p_clapham

There would be some specific things I'd like to see in a Ritual Magic Monograph. First I'd like either a customizable system, or a book containing multiple versions of ritual magic. In fact the best of both worlds would be a base system and a series of ritual magic traditions created through the rules. Second it would allow for a set of rules that could be used in Fantasy, Ancient, Modern and other genres. As well as allowing for cross cultural systems of ritual magic, such as the Lodges and Voodoo systems from Gurps Voodoo. Thirdly such a set of base rules would provide a sense of balance and continuity rules wise. The spells in Call of Cthulhu often times seem fairly random in their effects and power levels. I'd like a set of rules that made sense mechanically across the board. If the GM wanted to change things to address the power or mana level of the campaign, it would be nice for it to be as easy as possible.

That depends on the story actually. Lovecraft was under constant pressure from editors to simplify his stories. Some of the "Pulpier" tales such as "Herbert West, Reanimator" were hated by Lovecraft. He felt his talents were being cheapened to write tales like that.

Pulp being powered down SuperHeroes is entirely appropriate thematically. The Heroes in Pulp narratives were the precursors to the comic book heroes. Elements of Doc Savage for example can be found in Batman, Superman and the Fantastic Four. Batman himself owes as much to Zorro as he does the Shadow and the Spider.

I wonder if they are going to use the Cult system from Elric for MRQII Divine magic. That was one of my favorite changes from the original version.

I think it was Worlds of Cthulhu four or five, had complete rules for playing cats. The Call of Cathulhu game it was called. I would just scale things for a Rescuers Game. If rodents are going to be the main characters in the game use the human or halfling level stats for them. Humans can be represented using the stats for Giants and so on. If you are looking for a set of rules or book for inspiration, I'd recomend Gurps Bunnies and Burrows. It's less Recuers / Secrets of Nhym and more Watership Down. Still it's a fantastic book, and well worth it for the inspirational background material. Theres also a section on combining Bunnies and Barrows (or any animal game) with Call of Cthulhu.

Taking a stab at it. My guess is that the traits are added to the relavant skills or attribute rolls. This would provide a contrast to other games using edges, feats, legendary abbilites and so on. It would also be more in line with the Chaosium d100 system. So our reanimator with his agile of 24% adds that to surgery rolls and hand to hand attacks using a scalpel. As far as the book coming out. I have serious doubts about this. It's not like I'm bitter or anything.

I was a pretty big collector of the inital MRQ books. When they changed over to the new printer I stopped buying due the production issues. Hopefully they either have the harcover issues under wraps for the new relase, or they print MRQII as a softcover instead.

A few of the adventures I've put together over the years seem to follow that formula. :eek:

Everything must come to dust. All things, everything dies.

Heh, too late for me jump in on helping with this. However it sounds quite interesting, I'll be looking forward to seeing it.

Fantastic! I've thrown together a number of War of the Worlds inspired scenarios in the past, but I've never seen these cards before. They are quite inspiring. :happy:

Well now, this book is sounding quite interesting... The profession / class rules sound like they'd work nicely in non-fantasy games as well. As Pulp Cthulhu has been stuck in the pipeline, I've been collecting my own rules for BRP pulp adventures. Basic Fantasy sounds like it has quite a bit for me to consider / plunder.

The opposed role has been a bit of a headache for myself as well. I'm very tempted to crack open Pendragon and see what I can do as far as a conversion to a D20 roll high system.

I tend to go with the MRQ system myself. Still rather dissapointed the Howard estate would only let Mongoose put out one RPG system. I have thought a Hyperborian age Monograph would be pretty brilliant stuff.

Hmm.. sounds more Cimmerian than Rus.

Well Berserkers depending on the time period have different meanings attached to the name. Early Berserkers were warriors par excellence, who had been touched by Odin to be fearless and ruthless in battle. They were Elite warriors with fearsome reputations. Not unlike Samurai, or Knights. As time went on and the North began to become more Christianized, around 900 A.D. I think; there was a change in opinion about them. Slowly they became a socially unacceptable class of bullies. Several Sagas include Heroes dealing with rogue Beserks. Anyways getting to point at hand. I'd treat Beserks as Elite warriors with a religious / spiritual background. The Standard Runequest rules work pretty well. I see them as having very high weapon skills, and appropriate lore / religion knowledge score. Looking through the Spirit Magic Rules I'd say the following are appropriate for a Berserker. Some of the more famous ones were also Skalds and Warrior Bards to Boot, so other kinds of Magic could work too. Spells: Bladesharp, Demoralize, Detect Enemies, Dullblade*, Endurance, Fanaticism**, Mobility, Protection, Strength, Vigor *I list this, because it is one of the Runes Odin is described as knowing. ** The most important "Spell" for a Berserker

I meant Rogue Mistress as well. Guess I'm just too tired from Finals today. :shocked:

I'll have to check that out. I bought the dead tree version several months ago, hopefully the rules are in there are well.

Rogue Princess is a pretty awesome Run.

To answer your other question, Basic Roleplaying is generally a simpler system than either Gurps or Champions. The game is also quite tweak-able, as there are quite a other RPG's out there that use the same system. Gurps I reccomend if you have a head for math and a love for detail. Heros / Champions I recommend if you are a math major and are severely OCD. I've run both Gurps games and Basic Roleplaying. Generally I prefer the latter system. :thumb:

The Fantasy world with high tech artifacts is a pretty neat setting to run. Years ago i put together a D20 Starwars campaign with just that in mind. Genre wise I don't see it as an issue. I'd consider using either Mutations or Psionics (or both) as the power source in the game. Basic Roleplaying does list a number of High Tech devices you could sprinkle into the game. Grenades - particularly energy ones could be described as misshapen metal eggs, almost organic looking. They radiate an aura of unease and you dread whatever creature would hatch from such a terrible Egg.

Many of the "Spells" in Hawkmoon are just guidelines or recipes for pseudo high tech equipment. Almost all of the magic requires the use of a laboratory, and expenditure of time and materials. The Rules work better for a Girl Genius campaign as opposed to a D&D one. Although the Hawkmoon rules as they stand work great for certain Sun Sword wielding Barbarian.

I'd consider looking into the Hawkmoon rules for "scientific sorcery". I'd say that would be the quick and dirty way to do it. While steampunk and mad science have an element of science and reality behind them, they still have more in common with magic than hard science.

Out of that list of critters I see forty out of Seventy One as useful in my modern and interwar period games. Granted it would have been nice if they did toss in some sci-fi love from the Maleus Monsterium. Particularly the Thing and the Martian Invaders from World of the Wars.

Lots of big black squares on mine. :ohwell: My printer isn't going to like it.