I don’t want to bore you with too many details – I’ll try to get right to it.
I chose to have my party find the Nixie wrecked rather than the Sea Wyvern (as discussed in several other posts). I wanted to make it ultra clear that she survived the wreck and set off into the jungle, so the party finds her diary in her quarters obviously left in a manor that suggests it was intended to be read, with the last entry indicating the crash and her plan of an overland trip to Farshore. Yes, a simple note would have done just as well, but for RP reasons, I wanted to give the party a chance to get to know Lavinia’s history, once again touch on the details of her relationship with her brother and what happened between them just before the STAP begins, and drop some information specific to our campaign.
So, if you’re interested, here it is. It is peppered with a bunch of hotlinks (including the first divider clip-art), in case you are interested in the inspiration (again, nothing I do is original).
Feel free to use it if you want, keeping in mind that the later entries are unique to our campaign, but with some re-working, you can nicely explain how Lavinia came to know of your PCs.
That looks mighty cool! I'll have to read it all, but it looks like something I might adapt, translate and present to my players when the time comes.
Thanks!
That looks mighty cool! I'll have to read it all, but it looks like something I might adapt, translate and present to my players when the time comes.
Thanks!
Be my guest. I hope you find it useful. If you do enjoy it, I’d love some feedback. Like I tell my group, it’s why I write the blog.
It'll take some time for my group to get there - we're just in chapter 1 - but when I get to, you'll get to know how it went over :)
BTW: is this TV show any good? I think it was never shown over here in Germany, there isn't even a German Wikipedia entry :)
BTW: is this TV show any good? I think it was never shown over here in Germany, there isn't even a German Wikipedia entry :)
That is a very difficult question to answer, and I laughed aloud because of it. I really enjoyed it 30 years ago, but I suspect that, like most things from my childhood, my memory of them is more rose-colored than the reality. I rather had a crush on Blair (the character that Lavinia represents in the diary). It was a kind of campy, as most sit-coms are, and it was very much a product of its time, so it would be pretty dated by today’s standards.
So, I guess my answer is; Yes, I liked the show at the time, but I’m in no hurry to watch it in re-runs. In other words, don’t go out of your way to try and find a German dub of it. (Though, from my perspective, that would add a whole new level of humor to it. I just love the idea of Mrs. Garret saying, loudly, “Guten Morgen Mädchen.”.)
If any colonists want to chime in with their opinions of the TV program Facts of Life, feel free.
Oh good lord, that is absolutely brilliant and amazing. It casts its reflection on you (or vice versa). 'Nuff said.
That was just beautiful. Gads...I despised the Facts of Life but the way you turned it around to advance your plot...masterful.
Kudos to you, sir!
That was just beautiful. Gads...I despised the Facts of Life but the way you turned it around to advance your plot...masterful.
Kudos to you, sir!
First, thanks for the kind words.
Yeah, maybe it's because I took 8 or so years of drivel and condensed it down into a brief summary. Plus, I left out such painful bits as Blair's physicaly handicapped cousin and George Clooney with a mullet (though watch for him to make a cameo appearance once they get to Farshore).
Oh, and there was never an episode where Blair and Jo got drunk together and maybe did some stuff they didn't want to talk about the next day. Those were some Facts of Life I added myself.
Oh good lord, that is absolutely brilliant and amazing. It casts its reflection on you (or vice versa). 'Nuff said.
"Brilliant and amazing?" Nah! Really? Shucks, I'm speachless. Seriously, that is really wonderful to hear. I thought for sure I would take some razzing about using the Facts of Life as my inspiration, but maybe I pulled it off. One of the guys in my group read it and asked where I drew my inspiration because he figured (rightfully so) what did I know about going to an all girls prep school. He was shocked and amazed when I told him.
Thanks again. Keep encouraging me and I just keep doing wacky stuff like this!
I just had to relate this because it was just too weird and cool.
So, I realized, when asked in this tread, if the Facts of Life was any good, I just don’t have a clear recollection of the 30 year old show. So I happed to be looking for something to watch on TV and I saw a Facts of Life marathon on one of the cable channels. I tuned to an episode where Jo (the “friend from Shadowshore” in my diary) has decided not to go to collage because she knows her family can’t afford it, even with a partial scholarship. Pretty cool because I do address that idea in the diary. But then she makes a comment that just floored me. She said (actual quote), “Mom, we’re not Chrysler. The government isn’t going to bail us out.” Now, if you have been following US current events at all, you know that one of the top stories is that GM, Chrysler and Ford are looking for a financial bailout – 30 years after this quote first aired! How crazy is that??
Then I saw the episode dealing with the all night study session, which I refer to in the diary.
So, on further review, I have decided that the Facts of Life isn’t that bad a show. I might be willing to watch it again given another opportunity. It really helps when you think of the character of Blair as “Lavinia.”
The one thing that was really lacking in this diary was Lavinia's relationship with the Jade Ravens. I was interested to see how that would've played out.
Another thing that might have been interesting would have been how Lavinia fared in the open ocean without the PCs around. If they were harried with dangers that the PCs could have stopped, they'll have felt validated.
The one thing that was really lacking in this diary was Lavinia's relationship with the Jade Ravens. I was interested to see how that would've played out.
Another thing that might have been interesting would have been how Lavinia fared in the open ocean without the PCs around. If they were harried with dangers that the PCs could have stopped, they'll have felt validated.
Good points, both. The Jade Ravens didn’t fit into the scope of what I was trying to communicate. Plus, I , myself wasn’t clear on the Jade raven’s background at the time I wrote it. Let’s face it, the diary isn’t complete. Even the part that doesn’t have “missing pages” is abridged. If the PCs ask for something specifically and say they’re-reading the diary looking for it, I can make it up at the table.
And the period you refer to when they were separated in TSWW was intentionally omitted for story reasons specific to my campaign.
The great thing for you is, you can add those tidbits yourself when you use it. Let us know how it works out for you.