In the majority of fictional worlds we consume, we see people who are different than those around them. Harry Potter was a wizard living amongst muggles. Gandalf has lived for thousands of years, using his fantastical abilities to great effect.
As you can probably tell, many special powers come down to simply “magic”. Someone was born a witch or wizard or with the gift of flight or whatever it may be, and that’s that.
But if this is overdone, how can a potential author separate themself from the crowd. How can you make your characters special without simply giving them an overused magical quality and a weak explanation?
Simply put, you need to make the special abilities in your world unique. Create a backstory that goes deeper than “He is magical because I SAY he is magical!” Now more than ever, readers and viewers want to dive deep into fantasy worlds, and creating a unique reason for special abilities helps them do just that.
Let’s take a look at a few samples.
X-MEN: Genetic Mutations
Wolverine heals and has blade-like claws sprout from his hands-on command. Cyclops fires beams from his eyes. Jean Grey controls things with her mind. Each character has a unique special ability, but each ability is tied to a common cause: freak genetic mutations.
So-called mutants have mutations in their genetic code that give them radical powers; but, like most mutations, these also come with downsides. Wolverine feels the pain every time those claws come out. Cyclops needs special glasses to hold in his beams.
By giving them a scientific backing, the X-Men went from simply being superheroes to being a unique relative, the Mutants.
The Stormlight Archives
Written by Brandon Sanderson, the Stormlight Archives are set in a mystical world much like Middle Earth. Highstorms sweep through the land with mystical energies swirling around in them. The rich and powerful own shardplate and shardblades, powerful pieces of armor and weaponry that charge through the highstorms.
Likewise, Surgebinders are the closest there comes to magicians in this fantasy world. They can bind different ‘systems’ – such as gravity and adhesion – and manipulate them. Users do this through binding with a spren, a small mystical creature. Like shardplate, Surgebinders need to recharge in highstorms.
By creating a storm system that really fuels almost everything mystical in the Stormlight world, Sanderson thought up a unique way of giving his characters special abilities.
Star Wars – Jedi/Sith Abilities
Although it annoyed a lot of fans in the process, the Force got an explanation. Midi-chlorians – microscopic organisms – live in every race in the galaxy and give them the powers of the force. Some people have more, some people have less.
From there, through focus and meditation, users can increase the potency of the Midi-chlorians, therefore increasing their powers.
All three of these are great examples of different ways to introduce magical powers into your universe. People latch onto unique ideas, so if you can discover a different approach to what you want to achieve, you’re on your way to success.
What are your favourite uses of power or ability in film or literature? Comment below or message me with your ideas!
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This week, I’ve got a fascinating guest post for you from the fantastic Bunneh3000. A fellow author and mega-geek I asked him to write a post about a geek topic of his choice and he picked Battlestar Galactica games that we all want to see. Enjoy!
Battlestar Galactica as a franchise is one that has a healthy cult following spawning from both well received TV series (late ’70s – ‘80s and the 2000s). The basic story follows the space-based remnants of the human race as they flee a cybernetic race called the Cylons, with whom they’ve had a long standing war.
Both stories emote a sense of desperation, placing the human race at a disadvantage throughout the story. The drama that ensued made for great television and the action, to this day, seems to be ripe for the video game industry to take on. Unfortunately, few games have been completed and those that have are considered ‘decent’ at best.
Of those that are decent, the most recent BSG: Deadlock game probably ties the older PS2/Xbox Battlestar Galactica game. Deadlock is a mash-up of XCOM and a turn-based style Homeworld strategy game that PC gamers can sink their teeth in. With its release in 2017, developer Slitherine will assuredly support this game with more DLC and updates to keep the game fresh and exciting for a little while longer.
The old PS2/Xbox game, however, played in a kind of 3rd person style flight sim like the old Star Wars Rogue Squadron games. Outside of those two games, there’s not much to be said.
In an effort to push developers to take a chance and bring glory back to the Colonial Fleet, here are a few wish list style game types that Battlestar Galactica could flourish in!
BSG Man’s Sky
For those who have played No Man’s Sky, you either are enthralled with the immense freedom or bored with the resource gathering routine needed to improve your little ship. Here’s the Battlestar Galactica game proposal:
With the immense size of No Man Sky’s universe and the format of resource gathering, there could be an interesting Battlestar Galactica storyline that could be forged. Parts of the TV series, before the location of Earth is found, is centered around a frantic search for the resources needed to supply the fleet as it fled the Cylons.
This game could make the No Man’s Sky engine a bit less open world-y and a bit more focused. The search for resources could have Cylon away teams sprinkled in along with maybe some ‘land defense of your base’ action. Then, with No Man’s Sky’s ability to launch into space and have space battles, you could also have your grand ship combat as you race to return to the Galactica!
BSG Battlefront
While many gamers have mixed feelings about what Electronics Arts did with Star Wars Battlefront 2, the resulting game is still pretty great. The land combat is great and mixes in ‘heroes’ from the movies into the game that can quickly change the course of the battle.
Imagine being able to become any of the Cylon models or Star Buck or Athena or Kat, etc. The game then would also have the advantage of being able to play space battles well (as does the Star Wars version) with hero versions of the ships as well. Then you could possibly throw in an online persistent war (with different seasons) to mix things up with the modes and all of the sudden you have the game that Battlestar Galactica Online wishes it were!
Battlestar
Pegasus Effect
Here the idea is to pair the stylings of Bioware’s legendary Mass Effect trilogy with a Battlestar Galactica skin. Mass Effect was a massive and exciting action RPG game that could arguably be considered a mashup of Star Trek and BSG to a degree. In it, you were the commander of your own ship hoping to save lives against an oncoming ridiculously overpowered threat.
The game had third person action combat as well as a bit of RPG elements where you upgraded your commander as well as your ship and shipmates. You managed your crew and even developed relationships with them. This last ‘character relationship’ aspect of Mass Effect seemingly fits right in with the sometimes exhausting character to character drama that either made it or broke it for Battlestar Galactica viewers of the later series.
With the demise of Mass Effect Andromeda,
there could be a way to reimagine the series through the eyes of the Battlestar
Pegasus. Since the TV show didn’t fully follow the Pegasus’ journey, a game of
this style could flesh it out in a dramatic and fun way.
Battlestar
Galactica Roguelike
So the gaming idea of a roguelike is to have a
setup where the difficulty is high, death is permanent, and the replay value is
high. By making every ‘playthrough’ procedurally different, you essentially
make the game able to become a different experience everytime you play it.
Games like FTL, Darkest Dungeon, and Enter The Gungeon all have interesting
concepts that could work well.
FTL was a Star Trek styled game that played
like a real time strategy game. The ‘board’ you played on was the layout of
your ship. You either attacked other ships or you defended your ship from being
boarded. All of these concepts are PERFECT for the BSG universe. You could be a
commander ordering all parts of your ship to do certain actions based on the
damage you receive and (to spice up the action) the damage your Colonial Fleet
receives.
Darkest Dungeon was a D&D styled party based dungeon exploration game. It’s interesting concept was EVERYTHING that occurred could lead to members of your party developing traumatic mental and physical afflictions. They could become afraid of the dark, verbally abusive to party members, unwilling to obey your commands, as well as countless other things. Morale has a huge effect in this game and it could be an interesting game mechanic in a Battlestar Galactica game
Enter The Gungeon was more of an action
shooter that stressed getting as far as you could in one life before dying and
starting over again with only hard earned skills as what you can use again. In
a BSG roguelike, this could be used to frustrate the player when pilots or
crewmembers die, yet have the ability to grant bonuses if those characters were
high ranking or found/developed useful tech.
Mash all of these up and I’m sure some indie
developer could find a better than average gaming experience!
Battlestar
Galactica VR
Now that we live in the age of VR coming into
its own, there needs to be some sort of Colonial experience. Keep in mind, VR
typically isn’t played for as long as other games to avoid ‘VR sickness’ so
these ‘games’ will end up being less ambitious than the previous suggestions!
BSG Bridge Crew
Star Trek Bridge Crew showed that a fun multi-person bridge experience could work. Reskinning that came with the BSG universe doesn’t seem like it would be too hard. Essentially the concept is that each player is a specific role on the bridge: Captain, 2nd in Command, Communications, Weapons/Helm/Navigation, Engineering. (I’m certain others could be thought of but lets keep it simple).
The Captain gets his info and then must make rush decisions and give orders to everyone else. The others must use their hand controllers to push button and levers to do what the captain orders before something bad happens or to fix something bad. Sci-fi games of various space shows could probably fit this game model very well.
BSG Colonial Fleet Training
Here, you could do various Viper training missions as if you were in the cockpit. Thankfully, using a headset and not having to ‘walk around your room’ would work well with the VR headset anywhere. Missions could be short and sweet and the battles and sound could be quite immersive for a unique flight combat sim experience.
BSG Deadlock VR
Playing turn based strategy games can be hard given keyboard and mouse control schemes. If the control scheme for Battlestar Galactica Deadlock was more like a holographic war board where you could move your fleet with your hands (as your orders), then the speed of the whole experience could make things more enjoyable as well.
Do you agree with these choices?
get in touch with bunneh3000 here and tell him what you think:
bunneh3000.wordpress.com Bunneh3000.contently.com Twitter: @bunneh3000 Bio: BJ “Bunneh3000” is a content creator/poet/father/husband in the geekiest sense of each word. Whether streaming on Twitch, making vids on Youtube, speaking his mind on podcasts, or writing articles, he has quite the way with words!
**WARNING – THIS POST CONTAINS SOME MINOR SPOILERS FOR BLACK PANTHER**
Marvel’s Black Panther has smashed box office takings and changed the face of superhero movies forever. But what of the film itself? D.M. Cain explores whether the movie is worth all the hype.
Wakanda (the brand new location in Black Panther) is a beautiful and vibrant example of exquisite world-building. It looks incredible – as a stunning fantasy landscape, a technological wonder, but also as a country buzzing with tradition and culture. The costumes, weapons, architecture and even the people’s gestures (the crossing of the arms, the dancing before the duels, etc) all contribute to a stunning world more developed than anything we have seen in the Marvel universe to date. Continue reading “9.5/10 stars for Marvel’s Black Panther”→
It’s an interesting time for geeks the world over as science fiction, fantasy and superheroes take over our screens. The Marvel and DC phenomenon has exploded in recent years, showering us with a whole range of excellent (mostly excellent…) films and series to enjoy. Once, comic books were viewed as for the geeky underbelly of society, the single, lonely nerd in the basement, but that has changed drastically. Now, people from all walks of life indulge in superhero adventures and science fiction journeys.
Directors and producers have seen the huge success of these movies and capitalised on the potential, bringing the huge interlinking worlds of the comics to the big screen, drawing viewers in and get the geeky blood pumping around our bodies. The Marvel universe is a fine example of this, with each film cleverly weaving in and around the others, characters crossing paths and even fighting one another (as in the excellent Captain America: Civil War).
For the modern viewer, a single film just isn’t enough anymore. We expect more from our movie experiences and each trip to the cinema gives us not one evening’s entertainment, but rather a small chunk of something that will keep us entertained for years – a glimpse into a wider world.
Here’s a rundown of the extended universe movie treats we have in store over the coming months and years:
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Star Wars spin-off movie Solo: A Star Wars story promises to be a rollercoaster ride of adventure, cocky smirks and general roguish scoundrel antics
Star Wars Episode IX
Following the outstanding sequel movies, The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, episode IX will bring an end to the Skywalker saga. It promises to be a thrilling and yet heart-wrenching goodbye to this incredible story arc.
Avengers:Infinity War
The culmination of every Marvel film to date, Avengers: Infinity War will bring action on an epic scale
Black Panther
A ground-breaking triumph for the Marvel universe. Black Panther’s early reviews are excellent and the movie promises to bring a mature and complex edge to the MCU
Ant Man and the Wasp
Ant Man is a fun character and his chemistry with The Wasp is great – it will be interesting to see these two together.
Venom
Dark, brooding and intense at the best of times, Tom Hardy is an excellent choice to play Venom in all of his terrifying insanity.
Black Widow
Black Widow is an intelligently written character who happens to kick ass too. It’s about time she had her own movie.
Tell me in the comments section, which of these are you most looking forward to?
‘I was kicked out of the flight academy for having a mind of my own’ – This line seems really cheesy to me. A bit like he thinks he’s too much of a maverick to play by the rules
Emilia Clarke looks sadly under-used (though I acknowledge that this is just a short trailer so it’s difficult to tell for sure)
Do you agree with my pros and cons? Do you have different ideas? Let me know what you think!
Anybody who knows my family knows that we are enormous Star Wars geeks. My six year old son is already a die-hard fanatic and his six month old sister is well on her way.
So, this Christmas when we should have been making festive footprint art, we decided instead to go for something a little more… ‘us’. This is the result!
Let me know – which is your favourite? I really like Boba Fett and the little porg ❤
The top row of footprints are by my son, Deacon. The bottom row are baby Lucia’s.
The Phoenix Project is available to buy for just $0.99 / £0.99 from July 11th – July 17th. After that, the price returns to $4.99 – so why not grab a copy of this psychological dystopian thriller now!
How can you fight to the death, when you’ve given up on life?
A thought provoking and compelling dystopian world that will change the way you view justice.
Britain has descended into chaos, as violence and terrorist attacks seethe across the once-peaceful country. Outraged by the steady stream of lawlessness, citizens demand a harsher penal system, and the Phoenix Project is born.
In prisons across the country, inmates fight to the death in a weekly bloodbath while the nation cheers them on.
Raven Kennedy, a prisoner who has never forgiven himself for his unspeakable crime, struggles against his own guilt and self-loathing. But even as the real war rages on within himself, Raven is forced to battle some of the prison’s most ruthless killing machines.
Fighting for his life and a chance for redemption, can Raven survive long enough to unravel the anger and regret that shackle him – and find the forgiveness he seeks?
“A superbly written debut, soaked in tension and intrigue.” Jack Croxall, author of the ‘Tethers’ trilogy.
