Catalyst Castle

A day late but not a dollar short! Here’s this week’s weekly world.

Here are the setting elements:

Setting: Space Colony
Tone: Swashbuckling
Things: Advanced Intelligence, Grudge
Tech Level: Low Magic
Place: River

And here are the plot elements:

Opposition: Warlord
Plot Action: Convince (Malignant) Advanced Intelligence
Plot Action: Duel (Healthy) Heist

Again, before you read further, I challenge you to take 10-20 minutes to develop these elements into a workable fictional setting and plot, and post your results in the comments below. After you’re done, you can come back and read my interpretation of these elements.


My Weekly World: Contact Station

In the distant future, an Earth space colony orbits the planet Jai’ju’bal where humans have discovered their first intergalactic neighbors. The Jai’juls are a primitive people. Their civilization is ancient, but a history of frequent warfare and natural disasters has prevented them from progressing beyond the iron age. Human scientists and diplomats prepare for first contact, having observed the Jai’buls for some time from a distance.

However, their plans for a peaceful introduction might be derailed when a xenoarcheologist decides to make an unapproved landing mission to Jai’ju’bal. His goal is to infiltrate an ancient temple built at the mouth of Jai’ju’bal’s largest river and steal valuable artifacts. Earth Force commanders discover the plot shortly after he leaves the space colony, and they dispatch a squad of daring space marines to intercept him before he can do any damage.

Things go awry when the presence of the humans in the ancient temple awakens an immortal alien warlord who had been imprisoned there. Lord Darkrul, a highly evolved Jai’jul mutant, possesses superior mental powers that the superstitious natives attribute to magic. Lord Darkrul begins again his campaign for world domination, seething with anger for the years he’s been imprisoned.

In an attempt to right their mistake, the human xenoarcheologist and space marines devise a plan to defeat the Jai’jul warlord. After evacuating the space colony, they convince Lord Darkul that a being of his power shouldn’t be content to rule from a terrestrial throne, but should rule from the heavens. They lure him to their space colony and then blow it up, destroying Darkul once and for all, and barely escaping in the process.


What do you think? Be sure to post your own take on the elements in the comments if you haven't already.

Here's the next Weekly World. This technically makes two in the same week. Last week's world was late and didn't get posted until Monday, but I wanted to go ahead and post again today rather than getting behind. Once again, string these randomly generated elements together into a workable setting and plot. See previous Weekly Worlds here.

Here are the setting elements:

Setting: Medieval
Tone: Pulp
Things: Disaster, Mechanic
Tech Level: Post-Apocalyptic
Place: Hospital

And here are the plot elements:

Opposition: Tragic Villain
Plot Action: Convince (Strong) Pollution
Plot Action: Win (Religious) Launch

Again, before you read further, I challenge you to take 10-20 minutes to develop these elements into a workable fictional setting and plot, and post your results in the comments below. After you’re done, you can come back and read my interpretation of these elements.


My Weekly World: Cult of the God Seekers

After nuclear war brings an end to civilization as we know it and leaves the Earth a burning wasteland, the surviving remnants of mankind struggle for survival. Lacking access to advanced technology, a new dark age begins. Men pile up the ruble from devastated cities to construct castles and fortresses. The strongest warriors set boundaries and establish themselves as new kings and barons. Times are difficult, and often the line between life and death rests on the edge of a sword.

Only a scant few individuals retain any knowledge of advanced technology. These mechanics are revered as wizards, and are considered both an asset and a threat by the common people. A group of mechanics has established a religious order called the Cult of the God Seekers. They preach that god abandoned the world when the cataclysm occurred, and that he no longer believes mankind wants his aid. They claim that the only way to reach god and ask for his aid is to launch a rocket into space.

The heroes, a band of traveling warriors and scholars seeking knowledge of the old world, discover that the God Seekers will cause a terrible tragedy if they succeed in launching their rocket. The launch will release very strong pollutants that will quickly destroy the already unstable atmosphere and bring an ultimate end to all life on Earth. What’s worse is that Bishop Krow, the leader of the cult, knows this will happen. Years ago, Krow’s family was brutally murdered at the command of a local king, when Krow refused to build a mechanical army for the king. Now he seeks to end his own life and take vengeance in one fell swoop. The heroes must hurry to convince the local populace of the imminent danger, and rouse them to action to prevent the launch, while they take on Krow in his mechanical fortress.


What do you think? Be sure to post your own take on the elements in the comments if you haven't already.

Ack! This article is a few days late!

Here's the next Weekly World. String these randomly generated elements together into a workable setting and plot. See previous Weekly Worlds here.

Here are the setting elements:

Setting: Stone Age
Tone: Conspiracy
Things: Mass Transit, Child
Tech Level: Domesticated Animals
Place: Beach

And here are the plot elements:

Opposition: Doppelganger
Plot Action: Blackmail (Classy) Computers
Plot Action: Clean (Sci-Fi) Disguise

Again, before you read further, I challenge you to take 10-20 minutes to develop these elements into a workable fictional setting and plot, and post your results in the comments below. After you’re done, you can come back and read my interpretation of these elements.


My Weekly World: The Secrets in Stone

The stone age world is ruled by the gods themselves, who issue commands through their chosen priests. While man has yet to learn the means for metal working, their numbers have multiplied greatly forcing them to spread out over a large region along the coast. In order to maintain control, the gods sent instructions from their temple describing how to build a stone railway upon which teams of mammoths could pull long trains of stone-wheeled carts. This rail system allowed priests to travel the land, keeping tabs on the goings-on in even far-flung villages both to the North and the South. By this means also, supplies and materials are transported to the capitol and redistributed as needed.

The heroes are a group of priests who travel the rail system investigating the affairs of different towns and acting on behalf of the gods. Problems soon arise when accusations of treachery are leveled against them one after the other. It soon becomes apparent that someone is engaging in underhanded dealings while perfectly mimicking their appearance. The heroes must pursue this doppelganger in order to clear their names and foil his nefarious plot.

Eventually they discover that their foe is actually a man from times more ancient than their own. Long ago, humans built an incredibly advanced civilization. When man was teetering on the brink of self-destruction they turned the care of their civilization over to a group of networked supercomputers that would determine the best course for mankind and dictate their every action. The computers decided that man was not ready for the level of technology they had achieved and so gradually guided them into a new stone age. Eventually all memory of their past glory was lost, and the computers had come to be regarded as gods. Now a man kept in stasis for all this time has reemerged into the new stone age, but knows the truth about the past and the nature of the gods. Using a high-tech holoshroud device that was buried with him, he’s been mimicking the appearances of various priests in order to get close to the gods. Now he gathered enough evidence of the gods’ true nature to completely undo all of their hard work. His goal, however, is not to act on this plan, but to merely use it as blackmail against the computers. He’ll keep their secret safe in exchange for the wealth and power that comes with the position of high priest.


What do you think? Be sure to post your own take on the elements in the comments if you haven't already.

Here's round two of my newest ongoing series of articles: Weekly World. The object of this series is an exercise in creative setting and plot building. The goal is to string the randomly generated setting and plot elements listed below into a workable premise for a story.

Here are the setting elements:

Setting: Mystical Orient
Tone: Campy
Things: Blood, Farm
Tech Level: Virtual Reality
Place: Lair

And here are the plot elements:

Opposition: Movie Monsters
Plot Action: Cover Up (Awkward) Animal
Plot Action: Destroy (Funky) Noble

Again, before you read further, I challenge you to take 10-20 minutes to develop these elements into a workable fictional setting and plot, and post your results in the comments below. After you’re done, you can come back and read my interpretation of these elements. If you haven't seen last week's Weekly World you can check it out here for ideas.


My Weekly World: Squatting Tiger, Bashful Dragon: In Virtual Land!

In the future, everyone spends their lives blissfully exploring Virtual Land, the persistent multi-user virtual reality game, while robots dutifully care for the more mundane matters of civilization. Virtual Land is a vast landscape divided into multiple regions, each hosted on separate servers and designed along different themes. In Mystical Orient, players can become powerful kung-fu warriors and test their skill against one another.

Recently though, a tragedy has occurred in Virtual Land. A player has hacked the Mystical Orient server! This results in a band of traveling kung-fu warriors returning to their home village to discover that all of the NPC farmers have been slaughtered by rampaging movie monsters. The heroes immediately set out to avenge the blood of their virtual friends. Their investigations lead them quickly to one of their own friends, a young boy who plays a kung-fu monkey with atomic fart attacks. In real life this kid is a crack hacker. When put under pressure, he admits to doing the hacking, but explains that he was blackmailed by another more sinister player. The heroes decide to save their friend from account termination by covering up his involvement while they search for the lair of the real perpetrator, a snooty kid who plays a nobleman with a funky hat that resembles a Chinese takeout box, so that they can destroy him before he causes more havoc.


What do you think? Be sure to post your own take on the elements in the comments if you haven't already.

Today I’m starting a new series of articles I would like to continue to publish on a weekly basis. The object of this series is an exercise in creative setting and plot building. I got the idea from a role-playing game product called Instant Game, by Animalball Partners, which is available as a free PDF download here. One of the things Instant Game provides is a system for rolling on a series of charts to randomly select setting and plot elements. The GM and the players are then supposed to connect the dots and turn these elements into a playable game. I thought doing this would be a good way to get the creative juices flowing.

So, here are the setting elements I rolled today:

Setting: Institution/Institutionalized
Tone: Swashbuckling
Things: Mecha, Crash Site
Tech Level: Artificial Intelligence
Place: Ruins

And here are the plot elements I rolled:

Opposition: Political Group
Plot Action: Infiltrate (Illusory) Blood
Plot Action: Rescue (Ancient) Child

Alright, before you read further, I challenge you to take 10-20 minutes to develop these elements into a workable fictional setting and plot, and post your results in the comments below. After you’re done, you can come back and read my interpretation of these elements.


My Weekly World: Musketeers 2201

Civilization as we know it ended in 2101, when Earth was struck by a rain of meteors. This left much of the world devastated and in ruins. Out of the ashes of this disaster civilization arose anew. Today much of the surviving humans are united under one king. The king’s most loyal retainers are brave and gallant soldiers who pilot giant, gun-wielding mecha called Muskets. These Musketeers receive expert training at the renowned Musketeers Academy, built at the crash site of the largest meteor, where they spar with both steel and wits.

The most accomplished recent graduates of the academy receive a special mission. Rumor has it that a secret society of noblemen, calling themselves the High Bloods, is hatching a plot against the king. No one has been able to identify any of the members of this group as of yet. The Musketeers are to pose as political dissenters and attempt to infiltrate the High Bloods. Following clues around the world, most of their leads end up as dead ends. However, while exploring some dangerous ruins rumored to be the hideout of a High Bloods cell, they discover a young child who has been in stasis since before the disaster. As the child gradually shares knowledge of the old world, the Musketeers begin to suspect that the High Bloods do not exist at all, but are in fact a lie propagated by androids who survived the meteor shower in secret. The High Blood conspiracy was a ploy to misdirect the attention of the king and his Musketeers while the androids prepared to launch a massive offensive against the kingdom.

Yeah, it’s a bit convoluted, but what do you think?