ORACLE

11/18/2010

[Poll] XP Charts -- One For Each Class, or One Size Fits All

While working on my Sword & Sanity RPG I have been doing a lot of obsessive thinking about Dungeons & Dragons/Labyrinth Lord and why certain rules were designed the way they were. I have been going back and forth on whether or not I prefer a unified experience point table, or if I prefer having each class in the game have its own unique experience point table. I can find justification for both, and will probably include rules for each in the upcoming book. Or I may not. Time will tell.

I am curious to see what you guys think. I am only including a vote for one or the other, and not allowing a middle of the road choice on this particular poll. Please take a moment to cast your vote, and leave a comment if you feel strongly about your answer. Thanks!

11/16/2010

Heroic Fantasy Quarterly -- Prose. Poetry. Pulp.

Looking for an online magazine that specializes in publishing heroic fantasy? Well, look no further than Heroic Fantasy Quarterly. I ran across this site back in January of this year, and I have to say that the quality of stories and poetry that they publish is very good. I have yet to be disappointed and I highly suggest anyone who is interested in the genre to take the plunge and read an issue. I can safely say you will not stop with just one.

From the site:
Heroic Fantasy Quarterly is an ezine dedicated to publishing short works of heroic fantasy. More than that, through both prose and poetry we hope to hearken an older age of storytelling – an age when a story well told enthralled audiences. Traits of great oral storytelling survive the ages to influence treasures of literature, the pulps, radio plays, late-night game sessions, and now Heroic Fantasy Quarterly.
Think you might have the writing chops and want to see your stuff published by these guys? Here are their submission guidelines:
As its name suggests, Heroic Fantasy Quarterly is a quarterly ezine dedicated to publishing heroic fantasy — in both prose and poetry. We are unrepentant in our goal of elevating unapologetic sword and sorcery to a rightful high place. We pay $100 for stories and $25 for poems, upon publication. (Scroll down for info on art submissions.) We purchase first world English language electronic rights, electronic rights for 90 days, archival rights for twelve months, and excerpt rights.

We publish in July, October, January, and April. Each issue will include up to three stories and two poems. We accept submissions year-round. Our fiction word limit is 10,000 words, although we are willing to serialize at a maximum of 50,000 words over four issues. You may submit up to three poems, with a cumulative maximum of 30 pages. Tolkienesque (as in really long) poetry epics/sagas/vedas will most likely be treated — and paid — like fiction. Similarly, prose pieces of fewer than 1,000 words will be paid at poetry’s standard rate of $25.

Art: HFQ is looking for quality banner art to accompany each new issue. Please review art from the past two issues to see the style we prefer. Image dimensions should be approximately 850 x 250 pixels. We’re not interested in non-banner art at this time. We’ll pay you, but rates are negotiable. If you’d like us to consider your work please email a link to the website where your art is displayed. DO NOT SEND US AN EMAIL WITH YOUR ART ATTACHED; WE WILL DELETE IT, AND YOU’LL NEVER KNOW IF WE EVEN GAVE YOU A LOOK! Follow our submission instructions below, but insert ART instead of fiction or poetry in the subject line of your email. We look forward to seeing what you’ve got!

11/15/2010

Seal of N'gah

In a letter to Clark Ashton Smith, H.P. Lovecraft makes an offhand reference (like he often does in his letters, as well as fiction) to a symbol he calls the "Seal of N'gah". He also mentions the Elder Sign in the same sentence. Here is an excerpt of that letter which contains the reference:
"Again thanking you in Tsathoggua’s name for the recent shipment, & hoping to see more items from your pen ere long, I append the Elder Sign & the Seal of N’gah, given in the Dark Cycle of Y’hu."
I have done quite a bit of looking around for more information on this particular reference, and I am surprised just how little there is out there concerning the Seal of N'gah. It seems to be one of the very few pieces of Lovecraftian lore that has been ignored. Especially considering how much coverage the Elder Sign has gotten. Strange, given that both were referenced together in the same letter.

Looking in The Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia there isn't an entry for "Seal of N'gah", but there is an entry for "N'gah-Kthun", which is listed as a, "pre-human city in which the high temple of the Elder god Ulthar was built." This comes from "The Whisperer In the Darkness", written by Lovecraft in 1930. Still the reference is vague and may not even be related. But that seems to be the way Lovecraft wanted things.

Anyway, for the sake of documentation, and the fact that I could not find an image of this anywhere I seemed to look on the 'net, here is a scan of the Seal of N'gah:

Elder Sign & Seal of N'gah, illustrated by H.P. Lovecraft

Something that is instantly noticeable is just how crude the drawing of the Seal is. Even the Elder Sign has a certain flare and a cool mystique to it. The image Lovecraft drew of the Seal of N'gah looks hastily drawn and uninspired. This must explain why there is not a whole lot of discussion to be found on the subject. There is really nothing very cool about it at all.

If by chance there is more information on this than what I found please let me know. I would love to learn more. Special thanks goes out to Andrea Bonazzi for dragging out his copy of Selected Letters vol. III, scanning and emailing the above image to me.