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Messages - Lanodantheon

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16
Brings to mind another classic bit...

"General Von Manstein of the German Officer Corps, said that there are only four types of officer. First there the lazy, stupid ones. Leave them alone , they do no harm. Second, there are the hard working intelligent ones. They make excellent staff officers, ensuring that every detail is properly considered. Third, there are the hard working stupid ones. These people are a menace and must be fired at once. They create irrelevant work for everybody. Finally, there are the intelligent lazy ones. They are suited for the highest office." 


That one's funny, Payne. I'll keep that quote in mind.


The quote I used was the only one I could find that spoke directly about Enlisted People. If there are other quotes out there I have no idea what they are or where to find them despite my own personal research. For the cover image if I had a quote about Enlisted that was funny/to the point and much shorter I would have used it. Right now, unless you go to my project's page you can't really read it on the cover image.


I listed it as "Origin Uncertain" because I kept finding multiple conflicting sources for it. Most sources said it was attributed to an U.S. Army Officer's Training Manual from 1894. Supposedly in the manual itself it is attributed to be from George Washington but some sources say that attribution is only there so the stupid Officers will pay attention  to the manual.




The style I wanted for my cover image was a group shot of the main characters drawn/painted Legend of Korra-style. But, I don't know anyone with enough time, energy or artistic ability to draw something for the specs of the cover image for next to no money especially since Starship Enlisted is supposed to have an ensemble cast, there's like 12 major named characters.




Another project update: I updated my project's Mini-Bible today by clarifying part of the rules of the show. It was really satisfying to re-write.


I specifically singled out Family Guy non-sequiturs because I don't want them in my show at all. My project is all about, "Serious Characters in awkward situations" with the awkward situations being the whole of Science Fiction as a genre.


In my new Mini-Bible draft I also specifically talked about how, in the correct frame of mind, a show like this writes itself. I put into perspective the idea of the Starship Discovery as not a Cruise Ship or Wagon Train in space as much as a 2 mile-long tin can that 2500 people are stuck in for ~18 months at a time where the "Captain" is the Mayor that nobody voted for and everyone has to answer to.


This will probably be my last project update for Starship Enlisted for the next while unless something major happens since the only other thing I could do for it would be to make a Pilot Video for it.

17
Added a Cover Image to my Amazon Studios Project to make it more visible.


It's a very simple thing using a Public Domain image of the Andromeda Galaxy, a Creative Commons Star Trek font and a quote,


"Enlisted Men are stupid...


But extremely cunning and sly...


They bear considerable watching..."


-Origin Uncertain, but still true in the 24th Century


Note: at the time of this writing, my project is ranked 42/639. Hazzah...

18
Author Craft / Re: TV Pilot in need of Reviews on Amazon Studios
« on: August 24, 2012, 06:27:01 PM »
Uploaded a new draft this morning. Did a dialogue pass, adding character voices to all my characters.


As I mentioned in another thread, I also added a scene in the kitchen to literally show how the sausage gets made aboard a Starship. 


Also mentioned in another thread, the Project is currently near the bottom of Page 2 of 21 and is up from it's position last week.


My next step will be to make a "Cover Image" for it. Although I'd kill to find someone to draw a Legend of Korra grade illustration of the Ship and the crew, I'll have to make do with a graphic of some kind.

19
Finished and posted a new draft of my TV Pilot, Starship Enlisted this morning.


I think it turned out really well.


Achievement of the week: This draft answers a very important question, "How does the sausage get made aboard a Starship?" In my universe, it sure hell isn't replicators...  ;D ;D ;D


Also important to note that my project's popularity is up from it's last position, still close to the bottom of page 2 of 21....which is also higher than 7 "Notable Projects". :)

20
Hang in there Meg. :)

21
Almost done with another draft of my TV Pilot for Amazon Studios. The only thing left is to satisfy the Rule of Three by torturing an Ensign one last time.


Sadly, I've had to loose the Talking Panda in my pilot, but it is for a good cause and for a better intro for him in the 2nd episode.


On the bright side though, I have reason to believe my work is funny.


Also, as of this morning on the Amazon rankings of TV Projects by popularity, my project was at the bottom of Page 2 of 21.

22
Author Craft / Re: Writing villains
« on: August 15, 2012, 05:57:20 AM »
When writing you have to balance/decide between what makes you comfortable as an author and what the story needs.


When I write/plan out villains, I think about something  the DC Comics writers said, "The greater the villain, the greater the hero."


So, I personally see Villains and whatever twisted stuff they do as a means to end. My characters work for me after all.

23
Author Craft / Re: TV Pilot in need of Reviews on Amazon Studios
« on: August 14, 2012, 10:41:40 PM »
Thanks for that Liz.  :)

24
After 9 months of racking my brain over "How the heck am I going to make this Professional Dungeon Crawler story work?" I think I figured it out.  8)

25
Author Craft / Re: TV Pilot in need of Reviews on Amazon Studios
« on: August 13, 2012, 05:02:23 PM »
Thank you very much for following through, Liz. I appreciate it. :)


I'm still new to the Amazon Studios site too. I think you might have to post it in the Project's forum.


Good news though: I haven't gotten a robotic E-Mail saying they've passed on it...yet.


With whatever feedback you have I can do another draft. I've been meaning to do a dialogue pass and stuff.

26
Started working on a few things:


1. a new draft of my TV Pilot on Amazon Studios. Still no reviews or stars for it BTW. I still don't know if it's funny.  :(


Hopefully it will turn out funny.


2. reworking a NaNoWriMo project from last year about professional Dungeon Crawlers. My steam ran out on that project 25,000 words in because I never got a good ensemble cast for it that did everything it needed to. But I LOVE the setting. And the style I chose for it.

27
DFRPG / Re: Demon-possessed PCs (Darkblade-type setup)
« on: August 07, 2012, 09:36:30 PM »
Don't forget about Demonic Co-Pilot.

28
DFRPG / Re: Need help with 3 Story Mechanics
« on: August 07, 2012, 01:41:43 AM »
Er ... are you sure you spoilered the right stuff?  The stuff in the spoiler tags seems a lot less sensitive than the remainder!  :)


My players are smart enough to just need the Reminder at the beginning. Or at least trust they will.

29
DFRPG / Need help with 3 Story Mechanics
« on: August 06, 2012, 09:22:17 PM »
Note: If you are a member of my Emerald City Game, set in Supernatural Seattle, stop reading now. This is not for you. A few things will be in Spoiler tags at first to keep members of my Campaign from skimming and learning the secret.  ;D












Anyway, I'm GMing an upcoming campaign and I had a cool idea for some story mechanics, but...I need help ironing it out. The Campaign itself involves....
(click to show/hide)
...Dun Dun Duh!


Background: Long story short, my upcoming adventure in Supernatural Seattle is going to involve a bunch of evils
(click to show/hide)
, the PCs getting caught up in the spell and ending up in the past.


Why do this? Because I think it will be oodles of fun, especially because of our roster. You can read more about them on the OP site, but this thread's about the mechanics I want to use to run it.


This also assumes they...mostly don't screw up the timeline. I have though thought of a story reason why if they end up with a Grandfather Paradox, that paradox doesn't take hold of them until they reach the time they went into the past. 


There are 3 mechanics I need help with: The Bill & Ted Setup, The Ripple Track and Temptation of Time. I need to know if these sound solid and if there ware better ways to do it other than "Don't do Time Travel".


1. The Bill & Ted Setup


I was thinking at the beginning of the Campaign, the PCs will get shoehorned a bit, but rewarded with Fate Points in abundance if needed. They will invariably get wrangled right where they need to be to travel back in Time without a hitch.


At the END of the Campaign when the PCs get back to the present...they have to set themselves up.


What I was thinking for this Mechanic was to give them lots of Compels and Fate Points at the top of the Campaign and keep a tally. At the end of the Campaign, they have to pay off that Tally.


2. The Ripple Track


Instead of making charts and things to model my characters mucking up Time, I wanted instead to use a Stress Track for it. I call it The Ripple Track since they are dealing with the Currents of Time.


Just like a regular stress track, actions that affect the Past cause damage to it. Enough damage creates Consequences.
 
I had this idea of "Taking one for time" where when time looks to be altered, a Character can put it back on  track by taking a consequence in Time's stead or something. There has to be a way for the Characters to at least be able to try to put the Past back the way it's supposed to be.


Example: Marty McFly messes up his Timeline, causing some Consequences. Say an Extreme of My Parents Never Met and enough for an additional Serious Consequence. Marty decides to Take one for Time by accepting a Serious Social Consequence of My Mom is in Love With Me. He then spends the whole Movie/Adventure trying to deal enough social damage to pay off that Extreme Consequence.


That's just my first model of the Mechanic anyway.


3. The Temptation of Time


I have more than one person who could muck up time of their own free will in some way and it would be in character. 


I will most likely have one PC running afoul of his younger self(The PC is really OLD), one who will probably meet his own Grandfather and I have one PC whose Trouble is literally Instrument of Fate, Enemy of Fate AND he can see the fates of people.


I want to simulate a dangling of the carrot of "You could do something here. You could change the past."
Going back to the Back to The Future analogy, Marty McFly tells Doc Brown about the Libyans. That's Temptation.


How would I do this? I'm not sure a Compel is enough, especially since it would unfair since most of my PCs don't have many refresh left. If I were to compel them at the right time, they would be unable to buy it off. Ever. 


I was thinking about a Hunger-like Track that people have when they interact with the past and have enough knowledge to estimate what would happen.




30
The desire for Whedonesque and Tarentinoesque banter is perfectly understandable. If you want a test for whether or not a bit or a bunch of Dialogue is necessary, answer these 3 questions:


1. What is the purpose of this dialogue? Does the Dialogue move the story forward in a significant way?


2. If this dialogue wasn't here, would the scene still work?


3. Does this dialogue relate to something else that happens in the story later or earlier? Does the subject of the dialogue ever come up again?


That's my $0.02

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