On 2/13/2021 at 2:42 PM, Zulfikar Zaban said:

To whom it may concern, 

     I was just searching around the Chaosium website, looking for old, out of print Chaosium games. I know there are several titles like Ringworld, Elfquest, Stormbringer. I just wish there was some kind of record on there, for posterity, and for my undying curiosity. Anyway, just a recommendation. Thank you Chaosium, I love what you do, Zulfikar Zaban

Old, out of print, and licenced. They could put PDFs up on DTRPG like a lot of older RPGs from the 80s which are already available, but all these you mention are licenced to an author which they have little hope, or no interest in renewing for re-issuing.

Again, it's the combination of the two that seems unusual, I have no difficulty in understanding the OGL, but thanks for Crag- 'splaining it.

3 hours ago, craigm said:

Not as unusual as you might imagine. The Mongoose Runequest 2 / Glorantha books used a similar statement ("This game product contains no Open Game Content."), and it has appeared in subsequent OQ supplements and in the River of Heaven series. It's a catch-all statement that seems to be used to indicate that the author doesn't wish for any of the mechanics or setting to be reused without permission (whether that permission is impossible to transfer in the case of Glorantha, or requires special agreement in the case of the others is left as an exercise for those wishing to figure that out).

It's not the "no open open game content" disclaimer that's unusual, it's that plus the OGL used at the same time that I think is unusual. No Mongoose Glorantha books ever used the OGL as far as I'm aware.

2 hours ago, SDLeary said:

Standard WotC OGL 1.0a is pp.270-71.

SDLeary

Thanks for the correction, it doesn't mention that in the contents and the 'no open content' disclaimer is unusual.

PDF also on DTRPG

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/344904/Jackals-Bronze-Age-Fantasy-Roleplaying

From reading the reviews, it's quite a bit different from OQ, and it does not use an OGL of any kind. Apparently it does use the OGL, p.270.

If you can get @Belgath to re-surface this sounds like it's right up his street.

CoC and Mythras aren't settings, they're rule systems which have various settings written for them. I can see a game jumping across different settings (Luther Arkwright is designed for this) but mixing settings and rules together is probably a waste of time outside of a one-off game or short campaign. There was a White Dwarf scenario called "Ancient & Modern" which used CoC rules and characters for the modern part of the scenario, then switched to AD&D for the millions of years in the past, ancient world fantastical setting, but I don't know much else that does that. There are a number of CoC scenarios or campaigns that jump around time-hopping but they don't switch rules.

Upping power level of PCs is one way to make them robust, but what I would do is emphasise the importance of Luck Points, and in your case I would definitely use Group Luck - where the group of PCs has access to a pool of luck points that can be spent to assist one of the other characters. Using group luck is a good device for promoting group cohesion and assistance.

Mythras luck points allow a player to re-roll a roll they just made, or reverse the roll (a 10 becomes a 01), or compel the same for the GM. Luck points can also save a character from a lethal wound, or allow a heroic last action. Luck Points make Mythras PCs much hardier than earlier editions of RQ, or even the latest edition of CoC. Personal luck points combined with group luck points make it very difficult for PCs die from a chance critical or massive damage, so it might be all you need, even without having to dip into pulp characters.

3 hours ago, Belisar said:

So it is not a general Fantasy supplement but a AD&D specific supplement? Is there a more general fantasy supplement?

Correct, CF emulates (AFAIK) AD&D 2nd edition well enough that you can run modules for that edition fairly easily. It has the races, classes, magic systems and monsters from d&d. There's a kind-of-but-not-really levelling system for classes (4 ranks in each) but it's largely level-free. 

If you want non-d&d fantasy there's a number of supplements - big ones are the ones set in Thennla https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/4057/Design-Mechanism/subcategory/8030_32288/Thennla

There's Lyonesse https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/4057/Design-Mechanism/subcategory/8030_35267/Lyonesse which is it's own standalone book - the Lyonesse rules are self-contained, although the bestiary is quite small so the core rules are a helpful addition.

There is also the Monster Island supplement and the Book of Quests. Monster Island is a big sword and sorcery sandbox, unmissable if you are running any fantasy Mythras game. Book of Quests is a series of adventures put together into a suggested campaign arc.

7 hours ago, Belisar said:

Thank you very much, I will certainly take a look into Mythras. Btw, is Classic Fantasy similar to Mythras for generic fantasy as M-Space is for scifi?

You can just about run CF with only Mythras Imperative, although not recommended. The Monk for example uses the Mysticism powers from the core rules which are not repeated in CF. I understand CF is getting a new edition which includes the necessary rules from the core book, this is likely some time away though.

The Mythras core rules PDF is on sale for about $4 at the moment on Drivethrurpg.

M-Space is a standalone book, not a Mythras supplement, so you do not need any other ruleset alongside it, M-Space reproduces anything it needs from Mythras Imperative. For obvious reasons it's easier to use Mythras if you are using a Mythras supplement, but you could reverse-engineer fairly easily. Bear in mind Mythras Imperative is not the core Mythras rules, the main Mythras core book is the best place to start if you are going to run a game using the system. The core rule book is 10 times the length of Imperative. I think it more comes down to which supplement you are most likely to base a game around and go from there. Mythras is certainly a good one if you are thinking about a SF setting - there's Luther Arkwright, M-Space and Worlds United, all of which could feed into a SF campaign. You can also find the RuneQuest 6 Star Wars supplement online, Jedi powers are represented by the Mysticism system found in the core Mythras rules.

Chaosium should probably just publish a version of BRP as a SRD under an Open Game Licence, this would allow anyone to publish their own game under that licence and do whatever they wanted as long they conformed to the terms of the licence. That way you would not need to seek permission for any rules changes.

You can ask these questions ad infinitum, why not just read the first two pages of the BRP OGL? It answers your questions, which I suspect is its function.

😎

There are no hopeful folks, there's just my suggestion that Mythras Gateway is one way for the Renaissance settings to continue. I did not suggest, nor do I hope that TDM would 'throw extra production resources' to support such a project. It is simply the case that there is a close relation between both the system for Renaissance and Mythras and the approach to the campaign settings, and that Mythras is very active, with TDM's own publications and Gateway authors releasing independently. TDM has recently released "Fioracitta" which is a fantasy city setting based on Renaissance Italian city states, and a HRE-like, but using a fantasy setting, city campaign "Book of Schemes" is in development. TDM's own Mythic Earth supplements tend to stay closer to the historical reality while adding the magical and mythical beliefs of the time as real-for-the-game elements.

A way for future Renaissance books to get developed and get released would be for an enthusiastic Mythras Gateway developer to partner with Peter and get it going again. The systems share DNA and some authors so it does not seem like much of a stretch, given that new books are on hold for C&W while Mythras is expanding both within TDM and for Gateway productions, this means both a growing audience and a growing number of writers and developers.

Too ambitious for me Noz, but you might have some luck on the Mythras discord - https://discord.gg/RqwyHdG

There's a "Mythic Britain" channel in the campaign settings category.

As Prinz says, there are a number of previously-BRP project which have moved to Mythras - Classic Fantasy and M-Space, for example as well as TDM's expanding settings for Mythic Earth and other campaign settings in science fiction and fantasy. There's a growing number of associated authors writing both for in-house TDM and Gateway publications. Reading what Peter has said in April, it sounds like an interested collaborator would help, the Mythras community is very active and there are lots of people interested in historical settings. At the moment there's nothing in the Mythras range which covers the same region and period that Renaissance does.

Perhaps translating the system to a version of Mythras? The Design Mechanism look pretty busy these days, but a Gateway publication with a partner might be the way to go, in the way that Clarence has done with M-Space and Odd Soot.

I would just make the "man" a druid, as per Mythic Britain. As an "elf" he may be a kind-of-spirit himself, or at least a supernatural creature manifest in the mundane world as a normal-seeming man.

Maybe I've missed something but it does seem very much like he is a druid (shaman) ... so why the need for sorcery?

So, if you haven't looked much at Animism, all he needs is Trance and Binding to find and negotiate with the spirits, and Lore(Annwyn) and Lore(Tír na nÓg) or the Saxon otherworlds, so that he has knowledge of the places and spirits there.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/322125/Dawn-of-the-Red-Daggers-RA1

Raleel and I talk about and around Animism in Mythras.

This episode is less rules-noodly and a bit broader than our first two discussions.

https://anchor.fm/opposedroles/episodes/Animism-in-Mythras---Part-One-egitr5

Show Notes:

Raleel and Bilharzia discuss how to use Animism in your game, drawing from depictions of spirits and Animism in media, other games, and their own experience of using Animism in Mythras.

HeroQuest Voices was mentioned in the podcast  https://wellofdaliath.chaosium.com/home/catalogue/publishers/issaries/heroquest-voices/

Bil used some of these stories in preparation for creating an origin story for the player characters' tribe and for the shaman ceremony.

The Mythras and Lyonesse Gencon panel information https://www.gencon.com/events/183841 

If you are interested in playing a Mythras scenario during Gencon Online, a number of Mythras one-shot adventures are scheduled https://www.gencon.com/event_finder?game=Mythras 

Check out the Mythras Matters podcast if you haven't already -  https://www.buzzsprout.com/266482 

Thanks for the sheet.

For those that use it, the rtf document can be pasted perfectly into a Roll20 handout.

Mythic Babylon - I made some notes a while ago listening to the podcast, but I would recommend giving it a listen, I certainly missed some bits and may be mis-representing some things here.

Mythic Babylon podcast notes.
Set in the land between the rivers - Mesopotamia.
Covers the old Babylonian period 1765 BC and can be used several hundred years from that date.
Originally designed to be historical setting later added Mythical elements
The rise of Babylon under Hammurabi & the clash of great kingdoms - the rivalry between Elam and Mari
Mythic elements - monsters and magic
Originally inspired by Glorantha but through a few years of research into the real bronze age it developed into a true Bronze Age setting.
Was conceived as a BRP monograph, like Classic Fantasy & Mythic Rome.

"Sickle sword & sorcery" 
Can be played purely historically or as a mix of Mythic & Historical setting.

Five New magic systems : (does not use the core Mythras magic)
Sorcery
Incantations (to invoke the gods - similar to Theism)
Divination (find will of the gods)
Liturgical songs
Exorcism (similar to Animism)

Personal Purity
Tying all this together- personal purity - All characters have personal purity
Purity is your ability to relate to the gods
break a taboo, shed blood, cast a sorcery spell, get hit by a sorcery spell, illness

Consequences of low Purity:
You become unable to cast spells
You become socially awkward.
Entering a temple requires a certain level of purity
If purity too low people wont trust you or wont like you.

Purity is a big deal
It's a "bit like sanity" or like the Cthulhu mythos skill
You start with a high purity which then falls
There are ways to restore purity - bathing, some spells restore, make sacrifices to gods 
 

Combat stuff
Weapons - maces, spears, bows, sickle sword, battle nets, throw sticks, fighting stick
Appropriate Combat Styles

The book structure
Historical era, culture, how people lived.
creating PCs
Roleplaying as a Mesopotamian (cf: "what the priest said" - "What the tablet house told me")
City generator - roll tables - size, age, problems, troubles, yearly events.
magical systems
timeline
gazeteer - adventure hooks - historical and mythical
monsters - mythical creatures
eg. forest guardian from Gilgamesh, human/animal creatures, spirits, demons, underworld creatures.

We're back with Episode 2 - this one is about Movement and Engagement.

https://anchor.fm/opposedroles

$25.00 for the PDF only version. 

It's not clear from the podcast, but are power points to activate powers completely gone now?

You can quite easily borrow Mythras' treatment of skills and shields - one or more Combat Style skills cover a group of weapons known, and shields are treated as weapons with specific traits, one being 'ranged parry' so you can both parry missiles with a shield and also use them to passively ward a number of locations, if you're using hit locations. Mythras Imperative is a free download and has the core combat system detailed. 

Combat Styles are as broad or as narrow as the campaign setting wants, so a Roman Legionnaire might include all the weapons he is equipped and trained with, a barbarian hunter might know how to use a spear, dagger and bow.