A quick post to say thank you for the kind comments about OpenQuest, coming off the back of me saying I was considering giving it up at the beginning of the year. Its given me a fresh impetus with the game and taken me off in some interesting directions. I’ve now got a small pile of stuff I want to work on, and its just a matter of choosing which projects to work on first 🙂
More mulling over, and some firm writing to be done before I announce anything coming out of this 🙂
Well I’m busy fighting off the winter blues. The tail end of my illness just before xmas ( I had a serious skin infection which had me laid off for a couple of weeks ) is still lingering, plus we have wonderful days like yesterday where the sun briefly shone through thick mist! So safe to say my mood is on the side of murderous on most days, which is means the game is afoot to bring cheer to my strained psyche on a daily basis. Between my own positive thinking and the innate cheer of my family I’m more than winning 🙂
One source of cheer to me is that my muse for OpenQuest has returned. I think I scared it away with big unrealistic plans post release of the book, and the seemingly never ending typo hunt end of 2009 that lasted until July’s Final edition last year. At the beginning of this year I was of the opinion that I was going to let it quietly die off and move onto other projects and let other people carry the torch. I said as much to a publisher friend and my muse must have heard me. The other day it came back with a vengence and I’ve been quite happily writing an adventure (which is what I like doing best alongside light supporting backgrounds) for OpenQuest with numerous ideas for more! Safe to say you’ll see more Adventure packs, either as quick straight to PDF mini-releases or shorter Print books, from me.
So that’s me getting over myself.
Meanwhile author Nathan Baron is putting on the finishing touches of Empires Rising.
Co-Authors Simon Bray and Paul Mitchener have just submitted the text for their sandbox adventure setting “Here Be Dragons”. If you have found memories of Griffin Mountain, this will press your buttons 🙂
Here’s the map of the setting by Simon.
Hi all,
Just got notification that there is 15% off Life and Death at Lulu.com until 15th January, use the code RESOLUTION305
http://www.lulu.com/product/13699506?cid=121810
Enjoy 😀
Time to blow my own trumpet here. My adventure/setting book for OpenQuest was released a couple of weeks ago.
So get a copy for Xmas, from
Print Lulu.com
Pdf Drivethrurpg.com
Oh and that nice man Georgie Racer has done a quick review of it. He’s very happy with it 🙂
Geordie Racer’s tiny review of Life and Death.
These were the two adventures (Dead Pot Country and Life and Death) that I used to playtest OpenQuest, and encapsulate everything I like about D100 games. Its very different to The Savage North, so if that didn’t ring your bells hopefully this will.
I’ll post about the future of OpenQuest in a big end of year round up, but just to let you know Life and Death is definitely not the end of the line. Empires Rising is being laid out as we speak, Simon Bray & Paul Mitchener are working on the Draconic themed “Here be Dragons”, and I’ve got an assortment of OQ adventures I need to work out what to do with. Also I’ve got my next OQ adventure/setting book to work on. If you like gritty fantasy horror you’ll like what I have planned 😉
My soon to be released OpenQuest Adventure/setting book Life and Death, is meant to encapsulate what I think a good D100 adventure should have in it. This is from the introduction ot he book.
Both adventures seek to highlight the defining characteristics of an OpenQuest adventure, based upon the author’s experience of playing D100 games in one form or another for twenty years.
Monsters are characters too, with abilities and magic like the player characters and their own goals and motivations.
Treasure is often culturally significant as well as magically powerful.
Cultural detail is important. The adventure doesn’t take place in a social vacuum, the player characters start out in the fantasy equivalent of a Wild West town, travel to the adventure location and kill things and take their stuff. In OpenQuest those ‘things’ your players have just killed have friends and allies outside of the ‘dungeon’ that may take objection. The friendly town where the adventure starts and the players go to lick their wounds has its own laws and customs which affect how the local residents react.
Magic is an integral part of the world, which shapes and forms it. Even in a low magic world such as Shattered Lands, the existence of magic has profound effect on the everyday inhabitants beyond the local war wizard casting Ball of Fire.
Interaction with the world is not just about based around combat. Player characters have communication, knowledge and stealth skills plus magic spells as well as combat skills. Therefore player characters are better equipped to deal with a variety of situations and this scenario reflects that.
Finally here’s the cover by Jon Hodgson.
Originally posted over at UKRoleplayers.com where they’ve just discovered the joy of the Old School Renaissance, in this thread
Renaissance / Nostalgia / Whatever
I’ve followed the OSR with joy since Neil Ford introduced me to it a couple of years ago. Heck I even now own copies of the items of love and dedication that are OSRIC, Sword and Wizardry and Labyrinth Lord. The later is my retro-clone of choice and even got run at Furnace recently .
My interest in the OSR was intensified when people from that scene started mentioning my game OpenQuest (OQ)on their blogs, For example Akratisia’s excellent “Akratic Wizardry” blog has a series of posts about OQ. Mainly because not unnaturally people are saying OQ is a bit of a RQ retroclone. Part of me agrees with them, part of me doesn’s (see below)
Things I love about the OSR
The amazing labours of love books that are coming out of it -I’m bought “Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Role-Playing” for the amazing cover and the unique re-imagining of old D&D.
The fanzines – just looking at Fight ON! made me want to do The OpenQuester (originally named ‘Turn left’) for OpenQuest.
The forums/blogs where it’s obvious that people are playing these games with great love and more importantly FUN!
Things I’m not so sure about
The obvious retreading of old ground in some of the modules and really piss poor production values (Dark Dungeons I’m looking at you here – go to the trouble of recreating 300 odd pages of the Cyclopaedia and then fill it with really dank, dark horrible clip art, I’m out of here!)
Things I hate (when they occasionally rear their ugly head)
The obsessive fixation on getting the rules right.
The niggling when creators who are doing well move on from the happy clappy free/low cost model to a slightly higher priced but better for the author financially business model.
Is OQ the OSR RQ?
Part of me likes to think that OQ is a fast, easy to play, modern D100 system and others agree with me. Heck John Ossoway wouldn’t be writing River of Heaven and Rik Kershaw Moore The Company if they didn’t. But there’s also a part of me that says ‘Hell yes!’. The clue’s in the back cover 
One of my design goals for OQ was to make something that I could crack out the Gloranthan Classics and play with my kids (or interested kidults ) in my doting old age, with very little modification. If you are using definitions its ‘Tribute’ game to RQ2/3/Stormbringer 1-3, as well as being modern D100. OQ modules will reflect this diversity. The Savage North is very Old Skool, while the upcoming Life and Death is very modern story telling and Empire’s Rising reminds me of the RQ3 renaissance adventures.
The British OSR
What I’m having most fun with is looking back at the old British Roleplaying materials of the 80s; TSR UK modules, WHFRP 1st Ed, old White Dwarf and Imagine Magazines and off course the Fighting Fantasy books. There’s a strong arguement that the British OSR experience was fundamentally different because we were exposed to different influences;
http://fightingfantasist.blogspot.com/2 … -here.html
This is not just rosy nostalgia on my part. There’s a lot of really good practice in those old modules/books that’s worth looking at and bringing into my D101 games fantasy releases.
Inspired by this I’m going to be producing a series of modules under the banner of ‘Albion Adventures’.
You can read about my on going adventures in Old Skool land here on this blog.
The OpenQuester is an irregular D101 publication, supporting OpenQuest and its derived games (such as The Company and River of Heaven).
Issue 1 should be out by the end of this year in both print and pdf format. Price To be Confirmed.
Lined up for this issue.
“Balstan’s Gatehouse” by Newt Newport, an old skool adventure which pays homage to a certain
Alternative Character Generation methods. by Newt Newport, new rules for players and GMs who want random character generation in their games.
“Threat assessment” by Rik Kershaw Moore, an article from the incoming The Company game.
“Is OQ Oldschool?” by Newt Newtport an article summing up the points for and against.
“Step daughter” John Ossoway an article from the upcoming River of Heaven game.
“The Hangman’s Daughter” by Nathan Baron, an adventure set in the Empires Rising setting.
I feel like a proud Uncle, the first independently powered by OpenQuest game is out 🙂
Ladies and Gentlemen may I introduce you to The Age of Shadow, from Crooked Staff Productions
http://ageofshadow.freehostia.com
From the Game’s webpage
The Age of Shadow is a free role-playing game based upon the OpenQuest system (by Newt Newport of d101 games). As such the game uses a simple d100 rules mechanic to resolve tasks (i.e. roll 1d100 and compare it to the skill being used), and is set in a fantasy world of elves, men, and terrible foes.
Inspired by Tolkien’s Silmarillion, it has some cracking graphics and maps.
I recommend you check it out.
A new cover by the wonderful Jon Hodgeson. Bringing it in line with all the OpenQuest supplements, which have or will have covers by him.
Available now from Lulu (Print/Pdf) or DriveThruRPG.com (Pdf)
A modified version of his The Quest piece, paying tribute to OQ’s heritage 🙂
Sorcerer Under Mountain 