skarl

Sorry for being late to the party of my own devising. I DID incorporate the Elric system into Mythras without a lot of fiddling. As a big fan of Lord Dunsany and Clark Ashton Smith I leaned heavily on them for patron inspiration and I took a few hints from a Barbarians of Lemuria variant called Carrion Lands (which itself is influenced by Conan: Exiles) to make a strange, bleak setting that also brings in a heavy late 80s/early 90s Warhammer Chaos vibe (as in the chaos warbands mini-game within the Lost and the Damned and Slaves to Darkness) to create a harsh, weird but not gonzo setting. The players can struggle it out without help or call upon a patron for assistance. There are least, minor, major, greater and Lords and Ladies of daemons that scour the land in an endless game of collecting servants, puppets, souls and champions. Beware of assistance for the rewards and punishments of these strange powers is sometimes a blurry line.

Thank you for helping open my eyes to what role-playing can be. I appreciate your contributions to the gaming world. May you find your illumination in the next world.

I appreciate the replies so far. I do have Classic Fantasy, I'm just not sure that the approach works, but it might, so I'll look deeper into it. I'm just not sure how I can pull off a game where one character can change or advance careers while another sticks with one the entire time. Possibly the way to go is to backwards engineer the player's concept to figure out the turning points in the careers.

My anthropomorphic animal game stuck to OpenQuest a little easier, so I ran with that. However my Mythras game is revamping and I've already added patrons similar to DCC [with help from people here, and I am very appreciative of that] and converted the Changeling from Symbaroum as a playable race and I'm using the trio of concepts common in many games, Warrior/Wizard/Rogue-Expert with a few of the class concepts from Symbaroum and some careers from Zweihander/WFRP1 and 2. Both have basic and advanced options for occupations. Does anyone have a suggestion on how to implement Advanced Careers after play? Does requiring a certain percentage in the carrier's core skills make sense for advanced options or is there a better way to meld basic into advanced careers? For my game basic character creation is an option, as well as several career packages like Bailiff, Bounty Hunter, Hedgemage, Smuggler, etc. As before, any suggestions, help, cautionary tales, etc are appreciated.

I've decided to run my Wind in the Willows style game (set in a fantasy world, although I am contemplating a 1920's/1930's feel setting too) that I call A Breeze Among the Oaks with OQ instead of Mythras, yet I am still running a Mythras S&S game. With the plethora of anthropomorphic figures out there, it is hard to resist using miniatures too and the game is fun.

And responded, sorry for the delay, busy weekend. :/

Thank you for the prompt reply and information! I usually buy a couple of print copies for myself and often give a couple out to friends (a writer friend is very happy with Crypts & Things and is wanting to get a game together, he is also a heavy metal guitarist of note) and with shipping from Across the Pond $40 a book for a softcover adds up quickly.

Have I gone insane or did the OpenQuest Refreshed print versions disappear overnight on Drivethrurpg? I just ordered a copy via the d101 Games store....

Thanks for the replies, I'm taking this all into consideration. One player wants the game to be serious, not light and fluffy, which I am totally fine with myself. Well, soltakss, since RQ had ducks I figured I could use a play on words, plus, there is one more dash for f*rry, I just am not into that concept.

I just don't want to type the word furry, but it is maybe the best descriptor. So this happened....after talking to the manager of the flgs a few times he asked me to run a game, so I dragged a ton of rpgs into the local comic/game store, hinting at Mythras as a generic core to build on for fantasy as I have already started with Symbaroum by bringing in elements from that setting. What did he seize on and show to others? Simon Washbourne's Woodland Warriors 2e and James V. West's Rabbits & Rangers. So he is totally sold on an anthropomorphic game. Totally. And I'm fine with that. But I want to run Mythras. Has anyone run a game like this or am I going to write it out? Any advice? I totally think it is a fun idea, a lot of tropes and other things are dropped in a world of talking badgers and mice. I'm steering away from Mouse Guard and adding more intelligent animals and of course magic. Any help or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

I approached cults and brotherhoods from a patron (a la DCC) standpoint using help from posters on this forum and using the outline system that we did back in school. I made a simple outline of each cult/guild/brotherhood based on what I wanted and what the players wanted. This created a simple, thorough and handy reference that is easily broken down into its components.

With the simplicity of the rules there is also a modularity: add or take away what you want and even introduce elements easily. With the help of the group here and existing rules written for Mongoose Elric I added a patron system similar to what the Dungeon Crawl Classics game has. I then looked to Symbaroum, took the Doppelganger from Classic Fantasy and tweaked it into a Changeling, then created three variant changelings as player options and fiddled with the Ogre and Troll for the same effect. Long story short it is easy to make the game work for you and the rules are so easy to use that they can fall into the background so the story can flow.

In my game, a blend of Warhammer and The Black Company (with generous doses of Dunsany and CAS), guilds, brotherhoods and cults are very important and all include patrons (a la Dungeon Crawl Classics and using rules based on MRQ2 books suggested by helpful people here) which gives depth and flavor while also adding mystery regarding opponents and adversaries and their affiliations, many of which have a 'you mess with one of us you mess with all of us' mentality. Magic schools, guilds of thieves and mercenary outposts dot the land, with sinister and malicious cults to forbidden deities operating in the shadows in most places (with a few disturbing exceptions). So in the end I agree that this is an interesting and highly adaptable aspect of the game that adds a lot of flavor and adventure opportunities.

Glen Cook's Black Company series Clark Ashton Smith's Zothique Lawrence Watt-Evans Lords of Dus series

I am a fan of RQ6/Mythras and I am planning a campaign at the flgs, yet it is very generic and not particularly attention-grabbing, although it is easy to tack on any elements and make the game what you want with decades of multi-genre source material out there from other BRP games. I will probably run Symbaroum (a BRP derivative) next because of the evocative art and gloomy setting. Then there is THE WAIT for Trudvang Chronicles in English (another BRP based game). Best. Art. Ever.

Thanks for looking into this.

^That is what I meant. There's that initial shock that I recalled from before that is sorted out later.

The Elric Cults book arrived today and I skimmed then read deeper. For my purposes I have streamlined the idea into a simpler patron template to work with. I like the idea of draining experience into gaining more patron knowledge and for spellcasters I will give them four spells over DCC's three, the first basically being a cantrip. This also works for those pursuing more stabby type characters to be champions in sort of a Warhammer Realms of Chaos books way.

Sort of like on the Design Mechanism's online store in which the most expensive shipping is tacked on (I almost swallowed my tongue) to be sorted out later. I panicked then went through the process (I normally buy on Lulu unless pre-ordering) and relaxed in time.

I'm going to wait to receive the Elric books to see how close Mr Whitaker's system is, but I also would like to see these effects with the strange and often bizarre repercussions of dealing with supernatural entities. Porting over existing patrons from DCC and various other sources shouldn't take much work.

I thank you one and all for the input and suggestions, all is appreciated. It seems a little easier to sell people on the idea of the Patron style system than a Cult, and Cults have always been a bit off-putting to some players I have had over the years, some people just feel uneasy about the word I guess. With Patrons they can do the same thing but under a different name and on a more personal level with their chosen supernatural entity. Thematically I am aiming for something of a cross between DCC and old Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (despite the release of the Zweihander final pdf-631 pages without art, wowzers) and although I have run Elric and Stormbringer in the dim, dark past I never thought of their modern editions as sources.

Spectacular, thanks a million! I found them both on eBay for under $20 each and leapt. There is some sanity that won't be lost (potentially) for not having to convert this from DCC. MUCH appreciated.

Has anyone imported the Patron system from the Dungeon Crawl Classics rpg for any RQ or BRP type of game? I am itching to run Mythras/RQ6 again, fresh start, new players and I like the Patron system and plan to use it instead of the Cult system as a closer relationship between the players and the Powers out there (the Cult system will still be in the background and each Patron will have a cult) with special boons and disapproval for each Power. Using Classic Fantasy for monsters because I am an old schooler and love the critters and dungeon crawling, but getting away from levels yet retaining the Powers are not that far away in a Law-Neutrality-Chaos struggle. If you are unaware the Patron system is basically supernatural entities that can grant favors, spells and rewards to those linked to them, as well as mutations and drawbacks if the followers gain disapproval. Not everyone will have a Patron, but spellcasters often will. Anyone can, making you a champion of that Power.

I quite agree, Questbird, I don't see a point in trying to convert anyone from one game to another, however there are a lot of people out there looking for games to play and that are receptive to advice. That is my point, to encourage people to give BRP/RuneQuest/Magic World a try that aren't already into another system or that might give another game a try here and there, but not wholesale conversion from another game, that never is a good policy.

Wow, that is exactly what I have been looking for as a BRP/Magic World supplement, thank you for sharing!