Thought's of a Mad Scientist: Other Mad Scientists

THIEVES!

CHARLATANS!

CONDEMN-ABLE ACTIONS!

My Ideas have been stolen from me!

The very thought of it all is maddening.

What happened you may ask? I was watching the evening news and it turns out some other Mad Scientists have been creating Gamma Juice and Grunts! How exactly do I know you might ask? Well isn't it obvious? When the headlines are "The White House, Kremlin, Blue House and British Parliament have all been attacked by ogreish monsters the first thought might be OH!, we're in a "Fantasy World" that must have been dreamed up by some guy and his partner to make and sell a game. WELL YOU'D BE WRONG!

The only way this could have happened is if someone used gamma juice to create Grunts! MY DESIGN!

OOOOOHHHHHH THOSE OTHERS WILL RUE THE DAY THEY STOLE MY DESIGNS!

Muahahahahahahahaha.

Thoughts of a Mad Scientist: Gamma Juice

Ah, Gamma Juice.... 

The sustenance of life in a bottle. The source of power I will use to make a force the world has never seen before. My gang....no... My ARMY of Grunts will be made out of Gamma Juice!

It's so brilliant yet simple and elegant. Only a paragon of my stature could ever achieve such greatness. Gamma Juice is so simple to make it is insane that no one else had thought of this before. Seriously, all you really need is luciferin, luciferase, oxygen, Plutonium, neodymium, nobelium, liquid Argon, Bromine, and a dash of Gamma Radiation(15 MeV).

Thankfully these ingredients are ooh, so common. Who doesn't have a few hundred pounds of each of those? Almost nobody...that's who, AHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA. That makes it all the much more simple to generate great supplies to keep for myself. Only through my brilliance could anyone have amassed these level of resources. In the worst case scenario  I've got my atom smasher just laying around. Even if that breaks down I could use some cosmic radiation in place of the gamma rays. It's easy enough to channel.

I've got a mind on how many different molds I should use to create my Grunts. At least two maybe three.... or four....seven....teen. Variety is the spice of life after-all. I have always had an affinity for ogres and goblins with the occasional orc. merging them together should be a fun task to accomplish. Maybe I can add some cybernetics to them occasionally as well.

Terror will be wrought upon my enemies. Grunts will crash through the countryside and bring woe to who oppose me.

Gamma Juice for the win.

Thoughts of a Mad Scientist: Grunts

YES I'VE GOT IT!

I have discovered the best solution to my military quandary. No, not creatures of myth and legend. No not mercenaries. No not mindless machines.

The answer is Grunts! Yes, genetically engineered Grunts. They are the perfect solution to every mad scientists needs. They are loyal to a fault. They will do anything you tell them to. They especially enjoy smashing things. Seriously, Just send them into a place and they will smash it all up. They can't really make plans for themselves, but who cares? That's what I'm here for! Their horns, and rough skin make them terrifying opponents for the inexperienced mad scientist. Yes.... they shall be my army.

They aren't indestructible, but they're are easy to replace. They can subsist on essentially nothing at all and even if they do get hungry they can just eat each other. They are all made out of Gamma Juice after all.

Now all I need is a ready supply of Gamma Juice and my plans will come to fruition.

Protospiel Cleveland Here We Come!

Kyle and I are going to be at Protospiel Cleveland from March 9th to 11th this year. It's going to be happening at Cleveland Concoction, a small sci-fi, games, and comic convention at the Bertram Inn & Conference Center in Aurora, OH. So we get to go to a convention but what is Protospiel you ask?

Protospiel is an event where people can bring their prototype tabletop games for other game designers and publishers to check out. They play your game, you play theirs, and everyone gets constructive feedback to help make their games better. It's perfect! A group of people who are all trying to have fun and get better with one another. So much fun. 

So, before we go to Protospiel there are few things that they say people should do to prepare: 

(This info comes from http://www.protospiel.org/page2.html) 

-Mention your design goals from the start. It helps playtesters to keep things in perspective and have accurate expectations.

-Be respectful of everyone's time. Anything you can do ahead of time to sort components, have summary cards available or even plan out how you'll teach the game will be greatly appreciated.

-If it's clear a game is not working well, or that additional play isn't going to reveal much additional information, the best thing to do is stop early. You'll still get plenty of feedback and playtesters will appreciate your consideration.

-After a playtest session, fellow designers will share their thoughts about the game. Be open to their feedback, but make it clear what you're looking for. For example, do you want suggestions for rule changes or are you just looking for their thoughts on card distributions?

These are the big things that we're going to be focused on while we're there and I can't wait to see what other people are making. Hopefully we get to see you there! 

Thoughts of a Mad Scientist: Building New Friends

Since I last left you I had discovered the truest form of happiness... World Domination.

I have mused on how to create my army. There are many different ways to build an army. For example, I can hire mercenaries. They have a history of impressive feats and getting the job done. Too bad they think too much and demand pay. They also have no loyalty, except to the highest bidder of course. In the end, I would have to worry about someone paying them to dethrone me. Can't have that....

I could build an army of machine warriors. They would be practically indestructible, fully loyal and never get tired. These machine warriors would break through the defenses of my enemies and NEVER DIE... because they're not really alive. Sadly though, they are too expensive to make. Seriously, have you seen that Honda Robot Azimov? It cost like six million dollars to design and didn't even include weapons or combat systems and can barely walk. Can you imagine how much that will cost. At least like six million and one dollars. And then there's production costs and labor. Even with forced labor the parts alone will break the bank.

I could always tie myself to the occult and make a dark pack with the Darkest of Dark beings. Unknown to the world is the insanity and power of the "Other" world. The greatest of creatures and most terrifying of aberrations will be unleashed. My enemies would go insane not trusting their senses. Perhaps, they would be consumed with fear and be unable to leave their homes ever again. Sadly though, there is a high price to this dark pack. One of the aberrations I summon could quite possibly be the spirit of my dearly departed Great Aunt Havisham. A dreadful woman indeed. The risk is too great, far too great to have to deal with that woman. Who knows, perhaps even they would drive me quite even madder than I already am.

I could enlist the aid of the fantasy creatures of yore. Yes, YES!!!! Dragons and trolls, goblins and orcs. They would suit my purposes well. They could bring ruin to my enemies. Dragons can fly through the air and breath death from the skies. Trolls could crash through the walls of my enemies smashing and bashing all the way through to the heart of their complex. Lets not forget the goblins and orcs. Goblins can wreak havoc on the robots they so foolishly built where I was smart enough to avoid. The orcs in their massive hoards can spread through the landscape and pillage all of the resources I could ever need... Oh wait.... these creatures aren't real. Oh well, the trolls would probably just find themselves arguing with people in the VideoTube comment section anyways.

Hmmmmm, none of these are just quite right. What can the solution be?!