Dreadmire - Necromancer Involvement? Reviews?

[DragonBelow]

funny

It's kind of funny, i saw this book's ad in the last Dragon (or dungeon, don't remember) and thought it looked interesting. After doing some research and found out the book was a couple of years old (actually than more it seems), I dismissed it as someone's attempt to get rid of their back stock

The wonders of marketing and advertising...

 

[BluSponge]

Because of the author's checkered past you have to understand there are plenty of people that are very biased towards him. So in my view with have people on both s sides of this and none come off very trustworthy.

I'll admit I have a bias against the man. Plagarism is serious business in my world (as a writer and graphic artist), and I don't especially like seeing friends of mine having their work stolen from them. They aren't making any money off of it, so their name is all they have to show for their efforts. I've seen people expelled from Universities for the same plagirism I've witnessed from Randy Richards.

You may also choose to believe that there is some sinister cabal of us lurking out here with nothing better to do than spout untruths about a man few of us have ever met. Could be we're the same bunch that tried to frame OJ -- we're just setting our sites lower this time. :\

You don't have to trust me if you don't want. I don't really have a dog in this hunt. Randy's success or failure as a writer means nothing to me beyond the fact (yes, the fact) that he has historically showed a tendency to play fast and loose with the truth and often forgets to credit the original writers of "his material." (This includes TSR/WotC from 1997-98, which earned him a somewhat public repremand on TSR's AOL boards.) I have no reason to believe Dreadmire is not his own work. Certainly its been in the public enough to be vetted. The man's character speaks for itself. Having been there for much of it firsthand, including a whole variety of things it does no good to revisit here, all I can say is I will never buy a product with the man's name on it, nor will I support a company who does business with him. What you do with your money is up to you.

Those of you who are interested in the whole sordid story don't have to dig very deep to find it.

Tom

 

[Crothian]

You may also choose to believe that there is some sinister cabal of us lurking out here with nothing better to do than spout untruths about a man few of us have ever met. Could be we're the same bunch that tried to frame OJ -- we're just setting our sites lower this time. :\

I have no doubt the guy did wrong but statements like this don't help.

 

[BluSponge]

Neither do statements like this:

So in my view with have people on both s sides of this and none come off very trustworthy.

 

[DM_Jeff]

OK, well, so I really can't beleive I brought this up here, on boards I respect. I had actually repressed my own memories surrounding the subject or the strong opinions of folks regarding this very unpleasant yet tiny black mark on our hobby history.

Again, thanks everyone for steering me in the right direction and providing insight. It IS elsewhere rotting up message boards all over the googleverse and I wouldn't want to sour these fine boards with its ilk. Thanks again!

-DM Jeff

 

[Voadam]

How strange, I just saw the link to this for RPGNow and considered purchasing it. I've been running the Mere of Dead Men series for the past five months and wanted more material. However, Bayou halfling boat races? Is this book really something I'd want in my campaign?

Does anyone have other suggestions for swamp material? I already have Monster Geographica: Marsh & Aquatic.

Tabletop Adventures' Into the Swamp pdf. Lots of Boxed Text descriptions for various swamp scenes. I have their Into the Wildwood and other ones but not the swamp one yet. I like the Wildwood one a bunch and have used it in my game.

There was also a Katrina charity pdf with all sorts of fantasy bayou stuff. I forget who did it.

The 2e Ravenloft module Night of the Walking Dead is a great swamp adventure Here is the link to Wizard's free download for it http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/downloads

 

[Crothian]

Neither do statements like this:

How so? Don't you want to know if you are coming off in a similar way to the people you are talking bad about? There seem to be a lot of people passionate about this and it was one of the reasons I asked people not to go into it. If you ignore someone request like that with out even acknowledging it it doesn't look good.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Sure they do.

If both sides to an argument are coming off as overly negative they should be told. Also, I had asked up thread that people not bring it up and was ignored.

Normally, I agree with you, man. But I can't in this case.

RPGs don't pay well. They don't bring a lot of renown, outside of a very small circle.

As an RPG writer, all I really have is pride in my work. I'm fine if people are inspired by my work, but direct plagiarism? Nuh-uh.

If someone plagiarizes me, you can be damn sure I'm going to call them on it, loudly, in as many public forums as I can find. And anyone who would then condemn me for going public, well, that's someone whose respect I can do without.

Now, I have no personal dog in this particular hunt. I don't know Randy from Adam. But if he's been widely accused of plagiarism, that's something that people--the market and other writers and publishers--need to know. He's certainly welcome to defend himself. But these sorts of discussions have to happen (and, in the absence of any true authority beyond the market, they have to happen publicly.)

 

[Crothian]

If someone plagiarizes me, you can be damn sure I'm going to call them on it, loudly, in as many public forums as I can find. And anyone who would then condemn me for going public, well, that's someone whose respect I can do without.

I agree with that but as far as I know none of the people who have posted here are the ones who have been plagiarized. And there are good and bad ways to do it.

 

[Grimstaff]

I agree with that but as far as I know none of the people who have posted here are the ones who have been plagiarized. And there are good and bad ways to do it.

Sadly, if it was just the plagiarism, RR probably would have faded into the background long ago. As it is, he constantly stirs the pot, using numerous online "alter-egos", posts numerous fake "reviews" of his book, slanders/threatens/cajols the folks who call him out on it, sends direct e-mails to people participating in online discussions, tries to pit folks against each other for his amusement, and has traced credit card info from at least one of his paying customers that I know of. The guy needs help, plain and simple, and I sincerely hope he gets it, before his behavior spirals further into more shady/illegal/self destructive regions.

Did you read the minutes from CoastCon above? That's hardly a case of "untrustworthy" people slinging mud at Randy.

I respect you for sticking up for a guy you obviously perceive as the "underdog" here, but if you really want to help the guy, then get in touch with him and talk him into getting some counseling.