Elric & Legend

[@stroval]

okay a friends birthday is coming up fast. He's a huge fan of M.Moorcock, so I was thinking of buying the rulebook,which will serve a second purpose of preparing him for when we play Legend later on this year...

Only the site says MRQII is needed in order to run Elric. So without Runequest or Legend what good is that to him(apart from the fluff I guess) ?

I am now a bit torn. Should I buy the MRQII rulebook for him or the Legend one in order to run Elric?

From what I had seen in previous posts here, I had surmised(wrong?) that Elric is a standalone book that needs neither

Cheers

 

[strega]

Legend is MRQII with the Glorantha specific bits mostly filed off. If the book says MRQII required you can substitute Legend with no problems.

I expect that the Elric books gives you setting specific backgrounds and professions in place of the one sin Legend.

 

[Olaus Petrus]

Elric's core book has setting specific rules and background information, while MRQII or Legend core rules have the game system. Legend rules don't have stats for elementals (which MRQII rules have), but otherwise I would recommend updated Legend version of the rules.

 

[@stroval]

Thank you both.

I think I will get the setting book & maybe Legend or another supplement for now so he can start preparing as a GM.

btw is the Elric GM screen any good?

 

[Olaus Petrus]

Thank you both.

I think I will get the setting book & maybe Legend or another supplement for now so he can start preparing as a GM.

btw is the Elric GM screen any good?

GM screen has combat manoeuvres and setting specific charts. Most useful of the Elric supplements is Cults of the Young Kingdoms, because it has plenty of cults for players to join and many others which can be used as adversaries or allies. Cities of the Young Kingdoms: The South and Secrets of the Steppes are scenario books which give locations and adventure ideas. Both are well written, but not absolutely necessary. Standard Legend supplements, like Arms of Legend, can also be useful.

 

[danskmacabre]

I personally prefer the MRQ2 book to the Legend book.
It has a nicer index, the Elric book refers to the pages in MRQ2.
also as has been pointed out, the MRQ2 book has more content than the Legend book.

Also the MRQ2 book looks nicer and has a nicer cover AND it's bigger.

I did buy the Legend PDF and print copy too as it's conveniently small for reading on the and passing out to players to refer to.

 

[Olaus Petrus]

I personally prefer the MRQ2 book to the Legend book.
It has a nicer index, the Elric book refers to the pages in MRQ2.
also as has been pointed out, the MRQ2 book has more content than the Legend book.

Also the MRQ2 book looks nicer and has a nicer cover AND it's bigger.

I did buy the Legend PDF and print copy too as it's conveniently small for reading on the and passing out to players to refer to.

Benefits of the Legend version are that it has the latest version of the rules (there's some updates and clarifications) and for me the size of the Legend format books, which makes carrying them around much easier, is also a huge benefit.

 

[danskmacabre]

Benefits of the Legend version are that it has the latest version of the rules (there's some updates and clarifications) and for me the size of the Legend format books, which makes carrying them around much easier, is also a huge benefit.

Legend adds very little in the way of clarification and you can download all the updates anyway for MRQ2.
Charging got changed a fair bit, but it didn't improve it all all.
I think charging must be THE most houseruled part of the Legend/MRQ2 rules set, and no wonder.

 

[@stroval]

Valid points on Elric referencing MRQII...on the other hand: we ll be playing Legend in my group,the core of RQII is 40something pounds on amazon.co.uk while Legend is 9.99 from the official site here..

Hmm I dunno

 

[danskmacabre]

Valid points on Elric referencing MRQII...on the other hand: we ll be playing Legend in my group,the core of RQII is 40something pounds on amazon.co.uk while Legend is 9.99 from the official site here..

Hmm I dunno

I'm only referring to Elric and MRQ2. if you're only playing Legend then yes it makes sense to not bother with MRQ2.
But the OP was asking about Elric and MRQ2/Legend, so I was answering that question really.

Even then there's not really that much in it anyway, I just have a personal preference for MRQ2 for my above reasons. Legend is perfectly useable with Elric.

 

[@stroval]

Valid points on Elric referencing MRQII...on the other hand: we ll be playing Legend in my group,the core of RQII is 40something pounds on amazon.co.uk while Legend is 9.99 from the official site here..

Hmm I dunno

I'm only referring to Elric and MRQ2. if you're only playing Legend then yes it makes sense to not bother with MRQ2.
But the OP was asking about Elric and MRQ2/Legend, so I was answering that question really.

Even then there's not really that much in it anyway, I just have a personal preference for MRQ2 for my above reasons. Legend is perfectly useable with Elric.

I guess a pdf of MRQ2 in conjunction with the Legend rulebook and the Elric book would be a prudent way of approach

 

[DamonJynx]

Valid points on Elric referencing MRQII...on the other hand: we ll be playing Legend in my group,the core of RQII is 40something pounds on amazon.co.uk while Legend is 9.99 from the official site here..

Hmm I dunno

I'm only referring to Elric and MRQ2. if you're only playing Legend then yes it makes sense to not bother with MRQ2.
But the OP was asking about Elric and MRQ2/Legend, so I was answering that question really.

Even then there's not really that much in it anyway, I just have a personal preference for MRQ2 for my above reasons. Legend is perfectly useable with Elric.

I guess a pdf of MRQ2 in conjunction with the Legend rulebook and the Elric book would be a prudent way of approach

Personally, I wouldn't bother. Just use what you have. If you have neither, go with Legend. There is not that much of a differencE and for the extra cash....

 

[danskmacabre]

Personally, I wouldn't bother. Just use what you have. If you have neither, go with Legend. There is not that much of a difference and for the extra cash....

I picked up the Legend hardcopy at Dragonmeet in the UK a couple of years back for a tenner, more on a whim than anything else, although it was useful to have around in Elric session in addition to the MRQ2 books.

I dunno if the Legend core rules are still $1 in PDF format, if they are it's well worth it if you have a tablet handy.

 

[Prime_Evil]

I dunno if the Legend core rules are still $1 in PDF format, if they are it's well worth it if you have a tablet handy.

I've got a Nexus 7 and use it to carry around a complete collection of the Legend rulebooks, plus RQ 6, OpenQuest, BRP, and Call of Cthulhu. It's changed the way that I consume gaming material, since I don't have much room at home for many additional physical books at home

 

[@stroval]

Personally, I wouldn't bother. Just use what you have. If you have neither, go with Legend. There is not that much of a difference and for the extra cash....

I picked up the Legend hardcopy at Dragonmeet in the UK a couple of years back for a tenner, more on a whim than anything else, although it was useful to have around in Elric session in addition to the MRQ2 books.

I dunno if the Legend core rules are still $1 in PDF format, if they are it's well worth it if you have a tablet handy.

I have the hardcopy(bought from the Mongoose site) and I also bought the pdf from drivethrurpg

two months ago or so. It was 1$ then, so I reckon it still is

My friend also bought it(I'll have to ask him for how much or recheck the site) a while after I wrote the OP... so I bought the Elric book for him and I might buy a pdf of RQII if its cheap and we are set I believe

 

[havercake lad]

There is also some Elric RPG material by various contributors in Signs and Portents. When Talons of Winter gets published it should provide a full 'sandbox' campaign which utilizes Secrets of the Steppes.