Fantasy Books in Parents' Attics Update

Another find from the loft of my dad's house: a copy of The Silmarillion that I picked up at a library stock sale for what must have been less than a quid or so. I can only have been about 14 years old. It's never been read (I have a paperback copy) and is a beautifully constructed book; it is a First Edition, fourth impression, from 1977. Gaze on it in awe.

1977. When fantasy books didn't have pictures of people striking cool poses on the cover. 

1977. When fantasy books had beautiful maps actually within the text where you needed to look at them.

1977. When fantasy books had sub-headings. 

1977. When fantasy books had beautiful fold-out maps in the back.

A Plug (I don't often do these)

I don't often do this - in fact, I don't think I've ever done it - so I hope I can be forgiven for spamming your rss feed just this once.

Kelvin Green's "Horror Among Thieves" is being kickstarted on indiegogo at the moment. I'm sure plenty of you know of it already, but this blog has a wide readership and I'd like to spread the word. This is not an endorsement, because I haven't seen anything of this product except the blurb - it's merely to draw your attention. I hope I also don't need to say that nobody has asked me to do this, and I'm not associated with it in any way.


Kelvin is a thoroughly nice guy and a commenter in good standing on this blog, but that's not the reason I think this is worth backing: it's because Kelvin has proved himself to be a talented designer of game materials. Backing the project also comes with a number of other goodies, which I'm sure you can read about on the actual page.

Anthropological Titbit

I read a lot of non-fiction, and I often come across little titbits of information that I feel like using for setting material.

For instance, I've recently been reading Empire of the Summer Moon, which explains one of the main reasons why plains indian raiders were always keen to take children captive: when women are in the saddle a lot, they often have miscarriages and become infertile. Plains indian tribes had chronically low fertility rates, so they would literally steal other people's children to keep themselves going (as well as adopting exiles, runaways, and so on). That's something I've never heard of before, but will certainly use as grist for the setting-depth mill if horse-riding nomads come into things.

Dreamed Idea

Ever woken up in the middle of the night from a dream and written down what struck you as a great idea, and then re-read it the next day? Today on the pad I keep by the bedside I found this:

Dungeon maps etched in brass that you have to put paper on top of and use a crayon to do a brass rubbing.

 I don't think lulu does etch-on-demand, does it? 

Pathetic Excuses

In case anybody thinks I've fallen off the face of the earth - I haven't, at least not yet. The reason for the silence on the blog front is a new job, lecturer in law at an up-and-coming university (what you folks across the Pond might call an assistant professor), starting in September, which gives me a little under two months to finish a woefully neglected PhD. My life at the moment mostly comprises waking up, going to my office, writing 2,500 words of utter bollocks, then going home again and going to sleep. I expect things to ease off relatively soon, however.

Food and Drink have a Special Significance

I was involved in a forum thread on Japanese RPGs recently, and this naturally lead me to look up the Japanese wikipedia page for RPGs, or "TRPGs" as they are called over there. (This, oddly, is not an abbreviation of Table Top RPG, but of Table Talk RPG. As is often the case with loan words from English to Japanese, it turns out that it's not so much a loan word as word that has been borrowed in an inappropriate or unnatural fashion, at least to native English speakers' eyes.) 

Anyway, the most interesting section on the page is "TRPG中における飲食", or "Food and drink in TRPGs". Here's a rough translation:

In TRPGs, food and drink, focusing around snacks, have a special significance. Having food and drink while playing the game with friends lets you enjoy the flavours while livening up the conversation, and is another element of the fun involved. In Mishio Fukuzawa's "New Fortune Quest Replay" [whatever that is], snacks and drinks are listed in the book as "necessary items". Other TRPG books don't go so far as to say they are necessary, but many recommend them. 

In replay books [basically a sort of novelization of a game session - yes, really] there is not usually a commentary, so there is also no commentary on snacks, but in the Sword World replay "[Title Untranslatable Because I Can't Be Arsed, it's Something Like 'Rhapsody of the Marauders']", there is some out-of-character commentary by the players regarding snacks, such as "I'm going out to get some juice", or "I want some ramen". 

TRPGs are played with a number of people, and take a few hours, so food and drink is also used to alleviate the hard work. It is desirable for all participants, including the GM, to prepare and manage the food. If this is not observed, the other participants will likely judge the offender unfavourably and be unsatisfied. It is usual for all the individual participants to to bring stuff, because expecting one person to bear the burden of providing food and drink is rather onerous. 

It is important to watch out during play that food and drink do not become a hindrance, especially when using a board or maps and so on. For instance, drink might be spilled and ruin a character sheet. It can also get on ones hands and make them smell. When the game approaches a meal time, it is usual to have a break for a while and then start again afterwards.  

During online sessions there is no chance the other players will take your snacks, so you can enjoy them in comfort. However, you also can't take other players' snacks either.

Those Japanese, eh?

Let's Stat Up People Appearing In Old Paintings

See that guy in the foreground, on our left? Who is he? And if you were statting him up for the game of your choice, what would his stats be?

Lamentations of the Flame Princess and the Virtues of A5

I've been playing a bit of Lamentations of the Flame Princess [Grindhouse Edition] these last two weeks, and I have to say, I'm impressed: the game is intuitive, easy to use, retains basically all what makes D&D, D&D...in fact, I'll go out on a limb and say it's what D&D 4th edition always should have been and what D&D 5th edition should be. (If I have a complaint, it's that the art feels like it's trying too hard to be shocking in places, though if that's your only complaint about a game...)

But that's not even the best thing about it. No, the best thing about it is that the rulebooks are in fucking A5. If there ever was a way in which God intended rulebooks to be set out, it would be A5 format paperback. Easy to flick through, light, will fit in a man-bag or brief case, and way more readable in bed or on a train than clunky A4 hardbacks. For that alone, James Edward Raggi IV, I salute you.

The Minimalist Approach

In a bid for minimalist efficiency, I am going to attempt to transfer all my notes (and computer files) on Yoon-Suin into this squared/graph note pad and set of index cards. Bottle of wine, cakes and so on are optional extras.

The idea is to be able to carry round the entire thing in one hand, and flip through it at will. I am, from now on, travelling light.

Describe and Stat this Monster

This is an aye-aye:

Let's D&D-ify it. Give it some stats, special abilities, a different name, a background, whatever you like. Post in the comments or your own blog. Do it now.

Old Stuff Day

Everybody else is doing it, and Fridays always seem low on inspiration for me (I also have a raging hangover) so I'll partake in Old Stuff Day, the idea being to highlight old posts on your blog that:

• You consider special but didn't get the attention they deserved 
• People liked in the past but haven't seen recently
• Posts created before the blog received much traffic, and deserve to be reshown
• And content you're particularly proud of.

Well, here goes:

Planescape Borges and the Library of Babel, from May 2008, is an old favourite that I think was an early indication of the way this blog would evolve, containing a nice mixture of pretentious pseudo-intellectualism, "fantastical" fantasy, and solid creative ideas.

Old Johnny in the Lake, the Crayfish Demigod, again from May 2008. If you don't want to read an entry with that title it's a fair assumption this blog isn't for you.

Beware the Were Stuff, from November 2009, the "Silver Age" of Monsters and Manuals. I just think this is one of my best ideas, and the idea of a were-secretary-bird still makes me chuckle.

Chaos Patrons!, from September 2008. I stole this idea, unashamedly. It's still good though.

How to Describe a Campaign Setting in 25 Words or Less, from March 2009. This was when I was first formulating Yoon-Suin. 

My Top 10 Monsters, from February 2009. This is the first post of mine that ever caught on mimetically, I think. It was a proud moment.

A Slug is as Evolved as You and More Molluscs, from January 2009. I got bored and drew some pictures and put them on the interwebz.

Towards a Theory of Demihumans, from May 2009. One of my solidest ideas. 

Finally, Panthro Says Silly Names Are Silly, from March 2010. I don't often make myself laugh with my writing, but I do find this entry funny.

On My Bookshelf

Are the following unread books:

• On, by Adam Roberts.
• Swiftly, by Adam Roberts. 
• Embassytown, by China Mieville (both this and Swiftly are signed copies I got at Q&A/readings events at my local Waterstone's last summer, organised by a guy I play Call of Cthulu with on an irregular basis).
• House of Chains, by Steven Erikson, which is half-read; one of those rare occasions I started a book and couldn't bear finishing it.
• Acacia, by David Anthony Durham... which, I dunno, I bought because I suppose I thought it looked interesting - but obviously not interesting enough to actually sit down and read.
• To Say Nothing of the Dog, by Connie Willis.
• Sacred Games, by Vikram Chandra, which I've tried reading three times and never got past the first few chapters.
• The Behaviour of Moths, by Poppy Adams - I try to make a point of not reading anything written by anybody called 'Poppy', so I don't really have any idea where this one has come from, but there it is, anyway.

From which we can only conclude that my pace of book-buying is not commensurate with my pace of book-reading.

I happen to be coming to the end of my most recent purchase (The Dervish House), so let's hear it: which of these unread books should I read next?

Traffic Diversion

Sometimes you read things that you agree with so completely you feel as if somebody has peeked inside your own mind and just written it down - and yet they've managed to say it much more eloquently than you ever could. That's what I felt reading this old post.

If the 5th edition designers take anything on board from anywhere on the internet, I hope it's this.

Recommend Me a Game

Here is a list, off the top of my head (so probably not exhaustive) of all the games I own or have played:

• D&D (all iterations and retro-clones)
• MERP
• Apocalypse World
• Dogs in the Vineyard
• Risus
• Microscope
• Iron Heroes
• Shadowrun
• Cyberpunk 2020
• Rolemaster
• Werewolf: The Apocalypse
• Changeling: The Dreaming
• Amber Diceless
• In A Wicked Age
• ZeFRS
• HARP
• d20 Modern
• Call of Cthulu
• Unknown Armies
• Blood & Honor
• Traveller
• Warhammer FRP
• Pendragon
• Dragon Warriors
• Tekumel
• ORE
• Advanced Fighting Fantasy
• Gamma World
• GURPS
• Twilight 2000

Tell me about a game that isn't on that list that I should own/play, and why.

23 Questions

I was at a loose end for a subject for today's blog post, yet by some strange movement of the cosmic ballet Zak happened to come up with a reason why I don't have to think of one:

1. If you had to pick a single invention in a game you were most proud of what would it be?

A variant on my relationship hex-map idea that I haven't had time to blog about yet.

2. When was the last time you GMed?

Last night.

3. When was the last time you played?

I guess this means not GMing, in which case it was probably mid-November.

4. Give us a one-sentence pitch for an adventure you haven't run but would like to.

Unknown Armies or Call of Cthulu set among the Japanese community in Brazil in the early 20th century. May or may not involve the Black Ocean Society.

5. What do you do while you wait for players to do things?

"Train" my dice by arranging them in lines with the highest number facing up.

6. What, if anything, do you eat while you play?

Nothing usually. 

7. Do you find GMing physically exhausting? 

No. I'm 30 years old and pretty healthy, and I only run sessions for about 2 1/2 hours.

8. What was the last interesting (to you, anyway) thing you remember a PC you were running doing?

Being the head of a crazed cult who believed that I was a kind of avatar of the Spirit of Justice and using my power and influence to take over the entire town.

9. Do your players take your serious setting and make it unserious? Vice versa? Neither?

Probably they unserious it a little bit, but then once play starts I always do the same thing.

10. What do you do with goblins?

Stuff like this.

11. What was the last non-RPG thing you saw that you converted into game material (background, setting, trap, etc.)?

A cyberpunk version of Liverpool.

12. What's the funniest table moment you can remember right now?

One of my players deciding that it would be a good idea to create a distraction by faking having a seizure in the middle of a crowded bar full of Lithuanian mafioso types. It was more the deadly serious expression on his face as he declared this action that made me laugh. You had to be there, really.

13. What was the last game book you looked at--aside from things you referenced in a game--why were you looking at it?

Iron Heroes. I was just idly perusing through it and wondering if I wanted to invest the time in it.

14. Who's your idea of the perfect RPG illustrator?

Probably John Blanche, although I love Diterlizzi too.

15. Does your game ever make your players genuinely afraid? 

Sometimes, but it depends very much on the game.

16. What was the best time you ever had running an adventure you didn't write? (If ever)

Never. I don't do that.

17. What would be the ideal physical set up to run a game in?

Six nubile 18-year old girls of various ethnic backgrounds with a love for OD&D. Failing that, probably at a table on the balcony of an apartment building on a warm day in Rome, Paris, New York or Tokyo.

18. If you had to think of the two most disparate games or game products that you like what would they be?

Hmm. Rolemaster and Risus, probably.

19. If you had to think of the most disparate influences overall on your game, what would they be?

Gene Wolfe on the one side and Fighting Fantasy on the other. 

20. As a GM, what kind of player do you want at your table?

Creative, intelligent, active people. Really anybody who wants to get involved rather than be passively entertained.

21. What's a real life experience you've translated into game terms?

I'm not sure I've ever done that, actually. Unless you count running games in real places. I suppose I've spent a lot of time in "exotic" climes, which trickles into the sort of games I run.

22. Is there an RPG product that you wish existed but doesn't?

Now there's a question. I wish there was a version of Pendragon set in feudal Japan that was actually complete. I've seen an incomplete one online, but not a final version.

23. Is there anyone you know who you talk about RPGs with who doesn't play? How do those conversations go?

No. RPGs are my secret shame.

Twitter Is Good For Something

I was going to write a long post about Michael Polanyi after some interesting comments on this story-games thread, but it'll have to wait, because there is something much more important: somebody has created a twitter account purporting to be "Plots from the unaired 8th season of Star Trek: The Next Generation", the conceit being that each 140-character tweet is a plot synopsis for a NextGen epsiode. And it's brilliant.

As my friend who sent me the link put it, the tweets are comical, but there is something on the nose about them. You actually really could imagine all of them happening. Examples:

Geordie falls in love with a beautiful girl who turns out to be the exotic pet of a visiting dignitary. Riker's birthday party is a success.

Worf brags about a new ceremonial knife for a week, then must prove his innocence after a mysterious stabbing. Riker does 150 pushups.

A rakish pilot from Beverly’s past steals a dangerous prototype space fighter. Riker’s play ignites a sexual hysteria among the female crew.

Wesley returns from a trip to discover that the Enterprise crew has been transformed into pigs. Worf is a mean pig.

An alien judge imprisons Picard in a carnivorous plant for doubting his justice system. Guinan invents an amazing new "single level" chess.

Data must solely represent non-carbon-based life at a Federation symposium on galactic civil rights. Riker fights a bear.

And my absolute favourite:

Picard is trapped inside a sentient turbolift. A clip show highlights the most memorable “Picard is trapped on a turbolift” moments.

New Blog/Project

I've set up a new blog, called The Journal of Laxmi Guptra Dahl, at http://yoonsuin.tumblr.com.

The conceit of this blog is that a traveller called Laxmi Guptra Dahl wrote an account of his journeys through Yoon-Suin, and his journal washed up on a distant shore some time after his death. Now, scholars in that faraway land have salvaged what they could from his account, and put it together into an edited volume. The blog is a representation of their handiwork.

It stems from my desire to present the bulk of the Yoon-Suin setting in the form of a travelogue, or an item of "in-world" realia, rather than a boring campaign world source-book.

State of the RPG Nation

So it's that time of year, and nerds the world over are taking stock.

Over on rpg.net, people are analysing depressing Google trend searches which seem at face value to indicate that RPGs are in terminal decline (though it is rightly pointed out that this is probably bullshit, and Google trend searches are impossible to glean anything from anyway). Meanwhile, the curmudgeons at therpgsite.com are dissecting a column by Richard Baker, one of the main 4th Edition designers, which seems to indicate that WotC is now beginning to assassinate the character of the current edition in preparating for a release of iteration number 5 (as it did with 3rd edition and AD&D in times past before new edition releases).

So the world keeps turning. As for me, this has been a very good year for role playing, though it's been a crazy year of ups and downs in my personal life. As from October I've had actual weekly gaming, and good gaming at that - and it looks set to continue. I've expanded my horizons by playing actual story games, heaven forfend. I've managed to keep this blog going and widen its audience considerably, after learning to embrace periods of down-time when enthusiasm wanes and life gets in the way. And I think I've reached a stage at which I feel comfortable with my own GMing style (objective, dispassionate, improvisational, hands-off), the kind of games I like (relatively crunchy, though without much in the way of skill lists), and my preferences (G, with a touch of S and just a sprinkle of N, thankyouvermuch).

And in keeping with this blog's history, I've also generated a fair amount of what I like to think of as "healthy debate". So I thought I'd round of the year with a list of links to the most commented-on entries I wrote in the last 12 months, in reverse order:

9=. Piledriving D&D, in which I discussed the phenomenon of unintentional rules mistakes that are not corrected and become entrenched (21 comments).
9=. I Blame The Children; Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Declaring Actions Before Rolling Initiative, in which I talked about initiative an awful lot (21 comments).
8. The Most Mammoth Bestiary-related RPG Download Ever is Available for Your Perusal, which is sort of self-explanatory really (22 comments).
7. Lord Spare Us, in which I ranted a lot about pseudointellectualism, which is rich coming from me (29 comments).
6. Ooh, Magic Missile, bemoaning how fucking boring D&D magic is (31 comments).
5. Rent-Seeking in the Dungeon, a musing on how productive adventuring is for the economy (33 comments).
4. Pointless and Unacceptable Levels of Pretentiousness, in which I wax pseudointellectual, thus contradicting the stance expressed in item 7 (36 comments).
3. On Lawfulness, in which I do exactly the same thing as in item 4 (40 comments).
2. Faking It; or, You'd Better be Al Pacino; or, Stop Rolling the Fucking Dice, in which I wade into the Quantum Ogre debate and...well...say some things that were apparently a bit controversial (120 comments).
1. What Am I Thinking?, an innocent post about puzzles which developed into something rather more than that and, ultimately, proved how small the gaming world is by uniting two people who'd once played a game of D&D together years ago and happen to both read my blog (125 comments).

Roll on 2012.

I Take It Back

A while ago I complained that, on re-reading, George R R Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire was not quite as good as I remembered it, probably because I read too much Gene Wolfe. But you know what? I'm half way through A Dance with Dragons, and it's good. It's flawed in so many ways (bland prose, Dan Brown School of Chapter Endings cliffhangers, silly names, a vastly unwieldy cast of characters that makes you go "who's that again?" every single damn page) but I've not been this hooked on a book for quite a long while.

TRPBTNTWAs

Being a list of TRPBTNTWAs, or, Things Role Playing Bloggers Tend Not To Write About:

• Book binding. (I can't be the only person who bemoans the way new rulebooks tend to fall apart like a sheaf of dry leaves after about 5 seconds of use).
• "Doing a voice". How many people "do voices"? Should they? How do you get better at "doing a voice" if that's your thing?
• Breaks. How often do you have breaks within sessions?
• Description. Exactly how florid are your descriptions?
• Where do you strike the balance between "doing what your character would do" and "acting like a dickhead"? 
• PC-on-PC violence. Do your players tend to avoid it, or do you ban it? Or does anything go?
• How do you explain what a role playing game is to a stranger who is also a non-player? (Real life example: my friends and I were playing in the local M:tG club space. A M:tG groupie teenage goth girl came over and asked, "What are you playing?" "[We answered.]" "Sounds kind of gay.")
• Alchohol at the table? 
• What's acceptable to do to a PC whose player is absent from the session? Is whatever happens their fault for not being there, or are there some limits?