On Saturday, 2 June 2012, I met Thomas K.Y. & Kai-Yin H. for lunch at Mulan, a decent Taiwanese restaurant in downtown Waltham, Massachusetts. We also screened Snow White and the Huntsman at the Landmark Embassy Cinema. The fantasy film was enjoyable, despite some flaws.
Snow White and the Huntsman only loosely follows the story recounted by the Brothers Grimm and Walt Disney. There’s still a princess, a wicked stepmother, a magic mirror, and seven dwarves, but this Snow White reminded me more of the wave of high-minded but inconsistent fantasy flicks from the 1980s, such as Dragonslayer or Labyrinth.
Twilight‘s Kristen Stewart acquits herself well as the eponymous princess, who is more like Joan of Arc than Disney’s cheerful heroine. Charlize Theron (soon also to be seen in Prometheus) happily chews the scenery as Queen Ravenna and needs to be “uglied up” with computer-generated effects for her younger rival to be the fairest in the land.
Thor‘s Chris Hemsworth is appropriately gruff as the drunken widower hired by Ravenna to find Snow White. Sam Clafin (from Pillars of the Earth and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) is a swashbuckling nobleman and potential live interest similar to Robin Hood, and Sam Spruell is Ravenna’s cruel brother Finn.
Snow White and the Huntsman‘s dwarves have less of a role than you might expect, even with clever casting — including the heads of veteran British character actors Bob Hoskins, Ian McShane, Ray Winstone, Nick Frost, and Brian Gleeson put onto little people’s bodies. The effect was seamless, but it only serves to whet the appetite for Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in December.
Speaking of Jackson’s example, the production values of Snow White and the Huntsman are very good, with nicely unified sets, costumes, and armor. James Newton Howard’s orchestral soundtrack is a bit heavy-handed during the set-piece battles. I think the direction could have been better, since the movie starts slowly and the ending feels rushed. There are also few memorable lines in the script, which felt like a middling Dungeons & Dragonsgame (and I’ve participated in many of these).
In addition to the dwarves and Ravenna’s sorcery, the brief scene where Snow White and her companions enter a faerie glade is a hint of how this movie could have used visual effects for a more fantastic setting (see The Dark Crystalor Legend for examples). Instead, the movie focuses on more mundane matters like raising an army and the princess realizing her birthright, closer in style to Ladyhawke but without the simple but strong plot magical device of that movie.
Overall, I’d give Snow White and the Huntsman, which has finally dethroned The Avengers at the box office, a 7 out of 10, a B, or two and a half out of five stars. It’s rated PG-13 for violence.
My Pathfinder: “the Vanished Lands” telecomfantasy team has had persistent scheduling problems on Sunday nights, but I hope to rebuild from our core group of three low-to-midlevel Player Characters. They’ve been heading north into the Wisalef Forest to investigate rumors of Unseelie Fey…. Paizo’s recent Pathfinder Boxed Set is a good introduction to that system (for up to four or five players to Level 5) and to role-playing in general.
Most of the people in my groups are also playing in other games. Various local Game Masters have expressed interest in running one-shots, although they’ll have to promote their ideas and find time and space for them. Here are some of their ongoing campaigns and potential one-shots:
A few of the local role-players have also asked to return to my “Societe de Justice Internationale: Drake’s Port 7″ superhero scenarios using D20 Mutants & Masterminds3rd Ed., whose excellent Game Master’s Guide just arrived. So many games, so little time….
My groups have been speculatingaboutD&D5e for a few months now, and initialreactions among them and variousbloggers were wary. Some people, who like D&D3.x and Pathfinder, hope that Wizards of the Coastcan return to something like the D20 Open Game License rather than D&D4e’s more restrictive Game System License. We debated whether WotC should try to widen its audience and pursue younger gamers or whether it needs to win back lapsed role-players and those who stuck with earlier editions. It should try to do both as the industry leader.
Others, who like how D&D4e tried to be more balanced and streamlined, hope for a more modular approach to the complexity level of the rules as characters and monsters advance. I’d likeD&D5e to offer more support for role-playing, world-building, and pickup and one-shot games. German designers and Lego have been successful with board games that are potential entry points into the hobby. Dungeons that you can drop a random group of players and characters into, evocative settings, and the potential for long-term story and character development are all important.
I think an introductory D&D5e boxed set is likely, with more focus on pregenerated elements and online character management. Tactical combat will continue to be important, but I think the “fantasy punk” flavor will be dialed back in an attempt to win back some people alienated by the massively multiplayer online (MMO) style of D&D4e. As I said yesterday, WotC will still need to prove that D&D5eis better than already available prior editions and competitors such as Pathfinder.
For the past 30 years, I’ve been an early adopter of new editions of the most popular tabletop role-playing game, and I’m definitely curious about the direction that Hasbro/WotC will take.
In one ancient world, there was a region where demihumans and magic thrived. Travelers strove to be adventurers, and adventurers strove to become heroes amid wonders and perils.
After the “Liberators,” “Dragonslayers,” and “Seekers of Lore” but before the “Faith-Based Initiative,” “Holy Steel,” and other wanderers explored the northwestern borderlands and the Sea of Nagendwa, the “Broken Chains” united in the Halmed Desert….
>>Some of the “Broken Chains” (originally using D&D3.5):
-“Kemosh-ket” [guest Byron V.O.]-male Anpur Kahin (Jackal-man Druid/Dunewalker) and member of the Order of the Golden Lion; NGl, Lvl. 6/1
-“KunalSampat Rajiv Ramaprased” [Beruk A.]-male Harappan human Sa’luk/Dhurtaraka (proto-Indian Rogue) with an oasis stronghold; Align. NGc, age 28, Level 10
-“Val Shriboe” [Brian W.]-male Gokuri Tiefling (devil-touched) Warlock, with Imp assistant Szaboch; former member of the “Faith-Based Initiative”; LNg, Age ~50, Lvl. 9
-“Neela” [Sara F.]-female Wemic Kahin (centauroid leonine Druid); with mate Tar and three cubs; CGn, age 22, Lvl. 9
-“Raz bar-Dini” [Josh C.]-male tattooed Suthern human Sha’ir (proto-Arabic Wizard/Sand Shaper); LGn, age 21, Lvl. 7/3
>>”1 to 6 October 1229 B.C.E., from the correspondence of Raz bar-Dini:” Dear father, it has been good to have helped people from far and wide. It has been too long since I’ve written, but my divination studies often take me away from the comforts of civilization.
As such, I’m saddened to learn that you are currently out of town — no doubt bringing vast wealth to my mother and influence to our house — as I sit in your study penning this note. The latest exploits of the “Broken Chains” have brought me back to Falit for a few days at least. Perhaps I should start at the beginning.
It has been about a year since my adventuring party traveled across the dangerous Halmed Desert together. As you know, I’ve been splitting my time between the Tower of Sight in the capital, my friends’ hidden oasis, and the lost city of Tel Silat.
Mighty Kemosh has defended the oasis, escorted me safely to the archaeological site, and helped other former slaves. Kunal, a successful vendor of chilled snacks, had been trading with the Vanaka (Dune Dwarves).
Our good friend Neela and her mate Tar were raising their cubs Iben, Nika, and Nar at our secret sanctuary. Honorable “Mumtaz” [Brian] had returned north to the cruel Garku Nasit, and eccentric preacher “Killian” [Greg D.C.] had taken up residence at Emein Island. I’ve lost track of our other associates.
Several days ago, I was visiting the den of Neela, whose love for her cubs is already the stuff of legend. I was scribbling arcane characters on an exterior wall, working on a magical formula of recent discovery, when a horned being suddenly appeared before me!
“Val August” spoke in Hifalendorin (northern human common) and offered to perform a service if I returned him from whence he came. The red-skinned man appeared to be middle aged, with fine robes and slippers and a winged Imp named Szaboch.
Val said he had been working as a tax collector in the town of Pledwilt. He was just with Halfling assistant Oswald serving baronet “Kurick” [Dave S.C.] on the distant Plains of Sathendo!
I determined that this creature couldn’t be a Djinn or Efreet, as he didn’t know the Suthern tongue. I then summoned Kemosh, whose valor is known from Falit to the corrupt tribes of Tel Silat — may the great Isis visit a pox on each of their houses. I asked the tall Anpur to make a quick patrol to ensure that nothing else had come through with our noble “daemon” guest.
Neela herded her unruly cubs indoors, placed them under Tar’s care, and came to see the newcomer. Meanwhile, Kemosh called on Kunal, whose frozen treats are becoming known to all who need them, interrupting his negotiations with some Vanaka. The Kahin told the Sa’luk that he had found a dead camel at the edge of the oasis, opposite of where Val had appeared to me.
Kemosh and Kunal had begun following tracks back toward us when we all heard an unearthly voice ask, “Where is he? Where are they?” I ran toward them and beheld a large naked humanoid whose swollen pink skin was dotted with irregular tufts of hair. From its fingers dangled torturer’s blades, already stained with the blood of another visitor to our oasis.
Clawed Kemosh then leaped from a rock face to the monster and raked it. The horror split open like an oozing sausage and expressed masochistic pleasure. Nimble Kunal slashed with his adamantine saber, and Warlock Val drew a wand and threw fire at the beast, whose infernal nature protected it.
Wise Neela cast Entangle, blocking the Outsider’s progress with oasis vegetation, and I cast Desiccate on its wounds, seemingly stopping them from unnaturally swift healing. My gorge rose, but I managed to rejoin the fight. Kemosh blocked a heavy blow with his four claws.
Kunal stepped back, switched to a sling, and pulled out his sack of enchanted stones. I began Calling Sand from the desert’s edge, while Szaboch gave Val a scroll of Comprehend Languages. The knowledgeable Imp identified our foe as a Amaimon, an interrogator from the Nine Hells.
Even as Kemosh continued clawing, Rogue Kunal hurled a sling stone, which turned into a boulder as it flew! It went straight through the torso of the devil, revealing innards of pink flesh without bones or organs. Neela called to her fellow Druid Kemosh to play tug of war with the Amaimon, who taunted Val. The horned gentleman tried to Bewilder the hunter, to no avail.
After much dodging and tugging, the one tough mother and Anpur — with help from Kunal and me — rended the devil (not Val) limb from limb. Kemosh and I ground the still-regenerating remains into a paste, embedded them in rocks, and separated the rocks.
Although I guessed that Val had tried to escape former diabolical overlords — and who hasn’t? — he claimed to be from the Prime Material plane of existence, like whoever summoned the Amaimon and him. At least fierce Neela and the so-called Tiefling don’t hold me responsible for this awkward meeting.
Since we were all restless and wanted to get Val home, we bade farewell to Tar and the cubs, the Vanaka sand ship, and the oasis (we blindfolded Val as a precaution). A few days’ ride later, we arrived here, the capital of the Ebir Sheikdom. Falit‘s bustling soukhs have changed little in the past months, but we have seen things in cities and out in the sands that few have imagined.
My counter-scrying had found that whatever had called the Amaimon was lurking beneath a wadi (dry stream bed) and long-abandoned oasis. We went to consult with my colleagues at the Tower of Wind, but Kunal made himself scarce rather than face another ordeal at the Mumlak krak (castle of slave/soldiers to the caliph). The Sa’luk said he had to see some guild or another, probably about smuggling.
After months of “roughing it,” I was glad to behold the three towers of sorcery, especially the wide windows of the Tower of Wind. Flying carpets, winged mounts, Wizards in flight, and avian familiars filled the bright sky. I asked around and found my old friend Tarzu, a mist-shrouded Djinni with an opal gem in his turban.
Tarzu confirmed that Val was not a demon and that I may have just intercepted the summoning that brought him and the Amaimon to our oasis. Val seemed relieved to have been spared a worse fate and hoped to return home (Pledwilt, not the kingdom of Gokuri).
Kemosh and Neela, however, were determined to go to the dead oasis to root out the evil there, especially after we had knocked out the magical barrier [intended to block “Holy Steel”]. Kemosh and the Order of the Golden Lion were more worried about feral Anpur to the west and Hobgoblin legions from the north, and Neela wanted nobody to be able to track back to her cubs. I met with them and Val at a coffee shop to talk about our next misadventure….
Byron, it was great to see you this past weekend, and I hope that everyone enjoyed our latest foray in the “Vanished Lands!” I thought that our quick-and-dirty conversions from D&D3.5 to FATE 3e Legends of Anglerre worked well enough, even though a longer-term campaign would require a closer look at aspects, powers, and items.
In the meantime, please note that the next FATE 3e “Vortex” space opera will be Team 2 (the crew of the Appomattox) on Monday, 28 November 2011. The Pathfinder/Skype: “the Vanished Lands” telecom group is scheduled to meet again on Sunday, Dec. 4, and “Vortex” Team 1 (the crew of the Blackbird) on Monday, Dec. 12. Have a Happy Thanksgiving! -Gene
Gene's Worlds 