lawrence.whitaker

I've run Quatermass And the Pit as a Cthulhu scenario very successfully.

I've dropped Will Wheaton a line. He must be busy.

Face to face. I have two groups that meet biweekly. First is in Toronto where we play a variety of games (Agon, One Ring, ORE, Barbarians of Lemuria, RQ, D&D, Trail of Cthulhu) and the second is at my flgs where a group of RQ and roleplaying newbies are exploring Glorantha.

Luther Arkwright: Roleplaying Across the Parallels is now available for preorder.

www.thedesignmechanism.com/products

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/149843/Luther-Arkwright-Roleplaying-Across-the-Parallels?manufacturers_id=4057

TDM400

184 pages

Print Edition: $24.99 (includes the PDF free of charge)

PDF Only: $10.99

Ships: Early July 2015

Not one Earth, but an infinity of them, existing in parallel continua, their own paths, own histories, own futures, own mistakes. Most are unaware of the existence of a multiverse; but some parallels know that Earth is not alone, but mirrored.

ZeroZero knows. It watches the parallels, ensures their stability. ZeroZero knows that instability spreads like a disease, infecting each parallel until a critical mass is reached and cataclysm is guaranteed.

The Disruptors know. And they are intent on subverting the multiverse for their own ends, to 

destabilise countries, instigate wars, bring about 

destruction.

The Valhalla Project was established to stop the Disruptors; to uncover their plans, identify their agents, and eliminate them. Their best agent is Luther Arkwright, unique in the multiverse, a powerful psychic, but himself unstable. Arkwright does not work alone: there are others. 

You.

Based on Bryan Talbot’s acclaimed graphic novels, Luther Arkwright: Roleplaying Across the Parallels is a RuneQuest supplement introducing the Arkwright multiverse and all the rules needed for adventuring in countless parallel dimensions. This book contains game rules for contemporary character creation, psionics, technology, firearms, vehicles and more!

Can my LGS order the hardcover, or is it only available direct from you?  

We'd prefer it if you order from us, because we make more money , but yes, your FLGS can order it if...

a) They are in the USA

They have an account with either Alliance, Warpath or Studio2.

No, it was just being reprinted. We took delivery yesterday, so you'll be able to order it again from us directly as soon as you'd like.

Luther Arkwright: Roleplaying Across the Parallels is almost ready for production. We're delighted to offer you a sneak preview of the book - click on the PDF link (http://www.thedesignmechanism.com/resources/Luther%20Arkwright%20Preview.pdf) to be whisked across the multiverse. 

For many, Luther Arkwright needs little introduction, but for those unacquainted with him, Arkwright is the creation of writer and artist Bryan Talbot, and features in two sets of celebrated graphic novels. He is a multiverse-hopping psionic agent, battling the sinister Disruptors, and his adventures focus on an alternate Britain where Cromwell's descendants hold the country in the grip of tyranny while various imperial powers gather to challenge them.

In this RuneQuest supplement, players take on the role of Valhalla agents like Arkwright. Each character has at least one special power, and these are many and varied. But there's a downside: characters are also subject to certain dependencies, and may even be bordering on madness. The game includes many new rules for special traits, dependencies, psionics, sanity and even creating new parallel dimensions. The preview offers a taster of what the full book includes, and it really is a must-have for fans of Arkwright, Science Fiction, parallel worlds and, of course, RuneQuest 6.

Luther Arkwright: Roleplaying Across the Parallels is a 184 page hardcover supplement, lavishly illustrated with artwork from the graphic novels, provided by Bryan Talbot.

Have you taken a look at RuneQuest 6? We have precisely what you're describing here worked out as Combat Styles, Combat Style Traits and Special Effects. Easily ported across to BRP, too.

I think it was a statement, rather than a complaint.

 

On its own, yes. But taken in context with the two posts on the previous page, it comes across as a complaint. And I'm sorry, but it makes me tetchy. Both Rod and I have been open and shared information, but there's still this particular expectation that somehow the book should appear sooner.

It takes at least a year to get a book into print. Even though we're a small company, we juggle multiple titles and to do that we work to a publication plan. If we'd Kickstarted Classic Fantasy, or set a hard promised release date, such comments would be entirely fair; but we haven't. We know the logistics of the business and so we're careful to explain what is and isn't possible and realistic.

I know Classic Fantasy is highly anticipated by quite a lot of people in the BRP community. Having read Rod's manuscript, I can tell you it will be worth the wait. But it's a process and a time consuming one. No, it won't be released in the next few weeks. It is likely to be towards the end of the year and there's no apology for that. We'll release Classic Fantasy when it is ready; and when we have some progress to share we'll share it openly.

So it sounds like a very long time before completion 

It's shameful that roleplaying books take so long to complete. I mean, a book, written from scratch, 18 chapters long, with development time, play testing, editorial, art commissioning, proofing and then actual production ought to be out within a few months of announcement.

We'll try to be faster in future.

Excellent ideas and a very good thread on RPGnet. There have been a few threads about new BRP products too the last few months, but they die very quickly. I suggest posting here if someone is posting BRP stuff there, so we all can chime in to keep the threads alive a bit longer.

 

Some other recent BRP threads (in the Hype Machine):

 

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?750750-RuneQuest-6-The-Taskan-Empire

 

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?729093-BRP-Starships-2-0-(Free-PDF) : )

 

I'm not sure how effective it is to announce new releases in that sub-forum, but by adding a comment the thread is immediately bumped up to the top (as I just did with The Taskan Empire).

I agree - its effectiveness is difficult to gauge. But to ignore RPGnet would be to ignore the largest generalist forum for RPGs on the web, and attempts for a publisher to promote in any of the other streams simply results in the post being moved to the Hype Machine stream. But I do thank you for your comment on the Taskan Empire! Yes, even a few small comments like this help raise the profile.

Let's say that a wizard is wanting to cast an offensive spell against a high priest who has Dismiss Magic active. The Dismiss Magic's Magnitude is 6. Any spell the wizard casts against the priest that is equal to or less than 6 in Magnitude is going to automatically fail. The wizard therefore needs to shape his spell to include a Magnitude of 7 to be able to overcome the Dismiss Magic miracle and visit unrighteous harm on the high priest.

There are other examples of course, but this is perhaps the most archetypal.

My end goal is playing and talking about playing.

 

Which is a great way or promoting how awesome d100 games are. Post your experiences on RPGnet and the like; highlight the strengths of the game system for you as a player. Sell the system in that way if that's preferable to you.

Review d100 products and post them on RPGnet, here, the RPGsite and other blogs. Reviews help enormously.

Run games at conventions large and small, and FLGSs. April 11th is World Tabletop Day so start planning something now.

Publishers can only do so much. If the community wants the word to spread and the family to grow, then it needs to be proactive - and reviews and games run at public events are two terrific ways of doing it.

But again, there was a separate link to a Blade Runner sequel. So there's that. 

Ah, I wish I could agree, Rod, but I think a Blade Runner sequel is a bad idea. A terrible idea. I would have thought it a bad idea even if Sir Ridley Scott hadn't made 'Prometheus', but the fact that he did make 'Prometheus' just makes me feel that a Blade Runner sequel is the baddest of bad ideas that's been expelled from Bad Idea school for being hopelessly bad.

And Blade Runner's one of my favourite films - perhaps my favourite film.

I found the article lazy - and inaccurate.

A few technical notes: dystopian films are set in future societies where civilisation has broken down

 

 

Um, no, not always. There are plenty of dystopian films where civilization has not broken down at all: sometimes, dystopia reflects how crushingly repressive civilization can be.

 

 

But please, don't generalise... I mean, it's not like you don't have this is contemporary or historical dramas - or even right now, in real life.

 

I see, so those high rise mega buildings in Dredd (where all the action takes place) and Minority Report are figments of the imagination are they? Or how about Metropolis, arguably first, best and most influential of the dystopian SF films ever made?

A lazy, slightly snide, slightly smug article that ignores 100 years of SF before it. A typical Grauniad piece, actually.

New for RuneQuest 6. The Taskan Empire

Companion Volume to Shores of Korantia, The Taskan Empire takes you into the fraught world of the Immortal Emperor Zygas Taga, embodied in the fearsome, magically animated avatar, The Iron Simulacrum.

This 105 page book provides a full overview of the empire, it people, customs, religion and more. Character creation rules for Taskan characters are provided as are rules for cults, new spells and the way Taskan religion is indelibly bound into the lives of all who live in the Simulacrum's shadow.

You can purchase in two ways. The PDF on its own is available from http://www.thedesignmechanism.com/products (and in the RuneQuest Supplements category) for just $5.99. Or, you can buy the Print on Demand copy from our Lulu site (http://www.lulu.com/…/the-t…/paperback/product-22067471.html). If you buy the Lulu copy, you get the PDF free of charge. Just email us at designmechanism AT gmail DOT com and attach a copy of your Lulu receipt. We'll send you a redemption code for the PDF from our own website.

http://www.thedesignmechanism.com/products.php#!/Mythic-Britain-Companion/p/46880666/category=5186110

or at DrivethruRPG (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/browse/pub/4057/Design-Mechanism)

The Mythic Britain Companion is a PDF-only expansion to the Mythic Britain setting book. It contains 16 pages of new information (2 fully detailed cults: Mithras and Sabrinna; detail on the kingdom of Bryneich and an expanded treatment of the Goddess Lindis) and 4, 23" x 32" maps that you can have printed for personal use.

I just assumed that because it was MRQ2 Elric then it would have been included.

I cannot find any MRQ2 Elric pdfs on DrivethruRPG or on the Mongoose website, so I just assumed that perhaps they would of been in these files.

Well it seems I missed the boat much longer ago than I thought...

No, the deal we had with Mongoose was limited to Glorantha and generic titles. Licensed titles like Elric weren't part of that for obvious reasons. Since the Elric license has now lapsed, no one has the rights to sell any of the Mongoose Elric PDFs which is why they've disappeared from view. They've been out of circulation for about a year, I think.

How did I miss this?

I'm after a pdf of MRQ2 Elric: Cults Of The Young Kingdoms, it seems I missed the boat...

That book was never part of the Archives anyway, so even if they were still around it wouldn't have been much help.

https://runeslinger.wordpress.com/2015/01/24/overview-mythic-britain-the-campaign/

Runeslinger's final instalment of his epic Mythic Britain overview is now online. It wraps things up with a look at the battle rules and the seven scenarios forming the campaign.

Our Print on Demand titles (RQ Essentials and Hessaret's Treasure, but more to come), available on Lulu, are now also available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble websites.

http://www.amazon.com/RuneQuest-Essentials-Pete-Nash/dp/0987725963/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421277456&sr=8-1&keywords=runequest+essentials

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/runequest-essentials?store=allproducts&keyword=runequest+essentials

Nope. I ordered a set of books for some friends in Germany from my home in Canada. They printed and shipped in two weeks, arriving in time for Christmas, and at a price that was peanuts compared with the standard postage costs from Canada Post or the US. No customs was payable and no delays - and Germany has brutal customs requirements.

It's perhaps worth pointing out that CoFE isn't a Design Mechanism publication, but a Mindjammer Press book. It's published under the RQ Gateway license with means it can officially carry the RQ logo and use the rules, but it's production is independent of Design Mechanism.