tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post8629236169474579300..comments2024-03-28T00:41:13.514-07:00Comments on B/X BLACKRAZOR: Whimsy - An AddendumJBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-77086231909980920812021-05-20T20:07:17.704-07:002021-05-20T20:07:17.704-07:00Glad they clicked with you. Though I am curious, a...Glad they clicked with you. Though I am curious, are they the breed of Whimsy you where describing above?<br /><br />(As for the game, I am testing out a game in an HM or 2000 AD ancient earth sort of setting. Pretty Neat). Tanner Mazehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09941385256374799235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-88975520434846106682021-05-20T16:06:50.305-07:002021-05-20T16:06:50.305-07:00Good luck (though how can you need luck when you&#...Good luck (though how can you need luck when you're playing a Heavy Metal inspired game? For a single session of three, that would be awesome).<br /><br />Bakshi's Wizards is a great film, one I've seen many times and enjoyed. It provides a lot of inspiration for my own game...especially the idea of humanoids as "mutants."<br /><br />Baron Munchausen is a little too late in the game for D&D inspiration...but I *am* a fan of the BM RPG.<br />; )JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-57122950454888470822021-05-20T15:59:06.886-07:002021-05-20T15:59:06.886-07:00I read though that as carefully as I could, as did...I read though that as carefully as I could, as did I the comments.<br /><br />I both agree and disagree on Taarna, but am always happy to see of one my fave films talked about (beyond "It's Too immature!". yeah, watch some Family Guy or Nut Shack and tell me HM is bad Adult Animation...). Personally I believe if the thing was reedited, so Taarna get's dressed and then flies off before the Loc-Nar even lands, then the owness on people dying is off her. But that is just me. <br /><br />Reading your desire for something not to doom and gloom - which I get, I despise Edge and Grim Dark - but not too off the wall... might I recommend WIZARDS, the Ralph Bakshi movie? Very surreal and unconventional movie, but it's characters are very grounded, the bloodshed low scale and personal, and it's tone very Early Dragon Lance.<br /><br />If not, The Adventures of baron Munchausen also has what you are looking for. It is a massive, surreal journey...at the dawn of The age of Reason, about a grouchy old man gathering his compatriots to protect a single town. <br /><br />Hope those click with you. I know that the OSR does dip into the grim and grisly pool a bit much,. Sure, Mork Borg is kidding, and I can like dark, but at this point, something that looked like Rankin/Bass and Vanillaware having a baby would be a breath of fresh air!<br /><br />Wish me luck playing a HEAVY METAL inspired game tomorrow. 👍 Tanner Mazehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09941385256374799235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-82804183510319728232021-05-20T06:46:22.432-07:002021-05-20T06:46:22.432-07:00Mmm...make that Friday (perhaps). I really want to...Mmm...make that Friday (perhaps). I really want to finish prepping for my Thursday game and the post (which I've started) is looking to be a bit of a bear.JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-75879681893621414602021-05-19T07:25:41.952-07:002021-05-19T07:25:41.952-07:00R.E. Wh40k.
It has a very good (albeit modern/Rune...R.E. Wh40k.<br />It has a very good (albeit modern/Runequest derived) rpg based on the activities of the Inquisition that I ran for quite a few years before I came back to DnD again. The murky world of futurogothic espionage allows for rather more shades of grey then your usual Imps v. Chaos smash. Very cool.<br /><br />I had always assumed the players would serve as the 'light' in any Age of Dusk adventure that they experience, but I should not argue with an impression, offered in good faith.<br /><br />[Gods]<br />It would be interesting to see you try I think. Thursday! PrinceofNothinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11733680486570025367noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-17816099105677049552021-05-19T06:32:36.516-07:002021-05-19T06:32:36.516-07:00RE WH40K:
The original Warhammer 40,000 was a far...RE WH40K:<br /><br />The original Warhammer 40,000 was a farce, rife with satire; to some, it still his, but the original levity has been replaced with an All Too Serious Heroism (which can itself be viewed with irony/mockery), but which serves as a "light" in the darkness of the setting.<br /><br />That being said 40K is a war game and I think it does a good job of making players have no sympathy for gleefully murdering their opponents and letting their own troops die. I usually field a Khorne army.<br /><br />RE S&S Gods & OSR Favors:<br /><br />Um...wait, what did I just sign up for? Let me ponder this weight that's been placed upon my shoulders. Ugh...I had been planning on finishing this damn DL1 adventure today. (*sigh*)<br /><br />Let's shoot for having something on Thursday.<br /><br />RE Book Sales:<br /><br />I am SOOO jealous of your success. But it's well deserved I'm sure. Keep up the solid work.<br />; )JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-55380055095754857302021-05-18T22:42:47.762-07:002021-05-18T22:42:47.762-07:00I think you can make the point that, like in any t...I think you can make the point that, like in any tragedy, it was Elric's poor decisions that led him to become fate's pawn, but once Stormbringer kicks in, there is a choice between a world ruled by chaos or a world consigned to oblivion so that a newer, brighter world may emerge, and this is a terribly grim fate to consider. The parallel with Ragnarok is obvious.<br /><br />I think settings without whimsey or levity do not work in the long run, but settings like Warhammer 40k are very grimdark and are nevertheless very rich, playable places with varied characters. <br /><br />I think if you could manage to distill the right approach to portraying S&S style deities in DnD, complete with a few examples, you'd be doing the OSR a huge favor. <br /><br />Best of luck with the next post, count me interested. And my thanks for your support (Double Silver Bestseller and Bronze besteller so far, not bad for a single publication!). PrinceofNothinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11733680486570025367noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-74991398166511811532021-05-18T16:01:38.995-07:002021-05-18T16:01:38.995-07:00I look forward to seeing them.
I haven't dug ...I look forward to seeing them.<br /><br />I haven't dug too deeply into the Age of Dusk but my "impression" is that the place is very much of the Dying Earth variety, the last throes of Rangnarok. Let's be honest: a name like "Age of Dusk" hearkens back to "twilight of the gods," no? Is it not supposed to?<br /><br />Such a setting is...for me...a little pessimistic. Elric is a pessimistic fellow, but he adventures around a land called "The Young Kingdoms." There's HOPE there...and Elric is looking for hope! And he screws it all up with his own issues and flushes the thing down the toilet. And that's more than 'okay'...that's cool! That's a great story to read! But the destruction of the world wasn't inevitable...and settings like Age of Dusk feel like that final blow is just around the corner. <br /><br />Settings without hope do not (in my opinion) make for great, long term play. They're okay for one-offs and certain types of blood opera fantasy (I like Blood Red Sands). <br /><br />Tackling lesser gods (Conan versus the frost giants or "the God in the Jar;" Elric versus the Burning God or Balo the Jester of Chaos) is VERY pulp sword & sorcery. Lord help me, though, I think:<br /><br />A) it's been overdone by recent adventure offerings (from the OSR, and possibly Ye Old WotC), and<br /><br />B) it's not been...well, it's not been done well enough. The execution has been...poor.<br /><br />But that's a subject for a whole 'nother post, reviewing something that I've been wanting to review but have put off because...well, because it's an adventure that I haven't run (that I CAN'T run). <br /><br />RE Shoutouts:<br /><br />You're welcome. No such thing as bad publicity, right? Sell lots of books, man!<br />: )JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-7058696323930881342021-05-18T13:49:30.983-07:002021-05-18T13:49:30.983-07:00Hey JB! Thanks for the shoutout actually. I would ...Hey JB! Thanks for the shoutout actually. I would have to disagree with your assessment that meeting with gods is outside the purview of DnD. If you look at the Appendix N, there's tonnes of stories of heroes encountering Ancient Evils, perhaps diminished by time. Elric, Conan, Faffhrd...they have all tackled with gods every once in a while.<br /><br />I get the argument you are making (you killed a god at level 3, what do you do at 5?), which is a clever re-iteration of my criticism of Palace of the Blood King, but I don't think it can strictly be applied here. The thing that they find in the Palace is not a god, it is the Remnant of one. A big thing in S&S and the Age of Dusk in particular is that you encounter the remnants of ages that were greater, but that time has not been kind. It infuses the work with a type of scope that I'd like to see more in DnD. So yes, be bold, be daring, be epic if you must, but don't make the mistake of Palace of the Blood Queen and make the king of all Vampires a 10 HD vampire with 2 guards. <br /><br />I am indeed a great fan of Homer & Milton and what a lot of DnD modules lack is that they come across as Banal, the antithesis of fantasy. I agree that the human world should be more mundane, in this semi-case the city of Iotha, an antiquities city of seers, soldiers and thugs, and this is offset against a sunken palace under the desert made by a long-dead empire. Hell yes! That's a place I want to visit. Not every time I step outside. But at LEAST once! <br /><br />As for what you do at level 7 if you have killed a demigod at 5, well...I have some ideas. PrinceofNothinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11733680486570025367noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-79338439334100402902021-05-18T06:40:04.881-07:002021-05-18T06:40:04.881-07:00"Lame throwaway" is perhaps too strong a..."Lame throwaway" is perhaps too strong a phrase, but I find it to be mostly unmemorable save for the bar scene (and I've watched the film a half dozen times at least). For the climactic short of the film, it was fairly anticlimactic.<br /><br />Yeah, "saturation" might be the point I'm trying to get at. Maybe. Hmmm...<br /><br />I SUPPOSE that...when it comes to D&D...I don't particularly want my game to be MYTHIC in scope. Because the game is filled with real players dealing with close-to-earth issues (like life, death, and gold) the setting and adventures presented have to be somewhat relatable. If you live in a world populated with chained gods and crawling gods and the corpses of gods that were slain by the generation prior (all as a low level adventurer)...well, that's kind of outside the purview of the game, IMO. I appreciate Prince of Nothing's POV: he's a big fan of Homer and Milton and it shows in the scope and scale of his writing. That's attaching too much importance to the PCs (if they are to become god-killers) OR it makes players too small in the scheme of things (if they are "normal dudes" who are just going to get eaten by these titanic monstrosities).<br /><br />Fairy tales can be dark, grim, and perilous...the best ones generally are. But there's a difference between mythic heroes (Beowulf, Sigurd, Heracles, Achilles) and fairy tale heroes (often orphans, second sons, kids, retired soldiers, etc). Bilbo Baggins is a fairy tale hero. So is Conan, though at times he verges on the mythic. Elric would be mythic except for his albinism. I don't want PCs that are Gilgamesh, and I don't think the game supports mythic play very well.<br /><br />RE The Market (for games)<br /><br />Sure...in theory. The reality is there are trends and momentum and much of it is set by the pursuit of the dollar. Someone sees grimdark is selling and makes their own knockoff. If Timberlands becomes a big deal, you may see more offering resembling Wampus Country. Etc.<br /><br />Also, it's not even about money. Especially with our DIY scene, a lot seems to be about being "in." Yeah, I can do that kind of thing, too, hey man we're, like, on the same wavelength kind of thing. Imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, and there sometimes appears to be a lot of (sincere) flatterers out there. A way to get noticed. A way to connect with people who like the same geeky thing (RPGs) that you do.<br /><br />Which is fine and all. I'm just saying there's more going on here than just "pure creativity."JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-80298418323620464592021-05-18T04:32:45.614-07:002021-05-18T04:32:45.614-07:00I like grim, dark awfulness... but not to the poin...I like grim, dark awfulness... but not to the point of saturation. I also enjoy humor and whimsy, but would rather go for weirdness over laughs if running D&D. A comedy RPG is another matter, though. <br /><br />Points for mentioning Heavy Metal, which is dark, humorous, and weird; however you lost points for calling the Taarna segment a lame throwaway. <br /><br />The market allows one to go in any number of directions, which is one of the reasons I love the indie/DIY/OSR scene.Venger Satanishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04447932700800930510noreply@blogger.com