Who are Howard and Leiber?

[MerricB]

And I understood that you wanted your fantasy RPG based on current fantasy literature and not on some obscure, old tomes vanished with the winds of time.

Not true. I don't require D&D to be directly based on anything - although it should have resonances with current fiction and other creative endeavours, lest it become unapproachable.

Cheers!

 

[Akrasia]

Howard's OK, Lieber is great. Some of the yoots of today would be lost on his prose though, being dumbed down by the likes of Harry Potter and such. Yeah, I'm a snob.

Oh please. Howard's much better than Leiber. (Leiber is generally decent -- though his last novel was plain embarassing.) Leiber's the poor man's Howard.

Still, I'll take Leiber over most contemporary crap anyday (Feist? Ugh!). Gemmell's stuff is pretty solid, however. Very 'Howard-esque' IMO.

Anyway, nothing wrong with being a snob -- it's just what people who lack taste call those who have it.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

Sounds more like a letter to Penthouse.

Well, just in case you don't think I'm being serious, The Golden Ass, by Apuleius, is widely considered to be the oldest surviving novel.

It's also a pretty fun read.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...103-6855666-1528643?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

Well, OK, it does have some ... Penthouse-ish ... parts, but, still ...

 

[MerricB]

This is your only warning!

This thread is about the influence of fantasy fiction on D&D, past, present and future, and vice versa, not about comparisons between authors. Please keep that babble elsewhere.

 

[Akrasia]

This is your only warning!

This thread is about the influence of fantasy fiction on D&D, past, present and future, and vice versa, not about comparisons between authors. Please keep that babble elsewhere.

Okay, okay. Calm down already.

Howard, Tolkien and Vance should determine D&D above all else. The current stuff is largely rubbish -- and the great current stuff (e.g. Neil Gaiman, China Mielville, et al.) is too unlike standard D&D to be of any use.

 

[Aldarc]

Please don't tell me that Martin, LeGuin, and Donaldson make crap that is unsuited for D&D.

 

[Turjan]

This is your only warning!

This thread is about the influence of fantasy fiction on D&D, past, present and future, and vice versa, not about comparisons between authors. Please keep that babble elsewhere.

Has someone spread caltrops under your bedsheet?

From your examples in the first post, I had more the feeling that you want to defend the current D&D as already reflecting the current fantasy literature. Or why did you pick out counter-examples to common criticisms of 3E?

 

[Patman21967]

We cannot forget the great series like Thieves World, Earthsea, Narnia, Louise Coopers Time Master Trilogy, Black Company, Geez...I could go on and on...all have contributed, and all would benefit from reading these books.

Personally, the Pulp Fantasy aka Ebberon is not for me, or my group members who are all 35 or older, and grew up gaming together. We stick to FR, Glorantha, Pendragon, Greyhawk, Old World or Homebrews. Always have. My first gaming experience was in 1979 in a Empire of the Petal Throne game, being run at a local game store. From there it was all Judges Guild, since 2 of the guys were contributing authors to the old company. Also alot of DragonQuest, and mostly though D&D and RQII.

Be an good friend, and for XMas, buy the newbies you know some classic fantasy. Buy them the whole Elric saga, or Corum, or Hawkmoon. Buy them Earthsea, Hyboria, John Carter, hell even Burroughs. Buy them Donaldson, Cook, Cooper...but just do yourselves a favor, and never, ever...eeeeeevvvvveeeeerrrrrr buy anyone Dennis L. McKiernan. A direct plagarism if ever I saw one.


Pat

 

[mhacdebhandia]

Howard, Tolkien and Vance should determine D&D above all else.

I was with you until you continued past that comma.

I think restricting D&D - or any corpus of fantasy "work" - to imitation of someone else's style is ridiculous and destructive. Would Pratchett be a better author of fantasy if he'd never written anything except satires of Tolkien/D&D/Extruded Fantasy Product/crap like his first two Discworld novels?

Hell no. He's much better off for having developed in his own direction - and so is D&D.

So are we, for that matter.

 

[MerricB]

Has someone spread caltrops under your bedsheet?

From your examples in the first post, I had more the feeling that you want to defend the current D&D as already reflecting the current fantasy literature. Or why did you pick out counter-examples to common criticisms of 3E?

I am not interested in posts that say "Howard is crap." or "Feist is crap."

I am interested in posts that say "Howard has a strong influence on the adventuring/quest aspect of D&D and the structure of adventures" or the like.