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The Pilgrim's Progress as RPG
Mar. 26th, 2008 12:21 pmI've been listening on and off to Joy Chan's Librivox recording of The Pilgrim's Progress. It's one of those classics that I never had to read in high school or college, and I'd heard lots of comments about how good her reading is. I am largely enjoying it, though I have to take breaks every now and then; Bunyan apparently never heard of subtlety, and his lack thereof eventually becomes tiresome.
I listened to Part 1 Eighth Stage on Sunday on my drive home from church. Every so often, Christian (the main character) does something sort of stupid, but this particular episode took the cake. He and his companion Hopeful got captured by the Giant Despair and were cast into the dungeon of Castle Doubtful. This happened because Christian saw a nice, easy-looking path parallel to the currently-rocky Way to the Celestial City, and after failing a Wisdom check and winning a Contest of Skill (Fast-Talk versus Hopeful's Intelligence), convinced his buddy that it would be just fine if they walked on the nice easy-looking path instead. It turned out to be not such a hot idea. You also see what I mean about a certain lack of subtlety in Bunyan's writing.
Anyway. They get stuck in the dungeon on Wednesday, and are left there without food, water, or light till Saturday, at which point the giant starts beating them and exhorting them to commit suicide rather than live on. Oh, and of course not giving them any food or water. It's a little unclear how many days this treatment goes on, but eventually Hopeful and Christian spend a long time in prayer.... immediately afterwards, Christian realizes that, d'oh! he's got a key (called Promise) in his breast (pocket? shirt?) that should open up all the doors in the castle. Using this handy tool, the two make their escape, after some four or five days of imprisonment.
Dude, when you're lost or puzzled, check your inventory!
I listened to Part 1 Eighth Stage on Sunday on my drive home from church. Every so often, Christian (the main character) does something sort of stupid, but this particular episode took the cake. He and his companion Hopeful got captured by the Giant Despair and were cast into the dungeon of Castle Doubtful. This happened because Christian saw a nice, easy-looking path parallel to the currently-rocky Way to the Celestial City, and after failing a Wisdom check and winning a Contest of Skill (Fast-Talk versus Hopeful's Intelligence), convinced his buddy that it would be just fine if they walked on the nice easy-looking path instead. It turned out to be not such a hot idea. You also see what I mean about a certain lack of subtlety in Bunyan's writing.
Anyway. They get stuck in the dungeon on Wednesday, and are left there without food, water, or light till Saturday, at which point the giant starts beating them and exhorting them to commit suicide rather than live on. Oh, and of course not giving them any food or water. It's a little unclear how many days this treatment goes on, but eventually Hopeful and Christian spend a long time in prayer.... immediately afterwards, Christian realizes that, d'oh! he's got a key (called Promise) in his breast (pocket? shirt?) that should open up all the doors in the castle. Using this handy tool, the two make their escape, after some four or five days of imprisonment.
Dude, when you're lost or puzzled, check your inventory!
