Characters that Drive a Story

In writing the introduction trilogy for Land & Sea, it was important to get a variety of perspectives about the war.  The cast of characters was large, so that the reader could become immersed in the storyline and the events we would have unfolding with this unique alien invasion. 

The characters are critical.  Plot moves readers along but I believe it is the characters that compel readers to dive into a book.  Our characters each had story arcs developed by our Creative Juggernaut team.  It wasn’t enough to have good characters in the novels – they had to undergo a transformation as a result of the invasion and their experiences.  We spent a lot of time making sure our characters were not “cookie cutter” or stereotypical. 

We have the DIA analyst who is one of the first people to see the signs of the incursion.  You have the reporter who will do anything and everything to exploit the emerging situation.  We have the battle-hardened Sergeant who finds himself once more drawn to war.  Another veteran, a drug dealer, who charges into the face of danger.  The young girl whose father is taken from her by the war and who finds her whole world turned upside down.  The technology entrepreneur who sees the war as an opportunity.  Then there’s the young Marine Corporal, tough as nails, whose mettle will be tested in ways she cannot even imagine as the aliens come ashore. 

While these are the main characters – the cast is much larger.  We had a discussion about Game of Thrones and their massive cast.  While we wanted to capture some of that feel, we recognize that this is a science fiction military series – and that too big of a cast would be hard for readers to process.  We wanted a pacing in the novels that was faster than GoT, but one that tapped their success. 

Even the secondary characters stand out, some having their own arcs.  Seemingly background characters in the first novel will become major players in future books.  Some minor characters appear in some of the novellas and novels we have planned on coming out – not to mention the game material.  Land & Sea is a universe that has a spider-web of character connections that will add to the overall experience of the reader/player. 

The world of LAND & SEA

The entire Creative Juggernaut team spent a lot of time giving serious consideration as to the world where the novels and the game will reside.  First step, when would this take place?  Well, the setting is Earth but how far in the future did we want the universe to be set in.  We wanted it in the future but not so far in the future that it was not recognizable.  As Brent said throughout the process, “I want players to be able to run the games in their hometowns or cities.”  That meant we couldn’t go too far out. 

I proposed 25 years.  Things would be different, but not horrifically.  Some technologies have advanced, and we spent a lot of time going over what was realistic, while others are reskinned versions of what exists now. 

That opened the door to “what has happened in the 25 intervening years?”  A lot has happened!  The first cyber-war – coupled with military action against Russia.  Russia also played a trump card in the conflict.  That war would define some of the characters in the novel series. 

The neatest place we saw change was in the military. How would the infantryman of the future be equipped?  What was their gear like?  What are the role of drones on the battlefield?  Technologies that are on the drawing board now would be almost old-fashioned in 25 years.  Warfare has changed a lot in the last few decades.  Imagine what kinds of changes you might envision in the future and you get an idea of how cool our meetings were.  Designing those changes would have implications in all of the LAND & SEA products. 

We didn’t box ourselves in.  As I penned the novels in the opening series, we met as a team and challenged some of the concepts.  This made us go back and make changes in our earlier assumption.  I It was a blast.  I have always wanted to be a part of a dynamic universe creation, and that was what it was all about.  Even the most minor details in the novels were debated, validated, and agreed upon.

The result – a very different world, yet one that is remarkably recognizable.  There’s none of this “were’s not in Kansas anymore Toto…” moments.  You don’t have to digest dozens of pages to learn what has transpired in two and a half decades to get into the universe. 

More importantly, for gaming purposes, we didn’t lose Brent’s desire to be able to use GoogleMaps to set up your gaming session.  LAND & SEA is a war that will be fought around the globe and right in your hometown. 

Why start with novels?

So why are we starting with novels? Brent and I both come at intellectual properties (IP) with a perspective that they have to cross a lot of delivery channels in order to be strong over the long haul.  Too many universes out there have a good idea, but no idea of how to move it along so that you constantly engage new players/readers along the way.   We don't operate that way at Juggernaut. 

Our mutual experience with BattleTech taught us that novels were a great way to provide a massive amount of information on the universe while at the same time, provide us a vehicle for advancing the IP along.  IP's that remain static tend to get stale with players and readers.  Gamers want to believe they are part of an evolving storyline.  Comics do a good job of this but novels provide the meat when it comes to shaping events and shifting the timeline along. 

If you think about most RPG's, they just dump a reader/character down in a new universe and say, "there you go, start playing."  A lot of Land and Sea is the unknown aspects of the aliens . These are truly alien species (plural) and as such, there's no "give them a computer virus" or "blow up the communications array," solution which Hollywood seems to gyrate to.  Rather than try this traditional game industry way of immersing characters by simply throwing them into the fight, we thought that the first trilogy of novels would lay all of that foundation for readers and players. 

Another factor driving this approach was to generate some excitement.  We wanted people to read the novels and get excited for all of the possibilities that the novels provided in other media, such as miniatures gaming, RPG's, etc.  The novels allow an immersion into the universe of Land and Sea that you can't accomplish with a game (digital, board or tabletop).   To be there, from the beginning, (we hope) will be a great experience for the reader. 

The other reason, which is much more internal, is that the novels required us to go in-depth on the Land and Sea universe.  We were required to make decisions and really think through every minute detail.  Novels can explore aspects of the IP that would be difficult to cover in a game product.  It also helps establish some characters beyond what you might create in a RPG-setting in terms of depth.   The setting is cool, but what readers are going to learn is that the true stories are those of the characters.  I'll expand on the characters in another blog post at some time. 

What does this ultimately mean?  People that eventually play the game will have a rewarding experience beyond the game sessions.  It also opens the door for this IP to be something much more than a game with some tie-ins.  Here, the novels will drive very dynamic changes in the universe. 

What is Land and Sea?

Guardian Alien Concept Art

When we started developing Land and Sea - it all began with Brent's line, "I have a vision of a game and fiction universe around an alien invasion from the oceans.  I don’t' want it to be like Independence Day - I want it rooted in science and to be realistic." 

Boy, was that a tall order.

Land and Sea, from its onset, was to be not just published fiction, but a board/miniatures game, comic books, and even a digital offering.  The more we worked on it - the more we were convinced this universe filled some neat gaps in several markets.  More importantly - it was fun. 

I've been in the gaming industry since the 80's.  We agreed on the IP (Intellectual Property) parameters.  It would have to be supportable by a game, novels, comics, video, etc..  Looking at the game market there has been a gap in good solid military RGP's since Twilight 2000 - with the exception of Delta Green and Shadowrun.  This could serve as a vehicle for that kind of RPG universe and a new kind of gameplay experience. 

Brent tossed in the idea of players running or being part of bands of freedom fighters.  He said, "Wouldn't it be cool to be able to pull up a map of some coastal city and use that as the basis for a RPG session?"  It WAS cool. Memories of watching "Red Dawn" as a kid came to my mind.  And I know gamers, they love blowing stuff up.  Of course to create that backdrop we would have to formulate the alien incursions into the cities.  That meant more discussions. 

We wanted to break the mold of Hollywood's perception of the government and military when it came to alien invasions.  No, they weren't hiding information on aliens.  Nor would they be inept.  The government and military response around the world, for the most part, would be intelligent.   It was a whole different view than traditional mainstream alien incursions. 

We began numerous  brainstorming to feed off of these concepts before we rushed in and got locked into thinking that might not work for the IP (Intellectual Property).  "We" consisted of the core team at Creative Juggernaut.  It was clear from the start that this was a universe that required a lot of perspectives -- military, political, the resistance, the news media, business, etc.  To truly understand the world of Land and Sea we would have to put the readers and players into it in a variety of different ways.

More often than not, when a new multi-media universe is presented for game players it glosses over the past history to get you to the playing point.  So when you play, let's say, Twilight 2000, there's some intro text that explains "There was this big war and here you are now."  RPG and boardgame players accept the premise of the universe or they don't.  I proposed something different -- "Let's take them on the journey, as readers, to get there."  So rather than start our universe with "There's been an alien invasion two years ago," we would start with, "Something strange is happening around the world," with the reader drawn into the events triggered in the invasion itself.   The novels, which are how we introduce the universe to players, are going to take you through the invasion - from beginning onward.  The end of the first trilogy of books is the start of the game playing universe and where our future novels will build off of. 

We mapped out a much larger arc for the game and novels as well.  Land and Sea was not a one-and-done bit of entertainment.  The universe was going to grow and expand, in new and fascinating ways.  The ride is a long one, but one well worth it.   We hope you'll join us for the journey!