Hey everyone,

I have to say that if there's one single element in Sorcerer & Sword that I anticipate will drive sales of the book to casual buyers, it's the essay on the literature that comprises Chapter 2. It's totally awesome. You can't help but be drawn in when you read it. And there's really nothing like it in any other RPG. It's not inclusive, like the bibliographies that appear in most games. It's discriminating.

It's so discriminating that even though I consider myself fairly well read, I've hardly read anything on it.

1) I've read all the Fafhrd and Grey Mouser books, including the ones that aren't so "useful".
2) I've read the first book and a half of David C. Smith's Master of Evil trilogy.

I've got the Moorcock books, Elric of Melnibonae and Stormbringer, but I've never read them. I've got the first Heroic Visions collection by Jessica Amanda Salmonson, but I've read only the Fritz Leiber, Fafhrd and Grey Mouser story in it.

I've read In Yana: The Touch of the Undying by Michael Shea, but it's not on the list. I've read A Princess of Mars, by Edgar Rice Burroughs, but it's not on the list.

So, fine, I won't argue those two, but I want credit for The Harp and the Blade, by John Myers Myers. Ron needs to read it so he can put it on the Sorcerer & Sword errata

:Þ

I agree, that section is great. And I've had a heck of a time tracking down a lot of it--it seems quite a bit is out-of-print or just damn hard to find.

I've read the Fafhrd & the Grey Mouser stories. I love them. Some of the wittiest & most poetic fantasy I've read.

I've got the first White Wolf Elric collection, of which I've read Elric of Melnibone & The Fortress of the Pearl.

I've read some Clark Ashton Smith. I love CAS. What he does with words...Lovecraft was right to be jealous.

That's pretty much it. My library has some stuff that I inted to read: Almuric, Tigers of the Sea, Bran Mak Morn (which Ron, as a Cerebus fan, will understand why I can only read that as "Bran Mak Muffin".) and some of the Tanith Lee stuff. Other than that, I put as much as I could find on my Amazon Wish List. (There's a new Conan collection I found on Amazon that has most of the stories Ron recommends. I really, really want that.)

Hmmm...let's see.

I've read alot of the original REH Conan stuff, but I need to go beyond just that. I'd love to get my hands on the Bran literature.

I read something by Karl Edward Wagner, but I think it was a Conan novel.

I've read some of the Elric stuff, but not alot.

I've read maybe one Fafhrd story, if that. Those I will have to pick up soon.

I read quite a few of the John Carter of Mars books, but like Paul said, those aren't on the list.

Just this week I snagged the Nifft trilogy. I've started on those.

That's about it, unfortunately. Luckily for me, Ron has provided us with a great reading list.

Take care,
Moose


Oops, Josh just reminded me...I've read something by Clark Ashton Smith, but it was a Cthulhu story, not pulp fantasy.

[ This Message was edited by: hardcoremoose on 2001-12-23 22:34 ]

Tanith Lee's in? GodDAMN I gotta get me that book.

-Vincent

Hello,

Paul asked me recently what I'd say was the "minimum" reading for a Sorcerer & Sword game. This was based on my statement at the end of Chapter 2 that participants ought to be familiar with the literature rather than go by (say) Deities and Demigods descriptions.

It's not an easy question, and I couldn't answer it right away. Today, I would say, "one of the good Conan stories, and at least one other thing, doesn't matter which."

I then thought about the potential objection: "But what if the stories they read aren't the best for the upcoming game?" After all, the literature (selective as it is) is certainly not homogenous.

And here's my thoughts on that objection: it's back-to-front. It's yet another example of the idea that the GM has prepped it all up, and the players' job is to experience the "it" and to do "it" right. It's a GM-control statement, and incompatible with the philosophy of play encouraged in Sword.

My final answer is that the discussion prior to play, the Step 1 described in Chapter 1, is far more crucial than people might think. It's overtly crucial - after all, it is the logical necessary step prior to the others, and I provide a concrete example of how it might proceed. However, as demonstrated by Sorcerer, people are so used to empty nonsense in the "how to play" or "how to set up for play" sections, that they will scan substantive content on these topics and not actually see/read it.

During that Step 1, one presumes that whoever is leading the discussion has read a thing or two on the list. They are encouraged to name those sources when they describe the sketchy setting they have in mind. If someone else has other sources/influences in mind, or is interested in another type of setting, they should talk about it - and maybe (shock!) just go and read for fun, before

Discussing an upcoming role-playing game is not like a wartime policy decision. Nothing dictates that we must decide, right now, here, gentlemen, before this night passes, exactly what and how we are going to play next week. (I am not sure why many groups treat role-playing as a default "crisis" activity, which by definition may fail and fizzle at any moment unless we strike now, gentlemen, now.)

I actually like the idea that some friends are reading and discussing their reading in a kind of leisurely way prior to play. In one group I'm in, we're probably going to play L5R (1st ed) next, and maybe one or two others, and only then get rolling on some Sorcerer & Sword. Between now and then, we'll have some conversations about the material, maybe do some book-lending around and about the group, and see where we get, ages before I feel some overwhelming pressure to "prep" for next Thursday.

Best,
Ron

Moorcock: Elric, Corum, Erekose (with umlaut), Hawkmoon (not as fond of those books).

Leiber: All Fafhrd and Mouser stuff.

Gardner Fox: Kothar the barbarian

REH: Conan, Kane, Kull

Assorted other stuff I can't recall off the top of my head. Some CA Smith, but it's been a LONG time.

Again, also into J. Gregory Keyes stuff in the world of The Waterborn.

Best,

Blake