tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2141372262111342844.post225288230762852216..comments2024-03-27T21:18:33.034+00:00Comments on Fabled Lands: Game write-upsDave Morrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14468228790874490693noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2141372262111342844.post-18282821537902051142016-04-27T09:57:53.932+01:002016-04-27T09:57:53.932+01:00Haha Dave; you've clearly never read the Gord ...Haha Dave; you've clearly never read the Gord the Rogue novels by Gary Gygax! Actually, I'm kidding; they read exactly like the crappy recounting of someone's RPG campaign and they are terrible. Joe Kellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10317291857070519524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2141372262111342844.post-61608816722241267762016-04-27T09:57:24.789+01:002016-04-27T09:57:24.789+01:00Haha Dave; you've clearly never read the Gord ...Haha Dave; you've clearly never read the Gord the Rogue novels by Gary Gygax! Actually, I'm kidding; they read exactly like the crappy recounting of someone's RPG campaign and they are terrible. Joe Kellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10317291857070519524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2141372262111342844.post-70681050733862841692016-03-17T19:44:08.392+00:002016-03-17T19:44:08.392+00:00The defining Reacher Features to my mind are a des...The defining Reacher Features to my mind are a desire to move on coupled with a refusal to BE moved on. If left alone, Reacher will go on to somewhere else fairly quickly. If pressured to leave, he'll stay and ultimately destroy those he tried to pressure him.<br /><br />I suspect that Feature would remain with Reacher even if he were a Creature.johntfshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16005496604068259398noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2141372262111342844.post-75425716396329180152016-03-17T19:25:15.636+00:002016-03-17T19:25:15.636+00:00That's technically claustrophobia, isn't i...That's technically claustrophobia, isn't it? Hmm, maybe oikaphobia would do - except that's been (mis)appropriated to mean fear of household objects; it should mean fear of home. Equally, stasiphobia should mean a fear of staying in one place, but some idiot has appropriated it to mean fear of walking - which ought to be something like peripatetiphobia. Say, this is fun.<br /><br />At any rate, wanderlust seems to be the defining Reacher Feature? :-)Dave Morrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14468228790874490693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2141372262111342844.post-77668945514651259092016-03-17T17:51:32.132+00:002016-03-17T17:51:32.132+00:00I couldn't find the actual name for the phobia...I couldn't find the actual name for the phobia so I took a shot at creating one. Probably should have been antiagorophobia, I suppose.<br /><br />Perhaps the character could get infected with lycanthropy or vampirism and become a Reacher Creature.johntfshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16005496604068259398noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2141372262111342844.post-19037795294896202722016-03-16T23:41:39.937+00:002016-03-16T23:41:39.937+00:00Antiacrophobia..? A fear of pits or low places, su...Antiacrophobia..? A fear of pits or low places, surely? :-)Dave Morrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14468228790874490693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2141372262111342844.post-7370703396634579132016-03-16T23:18:04.852+00:002016-03-16T23:18:04.852+00:00You could embrace the madness and declare that the...You could embrace the madness and declare that the character suffers from Antiacrophobia (fear of staying in one place?) or travelphilia (desire to travel constantly). Give him a toothbrush and a wallet and you have Reacher by Gaslight.johntfshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16005496604068259398noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2141372262111342844.post-85644800103064352812016-03-14T23:19:52.305+00:002016-03-14T23:19:52.305+00:00Btw my character in that write-up is kind of in th...Btw my character in that write-up is kind of in the Reacher role you're describing. He's motivated to investigate the murders but is not greatly changed by his experiences - until the end, anyway, when the usual tiresome Call of Cthulhu rules took control away from the players and told us we were all now mad. But that wouldn't have made any more satisfying an end to the story than it did to the game (I hate being told by dice rolls how to play my character) so I left it off the write-up.Dave Morrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14468228790874490693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2141372262111342844.post-22044911694591808002016-03-14T19:25:51.214+00:002016-03-14T19:25:51.214+00:00I suppose a game could be written up in that way -...I suppose a game could be written up in that way - with the player-characters as catalysts - though the principal NPCs would need to be more fleshed-out than they often are so that the reader could see an emotional reason for what happened in the story. I'm assuming there that the PCs don't change and develop, but actually they often do. The difference between that and a series of books is that you can rely on the players to be up to speed on how previous events have affected them (think of a drama like The Shield or Breaking Bad) whereas Lee Child deliberately avoids anything that would force the reader to follow the books in a given order. He wants a new reader to be able to jump in anywhere - the equivalent being a story-of-the-week show like Star Trek TOS. <br /><br />Btw here's the link to that article. It wasn't called "Reacher Said Nothing", that was the name of Andy Martin's book - anyway, worth a read:<br /><br />http://www.lrb.co.uk/v38/n03/christopher-tayler/i-just-hate-the-big-guyDave Morrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14468228790874490693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2141372262111342844.post-76336315285614878072016-03-14T18:37:09.420+00:002016-03-14T18:37:09.420+00:00Oh, yes, Reacher is very much a a catalyst for cha...Oh, yes, Reacher is very much a a catalyst for change. Violent, painful, mostly fatal change. <br /><br />In many ways, Reacher is a near-perfect game-PC stand-in. He travels constantly but has very few possessions (whatever clothes he's wearing, a wallet and usually a folding toothbrush). He acquires and uses items as needed but divests himself once his needs are met and travels on at the end of each book.<br /><br />My overall point was that you don't really need a viewpoint character who needs to experience some growth or change. You just need someone with a motive to be an active participants in the book's events.<br /><br />That motive needn't be big or profound. Reacher's initial motive for engaging in the events of his latest adventure, Make Me, was his curiosity about why a certain town was called Mother's Rest.<br /><br />I'd urge you to take a look at a couple of Child's books. They're really good. johntfshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16005496604068259398noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2141372262111342844.post-84734406567375268762016-03-14T08:38:02.898+00:002016-03-14T08:38:02.898+00:00Presumably somebody experiences change in those no...Presumably somebody experiences change in those novels, though, John? I imagine they set up one or more characters specifically for each book and Reacher functions as a sort of catalyst for their change. I don't know, not having read any. My knowledge of the series comes solely from the article "Reacher Said Nothing" in the London Review of Books.Dave Morrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14468228790874490693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2141372262111342844.post-46452014737040068182016-03-14T00:34:57.683+00:002016-03-14T00:34:57.683+00:00One thing I'll say in mild disagreement is tha...One thing I'll say in mild disagreement is that your viewpoint character doesn't necessarily need to change. He just needs to observe and participate. Probably the best example of an "unchanging" protagonist is Jack Reacher from Lee Childs' excellent series.johntfshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16005496604068259398noreply@blogger.com