tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post2425390841633249881..comments2024-03-18T20:22:06.331-04:00Comments on GROGNARDIA: Three ThreadsJames Maliszewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-12098639799333790662009-05-23T06:25:22.126-04:002009-05-23T06:25:22.126-04:00Rach, according to your definition of cinematic be...Rach, according to your definition of cinematic being exciting gameplay not encuimbered with gold coins, wet feet and back sore fro sleeping on the ground, above mentioned sword and sorcery would fit your bill pefectly.Brooser Bearhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08487438364129415650noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-35588188281676623242009-05-22T18:33:23.789-04:002009-05-22T18:33:23.789-04:00Shimrod has it exactly. A cinematic game is one wh...Shimrod has it exactly. A cinematic game is one where, as MST3k instructed us "It's just a show, I should really just relax". Mundane things like encumbrance and trail rations get lost amidst the excitement of an outrageous (I had to struggle to not capitalize-and-exclamation-point that, shades of Aquaman) adventure, and they only become important if it would be exciting and dramatic.Rachel Ghoulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04765944479141792643noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-51714141418191153262009-05-22T16:13:44.933-04:002009-05-22T16:13:44.933-04:00I've read a good deal of Howard and Lovecraft, but...I've read a good deal of Howard and Lovecraft, but not so much Smith. Can someone make a recommendation of what CAS I should peruse first?Bigharahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14232940345429292782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-5732549012042089392009-05-22T14:16:51.542-04:002009-05-22T14:16:51.542-04:00I think cinematic might be used to refer to a styl...I think cinematic might be used to refer to a style in which the mundane details and bookkeeping get minimized to allow for more focus on the drama and the action. So less time tracking exact encumbrance, less time exhaustively searching walls for secret doors or digging through monsters' trash to find hidden gold, more time on exciting stuff. I don't think it's incompatible with a pulp sensibility, or with old-school play. Certainly a good number of folks on Dragonsfoot play in such a style. Read Predavolk's campaign journal of his players running through the G series, and I can hardly think of a more accurate term than "cinematic" for the adventure and action described therein.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-4706301076123149832009-05-22T12:35:01.985-04:002009-05-22T12:35:01.985-04:00I think that's a little closer to what I think of ...I think that's a little closer to what I think of when I hear the word cinematic in regards to how the game is played. A cinematic game isn't a tactical miniatures combat game, it's a game in which actions take a narrative flavor.<br /><br />That's probably a misnomer, because I don't see how that makes the game more cinematic in a literal sense... but that's the way it tends to get used anyway, I guess.Desdichadohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14774274812688958457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-11952784691402242962009-05-22T11:27:58.158-04:002009-05-22T11:27:58.158-04:00To me AD&D is about wilderness, exploration, a...To me AD&D is about wilderness, exploration, and mystical. Mysticism comes out in the geography of the fantasy world - forests, fields, riverine banks and wastelands evoke different moods, which in the world of AD&D affect the real world. With these three I'd say you captured the spiritual dimension that draws me to role-playing. Now I will have to start readign these guys.<br /><br />With regards to cnematic, I'd say this refers to the way soemone described 3.5 DMing to me - No real dungeon map, die rolling to figure out if the party has "dsicovered a secret door" and can do a sneak attack or will have to barrel in trough the front door and charge the monsters. This version of the agme involves no labyrinth, no dungeon crawl and instead has a tabletop stage, where the party's miniatures is facing off agaisnt various attackers, one encounter after another. Think Diablo approach to PNP D&D.Brooser Bearhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08487438364129415650noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-22855739839960990212009-05-22T06:37:43.245-04:002009-05-22T06:37:43.245-04:00And Poul Anderson is mentioned with regard to True...And Poul Anderson is mentioned with regard to True Trolls.<br /><br />--FalconerPhiliphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13079821547999747258noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-31910937390940662502009-05-21T21:29:22.313-04:002009-05-21T21:29:22.313-04:00I'm looking forward to reading about how you weave...I'm looking forward to reading about how you weave those threads in your campaign, James.Chris Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11064988977152302364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-61259107681113022852009-05-21T19:27:58.345-04:002009-05-21T19:27:58.345-04:00Howard is the only one of the Big Three mentioned ...<I>Howard is the only one of the Big Three mentioned by name in OD&D, which places him among a select few authors (along with Burroughs, De Camp, Leiber, and Pratt) whose acknowledged influence is there from the very beginning.</I>Don't forget Dunsany and Tolkien (or, rather, "Sunsany" and "Tolkein"), who are both name-checked in Vol. II.Trenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01889179660165006042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-55670686694052944122009-05-21T17:01:27.544-04:002009-05-21T17:01:27.544-04:00I'm a little curious what is meant by the "cinemat...I'm a little curious what is meant by the "cinematic approach" too. I mean, I use cinematic to describe my games, but I wouldn't put that in opposition to "pulp influenced" as James apparently does. Nor would I use it to describe, as Will says, "the PC's are the ultimate bad-asses." What does that even mean?<br /><br />Howard was very clearly influenced by the historical swashbuckling stories that were contemporary (and a little bit earlier than him) as written by guys like Rafael Sabatini. Captian Blood. Scaramouche. The Black Swan. Etc. Since that same swashbuckling high-action vibe is often used to describe cinematic, and yet is also interchangeable with the word "pulp" as an adjective, I'm struggling to see exactly how they're different, unless you mean something different than I do when you use that word.<br /><br />Which is, ultimately, the problem with some of these buzzwords that get tossed out to describe various games and editions these days. What does it mean to be "cinematic?" What does it mean to be "pulp?" "Anime?" "WoW-like?" They're all fairly meaningless at the end of the day. Or rather, they mean different things to different people.Desdichadohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14774274812688958457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-32528991889143288482009-05-21T15:36:08.710-04:002009-05-21T15:36:08.710-04:00I also admire Clark Ashton Smith's ability to ...I also admire Clark Ashton Smith's ability to spin a tale and I always preferred his characters. Conan was less a man and more a primal force of nature, always better than those around him, that gets a little old after a while quite honestly. Lovecraft's characters are usually either petrified or insane and that goes with his stories. But Smith could create characters that seemed as real as it could get for their surroundings. Satampra Zeiros in the "Theft of the 39 Girdles" stands out as how I imagine a hapless D&D character shambles through a roughshod adventure, especially the ending. The slightest characters count and add to the dynamic of his settings. All three were great writers and I constantly re-read their works, but I will always prefer the Dark Prince of Zothique.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-42862358378949773552009-05-21T15:20:28.307-04:002009-05-21T15:20:28.307-04:00One of the things that attract me to Clark Ashton ...One of the things that attract me to Clark Ashton Smith is his sense of humor. The way he manages to weave a sense of irony and dark humor into some truly horrific imagery. <br /><br />Smith was also the last of the Big Three that I read, and I sometimes wonder how my perception of pulp fantasy would differ had I read him first rather than last.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00862556389958594140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-56234840856713736802009-05-21T15:00:30.503-04:002009-05-21T15:00:30.503-04:00"What is the 'cinematic approach?'
(Anyone who thi..."What is the 'cinematic approach?'<br />(Anyone who thinks they can answer, please do.)"<br /><br />People generally use it to mean assuming that the PCs are the ultimate badasses who always come out on top in any conflict and look good doing it, like in a typical action movie.Will Mistrettahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18403399118961902073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-13000415706376790892009-05-21T14:58:07.141-04:002009-05-21T14:58:07.141-04:00What is the "cinematic approach?"
(Anyone who thin...What is the "cinematic approach?"<br />(Anyone who thinks they can answer, please do.)Brian (brian_cooper at hotmail d o t com)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02805168206752602148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-81580476868712484412009-05-21T14:53:43.727-04:002009-05-21T14:53:43.727-04:00I kind of wish I had a gaming blog some days. I th...I kind of wish I had a gaming blog some days. I think I could make an interesting post about my own influences, since I'm of a post D&D generation (born 1978) and managed to be influenced by cheesy fantasy movies, Saturday morning cartoons, and video games instead of any kind of fantasy literature.<br /><br />Seems like quite an undertaking, though.Will Mistrettahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18403399118961902073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-79685742373464517192009-05-21T14:21:33.660-04:002009-05-21T14:21:33.660-04:00It never ceases to amaze me that an accident of hi...It never ceases to amaze me that an accident of history and fate put these three authors together (in a literary sense) at the right time and place to be such a seminal influence on D&D and literature as a whole. All three are so complementary, yet so very different in outlook and style. It is a pleasure to put the "big three" together as influences for a D&D campaign.Keith Sloanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07319879076978887933noreply@blogger.com