Life has given me a break sooner than expected. In my 6 minutes of free time I hopped on here and oh my. Loving the story! I will also answer this most recent question.
I prefer flawed characters as well, but I have three stories for this question. My first ever character had 3 eighteens. It was mental. These were naturally rolled and added to by racial bonuses, but this was at first level. However, I eventually reduced multiple stats (including some of the eighteens) to preserve the fun of the game for myself. Sadly the campaign ended short soon after that (damn Covid!). Recently I’ve been playing a plasmoid ranger, and while my combat abilities are only good after a couple rounds (and round one because I’m a gloomstalker) I am the most overpowered dungeon crawler. I am always invisible, I can fit through one inch gaps, I can carry the party (literally) in my Bag of Holding because no one breathes except for the druid, and finally, my GM approved a homebrew Bag of Holding. It requires attunement and dwells within my character, it is essentially his heart. While attuned I can place objects in the bag by simply touching them and absorbing them into me. I still must make strength checks to grab creatures, as if I was shoving a normal Bag of Holding on them. It also has expanded storage space (not too much). Basically, I’m our storage, transport, and sneaky crawler. Finally, I had a player in a recent level 11 one-shot play a ghostlancer. The party got the jump on the young red dragon and killed it in two rounds. Each barbarian got one attack and the ghostlancer absolutely smote it. He never cast a spell of first level or higher. Just… Eldritch Blast. The BBEG went down in two rounds (not a super tough BBEG, only CR 10, as the party was supposed to have been weaker because: Beholder, Salamanders, Young Red Dragon, and a lot of Duergar and Erinyes.) The Beholder went down three rounds later and each Salamander died within a round or two of the BBEG. We’re finishing the game on Thursday… I fear for my monsters.
Love the last two examples.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Hi, I’m DrakenBrine, here’s my Sig and characters
Life has given me a break sooner than expected. In my 6 minutes of free time I hopped on here and oh my. Loving the story! I will also answer this most recent question.
I prefer flawed characters as well, but I have three stories for this question. My first ever character had 3 eighteens. It was mental. These were naturally rolled and added to by racial bonuses, but this was at first level. However, I eventually reduced multiple stats (including some of the eighteens) to preserve the fun of the game for myself. Sadly the campaign ended short soon after that (damn Covid!). Recently I’ve been playing a plasmoid ranger, and while my combat abilities are only good after a couple rounds (and round one because I’m a gloomstalker) I am the most overpowered dungeon crawler. I am always invisible, I can fit through one inch gaps, I can carry the party (literally) in my Bag of Holding because no one breathes except for the druid, and finally, my GM approved a homebrew Bag of Holding. It requires attunement and dwells within my character, it is essentially his heart. While attuned I can place objects in the bag by simply touching them and absorbing them into me. I still must make strength checks to grab creatures, as if I was shoving a normal Bag of Holding on them. It also has expanded storage space (not too much). Basically, I’m our storage, transport, and sneaky crawler. Finally, I had a player in a recent level 11 one-shot play a ghostlancer. The party got the jump on the young red dragon and killed it in two rounds. Each barbarian got one attack and the ghostlancer absolutely smote it. He never cast a spell of first level or higher. Just… Eldritch Blast. The BBEG went down in two rounds (not a super tough BBEG, only CR 10, as the party was supposed to have been weaker because: Beholder, Salamanders, Young Red Dragon, and a lot of Duergar and Erinyes.) The Beholder went down three rounds later and each Salamander died within a round or two of the BBEG. We’re finishing the game on Thursday… I fear for my monsters.
Love the last two examples.
Amnon Balderk is hurt that you didn’t love him in the first example. My namesake rests in shattered pieces because of you. I could have made him so powerful but no… I played a sorcerer/4 Artificer/3.
Oh, I’ve been meaning to ask, do we have any Brando Sando fans here? If you respond to this please do not mention the article that shall not be mentioned. It essentially is the same thing as the namesake of this thread, but for Sanderson fans instead of D&D players. Though, the two are becoming more similar every day…
Life has given me a break sooner than expected. In my 6 minutes of free time I hopped on here and oh my. Loving the story! I will also answer this most recent question.
I prefer flawed characters as well, but I have three stories for this question. My first ever character had 3 eighteens. It was mental. These were naturally rolled and added to by racial bonuses, but this was at first level. However, I eventually reduced multiple stats (including some of the eighteens) to preserve the fun of the game for myself. Sadly the campaign ended short soon after that (damn Covid!). Recently I’ve been playing a plasmoid ranger, and while my combat abilities are only good after a couple rounds (and round one because I’m a gloomstalker) I am the most overpowered dungeon crawler. I am always invisible, I can fit through one inch gaps, I can carry the party (literally) in my Bag of Holding because no one breathes except for the druid, and finally, my GM approved a homebrew Bag of Holding. It requires attunement and dwells within my character, it is essentially his heart. While attuned I can place objects in the bag by simply touching them and absorbing them into me. I still must make strength checks to grab creatures, as if I was shoving a normal Bag of Holding on them. It also has expanded storage space (not too much). Basically, I’m our storage, transport, and sneaky crawler. Finally, I had a player in a recent level 11 one-shot play a ghostlancer. The party got the jump on the young red dragon and killed it in two rounds. Each barbarian got one attack and the ghostlancer absolutely smote it. He never cast a spell of first level or higher. Just… Eldritch Blast. The BBEG went down in two rounds (not a super tough BBEG, only CR 10, as the party was supposed to have been weaker because: Beholder, Salamanders, Young Red Dragon, and a lot of Duergar and Erinyes.) The Beholder went down three rounds later and each Salamander died within a round or two of the BBEG. We’re finishing the game on Thursday… I fear for my monsters.
As a Star Frontiers fan I was so happy to see the Drasa - I mean, uh - the Plasmoids represented.
I want to get in a game to play one...
Thank you for the compliment on the story. It's been fun.
Oh, I’ve been meaning to ask, do we have any Brando Sando fans here? If you respond to this please do not mention the article that shall not be mentioned. It essentially is the same thing as the namesake of this thread, but for Sanderson fans instead of D&D players. Though, the two are becoming more similar every day…
Question of the day, What do you give your good friends as a gift? Something you bought or something you made?
I missed this somehow, maybe I got to caught up in the story within the thread, kinda like reading Watchmen for Tales of the Black Freighter .
In the words of my favorite line in my favorite Elton John song, "If I were a sculptor, heh, but then again, noooo." I wish I were more competent and or confident in my creative abilities where I'd feel I could make gifts. So, at times gifts. My preference though is to take friends out to dinner and/or some sort of entertainment shared experience type thing. For people I'm really close to, I'll cook. I'm a decent cook, but not a particularly efficient one, so it's very much a blood, sweat and tears process.
Life has given me a break sooner than expected. In my 6 minutes of free time I hopped on here and oh my. Loving the story! I will also answer this most recent question.
I prefer flawed characters as well, but I have three stories for this question. My first ever character had 3 eighteens. It was mental. These were naturally rolled and added to by racial bonuses, but this was at first level. However, I eventually reduced multiple stats (including some of the eighteens) to preserve the fun of the game for myself. Sadly the campaign ended short soon after that (damn Covid!). Recently I’ve been playing a plasmoid ranger, and while my combat abilities are only good after a couple rounds (and round one because I’m a gloomstalker) I am the most overpowered dungeon crawler. I am always invisible, I can fit through one inch gaps, I can carry the party (literally) in my Bag of Holding because no one breathes except for the druid, and finally, my GM approved a homebrew Bag of Holding. It requires attunement and dwells within my character, it is essentially his heart. While attuned I can place objects in the bag by simply touching them and absorbing them into me. I still must make strength checks to grab creatures, as if I was shoving a normal Bag of Holding on them. It also has expanded storage space (not too much). Basically, I’m our storage, transport, and sneaky crawler. Finally, I had a player in a recent level 11 one-shot play a ghostlancer. The party got the jump on the young red dragon and killed it in two rounds. Each barbarian got one attack and the ghostlancer absolutely smote it. He never cast a spell of first level or higher. Just… Eldritch Blast. The BBEG went down in two rounds (not a super tough BBEG, only CR 10, as the party was supposed to have been weaker because: Beholder, Salamanders, Young Red Dragon, and a lot of Duergar and Erinyes.) The Beholder went down three rounds later and each Salamander died within a round or two of the BBEG. We’re finishing the game on Thursday… I fear for my monsters.
As a Star Frontiers fan I was so happy to see the Drasa - I mean, uh - the Plasmoids represented.
I want to get in a game to play one...
Thank you for the compliment on the story. It's been fun.
Oh, I’ve been meaning to ask, do we have any Brando Sando fans here? If you respond to this please do not mention the article that shall not be mentioned. It essentially is the same thing as the namesake of this thread, but for Sanderson fans instead of D&D players. Though, the two are becoming more similar every day…
I can't say I've heard of it.
I’ll add that I’m talking about Brandon Sanderson. I probably shouldn’t have used fan lingo. He’s a fantasy author from Utah who is currently hailed as the king of fantasy.
Oh, I’ve been meaning to ask, do we have any Brando Sando fans here? If you respond to this please do not mention the article that shall not be mentioned. It essentially is the same thing as the namesake of this thread, but for Sanderson fans instead of D&D players. Though, the two are becoming more similar every day…
I have not read him yet, but I will. I have heard so many good things about him that I have bought one of his books and am just waiting for it to arrive.
I’ll add that I’m talking about Brandon Sanderson. I probably shouldn’t have used fan lingo. He’s a fantasy author from Utah who is currently hailed as the king of fantasy.
Who would hail him as such? Who dare speak against the true king, J.R.R. Tolkien?
Question of the day, What do you give your good friends as a gift? Something you bought or something you made?
Usually something bought, because I am not skilled at making anything... except writing. And no one wants a story for any kind of gift. (Which is sad, because people love a painting...)
How do you KNOW they would not like a story? I think you should write a story and have it bound (there are book services out there or DIY) and give it to a friend =) You've been doing a great job with us, I think your friend would be tickled.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
Question of the day, What do you give your good friends as a gift? Something you bought or something you made?
Usually something bought, because I am not skilled at making anything... except writing. And no one wants a story for any kind of gift. (Which is sad, because people love a painting...)
How do you KNOW they would not like a story? I think you should write a story and have it bound (there are book services out there or DIY) and give it to a friend =) You've been doing a great job with us, I think your friend would be tickled.
Heh - well, here - it's easy to enjoy because we're seeing our avatar/names being used in an odd ball story.
But it's true - a story, no matter how short, is a more personal touch.
Question of the day, What do you give your good friends as a gift? Something you bought or something you made?
Usually something bought, because I am not skilled at making anything... except writing. And no one wants a story for any kind of gift. (Which is sad, because people love a painting...)
How do you KNOW they would not like a story? I think you should write a story and have it bound (there are book services out there or DIY) and give it to a friend =) You've been doing a great job with us, I think your friend would be tickled.
Heh - well, here - it's easy to enjoy because we're seeing our avatar/names being used in an odd ball story.
But it's true - a story, no matter how short, is a more personal touch.
I’ve given stories as presents before. Admittedly writing and theatre are my professions, but I digress. I love making short stories for friends and family. I also enjoy writing stories known as “campaigns.” People really seem to like those.
I’ve given stories as presents before. Admittedly writing and theatre are my professions, but I digress. I love making short stories for friends and family. I also enjoy writing stories known as “campaigns.” People really seem to like those.
I admire, and am envious, that you've been able to turn writing as a form of profession.
I was standing at the incorrect crossroads when I sold my soul, and ended up in the realm of IT.
Granted, because of my creativity... My friend had a computer with a game called Raaka-Tu (man, talk about showing my age - https://www.figmentfly.com/raakatu/raakatu.html ) - Well, I can't even remember how - but I hit something and got into the source code. I started looking at the source code and made a very simple text adventure game that was a boxing game (I was in love with the game Punch Out! back then!) Essentially asked if it was 1 player vs NPC or 1v1. And it'd spin moves really quick - and you hit the space bar (I think it was) - and whatever was at the top it'd do (Body Blow! 5 Damage!) and it'd deduct it from the boxer's health - the boxers each had like 60 health. And it stayed on the top bar always. I have long since lost this game (I am sure it's on some Zip Drive).
I then made another little small "dungeon game" - I think it was loosely based off of the B2 D&D module. This game was also lost.
And then I later made a game called Final Soul which was about being stuck in a house, as people with you begin to vanish. It was inspired by a Sierra game called The Colonel's Bequest. But I even put a "map" of the house - if you hit "M" to see the map - very Rogue inspired with how the map worked (and the icon was the same as the Rogue icon). This one I still have - but no longer have the source code (which is a bummer, because I've found bugs in it that I missed the first time). I was going to make a sequel to it - because I learned a lot about passing variable files so that I don't run out of coding (the compiler back then struggled), which is why I had to change "North" to just be "N" for example and shorten a mess of commands and remove some I'd originally had in it. But that sequel never happened.
But because of that everyone assumed I was good at "fixing computers." And it just kind of never ventured off of that and became what I do.
I’ve given stories as presents before. Admittedly writing and theatre are my professions, but I digress. I love making short stories for friends and family. I also enjoy writing stories known as “campaigns.” People really seem to like those.
I admire, and am envious, that you've been able to turn writing as a form of profession.
I was standing at the incorrect crossroads when I sold my soul, and ended up in the realm of IT.
Granted, because of my creativity... My friend had a computer with a game called Raaka-Tu (man, talk about showing my age - https://www.figmentfly.com/raakatu/raakatu.html ) - Well, I can't even remember how - but I hit something and got into the source code. I started looking at the source code and made a very simple text adventure game that was a boxing game (I was in love with the game Punch Out! back then!) Essentially asked if it was 1 player vs NPC or 1v1. And it'd spin moves really quick - and you hit the space bar (I think it was) - and whatever was at the top it'd do (Body Blow! 5 Damage!) and it'd deduct it from the boxer's health - the boxers each had like 60 health. And it stayed on the top bar always. I have long since lost this game (I am sure it's on some Zip Drive).
I then made another little small "dungeon game" - I think it was loosely based off of the B2 D&D module. This game was also lost.
And then I later made a game called Final Soul which was about being stuck in a house, as people with you begin to vanish. It was inspired by a Sierra game called The Colonel's Bequest. But I even put a "map" of the house - if you hit "M" to see the map - very Rogue inspired with how the map worked (and the icon was the same as the Rogue icon). This one I still have - but no longer have the source code (which is a bummer, because I've found bugs in it that I missed the first time). I was going to make a sequel to it - because I learned a lot about passing variable files so that I don't run out of coding (the compiler back then struggled), which is why I had to change "North" to just be "N" for example and shorten a mess of commands and remove some I'd originally had in it. But that sequel never happened.
But because of that everyone assumed I was good at "fixing computers." And it just kind of never ventured off of that and became what I do.
I don’t make a living on writing. I make a living working at the local high school and in the construction industry, specifically plastering. My goal is to get enough short stories bound together that I can have a book on shelves within the next year or two.
I’ll add that I’m talking about Brandon Sanderson. I probably shouldn’t have used fan lingo. He’s a fantasy author from Utah who is currently hailed as the king of fantasy.
Who would hail him as such? Who dare speak against the true king, J.R.R. Tolkien?
I dare. Love what he did for fantasy and D&D by extension, but I've tried multiple times to get into his works and they just bore me to death with the purple scene-setting detail. I don't care about landscapes that much, man.
As for Brando Sando, I haven't read him yet but I've got Warbreaker waiting for me to pick up at my library. More excitingly, I've got the first Lockwood & Co book waiting for me, too. Anybody else watched the series on Netflix? I was already planning to throw a lot of ghosts/undead at my players, and this most excellent show made me even more excited to get to that arc.
I’ll add that I’m talking about Brandon Sanderson. I probably shouldn’t have used fan lingo. He’s a fantasy author from Utah who is currently hailed as the king of fantasy.
Who would hail him as such? Who dare speak against the true king, J.R.R. Tolkien?
I dare. Love what he did for fantasy and D&D by extension, but I've tried multiple times to get into his works and they just bore me to death with the purple scene-setting detail. I don't care about landscapes that much, man.
As for Brando Sando, I haven't read him yet but I've got Warbreaker waiting for me to pick up at my library. More excitingly, I've got the first Lockwood & Co book waiting for me, too. Anybody else watched the series on Netflix? I was already planning to throw a lot of ghosts/undead at my players, and this most excellent show made me even more excited to get to that arc.
If Tolkien isn't among the best fantasy writers in your opinion, then who do you think is? Or are those other names you listed your favorite fantasy writers. I haven't heard of them.
If you ever try reading Tolkien again, and I greatly encourage you to do so, then I suggest that you read the books as a mythology rather than an adventure novel. While his stories are adventures, they were also intended to be a mythology of England, and so reading them as such might help you get through them easier. Maybe that helps.
I understand the books are hard to read. When I first read LotR, I was probably too young and it was very difficult to read. It took me several years to get through all three books. I have read other books by Tolkien, and I want to reread LotR that way I understand them better. I just have to get around to it. There are so many books in the world and I know I will never get around to reading them all so rereading books hurts almost because I know that I could be reading a new book.
Have you read the Hobbit? I read that one at an even younger age than when I read LotR, and I found it much easier to get through. In my opinion, the Hobbit is much easier to read and it feels much more like an adventure story. Another way to read Tolkien that might be easier would be to find an audiobook. Sometimes I find it easier to listen to a story than to read it. Maybe that's just me. Sorry about all this, it just seems horrible to me that someone can go through life without experiencing the wonders of Tolkien's work so I thought I might give some suggestions that could help you enjoy them better.
No. that was just a meme. My real character was a fallen Aasimar echo knight.
Hi, I’m DrakenBrine, here’s my Sig and characters
I am The Grand Envisioner!
Love the last two examples.
Hi, I’m DrakenBrine, here’s my Sig and characters
I am The Grand Envisioner!
Amnon Balderk is hurt that you didn’t love him in the first example. My namesake rests in shattered pieces because of you. I could have made him so powerful but no… I played a sorcerer/4 Artificer/3.
Oh, I’ve been meaning to ask, do we have any Brando Sando fans here? If you respond to this please do not mention the article that shall not be mentioned. It essentially is the same thing as the namesake of this thread, but for Sanderson fans instead of D&D players. Though, the two are becoming more similar every day…
As a Star Frontiers fan I was so happy to see the Drasa - I mean, uh - the Plasmoids represented.
I want to get in a game to play one...
Thank you for the compliment on the story. It's been fun.
I can't say I've heard of it.
Check out my publication on DMs Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Tawmis%20Logue
Check out my comedy web series - Neverending Nights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wr4-u9-zw0&list=PLbRG7dzFI-u3EJd0usasgDrrFO3mZ1lOZ
Need a character story/background written up? I do it for free (but also take donations!) - https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?591882-Need-a-character-background-written-up
I missed this somehow, maybe I got to caught up in the story within the thread, kinda like reading Watchmen for Tales of the Black Freighter .
In the words of my favorite line in my favorite Elton John song, "If I were a sculptor, heh, but then again, noooo." I wish I were more competent and or confident in my creative abilities where I'd feel I could make gifts. So, at times gifts. My preference though is to take friends out to dinner and/or some sort of entertainment shared experience type thing. For people I'm really close to, I'll cook. I'm a decent cook, but not a particularly efficient one, so it's very much a blood, sweat and tears process.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
I’ll add that I’m talking about Brandon Sanderson. I probably shouldn’t have used fan lingo. He’s a fantasy author from Utah who is currently hailed as the king of fantasy.
I have not read him yet, but I will. I have heard so many good things about him that I have bought one of his books and am just waiting for it to arrive.
I recommend starting with Mistborn or Elantris. There will be way less spoilers than if you start with Stormlight or SP 1 or 2
Who would hail him as such? Who dare speak against the true king, J.R.R. Tolkien?
Check out my publication on DMs Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Tawmis%20Logue
Check out my comedy web series - Neverending Nights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wr4-u9-zw0&list=PLbRG7dzFI-u3EJd0usasgDrrFO3mZ1lOZ
Need a character story/background written up? I do it for free (but also take donations!) - https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?591882-Need-a-character-background-written-up
I agree with you actually. Brandon is nice, but JRR is the true lord and master of the genre.
I knew I liked you. :D
Check out my publication on DMs Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Tawmis%20Logue
Check out my comedy web series - Neverending Nights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wr4-u9-zw0&list=PLbRG7dzFI-u3EJd0usasgDrrFO3mZ1lOZ
Need a character story/background written up? I do it for free (but also take donations!) - https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?591882-Need-a-character-background-written-up
How do you KNOW they would not like a story? I think you should write a story and have it bound (there are book services out there or DIY) and give it to a friend =) You've been doing a great job with us, I think your friend would be tickled.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
Heh - well, here - it's easy to enjoy because we're seeing our avatar/names being used in an odd ball story.
But it's true - a story, no matter how short, is a more personal touch.
Check out my publication on DMs Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Tawmis%20Logue
Check out my comedy web series - Neverending Nights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wr4-u9-zw0&list=PLbRG7dzFI-u3EJd0usasgDrrFO3mZ1lOZ
Need a character story/background written up? I do it for free (but also take donations!) - https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?591882-Need-a-character-background-written-up
I’ve given stories as presents before. Admittedly writing and theatre are my professions, but I digress. I love making short stories for friends and family. I also enjoy writing stories known as “campaigns.” People really seem to like those.
I admire, and am envious, that you've been able to turn writing as a form of profession.
I was standing at the incorrect crossroads when I sold my soul, and ended up in the realm of IT.
Granted, because of my creativity... My friend had a computer with a game called Raaka-Tu (man, talk about showing my age - https://www.figmentfly.com/raakatu/raakatu.html ) - Well, I can't even remember how - but I hit something and got into the source code. I started looking at the source code and made a very simple text adventure game that was a boxing game (I was in love with the game Punch Out! back then!) Essentially asked if it was 1 player vs NPC or 1v1. And it'd spin moves really quick - and you hit the space bar (I think it was) - and whatever was at the top it'd do (Body Blow! 5 Damage!) and it'd deduct it from the boxer's health - the boxers each had like 60 health. And it stayed on the top bar always. I have long since lost this game (I am sure it's on some Zip Drive).
I then made another little small "dungeon game" - I think it was loosely based off of the B2 D&D module. This game was also lost.
And then I later made a game called Final Soul which was about being stuck in a house, as people with you begin to vanish. It was inspired by a Sierra game called The Colonel's Bequest. But I even put a "map" of the house - if you hit "M" to see the map - very Rogue inspired with how the map worked (and the icon was the same as the Rogue icon). This one I still have - but no longer have the source code (which is a bummer, because I've found bugs in it that I missed the first time). I was going to make a sequel to it - because I learned a lot about passing variable files so that I don't run out of coding (the compiler back then struggled), which is why I had to change "North" to just be "N" for example and shorten a mess of commands and remove some I'd originally had in it. But that sequel never happened.
But because of that everyone assumed I was good at "fixing computers." And it just kind of never ventured off of that and became what I do.
Check out my publication on DMs Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Tawmis%20Logue
Check out my comedy web series - Neverending Nights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wr4-u9-zw0&list=PLbRG7dzFI-u3EJd0usasgDrrFO3mZ1lOZ
Need a character story/background written up? I do it for free (but also take donations!) - https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?591882-Need-a-character-background-written-up
I don’t make a living on writing. I make a living working at the local high school and in the construction industry, specifically plastering. My goal is to get enough short stories bound together that I can have a book on shelves within the next year or two.
I dare. Love what he did for fantasy and D&D by extension, but I've tried multiple times to get into his works and they just bore me to death with the purple scene-setting detail. I don't care about landscapes that much, man.
As for Brando Sando, I haven't read him yet but I've got Warbreaker waiting for me to pick up at my library. More excitingly, I've got the first Lockwood & Co book waiting for me, too. Anybody else watched the series on Netflix? I was already planning to throw a lot of ghosts/undead at my players, and this most excellent show made me even more excited to get to that arc.
Well, I know the first character to perish in the story. lol
(I kid, obviously)
Check out my publication on DMs Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Tawmis%20Logue
Check out my comedy web series - Neverending Nights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wr4-u9-zw0&list=PLbRG7dzFI-u3EJd0usasgDrrFO3mZ1lOZ
Need a character story/background written up? I do it for free (but also take donations!) - https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?591882-Need-a-character-background-written-up
If Tolkien isn't among the best fantasy writers in your opinion, then who do you think is? Or are those other names you listed your favorite fantasy writers. I haven't heard of them.
If you ever try reading Tolkien again, and I greatly encourage you to do so, then I suggest that you read the books as a mythology rather than an adventure novel. While his stories are adventures, they were also intended to be a mythology of England, and so reading them as such might help you get through them easier. Maybe that helps.
I understand the books are hard to read. When I first read LotR, I was probably too young and it was very difficult to read. It took me several years to get through all three books. I have read other books by Tolkien, and I want to reread LotR that way I understand them better. I just have to get around to it. There are so many books in the world and I know I will never get around to reading them all so rereading books hurts almost because I know that I could be reading a new book.
Have you read the Hobbit? I read that one at an even younger age than when I read LotR, and I found it much easier to get through. In my opinion, the Hobbit is much easier to read and it feels much more like an adventure story. Another way to read Tolkien that might be easier would be to find an audiobook. Sometimes I find it easier to listen to a story than to read it. Maybe that's just me. Sorry about all this, it just seems horrible to me that someone can go through life without experiencing the wonders of Tolkien's work so I thought I might give some suggestions that could help you enjoy them better.