OOC THREAD

[Eclecticon]

It was earlier in this very thread:

While I'm still wearing the Loremaster hat, I'm declaring that the banner is available as a unique Reward for Grimbeorn.  Any time you make an Awe roll with it flying nearby, you roll the Feat die twice and take the best result.  If you want someone to carry it around for you, you can take a version of the Merchant Prince Virtue (from the Adventurer's Guide or Laketown book - I'll post the details if you don't have access to either) and have a standard-bearer follow you about. 

[Telcontar]

So it just has to be there for Grimbeorn to use it, got it.

[Posterboy]

Hey! Sorry for my absence. The joy of when the flu meets a family of 11.. one kid becomes two becomes four becomes eight + momma sick. I'm neck deep in vomit and ginger ale.  Good times!

While people in my house are moving towards health once more, I'll be needing to catch up on work, so count me out for a bit and NPC as needed.

I imagine that Tate would be looking to rally and build up the morale of the Beornings or demoralize/taunt to raiders and/or fight next to Hathcyn.

I had imagined Idunn with Grimbeorn. She is kinda taken by the man. I'm also good with her hanging back and healing the men as needed too.

[Eclecticon]

Also, while I'm posting, nice profile pic, Doug! 

[tomcat]

Elric of Melnibine! The albino prince was my second favorite series of fantasy books to read after Tolkien. Corum was also in the mix.

[Eclecticon]

I've never read the Elric books.  In fact, my only familiarity with any of Moorcock's work is second-hand.  Obviously you think they're worth picking up, so I won't ask whether you'd recommend them.  Perhaps I should ask why you'd recommend them instead? 

[tomcat]

Why would I recommend Moorcock? Great question!

Let's start with the attached pics below by artists Frank Bruner and Michael Whelan. These pics of the albino prince are just incredible.

Second - I will use a common point of reference that we have - Tolkien. And for the record, Moorcock thought the professor's work was drivel.

To me, the Lord of the Rings is an epic tale about heroes, nobility, overwhelming odds, and it is fair, and graceful and wholesome. The story has dark sides, and dark deeds, but they are not blatant.

Moorcock's Earth is completely different. It is more cruel. The lead character, Elric, is a doomed anti-hero that is weak of body though he is the king of a race of sorcerous people that have ruled the world for a millenia. Only through a symbiotic relationship with his sword is he able to be strong.

I read the story because I love the darker setting; the jaded, cynical protagonist; his awful, beautiful sword; and the gods who don't necessarily strive to aid mortals, only work to make things better for themselves.

[Eclecticon]

Yes, I've read his commentary on Tolkien.  It struck me very my like the surrealists criticising the metaphysicalists - stridently attempting to deny that he couldn't have done what he did without Tolkien's work to build on. 

I will admit to enjoying fantasy that's much more on the grim end of the spectrum.  As a younger man, I devoured the Thieves World anthologies, for example, despite how hard they were to find in Australia at the time.  Sounds like I should add the Elric cycle to the list of things to read once I've finished my damn degree. 

[Telcontar]

Moorcock also has a Law versus Chaos things going on which is a cosmic struggle, too much of either one is bad.

He also introduces this idea of an Eternal Champion who may in fact be the same person reincarnated. This person represents either law or chaos and arises when the scales are too tipped in one diretion.

[tomcat]

Yes, I've read his commentary on Tolkien.  It struck me very my like the surrealists criticising the metaphysicalists - stridently attempting to deny that he couldn't have done what he did without Tolkien's work to build on.

Yep! It's romantic fantasy versus jaded 60's fantasy!  

In truth, there are some parts of Moorcock's writing where I just want to say, "Quit bitchin'!" But the story is still amazing, to me.

Tom's post above is important, too - the idea of a million spheres all touching at some point and planes interacting is really neat. As he said about Law and Chaos - the struggle is cool as both seek dominance but an unseen force called the balance is always there to keep the world from devolving into entropy. The eternal champion serves that balance, though he doesn't always know it, or that he/she is multiple beings represented on in each plane. It can get kind of heady when you read it.

If you do find the time, I hope you enjoy. Understand that though it is linear, the Elric saga was written for pulp mags and they are essentially short stories each. I will recommend you stay away from Moorcock's current stuff he has written about his eternal champions, as the man has become a little too full of his self.

I will post next the Elric books in order that you want to read - there are others that fall in the chronology, but some of the stuff is too much. The list I give will be the paperbooks that were released in sequence back in the 70's that are all you need. Once done, if you wish to read further then feel free, but for me these tell the tale I grew up with.

Lastly I will say, the other eternal champions have their own series but only Corum piqued my interest. The others, while cool within the Elric saga, did not keep me interested in their own.

[Eclecticon]

Interesting.  Looking back, that has to be where Planescape's emphasis on Law v Chaos as the defining conflict of the setting (rather than Good v Evil) comes from.  I always liked that about it, and to their credit, the writers and editors explored it to the hilt, to the point of having an adventure that revolved around an archon (TL:DR, an angel) supplying weapons to help sway the balance in an endless war between lawful and chaotic demon-types.  Good times. 

[tomcat]

 

I never played Planescape. I have, however, put in a lot of hours playing Chaosium's Stormbringer which is set in Moorcock's world, and thus obviously is centered on the same struggle.

I like the idea of the warring faction of chaos versus law and the idea of balance, because too much of either creates a bad place to live. I think I like it better than the idea of good versus evil, as it creates more paradoxical situations for heroes to puzzle through. Is a thing necessarily evil, though it kills or destroys another thing? Is the mutating effects of chaos (wish is ever-changing) an evil, if it advances that which it affects? On the other spectrum, is it not evil to have absolute law that restricts everything save for what is ordered?

Yep - we have had some heady games in the past resolving issues of Law and Chaos.

Anyway, definitely check into the books. Here is the order that you should read them:

Elric of Melnibone
The Sailor on the Seas of Fate
Weird of the White Wolf
The Vanishing Tower
Bane of the Black Sword
Stormbringer

PS - I talked to Mike. He should be posting soon. Had some family issues to deal with.

[Eclecticon]

Cheers - thanks for that.

[tomcat]

We have a new player that has joined us - named Jacob (WaitingCynicism).

He is interested in playing a Rohirrim and is currently writing up his ideas. Paul, if you do not have a plot point to bring him into the game with the current Adventure Phase, that is fine. We can bring him in with the next. I told him it might be a little while, as PbP games can run both fast or agonizingly slowly at times.

I guess this begs the question, too - are you continuing as Loremaster through another Adventure Phase? If so, that is fine. If not, that works just as well!  

[Eclecticon]

Welcome Jacob - I'm looking forward to hearing about your character.  I'll make the obvious point that there may be issues with playing a character whose culture is centred around riding in a campaign that deals largely with events in a notoriously impenetrable forest, not because I enjoy insulting people's intelligence, but just to have it on record. 

Doug, I think it'd be best all 'round if I stepped down after this Adventure Phase.  I've enjoyed the opportunity to act as Loremaster and help shape the campaign, but it's become obvious to me as I've floundered around that I just don't have the time to do it as well as you all deserve.  I've missed mechanical details and story beats, taken days and days to get posts up and given curt, cursory descriptions of scenes and events that deserved much more. 

The good news is that my degree now has less than two years to go.  If the offer is still open, I'll look forward to sticking my hand up for another opportunity after I'm done.  Who knows, maybe I'll have had an original story idea by then!