That is the question.
--or--
That always confused me. (For fans of "In Living Color")
So, it's been a while. I said it would be. It's not like I didn't warn you, intrepid reader.
But, here we are now. Entertain us. Or something like that.
Anyway, a friend, and fellow gamer, recently pointed me in the direction of a little indy zombie flick called Dead Snow. I sat down to watch it, and had a thought. --No, my head didn't explode.-- And the thought was thus: Running zombies kind of suck.
GASP!
What's that you say? I'll say it again -- RUNNING ZOMBIES SUCK.
They aren't zombies anymore. You might as well write a story where the city is overrun by rabid wolves, because that's pretty much the equivalent. Thoughtless eating machines that pursue you without thought of personal injury. Hell, they don't even seem to get winded. But, the point of the zombie is not to be supernaturally quick, or even vicious. The zombie is about the horde. An implacable force of dead that outnumbers the living, made up of creatures that could be the guy next door, your best friend, your sister, even your significant other. The Other is us.
Don't get me wrong. I loved 28 Days Later. And there was definitely a sense of "The Other is us" there as well. But I've never considered that to be a zombie movie. As I define a zombie, the rage carriers of 28 Days... are significantly different. They aren't dead. The pre-requisite to being a zombie is death. If it's not a reanimated corpse, it isn't a zombie.
Now, certainly, there are others that would argue that this point is merely semantics, but, for me, it's non-negotiable. Sure, you can't put a rage carrier down immediately with a single shot to the chest, but, eventually, that bullet will get the best of them. On the other hand, a zombie, through the grace of whatever force it is that animates their lifeless corpse, can continue indefinitely with a hole where a lung used to be. Unstoppable. Implacable. Like Michael Myers when he was simply "The Shape". To my mind, that is what makes a zombie truly frightening.
Of course, a single shambler is laughable. Even two or three are almost pathetic. It makes for much more kinetic film making when you're being chased by a handful of runners down a dark, dank corridor. I'll be the first to admit that the parking garage sequence in the "Dawn of the Dead" remake is pretty bad ass. But, the fear in that scene, the frisson, if you will, derives from the more kinetic tension of being chased, not from the fact that what's chasing them is an unstoppable flesh eater. And, with shamblers, chase is a relative term. It's more like, everywhere you turn, you find more, and more. The fear is both visceral, and abstract. Something akin to claustrophobia.
I suppose this speaks to what the modern audience wants from a horror film. Perhaps I simply find myself behind the times in my desire for a more psychological approach. Maybe I'm desensitized by the media, but blood and gore, and being chased down a dark hallway isn't enough for me.
Until next time, my solitary reader, I'll see ya when I see ya.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Friday, August 5, 2011
So, the comment box is broken...
It seems I've begun something. My good friend who's blog I mentioned in Greetings, Saluations...and other stuff, after having read Are we Heroes, or are we Adventurers, posted a continuation of his comment on his own blog. You can read it here. But, for some reason, I can't comment on any of his posts. Sadly, I am forced to do it here.
*Shrug*
Here goes...
*Shrug*
Here goes...
I think the thing that most sticks with me is "until you have worked for it". This is a game, it's supposed to be fun. And, well, getting your ass handed to you by a couple of Kobolds might be work, but it sure as hell isn't fun. And there are many levels of heroes, not all of them are high level guys, but they have powers, or training, when they begin, unlike the guy who picks up a sword and a bag for loot.
But, the latter is how many games, not just fantasy, start you out. You are nearly incapable of making an impact. As for, the whole - if you want to be a hero, play a super-heroes game -- that comment is patently unfair. Heroes abound in fantasy fiction, and not all of them started out as some schmuck farmer. It's true that many of them do, and there's nothing wrong with that kind of story. I just don't want to do that all the time.
We can solve the problem of our characters never getting up to 8th and 10th level by just starting there. But, nobody seems to want to do that.
I'll tell you, though, this gamer is getting tired of slogging through the muck...
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Are we Heroes, or are we Adventurers?
My sign is vital. My hands are cold...
Or not.
And so, I come to you again, faithful, solitary reader. Like a Vampire, I slink in under cover of darkness in the early morning hours. Now that I have begun this mad affair, I am filled with passion and vigor, as I am wont to be. Like many of my ilk, that passion will soon fade, confronted by the obstacles that lie ahead. But, for now, I rush back to slake my thirst, to fulfill my desire, to quell my burning passion...
--to blog!--
All right! Now that I have completely and totally disgusted you, let's begin.
For my first true post, I wanted to discuss an issue that has come up amongst my gaming group in various forms for a while. It stems from the question - what do you want out of your game? To put it another way - are we Heroes, or Adventurers?
What's the difference, you ask. Well, faithful reader, the difference is between the second and third editions of D&D, the difference is whether or not you succumb to the horrors of the World of Darkness, or overcome them, the difference, is -- how many hit points do you have at first level?
All joking aside, it comes down to what your characters are capable of, and how difficult it is for them to survive. Adventurers are, to a certain extent, better and brighter than the average commoner or mook in whatever gaming world you play in. They have a knack for picking things up quicker, or an in with Lady Luck. For whatever reason, Adventurers survive, though typically by the skin of their teeth. Heroes, on the other hand, are the best and brightest. They are capable of doing things the average commoner or mook could never dream of. (Unless they rolled a natural 20... maybe.) Heroes are powerful characters, a force to be reckoned with in any game setting. They don't just survive, they do it with panache, gusto, and some serious snark.
This is not to say that Heroes can't fail, can't die. On the contrary, I've seen many a heroic PC fail horribly. Everything from Bad die rolls, to epic martyrdom has been the cause. But when you need to roll a 17+ on a d20 at 5th lvl to save, there's something wrong. At least, to my mind, there is.
Which brings us to the crux of the debate among my group. Some members argue that they aren't looking to be Heroes.
--Let me clarify. In this case, when I say hero, I mean it more in the sense that they use the term in the Fable series. You are not necessarily good, or evil, just more than. You are capable of an epicness that most fall short of. --
Those gamers want to be what I have termed Adventurers. They want to know that nearly insurmountable danger lurks around every corner. Some even prefer to have the difficulty cranked up to 11. They want it to be, as one friend has put it, Nintendo Hard. The point being, that every level earned, every piece of loot discovered, then has more value. To some of them, characters in 3.X and other systems, are overpowered. And this leaves me scratching my head.
I'm not saying this is a wrong way to think, but, when I sit down at a gaming table, I want to do more than I do everyday, which is to say, get by. I want to emulate John McClane, John Lee (Chow-Yun Fat's character from "The Replacement Killers"), Conan, Gimli, and a host of others. I want to wreak havoc in this world, for good or ill. (Typically for good, but I digress.) In 2nd edition, and systems like Lamentation of the Flame Princess, I don't feel that I'm allowed to do that. Further, I feel that certain newer systems attempting to emulate Original D&D are specifically geared to brutalize the player.
Case in point. A couple of weeks ago, a friend ran a session of LotFP during our usual game night. The fact that it was built to emulate oD&D didn't inspire me much, and the image of a weeping peasant woman shakily holding faceless monsters at bay on the cover wasn't making things any better. To be fair, I will admit that I had a good time that night, but playing a dwarf is usually a blast. However, the character with the best stats was killed. DURING THE FIRST SESSION! Now, I know what you're saying, faithful reader, stats aren't everything. And, that's true. But, this death was through no fault of the player. The character was killed as a result of two attacks. Attacks that came from monsters that were not the least bit overpowered. (It might have taken less, but these particular monsters, like all monsters and villains in this particular DM's games, attended the Varnadore school of Villainy and Vilecraft. So...) Sure, we were able to resurrect the character, but only because another player wanted to roll up a different character, so her character sacrificed her life in exchange for the resurrection. All in all, a brutal first session. These characters are what I would term Adventurers.
This does not make me feel empowered as a gamer. Finishing a combat having done a cumulative 4 points of damage during several rounds, and having to gulp a healing potion leaves me frustrated and angry, not invigorated.
--Let me clarify again. I will admit, that for this particular gamer, dice rolls are typically low. I have several friends who try to convince me that it all averages out. And perhaps, over the entire course of my life, if one were to notate every single die roll, it might. But, when it counts, for the most part, my rolls are low. (Except in WoD. And I have no idea why.) --
On the other hand. In systems like Saga Edition Star Wars. I find myself regaling friends with tales of my heroism and the glory of my character's prowess. Nevermind the fact that I had 1hp left, it was bad ass.
This is not to say that gaming, for me, is all about combat. On the contrary, I have played in many a game where my character never rolled a die in order to strike an opponent. What matters is that I, as a player, feel empowered. I want to feel like I'm changing the world around me. Because, that's what heroes do. Leonidas didn't change at all in Zack Snyder's 300, but he sure as hell made the world change around him. When I pick up a d20, that's what I want to do. I want to be a hero.
Finally, this particular expulsion is not meant to vilify one particular system, or praise another. LotFP is a perfectly good system, and, well, without oD&D gaming would probably not exist. I have my issues with every system I've mentioned, and no system is perfect. But, at the end of the day you need to know your answer to that question, and pick a system that will help you become it.
Until next time, my lonely, ever faithful reader, I'll see ya when I see ya...
Or not.
And so, I come to you again, faithful, solitary reader. Like a Vampire, I slink in under cover of darkness in the early morning hours. Now that I have begun this mad affair, I am filled with passion and vigor, as I am wont to be. Like many of my ilk, that passion will soon fade, confronted by the obstacles that lie ahead. But, for now, I rush back to slake my thirst, to fulfill my desire, to quell my burning passion...
--to blog!--
All right! Now that I have completely and totally disgusted you, let's begin.
For my first true post, I wanted to discuss an issue that has come up amongst my gaming group in various forms for a while. It stems from the question - what do you want out of your game? To put it another way - are we Heroes, or Adventurers?
What's the difference, you ask. Well, faithful reader, the difference is between the second and third editions of D&D, the difference is whether or not you succumb to the horrors of the World of Darkness, or overcome them, the difference, is -- how many hit points do you have at first level?
All joking aside, it comes down to what your characters are capable of, and how difficult it is for them to survive. Adventurers are, to a certain extent, better and brighter than the average commoner or mook in whatever gaming world you play in. They have a knack for picking things up quicker, or an in with Lady Luck. For whatever reason, Adventurers survive, though typically by the skin of their teeth. Heroes, on the other hand, are the best and brightest. They are capable of doing things the average commoner or mook could never dream of. (Unless they rolled a natural 20... maybe.) Heroes are powerful characters, a force to be reckoned with in any game setting. They don't just survive, they do it with panache, gusto, and some serious snark.
This is not to say that Heroes can't fail, can't die. On the contrary, I've seen many a heroic PC fail horribly. Everything from Bad die rolls, to epic martyrdom has been the cause. But when you need to roll a 17+ on a d20 at 5th lvl to save, there's something wrong. At least, to my mind, there is.
Which brings us to the crux of the debate among my group. Some members argue that they aren't looking to be Heroes.
--Let me clarify. In this case, when I say hero, I mean it more in the sense that they use the term in the Fable series. You are not necessarily good, or evil, just more than. You are capable of an epicness that most fall short of. --
Those gamers want to be what I have termed Adventurers. They want to know that nearly insurmountable danger lurks around every corner. Some even prefer to have the difficulty cranked up to 11. They want it to be, as one friend has put it, Nintendo Hard. The point being, that every level earned, every piece of loot discovered, then has more value. To some of them, characters in 3.X and other systems, are overpowered. And this leaves me scratching my head.
I'm not saying this is a wrong way to think, but, when I sit down at a gaming table, I want to do more than I do everyday, which is to say, get by. I want to emulate John McClane, John Lee (Chow-Yun Fat's character from "The Replacement Killers"), Conan, Gimli, and a host of others. I want to wreak havoc in this world, for good or ill. (Typically for good, but I digress.) In 2nd edition, and systems like Lamentation of the Flame Princess, I don't feel that I'm allowed to do that. Further, I feel that certain newer systems attempting to emulate Original D&D are specifically geared to brutalize the player.
Case in point. A couple of weeks ago, a friend ran a session of LotFP during our usual game night. The fact that it was built to emulate oD&D didn't inspire me much, and the image of a weeping peasant woman shakily holding faceless monsters at bay on the cover wasn't making things any better. To be fair, I will admit that I had a good time that night, but playing a dwarf is usually a blast. However, the character with the best stats was killed. DURING THE FIRST SESSION! Now, I know what you're saying, faithful reader, stats aren't everything. And, that's true. But, this death was through no fault of the player. The character was killed as a result of two attacks. Attacks that came from monsters that were not the least bit overpowered. (It might have taken less, but these particular monsters, like all monsters and villains in this particular DM's games, attended the Varnadore school of Villainy and Vilecraft. So...) Sure, we were able to resurrect the character, but only because another player wanted to roll up a different character, so her character sacrificed her life in exchange for the resurrection. All in all, a brutal first session. These characters are what I would term Adventurers.
This does not make me feel empowered as a gamer. Finishing a combat having done a cumulative 4 points of damage during several rounds, and having to gulp a healing potion leaves me frustrated and angry, not invigorated.
--Let me clarify again. I will admit, that for this particular gamer, dice rolls are typically low. I have several friends who try to convince me that it all averages out. And perhaps, over the entire course of my life, if one were to notate every single die roll, it might. But, when it counts, for the most part, my rolls are low. (Except in WoD. And I have no idea why.) --
On the other hand. In systems like Saga Edition Star Wars. I find myself regaling friends with tales of my heroism and the glory of my character's prowess. Nevermind the fact that I had 1hp left, it was bad ass.
This is not to say that gaming, for me, is all about combat. On the contrary, I have played in many a game where my character never rolled a die in order to strike an opponent. What matters is that I, as a player, feel empowered. I want to feel like I'm changing the world around me. Because, that's what heroes do. Leonidas didn't change at all in Zack Snyder's 300, but he sure as hell made the world change around him. When I pick up a d20, that's what I want to do. I want to be a hero.
Finally, this particular expulsion is not meant to vilify one particular system, or praise another. LotFP is a perfectly good system, and, well, without oD&D gaming would probably not exist. I have my issues with every system I've mentioned, and no system is perfect. But, at the end of the day you need to know your answer to that question, and pick a system that will help you become it.
Until next time, my lonely, ever faithful reader, I'll see ya when I see ya...
Greetings, Salutations... and some other stuff.
Well, here we are. Me with typing, and you with the watching me type. At least, metaphorically anyway. So, my newly minted faithful reader, I will begin by explaining to you exactly why what I have to say is so important it requires immortalization in a blog post...
--It isn't, and, it doesn't.--
I have fallen prey to my baser desires. In short, my narcicissm. But, hey, I have a degree or two in writing, so at least it'll be a good read. Sort of. Maybe?
Anyway, I'm guessing that you, my lonely, but ever faithful, reader, found your way here by accident. Certainly the title of this blog does not lend itself to simple internet searches on things geek.
--Btw, I give thanks to the deadalewives for their sage-like dialogue. Because, I am certain, that line was spoken for the sole purpose that I might one day make it the title of my blog post. (If you have no idea what I'm talking about, fear not, the great GOOGLE will provide all answers if you but type deadalewives, or I'm attacking the darkness into the box of offering.) But, I digress. --
A good friend of mine has been posting and podcasting for some months now, (http://rpgrantsandraves.blogspot.com/2011/07/apologizes-and-lotfp-game-session.html --check it out) and I wanted the opportunity to weigh in on those things which I find important. In short, things geek. In the future, my dogged companion, you will find such rare oddities as film reviews, toy discussions, and even, --GASP-- talk of the gaming in both the video and table top varieties. Two such topics that will be up for discussion are the "Adventurer vs. Hero debate", and "Skills, or c'mon do you really think your Soldier moonlights as a professional slicer?"
I make no promises on the frequency, length, hygeine, or politeness of my posts. Simply know that from time to time, I will look in on you, my stalwart, solitary reader and cover you with the detritus of my musings.
For now, I leave you with the hope of a bright, shiny future where you will be allowed to bath in the warming light of my greatness... er, I mean, I bid you good night, faithful reader, I'll see ya when I see ya.
--It isn't, and, it doesn't.--
I have fallen prey to my baser desires. In short, my narcicissm. But, hey, I have a degree or two in writing, so at least it'll be a good read. Sort of. Maybe?
Anyway, I'm guessing that you, my lonely, but ever faithful, reader, found your way here by accident. Certainly the title of this blog does not lend itself to simple internet searches on things geek.
--Btw, I give thanks to the deadalewives for their sage-like dialogue. Because, I am certain, that line was spoken for the sole purpose that I might one day make it the title of my blog post. (If you have no idea what I'm talking about, fear not, the great GOOGLE will provide all answers if you but type deadalewives, or I'm attacking the darkness into the box of offering.) But, I digress. --
A good friend of mine has been posting and podcasting for some months now, (http://rpgrantsandraves.blogspot.com/2011/07/apologizes-and-lotfp-game-session.html --check it out) and I wanted the opportunity to weigh in on those things which I find important. In short, things geek. In the future, my dogged companion, you will find such rare oddities as film reviews, toy discussions, and even, --GASP-- talk of the gaming in both the video and table top varieties. Two such topics that will be up for discussion are the "Adventurer vs. Hero debate", and "Skills, or c'mon do you really think your Soldier moonlights as a professional slicer?"
I make no promises on the frequency, length, hygeine, or politeness of my posts. Simply know that from time to time, I will look in on you, my stalwart, solitary reader and cover you with the detritus of my musings.
For now, I leave you with the hope of a bright, shiny future where you will be allowed to bath in the warming light of my greatness... er, I mean, I bid you good night, faithful reader, I'll see ya when I see ya.
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