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[Builder]

Hi All

What do people think of the people as possible settings for Legend?

All of them have rich and detailed settings and have sold well so have established fan bases.

Shannara by Terry Brooks
The Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind
The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini
The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan
Discworld by Terry Pratchet
The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
The Drenai Saga by David Gemmel.

 

[Rick]

Hi All

What do people think of the people as possible settings for Legend?

All of them have rich and detailed settings and have sold well so have established fan bases.

Shannara by Terry Brooks
The Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind
The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini
The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan
Discworld by Terry Pratchet
The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
The Drenai Saga by David Gemmel.

Interesting choice of series'. The Wheel of Time and Discworld already have RPG's - of the others; I'm not familiar with The Sword of Truth or The Inheritance Cycle, but the Drenai series would probably come the closest to a good Rpg. The Narnia series would be difficult to adapt, imho, due to the nature of the story set-up and Shannara I just don't think has enough meat on its' bones to do a good Rpg.

Perhaps you could also consider:
-The Elenium/Tamuli series by David Eddings.
-The Empire/Riftwar series' by Janny Wurts and Raymond E Feist.
-The Fortress series by CJ Cherryh.

Not to mention my all-time favourite, the 'Lord Darcy' series by Randall Garrett - which might make for an amazing alternative reality/magic and steam tech setting.

 

[Builder]

Interesting choice of series'. The Wheel of Time and Discworld already have RPG's - of the others; I'm not familiar with The Sword of Truth or The Inheritance Cycle, but the Drenai series would probably come the closest to a good Rpg. The Narnia series would be difficult to adapt, imho, due to the nature of the story set-up and Shannara I just don't think has enough meat on its' bones to do a good Rpg.

Perhaps you could also consider:
-The Elenium/Tamuli series by David Eddings.
-The Empire/Riftwar series' by Janny Wurts and Raymond E Feist.
-The Fortress series by CJ Cherryh.

Not to mention my all-time favourite, the 'Lord Darcy' series by Randall Garrett - which might make for an amazing alternative reality/magic and steam tech setting.

For these choices I went hunting for big names mainly that I thought could be done.

The Wheel of Times and Discworld have been done but I don't think they are very active atm which I why I put them in there. Both of them obviously have very good fan bases and plenty of room for an RPG. Very different toneally obviously.

Narnia I agree with, its in there because it is a big name.

Shannara I disagree on you with because there are now a lot of books in that series that flesh out the universe. Going from a dieing earth type of feeling onto a flying sailships powered by the sun setting.

The three you mentioned are all good choices as well.

The point of all of this is just to try and gauge people reactions and I think it would be really good for Mongoose to be doing more with Legend. Which could be a very nice base system for a range of fantasy rpg's.

 

[AndrewW]

-The Elenium/Tamuli series by David Eddings.

Don't forget his earlier ones (Belgariad / Mallorean), good bit of background material in those. Was a MUD based on the Belgariad once upon a time.

-The Empire/Riftwar series' by Janny Wurts and Raymond E Feist.

Started out as an RPG actually, though never anything big or popular. Few other related series as well. And a computer game.

 

[danskmacabre]

For a Low fantasy setting, The Drenai Saga by David Gemmel would be really nice.
but there's hardly any magic in it though, which some people would have a problem with.

 

[Rick]

Ok - something just occurred to me and I thought I'd just mention it. Gurps used to do a whole range of single source-books for their system; adapting it to the various slightly different settings, some generic, some based on other IP's. I was thinking that, following on from Vikings, Samurai, etc. would other generic single source-books be quite useful? It could also mean that Mongoose could do a few based on fictional settings as well (depending obviously on how expensive the rights were?). Or do you think a single setting with multiple source-books would be better?

 

[Builder]

Ok - something just occurred to me and I thought I'd just mention it. Gurps used to do a whole range of single source-books for their system; adapting it to the various slightly different settings, some generic, some based on other IP's. I was thinking that, following on from Vikings, Samurai, etc. would other generic single source-books be quite useful? It could also mean that Mongoose could do a few based on fictional settings as well (depending obviously on how expensive the rights were?). Or do you think a single setting with multiple source-books would be better?

As a roleplayer I prefer a main book for the setting and then source books.

However I don't think that works to well as a model to sell role play books that well if it goes on to far. I think what you need to aim to do is produce the main book for the setting, a couple of splat books and then a bunch of adventures and then move onto the next. Rince and repeat.

You can make a much tighter game line in this way that contradicts itself less and has a better narrative and more cohesive theme.

Also adventues books cost a lot less time and money to produce and have a cheaper price point but can provide a lot of value for players so they pick them up.

I think the best example of the model at the moment is fantasy flight games and the Dark Heresy, Rogue Trade ect lines.

Print on demand and use of Kickstarter for deluxe editions also reduces the companies risk until they know they have a model that works.

 

[p_Clapham]

I've been doing some work on a Wheel of Time adaptation for Legend. Using a variant of the Sorcery rules for the One Power.

 

[alex_greene]

I'd love a GM's guide to creating a setting.

Imagine a book that describes such things as dungeon building, terrain rules, tribe and nation building, and even the rudiments of designing fantasy languages to rival Dothraki. Something that could allow you to design anything from a currency to a dynastic bloodline, and integrate it with your existing world or to build your world completely with everything fitting together.

Now I'd buy that.

 

[p_Clapham]

I think a GM's guide in general would be very welcome. The basic book is very nice, but it feels a little incomplete for running a game.

 

[auyl]

I'd love a GM's guide to creating a setting.

Imagine a book that describes such things as dungeon building, terrain rules, tribe and nation building, and even the rudiments of designing fantasy languages to rival Dothraki. Something that could allow you to design anything from a currency to a dynastic bloodline, and integrate it with your existing world or to build your world completely with everything fitting together.

Now I'd buy that.

I'd be with you on this one. All the guides that people (including writers!) can use to help build worlds and build them coherently is always appreciated.

 

[p_Clapham]

I think an ideal GM's guide would have a guide to creating several different kinds of settings: Fantasy, Historical, Modern age, and Science Fiction. It would provide skills, professions, and equipment for those settings. Maybe some new "magic", aka psychic powers.

I would also like to see a guide for putting NPCs together. I threw together this rough guide for my own games.

Underling – 75 points in attributes and skills
Henchmen – 80 points in attributes, 100 points in skills
Character – 100 points in attributes, 150 points in skills
Experienced character – 120 points in attributes, 200 points in skills