Roleplaying games from historical research
There was a virtue Lands of the Nile, called in Wisdom From Ignorance, which allowed practitioners to gain Abilities from documents which they can not understand. I was reminded of this recently by a minor essays from Aldous Huxley. He discusses a similar state of mind, but in his case he’s not meditating on heiroglyphs,…
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We return to the Pentamerone. I’ve not mentioned the scatological humour this time unless it illuminates a particular point. Just assume it’s there. XXVI: THE MONTHS It is a saying worthy to be written in letters as big as those on a monument, that silence never harmed any one: and let it not be imagined…
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A short episode this week, to fill the hole caused when two episodes went live last week. This is a weaker section of Staley, but a necessary one for a few reasons. It covers the game period for Ars Magica. It lists the industries which the magical skills hide behind. It contains a terrible sin…
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A long episode this time, to cover an arc in the novel. We start with a truly excellent description of the “Way of the Woods” virtue. I won’t be inculcating a lot of comments this time. Here we are seeing the plot pay out the bits of folklore Dunsany has collected up in earlier chapters.…
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In this little fragment of The Dogaressas of Venice, Edgecumb Staley gives the origin of Venetian lace weaving. There’s an idea I’ve had in earlier writing for the podcast, although not so much in the formal line, that the representation of a thing grants a weak material bonus related to that thing. So, if a…
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Welcome to one of the longest, and sweariest, episodes of Games From Folktales If you usually listen in with small children nearby, you’ll want to skip this one. The Neapolitans nobles are still indulging in their great love for potty humour, but things also get violent in these stories. XX: THE STONE IN THE COCK’S…
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I’m a huge fan of Clark Ashton Smith, but have not been able to record his material for two reasons. First, he died after the US public domain year, which prevents me using his work. Second, TSR had a license for his work, and even used in in Dungeons and Dragons. It’s in X2 Castle…
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This trio of stories doesn’t need a lot of work. I shall, therefore, laze about and let you listen, breaking in for minor notes. XVII: CANNETELLA It is an evil thing to seek for better than wheaten bread, for a man comes at last to desire what others throw away, and must content himself with…
Read MoreA little poem by Robert Bloomfield, read for Librivox by Colleen McMahon. Thanks to the Librivoxians. I was going to save it until Halloween, but I’m sure I can find other ghosts before then. The Fakenham Ghost A Ballad. The Lawns were dry in Euston Park; (Here Truth [1] inspires my Tale)The lonely footpath, still and…
Read MoreThis is a short bonus episode, to wish you a happy April Fool’s Day. There’s a brief part of Edgcumb Staley’s work, which I’m using as the current main text for the Venetian material, which suits our purposes on this day. Here’s the quote: “It was in the days of Doge Vitale Michielo II. that…
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