MRQII is dead and Mongoose has lost the licence, but the Italian version of MRQII by Asterion Press (with way better quality and nicer art, especially for the Monster Coliseum) is still alive... Such are the intricacies of game licences.
A community site dedicated to the Italian version of MRQII has been created. It is called the Order of Cerberus and features news about products and cons in Italy, a free introductory scenario, and several gaming aids such as new creatures, magical items...
About Me
25 January 2012
22 January 2012
T&T: New French-Language Edition
Well, believe it or not, there is going to be an 8th edition of T&T: it will be based upon the rule book and the magic book of the 7th edition published by Fiery Dragon, but with a different, improved presentation (I agree 7th ed. was horribly presented... what a mess!). Some excerpts from Flying Buffalo's 5.5 ed., and which were not included in Fiery Dragon's, will also be incorporated, again for clarity's sake, plus some bonus stuff like firearms, poisons, a glossary of arms and armour... Ken St. André himself will add some more bonus stuff. And it will only be available in French, at least at the moment.
Much of the art will be from the 5th ed. by Flying Buffalo, and Liz Danforth is adding some new art. You might even have a say in what she will be drawing — more on her blog.
T&T 8th ed., in French, expected at the end of February 2012. Yippee!
18 January 2012
Zak S GM survey
Reposted from Playing D&D with Porn Stars:
GM Questionnaire
Repost and answer. Or, if you don't have a blog, answer in the comments. Or be a big rebel and do neither [OK, I did both].
1. If you had to pick a single invention in a game you were most proud of what would it be?
That would be when I ad-libbed an entire session when in high school. At the time, following one's notes or a pre-published module was the gospel.
2. When was the last time you GMed?
June 2011.
3. When was the last time you played?
Two weeks ago.
4. Give us a one-sentence pitch for an adventure you haven't run but would like to.
You're cornered and there's no way out except through the ghost town.
5. What do you do while you wait for players to do things?
Fix myself a tea/coffee.
6. What, if anything, do you eat while you play?
Fruit or weird Chinese snacks.
7. Do you find GMing physically exhausting?
Yes.
8. What was the last interesting (to you, anyway) thing you remember a PC you were running doing?
Crashing through a well-defended fortress through the front gate on a berserk elephant.
9. Do your players take your serious setting and make it unserious? Vice versa? Neither?
I've had this kind of issues running CoC, I guess because the players know they're supposed to be serious and so they're not. This is why I don't run CoC any longer. What I do is I run weird fantasy. The players aren't expecting mind boggling monsters so when there's one they're all panicky.
10. What do you do with goblins?
Er, no goblins in my games.
11. What was the last non-RPG thing you saw that you converted into game material (background, setting, trap, etc.)?
A photograph of an incredible vertical shaft in China.
12. What's the funniest table moment you can remember right now?
Back in university-- I was running a Star Wars game and the players were about to shoot down an Imperial ship. One of the players shouted 'You're crazy... There could be gold on it!'
13. What was the last game book you looked at--aside from things you referenced in a game--why were you looking at it?
LotFP Tutorial book. Playing the solo adventure.
14. Who's your idea of the perfect RPG illustrator?
Dario Corallo.
15. Does your game ever make your players genuinely afraid?
See No.9.
16. What was the best time you ever had running an adventure you didn't write? (If ever)
Honestly I think I've always enjoyed my adventures more than pre-written ones.
17. What would be the ideal physical set up to run a game in?
A castle.
18. If you had to think of the two most disparate games or game products that you like what would they be?
T&T and LotFP?
19. If you had to think of the most disparate influences overall on your game, what would they be?
Hongkong action movies and Central/Eastern European mythology.
20. As a GM, what kind of player do you want at your table?
Players looking for role-playing and immersion.
21. What's a real life experience you've translated into game terms?
Exploring a cave complex in Southern France.
22. Is there an RPG product that you wish existed but doesn't?
Yeah, there was... so I wrote it!
23. Is there anyone you know who you talk abotu RPGs with who doesn't play? How do those conversations go?
I had a colleague who played boardgames but not role-playing games. He just kept saying 'Yeah, I'll have to try' but never did.
GM Questionnaire
Repost and answer. Or, if you don't have a blog, answer in the comments. Or be a big rebel and do neither [OK, I did both].
1. If you had to pick a single invention in a game you were most proud of what would it be?
That would be when I ad-libbed an entire session when in high school. At the time, following one's notes or a pre-published module was the gospel.
2. When was the last time you GMed?
June 2011.
3. When was the last time you played?
Two weeks ago.
4. Give us a one-sentence pitch for an adventure you haven't run but would like to.
You're cornered and there's no way out except through the ghost town.
5. What do you do while you wait for players to do things?
Fix myself a tea/coffee.
6. What, if anything, do you eat while you play?
Fruit or weird Chinese snacks.
7. Do you find GMing physically exhausting?
Yes.
8. What was the last interesting (to you, anyway) thing you remember a PC you were running doing?
Crashing through a well-defended fortress through the front gate on a berserk elephant.
9. Do your players take your serious setting and make it unserious? Vice versa? Neither?
I've had this kind of issues running CoC, I guess because the players know they're supposed to be serious and so they're not. This is why I don't run CoC any longer. What I do is I run weird fantasy. The players aren't expecting mind boggling monsters so when there's one they're all panicky.
10. What do you do with goblins?
Er, no goblins in my games.
11. What was the last non-RPG thing you saw that you converted into game material (background, setting, trap, etc.)?
A photograph of an incredible vertical shaft in China.
12. What's the funniest table moment you can remember right now?
Back in university-- I was running a Star Wars game and the players were about to shoot down an Imperial ship. One of the players shouted 'You're crazy... There could be gold on it!'
13. What was the last game book you looked at--aside from things you referenced in a game--why were you looking at it?
LotFP Tutorial book. Playing the solo adventure.
14. Who's your idea of the perfect RPG illustrator?
Dario Corallo.
15. Does your game ever make your players genuinely afraid?
See No.9.
16. What was the best time you ever had running an adventure you didn't write? (If ever)
Honestly I think I've always enjoyed my adventures more than pre-written ones.
17. What would be the ideal physical set up to run a game in?
A castle.
18. If you had to think of the two most disparate games or game products that you like what would they be?
T&T and LotFP?
19. If you had to think of the most disparate influences overall on your game, what would they be?
Hongkong action movies and Central/Eastern European mythology.
20. As a GM, what kind of player do you want at your table?
Players looking for role-playing and immersion.
21. What's a real life experience you've translated into game terms?
Exploring a cave complex in Southern France.
22. Is there an RPG product that you wish existed but doesn't?
Yeah, there was... so I wrote it!
23. Is there anyone you know who you talk abotu RPGs with who doesn't play? How do those conversations go?
I had a colleague who played boardgames but not role-playing games. He just kept saying 'Yeah, I'll have to try' but never did.
10 January 2012
Teleos Crazy Idea
Anyway, since I'm reading Carcosa and recovering from the last game session at the same time, I have these weird ideas materialising in my feverish brain about using Carcosa for a Second Age weird fantasy campaign at the centre of Glorantha. Right... Carcosa = Teleos. The size of the map is right. The dinosaurs are right. The cannibals are right.
Here are the correspondences that have popped up in my head:
- Carcosa = (Second Age) Teleos
- Dinosaurs = Dinosaurs
- Snake-Men = Dragonewts
- Aliens = God Learners
- Alien technology = Zistorite technology
- 13 different coloured human tribes = either decide that there used to be 13 tribes in the Second Age before their number was reduced to 7 in the Third Age; OR make the 6 extra tribes sub-tribes of the 7 canonical ones... Obviously the Bone Men from Carcosa are the White Men from Teleos.
- Sorcery = God Learner sorcery
- Old Ones = this is the only correspondence I'm struggling with... Maybe some forgotten myths unearthed by the God Learners?
06 January 2012
Too Many Good News! Part Two: The Design Mechanism To Launch Free Magazine!
At the moment it appears that the as-yet-unnamed magazine might also feature Gloranthan content, thanks to the partnership between The Design Mechanism and Moon Design.
Stay tuned for more information...
Too Many Good News! Part One: Wyrms Footnotes Returns!
Moon Design have just announced the come-back of the Gloranthan magazine Wyrms Footnotes, after a hiatus of 30 years (!). I am particularly pleased with their decision of labelling the new issue as issue No.15 and not as No.1. This is a good "continuity" message for us fans, and also (IMHO) a sign that this magazine will bridge the gap between old- and new-school gaming. Hooray!
Real Gloranthan fans will have noticed that the artist of the cover is none other than Jennell Allyn Jaquays who (as Paul Alan Jaquays) was extremely influent, both as a writer and as an artist, at the time of the original RuneQuest 2.
Here's the original piece of news: Wyrms Footnotes Returns!
24 November 2011
Steve Perrin Interview
Because of the very recent (and almost simultaneous!) news about the RuneQuest 6 and AEON cover arts, both of them very much inspired by Louise Perrin's classic RuneQuest cover art, my mind has been drifting around the Perrin name lately and, as a consequence, I have also thought about Steve Perrin (possibly my favourite game designer ever).
This spurred me to look for the Perrin Conventions online again. Wow... great stuff. I'll certainly be using them a lot for Timinits & Trolls. Googling Steve's name on the internet also brought up an interview from about one year ago, which I had completely missed at the time. Definitely an interesting read, which I recommend.
This spurred me to look for the Perrin Conventions online again. Wow... great stuff. I'll certainly be using them a lot for Timinits & Trolls. Googling Steve's name on the internet also brought up an interview from about one year ago, which I had completely missed at the time. Definitely an interesting read, which I recommend.
Cover Art for RuneQuest 6
Here is the accompanying text from the Design Mechanism web-site:
We're delighted to share with you the stunning cover art for RuneQuest Sixth Edition.
By Pascal Quidalt, the picture is, of course, an updated version of the iconic original RQ cover (originally painted by Luise Perrin). Pascal, who has done some outstanding covers for roleplaying games, has taken that original and created a beautiful and unique take on the imagery.
The artwork depicts Anathaym, a Meerish warrior of the Cult of Theera, under ambush by a cunning, predatory, Slargr (pronounced SLAR-guh) when she mistakenly wanders into its hunting territories. The hulking creature tears away her shield - a typical slargr tactic - leaving the shocked Anathaym to rely on her spear and its Bladesharp matrix.
Will she survive? The RuneQuest rules, using Anathaym as our example heroine, will give you the answer...
RQ6 will be setting-agnostic, hence the funny names, but the obvious Gloranthan imagery is a Lunar/a Templar lost in the Pamaltelan jungle... which is pretty evocative in light of which Gloranthan locales this blog usually likes to explore...
28 September 2011
The Jack-of-all-trades
The Jack-of-all-trades is the 'default' character class for my game. It fits in well with the Gloranthan model of an adventurer that has access to combat, magic, and a wide array of skills, depending on the player's desires in terms of character advancement/improvement, rather than on arbitrary rules-imposed limitations.
The Jack-of-all-trades corresponds to what is called a rogue in the original T&T rules. The issue I have with that term is that whilst it originally fit in well with the idea I have of the 'default' adventurer (the Grey Mouser is the seminal rogue, and he is as capable in spell-casting as in combat as in thievery), the term itself has gradually become synonymous with thief over the years in the context of fantasy rpg's.
I believe that the author of the recent fantasy rpg Lamentations of the Flame Princess, which has marvellously bridged the gap between old school and new school gaming, has hit the same problem: in LotFP, the rogue class has been renamed Specialist. Whilst I agree with the renaming of the class, and with its description, I am not overly satisfied with the term— because it reminds me too much of the Specialist Mage.
Here's the deescription of the Specialist character class from LotFP (I reproduce it because it's freely available on its web-site):
I fully endorse the above for the Jack-of-all-trades of my Umathelan campaign!
The Jack-of-all-trades corresponds to what is called a rogue in the original T&T rules. The issue I have with that term is that whilst it originally fit in well with the idea I have of the 'default' adventurer (the Grey Mouser is the seminal rogue, and he is as capable in spell-casting as in combat as in thievery), the term itself has gradually become synonymous with thief over the years in the context of fantasy rpg's.
I believe that the author of the recent fantasy rpg Lamentations of the Flame Princess, which has marvellously bridged the gap between old school and new school gaming, has hit the same problem: in LotFP, the rogue class has been renamed Specialist. Whilst I agree with the renaming of the class, and with its description, I am not overly satisfied with the term— because it reminds me too much of the Specialist Mage.
Here's the deescription of the Specialist character class from LotFP (I reproduce it because it's freely available on its web-site):
Fighters are adventurers because they are so inured to death that they cannot settle down to a normal life. Magic-Users are those that have pursued the dark arts and are no longer welcome in society. Clerics are charged by their god to go forth and perform their special duties.
Specialists? They do it because they want to. Whether inspired by greed, boredom, or idle curiosity, Specialists are professional explorers risking life and limb simply because a less active life is distasteful to them. In some ways this makes them the only sane and normal adventuring characters, but in other ways it makes them the most unusual.
The Specialist is unique because the character class has no special abilities of its own. Instead, a Specialist is better at certain activities that all characters are able to do at a basic level.
I fully endorse the above for the Jack-of-all-trades of my Umathelan campaign!
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