Question

[abemorgantis]

I am pondering a fairly straight good versus evil story set several centuries after a nuclear war. On one side is the embodiment of evil, John Perfect, who rules the area around Washington, DC, he learns that up north, near a powerful kingdom of good, there is a long lost Powerful Weapon of Old (perhaps something like a nuclear weapon but after a few centuries it doesn't seem plausible it would work). He invades the north to distract from his large scale search/digging for the weapon.

That's my basic premise...what do you all think?

[Jedi Dad]

I am pondering a fairly straight good versus evil story set several centuries after a nuclear war. On one side is the embodiment of evil, John Perfect, who rules the area around Washington, DC, he learns that up north, near a powerful kingdom of good, there is a long lost Powerful Weapon of Old (perhaps something like a nuclear weapon but after a few centuries it doesn't seem plausible it would work). He invades the north to distract from his large scale search/digging for the weapon.

That's my basic premise...what do you all think?

The theory on nuclear power (plutonium) is that it is an indefinate power source, so the idea of it being a nuke is plausible.

The rest sounds pretty good.

[CatSlave]

Keep in mind the Yucca Mountain nuke waste repository in Nevada.

[abemorgantis]

Thanks all...off I go!

[DracoMerest]

I am pondering a fairly straight good versus evil story set several centuries after a nuclear war. On one side is the embodiment of evil, John Perfect, who rules the area around Washington, DC, he learns that up north, near a powerful kingdom of good, there is a long lost Powerful Weapon of Old (perhaps something like a nuclear weapon but after a few centuries it doesn't seem plausible it would work). He invades the north to distract from his large scale search/digging for the weapon.

You've not listed your age, I'll assume you know nothing, it helps in completely answering a question.

WHY: Is this weapon necessary to defend himself? Or is his aim just to be nasty and dominate everything he can get his hands on? I see no problem with the good guys in the north bothering him unless they have taken it up on themselves to restructure the world by their own standards. And why are they powerful?

WHO: Who else would he have to fear? There may be some New Zealanders and Australians left but that’s not much of an issue. Knowing who he fears also answers part of why he wants the weapon.

WHO (con’t): Who is this guy that he can dominate large group of people? Have they forgotten the tragedy of the past? Did they not watch The Last Kind Of Scotland (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0455590/)? (Boring movie but you may wanna take a look for research) Who are these people who would want to follow him? And what of the good guys? Who leads them? Who made the bomb? Perhaps it stems from the cause of the nuclear war. Did the North Korean’s get their act together and invade Canada?

WHAT: What is the weapon? If you have not worked this one out then you have 1% of an idea as the entire concepts hinges on this bomb. The sophistication of the weapon should, in some way, indicate their level of technology. You need to know how to use it if you want to rattle your saber and threaten others. (Ever see BattleField Earth (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0185183/)?)

HOW: leading on from the level of tech, how do they approach the act of attaining the weapon? How is the weapon defended, if at all? Or maybe it’s long forgotten by the good guys. How will the bad guys attack and how will the good guys defend? Sounds like a no brainer to me: death of the good guy cannon fodder, cardboard cutout people.

WHY (part two): If you are big and nasty enough to wage and unprovoked war on a group of people, why bother doing so as a distraction? Just gather your forces, build a mine, and dig. Everyone happy knowing they can share the spoils of the find without sacrificing themselves in a needless war.

WHERE: Washington? Surely if there was a nuclear war, most places like this metropolis of American life would be absolutely obliterated. A million years of contamination. Several centuries of hiding from nuclear contamination is not going to leave much evidence of any current society. Ever read The Amtrak Wars (http://www.patrick-tilley.com/amtrakwars/index.asp)?

Draco Merest…
[o]

[abemorgantis]

You've not listed your age, I'll assume you know nothing, it helps in completely answering a question.

Huh?

WHY: Is this weapon necessary to defend himself? Or is his aim just to be nasty and dominate everything he can get his hands on? I see no problem with the good guys in the north bothering him unless they have taken it up on themselves to restructure the world by their own standards. And why are they powerful?

He's just a freaky megalomaniac. He just wants to rule and be feared and having the device will just inflate his ego.

WHO: Who else would he have to fear? There may be some New Zealanders and Australians left but that’s not much of an issue. Knowing who he fears also answers part of why he wants the weapon.

He doesn't fear anyone per se but it goes back to his deep desire just to rule, conquer and dominate. Oh there are plenty of people left, it wasn't a total world ending thermonuclear war, there were other (not explained) factors involved.

WHO (con’t): Who is this guy that he can dominate large group of people? Have they forgotten the tragedy of the past? Did they not watch The Last Kind Of Scotland (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0455590/)? (Boring movie but you may wanna take a look for research) Who are these people who would want to follow him? And what of the good guys? Who leads them? Who made the bomb? Perhaps it stems from the cause of the nuclear war. Did the North Korean’s get their act together and invade

He has a kind of mojo going that allows him to dominate. He gives the people he dominates peace and security, though it is the kind of peace a prison brings.

WHAT: What is the weapon? If you have not worked this one out then you have 1% of an idea as the entire concepts hinges on this bomb. The sophistication of the weapon should, in some way, indicate their level of technology. You need to know how to use it if you want to rattle your saber and threaten others. (Ever see BattleField Earth (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0185183/)?)


The weapon is a kind of nuclear weapon, perhaps a a hydrogen bomb perhaps something we (currently) haven't invented.

Technology is middle ages. There is a kind of renaissance going on, though not in the area where the action takes place.

HOW: leading on from the level of tech, how do they approach the act of attaining the weapon? How is the weapon defended, if at all? Or maybe it’s long forgotten by the good guys. How will the bad guys attack and how will the good guys defend? Sounds like a no brainer to me: death of the good guy cannon fodder, cardboard cutout people.

I haven't quite worked out exactly how he'll get the weapon or how he knows how to use it. The bad guy will launch his armies north since the weapon is in the area the good guys hold so he can distract them.

The villian, John Perfect, came into my head last night fully formed, the good guys will be formed out later as I plot.

WHY (part two): If you are big and nasty enough to wage and unprovoked war on a group of people, why bother doing so as a distraction? Just gather your forces, build a mine, and dig. Everyone happy knowing they can share the spoils of the find without sacrificing themselves in a needless war.

He doesn't want to share and there is nothing to share, just the weapon. he doesn't care or lives and dies in his war as long as he gets his weapon.

WHERE: [/COLOR]Washington[COLOR=black]? Surely if there was a nuclear war, most places like this metropolis of American life would be absolutely obliterated. A million years of contamination. Several centuries of hiding from nuclear contamination is not going to leave much evidence of any current society. Ever read The Amtrak Wars (http://www.patrick-tilley.com/amtrakwars/index.asp)?

Well, I said it so i didn't have to explain here what happened to east coast. And its a fantasy so somethings the readers will just accept.

Draco Merest…
[o][/QUOTE]

[small axe]

I'll just pass on a piece of info I heard in passing, and maybe others can decide on its validity: but I'd heard that without constant maintenance, even the ICBM's in our missile silos become fairly worthless within a few years ...

Now, that might be a comment about launching, or exact-targeting etc, and not whether the warhead will go "bang" or not after 20 years of sitting there.

Another consideration is, it takes an A-bomb to ignite an H-bomb, and so we're talking control of an explosion within (I'm guessing) millionth of a second? So ... it'd take PRECISE technical know-how to restore any sort of nuclear device.

I could be wrong, I could be right.

[abemorgantis]

I'll just pass on a piece of info I heard in passing, and maybe others can decide on its validity: but I'd heard that without constant maintenance, even the ICBM's in our missile silos become fairly worthless within a few years ...

Now, that might be a comment about launching, or exact-targeting etc, and not whether the warhead will go "bang" or not after 20 years of sitting there.

Another consideration is, it takes an A-bomb to ignite an H-bomb, and so we're talking control of an explosion within (I'm guessing) millionth of a second? So ... it'd take PRECISE technical know-how to restore any sort of nuclear device.

I could be wrong, I could be right.

Ya thats why I am thinking it might be a made up near future device so I dont have to explain how a 1,000 year old weapon still works.

[megan_d]

Uhhh, you've pretty much just described the plot of Stephen King's "The Stand."

[abemorgantis]

Uhhh, you've pretty much just described the plot of Stephen King's "The Stand."

Have I?? I never read it! I might just have to now. That's funny! Well, back to the drawing board.

[DracoMerest]

Hey Megan,

Just as a matter of interest, do you think Stephen King covered all the points that I considered worth thinking about?

Draco...
[o]

[dclary]

Pretty much, Draco. It also goes into a bit of metaphysicality wherein people who are inherently evil get drawn to the walking man's camp, while people who are inherently good-natured get led to the good city.

[DracoMerest]

So, where do the geeks get drawn to?

Thanks DC

[megan_d]

King's book is different to your idea in some ways. It's set in the 70s and its a plague, not a nuclear war, that's wiped out much of man kind. But the idea of the good guys on one side of the country, and the bad guys with a butt-load of weapons on the other is there.

I think your idea is different enough that from The Stand that it could still be a unique and interesting book in its own right. However, peole are going to draw that comparison, so I'd recomend you read it before you begin. (And it's not like hat would be a chore, 'The Stand' is a damn good book.)

[abemorgantis]

King's book is different to your idea in some ways. It's set in the 70s and its a plague, not a nuclear war, that's wiped out much of man kind. But the idea of the good guys on one side of the country, and the bad guys with a butt-load of weapons on the other is there.

I think your idea is different enough that from The Stand that it could still be a unique and interesting book in its own right. However, peole are going to draw that comparison, so I'd recomend you read it before you begin. (And it's not like hat would be a chore, 'The Stand' is a damn good book.)

I guess if you are going to rip off someone, rip off the best ;)
I just purchased The Stand but I'll write something else for now.

[DracoMerest]

Don't look at it as ripping King off, look at it as thinking in the same direction.