Thalaba

I came across this radio show episode today and thought it was worth a share:

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/the-jezebel-problem-what-bossy-women-should-know-about-language-1.4933255

The polytheist Queen Jezebel is particularly noteworthy as her use of language differs so much from that of other characters.

"Jezebel's very direct. She gives orders," says Hare. "She gives orders to men which is unusual. She asks direct questions. She's very future-oriented, not past oriented, and she never ever uses any forms of deference."

The main thrust of the episode is very interesting but somewhat peripheral to the story of Jezebel, but there's good section on her and her place in society starting at the 10-minute mark.

These are very interesting. The date indicates they are chalcolithic, not Bronze Age, though. On the plan view, the placement of the houses is very close, suggesting the houses formed the defensive perimeter. But the renderings make it look like they have curtain walls.

26 minutes ago, Joerg said:

Ancient times have few women in a ruler's role, and the more successful of them were either re-defined as males (Hatshepsut) or vilified by later patriarchalist chroniclers (who were almost exclusively male).

Or, like Kubaba, become a goddess. 🙂

Sounds like a ready-made campaign scenario, and straight outta the bible! The real story and real character were no doubt way more nuanced - her story didn't come to us via her sister, after all. Ancient history is a trove of juicy characters and situations. The forthcoming Mythic Babylon for Mythras is full of interesting stories like this, most of which were teased out of baked clay letters found in the Mari archives.

NBC must be quoting you, then 🙂 https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/ancient-lost-city-uncovered-israel-was-new-york-city-its-ncna1063661

I'm sure the hyperbole is part excitement, part inducement to draw funding. Israel is rich with Archaeological sites, after all. It would be cool if they could find the ancient name of the place.

There's a lot of gaming potential in ancient ruins - they're places for bandits to hide, spirits to haunt, scorpionmen to make a home, treasures, menaces, and alien artifacts to lie buried. But maybe most interesting of all is coming up with interesting things about the people who once lived there, and what kinds of rites and practices did they observe. Perhaps this city was devoted to the worship of Bethel, the stone god, brother of Dagon... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethel_(god)

So , it was about 1/10th the population and 1/10th the size of it's contemporary, Uruk, and they want to call it a 'New York'? Talk about gilding the lily.

If you're curious about how big a 'large city' was in history, Wikipedia has an interesting (though hardly definitive) chart:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_cities_throughout_history

That guy that hounded @soltakss years ago and even impersonated him? Can't remember his name. Somehow I don't think that's what was meant by 'the gold old days' though.

I've given up my accounts at several fora, either for reasons of tribalism or because the mod culture fosters the presence of who like to stir up trouble. Naturally, it would be nice if BRP Central didn't also go this route. So far so good.

Although it's $60.00 it is a complete game with phenomenon content, 456 pages, and you get the PDF included.

On a phenomenon-per-page basis the game is actually a steal.

I wouldn't go changing anything as the results of the article are not conclusive. Remember that in RQ the hit location table represents the locations you would hit based on the opportunities that arise through the natural flow of combat. The table can be bypassed by called shots/special effects. How many of the wounds in the study were caused by targeting blows? We'll never know.

It's true MW is actually pretty old stuff. There's nothing new there. BUT it works and so much better than RQ111 ever did. Its more heroic and beautifully smooth in its game mechanics. Being newer doesn't make other games better. It just gives the designers less time to iron out the snags.

It used to take me all of 10 minutes to whip up a RQ3 character. Roll characteristics, roll or pick age, pick career, pick magic, and done. What does MW do that makes it so much faster, and how long does it take?

Except that your interpretation is of a different world entirely!

(At least the Call of Cthulhu folks haven't been offended ... yet. Wait! Somebody fumbling at the doorknob! Quick -- the window!)

I'm not sure if that was the case. I saw it as being Alternate Earth with a liberal dose of not caring where the PCs came from. In fact, someone in Byzantium could well have met Picts and Near-Eastern Sorcerers, as this was a massive melting pot with links to almost everywhere in the western world.

Isn't that what Alephtar Games and The Design Mechanism are doing for BRP and RQ6 with supplements like Rome, Stupor Mundi, Crusaders of the Amber Coast, The Celestial Empire and the forthcoming Mythic Britain and Mythic Bizantium? (I don't know RQ3 so there might be differences I'm not aware of.)

Not really, no. Those settings are all great but they're not quite the same. The implied setting in RQ3 was this sort of vaguely defined ancient era where picts mixed with near eastern sorcerers and you could take a ship to Taprobane. I always saw it as a sort of 'ancient fantasy' sort of like Hyboria, but different from that setting.

I didn't get the '80s comment either, since the new Magic World isn't more innovative or shiny than the new RQ.

Anyway, I voted for RQ without Glorantha. Although I found Glorantha to be very inspiring, I prefer my own setting for fantasy, or to play in mythical earth. I wish the default mythical earth setting that RQ3 hinted at had been developed more (Yes, I'm looking at you, AEONS!)

I believe the monster in question is called an 'internet troll'.

Welcome, NathanIW!

Winterpeg, eh? How's February treating you?

I have yet to find a game system I like better than RQ/CoC - but I still like trying.

If it's missing pages then you have received a defective product. You can return the book to Amazon.ca at no charge. Go to their website and then to the 'Returns Centre'. Follow the instructions you find there.

Have you looked at BRP Rome?

It's the most specifically classical resource for BRP I can think of.

RQ6 has some great tools for world-building, too, if that's your bag.

Stepping away from rules for a moment, it might interest you that it doesn't come with a setting or a campaign included. Of the books you asked about, I think only Magic World has a (lightly described) setting included. RQ6 does have 3 free published scenarios, though (two in the GM pack and the third was published by itself as a preview to the Book of Quests). The Book of Quests is a book of adventures structured into a loose campaign in a loosely described setting. There's also one detailed published setting - Monster Island - which is ideal for sandboxing.

This is how I look at it:

Pick RQ6 for hit locations and gritty, tactical combat, a game with an 'ancients' feel, or if you want to explore Glorantha or Monster Island or historico-mythical supplements later.

Pick Magic World for more streamlined combat, deadly and with major wounds but not hit locations, a demonic S&S feel.

Pick OpenQuest2 if you like lighter rules or if your players will be turned off by crunch.

Pick BRP if you like to tinker and make the system your own, regardless of crunch level, or if any of the many already-published settings appeals to you, or want a versatile, generic system. BRP can be either the most or the least crunchy, depending on the options you pick, and being a tool-box it is all about options.

They are all 85-90% compatible. Magic World and BRP might be 100% compatible with each other. There's probably no 'wrong' choice as they're all good.

Buying products from other BRP systems and using them with your own Franken-D100 system is a long standing tradition in this community.

Glad to have BRP Central up and running again - thanks for the hard work, Triff!

With respect to the cheap kitchen spam, maybe there's something to be learned.

Perennial Question: How could BRP be more popular?

Cynical answer: Chaosium should spam forums dedicated to the sale of kitchen cabinets and appliances to get the BRP message out.

And what if you want to make this encounter "interesting" and not just a "throw away"?

What you need to make an encounter interesting isn't stats - it's personality.

What makes an encounter not be a throw-away encounter is consequences.

The first can quickly be made up on the fly. There are also a number of tools you can use. Here's an example of one posted by a smart guy named Acev on another forum I frequent. I'm sure there are more like this:

The DNA method is the way I came up with to help me make my NPCs more recognizable. I started noticing that my players were having trouble telling my NPCs appart. Because I was basically playing them all more or less the same. So I mishmashed a bunch of stuff from a bunch of sources into my method. It helps me greatly in portraying my NPCs differently.

A characters DNA is just a set of keywords and short sentences organized into three categories: Demeanor, Nature and Agenda.

Demeanor is the face the character puts foward to the world. This is what the players see when they interact with the NPC. I find Demeanor helps me a lot with how a character talks, so I include catch phrases in this category as well.

Ex.: Always smiling, rude, respectful, Bingo!

Nature is what the character really is on the inside. This helps me choose what the character does when it's time for him to act.

Ex.: Loyal, egocentric, asshole, a good person

Agenda is what the character wants. I find 2 or 3 short term and 2 long term goals works best for me. I don't include step by step plans.

Ex.: Become Prince of the city, have sex with as many partners as possible, get revenge on Johnny, has the artefact George wants

So an NPC that wears his heart on his sleeve will have very similar keywords in Demeanor and Nature. One who is two faced, will have very different ones. Agenda is how you tie in the NPC. If his agendas intersect with those of the PCs then the character will see a lot of use. If not, then he won't show up much in the story.

As for consequences, it's up to you to make sure that they are followed through in your game. An encounter in which the PCs win a fight easily isn't necessarily a throw away encounter if there are meaningful complications that arise from it. But an encounter where the PCs actions have no meaning? - that is a waste. Stats don't give you meaning - follow through does.