The Scholar Class: PC or NPC only?

Yeah, I went throught the list myself, it needs better tabulation. I discounted the aids and supporting booklets and came up with about 120 RPGs.

Why are you saying I'm lying? I know the difference between an RPG and reference book for that RPG. And I have more games not on that list.

If you want to get technical about systems, I dare say if the only games you play are d20, you have only played "one" system. All the other so called RPG, such as d20 Conan, are just supplements and additional rules to the "core" system. If you use the d6 system, you now have two.

I must say, nearly all the ones I have collected are original systems. You can count the Hero System as one, and the GURPS also. I still have around 100 "original system" RPGs. I spent long years collecting, I have a right to brag.
 
Why are you saying I'm lying?

Uhm... I'm not.

Take note of the actual things I said and not some imaginary tone that you might put into them. First I said it seemed like an exaggeration or a language miscommunication (since we have members from all over the world who aren't native English speakers, this last part is especially pertinent).

That's why I made a point of drawing a distinction between books and systems.

As a matter of fact, in my last post I specifically said:


That isn't to discredit your claim.




And as to the systems I play: Why must you insist on judging without having any clue? I mean, I can understand judging if you have some frame of reference. But I've made absolutely no mention of what games I play, so how could you possibly know which systems -I- have played?

(And be careful about flaunting your book list, Raven likes to cast spells on people who enjoy their material possessions too much.)
 
dunderm - you need some credibility. Go to Barnes & Noble and pickup the Pocket handbook for the Conan RPG rules for $19.99. It will be a great addition to your very impressive RPG list. Plus, once you own the book you will be invited to the annual Conan bash hosted by Raven and Toothill - it's a fun crazy party! 8) :lol:
 
Mhmm. It's also worth noting that you can get the pocket edition of the rules from FRP Games for 15-something, if you don't have any gaming stores nearby, or if they don't carry what you want, etc.
 
Go to Barnes & Noble and pickup the Pocket handbook for the Conan RPG rules for $19.99. It will be a great addition to your very impressive RPG list.


Thanks! That I can do. Once I get to Anchorage, that is. Never a fun trip, I'm just not a city boy.
 
Strom said:
Plus, once you own the book you will be invited to the annual Conan bash hosted by Raven and Toothill - it's a fun crazy party! 8) :lol:

Next time we're doing at your place Strom- it took three hours to get the dried salsa stuck to the ceiling cleaned up. At least I think it was salsa......
 
You guys are right, I just hate to be wrong, human failing.

What medication are you on, Damien? Looks like I could use that too. :)
 
Raven Blackwell said:
Strom said:
Plus, once you own the book you will be invited to the annual Conan bash hosted by Raven and Toothill - it's a fun crazy party! 8) :lol:

Next time we're doing at your place Strom- it took three hours to get the dried salsa stuck to the ceiling cleaned up. At least I think it was salsa......

:lol: :lol:

I better clean up the joint!
 
It is one of the main sticking points of Howard's fiction that there may or may not be a supernatural force behind man's religions and thus no concrete supernatural benefits are given for serving a faith.

Noticed that too. I know I made a big deal about Scholars as opposed to Priests, and I would probably try to revamp when I get ahold of that game. But, REH has his character's speak a lot about the soul, and in The People of the Black Circle (unfortunetly, I have the de Camp edition). The wizards try to steal the soul from the King, and Yasmina saves him by killing him. So if the essense, the spirit, the soul, ka, or whatever you call it, was tangible in this story, then some power can be derived from them. Also, Conan delt directly with a goddess in Ice Giants Daughter (may got that title wrong). Although, Conan receives no benefit, it does show the gods do have powers, and if they have followers of the faithful, why wouldn't a god give out benefits? It may not be a common thing, but it could happen.
 
dunderm said:
It is one of the main sticking points of Howard's fiction that there may or may not be a supernatural force behind man's religions and thus no concrete supernatural benefits are given for serving a faith.

Noticed that too. I know I made a big deal about Scholars as opposed to Priests, and I would probably try to revamp when I get ahold of that game. But, REH has his character's speak a lot about the soul, and in The People of the Black Circle (unfortunetly, I have the de Camp edition). The wizards try to steal the soul from the King, and Yasmina saves him by killing him. So if the essense, the spirit, the soul, ka, or whatever you call it, was tangible in this story, then some power can be derived from them. Also, Conan delt directly with a goddess in Ice Giants Daughter (may got that title wrong). Although, Conan receives no benefit, it does show the gods do have powers, and if they have followers of the faithful, why wouldn't a god give out benefits? It may not be a common thing, but it could happen.

The ice giant's daughter may have been an illusion. The voice of Mitra in the Black Collossus may have been a trick of the priest. The people in Red Nails worship dragons as gods, the people of Xuthal worship Thog (is that the name?) as a god. The existence of "true" gods is very questionable in the Hyborian context, and I think allowing for ANY direct supernatural intervention by the gods is contrary to the REH vision. Its almost as bad as throwing in some Elves and Dwarves.

There is an excerpt from a good essay on this topic by Don Herron on Thulsa's site:

http://www.hyboria.xoth.net/gods/good_gods.htm

This essay also relates to a point you made on another list regarding an alleged battle between Set and the other gods of Hyboria. I find that this smacks of a "Good vs. Evil" conflict which is highly inconsistent with Hyboria.
 
Raven Blackwell said:
Strom said:
Plus, once you own the book you will be invited to the annual Conan bash hosted by Raven and Toothill - it's a fun crazy party! 8) :lol:

Next time we're doing at your place Strom- it took three hours to get the dried salsa stuck to the ceiling cleaned up. At least I think it was salsa......

You know its a good party when the day after, you have to use a hose to clean up... :D

Or a flamethrower.
 
You either have faith or you don't, in anything. Hard data may not be forthcoming, but you have to make that decision all by yourself. You are totally alone in this regard, and your personal decision on what to believe in is the only thing that counts. No one has the right to say you may or may not have faith about anything.

I have faith that REH was not without faith, and the soul does exist for me, and therefore exists in my vision of Hyboria.
 
I don't think it's a matter of real-world faith at all. It's a matter of how the world functions. In Hyboria there are simply no clear indications of the afterlife or divinity.
 
I don't think it's a matter of real-world faith at all. It's a matter of how the world functions. In Hyboria there are simply no clear indications of the afterlife or divinity.

Some people claim the same for the real world.
 
Some people claim the same for the real world.

Well, it is true of the real world. Faith is, well. . . at the risk of sounding redundant, a matter of faith. It cannot be proven one way or another. The same is true of Hyboria. Introducing elements that make the existance of Gods and the Afterlife absolutely undeniable is in direct conflict with the setting as Howard wrote it.






And no, I'm not denigrating religion or trying to start a religious debate. I think all intelligent people are fully aware that religion, in real life, is an entirely personal choice with no factual basis. It's all about feelings and faith.
 
I think all intelligent people are fully aware that religion, in real life, is an entirely personal choice with no factual basis. It's all about feelings and faith.

Exactly what I tried to say, but yours sounds better. IMO.
 
Decurio said:
You know its a good party when the day after, you have to use a hose to clean up... :D

Or a flamethrower.


Flamethrower. Hhhmmm. That gives me an adventure seed idea (a la Fahrenheit 451):

A vocal, right-wing individual/group in a city has outlawed all written materials and has city-wide bonfires. Anyone who has possession of a book/scroll/etc. is placed under arrest.......A scholar (N)PC would, of course, be outraged/upset about this and would need help of PCs to fend off the rabid masses of self-righteous, over-zealous bibliophobes, so that he could save some of the precious tomes. What do you think?
 
I think that the demonic sorcerors need to remain NPCs. I feel that the PCs should be the guys killing the demons not working with them. :wink:

But I don't see a problem with the other scholar backgrounds as PCs. We had a scholar in our party and his sorcery came in really handy.
 
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