Most Desired Supplement for Magic World

[rsanford]

All,

I know that Magic World and BRP are being reassessed by Chaosium but assuming they move forward what supplement would you most want to see?  For me its a monster manual (that has art - black and white drawings are fine).... And just in case someone is listening, I would rather have a Magic World / BRP monster manual than a Glorantha title.

[auyl]

A monster manual would be awesome but so would more details into their included setting

[Nakana]

It's simple. I just want the Chronicler's Companion. 

[Nick J.]

Like Nakana, the thing I most eagerly anticipate is the Chronicler's Companion and I'm not sure I have enough space on my bookshelf for another monster book, but if there was some way to do it, so it's not just another monster book I might be inclined to give it a look - perhaps a micro-setting with a bestiary and some spells unique to it?

I think what Magic World needs is something to really show off its system and get it in front of more eyes. I practically stumbled into it by accident as a very recent d100 convert and if I wasn't a DIY GM I probably would have never given it serious consideration. What I'm wondering is if some adventures that highlight the setting and rules and give novices a nice jumping off point wouldn't be worth putting out there? I don't run modules much myself (although I borrow maps and ideas) but I know a lot of gamers that only run canned stuff and without that support I'm guessing that's a barrier to MW ever broadening its appeal.

Off-hand I look at a company like Goodman games and its very deliberate and clever marketing strategy with Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG and the way they have carved out a niche in a very crowded marketplace with their modules (and their very distinctive look & feel) as an example of how to build hype or The Design Mechanism's approach with RQ6 is another good example brand building. 

[Guest Vile Traveller]

Adventures, I want adventures!

[auyl]

Always loved even reading through adventures. Once Eternity Realms is out, adventures is something I'd like to write for the system.

[NickMiddleton]

Personally, I always return to the original Arkham Unveiled (for Call of Cthulhu); Sea Kings of the Purple Towns (for Stormbringer 4th edition) or The Traveller Adventure for GDW's Traveller. A place that inspires me as a GM; that is intelligently statted and described so I can re-use the material ; with adventures that are appealing and upon reading I want to run them.

I know lots of people online who say they never run pre-written adventures (and I've met a few in real life)... but the VAST majority of people in my experience, even if the don't run pre-written adventures verbatim will pull elements (floor plans, NPC stats, encounter ideas; neat plot ideas or locations) from them or use them as the skeleton from which to build / tailor their own specific creations for their players.

In a nutshell - material that supports PLAY.

I know Ben / Chaosium have a bunch of material in various stages of preparation for release (one of which is a bestiary) - the question now is what resource there is for MW (& BRP) releases, so what takes priority and what gets deferred (or dropped entirely). 

As I wrote in my notebook earlier today:

• What does Chaosium see as the most viable products for them for MW (& BRP)?
• What products would Chaosium like to see 3rd party publishers pitching for MW (& BRP)?
• What things would Chaosium like to see fans producing for MW (& BRP)?

Cheers,

Nick

Edited August 12, 2015 by NickMiddleton

[tooley1chris]

I'd put serious money into a well done tome of monsters. A thick book with hundreds of stat blocks and rich art, hard back, with a glossy eye catching cover. Something really special. $100 easy for me.

I remember all those dozens and dozens of adventures ICE put out for MERP with great nastalgia and would love to see that for MW. Like the wise Nick said above, even if you don't play/run them word for word, they're full of ideas, maps, hooks, and most importantly lore.

[fmitchell]

A bit of me-too-ism: I'd also vote for the Chronicler's Companion, followed by a book of (linked?) adventures that show off the breadth and depth of the system ... something like The Spider God's Bride (Mongoose & Xoth.net) or Book of Quests (TDM).  A multi-world book like OpenQuest Adventures would also be cool.

[Marcus Bone]

Like all products, in my opinion, MW needs a killer App. For me this would be a 'kick a$$' looking rulebook along with a collection of impressive adventures...

To expand on that, nothing against the current edition, but production wise the earlier editions of SB/Elric! look much better. And in regards to scenarios, to my way of thinking the quality of the pre-gen adventures always defines the world/setting much more than the rulebook.  

That all said, I'd be happy if Chaosium just supported the game (or allowed suckers like me to license the rights)...

Marcus

 

 

[auyl]

A bit of me-too-ism: I'd also vote for the Chronicler's Companion, followed by a book of (linked?) adventures that show off the breadth an depth of the system ... something like The Spider God's Bride (Mongoose & Xoth.net) or Book of Quests (TDM).  A multi-world book like OpenQuest Adventures would also be cool.

We all know the boys at Chaosium can do adventures so along with a monster book some good advetures would be good. Even combine the two, introduce monsters through adventures. Give us an idea on how they're intended to be used.

[fmitchell]

We all know the boys at Chaosium can do adventures so along with a monster book some good advetures would be good. Even combine the two, introduce monsters through adventures. Give us an idea on how they're intended to be used.

So Monster Island, basically.

[auyl]

So Monster Island, basically.

Something like that, but more like the CoC adventures we all know and love.

[rsanford]

Something like that, but more like the CoC adventures we all know and love.

I don't know... If I could get the  Monster Island concept customized for Magic World I would be thrilled! Swords and sorcery setting and monster manual all in one! As it is I plan to adapt Monster Island to my MW campaign later this year.

[rsanford]

Thinking about it asking for a MW Monster Island is probably asking too much.  Monster Island is on the high end of awesome...

[auyl]

Thinking about it asking for a MW Monster Island is probably asking too much.  Monster Island is on the high end of awesome...

Maybe, but if they put as much effort into it as MoN then it will be ...

[Guest Vile Traveller]

AFAIK The Design Mechanism has not become part of Chaosium, and Loz & Pete will only be writing Gloranthan content for the new Chaosium RuneQuest (under contract, I guess). So Chaosium would have to get writers of the same calibre and use them on the BRP product line which is on the bottom of their list of priorities. It would be nice, but I don't see it happening. To be honest, I'll be surprised if any new material for BRP comes out in the foreseeable future ...

Edited August 15, 2015 by Vile

[Sunwolfe]

Then maybe a fan-conversion of MI is in order! By all the, gods:!

Cheers!

 

"We still live!" cried John Carter of MW/BRP

[auyl]

There's a healthy culture here of fair-use fan creations, so you never know what might come up in the downloads!

[Mankcam]

I wonder if Chaosium will ever make the Elric/Stormbringer setting stuff available on pdf, for use with MagicWorld? 

Okay, of course I know the answer: they can't due to licencing (or rather, lack of licencing), but man I would love to have Melnibone, Sorcerers of Pen Tang, or Sea Kings Of The Purple Towns; I missed them first time around and would certainly shell out the money to have them in pdf format.

But as far as new MagicWorld supplements go, a separate Creatures Book is usually must-have for any fantasy system, although for me personally the amount of critters in the rulebook suffices my needs

I think MagicWorld would perhaps be best served with bringing out old school style scenarios.This could be kicked off perhaps with one of two little sandbox locations (with scenarios attached), loosely set within The Southern Reaches. I like the idea of it remaining an evolving setting, to offset the now very detailed Glorantha (which I love, BTW).

Something like how the early D&D modules worked, when The World of Greyhawk was mainly a sandbox for GMs to tinder with at whim. Every kids troupe ended up having an almost completely different version of the setting, and that was the charm of it.

I think for MagicWorld to continue it needs to cultivate a very separate identity to RuneQuest. So instead of having a rich, detailed setting like Glorantha, the sandbox approach to The Southern Reaches could be the desired option for those who love this kind of concept. Just a few locations partially fleshed out, and churn out some low level fantasy scenarios - basically Dungeon World Classics for BRP.

That would be a nice niche for MagicWorld, and one that could ensure it remains viable I would think. 

Edited August 16, 2015 by Mankcam

[Guest Vile Traveller]

I like the idea of it remaining an evolving setting. [...]

Something like how the early D&D modules worked, when The World of Greyhawk was mainly a sandbox for GMs to tinder with at whim. Every kids troupe ended up having an almost completely different version of the setting, and that was the charm of it. [...]

That would be a nice niche for MagicWorld, and one that could ensure it remains viable I would think. 

I much, much prefer this approach nowadays, which is why I adopted it for BLUEHOLME™. I no longer have the time to immerse myself in a new, minutely-detailed setting prior to running games in it. Publishing books that are firstly adventures, and secondly expand the setting is much more accessible. You only need to deal with small chinks of setting information at one time, and build on it with the next adventure you run. Also, small 16-24 page booklets are much easier on the wallet than huge campaign packs.

Edited August 16, 2015 by Vile

[auyl]

Although I do enjoy sandbox settings, some of the biggest companies in the industry are making a killing off highly detailed setting books. Look at the number of campaign setting books put out by Paizo for the Inner Seas, although one book may not detail a ton of specific locations, the culmination of books on the setting make it very detailed and very specific on how each realm in the Golarion setting works. Wizards originally did the same thing with both Forgotten Realm and Eberron. They even sourced out Ravenloft and Dragonlance to other companies that put out a good number of books for each setting and they are still wildly available via ebay or other used venues. We have yet to see where 5th is going and maybe they're doing more sandbox this time, but it's still early.

Again I'm not saying sandbox is a bad option, it's just not a common one among the larger companies. For the most part you are not dealing with what I can call advanced gamers who can pull together a setting from the deepest parts of their imaginations, like many novels, everything has to be detailed out in order for them to get a picture of what to do and where to go. Sadly this is a majority of gaming consumers. This basic adventuring type, like something to sink their teeth into that they can pull from, specific characters, the name of the most popular tavern in the capital things like that. While I may not use that kind of information in my own campaigns, most people will.

I do agree with the need for adventures. Many people like sitting down with preplanned adventures in a setting they are familiar with as they can really build the events in that specific setting. I find however that they need to be familiar with it and just world building via adventures may not be enough for them. Although the sword and sorcery nature of d100 games like Magic World may not involve grand epics where you need to parlay with various kings and princes, many gaming consumers will want to know these things so that they don't have to think them up themselves and also make them more comfortable with the setting as a whole.

[Guest Vile Traveller]

Look at the number of campaign setting books put out by Paizo for the Inner Seas, although one book may not detail a ton of specific locations, the culmination of books on the setting make it very detailed and very specific on how each realm in the Golarion setting works.

I think we're actually saying the same thing. Setting books that are adventures (or, in this case, campaigns) at heart but detail a world piece by useful piece. I look to Rolemaster / MERP as the epitome of this approach.

What I'm opposed to is big, all-encompassing setting encyclopedias with no adventures but a ton of information on obscure areas that may never, ever see any use. To use the Gloranthan example, we have all these books telling you about the West, the Kingdom of War, Pamaltela, etc. etc., but when it comes to published gameable adventures Glorantha has never moved out of Prax and Dragon Pass. 

[NickMiddleton]

Although I do enjoy sandbox settings, some of the biggest companies in the industry are making a killing off highly detailed setting books. Look at the number of campaign setting books put out by Paizo for the Inner Seas, although one book may not detail a ton of specific locations, the culmination of books on the setting make it very detailed and very specific on how each realm in the Golarion setting works. Wizards originally did the same thing with both Forgotten Realm and Eberron. They even sourced out Ravenloft and Dragonlance to other companies that put out a good number of books for each setting and they are still wildly available via ebay or other used venues. We have yet to see where 5th is going and maybe they're doing more sandbox this time, but it's still early.

Again I'm not saying sandbox is a bad option, it's just not a common one among the larger companies. For the most part you are not dealing with what I can call advanced gamers who can pull together a setting from the deepest parts of their imaginations, like many novels, everything has to be detailed out in order for them to get a picture of what to do and where to go. Sadly this is a majority of gaming consumers. This basic adventuring type, like something to sink their teeth into that they can pull from, specific characters, the name of the most popular tavern in the capital things like that. While I may not use that kind of information in my own campaigns, most people will.

I do agree with the need for adventures. Many people like sitting down with preplanned adventures in a setting they are familiar with as they can really build the events in that specific setting. I find however that they need to be familiar with it and just world building via adventures may not be enough for them. Although the sword and sorcery nature of d100 games like Magic World may not involve grand epics where you need to parlay with various kings and princes, many gaming consumers will want to know these things so that they don't have to think them up themselves and also make them more comfortable with the setting as a whole.

Paizo are a model  Chaosium should treat with caution - they (Paizo) are SUBSTANTIALLY bigger, they have multiple revenue streams that legitimately cross fund, multiple lines that exploit the same assets and a base subscription model that gives them much greater stability in their revenues. And the spine of their Pathfinder lines are the adventure paths, NOT the setting material that spins out of them. They may sell more of the latter, but they have the market position they do, and the interest in all that material, because of the adventure paths IMO.

Now that word of caution sounded, I think the last observation is telling. Regular adventure support has been the foundation of just about every commercially successful table top RPG. And whilst a compelling / popular setting is a HUGE asset, they are expensive to license, challenging to create and for every "RAW, only in setting X" gamer there's at least one "make it all up myself" and one "desperate for material to adapt" gamer...

I'm not sure about truly "generic" adventures, but accessibility and adaptability are key. If an adventure is too generic it won't appeal; if it is tied to closely to a specific setting and lore it narrows its appeal. The joy of what to me were the best adventure products Chaosium did in their "Glory Days" was that they were sufficiently strong to stand alone (or be worth adapting to a home setting) but sufficiently versed in lore to be worthwhile extensions of their settings: Griffin Mountain / Island; Arkham Unveiled; Sea Kings of the Purple Town.

[Mankcam]

Glorantha is once again Choasium's big fantasy setting, which is something I am quite happy with. It looks like this will be supported by HeroQuest and RuneQuest, and these will be the main priorities. Call of Cthulhu will remain the other priority for the BRP system, which also makes sense

So Glorantha and Cthulhu will draw the masses once again.  I'm all good with that, and I can see that working. Both settings are very immersive, which can work for both new and experienced players.

However I think it would be quite sad to see Magic World fade in the shadows, and I just can't see Chaosium having currently having two fantasy systems and settings ( it was great when they had both Glorantha and The Young Kingdoms, but those days are gone).

It is almost certain that they will not be placing the same importance on each system in regards to publishing schedules, so Magic World may be the second cousin for a while. However it will be grim if Magic World dies so RuneQuest can live, it just doesn't feel fair or right.

So the only way forward I can see is put a different spin on it, promoting Magic World to a slightly different audience to who RuneQuest Glorantha will be aimed at. Hence the old school approach of churning out 'modules' scenarios within The Southern Reaches. A few generic style fantasy scenarios here and there would be fun and useful, although they don't all have to be restricted to one-shots. A few small areas could be given quite thorough treatment, just like the detail in RQ2 Griffin Mountain. Just as long as the overall appeal remains something that will attract GMs to tinker with.

I think Magic World is the perfect inheritor for this approach, given the other properties above are going to be the main heavy hitters on the shelves.

Yes it will be a niche market, perhaps mainly an online market, but at least it is still a market. 

Edited August 16, 2015 by Mankcam