Nozbat

7 hours ago, RogerDee said:

Just have a Mythos: Lore (General) skill, then have another one: Mythos: Lore (Old Ones), Mythos: Lore (Aliens) etc. Is that what you had in mind?

So if someone read a book on Mythos Lore (Abhumans) they would only get mythos knowledge related to them, and whatever may have been detailed without dealings without outside agencies, e.g. skirmishes with Migo, or whatever. But it would be very limited knowledge.

 

 

Could we have a Mythos: Lore (goats) ?

36 minutes ago, soltakss said:

Orlanthi (Kilt-wearing): Clearly, they should not wear underwear, but some might cheat, if only to use the Devils in Skirts theme from Carry On Up the Khyber.

As a half-scot I feel I need to let people know that my (Scottish) Great-uncle said, "The only thing worn below kilts is your socks."

Any self respecting Kilt-wearing Orlanthi would never do a Charles Hawtrey and wear any sort of underwear

If you want Late Roman Britons the the Foundry are not bad..

https://www.wargamesfoundry.com/collections/arthurian-british

For late Imperial Romans..

https://www.wargamesfoundry.com/pages/late-imperial-romans

For medieval warriors..

https://www.wargamesfoundry.com/collections/early-medieval-barons-wars-the-13th-century

Other figures are of course available

23 minutes ago, AlonsoAguilurk said:

I love that idea. I'll be stealing that for my games. Some prior prep will be needed to get the tone of the excerpts right, but I love how it builds into the atmosphere. 

Some of the description can be obtained from the Monster section which quote Lovecraft's own description... but a quick way is to show a picture of the creature (and there are some great pieces of artwork available) and add a few words about how it moves, smells, size etc... and let the players call it something ...they are generally good at making up names.. saves the Keepers creativity for other things...

My players have an abject fear of goats and a pathological hatred of trees after playing Dark Offerings.. and I tend to wind them up between sessions by posting ambiguous statements alongside pictures of their enemies, monsters, or scenes... to be fair to them they play along with it

I'm not sure that it would add anything to the game other than an extra complications particularly as you point out an enormous amount of work for Keepers to chart out the contents of every tome. But your point is valid. I tend to simplify it as a Keeper by (a) rolling players Mythos myself (b) only giving general hints about what they know if the roll is successful (c) never giving proper names for monsters (ie Burrowing Horrors= Dholes) I usually show them a picture and let them describe it and name it themselves. I do the same for spells. I find it keeps them guessing as all my players have read Lovecraft and have previous experience of other Keepers.

As Keeper you know what creatures they have encountered in the past and you can include that in the narrative of the story. For me it isn't necessarily about being accurate its about enjoyment and having a reasonably credible narrative, keeping suspense and growing the horror. 

But everyone is different and if you feel it would be a useful in your Cthulhu and it adds to it...just do it... you can share the results with us!

15 hours ago, Simlasa said:

Annoying.
I did it for an online convention and, I think I could have pretty much ignored it... but the other fellows seemed to feel a need to ham up their 'performance' and it became one of the weirder RPG experiences I've had.

There's nothing like a good ham.. even if I am a vegetarian 

My experience that 'haming" is the default position of a lot of players at conventions

2 hours ago, Raleel said:

It’s a bit irritating, but mostly not. My group has been together a long time and we trust each other. We are very lucky. 

Its very different but in some ways a bit liberating. I've found that using video technology allows more frequency for playing short 2 hour sessions. It also brings into stark contrast skills of the GM and the ability to ensure everyone is engaged. Even with existing familiar groups there are some personalities who dominate and often the role I find that I most take is that of facilitator. I have started each session with a quick round of 'where you think you are now' which allows for some analysis of the situation and planning about what they are going to do. Insisting players take notes during sessions and use Action Plans at the end of sessions has also been useful. It provides a link between sessions. Making sure I get feedback , particularly on things that didn't go well has ironed out problems before people get disgruntled.

My main issue has been acclimatising to 20 years of RPG development that I've missed !

11 minutes ago, Jakob said:

I'm okay with it by now. Ran a short rules-lite campaign with Tiny Dungeons, a short campaign with Troika!, and at the moment, I'm playing RQ: Glorantha and the old game I began with, "Das schwarze Auge", with my old group from school days online. We've been using Zoom, Google Hangouts and Skype; for some reason, Zoom seems to have the most consistently good video and audio quality.

However, I'm doing most of this playing with people that I'm very familiar with at the rpg table; I also took part in a two-short with mostly unfamiliar people, and that didn't really work that well.

I've been using Zoom for sessions with ironically old school friends too. Maybe thats the difference, having people you know over a long time. I haven't played RPGs for a long time and had been relying on the occasional Boardgame to satisfy my gaming lust. In lockdown (although my work has been operating as usual throughout as I work in frontline services)  we've played CoC and RQ which has worked pretty well. I guess it also depends on the technology available but I'd use screen sharing often and use maps which I can draw and add to in real time. It also means I generally would be using my laptop and iPad simultaneously. PM and break-out rooms have been good for individual moments during the session. I've also used email to request written statements for Police interviews.  Really its all about adapting to our strange new world and looking for solutions to issues that arise. Gaining feedback from participants about what works and what was an abject failure is useful.The main issue for me is getting people to talk one at a time and ensuring that everyone is brought into the game.

Next time I'm in Berlin, I must get round to visiting your shop. My wife is German and I'm in Berlin fairly often until recently.

Just did a one-on-one session on Zoom to start off some new adventures with a few starting players...

I'm interested how others have found playing on video?

The Hook.pdf

On 7/7/2020 at 8:03 PM, HierophantX said:

Sorry 😐 I revisited the reviews and I must’ve blended that initial small font comment with some other reviews of something else.

I already have the English PDFs for Mythras, Mythic Britain, MB Companion and Logres. Just getting tired of PDFs I guess. 

I printed the PDFs and got them bound

15 minutes ago, nclarke said:

There's two versions of Empire. One (I have a softbound copy for MRQi) and one for MRQII (I have the hardback version) they are IIRC slightly different in content.

I assume neither is in print ?

4 hours ago, lawrence.whitaker said:

Precisely. 

12 hours ago, g33k said:

So like... a "fantasy Hanseatic city" in rather the same way Fioracitta (sp?) will be a "fantasy renaissance-Italian city"?

Directly inspired-by, but not specific or historical?

My apologies g33k.. the keyword, which I ignored, in your post is 'fantasy'.. in which everything is possible

15 minutes ago, lawrence.whitaker said:

You're actually in the wrong sub-section...

Ships & Shield Walls is a Mythras supplement, not a Legend one. I'd move it over, but I don't have admin privileges to do so.

done... I'm learning the complexity of political realism

I had the opportunity to have my first go at participating in a battle using Ships and Shield Walls rather than the previous method of running individual mini-battles that we used to use to simulate warfare. Overall, I was very impressed and it worked well as all the player characters commanded (to a greater but usually lesser ability) a small war band. 

I was wondering if anyone had any modifications that they had found helpful?

That's me with the white shield attacking some heavily armed Irish "fishermen' who had taken up residence without applying for a fishing permit or building control when building a stockade

I had the opportunity to have my first go at participating in a battle using Ships and Shield Walls rather than the previous method of running individual mini-battles that we used to use to simulate warfare. Overall, I was very impressed and it worked well as all the player characters commanded (to a greater but usually lesser ability) a small war band. 

I was wondering if anyone had any modifications that they had found helpful?

That's me with the white shield attacking some heavily armed Irish "fishermen' who had taken up residence without applying for a fishing permit or building control when building a stockade

8 hours ago, g33k said:

So like... a "fantasy Hanseatic city" in rather the same way Fioracitta (sp?) will be a "fantasy renaissance-Italian city"?

Directly inspired-by, but not specific or historical?

It would be wrong to consider the Italian communes, or indeed the Lombard League, similar to the Hanseatic League. There are fundamental differences in the way they operated. The Italian communes were in most part individual states that sometimes combined due to external threat (mostly the Holy Roman Emperors desire to exert his authority) but for the most part they fought each other (consider Venice, Genoa and Pisa vying for dominance of trade and seapower in the Mediterranean). Their ability to work together was very limited.

The Hansa, on the other hand, placed an emphasis on co-operation and a sleight against one city was a sleight against all. Their ability to achieve their end without recourse to declaring war or rebellion from the temporal powers was remarkable. They never declared war on one of their own cities but used temporary suspension of rights to bring errant cities back into the fold.And a hefty fine.

The desire for freedom in the north of Europe was more a desire to allow commerce and wealth to flow instead of being subject to the petty whims of barons, assorted greater nobility, feuding statlets and the Church that often preyed on merchants, townsfolk and peasants. The desire for freedom from the predatory nobility and the strict confines of feudalism was no doubt ignited by commerce with the Italian communes and their experience but was also influenced by the fact that they saw they had more rights, freedoms and privileges in foreign countries they had trade deals with than they had when they returned home to their native cities. Something was always going to give in that.

Lawrence, I was looking at your Guilds, Factions and Cults supplement as a possible template for the Hansa but the League was more akin to a nation state in that it could declare war, defend its borders, bully the Holy Roman Emperor and conclude extremely favourable trade treaties without even referring to the 'Art of the Deal'. 

I was thinking how to conceptualise the Hansa. For those Hansestadts in the League it brought freedom, wealth and power that challenged Emperors, Kings, nobility and the Church, created  powerful burghers, possibly started a (bourgeoisie) democratic movement and arguably ended feudalism. For those cities, states and countries that were outside the Hansa, it must have been viewed with dark trepidation and given the often unfavourable trade treaties that they were forced to sign, they must have been viewed as the Evil Empire. 

However there is a lot of source material to suggest that some countries still found it beneficial (ie The Steelyards in London until it was sacked at the request of English Wool Merchants in 1469) or others that found them despotic (ie the Bergen Factory) and others that were willing to battle them for the right to the shifting Herring fisheries (Kalmar Union).

I assume Gülden will be a Stupor Mundi supplement? Can you tell me how you are viewing the Hanseatic League? (thats if it's not a state secret)

3 minutes ago, lawrence.whitaker said:

We have a supplement in the works - Guelden - that is in part based on one of the Hanseatic League cities.

Excellent... I was thinking that the Hansa Factory set-up could be the source of many interesting scenario plots given its ubiquitous presence throughout northern Europe and allow engagement with those cultures that I find interesting..

The only sad bit about your post is...'part based'...lol

thanks Soltakss... I'd looked at your stuff earlier...or possibly last night which I remember perusing years ago... and maybe even swopped a few emails with you

I was thinking possibly about the Hansa period in Northern Europe.. or Early Middle Ages in laypersons terms:

The Hanseatic League (also known as Hansa, Hanse, 1356-1862 CE) was a federation of north German towns and cities formed in the 12th century CE to facilitate trade and protect mutual interests. The league was centred in the German town of Lübeck and included other German principalities which established trade centers ranging from Kievan Rus through the Netherlands, Scandinavia, and Britain.

Thanks both for your replies. I appreciate it. 

I guess I've had these ideas for many years and have collected lots of source material from historical texts and fantasy genres without actually ever doing anything about it. Mainly, I guess because real life got in the way with family and a busy job. I've now begun to have more time and with lockdown the time to actually begin playing RPGs again after a hiatus of 25 years.

In the past I have run several alternate earth campaigns involving several generations of characters (Vikings, Celtic and an aborted Mycenaean Greek campaign based on Robert Graves writings)

As a oldtime player its interesting to see how the game has evolved and I have a lot of catch-up to do

You're right Vile.. the first thing is to set boundaries and decide on an epoch and how a magical world interacts with the 'real' world. My historical interest has always been Heroic age Greece, Celtic Mythology (being Irish), Greco-Roman/ Carthaginian and Scandinavian/ Rus/ Slavic history. Its way too broad and although each area has had my interest for 30 odd years I need to make decisions.

There is a lot of thinking to do but equally its good not to re-invent the wheel but possibly collaborate and add to existing work

I'll think about it and post some stuff as I do for comment

Hey people

I'm interested in discussing ideas for a Mythic Earth campaign possibly along the idea of some of Poul Anderson's novels (Broken Sword, Three Hearts and Three Lions, Merman's Children)

I've flirted with various ideas in the past but never quite got it together to go further than write a few ideas down

I'd be happy to collaborate if anyone else is interested