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Switch to Forum Live View Dragon 393 - Confessions of a Full-Time Wizard: Tomb of Meowers
2 years ago  ::  Nov 24, 2010 - 5:53AM #1
AsmodeusLore
  • D&DI News Guide
Date Joined: Aug 24, 2005
Posts: 3,874



Dragon 393
Confessions of a Full-Time Wizard: Tomb of Meowers
by Shelly Mazzanoble

You think you know the Tomb of Horrors? Not like this you don't.

Talk about this Article here.




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2 years ago  ::  Nov 24, 2010 - 7:07AM #2
Yaldabaoth
Date Joined: Sep 15, 2007
Posts: 334
I am a cat/booze/RPG person, and I am still trying to redeem the time invested in reading this article.

Lemme try: Shelly started to get uncomfortable when she began to associate the Gamma Cats to the real things in a highly lethal environment.  Would a totally different mechanics setup enable enjoyable play? Yeah, the cats had nine lives, but apparently that wasn't enough (it's just extending the current mechanics).

Would a "Heroes of Hesiod" setup work better? Or a "Bonk" system ala Teenagers from Outer Space? These tend to change the tenor of Tomb of Horrors, but c'mon. It's already full of mutant cats with jet boots.
D&DNext: HTFU Edition
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2 years ago  ::  Nov 24, 2010 - 10:32AM #3
WotC_Bart
Date Joined: May 19, 2004
Posts: 100

The regenerating cats cheat was my idea; the Tomb of Horrors is supposed to be deadly, but to provide some continuity, I decided that anytime any of the cats died, they would reanimate back at the lab. But, since this was Gamma World, while the name of the regenerating cat would be the same, it would be an entirely different character (new origins, etc.). That way, plenty of characters to run through, and still the same party (for the hand-waving purpose of keeping the narrative somewhat more cohesive).

It didn't make it into the article, but half the party fell into lava shortly thereafter.

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2 years ago  ::  Nov 24, 2010 - 12:28PM #4
davidgiven
Date Joined: Mar 17, 2010
Posts: 275
When Shelly announced that she was done writing about Gamma World the D&D Players Guild celebrated. And I mean really really celebrated--there were balloons and everything.

Shelly is the D&D Player in Chief. She made Magic Missile ALWAYS HIT! Her position grants her great power and great responsibility. Her skills are COMPLETELY wasted on Gamma World. 

We need her back.

We need her thoughts on the awesomeness of the Essentials Rogue and the Failure of the Cavalier--we need her focus on the game we love, not on a chromatically embalmed mystical radish with laser beams for eyes.

Gamma World is a distraction--it is time for the Player in Chief to return to her true calling! I mean we have a online character builder that does not allow for custom portraits, right? How could that possible happen on her watch?

 
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2 years ago  ::  Nov 24, 2010 - 9:47PM #5
Shelly_M
Date Joined: Aug 22, 2007
Posts: 69
David, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I thought I was done and then this whole cat thing came up. Like Bart alluded to, there's about 30 pages of notes from that night that didn't make it into the column. And I PROMISE-- this won't be a 2-parter. (Even though Zelda insists it's way more interesting than anything I could come up with.)

I can talk about the Essentials Rogue. I play one in Encounters. I however, am not awesome at playing her. I'm here for you. I have failed you for the last time. (But come on-- Gamma World is kind of awesome, isn't it? Okay, okay, I'm done! Pinky swear.) 
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2 years ago  ::  Nov 26, 2010 - 7:15AM #6
jonsp
Date Joined: Jul 27, 2010
Posts: 3
Then there are those of us who enjoy your recountings of your gaming sessions no matter what you're playing. I was actually hoping there'd be a part 2 to this article, and we'd get to see what became of our band of feline adventurers. (Apparently, soup, from what Bart said.)

Oh, and this one's going in my file of Best Lines Ever: "Whenever I cross the threshold of my condo, Zelda, my cat, gets an attack of opportunity."

I think I'm in love with Zelda. Reminds me of my own genius baby girl, Sugarfoot. (That's her in my avatar pic.) A couple sessions ago, a member of our gaming group was in the bathroom, and we suddenly hear him yell, "What the hell, cat?" Apparently, while he was taking care of business, Sugarfoot came charging into the bathroom through the connecting door and leaped up onto the back of the toilet, startling him. While he was bent over, wiping up the resulting ... results, she jumped onto his back and started riding him around the bathroom.

I think, to be a cat person, you have to appreciate the aesthetics of serene chaos. Taking evil glee in watching your cats torment your friends isn't actually a requirement. It's more of a perk.
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2 years ago  ::  Nov 26, 2010 - 6:29PM #7
Style75
Date Joined: Oct 25, 2009
Posts: 1,957
Cats + D&D = dancing minis and flying dice    This is a true fact.

My cat loves D&D waaaaaay too much. There's just so many little things to push around and so many ways to p**s me off.

Here's a question for you:  Are cat lovers drawn to D&D, or are D&D lovers drawn to cats?  There's definitely a connection.

BTW,  thanks for the article. Lots of fun
Want to know more about the history of D&D, especially how to play older editions of the game? Check out Crazy Monkey's "Tour through the editions":

http://community.wizards.com/crazymonkey/go/forum/view/133793/225799/Asylum_Play-by-Post

The current edition is BECMI, the most popular form of Basic D&D and the adventure is the classic Red Box quest to kill Bargle the evil magic user. Check it out, learn about the games roots, and enjoy the story as it unfolds.
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2 years ago  ::  Nov 30, 2010 - 12:53PM #8
Shelly_M
Date Joined: Aug 22, 2007
Posts: 69
@Style75, you're welcome! Zelda's pleasure. You pose an interesting question. I'm not sure as I came into cat-ownerhood late in life. And I can't say I'm so much a "cat lover" as a "Zelda care and provider." Oh, okay. I love her. I just bought her premium pet insurance to prove it.

@jonsp, Sugarfoot is a great name! I might steal it, okay? She sounds like even more of a handful than Zelda. And she's quite interesting looking. She looks rather fox-like.  
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2 years ago  ::  Nov 30, 2010 - 6:23PM #9
Aegeri
  • Dungeon Keeper
Date Joined: Apr 21, 2001
Posts: 2,099
Gamma world is the greatest thing precisely because it's the only thing in DnD that lets you play as a giant sentient swarm of kittens.
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2 years ago  ::  Dec 01, 2010 - 7:32PM #10
Archaeologist
Date Joined: Dec 26, 2009
Posts: 106
I wasn't quite certain what I was supposed to make of the article.  Seemed slightly jumbled, though I identified with your feelings about "Cat people" and the way Cats treat people.  I did enjoy the bit about the Cats having 9 lives as a way to explain their survival.  Pretty clever. 
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