When a roll on a random table gives the discription of a tavern as being known 'as a site of violent yodelling duels' and on the basis of that the GM improvises a yodelling competition which leads to 45 mins of hilarity.
Monday 20 January 2020
What Makes a Good RPG Session?
Well...
When a roll on a random table gives the discription of a tavern as being known 'as a site of violent yodelling duels' and on the basis of that the GM improvises a yodelling competition which leads to 45 mins of hilarity.
When a roll on a random table gives the discription of a tavern as being known 'as a site of violent yodelling duels' and on the basis of that the GM improvises a yodelling competition which leads to 45 mins of hilarity.
Sunday 5 January 2020
The Old Guard and the New, 1977
I couldn't help sharing this...
It's from May 1977 editorial of Donald Featherstone's Wargamer's Newsletter (which rather marvelously is online at http://fourcats.co.uk).
It actually ties in with some discussions I've been having recently which touched on the influence of wargaming on early RPGs. I was pointing to the debt that Gygaz et al owed to Tony Bath. It's interesting to read Featherstone pontificate* on the subject.
*I suspect that this is an 'Editorial Voice' and not necessarily reflective of his own view.
I particularly like the last sentance. To paraphrase: 'this D&D stuff is rubbish, but at least it's brining youths to proper wargaming'. It's a sentiment I hear today about 5e.
But there's also a rather sensible letter in the following issue (which is every editor's hope in writing a provoking editorial).
Actually, there's quite a lot of interesting stuff in the magazines even if you fall on the D&D side of the table. The Minifigs' advert for pig-faced orcs alone... And it is very well put-together, given that it was the age of typewriters and rotorary duplications. I see many zines today that can't match it's production qualities.
It's from May 1977 editorial of Donald Featherstone's Wargamer's Newsletter (which rather marvelously is online at http://fourcats.co.uk).
It actually ties in with some discussions I've been having recently which touched on the influence of wargaming on early RPGs. I was pointing to the debt that Gygaz et al owed to Tony Bath. It's interesting to read Featherstone pontificate* on the subject.
*I suspect that this is an 'Editorial Voice' and not necessarily reflective of his own view.
I particularly like the last sentance. To paraphrase: 'this D&D stuff is rubbish, but at least it's brining youths to proper wargaming'. It's a sentiment I hear today about 5e.
But there's also a rather sensible letter in the following issue (which is every editor's hope in writing a provoking editorial).
I was interested to see your, and Mr. Griffith's remarks on the direction in which wargames are going. I hope however that rather than looking back we can go forward to new and better developments, rather than indulge in a rather pointless debate about whether Fantasy games are "wargames" or not.
All this is doing is defining wargaming, when we could be pursuing studies of strategy and tactics rather thant Just as we are all free to devise our own rules, based on personal interpretation of the facts, so I hope this hobby will never become ravaged by a debate as to whether a particular activity belongs to it or not.
Rather than criticise Fantasy and/or Boardgames, which after all must entertain their respective adherents, unless they are masoehits!, we should strive to improve "standard" wargaiming so as to lure these heretics baek to the true faith!
Long may Wargamer's Newsletter continue.
A. Harman of Walsall.
Actually, there's quite a lot of interesting stuff in the magazines even if you fall on the D&D side of the table. The Minifigs' advert for pig-faced orcs alone... And it is very well put-together, given that it was the age of typewriters and rotorary duplications. I see many zines today that can't match it's production qualities.
Wednesday 1 January 2020
Reading Highlights in 2019
According to Goodreads I read 37 books in 2019, almost entirely fiction. I'm not going to talk about them all, but I thought I'd mention my highlights.
More or less in the order I read them...
David Mitchel, Cloud Atlas.
This was a hangover from 2018, during which I'd discovered Mitchel and read several of his books.
Like all of Mitchel's books it plays games with Time and narrative - it's a matyoshka doll of stories nested around each over. I've not seen the film, and can't imagine how they managed to convey all this. Perhaps not to everyone's taste, but I found it stunning.
Margaret Atwood, The Penelopiad
Atwood had a good year, and I made my small contribution by reading The Penelopiad and The Handmaiden's Tale.
This is her retelling of The Odyssey, which of course she did from the viewpoint of Penelope rather than Odysseus. It's a "feminist retelling", but being Atwood it's much more than that. A very impressive work.
This was apparently the first of the Canongate Myth Series, in which contempory authors were invited to reinvent myths from various cultures. Looking at the list of authors and the stories they've tackled, I think they may be worth digging into.
Joe Gores, Hammett
A fictional episode in the life of Dashiell Hammett, set in 1928 San Fransico, just as he is becomming known as a writer. His past as a Pinkerton agent results in him being involved in a devilishly complicated case.
I know nothing of San Fransico in the 1920s, but Gores did a fantastic job of capturing the atmosphere of it, I'm sure authentically. Hammett's life-story is worthy of a whole heap of novels, and Gores left me hungry for more. So...
Dashiell Hammett, The Maltese Falcon and The Continental Op
I read The Maltese Falcon back in the late 80s and hadn't read The Continental Op. But I was glad to have picked them up this year!
The Maltese Falcon must be my pick of the year. It is the epitome of a detective novel. Little more than a novella, but perfectly-formed. A masterpiece.
I like The Continental Op too. I think that these stories are always overlooked, which is a damn shame.
The Laundry Files series by Charles Stross
After reading all the San Fransico stuff I had an itch to read something pulpy and a little Cthulu Mythos. I'm not sure who had recommended the Laundry Files, I picked up the first book and then during the year (and not without a break!) read all nine currently in the series.
The series premis is that the things that inspired the Lovecraftian Mythos are real, that the stars are aligning and that there is a small department of British Intelegence (the Laundry) tasked with countering the threat. The first book is compared to The Ipcress Files in depicting the mundanity and work-place boredom involved in secret intellegence work, but as the series progresses the stakes are raised and (without any spoilers) things moved out of dingy offices and onto the world stage. I recommend it.
Ruthanna Emrys, Winter Tide
This is another take on the Mythos.
At the end of The Shadow Over Innsmouth in 1928, Lovecraft tells us that the US Government bombs Devil's Reef and takes the inhabitants of Innsmouth off to concentration camps. This book (the first in a series) follows the story.
By 1942 all but a handful of the People of the Water have died in their desert camps, which are converted to hold Japanese-Americans. When the latter are released, so are the last two of the People, children when they were interned. It's now 1950, the Cold War is afoot, and the Government has need of them...
This won't be to everyone's taste. Emrys is deliberately setting out to subvert Lovecraft's racism and fear of 'the other', and some may feel that practically all her protagonists are shoehorned into 'otherness'. But I enjoyed the book, and Emrys has a lyrical touch. I shall read the next book.
More or less in the order I read them...
This was a hangover from 2018, during which I'd discovered Mitchel and read several of his books.
Like all of Mitchel's books it plays games with Time and narrative - it's a matyoshka doll of stories nested around each over. I've not seen the film, and can't imagine how they managed to convey all this. Perhaps not to everyone's taste, but I found it stunning.
Atwood had a good year, and I made my small contribution by reading The Penelopiad and The Handmaiden's Tale.
This is her retelling of The Odyssey, which of course she did from the viewpoint of Penelope rather than Odysseus. It's a "feminist retelling", but being Atwood it's much more than that. A very impressive work.
This was apparently the first of the Canongate Myth Series, in which contempory authors were invited to reinvent myths from various cultures. Looking at the list of authors and the stories they've tackled, I think they may be worth digging into.
A fictional episode in the life of Dashiell Hammett, set in 1928 San Fransico, just as he is becomming known as a writer. His past as a Pinkerton agent results in him being involved in a devilishly complicated case.
I know nothing of San Fransico in the 1920s, but Gores did a fantastic job of capturing the atmosphere of it, I'm sure authentically. Hammett's life-story is worthy of a whole heap of novels, and Gores left me hungry for more. So...
I read The Maltese Falcon back in the late 80s and hadn't read The Continental Op. But I was glad to have picked them up this year!
The Maltese Falcon must be my pick of the year. It is the epitome of a detective novel. Little more than a novella, but perfectly-formed. A masterpiece.
I like The Continental Op too. I think that these stories are always overlooked, which is a damn shame.
After reading all the San Fransico stuff I had an itch to read something pulpy and a little Cthulu Mythos. I'm not sure who had recommended the Laundry Files, I picked up the first book and then during the year (and not without a break!) read all nine currently in the series.
The series premis is that the things that inspired the Lovecraftian Mythos are real, that the stars are aligning and that there is a small department of British Intelegence (the Laundry) tasked with countering the threat. The first book is compared to The Ipcress Files in depicting the mundanity and work-place boredom involved in secret intellegence work, but as the series progresses the stakes are raised and (without any spoilers) things moved out of dingy offices and onto the world stage. I recommend it.
This is another take on the Mythos.
At the end of The Shadow Over Innsmouth in 1928, Lovecraft tells us that the US Government bombs Devil's Reef and takes the inhabitants of Innsmouth off to concentration camps. This book (the first in a series) follows the story.
By 1942 all but a handful of the People of the Water have died in their desert camps, which are converted to hold Japanese-Americans. When the latter are released, so are the last two of the People, children when they were interned. It's now 1950, the Cold War is afoot, and the Government has need of them...
This won't be to everyone's taste. Emrys is deliberately setting out to subvert Lovecraft's racism and fear of 'the other', and some may feel that practically all her protagonists are shoehorned into 'otherness'. But I enjoyed the book, and Emrys has a lyrical touch. I shall read the next book.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)