Where were we then? 2008

Hey all,

I thought it might be fun to look at how everyday objects have changed over time. Ten years seems like a decent increment (though my Back to the Future fanboy REALLY likes the sound of 30: let's do one step at a time). So let's look at 2008, when the Giants won the superbowl, and Miley Cyrus was a squeaky-clean Disney starlet.

The Phone of 2008

The biggest change in phones in 2008 was the iPhone 3G. The year 2007 had seen the first touch screen smart phones in the form of the LG Prada, and the original iPhone. The original iPhone didn't even have the GPS function that came with the 3G!
While the device we think of as a smart phone had some predecessors, in the form of things like the blackberry, the touch screen interface we know today was still relatively new only ten years ago.

The Music of 2008

Many popular artists of 2008 will still be familiar names today; including Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Kanye West, and Rihanna.
In 2008, My Chemical Romance and The White Stripes were still together and making music, while today, both of these names have faded into history.
Interestingly, Beyonce had left Destiny's Child only three years prior, and her solo career was still a fairly new development in the grand scheme of things.

The Politics of 2008

In 2008, Barack Obama beat John McCain for the presidency. This win secured Barack Obama's first term in office, and today it's easy to forget the fact that, very suddenly, Americans lived in a world where an African-American man could provably become president. What today seems inevitable was, at the time, a landmark moment in American politics.

Video Games of 2008

Some big series started with a 2008 debut, including Dead Space and Valkyria Chronicles; while Fallout 3 brought the Fallout franchise into the modern era. This is also the year of indie darling: Dear Esther. All of this, in a year where the public was still seeing expansions for The Sims 2.

The Playstation 3 had come out two years before, but the PS2 was still in production, and would continue to be for another FIVE years. The XBox 360 was three years old, and the original XBox still had another year before its retirement. The Gamecube had been retired, but with the Wii breaking sales records left and right, and the incredible sales of the Nintendo DS in Japanese markets, Nintendo wasn't suffering the lack of Gamecubes on store shelves.

Health in 2008

"Hot" yoga, nettle tea, and Goji berries were just some of the fads and buzzwords surrounding health in 2008. Low Sodium and Probiotic reared their heads, and, in defiance of today's feelings about the dreaded gluten; whole grain was a go-to for the health-minded individual.

Top Selling Car of 2008: The Toyota Camry

I'll be honest, I don't know much about cars. Anyway, here's a picture of a 2009 (because cars come out a year early of their model number for some reason) Toyota Camry.

Looking around, it looks like the Camry is known for comfort, safety, and fuel efficiency. So, I guess those must have been things that people liked in 2008.

The Movies of 2008

Iron Man kicked things off in what we now call the MCU with an after-credits scene that changed audience expectations of what movies could do. The Dark Knight contributed to make 2008 a watershed moment for superhero movies. The Incredible Hulk was there, too, I guess.

Kids movies brought Kung Fu Panda, which sparked off a sprawling franchise, and Wall-E: an instant classic with genuine artistry in its execution.
Taken, Tropic Thunder, Cloverfield, and Slumdog Millionare also came along to make this a year to remember in movies.


Overall, the last ten years have seen some tremendous changes, and a few surprises in what has stayed the same. It'll be interesting to see where the next ten years might take us. Thanks for reading, all.

Can we find Poetic Justice Horror in our Zombies?

Let's talk about zombies.

Prior to Romero's Night of the Living Dead, the idea of a zombie was steeped in magic and voodoo. The name even comes from an African and Caribbean term for a magical servitor made from a cadaver. However, this fear of the magic of tribal groups doesn't really play into our modern zombies. While the modern zombie no longer fills this role in the public mind, it's interesting to note that there's already an element of poetic justice in stories of tribal peoples visiting magical horrors upon their technologically advanced conquerors.

Still, the modern zombie veers more toward the idea of a plague. Thematically, we can see the zombie as a condemnation of human foibles. In Night of the Living Dead the risen corpses turn on humanity, to devour it. Meanwhile, the human characters turn on and, metaphorically, devour themselves. Each human character sees the group for what it can do for them, and "feed" on their fellows. In the end, the authorities can't tell the difference between the zombies and the men. The mall setting later in the franchise more directly condemns consumerism.

They can also represent a fear of death, and sometimes this can be pretty on the nose. During the cold war, the zombies were a looming threat that could be staved off, but never gotten rid of. Death was an inevitable march that would come eventually. Meanwhile, with the rise of terrorism in recent years, we see faster zombies that take their prey by surprise. The death we fear now is fast and unexpected. An age of dreading war gave way to an age of being terrified of war, and this difference between dread and terror is reflected in our portrayal of the hordes of undead.

So, how does this relate to poetic justice?

First, let's look at how poetic justice feeds into horror. The influence of Judeo-Christian thought on western literature is felt here. The horror of Christianity is that hell is waiting, and that hell is deserved. Because of the prevalence of this thought in the western world, the idea of punishment evokes hellish themes, whereas the existential horror of impassive suffering has historically held less fear, having, in the minds of religious communities, less basis in reality.

With this understanding underscoring western thought, it makes perfect sense that our slasher films "punish" promiscuity. It's why fairy tales tend to have two themes: don't go into the woods alone, and don't be cruel or inhospitable to a stranger. Retribution will come when the beggar you kicked reveals themselves to be a witch, fae, or djinn. These themes resonate in a western concept of horror.

This is why America, who committed dehumanizing atrocities in the frontier, still sets our horror in the wilderness; and it's why England, who committed dehumanizing atrocities in the factories and alleys, still set their horror in the cities. That is where we've respectively "earned" the horrific consequences shown in these movies.

This leaves the question; do modern zombies feature a form of poetic justice? Is the zombie in any way an ironic and deserved punishment for our actions?

Well, let's ask what humans, as a species, have done to other species. We hunt them with zombie tactics. As a species, we form larger and more unified groups than any of the packs and herds we compete against; and we are unflagging. Surrounded by species faster than us at a sprint, we have historically hunted as a slow horde. A mastodon might be able to run faster, but it can't run for three days straight while we chase it down. Compared to other species, we don't rest, we don't slack, we don't lose the trail. Slow, shambling death has chosen its prey, and humanity will not give up the trail until the panting and exhausted victim lies gasping on the ground: it's strength spent: watching the untiring horde close for the kill.

That is the horror we have visited on the other species of this world, and it's the death we deserve, when a new hunter emerges at the top of the food chain.

Thanks for reading, stay safe in those dark woods.

Graffiti Generator Table

Hey all,

Today I'm taking inspiration from a tremendous post by Improved Initiative. Go check out his blog, it's some great stuff.

He was talking about the role of graffiti in making a town feel vital and lived in, and I thought it was a fantastic jumping off point that just needed one thing: a generator table. I took some time to put together a first draft of a graffiti generator table for a typical fantasy world. It's a mix of rumor mill, plot hooks, and flavor text; and any of it might or might not be true, up to date, or accurate in your game world. Try it out, comment below with your own contributions, and have fun.

Graffiti Generator Table

1 "Sardin McClint's store sells stolen stuff."
2 "Albion knows every girl at Miss Hattory's"
3 This is a strange symbol in a single color (a successful streetwise or similar check will identify this as a gang tag, and will allow the players to search the city, surveying the borders of various rival gangs)
4 Ornate lettering spells out "This is Vandalism"
5 There is a crude portrait of the town sheriff, made to look cartoonishly obese. 
6 "Nearland steel is a hoax"
7 "Jericho was here"
8 "Flora Cooprider hexes hogs"
9 You find a crude drawing of, . . . let's just call it anatomy.
10 "Nymphs dance at Ash Cay"
11 You see a very simple symbol (a successful streetwise or similar check will identify this as a hobo sign indicating a safe place to beg)
12 You see a very simple symbol (a successful streetwise or similar check will identify this as a hobo sign indicating that the police harass beggars here)
13 You see a very simple symbol (a successful streetwise or similar check will identify this as a hobo sign indicating that there's an aggressive dog in the area)
14 "Trinkets for sale, inquire inside"
15 You see a portrait surrounded by an ornate painting of a frame. At the base of the wall is a small pile of flowers that have been left by others.
16 "Buy Enid Pott's Meat Pies"
17 You see the symbol of a defunct and near-universally hated army, defeated nearly a century ago.
18 "Dwarves not welcome"
19 "Tam Beck summons dead"
20 A well composed piece of genuine art, painted on a wall around fifty feet above the ground. 

Book Review: The Midnight Line by Lee Child

The Midnight Line
Author: Lee Child
Publishing Date: 2017
Setting: The American Great Plains
Narrative Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Themes: Military Honor, Addiction, Gray Morality
Series Information: Book 22 (in publishing order) of the Jack Reacher series. It should be noted that the novels have limited cross-over and can be read in any order.

Subjective Length: A day or two

Score: A work of entertainment value The Jack Reacher series has become a mainstay of realistic adventure fiction. If you've enjoyed any of the previous entries in the series, The Midnight Line will not disappoint.

Controversial Themes
Addiction: This book handles the subject of addiction with surprising tact for a series built on the appeal of violence and action. It takes care to highlight the role that once-prevalent prescriptions have played in the current addiction epidemic, and seeks to shed light on the struggle of addicts.
Sexual Content: There are a few attempts at seduction by a married woman; as well as a sex scene that neither veers into completely obscure euphemism, nor graphic description. There is also a scene in which a woman's skirt rides up while she is being restrained.
Violence: The Jack Reacher series has always contained the heavy use of violence to drive the plot. This particular entry in the series has a little less than some of the others, but it is still noticeable.

**SPOILERS AHEAD***SPOILERS AHEAD***SPOILERS AHEAD***SPOILERS AHEAD**


The story opens with Reacher thinking back about the woman he left behind at the last town. He steps off of a bus for a stretch and spots a West Point graduate ring in a pawnshop window. Reacher examines the ring, buys it, and sets himself the goal of finding the original owner. The novel is intentionally vague about his motives, as Reacher himself expresses a little uncertainty as to what's calling him to get involved in this situation. It seems to be a mix of military honor, curiosity, a touch of what might be chivalry (he quickly identifies the ring as belonging to a woman), and perhaps projected guilt or regret from walking away from another woman only a day or so before.

His quest sends him back up the supply chain, from seller to seller, as he tracks down the woman in hard enough straits to sell something symbolic of so much hard work and effort.

This novel adds more likable and memorable side characters than many previous entries in the series; and really sold the cast well. The ending was less climactic than some others by the same author, but that seemed to underscore the quiet sadness in the themes of drug addiction. There is no grand showdown with two unstoppable juggernauts squaring off in battle; and the threat is not in powerful enemies, but in stealthy and unknown enemies.

There's also a good moment of seeing a character like Reacher --someone of quick decisions and solid resolve-- faced with a situation more nuanced than "find bad guy, kill bad guy". There are moral dilemmas presented here that enrich the experience.

Overall, not required reading, but a solid read. If anything in the "lone tough guy" genre piques your interest, then The Midnight Line will be a page-turner far too late into the night.

Happy reading, all.

Beastiary Supplemental: Slide-Rock Bolter

High in the mountains lives a massive beast. First seen by miners in the area, the creature came to be known as the slide-rock bolter.

This creature most resembles a whale. It hunts by gripping the mountainside with it's tail and lying in wait. The creature seeks out slopes of at least a 45° angle with a relatively clear vantage of the lands below. The slide-rock bolter drools a slick substance, which helps it to strike at its prey. When a suitable target passes into the beast's path, the beast releases its grip on the mountain and comes charging down the slope with its enormous maw agape to capture its prey. 

In combat, the beast is a one strike and gone type of predator. It has both high natural armor and a deep pool of hit points. Avoiding the attack would require a reflex save to jump out of the path of the creature's strike. 

The creatures are about 25 feet long at the end of adolescence, and can grow to around 60 feet if they live long enough and have access to substantial hunting grounds. 

Mature bolters can be more wary, and tend to avoid heavily armored parties that could be harder to digest; but may still attack when driven to hunger. Juvenile bolters on the other hand tend to strike at any movement. This can expose them to attack, and, in fact, while several bounties on young bolters have been collected over the years, older members of the species are almost never brought low by adventurers. 

Bolter-territory is recognizable by once-well-trod paths that have been allowed to grow over. An absence of local tribes, packs, and herds can mark dangerous areas as well. However, small birds and rodents do not tend to leave the area, as they are too small to draw attention from something the size of a bolter. 

Best of luck on those desolate mountain paths, and happy gaming, all. 

Check out the blog at the new address here. 

Interplanetary Travel: What Works best for your story?

Hey all,

The other day I decided to sit down and think about the different ways that science fiction has justified interplanetary travel. Usually finding habitable worlds is a task that can turn interplanetary travel into interstellar travel in a hurry. It seemed like a fun idea to put together a list of all of the ones that I could think of.
Here's hoping writers and game masters will find some useful food for thought in this one.

1. Faster than Light (FTL)
ex. Artemis Bridge Simulator
Real-space FTL travel might seem like the easy category; and I thought it'd be easier to find examples of stories where ships "just go that fast, get over it." but it turns out that pseudoscientific explanations are pretty fun to make. That being the case, "just going that fast" is actually fairly rare in well-known and well-received science fiction. 

2. Jump
ex. Farscape (Starburst), Artemis Bridge Simulator
This is basically just a spaceship teleporting. Again, I thought it'd be a little more well-represented in the genre, but I had some trouble finding a lot of examples. I will say, though, that it adds a fun complexity to Artemis to play the game on jump mode. Official recommendation: jump drive mode on Artemis. Alright, moving on. 

3. Otherspace 
ex. Warhammer 40,000, Animorphs, Star Wars
Whether it's subspace, hyperspace, zero space, or the warp; it's the dimension next door and rapid transit is no issue, there. Sometimes this is explained as less restrictive physics, or that this otherspace is a small-scale duplicate of our own space. Travel an inch there, travel a light year here. Then just pop back into our reality when you get to that space's equivalent of your destination in our space. Nothing simpler, eh?

4. Generation Ship
ex. Quotzl, Wall-E
This is the Oregon trail of interstellar transit. Your family loads up and heads out, hoping that one day your great-great-grandchildren will be born on this ship, and live to see the new world you've headed towards.

5. Spatial Bending
ex. Star Trek
This is probably the background explanation for a lot of FTL. You can't go faster than light, but space can grow and/or shrink at whatever rate it likes. Now say you could induce space to grow just right that the place you're flying in were to be stretched to a place a hundred light years away. Now you've got it. Traveling quickly, don't be ridiculous. The simplest solution is to alter the shape of reality, obviously.

6. Wormhole Tunneling
ex. Farscape
Sometimes this also ties into Gate Transit (#8), but where Gate Transit might tether, or even create wormholes; wormhole tunneling is more a matter of mapping out the places where our three dimensional space naturally bends and meets through higher dimensions. Imagine that you could either fly to Russia, or go to an alley in Omaha that happens (via, let's just say, the sixth dimension) to be adjacent to a Moscow deli.

7. Relativistic Speed
ex. Ender's Game
Just because you can't go the speed of light, doesn't mean you can't take advantage of time dilation effects experienced when approaching the speed of light. In two-hundred years of travel, you could experience only a few years of time's passage in your own timeline. You do essentially guarantee that you'll never see the people you've left behind again, but that would have been an issue in generation ships, too.

8. Gate Transit
ex. Stargate, Cowboy Bebop, Mass Effect
It might be wormholes, otherspace, or teleportation; but what makes it Gate Transit is the gate. Maybe that's a literal opening, or it might be something like the mass relays. Either way, some piece of tech, networked into a system of similar tech can send you from "gate" to "gate", usually almost instantaneously.

9. Seed Ship
ex. Manseed
Like the generation ship, this ship doesn't really move faster than light, it just plans for a long haul. Unlike the generation ship, this isn't a flying colony, it's a flying fertility clinic. A ship heads off with the resources to breed and incubate new humans upon arrival. It protects the species, but memories of earth will fade pretty quickly.

10. Colonize a Better Space
ex. Firefly
Of course, any of these methods could be used to head for a solar system that's a little more tightly packed with habitable worlds. By the time your story starts, earth may be a distant memory, while interplanetary travel is just a week-long hop between nearby habitable worlds, moons, and asteroids. Massive terraforming in the Sol system might be another way to get the same effect.

11. Mental Projection
ex. The Shadow out of Time
This one's probably the oddest of all: aliens with powerful mental abilities capable of body-swapping through space, and perhaps even through time. This falls pretty far toward the sphere of weird science fiction, but the horror potential can make for some interesting storytelling.

Can you think of any methods I've missed? What's your favorite way of justifying this kind of space travel in science fiction?

Happy travels, all.

Egyptian Ratscrew

Hey all,

If you saw my youtube video Friday, you may remember my mentioning ERS. Egyptian Ratscrew, also known as Egyptian War, Egyptian Rat Slap, or (according to wikipedia) Egyptian Ratkiller, is a game that I remember very fondly from my childhood. In an article about 500, I spoke about the value of customizable games as educational tools. Well, ERS is another great game for teaching young people to look at rules from the inside out.

The basics are pretty simple. Deal out even (or roughly even) piles of cards to each player. The players take turns playing one card off of their deck without looking at it, and placing it on a pile in the middle of the table.

Every face card that gets played needs to be "matched" by another face card. When a player plays a face card, the next player plays out a specific number of cards (or until they play a face card), and then the player after them have to play out cards trying to get a face card, and the first player to not play a face card forfeits the entire pile in the middle of the table to the player before them.

Aces give four chances to match. Kings give three chances. Queens give two chances; and Jacks give only one chance to play a face card.

Of course, if this was all there was to it, there'd be no skill involved. This is where the slapping comes in. When a certain combination of cards is played, the first player to slap the pile gets to keep the pile. If the player slaps something that doesn't count, they have to add a card of theirs to the bottom of the pile. If another card is played before anyone slaps, the opportunity has passed. Slapping takes precedence over matching the face cards, so if someone plays a King, and the next player plays a King, the first player to slap that pair gets the pile, even though a run of face cards was still going.

Which combinations are used are what add spice and variety to the game.

Pairs: Almost every game of ERS will allow slapping on pairs. So, if someone plays a 3, and the next player plays a 3, any player at the table can slap the pile and claim all of those cards as their own.

Sandwiches: A sandwich is a pair separated by a single card. So, if a player plays a 6, the next player plays a 4, and the next player plays a 6, then the first player to slap the pile, gets the pile.

Marriages: The marriage rule treats a King and Queen combo as a pair.

69's and 96's: This is a bit of a cheat, and many players recognize it as an "easy mode". It allows a player to slap on any combination of 9 and 6. This helps very young players who can get easily get confused by the similar symbols.

Ham and cheese sandwiches: This is a sandwich, but with two cards in the middle. This can make the memory aspect of the game even harder, but experienced players will sometimes relish the challenge.

Runs: If three cards that are in sequence with each other are played in any sequence (i.e. 2, then 4, then 3), this can be slapped on.

Of course, these aren't the only possible combinations, and creative players will definitely begin house-ruling some slappable combinations of their own. Have any of you played ERS before? What are some combinations you remember from your own games?

Happy gaming, all.