>Also, does anybody have any little "island hopping" scenarios they'd
>like to share?
My campaign is ocean/pirate/seafaring based. Ask Nils and
Greg Fried for some of their island scenarios. In addition, the
following make ten great ideas for plots:
- Read TREASURE ISLAND or watch the movie (not the Disney
one, the 30s one with Jackie Cooper and Wallace Beerie).
- Read VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER (one of the Narnia books
by C. S. Lewis).
- Read BOATS OF THE GLEN CARRIG by William Hope Hodgson
(you may need to check it out from a library -- it's hard to find in
stores). If you _can_ find William Hope Hodgson, he's many many
naval stories, generally excellent for plot ideas, though tending
towards horror rather than adventure. Still, cracking good.
- See THE SEA HAWK with Errol Flynn.
- Read the tale of the Golden Fleece and the Argonauts.
You can even watch the movie JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS which leaves
tons of good stuff out, but is still a reasonable story by itself.
- Read the tales of Sinbad, or watch the many Sinbad movies.
- Read a selection of Napoleonic sailing tales. The
Hornblower stories by C. S. Forester are fine, but those about Jack
Aubrey and Stephen Maturin are exceedingly good (can't remember the
author's name, sorry -- one of the books is "The 13 Gun Salute")
There's heaps of other such authors, varying enormously in quality,
though usually the worst are not as bad as a bad fantasy author.
- Read the true stories of Captain Kidd, Blackbeard, Henry
Morgan, and other famous pirates. They're mind-boggling and incite
any GM to cool plot ideas. The imagery ... Kidd slowly going mad in
the tropical heat ... Blackbeard raging onto a ship in a cloud of
sulphurous smoke, his beard flaming and eyes contorted with rage ...
Morgan's cutthroats in the destroyed town, torturing the citizens
one by one ...
- Read DELILAH. It takes place in the 1910s, but is still
a fine sea story and easily twistable into swords and sorcery.
- And don't forget THE CAINE MUTINY. Movie or book, your
choice.
Sandy P.
End of Glorantha Digest V2 #256
WWW material at http://hops.wharton.upenn.edu/~loren/rolegame.html