bump

Me too.  

I'd be interested in getting a look at the wisdom contained in this old tome.

FormCritic wrote:The Perelman Player's Handbook is set to be mailed off to Xaxaxe as soon as I can get a moment.

Woot!

I won't keep it long, I promise. I want to pretty much just scan through it.

That sounds do-able. There does not appear to be an actual "list;" I think it's sort of who speaks up first

As I mentioned, I mostly just want to get an impression of the overall book; I won't be reading too closely. I'd like to think that it won't be here in Reno for more than two (maybe three) days.

I'll ping you when I'm ready to send it on.

Well, it's an interesting read, that's for sure, but I'm not seeing anything "psychotic" or "dangerous" or anything other than the often-funny ramblings of a dedicated 13-year-old player.

In fact, I divide JP's missives into two distinct parts. The long essay on the flyleaves seems to be a sort of open letter to Gary Gygax about how he has managed to screw up what should be a fun little game. In fact, I think it might have been intended as a letter, either by directly ripping the flyleaves out of the book or else by serving as a rough draft for a future letter. Also, I strongly suspect that much of the language was meant mostly to impress his middle-school buddies that he showed the book to; there is a lot of showing off and tough-guy talk.

The other part of JP's opus (the interior pages) is also pretty interesting. There are lots of alterations to tables, scribbled footnotes, and references to other TSR products (articles in Dragon, for instance). Some of the suggestions are actually quite good. Clearly, this was a young man who was very passionate about the game, but also had definite ideas concerning how it should be played. But, again, there's no "psychotic" writing here ... just a very passionate (too passionate, arguably) young man with a pencil and too much time on his hands.

Anyway, I guess you're up next, Steven (or is yours with a "ph"? I can never remember; there's too many frickin' Steve's here ). I suppose it's easiest just to PM me with your address.

BTW, thanks for the deluxe shipping, Mark. I'm going to "pay it forward" and do the same thing for Stephen (with a "ph").  

Xaxaxe wrote:Well, it's an interesting read, that's for sure, but I'm not seeing anything "psychotic" or "dangerous" or anything other than the often-funny ramblings of a dedicated 13-year-old player.

I came away with a different impression.  I found the letter unsettling.

In fact, I found it difficult to concentrate on JP's changes to the interior because I kept going back to his rant.  

It's interesting how two people can interpret the same text quite differently ... which, of course, is why so many people get into trouble with office emails these days.

I'll have to look at the CD again and try reading it from a different perspective.

Keith

Xaxaxe wrote:There's no right answer, of course. But do this, just as an experiment: re-read it, but picture JP later showing off and showing it to his friends. As in, "Look at this awesome letter I'm writing to Gygax!" That's totally what it seems like to me ... I was a show-off, too, when I was 13.

Good idea.  That will give me something to do during my lunch hour tomorrow.

I'll also pay closer attention to his changes to the rules.

Thanks,
Keith

It recently went from me to Pennsylvania Steve.

+++++

Sidebar: I've been meaning to remind everyone: be sure to sign the last page when you receive the PHB. It's sort of a nice historical record of the book's travels.