I'm running a game heavily steeped in sword and sorcery stuff very soon, but none of my players are directly familiar with the subgenre outside of third-order derivatives of it (Berserk, Souls games etc.) as well as its influence on D&D. I've tried to encourage them to read Howard, Leiber, Moorcock et al. but most seem to be too busy to bother sitting down and working their way through their entire bibliographies. Which particular short stories would /tg/ recommend for a "crash course" in the original print SF subgenre?

>>96045076 (OP)
Conan is short stories you mongoloid

>>96045076 (OP)
The original Sword and sorcery genre is short stories.

>>96045083
Read the post retard, I'm asking what specific ones people would recommend for a "crash course". My players aren't interested in reading the whole REH ouvre

>>96045076 (OP)
>I'm running a game heavily steeped in sword and sorcery stuff very soon, but none of my players are directly familiar with the subgenre
Unironically don't bother then.
And I mean it as a sincere advice. There is nothing worse than doing a thematic scenario/campaing to the people that are clueless about the theme and/or genre conventions that might be needed to embrace.
I run pulp. A lot of pulp. And a lot of it in the classic "jungle adventure" mold. So much of it, I translated both Savage Worlds and Hollow Earth Expedition into my native to help myself, since no official publisher would bother.
But whenever running for new people, I always ask them bunch of question to gauge how much they grasp this whole concept and what's their reference base. If I figure out they are clueless about this whole thing, I just run a regular dungeon crawl or a CoC one-shot and we part away.
And trying to "educate" them is pointless for trivial reasons:
- whichever stuff you will give them to watch/read/play, there is a chance it will be simply not of their avenue
- whichever stuff you will give them to watch/read/play, there is an almost guarantee they will treat it like gospel or overfocus on details
- if you can't come up with examples yourself, it meas you are not up to job yourself (it's really that simple)
- you are trying to go wildly outside the scope of interests of your group (since they are utterly clueless to this stuff), which has substantial chance to simply work as a demotivation
- moving Overton's window takes time; you just plan to jump head-long into what's currently a wall, for you plan to do this 'next game meeting"

>>96045083
>Implying OP isn't as clueless and green as his players
Lol
Lmao
S&S is basically one of those things that are nowadays marketed to newfags as "the real, TRVE rpg experience", similar how OSR was marketed a few years ago
But I'd rather take OP being clueless newfag than malicious spammer, so at least there is that

>>96045115
There are only 21 Conan short stories. That's a single fucking book.
Plus you just confirmed my suspicion that you, yourself, are utterly clueless on this matter, so apply yourself to >>96045118

>>96045118
>Unironically don't bother then[...]
I don't know really. Are you running mostly with randoms or with friends? All of my players here are close friends, they're just unwilling to bother reading any source material.
>S&S is basically one of those things that are nowadays marketed to newfags as "the real, TRVE rpg experience", similar how OSR was marketed a few years ago
Nah, I'm a long-time fan of the genre. I'm not running it for this campaign because I'm chasing some kind of fad, I genuinely just really like the genre and want to capture that vibe in a game.

>There are only 21 Conan short stories. That's a single fucking book.
I know, I still can't get my players to go in for the "long" haul. It’s gotta be some kind of crash course (4-5 stories or so), ideally from multiple authors so they get a broader scope of things.

Watch Conan the Barbarian

>>96045151
If they don't read much, why not just have them watch the Conan the Barbarian movie instead? It seems an effective introduction to the genre.

>>96045076 (OP)
What >>96045118 have said. Whenever running genre stuff, you should first make sure your players are familiar with that genre already, rather than trying to give them crash course right before the game. And if you have no idea yourself, asks yourself why would you want to run that genre in the first place - like the real reason why you plan to pull that, not "cuz it's cool"

>>96045151
>Nah, I'm a long-time fan of the genre
And yet you have no idea what to give people to get them into said genre

>>96045118
best post

>>96045076 (OP)
don't give your players effectively hours and hours of homework.
just make it fun and interesting, they will learn the themes and lore as they play(as long as its fun and interesting)

>>96045076 (OP)
>>96045115
Tower of the elephant takes like 20 min to read. If your players cant handle that, they are retarded and you should stop trying to help them.

>>96045076 (OP)
>How do I get into S&S? What should I read and watch?
Here, ftfy, OP. No need to lie to random strangers over an anonymous Tibetan tanka weaving forum

5 of my personal favorites, off the top of my head:
Tower of the Elephant
Red Nails
Bazaar of the Bizarre
What Good is a Glass Dagger?
Mazirian the Magician

>>96045076 (OP)
Set tone and setting through gameplay. If they've gotta do research to understand it, the problem is you.

Ill met in Lankhmar & Thieves house - Fritz Leiber
Black Gods Kiss - C.L. Moore
Tower of the elephant - REH
Kothar Barbarian Swordsman - Gardner Fox

Have a movie night and sit them down and watch Conan the Barbarian, Conan the Destroyer, and Red Sonja.

Maybe throw in Beastmaster or some Deathstalker (I recommend Deathstalker I and IV).

>>96045076 (OP)
Is there reading actually necessary for them to enjoy the game? And are they actually going to read anything you suggest? I kind of doubt it.

>>96048633
Seconding this. Just skip game night and have a movie night instead. The first Arnold Schwarzenegger Conan movie is fantastic. Haven't seen the others so I can't comment on them. Assigning reading is just giving them homework or turning it into a bookclub

>>96045076 (OP)
>Moorcock
Just tell them to watch seasonal isekai then, Tate no Yuusha S4 is on.

>>96045076 (OP)
If I were to run a game for my players in a genre they were completely unfamiliar with (I wouldn't), I would never give them homework. That shit is stupid as fuck and overbearing.
For session 0, read a 3-4 paragraph summary of the world and its people. Show them a map of the region you'll be playing in. Then make the PC's together.
Players will make characters they want to play regardless of the world the game is set in (though reined in by game rules and for example classes, duh). Unless your players are retarded or ignorant their characters will be shaped somewhat by the tone of the game as you play.

>>96045076 (OP)
>my players can't find the time to read short stories
grim
>>96045151
>they're just unwilling to bother reading any source material
even more grim
>>96045170
>>96046486
>>96047291
>>96048633
>not responding to the genuine replies giving you suggestions
EVEN more grim.

>>96045076 (OP)
Berserk and Souls are pretty close to the old school stuff. Especially Berserk given its extreme age. Avoid Moorcock. As, Howard, Leiber, and Vance are all far better choices. Tales of a Dying Earth short stories are an excellent choice because they're easy to get your hands on and are very short. As in, you can read it inside of an hour.

>>96056898
Eyes of the overworld - Jack Vance

>>96045076 (OP)
Just do one or two sword and sorcery themed movie nights. It makes it a lot more fun for the players than the homework feel of assigning stories to read which may even put them off the genre while exposing them enough that they can get into the mindset or get some character ideas for the game. Sure they may not get the exact prose of Howard but hey it still gets things in the right direction which is the important part.

>>96057952
>>96045076 (OP)
cont.
My own group did that ourselves by watching a bunch of cowboy movies before starting up a game of Deadlands which got the group pretty enthusiastic to try out ideas the movies gave them and got them into the mood of the game in general too

>>96055282
Maybe OP is just projecting on friends his unwillingness to read even a few lines of suggestions ITT

>>96045076 (OP)
Just do movie night, forcing them to read books will give them a reason to not want to play your game.
The Conan movies are a no-brainer choice. But I also recommend adding in Fire and Ice (1983)

>>96045076 (OP)
>Which particular short stories would /tg/ recommend for a "crash course" in the original print SF subgenre?
The death dealer.

>>96045115
The Slithering Shadow. It has it all - in media res dire straits. A lost civ that fell to its own complacent degeneracy. Magitech. Hot bitches. An eldritch abomination.

>>96045076 (OP)
bloodstar

>>96045115

Hardly a point tough, REH stories are almost always decent if not good. Just have them read some that catche their attention.

That being said, for Conan proper:
Tower of the Elephant
Xuthal of the Dusk
Rogues in the House
Queen of the Black Coast
Beyond the Black River

Second can be substituted, with The Black Stranger, Red Nails or A Witch Shall Be Born. Frost Giant's Daughter is one of his best, but probably not too gaming-apt.

Also, Conan movie is decent but hardly faithful to REH. In general terms too revenge-based and nietzsche wannabe for a good basis on the genre, methinks.
(and I really, really dislike how it portrays the hyborian age aesthetically, like it's some sort of postapo desert, but that of course might work outside of Conan)