Using DCC Patrons in RQ6/Mythras/Classic Fantasy

[skarl]

Has anyone imported the Patron system from the Dungeon Crawl Classics rpg for any RQ or BRP type of game? I am itching to run Mythras/RQ6 again, fresh start, new players and I like the Patron system and plan to use it instead of the Cult system as a closer relationship between the players and the Powers out there (the Cult system will still be in the background and each Patron will have a cult) with special boons and disapproval for each Power. Using Classic Fantasy for monsters because I am an old schooler and love the critters and dungeon crawling, but getting away from levels yet retaining the Powers are not that far away in a Law-Neutrality-Chaos struggle. If you are unaware the Patron system is basically supernatural entities that can grant favors, spells and rewards to those linked to them, as well as mutations and drawbacks if the followers gain disapproval. Not everyone will have a Patron, but spellcasters often will. Anyone can, making you a champion of that Power.

[lawrence.whitaker]

If you can find a copy of 'Elric of Melnibone', published by Mongoose using the MRQ2/Legend system (and thus 95% compatible with Mythras), you'll find just such a patron system described in detail. Furthermore, the Cults of the Young Kingdoms supplement expanded on it considerably.

[skarl]

Spectacular, thanks a million! I found them both on eBay for under $20 each and leapt. There is some sanity that won't be lost (potentially) for not having to convert this from DCC. MUCH appreciated.

[rsanford]

Both good books and I payed a good deal more for them! Not sure why the Mongoose Elric never become better known...

[Rhialto the Marvellous]

2 hours ago, rsanford said:

Both good books and I payed a good deal more for them! Not sure why the Mongoose Elric never become better known...

Probably because of Mongoose's penchant for 2nd editions, and not always well-edited ones. I have the books, and they deserved a better fate.

[Questbird]

I have the DCC Patrons of Lankhmar, which was my first (slightly puzzling) encounter with the Patrons system.

[Prime Evil]

16 hours ago, lawrence.whitaker said:

If you can find a copy of 'Elric of Melnibone', published by Mongoose using the MRQ2/Legend system (and thus 95% compatible with Mythras), you'll find just such a patron system described in detail. Furthermore, the Cults of the Young Kingdoms supplement expanded on it considerably.

Interesting. I hadn't considered the possibility of using the patron system from Elric to simulate the patron system from DCC. In hindsight, it's blindingly obvious though.

[skarl]

I thank you one and all for the input and suggestions, all is appreciated. It seems a little easier to sell people on the idea of the Patron style system than a Cult, and Cults have always been a bit off-putting to some players I have had over the years, some people just feel uneasy about the word I guess. With Patrons they can do the same thing but under a different name and on a more personal level with their chosen supernatural entity. 

 

Thematically I am aiming for something of a cross between DCC and old Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (despite the release of the Zweihander final pdf-631 pages without art, wowzers) and although I have run Elric and Stormbringer in the dim, dark past I never thought of their modern editions as sources.

[lawrence.whitaker]

I designed the Mongoose editions of the Elric game to be patron-focused with cult options, because that's how things work in Moorcock's novels. Individual pacts are common, and Elric himself refers to Arioch as his 'patron'. The cults can be used as traditional religions if you wish, but equally they can be shorthand for a bunch of patrons. The rules are highly flexible and, because they were written for Mythras's predecessor, you won't have any problems integrating the two.

[Simlasa]

23 hours ago, skarl said:

Has anyone imported the Patron system from the Dungeon Crawl Classics rpg for any RQ or BRP type of game?

I've been going around with myself over the same thing using Magic World.

The Patrons themselves don't seem difficult to implement but I also want something closer to DCC's magic system... where spells have widely variable effects depending on the dice roll (some spells are actually multiple spells under one tent, with higher rolls being able to choose the desired result). There's also a potentially nasty backlash on failed spell casts as well as bizarre side effects. It all adds up to much wilder magic and fairly personalized magic users.

There's also Spellburn, but the Blood Magic book for Legend has that pretty well covered.

[skarl]

On 9/1/2016 at 11:14 AM, Simlasa said:

I've been going around with myself over the same thing using Magic World.

The Patrons themselves don't seem difficult to implement but I also want something closer to DCC's magic system... where spells have widely variable effects depending on the dice roll (some spells are actually multiple spells under one tent, with higher rolls being able to choose the desired result). There's also a potentially nasty backlash on failed spell casts as well as bizarre side effects. It all adds up to much wilder magic and fairly personalized magic users.

There's also Spellburn, but the Blood Magic book for Legend has that pretty well covered.

I'm going to wait to receive the Elric books to see how close Mr Whitaker's system is, but I also would like to see these effects with the strange and often bizarre repercussions of dealing with supernatural entities. Porting over existing patrons from DCC and various other sources shouldn't take much work. 

[Simlasa]

Yeah, I went and bought those MRQII Elric books today... they'd been on my list for months. Curious to see what I can yank out of them.

[skarl]

The Elric Cults book arrived today and I skimmed then read deeper. For my purposes I have streamlined the idea into a simpler patron template to work with. I like the idea of draining experience into gaining more patron knowledge and for spellcasters I will give them four spells over DCC's three, the first basically being a cantrip. This also works for those pursuing more stabby type characters to be champions in sort of a Warhammer Realms of Chaos books way.

[rsanford]

On 9/6/2016 at 9:17 PM, skarl said:

The Elric Cults book arrived today and I skimmed then read deeper. For my purposes I have streamlined the idea into a simpler patron template to work with. I like the idea of draining experience into gaining more patron knowledge and for spellcasters I will give them four spells over DCC's three, the first basically being a cantrip. This also works for those pursuing more stabby type characters to be champions in sort of a Warhammer Realms of Chaos books way.

SKarl sorry for the necro but can you let us know what you did with this? DId you end up using the Elric of Melnibone sysytem? Can you share the details?

Edited May 14, 2020 by rsanford

[pachristian]

I hadn't thought about this before, but the Patron system would probably work very well for Ancient Greece. The heroes of Greek Myth all seem to have a patron god or goddess, and often have another who is opposed to them. General worship is rarely mentioned, but patrons are common. I need to take another look at my copy of Elric before I run in Bronze Age Greece again. 

[skarl]

Sorry for being late to the party of my own devising. I DID incorporate the Elric system into Mythras without a lot of fiddling. As a big fan of Lord Dunsany and Clark Ashton Smith I leaned heavily on them for patron inspiration and I took a few hints from a Barbarians of Lemuria variant called Carrion Lands (which itself is influenced by Conan: Exiles) to make a strange, bleak setting that also brings in a heavy late 80s/early 90s Warhammer Chaos vibe (as in the chaos warbands mini-game within the Lost and the Damned and Slaves to Darkness) to create a harsh, weird but not gonzo setting. 

The players can struggle it out without help or call upon a patron for assistance. There are least, minor, major, greater and Lords and Ladies of daemons that scour the land in an endless game of collecting servants, puppets, souls and champions. Beware of assistance for the rewards and punishments of these strange powers is sometimes a blurry line.