Some folx have asked me if Near Miss is based on a real party of PCs from an
old campaign. In fact, they aren't; they were all invented by me for the
GenCon events, but over the past five years, people who return to play the
same characters every year have gradually helped me flesh out the people
behind the character sheets.
One thing that folx may be interested to know, though, is that Near Miss's
music does in fact exist, and it's performed to an extent by myself and a
small group of musicians here in Pittsburgh. We use synthesis, voice
treatment, and sound processing to imitate the use of alien instruments, and
our early experiments in this stuff aren't really publishable but show
promise. In the meantime, for those of you in need of a small exercise in
creative RPG visualization, I recommend the following:
1. Sit down (or stand up, if you're the dancing/air-guitar type) in a darkened
room with a pair of headphones and a stereo setup.
2. Visualize the following: a large, open stage, almost devoid of clutter and
tangled wires, in front of a large, raised platform covered with electronic
junk. On the platform are two drum sets flanking a stack of electronic
keyboards: one set is spartan and sparse, consisting of six or seven huge
drums and nothing else, the other is a bewildering array of congas, cymbals,
electronic pads, wood blocks, and a row of dried-out Vargr skulls arraanged by
pitch. Behind the simpler drumset, place a seven-foot Aslan male with
drumsticks the size of billy clubs in his hands; at the percussion array,
place a male Vargr in garish clothing. Place a human male, about 36 years of
age, behind the keyboards. On the front stage, place three females: an Aslan
wrestling with an electric guitar, a Vargr plying something that looks like a
fretless bass guitar with an impossibly long neck, and a human woman with an
electric guitar or a saxophone (depending on your tastes). All are in their
thirties, but still quite lovely by the standards of their respective races,
and all are dressed in fashions that may well shock the close-minded. Give
them all a lot of energy, and put a smile on every face; after all, they're
playing music, which beats the heck out of merc work for making a living.
3. Put on the album REMAIN IN LIGHT by the Talking Heads (there are some
better albums for the parallelism, but most are hopelessly obscure), and
drop the needle on the song "The Great Curve."
4. Turn the volume up as loudly as you can bear, start the song, and let your
imagination go berserk.
Am I crazy? Perhaps. But two or three songs like this and DAMN I'm psyched for
a good Traveller game! |->
metlay [email removed] or [email removed]
Xpander Users' Group: Email me for details.
Metlay say: "Guebj njnl lbhe qvtvgny flaguf. Ohl Kcnaqref. Qba'g jbefuvc Xngr
Ohfu, be nalbar jub ybbxf yvxr ure. GEHFG ZRGYNL!"