Just in case you’ve missed it, our OpenQuest powered Sci-Fi rpg River of Heaven is now crowdfunding until March 8th on Kickstarter.
Sure its an elf/dwarf free zone, but gawdammit if you liked OQ or are impressed by our other games go check it out. Its going to be 300 pages of awesome 🙂
Also if you are following the progress of OpenQuest 2 and its associated adventures there’s a big update over at OpenQuestRpg.com
I remember getting this purple tome when it came out with great glee. For you see the martial artists of Japan had exploded across my teenage brain, with an invasion of Japanese films and TV (Monkey & Water Margin stand out, ironically both Chinese in origin) and me taking part in a Shotokan Karate class at the time. The idea of Fantasy FRP with Oriental elements had been firmly thrust into my mind by the fantastic Talisman of Death Fighting Fantasy game book. Upon reading I was excited but some what befuddled at the same time. The non-weapons proficiency system (a skill system by another name) was a cool concept, “Now my fighter can do other things!”, but a bit of a let down when those things were paper making and arrow fletching 😦 The classes were cool though; a bizarre assortment of warrior-monks, religious soldiers, Buddhist priests, sorcerers, sword specialists, Yakuza as well as the familiar (and expected) Samurai and Ninja. But they were firmly rooted in the design philosophy of Unearthed Arcana, in fact the Barbarian class given a oriental coat of paint appears in OA, which in my opinion was over powered and illogical (I feel a post entitled “How Unearthed Arcana broke my game”brewing). There is a whole raft of new races, based mainly on the idea of animal spirits taking human form, which desperately could have done with some illustration as a frame of reference. This is a problem with the whole book. I know the old AD&D 1st ed books aren’t exactly overflowing with art, but I can easily someone being tight with the budget on this one. It feels like there is only 5 bits of art in the whole book. A complete let down when there are so many unfamiliar elements in the setting. However the text is golden and doesn’t feel like a wall. Instead its a like a gate to a whole new world. As well as the new classes, and a host of tweaked and new spells, there’s a raft of new rules that emphases that we are no longer in Oerth any more. My favourites are the Family/Clan generator, the Honour system and the Events generator. The first two systems gives some real reason for the players to roleplay their characters and the latter system really lends itself to improvisational/sandbox play, since it gives meaningful Yearly/Monthly and Daily events to inflict upon the players. I had a grand time playing with it solo to create mini-time lines for Campaigns that I never run. Why? Well this is were the gorgeousness of OA fell down. It was a hard sell to 15 year old players who were obsessed with the get rich quick/powergaming ethos of 15 year old D&D (another subject I should post “Why its ok to play D&D now, we’re not 15 anymore”). The sheer alien detail was enough to shake them When I explained the new subsystem of Honour, they worked out that their characters would be having to commit sepeku very quickly ( the fate of characters who are reduced to 0 Hon through a series of dishonourable behaviour ) due to their ‘naughty’ style of play ( combination of shoot first ask questions later, and steal it if it isn’t nailed down ) and vetoed the idea.
I held out for another release, the box set of the offical TSR setting Kara-Tur.
The first book of this had the Chinese influenced land of Shou-Lung which introduced to me the excitement of Chinese Kung Fu and mythology, which appeals more to me than the Land of the Rising Sun. My pedantic teenage mind then nailed the final nail in the coffin that was actually playing the game, because I realised as much as wanted to run a game in Shou Lung I didn’t want to do it with the so obviously Japanese character classes. Doh!
However this was one of the lead ins to me reading Journey to the West (aka Monkey) and finally writing my rpg Monkey 🙂
More information
Shameless plug
If you have ever been curious about Monkey: The Storytelling Game of the Journey to the West, its part of the current Bundle of Holding, which contains a fine selection of Asian themed RPGs at a low pay what you want price 🙂
Well just over a month ago OpenQuest 2 went on general release.
If you want to know how its getting on and what’s happening with the rest of the Pre-order campaign’s deliverables, head on over to OpenQuestRpg.com
Kristian Robert’s OQ based rpg Age of Shadow gets some love on Game Geeks #218
A small idea for a Convention game next year at the Seven Hills Convention (in Sheffield weekend after Easter weekend) which has a Sci-Fi RPG gaming theme. Here’s how I blend Planetary Romance, Spell Jammer with the magnificent evil that is Crypts and Things:
Few of those who crawl in the dust of ancient empires that litters the dying World of Zarth even suspect of the mayhem that rages in the skies above their heads. Of the wars fought between the evil Uzil and the insane Yikirk. The clashes between the Space Gypsy Skyships and the foul luminous floating discs of Olz. The insane gravity of the Topaz moon or the ominous silence of the Dark Star.
But the Grand Astronomer of the Crystal Moon summons you the appointed heroes from your Zarth bound life, to rise up into space to rescue the Princess Zarisula from the clutches of the Fiend who would be Emperor of known space.So grab your flame lance, don your crystal armour, prime your needle gun and set sail on Rocket Ship Zargaz to the Obos, the moon of Infinite Doom!
Planetary Romance meets Swords & Sorcery using the OSR D&D rules of Crypts of Things.
Bit of shameless self-promotion here about the upcoming “Crucible of Dragons” setting/adventure book (or “A Manual of Exploration of the Island of Pherae” as I’m calling it). If I don’t do it no one else will (OQ2 reviews anyone 😉 ) and its a product that I’m damn excited about getting finished and out to the gaming masses.
“Sandbox” gaming is a hip term in Old School Renaissance circles, almost a holy grail in fact. Amongst D100/RQ fans you mention the term and I will guarantee they will shoot back “Griffin Mountain“. This is the classic RuneQuest2 setting were you wandered around a bleak wilderness inhabited by stone age hunters, dinosaurs and chaos monsters and took your rest in one of three citadels riddled with intrigue. I’ve played it briefly in its Games Workshop published hardcover of the watered down Avalon Hill version which was moved to an island called “Griffin Island”, and as a 40+ player freeform at Tentacles 2006 written and run by Simon Bray (one of the Co-authors of HBD). Its on my list of things to run again before I die. Its a classic go check out its Moon Design reprint.
Now Crucible of Dragons, pulls from the creative well that is Griffin Mtn but brings its own take.
The basic concept of the book is “Fantasy Pseudo-Hellenic Greeks on a monster infested island” or if you are more culture hip “Clark Ashton Smith meets Ray Harryhausen” 🙂
Its incredibly detailed and rich setting. It has a full Gazetteer, a complete city guide, details both VIP and everyday NPCs, sixteen new cults, ten organisations/factions. The game’s page on D101games.com gives a run down of all the content.
One of the things that really impressed me when the first draft hit my inbox, its not your typical “Elves n Orcs” fantasy. In fact there isn’t an Elf or Orc on the island. Dwarfs are there , for secret reasons I won’t go into here, but are re-skinned to a large degree to fit in with the culture and habitat of the island.
A race of evil reptilians know as the Dracorians fill the niche of orcs/goblins in a fearsome manner. Simon Bray has done a fine job here creating a truly nasty group of monsters.
Demons are also common in the Ancient and deserted ruins of civilisations prior to the current one. If you are looking for a comprehensive set of rules for demon creation for OpenQuest, Here be Dragons has them.
The humans on the island definitely have a culture that is loosely based on Hellenic Greek, but they are ruled by a great Dragon called “Flames of Purity”. You see the island’s creation myth has it being created from the skull of the Great World Dragon and Flames of Purity is its daughter, and after she defeated the Iron Colossus of the previous rulers of the capital city of Draxa (as depicted on the cover, see below) no one is arguing with her 😉
Its scalable and there’s enough going on to occupy Dirtcrawling starting characters looking for a gold piece or two, intrigue for wannabe movers and shakers and enough BIG challenges such as removing Flames of Purity from her throne to occupy characters who have grown to Epic status. A good 40 pages of the book is dedicated to full set piece adventures, detailed adventure locations and a campaign outline. This is the final piece of the puzzle that introduces new players and Games Masters to the setting and gets you up and running with the island as a Sandbox. Far too many supplements that say they are Sandbox, miss out this bit, and leave you scratching your head looking for an obvious starting point.
Overall its Densely packed book full of MGF (MEGA GAMING FUN!) that will give you years of enjoyment. If I had unlimited time and resources I’d do it as a big boxed game. Instead the authors have done a dam fine job of keeping the book within a manageable 140-150 page limit that I set them.
Its in it final stages of layout and I’m looking year end/beginning of Jan to get this one released.
Here’s Jon Hodgson’s fine cover if your imagination isn’t already flowing on this one:
Crucible of Dragons cover by Jon Hodgson
Like Monster Manuals?
Want the sequel to the seminal Out of the Pit?
Want another 250 Fighting Fantasy beasties straight out of the pages of the classic FF books?
250 original images from the likes of Russ Nicholson, John Blanche, Martin McKenna, John Sibbick, David Gallagher and Terry Oakes?
Then this my friend is your Kickstarter, already funded so completely no-risk.
Also Graham’s a good lad who ships quality product on time, with good communication along the way. I know this from the Blacksand KS earlier this year (which I must review at some point).
From the upcoming Here Be Dragons for OpenQuest by Simon Bray and Paul Mitchener, here is the setting’s Other World overview.
To the faithful of Pherae the gods exist both in their own world and in the mundane world at once. When gods manifest in the world of men they appear as thunderous voices, burning figures in the night, strange omens, maddening visions and creeping shadows. It is not unknown for gods to seek the companionship or even love of certain special mortals, the nymphs and demons of Pherae attest to these unions. The gods once relished in meddling in the affairs of mortals, but their powers are chained and weakened by humanity’s loss of faith.
Each god controls their own realms, Tyria rules her sky realm from a blinding golden palace, Gorga broods on her writhing throne in the underworld and Arton hunts the Wild Things in a forest beyond the edge of the world. Mortals can visit these places, either through invitation by the gods or through their own magic. These realms are dangerous and present challenges beyond the scope of all but the greatest heroes. There are sacred places, ancient temples, hidden caves and blessed grottos where the divide between the divine and mortal are thin. Sometimes people go in and are never seen again,but worse, sometimes things come out.
Many do not know that beyond the realm of myth and legend, beyond the gods and dragons themselves is a cold dark, lonely place, where hateful things watch the world with envy. Some know that these are the forgotten gods of the Ancients, waiting to return. Some call these things demons, they summon them for power, and these things are beyond the pale, monsters more fearful than the spawn of Hallucious and Gorga. These are the beings that Khata tried to train to dance to his merry tune, they are monstrous things which overthrew his Empire and devoured his very soul.
Aiming for a Dec/Jan release of Here Be Dragons, which I’m currently polishing up in layout 🙂
A small dirt poor village for your Crypts and Things game, from the upcoming adventure module UK-S2 The Dark Path.
Shek is a small agricultural village, whose residents cling to the Old Religion of Earth worship. They are used to the intervention of the spirit world in their daily lives, and dotted around the village are small little offering shrines to local spirits,such as the Wee Man, The Lady of the Trees, Oddkin the Bodkin and Wee Lass (no relation to Wee Man). These spirits provide protection from the extremes of the weather and ensures the health and vitality of the villagers, their livestock (mainly goats) and their crops. Priests who try to convert the villagers to their religion usually get tarred and feathered, and Sorcerers s are treated as if they are the most evil people on the planet.
Shek comprises of around 15 log cabins with thatched roofs, a big communal barn for livestock sits on the edge of the village, and big circular hall in the centre acts as a communal meeting place. For entertainment Shek folk drink Bog Beer (a dark almost black ale), take hallucinogenic mushrooms found locally in the Woods of Delirium and start random, but harmless fist fights (aka. “Good friendly violent fun”).
With the recent Bundle of Holding – “Old School Revival” Pdf bundle just gone, and what a fine thing it was, my mind could not help but think what would a UK version look like.
Remember this is pure fantasy on my part, and uses the idea that the UK OSR encompasses more than D&D.
The main bundle:
Advanced Fighting Fantasy Quick Start – Complete no-brainer this one.
Dragon Warriors, this is us brits taking the basic D&D idea, putting it through a folklore looking glass and coming up with something quite special and unique.
OpenQuest Basics – ok so I’ve not pulled this together yet, the link goes to OQ Deluxe (why don’t you check it out 😉 ) but a free low page count intro to D100 system you can’t go wrong.
A UK Old School primer – a selection of Coopdevil’s Fighting Fantasist articles about what the UK OSR is about 🙂
Oubliette Magazine issue #1 – because us Brits also do Fanzines too 😉
Crypts and Things – Blood of the Dragon A Swords and Sorcery sandbox!
Small but Viscous Dog – A B/X Warhammer hack by Chris Hogan.
As add ons:
Woodland Warriors – Simon Washbourne’s ( author of Barbarians of Lemuria) excellent child-friendly striped down d6 using version of Swords & Wizardry with Mice.
BRP Rome – OK published quite fittingly by an Italian company, but written by a Brit (Pete Nash) and would fit nicely alongside some of the historical setting pieces written in White Dwarf & Imagine magazine back in the day.
RuneQuest 6 – Its heritage may be Californian, but this implementation is pure Brit Old School ( remember us Brits owned RQ via Rune Rites in 80’s White Dwarf 😉 )
Anything I’ve missed out?
Sorcerer Under Mountain 