:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.: : Earth's Dreamlands : Info on: RPG's, :(313)558-5024 : area code : :RPGNet World HQ & Archive: Drugs, Industrial :(313)558-5517 : changes to : : 1000's of text files : music, Fiction, :InterNet : (810) after : : No Elite / No porn : HomeBrew Beer. :rpgnet@aol.com: Dec 1,1993 : :.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.: Chaosium Digest Volume 1, Number 8 Date: Sunday, March 7, 1993 Number: 1 of 2 Contents: Elric! and the Books (Liam Routt) ELRIC! Pendragon Rule Modifications (Eric Rowe) PENDRAGON Greg Stafford Interview (John Hughes) MISC -------------------- From: lro@melb.bull.oz.au (Liam Routt) Subject: Elric! and the Books In-reply-to: V1.7 Comments on the Elric! Preview System: Elric! First of all, I should admit that I have only read one Elric related book, "Stormbringer," and that I cannot remember it clearly enough to make any statements about the genre. On the other hand, I talk regularly with the editor for Stormbringer/Elric! and some of the prime writers (in particular Richard Watts, who did a lot of work on Sorcerers of Pan Tang and other recent books). Despite Ken St. Andre's sterling work on Stormbringer, I get the impression that the game really missed a lot of the world of Elric. Those involved with writing material for the game have commented that a lot of the material presented in the rules simply does not gel with any kind of close reading of the books. I know that they have approached the writing of the new rules with the aim of starting from the books to a much greater extent. They have looked at the current rules and their relation to the literature, and have attempted to improve on it. I guess it is important to indicate here that as far as I am aware, the aim for the new Elric! rules was not to create a RQ-like game with the same setting, but to create a better reflection of the Elric world... Here are some details on magic from a draft of the Elric! rules: The first thing that I noticed is that there is a minimum POW 16 requirement for people to be able to use magic. From the way it is written, that seems to indicate that with less than POW 16 one cannot cast any magic at all... Given the chracter generation (which is based on 2D6+6 rolls), that would mean that a large number of characters would not be able to use any magic at all. In the background section, each suggested occupation has been described with a set of three possibly appropriate spells (the third one of which seems to almost always be "another spell chosen as a personal speciality"). They point out, however, that magic is seen as a tie to the reign of the Melniboneans, and as such is a chaotic taint that repulses much of society. You gain a Chaos point for each spell you take in your background, and you should justify it. It seems pretty clear that spells are not required, or even intended for use by most characters. Back to the Magic section. There are four types of magic described, and hints that there could easily be other types of magic (for example "to the East") that have not been detailed. The four types are: spells, summonings, invocations and enchantments. Spells are related to those times when minor magics are required that do not call upon the powers of a greater being. There is a definite similarity between them and the Battle Magic of RuneQuest. However they do have a better set of atmospheric descriptions and uses, it seems (Buzzard Eyes, Flames of Kakatal, Liken Shape, Rat Vision, are some examples of names that are more interesting than Disruption, Healing and Shield). Summonings are powerful things, it would seem. The rules state that such activities should be significant and potentially dangerous - the rules are provided precisely so that people can play out the whole process and by so doing enhance the flavour of the game. Preparing, defining the demon, negotiating, binding, dismissing, rebinding, the needs of demons, some breeds, abilities, elementals, beast lords, and discussions of True Names and the like are all included. I do not know to what extent these things differ from the Stormbringer rules, but on a preliminary reading they seem to do a good job of describing the whole process in a way that would be both playable and atmospheric. This is not a minor part of the rules. Invocations do not get as much space as the prior two types of magic (at least not in this draft). The rules are described very much through their relation to the stories; the times when Elric used invocations rather than summoning are described, and the limits of such invocations are indicated in an imprecise, andecdotal way. While this does provide a handy framework, I expect that the final rules will contain more system related details (like the POW cost and chances of success). Still, in a relatively small space they have succeeded, for me, in making invocations seem different and interesting. They are like spells in that they are minor, and do not call upon a creature to manifest itself, however their abilities are more tied to the being invoked, and there is a direct link or tie that is established to the being. That can be dangerous... Enchantments are given even less space in this draft. Basically, things can have powerful magics placed into them, freeing the user from the knowledge of the magic. They indicate that enchanted items should be one-of-a-kind things with special abilities. This differs from the mass-production rules for enchanting that many games have ("Let's put another 2 points of armour and a fireblade in this..."), but does move the burden onto the GameMaster or scenario writer. There is also a section of rumored items that are not described in the draft, but probably will be in the final manuscript (although the items might be simply described in general, rather than with system details). Well, that's all that I can glean, with a cursory glance, from the magic rules as described in this draft. I stress again that this information is all from a draft, and has been (mis)interpreted by me. I do not purport to know what I am talking about, or the intentions of the designers here. But, if you have any other questions I can certainly try to find the answers (or ask someone who would know)... Just a final note. Even in draft form I am impressed by the game that they are trying to create. From what I read of the Stormbringer rules, the Elric rules are set to be a lot more closely tied to the stories and to a certain sort of "mature" roleplaying. There is less of a feel of cheap mechanics in the draft than I might have expected. Maybe that is a function of the fairly terse presentation, or maybe it is an indication of the overall feel of the game. They do not cop-out by simply providing a heap of background and no system, but I think that they avoid making they system a cheap excuse for not following the tone of the books... But maybe I'm just talking through the purple side of my brain! Liam Routt Darcsyde Productions -------------------- From: Eric Rowe Subject: Pendragon Rule Modifications System: Pendragon Here are the Pendragon rule changes for 3rd edition we are currently using in our game as well as the reasons we made them. I don't know which of these will be changed when 4th ed comes out. Hopefully, I will also have a brief review of the upcoming magic system in a week or two. When taking damage (real or rebated) equal or greater than your size while on a mount the roll required is Horsemanship or Dex, whichever is least. Basically it just seemed silly that your horsemanship had no affect on your ability to stay on a horse. The effect of passions has been reduced to a success giving +5 and a critical giving +10 to the applied trait or skill. We did this because after the players lived for a while they would end up with fairly high weapon skills and loyalty lords. As we often ran battles for that lord, the players would constantly succeed in their passion rolls then walk through each battle criticalling opponents every other blow. It seemed a bit extreme. We try to have passion success and criticals role-played out more than used just for the bonus. All out defense and berserker attacks. In both cases we have reduced the bonuses to +5 for the same reason we reduced passions. Too many crits. Fumbles no longer occur on a 20. They occur when a 1 is rolled followed by another roll greater than 1/2 the skill in use. This removed the problem we had with 20 being the 'magic number' wherein suddenly not only could you never fail to get up your shield, but also you could never fumble. The second roll basically means the higher the skill, the less the chance of a fumble. This is oppossed to the old system where the skill level had no effect until 20 when all chance of a fumble suddenly disappeared. The logic falls apart a bit at low skill levels like 1, but that has never bothered us the way the 20 problem did. When both parties in a combat critical the higher one is applied, but only at the normal success level. Here, we disliked the fact you could critically succeed, but if your opponent did even one better you were dead meat. A critical should help your defense as well and this change does that. Optional lance rules: These are some rules we only use for special jousts like tournament, not in regular battles and combats. * If you just wish to remain on your horse you may elect not to attack and concentrate on remaining mounted. The effect of this is to make the damage needed to force a DEX roll go from equal to size to equal to size times 1.5. Automatic falling then occurs at size times 3. * Chest aiming. Instead of just trying to hit the shield and bump off your opponent you are trying to seriously maim them. Reduce your skill by 5, but if you win the dice resolution, they do not get their shield even if they succeeded on their skill. * Head aiming. For the really mean but skilled you can reduce your skill by 10 and aim for the head. If the dice resolution is in your favor not only does your opponent not get his shield, but must make a roll to remain horsed if damage is less than his size. Damage equal or greater than size means automatic falling. Lastly, we always allow voluntary reduction in skill or number of dice used before the roll is made in any skill. Does anyone have any other modifications or comments on these? eric -------------------- From: jph613@cscgpo.anu.edu.au (John P Hughes) Subject: Greg Stafford Interview System: Misc Greg Stafford visited Australia in October 1992, at the invitation of Australian roleplayers. He attended the Necronomicon roleplaying convention in Sydney, and spent time with roleplayers in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne. A fun time was had by all. I did this interview with Greg in Canberra to further a phone interview for the Australian Realms roleplaying magazine. A version of the interview appeared in Australian Realms for December 1992. It should be of interest to Net readers as it highlights some of Greg's future directions. John Hughes john.hughes@anu.edu.au Q: How have you enjoyed your trip to Australia so far? Wonderful. I love to travel, especially to new and exotic places, and to meet the people who play my games. Australia is quite exotic in its flora and fauna, and there has been no shortage of fans. And I certainly never thought that I could get so close to a kangaroo as I did yesterday. Q: Australians have developed new types of gaming, including freeforms and multiforms [a variation on live action roleplaying]. Have you played any, and what do you think? I would agree that you've got something new here, and I think it is wonderful. I played in a couple of multiform (systemless) games at Necronomicon, and in an eighty-five person freeform in England a few months ago [Home of the Bold, a RQ freeform depicting the fall of Boldhome]. I think it is great. The games-without-rules type of interaction is a great format for storytelling, which is the type of roleplaying game I am exploring. It allows for a very wide range of interaction which is not addressed in any of the rules-driven games. Q: What is next for Chaosium? We will continue to do what we have been doing, and will release a number of modules and scenarios for Call of Cthulhu, Pendragon, and for the Stormbringer universe. We plan to release a new edition of the Stormbringer rules, too. We feel the old edition is very poorly written and many of the concepts a bit outdated now. Parts of the character generation are, ummm, difficult. It is full of RuneQuest artefacts which are really not necessary. So in December or January we will release Elric, the Roleplaying Game, which will fix all of those problems. We are also going to publish some books. The first will be King of Sartar, five Gloranthan documents that I have been using as my source material for RuneQuest and my new game. It contains almost everything that I have compiled about the kingdom of Sartar and other Dragon Pass lands and peoples. If it sells well, we will follow it with material on the Lunar Empire, and then others. We are also going to release a card game called CREDO. It is not roleplaying, and I am not sure if it will even appeal to the usual roleplaying market. Its subject is the early Christian church's compilation of dogma to create the modern Christian faith. It is historically accurate, which is to say, spiritually cynical, and so provides great entertainment for the players. Q: You mentioned your new game. Can you tell us more about it? Sure. It starts with King of Sartar, which is the "historical imperative" of Dragon Pass. This means that it relates the campaign events and history, providing that the players do not do anything major to change events. To compare it with Pendragon, The Boy King is the historical imperative for King Arthur's reign. Next, we hope to publish a new game system called The Epic System. At the moment the candidate for this looks to be the submission by a man named Greg Maples, who has been working on it for about eight years. It is a Macro-system, unlike anything which has come before. It allows the players to quantify and therefore recognise their relationships with their society, gods, and cosmos. It is not concerned with the minute details of an individual, like RuneQuest is. Test-players have commented that it could be used with Call of Cthulhu or even AD&D. It will certainly be compatible with RuneQuest, with some adjustments. Then I would like to publish Glorantha: the Game. This will use the appropriate parts of The Epic System to allow players to engage in mythical interactions with the world of Glorantha in a way which I have been envisioning for years, but which has been unobtainable due to lack of a proper game system for it. I wish it to be primarily a storytelling game, with a strong game system hidden behind it to support play, and be brought forward when necessary to resolve some conflict. With those components, players should be able to engage in the full glory and massive destruction of the Hero Wars, and create their own version of Gloranthan history to suit themselves and their players. And, of course, we will support it with scenarios and background. Q: What about RuneQuest? I am pleased to say that RuneQuest is back on track. Avalon Hill and I have worked out a new relationship which satisfies both of us, and they have hired Ken Rolston to edit the line. Ken is an old RuneQuest and Glorantha fan, and even contributed to RQ3. He has been a successful scenario writer; he has published scenarios for Paranoia, Ghostbusters, and AD&D, plus maybe some others. He is a professional, with drive. He has already gotten Melbourne designer Michael O'Brien's Sun County out, and has prepared River of Cradles for release soon. Avalon Hill plans to release four supplements per year, and I am confident that they will follow that schedule. Q: What is your part in this? We are responsible for approving or disapproving the submitted material. We will also release a fair amount of RQ material which has been written, but not published, such as the many cult write ups which we have had sitting around for years. Q: If someone has RQ material to submit, should they send it to you? No, send it to Ken. Q: What if they have questions concerning Glorantha? Should they ask you? No. I am afraid that I can not spend my time answering individual questions. I did it in the past and I never got any work done. If someone has Gloranthan material and ideas, write it up and send it to Ken. If he likes it, he will pass it on to me. I regret the distancing that this makes between me and RQ writers, but I cannot find a reasonable alternative which allows me to get my work done. Q: I read in (another source) that you practice "neo-shamanism." Can you explain this? Sure. It has nothing to do with gaming. Neo-shamanism is a religious practice which is commonly found around the world in primitive cultures, generally to provide interaction with an animist universe. Animism is the belief that everything is alive, and that much of creation can be communicated with. It is very much a "green religion," an ancient Gaia-theory without science trying to rationalise it. I have spent much of my life trying to figure out what was going on around me, and discovered some time ago that not everyone saw things the same way that I do. I have been searching for meaning for this, and discovered that shamanic practices fulfil my needs. As a result, I have dedicated a part of my life to this practice, and to teaching it to others who ask. So I lead sweat-lodge ceremonies, which are an ancient form of prayer-meeting, which is sort of like a sacred sauna, and pilgrimages to sacred sites, and so on. I also am on the board of Shamans Drum magazine, which is a professional journal which looks at shamanic practices which still go on around the world. Q: Does this affect your outlook on gaming? Yes. It has provided me with the key to mythological understanding which gives my Gloranthan material the flavour which it has. However, the shamanic system in RQ is not really reflective of my practice, though. That is a game system. Q: If you could design a game on any subject, and were guaranteed a market, what game would you like to do? A very theoretical question. I guess it would be the Universal Transformation Game, which would immediately provide the players with the insights to bring some peace, contentment, and joy to the players and inspire them to game master it with others. It would educate people to their responsibilities in the world. It would appeal to conservatives and Republicans and promote values that would end the shameful and horrifying outlook of the American right-wing which believes that greed, war, racism, and imperialism are acceptable ways of life in the modern world. Q: Can you be less theoretical?? Well, I'll tell you what, guarantee me the market and I will make the game. But until then, I will continue to create fun and enjoyable games that provoke such idealistic thoughts in those of us already in the field, and which will allow me to feed and clothe my children. Q: Is there some subject or genre which you would like to write? OK, I'll stop fooling around for a second. I think I'd really like to do a Middle Earth storytelling game. Q: Is there any question which you would like to be asked but never are? Yes. "How much would you like this cheque to be for?" Q: I mean in a gaming interview? No. You have already addressed some interesting issues which no one else has. -------------------- The Chaosium Digest is a Discussion Forum for Chaosium Games which do not have another specific area for discussion. To submit an article, mail to: appel@erzo.berkeley.edu