Help offset server costs by donating. This is totally optional. Any overages will go to library fines or new books.
NeilNjae
About
- Username
- NeilNjae
- Joined
- Visits
- 1,880
- Last Active
- Roles
- Member
Comments
-
(Quote) Lots of settings out there I've not had a chance to game in! Thanks for the list. It seems I'm more focussed on the story-games end of things.
-
(Quote) My mistake! It read like a review of the GoO book you reviewed. (Quote) A lot of the innovation in games now seems to be around small, focussed games that deliver a particular experience. Not necessarily mundane, but definitely in the story…
-
This review of the GoG Tékumel book turned up on rpgnet today. It's a bit wall-of-text from a fan, but interesting nevertheless.
-
One other thing I forgot to mention. The argument between Essun and Alabaster about teaching (or lack thereof). Is this an instance of the shift in power and dominance between them? Is that even something we should be concerned with?
-
I had a brief-but-intense fling with Tékumel around the time this game came out. I even ran a short game, The Annex for the Elucidation of Eternal Splendours that involved a bunch of minor civil servants suddenly coming into possession of a Pot Sher…
-
What Richard said. Times are strange and hard. Priorities change.
-
(Quote) I agree with that. There can be firm and decisive leadership that's still subject to oversight and being held to account. In the book, how are leaders chosen? Sanzed uses hereditary Leadership castes. In Castrima, Ykka is in charge because …
-
(Quote) I've not heard that term, but it may relate to the Marxist idea of "false consciousness", where the oppressed proletariat have a false idea about their oppression, and so reject Marxists' attempts to overthrow the economic order an…
-
(Quote) Don't worry about it. In some ways, it's our own Season. That means look to survival first. But I'm glad you're back. (Quote) Anyone remember the RPG Steal Away Jordan? It was a game about slaves in the American South, and drew on many sour…
-
(Quote) Thanks for these insights. I hadn't made the connection, but it's obvious in hindsight that Jemisin would be drawing on different sources from the presumed-standard white male SF author (and I guess that all of us are white men?). (Quote) .…
-
> @Apocryphal said: > OK, here's the article: https://tolkienaboutscifi.wordpress.com/2017/09/20/layered-themes-in-the-broken-earth/ > > It does warn about 'spoilers if you haven't read the books' plural, so be warned it might spoil …
-
I disagree with the "constraints make us human" idea, but I agree that close "thick" relationships can make people happy. And we don't see any of those in the Culture. There are friendships, but there's nothing like a marriage. O…
-
(Quote) He says he's not an orogene though he had a close relative who was one, and was killed for it (revealed near the start of The Fifth Season). At the end of The Fifth Season he recounts how he travelled from Tirimo to Castrima, and was capture…
-
(Quote) Thank you for that! I was wondering why you were reading, and this explains it nicely.
-
@clash_bowley , please, tell me something you like about these books. What are you getting out of reading them?
-
Thanks for the summary of the editions, @Apocryphal . Looks like I have the un-expanded version.
-
(Quote) My UK Kindle version claims to be about 500 pages. I've no idea what the differences are between editions.
-
When were you planning to have the interim discussion? It helps me to have a deadline!
-
I'm sorry to hear about your father, but congratulations on the grandchild. Strange times indeed.
-
(Quote) This is the bit where I get unstuck. The characters have lots of knowledge about police procedure that the players don't. It's similar to the "problem" of games set in a different culture: how do the players navigate their characte…
-
(Quote) You're allowed to edit a post for an hour after you make it. After that, it seems to be locked.
-
(Quote) Very true. I think the only time he really takes initiative is when he realises there's a mole in his investigating team. His handling of the conflict between the Thameses happens mostly off-screen.
-
I agree with @Apocryphal 's point. I think the setting would have been stronger with a tighter focus on spirits & possession and sympathetic/ritual magic. But then again, the whole book is an exercise in nerd-troping a standard genre (much like …
-
The "supernatural police procedural" genre is one that could be interesting, but I'm not sure how well police procedurals translate into RPG terms. There's a lot of knowledge required about what police procedures are in order for the games…
-
I also liked the writing style and how Grant seemed to be a contemporary person. He came across as a person you'd probably like to have as a friend. I think that was deliberate. One thing I've heard is that first-person narrators shouldn't have str…
-
I liked the concept, and I liked the execution of it. I thought it was interesting that the river spirits were eternal, but their human shells were temporary. It mirrored how the spirit of Punch took over human victims. I also liked how the human v…
-
From what I know of UK police procedure, it seemed plausible for its time (the current state of the UK police is much more cash-strapped and underfunded than what was portrayed). The bureaucracy and interactions between the characters seemed believa…
-
One observation about the police characters. They were universally competent and serving the public good. Where they had disagreements and rivalries, they were still able to work together, and respected each others' directives. For example, Seawoll …
-
Plus a minor side-quest to destroy a nest of vampires, plus the turf war between Tyburn and the Folly. Yes, I think there was too much for one book. Some of it was laying pipe for later books in the series (which I've not read). Grant's magical dev…
-
I've spent some time in and around London, but not a lot and not widely. But I have bought a coffee from a place just outside Covent Garden, and wandered through there despairing at the overpriced tat. I think that knowledge helped. The book draws o…