True Detective

I had finished binge watching all 8 episodes of the first season of True Detective a few days ago. What a tour de force. By episode 6 it was up there with my favorite series, Twin Peaks, Wild Palms, Millennium, X Files, and the mini series The Lost Room. This was simply a superb series and one I will actually get on DVD for future viewing and dissection. I would love a transcript of the monologues from Matthew M, especially the ones in the police interview scenes. Those are pure gold. This series is to me the way a great modern Call of Cthulhu, or perhaps something like Unknown Armies, could actually play out as. This is my model for what I want my gaming to be like, in general, in modern or surreal horror. 

So Other Occupations for a Character

So Other Occupations for a Character

Often times in gaming we keep reusing the same occupations over and over. I know as a Player and a GM that the same sorts of people keep showing up, time after time after time. So this list is one way for myself, and potentially you my reader, to include a few different vibes in your game. 

Some games have a limited subset of occupations. Call of Cthulhu is one such game, with a very specific main set of where characters come from occupation wise. This is intended to maintain the look and feel of the core setting. 

Other places I have used to pull in real world occupations are the major job boards and the Occupational Handbook. The easiest way is to log into your account at one of the major job boards (if you have your own login already made) or just put in a larger city in the location search field. So run it and pull in a search of the last 30 days worth of jobs. Copy it all and paste into a text friendly location such as Notebook or the website www.darkcopy.com (my personal favorite).

Copy again into your word processing program of choice to do some cleanup work and if you want to, as I did with a large list one time, put the cleaned up list of only job titles into a spreadsheet program to sort alphabetically and remove duplications. 

Yes it takes a little work, but the efforts can yield a long list of potential different, more modern oriented of course, occupations. These are suitable for modern, near future, and with minor tweaks, far future SF games. The genre does not really matter in the timeframe. These jobs work equally well for espionage, conspiracy, surreal, horror, cyperpunk, superhero, or even urban fantasy.

The following list was pulled from a poem that was published in a magazine. They are all dealing with new ways to move, aggregate, adjust, and deal with customers and people in the online setting. Some are older, such as Copywriter and Brand Agent. Others are brand new and really are less than 10 years old such as the Sponsored Blogger or Notable User.

Some research would be necessary to find out more about the more esoteric ones. Since many of them are new, creations of companies attempting to tame the wild Internet (Used in the broadest term here), others are outgrowths of existing occupations, taken in new directions.

Have fun using them, or finding inspiration for character backgrounds or even entire types of characters in this list.

In Alphabetical Order

Aesthetic King

Bit Tracker

Bottom-Line Analyzer

Brand Agent

Brand Ambassador

Brander

Change Agent

Copywriter

Designer

Illustrator

Interface Wizard

Marketer

Meme Generator

Multi-Platform Guru

Notable User

Online Retailer

Profit-Maximizer

Re-Poster

Social-Media Consultant

Sponsored Blogger

Starred Commentator

Viral Relayer

Writing and Creating Monsters and a potential resource to help out with that

Writing and Creating Monsters and a potential resource to help out with that

http://amzn.to/1elN5E5

Pulled from the book “Writing Monsters” by Philip Athans. I had skimmed a copy at my local Big Box Bookstore (Only one in town for new books, we have an excellent used bookstore as well that I had visited today and got 3 books on Investing and Stock Trading for $11.50). 

I got a couple of chapters in and jotted a few notes from it as inspiration for gaming and writing. Lots of great ideas in the first few chapters, and enough as I skimmed it before us leaving (due to weather) to prompt me to put it on my list of must haves. 

So here is the Table of Contents from the book. Just skimming over the ToC is enough to give me ideas. You could even just copy and paste it into a document and then fill in the blanks after stripping off the Chapter titles and headings, and then using it to do some monster making. So look over the below list and see what it sparks in your horror gaming and writing. 

Part I: What They Are?

Chapter 1:  What is a monster?

Chapter 2:  What makes a monster scary?

Chapter 3:  Transformation

Chapter 4:  Where do they come from?

Chapter 5:  Monster or Villain?

PartII: Why They’re here

Chapter 6:  How “Monster-Rich” is your world

Chapter 7:  Monsters as metaphor

Chapter 8:  Monsters as obstacles

Chapter 9:  Monsters as agents

Chapter 10: Monsters as sources of pity

Chapter 11: Monsters as sources of magic or technology

Chapter 12: Bringing out the good and evil in people

Part III: How to write them

Chapter 13: Setting the rules

Chapter 14: Size

Chapter 15: Powers and Abilities

Chapter 16: Weaknesses

Chapter 17: Description

Chapter 18: The Five Senses

Chapter 19: Staging the reveal

Chapter 20: Isolation

Chapter 21: Originality: Cliche vs Archetype

So now pulled out of Chapter 2, What makes a monster scary? These are essentially headers in the chapter that were expanded on. It looks like you could use the list as a framework or almost blueprint for monster creation. In example in the first section, the What are people afraid of?, the author of the book illustrates that they had looked up a Top Ten List of Phobias and used them as a basis for a novel in fact. 

l What are people afraid of?

l They are unpredictable?

l They have a disturbing capacity for violence?

l They exhibit an “otherness”

l Our imagination makes them scarier

l They are amoral

l They are beyond our control

l They are terrifying in appearance

l They turn us into prey

So go check out the book and pick it up for yourself and get some great tips and ideas

http://amzn.to/1elN5E5

6 Types of Adventures (Per GURPS CthulhuPunk)

GURPS CthulhuPunk written by Chris McCubbin is a strong supporting document for integrating Cthulhu Mythos Elements into the GURPS Cyberpunk Setting. It is a great resource for any GM running a game in the GURPS Cyberpunk Stock setting. For us that do not use that setting (being more the Night City or Homebrew Types) it is less relevant that way. However there are some really cool elements to incorporate into your Horror Game overall. The focus of this article is found on Pages 66 to 69, Adventure Archetypes. The author states there are 6 overall broad outlines for stories in the Mythos, and so these can be used in the gaming as well. The 6 Outlines are: The Ceremony Forbidden Knowledge Fatal Attraction Outbreak The Lost Expedition The Site With those 6 outlines also comes The Victim. The Victim in these circumstances is the poor unfortunate that has come across The Mythos, or is the focus on the scenario or story. As Chris McCubbin states this is the Catalyst for what is occurring. It can be past tense, it can be happening right at that moment. So a little in depth with each of the 6 Outlines The Ceremony: Essentially this boils down to Characters vs Cultists, to stop a ceremony of some sort. Of course in CoC or any other Mythos inspired game this can open up to a wide range or activities. From someone invoking The Hounds of Tindalos to making contact with Yithians, to actual Contact Spells for Ithaqua or other Great Ones. Forbidden Knowledge: This is the plotline where The Victim has come into possession or contact with something that is better left untouched. Be it a tome, an artifact, an offshoot of the Whately Family living in the DC area and running for Local Government, it boils down to better left alone. Fatal Attraction: This is where The Victim has come to the attention of The Mythos for some reason. Skill, talent, inherited an artifact. For what ever reason, the Great Old Ones or their minions have come a knock knock knocking on the Victims' Front Door. Outbreak: When the Mythos comes into the limelight in an obvious way. Think in terms of an Outbreak of an illness. The actions of some sort have come to the attention of the Characters and potentially of the authorities. The Lost Expedition: When the Nameless Patron invites the Characters to go and find out what happened to the previous discoverers, that is the Lost Expedition. The Site: Where the Lost Expedition is to find out what happened. The Site is where the characters are on The Lost Expedition. Good Luck. These 6 broad outlines are a great way to start the thinking process for a night's gaming, or for a longer more spreadout adventure. For more details go find a copy of this out of print sourcebook. It is illustrated by Dan 'Smif Smith and worth the effort for the other gems included in the 125 pages of writing.

New Occupations for Characters and NPCS

One thing that most RPGs have are lists or suggestions of careers or occupations related to the setting or genre.

In Call of Cthulhu from Chaosium there are the different Occupations in the rule book such as Athlete, Author, Dilletatte, Clergy, Parapycholigist, and Policeman to name a few of the 28 Occupations listed in the main rule book. In ADnD there were the secondary occupations, listing all manner of Medieval Jobs such as Mason, Carpenter, Hunter, Millwright, were the sorts of entries made.

Move onto d20 Modern, a much more recent release and in there we can find 19 Starting Occupations, such as Academic, Celebrity, Dilettante, Entrepreneur, and White Collar, covering a broad swath of 1990s/2000 sorts of overall fields.

NOTE: There is a lot of overlap between the two games of CoC and d20Modern. Both are covering roughly the same sort of timeperiod in history. With Human Existence being about 50k years, then the time from the 1920s to 2000 is just a tiny speck.

Three different examples from 3 genres/areas. Still there are overalaps between them all. There is Education, Military, Clergy, Craftsman in all of them.

So for more modern and potentially futuristic games and settings what sorts of careers / occupations are there. An idea, a concept, I have been mulling for a while. So here is a starting list of more 2012 and beyond careers, pulled from a variety of sources. These are suitable for other genres besides Modern and Horror. They can apply to near future, covering such genres as Cyberpunk or Singulairty/Transhuman. They can apply to any setting that has a current component to it. Change up the words or what it deals with and it can apply to Steampunk or Clockpunk (Insert Steam or Mechanical into pretty much anything and it might apply).

List of New Occupations (Because we gamers do like our lists) Of course this is not completely inclusive, but it will give some ideas:

NOTE: These are all real job titles...all 244 of them

Account Executive

Account Manager

Account Representative I

Account Representatives / Agents

Accountant

Accounting Manager

Accounts Payable Clerk

Acoustic Archeologist

Acoustic Ecologist

Adjuster, insurance - inside homeowner claims

Admin Assistant / Ops Manager

Administrative Assistant

Air Conditioning Technician

AML Operations CAO Initiatives Project Manager

Application Architect

Application Developer - SQL, .Net, C#, JavaScript

Application Support Specialist

Appointment Setter

AS/400 - RPG Senior Programmer Analysts

Assistant Director of Nursing

Assistant Operations Manager

Assistant Vice President, Creative Development

Audit Associate

Aural Architect

Auto Property Damage Adjuster

Automotive Technician

Bilingual Billing Supervisor

Billing and Enrollment Specialist (Commercial Insurance)

Body Injury Supervisor

Business Analyst

Business Development Manager

Business Systems Analyst - Lead

Cable Technician

Call Center Operations Unit Manager

Caregiver (CNA/HHA)

Case Manager - IT Forward Civic Justice Corps

Case Manager I (Concurrent Review)

Cashier

CEI Contract Support Specialist

CEI Senior Roadway/Bridge Inspector

Center Receptionist

Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA)

Certified Sr. DOT Field Technican

Certified Surgical Tech - Labor and Delivery - Celebration Health - Nights

Chief Building Engineer

CISSP Enforcement Specialist

Claims Approver Long Term Care

Claims Coach

Claims Representative - Liability

Clinical Research Coordinator Direct Hire

CNC (Computer Numerically Controlled) Operator and Programmer

CNC Machinist

Collections Agent

Commercial Banking Assistant, Full Time

Commercial Loan Servicing Administration Director

Commercial Real Estate Servicing Generalist

Commercial Truck Rental Representative

Commercial Truck Technician

Concrete Finisher

Construction Mobile Building Installer/CDL Driver

Consumer Loan Underwriter

Contract Occupational Therapy

Contract Specialist

Cook

Coordinator, Fulfillment/Records Management

Corporate Trainer

Cost Estimator

Credit Representative

Credit Risk Analyst

Custodian

Customer Care Representative I

Customer Service Agent

Customer Service Representative

Customer Service/Technical Support Specialist

Cyber CI Audit Rules Policy Engineer

Cyber CI Auditor

Cyber Forensics and Network Warfare Analyst

Cyber Warfare Program Analyst

Data Security Analyst

Delivery Driver

Dialysis Patient Care Technician

Dining Room Server

Director, Performance Improvement - RN

Distribution Manager

District Sales Manager

Driver

Driver Helper

Early Childhood Education Coordinator

Echo Technologist PRN /INT

Education Specialist

Electrician

Electrician Apprentice

Electrician Helper

Electronics Engineer - Analog & Digital Circuit Design

Elementary Instructional Aide

Elementary Perm Substitute

Employability Skills Instructor

Employee Communications Manager

Employment and Training Coordinator

Enrollment & Advertising Consultant

Enrollment Services Specialist

Event Specialists/Product Demonstrators

Executive Chef

Executive Housekeeper

Experienced Driller

Facilities and Fleet Coordinator

Facilities Building Tech A

Facilities Custodian

Facility Maintenance

Field Compliance Inspector

Field Operations Manager

File Clerk

Food Service Assistant

Foreman / Crew Leader

Forklift and Truck Mechanic

Forklift Operator - General Warehouse

Fraud Intake Coordinator

Front Desk Sales & Service Representative

Front Office Assistant/Medical Assistant

General Staff Accountant

Housekeeper

Housekeeping Inspector

Housekeeping Manager

Houseman

HR Functional Specialist

HR Specialist

HVAC Apprentice

HVAC installer

HVAC Mechanic Journeyman

Hyperion Systems Administrator

Industrial Sheet Metal Mechanic

Information Technology Technician

Infrastructure Project Manager

Inside Sales Associate

Intake Coordinator

Irrigation Technician

IT Project Manager

Kennel Tech

Landscape Foreman

Laundry Supervisor

Lawn Maintenance Worker

Lead Analysts

Lead Direct Support Professional

Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN)

Life Insurance Sales Agent

Line Cook

Maintenance Mechanic

Maintenance Supervisor

Management Assistant

Manager - Food and Beverage

Manager of Import Accounting & Compliance

Manager of Project Management

Manufacturing Assistant

Manufacturing Process Supervisor

Marketing and Communications Officer

Marketing Coordinator

Marketing Manager (Media Relations)

Marketing/PR Communications Manager

Mechanical / Technical Service Specialist Opportunities Job

Medical Appointment Clerk

Medical Assistant

Medical Billing Manager

Medical Receptionist-Starts Immediately

Medicare Provider Relations Rep II - 20872

Mental Health Technician

Mentor Coordinator

Merchandising and Pricing Lead

Mortgage Specialist

Multi-craft Industrial Machinery Mechanic

Multidisciplinary Analyst

Night Auditor

Nurse Assistant Training Instructor

Nurse Manager Quality

Occupational Therapist

Office Assistant

Oncology Technician

Optical Management Technology & Opticianry Instructor

Painter / Powder Coater

Partner Manager-OEM - MicroStrategy

Personal Banker

Physical Therapist

Physical Therapist Assistant

PIP Claims Supervisor

Pipefitter

Polisher

Portable Restroom Service Driver

Powder Coat Supervisor/Powder Coater

Press Brake Operator

Process Technician

Processing Associate

Product Manager

Program Coordinator

Project Coordinator

Project Management Assistant

Project Manager

Property Associate

Psychoacoustitician

Purchasing Manager

Quality Assurance Specialist

Radio Frequency Technician

Receiving Associate

Receptionist

Recreation Attendant

Recruitment & Placement Manager

Regional Director of Managed Care Contracting

Registered Nurse

Reliability Engineer

Report Writer

Residential Service Plumbers

Restaurant Cashier

Restaurant Purchasing Manager

Route Sales Driver

Sales Account Manager

SAP FICO - Specialist Senior

Scaffold Builder

Seasonal Sales Associate

Security Officer

Semi Truck Driver

Senior Account Executive

Senior Personal Injury Protection Claims Adjuster

Senior Software Engineer

Senior Tradesworker

Senior Workers' Compensation Lost Time Claims Adjuster

Service Electrician

Service Technician

Shipping/Receiving Supervisor

Software Engineer - Android Development

Sound Designers

Speech Language Pathologist (SLP)

SQL Database Administrator

Sr. Risk Representative

Store Manager

Surgical Technologist

Sustainability Manager

Systems Administrator

Systems Administrator/Developer

Title Examiner

Tractor Trailer Driver

Transportation Specialist

Trauma Nurse Coordinator Clinical Education/Performance Improvement

Web Developer - ASP.NET - C# - PHP

Welder

Workers' Compensation Adjuster

Yard Laborer

Sources:
Dwell Magazine November 2012 Issue
TV Commercials
Job Searches on Job Boards

Characteristics or More on Monsters Point 2: Gothic Novels

Characteristics or More on Monsters Point 2: Gothic Novels

Mr. Wigglestick here, coming to you today from the Hallowed Halls, where fine suggestions lurk behind every nook and deep within the crannies of the mind. The Hallowed Halls is a fine establishment, with room to accommodate most any sort of appetite, no caveats attached. So take your time, browse the collection and admire the artwork, feel free to visit the front desk for entertainment, refreshments, or lodging requests.

Welcome, one and all.

Ahh the Gothic Novel and all of it’s successors. Truly the Horror genre holds the most esteem for this source of fear and monsters. None of the other genres have held our fascination as long as this has.

1. The Frankenstein’s Monster
2. Le Loop Garou
3. The Vampire
4. The Golem (Predecessor to The Frankenstein’s Monster)
5. The Gargoyle
6. The Stalker (Jack the Ripper in essence, also under Grotesqueries)
7. The Mad Scientist (Personified in Captain Nemo in this case)
8. The Mad Man or Woman (also in the Grotesqueries)
9. Wild Beasts and altered versions of such (wolves, bats, rats, etc.)
10. Lost Worlds, savages, dinosaurs, etc.
11. Christian Demons and Angels

Protodimension Issue 7 is Available

The Premier Horror Gaming Free EMagazine Protodimension Issue # 7 is uploaded and available for free at the Download Page on Protodimension.Com

The Winter Issue has the following content for your reading pleasure

• From The Shadows By Norm Fenlason
• When a Cold Heart Comes to Call a Mini-Adventure by Dave Schuey for Dark Conspiracy®
• dark story Fiction by Andrew Gardner-Blatch
• Where Have They Gone? Poetry by Eleanor Williams
• Wheels of Terror an Adventure by Linden Dunham for Cold City®
• Flash Backs a Classic RPG Review by Marcus Bone for Dark Conspiracy®
• Grim Wisdom a “Grim” Interview by Lee Williams
• The Container Witchcraft Fiction by Kevin Dawson
• Canadian Content Northern Dark Races by Tim Bisaillon for Dark Conspiracy®
• Friendly Fire a Mekong Delta Adventure by Peter Bowkett for Call of Cthulhu®
• The Coney a New Dark Race by Tad Kelson for Dark Conspiracy®
• Not Much Larger Than a Cat Minion Hunter Fiction by Joel Steverson
• Rasputin a Dark Lord by Norm Fenlason for Dark Conspiracy®
• Decrepit Blade Dark Weapons by Tad Kelson for a Pair of Systems
• Floorboards RPG Bits by Lee Williams 

Over 70 pages of content, quarterly release schedule, covering Dark Conspiracy, Call of Cthulhu, Cold City, Little Fears, and other horror and surreal oriented RPGS.