Literature Review: "The Black Cauldron" (1965)

This week, in honor of Lloyd Alexander's birthday on January 30th, I wanted to discuss the second book in my favorite fantasy series when I was growing up, "The Black Cauldron" from "The Chronicles of Prydain":

taking place more than a year after "The Book of Three," "The Black Cauldron" continues the story of Taran the Assistant Pig-Keeper.

he's a little older and wiser but still gets constantly trolled by
Ellidyr, Prince of Pen-Llarcau,

Newbury Honor book

By "favorite," I mean that I liked the Chronicles of Prydain more than any other fantasy work in grade school, including the Lord of the Rings.  To me, it was far easier to relate to being an Assistant Pig-Keeper than a hobbit or a Dúnadan ranger.  Now than I'm older, I appreciate and respect LoTR better but Prydain will always have a dear place in my heart.

Speaking of both series, Messr Alexander has sometimes been accused of ripping off Professor Tolkien's Middle Earth works but, in fact, both Prydain and Middle Earth draw inspiration from a number of the same myths and folktales, most notably the Mabinogion.

"The Book of Three" begins with an orphan named Taran who is on the cusp of manhood and who yearns to become a great hero.  Unfortunately for him, he's stuck on a remote farm that's also home to his guardian, retired soldier Coll, and the great wizard Dalben.  Taran is rather full of youthful arrogance and more than a bit bratty and naïve, which sounds more than a bit like this guy:

While Taran is grousing and daydreaming, Coll puts him in charge of Hen Wen, the oracular white pig.  Unfortunately, that same day,  Hen Wen runs away, despite Taran's best efforts, because she is realizes she is being hunted by the Horned King, the war leader of the Dark Lord Arawn!

Taran heads after Hen Wen to try to get her back and runs smack dab into his hero, the High Prince Gwydion!  An unexpected adventure ensues and, on the way, he meets various companions, faces darkness and danger, encounters extraordinary beings and learns that "being a hero" is rather different from his daydreaming.

"The Book of Three" an epic story of the struggle against a Dark Lord but is also filled with understandable and memorable characters facing very human problems.  Like Ursula K. Le Guin's wonderful "Wizard of Earth Sea" (which I discussed last year), "The Book of Three" creates a brilliantly realized fantasy world yet the writing is also sophisticated and the characters are grounded.


Messr Alexander is able to retain the fairy tale elements whilst also giving us characters who feel pain and yearning.  The best and most touching part of the book, IMHO, is at the end when maturity begins to dawn upon Taran, who, when asked about what reward he would like, chooses to leave childish things behind and merely wishes to return home.



it is



Far be it from me to contradict Messr Alexander (the person who actually coined the phrase "High Fantasy"), but this tale isn't how I usually think about the term:
non-gritty low fantasy, I think - magic is rare and the main characters aren't super-heroic

The cauldron-born are indeed very memorable




first multi-part fantasy series that unfolded over a series of years

Here is the The Chronicles of Prydain segment from the excellent Lloyd Alexander documentary:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRQGPZt5Pc8

Literature Review: "The Tower of the Elephant" (1933)

This week, in honor of R.E. Howard's birthday on January 22nd, I wanted to give a shout out to another ripping yarn by the greatest of Swords & Sorcery authors, "The Tower of the Elephant":

adapted as part of the 1982 Conan the Barbarian film.


owned by the evil sorceror Yara

black magic


mystery

Ahead of him he saw, looming against the sky, the Tower of the Elephant. He mused, wondering why it was so named. No one seemed to know. He had never seen an elephant, but he vaguely understood that it was a monstrous animal, with a tail in front as well as behind. This a wandering Shemite had told him, swearing that he had seen such beasts by the thousands in the country of the Hyrkanians; but all men knew what liars were the men of Shem.

gonzo, sci-fi elements

D&D adventure

meet up of PCs

Conan sensed the man's great belly shaking in laughter, but it was not derisive. "By Bel, god of thieves!" hissed Taurus. "I had thought only myself had courage to attempt that poaching. These Zamorians call themselves thieves—bah! Conan, I like your grit. I never shared an adventure with anyone, but by Bel, we'll attempt this together if you're willing."

compassion

Tears rolled from the sightless eyes, and Conan's gaze strayed to the limbs stretched on the marble couch. And he knew the monster would not rise to attack him. He knew the marks of the rack, and the searing brand of the flame, and tough­souled as he was, he stood aghast at the ruined deformities which his reason told him had once been limbs as comely as his own. And suddenly all fear and repulsion went from him, to be replaced by a great pity. What this monster was, Conan could not know, but the evidences of its sufferings were so terrible and pathetic that a strange aching sadness came over the Cimmerian, he knew not why. He only felt that he was looking upon a cosmic tragedy, and he shrank with shame, as if the guilt of a whole race were laid upon him.

RPG Focus: Moldvay Basic Dungeons & Dragons (1981)

I've mentioned before that the Mentzer Red box (Basic Dungeons & Dragons 1983) was my introduction to tabletop RPGs (preceded by the Choose Your Own Adventure series and similar gamebooks), but this week, I wanted to take a look the another influential iteration of Basic D&D written by Tom Moldvay:

  

Moldvay Basic was the second incarnation of Basic D&D, following Basic Dungeons & Dragons (1977) written by J. Eric Holmes.  Holmes Basic was something of a strange beast, being a combination of Original Dungeons & Dragons (1974) and some of the early Supplements, and meant to be both an introduction to tabletop RPGs and to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (even though Holmes Basic is not 100% compatible with AD&D).  

Like Holmes Basic, Moldvay Basic is an introductory text and covers the basic concepts and rules for  Dungeons & Dragons and PCs of Levels 1 to 3.  Unlike Holmes Basic, Moldvay Basic (which forms the "B" in B/X D&D), along with Dave Cook's Expert Set  (which forms the "X" in B/X D&D), was designed to be a complete separate game.

This is partly a result of the settlement of one of the lawsuits by D&D co-creator Dave Arneson against TSR, which split Dungeons & Dragons into two parallel product lines, Basic and Advanced.  Thus, for legal reasons, Moldvay Basic was promoted as a continuation of OD&D (i.e., Messr Arneson would collect royalties from B/X D&D, as well as the later BECMI D&D, but not AD&D).

Moldvay Basic came in a boxed set with 64 page rule book (Holmes Basic was 48 pages), with cover art by the legendary Erol Otus.  In addition, the set included the module B2 The Keep on the Borderlands, the classic six polyhedral dice made (of soft plastic that would wear down with use (eventually, rolling the d20 could take some time until it stopped moving as it became more and more spherical)), and a marking crayon for filling in the numbers on the dice.  The interior artwork is Old School but often cartoonish in nature and considered to be generally weaker than the interior artwork for BECMI D&D.

However, Moldvay Basic does shine as an excellent example of lean RPG Design, presenting a stripped down and streamlined version of the OD&D engine.  The rules here are clear, concise and accessible.  For example, Moldvay Basic's rules for Initiative are, in contrast to their than their 1st ed. AD&D counterpart, approximately a bazillion times more concise and understandable:

To determine initiative, each side rolls 1d6 (the DM rolls for the monsters). The side with the higher roll may move first and attack first in combat for that round. If both sides roll the same number, the DM may either have both sides roll again, or may consider movement and combat for both sides to occur at the same time (known as simultaneous combat).

The side "with the initiative" has the first choice of actions. Members of that side may choose to fight, run, throw a spell, take de- fensive positions and wait to see what the other side does, start talking, or do anything else that the players or DM can imagine.

If combat occurs, the side with the initiative always strikes first in that round. Both sides should roll for initiative each round. If both sides tie on their initiative rolls, and combat is simultaneous, it is possible for both sides to be killed!

Quick and elegant!  By comparison, 1st ed. AD&D Initiative by the book is hotly debated to this day and sometimes requires a flowchart for beginners.

All of Moldvay Basic is written in this easy to follow and understand manner.

There's also a great, simple and powerful rule often overlooked near the end of Moldvay Basic on page B60:

"There's always a chance." The DM may want to base a character's chance of doing something on his or her ability scores (Strength, Dexterity, and so forth). To perform a difficult task (such as climbing up a rope or thinking of a forgotten clue), the player should roll the ability score or less on ld20. The DM may give a bonus or penalty to the roll, depending on the difficulty of the action (-4 for a simple task to +4 for a difficult one). A roll of 1 should always succeed, and a roll of 20 should always fail.

This is a quick and elegant of addressing TSR-era D&D's lack of a skill system!

It's this speed and elegance that has made my old AD&D1 DM switch to using B/X during convention play.

So, if you are fan of TSR-era D&D but are looking for a lighter/faster interpretation or you are new to RPGs in general and want to cut your teeth using Dungeons & Dragons, you really should take a gander at Moldvay Basic!

Movie Review: 47 Ronin (2013)

This week, I wanted to take a look at a Flawed but Fun retelling of the epic true story of the forty-seven rōnin (四十七士 Shi-jū-shichi-shi, forty-seven samurai), "47 Ronin":

Based on the Akō incident (赤穂事件 Akō jiken), which is celebrated each year on December 14, "47 Ronin" is a fictionalized version of Akō incident that's further been reskinned as a Sword & Sorcery yarn.  This film follows the viewpoint of the fictional character Kai, a half-Japanese, half-English foundling who possesses certain preternatural abilities courtesy of being raised by the Tengu, which are Japanese spirits/demons.

Kai flees the Tengu and is found and raised by Lord Asano Naganori of the Akō Domain.  Although an outsider to the others of Lord Asano's household, Kai is treated kindly by the Lord and his daughter, Mika, with whom there's a predictable forbidden romance subplot.  Years later, Lord Asano is framed for the attempted murder of the rival Lord Kira (in real life Kira Yoshinaka was a high ranking government official rather than a rival lord) by witchcraft and is forced to commit seppuku (切腹, "cutting [the] Stomach/belly"), a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment.

Consequently, Lord Asano's samurai become ronin (masterless warriors), which drives the rest of the film.  Despite being specifically forbidden to seek revenge against Kira, the 47 Ronin (including Kai) carve a bloody path through anyone who stands in their way to avenge their fallen lord.

Overall, this movie is a mixed bag.  "47 Ronin" is serviceable as a popcorn flick and is a decent a Sword & Sorcery film, but there's no gravitas to the movie as there probably should be for a story (the Akō incident) that has become synonymous with loyalty, sacrifice, persistence, and honor in Japan.    The plot of "47 Ronin" is pretty much by numbers and Lord Kira is a 2D baddie (the film probably should have focused more on the witch, playing by Kikuchi Rinko, who at least did a fun job of chewing scenery).

By contrast, Keanu Reeves' acting as Kai is, as usual outside of a few roles, is pretty flat and doesn't do a good job of carrying the movie.  The production design is good and the action sequences are fun but not particularly memorable.  Some of the CGI looks bad.

I think that the accusations of "whitewashing," which likely affected the film's box office performance, are overblown in this particular case: while Kai is the main character of the film, his actions and abilities are explained in the Sword & Sorcery context and he doesn't particularly overshadow the other characters.

If anything, this movie should have more fully embraced and explored the supernatural and eldritch parts of Japanese myth and folklore, which would have made the film more distinctive.

RPG Game Play: Starting out as GM

Happy New Year!

Recently, it came up in a conversation about how to start out as a Game Master (or GM, for short) in  tabletop role-playing.  Being a GM is the most challenging and demanding position in any gaming group, so this week, I wanted to focus on some of the key issues that new GMs should consider.

First of all, before the game session even starts, beginning GMs should make sure that that their group's Social Contract is in place, to match up everyone's expectations and to prevent easily avoidable problems.

Secondly, it is worthy to note that, with New School games, there are non-traditional ways to distribute the GM's role, including GM-less games such as Fiasco and Microscope and games using  Player-Facing Mechanics, such as Dungeon World.  This post is not aimed at those games.

Anyway, in traditional tabletop role-playing games, being a GM entails wearing many "hats" (e.g., Author, Director, Referee, Manager, etc.)  For example, as Referee, a GM must make judgement calls and decide when to apply Rule Zero.  Consequently, as one can imagine, there are many things to track and manage during a game session, but for beginning GMs, there three areas to focus on where one to get the most mileage:

• Prepare, Prepare, Prepare!
• Be Flexible
• Keep Learning

• Prepare, Prepare, Prepare!

Preparation, as with many things in life, can make all the difference when running a game session.  As you become more experienced as a GM, you'll see more and more situations and learn how to juggle more and more things on the fly.  However, when you're starting out, preparation goes a long way toward preventing problems and keeping things running smoothly.  It will boost your confidence and speed up gameplay since you'll be less likely to struggle to fix things or figure things out.

A key part of preparation is knowing your rules set and the adventure that you have planned to the best of your ability.  The more you've prepared, the faster you'll be able to identify and address potential issues, such as fielding your players' questions.  It will also make it easier to address the next bullet point, Being Flexible.

• Be Flexible

In the words of the great German military strategist Helmuth von Moltke the Elder: “No battle plan survives contact with the enemy.”  Similarly, your players may (*cough*probably will*cough*) do something unexpected that will fly in the face of all your hard work and preparation.

Don't panic.  If you're caught off guard and need some time to figure out what to do, don't be afraid to call a bathroom break or even end the game session early.

And remember to keep an open mind.  Particularly, don't worry about wasting a plot, a character, a setting or anything else you've spent hours to develop.  In fact, you'll probably have a chance to reskin and recycle it later, with your players none the wiser.

• Keep Learning

Lastly, keep learning!  Curiosity is a natural trait of the best GMs.  You will get better with experience but there's always something that you can work on to become a better GM.

IMHO, one of the best things about being a GM is the opportunity to stretch your creative muscles, but muscles only get stronger with training and use.  Talk to your players and other people- don't be afraid to solicit feedback and don't overreact to criticism.


Obviously, there are many, many, many other things to help start out as a GM and to become a better one, but if you begin with the above three areas, you'll have a head start!