TrippyHippy

I do note that one missing title not there is Luther Arkwright. So, I'll just put the questions out there - Is it still in the line up? Is it due a reprint? Is there any chance of updating it, so it's a bit more standalone-ish, or at least including full rules for Mysticism and maybe an introductory adventure?

Quite an impressive set up - the game line is beginning to pull together.

I'm wondering how far they can take the approach they had to Luther Arkwright in introducing some other edgier comic series. I've mentioned that the 2000AD licence is up for grabs again (Judge Dredd, etc), but what about things like Grant Morrison's Invisibles or Alan Moore stuff (Watchmen, V for Vendetta, etc)? As with the idea of a series of Mythic Earth titles (Britain, Rome, Greece, etc), I could actually see a number of these graphic novel titles being adapted to the same system and even interact in a multiversey way.

Exactly. Moreover, you'll always find players that want to play such things.

The counterargument, for me at least, is that Glorantha isn't vanilla fantasy. It stands out because it is different, quirks and all and a playable Duck race is part of that distinctiveness. Secondly, Glorantha is often at risk as being seen to take itself too seriously. Playable Ducks, obviously, provide an element of light relief. Thirdly, and possibly most importantly, Ducks are an inherent part of the setting already and should be celebrated along with the rest of it. Honest account of conversation at game club: "So, I'm planning a campaign for next year - anyone interested in RuneQuest?" "Not sure - what's it about?" "It's a classic fantasy game from way back, is quite Bronze agey in feel...." "Say wut?" "Errrr...a bit like the 300 movie" "Oh right - does it use D&D rules?" "No. It's percentile and skills based - very influential game....." "Errrrrrr......" "........um....you can play Ducks in it...." "Ducks!?!" "errrr....yeah..." "Cool! I'll play!"

Well, now that Mongoose have lost the 2000AD license, what price Judge Dredd?

M-Space and Luther Arkwright, both down the Mythras forum below, is precisely what you are after. M-Space is basically Traveller translated into BRP, and Luther Arkwright introduces some low level mutant-esque powers into the frey. River of Heaven is also available, which is transhumany in feel. All have high quality standards too. If you can get hold of older stuff then RingWorld and Hawkmoon are collectible. Apparently, Futureworld may be here soon again.

Isn't Super World already available in PDF form as a standalone game? Obviously it's nice to have the original Worlds of Wonder box set available wholly though.

I dunno. It may be something to do with my style of storytelling, but the ducks are one of the main selling points for me!

Actually, an all-Duck scenario would make a good quickstart book. It would already highlight the setting as being a bit unique and different, and people may be more inclined to take an interest in the game and setting.

Only just noted this thread to be honest, but.....I have both Elric! and Stormbringer 5. The rules are fundamentally the same but Stormbringer 5 is much better than Elric! in terms of layout, mainly because the font size is bigger and it's easier to read. I also, for one, much prefer the 'Stormbringer' title and love the cover art.

Evade is the Mythras skill equivalent of BRP's Dodge skill. I guess it got lost in translation, but they mean the same thing. It actually refers to 'Dodge' in the Evade skill description! Unarmed is included on the character sheet in the combat box. It's a combat style. Medicine does appear to be missing, so I guess you'll have to write it in one of the blank spaces. Any Professional skill essentially operates at 0% unless you invest in it - it's what differentiates them from basic skills. If you do choose a professional skill, then the base is based on Characteristics still. In this case, Acting will be based on CHA x2%. I'd say that pilot is a Professional skill, although if one comes from an Orbital cultural background, then maybe it is considered a basic skill..

Well, my new copy of Mythras arrived today. It arrived very promptly, in very attentive packaging, and the book quality is excellent (it feels velvety to touch and smells like high quality paper). I had seen the pdf beforehand, but the new font is readable and the new layout makes for a very efficiently concise rule book. The point that it covers pretty much everything you need in one book (rather than 3 as in D&D, say) will be an appeal. In terms of the magic systems, I think the main thing to say is that they are not only less flash-bang than D&D, but they actually contribute to an authentic feel in world building design. The categories, in one sense, are loosely similar to D&D Class-based magic (Folk magic - Bards; Animism - Druids; Mysticism - Monks; Theism - Clerics; Sorcery - Wizards/Sorcerers), but they also seem to fit anthropologically to real world cultures. They can take a degree of system mastery to get the best out of some of them - but that, like the combat manoeuvres, is what makes Mythras an interesting game to play. I've also put an order in for Mythic Rome and M-Space, and will add to that over time. At this juncture, I'm putting in a synopsis for a Luther Arkwright game to our game club, with an intent to make use of several eras of play for a multi-dimensional campaign. So let's see how that goes....

Well, there already was a Star Wars supplement..... But some aren't ever going to happen as they are either too difficult to obtain, or have been obtained already. I would like to see some other interesting titles though: - Alan Moore's V for Vendetta or Watchmen? - Children of Time - Adrian Tchaikovesky? - Stormbringer.....

I have the RQ6 Hardcover in a slipcase. It's nice, but not necessarily the thing you want to cart around to a game table in a club. The thinner, more practical Mythras book is useful accordingly - and there are a few rules updates too.

Having just opted for buying into the physical copy of Mythras (alongside my previous copy of RQ6!), I think the main thing that appeals to me is the sense that the people who make it have a real commitment towards providing a high class product. You can appreciate the quality when you buy it - not with the big budget full colour flash you might get from licensed games, but from a true sense of craft and professional know how. The level of research and authenticity of each genre book so far is excellent, and it is consistent with what I know about Pete and Loz's writings from other publishers. So that has always been the main appeal to me. In terms of the game itself, the main thing that stands out is the combat system which extrapolates on ideas from previous incarnations of RQ/BRP and really creates a dynamic, occasionally cinematic impact. The special manoeuvres can take some time to master, although the new card deck may help, and it really does allow individuals to develop their own style of combat. The magic systems (5 in the core) are anthropologically based, and pretty comprehensive in terms of representing a multitude of beliefs and historical sources. Moreover, the appeal over BRP was that it was a fully integrated system, rather than a collection of related systems that gave you 'options' in play. As such it is quicker to reference rules and implement in real gameplay. And the whole thing comes in a single core book package, with a jaw dropingly beautiful cover, with plenty of interesting titles to come.

Well, I think there is a niche for it in the Mythras line. If you think of the core genres established in Worlds of Wonder, we have Fantasy, Science Fiction and Supers: - Classic Fantasy is well established, with a D&D flavour. - M-Space captures the science fiction niche, with a Traveller flavour. Now we just need a generic supers game of the ilk of SuperWorld and Champions and we'd see a trio of genres complete. I guess you could add a horror title too, if they wanted to present some alternative to CoC (Raiders of R'Lyeh, anyone?). Now, I haven't read Cthulhu Godlike yet, but it may serve as a good basis of a system.

I have only actually played RQ6/Mythras but I did get Classic RuneQuest when the Kickstarter came out. While some people could argue about differences in play, to me a lot of the differences in Mythras are essentially extrapolations on stuff that existed in Classic RuneQuest. The special effects, for example, builds on what you had already with 'impales' - but just adds more colourful options. The main difference between the two, however, was in character generation. In Mythras, it takes the package build model, so that you choose a Culture & Career as a package that defines your initial skill sets as well as your identity to a degree. Base skills are calculated directly from Characteristics and things like background events can be randomly rolled or chosen. You have an extra set of skill points at the end to spend as you like, but it is a pretty standardised and simple process. Characters can then, optionally albeit prudently, be developed through memberships of cults and guilds who can provide them with certain skills and magic. In Classic RuneQuest, though, you roll your characteristics and then you have to make choices about who is going to train you to have any skills at all. You basically have to go in debt in order to train in skills, via cults and guilds which means consequently you really have to be indebted to one in order to have a halfway decent character at the start of the game. Skills can also be developed through prior experience, although this is only really developed as an idea in the appendixes. As such, the cults are more instrumental in the development of characters because there not just a carrot for more powers - but you actually have to pay them off first, and as such you need to adventure in order to make enough money! It is reminiscent of the mortgages you have to pay off for Traveller's starships which seems to have been written at a similar period of game development.

The ideal thing for me would be to have a bit of a library of Mythic historical settings, along with a few other books for other things - including Glorantha, although I do have the Classic RuneQuest book and GtG already. I'm just waiting to see what the new RQ is like before I make a commitment to the direction of games I will actually run and play in the long term. Mythic Rome, at this juncture, is really more appealing to me to be honest, but I've been stung a bit before when all the changes to RQ's ownership was happening. So I'm just being a little cautious at the mo - and I always deliberate over buying physical copy these days anyway.

Automatic download for me. It's something I've been waiting for. I'm considering making an order for the physical copy, but I'm just dithering a bit as I want to make one full order of several items rather than several if I get to it, and I'm also waiting to see whether to also get the new Chaosium RuneQuest or not, or to just focus on Mythras for the future. I already have RQ6 of course, and the last year of announcements have been a bit confusing.

Old school/new wave debates happen from time to time in all creative hobbies and pastimes, and a bit of tolerance for new ideas is no bad thing. The issue with Ron Edwards that grated, and largely soured many people's feelings about indie games, is that much of his output was merely asserting that other people's experiences and preferences were invalid. This culminated in the infamous 'brain damage' essay, werein he suggested that people who played the "incoherent" game of Vampire - The Masquerade were doing literal, physical damage to their brains. I found the arguments regarding GNS theory flawed too - by extension, RuneQuest is a flawed game if you use it for anything other than Simulation for example - but I can see the influence on later game design from ideas developed in The Forge. Historically, I think that most European RPG design throughout the 80s and 90s was broadly based on ideas from RQ/BRP. The same is true of the Warhammer games in the UK, or SLA Industries for example. Aquelarre is a Spanish game with a BRP style system. The transition to looking at more 'narrative' design can be seen as some sort of general international trend, although I would point to my copy of Ghostbusters RPG (1986) and Toon (1984) to suggest that a lot of the narrative ideas we moot as modern have actually been around for a long time. Edit: Just to note that the Swedish version of Kult was released in 1991, the US version in 1993 and the controversies in Sweden were very much a 90s thing!

Although we've seen some impressive Cthulhu miniatures in recent years (Cthulhu Wars etc), I actually think you maximise the alienness of the setting and the entities therein by relying more upon lurid descriptions rather than physical illustration. So handouts and imagination, with the occasional map, all the way..

If you are a new player, it makes little difference to your ability to learn spells in the alphabetical order provided. If you are a more experienced player, it just means you need to unlearn what you have learned a bit. Moreover, if the spells are organised into verb/noun categories you don't need to worry about how individual spells are named and organised - just search for the verb/noun category and read the spells under it (with perhaps a spell index at the back). Ars Magica has lots of spells with flowery names - and nobody struggles with book referencing in that game. If you organise spells into verb/noun categories you already have the prosaic descriptions as per God Learners.

But this is just tradition, though. Like I say, if you are changing the Sorcery system in the new edition to make it more flavoursome of Glorantha, then surely the language of the spells names could also be part of that consideration? It doesn't impact on backwards compatibility too much if names are given a bit more pizzazz - you simply need to list name changes. Beyond backwards compatibility, how is it a feature to have generic names?

How is it a feature?