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Mythic Iceland


Trifletraxor

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Logolas 'shieldboarding' down stairs while firing off two arrows at a time was a low point for me.

I quite enjoyed it. Every gamers wet dream (and I include *all* gamers).. IMHO

I am not a big Tolkien fan but I respect his work and the Silmarillion and the Children of Hurin are full of Germanic (Anglo-saxon and Norse and German) and Finnish inspired tales and names. His world outlook is also quite doomed and fated, also very Germanic. I have run many short Middle Earth BRP games, slotted around the main LOTR stories, using the Pinnacles source books, I wish they had published the final one.

Now, there is a standing joke between me and my mate that NEXT year I will run a BRP Vikings game, but I never have, despite having all the sagas, and history books, and novels and most rpg books.

I welcome a tight very NORSE setting book with a series of adventures. I also think the generational approach works, so that you play the summer Viking season and then summarise harvest and winter in a few rolls (but not always of course, the draugr and wyrms come out in winter some years) and then off again next year.

If this was supported by fan or web based supplements for Britain and Russia and Byzantium it would be fun. the danger is that it becomes the RQ Alternate Earth which was quite dry. So some depth and/or optional twists need to be in there.

Maybe NEXT year, after all, Ragnarok is always an option.

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I think the RQ alternative earth was always destined to be a bit dry, in the sense that as a back drop for the rules books you really couldn't squeeze that much local detail and colour into it. I've said several times on the forum here that Alternative earth etc has a lot of unexplored possibilities. When you consider the huge range of gods, monsters, magic and generally strange stuff that happens in earth mythology there's a gold mine of material there.

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  • 2 weeks later...

It's great to see the interest in this forum for a Saga Age Iceland setting for BRP! For a long time I wished someone would write a fantasy setting based in Iceland of the Viking period, and I'm very excited to be now writing that setting myself. I have been working on the project for several months now, spending a lot of time in the National Library of Iceland, here in Reykjavik, researching the history and myths of the period, and the writing of the book is coming along nicely.

The main idea is to use the historical sources, such as the Icelandic Sagas and the Eddas, and to blend those with the rich tradition of fairy-tales of Iceland. The setting will be based on Iceland between the years of 930 and 1220, from the establishing of the Alþing and the Icelandic Commonwealth to the beginning of the Age of the Sturlungs which leads to the civil war. The Nordic settlements in Greenland and Vinland will also be part of the setting and will be detailed in the book.

The main aspects of the mythical side of the setting are the Elves (The Hidden Folk) and their Hidden Kingdom. In Icelandic legends the elves look very similar to humans, but are invisible to humans unless they want themselves to be seen, and they live in a kingdom somewhere in the Highlands. There are also trolls, giants, sea-monsters, magical beasts (Icelandic tales have many intelligent animals), land spirits, and more. Different mythical creatures exist in Greenland and Vinland, and those will be discussed in the book as well. And there is runic magic, which uses a new system which expands on the magic system from the BRP core rulebook.

Mythic Iceland will be primarily a fantasy setting but will also contain advice in every chapter about how to adapt the information presented in the book to use in a purely historical game.

There is no release date for Mythic Iceland yet, as it's still being written, and the name of the book may change as well.

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Avalanche Press has created a line of historical RPGs and supplements using the OGL d20 system. A couple of interest to this thread are the Celtic Age and Viking Age RPGs and their associated supplements. This could easily be converted to the BRP system.

BRP Ze 32/420

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I am very interested in the Mythic Iceland setting. May I ask you some questions?

Do you provide an intro adventure in this book too?

Do you think that the old Viking sourcebook from Avalon Hill is useful to supplement your Mythic Iceland setting?

Are there plans to release other "Mythic xy" sourcebooks? (mythic rome etc.)

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It's still early to discuss the contents of the book, as much may still change. What I can tell for now is that the book details Icelandic society in the Viking period, the workings of the unique Icelandic system of self government via the Althing and the rule of law, the Icelandic myths and fairy-tales with special attention to the hidden-folk, lots of maps with detailed discussion of places of interest in Iceland, a runic magic system which tries to be as close as possible to how people of the time believed magic to work, and there is also a detailed description of the colonies of Greenland and Vinland along with the native Skrælings.

I met with the Chaosium guys last week and they are happy with the book proposal. I can't really give any sort of estimate on when the book may be published, but I will keep you guys updated on that whenever I'm able to say more.

I have plans to include one adventure in the book, maybe two. Perhaps one adventure focusing on the mythical aspect of Iceland, and a second one with a more historical tone. I also plan to include plenty of adventure seeds throughout the book.

The RQ Vikings box from Avalon Hill is very good, and it should be a useful source for anyone planing Mythic Iceland adventures that go beyond Iceland and take characters the rest of the Viking world. Most aspects of the Viking culture discussed in RQ Vikings are also in Mythic Iceland but with a tight focus on Icelandic society, which was distinct from other Nordic countries at the time in many ways.

There are no other plans, that I know of, for other "Mythic" sourcebooks.

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  • 11 months later...

Is there any update on this project? It looks like its been a year since anything was posted here.

I'm wondering because I'm starting to plan a viking based game and want to use BRP Deluxe for it, so this would be a tremendous time saver.

My game, by the way, is going to be a sort of half-historical, half-fantastical game set around the establishment of the Earldom in the Orkney Islands.

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Is there any update on this project? It looks like its been a year since anything was posted here.

I'm wondering because I'm starting to plan a viking based game and want to use BRP Deluxe for it, so this would be a tremendous time saver.

My game, by the way, is going to be a sort of half-historical, half-fantastical game set around the establishment of the Earldom in the Orkney Islands.

I have an article in an upcoming Worlds of Cthulhu on the Settlement and Commonwealth Eras. It provides information on life, culture, history,and most importantly, outlawry!

It about 98% history and 2% Cthulhu Mythos and I did my best to keep the two separate so the historically minded BRPer would have something to use.

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  • 1 month later...

I am very interested in fantasy Iceland setting.

The same with me. :)

I could be very tempted to revive an old fantasy setting of mine, a campaign

about a (fictitious) Inuit tribe on Baffin Island.

Icelanders settling on Greenland and visiting Baffin Island (Asornok in my cam-

paign) and the subsequent relations between Inuit and Icelanders could be in-

teresting enough to give the campaign a new start.

"Mind like parachute, function only when open."

(Charlie Chan)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Nice to see the continuing interest in this thread for a fantasy Iceland setting! I have been hard at work writing Mythic Iceland for the past two years, and if everything goes according to plan the manuscript should be ready to hand to Chaosium around next summer if not earlier. I will keep posting updates on this thread.

Playtesting has started, and that has been a lot of fun. For so many years I have been thinking about building a campaign in Saga-Age Iceland, with a blend of icelandic folktales and the Iceland of the Sagas, so it is very exciting to see that setting really coming to life now with so much detail and flavor. It's even more exciting to think that the book will make it possible for other people to enjoy this fantastic setting in their own games as well.

I have finished writing most of the setting material, covering the Settlement and Commowealth periods, and a lot of information about the hidden-folk, the icelandic elves, who play an important role in Mythic Iceland. I am working right now on finishing the mythic creatures chapter, making sure the book brings useful and colorful descriptions of many beasts from old Icelandic legends and from the medieval written sources. This chapter in particular is taking a lot of research time and many visits of the national library here in Reykjavík. I'm including as many fantastic creatures as possible, all with full BRP game stats, while trying to keep as faithful as possible to the descriptions in the original written sources and fairy tales.

Mythic Iceland will also have a chapter with Mythos information, so that the book can also be used as a setting for Cthulhu Dark Ages.

Thanks to everyone for the interest in Mythic Iceland!

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Mythic Iceland will also have a chapter with Mythos information, so that the book can also be used as a setting for Cthulhu Dark Ages.

Those that mean Mythic Iceland will be a CoC monograph instead of a BRP monograph? :confused:

:beetle:

Ef plest master, this mighty fine grub!
b1.gif 116/420. High Priest.

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Mythic Iceland will also have a chapter with Mythos information, so that the book can also be used as a setting for Cthulhu Dark Ages.

Hmmm, anyone who knows my opinions on things will appreciate that this doesn't sit at all well with me.

I understand that CoC is a biggish game with an established fanbase and it will help to plug into this, but this sounds odd to me.

With the Mythos information be in addition to the other material? So, a GM could interpret things in a Mythos style if necessary. Or is it integral to the background?

I still look back with horror, and not in a good way, at the Hungary supplement that I was hoodwincked into buying at Tentacles that made Vlad the Impaler a Cthulhu Acolyte.

I do hope that we don't have Deep Ones dragging Viking Longships beneath the waves or shoggoths shambling around Viking steads on Iceland. (My CoC knowledge gets a bit hazy after shoggoths and Deep Ones).

The Sagas stand by themselves, in my opinion, and don't need any Mythos stuff tacked on the end.

All in my opinion, of course, and in this case my opinion is very heavily biased against CoC.

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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The Mythic Iceland setting is a mix of the the Iceland of the Sagas, with the magic and the fantastic creatures of old Icelandic folktales. A lot of research has gone into being as faithful to those sources as possible.

I have been playtesting the setting with Icelandic gamers, and listening to all their comments and advice on what fits and what does not fit with what they know of the Sagas and the Commonwealth period. That playtesting advice from people that have grown up studying all the main Sagas has been invaluable.

With regards to the setting, the only material in the book that goes beyond what can be learned from the medieval sources is where the magical creatures are concerned. Trolls, giants, and specially the elves are mentioned on the Sagas and other texts but never in much detail. This lack of detail about mythic creatures can be frustrating when writing about them, but in a way this is also a blessing as it allows me to fill in the blanks with my own ideas while still making sure that those ideas fit with the Sagas and the folktales. Still, I am including a section at the end of every chapter detailing how the information presented there can be stripped of all fantasy elements, for the folks who want to play a strictly historical game in viking age Iceland.

Regarding the Cthulhu Dark Ages material in the book, that material will not be integral to the setting in any way. Mythic Iceland will be a BRP setting book, not a CoC book. The idea is to include a short chapter in the end of the book about how to use Iceland as a setting for Cthulhu Dark Ages. That chapter will concentrate on the darker tales of Icelandic folklore that fit the atmosphere of a CoC game, and will also discuss important events that occurred in the year 1000 in Iceland and how the GM can use those on his CDA campaign. Some classic Mythos creatures will figure in this chapter as well, of course, but not heavily.

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  • 3 weeks later...

As a practicing Heathen (Asatruar), this sounds amazing! Looking very forward to seeing it!

Mike C.

"Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should."

~Dr. Ian Malcolm, "Jurassic Park" (1993)

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  • 6 months later...

Are there any news about when - approximately - Mythic Iceland will become

available ? :)

I am currently working on a "reconstruction" of an old setting of mine, which

features a fictional Inuit like culture on Baffin Island, the Asor, and their en-

counters with the Norse settlers on Greenland.

While this setting will probably not use the BRP system, I would be most in-

terested in any good roleplaying information on the Norse culture of the time

around 1000 AD, and while the old Avalon Hill RQ Vikings box is doubtless ve-

ry good, it does not include much information on the Norse of the far west

- and most other Viking roleplaying material describes the Norse according

to the "cruel raider cliche" only.

"Mind like parachute, function only when open."

(Charlie Chan)

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I too am eagerly anticipating this monograph. As a student of (and proselytising enthusiast for) the Icelandic sagas, I can think of no roleplaying setting more resonantly in tune with my own headspace. (Well, with the possible exception of Jack Vance's Dying Earth, and that's been catered for already. :))

My only qualm is the mention of fairy tales and elves/hidden folk in the description of Mythic Iceland's contents. Fascinating though they are in their own right, the folk tales of Iceland have developed in the centuries since the Saga Age and have quite a different flavour. Given the scope for material offered by the scores of surviving sagas and þættir set in Iceland (from blood feuds and law courts to roof-top ghost-wrestling and encounters with trolls in the glacial highlands), I'm hoping Mythic Iceland will concentrate primarily on these rather than some of the later, slightly cosier folk tales.

I'll be very interested to see how magic is dealt with. I'm not sure I'd want my character messing with that stuff, since sorcerers in the sagas almost always end up being thrown off clifftops or stoned to death with bags over their heads!

I am currently working on a "reconstruction" of an old setting of mine, which features a fictional Inuit like culture on Baffin Island, the Asor, and their encounters with the Norse settlers on Greenland.

While this setting will probably not use the BRP system, I would be most interested in any good roleplaying information on the Norse culture of the time around 1000 AD, and while the old Avalon Hill RQ Vikings box is doubtless very good, it does not include much information on the Norse of the far west - and most other Viking roleplaying material describes the Norse according to the "cruel raider cliche" only.

Possibly a controversial choice, but I think there's much that's worthwhile in the old 2nd ed AD&D Vikings Campaign Sourcebook: trade, coinage, weights, equipment, etc., and I like the table for character "gifts" including bad/good luck, blood feud, outlaw, ugliness, inheritance, second sight, etc. There are problems, though, such as some over-generalised cultural information and the inclusion of several creatures from Finnish rather than Norse mythology in the monsters section.

These aren't roleplaying resources per se, but if you haven't already read them I would think they'd be hugely useful and inspirational for a flavour of Norse/Inuit encounters: (1) Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga, edited by William Fitzhugh and Elisabeth Ward, especially the chapters on America and Greenland, and (2) William Vollmann's extraordinary novel/mythic history/travelogue The Ice-Shirt.

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Possibly a controversial choice, but I think there's much that's worthwhile in the old 2nd ed AD&D Vikings Campaign Sourcebook ...

These aren't roleplaying resources per se, but if you haven't already read them I would think they'd be hugely useful and inspirational for a flavour of Norse/Inuit encounters: (1) Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga, edited by William Fitzhugh and Elisabeth Ward, especially the chapters on America and Greenland, and (2) William Vollmann's extraordinary novel/mythic history/travelogue The Ice-Shirt.

Thank you very much, I will take a look at them. :)

I have also ordered a copy of GURPS Vikings, because most GURPS source-

books I know also contain quite useful material.

"Mind like parachute, function only when open."

(Charlie Chan)

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I would second the old ad&d 2e Viking source book for another reason as well. It's the only book that I've seen so far that builds a rune magic system based on their use in the sagas and not grafting runes onto a standard magic system.

BRP 31/420

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