Robert E Howard vs JRR Tolkien

[Vargr1105]

Good people, read my post. I said I was not insulted, neither did Sumo cause me any harm. I simply don't like that term an do not use myself. Yes, I understand he was giving us a compliment. No harm, no foul and all that.

Now on a lighter note...

Howard in a Tolkien setting?

You mean like...FRONAN THE HOBBARIAN (TM) ?!


"Know, O gamer, that between the years after the fall of TSR, and the years of the rise of the Sons of the Millenials, there was an Age undreamed of, when shining retro-clones lay spread across the internet like blue mantles beneath the stars - OSRIC the eldest with its tables and charts, Swords & Wizardry with its singular saving throw, Hordes & Things with its corrupting magic and strong drink that healed, Starships & Spacemen with its multitude of alien foreheads.

But the proudest retro-clone of the world was Labyrinth Lord, reigning supreme in the dreaming west that was America. Hither came Fronan the Hobbarian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sling in hand, a thief, a reaver, a slayer, with diminutive melancholies and diminuitive mirth, to tread the jeweled thrones of the campaign setting under his furry feet."



Just wait til he draws his axe, then you're really gonna get it!


YES, gentle reader! Now you too may marvel at the astounding short tales of sword'n'sorcery and heroic fantasy of Fronan the Hobbarian(tm) as he wanders in Middle-Hyboria until setting the bloody crown of Shirelonia upon his head with his own hands.

Be sure to look for such classic titles as:

The Minor God in the Cooking Pot
The Hour of the Pseudodragon
The Furmallion
There, Over Here and All Over the Place Again
The Scampering Shadow
Red Feet Nails
The Lord of the Shoes (triology)
- The Fellows of the Local Ring
- The Two Small Towers
- The Return of the Thing
The Quail-Phoenix on the Dagger
The Scarlet Local Village
The Shaping of Middle-Hyboria
The Tower of the Dwarf Elephant
Hobbit Rogues in the House
The Devil in Aluminium
The Small People of the Smaller Black Circle
A Midget Witch Shall be Born
Finished Tales of Middle-Hyboria
Half-Man-Eaters of Zamboula
The Tall Nordic Man's Daughter
Just Until the Black River
The Book of Tales That Were Found

[Atomic Ray]

Lol, after all that I can only say...no!

That is not what I meant at all lol.

I tend to sway way far away from the luda and lean more towards the gritty if possible...so more Howard than hobbits lol.

[kjc]

WOW! Just WOW!
Vargr' ya took my "little joke" and ran with it!
Well done sir, very well done! Ya did FRONAN (tm) proud

[YHWH]

By Crom and Mannan Mac Lir! We need a Barbarian class for LL.

I read that the one in Crypts & Things is based on one from White Dwarf magazine. The WD version seems decent and usable with LL. More balanced than Gygax's.

[tumblingdice]

But the proudest retro-clone of the world was Labyrinth Lord, reigning supreme in the dreaming west that was America.

One clone to rule them all...

[Vargr1105]

By Crom and Mannan Mac Lir! We need a Barbarian class for LL.

I read that the one in Crypts & Things is based on one from White Dwarf magazine. The WD version seems decent and usable with LL. More balanced than Gygax's.

We should hunt that issue and make a LL adaptation. I will see what I can do.

[YHWH]

It's in issue #4 of White Dwarf with errata in #12. The Crypts & Things version is probably open content.

[Vargr1105]

I've checked the two versions. They are both too overpowered for LL.

[Mach Front]

It makes little sense to choose one over the other in terms of influence on D&D as well as better personal choice for influence in one's campaign.....





....especially since Fritz Leiber makes fools of them both.

[finarvyn]

I like 'em both as well and both are in my top ten authors of all time. Honestly, which one I want to read depends upon my mood. If I had to pick one, howver, I'd probably pick Howard because he has so many different settings (El Borak, Conan, Solomon Kane, etc) whereas Tolkien mostly focused on Middle-earth. It's a close call, though, and as I said a lot comes down to my mood at the moment.

I think that D&D/LL tends to be more Tolkien in style, based on the way that elves, dwarves, hobbits, orcs, etc, are done. For Howard/Leiber/Moorcock probably the DCC RPG fits the style more than D&D/LL, but that's the fiction that DCC was designed to mimic. D&D/LL is a pretty versitile system and can handle most any setting you like, so again it's probably based on my mood at the time.