Thursday, October 30, 2008

Supplement V: ___________

The aforementioned Supplement V: Carcosa has received a great deal of censure, not least for its supposed hubris in billing itself as the "next" D&D supplement after the original four (a bit of literary whimsy and speculative fancy that I, for one, rather enjoy), but also for its macabre and bloody content. Though, it must be said, the text itself is in no way puerile or lascivious in tone and said content is exclusively contained within the descriptions of the sorcerous rituals. Which are, I must point out, designed to effect horrid and barely comprehensible things, oft-times referred to as Lovecraftian horrors, and as such the terrible demands of such rites are to be fully expected.

However, the controversy is well worn (though barely a month old...) and I doubt if it shall be settled here.

Nor do I wish to focus on it.

My thought is rather to encourage the creativity of the vast horde of gamers that flock to this "scene", as the hipsters say, and throw down a gauntlet of challenge.

Write your own Supplement V.

Now, you might say, "But I liked Carcosa!", wunderbar. Do it anyway. As an exercise in creativity if nothing else!
Others may protest, "Why should I follow that objectionable work?" In short, to make it forgotten. There is no better way to erase something than to bury it with superior work. Hate Carcosa? Grand, show us the Supplement V that should have been!
Still others cry, "I don't even play OD&D!" Hey, neither do I, and I am not holding myself aloof from this. Grab the rules, the .pdfs are easily available, read them, and then start tinkering and writing.

I want to see a string of Supplement Vs, a mad, glorious, explosion of creativity and oddities that will enrich all our games. Because, as most of you know, even if you don't use the work in toto, you can invariably steal bits of it for inclusion into your own campaign.

There it is, a challenge I suspect few will read, and fewer take up. No matter. I will at least be working on my own contribution.

Supplement V: Nefaratus

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'd love to read Supplement V: Nefaratus. :)