Everything is Thunder

From: ian_hammond_cooper <ian_hammond_cooper_at_...>
Date: Fri, 02 Aug 2002 00:05:34 -0000

I had the pleasure of playing in and then narrating John Hughes Everything is Thunder at CO2 (with some help from John)

http://home.iprimus.com.au/pipnjim/questlines/thunder.html

It was a priviledge as it was an evocative scenario that captured the character of the Orlanthi and mood Far Place for me and gave me a feel for the importance of the wilderness in John's interpretation of that place. I also encountered some new, often confrontational, techniques for GMing which gave me a new voice to use at times when narrating for my own group.

Everything is Thunder is a engrossing story, centered on a beleagured community's struggle and a reminder of how great the stories a game like HW can tell. John produced a lot of material for the scenario, which we really only scratched the surface of. One item was a plan for the episode presented in terms of David Siegel's Nine Act structure. Though I had encountered this plot breakdown technique before, because of John's usage I returned to look at it again. There is much there of use in planning an episode, even when adopting a style in which backstory, setting, and character have the focus in prep time and events are more scanty and fluid to allow interaction by the players.

A few people requested a link in post-session discussion. If your interested take a look at:

http://www.dsiegel.com/film/Film_home.html

I pulled the link of John's site - there are a host of other thought provoking links there. Please check them out.

My only regret is that I only have one life to read all this stuff in :)