brendan%gigi.DEC@decwrl.ARPA (07/24/85)
From: brendan%gigi.DEC@decwrl.ARPA (From the terminal of Brendan E. Boelke) I am an avid Dungeons and Dragons player/DM, and am wondering if anyone knows if any books have ever been published that were derived from actual games. What I mean by this is that the characters (players) keep 'journals' which are then compiled into (semi?)coherent form and published as a novel/short story. I have often thought that some of the 'adventures' I have had would make pretty good reading (but alas, I am no writer).
oyster@uwmacc.UUCP (Vicious Oyster) (07/25/85)
In article <2886@topaz.ARPA> brendan%gigi.DEC@decwrl.ARPA writes: >From: brendan%gigi.DEC@decwrl.ARPA (From the terminal of Brendan E. Boelke) > > I am an avid Dungeons and Dragons player/DM, and am wondering if >anyone knows if any books have ever been published that were derived >from actual games. There is a continuing series of books called "Dragonlance" which are put out by TSR (the people who get the royalties for AD&D), along with a companion set of scenarios to be played out. These books (I've read the first) are not badly written, and aren't really a bad read, but I don't think they'd hold much interest for non-D&Ders. On the other hand, those who play D&D (or AD&D) will probably find that the actions of the characters, as well as the settings, monsters, situations, etc., are all recognizable as having come from the AD&D universe, and will be able to more fully enjoy the novels. One word of caution: these seem to be set up so much along the lines of AD&D sessions, that things don't really end after each novel. (Sure, we've saved the elves from total destruction and freed the townsmen from the clutches of the evil dragon, but the battle isn't over yet, and the players, er, characters, will be back again next weekend to continue the never-ending battles...) -- - joel "vo" plutchak {allegra,ihnp4,seismo}!uwvax!uwmacc!oyster "Take what I say in a different way and it's easy to say that this is all confusion."
mte@busch.UUCP (Moshe Eliovson) (07/27/85)
Read Robert Silverberg's Guardians of the Flame series.
The most recent one was The Silver Crown and a fourth book is
supposed to come out this fall.
Also, this is a very easy way to "generate" fantasy literature
since all you need is a tape recorder and a very creative dungeon master
and you've got all it takes- assuming interesting gaming.
Moshe Eliovson
{allegra, ihnp4}!we53!busch!mteleeper@mtgzz.UUCP (m.r.leeper) (07/27/85)
>I am an avid Dungeons and Dragons player/DM, and am >wondering if anyone knows if any books have ever been >published that were derived from actual games. No books, but I know of a film that a D&D fan I know assures me could have been written only in this way. It was a made for TV film that ran only once as far as I know. It is called THE ARCHER. It had a long complex stringlike plot. I kind of enjoyed it, but I never have found anyone else who thought much of it. One of the major problems is that it was not constructed like a story should be with a beginning, a middle, and an end. It was more like just a string of fantasy incidents. It did have a final confrontation, but not a very satisfying one. Till now the only way to generate a book has been to sit at a keyboard and think and plan, at least in my opinion. Philip K. Dick supposedly decided MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE's plot twists with the I Ching. I never cared for the novel, though others seem to like it. Mark Leeper ...ihnp4!mtgzz!leeper
mjc@cmu-cs-cad.ARPA (Monica Cellio) (07/27/85)
From: wucs!busch!mte@seismo (Moshe Eliovson)
> Read Robert Silverberg's Guardians of the Flame series.
Guardians of the Flame is by Joel Rosenberg, not Robert Silverberg. When I
asked him at Boskone, Mr. Rosenberg said these would be coming out at the
rate of about one a year for "a while". My guess is that the next one will
be out next spring sometime; The Silver Crown came out in March.
He also said that when he's not doing Guardians, he'll be doing more SFish
stuff. So far he's got one book out besides the Guardians books, called Ties
of Blood and Silver.
-Dragon
--
UUCP: ...ucbvax!dual!lll-crg!dragon
ARPA: monica.cellio@cmu-cs-cad or dragon@lll-crgitkin@luke.UUCP (Steven List) (07/29/85)
In article <468@busch.UUCP> mte@busch.UUCP (Moshe Eliovson) writes: > > Read Robert Silverberg's Guardians of the Flame series. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ -> Joel Rosenberg -- *** * Steven List @ Benetics Corporation, Mt. View, CA * Just part of the stock at "Uncle Bene's Farm" * {cdp,greipa,idi,oliveb,sun,tolerant}!bene!luke!itkin ***
jagardner@watmath.UUCP (Jim Gardner) (07/29/85)
>In article <2886@topaz.ARPA> brendan%gigi.DEC@decwrl.ARPA writes: >>From: brendan%gigi.DEC@decwrl.ARPA (From the terminal of Brendan E. Boelke) >> >> I am an avid Dungeons and Dragons player/DM, and am wondering if >>anyone knows if any books have ever been published that were derived >>from actual games. Steven Brust can correct me if I'm wrong, but from the afterword to Liavek (edited by Emma Bull and Will Shetterley), it seems apparent that many books coming from Brust's circle of writers are derived/influenced/whatever by role-playing campaigns those people played. In particular, it is suggested that the worlds of Liavek, the Vlad Taltos books (Jhereg and Yendi, by Brust), Cats Have No Lord (by Shetterley), and Shadow Magic (by Patricia Wrede) were all settings for these fantasy campaigns. Some of the characters in such books were role-played by members of this group, although most book characters are naturally authorial creations. Also, I suspect that it's hard to set the order of cause and effect here. The writers may well have created their worlds already and were in the process of writing stories in those worlds when the role-playing began. As a GM, it would be much easier (and maybe more interesting) to set a campaign in a world that was already on your mind than to create one from whole cloth. However, I'm sure that the game influenced the writing (and vice versa). Comment, SKZB? Have I misinterpreted the situation? Jim Gardner, University of Waterloo
piersol.pasa@Xerox.ARPA (07/29/85)
From: piersol.pasa@Xerox.ARPA Of course, the 'DragonLance' books were based on a D&D campaign. The afterword of 'Liavek' suggests that Liavek, SKZB'z Dragaera, Patricia Wrede's Lyra, and one other that slips my mind were all part of one massive multi-universe campaign. Given the quality of these books, I would say that fantasy campaigns are quite useable as background for fantastic fiction. Kurt
hutch@shark.UUCP (Stephen Hutchison) (07/30/85)
In article <2886@topaz.ARPA> brendan%gigi.DEC@decwrl.ARPA writes: >From: brendan%gigi.DEC@decwrl.ARPA (From the terminal of Brendan E. Boelke) > > I am an avid Dungeons and Dragons player/DM, and am wondering if >anyone knows if any books have ever been published that were derived >from actual games. What I mean by this is that the characters (players) >keep 'journals' which are then compiled into (semi?)coherent form and >published as a novel/short story. I have often thought that some of the >'adventures' I have had would make pretty good reading (but alas, I am >no writer). I am not sure whether this counts but Joel Rosenberg has been doing a series called "Guardians of the Flame" which has three books out and more to come. It isn't strictly an account of a game they played but more a case of the translation of the players into the game. Seems disjoint and strange enough that it just might be an actual game they're playing. Takes him that long to get a new one out, too... Anyway, I wonder about how good a D&D game COULD be as a story, considering that they tend to look like bad comic-books when recorded. (Yes, I do play frp games, and yes, I do record them in writing, and BOY are they lousy as literature) Hutch
rubin@mtuxn.UUCP (M.RUBIN) (07/31/85)
"Magician" by Raymond Feist(sp?) is taken from his game world Midkemia. All 600+ pages of it, with sequels to come. The writing is pretty good and the action well paced, though unoriginal. The book is dedicated to, among others, "the Friday Nighters" whom I assume to be his players; among these is one David Brin (yup, THAT David Brin; the jacket blurb says the author lives in San Diego). Brin also makes a cameo appearance as a horse trader.
bobh@pedsgd.UUCP (Bob Halloran) (07/31/85)
Organization : Perkin-Elmer DSG, Tinton Falls NJ >From: brendan%gigi.DEC@decwrl.ARPA (From the terminal of Brendan E. Boelke) > > I am an avid Dungeons and Dragons player/DM, and am wondering if >anyone knows if any books have ever been published that were derived >from actual games. What I mean by this is that the characters (players) >keep 'journals' which are then compiled into (semi?)coherent form and >published as a novel/short story. I have often thought that some of the >'adventures' I have had would make pretty good reading (but alas, I am >no writer). The "Dragonlance" books currently being cranked out by TSR were purportedly based on an actual campaign. Bob Halloran Sr MTS, Perkin-Elmer DSG ============================================================================= UUCP: {ihnp4, decvax, ucbvax}!vax135!petsd!pedsgd!bobh USPS: 106 Apple St M/S 305, Tinton Falls NJ 07724 DDD: (201) 758-7000 Disclaimer: My opinions are mine alone. Quote: "No matter where you go, there you are" - B. Banzai
mte@busch.UUCP (Moshe Eliovson) (07/31/85)
Raymod E. Feist was in fact an frp game designer in fact.
I read magician (must have been 5-6 years ago) in hardcover
and I've been unable to find it in paperback, anybody know anything
about this?
Moshe Eliovson
{allegra, ihnp4}!we53!busch!mteecl@mtgzz.UUCP (e.c.leeper) (08/04/85)
> Read Robert Silverberg's Guardians of the Flame series. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ No, it's Joel Rosenberg. > The most recent one was The Silver Crown and a fourth book is > supposed to come out this fall. The three books (in order) are: THE SLEEPING DRAGON THE SWORD AND THE CHAIN THE SILVER FLAME (not "Crown") Evelyn C. Leeper ...ihnp4!mtgzz!ecl <Bibliography is a way of life and a reason to buy a house.">
Susser.pasa@Xerox.ARPA (08/06/85)
From: Susser.pasa@Xerox.ARPA brendan%gigi.DEC@decwrl.ARPA writes: >I am an avid Dungeons and Dragons player/DM, and am wondering if >anyone knows if any books have ever been published that were >derived from actual games. I read a book of this sort a few years ago: "Quag Keep" by Andre Norton. the forward to the book explained that Norton actually played in a campaign run by Gary Gygax, and then turned the adventure into a fantasy novel. Unfortunately, the book is trash. It is very dry reading, and quite confusing to a real D&D player. The book was apparently based on the conflict of Law vs. Chaos philosophy of basic D&D, rather than the more playable Good/Evil-Law/Chaos philosophy of advanced D&D. I considered "Quag Keep" a waste of time and money, but you may find it interesting as an example of how NOT to generate fantasy. -- Josh Susser <Susser.pasa@Xerox.arpa>