Several fundamental problems have arisen with my system with regard to skills and statistics. It has come to my attention that some skills are, as we say in gamer terms "broken", meaning they do not function as they should. In this particular case, the broken skills are my martial art skills. They allow players the opportunity to start their characters at much higher levels of physical power and adroitness than would otherwise be recommended (it is generally ill-advised to allow players to start the game overly with overly powerful characters.)
The problem here lies in whether or not to a) make martial art skills less effective, or b) simply make a generic "martial arts" skill that gives flat bonuses instead of a multitude of different martial arts that can provide a wide range of benefits. Considering that these different skills are part of what separates my game from others, I think I will simply reduce the stat bonuses. That will also make less work.
Another problem has arisen in the combat system. As it stands, players receive a certain number of actions based on their physical dexterity. The faster you are, the more you can do in a tight spot. The problem is that many players stack dexterity to such a high degree that fights end in mere seconds simply because the uber player that stacks dexterity can kill all the opposition before the end of a single combat round. Most other games either allow a single "action" to be performed during a combat round, or allow for 1-3 actions, depending on their complexity.
Given the trouble I've had in making enemies that are actually a challenge for the players without making them ridiculously overpowered...I think I'm going to opt for the single-action option.
The final problem is again with skills. Most systems link skills to a particular statistic and allowing players to receive a bonus both from a high level of skill and a natural aptitude for certain tasks. At present, there are 2 problems with my system. The first is that my stats and skills are not linked, and the second is that if they were, there is almost no way a player can fail a skill check. The simplest solution seems to be to re categorize skills along stat lines, but increase the base target number necessary to pass a skill check. The thought occurs that this presents something of a problem for players with very low statistics. It would mean that not only would they constantly be failing stat checks, they would also receive a hit to skill checks.
What about a set bonus or penalty? Say, a maximum penalty of -5 and a maximum bonus of +5? That would keep players with low stats from failing all the time, and it would also prevent players with high stats from gaining massive bonuses to low-level skills.
I think I'll do that.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Decisions, Decisions
I have recently been confronted with some tough choices regarding publishing options for my first game. The first one is where to publish. In order to circumvent the traditional tabletop RPG publishing route and go the modern way of Print on Demand, I have scouted two sites that do PoD. One does it for free, but lacks a high-traffic advertising venue. The other charges a fee (a rather large fee when you live paycheck to paycheck) but advertises your book on Amazon.com.
The question here becomes this: is it worth it to advertise an unknown book on Amazon.com, or should I just drum up word of mouth support and direct people to the other site? I'm going to be doing some of my own promoting anyway (a story for another time) but is it worth it for a book people have no exposure to?
The second problem is in which edition to publish. Many indy games make a little extra scratch and cater to gamers with less cash by offering text-only versions of their games. Case in point, I have a text-only version of Cold City sitting on my desk (an EXCELLENT game by the way.) Text-only versions offer cheap games at the cost of illustrations, layout and finesse. But, for some gamers, that stuff isn't as nearly important as the content of the game itself.
Seeing as how I am fairly confident in the content of Neurojack, I have been considering releasing a text-only version, either as a downloadable .pdf, as a cheaply bound book or both. The question I have is this: should I release the Text-only version before or after the regular print version with all the bells and whistles?
Part of me says the cheaper version would help drum up support for and knowledge of my game. The other half of me says that I should put my best foot forward and release Neurojack in all it's glory first, then offer the cheaper alternative later. Hm...maybe I should go back to school and take some marketing courses.
The question here becomes this: is it worth it to advertise an unknown book on Amazon.com, or should I just drum up word of mouth support and direct people to the other site? I'm going to be doing some of my own promoting anyway (a story for another time) but is it worth it for a book people have no exposure to?
The second problem is in which edition to publish. Many indy games make a little extra scratch and cater to gamers with less cash by offering text-only versions of their games. Case in point, I have a text-only version of Cold City sitting on my desk (an EXCELLENT game by the way.) Text-only versions offer cheap games at the cost of illustrations, layout and finesse. But, for some gamers, that stuff isn't as nearly important as the content of the game itself.
Seeing as how I am fairly confident in the content of Neurojack, I have been considering releasing a text-only version, either as a downloadable .pdf, as a cheaply bound book or both. The question I have is this: should I release the Text-only version before or after the regular print version with all the bells and whistles?
Part of me says the cheaper version would help drum up support for and knowledge of my game. The other half of me says that I should put my best foot forward and release Neurojack in all it's glory first, then offer the cheaper alternative later. Hm...maybe I should go back to school and take some marketing courses.
Voice-Only
Though it does help facilitate gaming with old friends across long distances, I'm not sure if I'm totally sold on the idea of gaming through voice chats such as Ventrillo or Skype. I've only tried it once and although the results were more or less acceptable so long as everyone makes a conscious effort not to talk over each other (which people tend to do during voice chats anyway.) But still, it seemed like a certain "personal" element was missing. Probably something to do with face-to-face contact inherent tabletop gaming.
It has become a question of preference. Voice-only games, while impersonal, do allow the "gaming connection" to be reestablished with people who have long been absent from our gaming community, particularly recently, when a very good friend of mine was able to reconnect via Voice Chat. Is it worth the impersonal medium to game with old friends again?
As long as the game is kept to a manageable size...I think so.
It has become a question of preference. Voice-only games, while impersonal, do allow the "gaming connection" to be reestablished with people who have long been absent from our gaming community, particularly recently, when a very good friend of mine was able to reconnect via Voice Chat. Is it worth the impersonal medium to game with old friends again?
As long as the game is kept to a manageable size...I think so.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Endings and Beginnings
I recently finished the final (hopefully) draft of the core rulebook for The Neurojack Chronicles. Barring any gaping flaws, I'm done with rewrites, and have already sent the text off to my layout man back in Washington.
Having completed the first book in the series, I am faced with the question of what to write next. I know I want to do 3 sourcebooks on the major countries occupying my world (Northern continent, Southern continent and equatorial regions) but the question is which one do I write about first.
I already have a head start on the Northern sourcebook, since I actually wrote it a couple years ago for an independent study project in my final year of college. Though there is an abundance of material there, the world of Neurojack has changed radically since then, and I good portion of the book needs rewriting. That being said, should I finish the Northern sourcebook, or should I venture into more uncharted waters?
I've always had the best idea of the North in my head. If there was a single country I'd play in, it would be the north. I know it's kinda bad to have a distinct preference for one place over another, but the lines that divide the north from its neighbors have been blurred considerably more than they were and the war between the nations has been eliminated altogether, meaning that the north is now not so different from the south or the equatorial regions. There are still differences, enough so that writing about the south or the equatorial regions is a very different endeavor than writing about the north.
Should I leave the mostly-completed northern sourcebook for later and write about another country that I haven't fleshed out as well, or should I finish (or update, rather) what I started before I move on?
I know some of you are thinking "see your first book through to completion before you start on the next", and I'm still doing that. I just need to find something else to start writing while I'm doing that, since the rest of the core rulebook is largely in the hands of my artist and layout people.
Having completed the first book in the series, I am faced with the question of what to write next. I know I want to do 3 sourcebooks on the major countries occupying my world (Northern continent, Southern continent and equatorial regions) but the question is which one do I write about first.
I already have a head start on the Northern sourcebook, since I actually wrote it a couple years ago for an independent study project in my final year of college. Though there is an abundance of material there, the world of Neurojack has changed radically since then, and I good portion of the book needs rewriting. That being said, should I finish the Northern sourcebook, or should I venture into more uncharted waters?
I've always had the best idea of the North in my head. If there was a single country I'd play in, it would be the north. I know it's kinda bad to have a distinct preference for one place over another, but the lines that divide the north from its neighbors have been blurred considerably more than they were and the war between the nations has been eliminated altogether, meaning that the north is now not so different from the south or the equatorial regions. There are still differences, enough so that writing about the south or the equatorial regions is a very different endeavor than writing about the north.
Should I leave the mostly-completed northern sourcebook for later and write about another country that I haven't fleshed out as well, or should I finish (or update, rather) what I started before I move on?
I know some of you are thinking "see your first book through to completion before you start on the next", and I'm still doing that. I just need to find something else to start writing while I'm doing that, since the rest of the core rulebook is largely in the hands of my artist and layout people.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Striking a Balance
It's constantly a struggle to find equilibrium when I'm running an RPG story. If I script the whole thing, my players invariably want to do things that the storyline doesn't/can't accommodate, meaning I went to all the trouble for nothing. If I don't script anything and just throw random encounters at the players, the game becomes just that: random. It lacks form and substance and winds up just being a mishmash of events that rarely comes together into something coherent. I say "rarely" because occasionally it does, but the odds against it happening are tremendous.
I've entered into a new experimental style recently. Once everyone in the party has created their character, I take them aside and ask them a few questions.
-What is your character's innermost desire?
-What is their biggest rational fear? (fear of death, snakes, loosing money, etc.)
-What is their lifetime goal? (accumulate 1,000,000 dollars, steal a new cyborg body)
-What is their worst nightmare? (not necessarily rational)
From the answers to these questions, I create a list of events that would be meaningful to the character. For example:
Character "V"
-is a sentient humanoid-type machine called a Gen-Drone. He has been infused with human-class intelligence through artificial means and is as 'human' as the next person, except that he's made of a metal skeleton covered with nanomachines for skin.
-His innermost desire is to fall in love.
-His worst fear is failing in his duties or letting down a friend.
-His lifetime goal is to be rich (to accumulate at least a million CiMarks)
-His worst nightmare is to have his mind infiltrated or to loose control of his body through external interference.
Without giving away plot points to the player of this character, I can say that from what he told me of V, I would present him with game encounters that would give him the chance to form meaningful relationships with people, encounters that would test his loyalty and/or his ability to be there for a friend when he was needed, the chance to either gain or loose large sums of money, and finally, put him in a position where his neural integrity could be compromised.
Testing his limits and giving him events that are meaningful to his character allows three things.
1) It makes him feel as though V is playing a significant part in the events
2) It allows all the rest of the party to participate in V's world in a very personal way
3) It makes it easier on me; I don't even have the need to script everything, but rather, just give him the events pertinent to his character in a (more or less) logical order. Or in a totally random order if I feel like screwing with him.
So we take it in turns; I run an event for one character, then either shortly after or mid-event, bring in an event pertinent to another character. The hard part here is again, finding the balance. The characters will invariably want some downtime between events to reload and repair their armor (I like to throw well-armed opponents at my players...they never leave home in regular clothing anymore, they just wear their body armor everywhere) so I have to give them a little time. The good news though is that they no longer have the need for additional downtime to pursue their own agendas because the main storylines have been tailored to them!
Of course, this is all "best case scenario." It is still not unheard of for my players to ignore my plot points and do their own thing, no matter how important I think it may be to their character.
Or maybe I just have an excessively random group.
I've entered into a new experimental style recently. Once everyone in the party has created their character, I take them aside and ask them a few questions.
-What is your character's innermost desire?
-What is their biggest rational fear? (fear of death, snakes, loosing money, etc.)
-What is their lifetime goal? (accumulate 1,000,000 dollars, steal a new cyborg body)
-What is their worst nightmare? (not necessarily rational)
From the answers to these questions, I create a list of events that would be meaningful to the character. For example:
Character "V"
-is a sentient humanoid-type machine called a Gen-Drone. He has been infused with human-class intelligence through artificial means and is as 'human' as the next person, except that he's made of a metal skeleton covered with nanomachines for skin.
-His innermost desire is to fall in love.
-His worst fear is failing in his duties or letting down a friend.
-His lifetime goal is to be rich (to accumulate at least a million CiMarks)
-His worst nightmare is to have his mind infiltrated or to loose control of his body through external interference.
Without giving away plot points to the player of this character, I can say that from what he told me of V, I would present him with game encounters that would give him the chance to form meaningful relationships with people, encounters that would test his loyalty and/or his ability to be there for a friend when he was needed, the chance to either gain or loose large sums of money, and finally, put him in a position where his neural integrity could be compromised.
Testing his limits and giving him events that are meaningful to his character allows three things.
1) It makes him feel as though V is playing a significant part in the events
2) It allows all the rest of the party to participate in V's world in a very personal way
3) It makes it easier on me; I don't even have the need to script everything, but rather, just give him the events pertinent to his character in a (more or less) logical order. Or in a totally random order if I feel like screwing with him.
So we take it in turns; I run an event for one character, then either shortly after or mid-event, bring in an event pertinent to another character. The hard part here is again, finding the balance. The characters will invariably want some downtime between events to reload and repair their armor (I like to throw well-armed opponents at my players...they never leave home in regular clothing anymore, they just wear their body armor everywhere) so I have to give them a little time. The good news though is that they no longer have the need for additional downtime to pursue their own agendas because the main storylines have been tailored to them!
Of course, this is all "best case scenario." It is still not unheard of for my players to ignore my plot points and do their own thing, no matter how important I think it may be to their character.
Or maybe I just have an excessively random group.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Predicting the Course of Fashion
One thing I always struggle with when I run a game of Neurojack is picturing the people in my head. While it's easy to think of the world itself and the machines in it, I have an inordinately difficult time envisioning just what the people look like. Sure, it's easy to say "They look like mobsters" or "they look like farmers/the descendants of Japanese/Chinese/Russian people", but what does that actually look like? And more to the point, what kind of clothes will people wear 900 years from today? Unfortunately, trying to picture a slightly updated version of clothes worn 900 years ago isn't very helpful. While people may have been well-dressed in some parts of the world, I have to confess that the image of a grime-smeared European with a linen outfit and a pitchfork is the first thing that springs to mind.
I thought initially that the fashions of Neurojack would be an extension of contemporary fashions. "Blade Runner", for instance, drew quite heavily on fashion as it was in the 1930's and 40's. I liked to think that the 50's and 60's would be out, since we consider that "camp" even now. 70's? Hardly. 80's? Sorry, I just can't see the mullet coming back into style. 90's? I doubt anyone will think to reinvent slap bracelets in the coming centuries. I suppose then that unless I wanted Neurojack to have a Victorian feel (which I dont) that the people will probably be wearing much the same stuff the characters in Blade Runner wore. Of course, everyone who knows me and is reading this is laughing at this point, since they all known Blade Runner is my favorite movie and they're thinking "Duh, what else would your people look like?" but the point remains valid: lots of fashion from the 30s and 40s has remained relatively unchanged since, and some things from then have never gone out of style.
Granted, mine is a somewhat uninformed opinion, seeing as how my fashion knowledge extends as far as "This looks good" and "Santino deserved to win Project Runway"...yes, I know some (or most) of Santino's work during the series was crap, but most of you have to admit, he really pulled it together for Fashion Week. At least I thought he did.
But now that I've got a basic model for the fashion of Neurojack, I'm presented with another problem: what will their clothing be made out of? Will they still use wool and cotton, or will that be replaced by some type of polymer? Since I'm not big into S&M, I can tell you right now that the predominant materials for everyday clothing WILL NOT be vinyl or leather. I like The Matrix and Aeon Flux, but I dont like them THAT much...ok, I do, but the clothing is not what I'd consider practical. Aeon Flux would freeze her ass off in the northern continent of Asperian.
I can't help but wonder if this is somehow extraneous; do my players really need to know what kind of clothes people in the world of Neurojack wear? Do they really need to know what they consider "fashionable" in the 30th century? I suppose I kind of send mixed messages...on the one hand, I have a list of clothing items available for purchase in-game, then I throw lots of enemies armed with firearms at them. While the clothing looks nice, heavy armor lets their characters live a lot longer with the way I run things...
I think I need to sleep on this.
I thought initially that the fashions of Neurojack would be an extension of contemporary fashions. "Blade Runner", for instance, drew quite heavily on fashion as it was in the 1930's and 40's. I liked to think that the 50's and 60's would be out, since we consider that "camp" even now. 70's? Hardly. 80's? Sorry, I just can't see the mullet coming back into style. 90's? I doubt anyone will think to reinvent slap bracelets in the coming centuries. I suppose then that unless I wanted Neurojack to have a Victorian feel (which I dont) that the people will probably be wearing much the same stuff the characters in Blade Runner wore. Of course, everyone who knows me and is reading this is laughing at this point, since they all known Blade Runner is my favorite movie and they're thinking "Duh, what else would your people look like?" but the point remains valid: lots of fashion from the 30s and 40s has remained relatively unchanged since, and some things from then have never gone out of style.
Granted, mine is a somewhat uninformed opinion, seeing as how my fashion knowledge extends as far as "This looks good" and "Santino deserved to win Project Runway"...yes, I know some (or most) of Santino's work during the series was crap, but most of you have to admit, he really pulled it together for Fashion Week. At least I thought he did.
But now that I've got a basic model for the fashion of Neurojack, I'm presented with another problem: what will their clothing be made out of? Will they still use wool and cotton, or will that be replaced by some type of polymer? Since I'm not big into S&M, I can tell you right now that the predominant materials for everyday clothing WILL NOT be vinyl or leather. I like The Matrix and Aeon Flux, but I dont like them THAT much...ok, I do, but the clothing is not what I'd consider practical. Aeon Flux would freeze her ass off in the northern continent of Asperian.
I can't help but wonder if this is somehow extraneous; do my players really need to know what kind of clothes people in the world of Neurojack wear? Do they really need to know what they consider "fashionable" in the 30th century? I suppose I kind of send mixed messages...on the one hand, I have a list of clothing items available for purchase in-game, then I throw lots of enemies armed with firearms at them. While the clothing looks nice, heavy armor lets their characters live a lot longer with the way I run things...
I think I need to sleep on this.
How big is "Big Enough"?
Let me preface this with a short introduction for those not familiar with the concept of giant robots. These machines are common both in Japanese media (anime, games, manga) and American media, and are generally referred to as "Mecha" or "mechs". These machines vary greatly in height, armament and abilities, but there is no doubt that many believe the future of warfare to be held in the hands of mecha.
I have always had a soft spot for mecha, beginning with my older brother's Battletech hobby, continuing on to a fandom with the Robotech series and many, many other outlets to get my mecha fix. Bearing this in mind, I wanted mecha to figure prominently into Neurojack since they were (and still are) such a large part of what I consider to be a quintessential future world.
If I had to choose, I would say that there were 3 primary influences on the mecha in the world of Neurojack: Dream Pod 9's "Heavy Gear" rpg, Masami Yuki's "Patlabor" anime/manga and Shirow Masamune's "Landmate" mecha from "Appleseed" and a few other of his works.
The mecha in the world of Patlabor are very utilitarian; they are primarily built for construction and police work, with a few military models thrown in here and there. They are small (around 16 meters in height if I remember correctly) and not anywhere near as fast or as well-armed as say, some "Superhero" mecha in titles like "Giant Robo" or "Macross". This made me think of a future where mecha had an array of practical and (compared to most mecha fiction) realistic applications.
Similarly, the mecha in the Heavy Gear world are quite small (the largest top out at around 8-10 meters in height) and are very maneuverable. They serve military, commercial and police purposes (though the story focuses on the military applications of the Heavy Gear) and run off of Internal Combustion Engines. Some of the elements of Heavy Gear mecha design (Crash bars, sloped or angular armor, camera eyes set into the head that revolve on a track, pilot situated in a small cavity in the chest and a few other things) bear a stark resemblance to the Japanese series "Armored Trooper Votoms" which aired in the early 80s, but still enjoys a following. Heavy Gears, unlike many other mecha types, were relatively lightly armored. They carried a rifle in their hands, usually a rocket pack or two on their backs, a knife and grenades. Some heavier models toted mortars or cannons, but nothing the scope of which you'd see on the average Battlemech (from the Mechwarrior or Battletech series which, by the way, ripped off some mecha designs from another Japanese anime series called "Fang of the Sun Dougram".)
One of the latest and most influential inspirations for the mecha in Neurojack, Shirow Masamune's "Landmates" opened the door for a whole new class of mecha. His Landmates were small, fast, lightly armed and armored, but fulfilled a variety of roles, just as the mecha in Patlabor and to a lesser extent, Heavy Gear, did. I particularly liked his designs, which featured very rounded bodies and stylish armor. One unique aspect of his Landmates (which I did not translate to Neurojack) was the concept of "Master Arms"; smaller armored gauntlets that the pilot would stick her/his arms into and use them as they would normally. These arms would in turn dictate the movements of the larger "Slave Arms" that were attached to the shoulder.
Bearing all of this in mind, I set out to build the mecha for my world. Initially, I took a more "traditional" approach and introduced 3 classes of mecha: Ramparts, Artillery and Palisades. Palisades are exclusively construction-class mecha. They are smaller than Ramparts and Artillery, are not usually armed and mount only rudimentary armor. Ramparts were (I say "were" because they are no longer part of the Neurojack world) the cream of the crop: they were quite large (between 20-50 meters in height,) mounted enough weapons to level a city and enough armor to stand up to anything save another Rampart. The only hitch was that they were ridiculously expensive to produce, meaning that there were less than 200 of them on the entire planet. I pictured them looking almost like something out of Makoto Kobayashi's "Dragon's Heaven", but with a slightly more coherent look (not that I dont like the look of Kobayashi's mecha, I just think they look a little disjointed.) Artillery, in the same vein, were meant to be quad, hexa or octo-legged mecha that were larger and slower than Ramparts, but carried much larger weapons.
As time went on, I began to realize that I had made Ramparts out of Illuminus and the people on Asperian were fighting for what little remained of the Illuminus deposits. The question occured: "Would the people spend massive quantities of an already limited resource just to kill each other? Isn't there a more economical way to do that?" So Ramparts got the axe, but I didn't shut one door without opening another.
While reading Shirow Masamune's "Dominion", I began to see the logic in a small and maneuverable mecha package, particularly in an urban combat environment. Thus, I devised the smaller, faster "Drudge Exoskeleton System" or DES. The Drudge is a suit of combat armor powered by a battery and large enough to allow a single soldier to carry large-caliber weapons and enough protection to soak hits from anti-tank weapons. Most Drudges top out at around 5 meters in height and are designed with more fluid combat in mind, rather than epic battles between single machines. Drudges are primarily used by the military who use them as front-line combat units and by police forces who use them as armored units in the modern equivalent of SWAT teams; ARMAS units (Assault/Rescue Mecha Armor Squad.)
I eventually gave Artillery the axe as well, since the focus of the world began to shift away from all-out warfare and towards smaller-scale conflicts that centered mainly around small land disputed in the equatorial region. And so the titans were left behind.
Palisades remained untouched and continued their role as construction mecha, the way I had always intended. More small mecha joined the world as time and revisions went by: Rapid Interdiction Units or RIUs (Drudges with Helicopter rotors on the backs) and Multiped Tanks (inspired by the Fuchikomas, Tachikomas and other minitanks from Shirow Masamune's "Ghost in the Shell" series) joined the scene, each with their own particular role. RIUs fill a need in urban areas for a quick-response unit while Multiped Tanks are used for espionage, urban warfare and some front-line duties.
With all the different mecha that have come and gone from Neuroack through the course of it's evolution, I can't help but wonder: do the giant mecha have a place in Neurojack? I suppose there could come a time when the great titans walk the planet again, but what would spur their production? Something very large and very menacing would have to threaten the people of Asperian to spur the development of such a machine and even then, they would appear in such limited numbers that the loss of a single machine would be a detrimental blow to whatever nation created it.
There is of course, also the gaming aspect to consider: who would want to pilot a scrawny little Drudge when you could pilot the mammoth Rampart? Does the world of Neurojack even need something as big and destructive as the Rampart? Considering the current trend in modern military combat vehicles, the motto certainly seems to be "Smaller and faster is better than bigger and tougher"...would that still hold true several hundred years in the future?
One could also make the argument that this whole thing is somewhat academic, seeing as how I've already written Ramparts out of the Neurojack world and writing them back in would mean another complete rewrite and another change to the Vehicle Construction rules...
Oh yes, I almost forgot. There was one more type of mecha that I originally wrote into Neurojack that has since gone the way of the Dinosaur: the Aegis. Designed to be the absolute last word in mecha technology, Aegis were my attempt to strike a balance between the sleek and very humanoid mecha designs in "Neon Genesis Evangelion" and the weapon-packed mecha of the Battletech universe. The Aegis were very human-looking, but carried enough firepower to wipe an entire nation off the planet, and towered above the battlefield at between 70 and 90 meters in height. It occured to me, as my friends and I were driving through Richmond a few days ago and happened to pass by a 30-story building, that one of my Aegis was as tall as the building. I couldn't help but think "damn, that's tall."
I put it to you: how big is "big enough"? Are Drudges, RIUs and Mini Tanks enough to satisfy your appetite for armored robot-clad mayhem, or would you prefer something that could bring a city to it's knees?
I have always had a soft spot for mecha, beginning with my older brother's Battletech hobby, continuing on to a fandom with the Robotech series and many, many other outlets to get my mecha fix. Bearing this in mind, I wanted mecha to figure prominently into Neurojack since they were (and still are) such a large part of what I consider to be a quintessential future world.
If I had to choose, I would say that there were 3 primary influences on the mecha in the world of Neurojack: Dream Pod 9's "Heavy Gear" rpg, Masami Yuki's "Patlabor" anime/manga and Shirow Masamune's "Landmate" mecha from "Appleseed" and a few other of his works.
The mecha in the world of Patlabor are very utilitarian; they are primarily built for construction and police work, with a few military models thrown in here and there. They are small (around 16 meters in height if I remember correctly) and not anywhere near as fast or as well-armed as say, some "Superhero" mecha in titles like "Giant Robo" or "Macross". This made me think of a future where mecha had an array of practical and (compared to most mecha fiction) realistic applications.
Similarly, the mecha in the Heavy Gear world are quite small (the largest top out at around 8-10 meters in height) and are very maneuverable. They serve military, commercial and police purposes (though the story focuses on the military applications of the Heavy Gear) and run off of Internal Combustion Engines. Some of the elements of Heavy Gear mecha design (Crash bars, sloped or angular armor, camera eyes set into the head that revolve on a track, pilot situated in a small cavity in the chest and a few other things) bear a stark resemblance to the Japanese series "Armored Trooper Votoms" which aired in the early 80s, but still enjoys a following. Heavy Gears, unlike many other mecha types, were relatively lightly armored. They carried a rifle in their hands, usually a rocket pack or two on their backs, a knife and grenades. Some heavier models toted mortars or cannons, but nothing the scope of which you'd see on the average Battlemech (from the Mechwarrior or Battletech series which, by the way, ripped off some mecha designs from another Japanese anime series called "Fang of the Sun Dougram".)
One of the latest and most influential inspirations for the mecha in Neurojack, Shirow Masamune's "Landmates" opened the door for a whole new class of mecha. His Landmates were small, fast, lightly armed and armored, but fulfilled a variety of roles, just as the mecha in Patlabor and to a lesser extent, Heavy Gear, did. I particularly liked his designs, which featured very rounded bodies and stylish armor. One unique aspect of his Landmates (which I did not translate to Neurojack) was the concept of "Master Arms"; smaller armored gauntlets that the pilot would stick her/his arms into and use them as they would normally. These arms would in turn dictate the movements of the larger "Slave Arms" that were attached to the shoulder.
Bearing all of this in mind, I set out to build the mecha for my world. Initially, I took a more "traditional" approach and introduced 3 classes of mecha: Ramparts, Artillery and Palisades. Palisades are exclusively construction-class mecha. They are smaller than Ramparts and Artillery, are not usually armed and mount only rudimentary armor. Ramparts were (I say "were" because they are no longer part of the Neurojack world) the cream of the crop: they were quite large (between 20-50 meters in height,) mounted enough weapons to level a city and enough armor to stand up to anything save another Rampart. The only hitch was that they were ridiculously expensive to produce, meaning that there were less than 200 of them on the entire planet. I pictured them looking almost like something out of Makoto Kobayashi's "Dragon's Heaven", but with a slightly more coherent look (not that I dont like the look of Kobayashi's mecha, I just think they look a little disjointed.) Artillery, in the same vein, were meant to be quad, hexa or octo-legged mecha that were larger and slower than Ramparts, but carried much larger weapons.
As time went on, I began to realize that I had made Ramparts out of Illuminus and the people on Asperian were fighting for what little remained of the Illuminus deposits. The question occured: "Would the people spend massive quantities of an already limited resource just to kill each other? Isn't there a more economical way to do that?" So Ramparts got the axe, but I didn't shut one door without opening another.
While reading Shirow Masamune's "Dominion", I began to see the logic in a small and maneuverable mecha package, particularly in an urban combat environment. Thus, I devised the smaller, faster "Drudge Exoskeleton System" or DES. The Drudge is a suit of combat armor powered by a battery and large enough to allow a single soldier to carry large-caliber weapons and enough protection to soak hits from anti-tank weapons. Most Drudges top out at around 5 meters in height and are designed with more fluid combat in mind, rather than epic battles between single machines. Drudges are primarily used by the military who use them as front-line combat units and by police forces who use them as armored units in the modern equivalent of SWAT teams; ARMAS units (Assault/Rescue Mecha Armor Squad.)
I eventually gave Artillery the axe as well, since the focus of the world began to shift away from all-out warfare and towards smaller-scale conflicts that centered mainly around small land disputed in the equatorial region. And so the titans were left behind.
Palisades remained untouched and continued their role as construction mecha, the way I had always intended. More small mecha joined the world as time and revisions went by: Rapid Interdiction Units or RIUs (Drudges with Helicopter rotors on the backs) and Multiped Tanks (inspired by the Fuchikomas, Tachikomas and other minitanks from Shirow Masamune's "Ghost in the Shell" series) joined the scene, each with their own particular role. RIUs fill a need in urban areas for a quick-response unit while Multiped Tanks are used for espionage, urban warfare and some front-line duties.
With all the different mecha that have come and gone from Neuroack through the course of it's evolution, I can't help but wonder: do the giant mecha have a place in Neurojack? I suppose there could come a time when the great titans walk the planet again, but what would spur their production? Something very large and very menacing would have to threaten the people of Asperian to spur the development of such a machine and even then, they would appear in such limited numbers that the loss of a single machine would be a detrimental blow to whatever nation created it.
There is of course, also the gaming aspect to consider: who would want to pilot a scrawny little Drudge when you could pilot the mammoth Rampart? Does the world of Neurojack even need something as big and destructive as the Rampart? Considering the current trend in modern military combat vehicles, the motto certainly seems to be "Smaller and faster is better than bigger and tougher"...would that still hold true several hundred years in the future?
One could also make the argument that this whole thing is somewhat academic, seeing as how I've already written Ramparts out of the Neurojack world and writing them back in would mean another complete rewrite and another change to the Vehicle Construction rules...
Oh yes, I almost forgot. There was one more type of mecha that I originally wrote into Neurojack that has since gone the way of the Dinosaur: the Aegis. Designed to be the absolute last word in mecha technology, Aegis were my attempt to strike a balance between the sleek and very humanoid mecha designs in "Neon Genesis Evangelion" and the weapon-packed mecha of the Battletech universe. The Aegis were very human-looking, but carried enough firepower to wipe an entire nation off the planet, and towered above the battlefield at between 70 and 90 meters in height. It occured to me, as my friends and I were driving through Richmond a few days ago and happened to pass by a 30-story building, that one of my Aegis was as tall as the building. I couldn't help but think "damn, that's tall."
I put it to you: how big is "big enough"? Are Drudges, RIUs and Mini Tanks enough to satisfy your appetite for armored robot-clad mayhem, or would you prefer something that could bring a city to it's knees?
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Branching Out
The thought had occurred to me a while back that it might be possible to make at least something of a living writing short stories for submission to magazines. With the impending termination of my current job being a viable source of primary income, the idea of writing stories has suddenly sprung back to life!
I am currently at work on 3 stories of differing subject matter. The bad news is that there will be a delay between when I send these out and when the income will potentially come in. The good news is that any one of them, if published, will pay my expenses for a month.
Here are some small snippets from 2 of the stories I am writing: "ARMAS Assault" and "Spokesman". Enjoy!
I am currently at work on 3 stories of differing subject matter. The bad news is that there will be a delay between when I send these out and when the income will potentially come in. The good news is that any one of them, if published, will pay my expenses for a month.
Here are some small snippets from 2 of the stories I am writing: "ARMAS Assault" and "Spokesman". Enjoy!
ARMAS Assault
**Attention: Senior Director Daita
**Origin: Shimazu Isao, Director of Special Projects, LiChing Division
**Date: 23.7.754 AP.
**Subject: Test Subject # 312-G
Good afternoon Senior Director,
It has come to my attention that “Project R” is in need of new test subjects. While the relative scarcity of candidates has hindered our progress so far, we have located what I believe to be the ideal subject.
She is currently a Sergeant, assigned to an assault/rescue mecha armor squad (ARMAS, I believe it is called) in the Central Shizuhama Police Department, Izanami. Her record is outstanding and her fitness reports highly encouraging, but what I find most intriguing is that all of her superior officers indicate that she possesses exceptional mecha synergy. Their team reports all speak very highly of her mecha control abilities, and it is for this reason that I wish to contact her regarding a place in Project R.
Her file is attached. Should she meet your approval, I will set out for Izanami and contact her immediately. The Shin-Vector corporation has already set about preparing the simulator for her use.
Your time is always appreciated, Senior Director.
Respectfully,
Shimazu
It was cold in the hangar. It was always cold in the hangar. Being a kilometer off the ground could do that to a building, even with the most efficient heating systems. Nami Takahashi zipped the front of her combat suit all the way up to keep out the chill. Despite all the synthetic polymers designed to absorb shock and adverse temperatures, there always seemed to be a leak somewhere.
She checked over her suit one more time, making sure all the connections were clear, then looked up at her machine. The Shin-Vector “Spartan 4” was a sight to behold. Just over 4 meters tall and 2.5 meters wide, the metallic humanoid was a marvel of modern engineering. Coated with thirty two millimeters of thalium armor and armed with the latest in assault-class firepower, the Spartan was the pride of the ARMAS. The latest in Shin-Vector’s line of Drudge Exoskeleton Systems, the Spartan 4 had gained admiration from those it worked for and a sensible dread from those it worked against. Large shoulder plates carried the heavy artillery: a Yokozuka M-42 26mm Machinegun and a Montaver MBR-3 140mm Missile Launcher. In its right hand, the Drudge held a Type 2 Tactical Assault Weapon; a Montaver M-1D 32mm assault rifle and an ASR-56 45mm shotgun underneath it.
Obeying orders from the central command office located at the rear of the hangar, the front of the Drudge opened at the chest, lower abdomen and legs, allowing Nami entrance to the metal behemoth. A small whirring noise issued from behind Nami’s head as the Drudge extended its Neurojack connectors. A small metal jack slowly crawled towards the plug at the base of Nami’s skull. With a slight jerk of fiber muscles, the cord sprung the jack into place, connecting Nami to the machine.
She blinked, then felt the sickening lurch as her vision was yanked from her eyes and thrown up into the cranial sensors of the Drudge. Her field of vision now covered a much wider area, considerably higher off the ground, and was augmented with a tactical display containing weapon data, engine output and targeting vector. Her mind gave the command for her body to raise her left hand, but instead of seeing a hand and arm made of flesh, the bulky armored gauntlet of the Drudge lifted itself into her field of vision. She opened and closed the fingers, tightening and loosening the fist to make sure the synth muscles worked properly.
Spokesman
As so many things do, the movement known as “Malcolmism” started small and snowballed into a global phenomenon. It all began with advertising. Young male centerfolds in clothing catalogues circulated in the spring with a new model among the pages: a bright-looking, European-built patrician named Malcolm Tessaria.
His popularity was small at first. Jeans modeling to start with, then shirts, formal wear and on to underwear. Then markets other than the fashion industry began to take notice of him. It was something more than a fantastic body and a pretty face. Something intangible in his eyes that would rivet you and command your attention whether or not he was selling a new tuxedo, a flannel shirt, coffee or underpants. The image of Malcolm Tessaria was like nothing the advertising agencies had ever seen before. Any product that bore his likeness was bound for great things. Before long, nearly every product bore a Malcolm likeness or endorsement. Malcolm jeans, Malcolm Breakfast Cereals, Malcolm Hair Care. More endorsements followed. Restaurants, theme parks and even a city, just outside
Three years after his introduction to the world of media, the name “Malcolm” had become synonymous with anything hip, sheek or cool. “That’s so Malcolm!” the kids would say. And then, Malcolm did the last thing people expected. He endorsed a presidential candidate. The media fury was nothing short of a hurricane. A famous spokesman endorsing a political candidate? Why not. Malcolm’s candidate won by a landslide and even though his name wound up as little more than another contemporary president, the name of Malcolm Tessaria lived on.
The years went by, yet the image of Malcolm never seemed to age or fade. People began to wonder if Malcolm was in fact a real person. When asked about Malcolm, the advertising agencies would simply shrug and say “I’ve never met the man, but I respect his privacy.” The exact nature of Malcolm was never made public, yet his endorsements persisted. Everyone wanted everything they owned to be a Malcolm-approved brand. And before anyone realized it, they had what they wanted. A decade came and went before people stopped thinking about Malcolm. Every single product that came into or went out of the country had Malcolm’s approval on it. He had become more than a household name. He was the household. Just when it seemed as if people were about to let Malcolm Tessaria slip into the realm of the unconscious, Malcolm burst back on the scene with a new product to sell: religion.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
What does it look like to you?
I asked my testers this, and they were split down the middle. Here's the question. In the picture, does it look like the electrical stuff is on the inside or outside of the person's head?
This, by the way, is a Gen-Drone. It is a type of humanoid machine designed to work in environments that are hazardous or undesirable to humans. This particular Gen-Drone is a Class B: one that is composed of mechanical components, somewhat reminiscent of the original Terminator. The electronic stuff in the picture is *supposed* to be part of its brain and external connection hardware (Neurojack), though as I said, half my testers thought it looked like that was on the outside of the head.
Thoughts?
PS - Gen-Drones are largely manufactured my Japanese-descended corporations in the world of Neurojack, hence the kanji indicating that this is a "Human Machine Type 3". Those kanji are, to the best of my knowledge, the right ones. Feel free to correct me if I am in error.
Will Martial Artists who read Neurojack come and kick my arse?
Probably. Here's why.
((Quick note: my Prototype system ranks skills as Simple, Complex and Very Complex in order to facilitate dice rolled, number of points needed to gain a skill level and how often bonuses are awarded. Simple skills roll a d8 (with a target number of 5), gain a level ever 4 points, but can only have a maximum bonus of +4. Complex skills roll a d10 (target 6), gain a level every 6 points and get a max bonus of +5. Very Complex skills roll a d12 (target 7), gain a level every 8 points and get a max bonus of +7.
Why rank complexity? Because performing brain surgery is a hell of a lot more difficult than riding a bike. Why the gain in points required to level? Again, because learning to ride a bike is a lot easier than learning to putter around someone's brain without killing them. Why a bigger bonus for VC skills? Because there is a larger knowledge base necessary for performing those skills. You need to have a lot more knowledge under your belt to even attempt brain surgery than you need to attempt to ride a bike. Obviously, these analogies are simplistic, but the principle remains valid.))
Initially, I had one of the combat skills as "Martial Arts". It was generic and covered everything, giving some hefty bonuses to physical stats. I grew tired of this when I realized that all my playtesters invariably ignored the other combat skills in favor of Martial Arts. I had created a group of amateur ninjas. This could not stand.
So I set about redoing the "Martial Art" skill, breaking it up into many skills in several different categories, complexities and areas of focus. All in all, I came up with around 30 different martial arts skills, divided up mainly into area of origin: styles from China, Japan, the western world (namely Spain and Germany) and "Gunkata" which drew mainly on the American frontier gunman. Each area of focus had several martial art styles of differing complexity that would offer certain battlefield benefits.
For instance, the Chinese martial art "Kongminmai" (named after Zhuge Liang's surname "Kongming". Ref: "Romance of the Three Kingdoms") allows a player to "predict the outcome of a battle days in advance." In game terms, this translated to a massive reaction time in the form of a +3 dexterity bonus.
Ex 2: The Western martial art "St. Mark's Defender" gives a 10% armor bonus at certain levels that, when at the maximum Skill Level of 12, gives a total of 70% more armor.
I was more or less content with this style of martial art, but I felt that things had become a bit too specialized. In aiming for something a bit more complex than "generic", I shot too high and hit "overly complicated." I cooked up a middle ground that runs along the lines of "Martial Art: Upper Body Focus" and "Martial Art: Pistol Gunslinger" in which most Martial Art skills gave bonuses to strength, dexterity and a to-hit bonus at certain skill levels. I'm not sure if I like this yet. It's a step up from a single Martial Art skill, but I wonder if its still a bit too generic. "Small Melee Weapon" can cover a lot of ground that isnt necessarily similar. Fighting with a small mace is a lot different than fighting with a short sword.
Mind you, I wasn't trying to elevate one Martial Art above the other, though it came out that way. I suppose I could've just labeled all Martial Art skills as "Very Complex" instead of ranking some of them as Simple and Complex, like other skills, but (and I'm no expert on the subject) are all martial art styles really created equal? I didn't think so.
The jury's still out on this one.
((Quick note: my Prototype system ranks skills as Simple, Complex and Very Complex in order to facilitate dice rolled, number of points needed to gain a skill level and how often bonuses are awarded. Simple skills roll a d8 (with a target number of 5), gain a level ever 4 points, but can only have a maximum bonus of +4. Complex skills roll a d10 (target 6), gain a level every 6 points and get a max bonus of +5. Very Complex skills roll a d12 (target 7), gain a level every 8 points and get a max bonus of +7.
Why rank complexity? Because performing brain surgery is a hell of a lot more difficult than riding a bike. Why the gain in points required to level? Again, because learning to ride a bike is a lot easier than learning to putter around someone's brain without killing them. Why a bigger bonus for VC skills? Because there is a larger knowledge base necessary for performing those skills. You need to have a lot more knowledge under your belt to even attempt brain surgery than you need to attempt to ride a bike. Obviously, these analogies are simplistic, but the principle remains valid.))
Initially, I had one of the combat skills as "Martial Arts". It was generic and covered everything, giving some hefty bonuses to physical stats. I grew tired of this when I realized that all my playtesters invariably ignored the other combat skills in favor of Martial Arts. I had created a group of amateur ninjas. This could not stand.
So I set about redoing the "Martial Art" skill, breaking it up into many skills in several different categories, complexities and areas of focus. All in all, I came up with around 30 different martial arts skills, divided up mainly into area of origin: styles from China, Japan, the western world (namely Spain and Germany) and "Gunkata" which drew mainly on the American frontier gunman. Each area of focus had several martial art styles of differing complexity that would offer certain battlefield benefits.
For instance, the Chinese martial art "Kongminmai" (named after Zhuge Liang's surname "Kongming". Ref: "Romance of the Three Kingdoms") allows a player to "predict the outcome of a battle days in advance." In game terms, this translated to a massive reaction time in the form of a +3 dexterity bonus.
Ex 2: The Western martial art "St. Mark's Defender" gives a 10% armor bonus at certain levels that, when at the maximum Skill Level of 12, gives a total of 70% more armor.
I was more or less content with this style of martial art, but I felt that things had become a bit too specialized. In aiming for something a bit more complex than "generic", I shot too high and hit "overly complicated." I cooked up a middle ground that runs along the lines of "Martial Art: Upper Body Focus" and "Martial Art: Pistol Gunslinger" in which most Martial Art skills gave bonuses to strength, dexterity and a to-hit bonus at certain skill levels. I'm not sure if I like this yet. It's a step up from a single Martial Art skill, but I wonder if its still a bit too generic. "Small Melee Weapon" can cover a lot of ground that isnt necessarily similar. Fighting with a small mace is a lot different than fighting with a short sword.
Mind you, I wasn't trying to elevate one Martial Art above the other, though it came out that way. I suppose I could've just labeled all Martial Art skills as "Very Complex" instead of ranking some of them as Simple and Complex, like other skills, but (and I'm no expert on the subject) are all martial art styles really created equal? I didn't think so.
The jury's still out on this one.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Advertisement
This is a sketch I did a while ago. Not sure where it will fit into the text, but I'm sure I'll find a place for it somewhere.
My Japanese could be considered elementary at best, and I have no experience with Russian or Chinese, so if you can read those languages and find my text horrible, forgive me, I did the best I could with dictionaries.
The sketch I was going for was originally supposed to be a visual representation of a caption on a chapter heading. The chapter was on the introduction of the Neurojack itself while the caption was an advertisement for Neurojack implantation surgery. I thought I'd do something with someone looking like a 50's detergent commercial, but somehow this came out instead.
I think its for the best.
Simple or Complex, Part 2
After talking it over with my testers, I think I'm going to leave it as it is. I thought it might come down to this, and our conversation proved my instincts correct: most gamers would rather have a larger score because it sounds better. Consider it this way: a Stat rating of 40 confers a +8 bonus. Unanimously, my testers thought that a rating of 40 sounded better than a rating of 8, even though they are functionally identical.
I guess (in this case at least) bigger is better.
I guess (in this case at least) bigger is better.
Simple or Complex?
I am currently experiencing a conundrum with regard to Statistics representation. For the uninitiated, "Statistics" refers to the traits that make up one's character in an RPG. Things like physical strength, manual dexterity, street smarts, knowledge and perception are the usual fare when it comes to character composition. For Prototype, I have the following stats.
Strength: raw physical power.
Nastics: physical dexterity; how quickly and gracefully one moves.
Perception: powers of observation, hand-eye coordination.
Intelligence: book smarts.
Smarts: street smarts, charisma.
Looks: physical attractiveness.
Guts: physical endurance, how many punches you can take before you buckle.
Minerals: mental endurance.
Luck: how much the forces of the cosmos favor you.
These Statistics are rated from 1 to around 40 (can be higher depending on race, but that's not an issue at present). In order to reflect one's superior Statistics, high stats get a bonus to die rolls while low stats get a negative roll. Ratings of 10 and 11 are considered average and confer no bonus. Penalties start at 9, with a -1, and go down 1 point per rating. So, 8=-2, 7=-3 and so on. The catch is that low Stats will go up quickly, since it's easier to get from "Lousy" to "Average" than is to get from "Average" to "Superhuman". Ratings of 12 and up confer a +1 bonus every 4 levels, so Stats of 12 confer a +1, 16 gives a +2, 20 a +3, etc.
The only exception is Luck. Luck begins at 1, which =+1 for Luck and only Luck. Each rating of Luck confers that bonus. 2=+2, 3=+3, -5=-5. The question which is running through my mind at the moment is whether or not all Stats should act as Luck does, for the sake of simplicity, or whether I should leave it as is.
On the one hand, I like the idea of having a more expanded rating system, as it allows for more of a grey area. A simplified system would probably only have ratings ranging from -8 to 8.
There are many successful games which capitalize on both schools. Heavy Gear has a very simple system while other games like World of Warcraft utilize complex formula to calculate Statistics. While I dont wish to get as complicated as that (it makes little sense to me how exactly a bonus of "+25 Defense" does not actually increase your "Defense" stat by 25, but I'm sure they have a method to the madness somewhere) I do feel that it adds a certain depth to things.
Decisions, decisions.
Strength: raw physical power.
Nastics: physical dexterity; how quickly and gracefully one moves.
Perception: powers of observation, hand-eye coordination.
Intelligence: book smarts.
Smarts: street smarts, charisma.
Looks: physical attractiveness.
Guts: physical endurance, how many punches you can take before you buckle.
Minerals: mental endurance.
Luck: how much the forces of the cosmos favor you.
These Statistics are rated from 1 to around 40 (can be higher depending on race, but that's not an issue at present). In order to reflect one's superior Statistics, high stats get a bonus to die rolls while low stats get a negative roll. Ratings of 10 and 11 are considered average and confer no bonus. Penalties start at 9, with a -1, and go down 1 point per rating. So, 8=-2, 7=-3 and so on. The catch is that low Stats will go up quickly, since it's easier to get from "Lousy" to "Average" than is to get from "Average" to "Superhuman". Ratings of 12 and up confer a +1 bonus every 4 levels, so Stats of 12 confer a +1, 16 gives a +2, 20 a +3, etc.
The only exception is Luck. Luck begins at 1, which =+1 for Luck and only Luck. Each rating of Luck confers that bonus. 2=+2, 3=+3, -5=-5. The question which is running through my mind at the moment is whether or not all Stats should act as Luck does, for the sake of simplicity, or whether I should leave it as is.
On the one hand, I like the idea of having a more expanded rating system, as it allows for more of a grey area. A simplified system would probably only have ratings ranging from -8 to 8.
There are many successful games which capitalize on both schools. Heavy Gear has a very simple system while other games like World of Warcraft utilize complex formula to calculate Statistics. While I dont wish to get as complicated as that (it makes little sense to me how exactly a bonus of "+25 Defense" does not actually increase your "Defense" stat by 25, but I'm sure they have a method to the madness somewhere) I do feel that it adds a certain depth to things.
Decisions, decisions.
Saturday, June 9, 2007
It all starts with a Prototype
If you're here and reading this, it either means you're a friend/relative, or you're someone interested in reading about my series of games. In either case, welcome! Studio Topia is a loose association (3 people) who have banded together to create tabletop role playing games.
Studio Topia found its roots in my Junior year of college at Western Washington University. It stems both from a good friend of mine who wrote his own RPGs and from a monumental inspiration I received from a Comics & Diversity Class I was taking at Fairhaven College. The initial result was a very rough draft of my first game, "The Neurojack Chronicles." After some initial success with a Beta version and some playtesting, I continued on and created a fantasy game called "Red, White and Black." As time went on, I added more games to my repertoire, found a graphic artist friend of mine to do layout, and an artist to illustrate what will eventually be printed books. While none of the games have been fully prepared for the book treatment as yet, Neurojack is closer than ever to a state of publishing readiness.
Ah, my very first game. I mentioned it all began with a Comics & Diversity class at Fairhaven. This is true. The final for the class was to create a comic book, in one form or another, that included diversity in some way. My initial idea was to do a story about a futuristic SWAT team on a colony world that utilized mecha (large robots) as a type of advanced armor. I seem to like acronyms and it was the acronym for the mecha that eventually led me to develop the Neurojack world. Dubbed "SPARTANS" (Self-contained Power-Armored Robotic Tactical Assault UnitS), these mecha would eventually grow into one of the driving forces behind the Neurojack world.
I drew a lot of my inspiration from one of my favorite RPGs, Dream Pod 9's "Heavy Gear". Set on the colony world of Terra Nova in the 61st century, Heavy Gear focused heavily on mecha combat and had a rather interesting setting. The world itself was divided, both physically and politically. Much closer to the sun than Earth, the climate on Terra Nova was much dryer and forced most of the populace to concentrate either in the northern or southern poles, where the temperature was not as harsh. Covering the entire equator of the planet is a vast desert known as the Badlands, which is sparsely settled by raiders, pioneers and others seeking to find their own way.
Mired by constant warfare, Terra Nova was hotbed of conflict, rife with intrigue and huge battles.
The world of Neurojack drew heavily from Terra Nova: the planet on which I set my story, "Asperian", is also divided politically and geographically. Northern and Southern governments maintain an uneasy peace despite vastly differing policies while the planet itself is divided by an enormous archipelago that coats the planet's equator. Various island nations exist in the "Equatorial Chain", though they pale in comparison to the might of the polar governments.
The Northern government, built primarily upon corporate mining conglomerates, is concerned primarily with profits and protecting their business interests. The South, by contrast, is occupied with preserving the agricultural stability of the planet and protecting the environment from the sort of degradation witnessed on Earth. The South also has the distinction of being the home of the first colonists to settle Asperian.
Add to this mix a new type of metal called "Illuminus." Illuminus possesses super-tensile properties, allowing the construction of kilometer-high buildings and nigh-impenetrable armor. Additionally, Illuminus can act as fuel in the environment of a fusion reactor, providing power for several years before needing replacement. It was the discovery of Illuminus that brought the mining conglomerates to Asperian in the first place, but there is more. In reaction to the reckless development exhibited by the mining corporations, various elements in the South began a covert terrorist war designed to subvert the agenda of the corporations. Among their number was a brilliant scientist who discovered a third for of Illuminus: liquid. Known as "Mercurial Illuminus", this liquid metal can be consumed by people known as "Imbibers" to transform them into something more than human. Through the use of Imbibers and terror tactics, the Southern rebels take their private war to the north.
There is a lot more to the game that I am leaving out, but this is the general foundation. Conflict is built on political ideology, nationalism, racism and social discrepancies.
Studio Topia found its roots in my Junior year of college at Western Washington University. It stems both from a good friend of mine who wrote his own RPGs and from a monumental inspiration I received from a Comics & Diversity Class I was taking at Fairhaven College. The initial result was a very rough draft of my first game, "The Neurojack Chronicles." After some initial success with a Beta version and some playtesting, I continued on and created a fantasy game called "Red, White and Black." As time went on, I added more games to my repertoire, found a graphic artist friend of mine to do layout, and an artist to illustrate what will eventually be printed books. While none of the games have been fully prepared for the book treatment as yet, Neurojack is closer than ever to a state of publishing readiness.
The Neurojack Chronicles
Ah, my very first game. I mentioned it all began with a Comics & Diversity class at Fairhaven. This is true. The final for the class was to create a comic book, in one form or another, that included diversity in some way. My initial idea was to do a story about a futuristic SWAT team on a colony world that utilized mecha (large robots) as a type of advanced armor. I seem to like acronyms and it was the acronym for the mecha that eventually led me to develop the Neurojack world. Dubbed "SPARTANS" (Self-contained Power-Armored Robotic Tactical Assault UnitS), these mecha would eventually grow into one of the driving forces behind the Neurojack world.
I drew a lot of my inspiration from one of my favorite RPGs, Dream Pod 9's "Heavy Gear". Set on the colony world of Terra Nova in the 61st century, Heavy Gear focused heavily on mecha combat and had a rather interesting setting. The world itself was divided, both physically and politically. Much closer to the sun than Earth, the climate on Terra Nova was much dryer and forced most of the populace to concentrate either in the northern or southern poles, where the temperature was not as harsh. Covering the entire equator of the planet is a vast desert known as the Badlands, which is sparsely settled by raiders, pioneers and others seeking to find their own way.
Mired by constant warfare, Terra Nova was hotbed of conflict, rife with intrigue and huge battles.
The world of Neurojack drew heavily from Terra Nova: the planet on which I set my story, "Asperian", is also divided politically and geographically. Northern and Southern governments maintain an uneasy peace despite vastly differing policies while the planet itself is divided by an enormous archipelago that coats the planet's equator. Various island nations exist in the "Equatorial Chain", though they pale in comparison to the might of the polar governments.
The Northern government, built primarily upon corporate mining conglomerates, is concerned primarily with profits and protecting their business interests. The South, by contrast, is occupied with preserving the agricultural stability of the planet and protecting the environment from the sort of degradation witnessed on Earth. The South also has the distinction of being the home of the first colonists to settle Asperian.
Add to this mix a new type of metal called "Illuminus." Illuminus possesses super-tensile properties, allowing the construction of kilometer-high buildings and nigh-impenetrable armor. Additionally, Illuminus can act as fuel in the environment of a fusion reactor, providing power for several years before needing replacement. It was the discovery of Illuminus that brought the mining conglomerates to Asperian in the first place, but there is more. In reaction to the reckless development exhibited by the mining corporations, various elements in the South began a covert terrorist war designed to subvert the agenda of the corporations. Among their number was a brilliant scientist who discovered a third for of Illuminus: liquid. Known as "Mercurial Illuminus", this liquid metal can be consumed by people known as "Imbibers" to transform them into something more than human. Through the use of Imbibers and terror tactics, the Southern rebels take their private war to the north.
There is a lot more to the game that I am leaving out, but this is the general foundation. Conflict is built on political ideology, nationalism, racism and social discrepancies.
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