References, Allusions and Other Trivia

Runcible's Bracelet: 'Runcible' is a word Edward Lear made up for the poem The Owl and the Pussy-Cat.

 

It's actually named after Kyburz, California?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyburz,_California

 

I know the thread is old, but I thought I'd add a few more. To be honest, I'm not sure, because a lot of this could be common knowledge; I hope there still are going to be a few interesting pieces in here, though.

Maquah: Looks like a shortened form of Macuahuitl, which is exactly the weapon the game depicts as a number of weapons - a wooden bat-like object with obsidian around its edges. Ouch!
Atlatl: Oddly enough, a ranged weapon; basically a little tool which allows the user to hurl darts or light javelins much farther and with much greater force.
Tlahuiztli: Richly decorated protective suits usually made of leather, cotton and the like. I don't know about spiked variants, sadly.
Chimalli: Simply a shield.
Tochtli Boots: Tochtli is the Nahuatl word for rabbit.
Xipe's Maquah: Xipe Totec is an Aztec god representing (among other things) the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. Other than the Unnerving Strikes (which seems more like a maquah thing), the other cards seem to suit that pretty well, I'd say.
Bloodshield of Xoc: Lady Xoc was a Maya queen.
Coatl Robes: Coatl is Nahuatl for serpent.
Xipil Ring: Apparently Xipil is also a Nahuatl word, and means Noble One or Of Fire.
Metzli Mail: Meztli is a goddess of a moon in Aztec mythology.
Hexcoco Boots: Might be an allusion to Lake Texcoco; Tenochtitlan itself was built on one of its islands. It was also a city's name.
Totem of Totec: Once again Xipe Totec, I believe, with a fitting Avenging Touch.
Nanahut's Morningstar: Nanahuatzin or Nanahuatl was the Aztec god who sacrificed himself in a fire to become the sun.

 

The Ectoplasm Urn, Vial Of Ectoplasm, and Vasyl's Ectoplasmic Raiments, are all references to a "substance" that spiritual mediums could supposedly summon. In reality, it was a scam produced using sleight of hand, gauze, and other natural substances... *GASP* Are these items all fakes?

 

Antioch's Figurine is named after a famous Holy Hand Grenade.

 

The Cat'Leth is yet another Star Trek reference, to a Klingon sword called a Bat'leth.

 

Riptide is an allusion to St. Michael's sword from the book entitled "Riptide."

 

not sure if anyone found this one yet
Gary and Melvin
GM
G-1 A-2 R-3 Y-4
M-1 E-2 L-2 V-4 I-5 N-6
Game-4 Master-6
Gary-4 Melvin-6

 

The flavour text of Perplexing Ray is a reference to a famous Dirty Harry quote.

Perplexing Ray: "Now did I bring six arrows or five? In all this confusion I clean forgot."
Dirty Harry: "I know what you’re thinking: 'Did he fire six shots or only five?' Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I’ve kind of lost track myself."

 

The card image of Dimensional Traveller is a reference to Marvel Superhero Doctor Strange, who draws his power from alternate dimensions, and can also teleport using portals.

 

So, then, @adajon, what you're saying is, whenever one feels like playing SPR to discard something useful from an enemy's hand, one must ask oneself, "Do I feel lucky?" Well. Do ya? Punk?

 

The flavour text of Impaling Stab is slightly reminiscent of Ginsu knife advertisements, I find.


When Castle Mitternacht came out and we got Vampire's Kiss, a few people pointed out that the picture looked like Nicolas Cage. Someone even linked a picture.

Spoiler

The additional information here, which I don't recall reading here on the forums (though maybe I just missed it)... The title of the movie this picture is from? The Vampire's Kiss.

 

I've been meaning to bring up this joke since before this thread even existed. How do I keep forgetting? $:^ P

The Splinterspell Staff is awesome. Not to equip, mind you. I mean, I suppose I could make it useful with some spark traits, or if it dropped when one just started campaign, but just look at that thing. No, no, again, not the cards. Look at the staff itself! $:^ P

(I'm pretty sure I've never played Tom Clancy's game, btw.)

...and for a touch more trivia, this poor staff is so underwhelming that this is only the fifth post on the entire forum (more than four years) that even mentions it. $8^ |

 

Whorl, Riptide, and Blackhammer (I know these have been mentioned before, but not quite like this): referencing the White Plume Mountain adventure in D&D. In there you find the weapons Whelm, Wave, and Blackrazor. Whelm and Whorl are kinda similar sounding; Riptide and Wave both have to do with ocean currents; Blackhammer and Blackrazor... yeah. Bonus points for including the Black Plume Mountain adventure.

Randimar's Rarities: not an allusion or reference, but the name sounds like "Random", and each player is given a set of random items each week.

The Boulder: Possibly a reference to Raiders of the Lost Ark, where Indiana Jones is chased by a boulder. Or it could just be that boulders are a popular thing to squish people with.

Hu La Houp's Vicious Circle: Obviously a reference to the hula hoop, a popular children's toy.

Missile Block: "A cure for the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune." A reference to Hamlet's soliloquy: "To be, or not to be--that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer, The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles"

Demonic Revenge: "You mess with the demon, you get the horns." A reference to the popular saying "You mess with the bull, you get the horns."

Twin Heals: "You know what they say: two heals are better than one." A reference to the popular saying "You know what they say: two heads are better than one."

Perplexing Ray: "Now did I bring six arrows or five? In all this confusion I clean forgot." A reference to the movie Dirty Harry, where the title character mentions: "'Did he fire six shots or only five?' Well to tell you the truth in all this excitement I kinda lost track myself."

Entangling Roots: "My kingdom! My kingdom! My kingdom for a machete!" A reference to the Shakespearean play Richard III. The real quote is "A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!"

 

Do you know what happens if you image-search for Conan the Barbarian?

Spoiler

Familiar, isn't it?

Spoiler

 

We have the Hand Of Wicna and the Eye Of Wicna. If you run a quick Google search, you'll most likely find unrelated things, and even the aforementioned items themselves as soon as the second page (at least I did). However, playing another game right now as I am, an item sought out by everyone playing that game, no doubt, had a description that caught my attention...

Spoiler

Spoiler

We should totally have a card that adds Cantrip to Magic cards, and a Robe of Wicna with it. Right?

On an unrelated note, has anyone had a close look at Witchway Robes? Beyond the compulsory armor card, Maze and Quick Run. Not quite an allusion or anything, but still fun.

 

Nice @ Vecna vs. Wicna! I believe I now know how I'll be pronouncing "Wicna" from now on. $:^ b Vicna. $¦^ ` $:^ b

I don't get the Witchway Robes thing, though, unless you mean the skull looks neat and/or the name is punny?

 

The entirety of the Expedition to the Sky Citadel modules is one big System Shock 2 reference, which I believe was the game Jon worked on when he first joined the gaming industry. All the enemies are very similar to the ones that appear in the game, even the voice clips for the monsters are similar. Each module is a deck that exists in the game.

Spoiler

Belly of the Beast takes place in the biomass of The Many. Yes the rumblers are as scary as they are in SS2.
The last module alludes to the cyberspace that SHODAN resides in near the end of the game.

Cardotron2000's voice clips closely resembles SHODAN's glitchy voice from the game, especially in some of the latter modules. Cassette tapes were also popular with some pen and paper gaming kits to further immerse the players while playing.

System Shock 2 had a pen and paper style of inspiration with several aspects of the game, including multiple ways to get through certain sections and now it's referenced in a game which references pen and paper roleplaying games.



The Hacker's Wrench is very similar to the one in System Shock 2 and SHODAN refers to the player's character that they are a Hacker throughout the game. (And an insect, among other things.)