Howdy Grant
Manzanita said:
Hi. Gary - it's so nice of you to take your valuable time to answer all these geeky questions. I have to ask a couple too, if only to see the 'Howdy Grant' response from The Man.
Heh, and the salutation gets that out of the way, eh?
As for answering "geeky questions," I suppose, but my doing that means I am an even bigger geek than those posing them. Fact is that I am a gamer from crown to sole, and I enjoy most things about gaming, so this is fun for me.
I recently reread J.D. Salinger's short story The Laughing Man, which features a dwarf named 'Omba.' I couldn't help noticing the similarity to your dwarf Ombi in G3 and The Gord the Rogue series. Coincidence?
Sheer coincidence indeed, as I missed the Salinger short story you note. Back when I first introduced the villainous dwarf I had a reason for naming him "Pbmi," but darned if I can recall that now, a quarter-century later. I do recall with considerable enjoyment the players' ire at not being able to do for him with their PCs, though. They disliked him so much that I just had to keep bringing him back.
Also, I've enjoyed your numerous modules immensely. There is one, The Keep on the Borderlands, that I've had the urge to DM lately, as it's for 1st level PCs, but I've been struggling with its premise. It just seems a little strange to have all those different monster groups living in such close proximity in those caves. It just doesn't have quite the epic sense of so many of your others. I have such good memories of playing it as a kid, I just wonder if it still makes sense to you as written.
Thanks
Grant
The B2 module was written to introduce newbies to the wonders of D&D adventuring. It is not "ecologically correct," but it is fun and entertaining, packed full of new and different challenges. Just between you and me, it makes as much sense as most things in the D&D game such as massive flying dragons that breathe various deadly things. Those who swallow the camel of the entire concept, then strain at gnats of particular monster or situation seem to be be losing much of the basis for playing. However, that sort of thing happens as one becomes familiar with the fanciful and begin to qualify the experience by comparison to reality. As you note, modules for more experienced players have more rationalization for setting and encounters.
The short answer is, if you enjoy DMing the KEEP ON THE BORDERLANDS, then why not use it? If the players question anything, make up something on the spot to answer the challenge
Cheers,
Gary