Strife Liberated!

You will know already if you were a backer of the project, but Wild Skies: Liberating Strife is done and set out to everybody. It’s available at fine retailers everywhere and has even been reviewed. It’s March and I feel like I have not come up for air since I started putting the Liberating Strife manuscript together in August of last year. Well, I am taking this moment to breathe. *three deep breaths*

When we chose to set the first Wild Skies book in Europe we always knew “The America Book” was going to be the next one we did. Being two “Yanks” ourselves, it only made sense. We took the same assumptions about the period and the technology level we want for the Wild Skies world and adjusted everything to an America context. What if everything Nikola Tesla said he could make actually got made? What if there was no “trust busting” and bigger and bigger companies unified into one mega-corporation? What if American politics of the period was stanch isolationism backed by the highest level of tech in the world – all leased to the army and air navy by said mega-corporation? Well, that’s the America we present in Liberating Strife.

That was what Brandon and I brought to the table. This was bigger than our previous project with two additional writers brought on. To over-simplify their contributions, John Kennedy was our “company and dissidents” specialist and Josh Sinsapaugh was our “culture and counter-culture” expert. The depth of research those two went to and the results they produced fill me with joy. Instead of just giving players a bunch of American tech and some American animals, this book paints an almost complete picture of the United States of American in this alternate reality diesel punk time line. Corporate structure of the United Dennington Trust; it’s there. Boardroom politics at the highest levels; covered. The popular and underground music scenes; explained. Traveling the roadways and airways; yes. All the countries of North America; have their own section. This is a 130 page book and it’s page 67 before you get to anything with game statistics; before that it’s all world information. Considering three of the four main writers grew up with Palladium’s Rifts* Wold Books, maybe it’s not a surprise.

The book also has a lot of great art in it. Showcasing art is another thing we get from the game books which are our roots. The cover by Chuck Walton and Eduardo Domínguez is another great one. Inside, in addition to another slate of great pieces from Mike Mumah of animal people doing all the things (shout out to my favorite, the Jazz Age party on page 87) and Aspen Aten doing another map for us and Brian Manning’s work on the weapons and vehicles, we have 30s-looking national parks posters from Steven Wu and action scenes by Steven Cummings. All together Wild Skies: Liberating Strife doesn’t just give you some stuff from America, it lets you play Wild Skies in America.

Case in point: In January I ran a game of Wild Skies using some adventure seeds we had sent to Kick Starter backers right after we funded and the pre-gen characters in the book. I was laying awake in bed the night before thinking about the game and trying to account for everything the players might want to do. I knew my game was full of people who had signed up specifically to play Wild Skies – I knew they would want to test the full potential of the game. As I lay there, I feel like I went through all the stages up to cosmic brain, because with all the material in the book flashing through my head and all the sessions I have run over the last few years I knew I could handle any situation which came up. If they wanted to go on a road trip, or try to take over a night club or ride the rails, or become air pirates, or stay in the work camp and investigate the original mystery, I could run that. When it came to it the next day, I could indeed run it and we had a great time. People like a game I helped create! It’s an amazing feeling.

Wild Skies: Liberating Strife is Wet Ink Games product number WIG-108, which means there are 9 Wild Skies products out there now. I haven’t talked about them all here so be sure to check them all out on DriveThruRPG.

A Review: Hitler Moves East: A Graphic Chronicle, 1941-1943

5 of 5 stars.

For a while one of my “grail books” has been David Levinthal and Garry Trudeau’s Hitler Moves East: A Graphic Chronicle, 1941-1943. When I walked into a bookstore recently and spotted it on an endcap from across the room, I had to buy it. It is a reprint copy, but I am not a collector looking for first printings; I just want to look at the art.

I first encountered David Levinthal’s work as an art student. His work focuses on toys or models shot with dramatic light and in soft focus to create a kind of emotional verisimilitude. I once saw an exhibition of his Modern Romance series and I smile whenever I see his work on the covers of Sarah Vowell’s books. Garry Trudeau is well known as a cartoonist. I was interested to see what these two cooked up together about the Second World War.

The collaboration is described by Trudeau in the beginning of the book. He was trying to find the right historic photographs to illustrate a fictional story we wanted to tell about a Russian solder on the Eastern Front. Levinthal was working on a series of photos capturing the lifelike horrors of war without necessarily making realistic looking photos. They combined their efforts and rather than using real photos to illustrate a fictional story, they manufactured photos to illustrate the real history. There are real quotes and a few real photographs to round out the project. It becomes, as the title says, a graphic chronicle of the Eastern Front.

One thing that has stuck with me is Trudeau calling what they made a “paper movie”. It is such an odd phrase to read today when comics have triumphed as a medium and “graphic novels” can be of any genre and regularly make it onto bestsellers lists. I suppose in the mid-seventies when they were working on Hitler Moves East the concept of a “graphic novel” didn’t really exist. That was even before the “serious” comics revival of the mid eighties. Even though Trudeau went on to make comics himself, he couldn’t have called this project comics, it was a more serious work than than name implied.

As a long time comics reader and someone who loves “sequential art storytelling”, I think Hitler Moves East works. There are Trudeau’s words to tell you what happened at each stage of Operation Barbarossa and the selection of ephemera such as identification cards and propaganda posters lend their own authenticity. Then there are Levinthal’s washed out, or grainy, or almost over-exposed photographs of figures dashing through train yards, or hunkered in pill boxes, or laying cold and still in the snow. Much of the narrative impact is conveyed by the photos. The whole is surprisingly effective in giving the reader a hint of the ravages of war. It is a book one does not read so much as experience. That is what art does.

Just to be clear, though it has a similar name to another book about the Eastern Front, it does not share that book’s apologetics of the Wehrmacht.

Planning NaNoWriMo 2015

It's almost time for National Novel Writing Month! For those who don't know, the goal is to write at least 50,000 words during November. That's an average of 1,667 words a day for 30 consecutive days. It's not exactly easy to do. Last year I was very busy and really only participated to be able to say I was making the attempt. This year will be my ninth year, and I feel like I have a win in me this time. I don't have any looming projects on the horizon so I should be able to commit the time needed for the writing. Plus since about February, I have been doing a lot of writing and I feel like I have a good routine of sitting down and writing almost every day. This should all be good for my NaNoWriMo attempt.

It's also great to have a good idea. Some time ago, I watched this video about the life of John Dee. He was court astrologer to Queen Elizabeth I. I also heard about him in this episode of Shakespeare's Restless World by Neil MacGregor. The idea Dee contacted angels via scrying is pretty incredible. For the purposes of this novel, it doesn't much matter what he did or didn't actually hear or do. In a fantasy and horror setting, I can take the story at face value and accept he did talk to angels. This starting point opens many great storytelling options.

Instead of making Dee himself my protagonist and thus be bound by his actual biography, I've created a rough analog named Dr. Nicholas Rasmus. I'm going to write Rasmus' diary as he uses a chunk of crystal to talk to angels. I've got other ideas in the mix too. Rasmus will use Edger Cayce-style “automatic writing” to channel the angel's descriptions of the place where they live and the science they know which he hopes will benefit mankind. Yet, not is all as it seems. Inspired, as Dee himself was, by the Book of Enoch, the “angel” Rasmus is contacting as actually a fallen angel. He channels this description of the glorious city the angels live it, but the angel doesn't tell him its built in a prison in the pit of fire where the fallen angels are locked. I'm thinking of Edward Bulwer-Lytton's underground city in The Coming Race. A fabulous city full of wonders, but there's a sinister undercurrent Rasmus will eventually uncover. I am also borrowing a little bit from The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis. I haven't read it, but I know it is written as a demon's letter to Lucifer asking how to corrupt humans more. I think I'll throw in just a touch of the “found document” angle used by Poe in The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, Lovecraft in The Call of Cthulhu and Potocki in The Manuscript Found in Saragossa.

In preparation for the project I've read the Book of Enoch. My main impression is, there's a very good reason it didn't make “the cut” and get included in the Biblical canon (at least not in 99% of Bibles). It's very repetitive, doesn't say much in the first place and is mostly concerned with material things. Enoch has a list of angel names, descriptions of the valley of fire where the angels are thrown, “secrets” of the yearly progression of the sun from one solstice to the other and a record of Noah's birth (he was glowing and filled the room with light!). This is all like Old Testament fan fiction. There's very little about actual Divine interaction with individuals which is the mainstay of Genesis, Judges, Samuel and the later Gospels. That said, the details of Enoch are perfect for turning into my own Old Testament fan fiction. I've picked an ex-angel from the list to be the one Rasmus is talking to. The general impression of “ooo this is all secret knowledge passed on just to you” also fits the tone I have in mind of Rasmus' diary.

During this run-up to November, I happened upon the fact long-time fantasy and science fiction artist Wayne Barlowe has also done a bunch of paintings of hell. I've spent some time looking at his hell art since. I've always liked Barlowe's style and I love the way he's worked out an economy for and the metaphysics of his fallen angels. My story won't deal with hell, I don't think, but I think Barlowe's ideas about what a fallen angel looks like will influence me. In my mind's eye as well are the Daemonix from Rifts Coalition Wars 2: Coalition Overkill and the mass-production Evas from The End of Evangelion. I will also keep in mind the Biblical descriptions of powerful angels with multiple beast-like heads and wings covered in eyes.

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A Review: Introducing Sartre by Philip Thody and Howard Read

4/5 Stars.

I haven't read much by Jean-Paul Sartre. I have read a few plays including Huis clos (No Exit) and when I was studying French I struggled through a couple chapters of Les jeux sont faits (The Chips are Down) in the original language. Yet Sartre is one of those “Western Canon” authors I know is “important” and I aspire to read more by him. In the meantime, I have read a short book just to get a handle on the man and his oeuvre.

“Existentialism” is the name for Sartre's particular brand of philosophy. I knew that, but before reading this book I didn't know exactly what that philosophy entailed. Very simply: mankind is totally free. For Sartre only a being that knew it was free would be able to imagine a condition of not being free. We are free to choose whatever we want to at anytime, meaning we are responsible for our own actions. However we don't like responsibility so we create fictions about ourselves which say we are not free to choose. These fictions include social institutions, family ties and gods. We prefer to lie to ourselves and others about our level of freedom so he don't have to bare the full responsibility of making all our own choices in life. We operate in “bad faith” with everyone we meet because when we present our set of lies, others can see through them. Most human struggles stem from the competition between rival falsehoods about our freedom of choice. This is most clearly presented in L'étre et le néant (Being and Nothingness) where Sartre says our free selves always know our lies are lies so the best we can do is play at being the unfree people we wish we were.

Before reading this book I knew nothing about Sartre's life. Turns out it was a very interesting one. He was no mere arm-chair thinker. He served two stints in the army (as a meteorologist) and was taken captive by the Germans during the Second World War. Later he played a part in the French Resistance. These experiences led his to accept Marxism as the philosophy for the future. He saw it as the only way for a society to escape from the “bad faith” of Capitalism. He never joined a Communist party (or any political party) but was what the Soviet Union called a “Fellow Traveler.” He defended Marxism (he said Stalin was the problem, not Marx) and opposed French imperialism in both Vietnam and Algeria. He turned down the Nobel Prize as “too establishment.” He was out on the streets hawking Communist pamphlets right into his later years.

As writers do, Sartre turned his life experiences into grist for his stories. His unique life and his focus on Existential questions created some stories I definitely want to read. In Les mains sales (Dirty Hands) he writes about Hugo, a Communist idealist assigned to get close to and kill another Communist named Hoederer who is willing to compromise with the opposition. Hugo comes to like Hoederer and can't bring himself to kill the man, until he finds his own wife, Jessica, has also fallen for Hoederer. Hugo flies into a rage and is able to complete his mission. But why did he kill? Was it a crime of passion or a political act? He is free to define himself by either motivation. In Les séquestrés d'Altona (The Condemned of Altona) Franz von Gerlach is a former Nazi torturer haunted by the violence he perpetrated in the war. He lives in a fantasy of the past while the modern world around him is falling apart. He attempts to justify his actions and leaves a record of his point of view. It is found 10 centuries later by crab-like beings who don't understand anything about von Gerlach's story. The idea of a Tribunal of Crabs which awaits us all blows my mind.

The text of this short book is great. I feel thoroughly introduced to Sartre. Philip Thody was a long-time professor of French literature, so he ought to know. Occasionally, Thody points out inconsistencies and weaknesses in Sartre's philosophy. For me, this strengthens the over-all presentation of Sartre's ideas. By acknowledging faults, the tone of the book is not “this is the way to think,” but “this is the way Sartre thought.” I am very impressed that such a short text could do such a complete job. The book is 175 pages, but the text is so short because more than half of the space of each page is an illustration. I was skeptical at first about the format, but after reading it I think it helps convey the ideas well. I rather enjoy the caricature of Sartre which appears throughout the book. From birth to death he is portrayed with the same glasses and knowing frown, for easy identification. Sartre's face is juxtaposed to maps, looming authority figures, the iconography of Communism and Nazism and Howard Read's take on Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People. All these images give a quick visual sense of Sartre's relationships which his world and reinforce the text on the page. The characters and the action of Sartre's fiction are also displayed in sequential panels to help those who haven't read the stories quickly understand them. I would have preferred the illustrations to be a little bit better; neither details, realistic proportions, nor backgrounds are the focus here, but I think they accomplished their goal.

It was a nice little book which did exactly what it set out to do, introduce me to Jean-Paul Sartre. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an Existential reading list to get started on.

Fully Funded

Big, big news! The Kickstarter for Wild Skies: Europa Tempest has reached its initial goal of $8,000! As of now the project is go. Thank you to everyone who has supported us so far! From this point on, everything else pledged in going toward the stretch goals. That's the cool extra stuff we want to add. Let me be clear, when Brandon and I planned this out beforehand we decided the initial funding level would allow us to the make the game we want to make, with all the art and world information needed to understand the game. The stretch goals are just that; stretches, extras, icing on the already delicious cake.

The first stretch goal is a bonus adventure written by Brandon, and the second is a short comic set in the Wild Skies world by accomplished industry artist Mike Mumah. Mumah played in the sessions where Wild Skies was first developed so he knows the setting. I would be surprised if his character does not feature prominently. Ever seen a giant sheep leap out of a flaming airship falling into the sea? You won't unless we reach that stretch goal. Then more factions, more adventures, even custom diesel punk-themed dice. My point is these are not “make the book complete” stretch goals, these are truly bonuses which will only increase the fun and awesome factors of this project. If you haven't put your two cents toward the project yet, there's never been a better time.

If you want to read more about the game, there is a growing list of updates on the Kickstarter page where we have dished out a lot of information about the setting and the game mechanics. If you want to read even more after that, you can read the chat log from last week when Brandon and I were guests of #rpgnet for an old school IRC Q+A. Really!

A Review: Magic Knight Rayearth 2 by CLAMP

3/5 stars.

CLAMP is a team of four women who produce manga. A lot of manga. Their manga are in the shojo style (girl's comics), but if I understand things correctly they are known for combining this style of art with the darker subject matter usually found in shonen (boy's comics). It was a great combo for me when I was a teenager reading the first Magic Knight Rayearth series. In that story three girls are summoned from Tokyo to the magical realm of Cefiro to become the legendary Magic Knights and save the Pillar – a person whose force of will keeps the world stable. It's explicitly an RPG plotline – Hikaru, Umi and Fuu get armor, learn magic and “level up” as the series goes along.

Now that I am in my thirties, reading about the exploits of leggy Japanese teens tends a little bit toward the creepy. Thankfully, Magic Knight Rayearth 2 has also grown up. There are no forced references to experience points and no random monster encounters. This is somehow both a more personal story and a more expansive story. The events of the first series left Cefiro without a Pillar and now a new one must be chosen. The Magic Knights return to find representatives of three other realms vying to become the Pillar and remake Cefiro in their own image. There is a lot less action in this tale, at least from the Magic Knights. They mostly stand around watching Eagle of Autozam, Tata of Cizeta and Aska of Fahren duke it out. That's the more expansive part.

For the more personal story CLAMP has focused much more on the motivations of the “young women from another world.” Why did they want to return to Cefiro? How did they return if there is no Pillar to summon them? Why do they fight now? In particular, Hikaru is the focus as she wrestles with baggage from the first story line and what she wants for herself and and her friends this time around. In fantasy tales magic is often equated with willpower. In Cefiro, magic IS willpower. Thus the motivations of all the characters and what they are able to do because of what they desire is the focus of the storytelling. That's an element of the story to be appreciated at any age.

As the citizens of five (or more?) worlds clash together over the shape of the future, the comic becomes quite intense. The end is not really a surprise, but I still won't say. After the drama is over it all ends on a very cheesy note, but I guess that is to be expected; it is a shojo comic after all.

A Review: Merciless: The Rise of Ming by Scott Beatty, Ron Adrian, et. al.

4/5 stars.

Let me start off by saying I know next to nothing about the Flash Gordon storyworld. Flash Gordon, Earth's dashing hero in a red rocketship, thwarts the invasion attempts of Emperor Ming the Merciless. That's about it.

I got this comic from the title alone. I assumed it would be like Gregory Maguire's Wicked, which I enjoyed immensely. It is only broadly similar in that it is about the younger days of a famous villain. Unlike misunderstood Elphaba, young Ming is ruthless and merciless right from the first pages. Beatty's is not a tale of how Prince Ming became so merciless, but a tale of how quickly an ambitious man can rise. I would have liked a little bit more complexity from the characters, but it is good for what it is.

One by one Ming “renegotiates” the old treaties between the nations of Mongo, each time coming out stronger an more secure in his position. I particularly like the way these shtick nations such as the Hawkmen and the Sharkmen were portrayed. I assume these subjugated nations are only part of the Mongo empire so Flash Gordon can have enemies on land, sea and air. In this comic these different nations are given a little more gravitas then I assume they had in the old film shorts. Even stock characters with reverse-SCUBA gear are more interesting when they get to speak for themselves.

One last thing I will comment on: the art is great! Adrian's art, with color by Roni Setiawan, is a great look for this revisiting of a retro vision of the future. The costume and character design feels like it fits with the 1930s ideals of the future as well as with modern fantasy aesthetics. The technology is similarly treated with a mix of camp and cutting edge. This story is not science fiction so much as science fantasy and the rich color pallet for Mongo and the flamboyant costumes fit that perfectly.

A great read.

This is Not a Birthday

Today is the 110th anniversary of the birth of René Magritte. Since he is one of my favorite artists, I thought I should make mention of it. Visit his gallery.

I’m away. I set this to post a head of time. Live long and proper.

By now I should have 35,007 words.
My current count is ????? words.