Then were would you qualify the moment in the Mountains of Madness where having been told over the radio that the Expedition Team at Site B have discovered aliens buried in a cave in the mountian and they have conducted an autopsy on one of them, and now that Team A have arrived and discovered that Team B were insane and chopping up their own people?
A story does not strictly have to be only one of these. A story can move from one to another, and back again.
Dread > Terror > Horror
So, seeing the chopped up bodies is horror, but afterwards the story can move back to dread because you know something is out there waiting for you... wait and watching...
And when it steps out from behind your closet door, that is terror.
As we get to see you chopped up and your brain flies up into the ceiling fan and pieces get sprayed across the room -- that is horror.
yellowdingo wrote:
Horror...or Dread? After all you see the aftermath that is Horror but it is the Dread that marks your growing understanding of what went wrong.
Yes. You got it.
.
This is dread: "Jess, the caller is in the house. The calls are coming from the house!" — Sargeant Nash, Black Christmas
There is a sense of dread that a phone call is coming from the very building you are occupying. Learning that instead of being safe in your home, you're actually locked in the building with the psycho who's been making threatening calls, can still be pretty scary, cell phone or not.
There is a difference between these three things: dread, terror, and horror.
Dread, which is the feeling when you know something is wrong but you don’t yet know what. Dread is the anticipation of Terror to come.
Terror, which is the heart-pounding, adrenaline-fueled rush when you see the monster and experience immediate danger.
Horror, which is the revulsion and discomfort we experience in the aftermath of seeing something, er, horrible, and usually bloody.
The strongest of these is Dread, but it’s also the hardest to sustain. Because you know the monster is out there but you don't know where.
Terror is when you see the monster and it is chasing you. Like when Ripley fought the Queen alien.
Horror is seeing all the blood and entrails fly around and over the walls. (To me these are the most boring types of movies.) Slasher films tend to deal almost entirely in Horror with snippets of Terror.
If you have a spare mind, try to determine which type of story you find best.
1. Consider the set X = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}. Let X, ∅, {1, 3}, {1, 2},
{2, 3}, {1}, {2}, and {3} be the collection of all subsets of X
that are designated as open sets.
(a) Is X a topological space?
(b) Is it a topological space if {1, 2, 3} is added to the collection of open sets?
Explain.
(c) What are the closed sets (assuming {1, 2, 3} is included as an open set)?
You're reading way more into this than you should. I suspect that the designers call it 4.0 because it fits in the 3.0, 3.5, 4.0 progression and for no other reason.
don't forget 2.0 and 2.5
and 1.0 and 1.0 with UA
i still hat the 3.11ed for Workgroups version.
Erik Mona wrote:
All hail the fatbeards!
thanks mang.
Does all this numbering of game systems mean that the higher number systems are better than the lower?
My wife and I started playing D&D in 1979 after hearing a description of the game. We didn't even have rules, we just made it up imagining how this new type of game should be played. Then, the next morning I walked uphill in the snow to work, and at the end of day got paid in fruit.
I just had a thought, as characters get to higher levels it may not always be good to just keep on doing the same thing as before, only against stronger foes. High level PCs need to move into management.
At first, our PCs are the ones being recruited in the taverns, and slogging through the mud and blood killing bad guys and foiling plots. But, as they gain in power, they should gain the power! To me this means making more money with less risk, and not having to be the one with his life on the line.
Now, it would be really hard to DM a game where your player's PCs are each managing several groups of NPCs, all at the same time. But, it would be a testament to your DMing skills! Each PC would be sitting behind the big desk in the top office, with the goal being to bring about the completion of adventures by other NPCs and PCs (e.g. by manipulation, diplomacy, and brokering deals). When success is finally woven together at the end, the high level PC gets a big heap of capital gain. And, the DM gets the quiet satisfaction of simulating the nature of reality.
The dynamics of the thing would be crazy hard, but the original problem of creating challenging adventures for over-magic'ed players would fade away, and be replaced by coordinating several average level adventures being run by remote-control. You just might find the PCs lending out their magic items, a little here, and a little there, to help along the means to their ends. This will spread out all the magic items and wealth, to make specific encounters more *normal*, and melt that snowball of yours while keeping the power level high.
Methuselahesque...
So, it seems as if you are saying PCs should get promoted to CEO. Well, if everyone else gets killed, and the PC is the only person left for the job, then it could work out.
Has anyone been influenced by Kafka and incorporated his writing into your gaming?
If so, how did you do it, and what themes do you find most intriguing?
I remember reading The Metamorphosis in college and just about passing out from the acute sense of self-awareness it brought on. I really enjoyed it. After which I have read much more of his work. But, no I have not seen a DnD adventure with a Kafkaesque tone to it. (except maybe Tomb of Horrors)
It would be neat to see some adventure paths based upon the works of Kafa.
I think a lot of DMs out there end up with a Kafka-eque style just by accident. :-)
... I'm starting to think that our government might go the way of BSG in the re-imagined series, go anachronistic by disconnecting in order to protect some of our most sensitive operations.
Nice analogy, and let me add I don't think "going anachronistic" will be by choice. I think it will be a process of natural selection in that after *the fall* the majority of systems still surviving will be those that were not connected to begin with.
One day in the near future, it may be a lowly DOS machines that saves the day!
This is nothing new. We have been under constant threat from our "friends" the chinese for awhile now. Lets not forget North Korea as well. The DoD puts security policies in place for a reason and all I ever here is "well thats dumb" or "this is all _____ fault" or my favorite from when I was a NMCI tech "it wasn't like this before you guys messed stuff up" I am just waiting for the day when I can go all shadowrun into the machine and stop all these cyber attacks.
After listening to that podcast it does seem that shadowrun style military Net/AI/Haxor-squads are really in our future.
Another country can bring down our power grid???
The comment that no company, including Google, can stand up against another country's cyber-attacks it sobering. I thought Google had the smartest people in the world, but apparently not.
Well, don't you need to know what funds to elect to contribute to; and when to re-balance, etc...
Incidentally, I once heard that the "k" in 401k stand for 'The Kellog Corporation'. Apparently its management lobbied their local congressman to make a tax loop-hole so they could contribute money pre-tax. Seems to have worked.
But if you insist on the bigger list, I still have an issue with some of the ones you already have. Just because Lovecraft wrote something, that doesn't automatically make it Mythos...especially when something that's already non-Mythos is poorly adapted. Re-Animator would be a perfect example. That film (and indeed the story it is based upon) is not at all based in the Mythos.
Feel free to be as exacting as you wish. However, allow others leeway in their inspired choices please.
As a side issue, I'm searching for a particular Lovecraft inspired movie from the 1980's or 1990's. This one also tied in Ragnarok.
What I remember: "A young boy was living with his grand father, and was taught all about some 'secret ragnarok' event. But, as he grew up and in his teen years the boy became rather upset, because he felt that everything he had been taught was useless in real life.
As the plot develops, a cop is looking into a crime at a museum. A "creature" has been discovered, and escapes, and this cop starts shooting the place to heck.
At the end, of course, the Ragnarok knowledge the boy thought was useless saves the day."
I'm trying to compile a list of all the Lovecraft / Cthulhu Mythos movies. One could be very general about H.P Lovecraft's influence and this list could be HUGE. But, what movies do you think are at their _core_ Cult of Cthulhu movies?
Thanks for any help. Here is my list so far:
Lurking Fear (1994)
Witch Hunt (HBO 1994)
Necronimocon (1993)
To Cast a Deadly Spell (HBO 1993)
The Resurrected (1991)
Cthulhu Mansion (1990)
Bride of Re-Animator (1990)
The UnNamable (1988)
The Relic (????)
The Curse (1987)
From Beyond (1986)
Re-Animator (1985)
The Music of Erich Zann (1980)
The Dunwich Horror (1970)
The Shuttered Room (1968)
Die, Monster, Die! (1965)
The Haunted Palace (1963)
In The Mouth of Madness (1994)
I think the 2nd American civil war will be between the descendants of Mexican immigrants and the rest of America. It will really boil down to a war between Mexico and the USA, but it will be fought on our soil.
Actually, I think if a second American Civil War were to occur, it would erupt due to the ever increasing divergence between the upper and middle/lower classes.
I was thinking about this, in a few generations the members of the lower class will be the descendants of illegal aliens. After a few generations, they may look around and say, "Hey, we are not integrated in American society, we culturally identify with Mexico not the U.S., and there is this ever increasing divergence between us and the upper classes. Let's Kill 'em All!"
The Mexican government (or drug lords) will seize this opportunity, if not foster it, and send troops across the borders. And, the drunk guy at the table will raise his head and slur, "I'm getting on the train."
I think the 2nd American civil war will be between the descendants of Mexican immigrants and the rest of America. It will really boil down to a war between Mexico and the USA, but it will be fought on our soil.
I´m starting to plan a two-week holiday this coming summer with my wife. We have some points fixed already, it will be in late July/early August. We will fly to Boston, visit my brother-in-laws girlfriends family in Maine, and have the vague idea of doing a round trip with some sightseeing. This will probably include: Boston itself, New York, Washington (D.C.), perhaps Philadelphia, perhaps Richmond (VA), then back up north, with our thoughts on either Chicago or the Niagara Falls, and perhaps a short trip into Canada.
Do you have any tips and hints for this kind of trip, like must-see sites, things to avoid, cool RPG shops to plund... err, visit and the like?
Stefan
You cannot possibly visit (and experience) all these places in two weeks.
You will spend most of your time sitting in a car.
America is HUUUUGE.
My suggestion is to concentrate on Boston, NYC, and Philadelphia.
"In the post-capitalist society it is safe
to assume that anyone with any knowledge will
have to acquire new knowledge every four or
five years or else become obsolete."
-- Peter F. Drucker, Post-Capitalist Society
I think this is true now. So, just what is a Post-Capitalist Society??
I wondered if adding the dimension of pharmacist to the alchemist class may expand his flexibility. ...
Wow, you have opened up a whole new world for me. I can now have Alchemists become drug lords, and get whole populations of commoners get addicted to their drugs. This can become a whole 'drug war' scenario(s).
1. In your experience what is the typical composition (e.g. gender, age, race, etc.) of the players?
My group’s ages range from 30-62. We have 10-12 males, and 3-4 females. We meet once a month, and break into 2 or 3 or 4 smaller groups each meeting.
2. A common D & D stereotype that I have heard is that those who play D & D are under achievers. For example, still live with parents, don’t have a job, or just don’t want to “grow up.”
I was not aware of this common stereotype. Everyone in my group is a college graduate, and we have a few working professionals. I believe most of us started to play D&D in school and have just kept continuing to play.
3. What role does religion play in the D & D culture?
Inter-Game, lots - think Cleric. Extra-Game, none: I assume some members of my regular group are religious, but it never comes up – unless, we are planning dates around the Holidays.
4. What thoughts, beliefs, attitudes and/or values are most important in the D & D culture?
Having an open mind, being a good communicator, being social and a team player (even when playing the character that is not supposed to be a team player.)
5. Is their another culture that the D & D culture seems to have difficulty with? What is the nature of this difficulty?
None, that I am aware of.
6. Are there ways that the D & D culture are discriminated against? What ways?
Oh, you have to have good reading ability and communication ability to play this game. I guess, there are ‘cultures’ out there that view such people as ‘intellectuals’ and ‘elitist’. Some persons are very threatened by what they do not understand, and when I say they ‘do not understand’ I mean they don’t have the organic mental capacity to do so. I’ll let you project onto your favorite anti-group(s) from here.
7. Have you personally been discriminated and/or stereotyped due to your involvement in the D & D culture? If you have been please explain.
Stereotyped yes; as a gamer! Which is good thing.
8. What strengths does the D & D culture have?
It encourages reading and writing, and being social and friendly.
9. What weaknesses does the D & D culture have?
Perhaps, because you have to be a bit bookish to like D&D, we may be out of shape, and not exercising regularly.
10. How are disagreements or conflicts resolved in the D & D culture?
Through debate and rhetoric.
11. Many in the “Christian” culture believe that D & D is “of the devil” and “sinful.” How would respond to this?
I disagree with your premise: prove to me that “Many in the “Christian” culture believe that D & D is “of the devil” and “sinful.”
Oh, I almost forgot: Saint Patrick is the patron saint of my family. He was also a close friend of the first of the line, Eógan mac Néill, third son of Niall Noígiallach.
About a decade ago at Wizards of the Coast, Magic: The Gathering designer Mark Rosewater noticed his name was an anagram of "A MASTERWORKER." Needless to say, we never heard the end of THAT.
Mike
I hate Wizards of the Coast, and now will have to think twice about buying products from your company. Be careful who you call your friends.
The next Conan movie will probably be like Beowulf with all virtual actors. I actually think this may be the best way to make a Conan movie, too. There probably isn’t a human actor who can accurately portray Conan. Being a great fighter with a sharp intellect is very, very rare.
