Trollbabe

[Aaron]

I am waiting anxiously for the buy button to appear!  and it is to consider itself "pushed" once it arrives

[Gregor Hutton]

I read a good half of the book on my flight from Chicago to Seattle. I'm leaving the second half for my flight from Seattle to Newark on Sunday. I'll then re-read the book on my flight from Newark to Edinburgh.

It's a great read. Clear, to the point and unlaboured.

So far, I particularly enjoyed the stuff about the pivots and turning the screw. There are some good examples teaching how to "read" which phase of play you are in. Absolutely practical.

Rock on.

[Per Fischer]

And it's aarived in Scotland, along with a copy of S/Lay w/Me, and the "Naked Went the Gamer" essay, both of which were also until this moment unknown to me.

Going to a work conference the next two days, lost of time on trains and in hotel rooms to read and digest. Nice Blog post(t) to follow.

Cheers,
Per

[Finarvyn]

Well, I'm bummed because I was at GenCon and somehow missed seeing these. I would have bought one, too. :-(

[skatay]

ordered! now, the waiting...

[Lars M. Nielsen]

I went to the unstore to buy it, and it says $25 + $3 shipping. But is the same for shipping overseas?

[Ron Edwards]

Hi,

Overseas orders may use the listed shipping cost. Consider it a gesture of goodwill, at least until I decide otherwise. Some overseas customers voluntarily pay a couple of dollars more.

Best, Ron

[Lars M. Nielsen]

And it's ordered.

I always liked the beautiful simplicity of Trollbabe. I can't wait to see how it's improved, and the Story Now stuff sounds very intriguing.

[Ron Edwards]

Thanks Lars!

Orders are fast and furious. I just sent another box of books to my fulfiller to keep up!

Best, Ron

[Per Fischer]

Ron, are you prepared to elaborate on what you've done to the game text here or in a separate thread?

I'm not through the entire book yet, but I noticed that it's now basically presented in three chunks:
1. Story Now as an activity and how to do it (within the TB "setting")
2. The Scene as a key rule and structural element
3. How to resolve conflicts within scenes (BIG chunk, perhaps 3/4 of the entire text) The conflict rules are the same as far as I have read, but they are presented in a mcuh clearer way.

OK, there's a chunk at the end on how to play, but that's pulling all the above together I presume.

Would that be a fair description?

Per

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Per,

I have a hard time summarizing "what's different" because it's an entirely different book. I mean, it's about something else, beyond the the first version. I guess the only thing I can do is explain that it's written completely as a manual too, with nothing in there except instructions for and explanations of play.

That's why I don't really understand what you mean by a Story Now chunk. I mean, the text begins very specifically with an introduction to the setting and launches straight into the first steps of play. There isn't any orienting or generalized explanatory text beyond the explicit instructions.

I don't think of the text as chunks, but as a simple linear explanation of what to do. What to do operates at different levels, but the procedures at the different levels are all integrated with one another. That's what the diagrams are for. You should be able to take them all and conceivably make one big huge diagram that might be a couple of meters squared. But in using those parts in play, you're experiencing them linearly, so I was able to present the pieces linearly, in (how many?) about eight or nine sections.

I guess what you're seeing as chunks are merely different levels of the rules. You can look at it that way and not be wrong, but I think it's more helpful to think of the rules as a linear, additive set of instructions, like a curriculum, with the organization being exactly represented by the designated sections.

Overall, I'm not sure what you're asking. I'm having a hard time answering a question which is framed in a kind of middling state in between (1) not having the book and (2) having fully read it. Can you state the question again after you're done?

Best, Ron

[Per Fischer]

I guess what you're seeing as chunks are merely different levels of the rules. You can look at it that way and not be wrong, but I think it's more helpful to think of the rules as a linear, additive set of instructions, like a curriculum, with the organization being exactly represented by the designated sections.

You're absolutely right - and in that respect "chunk" was a bad choice of word.

Will sit on my hands until I've finished the book.

Per

[rafial]

Ordered...  Intrigued by the "pay what you like" behavior of the buy button

[Ron Edwards]

I'm not sure whether it's supposed to be like that myself, and will check. However, yes, you may pay what you like, except that if it's less than $28, you won't get Trollbabe mailed to you.

Best, Ron