tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post5475916054271011101..comments2024-03-28T22:00:35.840-07:00Comments on Playing D&D With Porn Stars: Der GiftschrankZak Sabbathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08812410680077034917noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-73906133842004911082017-03-05T19:48:59.918-08:002017-03-05T19:48:59.918-08:00From Mike Carr's classic Dungeons & Dragon...From Mike Carr's classic Dungeons & Dragons module B1, In Search of the Unknown:<br /><br />"The library is rather modestly supplied with books, volumes, and tomes of various sizes. There are likewise only a few scrolls, these being stored in a rack along the east wall. None of the books or scrolls is of any particular use or special interest to the adventurers, despite how many they examine."<br /><br />This is not the only classic module to treat books as throw-away set dressing, but in this one it's an especially egregious wasted opportunity. The NPCs, Rogahn and Zelligar, described as the architects and owners of the dungeon, are just the kind who would disregard society's taboos and collect the kinds of books that otherwise might go into a Giftschrank - especially "Zelligar the Unknown" (for whom after all the module is obliquely named after). And yet, nothing.<br /><br />The ideas about banned books - why they're banned, who is or is not allowed to read them, and so on - these great subjects you have so eloquently described are rarely deployed in gaming adventures (outside selected genres), and yet they're not just rich story and gaming material; often the setting, characters, and plot are just begging for them to be used - and still, so often, nothing. There is a strange emptiness at work in many of our hobby's standard tropes, to leave such lacunae. I've seen it too many times, the embrace of empty plot structures and characters, the turning away from the richest veins of meaning.<br /><br />Mike Carr makes clear that B1 is a teaching dungeon - he supplies the map, backstory, and set dressing, and we supply the monsters and treasure - and it would be in keeping with that approach to leave it up to us what books are in that library and why, what they mean to the characters and to the larger world they're a part of.<br /><br />Because of this context, I give Mr. Carr the benefit of the doubt. For so many other adventures and products from our industry I'm hard-pressed to explain how consistently we choose the empty and vacuous over the rich and meaningful.<br /><br />Thank you for yet another fine contribution to the sometimes quixotic but always noble cause of helping us find ways to make things better, more fun, more potent, more meaningful, more alive.<br /><br />Thank you.Rick Marshallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01707062453047354335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-4465564290631729982016-07-19T02:08:19.008-07:002016-07-19T02:08:19.008-07:00Since Mradon doesn't seem to answer:
It's ...Since Mradon doesn't seem to answer:<br />It's "Die Giftschränke" in every line where it's more than one. But I personaly would just use the English article "the" if I was unsure about the German. It's der, dem, des, den or in plural even die depending on the casus. Just make it "The Giftschrank(e)" it's okay. 😃Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14793613814410371008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-84320076626029237992016-04-16T02:46:50.358-07:002016-04-16T02:46:50.358-07:00Indeed.Indeed.anonimous, emperador en el exiliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13204169087393199959noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-39543746661859861122016-04-12T12:03:27.342-07:002016-04-12T12:03:27.342-07:00ok.
not really important for the entry as a whole...ok.<br /><br />not really important for the entry as a wholeZak Sabbathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08812410680077034917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-24531218970970390792016-04-12T03:17:47.101-07:002016-04-12T03:17:47.101-07:00DISCLAIMER: the author of the previous post claims...DISCLAIMER: the author of the previous post claims to have Asperguer's Syndrome, which is (roll 1d3): (1) true (2) false (3) irrelevant to this blog.<br />anonimous, emperador en el exiliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13204169087393199959noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-5783438731964640302016-04-12T03:14:47.122-07:002016-04-12T03:14:47.122-07:00(a) DISAMBIGUATION REQUIRED. Do you mean book_Mina...(a) DISAMBIGUATION REQUIRED. Do you mean book_Minas Tirith or movie_Minas Tirith? The Hobbit [book] or The Hobbit [movie]?<br /><br />(b) FYI in book_Minas Tirith library there's indeed a tome who contains both The Hobbit [book] and The Lord of the Rings [book] (cfr. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" prologue). Do what you want with this.<br /><br />(c) Towns don't burn books, people do. The later book_Denethor made a point of burning stuff, other denizens not so much. <br /><br />(d) I don't know about the movies but The Hobbit [book] IS NOT "depicting the joys of" as much as "mocking the dullness of". <br /><br />(e) book_Bilbo IS NOT a farmer living "a simple rural life", he's a petit bourgeois who revels in mediocrity until book_Gandalf kidnaps and railroads him into a beadstring of nightmarish adventures. <br /><br />(f) I see the hobbits as potential Giftschrankers - their society has the proper amount of sophistication and sanctimony. Outside the Shire everything is much more primeval and straight-forward.<br /><br />(g) I have no comments or complains about the rest of the entry.anonimous, emperador en el exiliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13204169087393199959noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-30944022387862722582016-04-11T14:59:18.802-07:002016-04-11T14:59:18.802-07:00which line?which line?Zak Sabbathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08812410680077034917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-652205354656969782016-04-11T11:41:01.977-07:002016-04-11T11:41:01.977-07:00Die Giftschränke (pl.). I'll go sit in the cor...Die Giftschränke (pl.). I'll go sit in the corner, doing penance for my OCD. Mradon Kalashhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06373817703237113329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-42933233028758374762016-04-07T11:29:57.821-07:002016-04-07T11:29:57.821-07:0040k inquisitors are all about secret libraries (fi...40k inquisitors are all about secret libraries (finding/burning/learning from etc.), and obviously profoundly believe in point 6... to the point of having secret secret libraries to create even more layers of society. Lasgunpackerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13529298072677726064noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-90422852548059893722016-04-07T09:28:12.039-07:002016-04-07T09:28:12.039-07:00A few examples of fiction that make use of such id...A few examples of fiction that make use of such ideas in a grand way:<br /><br />Year 1984 (NewSpeak, also use of giftshrank lure as a method for weeding out potential dissidents). <br /><br />Name of a Rose (mysterious legacy, too precious to be annihilated, and too profound to be shared) and Foucault's Pendulum (a self-perpetuating idea that evolves). <br /><br />Master and Margarethe (a manuscript that grants an insight) <br /><br />Laundry Files series. <br /><br />RPGs where the core concept revolves around secrets that have profound impact:<br />Kult<br />Delta Greenruemerehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03140177940669909649noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-7973784835219724702016-04-07T07:14:34.871-07:002016-04-07T07:14:34.871-07:00I'm currently playing in a Trail of Cthulhu ga...I'm currently playing in a Trail of Cthulhu game dealing specifically with a Giftschrank. We're seeing elements of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd points here. It's been great.Benhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06767095029126872887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-19724286901265370382016-04-06T21:39:18.579-07:002016-04-06T21:39:18.579-07:00If someone wanted to run a Call of Cthulhu game in...If someone wanted to run a Call of Cthulhu game in which public institutions (like libraries) don't believe in magic or have any Mythos knowledge, but still wanted to have a "forbidden books" section in the local library that the players needed to break into, the Giftschrank would probably be the best way to do that.Justin Stewarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05885816572933013245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-78301357010045864892016-04-06T15:33:42.713-07:002016-04-06T15:33:42.713-07:00ok.
not really important for the entry as a whol...ok.<br /><br />not really important for the entry as a wholeZak Sabbathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08812410680077034917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-86476313463642061502016-04-06T15:17:49.788-07:002016-04-06T15:17:49.788-07:00i dunno man i have to debate your assertion that M...i dunno man i have to debate your assertion that Minas Tirith is a book-burning town.<br />"Kings built tombs more splendid than the houses of the living and counted the names of their descent dearer than the names of their sons. Childless lords sat in aged halls musing on heraldry or in high cold towers asking questions of the stars."<br /><br />Sound like a bunch of 'schrankers to me C.Richardsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11414535009749305817noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-43709540930536555932016-04-06T13:53:39.924-07:002016-04-06T13:53:39.924-07:00The library I work at has a cage like the one pict...The library I work at has a cage like the one pictured above in our Acquisitions department. Walking by it always makes me think of Frank Langella's library from the film The Ninth Gate.CipherTesthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06379573695322393797noreply@blogger.com