The Sorcerer's Soul/Sex and Sorcery

[arxhon]

I just found these in the used FLGS i frequent on occasion, picked them up on a whim and just finished reading them.

Let me add that i have only read through the quickstart rules, and thus have no true grasp on Sorcerer.  

These two books are excellent and thought provoking treatises on eliciting more consideration from the players about values and the "why" of character actions (TSS) and gender issues in gaming (S&S); not just for Sorcerer, but for gaming in general.


I consider my money well spent, and certainly will read them again.....not to mention, i am seriously considering getting Sorcerer; it was more of a nagging "That would be cool to check out" before, now it's a "Will order tomorrow" kind of thing.

Very well done, Ron. My hat goes off to you.

[Ron Edwards]

Thank you!

By "used FLGS," do you mean the the bargain-bin in a game store? Or do you mean the entire store (or its role-playing stock, anyway) is dedicated to second-hand or marked-down products?

Best,
Ron

[arxhon]

I mean "the entire store (or its role-playing stock, anyway) is dedicated to second-hand products".

[Ron Edwards]

Hi there,

Ah! Got it. A used-bookstore which happens to carry RPGs as well as whatever else. I couldn't imagine a used games-only store.

You know, I tend to think The Sorcerer's Soul gets overlooked in discussions all the time. Yet oddly enough, major features of its content show up constantly in discussions of actual play, as well in new game designs. It has a kind of an infectious quality to the reader in a way that keeps the text itself from getting credit, I think.

So I'm curious: which passages and points really hit you in this book, especially?

Best,
Ron

[Mike Holmes]

How'd Sex and Sorcery make it to a second hand store so soon? Any guesses? Are we seeing the effects of some secondary market?

Mike

[arxhon]

Actually, the store is kind of odd. In one section, there are swords, gargoyles, wood carvings and Coke memorabilia from the 60's and 70's for sale, while the other section deals in used games and GW miniatures, old comics and action figures. There are gaming tables back there and a Super Nintendo. The store doesn't deal in actual used books, probably because there are something like 10 used bookstores within 6 blocks of the place.

Mike: I really don't know how it got there so fast...but i'm not complaining. :) Maybe someone bought the books and found them to be "too highbrow", or figured they would have dirty pictures in them or something.

Ron:

I found the first couple of chapters to be real eye openers for me when i think about gaming, especially your list of the conditions under which a game acquires meaning.

Another thing that got me thinking was the act of sitting down with the gaming group and defining what things are in the game (what is Humanity (really, what is human?), what demons are, etc.) The first half of the chapter on Soul as Humanity is extremely interesting. I'm afraid the stuff on Angels was not quite my cup of tea, but that's just me.

However, i think the best part of the book was Chapter 4 and 5. Your breakdown of relationship maps, with the examples provided in ch.4 and ch.5 really solidifying this concept for me. While i first encountered the idea in Unknown Armies, the so called "mechanics" and concepts were pretty vague.

I found the step by step example to be probably the most valuable 'how to use this tool' i've seen. I now understand the usefulness of these tools, and how they can drive play.

The single passage that hit me most strongly was (to quote, if i may) "...the role of GM necessarily lends itself to control-freak personalities (don't i know it), even if his desire is merely to entertain..." probably because i identified with it so strongly.