Huh. Years after I stopped writing for roleplaying games, something got published

Some of you among the three or four who read this blog (after blowing the dust off it) might recall that for several years I worked as a freelance writer in the roleplaying game industry, writing adventures and supplement books for various companies. Most of my work was for the late, lamented Hogshead Publishing, which held a license to produce product for one of my favorite roleplaying games, the first edition of Warhammer Fantasy Role Play. (WFRP)

Anyway, I stopped working in that industry after one particularly bad experience (largely of my own doing, to be fair) convinced me it just wasn’t worth it anymore: lousy pay rates (a per word rate averaging three cents per word, what writers were getting in the 1930s), large word counts and short deadlines, no time for a regular life…. It had stopped being fun.

I had kept in touch with the hobby, however, by tracking a few web sites that dealt with RPGs, particularly James Maliszewski’s Grognardia, a now-moribund site dedicated to what was called the “Old School Renaissance,” a movement focused on reviving and supporting roleplaying games as they had been played in the 70s and 80s, centered mostly around D&D clones.

James had announced a cooperative project that he would edit called “Petty Gods,” a book of godlings and minor deities a referee could use in his campaign. You can read the original announcement of it here. It sounded like a fun project, and, after spending a frustrating morning looking for some mislaid keys, I came up with “Galdu Aurkitu, God of Things Mislaid and Found.”

Name: Galdu Aurkitu
Symbols: Keys on a ring. A single sock.
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 180′ (60′)
Armor Class: -3
Hit Points (Hit Dice) 90 (19 HD)
Attacks: Special
Damage: Special
Save: T20
Morale: 10
Hoard Class: VIII, XVII
XP: 10,000

Galdu Aurkitu is the petty god of all things mislaid and unexpectedly found. A relative of the gods of good and bad luck, Galdu Aurkitu appears in one of three forms: an elderly, forgetful man; a young woman with three walnut shells and a pea; and a helpful lad. When encountered, each represents an aspect of Galdu Aurkitu’s role: forgetting where one put something; being sure something set aside was there just a moment ago; and suddenly finding in an unexpected place something thought lost.

Galdu Aurkitu is often invoked by those looking for a mislaid object, from something as minor as the house keys to something as important as a secret treaty. He (or she) can be a capricious god. If a person annoys the god (or one of the god’s divine friends), Galdu Aurkitu will cause a needed item not to be where it was supposed to be, even though it was just put there a moment ago. The idea is not to cause harm, but to annoy and inconvenience the victim. On the other hand, Galdu Aurkitu can take pity on those who have lost something dear to them, such as the son who was sure he lost an heirloom ring, or the poor widow frantic because she can’t find the rent money. The item will be found in the least likely place to look, and it is still up to the searcher to find it. Whether causing an item to be lost or found, Galdu Aurkitu takes great pleasure in mortals’ reactions and may well be nearby, watching.

In combat, Galdu Aurkitu attacks by “mislaying” opponents’ weapons and magic items: the fighter will reach for a sword, only it’s not there – he must have left it back in camp. The wizard will reach for a scroll, only to discover it is not where it is supposed to be. In each case, the item will be in Galdu Aurkitu’s hand, who will then put it to best use. The petty god can use this power once per round.

When truly angry, Galdu Aurkitu can curse a mortal, ensuring that, for the next 24 hours, an item will be missing when most needed. This will occur once in those 24 hours. If Galdu Aurkitu particularly likes a mortal and decides to bless him or her, then something treasured and thought long-lost will be unexpectedly found and returned to them sometime in the next week, or perhaps opponents in combat will mislay a weapon or magic item. This latter blessing lasts for only 24 hours, however, and, like the curse, only happens once..

Reaction Table (roll 2d6, use INT for modifiers):

2 Friendly: Blesses 1d4 nearby targets.

3-5 Indifferent: Blesses 1d4 nearby targets if properly propitiated.

6-8 Neutral: Ignores nearby creatures.

9-11 Unfriendly: Curses 1d4 nearby targets if not properly propitiated.

12 Hostile: Curses 1d4 nearby targets.

I submitted this to James back in 2010, and then… nothing. For various reasons, the projects James had been working on, including Petty Gods, encountered near-fatal difficulties and had to be rescued by others. In fact, I had thought Petty Gods had died and had largely forgotten about it, until a few weeks ago at DriveThruRPG, where I saw this:

Imagine my surprise. The PDF is free, so I downloaded it and, sure enough, there was little Galdu with his very own illustration. Apparently someone had rescued the project and it went through a few hands until the product pictured above was produced. And, judging from the PDF, the new developers did a great job.  It’s available in print-on-demand paperback at Lulu.com: I may just get myself a copy.

So, that was a long-winded way to share my amusement at still being published in the hobby-game industry. To be honest, it made me smile.

If you’re running a campaign in which minor gods could conceivably walk among mortals (as in the style of Thieves’ World or Liavek), download the free PDF and give it a look. I think you’ll enjoy it.

PS: It’s a shame James has largely withdrawn from the hobby, though I hear he still plays. Grognardia was a wonderful blog, and I’d love to see it revived.

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Fantasy Cartography: the Exarchate of Monckton

Hey! I made a map! All by my little old self!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/93227641@N04/19163028813/in/album-72157650931292355/

This scratches several itches for me. First, as some of you know, I manage a small Earth Sciences library at UCLA that has an extensive map collection. And I love maps. I often look at them and think “What cool source material for fictional worlds.”

I also happen to love fantasy and science fiction literature, as well as roleplaying games. Good maps are often vital to both. I can’t tell you how often I stared at the map of Middle Earth in my copy of Lord of the Rings in high school and imagined the adventures that could take place there.

But, well, I have the artistic talent of a clam. I draw a straight line, it looks like an amoeba. It was only through the help of a good friend (Hi, Alfred!) and the services of a master artist hired by the publisher that my sketch map of the city of Marienburg became the wonderful map it is.

But there are several programs on the market meant to help one create beautiful maps on the PC and then print them out. One of the most well-known is Campaign Cartographer, which is currently in version “3+”. It’s a marvelous program, based on a CAD engine, so it’s very powerful, but it also has a steep learning curve. So steep, that, even though I’ve owned it since version 2, I never tried to make a map of it. Just kept buying the upgrades.

Now, is that silly or what?

So, after moving to the new digs, I told myself that one thing I would do is finally start learning Campaign Cartographer (aka “CC3+”). And, yes, the curve has been steep. But, at the same time, it’s been fun. There’s a helpful community at the Profantasy site, where I’ve learned a lot. “Monckton” is sort of a worksheet for me, where I try different things to see how they work. I’ve barely even started to scratch the surface of what can be done with this program, but I think I’m going to have a good time digging even deeper.

I might even get a game going, set it in the Exarchate, and let them explore the dangers of the Tower of the Astrologer. 🙂

PS: Here’s a PDF of the map, which I think shows it better than the pic above.

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I’m a Neutral Good Elf Bard? And only 5th level?

So, according to this 100+ question test, if I were to suddenly find myself translated to some AD&D setting (Greyhawk, please!), I’d be a NG Elf Bard — and only 5th level?

In other words, I’d be positively annoying to my party. I can already hear the “no singing!” jokes straight out of Holy Grail.

And I was so hoping for a powerful Chaotic Evil wizard. They have the best costumes. The. Best.

(Hmmm…. Worrying about fashion. Maybe I am meant to play an Elf…   )

Anyway, Here are the results:

I Am A: Neutral Good Elf Bard (5th Level)

Ability Scores:

Strength-11

Dexterity-11

Constitution-12

Intelligence-16

Wisdom-13

Charisma-13

Alignment:
Neutral Good A neutral good character does the best that a good person can do. He is devoted to helping others. He works with kings and magistrates but does not feel beholden to them. Neutral good is the best alignment you can be because it means doing what is good without bias for or against order. However, neutral good can be a dangerous alignment when it advances mediocrity by limiting the actions of the truly capable.

Race:
Elves are known for their poetry, song, and magical arts, but when danger threatens they show great skill with weapons and strategy. Elves can live to be over 700 years old and, by human standards, are slow to make friends and enemies, and even slower to forget them. Elves are slim and stand 4.5 to 5.5 feet tall. They have no facial or body hair, prefer comfortable clothes, and possess unearthly grace. Many others races find them hauntingly beautiful.

Class:
Bards often serve as negotiators, messengers, scouts, and spies. They love to accompany heroes (and villains) to witness heroic (or villainous) deeds firsthand, since a bard who can tell a story from personal experience earns renown among his fellows. A bard casts arcane spells without any advance preparation, much like a sorcerer. Bards also share some specialized skills with rogues, and their knowledge of item lore is nearly unmatched. A high Charisma score allows a bard to cast high-level spells.

Find out What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You Be?, courtesy of Easydamus (e-mail)

On the other hand giving him the personality of a singer at a 3rd-rate resort lounge might be kind of fun…

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The Rotating Labyrinth

This is genius: a circles within circles interpretation on the “rotating dungeon,” and the rotating portions of the map can be moved by the GM. My compliments to the creators. Da Vinci would be proud.

Mind Weave Role-Playing Platform

Update: An improved PDF with new art is available for free at DriveThruRPG.

This is the proudest dungeon I’ve ever built, and now that I’ve run it for everyone I run games for lately, it’s finally safe to post.

She might not look like much, but that’s partly that its an old sheet of paper glued to old cardboard and partly that its too big to scan all at once and my photoshop isn’t the best. All the same, please consider what I’m presenting here. There are seven rotating circles in this maze, and they overlap.

The biggest circle is the one that gets the player’s attention, but doesn’t cause a whole lot of confusion. The confusion comes from the circles that can break apart and leave pieces of themselves scattered across the maze. There’s nothing quite so bothersome as finding something you’ve seen before completely surrounded by things…

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Virtual world, virtual murder

Aside from being weird in itself, the idea of hiring assassins to kill someone’s online character is just full of wonderful possibilities for stories:

According to reports, a man in China became so exasperated by the amount of time that his unemployed son was spending playing World of Warcraft that he decided to do something about it. It seems that the lad had quit a software development job after just three months, and was doing nothing to find another one.

Showing, perhaps, a rather limited understanding of how these things work, Mr Feng hoped that killing the 23-year-old’s character off repeatedly would put him off playing altogether – and hired virtual assassins to do just that.

According to the Sanqing Daily, he managed to find killers who were at a much higher level than his son – despite all his hours of game play.

In fact, I’d swear there was a Japanese anime series on a similar idea.

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A welcome return

Saw something welcome in my feed reader this morning: a new post at Blood of Prokopius, my favorite role-playing game blog. The proprietor, Father Dave, for whatever reason took much of the summer off, but now he’s back with one of his “Saintly Saturday” posts, this time on the “26 Monk-Martyrs of Zographou Monastery”. Naturally, there’s a tie-in to gaming and a very cool monster to harry your player-characters with.

Welcome back, Dave. 🙂

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The Gong Farmer: A Career for WFRP 1, 2, and 3

My friend Graeme wrote up a new career for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, my favorite fantasy RPG. It’s not official, but it’s definitely a career I’d want to play. I mean, a career in which becoming a beggar is considered a step up? Love it.

Graeme Davis

I was recently at an SCA event, where I heard the medieval term “gong farmer” used to describe those valiant and unsung heroes who empty and maintain the Portajohns (known within the SCA as “Portacastles”). Through some wierd mental process, this got me thinking about gong farmer as a WFRP career. In many ways it’s tailor-made for the grubby and malodorous Old World setting.

What follows is a mental doodle as much as anything, but I also wanted to see how easy it would be to create a career for all three editions of WFRP: from the ground up, rather than simply adapting from one edition to another. I wrote it for my own amusement and not for GW or Fantasy Flight, so it’s not to be regarded as in any way official. Even so, I hope WFRP fans out there find it useful, or at least interesting.

The Gong…

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Here’s something to spawn nightmares

A 16th century mechanical monk:

From the description at Retronaut, where you can see more pictures:

An automaton of a monk, 15 inches in height. Driven by a key-wound spring, the monk walks in a square, striking his chest with his right arm, raising and lowering a small wooden cross and rosary in his left hand, turning and nodding his head, rolling his eyes, and mouthing silent obsequies. From time to time, he brings the cross to his lips and kisses it. After over 400 years, he remains in good working order. Tradition attributes his manufacture to the mechanician to Emperor Charles V. The story is told that the emperor’s son King Philip II, praying at the bedside of a dying son of his own, promised a miracle for a miracle, if his child be spared. And when the child did indeed recover, Philip kept his bargain by having hismechanician construct a miniature penitent homunculus.”

I can imagine so many freakish, frightening, nigh blasphemous scenarios and stories involving “Brother Tock.” Make him life-size and he’s the hideous “secret priest” in the haunted cathedral. Or he’s still miniature, a powerful counselor behind the throne, literally at the monarch’s ear — advising him of who knows what? Is he a machine come to life, the product of Da Vinci-ian weird science? Possessed by a demon? Or is he a holy relic, powered by a bit of the heart of a saint and guarding against some unspeakable evil?

Even if so, he creeps me out. And I love it.

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Book review: Andre Norton’s “Star Born”

Having read way-too-much politics and history lately, I needed a break and felt the urge for some classic science fiction. Andre Norton’s “The Star Born” fit the bill nicely.

Norton’s story begins as the tale of Dalgarth, a human teen on his coming-of-age trip with his “merman” (think large, humanoid otter) friend Ssuri. Humans are not native to this world, having come here centuries before after escaping a tyrannical government on Earth. Lacking what they needed to maintain their civilization, the “colonists” have retrogressed to a roughly Iron Age technology, but they do recall where they came from and why. On their new world, “Astra,” they made friends with the mermen, who communicate largely through telepathy. And, over the course of generations, humans began to develop similar abilities.

Problems arise for Dalgarth from two sources: first, he and Ssuri discover that the cruel “Those Others,” the former humanoid masters of Astra who destroyed their civilization in a global war and who genetically engineered the mermen and other races and used them for sport, have recovered on another continent and come to Dalgarth’s to reclaim their ancient and deadly technology. As Ssuri tells him, this could mean death for everyone else, including the humans.

The other problem comes from the arrival of a ship from Earth. The oppressive government was overthrown over a century before, but the war to do it was so devastating that Earth is only now recovered and re-entering space. The focus character here is the pilot, Raf Kurbi, who becomes our second main character.

The story lies not only in the defeat of “Those Others,” but also in the realization on both Dalgarth and Raf’s part that the humans of Astra and their cousins from Terra are no longer really the same people, that they are along different paths of development, and need to let time pass before they are again ready to meet.

I enjoyed this book, which I would rate for teens and young adults. The tech is by no means up-to-date (It was written in the early-mid 50s), but the themes are evergreen: exploration, friendship, and choices that have consequences. For gamers, Norton’s “Astra” makes a nice change from the standard pseudo-medieval worlds common in fantasy roleplaying games and is closer to the hobby’s actual literary roots.

Recommended as a pleasant diversion.

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What about those others who were resurrected?

Luca Signorelli, "Resurrection of the Flesh" (1499-1502)

Happy Easter, folks!

As most know, this is a day when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. But, while traveling about the Web this morning, I ran across something I don’t recall ever hearing before in all my years of  being raised Catholic, attending catechism, or going to Catholic schools.

According to the Gospel of Matthew, others rose from the dead, too:

50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.

51 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split,

52 and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;

53 and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

And, as far as I know (I’m not religious, nor am I a scholar), that’s the last these “awakened saints” are ever mentioned. In fact, Matthew seems to be the only place in the New Testament that they appear.

That’s kind of a significant event, don’t you think? Who were these people, and what happened to them? Did they go back to their tombs? Did they live among men? Wander off to strange lands? Do they still live among us?

My apologies to anyone devout who might be offended by this speculation, but there’s some wonderful material for fiction and roleplaying games in this. Hidden saints. Do they have a mission? Are they waiting for something? Are they behind odd events that have happened in the last 2,000 years? And why is one contacting the player-characters, now?

Marvelous food for thought.

From Greyhawk Grognard

Related: Creepy Easter Bunnies.

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Geek victory

I really scored this weekend.

No, not like that! 😦 Get your minds out of the gutter!

This is almost as good, though(1). I managed to win the auction for a 1st-edition boxed set of Chaosium’s Stormbringer roleplaying game:

The game is based on the novels of Michael Moorcock, which are set in his “Million Spheres” multi-verse and which chronicle the adventures of Elric, last Emperor of Melniboné (which he destroys), as he travels around the world — which he destroys. (Really, if you ever meet Elric on the road, run.) The game’s title is the name of his soul-sucking demonic sword, which eventually destroys Elric.

Sounds like fun, no? 😀

I’ve always been a fan of Chaosium‘s (2) games (you can see the cover of my favorite, Call of Cthulhu, in the sidebar), and Stormbringer is no exception. The magic system is, for me, what makes it special, being based on the summoning and binding of demons, which, being creatures of Chaos, have an infinite and entertaining variety. Later editions included a “design-a-demon” system, so would-be planet-conquering sorcerers could “roll their own” and save the GM some work.

Sadly, while I own several editions of the game, I’ve never gotten to play; it’s a niche within the roleplaying game hobby, and I suspect those interested are few and far between.

But, back to the big purchase, I was happily surprised at what good shape it was in (as if new off the shelf) and that it was complete — even the original dice, it seems. It also included the first supplement, the Stormbringer Companion. I assume this was a bonus; I don’t think the boxed set ever included it.

Regardless, this is one of the better purchases I’ve made in a while, and I’m looking forward to reading it.

(1) Okay, not even close. But, what can I say? I’m a geek at heart. 🙂

(2) Sad to say, the company is a shadow of its former self.

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Nazi telepathic dogs!

Okay, I knew the Nazis were into all sorts of pseudoscience in pursuit of their crazy theories (and just to keep Schiklgruber happy) , but setting up a research institute to teach them to speak (real words, not “arf!”), read, and even read minds?

Science!

The dog school was called the Tier-Sprechschule ASRA and was based near Hanover. Led by headmistress Margarethe Schmitt, it was set up in the 1930s and continued throughout the war years.

Rolf, an Airedale terrier, reportedly ‘spoke’ by tapping his paw against a board, each letter of the alphabet being represented by a certain number of taps. He was said to have speculated about religion, learnt foreign languages, written poetry and asked a visiting noblewoman: ‘Could you wag your tail?’

The patriotic dog even expressed a wish to join the army – because he disliked the French.

A Dachshund named Kurwenal was said to speak using a different number of barks for each letter, and told his biographer he would be voting for Hindenburg.

And a German pointer named Don imitated a human voice to bark: ‘Hungry! Give me cakes.’

Dr Bondeson, whose book Amazing Dogs: A Cabinet Of Canine Curiosities is out now, said: ‘It is absolutely extraordinary stuff.

‘There were some very strange experiments going on in wartime Germany, with regard to dog-human communication.’

That last, I think, qualifies as an understatement.

Of course, it would explain that air of dictatorial authority our dogs exhibited whenever they wanted a cookie. Hmmm…

And while this is yet another example of a what a bunch of fruitcakes the Nazis were*, it’s also marvelous material for a “weird alternate history” roleplaying game. Not that I’ve ever considered such a thing…

Click through for more Nazi weirdness.

*Albeit, armed, sociopathic, and extremely dangerous fruitcakes.

h/t Moe Lane

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If you love me, you’ll buy me one

What every veteran gamemaster needs: the ultimate gaming table. Presenting — the Sultan!

(Come on, pweeezze!! I’ll be your best buddy!)

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Madness has its price

In this case, it’s the $162.50 that some fool collector paid for Gary Gygax’s used cigar box:

I hope the winner got one of these with his prize:

Earlier.

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eBay proves that Barnum was right

There’s one born every minute. I mean, who else but a sucker collector would bid over $150 for Gary Gygax‘s cigar box?

His empty cigar box.

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Born under a lame star

What's your sign, baby?

 

Great. By the reckoning of the gamer zodiac, I was born under the sign of the… drum roll… Flail Snail!!

You’re no fool, and even the strongest personality in unlikely to get you out of your shell. Resilient and resistant, you are willing to try the same thing many times until you get them right. You despise inactivity, and are always in motion. You are hopelessly enamored with Ettins,
but Gelatinous Cubes will never let you down.

I know, you’re jealous. The only thing cooler than the Flail Snail is the Flumph.

*grumble…*

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I’m still a game-o-holic

That must be the explanation. Otherwise, why would I have bought a copy of the new, revised Swords and Wizardry, when, if I do ever run a class-and-level FRPG, it’s likely to be with Labyrinth Lord or the Cyclopedia version of D&D? And, beyond that, if I ever run an FRPG again at all, it will most likely be with Chaosium’s BRP rules?

Because… Because it was new and shiny, and I was curious and… and… and…

Because my name is Anthony, and I am a game-o-holic. I weep.

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History makes for the best adventures

One reason I loved the original Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay was its use of Renaissance Europe as a model for its setting, rather than the standard faux-medievalism of so many game settings. It was a time when guns and knights mingled on the battlefield, scientists could also be sorcerers, and the clothes were both outrageous and  gorgeous. The medieval world hadn’t quite vanished, yet the modern world hadn’t quite won. An age of exploration and intellectual and social ferment, the Renaissance is a great setting for roleplaying games.

Besides, how can you not like a story that combines, murder, infidelity, royal revenge, rage over rival theories of the solar system, mutilation, and psychic dwarf jesters all in one?

It’s “Amadeus” meets “Da Vinci Code” meets “Hamlet,” featuring a deadly struggle for the secret of the universe between Tycho, the swashbuckling Danish nobleman with a gold-and-silver prosthetic nose, and the not-yet-famous Johannes Kepler, his frail, jealous German assistant. The story also includes an international hit man, hired after a Danish prince becomes king and suspects Brahe of sleeping with his mother (and maybe being his father!).

For comic relief, there’s a beer-drinking pet elk wandering around Tycho’s castle, as well as a jester named Jepp, a dwarf who sits under Tycho’s table and is believed to be clairvoyant.

(…)

Tycho wins renown by identifying new stars, including a supernova, but after his royal patron dies, Tycho finds himself out of favor with the son and successor, Christian IV. Tycho goes to Prague and a new patron, Rudolf II, the Holy Roman Emperor. As he prepares to publish his decades of celestial observations, Tycho hopes to prove that all the planets except Earth revolve around the Sun, which in turn revolves around the Earth.

To help with the calculations, he brings in Kepler, a 28-year-old with his own weird model of the universe. Kepler, a devout Lutheran as well as a Copernican, believes that God created cosmic “harmony” by arranging the planets’ orbits around the Sun so that they’re spaced at distances corresponding to certain geometrical figures (the five “Platonic solids”). Tycho introduces Kepler to the emperor and lobbies for his appointment as imperial mathematician. But before Kepler’s appointment is formalized, Tycho suddenly becomes terribly ill after a banquet and dies 11 days later, at the age of 54.

What killed him?

And in that one question lies the seed of a fantastic WFRP adventure.

Do read the whole thing. It’s wonderful

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For small dungeon inspiration

The Tomb of Arnulf the Bloody

 

Back when Dungeons and Dragons* was my main fantasy roleplaying game, I grew bored with one of the staples of the genre, the big or “mega-” dungeon. Too many questions arose that hindered my willing suspension of disbelief. And so my game tastes wandered off in other directions, many toward the political and conspiratorial, and away from exploring the “dark below.” Dungeons, when used, became smaller and more believable: a short series of rooms under a castle, the tomb of  a forgotten king, or the crude lair of some goblins carved out of a hillside, for example.

But, while reading James’ posts at Grognardia has rekindled my interests in megadungeons a bit, my preference is still for the smaller “lair” types. Thus it was, to my delight, that James recently posted a link to a fascinating site, the Nottingham Caves Survey, which is systematically mapping the sandstone tunnels and caves, both natural and worked by Man, under that British city. Here’s a sample video of one, “Mortimer’s Hole:”

It has an interesting history, too, for fans of English kings, playing a crucial role in the life of Edward III.

Neat stuff! This site is a gold mine of resources for gamemasters looking for a bit of inspiration for smaller dungeons.

*(Can you believe, in all the years I ran that game, over two long campaigns, I never –never!– threw a dragon at the characters? D’oh!)

UPDATE: I forgot to mention that the map above was created by the very handy Random Dungeon Generator.

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Reading update

I changed the “What I’m reading” widget in the sidebar; I was distracted from Howard’s “Conan” by the arrival of a collection of the best stories of Clark Ashton Smith, “The Return of the Sorcerer.”

I’m enjoying it, but not as much as I had expected. While the stories are entertaining and the imagery vivid, Smith’s florid, purple prose doesn’t wear well with me. I regularly find myself thinking “Oh, get on with it, will you?”

And that’s odd, because I love the stories of H.P. Lovecraft, who also employed pretentious, magniloquent prose and greatly admired Smith. But, thinking about it, Lovecraft was my introduction to this genre of Pulp weird fiction in my teen years, so he’s always held a special place for me in my “literary heart.” Smith, on the other, hand, I’ve only just started seriously reading, so I have less patience with his endless exploration of his thesaurus.

Still, as my friend James Maliszewski has often remarked, Smith was also a source of wonderful ideas for roleplaying games. This much is undoubtedly true, based on what I’ve read so far. Should I ever run a game again, Smith may be a large influence.

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