tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188119851730922397.post2788460908121494926..comments2024-03-28T08:50:57.015+01:00Comments on Beyond Fomalhaut: [BLOG] The Smell of Chicken Guts: The Unlikely Hero of the Hungarian Old SchoolMelanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07165894144553629675noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188119851730922397.post-742392843719364392017-04-28T10:04:39.636+02:002017-04-28T10:04:39.636+02:00That is, what I am writing about is not a thing bu...That is, what I am writing about is not a thing but its absence.Melanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07165894144553629675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188119851730922397.post-35042904307080347022017-04-28T10:03:53.261+02:002017-04-28T10:03:53.261+02:00It is easy to be cynical about things you could ta...It is easy to be cynical about things you could take for granted. Naturally, you always value the things you don't have higher than the things you do. If we had all that stuff at our fingertips, it would never have had the mystique of distance. <br /><br />A lot depended on personal networks. People in the large city clubs (*cough* *cough*) probably had access to a lot more than people in private groups or outside the capital. <br /><br />I briefly had contact with people who were involved in the club scene (this is also why I started with the domestic Combat and Magic instead of AD&D), but just as quickly lost this connection. They played with a lot of photocopied materials from several different sources (including the famous Ruby Codex, some 1st edition materials, and some stuff that was homebrewed), while we had the photocopied Psionic Handbook, and for some inexplicable reason, the anti-paladin NPC class, which one of the players JUST had to play. (He was killed by his own companions who were scared he would end up killing them.) <br /><br />The risque stuff and 1st edition content was something we were vaguely aware of, and mostly missed, but couldn't get our hands on. For a while, we did not even have a monster book, and had to guess or make up our own.<br /><br />Also, I have personal (and therefore probably overblown) experience with TSR's blandness creeping into our game and having a negative effect on our enjoyment. The more official materials we picked up, the less we ended up enjoying the game, until our group fell apart. Some of that was surely teenage stupidity, but I do believe TSR shares some of the blame as well. Especially in hindsight, the bulk of their generic AD&D material strikes me as pretty much useless garbage. The worlds are another matter, but we didn't play Ravenloft or Dark Sun.Melanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07165894144553629675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188119851730922397.post-29892350865959582212017-04-27T23:03:35.258+02:002017-04-27T23:03:35.258+02:00I think the neutering effect of TSR's code of ...I think the neutering effect of TSR's code of ethics, BADD, League of Angry Moms and suchlike is put way out of proportion. First, we haven't even heard of such things until many years passed, especially in distant post-communist Hungary, second, nothing on earth prevented anyone from playing backstabbing bastards even with the oh-so-bland 2nd edition sources if that was your heart's content (we certainly had our share of brutal blade-happy barbarians and Kali-worshipping child murderers - oh so cool, so evil or oh so juvenile). Third, there was the mass of 1st edition materials still floating around in massive amounts, so demons, devils, half-orc assassins or cocky cavaliers were hardly unknown to our tender young minds. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188119851730922397.post-16340632123281771532017-04-27T22:34:32.657+02:002017-04-27T22:34:32.657+02:00Trilogy of the Night... oh, I loved it. I think I ...Trilogy of the Night... oh, I loved it. I think I should read again the Chaos novels too.Éberen Őrködőhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11796928433983067884noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188119851730922397.post-12223615450142070172017-04-27T21:29:25.124+02:002017-04-27T21:29:25.124+02:00The first two books are eternal favorites of mine....The first two books are eternal favorites of mine. They are some of the best books I ever read. :)Thirlenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01682563349739019892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188119851730922397.post-62495119064974581692017-04-27T14:40:07.807+02:002017-04-27T14:40:07.807+02:00That's what it is: honest, not terribly seriou...That's what it is: honest, not terribly serious pulp fantasy with a lot of heart. And yeah, I have a special affection for that hideous cover - I have a tattered old copy signed by the author. :DMelanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07165894144553629675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6188119851730922397.post-66561852194654631212017-04-27T14:05:11.505+02:002017-04-27T14:05:11.505+02:00Sounds like utterly brilliant trash. And that phen...Sounds like utterly brilliant trash. And that phenomenonally ugly cover also manages to be incredibly cool at the same time. How many illustrations can pull that off? ;-)Ghasthousehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07401924351959645260noreply@blogger.com