DreadDomain

Actually, what could also be useful for you are Cthulhu Dark Age, Pulp Cthulhu and the Malleus Montrorum. MM Volume 1 has a chapter of folklore monsters (golems, undeads, lake monsters, man-eating plants, werewolves, etc), another one on normal beasts and animals and the section on mythos creatures could quite literally be repurporsed as demons and other evil entities. Pulp Cthulhu chapter 9 has a selection of generic NPC which won't be of much use in a fantasy game (cops, federal agents, journalists, etc), pulp monsters (evil spirit, robots, velociraptor). What I find more useful are the listed pulp vilains. Although they are named vilains, they all come with a useful tag (criminal masternind, underground mystic, typical thug, insane murderer, vigilante, etc.) so they can easily be used more generically. Most have ulp talents, some have spells, some have psychic abilities). For something more fantasy related Cthulhu Dark Age chapter 7 has a bestiary but also chapters 8 and onwards describes a town with a few scenarios. All of these chapters have NPCs that can be used generically or are generic (viking raider, cymric warrior, monk, cultists, etc...)

The Big Golden Book may have what you need with a selection of beasts, creatures (elementals, angels, demons, ghouls, skeletons, mummies, ghosts, vampires, werewolves, zombies, etc.) and generic NPC (including knight, ninja, pirate, policeman, soldier, tribal warrior, Viking, galactic knight, thug, maniac, spy, criminal mastermind, priest, mutant, psychic, sorcerer, etc)

Me neither. My point was in a BRP game where an average Joe has STR 10, Spider-Man would have STR 70. In CoC, they would respectively have 50 and 350. For games where characteristics get high, I prefer the former over the latter even if both are totally fine.

Tough one! There are so many good sub-systems in BRP and it will greatly depends what games I want to play. As an example, I prefer Characteristics in the 1 to 20 range (almost all BRP games) as opposed to 0-100 range (à la CoC 7e) if only because when it gets outside of the human range, it becomes a bit wild with say a STR of 350 or 675. However, playing CoC, I am warming up to the 0-100 range but for CoC only. In short, there is a lot of things I like about BRP and while there are things I generally prefer, I also like other options and could even prefer them in certain games. Here is a stab at what I could choose: Characteristics on 1-20 with a constant SIZ progression (Superworld) Build and Move modified by characteristics (CoC ) A smoother damage modifier progression instead of the lumpy +1d4, +1d6, +2d6 (inspired by Mythras) Skill sorted by categories each with its own skill category modifiers (RuneQuest) HP, damage, unconsciousness, major wounds and death managed (CoC) Major Wound Table (Stormbringer, Magic World) but where the tens are actually a location (all rolls between 30 and 39 are in the abdomen) so the table could easily be used for an aimed blow. Depending on the game, I would definitely add some personality traits, passions (KAP, RQ) pulp talents or background traits (CoC) I would be tempted by bonus, penalty and push dice (CoC) but I also like straight bonuses and penalties (KAP, RQ). For combat, it highly depends. I like it smooth and easy in certain games (CoC, KAP) which I would use for a pulp or super game, but also like like when it gets more tactical (Magic World, Stormbringer) or super crunchy in others (RQ, Mythras) for a fantasy or sword and sorcery game. Now for a superhero game, I am interested to see how Destined (Mythras) will work and compare it with Elder Goldike and Superworld but I would also be tempted to extrapolate (a lot) pulp talents into superpowers.

At least it is only $75 shipping....

The AH softcover from 1993 is in fact my favorite version https://www.nobleknight.com/P/8844/RuneQuest-Deluxe-Edition It doesn't measure up to today's standards of quality we see from Chaosium but my book still sits solidly on my bookshelves.

I haven't read the Weird of Hali so wouldn't be able to answer but you could be interested by this: Weird of Hali: Roleplaying The Other Side Of The Cthulhu Mythos by John Michael Greer (aeongamespublishing.co.uk) Written by JMG himself, it uses a modified version of Mythras.

To me it makes perfect sense that different cultures will approach the same entity from an angle that is coloured by their own cultural idiosyncrasies. Great spirit for some, god for others, Urox for some, Storm Bull for others and Urox the Storm Bull for some other. And yet, it's the same entity, the same cult. It's all part of the richness of Glorantha.

Pulp Cthulhu has 40ish talents Blood Tide (ebook) (chaosium.com) has a list of 50+ stunts Mythras has a list of gifts and combat style traits Something that I believes makes characters unique and special are motivations, personality, values, connections and background traits that could be rated (as they are in Pendragon and RuneQuest) or simply stated (as they are in Call of Cthulhu). When they are only stated, they are good tools to a) understand the character, b) use them as story element or flavour, c) use them as a justification for a mechanical benefit (bonus die, push die) or drawback (penalty die, hard check).

I am pretty much the same. I actually dislike dust jackets and I've never been attracted by leatherette editions. This one looks really, really good mind you and if one could have won my over, it would have been this one! Since I already have two Keeper's book on my shelves, what would have tipped the balance is an updated layout and some weaker pieces of art replaced. Having said that, from a business perspective, I appreciate it doesn't make a lot of sense. I can only imagine it would have been a lot more work for very little return. This release looks fantastic and will no doubt sell really, really well...

Great example! In this case, the build up to the fight is as important if not more than the fight itself. Passions! Orate! Fast draw! In a sense, this fight feels more Pendragon than RuneQuest. The Resistance Table is of course an option. As for the opoosition roll, I understand the approach Chaosium chose but a simple sentence to add that in cases of non-sensical (or non interesting) ties, the higher roll wins (as it was in the Quickstart) would have covered every cases. Oh well, It doesn't matter they didn't include it, it's how it works anyway! Outrage! That's preposterous! There is no precedent for that! Oh...

Interesting approach. I happen to agree with almost all your points but... I don't remember how big they were so I might be in agreement. I only state that I like homeland characteristic modifiers Oh do I strongly, very strongly disagree with this. I generally dislike when characteristics don't figure into skills Again, don't remember what was the db progression in SB1 but I find the one used in RQ too lumpy. I prefer a smoother progression. All the rest, I think I agree.

The first post explicitely talks about Chaosium but the second, I assume, talks about Le Département des Sombres Projets. Exciting that there are some conversations with Chaosium. Let's wait and see if it will come to fruition.

Ok, I'm intrigued. I have download the Peru pack to explore...

I am generally happy with 7E as it seems to bring the right level of crunch to a Cthulhu game. However, I agree with Mike, autofire could have been better/simpler and chases are a lot easier to run than the section actually reads. My pet peeve with CoC 7e, as it is with all the BRP games except Superworld, is that Size (and Build, which I think is brilliant) is inconsistent. It scales really well up to a point and then becomes linear. It causes big creatures and vehicle to have ridiculous SIZ and Build. Is it important for a regular CoC game? Absolutely not. But scaling is important to me. I'm weird that way.

Are you after a specific magic system and specific creatures? CoC 7e has a magic system and an extensive grimoire but allegedly not what you are after. The Monstrorum has many, traditional creatures. Magic World could also fit the bill. It has magic and a bestiary. RuneQuest could also be reskinned with a bit of effort but it might too crunchy for your taste.

As much as I am very keep to get my hands on the cults book, a pre-release being detrimental to the full release is certainly a distinct possibility But to me, as a customer, this is the main consideration. While I accept for some art and production value is not that important, I am firmly in the camp believing RPG books need strong visual identities and I'd rather wait for the complete product than read a text only version. Similarly, I would not watch, even for free, an advance viewing of the next big, universally anticipated block buster movie with the special effects unfinished. I view rpg books with strong visual identities, like RuneQuest and Call of Cthulhu, similarly. I appreciate others will have different views.

May I suggest this thread to be pinned. Especially if the intention is to keep it alive.

This summarizes my favorite parts of RQG.I would further add that the way Runes cover both personality traits (another cheer for Pendragon!) and your ability to cast divine spells is a very clever way to ensure characters will want to emulate their god. And this. I like generic systems (I love BRP, HERO and GURPS) but I prefer when the systems supports/enhances/emulates a setting. Crack open RQG and it's immediately clear it is about Glorantha (did I mention it is my favorite fantasy setting?).

They are looking good! Time to transfer some characters unto the new sheets.

Thanks guys, these are very good articles. Very different approaches but both equally valid depending on what style you prefer. The Runic Rant article seems more in line with the philosophy in RQG and a bit more guidance on what to do with unresolved or ties results would have been good. Maybe something for the Gamemaster guide?

Just send them an e-mail here customerservice@chaosium.com. There are usually pretty quick to sort things out.

There, I have done my part for Hand, Citizen, Glamour and Chaosium.

I suspect that while they are different, The Laundry and Rivers of London fill more or less the same niche and since I would guess that RoL is way more popular at the moment, not pursuing The Laundry kind of makes sense. All this clever analysis based on no evidence whatsoever.

This is great news! I've always been on the fence between WWC and Achtung! Cthulhu but with A!C having better production value and atmosphere. Now that Modiphius does not seem to support A!C CoC 7e (beyond the pdfs and the core books) and WWC will eventually get the "Chaosium Production Value Upgrade", that will definitely tip the balance the other way. I can only imagine upgrading to CoC 7e rules and layout is no small task so I don't expect anything anytime soon (measured in years), but it's still good news.