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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Lit Apropos of Nothing - ACKBAR IN CAPITALS - The Lit Forum Social Thread, v2.0.15

Discussion in 'Literature' started by Master_Keralys, Jan 1, 2009.

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  1. blackmyron

    blackmyron Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Oct 29, 2005
    For anyone who's only seen the show or only read book one, prepare to be shocked numerous times. GRRM should be the dictionary definition of "plot twist", because he knows how to do it without resorting to ridiculous cliches. The end of book three is just one hammerblow after another, and then when you think you're safe in the epilogue, he strikes one more time. (Book Four is more of a quiet read, with the surprises more about the people and organizations that suddenly are in the forefront).
     
    JackG and RC-1991 like this.
  2. Ulicus

    Ulicus Lapsed Moderator star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Jul 24, 2005
    I approve.
     
  3. RC-1991

    RC-1991 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 2, 2009
    Yeah, people sometimes complain that books 4 and 5 are too slow or disjointed, but they're meant to be slow. The point, particularly with book 4, is to show the aftermath of the War of the Five Kings, while book five is meant to exhibit the failure of the peacemakers as war is about to break out again. And really, in the aftermath of book 3 a cool-down period is just flat-out required.

    ...By Waru, if The Winds of Winter ever comes out, it's going to knock my socks off.
     
  4. GrandAdmiralJello

    GrandAdmiralJello Comms Admin ❉ Moderator Communitatis Litterarumque star 10 Staff Member Administrator

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    Nov 28, 2000
    Though I'd suggest trying to avoid posting spoilers about future books.
     
  5. Arrian

    Arrian Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 15, 2011
    That book was a rollercoaster of emotions. [face_sigh]There was one point I just had to put it down for a few days, such was how I felt.
     
  6. Jedi Ben

    Jedi Ben Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 1999
    Oh and the final Rothfuss book too.

    What is it about fantasy authors anyway? They do a book or two, get a big success and then? Then..... Sith happens? All of a sudden, books are being splitting into 2 books, the series becomes far larger and, in some cases, you wonder if the series will be finished while both you and the author inhabit this mortal coil!

    Exceptions to this rule? There's a bare handful: Weber, Erikson, Esselmont, Sanderson, that's about it.

    Wouldn't be quite such a problem if it weren't that I'm not remembering plots as well as I used to 3+ years later!
     
  7. The Loyal Imperial

    The Loyal Imperial Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Nov 19, 2007
    Given the somewhat hit-and-miss success rate, I imagine most of them start writing with far more ideas than they expect they'll ever be able to actually use. Those that succeed find themselves with the sudden opportunity to make use of all that extra material.
     
  8. Barriss_Coffee

    Barriss_Coffee Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 29, 2003
    Gone are the days of the preliminary outline. Alas, it has become a lost art.
     
  9. Lugija

    Lugija Jedi Grand Master star 4

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    Oct 3, 2009
    They also create the world, and then they have a map full of interesting places. Those places just need to be visited, the Skull Bridge and the Mountain of The Dark Glove and the lost city of Rock'n'roll, but that won't work unless the story is really long or there's more stories in the same world.
     
  10. instantdeath

    instantdeath Jedi Grand Master star 5

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    Jul 22, 2010
    The Rothfuss trilogy is another one I'm waiting to be completed before I read it.
     
  11. Jedi Ben

    Jedi Ben Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 1999
    First book was good ID, I've book 2 but am waiting for Book 3.
     
  12. GrandAdmiralJello

    GrandAdmiralJello Comms Admin ❉ Moderator Communitatis Litterarumque star 10 Staff Member Administrator

    Registered:
    Nov 28, 2000
    Ok, so today's the actual day where we're going to be doing an RPG so I should post part 2 of the tutorial from a couple weeks ago before we get too involved. This time we'll be playing the pre-made Dawn of Defiance campaign.

    But to get back to the story....

    So when we left off, my aristocrat and his retainer had been ambushed by a bunch of featherlizards. I had slain one and had taken a photo of it with my absurd orbital wrist-mounted comlink thing. Then several of them had ambushed us. At this point my retainer urged us to retreat, but I told him that this would be patently absurd. Nobody of my stature would flee before uncivilized beasts, I declared. I attempted to call for an orbital bombardment to dispose of these pesky lizards, but the DM denied me. Instead, I told the DM that I would negotiate with the lizards, owing to my rather formidable skills at persuasion. The DM informed me that the lizards, being lizards, were not amenable to negotiation. I said very well then, I would use my skills at deception to bamboozle them and make our way through the forest. Alas, the DM declared that deception could only work on sentient creatures. I chewed him out for his patent speciesm (clearly he hasn't seen the Diversity thread!), but since he was running the game I had no choice but to accede to his wishes. The DM informed me that I could make a knowledge check, provided I had a skill related to creatures or perhaps a survival check. I, being a knowledgeable fellow, decided to make a Knowledge (Bureaucracy) check. Sadly, there were no forms to be filled out in triplicate and my vast knowledge of the inner workings of the Imperial Court did not avail me.

    My retainer decided at this point that we ought to leave. As my great reserves of skills were utterly unsuited to this situation (really, we ought to have played our demo RPG in a grand ballroom, then I'd have been truly magnificent) I had no choice but to consent bitterly. Though we may have continued hunting, I decided to call an end to the day, as there was an evening engagement I needed to attend to. On our journey back, we found that a tree had fallen on the path. My retainer thought that this was suspicious, so rather than simply glide over it, he stopped the speeder. We both performed an awareness check -- I detected nothing amiss (presumably because I was more occupied with my brandy) but my retainer decided that we had been set up for an ambush. Surely enough, some hooligans emerged from the brush brandishing blasters and other uncivilized things. My retainer could not identify them, so I attempted a knowledge (bureaucracy) check and successfully determined that they were not Imperial customs agents. I also attempted a knowledge (social science) check at the urging of my retainer, but alas the dice betrayed me. Nevertheless, I knew that these were Rebel revolutionaries. My retainer asked me how I could possibly know this, and I explained that Rebels were always trying to ruin the fun of the better sort of people. I explained that, why, I had breakfast this morning at the estate and my eggs had been burnt -- clearly Rebel sabotage! As the last action that turn, I called for an orbital bombardment but once again the DM was no fun.

    The retainer put our vehicle into full reverse. The assailants opened fire and we were unable to evade, so my family's landspeeder was vandalized by an errant blaster bolt. The nerve! We managed to evade our pursuers though, and we were asked whether we wished to take the long way back to the estate or whether we wished to try the forest again. My cowardly retainer feared further ambushes, so he urged the long way. I replied, aghast, that tonight's soiree was the opening of the social season here on whateverthisplanetiscalled and that I could not possibly be caught arriving late! Why, Aunt Mindy would be so embarrassed! Nevertheless, the retainer -- being the one with piloting skills -- took the long way. I attempted a persuasion check against him, but apparently he had a high willpower save because he's some sort of Force sensitive kickboxer or whatever so that didn't really work. I really, really hate Force users.

    So we got back to the estate and my friends were unwilling to RP through the ballroom dancing. Losers. So instead the DM said that I could ask Aunt Mindy about the attackers. First he asked me if Aunt Mindy would have any reason not to be forthcoming, like did she stand to profit from my demise inheritance-wise or something? I explained that I was not in the same line of succession as Aunt Mindy, but that she might be upset with me over the fact that I used to make fun of her son... her son named Theresa because, well, he had a girl's name. That's basically how I phrased it, anyway. I mean what's the point of an RPG if the character stories are boring and generic, right? But anyway, the DM explained that this wasn't a sufficient reason to want me dead, so Aunt Mindy told me that there had been a spate of kidnapping attempts against the better-born on this planet.

    He asked if we wanted to set out to investigate, and I said that this was utter dross, we would not set out until the following morning, because after all, there was a ball to attend! So we set out the next morning, and he asked if I wanted to bring anybody with me, like trackers or something. I said that my court hairdresser, along with my tailor/couturier should come along in case of sartorial emergencies. The DM asked if I mightn't want a game hunter or something along, and I exclaimed "good gods man, priorities!" It took us a while to get to the kidnapping site again, bereft of expert guidance (though my hair was in the best of condition, winds or no) only to find that the would-be kidnappers had left the ambush site. I then asked if I could use my comlink to contact the game warden and ask him if anything out of the usual had been occurring in the forest. My friends, apparently shocked that I would ever suggest anything that was actually reasonable, had trouble coming up with an answer to that, but the DM eventually explained that there was nobody out of the usual in the park, just the people of my family's estate. So I contacted Aunt Mindy and asked her if there was anybody out of the usual in the hunting party, and she said that some people had come in late last night claiming to be hunters and associates of somebody at the party, so she had let them in. I exulted, and exclaimed "That's it! The Rebels are there!" My burnt egg theory had been completely justified. So I asked Aunt Mindy to have these Rebel saboteurs eaten, reasoning that they were probably aliens or something and therefore edible. The DM refused, so I had Aunt Mindy throw them out of the estate unceremoniously (after all, if we were not going to eat them, we couldn't well kill them -- we aren't barbarians!). The DM asked if I was sure, and if I perhaps would want to have them questioned first. I said no, they're Rebels and they deserve to be kicked to the curb. So then he closed up his binder and explained "very well, they were thrown out and now you will never know the identity of your attackers."

    Thus ended my first RPG game. I had successfully slain a ronto (with some minor assistance from my retainer), some sort of lizard, evaded a Rebel ambush, and brought the revolutionaries to justice. I also like to imagine that I was a total stud on the ballroom dance floor, but there were no dice rolls to corroborate this so I don't think I can put it on my character sheet. Tragic.
     
  13. krtmd

    krtmd Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Sep 5, 2012
    It's like Downton Abbey in the GFFA.
     
  14. Havac

    Havac Former Moderator star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Sep 29, 2005
    I greatly approve of your skills in trolling the DM.
     
  15. blackmyron

    blackmyron Chosen One star 7

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    Oct 29, 2005
    Bah. He's obvious a novice DM. DM mastery involves giving the players the illusion of free will while getting them to do exactly what you want.

    It's also fun to then give them a spiel about "Man, you totally went off from where I had planned, I had to improvise left and right!"
     
  16. GrandAdmiralJello

    GrandAdmiralJello Comms Admin ❉ Moderator Communitatis Litterarumque star 10 Staff Member Administrator

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    Nov 28, 2000
    So. As I said, we decided to use the Dawn of Defiance preset campaign. My friends emailed me saying that I might have to tweak my character a bit, since this campaign is anti-Imperial. Now, I know there was a big fuss in Lit when DoD came out but this was during the era where my interest in EU had waned quite a bit, so I didn't pay much attention to it and consequently don't know much about it (psst, no spoilers!). However, I reasoned that no matter what the circumstance, I was creative enough to figure out a way to make an Imperial Loyalist fit into the game scenario. After all, I spend my days as an Imperial propagandist -- I can be pretty inventive.

    They were still reluctant, asking me why an Imperial Loyalist would be involved with an inquisitor on the run, a thug, and a Chiss smuggler. I explained that it was all very simple: during the Coruscanti opera ball season, he went left when he should have went right, and accidentally stepped on the foot of the young lady with whom he'd been dancing. The family patriarch took an ill view of this and had him ostracized from Court. So now he's been exiled... and besides the RPG starts in a space station above Brentaal IV, and it's obviously a Core World so it makes sense for me to be there, at least at all the start of the shenanigans... and after that I could come up with a reason to stay with this particular group :p

    Juuust to forestall any resistance from the DM and my friends however, I informed them that I knew one of the people involved in writing the campaign and would get his thoughts on the feasibility of playing an Imperial character. So I contacted Abel Peña and asked him for his thoughts. My friends were suitably mind-blown. :p
     
  17. Zeta1127

    Zeta1127 Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    If anyone could make an Imperial loyalist work the Dawn of Defiance campaign, it would be you, Jello.
     
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  18. Gorefiend

    Gorefiend Chosen One star 5

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    Oct 23, 2004
    If he argues that the Sarlacc project is an insult to naval tradition and thus must be wiped from the galaxy it can work easily. :p
     
  19. GrandAdmiralJello

    GrandAdmiralJello Comms Admin ❉ Moderator Communitatis Litterarumque star 10 Staff Member Administrator

    Registered:
    Nov 28, 2000
    I don't know what that is since we're not that far into the scenario yet, sssh! :p


    Although I'm pretty sure that we're going to Byss, but that's because one of the NPCs told us that a bunch of stuff was going into the Deep Core, along with nobles and things and it was all hush hush. And I was like "oh, it's Byss." And the GM was like "quiet, you're not supposed to know that yet!" So then I made a knowledge (galactic lore) roll, and then I was like "oh, it's Byss." :p

    Ah, the curse of knowing too much EU. Luckily the rest of the group doesn't know Byss from Empress Teta so I don't think I leaked anything to them.
     
  20. Zeta1127

    Zeta1127 Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Sep 2, 2012
    Then I seriously doubt they even know of Koros Major or Cinnagar.
     
  21. Rilwen_Shadowflame

    Rilwen_Shadowflame Jedi Grand Master star 6

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    Mar 27, 2005
    You know, your character is hilarious to read about, Jello, but if I had to play with him I'd probably shove him naked out an airlock.:p
     
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  22. GrandAdmiralJello

    GrandAdmiralJello Comms Admin ❉ Moderator Communitatis Litterarumque star 10 Staff Member Administrator

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    Nov 28, 2000
    Naked, huh? See! So you admit that you find my character's selection of hats so choice that you just had to steal them before you murdered me.

    Incidentally -- I had dinner with Lord_Hydronium today at my favorite Italian restaurant in town. I have now met all but one of the Lit mods. Huzzah!
     
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  23. Rilwen_Shadowflame

    Rilwen_Shadowflame Jedi Grand Master star 6

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    Mar 27, 2005
    Of course! Upper class twits get the fanciest outfits.:p
     
  24. Gorefiend

    Gorefiend Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 23, 2004
    Those and Inquisitors
    [​IMG]

    Whoever came up with a hat that makes him look like he has a snake head was insane and brilliant at the same time. :D
     
  25. instantdeath

    instantdeath Jedi Grand Master star 5

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    Jul 22, 2010
    I've never played a tabletop RPG in my life, and have only the vaguest idea about how they work, but dammit, Jello's adventures make me want to :p
     
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