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Wednesday WWPHITM? Fafhrd & The Gray Mouser
To continue with this week's musings on Sword & Sorcery fantasy, this Wednesday WWPHITM? takes a look at Fritz Lieber's Fafhrd & The Gray Mouser series. The basic plot will be "Ill Met in Lankhmar,' probably with brief retellings (possibly as flashbacks) of "The Cold Women" and "The Unholy Grail" included. Guy Ritchie directs.
The Rules: Sword & Sorcery
Lately, several members of the Hex staff have been discovering or re-discovering classic pulp sci-fi and fantasy. I picked up a big ass book of Conan stories a few months ago and have been slowly making my way through it; a few of the others have read or re-read the John Carter of Mars books (which are in also in my reading pile) in the past year; and all of us have been fans of the Fafhrd and Gray Mouser books for quite some time. Not surprisingly, the subject of Sword & Sorcery fantasy came up at Hexcon South, the staff retreat and flood preparedness workshop held just outside of Nashville during the first weekend of May.
Archetype of the Week: The Spook
The spook is an agent of some shadowy (usually government) organization, or at least he claims to be. While some spooks freely identify their agency affiliation, many prefer to remain vague about the organization they work for and their position within that organization, possibly as a means of intimidation. Spooks present themselves as straight-faced, ultra-competent G-men with absolutely no sense of humor, rarely breaking character or admitting surprise at even the most ludicrous turn of events.
Archetype of the Week: The Mentor
The mentor is a character, usually older or more experienced than other members of the group, who uses his experience to prepare the younger heroes for their ultimate mission or destiny. In addition to acting as an adviser and sometimes teacher, the mentor often acts as the conscience and voice of reason for the group. It is traditional for the mentor to die (or at least retire) once he has taught the younger heroes everything they need to know, but this is not strictly necessary in an RPG setting.
Fratboy of the Week: The Dupe
Just about every social group includes one person who catches hell from the other members. The dupe is the guy who gets ridiculed, the guy who gets forced to do the work nobody else wants to do, and the guy that occasionally gets beaten up or peed on. In some cases, the dupe is so desperate to fit in that he actually convinces himself that his mistreatment is a sign of endearment. He's usually wrong. In a fraternity, the dupe is often a legacy who can't be rejected or a nerd who's only in the frat to keep the GPA up to par.
