Pick one, /tg/

Left for lore and worldbuilding, right for DMing

>>49723014
Tolkien

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>>49723014
Neither.

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>>49723110
>Right is the better world builder

>>49723014
Right is the better writer, left is the better world builder.

>>49723116
Shut up.

Pratchett. I like Tolkien a great deal, but Pratchett's writing has meant so much to me over my life it's not even a comparison.

>>49723137
Same here.

>>49723014
>Tolkien vs Gygax (?)
Tolkien did good with languages and geography. Don't know much about Gygax, just know his girth is huge in regards to /tg/.

Choice is clear.
Yes, Pratchett is funny, and in intelligent way, but there is more to the world and fun that plain laughter and satire. Besides his jokes get repetitive after you read few of his books.
So hands down, Tolkien.

>>49723171
>Gygax
You cannot be serious.

Why would anybody ever pick Pratchett over Tolkien? Pratchett is great and all, but Tolkien is on a different level.

>>49723014
I'll go with George RR Martin, hands down. HG Wells can't hold water in comparison.

>>49723014
I know that one is Tolkien but who is the guy to the left? Is that the guy who wrote Harry Potter?

>>49723437
Tolkien is great and all, but at the end of the day his stuff is pretty heavy. Pratchett feels more real, and lighthearted, and is the guy I'd rather have be the DM. Also, while Tolkien did do some amazing worldbuilding, it feels too rigid at times. Pratchett did his worldbuilding over the course of many books, and it felt more like the setting could evolve, and is more player friendly.

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>>49723585
Yeah, this.
Tolkien's very good, he's the source of a lot of really good stuff and was amazingly creative, but Pratchett was much less rigid, had a great sense of humour, could play themes and genre conventions - which is important, because they already exist.
Tolkien made an epic and a mythology, but Pratchett could take the existing fantasy tropes and make a whole range of good stories from them

And to the autist, pic related - you better believe that Tolkien's tg related as well; I like Pratchett, and would prefer him as GM, but in terms of contribution to tg stuff he's definitely the junior of the authors in OP's pic

>>49723039
Once again, fpbp

>>49723014
Terry by far, dont get me wrong tolkien is awesome, but there is a reason why no one plays the first edition of DnD anymore, Tolkiens fantasy has been overdone, Terry put new life into it

>>49723014
I don't know who the guy on the right is.

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>>49724305
I am truly sorry for your loss

>>49724251

Not really that it's been overdone, it's just been executed poorly. Tolkien did it well because he wrote compelling characters and commentary that took inspiration, if not direct analogy, to real life events he himself had seen with his own eyes.

Everything based on Tolkien is derivative, playing off its flashy aesthetic with none of the thunder, even of its own. If Tolkien's works are gold, the derivative fantasy that borrows only from its aesthetic might as well be plastic dollar store gold coins. There's nothing wrong with fantasy and nothing wrong with Tolkien fantasy, it's not that these things get played out, it's that derivative works either don't put in as much effort or miss the point entirely.

>>49724013
>implying I don't love Terry Pratchett
It's not about love, it's about order. There is already a dedicated literature board. What good is having more than one board if you don't use them for their intended purpose?

>>49723014

I have a lot of respect for Tolkien, but I've read Pratchett much more extensively.

>make it tg related

I also preferred GURPS Discworld over MERP or The One Ring, although I wonder if GURPS was the right choice for a Discworld game over a system with more metagame elements. If ever a mechanic fit the setting, that was it.

I have bookshelf enough for both, thankyouverymuch.

>>49724588
Well part of my problem with Tolkien is that while the amount of detail he put into his works is still unmatched by anyone (fucker created like 10 languages before he started to write, wrote a whole story of the world and it's theology) his works was rather bland. It was very black and white, good guys always win, bad guys always louse, good guys are either good from top to bottom, or have a fault but the reach redemption, bad guys are either always evil or betray the good guys in a obvious way. When the black and white divide was removed from fantasy it started to spread it wings, fantasy started to become what SF was, a commentary about our world or our morals, a more adult while at the same time having something for children and teens. While Tolkien created the genere, it's writers like Prachett and Le Guin who made it really shine

>>49723014
The Knight of the Star Sword it is.

>>49724305

Look the bright side, you have just found plenty of new reading material

>>49723014
I respect Tolkien but I actually really hate his writing.

I'll take Pratchett.

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>never read Pratchett before in my life

>>49724653

/lit/ is an actively terrible board to discuss literature with, and I aint even some sperg who's idea of reading is devouring fucking 40k books

>>49723014
Literally who?

>>49723104
You just know he would have loved traveller.

>>49727981
Literary who.

>>49726518
Your missing out.

I'd recommend The Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky and Small Gods. They were what got me into reading Pratchett's books in the first place.

>>49723173
>Pratchett only makes the funny.
What is Night Watch, Thud, Men at Arms, WORDS OF THE HEART CANNOT BE STOLEN, Reaper man, ect?

>>49723014
Pratchett. Hands down. This isn't so much a put-down for Tolkien, because Tolkien is great, but Pratchett is better.

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>>49723171
Nigger you need to kill yourself

Like right fucking now

Off yourself. It's the altruistic thing to do in this situation.

I'm gonna go ahead and say it

I didn't like the Silmarillion, and I merely tolerated Lord of the Rings. The Hobbit was cool though. I respect Tolkien, but I'm not a particularly big fan.

My decision is Pratchett.

>>49724735

I don't really agree with your summary of Tolkien. Tolkien's work is definitely strongly about our world and morals.

The Lord of the Rings definitely has a good guy/bad guy set up, but the morals of the book are about living through extremely dark times and how we choose to face those times. Remember Tolkien fought in the first world war.

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>>49723014

>>49728202
WHERE!
IS !
MY !
COW!

Tolkien. Pratchett is highly overrated.

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>>49723014
I tend to say Pratchett is my favourite authory so I guess him.

Every time Tolkien is mentioned, I realize anew how illiterate and feeble-minded some of the population of /tg/ is.

>>49723585
>>49724013
>>49724251
>>49724735
>>49725090
>>49728768
>>49728860

And we're supposed to be one of the smart boards.

>>49729173
/lit/, you need to go back.

>>49729198
/lit/ hates fantasy, including Tolkien.

>>49729198
I don't think lit would care to defend tolkien from pratchett.

Realized that I should've made a thread in jest on /qa/ about deleting /lit/ though.

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>>49723014
Neither

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>>49723014

>>49729173
>And we're supposed to be one of the smart boards
/tg/'s good reputation on 4chan was destroyed by Nazimod, and has never recovered.

>>49729119
READ SHIT OTHER THAN FANTASY YOU FUCK REEEE
For real doe read Catch-22 or something, it's hilarious.

>>49729173
Honestly? I don't like Tolkien I found his writing boring and too drawn out. I have tried reading his works several times and I just can't get into them.
That has nothing to do with being illiterate and feeble-minded it has to do with stylistic choices. If you can't understand that you should stop commenting on the tastes of others.

>>49729229
Good taste.

>>49729733
Tolkein is crap, and his works only survived by being trotted out by hippies who thought it was somehow 'anti-war'. It's been at the top of the 2deep4u list ever since.

>>49729733
>>49732251
Tolkien is good when translated

>>49729338
Despite everything, I still love this guys work

>>49729173
If I'm stupid for choosing the author who's funny, witty, and excels at making relatable humorous characters, over the long, drawn-out and slow paced author, cares more about adding minute details to it, such as fully fleshed out languages, rather than making his setting actually engaging past a first glance, and who is by now only notable for being notable, then I don't wanna have smart Anon.

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I'll take my Witcher over these two.

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>>49729288
Came here to post this.

But I got inb4'd so instead you guys can have a Bradbury

>>49729338
He's nothing compared to BASED AVELLONE

>>49723585
>>49724013
>>49724251
But a lot of the stuff that Pratchett was working with wouldn't have even existed without Tolkien. There would be no fantasy genre him to reinvent.

>>49733092
Just because a steel tower is built on wooden supports, doesn't mean that the wood is tougher than the steel.

>>49733139
You have a point, but that's a shit analogy.

The real problem with the comparison is that there are many ways to compare writers, but OP didn't specify which one he wanted people to use. There's nothing wrong with preferring Pratchett's prose, but Tolkien is a better world-builder and contributed much more to the genre overall.

I don't want to have sex with either of them, but I guess if I had to pick I'd choose the one that had been dead the longest, since they would be less funky.

>>49723171
My sides!

>>49732398
>cares more about adding minute details to it, such as fully fleshed out languages
You have that the wrong way around. Tolkien was first and foremost a linguist. His artificial languages weren't real enough, so he created a world and mythology to make his languages more realistic. And, yes, The Lord of the Rings is just a byproduct of that process.

>>49724305
He ended up not knowing, either.

>>49734732
Too soon anon, too soon.

>Pratchett
>Lighthearted
Maybe his early novels, but the rest is heavy as fuck. I mean, his entire watch cycle is people using cynical means to achieve idealistic ends - even Carrot, who is probably the most idealistic character in the whole setting (barring maybe, MAYBE Twoflower), does his fair share of intentionally unintensional shady stuff.

Pratchett was like a paladin, angry at the imperfect world, but channeling his anger into his books.

>>49729173
gr8 b8 m8.

take my (you) too, you deserved it.

>>49735065
>Twoflower
I thought Interesting Times changed that?

Or was it focused more on Rincewind and the Silver Horde?

>>49735123
Changed, but not by much, although there were hints that he's not as reality-bendingly naive.

And his daughter is a full-on efficient revolutionary, so there's that.

>>49723014
>it's this thread again
>OP is an obvious Martinfag

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WHAT CAN THE HARVEST HOPE FOR, IF NOT FOR THE CARE OF THE REAPER MAN?

>>49729288
Only acceptable answer.

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Neither

>>49736092
lmao

just say you have no taste my dude

>>49736075
-[]--[]--[][][][][]---[][][][]--
--[][]---[]---------[]----------
---[]----[][][][][]---[][][][]--
---[]----[]-------------------[]
---[]----[][][][][]---[][][][]--

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>>49736197
>mfw it worked

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Plebs, all of you.

>>49736277
No anon, you are the pleb.
>And then anon was a dimensional shambler..

>>49728202
I have read the Night Watch. I can't remember single thing that wasn't a joke or a character with a quirk.

That's the problem with Pratchett for me. His jokes are really funny and bright well, until they start to gett repetitive, his commentary (social/religious/etc) is often sharp as razor, but stories themselves? Well. I'll say it that way - I have read about ten of Discworld novels. I own 8, lent one or two more from local library. I can't even recall the titles of all eight of my own books [spoiler,]and yes, I'm sure there are eight of them. four with yellow, and four with blue backs, I can't recall what was the main plotline of four out of seven I remember, just random events on the way, remaining three I can recall but very vague outline. Ones from the library I forgot alltogether. At the same time I perfectly remember plenty of characters, even minor ones, and specific jokes and cultural references.
Pratchett's writing is splendid but his stories themselves are mediocore, and wouldn't be of any note without humour/commentary that adorns them.

>>49723014
As someone who had never even heard of Pratchett before /tg/, are his works still worth reading, or are they more of a child/teen series still beloved due to a strong aura of nostalgia?

>>49723014
That's like picking between Gene Roddenberry and Josh Whedon.

>>49723173
>"He wanted to go home. He wanted it so much that he trembled at the thought. But if the price of that was selling good men to the night, if the price was filling those graves, if the price was not fighting with every trick he knew....Then it was too high. "

Rolled 2 (1d2)

>>49723014

>>49726518
>>49727981
>>49729106
>>49729173
>>49729288
>>49729338
>>49729539
>>49736277
>>49736092
>>49736519
You are all failures as human beings. As is OP for starting this thread, but you guys are worse.
The answer is of course Pratchett as a writer and Tolkien as the Homer of fantasy.

>>49736566
I didn't even get many jokes in Prattchet's books as a kid. The Witches in particular have just so many jokes about obscure grown-up or straight up old people shit. It's a little like Asterix.

So yeah, read him. Be warned if you're going in chronological order, Colour of Magic and Light Fantastic are commentary on fantasy writing scene, so a lot of it won't make sense to anybody these days because they simply have not read those short stories that the books are about.

Try Small Gods.

>>49736633
>so a lot of it won't make sense to anybody these days because they simply have not read those short stories that the books are about.
and that's a shame. Appendix N should be required reading for /tg/ and as a bonus you'd understand all those "obscure" Pratchett jokes in the early books.

>>49736628
(you)

>>49736628
>The answer is of course Pratchett as a writer and Tolkien as the Homer of fantasy.
Which Homer, the Greek one or the fat dumbass who sits around and eats donuts.

>>49734732
He did though, he died of an infection, his alzheimers was still manageable

>>49723104
Been reading the foundation.

Fuck me . Its pretty epic and then everything to do with the 2nd foundation well. All i can see is its actually really weird to grasp the concept.

Currently about to start Foundation and earth

>>49736628
>Le Can't Remember Things Man is the superior choice
wew lad lay off the memes

>>49723171
>Gygax
You know you don't HAVE to give your opinion if you don't know anything about the subject, right?

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>>49723014
I have more choices.

whynotboth.jpg

>>49738668
>Uses "le" unironically in a greentext.
>Accuses others of memeing
What are we going to do with him Mr Flibble?...Oh no Mr Flibble! We couldn't do that! After all, who'd clean up the mess?

>>49738314
Gets kinda meh after the original trilogy

>>49723104

Isaac Asimov is not good with NPCs.

Worldbuilding sure, plots sure, but characters he flounders.

>>49738842
Smeg off.

>>49729173
>Opinion being treated as fact

So much for intelligence.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZamL8FXKOE
>28:52
>"You're not allowed to do that.."
>"THE HOGFATHER CAN. THE HOGFATHER GIVES PRESENTS. THERE'S NO BETTER PRESENT THAN A FUTURE."

>>49738961
>"Sam Scrote page eight! 'Ave you got the list?"
>*Angry rattling*
>THIS IS REALLY, REALLY STUPID.

>>49738783
Hey, I love me some Conan, but Howard never really got beyond pulp.
His stories are ntertaining and his worlds are interesting, but they don't make you stop and think.

Tolkien wrote too _much_ book: he just goes on and on and on and then Christopher publishes the leftovers in another ten volumes.

Pratchett wrote too _many_ books: after the tenth or so, you can tell how the jokes are going to go.

That said, Tolkien. But can I nominate Poul Anderson for a change?

>>49738961
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLKpOoWJlxk
>One said: You can't do this! There are rules!
>YES. THERE ARE RULES. BUT YOU BROKE THEM. HOW DARE YOU. HOW DARE YOU!
>AND NOW THERE REMAINS ONLY ONE FINAL QUESTION.
>HAVE YOU BEEN NAUGHTY...OR NICE?
>HO. HO. HO.

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>>49738997
Well blowing your own brains out will stifle your career yeah.

But how about this glorious man?

>>49739031
>after the tenth or so, you can tell how the jokes are going to go.
True, you kinda see them coming from half a page off, but with Pratchett it never actually bothered me.
It actually feels more like meeting an old friend than getting sick of repetition.

>>49723014
>ctrl-f vance
>no result
FAGGOTS
A
G
G
O
T
S

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pick one

>>49739166
Dragon

>>49723014
I prefer Tolkien by a country mile but if I could bring one back from the dead it would be Pratchett. I wouldn't subject the modern world on Tolkien.

>>49739047
>But how about this glorious man?
I honestly never read anything from him.
Outside of Howard and Lovecraft, most pulp didn't make it to Germany I believe.

>>49739237
That is unfortunate, I really enjoyed it, he is only the only one of the big three that lived a long life.
Must have been hard after Howard and Lovecraft died.
From most accounts it sounds like the three of them were pretty close.

>>49738863
I know at least with the foundation series that wad kinda the point. The theme was that individuals didn't matter in the grand scheme. Hell, the only one who broke this mold wad the mule

>>49739047
literally who

>>49739315
Clark Ashton Smith.
One of the big weird tales authors alongside Lovecraft Howard, and a few others.

>>49739312

Foundation was Asimov recognizing his own shortcomings with characters, and writing himself a story where the characters don't matter.

Brilliant in it's own right, but he just wasn't good with personalities (that said, he did a banging good job with the Caves of Steel.)

>>49739270
>From most accounts it sounds like the three of them were pretty close.
Yeah, one of the Howard collections had a bunch of letters between him and Lovecraft.
Shame about both.

I might actually check out some of Smith's stuff.
Got any recommendations?

>>49739340
I loved the aliens in The Gods Themselves.

>>49723104
Nah, he can write the adventure, but not GM.

He'd make everyone uncomfortable by describing female npc's asses.

>>49723171
Leave this board

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>mfw this thread

Also, Erikson, anyone ?

>>49739368
I feel like The Gods Themselves is his underrated classic

>>49739351
If you can find a copy of Zothique, it is a pretty good collection of his works.

>>49741453
I loved Greebo in this, especially when he went human.

It's a shame they never used this in Lords and Ladies or Carpe Jugulum.

>>49736519
>I can't remember single thing that wasn't a joke or a character with a quirk.
I'm not joking when I say you ought to read it again and pay attention this time.
Night Watch is easily his most serious book, regardless of the levity, and is my personal favourite because of how he blended them so well.

Pay closer attention to Reg, Angels, lilacs, the unmentionables HQ, The Beast and the Cigar Case.

>>49739211
More like subjecting the modern world to Tolkien

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>>49723014
just leaving this here

>>49741745
Is that the GURPS version?

Because if I recall correctly the GURPS module had a robot powered by three pedalling trolls in it (it had to stop every once in a while so they could cool off.)

>>49741820
actually this is a new gurps version that will be released this year

>>49741878
That's good to know, I was honestly trying to work out the best way to make a Black Ribboner who supplanted the B-vurd with...Foolery

>>49729173
>I am enlightened by my own intelligence
How do we call a fedora for books ?

>>49736092
hahahahah-
wait you're serious ?

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rate me

I've been away from the Disc for far too long...

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>Not enjoying Michael Moorplots and his Eternal Champion.
>yfw pic related became a facet of the Eternal Champion, along with Doctor Who, Lemmy and more.

>>49745257

Guards! Guards! was the first discworld novel I read, and still remains my favorite.

>tfw reading the last few discworld novels.

A shame how much his illness deteriorated his abilities near the end of his life. Snuff and Raising Steam were almost unreadable.

>>49723014

Pratchett had more good work yet to do. Tolkien was basically done with the story, and mostly, the setting.

>>49723014
No.

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>>49746770
>Moorplots

>>49743752
/lit/.

>>49747408
Yeah, they weren't good, but please, please tell me you've read Shepherd's Crown

the better question: which Discworld/Middle Earth characters would be the best players/GM?

Pratchett. This is not just because his fiction was formative for me, but because as grand as the narratives of human struggle Tolkein wrote are, Pratchett's stories are so very human. They tell us things about ourselves, they explore the meaning of relationships from the mundane to the epic, they show the deep meaning that exists in sometimes small features of the human psyche. There's a richness and a depth to Pratchett which is not lacking in Tolkein, but is not as richly developed or extensive.

>>49734732
I did not need those feels.

>>49735065
>Pratchett was like a paladin, angry at the imperfect world, but channeling his anger into his books.

This is literally how Neil Gaiman described him after they worked together on Good Omens

>>49750739
Melkor would be the best GM, Tom Bombadil would be the best player. With a Balrog PC.

>>49752962
>Melkor runs an evil campaign
>makes it identical to his plots
>takes notes on where he fucked up
Devilish tactics

>>49754857
>"An axe isn't a holly symbol, you stupid man."
>"Really? Well, let's make it into one then."
Best line of the book right here.

>>49754857
I love all these covers. A shame I've read so few pratchett books, I should buy all of them when I get a house

>>49750735

I've not, is it any good?

>>49756093
Granny Weatherwax dies.

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WHAT CAN THE HARVEST HOPE FOR, IF NOT FOR THE CARE OF THE REAPER MAN?

>>49746770
>>49747715
>>49758208

>Don't fear the reaper
>yfw Micheal Moorcock wrote lyrics for Blue Oyster Cult on Veteran of the Pyschic Wars.

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>>49723171

>>49723171
I came here to call you a faggot.