Steven Brust said: > >> Zelazny had a way with dialogue that few since have matched, turning what >> would have been a minor work into major entertainment (for me): >> >> "So feathers or lead?" I asked him. >> "Pardon?" >> "It is the riddle of the kallikanzaros. Pick one." >> "Feathers?" >> "You're wrong." >> "If I had said 'lead'...?" >> "Uh-uh. You only have one chance. The correct answer is whatever the >> kallikanzaros wants it to be. You lose." >> "That sounds a bit arbitrary." >> > > Yes, that's the set-up. But it's the pay-off that really nailed me. Absolutely. As a result, we used to use the kallikanzaros in RPG gaming all the time. Inevitably, the answer was Whatever Got The Best Response From The GM. If it was something the kallikanzaros (or "Uncle Kal," as we grew to refer to it) had heard before, you were usually better off dead. If it was something that actually made it (or the GM) laugh or cause him to be genuinely taken aback, you could usually get The Important Clue To Finishing The Adventure or the Magical McGuffin That Everyone Wants or whatever. We've used that as a cliché for nigh on these past twenty-five years. Last time I ran into Uncle Kal, I got away with my life by saying Carpe Scrotum, John "I've got a plan so cunning you could stick a tail on it and call it a weasel." -- Edmund Blackadder