madprofessor

Man, I just stumbled across this treasure trove of awesomeness. Thanks for sharing. I'll make good use of it.

Well, I don't know how much of a market there is for it, but I for one would be happy to see more history and myth themed products for Mythras or d100 style games. I think the system(s) suits the genre well. I woke up the other morning with an idea for a REH style swords and sandals campaign based around Zama and the Destruction of Carthage complete with stolen treasures, dark Poeni gods and a trek through the Sahara to the "troglodyte" civilization of the Garamantes. RQ6 jumped to mind instantly as the system of choice for such a campaign - thus I started looking for Pete's Rome.

Awesome, Loz. I'm of course wanting it yesterday for a game I am starting up so I'll pick up a used copy as quick as I can, but I will certainly pick up the Mythras version as well, when it is available. I am a little shocked that I let this title pass me by until it was oop. By the way, Mythic Britain was phenomenal!

Will do. I take it, it is not in print then. Thank you.

Is BRP Rome: Life and Death of the Republic available in print anywhere? I would prefer a print copy, but I can't even find it in PDF. I am sorry if this is a redundant question, but I do not seem to be able to find it anywhere. Thanks.

Thank you for dropping in to answer my question! Very kind of you. It sounds like the book will fit the bill perfectly with the setting included, a starting point (the city of Korantine), and adventures to get the ball rolling. I guess the title threw me off a little bit (not a criticism) as it only suggests a localized setting. From what I have read, "Age of Treason" seemed a great concept for a setting, visceral and real, with enough of the fantastic to keep things interesting. I am a big fan of Hyboria and mythological settings, which are quasi-historical with weirdness. It may not be a perfect analog, but the vein seems similar. Magic and fantasy seems to have greater impact in my mind when it is placed into a believable context. I got that vibe from reviews of Age of Treason but have been unable to obtain a copy. Anyway, I am very glad that the general setting will be included. All that said, I rarely buy settings and generally prefer RPG products that are immediately usable at the table, and it sounds like the city, adventures, and ship rules will fill that role nicely.

Wow, what a list. I'm gonna be broke! The quality of DM products thus far have been absolutely superb. As a GM I often get excited about a genre, story, a set of mechanics, or a milieu. I'm not a brand kind of guy, so it's something else entirely to be excited about a publisher and a group of writers. I'll likely buy most everything on this list. Mythic Constantinople should prove immensely interesting. Byzantium is such a bizarre yet familiar place. It should be perfect as an RPG setting full of religion, war, and intrigue. I'll have to pick up "Red Rocks" as I am currently running a campaign based on the Book of Quests. I'm also a fan of Classic Fantasy, and have had a great time with that game, though I thought it was going to Legend rather than RQ6 (essentially the same in terms of mechanics). About the only book on the list that I am not interested in is Glorantha. With respect to Greg Stafford (Pendragon is my desert isle RPG) and all the Glorantha fans, its just not my thing. I am also excited about the Shores of Korantia, as I have heard great things about Age of Treason, though unfortunately, not until it was OOP. I have to say though, that my deepest anticipation is for Mythic Britain. As a medieval historian and long time d100 GM who has run Celtic, Viking, and Arthurian campaigns (and sometimes mixed them all together) - this is a book that I have longed for.

I missed out on the previous release of 'Age of Treason: The Iron Simulacrum,' but the setting got great reviews and sounds simply excellent for gritty swords and sorcery (just my kind of setting). I am glad to see that the setting has new life, especially via RQ6. I think the city book with adventures is a great idea, but I would like to get my hands on the overall setting, and I was wondering how this would work as a stand-alone or intro to the setting, and if there are further RQ6 plans for the Age of Treason?

I have hybridized RQ and Elric!/Stormbringer (along with a bit of WFRP and Harnmaster) without problems. In fact, I've been doing it for years. I played so many different d100 systems that they started to run together. There are things that I prefer from each system, and I never seem to be completely happy with a system as written. For example, like you, I prefer stat derived starting skills, and total HP/major wounds for combat. I now have pages and pages of house rules typed out to codify my hybrid from chargen to combat to magic, but really my Frankenstein just evolved over time - it wasn't something I planned. The beauty of the BRP family is that it is all 90% compatible and/or modular. I see no reason why you couldn't play RQ with Elric! Combat and elemental/demon summoning without major surgery - it worked fine for me.

I did not mean hyjack this thread, but while we are on the subject... Though the setting material for Numenara and Cydoria may be similar, I think they appeal to very different markets. Numenara has targeted the mainstream crowd of D&D and pathfinder players as well as the "Indi" crowd, a much wider market than the more "old school" BRP group that is fairly deeply fragmented in their gaming preferences, and would as soon play a set of rules from the '80s with their own setting, as buy a new monograph. I think there is a lot of love for BRP out there - I know nobody who dislikes or even has any complaints about the game - but I think it is a little hard to generate new interest for an old system. As great as any monograph may be, BRP has an uphill climb to get out of a niche market. I think that is the sad reality of it. BRP has a respectable % of the old school crowd as a diehard following; expanding beyond that is tough. It would require slick (and expensive) marketing, as well as some fresh and innovative ideas, though tampering with the game and streamlining carries the risk of alienating a fairly dedicated audience. On the other hand, BRP does have a market. I respect Monte's marketing and some of his design innovations. I bought Numenara as a curiosity, but truth is, I'll never play it. Despite the innovations and slick presentation, BRP is still a better game, in my estimation. I could go into the reasons why I feel this way, but it is nothing that hasn't been said before. I agree with fmitchel that in some regards BRP is showing its age, but I disagree that it is any more difficult for GMs to innovate on the fly than games that have come after. Numenara may be an exception, I don't know, but the ease of use for the GM is one of BRP's great strengths. I also agree with Mankam that a few refinements would help. A stronger relationship between skills and attributes is a great example (I prefer and use the RQ stat combo). BRP and Chaosium has tended to be conservative in terms of mechanics. Changes from one addition of a game to the next have traditionally been slight. Magic World is a case in point (though there are some innovations in MW). On one hand, why fix something that isn't broken? on the other, my favorite monographs are those that dared to break the mold - like Classic Fantasy. This may be a bold statement, but I think the somewhat conservative, though effective mechanics of MW makes it an unlikely "flagship," at least in terms of carrying the game into Monte Cook type markets (whether or not that is the goal or even desirable is quite another question). As it stands, MW is more of a battle standard for the old guard. I will always support Chaosium, but as far as flagships go, my greatest hopes for pushing the game engine further into the market are with Design Mechanism and RQ6. I probably derailed this thread far enough, as all of this is to say that I sure wish I could get my hands on a print copy of Cydoria. Cheers

Thanks, Tal. I'll keep my eyes open. However, it looks like Conkle is taking Cydoria in a new direction in terms of the Game Mechanics/system. I'll just keep my fingers crossed and hope that Chaosium will continue to support the monograph.

I am late to the party and just discovered Cydoria. I'm usually not a sci-fi guy, but when I get the urge it is usually the Flash-Gordon, Thundarr, sword and sorcery variety of sci-fi. This game looks perfect for that particular itch. I can't believe it slipped under my radar. Are print copies still available? I couldn't find them. I am not a fan of PDFs.

I have used the old TSR Worldbuilder's Guidebook for years. It has what you are looking for including advice and tables for building believable landforms and weather patterns. It also has charts for the shape of the earth, the layout of the cosmos, cultures, kingdoms, religion, races, history, technology levels, trade routs, and just about anything else you can think of. The writing is pretty dense. There is advice, but the focus is on usable content. It also has a complex mapping system that moves in successive layers of detail that I have not used. It covers the possibilities of fantasy worlds from gritty/realistic to silly/gonzo pretty thoroughly. It is a second edition thing from the silver age when many TSR products weren't too good, but I have found the book useful and the charts entertaining food for thought. I have consulted the book at least a little bit in most of the settings/worlds I have created, though I have never used it exclusively to create a world. Surprisingly, it is also system neutral. Its not perfect, but it is one of the more useful TSR products that I own. It seems to fit the bill for what you need - if you can find it. Personally, I think the KOBOLD stuff is a lot of hype and very little content. Yes, there are some famous game designers as authors, but I found the information to be extremely basic, abstract, and not very usable. There is a lot of advice but nothing to sink your teeth into, and the advice was all stuff I already knew or understood through common sense. The articles are inconsistently written, which is to be expected, considering that they were written by different authors, but I found the majority of them to be hastily thrown together, and frankly quite amateurish. There is a lot of excess verbiage and nothing that can be directly implemented and used. The KOBOLD guide to worldbuilding might be good for beginners, I don't know, it seems like it would just confuse them. As an old hand GM, I would be hard pressed to find anything of value in it for the gaming table. I was lured in by the reviews, but I am thoroughly disappointed in the content. It might work for you. Obviously, some people like it. I just fail to see why.

Mankam, I did a system very much like what you described for you pulp game in my last fantasy campaign and it worked quite well. I made a big list of traits (advantages and disadvantages) from a number of games (mostly WFRP talents, SW, and BoL) and wrote a 1 or 2 sentence explanation for each. What made it work was assigning a Power Point cost to activate advantages and allowing characters to earn PP by playing their disadvantages. Like you said above, I did not treat them as magic powers but as special abilities. The PP mechanics made for an interesting resource management game within the game and encouraged players to roleplay disadvantages. It also gave non-sorcerers something to do with Power Points. I also used slow PP recovery (using some of the suggestions in RQ6), and made the special abilities somewhat expensive relative to actual spells. Finally, I was careful to omit advantages that could be duplicated by skills. It worked remarkably well and gave the game a somewhat cinematic flair. In any case, I think that using PP as a balancing mechanic, as you have done, is a good way to go for character traits in BRP. It worked for me and my group. However, I should say that the absence of character traits is one reason why I favor BRP for most of my games. Character traits can be fun for certain types of of high-flying adventure games, but I don't necessarily think that is what BRP is best at. So, even though I worked out a pretty good system for adds and dis-adds, I don't suspect I will use it often. For gritty games (most of what I run), I find the lack of character boons and flaws, or whatever you want to call them, to be a feature.

Russia, 1812... Maybe not for a setting, but for a scenario? Whoa. I may have to write one myself. Of course, its probably already been done (I haven't kept up on CoC releases in 20 odd years). We have a hollow victory followed by the looting of Europe's most exotic capital, fire, retreat, starvation, the army's disintegration, frostbite, cossaks! half a million dead, an unparallelled disaster ... and the great old ones. Also, tons of historically colorful characters. Hetman Platov was known never to go into battle without his personal sorcerer - a perfect antagonist. If it hasn't been done, there is tremendous potential here. I realize it is a little late, but I would love to see a Napoleonic setting at some point. There are a lot of us old Napy's gamers who are role players too.

Of course, there are a few games (Pendragon and DragonQuest, for example) that intentionally omit intelligence or other mental characteristics as a game stat. I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, I think it allows for better immersion because the players are not as confined so they play more naturally. On the other, everybody always plays to the top of their ability which from my perspective as a GM, is a little bit bland. In other games, I have some players who are good at roleplaying a low INT or CHA score, and that is kind of fun. Where the trouble comes in is where people try to play character above their personal abilities. I have one player who is honestly not that sharp, and is constantly doing in-game stuff that makes the party collectively gasp "no, no, no - don't push the button," and things like that. This player likes to play wizards and other "smart" characters. The Idea roll comes in quite handy with this player, but it doesn't work perfectly because I still have to explain that his character is unsure if pushing the button is good idea or not, and that it "might" cause a catastrophic world failure or whatever. The problem is that the idea roll causes a little mental dissonance in the player because he (as a player) has missed something that his character would have picked up on, and the player is unable to see the disconnect. Sometimes even with careful explanation, after an idea roll, pointing out the gap in his logic, he still presses the button, or presses all of the buttons. The Idea roll helps, but it is not a perfect solution to players running characters way above their own abilities. It's still all fun, even when the rest of the party is shaking their heads in dismay, so I don't feel too adverse to the occasionally unnatural role playing aspects of mental characteristics.

Thanks everyone for the strong support and advice! Loz, my sincere compliments on RQ6. I've been a fan of your work for some time, but you and Pete have outdone yourselves this time! I downloaded Caravan and read through it. Thanks for the freebee! To be honest, my initial reaction was "not another caravan guard hook..." However, on further reading I was greatly impressed by two elements of the adventure: The first is brevity and density. Like many aging GMs I am busy, and I have come to appreciate the short format adventure that has everything I need and little of what I don't. This is probably not the time and place to rant about the plague of excess verbiage in the modern RPG industry though. Its clear that you guys get it, and its sufficient to say that everything in the adventure is instantly useful at the table. It should be easy to drop into whatever setting I go with. The second is tone. Caravan has CoC/"The Enemy Within" vibe of chaos and madness. If the rest of The Book of Quests follows suit, and if the adventures are already linked via the mad mastermind villain, then it may be perfect for my little campaign! If it is non-linear as Loz's comments suggest, all the better. I ordered it this morning. Is there a print version of Hesserat's Treasure? I am not fond of PDFs. I also ordered Magic World. I'll be running play tests of RQ6 combat tomorrow to see how it goes. Ultimately, my decision for system will rest on whether I can adjust my old narrative habits for combat to RQ6 mechanics. Chorpa, its sounds like all the Legend/MRQII will work for compatibility. I normally have no problem porting material from one game to another, but my newness to RQ in general has got me a little on edge about unforeseen implications incorporating non-canon material. I'm sure I'll get over it. I am gonna need to comb through this stuff for monsters, magic and cults. Any suggestions are welcome. I want to thank everybody for their tremendous help and response, Aaron

Hello Mankcam, Thanks for the in-depth advice. I agree with what you have said regarding OpenQuest, at least for this game. I want to avoid house-rulings and bolt-ons with this group of old-hands because I do not want the game to degenerate into a discussion over mechanics and game design, which could easily happen. It’s not that I mind such debate with intelligent folks, but I want to give them a chance to actually play for a change. RAW OQ is probably not enough crunch for this particular group without subjective rules additions. However, in general, I do think that OQ is a great option for compulsive rules tinkerers like myself. For me at least, it easier to add rules to a simple game than it is to subtract them from more a complex system (like GURPS does). Most, if not all of these guys have run CoC, and several have run other genre games from the BGB. MW would certainly be the easiest game to get up and running. I do need to buy the book though, as I am only making assumptions about it based on years of running Stormbringer. Its a great option. I think though, after the advice from Pete and yourself, I must give RQ6 combat a serious try before I make a decision. I am very impressed with the rest of the game, and if combat goes as you and Pete have said, it could easily become a feature. Other than combat, the game appears to be no more complex than other D100 games. Chargen may take a little longer, but that is perhaps a price of depth. Some of the guys in the group have played RQ2 and 3, but none of them are familiar with MRQII, Legend, or RQ6, so the newness may add some “shinny new game” factor for them. I need to give RQ6 a shot or I'll never quit wondering whether its the holy grail of d100, just too fiddly to play, or something in between. A couple of questions though. Is MRQII stuff directly compatible with RQ6 in terms of stat blocks? Or do they need adjustment? Is the Book of Quests multiple separate adventures or a mini campaign? Aaron

Hi Pete, thanks for dropping in to help out. I must say that RQ6 is a work of true craftsmanship. Yes, practice. I will do just that. I plan to generate some characters, hand them to my regular group this weekend, and give RQ6 combat a serious go. I will give each player a copy of the Special Effects Table (pg 144) so they each know their options. Handing them "rules" will be a shock, but they're pretty open-minded. Other than the Combat Tracking Sheet, are there any other aids that you recommend to simplify tracking combat? I don't normally use minis but I might this time. One of my players has a 28mm scale Roman gladiatorial arena that I think could build mood and enthusiasm for some dynamic 1 on 1, or 2 on 2 combats. Aaron

Hi everyone, I am new around here, and I don't know if I am on the right forum. My apologies in advance if I have posted this in the wrong place. I don't know which rules to use for an upcoming campaign that I have been invited to run. I'm trying to choose between OpenQuest, RQ6, and Magic World and I am having a terrible time making a decision. The last thing I want to do is ask my players...so I've joined this forum. For a little background, I've been GMing D100 games for 30+ years. Besides Stormbringer and BRP, I've run campaigns in HarnMaster and WFRP (which I consider Chaosium derived), among others. These rules, along with reams of house rules that I've created over the years, have begun to blend together in my head. This actually works pretty well for my regular gaming group as I tend to be a story-first, improvisational GM who doesn't let rules get in the way. They don't ask where one set of rules stops and another starts - as long as its fun. This won't work for this new group who will expect to play a game as written, something I haven't done in a long time. So my question is for a RAW game. Stormbringer has been my go to fantasy game for a long time so MW is a natural choice, but I have already had 1 player express distaste for anything resembling SB due to what he calls "game balance" (perhaps 1st edition but more likely bad a GM). I for one, see Stormbringer's baroque mix of mechanics as a feature. I do not yet own MW, but I have 4 editions of Stormbringer and most of the supplements. Of the 3 games under consideration SB is, I think, the deadliest and most gonzo . It works for me, but I don't know if it will work for my players, and there is always the lure of something new. I like OQ a lot. I do not yet have OQ2 but I have run a couple of games with OQ1 and its great fun. My regular players rather have a preference for it. The biggest problem I have is that I can't help but tinker with it and add bits from other games. OQ is so easy to mod from other d100 games that I do it accidentally. However, OQ RAW might be too simple for this new group that consists of veteran and fairly serious players (in fact I think every player is a GM with his own group). I really want RQ6 to be the end of my quest for a perfect rules set. I've never run it. In fact, I've never run RuneQuest in any form . RQ6 is a thing of elegance, a wonder to behold, not just in the presentation but in the mechanics. However, I'll come out and say it...its intimidating. How the heck do GMs keep combat straight with hit locations, action points, and special effects in a melee with 5 PCs and half a dozen or more bad guys? I like RPG combat, and I've become very good at narrating it. Its pretty scary to replace my well-worn and effective habits with crunch, no matter how good it is. Everything else in the game is near perfect. I've never had such a wealth of choice. Its not like the old days when we played whatever was at hand, or like recent years where I threw it all in the blender and improvised. I've been dwelling on this decision for about a month now and have less than 2 months left to prepare. I can't seem to make a choice. Any advice would be most welcome. I am sorry to go on for so long. I tried to be thorough - thinking that might be helpful. Oh, I haven't chosen a setting yet either, but its a fair bet it will be a low magic, possibly semi-historical something with a touch of mythology and some sword and sorcery Weird Tales vibe. All of my fantasy games end up that way. Any suggestions wold be appreciated. Aaron

Gollum, I agree. Classic fantasy helps me to bridge the strengths of two very different systems. D&D, especially in the TSR era was great for creating wildly imaginative material that was instantly useable: monsters, magic items, traps, scenarios, spells, etc. Its all very playable stuff, except for the system, which I find wonky and impossible to enjoy with out reams of house-rules, or regular hand waving rules away in favor of reason and story. I can enjoy D&D if I run it as a non-system where the rules are mostly ignored - but it is not ideal, especially with experienced players. On the other hand the great strength of Chaosium games and BRP is the system. It is simple, believable, playable, and less gamey than other systems. I discovered a long time ago that it aids in suspension of disbelief and encourages players to play their characters rather than the game. Classic fantasy helps me to combine a "nearly" perfect system (I say nearly because I still tweek the rules endlessly) with all that great TSR creative playability. It makes for good times. Besides Dwellers (I1), I've run X1, The Isle of dread, which is kind of sandboxy. B4, the lost city is a great option that I forgot about. Thanks for the reminder! I am currently running my wife through the UK module "Blade of Vengeance." Its a solo module full of plot. I also want to look at converting some of Goodman's DCC adventures which are short but epically creative. Anyway, CF helps me to combine a great system with some great adventures. I would happily support any direction that Rod decides to take the game - especially if it involves new material.

Hi everyone, I am new to these boards, and just a typical GM in the trenches. I have been running Chaosium based games for 30+ years and I thought I would drop in my 2 coppers. I found Classic Fantasy to be the most useful BRP/D100 supplement that I have come across in a very long time, and I don't particularly care for dungeon crawls. I collect old school D&D for the nostalgia, but one of the reasons why I run BRP is that classes, levels, high power gaming, and many other facets of that game just rub me wrong. Classic Fantasy is a perfect fit for me when I want high fantasy, or a slightly more cinematic BRP fantasy game. Also, it has been great to revisit some classic adventures in a new format (I ran Dwellers of the Forbidden City using CF, and it was awesome). Beyond this, CF introduces some new mechanical concepts that I think provide excellent possibilities for BRP. The spells alone are worth the price of the book. The classes and races are good concepts for new players who get lost in the clean slate, anything goes BRP chargen. In short, I found CF to be something new for D100 games. I don't use it all, but I do use some of it often, and that is saying a lot in this age of RPG proliferation. Rod, I for one, will pledge my silver to any future CF products in whatever format, publisher, or license. If something can't work out with Chaosium for whatever reason, I cast my vote for OpenQuest. It would be a perfect fit, perhaps even better than BRP.