From: ian i. gorlick (igorlick@bnr.ca)
Date: Sat 27 Aug 1994 - 11:45:00 EEST
According to Nick Brooke in X-RQ-ID: 5859 we won't be getting a new
version of Vivamort for a while yet; and the "Shadows on the
Borderlands" writeup of Thanatar was the final official word. IMO the
writeup of Thanatar in Shadows on the Borderlands was disappointing.
Since I happen to feel that these are two of the most interesting chaotic cults out there to prey on foolish adventurers, I have written up my own versions of them over the last few years.
Fair warning to those interested: some of the details of cult special magic are still not worked out to my satisfaction, so you will not be getting complete play-tested and ready-to-play material.
---
I will explain my disappointment with the "Shadows" Thanatar writeup.
The writeup did manage to simplify some of the confusing parts of the old Cults of Terror description. This was good. However, I feel that in simplifying matters it went too far and some of the flavour (or should that be "stench"?) of the cult was lost. The differences between the aspects of Than and Atyar were not emphasized except to specify which spells each aspect got.
I was looking for a writeup that would build on those differences and make it clear that the cult is a semi-successful fusion of two radically different approaches to their god glued together by a rather shakily defined third aspect. (It hasn't been explicitly stated anywhere, but I assume it was some God Learner who created Thanatar from two previously existing cults.)
To those who are busy debating whether Terra's version of Tradetalk is English or American, may I propose a third contender:
Canadians are being hired throughout the world to act as radio and television announcers because Canadian English is clearly intelligible to most English speakers around the world. Something which can not be said of the highly idiosyncratic modes of speech common in many regions of Britain or the USA. Sorry guys, but the true Tradetalk is Canadian. Take off, eh!
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