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Tales of The Wastelands


Fedman Kassad

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Hi folks,

Since the days of RQ2-3 I have always been fascinated by the Wastelands...  The Copper Sands, the Plateau of Statues, Swamps, Broo, the Chaos Box...  All sound so cool and adventurous!

Are there any published works on this fascinating area (beside the Guide)? Any adventures? Any collections of Lore?

Has anyone run an adventure there?

If not, can this thread be the genesis of that collection of Lore to help with my fascination?

Edited by Fedman Kassad
spelling (as per usual)
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2 minutes ago, Fedman Kassad said:

Swamps, Broo,

The Borderlands (available from Chaosium) touches on these fan faves, swamps and broos... but only the edges of what you are talking about. Around the areas of the Western Grantlands. To say more would be a spoiler and this about covers it anyway. I think otherwise that’s it for chaosium published material ...

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... remember, with a TARDIS, one is never late for breakfast!

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6 minutes ago, Fedman Kassad said:

Are there any published works on this fascinating area (beside the Guide)? Any adventures? Any collections of Lore?

Tales of the Reaching Moon, either issue 14 or 15 (or perhaps both) covered Prax and the Wastes.  Unfortunately, not easy to get ahold of now.

Sandy Petersen ran a campaign that included the Tunneled Hills and Plateau of Statues years ago.  It's included in Jeff Okamoto's campaign log which you can find here: https://www.seiyuu.com/okamoto/writing/campaign_log_2_0.pdf

 

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Contents:

There is also Drastic Resolutions: Volume Prax from around the same time. I think that’ll be even harder to find.

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Fortunate Sun by Michael O’Brien goes into the very fringes of the Great Wastes, you might like the atmosphere but it doesn’t include any of the iconic places you mention.

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21 hours ago, jajagappa said:

Tales of the Reaching Moon, either issue 14 or 15 (or perhaps both) covered Prax and the Wastes.  Unfortunately, not easy to get ahold of now.

Sandy Petersen ran a campaign that included the Tunneled Hills and Plateau of Statues years ago.  It's included in Jeff Okamoto's campaign log which you can find here: https://www.seiyuu.com/okamoto/writing/campaign_log_2_0.pdf

 

Thanks, this is awesome!

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On 5/26/2021 at 9:39 PM, jajagappa said:

It's included in Jeff Okamoto's campaign log which you can find here: https://www.seiyuu.com/okamoto/writing/campaign_log_2_0.pdf

That campaign log is pure gold. I remember reading it entirely over a few days like it was a novel a few years ago. 

If you read this Mr. Okamoto, thanks again for sharing those amazing stories with the community at large. I wish there were more campaign logs as riveting as this one !

It must have been so amazing to play this whole campaign with Sandy Petersen as a Game Master. His rendition of the Plateau of Statues is one of the clearest and most gripping images I have of Glorantha in my mind, and his twisted and at times almost sadistic sense of humor only made the whole thing even better.

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Another source would be the old Nomad Gods board game, or its french edition, Les dieux nomades. Not exactly a great source of background information, but one to consider nonetheless. The french edition also has a nice map.

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17 minutes ago, Hijabg said:

If you read this Mr. Okamoto, thanks again for sharing those amazing stories with the community at large. I wish there were more campaign logs as riveting as this one !

 

Okay, sold, I will put this in queue...

 

On 5/26/2021 at 7:39 PM, jajagappa said:

Sandy Petersen ran a campaign that included the Tunneled Hills and Plateau of Statues years ago.  It's included in Jeff Okamoto's campaign log which you can find here: https://www.seiyuu.com/okamoto/writing/campaign_log_2_0.pdf

 

Thanks for mentioning it!

ETA holy s#!t, that’s a helluva log!

 

Quote

Appendix A................................................................................................................228

Appendix B ................................................................................................................229

Appendix C ................................................................................................................230

Appendix D................................................................................................................232

Appendix E ................................................................................................................233

Afterword ...................................................................................................................234

Index ............................................................................................................................236

 

Edited by Bill the barbarian
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... remember, with a TARDIS, one is never late for breakfast!

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On 5/27/2021 at 11:23 AM, Fedman Kassad said:

Hi folks,

Since the days of RQ2-3 I have always been fascinated by the Wastelands...  The Copper Sands, the Plateau of Statues, Swamps, Broo, the Chaos Box...  All sound so cool and adventurous!

Are there any published works on this fascinating area (beside the Guide)? Any adventures? Any collections of Lore?

Has anyone run an adventure there?

If not, can this thread be the genesis of that collection of Lore to help with my fascination?

Actually I have been putting some work into an adventure for The Jonstown Compendium set in the Wastes.  The main obstacle for the area is not so much chaos creatures as the lack of available water.  Thirst will torture you for a week before killing you, broos are normally more impatient than that. 

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7 hours ago, Fedman Kassad said:

Is there any plans for official publications set in the Wastelands?

Not official, but I am working on Secrets of the Oasis Folk, which will cover Oases in the Wastelands, for Jonstown Compendium, if I can escape the clutches of Dorastor.

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Simon Phipp - Caldmore Chameleon - Wallowing in my elitism since 1982. Many Systems, One Family. Just a fanboy. 

www.soltakss.com/index.html

Jonstown Compendium author. Find my contributions here

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On 5/27/2021 at 2:23 AM, Fedman Kassad said:

If not, can this thread be the genesis of that collection of Lore to help with my fascination?

You might find these threads helpful as jumping off points to other info, otherwise start a new thread with the title of what you want to discuss.

 

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8 hours ago, Hijabg said:

Another source would be the old Nomad Gods board game, or its french edition, Les dieux nomades. Not exactly a great source of background information, but one to consider nonetheless. The french edition also has a nice map.

Nomad Gods is the fundamental source for Praxian spirit cults and attitudes. The rules are available in PDF, and Chaosium intends to release an updated edition.

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16 hours ago, Darius West said:

Actually I have been putting some work into an adventure for The Jonstown Compendium set in the Wastes.  The main obstacle for the area is not so much chaos creatures as the lack of available water.  Thirst will torture you for a week before killing you, broos are normally more impatient than that. 

When when when when?????

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On 5/28/2021 at 7:58 AM, Darius West said:

Actually I have been putting some work into an adventure for The Jonstown Compendium set in the Wastes.

Excellent news!

On 5/28/2021 at 7:58 AM, Darius West said:

The main obstacle for the area is not so much chaos creatures as the lack of available water.  Thirst will torture you for a week before killing you, broos are normally more impatient than that. 

A Survival roll is enough to find water. Adventurers can dig beneath the ground to find some lost stream or damp mud that can be used to get drinkable water, or they can cut into a type of cactus and drink from that, or spend Magic Points to Dew Maiden to get enough water to survive for a day, or they can do any number of things to survive.

Sometimes, GMs and authors get hung up about things and it stops them creating scenarios. Just ignore them or use system  mechanics to make them go away and it frees up loads of stuff.

A GM in our RQ2 game ran a journey across the Cactus Desert in the Wastes and had detailed rules about thirst, but one of the PCs had a magical bottle that filled up with weak, foul-tasting ale by spending a Magic Point, thus trashing his scenario.

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Simon Phipp - Caldmore Chameleon - Wallowing in my elitism since 1982. Many Systems, One Family. Just a fanboy. 

www.soltakss.com/index.html

Jonstown Compendium author. Find my contributions here

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On 5/30/2021 at 8:19 AM, soltakss said:

A Survival roll is enough to find water.

Correct, but most characters will have only 15% Survival.

On 5/30/2021 at 8:19 AM, soltakss said:

Adventurers can dig beneath the ground to find some lost stream or damp mud that can be used to get drinkable water, or they can cut into a type of cactus and drink from that, or spend Magic Points to Dew Maiden to get enough water to survive for a day, or they can do any number of things to survive.

This is something that Praxians and Pentans can do, but other peoples will struggle with immensely unless they have the help of the locals.

On 5/30/2021 at 8:19 AM, soltakss said:

Sometimes, GMs and authors get hung up about things and it stops them creating scenarios. Just ignore them or use system  mechanics to make them go away and it frees up loads of stuff.

I completely disagree.  Managing resources and struggling against a hostile environment is extremely immersive as a roleplaying experience.  In many ways a hostile environment is the most daunting "antagonist", and forcing characters to face the shortcomings of their logistics can get them to become very cunning in the way they solve the problems they face.

On 5/30/2021 at 8:19 AM, soltakss said:

A GM in our RQ2 game ran a journey across the Cactus Desert in the Wastes and had detailed rules about thirst, but one of the PCs had a magical bottle that filled up with weak, foul-tasting ale by spending a Magic Point, thus trashing his scenario.

GM didn't think that through.  

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On 5/31/2021 at 6:37 AM, Darius West said:
On 5/29/2021 at 6:19 PM, soltakss said:

A GM in our RQ2 game ran a journey across the Cactus Desert in the Wastes and had detailed rules about thirst, but one of the PCs had a magical bottle that filled up with weak, foul-tasting ale by spending a Magic Point, thus trashing his scenario.

GM didn't think that through.  

Exactly.

This could have been a great opportunity to force the players to choose between thirst and dehydration on one side, and being drunk, reeking of bad breath and dealing with a hangover the day after on the other side. It might be weak beer, but you have to drink a lot of it to stay hydrated in the Wastes.

Maybe some stranger has seen this magical artefact in action and is plotting to acquire it, by force, by ruse, or otherwise. Maybe that stranger is a priestess from the Paps, and this magical bottle comes from there, maybe dating back from before time and before the death of Genert. Maybe it's linked to some grain goddess instead of Eiritha.

Anything can become a challenge, and even more so in the Wastelands.

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On 6/3/2021 at 1:07 PM, Hijabg said:

Exactly.

This could have been a great opportunity to force the players to choose between thirst and dehydration on one side, and being drunk, reeking of bad breath and dealing with a hangover the day after on the other side. It might be weak beer, but you have to drink a lot of it to stay hydrated in the Wastes.

Maybe some stranger has seen this magical artefact in action and is plotting to acquire it, by force, by ruse, or otherwise. Maybe that stranger is a priestess from the Paps, and this magical bottle comes from there, maybe dating back from before time and before the death of Genert. Maybe it's linked to some grain goddess instead of Eiritha.

Anything can become a challenge, and even more so in the Wastelands.

That being said, I hope the GM simply let everyone survive on the weak nasty beer.  If the GM issues an item like that they are obliged to allow players to use them.

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57 minutes ago, Darius West said:

That being said, I hope the GM simply let everyone survive on the weak nasty beer. 

The GM did.

57 minutes ago, Darius West said:

If the GM issues an item like that they are obliged to allow players to use them.

It was a multi-GM campaign and another GM had given it out as a joke item, but we had a gentleman's agreement that we did not nerf other GMs' items.

Soltak Stormspear had a cloak made of shadowcat fur that whirled around him, so any wind blowing on him moved the cloak but left him unaffected. On a HeroQuest the PCs had to retrieve an item from the Hurricane Room, which had winds of STR 60+, but Soltak just walked in and the GM said "Oh, I forgot about your cloak" as I picked up the item and walked out.

 

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Simon Phipp - Caldmore Chameleon - Wallowing in my elitism since 1982. Many Systems, One Family. Just a fanboy. 

www.soltakss.com/index.html

Jonstown Compendium author. Find my contributions here

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