Temple of the Frog

[Khazan]

Best served with generous portions of Clark Ashton Smith and Erol Otus.

oh yeh... my brother and i used to LOL (before we knew that we were LOLing, of course...) at the crazy illustrations of Mr. Otus.

he liked tentacles, didn't he?

 

[jdrakeh]

Give an example.

There are several examples that I can think of right off the top of my head.

There's the 'living statue' oracle that the religious pilgrims worship in Eyes of the Overworld (it is later revealed that there is an intercom speaker wired into the statue's head and that the operator is running an elaborate con).

The city of Ampridatvir in The Dying Earth is described explicitly as having conveyor belts and other obvious mechanical contrivances. Likewise, in The Dying Earth, Ulan Dhor utilizes what is clearly described as a flying automobile on his way to retrieve artifacts from Ampridatvir.

Then, again in The Dying Earth, Guyal of Sfere seeks out the Museum of Man and asks questions of the Curator, clearly described a giant super computer (complete with tape reels and blinking lights).

I'm not saying you're wrong, but I'm wondering how you can be sure it's technology and not magic.

Because I've read the books. Technology is described as technology and magic as magic in most of Vance's fiction, including The Dying Earth. There's not a lot of ambiguity about it. If he meant the elements that I mention to be interpreted by the reader as magical, then they would have been described as magical in nature (like the spells, rings of invisibility, or other overtly magical elements that show up in The Dying Earth books). They weren't.

For other examples of Vance's fiction that heavily borrow from both fantasy and sci-fi, see the Alastor Cluster trilogy, The Last Castle, The Blue World, and Maske: Thaery. All of these books contain elements of overt technology and magic, each described appropriately. In fact, I'd say that most of Vance's fiction is Sci-Fantasy, not solely Fantasy or Science Fiction.

 

[Shemeska]

N/M totally off topic

 

[haakon1]

Even when players noticed certain maps didn't match up with the over all shapes of the GH map I just said, "Hmmmm, I wonder why that would be?"

Then I would get the lame unimaginative response of, "TSR did the maps wrong."

Then I would say, "Or, more likely, someone in Blackmoor doesn't want accurate maps outside of Blackmoor."

Which actually came up in play when I ran City of the Gods.

Excellent, sire.

For me, the City of the Gods is a very hard to find place where "the barriers between realities are thin". There, if you can find it in a blinding whiteout, you can stumble across into Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, which is the City of the Gods.

Also, the weird gate in the basement of the Comeback Inn sounds enough like the Stargates in Stargate SG-1 that I've decided it is one . . . that explains the Comeback Inn's collection of exotic headgear, which really did need a clever explanation, didn't it?

I never actually used either idea "on screen", but the Stargate idea is known to one now-retired PC, who met a Stargate Marine and helped him return home. As a result of the Marine selling some items to a magic shop for provisions, a few items from the modern world are floating around as "magic items", including night vision goggles that the party has bought. The retired PC has an FN Five-seveN pistol as a gift for his troubles . . .

 

[Asmor]

'Midichlorians' are a noteworthy exception, Lucas gets it wrong here. It's far too contemporary and technical a word.

I'd have to disagree there. I don't see anything necessarily contemporary or technical in that word. The only thing I can think of which it reminds me of is chlorine, and I don't think that was intentional.

Of course, that's just the word itself; the concept it represents (single-cell life forms living in your blood) is absolutely in keeping with your point that it violates Star Wars's otherwise "unexplained" sci-fi.

 

[Rel]

Of course, that's just the word itself; the concept it represents (single-cell life forms living in your blood) is absolutely in keeping with your point that it violates Star Wars's otherwise "unexplained" sci-fi.

Yeah. I wouldn't go so far as to say that it violates canon but Old Ben explained the Force to Luke as a mystical force that "binds the universe together". He didn't breathe a word about the science of it all.

 

[Treebore]

I think Midichlorians are an idea spun off of Mitochondria.

Definitely analogous of each other.

Biology4Kids.com: Cell Structure: Mitochondria

 

[darjr]

I to really like Sci-Fantasy.

In differing degrees as well.

I want to run a Traveller game, just after the big war with father, a generation after the giant war machines have crawled to a stop. Call it post apoc if you'd like, but I'd run it all much like the Dying earth, with strange alien tech being the 'magic' and more primitive type tech being the 'high tech'.

 

[The Shaman]

I want to run a Traveller game, just after the big war with father, a generation after the giant war machines have crawled to a stop. Call it post apoc if you'd like, but I'd run it all much like the Dying earth, with strange alien tech being the 'magic' and more primitive type tech being the 'high tech'.

I'd play in that game.

 

[jdrakeh]

I'd play in that game.

Seconded. In fact, Traveller would be perfect for such a game.