Looking over my notes for the third episode, I am transported back to my writing process for this ep, which I am realizing was very difficult. Starting off, I knew I wanted to detail out a big world that would offer the players a lot of different options, and would bite back wherever they went. This means, unlike the last ep, I would have to do a LOT of writing. But I was feeling stumped and uninspired. I had a bunch of ideas where it could go, but none sounded very fun. So I did what I do now when I get a block: I pulled up my Oblique Strategies app and drew a prompt. I got “Repetition is a form of change”
Not a great note for what I was doing, frankly. Apologies to Brian Eno. It really felt like this note was better suited for musicians in a rut rather than a game master podcaster. Doubly unhelpful becauseI wanted to get away from the shooting from the hip of the first two episodes. Even still, this prompt was what was echoing through my head as I wrote.
I’m going to break down my notes differently in this entry than in the last - I’m going to break down my notes into sections and write a little Game Mastery commentary on the process. My notes will be identified by italics.
DEATH IN SPACE EP 3
“Repetition is a form of change”
The Gannon Aside Intro
When I’m in an uninspired state, I’ll try to write out all the problems I’m having, and include all the questions I need to have answered before the recording. I start by asking myself the most important question I ask myself as I begin writing an ep:"
What is fun for me to do right now?
The idea of a sprawling location with multiple paths is REALLY compelling. Maybe the way to that is like a resident evil style “mansion” - stuck in one well defined location
The next question is the number one motivating factor for the characters. Carmen’s husband Seth: where is he, what’s he been up to, what’s his deal. Here, my initial answer to that q is straightforward. I would go on to adjust his exact motivations and history up to the writing for the 5th episode.
What happened to SETH:
After Carmen was gone so long, it was widely assumed she had died. In his grief, (which he is loath to admit) he conspired with Cosmo to steal Carmen’s fortune, and then disappear. He was in a dark place - and decided to live out his days in a literally dark place: the casino floor of CON-PM28
What is CON-PM 28?
words I associate with CON-PM28: mining, sweaty, casino
History: CON-PM28 Started as a humble mining colony, then hit a big gem vein, then a casino parked itself, created a community around it, grew to become a mega casino, became a tourist trap, new vein opened below the casino, casino town got hollowed out, now the casino is for locals only, miners are freaked out drug heavies, vein is cold but the promise is strong. Cheap drugs, sex, gambling.
After answering these initial questions, I made a list of to-write bulletpoints. Here you can see I’m concerned with the balance and thrust of the episode: how do we enter strong? What is motivating the characters? Is it strong enough to propel them into action? Are there appropriate and interesting stakes if they can’t find Seth? Also where the fuck am I putting this dude on this dumbass asteroid?
To Write:
navigating location / random encounters?
pursuing objective
indv character objectives
what comes after objective / "losing" objective
where is seth
Further down in the document, I found some loose to-writes, separated likely because they’re more ephemeral, technical questions: What actions would players have to take to find Seth? How would their intereactions with the world point them closer to their goal? For each location, can I introduce an element of random discovery to give color and chaos to the world? Also, I’ve established that he was known to be a lustful dude. Who are the people he spends time with? What do they do on the asteroid? How could they be found? Will they talk about Seth willingly?
Next I compiled everything other players said about CON-PM28. Yeah, they were improvised, jokey lines, but (classic improv trick) if you remember and call back what the other players have established, you come off like Houdini. audiences love it.
Blair as Olive: “Fuck wolves” are a dangerous presence on CON PM
Casey as Chip: says “that place used to be so nice” - this means he has some history with this location. Since he has lived over the course of several hundred years, he will have known this asteroid settlement from a long, long time ago.
I go on to lay out a somewhat disorganized series of histories, lists, and color generators for CON-PM 28. A Prime piece of motivation in writing here was another bit of advice I got from Kartellian Clamor: “Have something going on in your dungeons.” The NPCs, like us, do not live static lives. We are affected and motivated by the political and cultural movements of the regions where we live, so your NPCs should have movement in their lives beyond the player presence.
I honestly regret making this another Union vs The Bosses subplot here. I already have covered this kind of thing in other episodes of NeoScum, and even in those eps, I always feel like I’m offering a pretty shallow presentation of this kind of conflict. Yeah, we’re all on Twitter, and yeah, we all know the bosses suck and unionizing is almost always a good thing. Still, I don’t love presenting a story where there’s a clear good guy and bad guy. I’d probably benefit from further study on the subject. I’ll end my neurotic rambling there.
What’s going on?
6 months ago, a mining team hit upon an 11 foot tall coffin fused as one with the asteroid. They sent a caravan to spend night and day for 3 months excavating this coffin from stone. Once it was finally freed, the several ton sarcophagus was loaded via mech onto a truck. As the caravan made its way out of the tunnel, it collapsed.
Infuriated mining lead GOON of CON Miners United ordered a strike - no work to be done unless their demands for pay were met. Seth refused and limited all water turned off on the miner side of the asteroid.
I love a damn side quest, so I thought it would provide the players some opportunities to bounce off the creep and nightlife of CON-PM28
Who is offering jobs to players:
Dock: get rid of illegal gambling for a quick buck
Burbs: point us to THE GOON for a buck.
The Floor: Shadow enforcers want a rundown of the valentine clientelle for a quick buck.
Red: Move this package for a quick buck.
Mine town: Drop this package off at the mansion for a quick buck
The Pit: Fuck you
A bit of visual inspiration for the appearance of the well to-do of the asteroid.
The wealthy wear colorful robes of breathable fabric over an air purifying mask.
Highly industrial
Cone shaped, emitting fog
Black dome
Golden dragon
Next I try to breathe some life into this dusty colony by defining who the important people are on the settlement. Whether the players actually meet any of these guys is unimportant, just writing out what kind of people are poking around gives me room and inspiration for NPC improvisation.
Dealer enforcer
Name: Margret
Where: Valentine
Priority: His men protected
Wants: to make enough to pay his debts to enron and hitch a ride out of here
Union chief goon
Name: GOON
Where: Miner Town
Priority: to live long enough to leave this asteroid
Wants: Conversation with Enron Corperate
ENRON merc vet
Name: Shallash
Where: The Burbs
Priority: Sadistic violence
Wants: The union to fully surrender and comply
Casino owner
Name: Verdant
Where: The Floor
Priority: A rebuilt Golden Goose Casino
Wants: Enron off the asteroid
Drug Kingpin
Name: Masillda
Where: The Pit
Priority: Join partnership with Enron
Wants: To kill GOON with a hot pack.
ENRON overseer
Seth
Where: The Burbs
Priority: To be loved
Wants: To fall in love again and be loved back
Now we get to the meat of the writing - world generation and expansion, aka THE LORE. I started by scrawling out a squiggly map on my phone:
