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

Random Creature Starting Points

For all of you GMs out there looking for a starting point to your new creatures, here are some simple lists to give you a starting point to making a new creature or encounter.
A couple of die rolls and you have the concept, ready to be fleshed out with some crunchy bits.

These are targeted to The d20 OGL/Clones or Pathfinder Roleplaying Game systems with a dark tone/bent to them.

Base procedure:    Select or roll in Row 1 and Row 2, or twice in Row 2
Then chose or roll in Row 3 and roll in Row 4
Select the Hit Dice or Roll to get a random value
Consult the Monster Creation Guides to flesh out with crunch
  
Some of the results might get skewed a bit. In instance choosing a Fine size creature with 20 hit dice. Really does not seem plausible.
In these cases best judgement is the real guideline. If in doubt start at Medium size and increase or decrease from there hit dice wise



This is a reprint of an article I had done years ago on another site.
This is lightly reorganized and updated.

 

Row 1
Die Roll	Name/Title
1	Aether
2	Air
3	Clockwork
4	Coal
5	Dark
6	Earth
7	Fire
8	Light
9	Moon
10	Oil
11	Patchwork
12	Quilted
13	Shadow
14	Spirit
15	Steam
16	Stellar
17	Sun
18	Toxic
19	Walk
20	Water

Row 2
Die Roll	Name/Title
1	Assassin
2	Blank
3	Butcher
4	Crawler
5	Creeper
6	Flenser
7	Hunter
8	Killer
9	Malevolent
10	Opaque
11	Render
12	Runner
13	Seeker
14	Snatcher
15	Soarer
16	Stalker
17	Thief
18	Wader
19	Wanderer
20	Wielder

 

Row 3 Die Roll Type of Creature 1 Aberration 2 Animal 3 Construct 4 Dragon 5 Elemental 6 Fey 7 Giant 8 Humanoid 9 Magical beast 10 Monstrous humanoid 11 Ooze 12 Outsider 13 Plant 14 Undead 15 Vermin 16 Robot/Android 17 Alien 18 Template 19 Chose 20 Combine 2 or more
Row 4 Die Roll Size 1 Fine 2 Diminutive 3 Tiny 4 Small 5 Medium 6 Large 7 Huge 8 Gargantuan 9 Colossal 10 Chose
Row 5 Die Roll = HD  Hit Dice 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 8 9 9 10 10 11 11 12 12 13 13 14 14 15 15 16 16 17 17 18 18 19 19 20 20

Dark Conspiracy lives again

Dark Conspiracy, the flagship game of horror, aliens, evil otherdimensional baddies, and DarkTek is live once again

The 3rd edition has just gone live on Drivethru RPG for immediate gaming gratification.

http://www.rpgnow.com/product/108666/Conspiracy-Rules

Takes you right there.
Go get it now.

The Darklings need more resources for BioComps

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.

Why are Characters So Dense In Horror Flicks

So we rented the movie Prometheus as directed by Ridley Scott. Yes there are obvious parallels to his earlier Alien Movies. Similar creatures, similar questions, with the additions of the Start of life and who made Human Kind. There are a number of differences as well of course. The level of technology, the appearance of the Engineers, the way the creatures in the film look. Still the feeling is there. It does seem more like Alien than the follow on films. The motivation for the backers, the underlying themes, the heroism of the female lead, very in tune with the other related films. But why are they, the characters, so stupid in this movie. Hi we are on an alien planet, lets take our helmets off, lets touch the alien life form, lets go to a distant world without a first contact protocol in place, without scanning for infections, and lets just go run around without armored suits. How about we show up with only simple firearms and odd looking flamethrowers for weapons, nothing sophisticated at all. It is enough to irk me in watching the film. All of these factors make the characters look like complete novices. Prometheus is no different than Alien, Aliens, Aliens 3, etc. In those movies the ordinary people make simple mistakes. In Prometheus the one character reaches out to the snake like alien. Come on, it looks like a snake, why would you think it will be friendly. I mean there are ample examples in literature and films to make a rational guess how a first contact situation should be able to be conducted. From SF in the 1960s and 19702 to movies such as Super 8, The Day The Earth Stood Still, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind which could give a prospective deep space traveler some idea of what could, in theory, develop. So what can we Horror Oriented Gamers pull from Prometheus to use in our games. Here area few things from a single watching of the movie today. Isolation The unknown, fear of the unknown Play up on simple mistakes Infection and changes in personality Hidden Agendas and secrets The Attempt to Cheat Death Each of these can be pulled into a game setting or scenario. each one could be a single encounter leading up to the final aspect of the adventure planned out. Next time I am on a deep space mission, I am so not trusting the artificial life form assigned to the mission. Especially when a private concern is the financing portion of the expedition.

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 3: HP Lovecraft and Descendants

 Characteristics or More on Monsters Point 3: HP Lovecraft and Descendants

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.

These are the cream of the crop. Too many tentacles, too many gaping orifices, insane cultists and things from outside our space and time. These are the real deal kiddies, come play at your own risk.

1. Ancient Elder Gods
2. Hideous monsters
3. Subterranean creatures
4. Insane Cultists
5. Human / Monster Hybrids
6. Aliens from distant worlds
7. Shapeless / Formless things that make no sense