tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post3955534539711096091..comments2024-03-18T20:22:06.331-04:00Comments on GROGNARDIA: Dwimmermount, Session 53James Maliszewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-39946216446179689012010-10-08T02:39:22.220-04:002010-10-08T02:39:22.220-04:00Coldstream:
"When it comes to 1980's tags...Coldstream:<br />"When it comes to 1980's tags, it's not that a player would have to say those things, it's just that in order to establish a character as being from 1989 (or whenever), little tags like this would have to come up. Otherwise, what would distinguish the individual from any other character from another place/time or even another location in the Dwimmermount world"<br /><br />What a weird statement. This is like saying that every American tourist movie character should be wearing a Hawaiian shirt and act in a particular stereotypical manner.<br /><br />In my Wilderlands game the Stranger NPCs and PC sometimes say things indicative of their origin, but I've never seen anything silly or jarring - you *can* play it for laughs of course, like the American Football scene in the early '80s Flash Gordon movie, but that's never necessary. And they vary as much among themselves due to personality, national origin etc as do the native Wilderlanders.Simonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01173759805310975320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-54997293444321631262010-10-07T17:03:28.398-04:002010-10-07T17:03:28.398-04:00Are your players into the pulp fiction that you us...<i>Are your players into the pulp fiction that you use as your inspiration for the campaign? If they do or dont read that stuff how has their knowledge or lack of knowledge impacted the campaign? I hope that makes some kind of sense. great read and campaign as always, keep up the great work.</i><br /><br>My players are all pretty well versed in the source material on which I'm drawing.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-80352799011595760932010-10-07T02:05:44.865-04:002010-10-07T02:05:44.865-04:00@Desert Scribe
The crowbar is a reference to the ...@Desert Scribe<br /><br />The crowbar is a reference to the first-person shooter video game Half-life, where the protagonist (a physicist if I remember) finds a crowbar as his first weapon. It's sort of a symbol of the game now.Coldstreamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16140235342917611032noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-62313995528028314822010-10-06T20:19:38.215-04:002010-10-06T20:19:38.215-04:00Can someone please explain the crowbar reference t...Can someone please explain the crowbar reference to me?Desert Scribehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13862907749003106864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-78631745610985001232010-10-06T19:39:28.406-04:002010-10-06T19:39:28.406-04:00@ Blair- I love that movie, but that's got to ...@ Blair- I love that movie, but that's got to be my least favorite scene. However, in retrospect, I think you are totally, right. I'm going to embrace the football scene.Aoshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00145284080419502886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-18452291000913469172010-10-06T19:27:59.732-04:002010-10-06T19:27:59.732-04:00@ Coldtream and Aos
Maybe it's because I abso...@ Coldtream and Aos<br /><br />Maybe it's because I absolutely adore the "football fight" scene in the Flash Gordon movie, but I would love for a displaced 20th century earthman character to be making football references!Blairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10884401206802336531noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-76354777770654124272010-10-06T19:22:18.680-04:002010-10-06T19:22:18.680-04:00"In all seriousness, it's actually been y..."In all seriousness, it's actually been years since I had any "pet" NPCs in my campaign. Perhaps it's because it's so rare that I ever get to be anything but a referee, I have "lost the taste" for that kind of attachment to a single character.<br /><br />Hmm, that's an interesting thought ... "<br /><br />This is unspeakably geeky of me, but when your account got to the glasses and strange clothes I got all excited, "Oh man...James is going to break the fourth wall and put himself in the game..this is going to be awesome/hilarious "Dwimmermount? But..but..I made it...this must be a crazy dream...""Blairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10884401206802336531noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-48803354799895964462010-10-06T16:46:32.562-04:002010-10-06T16:46:32.562-04:00Are your players into the pulp fiction that you us...Are your players into the pulp fiction that you use as your inspiration for the campaign? If they do or dont read that stuff how has their knowledge or lack of knowledge impacted the campaign? I hope that makes some kind of sense. great read and campaign as always, keep up the great work.Zombiecowboyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07423326531943150835noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-30493946937691487562010-10-06T15:56:38.155-04:002010-10-06T15:56:38.155-04:00As far as the time dimension travel thing goes, fr...<i>As far as the time dimension travel thing goes, from my perspective; you have to end up somewhere, why not a complex with doorways to a whole bunch of different worlds?</i><br /><br>I have a post planned presenting my thoughts on dimension/world travel in fantasy campaigns, so I'll do my best to answer some of the questions put forward here.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-51687551354892167712010-10-06T15:55:09.949-04:002010-10-06T15:55:09.949-04:00Loved the crowbar detail James.
I'm glad so ma...<i>Loved the crowbar detail James.</i><br /><br>I'm glad so many people approved of that. It got a bit of a laugh at the game table too.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-35074212102591164982010-10-06T15:54:32.796-04:002010-10-06T15:54:32.796-04:00Do you ever podcast your sessions?
Dear Lord, no.<i>Do you ever podcast your sessions?</i><br /><br>Dear Lord, no.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-63112518669873730352010-10-06T15:54:11.522-04:002010-10-06T15:54:11.522-04:00It's obviously going to be James' Mary Sue...<i>It's obviously going to be James' Mary Sue DMPC...note the glasses! ;)</i><br /><br>In all seriousness, it's actually been years since I had any "pet" NPCs in my campaign. Perhaps it's because it's so rare that I ever get to be anything but a referee, I have "lost the taste" for that kind of attachment to a single character.<br /><br />Hmm, that's an interesting thought ...James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-51877119662526498042010-10-06T15:52:28.360-04:002010-10-06T15:52:28.360-04:00It's nice to see you use the stranger, but I w...<i>It's nice to see you use the stranger, but I would have thought it more of a player character thing than an NPC.</i><br /><br>That was my hope too, but the circumstances for it never really came to pass. Now, depending on how things unfold, Mason Halsey could well become a PC, so I'm not yet prepared to give up on that hope.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-37560473765220086382010-10-06T15:51:20.764-04:002010-10-06T15:51:20.764-04:00We're ready for you in the blast chamber, Gord...<i>We're ready for you in the blast chamber, Gordon. </i><br /><br>=)James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-67013634051572197632010-10-06T15:50:56.833-04:002010-10-06T15:50:56.833-04:00Martin,
I plan to answer both your questions in a...Martin,<br /><br />I plan to answer both your questions in a large post either later today or tomorrow, since they're well worth expanding upon beyond a small comment.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-84900255256385031742010-10-06T15:50:19.537-04:002010-10-06T15:50:19.537-04:00It occurred to me they could be the Chaschmen and ...<i>It occurred to me they could be the Chaschmen and Dirdirmen of Vance's "Planet of Adventure:" allowed to carry some weapons (not the best, of course) because neither their masters nor they themselves could ever imagine rebellion... until some outside agent showed them the way.</i><br /><br>Perhaps unsurprisingly, that's more or less the solution to which I've tentatively come.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-10182281052455808912010-10-06T11:41:29.567-04:002010-10-06T11:41:29.567-04:00@Coldstream,
I get where you're coming from, b...@Coldstream,<br />I get where you're coming from, but, I hope you don't mind just a bit more friendly disagreement.<br />John Carter came from a time with popular culture as well, and he didn't break out in to renditions of "Golden Slippers" or "Yellow Rose of Texas" or "Dixie" for that matter. He spends far more time ruminating about how awesome and honorable he is. He mentions his place of origin a couple of times and then moves on. And aside from the social awkwardness he has with Dejha Thoris due to his misunderstandings of Barsoomian culutre, it never seems to matter that much. Really, I have recently read the first three books and it hardly comes up at all. ERB was much more interested in Mars. What sets JC apart is his sense of honor, the shielded nature of his mind and his ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound. It's not where he comes from that matters, but where he is. <br />I would think that were I transported to such an environment, I'd be more likely to grouse about the lack of dentistry, toilets or espresso. I travel abroad every year for months at a time, and I hardly talk about the states at all; I certainly don't talk about American Football. Furthermore, I am a scientist (archaeologist) and I work with scientists, and many of them (including me) are completely, or at least mostly, oblivious to popular culture. As for gun powder, again, I see your point, but are inaccurate bronze tubes that are probably less effective than longbows going to mess up your game? And if they are, once again, if Vancian Magic works, the laws of physics are different anyway, so you could just rule out guns and gunpowder and move on. Alternately, you could just embrace it and see where it takes you. If it doesn't work out you could just drop it from your next game.<br />As far as the time dimension travel thing goes, from my perspective; you have to end up somewhere, why not a complex with doorways to a whole bunch of different worlds?<br />Anyway, I will harass you no further.Aoshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00145284080419502886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-90336004632878333002010-10-06T02:36:56.590-04:002010-10-06T02:36:56.590-04:00@Aos
James is going for a John Carter of Mars so...@Aos <br /><br />James is going for a John Carter of Mars sort of feel with this type of character, and I have no problem with that. I didn't mean for my post to be a negative attack on it as such, just a voice of my concerns about introducing such a character in my own adventures. <br /><br />When it comes to 1980's tags, it's not that a player would have to say those things, it's just that in order to establish a character as being from 1989 (or whenever), little tags like this would have to come up. Otherwise, what would distinguish the individual from any other character from another place/time or even another location in the Dwimmermount world (say an isolated tribe who knows nothing of the world at large)? <br /><br />With gunpowder, early hand cannons weren't anything more than bronze tubes that you lit with an external match. Fire-lances were bamboo. It certainly isn't out of the realm of any metalworking society to create. <br /><br />Dwimmermount as Earth (or Earth-related) just makes it easier for me to accept that out of the infinite universes and dimensions and creatures that time/dimension travel implies, a representative of Modern Earth would happen to end up there.Coldstreamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16140235342917611032noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-29888283458504894772010-10-06T01:32:35.434-04:002010-10-06T01:32:35.434-04:00If you've got a player who would have his char...If you've got a player who would have his character bitch about loosing money on a super bowl bet or would call out woof-woof after killing a goblin- I think the coming from modern day Earth thing would be the least of your problems. I mean who gets transported to a land of magic and dungeons and monsters and talks about football? I guess that all depends on the player. I have a hard time envisioning the guy you're speculating about, truthfully. Furthermore, I'm also not sure how Earth being the Dwimmermount world makes it somehow more sensible, especially considering that a connection to the real world was part of your problem. Beyond that, time travel doesn't seem any more "real" to me than dimensional travel, really. Gunpowder, however, depending on the character of your world, could be an issue. Although, I think actually making muskets and what have you would require a bit of infrastructure and even making one decent gun would probably take a long process of trial and error. High tech stuff, on the other hand, would, imo, require a lot of infrastructure, and even then you could always say that the laws of physics work differently on your world- which is true already if Vancian (or any other kind of) magic is present.Aoshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00145284080419502886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-83536258508979614792010-10-05T23:33:20.184-04:002010-10-05T23:33:20.184-04:00I've always been exremely hesitant to introduc...I've always been exremely hesitant to introduce modern, Earth-origin characters into my D&D games. I've always felt it would break some sort of wall to have a character in-game from 1989 that could complain about losing a fortune on the Bengals in Super Bowl XXIII and fist-pumping while chanting "Woof-woof-woof" after dispatching a goblin. It's too much a focus for the actual players and connection to the real world. Plus you'd have a character who could conceivably make gunpowder (especially as a scientist) and any number of other modern inventions. <br /><br />I'd worry it would end up being like the moment the Star Wars Prequels really lost me in the Phantom Menace with the pod-race announcer and his inane modern-Earth appropriate broadcast. It just punctures the illusion that this is some other world and time. <br /><br />Maybe I take it too seriously or I'm just a lousy enough DM not to be able to pull it off succesfully. <br /><br />Or, I guess it could turn out Dwimmermount is on Earth and Aeron is actually Mars in the distant past (or even future I suppose) and it all might make great sense.Coldstreamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16140235342917611032noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-21620728543997078532010-10-05T23:02:11.182-04:002010-10-05T23:02:11.182-04:00"Sounds like fun. Do you ever podcast your se..."Sounds like fun. Do you ever podcast your sessions? "<br /><br />That would be pure awesomesauce!<br /><br />Loved the crowbar detail James. Great summary, as usual.Valandilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02736239726821755165noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-63436357415604686182010-10-05T20:17:27.224-04:002010-10-05T20:17:27.224-04:00Sounds like fun. Do you ever podcast your session...Sounds like fun. Do you ever podcast your sessions?Digital Orchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00276516390269689741noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-83800676812689627652010-10-04T21:35:02.050-04:002010-10-04T21:35:02.050-04:00It's obviously going to be James' Mary Sue...It's obviously going to be James' Mary Sue DMPC...note the glasses! ;)Blairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10884401206802336531noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-37535772804254654912010-10-04T20:30:37.956-04:002010-10-04T20:30:37.956-04:00It's nice to see you use the stranger, but I w...It's nice to see you use the stranger, but I would have thought it more of a player character thing than an NPC.Aoshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00145284080419502886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-66681220479114998902010-10-04T20:06:57.146-04:002010-10-04T20:06:57.146-04:00We're ready for you in the blast chamber, Gord...We're ready for you in the blast chamber, Gordon.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15913344106247852279noreply@blogger.com