The Art of the Saving Throw
When a series of books approaches the million wordmark, it can become a challenge to stay new and fresh; to stay unpredictable. When faced with this kind of challenge, I turn to the “gamer’s friend”: a six sided die. A roll of the die or multiple dice can infuse a random twist or turn, taking the author outside his or her normal way of thinking. Dice can be used many ways to randomize, resolve or decide issues.
Most readily they are a good way to create events. Before I started this series, I created a D666 chart. Random events chosen from fiction, history, current events, science and my own imagination were assigned a number from 111 to 666. (I know, I know, that’s probably not the best number to end with, but hey – it was either that or 6666 and that was too much work). By rolling three die at a time, three separate times, I came up with ideas for several plots. Book 7 Children of Charon is one such example. I rolled 1) abandoned children 2) crashed ship 3) pirates and combined them to create a story about marooned war orphans being chased by pirates for ransom.
Another use for rolling die or dice is to make decisions without emotional involvement. It is the juxtaposition of unrelated events that create the push and pull of the story – and the more disparate results are, the better. It is in explaining the results that don’t make sense in a way that does. It forces the author to dig deep to come up with a believable story.
Almost anything can be decided or modified by a roll of the dice. In one story arc, I reached an empass in a pivotal event tin the series. I was trying to determine how much a character knew, but couldn’t decide. I committed it to a roll of the dice. A roll of 2 was nothing; a roll of 12 was everything. I was expecting since I was using averaging die (2D6) that I would come in somewhere in the middle since there is a one in six chance of rolling a 7. Instead, I rolled a 12 – she knew everything! That sent the other characters scrambling to keep up and took the story arc in a whole ‘nother direction.
Probably the most radical (and familiar) use for dice is the “saving throw.” It’s kind of like having “do overs” in a game that doesn't change a character's actions, but the results of the actions. Every gamer remembers these with fear and trepidation. For those of you who are not gamers, it means your character should be dead – but, the referee in the magnanimity of his or her tiny little rock-hard heart has decided to give you a chance at survival.
Why? Just so you can drag your broken body through the rest of the scenario and slow down the rest of the adventurers; possibly causing them to have to make saving throws too. When I used to referee sci-fi, I had a special pair of brass dice used only for this occasion. (BTW, if you ever wondered: It is the job of the game referee to come as close as possible to killing off the characters without actually doing it).
I bring up the “art of the saving throw” because it is particularly relevant. In Book 9, Sentinels of Cis the characters were in constant mortal danger. When it came to their saving throws, they couldn’t make one to save their lives. How bad was it? Well, let’s just say I try and keep the books to 30 chapters. This book goes to 41. They failed success roll after success roll, sinking deeper and deeper into the abyss. Finally, I had to intervene and go against the dice because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t have a crew or ship left.
There are "saving throws" in real life; times when it is too late to change your actions and now must deal with the out come. The bad kind of "saving throw" tries to stop the oncoming Train of Consequence by blocking the track with more poor judgement, more questionable decisions. Even if it succeeds, you have a whole new mess to deal with.
The good type of "saving throw" is found in church. I don't mean "Sow your wild oats all week and then pray on Sundays for crop failure." I mean there is prayer and the comfort of fellowship and God's love to help you walk through the storm. We've all been in need of "saving throws" and the critical thing to remember that is in the crisis, you are not alone.
And best of all: Jesus made the ultimate "saving throw" for humanity on the cross. His "saving throw" means salvation for all who come and would be healed and set free.