RuneQuest: Classic Fantasy

[RosenMcStern]

Don't be so sour, Simon. After all, all of those supplement promised for "Next Year" have seen the light - maybe a couple decades later, but they have

 

The cover rocks, by the way - it captures the feeling perfectly.

[silent_bob]

Rod and Loz, 

 

The cover looks AWESOME!

 

I am very excited about this conversion!

[hkokko]

You can do quite reasonably RQ6 with Glorantha https://notesfrompavis.wordpress.com/2014/04/10/starting-a-glorantha-rq6-campaign-before-adventures-in-glorantha/

 

Many of the creatures are already available from RQ Encounter for example check: https://notesfrompavis.wordpress.com/2014/12/25/obviously-unbalanced-chaos-in-dorastor/ 

 

Will take a look if there is something specific missing for Shadows on the Borderlands - which was a fantastic place to do some years back when we did it with the old rules. 

 

 

All of the cults have interim version here for Rq6 : https://notesfrompavis.wordpress.com/category/cult/main-page-cult/

[hkokko]

The cover is awesome and will of course put the product on the purchase list as soon as it is available. Can't wait to get to see the monsters and they will likely appear at one point in the RQ Encounter tool crowdsourced or otherwise..

[mikuel]

So whats the status of Classic Fantasy?  How close are we getting?

[threedeesix]

Hey Mikuel,

 

Its coming along and making great progress. Just adding a last minute chapter and filling in the rest of the book with monsters, spells, and magic items until I run out of room or Loz and Pete make me stop.  ;-)

 

That's really all I have for now, sorry. It should be turned in soon, with soon being a relative term. Thanks for your interest.

 

Rod

[Sunwolfe]

That's great news Rod; thanks for the update.

 

Ya know, my wife cooked a pork rib roast the other night. She wrapped 'em real careful in aluminum foil...nice and tight. Then she set the oven for seriously low: 178 degrees and baked 'em for nearly 14 hours. She set an alarm and go up during the night to check on 'em, tested the temperature with a meat thermometer, adjusted the heat just so. The house smelled amazing. I had be be gone when they were unveiled, but when I got home, I was finally able to sample 'em. Food of the gods, my man; food...of...the...gods!

 

So you just take all the time you need and get that CF baked just right...in the mean time, the promise smells glorious :-)

 

Cheers,

[Jack Tar]

Good one Sunwolfe. Top draw stuff.

[mikuel]

It's been another month since I asked last.  So how is the progress now?

[smjn]

From http://designmechanism.freeforums.org/april-2015-news-t1034.html
 

Classic Fantasy
Rod Leary has just about completed the manuscript and its into editing. The cover is done (and we've shared it - more superb Eric Lofgren work), and we'll be looking at commissioning art for the interior soon.

 

[mikuel]

So it sounds like a very long time before completion 

[Baragei]

In the time-honoured tradition of d100-games, good things come in late deliveries

[lawrence.whitaker]

So it sounds like a very long time before completion 

It's shameful that roleplaying books take so long to complete. I mean, a book, written from scratch, 18 chapters long, with development time, play testing, editorial, art commissioning, proofing and then actual production ought to be out within a few months of announcement.

 

We'll try to be faster in future.

[nclarke]

If you Kickstart it you can add another six months  or a year to the time frame if you really need to. I'll put a smiley face on so those whose first language is not English will realise I'm joking about adding extra time.:-)

[smjn]

I mean, a book, written from scratch, 18 chapters long, with development time, play testing, editorial, art commissioning, proofing and then actual production ought to be out within a few months of announcement.

Not months but weeks if not days.

 

See that you do!

 

(    )

[soltakss]

It's shameful that roleplaying books take so long to complete. I mean, a book, written from scratch, 18 chapters long, with development time, play testing, editorial, art commissioning, proofing and then actual production ought to be out within a few months of announcement.

 

We'll try to be faster in future.

 

I think it was a statement, rather than a complaint.

[lawrence.whitaker]

I think it was a statement, rather than a complaint.

 

 

On its own, yes. But taken in context with the two posts on the previous page, it comes across as a complaint. And I'm sorry, but it makes me tetchy. Both Rod and I have been open and shared information, but there's still this particular expectation that somehow the book should appear sooner.

 

It takes at least a year to get a book into print. Even though we're a small company, we juggle multiple titles and to do that we work to a publication plan. If we'd Kickstarted Classic Fantasy, or set a hard promised release date, such comments would be entirely fair; but we haven't. We know the logistics of the business and so we're careful to explain what is and isn't possible and realistic.

 

I know Classic Fantasy is highly anticipated by quite a lot of people in the BRP community. Having read Rod's manuscript, I can tell you it will be worth the wait. But it's a process and a time consuming one. No, it won't be released in the next few weeks. It is likely to be towards the end of the year and there's no apology for that. We'll release Classic Fantasy when it is ready; and when we have some progress to share we'll share it openly.

[Sunwolfe]

I don't blame you for feeling a bit harried...hell, it bothers me and I'm not even remotely connected with the process.

 

It reminds me of grandchild 4.0..."I want coco!"

Not: "Can I have some coco, Seannair?" or "Could you please make me some cooc?" or "Oh, I see you're scrubbing the toilet right now, but when you're done, would you mind mixing me up some coco?" They have absolutely no sense of anything or anyone other than themselves and their perceived needs (despite a full set of teeth and an amazing vocabulary) and coco, well, coco simply is. While she doesn't intentionally mean to be self-centered, she still has a lot yet to learn...just like her mother did, just like her auntie did, just like her sister did.

 

Adults are a lot like that...just a bit more passive/aggressive: "It's been an hour; when do I get my coco?" You think this is pushy try sitting across from a helicopter-parent at parent/teacher conferences   !

 

But for every "I want it all and I want it now, now, now" and "are we there yet, yet, yet" there are a whole boat-load of who get it, and though we too are very eager, and appreciate both that it takes time and that you're at the wheel.

 

Loz (and by extension, Rod), cheers, mates and thanks for the hard work...and don't let 'em make ya too "...tetchy..." :-).

[threedeesix]

I don't take anything too personally. I'm every bit a fan as much as a writer and I understand how difficult it can be to have to wait for something your excited about.

 

But now I'm on the other side of the door and can see it from a completely different prospective. If it was as simple as writing it and turning it in, you would have had it months ago, but it would have been broken and suffered from balance issues.

 

I have a great group of playtesters that do nothing but take everything I write and stretch it, pull it, and twist it an an attempt to see if it gives. Unfortunately, many times it does and has to be rewritten. This can and does include complete chapters, which is time consuming.

 

So while I understand your impatience, the book will be better in the long run for the time it has taken to produce it.

 

Rod

[mikuel]

I read somewhere that classical Fantasy was coming out at the beginning of the year.  In one of threedeesix posts, he said he was finishing up the last couple of chapters so I was assuming it was almost done.  I know nothing of publishing a rpg.  Don't worry, I won't ask about it again.

[threedeesix]

That would be where the confusion has come from. I said I was turning it in at the beginning of the year, from that point there is still lots to do.

[dracopticon]

I have a great group of playtesters that do nothing but take everything I write and stretch it, pull it, and twist it an an attempt to see if it gives. Unfortunately, many times it does and has to be rewritten. This can and does include complete chapters, which is time consuming.

 

So while I understand your impatience, the book will be better in the long run for the time it has taken to produce it.

 

Rod

I am just immensely glad that this project is still underway. Sheesh, I don't get a lot of people's opinion these days. Why demand a rushed production at all if it in the end can really gladden your gaming group? Ok, I understand it's been uttered some early dates concerning pubilishing dates on this. But I see this project as a huge undertaking considering it is trying to convert RPG table top history's biggest and earliest game system to BRP. Not a small thing.  

And, as a side note, when this is done, I'd like to see one of the greater dungeons of AD&D converted to BRP. Can't wait to try it out.

[threedeesix]

Part of the problem in how long I have been working on this is just how many systems I have written it for; BRP, OpenQuest, Legend, and now RuneQuest. Each time I was close to finished when outside influences had me have to start all over again. Each version required me to be pretty familiar with the new system before I could even begin which took time. Yes, all of these systems are very close at first glance, then you get into the intricacies of it and mechanically there are some vast differences.

 

But in the end, I’m glad for the time invested. The version being turned into The Design Mechanism is by far the best version yet, not because I think this version of RuneQuest is my favorite BRP derived game (it is, but that’s not why ), it’s because I have had all this time to tweak it, build on the previous versions, listen to tons of feedback, etc. Things I should have added way back in the BRP version but just didn't think of I now had a chance to do.

 

I can’t wait till everyone can get their hands on this version, im pretty proud of it. If anything can truly be called a "labor of love" it has to be writing one game for four different systems over the course of six plus years.

 

Rod

[auyl]

I'm looking forward to it as well. Since the original Classic Fantasy for BRP was kind of incomplete, it'll be nice to see a complete version of it for a better system.

[threedeesix]

I'm looking forward to it as well. Since the original Classic Fantasy for BRP was kind of incomplete, it'll be nice to see a complete version of it for a better system.

 

Thanks Auyl, this one will definetly be complete. It has everything the BRP version did, plus tons of "classic" monsters, magic items, etc. Even a couple new "classes".

 

Rod