My esteemed friend and fellow Flagon did point out some cool things that Troy Denning did write.
I can't blame him for the Maztica crap. That was all Douglas Niles.
But I sure as hell can blame him for the Tuigan!
My point on this wasn't really to bash on any published author.
I mean, they ARE published and all I do is post stuff on my blog and on some LE Forums.
Who the hell am I?
But, my point is that I simply can't understand why we take a FANTASY world and inundate it with stories inspired by events, wars and calamities that took place in our world.
If I had wanted that, I wouldn't have bought the Old Grey Box in the first place!
I simply would have had PCs adventuring in Scotland until they took ship for Spain and the characters could then have sailed for South America where they, rather than Cortez, could have slaughtered all the Mayans and the Aztecs.
But I didn't want to play in this world.
I guess it wouldn't sell as well if your campaign setting had the major race of PC as Gibbering Mouthers.
Most of the monsters ARE based on legends from our own world's cultures, so it probably came naturally to simply include those same cultures where the MMI, MMII, and FF got their inspiration.
(However, I ain't never heard of anybody, including those crazy Egyptians, having a Rust Monster.)
Now I know why Waterson won't sell out Calvin & Hobbes.
Personally, I will use almost all of Greenwood's stuff. I still think the Ravenloft module is one of the best ever made, but I will adapt it for FR use, and if I ever get to run and Oriental Adventures campaign again, I will probably still use the trail map for simplicity's sake. But it's gonna have a different feel than the Asia of this earth.
(No General Tso's Chicken!)
The martial arts will be different. I can accpet ninjas and samurai, but ninjas will really be able to turn into smoke and the samurai's sword WILL be his soul!
I grew to dislike the Mortal Kombat thing, but the one idea of the martial arts being linked to white and black magic.....I find that appealing.
A kung-fu punch that damages your soul as well as your body?
I'm right there!
Lots of possibilities!
So let's explore those and skip the Mongolian invasion and the slaughter of millions of obsidian club wielding, naked natives.
Anti-Human
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3 comments:
You know how much I love history. But if I want to read history, I have an apartment full of books about history.
I never did understand why they put out things like Maztica. There was moe thanenough adventure potential on Faerune.
The Time of Troubles was just idiotic. It was probablt done to mitigate Greenwoods influence on Realsian lore and ensure his continued compliace with the company agenda. It sucked, and I salute you wisdom in refusing to use it in your campaign.
The only supplement that came out later that I was curious about was the Al-Qadim stuff but now I think it sounds too much like those vile, boy loving bastards that blew up the WTC.
But I thought it looked cool.
I just don't understand why it was never developed for Calimshan and they had to go and start a whole new supplement.
Oh yes! I forgot!
Marketing!
But, I will settle with all the Realmslore I currently possess and be satisfied!
A.H.
rant/on
Marketing ...
"TSR/WotC are businesses, which are around to make money, of course ... "
"HRRMPH!" said the Dwarf in a dungeon deep and cavern cold, as he toked his pipe on a pile o' gold ...
Now, I hate corporations as much as the next guy, (and possibly more so), but I do understand why they put out crap on their shelves (and so do you, as you so eloquently stated in a previous Blog post) ... because folks were hungry for it ... we all were. Where there is supply, there is demand ... funny how quality misses the bus so often ...
The Company bids low ball on creators who will play ball ... (Corporatism 101 there, guys) ... so they write crap, call it Calimsham or whatever and presto-change-o, wave the magic wand over in house at the company (slap about $10-$20 more than it's worth on the back cover - or $40 these days ... it's AMAZING) you got yourself a state of the art Realmsian wonder module/supplement/novel/piece-o-shit.
... And this is true of most stuff Mr. Greenwood didn't have a hand in ... there's an exception or two, but they make it the rule, don't they?
Either way, that's WHY we Cherry Pick. We old schoolers are pretty darn good at it too, after so many years of bullshit being pushed at us. Just because they're doing WHATEVER in the Realms today doesn't mean our games MUST reflect that ... they ARE OUR games ... and WotC can't do shit about that.
/rant off.
Whew ... glad I got that out of my system ...
JM.
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