Pavis & Big Rubble Companion: The Directors' Cut Relaunch

[Ian A. Thomson]

As Vol. 02 continues, I am making a few more retro changes to Vol. 01

As mentioned before, Vols. 1&2 are effectively the first and second half of the basic background information for the campaign, so are somewhat intermingled. So adjustments were inevitable

I also found a better font for the sub-headings (way cooler) so have reformatted Vol. 01 too

And in the process of that found a small number of missed errors (sigh, will it never end!!)

But having said, all that, the content of Vol. 02 is now 85% done and laid out, and the core background material is 100% done and laid out, so I think the latest version of Vol. 01 (1.3) may actually be the final one

I will pass it to Fabian to upload with Vol. 02 in January, just in case more changes do happen as I roll on with the completion of this second book

(Contributors who got a free copy feel free to shout me, and I can send you the updated version early. Don't worry, everyone else, they are mostly cosmetic changes only - though good ones!)

On a related note, I seem to have mislaid the contact details of the person who asked if anyone had done a Homeland description (What My Relative/Priest/etc Told Me) and kindly proofed it for me as well as the Real City piece.

I am in the process of completing the final parts of the Rubble Location - The New Flintnail Temple. Finally revealed in all it's glory after the embarrassing map that was part of the original release. I have also further expanded and revised the article itself that Andrew Bean wrote the original version of and I expanded back then...

... Was wondering if this guy (who was running an active campaign in Old Pavis) would be interested in proofing this new article as well. (With the included bonus of an early sighting of the article of course.)

I have a new personal email, which might be why I lost their details

EDIT: Located :)

Edited January 17, 2023 by Ian A. Thomson

[svensson]

Looking forward to the finished product, Ian!

[Tyrian Telbenj]

I finished volume 1 today... I must say that I really liked it and I wish I had volume two at hand so I could read it right away :)

 

[Ian A. Thomson]

I have started several posts by thanking volunteers, and this is one of those.

Having people assist with proofing and RQG stat creation is sheer gold

The effort and time required to revive this series is insane, and I couldn't do it without you

I get to thank myself today too. Was just about to write the last part of a scenario adaptation today, and found the adaptation notes I wrote 20 yrs ago, which saved me a heck of a lot of time

So, where we are at with Vol. 02 is:

• A bit more proofing still needed, but not so much
• Sometime in the next two hours I will finish the penultimate piece [EDIT: Done!]
• The final remaining piece to be written is original so will take some time, but is not a huge piece, which means that probably it will be done by sometime next week
• Layout is all done, except for these last two pieces, but I do layout as I go
• Diana and Kris from Beer with Teeth are actively working on the cover right now (I found a picture that is especially suitable to this volume, and so if anyone remembers seeing the cover I posted some weeks back, that image will be used for another vol instead - probably Vol. 04)
• February is now looking very likely for Vol. 02 to be released - "Old Pavis: The City That Time Forgot"

Edited January 18, 2023 by Ian A. Thomson

[Ian A. Thomson]

Just sent what is almost certainly the final revised version of Vol. 01 to Fabian to upload at his earliest convenience (only the second new upload since the original)

EDIT: Will be a few more days before this goes up, as it is possible I might change something in Vol. 02, which could mean changing a few more sentences in Vol. 01 (No more than a week delay because of this though.)

The Edit note I asked to be added is: "Embarrassingly numerous little corrections and refinements. Plus a fair few small pieces of additional information and slight alterations made to match the material in Vol. 02 as it unfolded."

As for Vol. 02, I just spent the morning rewriting an Old Pavic cult, and I am pretty sure that is the last big work I need to do. Other than I am still writing the last third of the last scenario in Vol. 02.

Busy for the weekend, but this should be completed by the middle of next week, and that's it. Layout is all done apart from these last few pages, indexing 99% done...

Cover is being worked on at this moment, and very little proofing still to do (and amazing people doing it), so all in all Vol. 02 is poised on the edge of being released. :)

Edited January 29, 2023 by Ian A. Thomson

[Ian A. Thomson]

Version 1.3 of Vol. 01 as of yesterday is finally up on DriveThruRPG! :)

As is common, I'll express my gratitude for the volunteers who will henceforth whenever I remember from now on be known as 'collaborators'. If you like these books think of them from time to time, because without these awesome people it would not be possible to get this series out there!

As with v1.2, the slightly revised cover is on the new document (change of text to better reflect RQG terminology) but the preview image is not yet replaced, and preview pages have not yet been reinstated. [EDIT 09 Feb: Fabian the champion has done all these things now.]

Changes:

* LOTS of small error corrections, grammar clarifications etc

* Slight revision of Thandros cult to clarify its role as religion for Old Pavic traders

* Slight revisions of Cults of Pavis & Flintnail (and section describing OId Pavic magic) to clarify their background and oddness and include a few new details (based on the material being written for Vol. 02 that is almost complete now)

* Clarification that the finale of The Ghost in the Darkness will now be the originally-intended Old Pavic Heroquest. (The previously mentioned underground complex has been reverted back to its original form as a Borderlands location. Now that it is clear that Vol. 03 will cover Pavis County and the Zola Fel Valley, it is more suited to be the primary adventure in that book instead.)

[Side note - just managed to squeeze in a DERPG-related skill into the dwarf abilities in Vol. 02. Didn't even realise I had this goal until it happened!]  :)

Edited February 10, 2023 by Ian A. Thomson

[Ian A. Thomson]

Does anyone have a copy of the Exasperating Cadaver (my DERPG pdf adventure)?

I've searched exhaustively online without success, and it remains one of the few major creations of mine that I don't have a copy of

I mention it in this thread since a handful of you kind souls have said that you have collected my work across different genres

Apologies for off-topic, but literally have nowhere else to turn

I want to reformat it and represent it to Pelgrane Press, since I ran it for two groups of Players in DERPG campaigns, and they all said it was the most hysterically amusing adventure they had ever played in. (So I feel it would be a shame if it was lost forever.)

Cheers

Edited February 9, 2023 by Ian A. Thomson

[John Biles]

56 minutes ago, Ian A. Thomson said:

Does anyone have a copy of the Exasperating Cadaver (my DERPG pdf adventure)?

I've searched exhaustively online without success, and it remains one of the few major creations of mine that I don't have a copy of

I mentio

Weirdly, there's a link to it on the Pelgrane site... but it doesn't work.

Anyway, I have it!  

[Ian A. Thomson]

28 minutes ago, John Biles said:

Weirdly, there's a link to it on the Pelgrane site... but it doesn't work.

Anyway, I have it!  

You sir are a superstar

Yes, none of the links work anymore

Now that I am aware of DriveThru this last year, it seems sensible to reformat and resubmit my best support pieces to Pelgrane, so they can make them accessible there again, and Cadaver was my masterpiece :)

Please send to me via PM

Thanks heaps

Edited February 9, 2023 by Ian A. Thomson

[7Tigers]

Quote

Weirdly, there's a link to it on the Pelgrane site... but it doesn't work.

http://web.archive.org to make Pelgrane site link work for zip file for scenario.

[Ian A. Thomson]

19 hours ago, 7Tigers said:

http://web.archive.org to make Pelgrane site link work for zip file for scenario.

Never even thought of that. Doh! Anyway, I have it now, so all good :)

Edited February 10, 2023 by Ian A. Thomson

[Ian A. Thomson]

Giant Pike?

Are there RQ3 stats/combat tactics in existence for such a fish or something very similar?

I'd love a sighting of them if so, so that i can create my own version of a similar creature

[soltakss]

On 2/14/2023 at 8:53 AM, Ian A. Thomson said:

Giant Pike?

Are there RQ3 stats/combat tactics in existence for such a fish or something very similar?

I haven't seen anything, and have searched my archives without success.

[jajagappa]

37 minutes ago, soltakss said:

I haven't seen anything, and have searched my archives without success.

Griffin Mountain, p. 119 has:

• Big Fish (SIZ 182 - much more like a small whale as it swallows SIZ 90 or less whole)
• Elasmosaurs 

Strangers in Prax, Barran the Monster Killer chapter has:

• 10m long sea serpent (couple examples)
• Plesiosaurs (couple examples)
• Spotted Shark (giant shark - might be the best option)
• The Vomiter (really gigantic eel - SIZ 615)

RQ3 Glorantha Bestiary has:

• Manatee - reasonable size/stats but would need to increase the Bite, I think

RQ Classic Gateway Bestiary has:

• Dolphins - could use for reasonable size fish
• Giant Squid

[soltakss]

Wikipedia says that Pike and the similar Muskellunge have a weight as shown by the formula below. Putting that into Excel, a 72 inch (1.83 m) Pike would weigh 101 lbs or 46 kg, equating to SIZ 7 if using the Adventurer Sizes chart on p52 of the RQG Rules. Doubling that to 144 inch (3.65 m) gives a weight of 394 kg, which is probably more like troll sized, in fact RQ3 says that this is SIZ 31. Muskellunge are even larger, with one the same length weighing 607 kg, or SIZ 36.

[Revilo Divad Of Dyoll]

4 minutes ago, soltakss said:

I immediately cast countermagic to block your foul Mostali sorcery!

[Agentorange]

On 2/14/2023 at 8:53 AM, Ian A. Thomson said:

Giant Pike?

Are there RQ3 stats/combat tactics in existence for such a fish or something very similar?

I'd love a sighting of them if so, so that i can create my own version of a similar creature

By a strange coincidence I was talking to Soltakss about Giant Pike only a few  days ago. following my questions about the leaping lakes region I've started writing up  2 spirit cults set in the area. one of them called Brother Pike. I'd decided for reasons best known to myself that Leaping lake and the lakes in the Redwood would have Giant Pike in them.....

That's spooky  😆

another real world fish that might be interesting is the Alligator Gar. is the Zola Fel tidal at all in Pavis ?. Pike are fresh water fish, Gar can be found in brackish water so might fit better.....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alligator_gar

 

Edited February 16, 2023 by Agentorange

[soltakss]

41 minutes ago, Agentorange said:

By a strange coincidence I was talking to Soltakss about Giant Pike only a few  days ago.

I was going to mention you when I came back to the post.

[Ian A. Thomson]

Hi Folks

I would like to make a list of interesting stuff (incidental, weird, useful...) found in an ancient dusty long-lost laboratory from the age of Empires

So I'm hoping to crowdsource some ideas from this wonderful repository of creative individuals :)

[John Biles]

A copy of the Abiding Book signed by one of the witnesses of its creation.

A trial transcript from the trial of a rampaging Trickster put on trial by a God-Learner tribunal.  The list of his crimes ends with 'And one Motion Rune violation'.

An official Dwarven War Report of one of the seasons of the war on Zistor.

A massive folio of diagrams related to Zistor and the Machine City

The travel journal of a team of healers who seemed to always end up solving mysteries more than healing.

A formula for synthetic blood developed by a God-Learner.  Intended to 'help keep Vampires under control'.

A small statuette of Hrestol dressed as an apothecary.

A diorama with a collection of gods from various cultures, assembled to bless the wedding of Ernalda and Monster Man.  (Someone with the right knowledge can tell each god is actually symbolic of a chemical or substance and this is enchanted to aid in various kinds of chemical synthesis.  It just was left this way by the last user.)

A crystal sphere the size of a fist; if you gaze into it, you see a beautiful city shaped like the law rune, seen from high above.  (This is a representation of Solace.  As imagined by its creator.)

A bowl of water in which a stone turtle floats; careful study shows that the parts of its spikey shell which rise above the water depicts the land masses of second age Glorantha.  This shows the world as understood by one of the cultures of the East Iislands.

A small bowl which fits comfortably in the palm of your hand; spend 1 MP and it comes to life, burning with fuel-less flame which looks oddly like the Flame of Sartar... if that flame was lit, anyway.

A 10 gallon glass cylinder without a lid, with a thick layer of some old powder on the sides.

The skin of a dragonnewt, encased in a translucent green fluid inside a sealed glass container.  (The dragonnewt in question is stuck awaiting rebirth until someone releases his skin from the fluid.  Dragonewts literally cannot perceive the container.)

An enchanted lens which doesn't seem to do anything.  (It reveals invisible runes, a common trick in the second age and largely abandoned ever since.  But given the lab's origins, *something* should have invisible runes.)

Once potent but now just old goo containers of magical ink turned into goo by the passage of time.

A glass container holding two pints of a silvery metallic powder which is not actually silver ((It's chromium!)

 

 

 

[Darius West]

On 8/12/2022 at 1:43 PM, g33k said:

Note that I *DID* also suggest there should be a "rabble" category, below even "Fodder."

Perhaps we can come up with a list of increasingly politically incorrect term for the ranks below rabble? 😆

'But if a clamorous vile plebeian rose,
Him with reproof he checked, or tamed with blows.
"Be still, thou slave, and to thy betters yield;
Unknown alike in council and in field:
Ye gods, what dastards would our host command,
Swept to the war, the lumber of a land?
Be silent, wretch, and think not here allowed
That worst of tyrants, an usurping crowd;
To one sole monarch Jove commits the sway;
His are the laws, and him let all obey."'

-Homer, The Iliad 

Edited February 22, 2023 by Darius West

[Erol of Backford]

An annotated history of the Gold Wheel Dancers with illustrations.

Blueprints of a dragon ship, manmade sections.

Map showing chaos locations of old.

A map of the Plateau of Statues identifying them with notes or details about each one.

Details as to Chaos Dwarves of the Tunneled Hills.

Detail how true stone is converted into adamantium.

 

 

 

[Ian A. Thomson]

Thanks for that folks. All great ideas. Was able to use some of them :)

Another question - who did the God Learners worship as a primary? I've tried looking it up, but can't find the answer, and was spending time I could have been continuing with the last bits of Vol. 02. So I've given up and gone back to that more productive task :)

Malkion?

Edited February 23, 2023 by Ian A. Thomson

[Nick Brooke]

1 hour ago, Ian A. Thomson said:

Another question - who did the God Learners worship as a primary?

Malkion?

They were Malkioni, yes. The Jrusteli defined the modern cult of the Invisible God when the Abiding Book was revealed to them. As Malkioni, they were able to treat with lesser deities in “appropriate” ways; members of their Sorcery-using caste were only meant to worship the Invisible God of Malkion, Hrestol and the Witnesses, but of course the God Learners were professional experts at logic-chopping and bending the rules, so make of that what you will.

[Nick Brooke]

(For a pious Malkioni overview of the Second Age, with pretty pictures, see A History of Malkionism).