the feed. Join the next wave of serial audio excitement!
NaNoWriMo 2007: Drawing Back the Curtain, Part 2 – Characters
Though the cast of my novel-in-progress is incomplete (Emma didn't have a name, a personality or defined relationship with any of the characters but Bannister Proulx until this afternoon), I thought it might be interesting to take a look at the cast so far. The only character who had a name (or even a role) before I began writing is Bannister Proulx, and although he is mentioned by name in the first line I wrote, he does not appear until three or four scenes later. Some of the details about these characters could be considered spoilers.
Bannister Proulx is a detective who is respected for his ability to bring a fresh, if somewhat unusual perspective to cases that have proven troublesome for the Cleveland police. Proulx has only resided in the city for a handful of years, and details about his life prior taking residence at Number Eleven Wilmonton Boulevard are few and far between. I tend to think of Proulx as a hybrid of Sherlock Holmes and Fox Mulder (or perhaps Carl Kolchak); although he uses observation, logic and deductive reasoning to solve crimes, he is no stranger to mysticism, the occult and the supernatural. In addition to being a professional detective, Bannister is an amateur magician; he is particularly fond of so-called parlor tricks and quite adept at sleight-of-hand.
Proulx is the only character whose name I don't plan on changing at some point. Most, if not all of the remaining characters have placeholder names while I'm writing the first draft.
Chief Inspector Timothy Remington1 is investigating a series of murders when the novel begins. He has enlisted the aid of Bannister Proulx in the hopes of solving the homicides before the killer strikes again. In the two years since Proulx arrived in Cleveland, Remington has employed the detective as a consultant on a number of investigations, each time with very good results.
Sergeant Michael Shaughnessey is a friend and subordinate of Chief Inspector Remington.
Thaddeus von Braunhoffen III is the newly-elected mayor of Cleveland. A man of considerable appetites and questionable allegiences, von Braunhoffer gained the office of the mayor under what many feel were extremely dubious circumstances. The mayor has recently begun pressuring the police to discontinue using Bannister Proulx as a consultant on murder investigations.
Emma Caldwell is Bannister Proulx's assistant, protégé and partner. Someone (and I'm afraid I don't recall who at the moment; probably Mick Bradley) requested that the "Scully" to my "Mulder" be a red-headed woman, so that's how I'm writing her. I haven't really decided whether she'll be the skeptic or whether she'll be as fascinated by all things supernatural as Proulx is. In an interesting development, it does seem that something about Miss Caldwell agitates Chief Inspector Remington, and not in an entirely unpleasant manner.
In addition to the named characters, there are a number of bit players, including Remington's coachman, two constables who guard the house on Ridgebury Lane and the two murdered women in the house. The cast will be growing considerably in the days to come.
Tomorrow: Plot and background stuff.
- For the moment, I'm utilizing the British system of police ranks, which may or may not have been used in Cleveland in the mid-nineteenth century. I don't really plan on changing this; if I discover that it wasn't common to use the British ranks, I'll chalk it up to artistic license. It is possible that Remington's rank may change in future drafts. [↩]
NaNoWriMo 2007: Drawing Back the Curtain, Part 1 – Setting
I'm going to break this behind the scenes look at my novel-in-progress up into three sections: Setting, Characters and Plot. I don't think we'll get into potential spoiler territory until tomorrow.
The story is set in a fictional version of Cleveland, Ohio in the first half of the nineteen century. I say "fictional" because I'm not really trying to adhere to any of the city's history in the real world. It is entirely possible that I will ultimately change the name of the city (as well as Ohio City, in which part of the story will likely take place and which was a wholly separate entity during this time period). I know as much about Cleveland in the nineteenth century as I do about any other city, but the only truly important element of the setting (at present) is the level of technology:
- Thomas Edison, instrumental in bringing electric power to the masses, is only a child.
- The telegraph has yet to come into widespread use.
- Though there are railroads (such as the Baltimore & Ohio), the transcontinental railroad will not be realized until well into the latter half of the century.
- I may play things a little fast and loose as far as the availability of other technologies is concerned, but the primary concerns are the limitations on communications and transportation.
There will ultimately be other major American and western European cities in the story, as well, particularly Boston and New York and potentially London, but the majority of the action will take place in Cleveland and Ohio City.
That's it for today. Tomorrow I'll introduce the cast of characters so far.
NaNoWriMo 2007: An Excerpt.
I had planned to provide a sneak peek at what's rattling around in my brain as the basis for my novel-to-be, but I've just spent the last two hours writing because I didn't take a lunch break at work today (don't worry, I ate plenty after leaving work) and I'm just a wee bit burned out right now and I want to play a little Burnout: Revenge before bed. So I'm going to postpone the behind the scenes stuff until tomorrow and present a short excerpt from today's efforts. It's rough and unedited and I make no apologies for it. I'm trying to get the story told and I'm trying to use a lot of words while doing so.
"Mind your step, sir," Shaughnessey said, and Remington looked down at his feet. An uneven trail of sickly yellow spatters colored the snow on the front stoop, leading to a large, similarly colored spot beside the path where someone had clearly vomited. Remington stepped around the mess and nodded to the two constables, and now the fellow on the left had some color in his cheeks, though it was surely embarrassment that had caused the blood to rise, and not the harsh winter chill.
Shaugnessey opened the front door and Remington felt a wave of welcome heat wash over him, but an instant later the coppery scent of blood—carrying with it the pungent odor of menses—assailed his nostrils, threatening to bring the bile again to the back of his throat. The heat issuing from the open door was oppressive, its effects intensified by the cold air outside.
"Good lord, Michael," Remington gasped, stepping into the small foyer, "why is it so damned hot in here?" He fought to keep from gagging on the putrid air, sympathizing with the constable who had clearly been overwhelmed with nausea.
Shaugnessey had covered his mouth and nose with a scarf, and gestured for Remington to follow suit. When he spoke, his voice was somewhat muffled. "There are two fireplaces," he explained, "and both were full ablaze when we arrived, the house closed up tight. It was hot enough to send Old Scratch hisself running to the snow, and the smell..."
Remington nodded, lifting his own scarf to cover his face. "Wretched," he muttered, and followed Shaughnessey deeper into the house.
The sergeant led him up a narrow staircase to the house's second floor, and through a door at the top of the stairs. A lamp burned in the hallway and both men cast long shadows into the dark room. Shaughnessey held up his own lantern, and as the light filled the room, Remington once again only just barely managed to keep from vomiting.
The lantern cast a flickering light over the four poster bed and its two occupants. The two women were both nude, lying in what appeared to be a tender embrace. Remington had seen far worse in the past three months; there didn't appear to be any blood on either body. The walls of the small bedroom were another matter, covered with hundreds, perhaps thousands of bizarre symbols and cryptic diagrams, all written in dark, glistening, still-red blood. The stench of it was overpowering, and Remington clutched the scarf tightly against his mouth and nose.
"The windows are nailed shut," Shaugnessey explained grimly, "and the panes are all covered with some manner of tar. That's different from the others, as well, to say nothing of the blasted heat. The second story fireplace is in the next room. He gestured to the door on the wall to his left. "The door is nailed shut, like the windows. Bastard had plenty of time, it seems."
Remington swallowed hard and blinked away the hot tears that had welled up in the corners of his eyes. As Shaughnessey moved around the room, the deep shadows shifted, throwing the pale, naked corpses into sharp contrast with the deep red of the blood covering the walls. "Mother of Christ," the Chief Inspector said, "surely this can't all be their blood!"
Shaughenssey shook his head. "I don't expect it is, sir," he said, "and that's different, too. I think he must have...brought the blood with him. Human or animal, I don't know."
"Let me have your light, Michael," Remington said. Sergeant Shaugnessey handed the Chief Inspector his lantern, then stood beside him while Remington peered at the grisly writing. After a moment, Remington said, "You were right. This is...different, somehow. It's cleaner. Whoever wrote these symbols is fastidious and careful, much more so than we've seen before. It's almost certainly another person." He paused, frowning at something the sergeant had said in the carriage.
"You said I'd gotten it backwards," Remington said thoughtfully.
Shaughnessey nodded. "Aye," he said. "This isn't an imitation of the murders we've seen over the past three months; whoever done the other four was imitating the person who did this."
"Mother of Christ," Remington said again, "that means there are more of these we haven't seen yet."