This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
From YKTTW Working Title: How To Stop the Deus Ex Machina
Antheia: Great idea for an index, but is this really about Dei Ex Machinae? As in "solution that comes out of nowhere"? Rather than that, this seems to be about how to stop characters from taking the easiest option (how to keep them from eating Gilligan, perhaps).
Kilyle: I used that term for the YKTTW... but you're right. Feel free to suggest a rename in the forums. I'm really glad this is finally up, and though it obviously needs some lovin', it's a great start.
Antheia: Absolutely. Rename thread now exists here: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=5lwoyzkdjult7e37epohuc4z&page=1#1
Kilyle: This section was cut by one of the latest edits. I'm putting it here because it doesn't seem like it was really rephrased, but I'm not sure how to reintroduce it all (I did reintroduce a little at the start there):
- Your teleporter machine gets rid of the drama of "we're stranded on the planet"? Ionic radiation in the air, or other technobabble. Or some virus got into the computer.
- The Big Bad could be shot? Make the hero a Technical Pacifist (all but mandatory in super hero comics). Or give them a Dead Man's Switch so if you shoot him, something bad happens.
- They could just take a bus out of town? Quarantine, and the army is shooting any who try to leave. Or a magnetic wave knocked out all the cars (The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street). Or the hero has to go back to save The Load, probably his girlfriend or daughter, instead of running away like any sane person.
One for "Can't just walk away": Deleted line 68: In our various How-To pages, we're dishing up a list of alternatives for the writer to consider in planning how he's going to do something. You know, "Well, I want to have the Hero and Heroine meet, so... how could I do that in a cool and interesting way?"
So for this it would be "Well, I want to make sure these Transporters don't rescue them until the last minute... but I already used an Ionized Atmosphere last episode, and a Power Failure the episode before that, and just last month we used the excuse that the aliens believe that a transporter steals your soul, so... what are my options again?" Etc.
- How To Stop The Superweapon
- Includes "Cut the Juice," "screw up the aiming," "switch a few key parts," "make it take a long time to power up," "make it One Use Only," "drop something on it," "make it require the MacGuffin to activate," etc.
- Note: This page could be devoted to stopping the Big Bad's superweapon, or more generally cover why any given Awesome Equipment doesn't provide the immediate end to the plot.
