...how to pronounce Raggi's name. Previously, I figured it sounded like Scooby-Doo's way of saying "Shaggy."
Just finished listening to the Save or Die podcast interview with LotFP's founder, and my first impression is "he doesn't sound so tough...I could probably take him a fair fight." Obviously, though, I would have to contend with all the weird sorcery he has at his beck-and-call.
; )
In all seriousness, the interview offers some fairly interesting insights into JER's origins, motivations and raison d'etre for doing that thing he does, including his reasons (business and otherwise) for doing his own version of the Adult Fantasy Role-Playing Game. I'd already heard or known a lot of what he talks about just from reading his blog the last couple years, so most of it wasn't too surprising...Raggi in person is not saying anything different from Raggi the writer, though perhaps in more polite tones.
I had NOT realized he was introduced to the game through Mentzer's red box Basic...is this the (conscious or not) inspiration for his Lamentation RPG's particular format? Possibly.
Anyway, I know a lot of folks find podcast's like this to be boring. For those who don't, SoD's latest ain't too bad.
: )
Yah, I resisted listening to any interviews with Raggi for a long time, because I wanted to preserve the voice I had made up for him in my head. I still default to my version, which sounds more metal than his real voice. But he does come off as just a big affable guy in interviews.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Mentzer inspiration, he has said that CYOA-type scenario in his Tutorial was directly inspired by Mentzer Red Box. What other elements of the game make LotFP look more like Mentzer than Moldvay to you?
@ Spawn: In addition to the tutorial, I was thinking of multi-book presentation (rules, referee, etc.). Mentzer's Basic was divided into two books, unlike Moldvay's and I think it is weaker for it (setting up a "class divide" between DM and player). But that's just me.
ReplyDeleteI started gaming as a kid with the Mentzer Red Box, as a teenager I was into heavy and death metal (some of my friends owned some Cannibal Corpse CDs) and as an adult (but before I got back into gaming, became aware of the OSR or ever thought to explore the corners of Appendix N that I'd happened to miss) I was reading weird fiction (Lovecraft and others)... so it's like Mr Raggi speaks my language.
ReplyDeleteFor a while I found it surprising that people didn't get his work or found it offensive because we all know there's an intersection between the three sets of metalheads, Lovecraft fans and the older school D&D players. It seems natural to me! :-)
Chello!
ReplyDeleteI listen to Save or Die because I've known Mike and Liz for something like 23 years IRL. So, I'm a bit biased. :)