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Only 33% through Wizard's First Rule at moment so careful with the spoilers As someone who grew up in the 70's devouring all things fantasy (my gateway drug was the "standard" Hobbit / LOTR route I somehow missed this series entirely. I am quite enjoying the read so far with some interesting concepts and a properly nasty and depraved bad guy. The core characters perhaps nowadays would be considered a bit cliched and stereotypical with the same criticism that can be applied to LOTR of female leads being largely dragged around as vulnerable objects for adulation and protection by the male central hero at least so far into the story. But as a free giveaway on Amazon Prime for kindle over xmas it would be churlish of me to complain

I liked Legend of the Seeker. Sure, it suffered problems, but every "TV" series does. I do remember reading Wizard's First rule and some of the Sword of Truth novels, just so long ago I wouldn't have remembered they were the one's LotS came from Terry Goodkind is an author everyone should read at least a few things from.

As for WoT, I loved the first ~5 books, and finished the rest, but I just felt that the later books dragged on and on. It suffered, imo, from the author wanting to detail the actions of all the characters and to fully develop them. IMO, he should have just stuck with telling the tale of the main character and when the others were' with him, just let them go and in a page or two summaries what he learns of their adventures.

Anyway, nice to be reminded of these books (And I do have the WoT RPG in my closet...)

I loved the SoT series. I read the first book multiple times. I couldn't bring myself to watch the TV series. It didn't look like it would do the books justice and is sounds like I was right.

Appreciated article. Though one paradox in the phenomena: Roleplayers rarely choose speakers, as most of them are speakers, no disrespect to the physically or mentally impaired meant with this. It can't be that all groups of the planet prefer one egomaniac or narcissist of the moment to speak in all their names. And online that is, as if toxic roleplayers want to be recognized as their own form of roleplay. Which is, btw, an easier option than luring them (back) into loony bins.

All I remember about the Sword of Truth - Legend of the Seeker is the TV series, and that most of the hot chics, the admirably female personalities happening to be damn sexy as well, were usually among the bad guys, while the boring sermon came from the supposedly good companions.

Sadly most only work on a classic PC or Notebook, but I gladly bookmark this nonetheless. Thank you.

I read the first ...some... of the books. I'm not sure what number I got up to. I was reading Jordan's Wheel of Time at the same time, and I seriously questioned if they were two different pen-names for the same author. Now it is over 20 years (I think) since I read either author, so I don't really know what it was - possibly the very distinct gender divide in each book.

I never finished either series - each became too much work, and felt like they were being prolonged unnecessarily. Just my opinion, of course - millions of readers give the lie to my view!

Maasq

Good piece, SK. I enjoyed it, and if I ever stop programming for 5 minutes you may have convinced me to give Starfinder a whirl.

Maasq

Cara and the rest of the Mord-Sith. That is one group of ladies I do NOT want to run into.

Originally Posted by Mortar

Sword of Truth was an awesome series. I enjoyed reading it more than I enjoyed reading GOT to be honest. Note...I did enjoy GOT, just not as much.

Nice to see another fan of SOT. Who was your favorite Villain?

Sword of Truth was an awesome series. I enjoyed reading it more than I enjoyed reading GOT to be honest. Note...I did enjoy GOT, just not as much.

Very Nice! Thanks for sharing that link. I think I might get back into VTM pretty soon.

Originally Posted by Skillkoil

Thanks for the comments Mortar!

Gavin I am going to have to check out some of those games you mentioned. I had not heard about the tech upgrade to Vampire the Masquerade.(I'm partial to Nosferatu). Legacy seems like almost a SIM/RPG hybrid which could be cool. Thanks for sharing!

GeekandSundry have a great summary of the changes to Vampire.

Thanks for the comments Mortar!

Gavin I am going to have to check out some of those games you mentioned. I had not heard about the tech upgrade to Vampire the Masquerade.(I'm partial to Nosferatu). Legacy seems like almost a SIM/RPG hybrid which could be cool. Thanks for sharing!

There are actually some really creative games around that I want to try.

Vampire is getting a new edition that brings it up to date with the world of smartphones and AI, which I think makes it the only "modern" era game to do so. I'm quite interested in this from what I've read.

Legacy: Life Among the Ruins has each PC running a whole tribe or family not one person and the game takes place over centuries not days. This I NEED to play at some point.

And I'll nod my head to my favorite older game: RoleMaster is supported here on FantasyGrounds and has an amazingly elegant simulationist combat system. Crossbows are terrifying and armor actually keeps you alive. A master swordsman can dominate in a duel but gang up on him and he's in trouble. It also uses diminishing returns for actions and levelling in a way that is easy and effective and gives players meaningful control over how their characters grow. Only part that turned me off was the way magic is handled. It was a nightmare for players, especially new ones. But the two official settings, Shadow World and Middle Earth are both awesome. Shadow World is still my all time favorite published setting and I would join a Terry Kevin Amthor fan club if one existed. *waves "TKA is #1" giant foam finger*

Great points all around! Some I should take into account my myself.