tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post3017842252298018261..comments2024-03-29T06:16:21.012+08:00Comments on Monsters and Manuals: Bridging the Minimalist-Maximalist DivideUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-17804096729589872822020-09-03T08:51:47.793+08:002020-09-03T08:51:47.793+08:00D&D: Pilgrim's Progress edition. :)D&D: Pilgrim's Progress edition. :)Stephen Phttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10910895091122588614noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-12109067741956901412020-08-16T04:05:44.051+08:002020-08-16T04:05:44.051+08:00Yeah - I suppose the Abyss and the Seven Hells are...Yeah - I suppose the Abyss and the Seven Hells are really just variants of this. noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-90605233854441160962020-08-15T10:57:59.512+08:002020-08-15T10:57:59.512+08:00Two suggestions:
A dungeon where all the monsters...Two suggestions:<br /><br />A dungeon where all the monsters are beings that do not have an implied ecology. No giant animals, no orcs, no griffons, no bandits, none of that stuff. Instead, demons, ghosts, and other evil spirits. Japanese yokai would be a great source of such monsters. A noppera-bō has does not fit into a scheme of Gygaxian naturalism - it simply is.<br /><br />An allegorical dungeon where the monsters directly represent different sins, virtues, psychological states, etc. Venturing down through the dungeon is a metaphor for reaching some sort of enlightenment. The starting town is literally called "Startington". PMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06294944268720440205noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-57392370534328838782020-08-15T10:56:07.139+08:002020-08-15T10:56:07.139+08:00Two suggestions:
A dungeon where all the monsters...Two suggestions:<br /><br />A dungeon where all the monsters are beings that do not have an implied ecology. No giant animals, no orcs, no griffons, no bandits, none of that stuff. Instead, demons, ghosts, and other evil spirits. Japanese yokai would be a great source of such monsters. A noppera-bō has does not fit into a scheme of Gygaxian naturalism - it simply is.<br /><br />An allegorical dungeon where the monsters directly represent different sins, virtues, psychological states, etc. Venturing down through the dungeon is a metaphor for reaching some sort of enlightenment. The starting town is literally called "Startington". PMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06294944268720440205noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-8326781504320976402020-08-14T10:09:21.402+08:002020-08-14T10:09:21.402+08:00I think it is the DM and players skill with any ty...I think it is the DM and players skill with any type of material and making something interesting happen is how the minimalist and maximalist styles are bridged. The handling of material in play is what is important and what everyone else said. 20 orcs bad 20 orcs hunting rats good. Jay Murphyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00069789456292604679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-44329417281293174722020-08-14T10:09:10.916+08:002020-08-14T10:09:10.916+08:00I think it is the DM and players skill with any ty...I think it is the DM and players skill with any type of material and making something interesting happen is how the minimalist and maximalist styles are bridged. The handling of material in play is what is important and what everyone else said. 20 orcs bad 20 orcs hunting rats good. Jay Murphyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00069789456292604679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-52007778170538681182020-08-14T02:46:59.135+08:002020-08-14T02:46:59.135+08:00It's possible you could be accused of soft-ped...It's possible you could be accused of soft-pedalling that a little too much. A few more hints in the text, just for the DM, would I think help make the parallels come alive more. noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-8404968541139796582020-08-14T02:45:26.990+08:002020-08-14T02:45:26.990+08:00It might be a good rule of thumb that entries in a...It might be a good rule of thumb that entries in a key should always have an active verb. So:<br />"20 orcs" or "20 orcs are here" is bad<br />"20 orcs sleep here", "20 orcs guard [x]", "20 orcs hunt rats here", etc., is goodnoismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-41195628097677329722020-08-14T00:57:08.726+08:002020-08-14T00:57:08.726+08:00The room contents listed above seems a little iner...The room contents listed above seems a little inert. “Orcs rest here” on the other hand, has legs.mjuliushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09710248588764690217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-49682091608104987692020-08-14T00:40:46.066+08:002020-08-14T00:40:46.066+08:00Yes. Each statue on the Isle was inspired by one o...Yes. Each statue on the Isle was inspired by one of Judges Guild's Unknown Gods. Also, each of the Isle's mages was inspired by one of the 13 signs of sidereal astrology (basically the 12 signs of tropical astrology plus Ophiuchus).Geoffrey McKinneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00042661843714609025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-10339454562173979132020-08-14T00:36:01.328+08:002020-08-14T00:36:01.328+08:00Footpads in leather armor with swords & some c...Footpads in leather armor with swords & some coins are boring like shit. If the entire book (or most of it...) is filler material like that, it's a waste of money & time except perhaps for the terminally lazy or clueless. If the entire book was filled with entries like the chaotic matriarchs that would instantly improve it dramatically. It might still be too random or hit & miss to be worthwhile though. Perhaps half the book should simply be cut. Quality over quantity, life's too short to waste on dross.Ghasthousehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07401924351959645260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-49221074651556628972020-08-13T23:50:17.856+08:002020-08-13T23:50:17.856+08:00See below! I love the idea of a dungeon based on t...See below! I love the idea of a dungeon based on the 53 stations of the Tokaido. I used to live on the Tokaido line.noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-53217096883224477922020-08-13T23:49:14.981+08:002020-08-13T23:49:14.981+08:00Yeah, I like those better - those little extra tou...Yeah, I like those better - those little extra touches add a great deal. <br /><br />You did something similar with Isle of the Unknown, no? Some underlying pattern? noismshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09933436762608669966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-18385864881741728682020-08-13T22:33:27.015+08:002020-08-13T22:33:27.015+08:00Thank you for your kind blog post! A couple of thi...Thank you for your kind blog post! A couple of things you might find intriguing:<br /><br />1. The first 78 levels of Mike's Dungeons are inspired by the 78 cards of Aleister Crowley's Thoth Tarot deck. Each of the 22 levels that comprise the Great Temple of Evil Chaos was inspired by one of the 22 Major Arcana, while each of the 56 other levels was inspired by one of the 56 Minor Arcana.<br /><br />2. I allowed my language used for levels 79-117 to be a bit more euphonious than in the upper levels:<br /><br />"About 50% of the statuettes are pale yellow, and the others are either lavender, mauve, or coral. The statuetttes are of human figures that are beautiful and graceful, yet disquieting."<br /><br />"[The 49 scrolls] consist of well over a thousand subtly linked prose poems (in a dead and forgotten language) of exquisite delicacy and refinement that perhaps allude to a unified story or theme."<br /><br />"[The seashell's] volutes, whorls, spikes, tubercles, and nodules are bewilderingly complex yet with an inner harmony that defies logic and a beauty that eludes description. Its swirled hues are all the colors of the spectrum, but faded to the subtlest of tints as though by a million years of being washed by the sea."<br /><br />"3 chaotic matriarchs dwell here amongst fabrics and furniture so faded by time as to be mere shadows of blue and green. They have bald heads and wear simple tunics, and they never speak save to utter the weird syllables of spells."<br /><br />Etc.<br /><br />Not great, but not bad for a 12-year-old. :)Geoffrey McKinneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00042661843714609025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2513019539869706574.post-55716667602128689102020-08-13T21:59:05.486+08:002020-08-13T21:59:05.486+08:00Such a thought-provoking piece. I think some OSR d...Such a thought-provoking piece. I think some OSR does lean towards this idea of minimalist content evoking something much greater. I'm thinking of the original Black Hack, but it feels like this was a thing for a while. I also love the idea of pointlessly indulgent content that only evokes when read by the GM, i.e. the PCs would never know the dungeon was written as epic alliterative verse, or was based on the Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15138028203485822495noreply@blogger.com