TOPIC: Imitation is flattery I guess

jedibcg wrote: Not to derail this thread back on topic,

But if anyone is thinking of doing these it looks like there is a different one each day.
Thursday is The Golem's Riddle (1 hrs)
Friday is The Ogre's Lair (1 hrs)
Saturday is The Lich's Debt (1 hrs)

Druegar wrote:

Ro-gan wrote: Jeff created the Gazebo Token homaging KoDT.

I love KotDT, but it kind of saddens me that it's incorrectly getting credit for the original Gazebo story.

KotDT adapted that strip from a much earlier story: Eric and the Dread Gazebo

This is the original story :
The Tale of Eric and the Dread Gazebo
by Richard Aronson

In the early seventies, Ed Whitchurch ran "his game", and one of the participants was Eric Sorenson. Eric plays something like a computer. When he games, he methodically considers each possibility before choosing his preferred option. If given time, he will invariably pick the optimal solution. It has been known to take weeks. He is otherwise, in all respects, a superior gamer. Eric was playing a Neutral Paladin in Ed's game. He was on some lord's lands when the following exchange occurred:

ED: You see a well groomed garden. In the middle, on a small hill, you see a gazebo.
ERIC: A gazebo? What color is it?
ED: [pause] It's white, Eric.
ERIC: How far away is it?
ED: About 50 yards.
ERIC: How big is it?
ED: [pause] It's about 30 ft across, 15 ft high, with a pointed top.
ERIC: I use my sword to detect good on it.
ED: It's not good, Eric. It's a gazebo.
ERIC: [pause] I call out to it.
ED: It won't answer. It's a gazebo.
ERIC: [pause] I sheathe my sword and draw my bow and arrows. Does it respond in any way?
ED: No, Eric, it's a gazebo!
ERIC: I shoot it with my bow. [roll to hit] What happened?
ED: There is now a gazebo with an arrow sticking out of it.
ERIC: [pause] Wasn't it wounded?
ED: OF COURSE NOT, ERIC! IT'S A GAZEBO!
ERIC: [whimper] But that was a +3 arrow!
ED: It's a gazebo, Eric, a GAZEBO! If you really want to try to destroy it, you could try to chop it with an axe, I suppose, or you could try to burn it, but I don't know why anybody would even try. It's a @#$%!! gazebo!
ERIC: [long pause. He has no axe or fire spells.] I run away.
ED: [thoroughly frustrated] It's too late. You've awakened the gazebo. It catches you and eats you.
ERIC: [reaching for his dice] Maybe I'll roll up a fire-using mage so I can avenge my Paladin.

At this point, the increasingly amused fellow party members restored a modicum of order by explaining to Eric what a gazebo is. Thus ends the tale of Eric and the Dread Gazebo. It could have been worse; at least the gazebo wasn't on a grassy gnoll. Thus ends the tale of Eric and the Dread Gazebo. A little vocabulary is a dangerous thing.

The above is Copyright © 1989 by Richard Aronson. Reprinted with permission. The author grants permission to reprint as long as all copyright notices remain with the text.

James J Krot wrote: I am going to try one at GHC lets see how it goes.

JACKOFTRADZE wrote:
I'm not sure I'm wearing the duds that have been worn by so many random people, sounds kind of gross (Intent is great, the smell not so much). Gamers are generally really awesome people but a good portion are not known for the best hygiene. I'll pack a Star Trek shirt and say I time traveled.