Sunday, 4 January 2004
Recent Reading
- The Death of the Necromancer, by Martha Wells; Avon, 1998. I’ve
read two of her other books (Wizard Hunters and The
Element of Fire) and this one, like the others, is very good. The setting is
Ile-Rein again, but this time in a more psuedo-Victorian era, nicely
adapted to the mostly subtle magic of Ile-Rein. I highly recommend
these books, and am going to look for more of her work. (There is at
least one of hers that I have not read yet: City of Bones.)
- Sorcerer: An Intense Roleplaying Game, by Ron Edwards; Adept
Press, 2001. This small, slim hardback volume (260mm by 175mm, 144
pages, counting the two pages of ads at the back) is the core rulebook
for Edwards roleplaying game, Sorcerer. It has a crisp, clean black-
and-white interior design and layout by Paul Mason with a modicum of
black-and-white art by divers hands and a color jacket cover with
creepy and effective art by Jeff Kromer. The writing is casual but not
chatty and very clear. It can be ordered directly from the game’s home
page, http://www.sorcerer-rpg.com/
or bought at a good local games store. Most existing roleplaying games
give a lot of attention to the rules of the game and some give a lot
of attention to the setting of the game and a few give some attention
to the atmosphere of the game, but few give much attention to the
purpose of the game and how the setting and the rules contribute to
the purpose, and this lack of attention can be a considerable source
of dissatisfaction with the game, the gaming group, and the rules of
the game. Ron Edwards’ essay “System Does Matter”, published on the
web and as an appendix in
Sorcerer, gives the gamer some good tools for considering what they
want out of a roleplaying game and judging whether a particular set of
rules will help them achieve that, and anyone who is interested in
roleplaying games should read it: it’s probably one of the simpliest
coherent places to start if you are interested in the theory of
roleplaying. In Sorcerer Ron Edwards takes the theory that
begins with that article and applies it (along with his ideals of
creator-ownership of roleplaying games) and produces an innovative,
focused roleplaying game with simple, clear rules that encourage
flexibility and creativity while discarding many of the traditional
trappings and constaints of roleplaying games. Sorcerer does this by
concentrating on Narrativist play, where the desired outcome of a
roleplaying session is a good story. This does not mean forcing the
players along some pre-determined story, however; instead, Sorcerer
concentrates on techniques for designing characters, adventures, and
campaigns and tools for running games in such a way that good stories
result from actual play.
- Sorcerer & Sword, by Ron Edwards; Adept Press, 2001. In this first
supplement for Sorcerer Ron Edwards adapts his roleplaying game for
playing games based on 1920s and 30s pulp fantasy and its inheritors:
the Conan stories of Robert E. Howard, the Fafhrd and the Grey
Mouser stories of Fritz Leiber, the Elric stories of Michael
Moorcock, the Kane stories of Karl Edward Wagner, and many
others. Like the original game, Sorcerer & Sword is a practical
application of Ron Edwards’ theory of roleplaying; in this case, to
providing the tools for a gaming group to create their own sword and
sorcery epic. In many ways it runs counter to most roleplaying games,
eschewing complicated worldbuilding before play in favor of creating a
world through play.