 July 14, 2011 - 7:43am | Yes, the 14 to 15 ft tall, 400+ lb. martian of scifi novel fame is now available as a player character race in Capt'n Rags "Noo Joisey" Star Frontiers game! Certainly not easy fitting your green man into a fighter cockpit, but definitely worth the look of fear on Sathar faces when they see you! Be big! Be strong! Be a Barsoomian Green Man! Full profile at http://ragnarr.webs.com/peripheryraces.htm#764681364My SF website izz: http://ragnarr.webs.com |
 July 14, 2011 - 10:00am | Nice, I was a fan of Burroughs through jr. High school I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
July 14, 2011 - 8:04pm | I never read any of the Burroughs novels, but after discovering the green man and reading some background, I think I'm heading over to B&N this weekend to see if they have the novels. Also found out that Gary Gyaxx was involved in a project in the early 90's called 'Red Planet RPG' (based on the Burroughs novels) through GDW which, after a lawsuit, was grabbed by TSR. My SF website izz: http://ragnarr.webs.com |
July 14, 2011 - 11:45pm | I cant speak to the author's intent to pattern Volturnus after Mars of the John Carter setting or not though that is an interesting idea. I can say that you will likely enjoy the first couple of the John Carter novels and find the end of the series tedious to read. Even in Jr High and High School I became disenchanted with the author as he had a penchant for writing flat characters and formulatic stories. That is not to say that authors who write flat characters are bad, after all Tolkien was guilty of writing flat characters too but then where they appear in Tolkien's writing he's focused on something specific and doesn't want to distract the reader away from what his focus on so we get dwarves in the Hobbit that are just a name, a colored hood, and a musical instrument and little else. With Borroughs its different though but I'll leave you to judge that for yourself. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
July 15, 2011 - 7:43am | [jedi writes] "Even in Jr High and High School I became disenchanted with the author as he had a penchant for writing flat characters and formulatic stories." As I understand the info from my very brief exposure to Burroughs, he was also the creator of the Tarzan novels. Nothing says flat characters and fomulatic stories like a series about a musclular white dude raised by apes, swinging from vines, singing bad opera or speaking like Tonto. My SF website izz: http://ragnarr.webs.com |
July 15, 2011 - 4:26pm | I think he also wrote a series of dinosaur adventures at the center of the hollow earth as well. But there is no doubt Tarzan is his most iconic creation though the Barsoomian green man is also fairly iconic but to a more limited audience. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
July 31, 2011 - 12:28pm | Some of my comments in this thread were not the most enthusiastic endorsement of Burroughs and I think further comment is required. Since the Barsoom setting has been
n discussed lately I tracked down the gutenbergproject.com to find a copy of Princess of Mars I could read on line and lucked out with a audio version read by volunteers. The issue of flat characters needs to be taken back - not because they well rounded characters but because of the kind of story it is. The story actually focuses on the setting rather than the characters, much like Lord of the Rings. In a lot of ways its a novelized travel guide. You could take the book and chapter by chapter write out a setting nook. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
July 31, 2011 - 7:43pm | I still haven't had the chance to swing by B&N to buy one or more of the novels, but plan to soon. Not sure yet how a Barsoomian green man is going to fit into the new campaign I'll be running here in NJ. I'm sure at least one of my players will want to be a green man. I'm also sure there will be special problems he'll experience because of his size (snickers). My SF website izz: http://ragnarr.webs.com |
