As I sit here, winding down from three days of convention going and getting ready for a fourth, my mind keeps on going back to the huge joy it has been, meeting people like Jim Ward, Tim Kask, Erol Otus, Frank Mentzer, Jeff Dee, Paul Jaquays, and Dennis Sustare. These were people I knew as a child - I knew them from their words and art and designs. I knew them, but I never really met them.
With the smiles also comes the sighs that this is my first RPG convention. I am kicking myself that I never went out to meet Gary Gygax or Dave Arneson or Eric Holmes or Jim Roslof or the many others who contributed to the early days of rpgs and have passed on.
Go to a convention - these smaller conventions especially. Meet these people. Meet the other game designers and publishers who are following in their footsteps. Go meet an ocean of people who love rpgs as much as you do. It's well worth it.
- Ark
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Friday, June 3, 2011
Stapled
Spent day at NTRPGCON. RPed with The Boy, Timeshadows, and Cyclopeatron. Big ass smile stapled to face. Bought too much merchandise from Finland. Exhausted. Must sleep now.
- Ark
- Ark
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Dungeonspiration: Wonders
Earlier this week I was digging through a stack of Renaissance paintings. They were un-inspiring me and making me frustrated and mad. After all, this was to be only my second blog entry for Dungeonspirations. But I had an idea. Screw a period piece. Go with someone I knew could inspire me - Salvador Dali.
After flipping through countless images of melting watches, elephants with mile long legs, burning giraffes, and people with their insides on their outsides, I came upon something non-surreal. It was the Lighthouse at Alexandria. A great painting, but pretty normal. There were others in a similar vein - the Statue of Zeus, the Colossus of Rhodes, and the Pyramids of Giza. What was up with Dali? Why was he painting normal things?
It hit me and I started laughing. Here I am thinking that the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World are ordinary. They were the most fantastic and surreal things that commentators of Ancient Greece had ever seen. In fact, this was a period where tourism was just beginning to take hold in Greece, and the Seven Wonders were kind of a bucket list.
Set your mind back before skyscrapers, before electricity, before cathedrals, before the glories of Rome, and take a look at Dali's Lighthouse. From what I understand, this image is pretty close. It must have wowed those who saw it. Imagine sailing and you see it on the horizon - perhaps just before down with the light flaring brightly. And as your ship approached, it got only bigger and bigger and bigger.
So what are the wonders in your worlds? Where do people dream of going? Do they have bucket lists? What wonder would they travel days upon days just to see? What sorts of architecture are unlocked with magic or high technology?
Are there travel industries devoted to hauling people from one amazing sight to the other? Are there crooks and thieves ready to bilk tourists out of their savings? What about those poor, dirty people on the side of the road, selling little carved statues of the giant obelisk that almost touches the clouds? Does the local Tourist Board try to squash them out of existence?
Imagine Salvador Dali, backed by the purse of a wealthy King, given arcane support by a council of wizards, and the muscle of an army of skilled dwarven craftsmen. Would he chisel a hill into Möbius strip? Would he carve an entire mountain range into a mile high herd of four legged eyeballs? Would he carve the moon into a wedge of Swiss cheese?
I would certainly hope so. :)
Happy dreaming.
- Ark
After flipping through countless images of melting watches, elephants with mile long legs, burning giraffes, and people with their insides on their outsides, I came upon something non-surreal. It was the Lighthouse at Alexandria. A great painting, but pretty normal. There were others in a similar vein - the Statue of Zeus, the Colossus of Rhodes, and the Pyramids of Giza. What was up with Dali? Why was he painting normal things?
It hit me and I started laughing. Here I am thinking that the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World are ordinary. They were the most fantastic and surreal things that commentators of Ancient Greece had ever seen. In fact, this was a period where tourism was just beginning to take hold in Greece, and the Seven Wonders were kind of a bucket list.
Set your mind back before skyscrapers, before electricity, before cathedrals, before the glories of Rome, and take a look at Dali's Lighthouse. From what I understand, this image is pretty close. It must have wowed those who saw it. Imagine sailing and you see it on the horizon - perhaps just before down with the light flaring brightly. And as your ship approached, it got only bigger and bigger and bigger.
So what are the wonders in your worlds? Where do people dream of going? Do they have bucket lists? What wonder would they travel days upon days just to see? What sorts of architecture are unlocked with magic or high technology?
Are there travel industries devoted to hauling people from one amazing sight to the other? Are there crooks and thieves ready to bilk tourists out of their savings? What about those poor, dirty people on the side of the road, selling little carved statues of the giant obelisk that almost touches the clouds? Does the local Tourist Board try to squash them out of existence?
Imagine Salvador Dali, backed by the purse of a wealthy King, given arcane support by a council of wizards, and the muscle of an army of skilled dwarven craftsmen. Would he chisel a hill into Möbius strip? Would he carve an entire mountain range into a mile high herd of four legged eyeballs? Would he carve the moon into a wedge of Swiss cheese?
I would certainly hope so. :)
Happy dreaming.
- Ark
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Players Pondering Alignment
Tim, one of the players in my Labyrinth Lord campaign wrote me today about alignment. He came of age in the 2e time frame, so his understanding of alignment can be sometimes different than mine. He wrote:
I was thinking about the game world, with the razing lands and everything, and how things seem to be divided among chaos and law, rather than good and evil, and it got me thinking. What would a lawful society with no regard for good vs evil look like? I mean, I think that Imbroglio (Tim's character) is pretty obviously straight Chaos - or Chaotic Neutral in 2E parlance. He commits acts of kindness with the same lack of regard as he does acts of . . . questionable morals. So what would the lawful version of Imbroglio be, writ large to a society? This got me thinking, and it reminded me of a game that I'm playing on my X-Box, Dragon Age 2 . In it, there is a race of beings called the Qunari that are as close to an amoral Lawful society that I can think of. It's actually kind of interesting. They have a philosophy called the Qun, which basically amounts to institutionalized slavery, but slavery to themselves - the goal of their every action being the betterment of their society. Over the course of the game, some Qunari come to the human lands and are disgusted by the rampant chaos endemic to human society. Eventually, their need for order overcomes them and they try and take over the city, which I thought was fascinating - their need for order was so intense that they had to capture the world around it and bend it to their will.
Tim continues on with interesting quotes and links about the Qunari, which you can go dive into with Google's help if you want. I don't know much about Dragon Age,but the Qunari do seem like an interesting spin on Lawful Neutral.
My idea of Lawful Neutral, on an organizational level, is a mindless machine - like the US Post Office, or the British Civil Service. It's a soulless machine bent on doing what it was designed to do and following the rules, with no attention paid to whether the results are good or evil, beneficial or destructive.
So are the Qunari Lawful Neutral, or is Tim high on drugs? What does Lawful Neutral look like in your games? Are your games more involved with the struggle between good and evil, or law and chaos?
- Ark
I was thinking about the game world, with the razing lands and everything, and how things seem to be divided among chaos and law, rather than good and evil, and it got me thinking. What would a lawful society with no regard for good vs evil look like? I mean, I think that Imbroglio (Tim's character) is pretty obviously straight Chaos - or Chaotic Neutral in 2E parlance. He commits acts of kindness with the same lack of regard as he does acts of . . . questionable morals. So what would the lawful version of Imbroglio be, writ large to a society? This got me thinking, and it reminded me of a game that I'm playing on my X-Box, Dragon Age 2 . In it, there is a race of beings called the Qunari that are as close to an amoral Lawful society that I can think of. It's actually kind of interesting. They have a philosophy called the Qun, which basically amounts to institutionalized slavery, but slavery to themselves - the goal of their every action being the betterment of their society. Over the course of the game, some Qunari come to the human lands and are disgusted by the rampant chaos endemic to human society. Eventually, their need for order overcomes them and they try and take over the city, which I thought was fascinating - their need for order was so intense that they had to capture the world around it and bend it to their will. Tim continues on with interesting quotes and links about the Qunari, which you can go dive into with Google's help if you want. I don't know much about Dragon Age,but the Qunari do seem like an interesting spin on Lawful Neutral.
My idea of Lawful Neutral, on an organizational level, is a mindless machine - like the US Post Office, or the British Civil Service. It's a soulless machine bent on doing what it was designed to do and following the rules, with no attention paid to whether the results are good or evil, beneficial or destructive.
So are the Qunari Lawful Neutral, or is Tim high on drugs? What does Lawful Neutral look like in your games? Are your games more involved with the struggle between good and evil, or law and chaos?
- Ark
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
The World As They Know It
To the players in my Saturday Labyrinth Lord campaign, the map to the right represents the entire universe. It's just about every place they've ever been or heard about. I have an overwhelming desire to flesh out more - but I stop myself and let dice rolls and the player's wanderlust shape The Wild Lands.
My intention was to start the players in Audrain Keep (actually the Keep on the Borderlands,) flesh out the main east-west road, and have the players move north towards the Razing Zone - an area of many monsters and a place for high adventure. I even named the campaign 'The Razing Zone,' as I figured the players would be all over that place.
As you can probably tell from the map, the players have made a almost direct bee-line south, in the opposite direction.
I think this might have something to do with my new DMing style. When running a 4e campaign with the same group of people, the mere mention of a monster set them charging off to go fight it. They knew I would play 'fair' by 4e rules and give them reasonable challenges. But they know the kid gloves are off in Labyrinth Lord, and it's not uncommon for me to throw monsters 5 to 10 levels higher than they are - all at the whim of my evil red twenty-sider. "Old School Runs" just doesn't refer to the dungeon, but the entire world - apparently.
In fact, last game when the party found out that the dragon Abaraxis and a cadre of orcs had taken over Audrain Keep, there was heated debate on exactly how far away should run away. One party member did press the group to go vanquish the dragon, but in the end they party agreed to "explore a potential economic partnership" with a distiller who lived even farther south than they had already traveled.
When fleeing (I mean strolling in a calm, economic sort of way,) south they came to a bridge, and of course that bridge was guarded by orcs in the employ of the dragon, but that is the kind of asshole - I mean DM - that I am. :)
- Ark
PS - I'd like to mention how proud I am of the players. They are now fighting and conquering monsters far above their level by using their smarts. They almost never stand toe to toe against an enemy without some trick or trap ready to spring. They are getting quite brilliant and it's starting to get difficult to out-think them. I love it.
My intention was to start the players in Audrain Keep (actually the Keep on the Borderlands,) flesh out the main east-west road, and have the players move north towards the Razing Zone - an area of many monsters and a place for high adventure. I even named the campaign 'The Razing Zone,' as I figured the players would be all over that place.
As you can probably tell from the map, the players have made a almost direct bee-line south, in the opposite direction.
I think this might have something to do with my new DMing style. When running a 4e campaign with the same group of people, the mere mention of a monster set them charging off to go fight it. They knew I would play 'fair' by 4e rules and give them reasonable challenges. But they know the kid gloves are off in Labyrinth Lord, and it's not uncommon for me to throw monsters 5 to 10 levels higher than they are - all at the whim of my evil red twenty-sider. "Old School Runs" just doesn't refer to the dungeon, but the entire world - apparently.
In fact, last game when the party found out that the dragon Abaraxis and a cadre of orcs had taken over Audrain Keep, there was heated debate on exactly how far away should run away. One party member did press the group to go vanquish the dragon, but in the end they party agreed to "explore a potential economic partnership" with a distiller who lived even farther south than they had already traveled.
When fleeing (I mean strolling in a calm, economic sort of way,) south they came to a bridge, and of course that bridge was guarded by orcs in the employ of the dragon, but that is the kind of asshole - I mean DM - that I am. :)
- Ark
PS - I'd like to mention how proud I am of the players. They are now fighting and conquering monsters far above their level by using their smarts. They almost never stand toe to toe against an enemy without some trick or trap ready to spring. They are getting quite brilliant and it's starting to get difficult to out-think them. I love it.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
A Quote From Tonight's Game
"If we steal the bones, we loose the opportunity to surprise the door . . . you know, only in a D&D game would you ever say something like that."
- Ark
- Ark
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Dungeonspiration: The Dragon Palace
I've decided to do a regular feature - on Thursdays, no less. The idea is to highlight a piece of art that can help inspire new ideas at the gaming table. It could be visual art, a poem, or something else - but whatever it is, it should inspire. Thus the name, Dungeonspiration. No, that's not an underground tomb with sweaty walls. Well, that's not such a bad idea, either.
First up on Dungeonspiration is The Dragon Palace:
The Dragon Palace is in the Japanese genre of ukiyo-e, a type of woodblock print focusing on a somewhat stylized or unreal subject matter, much like a modern day comic book. This particular piece was done by Okumura Masanobu in the 1740s.
The woodcut is probably a scene out of a story or myth. While my book on ukiyo-e calls the picture The Dragon Palace, an online gallery calls it Perspective Print of the Diving Woman Retrieving the Jewel from the Dragon Palace, which probably hearkens back to the story that inspired the artist. Whatever the original story is, I don't really care for this exercise. What do I make of the image?
Reading from upper right to left, in Japanese style, we see flotilla of boats. The people in these boats appear to be well dressed - upper class perhaps - all focusing on the man holding something in the water. Perhaps a rope? The rope leads to a wall in the direction of the palace in the water. Is that an anchor, or a diving line?
A naked woman swims in the water, sword in one hand, something pulled to her breast in the other hand. An angry dragon stares her down. She looks like she is heading towards a hole in the sea wall. What is the hole? Is it a aquatic dragon doggie door? A cadre of ugly warriors is making their way down the ramp, headed towards the woman. They appear upset. They have weapons.
I think we are looking at a classic D&D scene here. A thief is hauling ass from the scene of the crime after a heist. The thief is naked and alone with the goods while the rest of the party hauls up anchor and makes their escape. I sure hope she can swim fast.
Of course, there are lots of other ways to interpret the scene, but that is how it spark my imagination. And just look at those fellows with fish on their heads. I'm sure that hearkens back to some bit of mythology about Japanese fish spirits, but I'm in way over my head regarding Japanese culture to know. My favorite is Mister Octopus over there. Isn't he great?
So click on the image to make it bigger and dive in. There are a lot of wonderful details all over the place. Where do you think the Jewel was stored? How do you think the thief snuck in? Are there two dragons, or is that one, and how are the two bits connected? And why does the woman have to do all the work? :)
Enjoy.
- Ark
First up on Dungeonspiration is The Dragon Palace:
The Dragon Palace is in the Japanese genre of ukiyo-e, a type of woodblock print focusing on a somewhat stylized or unreal subject matter, much like a modern day comic book. This particular piece was done by Okumura Masanobu in the 1740s.
The woodcut is probably a scene out of a story or myth. While my book on ukiyo-e calls the picture The Dragon Palace, an online gallery calls it Perspective Print of the Diving Woman Retrieving the Jewel from the Dragon Palace, which probably hearkens back to the story that inspired the artist. Whatever the original story is, I don't really care for this exercise. What do I make of the image?
Reading from upper right to left, in Japanese style, we see flotilla of boats. The people in these boats appear to be well dressed - upper class perhaps - all focusing on the man holding something in the water. Perhaps a rope? The rope leads to a wall in the direction of the palace in the water. Is that an anchor, or a diving line?
A naked woman swims in the water, sword in one hand, something pulled to her breast in the other hand. An angry dragon stares her down. She looks like she is heading towards a hole in the sea wall. What is the hole? Is it a aquatic dragon doggie door? A cadre of ugly warriors is making their way down the ramp, headed towards the woman. They appear upset. They have weapons.
I think we are looking at a classic D&D scene here. A thief is hauling ass from the scene of the crime after a heist. The thief is naked and alone with the goods while the rest of the party hauls up anchor and makes their escape. I sure hope she can swim fast.
Of course, there are lots of other ways to interpret the scene, but that is how it spark my imagination. And just look at those fellows with fish on their heads. I'm sure that hearkens back to some bit of mythology about Japanese fish spirits, but I'm in way over my head regarding Japanese culture to know. My favorite is Mister Octopus over there. Isn't he great?So click on the image to make it bigger and dive in. There are a lot of wonderful details all over the place. Where do you think the Jewel was stored? How do you think the thief snuck in? Are there two dragons, or is that one, and how are the two bits connected? And why does the woman have to do all the work? :)
Enjoy.
- Ark
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