Nick J.

As @rsanford says I have allowed Deep Magic for the past couple of Magic World campaigns I've run, but I'm not sure I'm sold on it. the player who pushed for it, also has a tendency towards power-gaming (which isn't a bad thing per se, since he's also a talented, role-player), but it's a headache more often than not when I feel like I'm constantly having to adjudicate it so it doesn't become too powerful/unbalanced with respect to the other PCs and the challenges they typically face. As for the rest I think the Arete rules are the biggest addition to the game, and I use all of the other bits with Fey Magic restricted to they Fey (obviously), Rune Magic is the provenance of the dwarfs (who are more akin to Cornish knockers than Tolkien pastiches), and the rest is sprinkled around the rest of the setting as the mood takes me.

On characteristics: The 2D6+6 method is how I handle it (for human characters). It definitely skews towards above average, but the difference between the RAW method and the Elric! method isn't so dramatic as it might be in a D&D type game where attribute bonuses seem to have a much higher influence on success or failure (particularly in the beginning). On Fumbles: I think the the thing with wanting fumbles to be a little bit random is probably rooted in the same part of my brain that enjoys blooper reels (or Jackass) -- I like a little bit of chaos and "Three Stooges" prat falls in my games. That said, I find myself increasingly drawn to the Mythras method, whereby you stack special effects based on the differential level of opposed rolls between attacker and defender; it feels like it solves the issue of table look-ups and gives characters and GMs a little more opportunity to kind of narrate the outcome in a (hopefully) entertaining way.

Damn, you're right. Now I'm wondering where I picked it up, because MW was babby's first BRP game and I only picked up Elric! (and Stormbringer 2nd, 4th and 5th) sometime later? Regardless I think it's a great rule that does a good job of modelling the classic trope surrounding the idea of sorcery being paid for in blood -- corrupting and consuming those who practice it.

The Stormbringer 4e sheet is pretty close to 3e, but my experience with most BRP type sheets is that none of them will capture everything you need (that Elric!/SB5 sheet looks like it's a very recent addition and seems quite good however). The best Roll20 sheets I've seen are for Mythras and Renaissance (but that doesn't help you here).

Are you asking for free/public domain assets that people might recommend, or are you asking if there are any Roll20 marketplace assets that would be a good fit? Obviously, official maps and artwork would fall under copyright rules, so that can't be legally shared, but there are plenty of ways to generate character tokens on your own from whatever collections of art are floating around that you like. Just use a program like Irfanview to do a batch conversion/clipping/resizing and save the output to .PNG and then upload the art to Roll20. I've purchased a couple of these counter/token collections and they are pretty good and there's enough variety in character models to be adaptable to a lot of different kinds of fantasy milieus:https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/14/Fiery-Dragon/subcategory/50_683/Counter-Collections The Epic Isometric stuff is quite good and also includes a lot of map tiles in addition to tokens (if you like the more "sketched" style of art):https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/11560/WarDrumRPG Beyond that look around the internet for portrait packs for games like Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, etc. and that will give you some more options.

That feels a little rich for my blood, but on the other hand 10% boosts to a dozen or so skills probably wouldn't upset the apple cart too much -- I guess it would be like 20-30 successful experience rolls. I like the concept, but I'd probably halve the bonus.

I haven't run any games in the Southern Reaches, but you just gave me a fun idea for a campaign kick-off event if I ever do: "News has recently arrived on the docks of Lashingport - the old Emperor is dead and his whole immediate line with him in a brazen series of assassinations. All out internecine war has erupted among the noble houses of the capital as dozens of lords with tenuous claims strive to seize the imperial throne for themselves." That might set the stage for one of the two noble houses in the region to seize power or make a move against their rival, and put the PCs right in the middle somehow (perhaps a subterfuge and sabotage themed game, or a all-out war with lots of conflict for more martially minded players?) As for the orcs and nomadic tribes, what better time for them to muck up the situation with increased raids on outlying villages, while the attention of the two noble houses snipe at each other. Maybe there's some shadowy force organizing them and making them far more effective than they've ever been?

@colinabrett It sounds like you've achieved the platonic ideal of a campaign. The best fun I ever have as a GM is when I've got just enough details in the background to create some turning wheels (NPCs and factions with their own plans) and then if I do a good enough job of seeding in the hooks then the players pick a direction and run away with it. Once things are kicked off with a fairly structured initial adventure, I "lay track" using a kind of "just in time" method of prep thereafter. There are a couple of tricks I use to make my life easier: I kick off a campaign with a pretty well developed adventure that forces some action. I think this helps give some context and tone, and helps set expectations for where the campaign might go. I think it also reduces analysis-paralysis that can dog a sandbox game when there's no clear direction about where to go or what to do (especially when players don't have enough information to act on). I use a lot of random tables and encounter generators. The old Midkemia (and later Chaosium) Cities book is a good one, the "Bits of the Wilderness" series, and some NBOS generators for quickly generating characters, encounters, weather, etc. I try to take notes during play of what seems to be gripping players' imaginations and I go over these at the end of the session (when everything is still fresh in my mind) and do not only a quick recap, but try to envision three to six possible consequences of whatever has unfolded during play, and make a few educated guesses about what my players want to do next. I guess there's probably more to it than that, but that's the meat of it. Frankly, I'm not even sure I could run a linear adventure or module that is carefully plotted, because my brain just doesn't work that way; every "Adventure Path" style adventure or linear module I've attempted to run by the book has always ended up feeling stilted and weird, and deeply unsatisfying. It sounds like you've got it nailed and should just keep letting them run wild.

Nice interview . . . and you really need to read the novels! You're in for a treat.

I definitely envisioned him as frail, gaunt, and slightly alien looking, but I guess that's the weird thing about books; we all get to invent our own image for a character. I never really consumed any of the graphic novels, but I admit I'm probably susceptible to having been influenced by the illustrations by Brom, and and Brunner.

Tilda Swinton is an interesting choice, but I can't say I ever really envisioned Elric as an androgyne (as for Jerry Cornelius for sure she'd be dead on). If Iggy Pop wasn't 1,000 years old I would have voted for him as the person that most closely matched my mind's eye vision of Elric. I have no idea who could come close to that in the modern crop of actors.

I'm really skeptical that any production will be able to get the tone right, but there's always hope (at least until the end when Stormbringer destroys the world).

It's not a zero sum game.

This is exactly why I found Magic World compelling. I was a D&D refugee who was looking for something that was a little grittier and grounded: neutral enough that I could run my own settings or ideas in it and enough meat in the rules to cover most of the questions that arise during play, but loose enough that I don't feel straight-jacketed. To that end I really would love a revised version of BRP that had a nice, tight base book and then modular systems that could be bolted on in separate books/booklets to steer it towards a particular genre or setting books that tailor the system to a unique vision. It doesn't need to be a door stop. As much as I love Magic World and feel like it hits a sweet spot for me in terms of complexity, it really feels held back by some lackluster layout, organization, and production values. All of these things probably made it tough to market in a really crowded retail space, and I'll be honest, the name turns some people off when I've talked to people about the game. All that said, I'm no marketing genius, and I have no idea how viable a new BRP revision would be, but those are the sorts of things that pique my interest.

I don't have any issue with the mechanics as written, but there is an implicit counterweight that isn't spelled out in the rules. The character serves Light or Shadow, not the other way around. Whatever forces you call on for aid can (and should!) call in their marker if you keep petitioning them. I compare it to the guy who goes to the mob to borrow money and next thing he knows he's running trunk-loads of contraband across state lines to pay off his debt, or his new "friends" are now part owner in the business he borrowed money against. Make your players weigh their decision to tie themselves to a force part of the fabric of the campaign (if you can).

I wish I had spare bandwidth, but I'm barely finding time to squeeze in my fortnightly game online. I wish you luck though, I'm really looking forward to more support material for CF.

The adventure really seems like it'll be fun to play. Also, kudos on the cantrap names, you nailed the Vancian aesthetics perfectly!

Interesting writeup. I need to think about it and digest how a lot of this might play out at the table. One thing I'm not sure about is halflings getting +10 to POW (or dwarfs for that matter at +8) for purposes of resisting magic. If you are using the resistance table, that seems a little too high for my tastes; making a halfling with max starting pow (28) vs. a human sorcerer with max starting POW (18) all but immune to magic. But whatever, easy enough to tweak things to personal tastes, thanks for sharing.

Really looking forward to this one!

View File Magic World GM Screen A 6 page, landscape format, GM screen that you can print out and put in one of those DIY GM screen thingies (or just leave it open on your laptop and save a tree). Includes some useful tables for combat, movement, prices, and some other odds and ends that I always find I'm flipping or searching for. Submitter Nick J. Submitted 05/23/2019 Category Magic World  

View File Magic World Multi-NPC sheet A simple, no-frills, form-fillable, 6-NPC sheet adapted from the character sheet in the back of the Magic World rulebook. This sheet has a few wrinkles; it calculates Hit Points (if your NPC is incomplete, like undead, ghosts, whatever, it'll take that into account for the most likely scenarios), it calculates damage bonus, and all characteristic rolls. If you don't need the form-fillable bits, just print it off as is. If there's any bugs with the sheet let me know, I whipped this up pretty quickly while fully hopped up on cold medicine. Submitter Nick J. Submitted 05/23/2019 Category Magic World