StormQuest: Adventures in a Known World Undreamed of (also Artesia)

[DreadDomain]

On RPG.net, there is a thread about Artesia where it was announced a scenario from Mark Smylie's Artesia, The Last Barrow, was now available on Drivethru. What is of particular interest is that the third appendix includes rules for RuneQuest, as well as ideas on how and where to place the adventure's location in Glorantha.

Before I read this, I was browsing A:AKW lately it struck me how RuneQuest would work like a glove for the Artesia RPG and how the Runes mechanism was perfectly adaptable to simulate the Arcana. This is exactly what this appendix of the Last Barrow is doing. I invite anyone who is interested in Artesia and RQ to give it a look. 

Just for a bit of fun, what game would you love to see published using RQ as a base and adapted as required? I'd go for:

Sword and Barrows. The Artesia/Blackheart/Known World rpg where the Runes are replaced by the Arcana.

Conan: Roleplaying in the Hyborian Age. I always felt RQ/Mythras would be perfect for it. Where the rules are replaced by Personality traits

Stormbringer. Why RQ and not the already beloved Stormbringer/Elric!/Magic World? Because I prefer Skill Category modifiers and a strong emphasis on cultures and personalities. Would be happy to have combat influenced more by Stormbringer.

Mythic Iceland. Well, that's a no brainer.

A good nod to Harn except that I feel it is already very well serviced by Harnmaster.

What else would you buy?

[NickMiddleton]

You do know there’s a version of skill categories in Magic World, right? 😉

[DreadDomain]

1 hour ago, NickMiddleton said:

You do know there’s a version of skill categories in Magic World, right? 😉

I do, I do. As I was writing this I was thinking "someone will come here and tell me Magic World has skill categories and cultures"

I find skill categories and cultures slightly weak in MW when compared to how they are done in RQ. The Last Barrow portray only the Danian culture but they are done as per RQ.

Any other setting you would like to see in RQ or any flavour of BRP?

[DreadDomain]

Well, that went down like a lead balloon. More than 80 views and no one would like to see RQ used for anything else even if only as a dream project... sigh ...

[Sid Vicarious]

The World of Xoth has had releases using D20, Legend, Pathfinder, and 5e. I'd love to see the entire line re-done and unified under a single ruleset, namely RQ, and with colour art and Chaosium production values. 

[DreadDomain]

16 minutes ago, Sid Vicarious said:

The World of Xoth has had releases using D20, Legend, Pathfinder, and 5e. I'd love to see the entire line re-done and unified under a single ruleset, namely RQ, and with colour art and Chaosium production values. 

Good one. That would be a lot easier than doing Conan and would cover the same range I suppose.

[soltakss]

6 hours ago, DreadDomain said:

Well, that went down like a lead balloon. More than 80 views and no one would like to see RQ used for anything else even if only as a dream project... sigh ...

I love Fantasy/Mythic Earth, so have written things for D100 games based on Medieval Britain and the Old Stone Age, so those settings work for me.

RQ would work for them.

Conan and similar Swords and Sorcery fit the RQ rules really well.

 

[Joerg]

Well, I am waiting for Pedro Zivani's Mythic Iceland to hit the shelves, which would fill exactly that niche that you propose above.

Otherwise, I prefer leaner skill systems nowadays.

 

 

[Stephen L]

I always had a fondness for RQ Vikings, so (yet another) vote for Mythic Iceland.

I played Stormbringer when if first came out.  I remember *nothing* about it except I really enjoyed it.

I’d love RuneQuest for Heroic Age Greece, inspired by Odyssey or Aeneid or Argonauts, that would be amazing.  Sumer was a childhood fascination for me, so I’d love Sumerian RuneQuest.

I have a great love for Pendragon as a system, for me its perfect.  But two things limit it.  It only works for playing knights.  Which is great, but eventually you yearn for something else.  And the combat.  It’s a very simple, elegant system, and I should love it. But for me it’s just not as exciting as RuneQuest. 

So, I’d like a medieval RuneQuest, perhaps something Crusader or Byzantine based.  (Aquelarre looks very interesting, if my pockets were deeper). Dark age Europe would excite me very much as well – expanding the horizons from the Vikings, and bringing me back nicely to the start of the post.

[DreadDomain]

17 hours ago, soltakss said:

I love Fantasy/Mythic Earth, so have written things for D100 games based on Medieval Britain and the Old Stone Age, so those settings work for me.

RQ would work for them.

Conan and similar Swords and Sorcery fit the RQ rules really well.

 

You have written a few versions of Merrie England and Robin Hood haven't you? What is the Stone Age one?

[DreadDomain]

11 hours ago, Joerg said:

Well, I am waiting for Pedro Zivani's Mythic Iceland to hit the shelves, which would fill exactly that niche that you propose above.

Otherwise, I prefer leaner skill systems nowadays.

 

What leaner systems do you prefer nowadays? Just curious what you are interested in and what you consider leaner. As an example, I do not consider QuestWorld to be particularly leaner but some might.

[Joerg]

Leanness - comparing a QuestWorlds character sheet with one from RQG, the QW one tells me what my character can do, whereas the RQG character sheet mostly tells me what my character sucks at. Too many skills means a lot of dross data.

 

Ok, so here is my letter to Santa Claus about my rpg:

I like the D100 concept, I like the occasional crunch and grit when it can be made into tactical challenges. I like the absence of experience points in RQ in general, it was what sold me to the RQ3 system over 30 years ago when it became available in Germany at reasonable pricing. (One of the last good deeds of Games Workshop outside of their Warhammer product line.)

I think I would revisit the concept of Defense in RQ Classic and apply it to skill categories, then make skills break-out abilities of that score. I am not a fan of calculating all starting skill values from characteristics. A moderate influence of the characteristics on the starting skill category value is ok.

Since I am not in the business of publishing a game system, I won't look into the legal side of the D100 SRDs that have been discussed on BRP Central. I guess I'd just tinker something together with enough text that players would be able to comprehend my GMing decisions and to build characters with just enough limitations to keep gaming an enjoyable challenge.

Roll-playing (no typo!) to simulate a difficulty development is fine with me - the chase mechanics of RQG (and probably CoC) are a case in point. Simulating aspects of economy, or possibly the positive  development of a holding (manor, stead, clan, tribe, kingdom, enterprise ... you name it) without going directly to a "zero to tycoon" model would be desirable.

 

I have yet to play anything powered by the Apocalypse, using a Monty Haul/Cypher system that creates cool one use magics ex machina. I have played enough FATE to be sceptical of the huge metagaming component. I like a little more ability to predict an outcome probability without having to resort to hero points in QuestWorlds, which otherwise has quite a good game flow.

 

[Akhôrahil]

1 hour ago, Joerg said:

Roll-playing (no typo!) to simulate a difficulty development is fine with me - the chase mechanics of RQG (and probably CoC) are a case in point. Simulating aspects of economy, or possibly the positive  development of a holding (manor, stead, clan, tribe, kingdom, enterprise ... you name it) without going directly to a "zero to tycoon" model would be desirable.

I really wish RQ had that kind of economy/community system to it - I'm trying to create a more detailed economy model for a single stead right now, but it's non-trivial to have it fit with the wider game and not look like an odd bird.

The superb community system in HeroQuest is one of its strongest selling points, I think.

[UDrees]

I would absolutely love an Artesia or Harn adaption. Both settings have fine systems, but they are in both cases more complicated than anything I as a gm can interest my players for.

[soltakss]

On 12/3/2020 at 8:12 AM, DreadDomain said:

You have written a few versions of Merrie England and Robin Hood haven't you? What is the Stone Age one?

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/139266/Legend-Land-of-Ice-and-Stone?affiliate_id=66807

 

[DreadDomain]

6 hours ago, soltakss said:

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/139266/Legend-Land-of-Ice-and-Stone?affiliate_id=66807

 

Thanks, I did not know that. I must admit that I did not follow/support Legend when TDM went their own way so I am not surprised it flew under my radar.

[fluerdemal]

I would be very, very, very happy with RQ Artesia: The Known World...

[DreadDomain]

On a thread on RPG.net, a quote from Mark's Patreon was shared:

Mark Smylie said:

That adventure might wind up being a playtest for SWORD & BARROW, the new edition of the ARTESIA RPG. The covers that I have done recently for the folks at Chaosium and the Jonstown Compendium have helped precipitate a conversation about doing an edition of the RPG with rules based on and adapted from the new edition of Chaosium's RUNEQUEST, and the folks at Chaosium have kindly offered to publish it if I go in that direction. As the Known World was originally built as a RuneQuest setting, this is a natural fit that would feel like a homecoming, though the world and my thinking on how it works has changed a great deal since it was conceived, so there will need to be some tinkering with the rules set to make it all work (you can't go home again, after all). After BLACK HEART is wrapped up I will move the GEOGRAPHIAE and SWORD & BARROW to the fore, including playtest rules.

[jackleg2010]

On 11/29/2020 at 1:03 AM, DreadDomain said:

 

On 11/29/2020 at 1:03 AM, DreadDomain said:

On RPG.net, there is a thread about Artesia where it was announced a scenario from Mark Smylie's Artesia, The Last Barrow, was now available on Drivethru. What is of particular interest is that the third appendix includes rules for RuneQuest, as well as ideas on how and where to place the adventure's location in Glorantha.

Before I read this, I was browsing A:AKW lately it struck me how RuneQuest would work like a glove for the Artesia RPG and how the Runes mechanism was perfectly adaptable to simulate the Arcana. This is exactly what this appendix of the Last Barrow is doing. I invite anyone who is interested in Artesia and RQ to give it a look. 

Just for a bit of fun, what game would you love to see published using RQ as a base and adapted as required? I'd go for:

Sword and Barrows. The Artesia/Blackheart/Known World rpg where the Runes are replaced by the Arcana.

Conan: Roleplaying in the Hyborian Age. I always felt RQ/Mythras would be perfect for it. Where the rules are replaced by Personality traits

Stormbringer. Why RQ and not the already beloved Stormbringer/Elric!/Magic World? Because I prefer Skill Category modifiers and a strong emphasis on cultures and personalities. Would be happy to have combat influenced more by Stormbringer.

Mythic Iceland. Well, that's a no brainer.

A good nod to Harn except that I feel it is already very well serviced by Harnmaster.

What else would you buy?

If I remember correctly Artesia came out of game of based on RQ. You can see the pedigree clearly. But when he published the game, for what ever reason he did use the FUZION system for his printed game. Since Chaosium has released a SRD for BRP, maybe his next edition will use that system.

Edited January 16, 2021 by jackleg2010

[Jason D]

On 11/29/2020 at 7:03 AM, DreadDomain said:

Sword and Barrows. The Artesia/Blackheart/Known World rpg where the Runes are replaced by the Arcana.

As seen above, this is in the discussion/consideration phase. The ball is in Mark's court. We'd be happy to work with him on it, as we are huge fans of his work (as you will see in months to come as more RQ/Glorantha products featuring his art come out).  
 

On 11/29/2020 at 7:03 AM, DreadDomain said:

Conan: Roleplaying in the Hyborian Age. I always felt RQ/Mythras would be perfect for it. Where the rules are replaced by Personality traits

I am uniquely positioned to say that this would be quite the thing, having run a Conan game back in the day using Elric!. We at Chaosium are also big friends with the people at Cabinet Entertainment, who own the rights to Conan, but currently Conan is licensed by Modiphius and they are still actively supporting the line. 
 

On 11/29/2020 at 7:03 AM, DreadDomain said:

Stormbringer. Why RQ and not the already beloved Stormbringer/Elric!/Magic World? Because I prefer Skill Category modifiers and a strong emphasis on cultures and personalities. Would be happy to have combat influenced more by Stormbringer.

It goes without saying that we're huge fans of Moorcock and Stormbringer and would happily work on a new Eternal Champion game - or anything with MM - if the Million Spheres align just right. 

 

On 11/29/2020 at 7:03 AM, DreadDomain said:

Mythic Iceland. Well, that's a no brainer.

Pedro just turned in completed manuscripts for MI and the MI Companion, so it's now a question of how quickly we can do it. 

 

On 11/29/2020 at 7:03 AM, DreadDomain said:

A good nod to Harn except that I feel it is already very well serviced by Harnmaster.

Though Harn is quite an interesting setting (I played some back in high school and college), I think there's too much crossover between the core RQ audience and its potential audience for Chaosium to consider it as a setting.  

 

On 12/2/2020 at 10:35 AM, Sid Vicarious said:

The World of Xoth has had releases using D20, Legend, Pathfinder, and 5e. I'd love to see the entire line re-done and unified under a single ruleset, namely RQ, and with colour art and Chaosium production values. 

I don't know much about it. Is the author interested in talking to us? We're happy to discuss licensing BRP/RQ if someone reaches out.

On my own wish list, I'd love to see us do another original setting or two using RQ as the core engine, perhaps something more unexpected like the New Sun novels, Bas-lag, Neveryon, Empires of Dust (Anna Smith Spark's novel series), or Charles Saunders' Nyumbani. 

There's only so much time in the day, though, so we have to focus on just a few things at a time. 🙂 

 

[Paid a bod yn dwp]

On 12/2/2020 at 8:44 AM, DreadDomain said:

Well, that went down like a lead balloon. More than 80 views and no one would like to see RQ used for anything else even if only as a dream project... sigh ...

I used to think warhammer fantasy Roleplay would be very well serviced using BRP as a base, but i think it’s has a well established pedigree now with newer editions. Still I’ve no doubt it would work very well. 

Big yes to Conan, and a new StormBringer. A decent sword and sorcery game would be excellent. 

[Sid Vicarious]

On 2/16/2021 at 11:35 PM, Jason D said:

 

 

I don't know much about it. Is the author interested in talking to us? We're happy to discuss licensing BRP/RQ if someone reaches out.

 

I posted this at xoth.net, and hopefully Thulsa/Morten will be interested. Xoth is essentially Conan without the benefit and baggage of Conan himself. 

Great news about Mythic Iceland. There is a dangling thread in the Mythic Worlds/Mythic Iceland section that might benifit from this update in an offical capacity.

.

[Aprewett]

The setting (Xoth) is also in the Blade of the Iron Throne rpg. Great game with some poor layout. More deadly combat than RQ.

Edited February 18, 2021 by Aprewett

[Xoth Publishing]

On 2/16/2021 at 1:35 PM, Jason D said:

I don't know much about it. Is the author interested in talking to us? We're happy to discuss licensing BRP/RQ if someone reaches out.

 

I'm the author of the World of Xoth, and I'm interested. Send me a private message to continue the conversation :-)

[Sid Vicarious]

On 2/23/2021 at 10:08 AM, Xoth Publishing said:

I'm the author of the World of Xoth, and I'm interested. Send me a private message to continue the conversation :-)

Hooray!!!