I discovered Sheri S. Tepper as an author when I was in middle school.  My mom had taken me to the Downtown Portland Public Library and in the Young Adult section I found the book Jinian Star-Eye sitting on the display racks.  The cover intrigued me, and the Title and short synopsis cinched it and I took the book home.  I tore through it like crazy and completely fell in love with the character of Jinian as well as the world in which she lived.  I ended up checking out the book several more times during the years in Middle and High School.  Honestly I can’t even remember how many times I read the book before I discovered that it was really book 9 of a 9 book series.

So begin my love affair with all of Sheri S. Tepper’s Sci-Fi/Fantasy books.  I have virtually all of them, though some of her first works are harder to come by these days.  Due to my school schedule over the last couple years, as well as the rest of life, I have fallen behind on reading her latest works though I am starting to get caught up.  Right now I am reading The Fresco, which is proving to be yet another excellent book.  While I love her style of writing and how she tracks the story from several different angles by jumping between characters from chapter to chapter eventually bringing them together as the story unfolds, I also love her underlying themes.  Her themes resonate strongly with me especially those about how we treat each other, what it means to be a creature that is truly part of our world, and even what it means to be human as well as how we treat the planet we call home.  I find that her works really cause me to rethink how we as humans are managing, or not, ourselves and what could be done to fix many of the social ills we suffer from.

If you are looking for a new author to try out in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre then I highly recommend Sheri S. Tepper, My favorites are Beauty and Gate to Women’s Country, though The Fresco and The Family Tree might be an easier jump in for some people as they take place on Earth.  I know I am one of her biggest fans, I named my daughter Jinian after the book that started it all for me.

There are so many places to gain inspiration for the plots that a DM throws their character group into. For me I find much of my inspiration comes from the books have read as well as the movies I have watched, that combined with my own vivid and active imagination. Since I run primarily Fantasy Genre games there is not much from the modern day that I draw from. However, my husband has introduced me a show that, while a number of years old, would provide plenty of plot ideas for the modern or near future genre DM.

Mission Impossible

Our current old TV show on Netflix is Mission Impossible; which aired from 1966 to 1973. For me this puts the show airing before I was even born, but it is still awesome enough to deserve watching. I would dare say that we have all heard of it, especially the “this message will self destruct” quote, but many of us have not actually watched it; at least I hadn’t until this last month. The show definitely shows it age in the dress and manners of the actors, but the plot is top rate, as is the scripting. It is an excellent training for anyone looking to run a Shadowrun game or better yet a D20 modern game. The situations are great, and far better than what I could think up. And even if your players were complete Mission Impossible buffs the randomness of the dice rolls and character skill sets would prevent them from following the script of the show exactly. Heck, even in the show it often doesn’t go as planned and they have to fake it and fly off the cuff to get through and out again.

In the last episode we watched, the group of agents had to infiltrate a foreign group looking to do something in the way of an attack on America.  To infiltrate the group to learn what it they were doing and stop it, they captured another group of people who were supposed to go to the training session and then pretended to be them.  In the end this had he agents pretending to be foreigners in a training environment learning how to be American’s.  I won’t give away the whole plot, but just this group of American agents pretending to be foreign agents who were to be pretending to be American’s was rather enjoyable to watch.

So if you are looking for new and fresh plot ideas for your games, then I suggest you take a look at some older TV shows and movies to see what they have to offer.  Not everyone sitting at your table will be in the know of the show’s plot and you can add fuel to your creative GM imagination bringing your games to life.

99 Cent Costume Workshop

Every year that I have been to Orycon (which is the last several) the Portland Costumer’s Guild has put on the 99 Cent Costume Workshop.  I am sharing this great idea so that other groups might stumble upon this post and decide to do the same thing at their convention as well.

So what is it?

Well the guild brings in multiple boxes of scrap material and other various bit and pieces of electronics and other stuff.  All of it are things that no one really wants anymore.  Some of the fabric is sizable, like a half to full yard, but most are smaller pieces like remnants from a pattern cutting.  All of these items are dumped into a mound on the floor in the front of the panel room while the attendees gather in the chairs for instructions.

Once the appropriate time has come and everyone that needs to be there from the Guild is there the “workshop” begins.  Each year there is a different theme and we are instructed to not only make costumes from the items in the heap, but also generate a short back-story for our character.  While there are not many kids that go to this workshop it is a shame as my kids have really enjoyed going to this every year.

We are given about 45 minutes to generate our costumes and stories.  In addition to the various scraps of fabric, ribbon, electrical cords and the like we are provided with glue guns, duct tape, and scissors to assist our endeavors.  There is a good amount of teamwork that happens as people see where others are going with their costumes and either offer to help them or find items in the heap that would add to their décor.

Is it a contest?

In a manner of speaking it is, but the prizes are generally low key.  The first couple years I did it the Costumer’s Guild gave out prizes that they made during the event pulling from the same material that we used to make our costumes.  Of course to do this requires you to have enough base material to draw from.  One year they decorated CDs, another year it was hats, and one year it was these odd disk shaped things (see the picture from 2009 below and look at what my kids are holding).

There are also usually other prizes that are given out for things like “Best Costume”, “Best Back-story”, “Best Robot”, “Best Animal”, and “Best of anything you can think of”.  Usually there are enough small prizes like kid’s books, candy bars, or light switch plates that everyone gets something.

And then when all is said and done there is the packing up of the event and the endless encouragement from the Guild to take home anything you want from the heap.  This is because if they wanted this stuff it wouldn’t be in the heap in the first place.

Themes and Pictures from Years Past

2010 – Alice in Wonderland

This time we were to make characters that would be auditioning to be in Alice and Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.

This is my daughter in her completed Multi-Color Cheshire Cat Costume

My son made himself into a robot which would protect Alice from the Red Queen.  He did pretty much all of this himself, I only assisted with a small portion of the hot gluing until he figured out how to manage that himself.

My entry was of Little Blue Riding Hood who was rather upset about having being beat out by Little Red Riding Hood for the other gig and decided to try out here instead.  Sadly as I was wielding the camera I didn’t score a picture of me.

2009: Alien Dreams

We were all aliens whose alarm clocks had sadly woken us each up from a great dream, and as we rushed to get ready for our day we had just enough time to piece together the great inspiration of our dream that we had been having prior to waking up.

Here are the three kids that attended the workshop in 2009. Left is Z, who dressed as a kind of robot complete with his weaponry.  Right is my son, who was a statue that was protecting someone (this picture does not show the great lampshade head armor he had engineered).  And Center is my daughter who was a teenage princess complete with her cell phone crown.  [Note: I just finally got the piece of material she is wearing as her dress removed from her dress up bin this last weekend]

Sadly, again, there is no picture of me and my great costume from this year that I have a copy of.  I was so busy helping these 3 with their costumes I didn’t have time to work on my own.  So in the last 5 minutes Guild members and the kids were throwing together a costume for me.  It included a dress type look, complete with two Earth idols, one of each from the great icons of the planet as understood from space, Indiana Jones and Sponge Bob.  I believe I still have both of them around somewhere.

Beyond Orycon

I think that this is not only a great idea for a Science Fiction Convention like Orycon, and I sincerely hope it will be back again this year as me and my kids look forward to it all year, it can also carry over to a birthday party or other gathering.  I can see this working well for a pre-teen or teenager Birthday party.  I can even see it working at something like a bachelorette party where you make wedding gowns.  The possibilities are virtually endless.  So have you been to an event like this one?

LARPs in Pacific Northwest

Before you head off into the land of LARP you need to understand the two basic types of LARP that exist. The first is Boffer LARP and the second is Non-Boffer LARP. Let’s look at these a little bit closer.

Boffer LARP

Most Boffer LARP’s I have encountered are based in a medieval time frame; usually a fantasy setting that includes some form of magic. There are a group of people that run the game, they decide the plot and play out all of the NPC’s from the wench at the inn to the dragon in the cave. Then there is a group of players, they dress up as their character and attempt to navigate the various plots that are thrown their way. Some events are single day and others are weekend long where you are your character both day and night. Typically there is an over-bridging story arc that carries from one event to another, while smaller stories come and go along the way.

Links to Boffer LARP’s in the PNW

Alliance Oregon
Alliance Seattle
Amtgard
SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) – Kingdom of An Tir
Legacies

Non-Boffer LARP’s

Non-Boffer LARP’s come in a greater variety of setting then do their counterparts; everything from -cavemen to vampires are covered this way. Resolution of skills is usually done via Rochambeau or through other means that do not involve actually swinging a weapon or rolling dice. Usually these events are single day events, and some carry a story arc that covers multiple events. This variety of LARP lends itself well to a convention setting as no weapons are required making it more hotel friendly. Costuming is strongly encouraged to help set the mood and make staying in character easier.

Links to Non-Boffer LARP’s in the PNW

Shag LARP

All in the setting

One of the things that really helps with the atmosphere of any RPG is having the setting down right.  In the fantasy based games I run that is fairly easy to accomplish as they are not required to stick to any hard laws of anything, including physics.  Magic, deities, or mystical creatures can go a long way towards explaining away any difference between your game world and the standard reality that we all live in.

Floor Plans

Office Building

However, when you are running a modern or near future game the requirement for the setting to more closely match the reality we live in increases greatly.  One way to add that finishing touch is to have detailed maps of the major buildings that are part of your plot.  With all the detail that goes into a modern building this can be a major time sink for the DM.  To help solve this problem, here are a number of links to various building types whose floor plans are out on the internet.  If you don’t find what you are looking for here, just do a web search for building floor plans.

Floor Plan Links

Science Research Building (Stanford’s Lorry I. Lokey Stem Cell Research Building)

Academic Building (The Centennial Campaign for UW-La Crosse)

Observatory (Griffith Observatory)

Office Building (Wellington E. Webb Municipal Office Building

Auquarium/Oceanarium (Shedd Aquarium and Oceanarium)

We have found that while we really love our truly gamer geared board games, we are always on the lookout for those games that have great general appeal. In our house this are referred to as cross-over games and they can bring both gamers and non-gamers to the table for some good fun.

One of the easiest types of games to introduce to non-gamers are card games. Here I would recommend introducing the crowd you are playing with to Fluxx 4.0. This great little game has simple rules, that change over time but don’t generally lose a person. Since Flux starts with the simple rule of draw a card, play a card it is easy to teach. If you haven’t played before, it is really fairly simple, and even my kids can mange it quite nicely.

Another easy to play game, that has already hit mainstream in many areas is Apples to Apples Party Box – The Game of Hilarious Comparisons. This game is a card based game that has players placing cards into play based on their belonging to a particular category. The challenge comes from that each player takes turns determining the winning card of each hand. So to win a hand you must be able to judge how the other person will judge the cards. Not everyone has the same definition of gross after all.

If you are looking for a board game to pass away some time at the latest family gathering, I would suggest Gift TRAP Game. There is no gamer knowledge required for this game, of giving and taking of gifts. Each hand of play there are a number of cards representing various gifts that can be given. Each player marks gifts with hidden tokens to represent the level of like or dislike they have towards the gift. As an example I would love to get a trip to Disney World, but would hate to get a skydiving lesson. Then each player gives another a gift, no doubling up, and then points are scored. To win you have to manage to receive enough gifts that you like, as well as give enough gifts that other people like. It is a great way to learn a little more about the family or friends that you are playing with.

CloneFactory Image from laughingsquid

Courtesy of my gamer friends on Facebook I was introduced to a company from Japan called CloneFactory.  For around $1750 the will make a 20″ doll with an amazing, and rather freaky, resemblance to you, according to this post on laughingsquid.  I am not really sure why anyone would need a 20″ doll that has that much realism to it.  I can see where the adult industry could use this for larger dolls in the future though…

In case you don’t have enough bacon at your house may I suggest that you add a plush talking bacon to your collection?  This discovery was actually made at a friends house during the holiday season of 2010.  The primary reason it sticks in my memory banks is that the house where I saw it was a vegetarian house, hardly the local for a plush bacon.  The gentleman of the house had received it as a gift from a friend, just a gentle ribbing over the great food he is missing out on.  You can pick this up at ThinkGeek.com, I suggest using one of my ads so you help support this website (I know, shameless plug).

There are a ton of cutesy costume ideas out on the internet for all the regular people, but us gamer folks tend to like things a bit more interesting.  This costume idea doesn’t even really require that you purchase or make all the items, there is the off chance you may even own some of them already.  So you ask, what did I find out on the web.  Well, I found costumes from the anime series The Big O for Roger Smith and Dorothy.

For those that haven’t seen this series, I recommend it as this anime is quite entertaining. It is set in a future time, where people have lost their memories. Roger Smith is an expert negotiator, who befriends the android R. Dorothy Wayneright and uses his giant robot to help battle the evil forces that try to influence the world.  He is at odds with the local police, but is also an asset to them as well.

Roger Smith Costume

Roger Smith’s look is a simple black suit which he is always in. I found that you can buy not only the suit, but also order a wig to don his coif if you can’t manage it with your own hair.  While ordering the costume is the easiest way to get the look, any black double breasted suit jacket and sufficient shoulder padding and tailoring could provide the desired effect.  Just don’t forget your dark sunglasses.

R. Dorothy Wayneright Costume

R. Dorothy Wayneright, usually just called Dorothy on the show has a more particular look; plus with her being an android there is a greater challenge in really pulling of her character.  Thankfully her motions are only slightly stiff and will not have you out needing to learn to do the Robot just to imulate her.  I think the biggest challenge would be to pull off the monotone voice pattern.  Just watch the episodes a lot and you should be able to get it down.  Her dress is also basic and in black, though her hair is red, and you have to have the black headband as you can’t be Dorothy without it.  On the same site as Roger’s outfit, I found you can pick up a Dorothy dress and even order a wig to have the same hair style.

My dad’s ash spreading

As you may know from previous posts my father passed away in March of this year. Tomorrow would have been his 67th birthday and we will be gathering as a family for a spaghetti dinner and to spread his ashes. All of this brings to mind some research I did a few years ago into the options of what one could do with a set of human ashes beyond keep them in a urn on the shelf, or spread them to the land, ocean, air or space. Here are some of the ideas I found online, some are just ideas that I have been proposed, while others are viable solutions for your use today.

A White Gem from LifeGem

Make a gem from ashes

You can turn the ashes from your loved one into a gem made by LifeGem. These gems come in a variety of colors, and require a pretty good investment of funds as well. For some people this would be a great way to keep the memories of your dearly departed near you at all times. Not really my thing, but I have never been a big jewelry girl.

Make artwork from ashes

Travels to Paradise Cremation Ash Painting

There are artists out there that can use some of the ashes of your loved one to help create a work of art that can be hung on your wall or put on your mantle as a memorial to your dearly departed. They use some ashes to make their works of art. Not sure what I would get a painting of for my father, so we will just be spreading him around the yard instead. It is an interesting idea though, if you are looking for an artist then I suggest checking out Art in Ashes.

One artist, Wieki Somers, is using a 3D printer to turn human ashes, and some other ingredients I am sure, into works of art for an exhibit. Read more about it on designboom.

Plans for the future

Now when my husband dies, assuming he goes before me, I would love to turn his ashes into a set of gaming dice. With the advent of technology in the coming years I figure it shouldn’t be too far fetched when the time eventually gets here. As for me, I want my ashes spread by a great, mossy tree in a forest far from any water source. I get majorly sea sick and would hate for my ashes to make it to the ocean before they are mulched back into the earth.

Boffer combat

My first encounter with boffer combat was through my college boyfriend playing a home grown LARP (Live Action Role-Playing) Game.  We wore period style clothing, and used boffer weapons for combat.  Our group played each Sunday at Mt. Tabor Park in Portland, OR.  It is actually where I got to know my first husband, who still plays boffer LARPs just different games.  In fact my kids have their own boffer weapons as well.

However it seems that all of the strange looks we got at the park were for nothing as boffer has now gone mainstream.  NERF has introduced a line of boffer weapons called N-Force.  I checked them out online and then in the store the other day and took a good look at the Nerf N-Force Battlemaster Mace Axe.  While the construction is safe enough for most kids to play with, I would still have to say that they are not as well padded as the boffer weapons typically used in a LARP setting.  Add this together with the lack of set safety rules that are part of a boffer LARP, and you could end up with a bit of modern-day boffer bruises.

Despite my concerns over the potential safety risks with these weapons, I think that they would be awesome if combined with a bit of boffer combat rules, such as no head or groin shots.  It is nice to see that another element of our gamer world has hit the mainstream.  It just goes to prove that the geeks shall inherit the earth.