More character generation testing abounds! Today, I'm looking at Fantasy Flight's RPG, Edge of the Empire. The game is another licensed setting, this time Star Wars. Set at the start of the Rebellion, characters come from the edge of known civilization, trying to make a living while keeping their heads down to not attract Imperial attention. The mechanics use dice specific to the game, with symbols indicating successes and failures.
It's going to get long, so let's break here and continue after it.
10 Mar 2015
8 Mar 2015
Daylight Savings Time, or Everyone Have a Free Heart Attack
Once again, Daylight Savings Time returns. A cruel theft of an hour of sleep when sleep deprivation is already a problem. The loss of the hour causes a number of health issues, including an increase in the risk of a heart attack in the first two days after the time shift. That risk decreases the same time after returning to Standard Time. We have high school students not getting enough sleep as it is. Drivers are affected; the number of fatalities on the road increases after the switch to Daylight Savings. The switch back again lowers.
If the health risks weren't enough, the switch is happening two weeks before the amount of daylight hours is greater than the hours of darkness. The vernal equinox is March 21; it's March 8, thirteen days before. The switch remain in effect until after October 31st, six weeks after the autumnal equinox. The switch just isn't made with people in mind. Waking up in darkness, as in winter, isn't a sign of being a good person. Waking up early isn't necessarily a good thing. There are people who work better later into the night, and this switch causes too many problems for them.
In short, ban Daylight Savings Time. It's time has gone.
If the health risks weren't enough, the switch is happening two weeks before the amount of daylight hours is greater than the hours of darkness. The vernal equinox is March 21; it's March 8, thirteen days before. The switch remain in effect until after October 31st, six weeks after the autumnal equinox. The switch just isn't made with people in mind. Waking up in darkness, as in winter, isn't a sign of being a good person. Waking up early isn't necessarily a good thing. There are people who work better later into the night, and this switch causes too many problems for them.
In short, ban Daylight Savings Time. It's time has gone.
6 Mar 2015
Unruly: The New Girl - Chapter 6
Previously:
"Let me demonstrate my knowledge of chemistry and its effects on the human body."
"If anything happens to Laura, the Headmistress will have your hide, Cait."
"And you used me the moment you saw me. You don't care about me!"
"Look, Laura, tell me where the drugs are. I can get rid of them for you."
Unruly
The New Girl
Chapter 6 - Rock Bottom
Laura woke up in a tangle with a blanket, still wearing the clothes she had on the day before. She stretched and rolled out of bed. Caitlin looked over from the room's dining table. "About time." The redhead picked up her bowl and took it over to the sink to rinse it out.
"What time is it?" Laura looked around for a clock.
"Quarter to eight." Caitlin finished washing her bowl and put it away.
"You're up early." Laura looked over at the other beds. Autumn remained curled up under her covers. Skye, however, stirred.
"We should keep it down."
A voice from the grave rumbled in Skye's bed. "Too late."
Caitlin held a finger to her lips. "Go get changed," she said, her voice lowered. "I'm taking you to the school's doctor."
"Let me demonstrate my knowledge of chemistry and its effects on the human body."
"If anything happens to Laura, the Headmistress will have your hide, Cait."
"And you used me the moment you saw me. You don't care about me!"
"Look, Laura, tell me where the drugs are. I can get rid of them for you."
Unruly
The New Girl
Chapter 6 - Rock Bottom
Laura woke up in a tangle with a blanket, still wearing the clothes she had on the day before. She stretched and rolled out of bed. Caitlin looked over from the room's dining table. "About time." The redhead picked up her bowl and took it over to the sink to rinse it out.
"What time is it?" Laura looked around for a clock.
"Quarter to eight." Caitlin finished washing her bowl and put it away.
"You're up early." Laura looked over at the other beds. Autumn remained curled up under her covers. Skye, however, stirred.
"We should keep it down."
A voice from the grave rumbled in Skye's bed. "Too late."
Caitlin held a finger to her lips. "Go get changed," she said, her voice lowered. "I'm taking you to the school's doctor."
5 Mar 2015
Unruly - The New Girl Chapter 5 - Commentary
Ah, Chapter 5, the one that needed research into Canadian criminal laws. Please read the chapter first so that things might make sense.
An important element of Unruly is that the girls had to fall into a legal grey zone. Whatever they did couldn't, or, at least, shouldn't be covered by the Criminal Code of Canada. Rule Two, the Academy is never to get involved, gets broken if the police need to be called out on the girls. If the police are involved, Rule Four, don't get caught, is also broken. The Academy and Ms Stone, the headmistress, crack down hard if either are broken. Last thing anyone wants is their fief being disrupted.
Flora's "hobby", the robot army, doesn't really fall under a specific section of the Criminal Code. The use of them might, but their mere existence isn't proscribed. If they turn out to be dangerous, like in the lab last week, they fall under workplace safety regulations. Even the lasers Flora wants aren't illegal. There is not one Canadian law about owning lasers; again, the regulations are under workplace safety. However, if Flora were to shoot or have one of her robots shoot someone with the lasers, then she could be charged with Assault Causing Bodily Harm. That charge doesn't specify what weapons are and can be used when someone slaps another. Since Flora isn't planning on shooting anyone except her sister's zombie army, which can't suffer bodily harm through the convenience of being dead, she should be safe.
Laura's "gigglesmoke" also falls under a loophole, mainly through how drug laws are created and enforced. Designer drugs aren't necessarily illegal, at least under the Criminal Code. If they were, pharmaceutical companies would have trouble with research and development. A body of law has built up codifying what drugs are and are not illegal, and anything not specifically illegal is, thus, legal. Laura's intoxicant just hasn't been through the legal system, in part because she knows better than to use it where someone could report her use to the police. Given that gigglesmoke is an intoxicant, other laws may come into play. Laura is underage; the age of majority where a teenager can legally smoke and drink alcohol is nineteen in Ontario*. If she were out in public, she could be arrested for public intoxication, which doesn't care about the nature of the intoxicant, and for being intoxicated as a minor.
When I discovered that Flora's lasers were more or less legal to own, I had to verify my research. The Internet is a font of information, but there's no real check on accuracy, even when googling. I turned to friends who have interests and careers in the relevant fields, including one lawyer**. They confirmed my findings - lasers are totally legal to own, provided workplace safety regulations are adhered to. Flora fails in that regard, but no one is reporting her to the Labour Board.
One useful bit of writing advice: When stuck, add something to create a problem for the characters. It's similar to the Raymond Chandler quote, "When in doubt, have a man come through a door with a gun in his hand." The idea is that the character or characters now have an immediate problem that has to be dealt with, letting words be written. During NaNoWriMo, words have to be written. Good thing I introduced Mackenzie earlier. The scene wasn't planned when Mackenzie was first introduced. Mackenzie had other ideas. Mackenzie's return also let me show that consequences do happen.
Back at the Academy, Caitlin is Caitlin. Glib, but I saw the chance to show Laura's roommates without filtering them through Laura and took it. Caitlin can be shamed, as Skye and Autumn demonstrate. The budding world conqueror surprised me in this chapter. Caitlin has a softer side, one that cares. Sure, she cares because what Laura does could affect plans and schemes, but she does care. Caitlin also has little patience for silliness. Serious Caitlin is serious. That makes her a prime target for people who like popping egos, like Cassie. Cassie appears to be a brainless beauty, incapable of even calling people by their proper names. I did work on a few nicknames for Cassie to use, like Kitty-Cait for Caitlin. Autumn doesn't even rate a name.
I also got a better introduction to the Jennifers, the first year students. They've been mentioned throughout so far, but having Caitlin interact with them let me show more of them. The Jennifers got their name from one of the more common girl's name around. Jennifer hit number one on baby name lists in the 70s, dropping since. However, tradition is harder to change than popular baby names. The Jennifers aren't feral, but they aren't anyone's priority. They fill the role of useful extra. If this was a webcomic, every Jennifer in a scene would look different while the main cast never notices. The older girls use and abuse the Jennifers as needed.
Tomorrow, The New Girl Chapter 6, "Rock Bottom".
Also tomorrow, over at Psycho Drive-In, tracking the history of adaptations, beginning with the Thirties.
Saturday, over at MuseHack, Ma & Pa Kettle.
Also Saturday, check out Comics Bulletin for comics-related reposts of /Lost in Translation/.
* Teenagers in Ottawa can just cross the river into Gatineau, Quebec, where the age of majority is eighteen. Buying alcohol in Gatineau to drink in private in Ottawa was, until recently, not allowed but impossible to enforce. Even now, there are limits to the amount that can be brought back, but, until there are border controls on the bridges between Ontario and Quebec, the limits aren't enforceable.
** Technically, his specialty is elsewhere, but getting his degree did require a broad knowledge before he specialized.
An important element of Unruly is that the girls had to fall into a legal grey zone. Whatever they did couldn't, or, at least, shouldn't be covered by the Criminal Code of Canada. Rule Two, the Academy is never to get involved, gets broken if the police need to be called out on the girls. If the police are involved, Rule Four, don't get caught, is also broken. The Academy and Ms Stone, the headmistress, crack down hard if either are broken. Last thing anyone wants is their fief being disrupted.
Flora's "hobby", the robot army, doesn't really fall under a specific section of the Criminal Code. The use of them might, but their mere existence isn't proscribed. If they turn out to be dangerous, like in the lab last week, they fall under workplace safety regulations. Even the lasers Flora wants aren't illegal. There is not one Canadian law about owning lasers; again, the regulations are under workplace safety. However, if Flora were to shoot or have one of her robots shoot someone with the lasers, then she could be charged with Assault Causing Bodily Harm. That charge doesn't specify what weapons are and can be used when someone slaps another. Since Flora isn't planning on shooting anyone except her sister's zombie army, which can't suffer bodily harm through the convenience of being dead, she should be safe.
Laura's "gigglesmoke" also falls under a loophole, mainly through how drug laws are created and enforced. Designer drugs aren't necessarily illegal, at least under the Criminal Code. If they were, pharmaceutical companies would have trouble with research and development. A body of law has built up codifying what drugs are and are not illegal, and anything not specifically illegal is, thus, legal. Laura's intoxicant just hasn't been through the legal system, in part because she knows better than to use it where someone could report her use to the police. Given that gigglesmoke is an intoxicant, other laws may come into play. Laura is underage; the age of majority where a teenager can legally smoke and drink alcohol is nineteen in Ontario*. If she were out in public, she could be arrested for public intoxication, which doesn't care about the nature of the intoxicant, and for being intoxicated as a minor.
When I discovered that Flora's lasers were more or less legal to own, I had to verify my research. The Internet is a font of information, but there's no real check on accuracy, even when googling. I turned to friends who have interests and careers in the relevant fields, including one lawyer**. They confirmed my findings - lasers are totally legal to own, provided workplace safety regulations are adhered to. Flora fails in that regard, but no one is reporting her to the Labour Board.
One useful bit of writing advice: When stuck, add something to create a problem for the characters. It's similar to the Raymond Chandler quote, "When in doubt, have a man come through a door with a gun in his hand." The idea is that the character or characters now have an immediate problem that has to be dealt with, letting words be written. During NaNoWriMo, words have to be written. Good thing I introduced Mackenzie earlier. The scene wasn't planned when Mackenzie was first introduced. Mackenzie had other ideas. Mackenzie's return also let me show that consequences do happen.
Back at the Academy, Caitlin is Caitlin. Glib, but I saw the chance to show Laura's roommates without filtering them through Laura and took it. Caitlin can be shamed, as Skye and Autumn demonstrate. The budding world conqueror surprised me in this chapter. Caitlin has a softer side, one that cares. Sure, she cares because what Laura does could affect plans and schemes, but she does care. Caitlin also has little patience for silliness. Serious Caitlin is serious. That makes her a prime target for people who like popping egos, like Cassie. Cassie appears to be a brainless beauty, incapable of even calling people by their proper names. I did work on a few nicknames for Cassie to use, like Kitty-Cait for Caitlin. Autumn doesn't even rate a name.
I also got a better introduction to the Jennifers, the first year students. They've been mentioned throughout so far, but having Caitlin interact with them let me show more of them. The Jennifers got their name from one of the more common girl's name around. Jennifer hit number one on baby name lists in the 70s, dropping since. However, tradition is harder to change than popular baby names. The Jennifers aren't feral, but they aren't anyone's priority. They fill the role of useful extra. If this was a webcomic, every Jennifer in a scene would look different while the main cast never notices. The older girls use and abuse the Jennifers as needed.
Tomorrow, The New Girl Chapter 6, "Rock Bottom".
Also tomorrow, over at Psycho Drive-In, tracking the history of adaptations, beginning with the Thirties.
Saturday, over at MuseHack, Ma & Pa Kettle.
Also Saturday, check out Comics Bulletin for comics-related reposts of /Lost in Translation/.
* Teenagers in Ottawa can just cross the river into Gatineau, Quebec, where the age of majority is eighteen. Buying alcohol in Gatineau to drink in private in Ottawa was, until recently, not allowed but impossible to enforce. Even now, there are limits to the amount that can be brought back, but, until there are border controls on the bridges between Ontario and Quebec, the limits aren't enforceable.
** Technically, his specialty is elsewhere, but getting his degree did require a broad knowledge before he specialized.
2 Mar 2015
Test Run - Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space
Time to test out another game's character generation. This time, I'm working with the Doctor Who Adventures in Time and Space RPG from Cubicle 7. Since the game is using a licensed property, let's get the legal stuff out of the way. Doctor Who and related terms are trademarks of the BBC; the use here is not intended as infringement. What follows below is meant as a demonstration of the game system.
27 Feb 2015
Unruly: The New Girl - Chapter 5
Previously:
"No, stop that! Don't go that way!"
"The Academy has a reputation in town for being dangerous, not without merit."
"The Academy doesn't need the Humane Society or Children's Aid here."
"I need to be ready for when my sister raises her zombie hordes."
Unruly
The New Girl
Chapter 5 - Chocolate Bars and Gigglesmoke
Laura stirred the dregs of her hot chocolate absently. She admitted to herself that Flora was right about the café having the best in the city, even if Flora herself was slightly mad. Laura sighed; the entire Academy seemed to be slightly mad. Worse, for the past half-hour, she had been talking with Flora about how to improve her robot's organic interface. Was she becoming as mad as everyone else there?
"There's no blood flow," Flora said. "I'm using an oxygenation cycle, replacing the blood with a perfluorocarbon emulsion instead. If I don't use bodily fluids, I don't get the Headmistress on my ass about ethics and the proper use of the human body again."
"I still don't see why a computer couldn't do what you want." Laura sipped her hot chocolate. "Smartphones and tablets know which way is up. Why not hook one of those in?"
"The robots are just the first step." Flora set down her mug. "If I can figure out how to connect the squirrel brain to the robot, I can then use that to connect mine to something bigger."
"No, stop that! Don't go that way!"
"The Academy has a reputation in town for being dangerous, not without merit."
"The Academy doesn't need the Humane Society or Children's Aid here."
"I need to be ready for when my sister raises her zombie hordes."
Unruly
The New Girl
Chapter 5 - Chocolate Bars and Gigglesmoke
Laura stirred the dregs of her hot chocolate absently. She admitted to herself that Flora was right about the café having the best in the city, even if Flora herself was slightly mad. Laura sighed; the entire Academy seemed to be slightly mad. Worse, for the past half-hour, she had been talking with Flora about how to improve her robot's organic interface. Was she becoming as mad as everyone else there?
"There's no blood flow," Flora said. "I'm using an oxygenation cycle, replacing the blood with a perfluorocarbon emulsion instead. If I don't use bodily fluids, I don't get the Headmistress on my ass about ethics and the proper use of the human body again."
"I still don't see why a computer couldn't do what you want." Laura sipped her hot chocolate. "Smartphones and tablets know which way is up. Why not hook one of those in?"
"The robots are just the first step." Flora set down her mug. "If I can figure out how to connect the squirrel brain to the robot, I can then use that to connect mine to something bigger."
26 Feb 2015
Unruly - The New Girl Chapter 4 - Commentary
Welcome to the commentary for "Squirrel Brains and History". Please read the chapter first; no need to be spoilered.
The story keeps following Laura as she gets herself lost in the Academy's building. The chapter let me get a bit lighter while still emphasizing that the Academy isn't for normal girls. Case in point, Flora, who is building her own robot army. One of the goals I set out for myself was to make sure that every girl at the school had a reason to be there. They couldn't be up for something illegal, though. Flora and her twin sister, Fawna, are there because they're trying to break the laws of nature and possibly physics. Laura isn't really an exception, which I'll go on about in Chapter 5's commentary.
Flora and Fawna got their names before I discovered the Share a Coke campaign. The idea of the twins started as a running gag. Flora does not look like her sister Fawna, but no one can be bothered telling the two apart. Fawna will make an appearance later, and the difference should be obvious. For now, the mad scientist makes an appearance.
Flora also let me show how others feel about Caitlin. Reality and appearance can differ. The New Girl is the pilot, and getting everyone's personalities down is still in progress. That said, the basics are there. Caitlin is a natural leader, even if she's known to go overboard. Flora has far more experience dealing with Caitlin than Laura, but compare Flora's reaction with Autumn and Skye's.
Alyssa turned out to be a running subplot. Laura is taking her place in Caitlin's dorm room. The mentioning of her is just setting things up for a later arc. Her absence also shows that students do leave the Academy before graduation, sometimes under mysterious circumstances. Alyssa was Caitlin's chemistry expert, specializing in explosive compounds. The Academy had a field house. It hasn't been replaced.
Tomorrow, The New Girl Chapter 5, "Chocolate Bars and Gigglesmoke".
Also tomorrow, over at Psycho Drive-In, fixing The Legend of Chun Li.
Saturday, over at MuseHack, to be determined.
Also Saturday, check out Comics Bulletin for comics-related reposts of Lost in Translation.
The story keeps following Laura as she gets herself lost in the Academy's building. The chapter let me get a bit lighter while still emphasizing that the Academy isn't for normal girls. Case in point, Flora, who is building her own robot army. One of the goals I set out for myself was to make sure that every girl at the school had a reason to be there. They couldn't be up for something illegal, though. Flora and her twin sister, Fawna, are there because they're trying to break the laws of nature and possibly physics. Laura isn't really an exception, which I'll go on about in Chapter 5's commentary.
Flora and Fawna got their names before I discovered the Share a Coke campaign. The idea of the twins started as a running gag. Flora does not look like her sister Fawna, but no one can be bothered telling the two apart. Fawna will make an appearance later, and the difference should be obvious. For now, the mad scientist makes an appearance.
Flora also let me show how others feel about Caitlin. Reality and appearance can differ. The New Girl is the pilot, and getting everyone's personalities down is still in progress. That said, the basics are there. Caitlin is a natural leader, even if she's known to go overboard. Flora has far more experience dealing with Caitlin than Laura, but compare Flora's reaction with Autumn and Skye's.
Alyssa turned out to be a running subplot. Laura is taking her place in Caitlin's dorm room. The mentioning of her is just setting things up for a later arc. Her absence also shows that students do leave the Academy before graduation, sometimes under mysterious circumstances. Alyssa was Caitlin's chemistry expert, specializing in explosive compounds. The Academy had a field house. It hasn't been replaced.
Tomorrow, The New Girl Chapter 5, "Chocolate Bars and Gigglesmoke".
Also tomorrow, over at Psycho Drive-In, fixing The Legend of Chun Li.
Saturday, over at MuseHack, to be determined.
Also Saturday, check out Comics Bulletin for comics-related reposts of Lost in Translation.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)