Episode 49: No One Likes a Blood Frenzy
July 26th, 2013 | Robin
From the Cartography Hut we send our separate adventurers on intercut journeys of exploration, as we riff on the fantasy game potential of the Atlas of True Names series.
How to Write Good connects the dots of stakes, consequences, and reader engagement.
In Ask Ken and Robin, Geoffery Nelson asks how iconic characters can engage in meaningful conflict without stopping the story dead as both dig their heels in.
Finally we conclude Ken’s series on the Nazi occult by veering at an impossible angle into the Eliptony Hut for a look at Nazi UFOs and the Hollow Earth.
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Hey guys! Your podcast has very quickly become my favourite part of Friday morning.
This episode, while you do revisit the hollow earth you pretty carefully avoid discussing Nazi UFOs. What exactly is Nazi UFO theory? And where does it come from? I can only picture swastika emblazoned saucers piloted by grey aliens with toothbrush moustaches.
We have a slap mechanism in our fantasy games. If two characters disagree, the each roll d20 and the highest wins, doing d4 damage to the other. The dispute is thus settled.
The names riffage was evolving towards freeform gaming, and was all kinds of fun to listen to.
Agreed that the Nazi UFO material was curiously missing. Interference from the black helicopter crowd no doubt. Any chance Ken would consider a book about the Occult (Nazi or otherwise) in the irreverent tone of the podcast rather than the pseudo-historical tone of the Osprey book.
Ken clearly has far higher tolerance for reading the crazy than I do. A question, though: it seems to me that one could classify hollow earth theories into two broad camps, the convex (“there is a hollow earth, or at least a huge and extensive cavern network, that we don’t know about”) and the concave (“we are living on the inside surface of an air bubble within rock”, mostly after Teed). And as I read it, if the Rügen Island experiment happened at all, it was in accordance with the concave theory. But it’s the convex theory that was revived post-war, with all the ideas about Antarctic Nazis that have been such a fertile field for gamers to mine. Was this perhaps a misunderstanding of the term “hollow earth” as one fringe believer talked to another?
Dear Ken & Robin,
Here’s an elitist yet heartfelt question. I used to enjoy RPGs as a boy. Then I became a professional humanities scholar. I now find it really hard to enjoy a game where the GM and other players know less about history and anthropology than I do. Their game worlds just don’t hold together for me. They look like a collection of poorly painted and slightly mismatched stage backdrops and props. My nerdy knowledge ruins my fun.
You’re both highly erudite people. Don’t you run into this all the time? I can’t believe all your gaming buddies are as well read as you are. Are you always the GM?
Best,
Fauntleroy
Can anyone give the real world names that correspond to the Atlas names they used? As in, where is the Firth of Silence in the real world? I don’t have a copy of the Atlas, and won’t be able to afford one for a while.
There is a great documentary about the germans and the moon called “Die Mondverschwörung” (The Moon Conspiracy). I was blown away/shocked by the statements. Even the strangest theories like Reichsflugscheiben (nazi-ufo-project), Chem-Trails, great libraries in Outer Space (like the Yithians!) or Reptoids have their faithful followers…
BTW: Some german words in the podcast sounded very funny 😀 But the Nazi-Occult section is very informative, I like it!
Oh, and please don’t forget my Sherlock Holmes question. Maybe it’s something for the Gaming Hut (Cthulhu by Gaslight!):
Imagine you were followed by Sherlock Holmes. A horrible image, I know! But how would you escape the Great Detective and cover up your tracks? Is it even possible? I’d love to hear the story of Ken and Robin vs Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.
Love your show, can’t wait for the new episode! 🙂
Daniel
Speaking of maps:
http://bigthink.com/strange-maps/617-the-sahara-sea-a-french-mirage-in-north-africa
Hey Guys.
This show is incredible! My life is improved by the conversations and content you bring to my attention. As someone who works in the film industry the cinema and television huts are insightful and thought provoking. The gaming insights are wonderful and I cannot thank you enough for your efforts.
I have a few questions and this seems to be the way you like to communicate.
1) What books and writers have had a large impact on your understanding of the structure of story? You are so on point with the other writer/writing podcasts and blogs to which I subscribe, I would love to hear what you recommend for young writers looking for a deeper understanding of the craft.
2) What gaming podcasts do you listen to? By far this is one of the only gaming podcasts I can stand. I already have goofy friends that have opinions about gaming. What I would love is deeper level content like yours.
3) How can an individual support the podcast? I know you are looking for sponsors but what are the things that most encourage you to keep churning out the great content.
Thanks again, and keep the wonderful work coming!
Corey