Tenkar's Tavern: The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane

Friday, July 8, 2011

The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane - Skulls in the Stars

After watching the Solomon Kane movie on DVD last weekend I decided to pick up The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane in Kindle format on Amazon for both my fiancee and myself. Last nite I finally got around to reading the first short story Skulls in the Stars. I must say, I like it.

I'm the first to admit I've never read Howard's original works before. Everyone knows of Conan. I read the Marvel Comics series, played the Play By Mail game back in the day, have the TSR and Mongoose RPGs, watched the original movie and caught some of the recent TV series. Never read a short story or novel.

I think I'm hooked now. Skulls in the Stars held my attention from the first paragraph. Guess I'm back to reading fiction on a semi-regular basis again. It's a good thing.

4 comments:

KaijuJuly 8, 2011 at 11:13 AM
Cool! The Del Rey trade paperback has all of the stories, poems and fragments. Gary Gianni's artwork rocks, too!
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TenkarJuly 8, 2011 at 11:21 AM
Yeah, I've been enjoying the art myself.
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bliss_infinteJuly 8, 2011 at 11:22 AM
Howards' Kane stories are some of my favorite REH writings.
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PadreJuly 8, 2011 at 11:39 AM
"Far back in Kane's gloomy eyes a scintillant light had begun to glimmer, like a witch's torch glinting under fathoms of cold grey ice. His blood quickened. Adventure! The lure of life-risk and battle!"
I got the set of his works on the Nook and read all of them during the Lent. Fun stuff!
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Why "Swords & Wizardry?"

Believe me when I say I have them all in dead tree format. I have OSRIC in full size, trade paperback and the Player's Guide. I have LL and the AEC (and somewhere OEC, but I can't find it at the moment). Obviously I have Basic Fantasy RPG. Actually, I have the whole available line in print. Way too much Castles & Crusades. We all know my love for the DCC RPG. I even have Dark Dungeons in print, the Delving Deeper boxed set, Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. BOTH editions of LotFP's Weird Fantasy and some dead tree copies of the Greyhawk Grognards Adventures Dark & Deep

I am so deep in the OSR when I come up for breath it's for the OSR's cousin, Tunnels & Trolls

So, out of all that, why Swords & Wizardry? Why, when I have been running a AD&D 1e / OSRIC campaign in Rappan Athuk am I using Swords & Wizardry and it's variant, Crypts & Things, for the second campaign? (Actually, now running a S&W Complete campaign, soon to be with multiple groups)

Because the shit works.

It's easy for lapsed gamers to pick up and feel like they haven't lost a step. I can house rule it and it doesn't break. It plays so close to the AD&D of my youth and college years (S&W Complete especially) that it continually surprises me. Just much less rules hopping than I remember. (my God but I can run it nearly without the book)

I grab and pick and steal from just about all OSR and Original resources. They seem to fit into S&W with little fuss. It may be the same with LL and the rest, but for me the ease of use fit's my expectations with S&W.

Even the single saving throw. That took me longer to adjust to, but even that seems like a natural to me now. Don't ask me why, it just does. Maybe it's the simplicity of it. At 45 52, simplicity and flexibility while remaining true to the feel of the original is an OSR hat trick for me ;)

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Friday, July 8, 2011

The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane - Skulls in the Stars

4 comments:

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