Original Settings for Legend (or Runequest)

[Lemnoc]

Have many people out there on the forums written up their own settings for this/these games? If so, what makes it different to 'generic' or 'tolkien-esque' fantasy that is mostly germanic or pseudo medieval? Or what appeals to people about particular settings that incorporate different ideas (like the Iron Kingdoms by Privateer Press)? Or do you go back to basics but do something familiar but different (Westeros from a Song of Ice and Fire comes to mind, medieval but low magic with plenty of character interaction)?

What has always leapt out to me about RQ and its derivatives is it seems deeply, satisfyingly rooted in late Bronze Age, sword and sandals, sensibilities. Oh, it can be other things, just as D&D doesn't necessarily have to be medieval in flavor, but that seems its resonant default setting.

One of Leiber's earliest Mouser stories, evidently written even before he had settled on the Nehwon setting, was set in Tyre in the era of the Diadochi just after the death of Alexander, with Rome a distant and struggling backwater. That struck me as a kickass setting, where you have a universal currency and language, but a whole bunch of rival splinter empires, rich unconquered cultures, gleaming cities of fantastic scale and splendor, and a very large unexplored and unknown world. The fact that Leiber set his story generically there indicates just how compatible it is with his flavor of swords and sorcery. I was also highly intrigued by AH's introduction of Fantasy Earth as alternative to Glorantha, although I wasn't in love with all of its parts.

RQ/Legend seems the perfect ruleset for the Diadochi era, particularly in a low (cinematic) magic setting where the combat system gives back to the players plenty of the grit and glamor as you deny them by being parsimonious with spells and spellcasters (and elves and orcs, and other Tolkienesque accoutrements). Reasonable limits on weapon types and combat styles can really help enforce/enhance the flavor.

Paul Elliott's Warlords of Alexander is just a fantastic introduction to this iconic setting, as is Mongoose's tome on Empires. Belying its specificity, Mongoose's Cults of Glorantha is a surprisingly excellent gem mine of easily adaptable and transferrable cults, brotherhoods and occult schools to this setting... and if you're gonna scale down the magic, you really need to beef up the associations that can render aid.

If you get a chance, read the opening chapter of “Cleopatra: A Life” by Stacy Schiff for an excellent and wondrous description of Alexandria at its height of splendor. Babylon awaits....

In play, it's very much Conan.

 

[warlock1971]

Tells me the file is not available.

Here is the link, I uploaded the file again:
http://www.4shared.com/account/dir/r2TCg2sF/_online.html?&rnd=84

 

[GamerDude]

Well, I have a day job (Engineer) and a moonlighting job (writing Traveller stuff for a 3rd party publisher) and a wife (most important), so adding a Legend line to my schedule would be difficult.

Since I've 'blown' all my chances to write Traveller stuff for anyone 3rd party or otherwise, and am retired on disability, I guess I should take a hand at turning one or more of my various settings into something at least for free...

But I'm not very sure about that based on feedback, rather strong ugly feedback from certain.. um.. "individuals" on these forums.

 

[Vile]

Tells me the file is not available.

Here is the link, I uploaded the file again: http://www.4shared.com/account/dir/r2TCg2sF/_online.html?&rnd=84

It's also hosted at BRP Central, and it's one of the more popular downloads:

Warlords of Alexander

 

[Vile]

I have been writing up a good bit of background lately for my own Fantasy RPG setting. I am pretty happy with how it has turned out, and dream one day to put it all in a big document, possibly publish it, but that is a pipe dream.

I've always been a little afraid to post my material online, thinking ideas might be stolen, or nobody will reply to a thread based on the subject matter that is important to me in my writing, or that there will be very negative feedback.

Have many people out there on the forums written up their own settings for this/these games? If so, what makes it different to 'generic' or 'tolkien-esque' fantasy that is mostly germanic or pseudo medieval? Or what appeals to people about particular settings that incorporate different ideas (like the Iron Kingdoms by Privateer Press)? Or do you go back to basics but do something familiar but different (Westeros from a Song of Ice and Fire comes to mind, medieval but low magic with plenty of character interaction)?

You've got to be willing to deal with criticism as well as praise when posting your material online (indifference, luckily, is hard to detect). But you won't know until you try. As for ideas being stolen - well, I doubt there's much in this genre that is entirely original, so I wouldn't worry.

I have found D100 systems to be most flexible, and used them for all kinds of settings including Aftermath, Aliens, Belgariad, Biggles, Bladerunner, Caribbean Pirates, Conan, Cthulhu, Cyberpunk, Domitian Rome, Fantasy Japan, Glorantha, Greyhawk, Indonesian Pirates, Karl May, Kelewan, Lankhmar, Mad Max, Middle Earth, Mythago Wood, Plague of Demons, Shadowrun, Solar System hard SF, Star Wars, Time Tunnel, Traveller OTU, Vietnam and World War I & II, off the top of my head. I know Glorantha and the classical look associated with it has tended to link RuneQuest and its derivatives with that sort of setting, but it really is much more versatile than that.

I think RPG settings may have more appeal to the masses if they incorporate familiar elements, like humans and real world physics (even if severely bent by the likes of monsters and magic). I have found players of different groups to have different levels of tolerance for the strange and unusual, but on the whole it seems people are more comfortable with Middle Earth than Tekumel.

That said, I strongly feel that settings must be unique in some notable way if they're to stand out. Ice and Fire may be very well as a novel because it's so well written, but the setting is not that amazing.

 

[torus]

On the subject of Tolkien-like settings, here's a free BRP-based game set in Middle-earth itself, which people may not have seen: http://new.merp.com/Members/Ardamir/website. Material in there could be pretty easily converted to Legend.