At 12/18/04 06:27 PM, Frozen_Fox wrote: lol my parents are exactly like that lol. Anywya I was wondering if you had any experience with Dm'ing and writing adventures cause Im going to start Dm'ing soon and Im writing an adventure asell and was wondering if you migth happen to have any tips?

The best tip is to never expect your party to do whatever you want. Have contingency plans and extra monsters available, should the need arise. If possible, jot down the stuff you need to know about the monsters, so they can't see which page you're looking at.

The other thing I'll mention, is don't go out thinking 'Let's kill me a PC.' put them in situations which might kill them if they are stupid or unlucky. Don't save them from cretain death, when there is a way out, let them try to find it. Secret dice rolls are a boon here, and the main thing is that you might want to pick up a book or two with adventures in, just to get the hang of writing you own adventures first. That helped me a load. (Try Dragon or Dungeon magazines, as they usually publish adventures monthly)

Hope that's some help.

At 12/18/04 07:10 PM, Slightly_Crazy_Dude wrote: Ok, im looking for some decent books Coop, help me out buddy. You know my style, fantasy for me rocks everything, but im willing to try anything else you suggest. I have no books i havent read in my "library" haha. So i need suggestions quick, before Crimbo.

Anything Fantasy, Sci-Fi, War, Weird.... Et cetera.

Okay search for a guy named 'James Clavell' he wrote such literary classics as Shogun, King Rat and Tai Pei. They are mostly about war, with Shogun set in Japan (17th Century) and King Rat set in a WWII PoW camp in the far east. (Clavell himself spent time incarcerated during WWII in Asia) The stories are great and well worth a read.

At 12/19/04 03:33 PM, Coop83 wrote: Hope that's some help.

Indeed it is. I have access to loads of dungeon magazines so Ill give them a skim throiugh and see what adventures they have and try and pick up some of the techniques.

At 12/19/04 09:20 PM, Frozen_Fox wrote:

At 12/19/04 03:33 PM, Coop83 wrote: Hope that's some help.

Indeed it is. I have access to loads of dungeon magazines so Ill give them a skim throiugh and see what adventures they have and try and pick up some of the techniques.

I tried running some of the magazine versions first, 2 get the feel of what my party will try and do, given certain situations

Then I wrote my own and they sucked. Give time, they will blossom

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls. It is time.

I have now finished my frankly pedestrian plod through Monstrous Regiment and am her to present you with a review.

Title : Monstrous Regiment
Author : Terry Pratchett
Date of Publication : 2003
ISBN : 0385 603401

"It began as a sudden strange fancy...

Polly Perks had to become a boy in a hurry. Cutting off her hair and wearing trousers was easy. Learning to fart and belch in public and walk like an ape took more time...

And now she's enlisted in the army, and is searching for her lost brother.

But there's a war on. There's always a war on. And Polly and her fellow recruits are suddenly in the thick of it, without any training, and the enemy is hunting them.

All they have on their side is the most artful sergeant in the army and a vampire with a lust for coffee. Well... they have the Secret. And as they take the war to the heart of the enemy, they have to use all the resources of... the Monstrous Regiment."

Writing style.
Like most Pratchett novels, the early going is easy to read and so easy that you do miss some of his more subtle plot hooks for later on. However, I did notice that I was not drawn to continue reading during the middle of the story, possibly due to the fact that the main plot got lost within a web of intrigue. (This is not a common trait of Pratchett, as he does usually spin his intriguing plots, but he appears to have gotten tangled up for the first time.) The ending did wrap up all the loose ends and delivered a nice sting, should you not have picked up upon it earlier in the book.

Plot.
An interesting plotline, which intertwines the novels 'The Fifth Elephant' and 'The Truth' into this story, which reminds us that none of his novels stand alone, but they all lead to one another. Maybe we shall see some of the new characters again sometime. Who knows, save Terry Pratchett, himself.

Would I reccomend it?
Not as a first novel of his, no. If you are an established fan, then it is a must have to add to the collection, because his humour lives up to their usual colourful standards.

Best bit (Non-Spoiler)
Any line refering to the town of PrinceMarmadukePiotreAlbertHansJosephBernhardtWilhelmsberg, because I laughed so much when I first read thet name. Such is the tradition of coutries in the former eastern block. (Austria, Hungary, Romania etc)

My Rating : 8/10
I would not say it is his best, I may even go as far as to say that it is my least liked of the 28 discworld novels I have read. Though I would reccoment you read it just for Sergeant Jack Jackrum and the humour he leads to.

hmmmmm sounds ratehr interesting. Ill ahevto see if I can pick up a copy. that really long place name made me laugh though.

Btw have you read pratchetts book called postal? Isaw that on sale in a book shop near me and was wdnering if that one was any good?

It's the new one, called 'Going Postal' I started reading it today, and yes... I will review it for the benefit of the club.

At 12/22/04 12:29 PM, Coop83 wrote: It's the new one, called 'Going Postal' I started reading it today, and yes... I will review it for the benefit of the club.

Jesus I thought monstous regiment was his new one :S he is certianly churning them out at quite a rate thats for certain.

At 12/22/04 12:30 PM, Frozen_Fox wrote: Jesus I thought monstous regiment was his new one :S he is certianly churning them out at quite a rate thats for certain.

Monstrous Regiment was released this year in Paperback. Going Postal is the new one in Hardback.

He's releasing at about 1.5 new books per year. There are 33 in the series, if you count A Hatful of Sky, the Wee Free Men, Maurice and his Educated Rodents, and all the others he writes for children.

He's got a great marketing strategy, though... entice the children and get them to buy the proper novels later on.

At 12/22/04 12:34 PM, Coop83 wrote: He's releasing at about 1.5 new books per year. There are 33 in the series, if you count A Hatful of Sky, the Wee Free Men, Maurice and his Educated Rodents, and all the others he writes for children.

He's got a great marketing strategy, though... entice the children and get them to buy the proper novels later on.

Ive never thought of it like that.......the snekay bugger. All he is after is the money :P

At 12/22/04 01:18 PM, Frozen_Fox wrote: Ive never thought of it like that.......the snekay bugger. All he is after is the money :P

I don't believe for a minute that he's after the money. He has admitted on camera that he already has far too much money to spend in his lifetime.

It's similar to me... All I want is to be financially comfortable from writing and then I'm going to enjoy myself.

It stands to reason.

At 12/22/04 01:21 PM, Coop83 wrote: I don't believe for a minute that he's after the money. He has admitted on camera that he already has far too much money to spend in his lifetime.

Imagine what it wouldbe like to have more money than you could spend in a lifetime and more coming in everyday?

At 12/22/04 01:24 PM, Frozen_Fox wrote: Imagine what it wouldbe like to have more money than you could spend in a lifetime and more coming in everyday?

I dream about it every day. When I get published, I hope I'm that popular.

At 12/21/04 07:16 AM, Coop83 wrote:

Oh yes I love the bit in it where it says "as she was staring at his many chin you couldnt say it was fat when the word groos comes to mind" I burst out laughing at that bit...

At 12/22/04 02:02 PM, Coop83 wrote:

At 12/22/04 01:24 PM, Frozen_Fox wrote: Imagine what it wouldbe like to have more money than you could spend in a lifetime and more coming in everyday?

I dream about it every day. When I get published, I hope I'm that popular.

Ya, thats nice and all, but writing is not about the money to me, as it probably is not for most. It is about the passion. I absolutely love poetry; it inspires me, makes me think, helps me explore past wounds, new feelings and -this may sound sad or corny- but when i read a poem that uses a metaphor i had never heard before or uses a creative way to play on words that i have never seen before, i actually get excited. Like get up- smiling- heart pumping excited. Its a passion for me, and whether i ever get published or not, i am going to write poetry and novels until the day i die. That is a fact.
Since i am on the topic, if you like poetry, i advice you to look into Thomas Hardy. Some of you may notice i talk about TH alot , but he is my all time favourite author and poet... so that is why.

Anyway, i am glad to see that this club is still kicking, have i missed anything lately?

You haven't really missed much, Myst. We haven't really been doing much, since I went on sabaatical to get the review of MR finished.

I would encourage other people to review books for this club and tell me if mine was helpful at all.

At 12/24/04 05:48 PM, Coop83 wrote: I would encourage other people to review books for this club and tell me if mine was helpful at all.

I will take that into consideration...

I got your email Coop and will read it over after the holidays. I wouldn't mind getting your new version of Chapter 1 also, i would sincerely like to read those descriptions you added in. I love your story so far and want to see more. : )

Can i assume everyone here has already read Dracula? I am about half done it.

At 12/24/04 06:51 PM, Myst_Williams wrote: Can i assume everyone here has already read Dracula? I am about half done it.

Have it have never read it. Im not big into monster books really.

At 12/24/04 06:57 PM, Manic_streetpreacher wrote:

At 12/24/04 06:51 PM, Myst_Williams wrote: Can i assume everyone here has already read Dracula? I am about half done it.

Have it have never read it. Im not big into monster books really.

Well, alot of it isnt even about Dracula at the point i am at. And vampires are intriguing things to read about, plus, Bram Stoker's style is amazing. It is good to read even from a learning perpective.

At 12/24/04 07:24 PM, Myst_Williams wrote: Well, alot of it isnt even about Dracula at the point i am at. And vampires are intriguing things to read about, plus, Bram Stoker's style is amazing. It is good to read even from a learning perpective.

Vampires are intriguing to read about i have about 5 books about vampire legends and how the legends came about but the actual Dracula Book just does not appeal to me for some reason :S

Right now, I'm reading Halo:The Flood by William Dietz. Good stuff.

At 12/24/04 07:24 PM, Myst_Williams wrote: Well, alot of it isnt even about Dracula at the point i am at. And vampires are intriguing things to read about, plus, Bram Stoker's style is amazing. It is good to read even from a learning perpective.

It's a good book, but when I read it, the going was quite tough. (I did read it when I was early teens, so some of his terms are a little difficult to understand.) I'll have to read it again sometime.

BTW, Myst, I'll email you Chapter 1 V2 and let you peruse that over the holidays.

At 12/25/04 07:43 AM, Coop83 wrote: BTW, Myst, I'll email you Chapter 1 V2 and let you peruse that over the holidays.

Thanks, as soon as i get the chance i will read it.

I am also looking for another 'classic' novel. Anyone have any ideas? Classic lit is my favourite, so i prefer such a novel. If you have a really good read in mind, please not'r here for me.

Of cIce and men by john steinbeck? Its a pretty good read. If you liek classic stuff you should enjoy it myst.

At 12/28/04 02:19 PM, Manic_streetpreacher wrote: Of cIce and men by john steinbeck? Its a pretty good read. If you liek classic stuff you should enjoy it myst.

Great, but what does that say? 'Of clce and men' <<< clce? is that s'posed to say that?

At 12/28/04 04:57 PM, Myst_Williams wrote:

At 12/28/04 02:19 PM, Manic_streetpreacher wrote: Of cIce and men by john steinbeck? Its a pretty good read. If you liek classic stuff you should enjoy it myst.

Great, but what does that say? 'Of clce and men' <<< clce? is that s'posed to say that?

I hate typos. It mean to say " Of Mice and Men" I also suggets reading the grapes of wrath .

Thanks. I Will look into both of them.

At 12/28/04 05:04 PM, Manic_streetpreacher wrote: I hate typos. It mean to say " Of Mice and Men" I also suggets reading the grapes of wrath .

Nice choices. I've never read them, but Mrs Faucet, my old English teacher told me to read stuff like that. I was a kid, I was arrogant, so I didn't read them. I think the only time I left the Sci-Fi / Fantasy shelves in the library at school was to read Shogun, by James Clavell. I was going to read King Rat as well, by the same author, but it went missing.

Shame.

I heartly reccomend reading Of MIce and Men. The style is a bit strange because steinbeck was trying to write a book that could be easily adapted to a stage play but it is a very good read.

At 12/29/04 04:14 PM, Manic_streetpreacher wrote: I heartly reccomend reading Of MIce and Men. The style is a bit strange because steinbeck was trying to write a book that could be easily adapted to a stage play but it is a very good read.

I Am going to chapters this week to pick up my list of books:
The Count of Monty Cristo (yes, i know, with ym deat hwish i shall read this one in its entirety. lol)
The Knights of the Templay Whilt (i hope i got that title right)
Of Mice and Men
Grapes of Wrath
The Great Gatsby (i have already read it a few times, but i want to have it in my mini library -- just incase i ever want to read it again. I enjoyed it)