Stitchpunk Goodness
One of the advantages of a long flight is that you get to catch up on movies that you should have seen when they first came out. Today I saw 9 and District 9 (what's up with the number nine?). With nothing else to do on the flight, I naturally starting thinking of how they might inspire gaming material. With District 9, I started thinking about the Kafer of Traveller 2300/2300 AD and how I might do a Risus adaptation of that game. That post will hopefully happen when I return home and have access too my rulebooks. With 9, my thoughts were much less specific and therefore perfect for a quick post before I try sleep off my jet-lag.
9 is not the best steampunk movie that I have seen. That honor goes to Sherlock Holmes (which may or may not inspire a post in the near future). But to someone who loves the steampunk/retro-future aesthetic (as I surely do) 9 is undeniably gorgeous. It's also pregnant with gaming possibilities.
The concept is pure one-shot gold. The players characters are creations that wake up into a world barren of humans. They can solve the mystery of man's undoing, fight other (more hostile) creations, or establish some kind of new society. A series of adventures can do all of the above in an epic quest.
The stitchpunk characters of 9 are not particularly deep with respect to other films but they make great character sketches for a game like Risus. Due to the circumstances of their creation, each little homunculus represents an iconic and complimentary personality archetype with a unique and interesting shtick. 1 is the Cowardly and Stubborn Old Leader; 2 is the Fearless Gadgeteer-Explorer; 3 and 4 are Twin Voracious Scholars; 5 is the Big-Hearted Engineer; 6 is a Sensitive Artist-Prophet; 7 is the Fiercely Independent Adventuress; 8 is the Magnetism-Addicted Muscle; and 9 is the Courageous and Honest Hero.
I also love how the small scale of the stichpunks turns ordinary objects from the ruined world into incredible props (e.g. a scissor blade for a sword and flash-light bulb lamps). And the crumbling post-apocalyptic building become incredible locations for staging action sequences.
The concept is pure one-shot gold. The players characters are creations that wake up into a world barren of humans. They can solve the mystery of man's undoing, fight other (more hostile) creations, or establish some kind of new society. A series of adventures can do all of the above in an epic quest.
The stitchpunk characters of 9 are not particularly deep with respect to other films but they make great character sketches for a game like Risus. Due to the circumstances of their creation, each little homunculus represents an iconic and complimentary personality archetype with a unique and interesting shtick. 1 is the Cowardly and Stubborn Old Leader; 2 is the Fearless Gadgeteer-Explorer; 3 and 4 are Twin Voracious Scholars; 5 is the Big-Hearted Engineer; 6 is a Sensitive Artist-Prophet; 7 is the Fiercely Independent Adventuress; 8 is the Magnetism-Addicted Muscle; and 9 is the Courageous and Honest Hero.
I also love how the small scale of the stichpunks turns ordinary objects from the ruined world into incredible props (e.g. a scissor blade for a sword and flash-light bulb lamps). And the crumbling post-apocalyptic building become incredible locations for staging action sequences.
Labels: Inspiration, Steampunk
posted by Risus Monkey at 9:10 AM
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