Adventurers Fanmail for Feb 2006 through Aug 2006
published Friday 8 September 2006
From: Tyler Sherkin
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 2006 23:34:08
Subject: Hey Hey
Just saw your answers to my questions in your Feb 24 fanmail section
and wanted to thank you for taking the time to respond.
At this point, I think it should just be implied that I'm also saying
"great job!" with regards to The Adventurers because I've been ecstatic
with the storyline since this whole "Belphanior and Xusia's gates" thing began.
:)
Cool. I try to respond to all the posts I can, but it does take time,
and during the spring and summer, my time is limited due to softball.
From: Matthew
Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2006 13:12:37
Subject: Fan Mail
I have e-mailed you once before to say thanks and am doing so again. As
everyone else has stated, "Friday's are no longer just for happy-hour".
First thing Friday morning, get to work, get coffee, got to Peldor and read away!
Oh and as for the threat of ending it at 1,000....seems I have heard this
song and dance before????....hmmm. If it happens so be it and know that you have
a faithful reader and I wish you the best.
Favorite story line "How many times have I told you not to touch green
glowing things in a dungeon!"
It's definite this time - I can't write these forever, and I want the saga to end
on my terms (as opposed to just whenever I get sick of writing).
From: Neil
Date: Fri, 03 Mar 2006 18:36:50 +0530
Subject: The Guardian
released: 3/3/06
notes: Originally I was just going to end this arc in this episode,
with a big final battle in the vault, pitting the adventurers against
the last survivors of Creon's ruling government. Then I got the idea
to have a mythical guardian that only got summoned every hundred years
or so, in times of extreme need. Hopefully it will turn out to be
something worthy of the fear and legend I've associated with it here,
though I have to confess that I've spent a lot of time researching
ancient beasts of mythology and haven't found anything that suits me
but that I haven't used in the last 900 stories.
Sometimes I think the Tarrasque is more useful as a
legend/myth/threat/etc. than it is as an actual beast.
As for ideas, well, you could try a blood golem (not sure if you've
already used that already).
Anyways. As usual, good stuff, looking forward to it.
Cheers.
Agreed on the tarrasque - I unleashed that far too early in my stories.
As I've often said, there was no master plan or pacing for the first 600 or so,
I just burped out whatever crazy ideas came to mind. It was very bad pacing.
From: Tyler
Date: Fri, 03 Mar 2006 11:14:26
Subject: Finale critter
In the /War of the Spider Queen/ series, recently published by WotC, the
archmage of Menzoberranzan, Gromph, sends demon assassins against his
sister, Quenthel. To unnerve her, he disguises each assassin as an
aspect of Quenthel's deity, Lolth. Thus, the first demon is Darkness
incarnate, the second is Chaos incarnate, etc etc, until the last one,
which is Evil incarnate. Maybe something more fitting to Monmurg would
be acceptable for your vault guardian, like Tyranny incarnate or Greed
incarnate, or what have you. Most of the demon assassins were more or
less incorporeal, lending them immunity to physical attacks, and more or
less immune to most magical effects except those daimatrically oppposed
to their nature. So, the Evil incarnate demon was vulnerable to
good-aligned attacks, Chaos incarnate was vulnerable to law-aligned
attacks, and so forth. Of course, for Quenthel, whose powers come from
the aspects of her deity, this was most serious, since what priestess of
a god of darkness actually uses light spells? For Belphanior, I'm not
sure what would cause him as much trouble, or whether you really want to
tailor fit the guardian to his abilities, but it might not be
unreasonable to assume that the greedy, money-grubbing, power-clutching
rulers of Monmurg worship only their own material possessions, and thus
created a guardian of faithlessness, which is only divinely-vulnerable,
thus depriving Belph of Skektek, Lyra, Alindyar, and his own
considerable magical might. If the guardian were created to mimick the
prevailing identity of Monmurg, then having a couple of priests in the
vault wouldn't invalidate its existence; maybe the creators of the
guardian knew that priests would be required to control it, even if none
of them happened to be particularly devout, so a small clergy has
regularly been maintained in Monmurg ever since. Perhaps then you could
consider the guardian the Incarnation of Irreverence, requiring faith to
defeat it, a singular weak spot in not only Belphanior, but most of his
crew and allies as well. Of course, there are still Jenna and Elgon,
but neither are of great power.
Just an idea, if you'd care to use it.
Good idea, but it's way too late now (probably because I don't read/answer
fanmail on a regular basis).
From: Ben Yee
Date: Sun, 05 Mar 2006 19:38:26
Subject: A silly thought
hi Thomas,
Just a thought that came to mind while rereading the Whole Saga this
weekend - it's a shame you never ran them through WG7/Castle
Greyhawk. Or at least the first level with the minitaurs, uniducks,
gas orcs and horizontal jet-propelled piercers...
That was an interesting, if "non-serious" module. I own it,
and it's somewhere in my vaults.
From: Eric Barrett
Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2006 06:05:53
Subject: Monmurg arc - hurah!
Thomas,
A thrilling and substantial climax for the Monmurg arc! It was an awesome
battle, and it was good to see Razor Charlie have his day, too. (Was that
his record for most speech in an episode?)
That was very well-written. Thanks for making that for us -- it must have
taken quite a bit of time, both for the arc and for its triumphal battle.
Glad you liked it...wait until I write the final battle against Al-arakara.
From: Matthew Link
Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2006 13:01:48
Subject: Adventurers 910
Heyo, Thomas,
I've read for years, but haven't written. The very short version is that I
wanted to say thank for the Monmurg arc. 910 was a good climax to the
adventure. I like the other arcs in their way and wouldn't have them
dropped, but the occasional high adventure is the stuff that keeps me coming
back.
Best to you and yours,
Thanks for the praise.
From: Håvard Lindheim
Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2006 14:21:47
Subject: Re: #912
A great ending.
I have thoroughly enjoyed the demolishion of Monmurg, and it is of course
just a thing Belphanior would do, having hated slavery throughout the
campaign.
Since it was way overdue, I've started reading from chapter 1 again, and I'm
currently at about 570, where this 'bounty hunter' from - precicely -
Monmurg had attacked the fortress in Helgate, failed, but used a ring of
recall to withdraw. Where I left off, Belphanior & co followed on a ship,
which sunk, and they're floating in to an island ... Oh yes, Monmurg would
be on the very top of Belphanior's mind.
Other reflections from the re-reading: Towards the end, Ged was intolerable.
And, it is amazing how great Peldor developed to be. Mongo is a fighting
machine but perhaps with too few interesting options. Alindyar and Lyra, on
the other hand, would have great possibilities ... and it is very
interesting to see what part they now take.
I saw someone thinking that taking the city was too easy. On that, I don't
agree. With sufficient power and speed you can take down a much stronger
enemy, if he's far from prepared. Like Nazi Germany's Blitzkrieg, or heck,
even like the US forces' rush towards Baghdad three years ago: Iraq's
formidable forces never got _time_ to react.
Now if only Bush, or preferably someone smart, had recreated a
puppet-Hussein ...
Ah, the politics of war...
From: Ben Sartori
Date: Sat, 25 Mar 2006 00:15:45
Subject: RE: chapter #912 of The Adventurers
Awesome, just awesome. This is just the sort of fantastic plot behind the
plot which makes for truly great writing. I bet you felt pretty good when
you finished that one off.
Cheers,
I was pleased, except that there are repercussions which I have to deal with
in future stories.
From: Sohaib Nasim
Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2006 16:47:05
Subject: The Green Dragon Inn.
Hi there. I have been reading your stories since abt 3 years now, although
this is the first time I am writing in an email, I just have to say that
your story work is just gr8 and you have developed the Belphanior character
very nicely.
Thanks, he's my favorite one.
From: Håvard Lindheim
Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2006 11:09:14
Subject: Re. Adventurers
In the process of re-reading the Adventurers ... I came upon this piece of
information in the notes for Story 809:
Anyway, for those who are keeping track, here's the items destroyed
list for the party:
Belphanior: belt of giant strength (from episode 773), periapt of
wound closure, boots and cloak of elvenkind, silver string gateway,
potion of ESP (all by acid)
Otto: belt of ogre power, necklace of adaptation, liquid road, flute
of the dead, metal scroll case w/magic scroll (all by acid)
Ys: potion of intimidation (drank)
I am not sure wether you have commented upon this already, but ... surely it
must be wrong. At least Belphanior's belt, and the silver string gateway,
was used later, and indeed, the gateway was in use as late as Monmurg?
It's hard to say - they have gotten (and lost) so many items that I have trouble
tracking them all.
From: Håvard Lindheim
Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2006 12:27:13
Subject: FW: Re. Adventurers
Heh ... amazing. He lost some of these items _again_, to Tyros in Monmurg,
as per Story 867!
Everything else he'd been carrying at the time of his capture was gone
and presumably lost forever: the bracers of defense and belt of ogre
power, the ring of wizardry, boots and cloak of elvenkind, the silver
string, lightning rod, well of many worlds, and several potions.
The silver string was lost twice yet used in the Monmurg attempt ...
Belt of ogre power? Had he gotten a new one? He got a giant strength belt
after the Fortress of Nine (and lost it again).
And the well of many worlds ... that one was lost in Panagaea.
Slightly amusing :)
I wish I knew. One thing's for sure: they're gone now!
From: Håvard Lindheim
Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2006 16:08:51
Subject: Adventurers #913
Hey ... I fell back laughing when it turned out to be Peldor!
Seriously thought it would be Mongo, all the way.
But it was a great piece, enjoyed it very much :)
Wait until the next April Fools story!
From: Randolph J. Finder
Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2006 09:53:19
Subject: Tatoos in Peldor Description, Epsiode 913
The Feather Tattoos are still in the description of Peldor on the site,
and it says is correct up to Episode 900.
http://www.peldor.com/characters/peldor.html
If you want to complicate his life, he could have an important meeting
of the Oligarchs the following morning that he has missed. Are his
allies in the Thieves guild good enough to keep him from having problems
there?
The question is how long before Tanya decides that he wouldn't have gone
off without telling her and *needs* to be rescued. I would imagine that
Tanya as wife of an Oligarch has a few friends in the Wizard's guild.
While they might charge her, they would be willing to take the job and
wouldn't charge her an amount that would cause significant problems.
I will get those feather tattoos removed immediately from
his description on the site.
[Publisher's note: they were removed once, but accidentally restored
during file recovery after a disk crash. They are definitely gone now.]
From: Eric Barrett
Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2006 13:31:36
Subject: Re: chapter #913 of The Adventurers
Thomas,
Brilliant episode! I enjoyed this one as much as the Halloween
episode you wrote some time back (with the fog). It felt like that
one's comedic twin.
> There might have been a reference to this somewhere in the 1st
> edition rulebooks, or I might have gotten the idea from the old
> encounter tables in those rulebooks.
There definitely was -- I remember it too (and I'll bet a half-dozen
other people will tell you the same thing). It's one of the things I
liked about the 1st-edition rulebooks: they had a lot of good, clever
*ideas*, rather than just being humongous guide- and rulebooks.
Appreciative as always,
Let it never be said that I don't pay tribute to the classic AD&D rulebooks!
From: Robert Endries
Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2006 14:40:38
Subject: Regarding Adventurers 913
Yahoooo! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Thank you for giving us
another Peldor adventure! I never realized how much I liked that
character until he was gone! I though Peldor being retired was as
immutable a rule as Ged being dead (hmmm ...), so this episode was a
TOTAL surprise. I know we shouldn't expect anything more from Peldor
other than the occasional cameo at the Green Dragon every 100 episodes
or so, but I really want to thank you for writing this story, and
encourage you to work him in a little more frequently if you could. And
stealing the watch off the dead ogre? Peldor will always be, MUST
always be, Peldor.
If you do write the follow up for this one, showing Tanya getting Peldor
back, the tag line should be "Some men are born to greatness; others
have greatness thrust upon them. Then there are those of us who have it
both ways." Benjamin "Hawkeye" Pierce, M*A*S*H
While Peldor may have been born to greatness - just ask him, he'll tell
you - he surely had greatness thrust upon him during this adventure.
Peldor came through with flying colors.
And so did you.
I like the character, it's just that I like Belphanior more.
From: Rob Dickerson
Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2006 17:29:15
Subject: whatever
Hi,
I've been reading your adventures from the beginning and can't stop. They
are tiding me over until my newly created D & D group starts up. I haven't
played in over 10 years. If you live near Baltimore and start up a new
campaign after episode 1000, drop me a line.
I don't and I won't --- I don't actually play the game, and haven't since 1991 ---
but thanks for the offer.
From: Richard Reese
Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2006 05:17:49
Subject: Life in General
Dear Mr. Miller.
I have read every chapter you have and enjoyed them all the excerpts
from your real life are truly a bonus.
your Life without Dignity piece stood out to me because I had a similar
event happen to me. I was at a walk-a-thon for cancer victims at the
local fair grounds when I happened apon a fair barn that was selling off
an elderly couples possessions. I knew nothing about them except threw
what they owned and what were displayed apon the tables. The older
husband was an electrician I deduced because of the old manuals and
tools. His wife a stay at home mom because of the furnishings , home
appliances, and embroidery. The couple were Catholic and very religious
due to the many holy symbols of the catholic faith. I knew I would have
been happy to enjoy their company because of the sporting equipment and
old games on display.
The real reason I am sending you this is to say life is not Possessions,
Hell even the Egyptian Pharos can tell you that!, Life is the time you
spend and what you do with it.
Something my coworker said to me one day changed my life. He said even
the house you own and the land it is on someday will be someone else's.
We really Own nothing.
Fill your life with events and knowledge, share it with others that will
leave a true legacy. Your stories are your legacy be proud of them.
Definitely...though some people are able to also leave a legacy by passing on
house/land (and possessions) to their children, grandchildren, etc. I can
only hope that someday, a descendant of mine will look with wonder upon all
of the things I've collected (comics, coins, baseball cards, books, DVDs)
as well as all of the things I've written, and simply marvel at it.
That's immortality.
From: Rob Dickerson
Date: Mon, 8 May 2006 15:12:26
Subject: mistake
Hi Thomas,
I have been reading and enjoying your stories from the beginning for the
last couple of months. Currently, I am on # 488. After seeing a couple
responses regarding continuity, I decided to start keeping track of things I
notice in case you ever decide to go back and edit. Since I sometimes read
20+ episodes in a day, I am more prone to notice things that your original
readers didn't. Offhand, I can only recall one mistake...When the
Adventurers are kidnapped, Ged specifically, he has left Lightbringer in
another room and doesn't have it on him when taken. In the dungeon during
rescue, Lightbringer is available for Ged to use.
If I pick up anything else I'll let you know.
Thanks. Maybe you can identify all of the destroyed/regained items
that another reader was talking about (see above).
From: Philip Quan
Date: Fri, 12 May 2006 14:26:37
Subject: Condolences and Best Wishes
Thomas,
I am very sorry to hear what has happened and I send you my deepest condolences and support.
I was shocked to hear this news today.
I hope that the important things are taken care of now and your surviving parent is alright,
and you are alright too. Please let me know if I can be of any assistance.
My parents are ~75 so I keep a close eye on them by living 2 minutes walk from them
although they are not as strong as they used to be. I recently helped them set up a Will
precisely for this reason. It was certainly complicated and it took us 4.5 months to
tie down the various details, what if scenarios!
I think I better update my old Will which is ~6 years old.
Take Care and Best Wishes.
Everyone should keep this stuff up to date, for many reasons.
From: Eric Barrett
Date: Fri, 12 May 2006 09:33:10
Subject: Re: chapter #919 of The Adventurers
Thomas,
I'm very sorry to hear about your loss. I'm facing the same thing soon and
not looking forward to it :-/
P.S. I was amazed that the stories continued. Props to both you and your
publisher for this logistical feat.
I am a very strong believer in the publishing schedule (and it didn't hurt
that I had several future episodes already written and ready to go).
From: Neil
Date: Fri, 12 May 2006 22:52:21
Subject: Condolences
For what its worth, I'm very sorry for your loss.
Thanks.
From: Tyler Sherkin
Date: Fri, 12 May 2006 14:27:19
Subject: Hey
Hey,
I just logged onto Peldor.com and saw consecutive "personal emergency"
listings in the Rants section.
Are you OK, man?
I am now, thanks.
From: "Josh Howell"
Date: Fri, 9 Jun 2006 14:48:34
Subject: Musing from Today's Story
"As a side note, I often wonder how such people ever got to be in positions
of power to begin with."
A lot of life is like golf in that avoiding mistakes can be more important
than achieving positive results, especially if you have the good fortune to
be involved in an enterprise that is heading in basically the right
direction anyway. A gentleman who I know got to a relatively lucrative and
powerful position in a Canadian railroad by following the maxim. "Never
pass up an opportunity to keep your mouth shut." I myself prefer "Fortune
favors the bold." which my explain why I am not running a railroad.
Hmm.
From: Kyle Kohlhaas
Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2006 23:21:00
Subject: My Condolences
Thomas,
I have been out of the country for some time and just read Chapter #919.
I am so sorry for your loss.
Losing a parent is very hard, and as you said, that grief is greatly
compounded without a will. My father was killed in a car accident just
over two years ago and it took my mother and I almost 6 months to get
the paperwork and most everything taken care of.
Be sure to support your remaining parent as much as you can. With my
mother her grief turned into anger at all the world after a short while.
Dealing with that was difficult, but I just made myself available, less
for me to talk to her and more for me just to listen to her. Don't
expect more than day-to-day living for a long while.
My thought and prayers are with you,
Thanks for the kind words.
From: -alpha-
Date: Sun, 18 Jun 2006 02:20:14
Subject: Adventurers
Hi Thomas!
Your stories at peldor.com are very interesting. Really, really interesting.
By now I'm on my summer holidays and majority of my time is being
spent while reading them. Hope you'll continue writing.
Thank you for your work.
Glad you like them!
From: Håvard Lindheim
Date: Mon, 26 Jun 2006 11:33:02
Subject: #925
You write, "Sometimes I worry that episodes like this, while containing
a decent amount of battle and banter, don't live up to the expectations
generated from other big battle episodes. "
They do.
Outstanding.
From: Eric Barrett
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2006 09:41:14
Subject: Re: chapter #929 of The Adventurers
Thomas,
One of the hallmarks of great storytelling is great characterization.
Razor Charlie first smiling, and then giving a paragraph-long speech
(!!) was so out of character that the effect was jarring. Upon
reflection, I realized this meant you'd built a very *effective*
character; his boundaries had been established in my mind, and when he
stepped outside of them I knew it immediately, just as I would with
any real-life acquaintance.
All of your characters are like that. If Belphanior did something
boneheadedly stupid, or Skektek decided that magic wasn't the answer,
or Peldor decided to abandon his family, they'd all be absolutely
shocking.
Here's to you, one of the best storytellers I've ever read!
Interesting insight. I didn't plan RC's speech that way,
but I think he was automatically in character when I wrote it.
From: William
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2006 15:15:41 EDT
Subject: noticed this movie was not on your list....
Suspect Zero.... serial killer movie, but with a twist on who he targets...
highly recommended.
For reading... Knights of the Dinner Table comic... when you want
to reminisce on your gaming days...
I don't really have many gaming days...
From: Håvard Lindheim
Date: Fri, 25 Aug 2006 14:48:30
Subject: RE: chapter #934 of The Adventurers
Good stuff happening all over throughout the past episodes.
Keep it up.
I must say that with so "few" episodes left, I don't want to
read more than neccessary about the Oddysey crew. (Though it's
not bad reading, it's just that the other stuff is much more
interesting, given the limited time left.)
Their quest has to get wrapped up, though.