Sean_RDP

I think what Strombringer did (and does) as an RPG is give people permission to do and be something different, whether it is their first or a hundred and first rpg. Yes it is fantasy / sword - sorcery, but it breaks not only established rules but established themes. Saving the world is impossible, though I suppose some people likely ran their campaigns that way (and that is fine). It is not so much a fantasy rpg as much as a test of character: do you get rich while the world burns or do you try and make something of yourself, do something memorable even if no one (save I guess Strombringer itself) is going to remember? Even today with so many great settings, that feels a little mind blowing. But then I am a fan of the genre, the author, the books, the character, and the game. I might be a little biased.

True but a kind of (sigh, dare I say it) deconstruction of the elf. Or a response to the Tolkien elf specifically. As an aside, whether intentional or not, I think the Vulcans of Enterprise had a kind of Melnibonean feel to them. Just a bit.

As a quick note, I will be active (more active) once I finish a project I Am horribly late on. Life has been tough. However, by mid summer I will be looking to form play test groups for Skae' and Runed Worlds. So if interested PM or post here Thanks!

So the Skae; (Skaerune') project has been a long one, way longer than I ever anticipated. Lots of changes along the way and lots of re-design. The system of course has changed and gotten tons better, but the world itself has evolved significantly. At a point, about 18 months ago I realized I was telling the wrong kind of story with the setting. Skae' is a world and game of and about immigrants. Yes, the dragons and giants (mostly) and Caretakers were part of the world already. Yes the gods, whatever they gods end up being, made the world as a kind of left over, a collection of crumbs from their own universes. The Four Cities though, the central players and originators of conflict, are newcomers to the world. And that is pretty significant. With the creation of mythological creatures based on the influence of the cities, these cultures have a strong influence on the land itself. In many ways they redefine the land. This is really important and a central theme. So what are the conflicts? Rise or Fall of the Glorious Empire and the prevention of the next /last city Discovery of the "Fallen" Cities, one of which is known to exist, City of the Jade Turtles. Deeper mysteries of Skae', the Deep Waters, how and why the world was created and Shadow Takers, the mysterious anti Caretakers. Taming of the land itself by one city or another Chaos and chaoskampf in the form of Entropy creeping in. The infusion of new ideas keeps the world from sliding into dangerous stagnation. But why? Even I do not now the answer here, but I feel I want to take the Order/Chaos conflict many (not just d100) games have used and flesh it out in different directions. I am learning a great deal as I go. It is not outside of possibility that we will see Runed Worlds before we see Skae get published, but better to do it right than rush things. Stay Tuned...

Five years ago I would have said the day of the campaign that runs for two years is dead and not likely to return save for the dusty nostalgia corners of the FLGS. In truth it never went away but gaming changed, we all saw it, and there does not seem time for all the games. BUT, I was wrong. I am not sure I would say the pendulum is ever swinging back all the way but long term campaigns are being talked about more, now, than they were a few years ago. So while Z might be a bit much for folks, even those of us used to wordy books, I suspect those intrigued by the possibilities of getting in depth might really dig it. For me, while I would not run a game of Z once a week, I certainly would run it once a month with people who were interested.,

Although I understand trying to be true to the original, the most logical and easiest might be to just have the shield activate at 4, 6, or 8 damage depending on what the player wishes. I personally never found that variable reaction very logical as the shield would need to activate in literal nanoseconds between detecting how much force (damage) and how much it may or may do to the character. So set intervals give the allusion of a variable shield without the mechanical gymnastics. It makes for one less die roll and calculation. However, if using a variable model, I would say a 20% chance of activation for damage over 4 : 20% at 5 damage, 40% at 6, etc... until at 9 or greater there is a 100% chance of activation

Because there ARE cycles in everything! #redmoonforever

I suppose I wonder why there is even a debate to be had. The scientific laws of Glorantha include magic and beings called gods and this entropic force known as Chaos. It is not a thin veneer of strong belief that covers up the actual fact of a planetary accretion and axial tilts. Spirits are bound for the purposes of using their power. Trolls are not gigantopithecus misidentified; they are their own kinds of intelligent life. So the devolution or sub-optimal mutation that is the trollkin has its roots in the physical properties of the Glorantha universe. I m sure there may be those who seek deeper "rational" answers, but they will do so only in the context of the physical laws of the universe that Glorantha inhabits. Their answers will be defined by the actual physical laws of that universe, not our universe. And there is some theorizing on our part that other universes might have a different fundamental set of physical laws, so that seems like a rational prospect. As for mythology, I have always seen it merely as a lens through which we (the game designers and then us players) are able to grasp this esoteric effect that seems to have the power to alter events and or linear time and or our perceptions of both. TLDR version: I never question the science of Glorantha as I already assumed I knew, to whatever extent it has been explained to me through rules and play, what the science of Glorantha is. And if at some point, Glorantha and its universe move to a place more resembling our physical laws than its own, then that will just be another property of the world itself and won't undermine or disenfranchise the time when it was a magical place. I have never believed Glorantha and Earth to even share the same universe, so why would their science be the same? /shrug

So aside from seeing some work for Skae, Runed Worlds, and Q21 system in general, we are pleased to announce... Q2100 Adventures! These adventures will be generic fantasy set in no particular world or trope. Although they will use the Q21 d100 system, the adventures will be written to allow easy conversion to other d100 systems (or other fantasy systems) as players wish. Q2101 The Curse of Gharmanta Gharmanta is a prosperous trade town on the edge of a desert, the last stop before leaving the great southern kingdoms and heading into the northern forests. Kings once ruled mighty kingdoms from here, but those are days long past. Now the folk of Gharmanta live in comfort and enjoy the good will of their neighbors. At least until two seasons ago. Sick herds and tragic deaths now plague the town and nearby rulers demand Queen Arranna purge whatever sickness ails this place or their armies will do the purging instead. Do the answers to Gharmanta's woes lay in sabotage and politics or are there older and darker forces at work?

There is a new version of the game by Mindjammer and TDM, unless that is the version of which you are speaking.

I wish I had a system that I have been using f or years, but to be honest I have just been winging it until recently. In all my rpgs, not just the d100 games. However, what I do now is put everything on a 4x6 card. The NPC may appear in my notes or in my campaign guide, but their stats and needed details appear only on their card. I tend to skip characteristics unless necessary and concentrate on their relevant skills and "powers". A portrait if I feel saucy. I want to try that aspect out in a CoC one shot sometime soon and see how it works. Keeping track of my NPCs with the 4x6 card system has really worked well for me.

That is fantastic. Add that to the list of bench marks I want to hit with my own games lol.

All of that sounds pretty solid. Cannot agree enough with the map comments; it really is a rubbish map. Yes the central story of the goblins and kobalds was actually compelling enough without the druid and his tree and twig buddies. OR the tree idea was compelling enough without the goblins and kobalds and dragon. I felt that the two conflicts and stories could be combined better than they did.

Are you taking from the original or from Tales from the Yawning Portal? I do not think there is much (if any) difference in the versions other than one is for 3e and one is for 5e. I have run it and played in it and feel it is an okay and intriguing dungeon crawl. The map really was kind of terrible and the way they connect some places is a little odd. I don't want to say or ask too much so as not to spoil it for first timers. Sounds like a fun conversion.

Merry Xmas, Happy Holidays, and good gaming in the coming year. I hope everyone gets some good dice for Christmas.

Looks great. And the template at first glance looks like a joy to use. Will know more once I actually use it of course, but so far so good.

I have often wondered what a d100 mega dungeon might look like? More dangerous I think so it would need to be carefully constructed or everyone would be down to one arm by the end of the first level lol. Quality would be key, a focus on interesting short (or long) adventures could be run in a night or two. And a variety.

So a few thoughts I have. I love the basic concept, but you need to be careful to remember although this is your world, this is the players' story. Running a campaign where the characters have to follow some kind of hierarchy and rules is a bit harder to do than just "Hey, goblin towns to loot! Oh yeah save the prince too." Make them all soldiers. There is no real reason for a carpenter to go on a scouting mission. Plus it gives them all a common context. If you feel ambitious, allow each of them a single camp follower (N)PC. Someone they can have more social adventures with. Only if everyone is agreed. As a note, allow players to portray female soldiers too even if they are playing female characters masquerading as men. Cut their hair and they can be boys. It would make for great RP and allows your female players (if you have any) to portray female characters that are more than camp followers. Oh I would make them all the same kind of soldier (musket, arquebus, pike, cavalry...) It makes your life easier. Whore / Hassle Women. No. No. No. I understand the historical veracity of this kind of behavior in armies, especially armies of that period. But there is a time and place. IF your players are mature enough and IF the situation is a learning experience or a horror of war kind of thing, then maybe. But otherwise, no. Relationships are one thing, but that kind of caca just distracts from the game and can very quickly get skeezy. It never ends well. Hand wave any conjugal encounters. Minimize the time in camp, though don't skip it. Give them things to do and interact with. Perfectly reasonable that the characters should get bored in camp; but don't let the players get bored. Combat should be scary, chaotic, and disconcerting. Even for veteran characters. Long battles should be exhausting and someone has to clean up the bodies. Combat should be deadly. I would begin every session with a passage from the diary. I think that is fantastic that you have such a source to help you. And just marching in time with historical events is not railroading. Within the context of that overall meta story, players will still have choices.

As mentioned above I would just use my Q21 mechanics. I like Classic Fantasy as well and would stay away from anything that would be too much like what they are doing out of respect for them. Currently I am working on what I call Two Hour Ventures for D&D 5e and it occurred to me d100 players might like something like that.

Good discourse is always helpful I am not sure you are an outlier/oddity as much as you represent a segment of the population that does things a certain way. I myself tend to be 30/70 Convert other / Do my own thing, primarily because it gives my players A chance to experience a story not written by me, with all that entails - like allowing guest writers or directors onto a series An opportunity to experience classics. In my last campaign I ran, I turned the Isle of Dread (X! D&D Expert Set) into something useful for other systems, for example. So that 30% of conversions work I do has reasons behind it. In this case, the mods would be written using my Q21 mechanics (based off of OpenQuest) and so the conversions won't be hard, IF that is your thing. In fact I would make the stuff as generic as possible so any conversion would be easy. At least in my mind. I could be wrong.

Where is Runequest Slayers? Just kidding I swear, though I did like it, just not as a RQ product...

Awesome news

So other systems (no names!) work well for generic adventures you can plop into any setting. And over the years there have been plenty of generic adventures. I am writing some small adventures for the DM's Guild and will be putting out a free add on with d100 stats (as generic as possible or using my own Q21 version, likely the latter). So I got to thinking is there an audience for generic d100 fantasy and sf adventures? Things that are small, can be run in 2 hours or so, a game in a night. I can see a few upsides of course, but the downsides as I see them: Quality - I personally write pretty quick and for myself, think I could put out quality. But doing them small and fast could definitely erode quality Legality - On firm ground with being setting neutral, but how generic does one have to be to avoid issues? As I mention, the most likely idea would be to use my own Quest21 with the appropriate OGL documentation. However, that leads to... Conversion - People would have to do some conversion to their favorite d100 system. If you are paying $2 for an electronic product, then is a conversion a big deal? I mean most of us convert adventures anyway. Style - I know for myself, generally, I am in a different mindset when designing or playing a d100 game versus a D&D style game. I do not necessarily do a dungeon thing, which many of these adventures are. Additionally, there is the deadliness factor. So I am curious what others think?

And a lot more. I think 2018 will be the year of Skae'. If all goes well. Only like, 3 years behind schedule but it will be worth the wait.

A lot has been going on personally, jobs and potential new jobs. I just want to keep everyone updated. 2018 will be an even bigger year for Q21 than 2017 has. January - Updated Salt Island Blues February - The Runed Worlds free intro - Vega, Two Stars