Visuals and visions for the Dark & Grim Future

(Audio-)Visuals, visions, ideas and inspirational material for dark science-fiction gaming

Yours Truly, Krisse Tuominen, the modern Nomad in the Cyberpunk 2020 World, where we're living

Especially the game masters and game moderator, strorytellers, chronicle writers and so on, who like to homebrew, modify, convert, and make material from the scratch, enjoy the search for inspirational material. And at least I like when I here about something cool and usable to my personal tastes, interests and to use with my dipplings and dapplings in adventure making and game modifying...

And that's why I like to interact internationally with veteran gamers, new gamers, game designers, and so on, because it is so satisfying to find something that is new to me, to freshen up my material that is sometimes maybe too much in roots of roleplaying games, and not so much into new ways of playing and gaming. But I am slowly getting there, tasting new games and new revisided editions of the classic games, etc. And it feels good. And that's why I want to make livestreams and videos of me talking about games and inspirational material... it's interaction and while giving ideas, I usually also get some ideas and remember ideas that I've forgot.. And I am blessed with people who want to comment on my livestreams so I get cool tips myself, too.

post-apocalyptic wastelands, zombies, cybernetics and big guns... Ahh, whuut a combination. Meee luuuvs it!

Palladium Books has always produced premium quality products that are realistic, well-done and very original. I really love their world books, gaming books, weaponry books and such. And excellent example of Point On Imagenary gaming design is Chaos Earth Resurrection. 

Walton's awesome art picture from Chaos Earth: Resurrection Sneak Preview 2 

Luckily Palladium provides us alls low-budgeteers even two (first and the second) sneak peak products for free. Both Chaos Earth Sneak Preview files provide info and athmosphere for interesting settings and storylines with texts and with totally rad pictures. Me likey likeyyyyy A Lot! 

I really like no hassle kind of Otherverse Games products. And they have a lot of freebie stuff for many kinds of genres and games. Simple encounters and also setting packs.. For example Free20: Details of the Future is a FREE minisourcebook that suites well for rpgs that are set in modern life or for the near-future cyberpunk, espionage or sci-fi game that you play.

Free20: The Troublemaker  is a
free Otherverse Games product.. And look at that (cyber)punk babe with a huge gun and with helluva style !

Free20: The Troublemaker Template is a completely free and very good lookind and very usable Otherverse Games product, suitable for inclusion in almost any D20 based campaign. The concepts in the book are totally applicable modern action campaigns. Special attention is given to using this template in Psi-Watch and Otherverse America campaigns. So eg. in Trinity, Shadowrun and that kind of cyberpunking, this template is very usable content.

Free20: Fight For Choise is very interesting and savvy Otherverse Games product. Fight For Choise is a small (just 15 pages) and free sourcebook for the Otherverse America campaign setting. And it is totally usable content in post-apo games, wasteland fighting games, gritty dark future gaming and naturally for cyberpunk gaming, too.

Often people mention Bladerunner and Matrix when asked about (audio)visual sources for inpiration for dark'n'gritty science fiction genre gaming (or writing). But I gotta mention The David Lynch's The Dune movie. Ok, it isn't the world's best adaption of the Dune books nor a the world's best science fiction movie. 

But The Dune the movie is a massive, long, hard and deep movie, which is as beautiful and passionate as it is ugly, dark, grim, violent and mercyless. And oh wow, what a trip it is! It has harsh desert wastes, it has deceitful people in cities, it has leather, rubber, weird technology, it has psionics, it has blood and violence, drugs, ugly looking space ships and vessels.

It has desert wind, it has blood, it has violence, it has flowers, it has weird but cool looks, it has its grim fashion and odd mechanics, and it has plots to gain more power... and it has passion, love, hate, feeling numbness, it has madness.. It IS dark, grim, violent future. So it more cyberpunk than most of the movies and books that are always mentioned as inspirational stuff for people who seek right elements to set the right atmosphere to violent dark future.mentioned

And the Dune also has COOLness in all its absurness. The style over the substance. And also abusing substances a lot. So it uses basic norms of setting the right cyberpunk style and feeling. Buildings are smutty decayed buildings, vehicles are odd looking and often used to kill. So very cyberpunk, indeed.

And in the middle of this, is also small seeds of hope. There is no future for the most, but still some folks dare to dream to put fires of change. And there are dramatic plot twists. People who should have act well, don't. And those who are dealt like beggars and lowlifes, act like heroes.

And there is rain. And in cyberpunk movies the heavy rain and howling decert winds bashing decayed buildings, are cuite biiiig elements stylistic. And the Dune has them, too. So, to me, this is cyberpunk movie. And to me books, are cyberpunk books, too. Not the most typical genrebooks, but it would be absurd, not to mention the Dune Books when talking about grim and violent future, taht we sooo much love in the genre of cyberpunk.

These pictures are still pics taken by Yours truly, from the various digi and dvd Dune content. And these pictures really set the tune and the setting, and they easily tell a story. So these are very usable gaming material, to show to gamers. Especially if they are not familiar to Dune movies nor books.

And even, gamers in your gaming group, are famialiar with the Dune movie and the Dune movies, these dramatic pictures capture powerful moments and these poweful pictures can evoke strong emotions when shown on the gaming table on a new context.

Just look at these beautifully magnificent colorful pictures full of dirty, ful of people with strong motions and expressions on their face. And these clothes, colorfull hairdoes, wrinkly scarred faces, shining bold heads, etc. are totally in the cyberpunk style.. and You can literally tell a stories and evoke feelings and scenes with these.

And I gotta mention also one of my all-time favourite movie (and science fiction classic book, too!) STALKER. Tarkovsky is known of his movies that have multiple parallel levels, crossing timelines, and whole lotta eerie scenes.

And very ofthen in Tarkovsky's movies those eerie scenes have very powerfully feeling desperate people on their verge of losing their mind. And contradistory actions that are mixed with character's inner and outer motivations. And very often, Tarkovsky shows as powerfully imagery of decaying buildings, rooms, and ofcourse: smoke, rain, metal, electricity and somewhat paranormal experiences.

And in Stalker Tarkovsky shows his best of his pure bestness. Haunting images, weird settings, odd people, offbeat actions and heartbreaking crying. Totalitarians shooting the miserable people who try to get to the zone. And the haunting images of family of the Stalker who brings people to the zone. And the mad actions that people do in the zone.

And the fear on the faces of characters and the maddening paranoia surrounding the characters inner and outer thoughts. The beautifully ugly and rusty bunker doors. Steel, chains, leather, rubber, electricity... mad mindless violence.. the grim look and the COOLness factor from start to finnish. I mean, every element of the cyberpunk, and more are in this magnificent masterpiece of russian science-fiction art movie! All hail those stalkers!

And of course, there is STALKER the roleplaying game that is diceless, very atmospheric, strong game design, and just marvelous game in countless many ways. It's been published in finnish and in english. And it really has a beautifully ugly soul of its own! Cyberpunk gaming without being "aaaaaalll soooo cyberpunk gaming". Just amazing, WOW! Totally purrfect gaming product!

The Cyborg  (1989) is a low-budget indie-cyberpunk movie starring Jean Claude Van damme. The movie is, literally and metaphorically, a total trip in mercyless post-apocalypse world, where people try to survive in dark, vuolent world. There's gangs, poverty, some cybernetics, and whole lotta COOLness oozing around the toxic and dangerous wastelands, decayed factory buildings... so it is old-school cyberpunk to the core.

The fighting scenes, chasing scenes, dream scenes and the travelling scenes in the Cyborg movie, are really interesting (audio)visually and there's so much to grap as a inspirational material to use as a writer, game designer, rpg player and as game moderator... And yes, it'c corny, cheesy, dicey and tragicomic in its sheer seriousness, darkness and its cool cat all the time -style... but it's seriously fascinating and totally entertaining..

A different movieline (both have cuite a few movie-siblings) from the same director, The Nemesis (video of the trailer, above!) is also very dark, very oddball, very goofily cool, and totally cyberpunk. And guess what, this has cyborgs in it. And whole lotta pumping muscles. Plus muscular female actors with hmmm interesting hairdoes and cyberpunkish outfits. And there's many sequals, a lot. And they are all very, entertaining.

Johnny Mnemonic (trailer video above) is a cult classic, starring Keanu Reeves, in cyberpunk movie where using modern computers, decks, chips and the Net is cuuuuuite similar than in Cyberpunk 2020 rpg. So especially if You're trying to figure out how to handle or see the Net Running and using memory chips in certain kind of cyberpunk roleplaying games, Johnny Mnemonic really makes You to jump in the pool of cyberpunk inspiration. Radiant indie-action film! Ahh!

Event Horizon (1997) is set in very grimm, very dark and a biiiit totalitarian near future. It's mostly set on the vast spaceship that is not just breath-taking, it is totally cyberpunk in various ways. And the visual side of the movie is streetwise hard-core cyberpunk: scruffy, ugly, weird, crazy, dirty, and whatnot. The film is full of feverish nightmare visions, eyeless rage (pun intended), mindless violence, hellish action, metal, rubber, blood, more metal,   and whole lotta madness. And if that ain't cyberpunk, what is, then? One of my all time favourite movies.

Above there's video that is beautiful in its hellish ugliness, and it has inspired me to do many odd scenes for many roleplaying sessions. Endless inspiration for horror scenes, cyberpunk scenes, and so on. And what ever has been the end result, it has been interesting to players. That whole scene is a perfect present for inspiration: it keeps on giving and giving, endlessly.

Yours Truly, Krisse Tuominen, on her all Glory <3 

All fun ends, and so does this blog post, too. So it's time to say Ta Ta and Good Night You all lovely people out there! Wishes Krisse Tuominen, bloggers, female powerlifter, roleplaying entusiast...