Media Inspiration

Since I love me some good post-apocalyptic/dystopian fiction, I was wondering what y’all used as inspiration for your character creation/backstory?

I didn’t consciously base Flora on anyone, but I realised shortly after writing my character sheet that characters from two books I’d recently read had undoubtedly crept into my subconscious and influenced her creation: The first was Nellie Kinnan, the protagonist from the first of Beth Goobie’s pair of dystopian novels, ‘Flux’ and ‘Fixed.’ They’re ostensibly childrens’ books but deal with things like underground political rebellion and religion as a tool to control the masses and children being trained as soldiers then mind-wiped so they won’t cause problems by thinking too much about the moral repersuccions of the things they’ve done. I adored Nellie as a protagonist- She’s smart and tough and arrogant and won’t listen to people who clearly know more than she does. She’s only twelve, but I think Flora ended up with a lot of elements of what I imagine a grown-up Nellie would be like.

The second was Julie Grigio from ‘Warm Bodies’ by Isaac Marion. I really, really liked the movie, but I thought that the eloquence of the novel’s narration and a lot of just how tough the lives of the humans living in its world were were lost in translation. Book-Julie is a lot darker and a lot more self-destructive than what came accross in the film.

What were yours?

I definitely had the idea that I wanted to play something a bit like a Star Wars Bounty Hunter in look. A desert warrior. Aside from the connection with Drake the Star Wars inspiration ended there.

My main inspirations were Revolution for the Militia, Spartacus and The Hunger Games for past and future societies of mass slavery and Dune for a desert world with an addictive and potentially religious substance. Also throw in a little bit of 3:10 to Yuma for another basis on the Hawk Drake relationship.

I really don’t think Hawk is based on anyone, but if he became a Paul Atreides type figure I would have no problem with that.

I like to think that even though I had influences I was able to create and collaborate on a pretty unique region and religion.

I was reading The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo at the time of drafting up AJ, and one of the bits where Mikael investigates the Vagner family/business really stuck with me. It was where one of the major Vagners talks about life as a boy, where his father basically overlooked him and never seemed to have any respect for him. Where children were present at major events only for propriety’s sake.

Can’t think if there were any other major media inspirations for AJ. Her favourite author (?) is Shakespeare though, so there’s that. And I played a LOT of Fallout: New Vegas.

I’ve always really liked the concept of someone finding out they’re much more than they ever thought (happens all the time, really, in media and pop culture), although I had zero intention of who her father actually was until it was revealed at the first session.

3:10 to Yuma for the situation with Hawk, Han Solo and Malcolm Reynolds for what Drake does and how she presents. Defiance and The Young Riders were actually really useful as well :slight_smile:

I can think of three main sources of fiction that inspired me, but since it hasn’t come out in game, I can’t yet say. :wink: Lets just say the stuff that has come out in game so far was all my own doing - I don’t want anyone go blaming Sophie for doing bad stuff to me…

I’m pretty sure half of the bad stuff was my doing as well. Not directly of course.

Mine was ridiculously easy. Hershel from The Walking Dead [TV Series not graphic novel] - the wise old counsel, sitting on the sideline.

I was watching the movie “Cherry 2000” the other day, and man, it kept reminding me of The World That Is. Guy leaves his city of modern technologies, goes out into the wilderness, faces gangs of fighters, to raid an old factory full of abandoned tech.