The Campaign Builder's Guild

Quote from: Elemental_Elf Who would win in a fight - Spider-Man or Bat-Man?

Who has the high ground? Whoever has the high ground would probably take it. Or if it were dark. Then Batman.

Kirk, Kirk(2009), or Picard?

In order: Picard > Kirk(2009) = Kirk. We all know Picard is the better captain.

Who would win: Darth Vader, Optimus Prime or the Old Spice Guy?

Quote from: Elemental_ElfWho would win: Darth Vader, Optimus Prime or the Old Spice Guy?

Magic telekinesis trumps robots and shirtless guys.  Darth.

Bricks, concrete, trees shaped my sparky elven magic, etcetera and so on - give me your favorite building material.  Crazy fantasy and sci-fi building materials will be accepted.

I always thought plascrete from 40K was a goood name, but I'll have to go with bone as the coolest all-round building material.  After that, chitin.

Which do you prefer: Planescape: Torment, Baldur's Gate 2, or Fallout 2?

I have no played any of those games, though I have played D&D in a Planscape-esque setting, so I'll go with that :)

A video game company LOVES your setting! They want to license it for an MMO. They're willing to pay you a 5 figure sum of cold hard cash and a percentage of the game sales. They're also willing to give you a fair amount of creative oversight. Do you accept their offer?

Quote from: Elemental_Elf I have no played any of those games, though I have played D&D in a Planscape-esque setting, so I'll go with that :)

A video game company LOVES your setting! They want to license it for an MMO. They're willing to pay you a 5 figure sum of cold hard cash and a percentage of the game sales. They're also willing to give you a fair amount of creative oversight. Do you accept their offer?

Hell yes, as long as they kept spell research, organization rules, quests (sadly would be less open ended), open-ish chargen, etc. If WoW has taught us anything, it's that players will mine and skin animals (seemingly boring, repetitious tasks) for their cool stuff, so it shouldn't be an issue.

Also I'm a poor college student who couldn't afford to turn that down.

Post-Apoc, Dying Earth, or the Middle Ages in real life? ...as a place you'll be staying from now on.

[blockquote=Beej]Hell yes, as long as they kept spell research, organization rules, quests (sadly would be less open ended), open-ish chargen, etc. If WoW has taught us anything, it's that players will mine and skin animals (seemingly boring, repetitious tasks) for their cool stuff, so it shouldn't be an issue.

Also I'm a poor college student who couldn't afford to turn that down.

Post-Apoc, Dying Earth, or the Middle Ages in real life? ...as a place you'll be staying from now on.[/blockquote]

Middle Earth, to counteract my internal Dying Earth...

(and BTW, where is that guy offereing money and creative control?  I'm ready, I think...)


Do you feel like the current political landscape is fundamentally different than 30 and 50 years ago, or do you think this is part of the same cycle with new technological window-dressing?

No, politics have changed very little over time. The only thing that's really changed is that there's a minimum standard for looks now. :(

A Major Movie company LOVES your setting! They want to make a big Hollywood blockbuster set in the world. They're offering you a 5 figure payout for the license and a percentage of the profits. However, they won't give you any creative oversight or control. Do you accept their offer?

Close, but no. I'm a man that demands creative control over my creations. I'm not gonna watch my carefully crafted setting turn into a "The Last Airbender" fiasco by M. Night or some other kook. Though I can't say I wouldn't at least be intrigued if someone like Christopher Nolan or Pixar made an attempt at it.

A newbie poster comes on the boards privately asking if they can borrow rather large elements of your setting to add to their own partially fleshed-out setting, pleading that they would remain distinct enough to be considered two separate and distinguishable settings on the boards. You're not so sure, but may be flattered by the offer. Do you let them do so?

No. Make up your own fluff. Don't take the Scorpion & Lion Clans of Rokugan and drop them in the middle of Eberron. It's a recipe for disaster!

A major book publisher LOVES your setting! He wants to license your world to create a series of children's short story collections written by young adults (in the vein of Eragon). He's offering you a 4 figure pay out and the chance to write a few of the stories. Do you accept the offer?

Hell yes. I'm an artist and writer at heart, and love fairytales. My favorite childhood book is "The Last Basselope" by Berkly Breathed... primarily because the artwork was so fascinating that it drew me from my own world into another almost seamlessly. It was easy to just get lost staring at the pictures. THAT SAID, I also love those "children's stories" with a subtle adult-applicable theme, like many Pixar movies. That way, it reaches a broader audience and isn't just a mindless read for your kid (though those are sometimes excellent... Goodnight Moon, anyone?). Long story short, this is something I've thought about for some time and would be fully willing to commit to it.

But I feel biased... Its such an obvious answer for me that I don't get as much pleasure out of actually answering it. I want to pose the same question for someone else, just to see if anyone else is like-minded.

I'll say yes just for the insane challenge of writing children's stories/YA set in the Cadaverous Earth.  Certain elements would have to be handled... tactfully.

Though actually, Bizarrerie would probably make great children's stories, though more in the vein of Alice and Oz than Eragon.

H.P Lovecraft vs. J.R.R. Tolkien.  Both have their pros and cons - who do you prefer )as authors, not people)?  Overwrought, nihilistic, turgid squidophobe or stodgy, conservative, long-winded medievalist?  Incidentally I love both authors (just reread Fellowship a month ago), though they do both occasionally make me roll my eyes.

Incidentally, cool fact about Tolkien: the Nazis wanted to know whether he had any Jewish ancestry while the German translation was being prepared and Tolkien had this to say:

[blockquote=Tolkien kicks ass]   Dear Sirs,

    Thankyou for your letter'¦.. I regret that I am not clear as to what you intend by arisch. I am not of Aryan extraction: that is Indo-Iranian; as far as I am aware none of my ancestors spoke Hindustani, Persian, Gypsy, or any related dialects. But if I am to understand that you are enquiring whether I am of Jewish origin, I can only reply that I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people. My great-great-grandfather came to England in the eighteenth century from Germany: the main part of my descent is therefore purely English, and I am an English subject '" which should be sufficient. I have been accustomed, nonetheless, to regard my German name with pride, and continued to do so throughout the period of the late regrettable war, in which I served in the English army. I cannot, however, forbear to comment that if impertinent and irrelevant inquiries of this sort are to become the rule in matters of literature, then the time is not far distant when a German name will no longer be a source of pride.

    Your enquiry is doubtless made in order to comply with the laws of your own country, but that this should be held to apply to the subjects of another state would be improper, even if it had (as it has not) any bearing whatsoever on the merits of my work or its suitability for publication, of which you appear to have satisfied yourselves without reference to my Abstammung.

    I trust you will find this reply satisfactory, and
    remain yours faithfully,
    J.R.R. Tolkien[/blockquote]

To put it another way: who'd win in a fight, Cthulhu vs. Tom Bombadil?

Quote from: SteerpikeTo put it another way: who'd win in a fight, Cthulhu vs. Tom Bombadil?

I think Bombadil would make cthulhu go "Wait, what?", so yea Bombadil wins that one. And yes Tolkien is freaking awesome.

You are placed in an arena with your arch-nemesis and his right hand man. You may pick one of the following as your second: Jack Sparrow, Han Solo, James T. Kirk, Angus Macgyver, or Jackie Chan... Who do you choose?

Quote from: NomadicYou are placed in an arena with your arch-nemesis and his right hand man. You may pick one of the following as your second: Jack Sparrow, Han Solo, James T. Kirk, Angus Macgyver, or Jackie Chan... Who do you choose?

Merlin[/i].  Yeah, that Merlin. (edit: ok, you said "his," but I assume that was a default pronoun.  Women can excel in the field of arch-nemeses just as much as men!)

Give me your favorite march, as in a military march.  Your march, I must have it.  March me.

Quote from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5q8iMgkg9cThe Ultimate March[/url]

On a scale of captain crunch to fluff bunny where would you place your priorities on campaign design?