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Post by geneweigel on Jul 29, 2020 23:28:57 GMT -5
I hear it. I'm so busy as hell. It looks like the moving is going to happen sooner rather than later. I think we're going to just rent something in Florida and then figure it out from there instead of just jumping right in to a deal. I'm looking at this stress as a positive as it is more likely to be more "me time" on the other side. Once they settle in, I think I might be able to to do a regular game in person and online, etc. I'm assuming that all game projects are going to be on hiatus for the next 6 months so this might be it for a while.
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Post by GRWelsh on Aug 21, 2020 14:11:53 GMT -5
So, Gene, were all of the elf variations something that grew out of your campaign? If so, how did your players interact with them? Are there are any stories to tell? I like the image of gnelves (giant elves) riding buttersteeds (giant butterflies).
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Post by geneweigel on Aug 23, 2020 23:16:52 GMT -5
It started with humanoids in the 80's, with the idea from the MONSTER MANUAL of half-orcs being so outbred that there would be variants that would not look human, goblin or hobgoblin and be something else. I recall making a list of all the combinations and some were just lame. I had dwarf-kobolds as the follow up to my early dwarf character shenanigans some very dwarf-like with reptilian iguana beards. Gnome, dwarf and halfling were fair game but the elves could not breed with orcs. That was the rule but then around 1988 or so I was reading a 19th century folklore analysis and it mentioned "elf-trolls" that just was the spark that set me on the road to the various "greater trolls", "elflings" and "goblings". A lot of the stuff in BROKEN CASTLE is subtle tributes to various horror, sci-fi and sword and sorcery stories and media. Like "The Blob", "Sorceress", "Seed from the Sepulchre" but a lot of it was out of gameplay of things from that era for instance the serpent ghouls were in a Howard/Lovecraft serpent man lair. (I had used lizard men as a placeholder for serpent men for most of the 80's).
As far as weird elf world touching into everything with the gnelves being present it was legend expands Tolkien's elf leaving and Dunsany's regular people meddle with weird places. The dogs, I had this picture of elf hunters from all the tales of travelling into the other world and them having great hunting packs and with elves being so crafty they would be excellent magical breeders.
The gnelves specifically when they first appeared were basically "good bugbears" riding giant butterflies to make them seem goodly then each time they turned into their own thing. By the time that I had the 2006 campaign there were already different types of gnelves but I had only used two. The buttersteed's and bauzard's were done from studying a lot of the natural world and comparative anatomy.
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Post by GRWelsh on Aug 24, 2020 7:02:14 GMT -5
I am always a fan of new humanoids and variations on them because essential to D&D is that sense of wonder. "What is that?" My gaming group always got that, and used the Monster Manual as something to adhere to yet not be limited by. I also like the non-Tolkien elves reaching back to Dunsany or older folklore for inspiration. I love Tolkien as much as anybody but his influence was too pervasive on the fantasy genre, since there is a distinct "before and after Tolkien" approach to elves and Faerie. Before Tolkien you weren't sure what you were going to get with elves since they were otherworldly and not well defined... They could be capricious, helpful, diminuative, undead, knights from a city under a hill, etc. Writers like Poul Anderson and Jack Vance, even though contemporary to Tolkien, weren't influenced by him and so you could see how they each did their own versions of elves and Faerie. It's nice to see you break the Arda mold, Gene!
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Post by geneweigel on Aug 24, 2020 15:48:45 GMT -5
I want to stay in Tolkien-sville or at least adjacent to it because its so well researched there is no way to avoid apart from delving into pure fiction. Aside from groupings and naming its almost spot on. Just walking down the paths of elf information from folklore resources you can see where the Middle Earth universe was defined. I look at it as all elf information is a reflection of real information in Middle Earth with certain things being a certain way.
In my campaign world, at the core, the main elves are a mirror of Tolkien-like and D&D-like elves.
The country to the north of the Swordlands off the maps, after the Forest of the Wudsking, is a mountain range "Sworden's Peaks". After passing over those is a very large forest realm and the commoners call it "Elfinland". This is the home of all western elves which reflect Tolkien to some degree (In addition there are different elf-like beings in other parts of the campaign world. The good manitou that I mentioned in the American troll blog post have elf-like parallels called "Wachks" which also have subtypes.) Past that are the lands of the Great Gamewood a continent size forest which are the setting of the myths of the deity/hero "Zog" with many place names with his name on it. Here and there are hidden elfin kingdoms within. Past that is a sea they call the "Frosty Brine" and directly north is the Land of Red Elves. That land is a Scandinavian type place and that has a very distinct set of good and evil elves one is non-traditional/pure fiction and started as a drow variant (That adventure involving an enclave of them is part of the large multi-part series that is on the backburner for now.)
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Post by GRWelsh on Aug 25, 2020 10:37:30 GMT -5
I agree that Tolkien is too ubiquitous in his influence of D&D to ignore at this point, since the elves, dwarves and halflings from Middle Earth are templates and part of D&D's "DNA" as character race options. So, when players have their elves named in faux Sindarin names, dwarves with Norse names -- yet Scottish accents -- and halflings named like they came right out of the Shire, I accept all of that with minimal eye-rolling since it is better than joke names (although sometimes they overlap: a friend of mine, Mark, had a gray elf in Scott's campaign named Sparkolfin Fabulein which he said roughly translated to "Sparkles Fabulous" in the common tongue). One thing I liked about the original MM is how EGG included "elves and fairies" from other traditions as well like sprites, pixies, brownies, dryads, nixies, etc. encouraging digging into folklore or other sources for inspiration.
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Post by geneweigel on Aug 25, 2020 17:27:20 GMT -5
I think half the stuff that I generate is using the Tolkien formula of finding a myth or legend then processing it. However, I'm so into S&S as a universe in itself that I try to humor it's classic contributors like Leiber, Vance and Howard first and foremost. That aside some things are from just plain old brain fantasizing with an imagined Gary Gygax as the audience.
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Post by geneweigel on Oct 31, 2020 13:07:27 GMT -5
It seems like there is a 3rd wave of interest in Europe. I'm expecting to go to Germany in the next year or so, so, I might make a stop in somewhere. Hunt down Rob?
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Post by grodog on Nov 12, 2020 23:15:29 GMT -5
Corsica isn’t that big that you couldn’t find him Allan.
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Post by geneweigel on Nov 13, 2020 11:03:31 GMT -5
Strangely, the Deutschland thing is picking up again. Corsica, you say? That's where he is at? You think he is taking the Napoleonics a little too far?
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Post by geneweigel on May 28, 2021 10:14:51 GMT -5
The PDF I can't reasonably expect for June so hypothetically July premiere.
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Post by grodog on May 31, 2021 12:39:08 GMT -5
We'll be debuting copies at NTX next week! =)
Allan.
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Post by geneweigel on May 31, 2021 17:46:29 GMT -5
We'll be debuting copies at NTX next week! =) Allan. Wish I could go but I'm up to my neck in red tape.
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Post by GRWelsh on Dec 18, 2022 10:19:30 GMT -5
Gene -- Since self-publishing, what have you learned? Is there anything you'd do differently in regards to formatting, editing, marketing, etc.? Would you still use Amazon print on demand, or a different medium? Do you ever regret self-publishing and wish you had done traditional publishing?
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Post by geneweigel on Dec 18, 2022 12:25:22 GMT -5
Its no sweat its averaging 3 or 4 purchases a month (Which I get $20 a piece from) which is larger a number than I thought. I think this is the way but I'm back logged for time which dead stopped all the blog output. Which stinks. . Amazon is reaching the international audience which is half my sales.
You have to buy the isbn or go through them I think it was $100 then its just a matter of uploading it.
I can't seem to get more time for website stuff. I just restructured my office to try to make it more come and go for the output. Its better but the Christmas panic is killer.
I think that I would have released a smaller book like just an adventure size because its too big. The ideal item I was reading is like $10 for crazy sales. If I had known that...
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Post by GRWelsh on Mar 26, 2023 18:02:12 GMT -5
I just wanted to point out that Allan did have BROKEN CASTLE prominently displayed among the products at the Black Blade Publishing vendor booth at GARY CON XV!
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Post by geneweigel on Mar 26, 2023 19:09:24 GMT -5
Well that is cool! My Facebook account is getting a lot of attention. I feel like I've been talking on there way too much.
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