Hey all, given I'm active again and part of Pundit's Inappropriate Characters podcast, it seems to me that some introductions might be in order.
I'm James 'Grim' Desborough, I've been gaming at least 33 years, longer depending on how you reckon it.
I have works for SJG, WOTC, C7, Mongoose and others as a freelancer and I have my own self-publishing company Postmortem Studios. I've been full time freelancing and working on games for about 13 years now but working on and off in the industry for nearly 20 years. I also write fiction, have worked on a couple of social media games and have my own Youtube channel which is a kind of smorgasbord of stuff, but definitely has something of a focus on games.
I'm British, English, living in the south of England about an hour from London and 20-30 minutes from Stonehenge. I live out in the sticks, the kind of place you can imagine hunting for hobbits with hounds.
Despite the bizarre reputation I seem to have garnerred I am very much a leftie and progressive, just not the kind of lunatic who becomes a 'regressive leftist' and ends up dismantling and abrogating the very kinds of rights they claim to be seeking.
I run a scholarship/grant every year for young genre artists in education or suffering hardship.
I'm probably best known, for good or ill, for The Munchkin's Guide to Powergaming, Tales of Gor and my involvement in Gamergate.
I'm a staunch atheist, but try not to be TOO much of an arsehole about it, provided the religious provide me the same courtesy.
I'm somewhere in the middle on the storygame vs traditional game divide, I see things in both I like, and things I don't.
I'm not really very good at self promotion due to a combination of British politeness and an acute sense of embarassment, so I guess I'll throw it open to questions etc.
Links to most things I'm involved in are below.
I would STRONGLY encourage gamers and creators of all stripes to join and engage on Minds and Steemit since they provide easy ways for you to support creators and to make content creation more viable for independent - and controversial - people like myself.
If you're so inclined, Minds and Patreon offer you exclusive articles and discounts.
Let the interrogation commence, but try and keep it gaming related as much as possible :-P
Great to have you back!
I've noted that Postmortem consistently has excellent art for sale online. Are you the artist or do you represent a team?
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/384/Postmortem-Studios?filters=0_2890_0_0_0
Quote from: GRIM;1038749Tales of Gor
Hey, Grim -- I somehow missed this. Is it a RPG product, and if so based on what system mechanic?
Quote from: GRIM;1038749I live out in the sticks, the kind of place you can imagine hunting for hobbits with hounds.
I've been to England; England doesn't HAVE "the sticks."
From where I am I can drive for a full hour at 70 mph in any direction and not encounter a village larger than 1000 people. Driving either due north or south, I can drive an hour at 70 mph and not encounter any town at all.
THAT is living out in the sticks.
South Dakota may not be the asshole end of the world, but I can see it from here.
PS welcome back
Thoughts on Sean Patrick Fannon? I seem to recall he led a cavalry charge to string you up (not sure if it was over Gamergate or another controversy) and now he's facing his own challenges, but still insistent you're evil incarnate or at least much worse than him in some fashion.
Quote from: finarvyn;1038765Hey, Grim -- I somehow missed this. Is it a RPG product, and if so based on what system mechanic?
I had forgotten that Grim did this. I have actually read one of the original Gor books. I guess such a game could get kinky fast. Is that the point, or is it more of akin to "interesting world so why not use it for RPGs"?
Quote from: Spinachcat;1038760Great to have you back!
I've noted that Postmortem consistently has excellent art for sale online. Are you the artist or do you represent a team?
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/384/Postmortem-Studios?filters=0_2890_0_0_0
I represent and act as a sales point for various people. Brad McDevitt - undervalued industry veteran, Toby who is slow as arseholes but makes great stuff, and a variety of people in support of the art scholarship.
I wanted to be an artist, but had the ambition beaten out of me by schooling ;)
Quote from: finarvyn;1038765Hey, Grim -- I somehow missed this. Is it a RPG product, and if so based on what system mechanic?
Yes it is and it's based off OpenD6 - a much underrated system IMO, especially as a product you want to also appeal to non-RPers (there's huge Gorean communities online).
Quote from: Mistwell;1038782Thoughts on Sean Patrick Fannon? I seem to recall he led a cavalry charge to string you up (not sure if it was over Gamergate or another controversy) and now he's facing his own challenges, but still insistent you're evil incarnate or at least much worse than him in some fashion.
I initially tried to be fair, but over some BS on facebook I'm feeling less forgiving. This is my view before that.
[video=youtube;5s5VlLLteF8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s5VlLLteF8[/youtube]
Quote from: Trond;1038793I had forgotten that Grim did this. I have actually read one of the original Gor books. I guess such a game could get kinky fast. Is that the point, or is it more of akin to "interesting world so why not use it for RPGs"?
Yes.
;)
Mostly that its an interesting world with unusual social dynamics and content that go unexplored, largely, in other games. Norman's love of antiquity and philosophy also lead to some really interesting and well-executed worldbuilding.
Quote from: finarvyn;1038765Hey, Grim -- I somehow missed this. Is it a RPG product, and if so based on what system mechanic?
It's pretty good, faithful to the Gor stories without being over the top. Can't remember the mechanic, but it wasn't a system that I was familar with.
Good to see you back, GRIM.
SJG as in GURPS stuff?
I was a long time customer of Postmortem Studios. And I stuck with them through every bit of controversey. Because I liked the products.
Good to see you.
Munchkin's Guide.
Quote from: Mistwell;1038782Thoughts on Sean Patrick Fannon? I seem to recall he led a cavalry charge to string you up (not sure if it was over Gamergate or another controversy) and now he's facing his own challenges, but still insistent you're evil incarnate or at least much worse than him in some fashion.
We talked about this extensively in Episode 1 of Inappropriate Characters (https://youtu.be/saKCSm5xdvw)!
Quote from: GRIM;1038800Yes.
;)
Mostly that its an interesting world with unusual social dynamics and content that go unexplored, largely, in other games. Norman's love of antiquity and philosophy also lead to some really interesting and well-executed worldbuilding.
Think of the Barsoom books, with some really cool political intrigues and some wild meta-intrigues, with the social paradigm Gor is known for included. The same sort of fun adventure, but with a greater plot going on around it. The Barsoom books have some of this, but the politics seem more played down in the Barsoom books, while they're more interesting in the Gor books.
I've never been a huge fan of either.
Ironically, even though I was definitely the most 'nerdy' of the family, and the only one of my siblings who consistently read fantasy books, it was my younger sister who read Gor books. I suspect there's way more women who read Gor books than people think.
Read some "Romance" novels sometime; they are pretty much porn for women.
Quote from: Tod13;1039401Think of the Barsoom books, with some really cool political intrigues and some wild meta-intrigues, with the social paradigm Gor is known for included. The same sort of fun adventure, but with a greater plot going on around it. The Barsoom books have some of this, but the politics seem more played down in the Barsoom books, while they're more interesting in the Gor books.
Agreed. The early books deal with the Priest-Kings (who actually have a similar plot in some ways to Barsoom's goddess Issus, I think) but then move onto the Kurii plotline. Some good material in there, if one can look past the whole slavery and sex parts.
I kind of wish someone could issue a "cleaned up" version of the Gor books. If one can see through the superficial stuff, there is some really good storytelling in some of the books.
Quote from: finarvyn;1040030Agreed. The early books deal with the Priest-Kings (who actually have a similar plot in some ways to Barsoom's goddess Issus, I think) but then move onto the Kurii plotline. Some good material in there, if one can look past the whole slavery and sex parts.
I kind of wish someone could issue a "cleaned up" version of the Gor books. If one can see through the superficial stuff, there is some really good storytelling in some of the books.
I'd settle for a version without the 2-3 pages of rationalization that is copy-and-pasted into every book. The world building and story telling is so good though.
Quote from: RPGPundit;1039996I've never been a huge fan of either.
Ironically, even though I was definitely the most 'nerdy' of the family, and the only one of my siblings who consistently read fantasy books, it was my younger sister who read Gor books. I suspect there's way more women who read Gor books than people think.
If I'd read Tarzan first, I probably would have never read the Barsoom books. For me, the Barsoom books are fun adventures without any slow parts or stuff that needs to be skipped. Parts of the Tarzan books are fun, but I feel like I have to plod through the other parts to get to that.
Weirdly enough, I originally read the Gor books for the same reason I read Nietzsche. To see for myself what they were about. (Same reason I tried attending the opera and ballet. LOL) At least with the Gor books, I didn't have to research translations. (For Nietzsche, Walter Kaufmann is the translator you want. He isn't political--he just wants the Old German translated properly.)
If one aspires to write or create worlds, I suggest the Gor books just to see how well it is done, assuming you can get past the slavery stuff.
Quote from: GRIM;1038935Munchkin's Guide.
I thought this was fantastic. Some of the other stuff you did I think is garbage. Just like pretty much every other designer...
Serious question: why do people dislike you? Everything I've seen on forums tends to indicate you're reasonable, even if I disagree with what you're saying.
Well, yeah. I think GOR was probably popular with some women for the same reason 50 Shades of Grey is popular with some women.