g33k

Well... geez! Given how often I see Mythras praised for layout & clarity (except for the smaller fonts vs aging eyes), TDM's choice is a pretty glowing endorsement. All except for "migratingits" which seems to be some sort of migration-disease. I hope you can get a shot for that, Loz...

I actually DO have a product or two in mind, that I might produce in the manner you are discussing in this thread... One of them would need to be a licensed IP (and I've got no cash to throw at such a license; so it'd be one o' those "passion projects" done strictly for my own enjoyment (though if it got far enough, and was turning out good enough, I might then take my project back to Chaosium and see if THEY thought it was worth -- and they could achieve -- that licensed-IP treatment)). The other... oh, I could license someone's IP, because it's clearly derived/inspired by prior work; but it's a project within a recognizable genre, and no particular "prior work" need be any more a source than any other "prior work," so I can just write to the genre, and be fine. Anyhow... I really DO hope this thread gets plenty of attention ... and participation!

It is indeed a topic worth... uhhh... topicalizing. Of course, there is some risk of a topical becoming anethsitizing, and/or the project sending one towards the Oats & Rye thread by way of Rye, for further anesthesia (I suspect this is a likely conseqence). But, onward! ever onward!

"Icy"? I tend to think of the Yelornans as being relatively passionate, hot-blooded. Not in any erotic sense, just deeply committed to their ideals. But the unicorn/virgin link goes back quite a ways, culturally. Hard to disentangle those, not sure it needs to be done. Star Huntress, Sun-Daughter... Sky/Fire has "purity" as a central tenet, and unicorns~purity is another ancient link. If you're gonna have unicorn riders, best they be virgins. Because a horse with a pointy horn is... frankly, not a unicorn. I'm not saying the tropes don't merit examination, careful handling, maybe some table-talk & session-zero'ing about whether it's a good idea for this game, at this table... But don't make the baby/bathwater mistake! 😁

True enough! That said, there's a fair number of passion-projects and labors-of-love in the gaming-world. I doubt that (for example) @M Helsdon's "Armies and Enemies of Dragon Pass" was guaranteed ANY available market when he began the project... Sometimes -- for amateurs, for new initiatives, etc -- the creator's cost of creating isn't really part of the equation when they consider the question of "making money." This obviously isn't a sustainable business model, or a way for a creative type to keep food on the table & a roof overhead. But the number of really good passion-projects in the gaming world is, frankly, both astounding and dismaying*. * The dismay comes when you realize how much being a creator becomes a "rich person hobby." ** If a bunch of (economically secure) people create works of extremely-high quality, and count their cost of creation at or near zero (because they self-subsidized it via their "real job")... how can someone else, not economically secure, ever hope to make a living at it? That is, why would a customer buy an expensive product from someone making a living wage, vs a cheap (but equally good) product from someone whose living is assured with zero gaming-income? Cents-per-word payments are notoriously poor in gaming (with some notable exceptions), and some publishers have failed to pay, resisted paying, tried to renegotiate downward after the fact, been abominably late, etc etc etc. Some publishers are known to offer first-timers even worse rates. "Take it or leave it" for inadequate pay OFTEN gets "taken" by those same folk who are subsidizing their creative writing with that "real job," and don't really care if they get "paid" a pittance ... or less. ** I still wonder if the cash-infusions that the Moon Design folk (Rick/Jeff/Neil/Michael) brought to Chaosium have ever actually been repaid to them. Despite their undoubted skills and talents that saw the nuChaosium resurrection... there was some cold hard cash that ALSO contributed to the success of the turnaround! None of my business, of course! If any or all of them just regard it as gone in a good cause, or if they're on some "repayment" plan, or if they've long-since been repaid (by the evergreen fountains of Cthulhu and Glorantha) and are now planning their wealthy Scrooge McDuck retirements on tropical beaches with gold-plated lawnchairs... None of it makes any difference in my life.

She was born/created of Her Mother's need, when all the Husband-Protectors were away. The Axe Maidens are just as much Earth-Temple protectresses, as bloody vengeance. And Vinga is as apt to a woman's need for vengeance, as to protect.

There's cheap "stock" and even public-domain art available, but the search for just-the-right-image could be l-o-n-g (and may even prove fruitless in the end). How much is your own time worth to you? If you actually plan to bring it to market, you may want to hire (at least some) freelance artists... and maybe a layout person too.

Presumably; but I guess we'll have to see the specific terms of the license when Chaosium releases it.

Yeah, the Cathars (aka Albigensians) clearly had some of the Manichean concepts in their origins. including dualistic theology, & the idea of spiritual&mental = good / material&physical = evil.

It's not so much RQ that needs SAN rules. It's BRPCentral's "Glorantha" forum that needs SAN rules.

uhhhh.... You want to play a duck served with hollandaise sauce??? Dude, that's just wrong.

Which announcement "just" went out? I mean... I know about the J.C. content via DTRPG, Chaosium's art & templates &c; and the yummy new products available there... But is there something else, something specifically BRP / non-Gloranthan? I'm wondering if a non-Gloranthan / general-BRP version of the MR/JC/etc might be coming... So if someone wanted (for example) to do a BRP product -- up to and including a full RPG -- they could use this channel in lieu of either doing a proposal/publication cycle through Chaosium, or a license of theirs? Seems like a natural replacement-for / evolution-of the old "Monographs" line.

This specific case also strikes me as Babeester-Gor-like... I could see some sort of Vinga / B.Gor as an ambiguous or even formally dualistic thing.

The concepts formally entered early Christianity, and were known as "the Manichean Heresy." Augustine & others addressed it. A dualistic theology, where God isn't necessarily more powerful than the Devil, where the mental/spiritual is "Good" and Godly, the material/physical is "Evil" and of the Devil. Some of this perspective has clearly persisted in Christian & related thought, up through the modern era (q.v. the famous Kevin Bacon docudrama Footloose, among other sources).

Thank you @MOB and @Jeff! One quick query, if you don't mind; and one comment/suggestion: Q: Is this version going to be a big & comprehensive version (BGB-scale / hundreds of pages), or more of a small "Essentials" version (32-96(ish) pages.. not that an online doc has to follow traditional print-publishing "signatures," of course!) , or somewhere in between? Comment: One option that might work well is to release "oglBRP" as a succession of versions; an initial "Essentials" version, oglBRP-1.0; then an expanded version, oglBRP-2.0; then a comprehensive version, oglBRP-3.0 (or 1.0/1.1/1.2; allowing for a total-revision oglBRP-2; or whatever). Add steps/versions as needed, as Chaosium resources are available. (OTOH, above I see MOB telling us that it has been "a long time in development," so maybe the choice to do something like I suggest is long-past, and either has or has not been pursued.) In any case: TYVM once again !!!

The whole BGB was all about different options for BRP play, after all. Nobody every uses all of the BGB in one game... some of the options are incompatible! But clearly there's enough love (and hate) for the CoC7 innovations that many of those should become options in a nuBRP product.

I think it's worth looking at "civil" vs. "urban" here. "Civil" refers to rule of law (or tradition; but external, commonly-understood rules), an eye to the common weal (and also to polite behavior, "civil" behavior). "Urban" merely requires certain kinds of organization. You need food in the cities, and fresh water. You need waste-disposal. Much of the city is inward-turning -- goods and services oriented toward the city-dwellers & city life -- but there still needs enough outer facing to get the resources, and dispose of the waste, and enough organization for all those in-town goods and services to keep the internals of the city operating smoothly. A very "urbanized" place need not be very "civilized" -- it can be ruled by a deranged despot whose whims are law; so long as it's organized enough to sustain the necessities. Similarly, a "civilized" place need not be at all "urbanized" -- rural/agricultural places work just as well under rule of law & with politeness, as they do when ruled by the moods of a dictator.

1. Sunhawk, maybe? Also called "vrok" IIRC. 2. Horse, maybe? -- In Glorantha, the "horse" is, mythologically, a kind of bird(!(wtf?!)), being descended from King Hippogriff via a series of tragic maimings. (And isn't that a grand image: a newborn infant arriving at the stead laying upon the broad back of a horse). I think that ANY "ill-omened" child (arriving with strong & inborn Runic ties to Darkness, Sky, Disorder, etc) will (mostly) be given special attention as they grow, to try to inculcate loyalty despite their differences (also, any such "mythological" birth (e.g. arriving via some sort of messenger-beast, or in a reed basket from a river, etc) is likely to have some expectations that their adult selves will have a similarly-mythological destiny), or maybe fostered to an appropriate family (e.g. a Dark-Rune babe to a Dark Orlanthi tribe). That's "mostly" getting special attention or fosterage... Alternatively, IMHO, they may (occasionally) instead be left exposed to die (as per the Greco-Roman/Biblical/Mesopotamian/etc legends), somewhere out in the wilds. Which happens will depend mostly on the local tribe's own habits & predilection, and/or their current state of travails. I presume there are a few such fosterlings -- humans raised by Trolls, or by Beastfolk, or etc; likely to come back to humankind in dramatic and discomforting ways. I think it's the outward/physical manifestation of their inner lack of impulse-control: myths are big on inner realities manifesting outwardly (it's a kind of primitive POV... but then, Glorantha is a very primal & mythical kind of world). As noted above, "Trickster" isn't a ha-ha-joke "prankster." When Trickster acts, people can DIE from those pranks; whole tribes may die; the very Gods can die! Trickster characters are dangerous, every bit as dangerous as Orlanth or Humakt characters... but with less restraint or discretion as to who suffers the danger. And above all, Tricksters are a danger to themselves! Welcome to Glorantha! "More than a little weird" is the norm. Your Glorantha May (Will!) Vary.

I suppose it's possible that Jeff will come back and revisit the topic in-thread... Probably a substative new thread for the nuBRP, however: the first few pages of THAT thread are hardly a good prologue for discussion of the nuBRP initiative! 😁 Once there actually IS a... y'know... a nuBRP document being released under Chaosium-OGL. Because until that doc&OGL happen, it remains the case (as per that thread) that "... there is no OGL for BRP..." 😋 IIRC, Jeff said that Chaosium's OGL(ish) license for HQ/QW is done... I don't know if the BRP license will differ, or need reconsideration of any kind. And, of course, Chaosium still needs to actually create the nuBRP document.

quaaaaaack!

Wikipedia states that "Sophisticated Games" holds the license to create Middle Earth "board games." Wikipedia also states that C7's 2011 TOR was produced "in collaboration with" Sophisticated Games. (this strikes me as not the sort of content likely to be wiki-warred , sabotaged, or just written in ignorance; so more likely correct than not; but as with all things Wikipedia, grains of salt are mandatory) C7 states they were unable to agree on new licensing terms with Sophisticated games. Does this clarify your balrog? Also: balrog -- FLEE, you FOOLS!

Pretty sure the axes here about are kept permanently Bladesharp'ed, for instant deployment.

Well, Chaosium's new edition of RQ adopts some of the same mechanisms as "Passions," but reskinned for Glorantha. "Hates Trolls" & "Fears Dragons" & so on. In the general case, "Loves <X>" or the like. Also "Loyalty: <X>" and "Devotion <X>" and so forth. It also makes Runic affiliations into such Traits; Runes as descriptors of personality and behavior, e.g. "Air" is associated with being proud, and with being violent. So meekness and humility, or any sort of "turning the other cheek," is a challenge for PCs strong with the Air Rune. Some runes are paired with an opposite (e.g. Harmony/Disorder, Fertility/Death), in that raising one lowers its opposite; others are not. It may be worth studying RQG for more exemplars & inspiration of ways to use this notion...

Some players really want to get the ruebooks, so anything utterly out-of-print becomes a barrier; and if it's rare and/or expensive on the used market, a prohibitive barrier. If it can't be readily and reasonably had on Amazon, some won't even consider it. Me? I'm with you -- if it's on my shelves and I want to run it, I'm good! But if my players want copies of some of that older stuff (and some of them do) it can be a problem. Some of the older books aren't really very sturdy these days, to be loaned-out by turns so everyone gets a shot, passed around as the sole table-reference, etc ...

I believe (but do not know for a fact) that this is one of those old-school "small publishers" of gaming -- the author/designer IS the company; a sole proprietor. What he makes from gaming books, the company makes; and vice versa. I don't know if he hires any freelancers, nor do I know that he does not.