The Red Hands of Idle
The two men met to cast. One spoke with the dangerous ease of a panther, too fiercely supple to be a product of civilization. Nor was his face that of a civilized man: it was as untamed as the primordial ghetto which formed its background. The other was Lyal.
In this installment of Literature Lessons, we look at the work of Robert E. Howard, the creator of Conan, Kull, and Soloman Kane.
Once upon a weeknight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over what Feat to choose for this RPG character I adore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a yapping,
As of some one rudely sapping, sapping energy galore.
“Tis Idle Red Hands,” I muttered, “flapping gums, those frightful bores –
Only this and nothing … (snore).”
Happy Halloween! For the last episode in our Month of Horror, we look at the American Gothic writer, Edgar Allen Poe.
GM: After reading A Song of Ice and Fire, I’ve been thinking of making our campaign more “Martinesque”.
Player: George R. R. Martin? You mean the guy that kills off his main characters? It sounds like you’re just looking for an excuse to run a player-killer campaign.
GM: …
Player: Seriously. What else would make a game “Martinesque”?
GM: Uh, complex relationships, like the one between Jaime and Cersei. You said your PC has a sister, right?
Player: …
In this installment of Literature Lessons, we discuss how to make your games more Martinesque. However, despite the delay with this episode, we have no plans to make our upload schedule Martinesque.
This is what happened.
We recorded an episode of Literature Lessons about the master of modern horror: Stephen King. We discussed themes common to many of his books and how to incorporate them into your games. Wayne bought up D&D Next (again), Lyal created a possible Cujo sequel, and Chris talked about that classic Stephen King character Achilles.
Let’s look 100 years into the future to see what 2012 will bring!
A pneumatic tube messaging craze will sweep the country!
Science will find the cure for racism: all babies born in 2012 will be white!
Automatons will do all domestic chores! Women will stay in the kitchen for the fun of it!
Man will teach dogs and cats to talk! Will learn that they never really had much to say!
The Idle Red Hands, a radio program about Marxism, will win best show of the year!
In this Literature Lesson, we look at the science fiction of Verne, Wells, and Burroughs. Despite having an outline that includes colonialism, eugenics and xenophobia, we’re actually surprised when the show gets dark.
“Not to recommend Canadian hip hop; that is the Law. Are we not Men?”
“Not to talk about dolphin sex; that is the Law. Are we not Men?”
“Not to tear up during an episode; that is the Law. Are we not Men?”
Apparently not, because we break every law. In this episode, we discuss some classic “animal” novels and how to play animals in games.
We opin the Month o’ Horror with aower debut Literature Lesson. In this un, we look at H.P. Lovecraft and haow te use ’is queer themes in yer games. Naow, dis Lovecraft feller kin set a body thinkin’, an’ when we git ta thinkin’, we git ta talkin’. Thar’s plenty here ta stir ye up an’ make yer blood tickle. See ef ye kin find aower leetle soorprises fer ye.
Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn. I ain’t never heerd nothing like this befer, but ’tis paowerful stuff. Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn. Naow, don’t that beat all. Queer haow suthin’ gits a holt on ye. Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn. Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn. Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh…
