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Ian A. Thomson

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Ian A. Thomson last won the day on March 20

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  • RPG Biography
    Former Issaries Inc 'Pavis Expert' & minor contributor to publications such as 'Storm Tribe'; author of the P&BR Companion series released via Tentacles Press in the early 2000s
  • Current games
    Currently engrossed in insane editing/layout 10hrs days, reviving the Pavis & Big Rubble Companion material for Director's Cut Relaunch!

    GTA Online (Used to be a frequent player, now it's occasional). My style (and the people I game with) is friendly and co-operative and about fun. Feel free to message me for my handle there if you are also a Los Santos resident, who likes the co-op approach.
  • Location
    NSW, Australia
  • Blurb
    First gaming in Prax was in the early 1980s when a friend a couple of years older said 'Forget that D&D stuff. RQ is way better'.

    Player in a big Pavis/Prax campaign in the West Country the late 80s / early 90s.

    Designed and ran a massive Pavis Campaign in the mid 90s (at UNI in Bath, UK) and again in the late 90s / early 2000s (Melbourne). Since I did a lot of creating on PC, and was very thorough in writing my ideas (and somehow managed to keep most of the files and notes), most of this was available to be turned into the original P&BR Companion series.

    Also grateful to have had some amazing email chats around 2001 with Greg Stafford about his current vision of Pavis (person, spirit and city) that I adapted into my work. :)

    Greg and I began to plan an official series of three books based on the details we were discussing. These never came about (maybe a good thing since I much prefer any version of the RQ rules to HW or HQ), and means I can put all of these ideas into the new Director's Cut of the series, including the elements Greg asked me to keep secret for the proposed official release.

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    https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/browse?keyword=Ian%20Thomson

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  1. Are Yanfali and Humakti Rune Lords expected to fight ritually whenever they meet? My brain tells me that this is a thing. Yet another part of my brain says that i made it up Was this ever a thing, am I extrapolating from some other ritual contest I once read about, or am I just making the whole idea up!!!! :)
  2. The Zebra Tribe exists as a local and Praxian force, having reformed from its remnants: "When Dorasar founded New Pavis he did many marvelous things. Among them, he fulfilled the dream of a friend and reestablished the ancient Zebra tribe in Pavis. As Pavis had a friend among the horsemen, Dorasar had a friend among the zebra men. His name was Olgkarth, and he lived, with his small clan, among the Pol-Joni barbarians." (Pavis book) In the the P&BRC:DC campaign this built into significant numbers, until "They formed the core of the Pavis Survivors, decimated during the Lunar invasion, but Zebra riders still maintain a holding on the river, giving tithes to the Lunar government and allowing Lunar inspectors to see that they are not re-equipping as the outlawed Survivors." My take is that they survived Moonbroth in numbers, but apart from a strictly-controlled number allowed to live (in rotation) at the Zebra Pen (Zebra Stockade in my campaign) they were thrown out of Pavis by the Lunars, and disbanded from their official civic status, due to resisting the invasion. The goal of the Lunars to try and marry Pavis to the Red Goddess means they don't want to totally alienate the Pavis Cult (which was quick to point out during the Treaty negotiations that all Zebra Tribesfolk are Citizens of Pavis by historical precedent). This means in this campaign world that the Zebra Tribe are not persecuted, and are permitted to also have a base out on the edge of Pavis County, and operate patrols there for protective purposes. But they were officially replaced by the PRG in Pavis itself The most anti-Lunar zebra clans, and those members wanted for specific rebel acts, headed out into the Wastes The campaign details on the Zebra Tribe are quite extensive and in Vol. 03: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/448641/Pavis-County--Beyond-Secrets-of-the-Borderlands-RuneQuest
  3. Conversion notes, offering additional information, so that with the original character sheets in hand one can also peruse the new ideas for using them under the RQ:G rules. There are Chaosium restrictions on how one cannot update pre-existing characters for publication just by adding a few extra bits, and additionally the originals were so great we didn't want to do that anyway. Instead, we offer additional ideas, and a very few alterations, to consider - not new versions of these iconic characters :)
  4. Oh, no! All that work! Just kidding. Nick et al were very clear on what was OK and what wasn't. Here's a snippet from the DTRPG blurb that has been prepared: "You will need a copy of Strangers in order to run those original scenarios, as we do not reproduce any of their main contents here. This Companion instead offers a full range of easy-to-use adaptation notes on how to run those adventures with the new RQ:G Rules. There are no new versions of any main Strangers characters in this Companion - just suggested RQ:G enhancements. With the sorcerers, the new information here outlines ways to run them as mysterious GMCs whose mechanics are consistent and story-appropriate, and occur entirely out of the knowledge of the Players. (We don’t offer any new version of sorcery rules in this book, just simple ideas for how the GM can make the main sorcerers function believably and congruently in game terms.)" "This Companion additionally contains plenty of stand-alone material, and so can also be used to expand and support any Pavic campaign set between 1610-1621. This extra content includes: - Full RQ:G Stats for a wide range of supporting characters and enemies; - THREE new self-contained scenarios (one revolving around an Old Pavic Chaos cult); - A two-part article on the Old Pavic Jalmari, who were originally created by Michael O’Brien & Tim Leask for Strangers in Prax, but didn’t make the final cut; - Full Deck-plans & room index for the flagship of the Moon Boat fleet: ‘The Darjinni Enterprise’."
  5. There was a wonderful coincidence happened when I was playing in the Borderlands campaign that later went to Pavis, and which inspired me to start the first run of my own campaign. I went into a small second-hand bookshop just on a whim that I happened to drive past on a big trip a couple of hours from home (living in Southampton UK at the time) And they had the Borderlands, Pavis & Big Rubble boxed sets at next to no cost. Clearly the owner had no idea of their worth, as all were out of print for some years at that time. Some other old timers might remember when the classics were as rare as hen's teeth I only had enough money for one, but I had the opportunity to pass that way again a few days later and luckily the other two were still there (or maybe I'd asked the guy to put them aside for me) Either way, the Old Pavis campaign I began then hinged on a random whim of taking a break on a long drive to drop in to an intriguing-looking second-hand bookshop somewhere on the outskirts of Portsmouth in the UK
  6. Jaysus Chaosium should definitely jump on reprinting this if they have the rights. A nice little earner as they say in Blighty I'd be happy to helm another project to recover the text and images and put them in basic formatting if that's the only major drawback for them Probably could even organise people to do the layout too
  7. Needs to be another official category: Classic Close-Enough Canon or something Either/or distinctions are often a very flawed classification system to use
  8. 4A: Special Edition - The 'Strangers in Prax' Companion (arriving soon, maybe Easter) 5. Prax & the Zola Fel: Land of the Giants (maybe June) At least 2 others to follow, maybe 3. Still some new material to write Actually to the original POD versions you can buy through Chaosium, but it would be easy for anyone who knows the material to find the references in any other version
  9. Hi Folks I communicated with Mike back in 2021/2 when I got permission to include his bits and pieces again in the new version of the series, but I have changed email address since then, and lost a bunch of contacts Does anyone out there have a contact email for him, or know how to be in touch on any social media? Thanks very much
  10. Vol. 05 is well advanced and will be: Prax & the Zola Fel Valley: The Land of the Giants We have some other titles and contents, including the Rough Guide to Pavis City, which is also well-advanced But the exact number is unknown yet
  11. Coming Soon to the Jonstown Compendium!
  12. VOL. 04 (Old Pavis II: 'The Good, the Bad & the Rowdy') is ALMOST out in POD!! :) The one time that a review copy was horrendously delayed and we just went for it (since all previous volumes were perfect), there's an error Tiny, and almost insignificant, but the '4' was missed off the spine, and none of us spotted it The rest of the book is great, all super-duper, so those who already have a POD ordered will just need to carefully use a permanent marker or some manner of transfer to draw it neatly on the side Apologies for any inconvenience. Consider it a collector's item, and let us know if you got one of these and we'll tee you up with some kind of bonus item for your trouble! Best estimate is 3 weeks from now (second week of April) for the POD version of Vol. 04 with the '4' restored to its rightful place on the spine
  13. VOL. 04 (Old Pavis II: 'The Good, the Bad & the Rowdy') is ALMOST out in POD!! :) The one time that a review copy was horrendously delayed and we just went for it (since all previous volumes were perfect), there's an error Tiny, and almost insignificant, but the '4' was missed off the spine, and none of us spotted it The rest of the book is great, all super-duper, so those who already have a POD ordered will just need to carefully use a permanent marker or some manner of transfer to draw it neatly on the side Apologies for any inconvenience. Consider it a collector's item, and let us know if you got one of these and we'll tee you up with some kind of bonus item for your trouble! Best estimate is 3 weeks from now (second week of April) for the POD version of Vol. 04 with the '4' restored to its rightful place on the spine
  14. VOL. 04 PDF CURRENTLY DISCOUNTED Just spotted that the pdf of Vol. 04 (Old Pavis II: The Good, the Bad, & the Rowdy) has been marked down on Drivethru as part of a GM's Day sale Don't know how or why, when none of the others are, but anyway if you were poised or considering... https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/465145/old-pavis-ii-the-good-the-bad-the-rowdy-runequest
  15. VOL. 04 PDF CURRENTLY DISCOUNTED Just spotted that the pdf of Vol. 04 (Old Pavis II: The Good, the Bad, & the Rowdy) has been marked down on Drivethru as part of a GM's Day sale Don't know how or why, when none of the others are, but anyway if you were poised or considering... https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/465145/old-pavis-ii-the-good-the-bad-the-rowdy-runequest
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