tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529725084811715233.post7332911613068078329..comments2024-03-26T16:31:13.865-07:00Comments on Mark Lawrence: What I owe to Dungeons & DragonsMark Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16877925828353073272noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529725084811715233.post-12509615671183949122014-01-18T01:30:21.741-08:002014-01-18T01:30:21.741-08:00"spend days on something trivial and solve so..."spend days on something trivial and solve some of the huge problems in moments."<br /><br />How true this is. I've had a campaign where the party spent 3 hours and nearly wiped due to a 5 foot gap over water (3/4 drowned or nearly drowned due) and then rolled right past the clever traps and riddles I had planned to take an hour on.<br /><br />I'd never thought of applying it to my writing, but I'll probably start now.Junklehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07145933351315444467noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529725084811715233.post-29334609999017171812014-01-06T16:27:42.885-08:002014-01-06T16:27:42.885-08:00Good old D&D. I had several copies of that Pla...Good old D&D. I had several copies of that Player's Handbook at one point. I think I still remember the smell of the pages. There was something magical about them old days.<br /><br />I used to buy many of my D&D accessories from the Virgin Megastore (now Head?) opposite Waterstones in the Galleries, which I'm sure you know. Also, there was an independent gaming store in Kingswood about 15 years back. It only lasted a month before it was robbed and had to close.<br /><br />I had a few comments about my game design/D&D background - "zingers" like "I could hear the dice rolling in the background", etc, in reference to my novel. Par for the course, I guess. Give 'em the ammunition...Luke Scullhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04405832447854561544noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529725084811715233.post-10551745726748043012014-01-05T06:07:12.462-08:002014-01-05T06:07:12.462-08:00I'm an Elric fan, but I find Moorcock work is ...I'm an Elric fan, but I find Moorcock work is not always the easiest or reads - same with some of Howard's Conan tales. I googled 'fantasy-punk' and came up with Michael Swanwick; so have purchased his 'The Dragons of Babel', having not heard of him. (I've been living in a dimensional oubliette for the past few years, having only just found a way out.)<br /><br />Anyway, thanks for your time and comments. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529725084811715233.post-46444184974726410162014-01-05T05:26:45.366-08:002014-01-05T05:26:45.366-08:00There does seem to be a move toward low-magic fant...There does seem to be a move toward low-magic fantasy, less of the acid-trippy end of the Moorcock scale (which I enjoyed). I expect things will swing the other way in time & that if you look hard enough it's all out there right now, somewhere.Mark Lawrencehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16877925828353073272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529725084811715233.post-57687356581123173222014-01-05T04:27:42.275-08:002014-01-05T04:27:42.275-08:00We never had D&D when I were a kid - well we d...We never had D&D when I were a kid - well we did, like, but I had no one to play it wi'...<br /><br />I got into Games Workshop stuff in the early nineties though - who probably owe a lot of their legacy to D&D also. It wasn't the playing of these games, 'cause when you hang around on your own a lot, the early Amiga (computer) RPGs were where I got lost after school and at weekends. It was the act of creation that enthralled me: designing dungeons, cities, characters - even painting them. That was <br />how I got off. Before girls, beer and Led Zeppelin.<br /><br />I just wondered if you think fantasy has changed since those halcyon days; or people's current idea of what fantasy should be has changed? It feels somehow too 'cleaned-up' to me - in general - less 'fantastic'. I was creeping about on the net the other day and found a book called 'Ratspike', which I have purchased full of the work of GW artist John Blanche. Looking at his stuff; you just don't get that 'fantasy-punk' thing going on much these days, do you? Everything seems very conformist, to me at least. Perhaps this is down to the fact that everyman and his dog is calling himself a writer (me included - 'woof') Have I become, perhaps desensitised to fantasy like Tarantino fans are to violence, or certain words beginning with the letter 'N'.<br /><br />1gp for your thoughts. <br /><br />P.S. nice dice!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529725084811715233.post-8737732269113694342014-01-04T18:35:30.050-08:002014-01-04T18:35:30.050-08:00I still have my Player's Handbook and Monstrou...I still have my Player's Handbook and Monstrous Manual sitting on the shelf, just waiting for the day that my youngest decides to take an interest. :)<br /><br />Seriously, though, it was AD&D that made me a fantasy fan. Long before Tolkien, Moorcock, Brooks, Kay, or Leiber, I was reading the Dragonlance novels . . . and I was hooked forever more.Bob/Sallyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07830145891314387373noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529725084811715233.post-79984220665141549212014-01-04T15:07:32.808-08:002014-01-04T15:07:32.808-08:00Ah the nostalgia! I'm almost tempted to go and...Ah the nostalgia! I'm almost tempted to go and root through the boxes in the garage, the ones unopened in the last two house moves, at the bottom of which lies an original "Steading of the Hill Giant Chief" and possible a character sheet for the magic-user from my first DMing experience. My friend named him Gorthaur after a Maia who later did the deed-poll thing, got caught up in a world of bling and became Sauron!TOMunrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16765922761332758600noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529725084811715233.post-39770331065147392852014-01-04T13:21:57.630-08:002014-01-04T13:21:57.630-08:00Those metallic creations are the coolest D&D d...Those metallic creations are the coolest D&D dice I've ever seen!Dad of 3https://www.blogger.com/profile/02849910519153759621noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3529725084811715233.post-18688280035983446642014-01-04T13:13:24.422-08:002014-01-04T13:13:24.422-08:00I owe the same debt as you, and like you I'm n...I owe the same debt as you, and like you I'm nervous about admitting it to readers as they seem to perceive any D&D influence as being bad. True, the official D&D novels didn't do much to help, but I hope my own fantasy, once I publish it, will avoid the traps.Ted Crosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09022309459554237650noreply@blogger.com