Page 85

[greyorm]

Okay everyone, grab your copies of S&S and flip to page 85.  Now reach in and tear that sucker right out of there.  Now go frame it and put it on your wall...that page is a work of art.
Actually, the whole book is a work of art.  Bloody brilliant, with some sections that go beyond even this and shine like the blinding light of godhead.

I don't even know where to start reviewing it...well, ok, I guess I do.  Page 85.

We're going to have to start calling him Lord Ron now, and set-up the First Edwardian Church.

I've got the t-shirts:
"WWRD?"
"Praise RON!"
"He hath suffered so that you might PLAY!"

Ok, ok, I'm carrying the CoR thing too far now, right?  Heh.

In all seriousness...page 85 (and just so you know, I'm being serious about everything above except the off-color religious bits).

Other bits of sheer greatness, things that say to me "THIS is what it's all about": pages 72-73, the description of weapons and armor in the various settings, and how to use them!

Chapter 2: I have some reading to do...lots of reading.

Pages 67-68: "Failed Rolls"  YES!  Love it.  Understand it.  Use it!

Pages 80-81: "Structure and Goals"  THIS is where I want my group to BE.

Chapter 7, Chapter 8...it's all too much!
I still find myself reading and rereading various portions of the book and falling asleep thinking about implementation and effect at night.

So, what parts does everyone else find particularly noteworthy?

I love page 85 for the simple fact that it lays it down about the general nature of traditional RPGing...points out the whole typical "discover or survive" scenario drivel.  Knowing the future...making character decisions and actions the heart of the game AS THEY RELATE TO THE CHARACTER, not the world, not their eventual effects, but the relationships and emotions of the character.

[Ron Edwards]

Um. Now I'm all embarassed.

That's my only response, I guess. Thanks for the praise, and I'm sorry that the Soul ad came out looking muddy.

I would direct everyone's attention as well to the Sorcerer mailing list archives, and look up the original discussions of Sorcerer & Sword. You'll see that Raven's comments had a big influence on the game-interpretation issues in the book.

Best,
Ron

[Jason L Blair]

Damn I needs to gets me Sword.

[Uncle Dark]

A few of my favorite things...

I think the sample settings are used to much better effect now than in the PDF version.  I especially love the "clicking sands."  Gamma World has been an old favorite of mine, though I can't stand the system.  Post-holocaust science fantasy with a good rules-set... yum.  Still, whenever I run across a "clicking sands" reference in the text, I'm tempted to cry out, "Ariel!  Ookla!  Ride!"

Necromancy is much clearer, and the various applications of its power easier to grasp.  I shudder at the thought of a necromantic token that has been in use for a thousand years or more...

And, of course, CHAPTER SEVEN!!!  Oh, Ron, you have managed to say succinctly and clearly what I have been trying to formulate for years.  Thank you, thank you.

Lon

[Gordon C. Landis]

This looks like a good place to slip in a few comments of my own . . .

I'm not a big fan of games set in "our world", in any shape or form.  So, I didn't even but Sorcerer until Sword was out.

I don't like dice pools.  This is partially irrational reaction to bad White Wolf exeriences, and partially a true, personal preference.

Despite thoose two BIG obstacles . . . I'm loving Sorcerer.  I actually want to play it.  And I'm really looking forward to sitting down with Sword.  Ah, there's just never enough time!

Gordon

[greyorm]

I think the sample settings are used to much better effect now than in the PDF version.

Necromancy is much clearer, and the various applications of its power easier to grasp.

I'd be remiss if I didn't back Lon up on all that.  Yes, S&S is worth it...it's much cleaner and clearer than the PDF version...more meaty.  Bonus dice, saving victories, necromancy, swords and swashbuckling...arrr!  It's all laid out much better and more substantially this time 'round.

Considering the above, and everything else, I would have paid $30 for this book and considered it a well worth the price.

whenever I run across a "clicking sands" reference in the text, I'm tempted to cry out, "Ariel!  Ookla!  Ride!"

Heheheh...me too.  Hrm, maybe I should run a Thundarr campaign with S&S...I know most of my players remember that show (boy, we're getting old...I first realized that when a younger player in our group revealed she'd never heard of the children's book "Serendipity").

[Uncle Dark]

Heheheh...me too.  Hrm, maybe I should run a Thundarr campaign with S&S...I know most of my players remember that show (boy, we're getting old...I first realized that when a younger player in our group revealed she'd never heard of the children's book "Serendipity").

Maybe you should write a Thundarr mini-supplement?:)

I can see it now, the Forge Home for Senior Role-Players.  We're sitting around, forced to use soft dice.  The pacing of the games is determined by frequent nap and potty breaks.  And GNS debates are verbotten so as not to excite our fragile hearts...

Lon

[Blake Hutchins]

The nice white-coated attendants wheel us down the hallways, as we mutter about how our Demons don't want to go to the potty.

"They Need Carnage, Chaos, High-pitched Grandmothers Screaming, or Flaming Mucilage!" we say.  Our hands twitch in our laps like pale spiders.

"Yes, yes," the nice attendants say.  "Save against agitation, please."

"But we're protagonists," we whimper.  "Protagonists...."