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Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Scott Christian" data-source="post: 9819281" data-attributes="member: 6901101">I realize and acknowledge Moorcock's contributions to the sword and sorcery literature genre. But TTRPGs are not novels, as many on here are so aptly to point out. They are games. And games are influenced just as much, if not more, by cinema and pop-culture. I have only read one Manga in my life, yet I can explain a few defining elements of the genre based on Animes I have seen (of which is very little). The point is, the genre does not sit inside novels. It sits inside people's heads, and my guess is many more people saw the Conan movie than read Howard's novels.Which brings us to Conan the Barbarian vs Conan the Destroyer. Much of sword and sorcery's defining elements come from the fact that it is a warrior facing, not world ending antagonists, but more local and focused antagonists. It also rarely uses a comic relief character. And, of course, the protagonists often fail. Conan the Barbarian had all of that. Conan the Destroyer went against all of it - which is why it has a completely different tone and mood.That is why I said Conan the Barbarian is the definition of the genre. More than Howard's books. Certainly more than Elric. He is the definition, for good or bad. He literally was an outcast, sought revenge, failed, and then succeeded after great personal loss. That is sword and sorcery. And the magic was subtle and mysterious, not overly explained:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The witch needing his seed; turning into a ball of fire and flying away</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Thulsa Doom's shapechanging ability; his ability to hypnotize and cast control person</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Mako's ritual to bring Conan back from the dead</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Valeria's paladin amulet that brought her ghost back to protect Conan from a killing blow (again he lost the fight without help)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Even Conan's famous prayer to Crom making the audience guess whether it was divinity that brought Valeria back or her love</li> </ul>In my original post, I stated one of the things the blurb or rule-changes needed to do was:But there more to it than that.</blockquote>

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