tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post7049375985731540696..comments2024-03-18T20:22:06.331-04:00Comments on GROGNARDIA: REVIEW: The Monolith from Beyond Space and TimeJames Maliszewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-90385451157907446332012-10-02T13:47:14.859-04:002012-10-02T13:47:14.859-04:00On the word "module" -- That word faded ...On the word "module" -- That word faded away during my time as managing editor. One of my goals was to make the language of D&D more direct. I was a lot more strident in those days than I am now, and needless jargon bothered me. The D&D stylebook instructed editors to use the word adventure when they meant adventure.Steven Winternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-39080805038369366042012-10-02T11:41:33.116-04:002012-10-02T11:41:33.116-04:00Glad to see an uptick in your reviews, James. The...Glad to see an uptick in your reviews, James. They are some of the more<br /> thoughtful in the blogosphere, and they are such a positive resource <br />for the OSR community.Melnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-40310178919186056532012-10-02T09:11:15.457-04:002012-10-02T09:11:15.457-04:00Personally, I really appreciated Monolith. The OS...Personally, I really appreciated Monolith. The OSR shines brightest when it provides the hobbyist community with new possibilities: the one page format, drop-dice tables, geomorphs (vertical as well as horizontal), new artists, etc. There's a certain gutsy quality to things like Stonehell, Vornheim, dungeon generators, Delta's mass combat rules...a certain creative swagger that I really like after 30+ years of more standard (and let's face it, tired and repetitive) DnD tropes. <br /><br />Me, I can't help but admire what Raggi set out to do in Monolith. This is not a standard "adventure" with keyed rooms and giants or goblins or potions or anti-gravity rooms. First off, there's no map. Secondly, the interaction between players and the created environment is bidirectional. Players / characters in this "adventure" aren't operating in a static environment that awaits and then reacts to their choices in a limited and discrete manner. Rather, the environment itself is almost a character in its own right, and one that is also seeking to act on the player characters. This is very different than a "rail road," and hats off to Raggi for seeing if he could emulate a Lovecraftian / Twilight Zone atmosphere in a DnD-type framework. I think that's kind of cool.Mark Cleavelandnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-79167333857074343592012-10-02T06:34:30.490-04:002012-10-02T06:34:30.490-04:00As long as you foreshadow it sufficiently it might...As long as you foreshadow it sufficiently it might be a fun thing to add to the campaign.<br /><br />And by foreshadow mention that nobody who has investigated the old monolith on the hill has ever returned. "No. Seriously. Nobody has ever come back. You'd have to be barking mad to go there. No, I'm not joking. You don't want to go there. Really! Sir Kenneth of Broadmoor took a party in three years ago. They never came out. It's an absolute death-trap."<br /><br />And then count the players who can't resist the bright and shiny angler fish lure... It's a mistake I guarantee they will only make once.Reverance Pavanenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-44504313845408533592012-10-01T22:48:31.683-04:002012-10-01T22:48:31.683-04:00I think I must have read a different HPL than othe...I think I must have read a different HPL than other people. He really never screwed over his characters unfairly in his stories. There was always a choice for them. That seems to be missing in a lot of CoC scenarios (and LotFP from what I've read). <br /><br />Dreams in the Witch House for instance. The protagonist was slowly becoming under the spell of Keziah Mason, but in the end, he decided to defy her. Or in The Horror at Red Hook, the guy made a bargain with Lilith but ultimately foiled her plans (temporarily). <br /><br />Even in things where the protagonist has a doomed heritage, like the Innsmouth guy or Arthur Jermyn, they made a choice to either kill themselves or embrace their own nature.<br /><br />Even in The Color of Space or The Whisperer in the Darkness, the doomed people choose to stay even though they can see warning signs over and over and over. The Mi-Go in particular were incredibly patientJeremy Zharkovhttp://www.facebook.com/people/Jeremy-Zharkov/100000590970112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-23402679942037023722012-10-01T22:20:42.295-04:002012-10-01T22:20:42.295-04:00The way it's described makes it sound almost l...The way it's described makes it sound almost like a 'Dragonlance'-style story arc with no flexibility in the end, since the characters are "doomed from they moment they got involved". It may have flexibility for a while, but if much of it can't be avoided at all, it's at least a cousin to predefined story-arcs. <br /><br />Not sure if it's anything I'd spring on my group without some heavy modifications or a one-shot with pregens...which might lessen the sense of loss since it's being run with disposable characters. Still might read it though, Raggi's got a great imagination.Coldstreamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-62498396074769927022012-10-01T22:09:19.731-04:002012-10-01T22:09:19.731-04:00I ran this adventure and I loved how I managed to ...I ran this adventure and I loved how I managed to convey an experience of an episode of a Twilight Zone like show, or a (not really)"Science Fiction" story about assumptions of reality becoming unhinged, or even a David Lynch-esque movie.<br /><br /><br />I dig it!Blairnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-53625188140467453392012-10-01T21:47:49.591-04:002012-10-01T21:47:49.591-04:00I think that's exactly right. That's not a...I think that's exactly right. That's not a flaw by any means, but I do think it severely limits the utility of the adventure. It also probably explains why so many people have problems with the adventure.James Maliszewskihttp://grognardia.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-88607899693478922982012-10-01T21:38:22.804-04:002012-10-01T21:38:22.804-04:00Sounds like the sort of module you run on an off-n...Sounds like the sort of module you run on an off-night; tell everyone to show up with pregens of appropriate level and spring it on them. One of the advantages of Call of Cthulhu is everyone has an idea of what to expect, at least insofar as character fragility is concerned; throwing D&D (or LotFP) characters into a CoC module is a bit cruel and unusual....well....maybe not so much for LotFP, I suppose...Nicholas Bergquistnoreply@blogger.com