Stephen King's Dark Tower [Archive] - Wizards Community

Stephen King's Dark Tower [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
andrew_tails
12-15-07, 01:42 AM I've just passed the halfway mark on the second volume of Stephen King's Dark Tower. I just love the talk of the Gunslingers and their noble ways; has anyone ever done anything with the setting from the books and Dungeons and Dragons? Anyone want to?
CyanWisp
12-15-07, 04:00 AM There used to be threads about that over in the d20 Design Forum, but that place has had a major prune.

Me... I loved the series, read all seven books in one go. Personally, I don't think D&D really suits the Dark Tower mythology. More like d20 Modern or something.

I reckon Google it. I did and found this...

Dark Tower RPG (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-25497.html)
ragoftag
12-15-07, 11:11 AM andrew_tails wrote:I've just passed the halfway mark on the second volume of Stephen King's Dark Tower. You're a better man than me Gunga Din! I lost the ability to stay focused on SK, despite having really enjoyed many. Bobby Jordan's tomes numb my brain and the whole failure to enforce editing by publishing houses is getting old. Reading Potter to the nieces has about done me in.

But to your post's main point: Modern works better for one real fact: guns are inherently dangerous! There are no bleeding from a thousand wounds in a Modern gunfight. You will find a frighteningly fast return to mortality.
ragoftag
12-15-07, 11:12 AM andrew_tails wrote:I've just passed the halfway mark on the second volume of Stephen King's Dark Tower. You're a better man than me Gunga Din! I lost the ability to stay focused on SK's grimoires, despite having really enjoyed many. Bobby Jordan's tomes numb my brain and the whole failure to enforce editing by publishing houses is getting old. Reading Potter to the nieces has about done me in.

But to your post's main point: Modern works better for one real fact: guns are inherently dangerous! There are no bleeding from a thousand wounds in a Modern gunfight. You will find a frighteningly fast return to mortality.
andrew_tails
12-30-07, 01:30 AM I gave the idea more time and thought. Certain elements easily translate, such as the knightly order (aka gunslingers), the world stuck in one dying place (even though the world may be a slightly old west one), ancient relics, and the concept of different worlds (wizards seems to love the concept of different planes and the like). The world moving on thing with the distortion of time, distance, size, space, etc. could be an issue; I used to play with a guy who could pull it off, as for me, I doubt it. My players would be in a pissy mood if a hundred mile journey turned into a thousand mile journey without explanation aside from "world moving on". I run (ran) mostly low level campaigns, so recreating the Ka-Tet's epic journey of finding the Tower and it's consequences seems something one would save for higher levels, but on the whole, I feel that creating a Dark Tower-esque world is not out of the realm of DnD Homebrewers.
GoriceXII
12-30-07, 10:06 AM If you modified it it could be. You'd remove the elements that translate better into a novel than into a game. Have you read "The Talisman"? that might be an interesting blend with "Dark Tower" for adventures, in fact both e worlds could fit interestingly together. Don't give up.

The thing that makes these worlds interesting is this: there is a strange but workable blend of the modern 'real' world and fantasy elements. There are trains, dusty western towns, pistols, post apocalyptic cities and so on. If I might suggest, try thinking more in terms of scenarios and less in terms of building a campaign world, fitting the latter to the former maybe.
andrew_tails
01-01-08, 08:56 PM try thinking more in terms of scenarios and less in terms of building a campaign world

I think that's the best advice I've ever heard on the subject of adapting pre-established entities to DnD.
bushi
01-02-08, 09:44 PM Check out World of Darkness' Story Telling rules. They're light, handle problems well and there is supplements for just about every time period you can imagine. I brag that I can teach someone to play it in 15 minutes.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
andrew_tails 12-15-07, 01:42 AM	I've just passed the halfway mark on the second volume of Stephen King's Dark Tower. I just love the talk of the Gunslingers and their noble ways; has anyone ever done anything with the setting from the books and Dungeons and Dragons? Anyone want to?
CyanWisp 12-15-07, 04:00 AM	There used to be threads about that over in the d20 Design Forum, but that place has had a major prune. Me... I loved the series, read all seven books in one go. Personally, I don't think D&D really suits the Dark Tower mythology. More like d20 Modern or something. I reckon Google it. I did and found this... Dark Tower RPG (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-25497.html)
ragoftag 12-15-07, 11:11 AM	andrew_tails wrote:I've just passed the halfway mark on the second volume of Stephen King's Dark Tower. You're a better man than me Gunga Din! I lost the ability to stay focused on SK, despite having really enjoyed many. Bobby Jordan's tomes numb my brain and the whole failure to enforce editing by publishing houses is getting old. Reading Potter to the nieces has about done me in. But to your post's main point: Modern works better for one real fact: guns are inherently dangerous! There are no bleeding from a thousand wounds in a Modern gunfight. You will find a frighteningly fast return to mortality.
ragoftag 12-15-07, 11:12 AM	andrew_tails wrote:I've just passed the halfway mark on the second volume of Stephen King's Dark Tower. You're a better man than me Gunga Din! I lost the ability to stay focused on SK's grimoires, despite having really enjoyed many. Bobby Jordan's tomes numb my brain and the whole failure to enforce editing by publishing houses is getting old. Reading Potter to the nieces has about done me in. But to your post's main point: Modern works better for one real fact: guns are inherently dangerous! There are no bleeding from a thousand wounds in a Modern gunfight. You will find a frighteningly fast return to mortality.
andrew_tails 12-30-07, 01:30 AM	I gave the idea more time and thought. Certain elements easily translate, such as the knightly order (aka gunslingers), the world stuck in one dying place (even though the world may be a slightly old west one), ancient relics, and the concept of different worlds (wizards seems to love the concept of different planes and the like). The world moving on thing with the distortion of time, distance, size, space, etc. could be an issue; I used to play with a guy who could pull it off, as for me, I doubt it. My players would be in a pissy mood if a hundred mile journey turned into a thousand mile journey without explanation aside from "world moving on". I run (ran) mostly low level campaigns, so recreating the Ka-Tet's epic journey of finding the Tower and it's consequences seems something one would save for higher levels, but on the whole, I feel that creating a Dark Tower-esque world is not out of the realm of DnD Homebrewers.
GoriceXII 12-30-07, 10:06 AM	If you modified it it could be. You'd remove the elements that translate better into a novel than into a game. Have you read "The Talisman"? that might be an interesting blend with "Dark Tower" for adventures, in fact both e worlds could fit interestingly together. Don't give up. The thing that makes these worlds interesting is this: there is a strange but workable blend of the modern 'real' world and fantasy elements. There are trains, dusty western towns, pistols, post apocalyptic cities and so on. If I might suggest, try thinking more in terms of scenarios and less in terms of building a campaign world, fitting the latter to the former maybe.
andrew_tails 01-01-08, 08:56 PM	try thinking more in terms of scenarios and less in terms of building a campaign world I think that's the best advice I've ever heard on the subject of adapting pre-established entities to DnD.
bushi 01-02-08, 09:44 PM	Check out World of Darkness' Story Telling rules. They're light, handle problems well and there is supplements for just about every time period you can imagine. I brag that I can teach someone to play it in 15 minutes.