Thorf's page

Thanks for the shout out and kind words, Andrew. I'm really glad you like it, and looking forward to expanding on the map from here on in.

I would say it's two syllables, "kosch-chee". I agree it's very tempting to put an extra vowel in the middle, though, since in English we almost never have to say two "ch" sounds together, and certainly never in the same word.

Incidentally, this spelling is actually easier than it looks, as long as you know that "t" is part of the "ch" sound anyway. This means that you can effectively ignore the "t" part of "tch", giving us "Koschchie". You can resolve the double "ch" problem by putting in a double consonant/glottal stop, i.e. saying it like "kost-chee".

I would love to see a hardback collection, and I would definitely buy it regardless. And that's saying something since I would have to pay a premium price to buy it here in Japan. (^^);

It only makes sense at this point to release it with revised 3rd edition updated rules. Moreover, with the new Princess Ark episode in Dragon 344, there has never been a better time to do such a project.

But what I would like to see even more would be the return of the Princess Ark as a regular feature in Dragon magazine. It has always been highly respected, and provided some of the best reading for years. The style is very flexible, allowing the introduction of new rules as well as new cultures each episode.

Of course, these days Bruce Heard is no longer working in the gaming industry, so he would probably be too busy to take on such a responsibility again. Another idea would be to release the original articles along with the new episode 36, plus a number of extra bonus episodes, which Bruce might be able to be persuaded to write.

In any case, I am really looking forward to receiving my copy of Dragon 344.

What an interesting discussion. I have been thinking about this a bit lately too. It's fascinating to read some other perspectives on this here, and hear about other people's experiences of roleplaying outside the US.

I'm Scottish, but I've lived in Japan for coming on six years. My wife is Japanese, and I am considering introducing her to roleplaying. This brings up all sorts of interesting cultural differences, as I have to struggle from the very start with explaining the very European/Western archetypes used in D&D classes. Moreover, Japanese literature is quite far removed from Western literature; the Japanese translation of the Lord of the Rings is considered a very difficult read here, and very few people seem to have read it. And of course reading in general tends to be overshadowed by manga. So it's hard to know which parts of the picture she is familiar with at all.

Regarding the sweet potato ice cream, I haven't come across that one, but I have tried soy sauce ice cream (lovely!), soba noodle ice cream (hmmm), spinach ice cream (yuck!), rice ice cream (not much of a flavour, interesting texture), sesame seed ice cream (another hmmm), and probably others I've forgotten about. But I have to say, I don't think you should take any of these strange and bizarre flavours as an indication of how different Japanese culture is; most Japanese people find the idea of these flavours just as strange as you and I. And there are strange cooks in all countries - consider the recipe for beef roasted in Coke I once read in my local newspaper back home.

Nevertheless, the issue of cultural backgrounds is absolutely a real one, which for better and for worse I have to live with every day.