My favorite setting was Al Qadim. I didn't get to play in it nearly enough, because the group that I DM'ed using that setting dispersed to the four corners of the country shortly after we began playing. But I loved the arabian nights feel.
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I had a friend back in high school who would do something similar. With every one of his characters, he would use the first words he saw once the character was rolled up. This led to: Snappy Tom
This same player was also known to quote "Leave It to Beaver" at random. "Gee, Beav, Dad's gonna go ape. He might even slug ya!" One of the funniest guys I've ever met, but not a terrific roleplayer. Luckily, this was at a time when we weren't doing more than hack and slash. Once the campaign began to evolve, he began to lose interest.
I've played many, many characters over the years (blue box basic set, circa 1978). The ones that stand out in my memory were a CN Wizard with a penchant for taking (and wearing) trophies, an oh-so-happy-to-be-alive cleric of Vishnu who loved to "smash badness," An elven fighter/thief who married a beautiful princess (and skulked away in the night when being royalty got dull)... And a Ranger. Jenex Benethorne was the character to whom I felt the strongest connection. He died, in the grand tradition of the game, facing down a Great Wyrm, as the last party member standing. We all decided that surely the last blow he had struck as the beast sunk its teeth into him MUST have been fatal. Now I have taught the game to my kids. My daughter, 14, plays a bard. My son, 11, has taken up the ranger's mantle, but with his own... quirkiness. When he told me he wanted to play a halfling ranger, I thought, "Oh, no, that's the kind of oddball combination that could test even the more well-developed role-players." But I let him do it, and only gave him minimal input in making his choices of skills and feats. He chose undead as his favored enemy (we both love zombie movies). A little weapon finesse boosted his combat worthiness, and now at second level he has taken two-weapon combat, and he is a tiny, silent and unseen whirlwind of doom. Halfling Rangers Rock.
I never got a degree -- I was going to be an actor, what did I need a degreee for? But I did go through the entire three-year program of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (along with French Stewart, of Third Rock from the Sun.) And now, with all that extensive acting instruction... I've spent the last twenty years as a restaurant manager.... So there you have it... Stay In School, Kiddies!
On the other hand, I'm glad to hear that SJ has its fans. See, I was a Dark Sun fan, back in the day, and kind of understand how you people must feel, to be left adrift in wildspace without a Spelljamming engine. Then, of course, there are those of us who were (are) Al Qadim fans, and are now truly lost in the Pit of Ghuls. Ah, well, we have no fate but the fate we are given.
"If there's a wall here, shouldn't we be on the other side?" "If I line my backpack with candle wax, will it hold water? Can I keep the fish alive in there?" ...and my favorite tirade, from the party's female gnome thief after a Battle That Went Terribly Wrong: "You two [the barbarian twins] need to stop rushing in with battle cries every time we get the drop on something; sometimes you've got to BE QUIET! And you [the not-very-physically-imposing cleric] need to stop playing warrior; if your ass gets fried, who's going to heal mine? And you [the somewhat rabid sorcerer] can't be throwing fireballs and lightning bolts into the middle of where some of us are fighting. Now I'm going to search the ettin for treasure. Someone get the dwarf out of the tree. |