Image courtesy of Suriya Kankliang at FreeDigitalPhotos.net – Words added by Erin Penn
It’s tax season so this is going to be short. Here is some good stuff from Magical Words provided by Editor and Writer Lucienne Diver.
“Wherein No One is Safe” – No one should be safe in your story. Sure readers know that the couple in a romance is going to get together … but there should be that part of them that wonders, that believes, maybe … and maybe not.
Again, the link is here: Magical words 8/6/2013.
Image courtesy of Multipedia at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Magic Systems
Last month, the Magical Words posting from A.J. Hartley talked about Too Much Power. This week I thought I would circle back to an old post from David B. Coe on magic systems.
Magic in fantasy and powers in superheroes contain an affinity for exponential growth, reaching Too Much Power without much effort. The challenge is reigning in the power systems to make the story as much fun to read as it was to create the powers.
Mr. Coe suggests three structures to control the systems:
Be careful introducing exceptions to the rules to make your life as a writer easier. Gravity doesn’t get to change its rules. Well, it shouldn’t. I am sure some physicists will have a conversation with the universe creator someday about the deus ex machina of light which is both energy and matter.
The full post is here:
WRITING EXERCISE: Create one power or take one from a work in progress (WIP), just one power, for a fantasy, sci-fi, or superhero world. Define a limitation, cost, and two rules. Write a flash of 50-1000 words based on it.
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Ancestral warrior. Limitation – most powerful in the ancestral lands, close to normal outside of the lands. Cost – obligation to protect all those of the tribe from those lands. Rules – (1) Lineage/blood-line only. (2) Peak physical, but not natural spell caster.
Look for the story Ancestral Warrior to be published Sunday 1/5/2020. You may recognize the protagonist if you have been following this blog for a while. This is where Honestly meets its Atlantis Wardens beginnings.
Image courtesy of fantasista at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
I’ve got a confession to make: I like running Monty Hall campaigns. I just love giving out magic items when I DM (dungeon master). I like making them and passing them out like candy … and I tend to introduce gods to a campaign way too early.
Too Much Power syndrome.
But it’s so much fun. Strangely, this doesn’t translate over to my writing much. I mean, sure, in flashes where there isn’t going to be a day-in day-out, multi-sequel build – hit god-level all I want (which, again, isn’t often – the I am Prophecy series being the exception which proves the rule). I also prefer science fiction in my writing and avoid fantasy, but when I roleplay I like the fantasy games and not the science fiction.
Anyway, I would like to focus on the Too Much Power issue today – which A.J. Hartley (a living embodiment of TMP in real life as a NY Times best-selling writer and the Robinson Distinguished Professor of Shakespeare at UNC Charlotte) talks about in Wrestling the TMP on Magical Words.
In my present campaign, I have let the warlock have his demon be a mouse he carries around in his pocket during the initial session. TMP from the get-go. I used it to bring a character back from the dead during the third or fourth session. The party was second level at that point. Do you have a headache yet – because I’ve just set up a huge issue with TMP in the campaign.
The only way to reign things in was limit the power. The resurrected character paid dearly for being brought back – with some interesting bonuses thrown in, but he won’t be risking his life on another round trip anytime soon. And the warlock also is unsure about the cost he had to pay to survive the consequences of bothering his patreon.
The comment section of the Magical Word post goes on about Costs and Limitations when a TMP is introduced. (Be sure to read it.) Maybe I can’t back out of my Monty Hall actions, but the TMP benefits can be modified.
The ability to modify is something to keep in mind should I ever write an Urban Fantasy serial. So many expand beyond reasonable too quickly, increasing the costs of the TMP may the way to go. And it can add some interesting plot twists as well. I can’t (or at least shouldn’t) change cannon, but what isn’t discussed yet is open season.
Again, the link for Dr. Hartley’s post and related comments is:
READING EXERCISE: Think about a television show, movie, or book – even your own work-in-progress – which has a TMP person or object. How did the writers work around it? Did they randomly shut it down (like the example Dr. Hartley provided) or was there a “leash” built into the power? How did the TMP help or hinder the storyline?
(Additional comment: Superhero stories are rife with the TMP syndrome, but for the villains and the heroes.)
Image courtesy of patrisyu at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
“I just had the best idea, hon. Just let me make a note of it on my phone.” I look up after a few minutes of quick typing and uploading to the cloud, ignoring both the cooling food in front of me and the character in my head going ‘and another thing’. “Now, what were you saying?”
Writing is a Solitary Business, as Faith Hunter explains in her November 9, 2011 post on Magical Words. The problem is even as introverted as most writers are, we aren’t solitary creatures. We have jobs and family. In November NaNoWritMo when writing dominates, Thanksgiving steals time away from the laptops and Christmas hides in the shadows waiting to pound us with lists and demands as soon as the 50K is clocked.
Ms. Hunter and the commentators on the post share some of the trials and tribulations of the story-in-the-head swiping moments meant for family and friends at . With the all-consuming NaNoWritMo, remember to breathe and listen to others in your life. There will be other stories; there is only one family.
Strahd on Nightmare – From the Internet Hive Mind
Making the Foil – a good Villain
Jim Butcher dropped by Magical Words in 2011. He explained that while a story can survive a boring hero, it cannot survive a boring villain.
What makes a good villain?
Want to know more. Go to the Magical Words post, because rephrasing the words of a master is an exercise in futility. Of course, the comments were equally awesome so be sure to read those as well. How to Build a Villain by Jim Butcher.
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My Comments on Villain Creation
Attending my book club a couple months ago, the other members said “Hey, we want to play Ravenloft. You DM. Here!” Suddenly I was holding the Curse of Strahd and needed to put something together in a week. It’s been a slow game thus far with only four hours available to game per week since some members are parents. The “per week” is more like every other week because of everyone’s commitments. I seem to be one of the “free-est” of the lot, and that is saying something.
Anyway, Count Strahd von Zarovich is a villain to end all villains in the D&D world. Not because he is a tank or a Swiss army knife of magic, but because he is a master manipulator. He knows his power base and uses it like a filleting knife. His motivations include leadership and love, which are admirable qualities. But his individuality includes being bored. He knows he is playing with fire by bringing adventurers to his lands, but the best entertainment is when you got some skin on the line.
I’ve been trying to figure out the hook of how he is going to corrupt THIS particular party and finally figured it out today. He is going to hire them, something already set in motion. But not just hire them for a single mission like he has already done, but to shape them to becoming the County Sheriff and his cronies. They will become the law, dealing out all the horror for him, and bringing a new wave of terror to the land.
Most of the players are noobs, except for one. Every now and again the experienced one gets a meta moment, looks at me like “I can’t believe you are doing this and getting away with it.” If I get that look, even as his character agrees to become Sheriff, it will be awesome. That moment is several sessions away, but I think I can do it. Or, more accurately, Strahd – because he is a villain. Wizards of the Coast got this big-bad right.