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Dogs in the Tower (a Stephen King hack)

Started by JB Mannon, November 27, 2007, 06:31:55 PM

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JB Mannon

     I am a big fan of Dogs in the Vineyard and of Stephen King's Dark Tower series.  I keep thinking that these two were made for each other.  They share many of the same themes.  Most obviously is the role of the Gunslingers in the Tower books, just like the Dogs they are wandering peacekeepers who are responsible to the White.  Next is the town as the major setting for each adventure.  There is also the fact that demonic influences are real in both settings.

     There are a few changes that would need to be made I think to make the two mesh better.  First is that in the Dark Tower series the good guys can have access to some times very powerful mystical powers that don't really fit in a Dogs game.  The next problem is that there needs to be some consideration given to how to handle an entire town fighting against the Gunslingers and how to use the raise and see mechanic to simulate a massive combat.  Related to that would be how to handle combats against things that cannot be killed only survived.  There may be others that I have not yet thought of but they are where I want to start.

     I would appreciate any help I can get on this from the community.  I will post with a few of my ideas on how to tackle these issues later as I get the time.  If anyone knows of any resources that might help I would love to see them.
Check out my personal blog: www.jmhpfan.wordpress.com

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J Tolson

You might want to contact Lumpley Games/Vincent Baker about this (possibly even on the Lumpley forum here). Roleplaying systems are copyrightable material, after all, as are books. Letting him know is mostly just a matter of courtesy and form (but as you would be using his system, he does have the legal right to disallow it).

Steven King, of course, allows so many fan projects to exist on the internet that his consent for your project (as long as you don't try to sell it) can probably be assumed.

Just a thought.

JB Mannon

Thank you.  I already put a post about this up on the Lumpley Games forum.  I am not planing on sell ing this it is simply a fun project to ocupy my time.
Check out my personal blog: www.jmhpfan.wordpress.com

Or follow me @JBMannon on Twitter

northerain

I have been keeping my eye on this: http://www.nemesis-system.com/darktower/
But it appears not much is happening there.

I like the Dark Tower series alot and I think it would make a good setting for a game. My advice is to avoid making a ''fanboy version'' of a game, that includes all the characters and places from the books. I think it would be awesome if someone basically created a setting based on the books, while keeping only a few landmarks. Flesh out the world if you like, maybe use a different timeframe(before Roland was born for example).

JB Mannon

      Thanks for the link northerain.  I don't plan on writing stats for any of the major characters from the novels.  I think though that a good place to start thinking about how to set up situations with in the setting would be to try and work out how I would deal with situations from the books.  For example how would I set up Lud as the sight for an adventure or how would I deal with Mr. Odd of Odd's lane.  Thinking about situations from the books will help me find a scenario construction system with which any of the situations in the books can be reproduced if someone chose to do so.

     What sort of things would you like to see in a Dogs in the Tower game?  Do you have any thoughts on how players can utilize the Touch?  If you haven't picked up a copy of Robin Firth's Dark Tower Compendium I can't recommend it enough.
Check out my personal blog: www.jmhpfan.wordpress.com

Or follow me @JBMannon on Twitter

northerain

Quote from: JB Mannon on November 29, 2007, 05:17:53 AM
What sort of things would you like to see in a Dogs in the Tower game?  Do you have any thoughts on how players can utilize the Touch?  If you haven't picked up a copy of Robin Firth's Dark Tower Compendium I can't recommend it enough.

I tend to shy away from compendium books. I feel I don't need anyone to tell me how to figure out the books or claim that he somehow knows more about the world in the books than the author. But then again I'm an asshole and might be mistaken.

I guess I'd like to see travelling between worlds and such, and new locations that are loyal to the original material, but new and exciting. I would love to see the Territories in it as well.

JB Mannon

     I am planning on including some sample locations from the series to give players an idea about how the world works but I want to use ones that never got fully explored or were just briefly mentioned.  I am also thinking of including a few samples of places that were never mentioned in the stories.

     I am planning on including a section on how to arrange the separate adventures into a longer running quest.  This will allow for GM's to run a session or two in other worlds.  I don't know yet how I want to handle your authority in other worlds yet.
Check out my personal blog: www.jmhpfan.wordpress.com

Or follow me @JBMannon on Twitter