Off Armageddon Reef - David Weber

There are two ways of looking at this book from the perspective of one who's read quite a bit of sci-fi. Either it's a good addition to the volumes on this particular topic, or else it's a not to inventive retelling of a familiar theme. I'd like to lean towards the first, but there's no denying that this story will be familiar to readers. At it's base we have the Connecticut Yankee scenario, civilization has fallen on the colony world and the main character is ready to bring it back up to its space faring roots. The first few chapters lay the groundwork of what has come before, and I'm tempted to say that it's the most heart filled part of this tale, as the alien exterminators crush the last human resistance save for one small fleet, ark ships sent to establish a colony and go on low tech silent running to evade detection.

Once they get there however we have something that could have come out of Zelazny's Lord of Light, a split between those who would set themselves up as gods of a permanently agrarian pre-industrial society, and those who want to keep the knowledge of what has come before alive so that their descendants can take back the stars. Needless to say, the deicrats win, even though the techies manage to squirrel away one of their android bodies(along with a few high tech goodies) for 500 years or so. And now we awaken a living computer to guide humanity back to the stars(The General Series by David Drake), keep the barbarians from sacking what may be the last bastion of civilization(Lest Darkness Fall, L. Sprague De Camp) holding out against a violently anti-tech mother church and the added complication of an orbital space array set to destroy any telltale emissions(Greatwinter Trilogy, Sean Mcmullen).

We of course go through our checklist when encountering a more primitive society you wish to bootstrap up. Gunpowder? Check, they already have that but the protagonist introduces a better mixture. Rifled Weapons? Check, as well as Mine Balls. Better Ships and Cannons? Schooners, Galleons(the current navies are anchored on rowed galleys) and cassions. Cotton Gin? Check. And so on and so forth. As Nimue, now in her gender bending role as the teacher Merlin guides the fledgling kingdom(And yes, Excalibur makes an appearance as a machine forged sword of 'battle steel').

There are a few places where we get interesting factors in play, such as Nimue being schooled in the Japanese sword arts and trying to teach that to essentially medieval Europeans. As well as the aforementioned gender bending...but otherwise it' simply a rather predictable grind. Not that the grind isn't enjoyable of course, Weber definitely knows how to write military fiction, and learning how Nimue deals with the next ordeal was enough to keep me interested. However some of the other characters fall flat, especially their antagonists, are pretty archetypal, and I found myself skimming while their parts came up, or when it discussed their religious structure, an undisguised take-off on Catholicism. Which is a little strange in itself as the early discussions feature ancient Egypt as the historical near ideal for a static society(Which I'm not sure I agree with, as opposed to perhaps a far eastern Confucian example, but we digress).

From Bring The Light by David Drake, to A Fire Upon The Deep by Vernor Vinge, one wonders if this bootstrapping of technological progress should have a genre all its own. As it is, this addition to the type doesn't really have any portions that I can point out as especially bad, but nor does it have many extraordinary qualities either. Good writing, but it feels like we're just going through the motions, without anything "special" to make it stand out, the exciting story makes up for this, but there really isn't much tension. When you're a neigh immortal android body, waiting another century or two of stony sleep isn't that terrible of an idea as it seems that technological progress was beginning to seep in through the cracks anyways. Her motivation being to stop a holy war, but one that most likely won't destroy civilization on the planet, so it's very hard to see the urgency that she seems to feel.

Anyways, solid work, but predictable and made less forgivable given that Weber has already written on this very topic in Heirs of Empire, which in my opinion did it better with more sympathetic characters and in about half the length(Off Armageddon Reef weighs in at about 800 pages...and promises to be only the first in the series given that they hadn't even made any steps towards working around the orbital bombardment/sword of damocles over their heads). I'll pick up the next in the series, but it probably won't be a priority for me.

Prologue

Okay, so I figured that it's about time I showed my face around here. So, here's a quick "hey". I'm Sera-Star and I'm the video game reviewer. Now, I'll generally be reviewing RPG's since that's mostly what I play. On occasion, I'll be reviewing other types of games as well as platforms/systems.

Now, like any good RPG, I like taking something simple (in this case, a review) and making it very complicated. Generally, a five-star scale is used to review something. Well, mine will still be a five star scale with stars for Graphics, Character Design, Music, Story, and Gameplay. Now, a game will gain a star if I feel it did well in a particular category. If I feel it did exceptionally, it will gain an extra star. So, max score for a game if I felt it did both well (i.e. upheld the standard or was unique in some way) and excelled (I, personally, really liked it, etc.) would be 10 out of 5.

Yeah, I know, I know, there are so many simpler ways to do this, but, there's nothing like a 10 out of 5 to show something's awesomeness, lol. :)

Anyway, I'll be back soon enough with a review. Until then.

-- Sera-Star

Mini-Update, Writing

Just a small update, as it's been a busy week or so. Anyways, in case you didn't know, I'm an aspiring writer. My work is now being featured up on the Often Inspired site. Check out my short story, Inkblots in the member's section or else the novel I wrote for Nanowrimo, which is being serialized over there.

By the way, just because you, my faithful readers deserve something good. Go watch Expendable life through the eyes of a henchman.

I expect I'll be back up to schedule on updating by the end of the month, though I do hope to keep new content coming up at least sporadically. We will see how things go.

Sun of Suns - Karl Schroeder

"And for some reason, the thought that Admiral Fanning was dead, or soon would be, was no consolation. Who cares about him? some unexpeected part of him said. Only you, and what do you matter?"
-Karl Schroeder, from Sun of Suns

Hayden Griffin has just seen his family and his homeland destroyed at the hands of one Admiral Fanning, and swears revenge. A basic premise for any fantasy or space opera, except of course for the fact that he lives within a fullerene balloon(a dwarf cousing to a Dyson Sphere) and that his parents were killed because they were trying to create a sun. And now, after years of hatred and revenge driving him, what happens when he realizes that perhaps, the Admiral is not the monster he is believed to be.

Mixing a classical set of fantasy tropes with some surpising use of hard science, this makes what could have turned out to be a tiring rehash into an interesting and enlightening read. Heated by a central sun as well as smaller peripherary suns created by nation flotillas of wheeled towns and cities(the wheel is the basic shape to create more than microgravity), the space between becomes a sea with ever moving landmasses. And of course Winter, where no light penetrates through the clouds, and Sargassos where the air has gone stale and toxic, deadly to all without their clockwork space suits. Because of certain factors, which I won't tell for fear of spoiling the book, there is a mix of advanced and primitive technology at work, kerosene powered jet bikes for short range travel, and large wooden hulled sailing vessels ply the tradeways.

It feels like Schroeder has created a fully realized world, one with history and myth, as well as wonder and danger. The sciences of the cloud formations seem quite well thought out, though as I am no meteorologist I can't give more than a "it makes logical sense to me" opinion. The whole politics of nations in orbit around each other is something that is quite interesting, something that few other books have tackled.

The book reads like naval fiction, set in a space opera backround and a steampunk spirit with hard science added into the mix. I for one am looking quite forward to the second book in the series, but either way it's an excellent read. Perhaps not for everybody, but if you keep an open mind coming into it then I believe most will enjoy the vivid scenes that combine the otherworldly and familiar. Sun of Suns has my recommendation.

Linkfest 2

Being in the mid-week schlump and not quite ambitious enough to post another book review yet, here's another linkfest.

Five Most Horrifying Bugs In The World because it's possible that you aren't quite terrified enough of creepy crawlies. Actually there aren't really creepy crawlies there as much as bitey and stingeys, though the last one does fit. Just...keep them all away from me.

On the lighter side, we have A Gentleman's Duel a steampunk romantic comedy. Or at least an excuse to watch animated steam powered mechs and some vast....tracts of land!

On a similar vein...well, as similar as steampunk romance can be to pre-apocalyptic zombie comedy, is Tofu the Vegan Zombie. As an added plus one of the voice actors is Ellen Muth, who starred in Dead Like Me, frightening off door-to-door missionaries. Anyways, go watch, and ask yourself, can love(and mad science) conquer death?

This I found really intesting, Sweet Power, or how to convert natural sugars in our blood into a continuous power supply. Those biomechanical implants you always wanted for your android future self are getting closer as we speak.

And for the inner geek.... Star Trek XI Trailer. First thoughts: Neat! And then of course the pedantic mental voice started going crazy over the difficulty of building a spaceship on-planet. But we will not go into mindless fan-chatter right now, let us focus on the fact that there will be a new Star Trek movie soon, not to mention hope that it's better than the last few.

Finally, we end with Troubleshooting your Time Machine. A serious business, at least if you don't want to end up in giant pig-mantis ruled medieval France.

Of Mice and Men...or Rats and Players

Mal: Well, look at this! Appears we got here just in the nick of time. What does that make us?
Zoe: Big damn heroes, sir!
Mal: Ain't we just?
-from Firefly

One of the main pitfalls of having a GM and players is all too often the GM gets caught up in creating a challenge for the players that they see themselves as their opponent. But in my opinion, one must realize that they're actually working together. The players create the world as much as the GM, by rough magic and flashing swords they shape it, and in the end it is an effort in cooperative storytelling. And in most cases, that means that the GM must have a hand in offering the players opportunities to be, simply put, BIG DAMN HEROES.

The players should never feel like they're rats in a maze, or pawns in someone else's game...they may well be, but they should never have to feel that way. Agent of one's own destiny, if such a thing is possible, or else at least given the opportunity to laugh in the face of death and face it head on. They may not win all the time, but they should never feel inconsequential. Never should they feel that they have no choice, there should always be choice, and an opportunity to be heroes, not just people being tossed around, their victories have to mean something. Players come with characters that are most often diamonds in the rough, they'll be shaped and sharpened by the challenges they have to overcome,and hopefully polished to a heroic luster.

Anyways, remember, while a GM should challenge the players, they shouldn't put them in untenable situations with little recourse but to follow along. Not to mention of course, the need to let your heroes shine.

Mighty Mooks!

Kobold, Gremlin, Orc, Cultist, whatever their label we all know these people, just enough threat to hold the countryside down, yet sword fodder to the first real adventurers that swing through.

Now I went through quite a few cheesy titles for this posts including, Making Mooks More Meaty, Mooks Mess up Mercurial Marauding Characters, The Little People, Goons, Goblins, and You, and similarly themed options certain to elicit groans. Because lets face it, after the first few levels most game systems give you characters that can plow through them without breathing heavy. But that doesn't mean that you have to leave these fellows behind, there's a certain charm to seeing a party brought low by a bunch of kobolds.

Now the obvious option is to simply level them up, they have adventures too, right? The problem with that is twofold, first and foremost it makes more work for you, secondly, the players might feel cheated by it. "What do you mean that gnome is an epic level barbarian!" This is one of the places where I'll say that detail is unneeded, faceless minion #165 might be facing a troubled marriage and is a concert violinist, but be honest with yourself, why waste time coming up with a background when he'll be dead before dawn.

What I think is an acceptable solution is to spend a little bit thinking about the tactical situation. Often heroes will be venturing into the mook's home ground, aka, the first line of defense. Traps are always a favorite, although can be unbalancing if the PC that can actually find them is absent, or even if nobody thought to create one to begin with. But what I think that you need to remember is that there are other ways of fighting besides standing face to face battering swords, the holy trinity in most RPG games is Grapple, Trip, and Disarm. Swarm tactics, helping each other out for bonuses, and then getting the PC's to where they can ram their dirty little feet u...errr, lets just say in a vulnerable position. Other tactics include nasty little things to slow the heroes down, nets work well, and in certain situations weapons with reach allow some survivability to your mooks(not that you should expect them to survive, but you should at least hope to wear the Heroes down). Remember, weak does not mean dumb.

The other situation that you have mooks in is where you're likely just teaching the PCs the rules of the game. Here is where I think you're validated in making your tactics for the mooks less than optimal, use them to illustrate maneuvers that the PCs have as options. Again, grappling, tripping, disarming, all valid, and there are some settings that allow other options, being intimidated by a little lizard man will at least wring out a few laughs. And don't be afraid to include a little camp or humor in their portrayal, or what the heroes do to them.

The only other thing to mention is that if you're going to be rolling up treasure, take a moment to do it beforehand...and let them use it if they can. A magic wand or weapon or something of that nature can give ample opportunities for adding some depth to the encounter.

Anyways, hopefully this little primer has given you some ideas, although it is by no means exhaustive. If you'd like to share some of your tactics for the making and breaking of mooks, feel free to comment.

Refusal of the Call

"Often in actual life, and not infrequently in the myths and popular tales, we encounter the dull case of the call unanswered; for it is always possible to turn the ear to other interests. Refusal of the summons converts the adventure into its negative."
-The Hero With A Thousand Faces, by Joseph Campbell

So you've plotted out the adventure, statted out the dungeon, and dropped the hook right in front of the PC's...and then they don't take it. In fact, they decide to go the opposite way entirely. Is it time to toss your campaign notes, throw a fit, or try to railroad them back onto track via kidnapping/impending doom/geas? No, of course not, but it doesn't mean that nothing happens either.

This time we'll look at three strategies to use when this happens, in the interest in not only making an enjoyable adventure now that you have to think from scratch, but also in helping with the worldbuilding, a dynamic world is something that is vastly more rewarding in my opinion than one that remains static aside from the PC's actions.
1. The world of adventure
2. You are not alone
3. Things happen without the PC's, or NPC's have lives too!

The World Of Adventure
One thing that I like to do is to map out the area. No need to be drawing whole continents and landscapes just yet, though I know the temptation is there. Look for geological features, they* say that geography is destiny, and they aren't far wrong. Because let's face it, fantasy worlds are more often than not just a bunch of stereotypes bunched together in a formulaic manner. Mountain? Dwarves. Forest? Elves. Hills? Giants. etc. etc.

What I personally like to do is, if they've abandoned the big huge evil rising in the east, then offer options. Just sketch out enough of a scenario in each direction that they can be heroic, even if it is for lesser stakes. Having a few premade scenarios lifted from the net can be a lifesaver in these times, it doesn't take much to have people start complaining about monsters, villains, and the like. Drop those scenarios into locations and have the rumors start flying. No need to fully flesh out any one scenario unless they take the bait, and then a random encounter on the way often will give you enough breathing room to start building.

And just because you planned out that dungeon for one area doesn't mean that it won't serve perfectly well now. Change out a few of the non generic monsters and tweak the treasure and boss battle a bit, and if they want a dungeon crawl(despite crawling away from the one with the plot macguffin in it), there you have it.

You Are Not Alone
All those stores stocking adventuring gear aren't there just for the PC's. Well, they are, but they don't have to be. Unless they're specifically the chosen ones, it's not too far fetched to have other adventuring groups step up to the plate. One example that I would like to give is an aborted adventure turned ghastly. The PC's had recently decided about halfway through a mission to destroy some ghouls that it was time to move on(a theme you'll hear often), headed off to the large city to find, well booze, women and something to spend their ill gotten gains on. When they return a few weeks later, the town is a very different place, their favorite pub is now a ghoul holding area, and the town itself is under new management. One NPC that had been an aid to the players earlier, a sorcerer, and the half orc bartender with a heart of gold had teamed up to keep the town from being overrun by ghouls, unfortunately the sorcerer's solution was one that ended with him as the new mayor, and dissenters thrown to the ghouls.

This is something that I might touch upon later, amicable evil, moralities become quite interesting when it turns out that the PC's are the ones that caused the chain of events that have blackened the countryside. By their inaction, not to mention earlier saving the sorcerer and rekindling the orc's joy in battle, the town has now transformed from Basic Adventurer Podunk, into Ghoul Infested Wasteland. Another technique to spice up an otherwise routine mission that you had to create on the fly is to throw in the doppelganger adventure group, perhaps they came earlier than the PC's and all that are left are dead monsters and heroes basking in the glow of the treasure room. Or they come later than the PC's and demand the macguffin for their own quest.

Things Happen Without the PC's or NPC's have lives too!
As illustrated above, things happen without the players characters. The war that the players decided not to stop suddenly starts drying up the goods to the city. And then you have a whole new adventure of riots in the streets and a scramble to buy goods, churches are mobbed as those that can create food suddenly become in demand, and booze, the bread and butter of adventurer life becomes worth its weight in gold. Or else they might wake up to find their favorite watering hole under new management.

The other side to the coin is that NPC's can be a wonderful way to pump life into an otherwise boring section of play. In another post I'll do a more detailed look at the lives of NPC's, although for right now I'll keep it short. Even if the players don't really want to leave the tavern there are plenty to keep them occupied, or at least to enjoy. Because let's not kid ourselves, a massive and epic plot with cinematic scenes may be what you had in mind, but really, as long as the players are enjoying the game, that's what matters. Here are a few ideas for the tavern; late night fight club, the champion being a werebear. Is that the missing noble woman up there doing the dance of nine veils? If so, then why, if not, then who is it? Excuse me waiter, there's a kobold in my beer! And the ever popular "unnamed gate guard who pesters us for papers when we come into town" on his off day.

There you have it, three quick ways to make sure that your Players enjoy, despite having to go off the planned route. Really, that's the main thing about playing, people should enjoy it, and they should have actual choice in what their characters do. As a GM or DM or Storyteller, you shouldn't be afraid to improvise a little bit, even if it means putting that villain on the backburner for a few weeks(though just because they're on the backburner doesn't mean that they aren't keeping busy as well)

*They being the international Conspiracy of Cartographers in league with the Bavarian Illuminati to create a mass illusion known as England

Linkfest

Every now and then(i.e. When I'm feeling lazy), we'll have a linkfest of neat things found around the net. Ranging from geekery and mad science to simply awesome.

Since I think everybody needs a time waster, I submit TV Tropes where no plot device or character is new under the sun. In fact it's been used, reused, and overdosed a few times before it actually arrives, and now you can see how all your favorite shows, books, and movies are all a comglomeration of tropes and stereotpes. Either way it'll pull you for a few hours.

Doomsday Device Keychain for the inner villain in you that can't wait to laugh as they burst into your inner sanctum and say "Escape this, superfools!" while the walls come crumbling down around you(Become a load bearing villain today!)

On a sweeter note, 3d Printing with sugar! Or, your very own replicator, Star Trek eat your heart out. Actually that's probably exactly what would happen. "Earl Gray, hot....What is this? Sugar water, in a sugar cup?!?"

Also worthy of mention is this week's Dresden Codak and the appearance of the Future Preenactment Society. "Because the best history has yet to be written." Truly, the memoirs of the Gorilla Guerilla War are a sight to behold.

A modern interpretation of Carmen Sandiego by college humor. Language warning...actually massive language warning, but quite funny.

To close up with something a little more kid friendly, we have Baby's First Mythos something that looks like an awesome gift if any of your Lovecraftian friends manage to actually breed(a frightening thought to be sure).

The Savage World of Solomon Kane

"Far back in Kane's gloomy eyes a scintillant light had begun to glimmer, like a witch's torch glinting under fathoms of cold gray ice. His blood quickened. Adventure! The lure of life-risk and battle! The thrill of breathtaking, touch-and-go drama!"
-Skulls in the Stars, by Robert E. Howard

The name Robert E. Howard, unfortunately these days the name will all too often conjure up images of a barely dressed Arh-nuld as Conan in a campy B movie. Which is a shame because it turns people off from one of the great Pulp authors, and one which in my opinion deserves more attention. Thankfully, Pinnacle Entertainment Group has faithfully adapted one of his lesser known characters into their latest rules setting.

As a fan of Robert E. Howard, and especially Solomon Kane, the grim, driven, Puritan adventurer(not to mention better clothed than most of his other characters), and was more than a little excited to get my hands on this rulebook. For anyone not familiar with the character, or of Howard outside a campy movie, go read a few of the short stories, many of them available online on Project Gutenberg Australia I personally recommend starting with either the Solomon Kane or the Bran Mak Morn stories to whet your appetite. Although the book does provide summaries of the stories, they simply don't do justice to the Howard's writing.

But let us get into the book itself. First off, it's solid. No flimsy paperback here, this one could stand up to use. Second of all, it's simply very visually appealing book, some people would like to get down to the nitty gritty first off, but with full color pictures, and plenty of them, it's a pleasure to read. The pictures also help to paint in the world of Solomon Kane, adventures in strange venues against macabre forces and uncaring enemies. This world was still wild and empty around the edges, with priests to old gods and races of beast yet undiscovered.

The meat of the game is of course the Savage Worlds system. To my shame this is the first product that I have purchased for that system, having heard rather disparaging comments from the D20 advocates that I game with. However if you're used to only D&D or other D20 systems, fear not! It'd take a whole other entry to go over the rules in depth, but let me say that they Savage Worlds rules are easy to understand and intuitive. The biggest difference most veterans of a D20 system will face is the classless character building, which will make leveling up and creating characters much less painful. And the included character sheet is especially well made for easy understanding. Just in case anyone is wondering, this is not just a setting book, but an entire self contained game, with the Savage Worlds rules included, even if one was to play the setting with a different system, the book is something that has enough flavor and ideas to get it just for that.

While I'm not going to review the rules as a whole, there are a few places where Solomon Kane diverges from the standard Savage Worlds. The chief of these being the magic system. Instead of power points, the Kane book uses a more ritualistic variant, one more in line with Howard's writings of juju men and dark priest pacts with unknown forces. Each spell has a difficulty modifier, and time spent concentrating can decrease the difficulty. If one is unlucky enough to fail at an attempt to cast, there's a backlash table with all sorts of nasty side effects. Something I think is much more cinematic than "You lose the spell." The other thing is that magic essentially has 2 schools, Shamanism and Sorcery, with each having a different ability being their key, Spirit and Smarts respectively. The intention seeming to be that each would have their advantages and disadvantages, however it seems that most of the Powers/Spells themselves are modified by Smarts for range, with only a few exceptions. One quibble would be that the range be modified by the chief spellcasting ability, except in particular cases(It makes sense that one like Transfer Soul would have a range of Spirit, but it seems arbitrary that one like Slumber would have a range based on Smarts). But either way, if you're looking for a high magic world where fireballs have frequent flier cards, then you're looking in the wrong place, the magic here is gritty, difficult, and often macabre(an example being the spell to animate your hand post amputation, and no, it doesn't grow back afterwards).

Now we get to the meat of the book, info on the game setting and the campaign. As I mentioned, I'm new to the Savage Worlds products, but their adventures and plot point style really resonates with me. It's a little more structured than a freeform adventure, but it'll really help out an overloaded GM. And the fact that instead of simple information, many of the NPC interactions are in the form of question/answers seem to really put the GM at ease. However this comes at the price of a bit of railroading, though if done well enough with a GM that can improvise a bit, I think it's something that should be more or less undetectable. To save space in the section, several of the mooks and villains faced have their stats in the bestiary at the back of the book, with a few modifications mentioned, however one thing I found annoying was that those that do have their stats mentioned in the adventure most often don't appear in the monster bestiary. Now this isn't a necessary thing, but I would have liked some reference in the bestiary to where I could find their stats in the campaign.

But that I'm quibbling over something as minor as that just goes to show that all in all it's a very well put together product. Something gamers can hop into and enjoy, and Howard fans can be proud of, and people who are both can use to introduce to those that are neither. Even if you never get another Savage Worlds book there's enough here that it doesn't matter, it's self contained and provides plenty of material, though if you're like me you'll likely be checking out the rest of what is offered, I'm definitely impressed, not only with the system, but with the quality of the product. The Savage World of Solomon Kane definitely has my recommendation as being worth the investment.