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<blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 6064182" data-attributes="member: 42582">Yep! I think the relationship of classic D&amp;D to LotR, Arthurian romance etc is a bit more ambivalent.I agree that Conan, as a protagonist, is not quite a transparent window. When I read Conan (which is really the only pulp I know - a bit of HPL also) the personality of Conan (and, I'm guessing, at least aspects of REH's personality) come through.I actually used one of the opening passages from Queen of the Black Coast in a seminar the other day (the bit where Conan explains how &quot;upon seeing that they were all mad&quot; he drew his sword and killed the judge), to illustrate a point about the cultural groundedness of bureaucratic legal systems. So I agree that the critque of civilisation comes through (at least in the better stories).Agreed. I think that's why my game hews pretty close to classic fantasy tropes and the themes that those support (honour, loyalty, vengeance, mercy, justice, injustice etc).I just got the 20th anniversary edition of Over the Edge, and while it's an interesting system that (on paper, at least) lives up to the hype, I think it would be more challenging - the material is less romantic and more modern/ironic/&quot;real&quot;, and possible responses and interpretations could be more varies and contentious!I've known all the members of my group for a long time (15 years+) and knew most of them as friends before RPGing with them. So there aren't so many surprises in our responses. I think that makes coordination easier.For my current (4e) game, I gave two directions: (i) your PC must have a reason to be ready to fight goblins; (ii) your PC must have a loyalty to someone/something coming out of his/her background. For most of the PCs, one or the other of these elements has ended up being the main thematic starting point, on which other things have developed through play.I can imagine that for a group who weren't so close knit, more prep/co-ordination might be required.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="pemerton, post: 6064182, member: 42582"] Yep! I think the relationship of classic D&D to LotR, Arthurian romance etc is a bit more ambivalent. I agree that Conan, as a protagonist, is not quite a transparent window. When I read Conan (which is really the only pulp I know - a bit of HPL also) the personality of Conan (and, I'm guessing, at least aspects of REH's personality) come through. I actually used one of the opening passages from Queen of the Black Coast in a seminar the other day (the bit where Conan explains how "upon seeing that they were all mad" he drew his sword and killed the judge), to illustrate a point about the cultural groundedness of bureaucratic legal systems. So I agree that the critque of civilisation comes through (at least in the better stories). Agreed. I think that's why my game hews pretty close to classic fantasy tropes and the themes that those support (honour, loyalty, vengeance, mercy, justice, injustice etc). I just got the 20th anniversary edition of Over the Edge, and while it's an interesting system that (on paper, at least) lives up to the hype, I think it would be more challenging - the material is less romantic and more modern/ironic/"real", and possible responses and interpretations could be more varies and contentious! I've known all the members of my group for a long time (15 years+) and knew most of them as friends before RPGing with them. So there aren't so many surprises in our responses. I think that makes coordination easier. For my current (4e) game, I gave two directions: (i) your PC must have a reason to be ready to fight goblins; (ii) your PC must have a loyalty to someone/something coming out of his/her background. For most of the PCs, one or the other of these elements has ended up being the main thematic starting point, on which other things have developed through play. I can imagine that for a group who weren't so close knit, more prep/co-ordination might be required. [/QUOTE]

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