OvNoWriMo Day 22- Filling a Gap
Apr. 22nd, 2006 04:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
redneckgaijinDay 22/25
Daily quota: 975/2,000 and still going
Goal: 45,040/50,000
I think I'll drop a scene here. At a bar party to celebrate the return of a reporter whose jaw was shattered by mining union roughs, our heroine, Sally Hendrix, sees a few of the new recruits from Earth in a booth, playing something she doesn't recognize...
The rattling of dice came from a corner booth in the crowded bar. Arranged around the small round table were five of the new miners, trainees no longer. One man sat behind a small cardboard shield, while three other men and a woman sat around the table in front of him. Paper, pencils, and dice- some very peculiar dice- lay beside each player.
"So, what's the bet?" Sally said, easing over to the booth and startling the players.
"Ma'am!" the man behind the cardboard said- Carson, Sally remembered, the pilot who had spotted and then plotted Kawajima's strike line on the Asteroid 2077 mission. He tried to stand up, succeeded only in bumping the table with his legs, and fell back to the cushioned bench with a thump.
"Stand easy," Sally said, "I just want to know where to put my money down. Who's got a hot hand? How do I bet?"
"Er... you don't, ma'am," Carson said, confused.
"This is dice, isn't it?" Sally said. "I know my Little Joe from my easy eight, just show me where to bet."
"We're not gambling, ma'am," the woman at the table said. "This is a game we played in college, before we went into astronaut- I mean spacer- training."
"What's the game about, then, Miss..."
"Murphy, ma'am," the woman said. "It allows us to portray fairy-tale characters in a mythological setting. We each play a character who travels through the fairy-tale world, trying to achieve greatness or right wrongs or whatever motivation the character has. It's a little bit like acting in a free-form play."
"Yeah," another player said. "Right now Jolly's half elf is negotiating with a group of Indian braves to join us in our battle against the forces of Ming the Merciless."
"My negotiations weren't exactly helped along by you seducing the chief's daughter," the player in the back, presumably Jolly, said.
"Hey, I'm just staying in alignment."
"Chaotic horny is not an alignment!"
"Excuse me," Sally waved her hand to break up any possible argument. "I've heard of these. This is a role-playing game. Those are banned under Authority regulations."
"Only the computer-driven full-immersion versions, ma'am," Jolly replied. "This system predates personal computing, never mind simulations. Books, paper, pencil and dice- these are the tools of true role-playing gamers."
"According to the definition in the regulations," Carson added, "a role-playing game has to be computer driven. As you can see, there's no computer involved at all. Therefore, according to the Authority, this isn't a role-playing game. It's perfectly legitimate."
"The Computer is your friend, citizen," the last player said, chuckling.
"Er… how many others do you know who play this game?" Sally asked.
"We're it," Carson said. "There are a couple of role-players in the European Union contingent, but they prefer a game system we don't have in our personal libraries."
"And the Japanese contingent won't play anything but romance RPGs," Murphy sighed. "I object to finding out if I've fallen in love by rolling against my Kinky stat."
"Your what?" Sally asked.
"Don't ask, ma'am."
"Um… all right," Sally said, edging away. "I'll just, um, leave you to it."
"Thank you, ma'am," Carson said, and as Sally walked away she heard him say, "Chief Muddy Waters looks you in the eye and says, 'Pointy ear man speak with forked tongue. We-um on warpath.' Roll for initiative, everybody..."
Funny, Sally thought, I always thought that new Earth recruits were, well, perfect. The very finest our species could produce. Those are just... well... weird…
Daily quota: 975/2,000 and still going
Goal: 45,040/50,000
I think I'll drop a scene here. At a bar party to celebrate the return of a reporter whose jaw was shattered by mining union roughs, our heroine, Sally Hendrix, sees a few of the new recruits from Earth in a booth, playing something she doesn't recognize...
The rattling of dice came from a corner booth in the crowded bar. Arranged around the small round table were five of the new miners, trainees no longer. One man sat behind a small cardboard shield, while three other men and a woman sat around the table in front of him. Paper, pencils, and dice- some very peculiar dice- lay beside each player.
"So, what's the bet?" Sally said, easing over to the booth and startling the players.
"Ma'am!" the man behind the cardboard said- Carson, Sally remembered, the pilot who had spotted and then plotted Kawajima's strike line on the Asteroid 2077 mission. He tried to stand up, succeeded only in bumping the table with his legs, and fell back to the cushioned bench with a thump.
"Stand easy," Sally said, "I just want to know where to put my money down. Who's got a hot hand? How do I bet?"
"Er... you don't, ma'am," Carson said, confused.
"This is dice, isn't it?" Sally said. "I know my Little Joe from my easy eight, just show me where to bet."
"We're not gambling, ma'am," the woman at the table said. "This is a game we played in college, before we went into astronaut- I mean spacer- training."
"What's the game about, then, Miss..."
"Murphy, ma'am," the woman said. "It allows us to portray fairy-tale characters in a mythological setting. We each play a character who travels through the fairy-tale world, trying to achieve greatness or right wrongs or whatever motivation the character has. It's a little bit like acting in a free-form play."
"Yeah," another player said. "Right now Jolly's half elf is negotiating with a group of Indian braves to join us in our battle against the forces of Ming the Merciless."
"My negotiations weren't exactly helped along by you seducing the chief's daughter," the player in the back, presumably Jolly, said.
"Hey, I'm just staying in alignment."
"Chaotic horny is not an alignment!"
"Excuse me," Sally waved her hand to break up any possible argument. "I've heard of these. This is a role-playing game. Those are banned under Authority regulations."
"Only the computer-driven full-immersion versions, ma'am," Jolly replied. "This system predates personal computing, never mind simulations. Books, paper, pencil and dice- these are the tools of true role-playing gamers."
"According to the definition in the regulations," Carson added, "a role-playing game has to be computer driven. As you can see, there's no computer involved at all. Therefore, according to the Authority, this isn't a role-playing game. It's perfectly legitimate."
"The Computer is your friend, citizen," the last player said, chuckling.
"Er… how many others do you know who play this game?" Sally asked.
"We're it," Carson said. "There are a couple of role-players in the European Union contingent, but they prefer a game system we don't have in our personal libraries."
"And the Japanese contingent won't play anything but romance RPGs," Murphy sighed. "I object to finding out if I've fallen in love by rolling against my Kinky stat."
"Your what?" Sally asked.
"Don't ask, ma'am."
"Um… all right," Sally said, edging away. "I'll just, um, leave you to it."
"Thank you, ma'am," Carson said, and as Sally walked away she heard him say, "Chief Muddy Waters looks you in the eye and says, 'Pointy ear man speak with forked tongue. We-um on warpath.' Roll for initiative, everybody..."
Funny, Sally thought, I always thought that new Earth recruits were, well, perfect. The very finest our species could produce. Those are just... well... weird…
