Mark Smylie's 'The Barrow' - an adventure for Artesia with stats for RuneQuest and adaption notes for Glorantha

[MOB]

"For fans of RuneQuest and/or Mark Smylie's Artesia comics, here's an adventure set in The Known World with stats for RuneQuest and notes to adapt it to Glorantha. Officially authorized, no less. It is always a pleasure to work with Mark."—Jason Durall, RuneQuest creative director.

Available now at DriveThruRPG!

BTW, Mark is long-time RuneQuest and Glorantha fan. You can also see more of his artwork for Glorantha on the cover of Martin Helsdon's Men of the West and The Armies and Enemies of Dragon Pass in the Jonstown Compendium. 

 

Edited December 2, 2020 by MOB

[DreadDomain]

1 hour ago, MOB said:

"For fans of RuneQuest and/or Mark Smylie's Artesia comics, here's an adventure set in The Known World with stats for RuneQuest and notes to adapt it to Glorantha. Officially authorized, no less. It is always a pleasure to work with Mark."—Jason Durall, RuneQuest creative director.

I thought this supplement is pretty good. Please consider a full Artesia RQ game. Just sayin'.

1 hour ago, MOB said:

BTW, Mark is long-time RuneQuest and Glorantha fan. You can also more of his artwork for Glorantha on the cover of Martin Helsdon's Men of the West and The Armies and Enemies of Dragon Pass in the Jonstown Compendium. 

 

I think I read on Reddit that he was working on more Glorantha covers.

[MOB]

3 minutes ago, DreadDomain said:

I think I read on Reddit that he was working on more Glorantha covers.

He is! Mark is doing the cover art for The Red Book of Magic for Chaosium, and another forthcoming Jonstown Compendium release.

[DreadDomain]

29 minutes ago, MOB said:

He is! Mark is doing the cover art for The Red Book of Magic for Chaosium

Hopefully he has already done it! Isn't it a December digital release?

29 minutes ago, MOB said:

 and another forthcoming Jonstown Compendium release.

You're such a tease...

[Psullie]

That looks great, I love the atmosphere generated by the maps 

[Grievous]

7 hours ago, DreadDomain said:

I thought this supplement is pretty good. Please consider a full Artesia RQ game. Just sayin'.

Huge fan of the Known World setting and Mark's art. I have wanted for more Artesia RPG stuff to come and know he is thinking about a 2nd edition, which might indeed use RQ. While it is a relatively good fit, I do also very much like what he did with Fuzion, making it very much his own and giving the game a unique feel. So I'm a little bit on the fence on whether he should ditch that uniqueness to come into the RQ fold. 

Very happy to see him involved in making art for Chaosium and Jonstown Compendium 

Edited December 2, 2020 by Grievous

[Akhôrahil]

42 minutes ago, Grievous said:

Huge fan of the Known World setting and Mark's art. I have wanted for more Artesia RPG stuff to come and know he is thinking about a 2nd edition, which might indeed use RQ. While it is a relatively good fit, I do also very much like what he did with Fuzion, making it very much his own and giving the game a unique feel. So I'm a little bit on the fence on whether he should ditch that uniqueness to come into the RQ fold. 

Fuzion is a weird choice that probably doesn't do the sales any favors.

One of the coolest things about the RPG is how the design credits are a simple "Mark Smylie". He did _everything_, and it really shows - I can barely even imagine the amount of work. The game is gorgeous and has an impressive creative unity.

Edited December 2, 2020 by Akhôrahil

[Nick Brooke]

13 hours ago, DreadDomain said:

You're such a tease...

Related:

[DreadDomain]

20 hours ago, Akhôrahil said:

Fuzion is a weird choice that probably doesn't do the sales any favors.

I personally like Fuzion but I agree as a system, it isn't a big draw. While there is a lot I like about A:AKW, I am particularly turned off by the number of characteristics (15).

[Akhôrahil]

2 hours ago, DreadDomain said:

I personally like Fuzion but I agree as a system, it isn't a big draw. While there is a lot I like about A:AKW, I am particularly turned off by the number of characteristics (15).

I wonder if this is a probe to see if there's any interest in BRP Artesia.

[tnli]

1 minute ago, Akhôrahil said:

I wonder if this is a probe to see if there's any interest in BRP Artesia.

I would love BRP Artesia! 

I would also love finishing the darn comic! X) 

[Akhôrahil]

6 minutes ago, tnli said:

I would also love finishing the darn comic! X) 

I imagine he would too - I assume it's all about the sales?

[Grievous]

As I've understood it, it's unlikely the comic will get finished, but we will likely see Artesia's story picked up in the novels - here's hoping they turn out to be commercially successful! Of course, things might always change somewhere down the line...

From my perspective, while I understand the shift to the novels as a less cumbersome way of delivering the story, it would be perfect to bring the comic to at least somewhat of a conclusion before moving into pure text though, instead of the immense cliffhanger it currently ended with. Also, the comics stand out as one of the most amazing things in the fantasy genre so yeah, I'd love to see more, even if it would be just a little bit more.

Edited December 3, 2020 by Grievous

[DreadDomain]

9 hours ago, Akhôrahil said:

I wonder if this is a probe to see if there's any interest in BRP Artesia.

I wouldn't read that much into it but maybe. Over the years we have heard/read of a potential A:AKW second edition, a d20/D&D adaptation, a Fate adaptation and because Mark is a RQ fan, a RuneQuest or Mythras edition. No clue how far any of these ideas have been seriously explored.

9 hours ago, tnli said:

I would love BRP Artesia! 

Me too. Out of the lot mentionned above, I would be keen for RQ, Mythras or more generally BRP. My first choice would be RQ. 

9 hours ago, tnli said:

I would also love finishing the darn comic! X) 

Me too!

9 hours ago, Akhôrahil said:

I imagine he would too - I assume it's all about the sales?

And novels require less effort apparently. I read "The Barrow" and thought it was quite good although it tookm me a while to get use to the narrator (I listened to the audiobook while I drove to work) and there was a bit too much porn for my taste.

[Grievous]

21 minutes ago, DreadDomain said:

And novels require less effort apparently. I read "The Barrow" and thought it was quite good although it tookm me a while to get use to the narrator (I listened to the audiobook while I drove to work) and there was a bit too much porn for my taste.

I actually dropped the Barrow half-way on my first read. When I restarted it out of pure interest for the setting, I devoured it though (I knew what I was getting into), and the sequel Blackheart that's at work over on Patreon is very, very solid. I think he's really nailed down his tone and storytelling in that one (and the porn feels less gratuitous overall - and I'm not saying I'm at all opposed to a fantasy story with more abundant sex, but I can definitely understand that it can be jarring).

[DreadDomain]

On 12/4/2020 at 7:38 AM, Grievous said:

I actually dropped the Barrow half-way on my first read.

I had to power through the first half as well but I believe it was more because I had a hard time adapting to the narrator. The second half and particularly the climax is pretty good though.

On 12/4/2020 at 7:38 AM, Grievous said:

When I restarted it out of pure interest for the setting, I devoured it though (I knew what I was getting into), and the sequel Blackheart that's at work over on Patreon is very, very solid.

It's tempting but I am not sure I could read a PDF that long.

On 12/4/2020 at 7:38 AM, Grievous said:

I think he's really nailed down his tone and storytelling in that one (and the porn feels less gratuitous overall - and I'm not saying I'm at all opposed to a fantasy story with more abundant sex, but I can definitely understand that it can be jarring).

I am usually unphased by sex, violence and horrible things (like human sacrifices, canibalism, slavery, sexual violence) in a book/story when it is done to enhanced the context and the mood and how terrible the world can be. In some of the scenes, very graphic, it just read like... porn. At some point I was even thinking that he might have written this part when he was 16 or something. The rest is pretty good and like I said, the climax is well done. 

[Zenith Comics Presents...]

Sorry to Raise Thread, but figured here would be better than starting a new one. What existing BRP compatible magic systems do you think would best cover Artesian magic as presented in the comics?

HUGE fan and really hope the Known World is released as BRP compatible