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Post by captaincrumbcake on Feb 2, 2016 19:54:14 GMT -5
If I were to sum up the content of Supp. III, I'd say, E-W is about druids, psionics, demons, and artifacts; with some additions/changes to previous material. The cover, by Deborah Larson, immediately impressed me the first time I saw it, with an implication of something to be found within the pages between it and the back card stock. I've been searching to find what that implication might be, ever since first sighting the supp. back in 1980. The illustration on p.28 seems to be (to my mind) in some kind of harmony with the cover image. One could even connect the illustration on p.45 to the theme of the cover. But, that's just me connecting the dots. Was the cover construed as too witchery? human sacrifice and all that booga booga stuff? Certainly the witch, as a class, failed in its attempts to enter the realm of the sub-classes (despite what Holmes asserts on p.7 of the 1977 rules, the "witch" never made it.) Though it can be found in BOD V.1 (sorry, I do not know the original source; SR or an early Dragon), and secured a status of sorts in JG material (see especially: The Witches Court Marshes!) For me, the cover always implied that something about witchery was going to be found within the pages of E-W. But, I was (and am) wrong. Yet I always wondered: did others see anything of this nature in the cover? (a visual aid for your analysis:)
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Post by Deleted on Feb 3, 2016 23:25:46 GMT -5
The cover said "eldritch wizardry," so I expected to find... eldritch wizardry.
A naked woman tied to an altar fits that perfectly... I don't see any connection to "witch" in there at all.
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Post by captaincrumbcake on Feb 4, 2016 9:50:55 GMT -5
The cover said "eldritch wizardry," so I expected to find... eldritch wizardry. A naked woman tied to an altar fits that perfectly... I don't see any connection to "witch" in there at all. My dictionary defines Eldritch as "Weird" and/or "Eerie". But I don't, generally, associate wizards with human sacrifice; even their demon summoning spells don't call for such a component. While they do dabble in mystical forces and the containment/command thereof, I suppose I've constructed my (limited) image of wizards based on different literature than others. An altar, demonology and devilry, to my mind, are certainly connected. I suppose, though, I could have been totally misinterpreting the concept of wizardry in the D&D game, all these years. Perhaps Carcosa, then, got it right.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2016 9:53:03 GMT -5
You need to read more Conan stories. Evil wizards sacrificing naked young women are a staple. For most Sword & Sorcery, for that matter, not just Conan.
Or read "The Book of Ebon Bindings" for the world of Tekumel. Human sacrifice is the LEAST horrific thing demons require.
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Post by captaincrumbcake on Feb 4, 2016 10:39:09 GMT -5
I'll concede that I probably haven't read that much pulp S&S stuff; I remember reading R.E. Howard back in H.S./study hall, but that's about all I remember. I'm wondering, then, why didn't all that kind of witchery make its way into "the" game? Why were/are players and refs given a completely different take on wizardry? Thus, why didn't we see it in EW?
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Post by robkuntz on Feb 5, 2016 2:24:09 GMT -5
Why does any author in Fantasy fiction give different takes on the fantastic? It's like asking why Mary prefers to eat apples and George oranges. And even though D&D *in whole* is not derived from S&S literature, there's enough thematic parts in there--Good vs. Evil for one--that do derive from S&S by way of extension, i.e., as noted in the base and assumed struggle here on Earth as mainly forwarded by the Christians. As for the cover for EW, I would not be reading too much into the reasons it was selected as the front piece other than as a lure for marketing reasons as well as one that is consonant with the idea of Fantasy, whichever way you dice or slice it. Not much Freudian-length dissertation matter in that.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2016 3:28:04 GMT -5
To say nothing of if they HAD put human sacrifice of naked women inside, oh BOY the hubbub a few years later! Gary got accused of devil worship for making a oooo joke, let's not give them anything to work with!
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Post by randyb on Feb 6, 2016 11:51:42 GMT -5
To say nothing of if they HAD put human sacrifice of naked women inside, oh BOY the hubbub a few years later! Gary got accused of devil worship for making a oooo joke, let's not give them anything to work with! I've never heard that story before. Sounds like a fun tale! Share, please?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2016 14:02:44 GMT -5
IN the "Satanic Panic" of the 80s there was all this nonsense spread about that D&D "taught children to cast real black magic spells."
"Gust of Wind" consists of swallowing legumes and expelling air between your lips... in other words, eating beans and making oooo noises.
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Post by randyb on Feb 7, 2016 10:48:51 GMT -5
IN the "Satanic Panic" of the 80s there was all this nonsense spread about that D&D "taught children to cast real black magic spells." "Gust of Wind" consists of swallowing legumes and expelling air between your lips... in other words, eating beans and making oooo noises. I didn't remember the details of that spell, but I see the connection. Thanks for the tale!
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