Ian Absentia

41 minutes ago, mfbrandi said:

So the Malkioni four — rather than adding Doniger’s “transcendent fourth”° — is a splitting out of the Indo-European three/Vedic top three into four to eliminate the shifting hyphenates? I wonder why, exactly. Keeps it all in the family, anyway.

Separation of church and state?  But not for the usual reasons.  Keeping the materialists complacent content by giving them what they think they want, while preserving control over what they should want.  And I imagine the materialists think the same of the spiritualists in return.

!i!

9 minutes ago, Runeblogger said:

I wrote a review here... in Spanish, but you can use the automatic translation gadget on the right margin (choose your language) to make it at least understandable if you don't happen to read Spanish. 🙂

Thank you!  I hadn't realised that Samurai of Legend was set in the Heian period, which is a lot different from the typical Sengoku or late Edo emulated in most samurai RPGs.  The "legendary" and anachronistic elements might be attributed to how later Japanese literature and media represented the earlier period (not unlike how much of Arthurian literature "updates" the events of 500-600 AD to include more modern detail).

Lots of potential RPG sources out there.  But we digress.

!i!

No worries.  And you underscored a rumor that I'd heard about the tone of Samurai of Legend that may differ from Land of Ninja.  I generally played LoN as a fairly straight sim of Kurosawa films and similar chanbara.  By contrast, I've come across the term "atomic katanas" used in reference to Legend.

!i!

9 hours ago, Ynneadwraith said:

There are no weeds, only plants. This is neither a good thing, nor a bad thing. It just is.

Not a terribly tempting philosophy though. Doesn't exactly promise much.

Except for a cessation of abstract conflict.  Only concrete, practical hierarchies of need require resolution, not disagreements about high-minded philosophy or base vendetta.

And on this, I predict the evolution of a more peaceful Glorantha.

!i!

20 minutes ago, Nozbat said:

Didn’t Mongoose do a Samurai of Legend book? I’ve never seen it but I do have the Vikings of Legend.. if it’s the same format the PCs have demigod-like  stats..

Anyone ever used/ seen it?

It's mentioned up-thread.  I haven't played it myself, but I understand that it has a reputation for escalating the level of power in play.  Swords especially?

!i!

18 minutes ago, Zit said:

psychic combat is pretty much the same, isn't it (I don't have the rules at hand) ?

They aren't identical, but are highly compatible.  Perhaps the major difference is that Psychic Combat involves a standard 1d3 damage per attack, while RQ Spirit Combat has variable damage based on POW and CHA.  I'm sure that other differences will be cited, but the effect in play will be largely unnoticeable.  Which leads me to add...

...that in the day I loved the Land of Ninja boxed set.  But I'd already moved on from straight RQ3 and used it as a fundamentally compatible source guide for my personal house-ruled BRP system that all of my friends understood.  In fact, did I ever play straight-up RQ3?  The major loss of signal was with regard to Divine (i.e., Rune) Magic, but none of my players ever played priests or shugenja, so this form of magic was backdrop or GM special effect.  Other supplement-specific systems (like Ki Skills) can pretty much be adopted to BRP with little or no modification.  Some, like Honor Points, might merit some tinkering with Passions and Personality Traits, which I ported in from Pendragon back when.

My advice is to do a little side-by-side comparative reading and see what systems from the new edition of BRP work with your vision of Land of Ninja.

!i!

3 hours ago, Ynneadwraith said:

Also, there are many things I find no issue with suspending my disbelief around in Glorantha, but for some reason 'using cats to herd animals' is where the line is drawn!

Well, they're a-lynxes as in a-typical.  I kind of see it as a mythic curse that they've been robbed of their feline behavior.  It's almost as if one of the God Learners said, "Cat?  Dog?  What's the difference?  I prefer cats."

!i!

6 hours ago, Peter Fitz said:

I'm allowing everyone to make pretty much whatever changes to their characters they like for the first few sessions, until things bed in and people get more of a grip on what skills and equipment and what-not they actually need.

Sage advice for any game.  It's like the pilot episode of any television series -- characters adapt to the needs of the emerging story.  Sometimes whole sets and costume design change (that's the GM's option to pivot).

!i!

I thought this discussion looked familiar.  We did this same thing four years ago.

Not that there isn't something new to add to the topic.

!i!

15 hours ago, Mugen said:

But it seems the previous line of BRP "Monograph" has been discontinued.

Some of the monographs, and several projects that appeared originally as third party BRP supplements (like M-Space mentioned above) migrated over to Mythras during a period when The Design Mechanism was a more permissive and fertile field than Chaosium had become at the time.

Now the field has opened wide on both house systems, largely but not completely compatible, and we're beginning to see more community content coming out.

!i!

Not straight-up BRP, but BRP-adjacent -- there are some great hexcrawl rules in the Monster Island supplement for Mythras, A Bird in the Hand.  I haven't played them out myself, but they're widely hailed as portable outside of the scenarios in which they're presented.

https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/341555/A-Bird-in-the-Hand

It's discussed in brief along with others' ideas for hexcrawling in Mythras here:

!i!

The only thing worse than intolerance is intolerance of intolerance.  I simply won't stand for it.

Nor will I devote undue distress in promoting it further, even for the sake of irony.

I hope you all had a peaceful Saint Stupid's Day. 🙊💖

!i!

Another recommendation for Destined for a Street-level / Agent-based game.  Tinker with the basic stats a bit, and have a look at the Pulp/Paragon rules in Mythras Imperative for additional ideas and inspiration for tweaking.  I used Destined for a low-powered game with aging, "unpowered" versions of Captain America, Spider-Man, and the Hulk -- a group of suit-and-tie heroes -- with great success.

!i!

On 2/27/2024 at 6:54 PM, svensson said:

So the reboot of the 80's classic TV mini-series SHOGUN is on tonight.

...or a new adaptation of the James Clavell novel.  I haven't gotten far into the new series, but I'm counting on it to stand on its own and hoping it steers away from a lot of the exoticism of the '80s adaptation.

!I!

12 hours ago, BRP Investigator said:

Interesting! That’s something else than arriving to a crime scene with a dead body. Could you perhaps give me an example or two? 

A couple of common scenarios from books, TV, film:

• Upon responding to an invitation to a home/office/event regarding an important matter, the Investigators are informed that their contact hasn't been seen in several days or weeks.  No one seems to be able to provide helpful leads.  Suspicious, but no explicit evidence of foul play.
• Same invitation, only the Investigators are informed that the person has recently died prior to their arrival.  Circumstances may be suspicious or mundane, but oddly coincidental given the recent invitation.
• Same invitation, only upon arrival the Investigators are informed that the person doesn't exist.  A fake invitation?  An elaborate ruse?

!i!

"Missing Person: Unresolved" has figured highly in my experience.  It's generally spared the Investigators (and the Keeper) the legal entanglements of custody and questioning involved with finding an actual corpse, and sometimes motivated them out of frustration that there's no evidence of an actual crime for the authorities to investigate.

So, implied murder.

!i!

Because it's not very good?  A "trash fire" actually.  Other, more generous voices can fill you in on the details.

I'm sorry, I get really mean about this book.  As I've stated several times elsewhere, it's the only Chaosium product that's ever made me truly angry.

The shipping would surely be exorbitant, but I'd gladly donate my like-new copy to someone who might enjoy it more than me.

!i!

On 1/17/2024 at 11:13 AM, mfbrandi said:

But according to the Jackson 5, “One bad apple don't spoil the whole bunch, girl.”

You're confusing (or conflating) your Saturday morning musical cartoons.  That was The Osmonds.

!i!

6 hours ago, Malin said:

I basically tried to work backwards from heroquesting as depicted in the chaosium house campaign, and the sketch for a preliminary HQ stat sheet they showed but I can't remember where. The short lightbringer's quest as depicted in the White Bull campaign is the basis for this, so we might be drawing from the same well.

Ah, that makes sense, though I haven't seen any of the White Bull actual play.  I think it's a similar, but earlier well.

!i!

5 hours ago, Malin said:

The way we do heroquests they mainly use passions, rune spells and runes, with charisma and power being the two starts.

Emphasis mine.  Notably missing is the other intangible characteristic, Intelligence.  What you've been doing is remarkably similar to an unrelated project I've been working on.  CHA, POW, passions, and magic are all sort of potential energy, poised to act upon the world, but without a conscious identity (INT) to direct them.  In Gloranthan terms, maybe this is the archetype or godform that occupies the timelessness of the Godtime, a script waiting for someone/thing to assume its mantle and play it out.

!i!

6 hours ago, glarkhag said:

If fighting them is not really the intention why not provide mechanics for what is intended? 

See Scotty's comments above.  You're right, encounters with packs/swarms can be incredibly frustrating -- the mechanics demonstrate that admirably.  The solution is to find another way through or around based on options available to the current adventuring group.  Some of those options don't even require specific mechanics.

I haven't read the scenario in question, so perhaps the frustration is that other options aren't suggested to the GM, such as the point at which the rat packs will be demoralised and run away.

!i!

Several (now non-canon) Gloranthan sources have confused the matter, depicting or describing demi-birds variously as something like the lizard-ish dinosaur troodon, the distinctly-birdish "terror bird", or something akin to the extinct moa of New Zealand.  This has been confused further by variable descriptions and depictions of the avian steeds ridden by the Rinliddi avilry, which I understand to be different from the demi-bird.

So, what makes a demi-bird "demi-" relative to proper birds?  "Half-" or "lesser-" bird?  So something more lizard-like, akin to the dragonewts themselves?  Or something not-quite-birdlike because it's lost the ability of flight even though it's still quite visibly a bird?  Page 109 of the Gloranthan Bestiary settles matter with a bit of both.

Whatever the case, it certainly makes sense for dragonewts to use spears, lances, or axes when mounted.

13 minutes ago, Raleel said:

one of the forums i'm on has something like 90% of the gamers over the age of 40 and 50% are over the age of 50. I think it is a reasonable thing to expect. nothing below 11 point

As a member of the Grognard Brigade, I think it may ultimately be a matter of contrast, though size is certainly a factor.  Artistic, evocative backdrop shading and design, and font color often render layout difficult to read.  It's like those bot-foiling security codes.

!i!

1 hour ago, sladethesniper said:

nvm, just bitching since I wasted a lot of time. 

Not necessarily.  I think people here appreciate what you're trying to do, but it runs up against the common issue (and joy!) of RPGs -- playing in someone else's sandbox.

I could point you to a number of my favorite commercial RPGs and minis games that make reference to "alien xenomorphs" or "genestealers" that are clearly well-intentioned stand-ins for a more widely known intellectual property.  It can be done, but it has to be circumspect when presenting it to the public.  Once it's in the hands of the players, they can call it whatever they want and proceed at will.

Now, art is another matter.  I still have a copy of the fan-produced Interstellar Colonial Space Marines sourcebook for a far-future Call of Cthulhu project that used all sorts of unauthorised still art from Aliens and Halo.  It was chased off the Internet by the owners of those licenses with extreme prejudice.

If you have a good game that provides players with the tools to slot in their favorite IP in a way that isn't served by other commercial resources, find a way to make a broadly applicable game that's recognisable, but avoids borrowing direct likenesses.  I realise that it may be frustrating, but have faith in your game that belongs to you, not art that belongs to someone else.

!i!

1 hour ago, JonathanQuaife said:

Can we get to see this in some form? It sounds excellent!

It reminds me a lot of an episode from the original Kung Fu.  Some crazy old miner hi-jacks a gold stagecoach to transport his native wife's corpse to her tribal burial ground.  Nobody is happy with his plan, including the tribe at the end of the line.  And -- wait for it -- there's a twist at the end.  It really was an excellent episode.

!i!