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Re: [DL] Lone Stars Thoughts (spoilers)(long)
At 09:51 AM 5/21/2002, Mr. Roy Spence wrote:
>Yep, you've got me bang to rights.
How good it is to hear from again!
>Not a problem, prior to Dead Presidents I didn't realise that writers were
>actually that interested in this type of feedback
Speaking just for my own humble self, I live for this sort of
thing. The critiques I get help me a great deal, esp. when it's time to do
the *next* book. Even better, it's just the tonic for writer's paranoia
("Is anyone going to read this? Will anyone care?") ;-).
> > >S
> > >P
> > >O
> > >I
> > >L
> > >E
> > >R
> > >S
> > >
> >
>So the fact that I found some of MiBD tedious to read is testament to the
>skillful writings of John Goff? :-)
You said *I* was better than Goff--that's the high praise I
referred to.:-)
>I did wonder if there would be a brief mention of Rangers who were on
>assignment and were last known to be in X region - with a few cryptic
>clues concerning the assignment to allow Marshals to pick up from where
>the book left off and having a decent excuse to move the Ranger slightly
>from his last known position. However I do appreciate that dual stat books
>are likely to be less character stat orientated - which to my mind clears
>up a whole heap of possibilities in other publications such as the Epitaph
>or on the web site.
I appreciate what you're saying here, but the dual-statting was
not the reason for omitting plot hooks. There was no call for any in the
PEG Brief for the book, and ultimately, it came down to my own personal
opinion that DL has set the mark for unresolved plot threads in a single RPG.
I'd had this feeling for some time prior to writing LS, and
researching the book just confirmed it. I think one has only to look
through the Posse section of LS at the dangling plot threads from previous
books, some of which stretch all the way back to 1998 (in real time). While
LS was never intended to be the Weird West's answer to _The Unity_, I felt
it could do a real service by consolidating as many (Southern) plot threads
as possible, and updating as many as I could get away with.
And I could not agree with you more re: the possibilites of the
Epitaph format.
>If all I can say about the band is that it makes me cringe a little, it
>really isn't constructive feedback - so I was just declaring the
>uselessness of the comment while still registering my dislike.
It's a style matter, and that really is an "eye of the beholder"
thing. Reminders that one's style is not universally loved are quite
healthy.;-)
>Thanks Marcus for posting that - I'm not so good with regiments and
>companies etc.
There's a breakdown of regiments, etc. in both LS and the DL
Player's Handbook.
>Yes, but he is pretty restricted by his position - having Hank Ketchum say
>"Look son, this is how it *really* is..." would have been cool IMHO.
Hank is a wicked cool character, but since King was already
"shooting" as much as possible, I had no fallacies for Ketchum to expose.
>Actually I did like them - my problem, as I have stated before, with a few
>of the moves published previously was I was unsure what the opponent was
>meant to be doing, stuck in the air while a 3 action move was being
>performed on him, and this made them unwieldy.
I think you have to appreciate the original Fightin' Maneuvers
inspiration--pro wrestling--to understand what the writers were going for.
As a result, they're not the least bit realistic, nor do I think they were
intended to be.
For better or worse, I tried to stay within the boundaries of at
least cinematic reality in LS, but the Stunner's presence proves that I am
not perfect on that score.;-)
Thanks again for the post!
Deo Vindice,
Mr. Christopher L. McGlothlin, M.Ed.
Freelance RPG Writer At-Large
Member, Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design
Moderator of the New Gamers Order Listserver
Southern by the Grace of God