The Tolkien Toolkit

May 20, 2012 Dungeons & Dragons No comments

Me and D, talking (edited for concision)…

Zak: What’s something you’d like to see in 5th edition D&D that was not in any previous edition of the game ?

D: I’d like to see a total replacement of the non-human races with something else (no more elves, hobbits, dwarfs or orcs)! They’ve made some interesting moves in that direction but leaving the old standards in there means the assumptions of the game don’t change.

Z:
One– My problem with that is the cliches make it really easy for me to explain the options to my “not the usual fantasy RPG demographic players” very fast. “You know, elves right?” “Oh, right, ok”. Too much straying from cliche in initial PC choices means I need a lot more buy-in. “Like, ok, it’s kind of like a hunchback but has gears for arms and cloaks for teeth and the culture is based on exchange of meerkats and…”

The issue is not feasibility but whether it’d be a good idea period. If D&D went totally Mieville (or whatever) it’d be really hard to explain to anyone who wasn’t in a certain subsubgenre of cultural payingattention-ness, whereas as it is now it casts a wide net and you can funnel the game toward avant-garde fantasy ideas after you get buy-in . Seems like a decent solution to me. Somebody has to make the elfgame where there’s elves.
(See: The describability problem.)

Two– “assumptions of the game”?

D:
Assumptions like you can play a human that can be any way any real person could be; a creature that is lucky, small and fast; something large, dumb and ugly; something tall, beautiful and graceful; or something short, tough and mean.

The short tough and mean guys don’t get along with the tall graceful ones. The big ugly ones don’t get along with anyone. Humans get along with everyone (kind of). The little ones just try to hide their communities or blend into the larger races lands. But really everything is not so different because some of them can mate with each other and everyone is competing for the same resources.

These are assumptions everyone goes into a game with. Your “You saw Lord of the Rings, right?” promise that is fulfilled with every setting.

Does that make sense?

___
(Interpolation: You may have heard this idea before, I certainly have. Only versions of this argument I usually hear are dumber and angrier than this one.)
___

Z:
It makes sense except the whole point of Medieval folklore is it is a bunch of incredibly stupid ideas (theocracy, monarchy etc.) thought up by our ignorant forbears and that’s why the D&D world is horrible and full of bad monsters and evil kings and therefore fun to fuck around with. Also: part of the point of the game for many people is to transcend and fight personifications of these ideas.

The traditional ideas have value precisely because they expose the ignorant reptile thinking at the base of our culture. The devil being equated with sexuality for zillions of years for instance explains so much more about the way people think than if I subbed in some mutant thing I thought up yesterday. Thinking about this world is good and smart and helps people. It is not the only world worth thinking about, but D&D is a major existing cultural representation of that exact world of ideas.

D:
I agree these things are based in folklore, but they are still interpretations of that folklore. Elves in Celtic folklore where frightening monsters that stole children, musicians and craftspeople for their amusement. In D&D they are often the good guys. An ancient race in decline. It’s not quite the same thing. Tolkien’s take on elves was great, it’s just sad to me that there seems to be no room for anything else.

Z:
Yes, but I am also saying that the players’ default position regarding the cultural assumptions behind these ideas starts out critical rather than naively accepting. Simply because their own modern world is so obviously not full of knights and orcs.

The exception is children–but if we don’t grant them the ability to turn the mythology of childhood into an adult consciousness then we have to start bowdlerizing our way through every single product that resonates with them ever created–which I think is a very very dangerous cultural practice not only due to the damage it would do to all pre-1990s art for children but to child-rearing practices in general. Build skeptical children, not a padded room for them to be credulous in.

Or simply this: if you don’t use “elves vs trolls” someone else willbecause it’s an idea that resonates. So use the idea in an interesting, self-questioning way rather than pretending it doesn’t exist. The repressed always recurs. The altered gets evolved.

D:
OK Zak, maybe I can explain where I am coming from.

I think my main problem with what I called the assumptions of D&D is that I see them as mostly one man’s interpretation of the common folklore.

I’m a bit of an odd ball because I didn’t read any tolkien until I was in my 20s. As a child I was more familiar with the source material (folklore) than the shiny world of middle earth he had created. The first fantasy I read was Ursula K LeGuin’s Earthsea books. Those stories operated under a different framework of ideas. Not completely different, but different enough.

D&D introduced me to tolkien’s elves, dwarfs and hobbits. To me they weren’t entrenched tropes, but strange new takes on old familiar stories. Elves were like the Sidhe, but nicer. Instead of coveting master craftsmanship or music they were master craftsmen and musicians themselves. It wasn’t huge leap, but it was one that I had to make.

It is amazing to me just how much the tolkien take on it has invaded our culture. With the movies, books and all of the other IPs that make use of these same tropes, including 40 years of D&D, it really has become a common mythology.

You are correct, the idea of trying to ignore all that common ground would only create barriers to play. Besides, I have had tonnes of fun playing in that same framework. I guess it just bothers me that it has become the “right way” to do it, instead of one way of many.


Z:
D&D has successfully “drifted” Tolkien in the past (and Tolkien was, in turn, a “drift” of Victorian fantasy, which was a “drift” of Medieval folklore). I think further “drift” is probably the best solution.

D:
“Drifting” is a great way of putting it. Some interesting drifting has already happened in D&D. Dark Sun and Birthright come to mind as examples.

I feel like a crazy person right now because I agree with pretty much every point you’ve made. The Tolkien setup still feels like a box. Drifting is a great way to turn the box on it’s side, giving us a whole new perspective and set of possibilities, but it’s still inside the box. I like the idea of jumping OUT of the box, even though it seems insane and impossible. Not to mention lonely.

Clearly D&D needs to remain inside it’s own framework to move forward. I wonder if they can leave room for drifting or jumping in their new rules?


Z:
I think pretty much every version of D&D allows totally chucking out the Tolkien race kit. It’s not a problem. Dark sun? Eberron? The options have always been at least implied since even 0e:
“There is no reason that players cannot be allowed to play virtually anything, provided they begin relatively weak and work up to the top”

(The same author’s AD&D DMG later reversed this position, but the rest of D&D overrided him, so whatever…)
_______

This all lead to Cole starting another conversation…

What PC races besides the “Tolkien Four” have enough broad folk or mythic resonance to be accessible and quickly grasped by new players not deep in the nerdosphere?

Where we talked about the possibilities of animalpeople, devilpeople, hags, mummies etc etc and then it all ended, as usual, with us talking about Iron Maiden.

On account of they’re the best way to explain Githyanki.

The Tolkien Toolkit

May 20, 2012 Dungeons & Dragons No comments

Me and D, talking (edited for concision)…

Zak: What’s something you’d like to see in 5th edition D&D that was not in any previous edition of the game ?

D: I’d like to see a total replacement of the non-human races with something else (no more elves, hobbits, dwarfs or orcs)! They’ve made some interesting moves in that direction but leaving the old standards in there means the assumptions of the game don’t change.

Z:
One– My problem with that is the cliches make it really easy for me to explain the options to my “not the usual fantasy RPG demographic players” very fast. “You know, elves right?” “Oh, right, ok”. Too much straying from cliche in initial PC choices means I need a lot more buy-in. “Like, ok, it’s kind of like a hunchback but has gears for arms and cloaks for teeth and the culture is based on exchange of meerkats and…”

The issue is not feasibility but whether it’d be a good idea period. If D&D went totally Mieville (or whatever) it’d be really hard to explain to anyone who wasn’t in a certain subsubgenre of cultural payingattention-ness, whereas as it is now it casts a wide net and you can funnel the game toward avant-garde fantasy ideas after you get buy-in . Seems like a decent solution to me. Somebody has to make the elfgame where there’s elves.
(See: The describability problem.)

Two– “assumptions of the game”?

D:
Assumptions like you can play a human that can be any way any real person could be; a creature that is lucky, small and fast; something large, dumb and ugly; something tall, beautiful and graceful; or something short, tough and mean.

The short tough and mean guys don’t get along with the tall graceful ones. The big ugly ones don’t get along with anyone. Humans get along with everyone (kind of). The little ones just try to hide their communities or blend into the larger races lands. But really everything is not so different because some of them can mate with each other and everyone is competing for the same resources.

These are assumptions everyone goes into a game with. Your “You saw Lord of the Rings, right?” promise that is fulfilled with every setting.

Does that make sense?

___
(Interpolation: You may have heard this idea before, I certainly have. Only versions of this argument I usually hear are dumber and angrier than this one.)
___

Z:
It makes sense except the whole point of Medieval folklore is it is a bunch of incredibly stupid ideas (theocracy, monarchy etc.) thought up by our ignorant forbears and that’s why the D&D world is horrible and full of bad monsters and evil kings and therefore fun to fuck around with. Also: part of the point of the game for many people is to transcend and fight personifications of these ideas.

The traditional ideas have value precisely because they expose the ignorant reptile thinking at the base of our culture. The devil being equated with sexuality for zillions of years for instance explains so much more about the way people think than if I subbed in some mutant thing I thought up yesterday. Thinking about this world is good and smart and helps people. It is not the only world worth thinking about, but D&D is a major existing cultural representation of that exact world of ideas.

D:
I agree these things are based in folklore, but they are still interpretations of that folklore. Elves in Celtic folklore where frightening monsters that stole children, musicians and craftspeople for their amusement. In D&D they are often the good guys. An ancient race in decline. It’s not quite the same thing. Tolkien’s take on elves was great, it’s just sad to me that there seems to be no room for anything else.

Z:
Yes, but I am also saying that the players’ default position regarding the cultural assumptions behind these ideas starts out critical rather than naively accepting. Simply because their own modern world is so obviously not full of knights and orcs.

The exception is children–but if we don’t grant them the ability to turn the mythology of childhood into an adult consciousness then we have to start bowdlerizing our way through every single product that resonates with them ever created–which I think is a very very dangerous cultural practice not only due to the damage it would do to all pre-1990s art for children but to child-rearing practices in general. Build skeptical children, not a padded room for them to be credulous in.

Or simply this: if you don’t use “elves vs trolls” someone else willbecause it’s an idea that resonates. So use the idea in an interesting, self-questioning way rather than pretending it doesn’t exist. The repressed always recurs. The altered gets evolved.

D:
OK Zak, maybe I can explain where I am coming from.

I think my main problem with what I called the assumptions of D&D is that I see them as mostly one man’s interpretation of the common folklore.

I’m a bit of an odd ball because I didn’t read any tolkien until I was in my 20s. As a child I was more familiar with the source material (folklore) than the shiny world of middle earth he had created. The first fantasy I read was Ursula K LeGuin’s Earthsea books. Those stories operated under a different framework of ideas. Not completely different, but different enough.

D&D introduced me to tolkien’s elves, dwarfs and hobbits. To me they weren’t entrenched tropes, but strange new takes on old familiar stories. Elves were like the Sidhe, but nicer. Instead of coveting master craftsmanship or music they were master craftsmen and musicians themselves. It wasn’t huge leap, but it was one that I had to make.

It is amazing to me just how much the tolkien take on it has invaded our culture. With the movies, books and all of the other IPs that make use of these same tropes, including 40 years of D&D, it really has become a common mythology.

You are correct, the idea of trying to ignore all that common ground would only create barriers to play. Besides, I have had tonnes of fun playing in that same framework. I guess it just bothers me that it has become the “right way” to do it, instead of one way of many.


Z:
D&D has successfully “drifted” Tolkien in the past (and Tolkien was, in turn, a “drift” of Victorian fantasy, which was a “drift” of Medieval folklore). I think further “drift” is probably the best solution.

D:
“Drifting” is a great way of putting it. Some interesting drifting has already happened in D&D. Dark Sun and Birthright come to mind as examples.

I feel like a crazy person right now because I agree with pretty much every point you’ve made. The Tolkien setup still feels like a box. Drifting is a great way to turn the box on it’s side, giving us a whole new perspective and set of possibilities, but it’s still inside the box. I like the idea of jumping OUT of the box, even though it seems insane and impossible. Not to mention lonely.

Clearly D&D needs to remain inside it’s own framework to move forward. I wonder if they can leave room for drifting or jumping in their new rules?


Z:
I think pretty much every version of D&D allows totally chucking out the Tolkien race kit. It’s not a problem. Dark sun? Eberron? The options have always been at least implied since even 0e:
“There is no reason that players cannot be allowed to play virtually anything, provided they begin relatively weak and work up to the top”

(The same author’s AD&D DMG later reversed this position, but the rest of D&D overrided him, so whatever…)
_______

This all lead to Cole starting another conversation…

What PC races besides the “Tolkien Four” have enough broad folk or mythic resonance to be accessible and quickly grasped by new players not deep in the nerdosphere?

Where we talked about the possibilities of animalpeople, devilpeople, hags, mummies etc etc and then it all ended, as usual, with us talking about Iron Maiden.

On account of they’re the best way to explain Githyanki.

Joe Pasternack Leaving UNO Basketball Team for Job at Arizona

May 20, 2012 Articles No comments

Joe Pasternack has resigned as men’s basketball head coach of the University of New Orleans’ team in order to become an assistant coach at the University of Arizona’s men’s basketball team under head coach Sean Miller. “It was very difficult for me being from New Orleans to leave the city that I love,” Pasternack said. “But this was an opportunity, and I’ve looked at many opportunities in the past two years I let go by the wayside, but this was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. Sean Miller is the total package. He’s one of the top coaches in all of college basketball.”

Joe Pasternack’s contract at the University of New Orleans was very close to its expiration date, and the plan was for him to sit down with Athletic Director Amy Champion in order to decide on a new deal. That plan completely changed once coach Miller called him. Miller considered a number of candidates for the assistant coach job, but Pasternack’s impressive reputation and wide experience lead Miller to decide that he is the best candidate.

“To me, I just want to be in a situation where we’re competing for Final Fours and national championships,” Pasternack said. “That to me is the most important thing for me and my family, to be in a situation where we can compete at the highest level. This is one of the elite programs in all of America. When you look at Arizona basketball, you can put them at the same level as Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas.”

Prior to his coaching career at the University of New Orleans, Pasternack was an assistant coach at California for eight seasons, and also served as a student manager under Coach Bob Knight at Indiana. Coach Knight helped Pasternack to make his decision, and told him that the University of Arizona job is too good to pass up.

Everybody’s Problematic

May 19, 2012 Dungeons & Dragons No comments

Have you ever noticed that each major class is “about” a certain vexed and contested section of the D&D rules?

Fighters are about combat and the (rarely imitated) simplicity and abstractness of the D&D combat system including hit points, the question of combat maneuvers vs. the (for some players dullness of the) simply “roll to hit” system.
Wizards are about magic and its unpredictable and unbalancing effects and the not-superheroness of the paraVancian fire-and-forget magic system.
Clerics are about religion and–what’s more–about setting and about exactly how much of Medieval Europe are we assuming here?
Thieves are about cities and social games and about the skill system (which, taken to an extreme, works against the logic of a class system) and about the concept of the absolutely or simply situationally useless PC. (See the ninjafied versions of the Rogue in newer designs.)
Paladins are about alignment and about the gulf between medieval fantasy notions of the good and our modern and more moral-relativism influenced ideas of the good and how they do or do not overlap.
Assassins are about the problem and possible disruptiveness of evil PCs.
Druids, Barbarians and Rangers do have issues, but nothing to close too the heart of the game, I think. Except perhaps the question of specialization and how much is too much.

Alliance Charge Hires Additional Technical Support Employees

May 19, 2012 Articles No comments

Online processing consulting firm, Alliance Charge, announces its recent hiring of additional technical support employees to meet demand. Recently the consulting firm announced it has hired 10 information technology employees.
 
Leading online processing consulting firm, Alliance Charge, recently announced its hiring of 10 savvy professional, friendly IT employees.

“Alliance Charge is committed to offering professional, full-service, helpful services, in order to do so, we needed additional technical support employees who could answer all our customers’ questions and concerns,” said Paul Skinner, Alliance Charge Spokesman.

The full-time technical support positions were filled by knowledgeable, experienced IT personnel, said Skinner. The new IT personnel will provide Alliance Charge customers with answers to questions regarding use and troubleshooting of online programs, as well as answers to any other technology related questions.

“Alliance Charge is happy to be able to hire additional staff and further grow as a family, we hope to continue growing and offer top-notch services,” said Skinner. “Alliance Charge is always on the hunt for the best solutions and employees,” said Skinner. “We simply want the best for our customers.”

Alliance Charge was formed in 2007 to play a bigger role in the online interactive and content management systems business. In addition, Alliance Charge provides payment consulting services as well as content management systems development. Alliance Charge specializes in serving companies that require reliable online payment processing solutions. In addition, Alliance Charge focuses on providing solid solutions for companies that want to leverage their payment processing capabilities.

More About Alliance Charge
Online processing consulting firm, Alliance Charge, is a subsidiary of Myroxon Holdings Ltd, a European based company. Alliance Charge provides a proprietary payment gateway directly linked to the banks across the globe, the company processes credit and debit card payments, verifies and processes e-Checks online, and more. Alliance Charge is considered an innovative global online processing consulting company. Alliance Charge was founded in 2007 to play a bigger role in the online interactive and content management systems business. Alliance Charge provides payment consulting services as well as content management systems development.

##

For additional information, interview, and image requests contact:
Paul Skinner
PR Manager
Alliance Charge

Joe Pasternack Named New Assistant Coach at Arizona

May 19, 2012 Articles No comments

Joe Pasternack, previous head coach of the University of New Orleans’ men’s basketball team, will be the new assistant coach for the University of Arizona’s men’s team.

In his high school career, which took place in Metairie Park Country Day School, Pasternack played four years of high school basketball. He graduated from Indiana in 1999 with a bachelor’s degree in marketing.

Prior to his coaching career at the University of New Orleans, Joe Pasternack was a manager for the Indiana basketball team for four years under coach Bob Knight and was an assistant coach at California.

He is known for his passionate and workaholic approach to all of his given positions.

Actually Playing Reportness

May 18, 2012 Dungeons & Dragons No comments
This is like 3 sessions worth of notes…

In a dungeon. (Blogger made that into a link for no earthly reason.) Anyway point is they were in a dungeon….

Izzy died. Actual footage there of Izzy actually responding to some whole other thing other than her PC dying.
Wouldn’t that be horrible if I was like “Oh wait, wait, you’re at how many hp? Before I roll damage let me get my camera out…”
Since this was her first death with us I did a little checking after like “Hey, kid, you died. You’re ok, right? Was your evening ruined?” (Words to that effect only not that.) Anyway Izzy is a trooper and was unphased.

New PC for Izzy. “Alu Fiend” if you speak Type III. “Alu-Demon” if you speak Type I. Anyway point is mom was a succubus.
Party got scared of undead boars and ran away. Have you seen Hannibal? Go see Hannibal.
Village: pissed everyone off. In my notes it says they make nice tapestries there.
Went through the Lying Forest. Saw illusions. And a unicorn. It was black. Unlike this one. FUCK MY BLOGGING LIFE. Bob Pepper you horse racist.
KK, having gone druid, enjoyed being useful in the woods. “You numbnuts, look at the sky, the Shrieking Star is that way…”
Another village. Drank beer. Stole a plant. Did you know one of the convicts sent to Australia in the initial Great Ship-Over got done for stealing a potted plant?
If the militia ever catches up with them, they might get sent to TMNT: Mutants Down Under. And found a nation.
Went to a tower, almost got brains eaten, went back to town. (Izzy was skyping in and she livestreamed this session and I had no idea so that was weird.) Also the tower is silent because the violet leopard orchids eat sound.
Went through the Lesser Bleak, fought giant wasp monsters.

Went to a city built on bridges, slept.

(There is no picture that looks like this bridge city looks in my head.)(…And that, children, is where art comes from.)
Gathered allies. Turned around, went back through the Bleak fought more wasps.
Went to the tower. Burned up violet leopard orchids. Do you see the screaming zombie face inside the flower? Ha ha there isn’t one-if you see it you are a sociopath!
Fought crystal golems. Really close to but not quite a good name for a porn actress.
Shined a light through the golem and saw a code, opened a door.
And inside is…..
An awesome set piece I now have a whole week to write up. Oh, the luxury of that after weeks of sandboxing…

At Sinking UNO, Summer Recruiting Proves to Be Anything But Easy

May 18, 2012 Articles No comments

In 2007, Joe Pasternack, then assistant coach at California, was offered a job as the University of New Orleans’ men’s basketball team’s (‘The Privateers’) head-coach, and he accepted it. Going back to his home-city in order to help rebuild the team after it was ruined by Hurricane Katrina seemed like the right thing to do. During his first year as head-coach, he lead ‘The Privateers’ to finish 19-11, their best record since 1997. “I thought we had turned the corner,” he said. Unfortunately he thought wrong.

With only a year left to his own contract as, Joe Pasternack, had to face the challenge of finding an entirely new team by the time the school year began at the end of August. The big problem, though, is that he needed to recruit players who were willing to enroll to the university and play for ‘The Privateers’, UNO’s basketball team, without receiving athletic scholarships. This is due to the fact the the university has, without too many choices, decided to move its athletics program from Division I to Division III because of major financial issues that they were experiencing as a result of Hurricane Katrina.

Pasternack did everything that he possibly could in order to find the best players for the new team, who would also be able to afford paying for their own tuition. He attended a two-day scrimmaging camp, in order to find and invite the best players to the university’s basketball skills camp which takes place only a few weeks before the school-year begins. He was able to gather 40 players for the university’s basketball skills camp. “I’m sure a lot of you know our situation,” Pasternack told attendees. When he finishes explaining UNO’s plight, he says, “What that means is, we have a lot of spots open.”

By the end of the long and odd recruiting period, Joe Pasternack had a new team in front of him that he would need to build. “We started with one kid,” he says, “and finished with 19.”

Naftali Feig Marks 7 Years Since Opening Business

May 18, 2012 Articles No comments

Founding Partner of R & N Property Investments, Naftali Feig, recently marked the company’s seventh year in business. R & N Property Investments is a Cleveland-based real estate investment firm that purchases bank-owned homes and sells or rents them after renovation and home improvement work.

Naftali Feig founded R & N Property Investments in 2005. The Cleveland-based real estate investment firm purchases bank-owned homes, prior to releasing the properties to the market, Naftali Feig and his team renovate and repair the properties.

Since first establishing the real estate firm, Naftali Feig has been in charge of performing all due diligence on investment opportunities, job costing, designing and implementing property improvements, developing company growth strategy, hiring and overseeing professional tradesmen for projects, negotiating service contracts, cash-flow forecasting, bank reconciliation, budgeting, financial reporting and more.

“I completed a whole range of tasks,” said Naftali Feig. “I am a team player with strong leadership skills and a unique ability to see the larger picture while remaining detail oriented”

Since Naftali Feig recently relocated to Israel, he has handed over day-to-day operations of R & N Property Investments to his business partner.

Recently Naftali Feig marked his 12th year in the business profession. Naftali Feig, a native Israeli resident, moved to the United States with his family when he was seven years old. While living in the United States, Naftali Feig attended various American schools and education establishments.

In 2000, he graduated from Touro College with a Bachelor of Science in Finance. While a student at Touro College, Naftali Feig specialized in international financial markets, international bond trading, security analysis and options trading. Most recently, prior to his move to Israel, Naftali Feig graduated from Cleveland State University with a Masters of Business Administration.

Over the years, Naftali Feig has worked for a number of organizations, including Integrated DNA Technologies, Progressive Fashion Warehouse, Progressive Foods and most recently R & N Property Investments.

Naftali Feig is currently residing in Israel with his family and is seeking job opportunities in the business arena.

More About Naftali Feig
Naftali Feig, a native Israeli resident, holds 12 years of business and finance experience under his belt. Naftali Feig attended undergraduate and graduate school in the United States. Naftali graduated from Touro College with a Bachelor of Science in finance, recently he graduated from Cleveland State University with a Masters of Business Administration. Naftali Feig is a results driven business professional who is highly skilled at increasing revenue for organizations. Naftali Feig’s specialties include project management, accounting, strategy, planning, finance, real estate, and cost cutting. Naftali Feig is currently searching for challenging employment in Israel. Naftali Feig is married and has three children.

Arizona Wildcats Basketball: Miller Hires Pasternack as Assistant Coach

May 18, 2012 Articles No comments

Sean Miller, head coach of University of Arizona’s men’s basketball team, has hired University of New Orleans’ head coach, Joe Pasternack, as his new assistant coach for the Arizona Wildcats.

Coach Miller also considered former University of Arizona player Damon Stoudamire for the job, but Pasternack’s impressive reputation and previous coaching experience lead Miller to decide that Pasternack is a better candidate.

“I want to thank UNO and my players for the opportunity over the last four years,” Pasternack said. “It is very difficult to leave the city of New Orleans.” He explained that he could not pass up on the opportunity for working with top coach Sean Miller in one of the elite basketball programs in the country.

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