My first original (i.e., not written in someone else's universe) fantasy novel was Galatea In 2-D, published by Baen Books in 1993. It told the story of Roger Simons, an artist who discovered that he had the power to bring living beings out of his paintings... and that a professional rival of his had the same power... and that the rival wasn't willing for anyone else to possess the power. It was, in short, a duel between wizards whose magical powers were art-oriented.
It has been pointed out to me on many
occasions that the title Galatea In 2-D is more than a
little cryptic.
"Galatea" is the name that late Classical
commentators on Greek mythology gave to the statue that King Pygmalion
of Cyprus is said to have carved — the one that the goddess Aphrodite
brought to life. She is, therefore, an example of art brought to life,
as is the character Elsie from my novel. So it's a literary allusion.
The "2-D" refers to the state Elsie is in when first seen.
(For those who aren't role-playing gamers,
this question refers to adapting characters and situations from
Galatea In 2-D into the role-playing game system called
Champions or the Hero System.)
That's actually a difficult question to
answer. I've been reliably informed that a lot of the fiction I write
doesn't convert well to games, which is somewhat ironic.
My guess is that with "generic" beings,
such as the ninja Roger created for the raid on Kevin's rural home,
we're talking about Summon with a Mind Control adjunct to allow him
control over his creations.
Named beings like Elsie probably belong
under an umbrella of Followers.
Roger also has an ever-more-powerful form
of Extra-Dimensional Movement, which is itself Interdimensional and
Usable Against Others (and later even Invisible), to account for his
ability to reach into paintings and pull named beings out or transport
people there. The power ends up having a high Mass value and being Area
Effect but retains a limit on the number of character points of being he
can pull into the real world at any one time.
Roger would also have an associated power,
a very limited Clairvoyance, Interdimensional, that corresponds to his
paintings effectively being windows onto these alternate worlds.
Finally, Roger needs a very friendly GM
who permits the assumption that everything he paints exists or is
created into an alternate plane of reality. Since Roger is paying for
everything he summons up, though, that's not too much an imposition on a
GM.
The novel is currently out of print. However, plans are afoot to make it available again in the not-too-distant future. Please check this page occasionally for updates on this question.
URL: http://www.AaronAllston.com/faqgalat.html. Optimized for FireFox 1.5. Maintained by Aaron Allston. |