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Games where the Author's tone gets in the way.

Started by PoppySeed45, November 30, 2010, 03:37:07 AM

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jgants

#15
November 30, 2010, 01:44:05 PM
Quote from: Peregrin;421331Plus, Gygax had a penchant for declaring, at great length, through the DMG and various essays in Dragon, what "good gaming" or a "superior campaign" was, your own experiences at the table be-damned.  I don't see many people here bitching about him, although that happened many times elsewhere before his death.

Oh, I agree with you there.  I couldn't stand anything Gygax himself wrote - wasn't worth the effort.  I strongly disliked the 1e AD&D books - I'm a firm Moldvay/Metzner (for basic) and Cook (for 2e) fan.  I also loathe the whole "Saint Gygax" phenomenon (along with its sister phenomenon - "O/AD&D was a pure, never-changing game of perfection that everyone loved") that has sprang up in recent years (that conveniently forget how both Gygax and AD&D used to be derided by a significant majority of people in the hobby throughout the mid-80s and 90s).

Still, I don't care for Crane or his style of writing.  Having things like calling the dice "traitors" and whatnot was like claws on a chalkboard for me.
Now Prepping: One-shot adventures for Coriolis, RuneQuest (classic), Numenera, 7th Sea 2nd edition, and Adventures in Middle-Earth.

Recently Ended: Palladium Fantasy - Warlords of the Wastelands: A fantasy campaign beginning in the Baalgor Wastelands, where characters emerge from the oppressive kingdom of the giants. Read about it here.

The Butcher

#16
November 30, 2010, 02:01:13 PM
Quote from: Danger;421248Hope they toned that crap down with later versions of the rules (I've only got the Revised rules prior to the SWEX edition so my knowledge of the Savage Stuff is woefully out of date).

Thank God, they did.

Pseudoephedrine

#17
November 30, 2010, 02:50:43 PM
Quote from: MonkeyWrench;421262The Riddle of Steel did it for me.  The tone of "everything you've ever loved about RPGs - and by RPG we mean D&D because that's the only other game we've played - sucks and you should play a real game" really threw me off.  It's a shame as the combat mechanics are fun.

It's especially galling since RoS is such a bad game itself.
Running
The Pernicious Light, or The Wreckers of Sword Island;
A Goblin\'s Progress, or Of Cannons and Canons;
An Oration on the Dignity of Tash, or On the Elves and Their Lies
All for S&W Complete
Playing: Dark Heresy, WFRP 2e

"Elves don\'t want you cutting down trees but they sell wood items, they don\'t care about the forests, they\'\'re the fuckin\' wood mafia." -Anonymous

IceBlinkLuck

#18
December 01, 2010, 12:06:54 AM
Not terribly fond of games that create a completely new language for players and GMs to speak during game. A few interesting words or terms are okay, even a page of them can work if the writing is really good, but pages and pages? Bleah.
There was a game in the 90s called 'Immortal' that had a large 'lexicon' of unusual and thesarus-straining terms everyone needed to know to play. It seemed excessive.
"No one move a muscle as the dead come home." --Shriekback

IceBlinkLuck

#19
December 01, 2010, 12:17:10 AM
Quote from: Insufficient Metal;421240Finally, any game where the rules themselves try to take on some genre patois and talk directly to the reader. The worst example of this I can think of is Deadlands Reloaded. "Consarn it, pardner, when it looks like them rustlers are comin' to take your water, I reckon you ought to roll 1d8 plus yer Wild Die, then consult the Lynchin' Table on page 238..." Graaahhhh.

Oh, and amen to what I. M. says. Save the funny voices for when you are running an NPC and give us nice, clearly-constructed english in the rulebook.
"No one move a muscle as the dead come home." --Shriekback

Levi Kornelsen

#20
December 01, 2010, 12:23:20 AM
Quote from: IceBlinkLuck;421577There was a game in the 90s called 'Immortal' that had a large 'lexicon' of unusual and thesarus-straining terms everyone needed to know to play. It seemed excessive.

You missed Aria, then?

Because it was mind-burningly terrible at just this.  I cannot do it justice.

Cranewings

#21
December 01, 2010, 01:31:54 AM
Palladium has a bad habbit of printing the author talking directly to the reader. I think it is tacky.

danbuter

#22
December 01, 2010, 08:05:53 AM
I get annoyed by people who insist on making up clever names for GM.
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Pseudoephedrine

#23
December 01, 2010, 01:04:59 PM
Quote from: danbuter;421672I get annoyed by people who insist on making up clever names for GM.

I believe you mean "DM". ;)
Running
The Pernicious Light, or The Wreckers of Sword Island;
A Goblin\'s Progress, or Of Cannons and Canons;
An Oration on the Dignity of Tash, or On the Elves and Their Lies
All for S&W Complete
Playing: Dark Heresy, WFRP 2e

"Elves don\'t want you cutting down trees but they sell wood items, they don\'t care about the forests, they\'\'re the fuckin\' wood mafia." -Anonymous

RPGPundit

#24
December 01, 2010, 02:02:06 PM
Yes on Blue Rose and on most Forge games, but to be honest nothing has bothered me more in reading tone than Savage Worlds. Its just fucking unbearable.

RPGPundit
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danbuter

#25
December 01, 2010, 02:08:53 PM
I'm pretty sure Dungeon Master is trademarked, which is why Game Master got started.
Sword and Board - My blog about BFRPG, S&W, Hi/Lo Heroes, and other games.
Sword & Board: BFRPG Supplement Free pdf. Cheap print version.
Bushi D6  Samurai and D6!
Bushi setting map

Cole

#26
December 01, 2010, 02:16:21 PM
Houses of the Blooded was one of the worst I've encountered. Its style and authorial voice was so narcissistic and bloated I kept wondering if it was supposed to be some kind of satire. And, not only is it bloated on a paragraph-to-paragraph level, it's, what, 500 pages long? Just nauseating.

Extra demerits for the "people keep asking me when you're going to write another big game, Wick?" foreword. It might as well have been an Onion article. "We know you've got a beautiful dick, John, and it's awesome how you keep wearing those tight pants and showing off your package, but when are you going to whip it out and show all your adoring fans your great big cock and balls?"
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"There is nothing funny about a clown in the moonlight."
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Ulas Xegg

Danger

#27
December 01, 2010, 02:39:22 PM
Quote from: Cole;421839"We know you've got a beautiful dick, and it's awesome how you keep wearing those tight pants and showing off your package, but when are you going to whip it out and show all your adoring fans your great big cock and balls?"

Man, I cannot tell you how many times I've heard that exact line.

Seriously.

It's like you are following me around, dude.


p.s. This is an extremely awkward request to fulfill at some times, by the way.
I start from his boots and work my way up. It takes a good half a roll to encompass his jolly round belly alone. Soon, Father Christmas is completely wrapped in clingfilm. It is not quite so good as wrapping Roy but it is enjoyable nonetheless and is certainly a feather in my cap.

Cole

#28
December 01, 2010, 02:46:53 PM
Quote from: Danger;421846Man, I cannot tell you how many times I've heard that exact line.

Seriously.

It's like you are following me around, dude.


p.s. This is an extremely awkward request to fulfill at some times, by the way.

It helps if you "do cocaine."
ABRAXAS - A D&D Blog

"There is nothing funny about a clown in the moonlight."
--Lon Chaney

Ulas Xegg

PoppySeed45

#29
December 01, 2010, 03:17:58 PM
Quote from: Cole;421839Houses of the Blooded was one of the worst I've encountered. Its style and authorial voice was so narcissistic and bloated I kept wondering if it was supposed to be some kind of satire. And, not only is it bloated on a paragraph-to-paragraph level, it's, what, 500 pages long? Just nauseating.

Extra demerits for the "people keep asking me when you're going to write another big game, Wick?" foreword. It might as well have been an Onion article. "We know you've got a beautiful dick, John, and it's awesome how you keep wearing those tight pants and showing off your package, but when are you going to whip it out and show all your adoring fans your great big cock and balls?"

Amen brother. I read that first bit at the beginning and just thought "Really? EVERYONE is asking you? Gosh, what a big man you are!"

So, I'll be getting rid of the book. Sad because I spent 45 euro on it. Could have bought something else I would have at least enjoyed reading, if not playing. Can't do either with HotB.
 
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