Spider God's Bride: where are the cultural backgrounds?

[rabindranath72]

Hi all,
so months after buying the pdfs (Bride and Citdael), I managed to sit and read and...well apparently there's no way to create characters for this setting, as we only get the decriptions of the races, but ZERO information about the cultural backgrounds. So how is one supposed to roll a character here? Some backgrounds can be inferred based on the racial descriptions, but others, not so easily. Is there an errata around?

Thanks,
Antonio

 

[The Wolf]

The races side of things wasn't something I was asked to work on/fix with SGB otherwise it would have been different.

So you're probably looking for something like:

Using the core rules cultures, of Barbarian, Civilised, Primitive and Nomad along with the Xoth ones of - Decadent, Degenerate, Enlightened.

Azimbans: Primitive or Barbarian

Bhangari: Civilised

Djaka: Primitive

Ghazorites: Civilised

Ikunas: Primitive or Degenerate

Jairanians: Civilised

Khazistanis: Nomad or Civilised

Khazrajites: Nomad

Khoran: Civilised or Decadent (pirates can be pretty decadent)

Kuthan (halfbreed): Decadent

Kuthan (pureblood): Decadent

Lamuran: Degenerate

Mazanians: Decadent or Primitive (depends how you want to play it)

Nabastisseans: Civilised

Ptahaanans: Decadent or Civilised (I would play it the former, due to their Atlantis-like civilisation falling and failing)

Shomas: Nomad or Civilised (they tend to be both)

Susrhanites: Civilised

Taikangians: Civilised

Taraamites: Civilised

Tharag Thulans: Barbarian

Yar-Ammonites: Decadent or Degenerate (depending on how you see Yar-Ammon)

Zadjites: Civilised

Zorabi: Nomad since they're raiders and skirmishers that do not have massive cities.

 

[rabindranath72]

Thanks Wolf! Much appreciated!
What I can't understand is how it is possible you WEREN'T asked about these things! They are crucial; effectively you can't build a character without these information. The most interesting roleplaying aspect of RQII is the emphasis on cultures, and Xoth is so rich with cultures, that it really makes no sense NOT to have this information.

 

[The Wolf]

I was the last writer to work on the book, the whole thing was pretty much a mess and a lot of the d20 to Legend conversion was done using d20 to RuneQuest(II), so it was missing a ton of things that I had to fix. If you dig around the board you might see the massive thread I posted up on what I had to do to get SGB into a state where it could be published.

Many of the Combat Styles for example, just didn't exist in the previous iteration. The magic was completely wrong.

I never actually saw the Legend version of the race text, so I pretty much assumed that it must be A-OK at the time. The d20 document for Xoth has the race rules baked in.

I focussed on everything else that needed doing without knowing that essentially there was a very important bit missing.

Consider this my official errata for the book though

 

[Bifford]

Now, if there is anything else missing we could dig into it, get some official answers from you, Wolf, and make a proper job on an errata! D

But well done on that list - I still havn't managed to read the books, but that does seem to be a basic requirement! lol But hey, at least we now have them! I hope the OP is happier with his purchase now!

 

[The Wolf]

So do I, since I felt that SGB was a pretty good book with lots of new/useful/interesting info packed in there - including a take on other realms/worlds and demonology etc.

To miss out the culture info though, that's something I'd have fixed in a heartbeat on my original writeup if I'd actually have known about it.

 

[Bifford]

To miss out the culture info though, that's something I'd have fixed in a heartbeat on my original writeup if I'd actually have known about it.

Will Matthew let you go back and check the entire book for things like this? Maybe then an updated PDF followed by a 2nd print run, could be made? I know that would effectively be doing extra work for no extra money (apart from new sales of the pdf) but I think everyone would feel better about it.

I'd like to buy the dead-tree version at some time so it would be good to have this and other additions/addendums built in!

 

[The Wolf]

I could probably format my list of cultures for inclusion in the pdf of SGB.

 

[The Wolf]

I've sent off a little something to Matt re: cultures.

 

[Bifford]

I've sent off a little something to Matt re: cultures.

:lol:

 

[The Wolf]

:mrgreen: that's all I can really reply to that

 

[The Wolf]

By the way, if someone over at the Basic RPG Legend forum can convey the following based on this post, I want to clear something up.

nclarke posted, "You could check over at MGP but IIRC the conversion was done by someone unfamiliar with the Legend system and it was his first conversion to Legend to boot. I suspect that it will not get an update as MGP are a little slapdash in correcting the numerous errata found in their products."

Spider God's Bride was converted by several authors, including someone who used RQ rules (not even RQ II) in many cases - I was brought onto the project by Matthew to fix the book's most glaring errors and problems.

If nclarke takes the time to look through the Mongoose forums posts I made on the conversion, I opted for an extremely detailed fan-driven fix for the book and took aboard several ideas posited by the Legend Mongoose community. So he's partly right in saying one of the authors involved wasn't familiar with Legend.

I am though, or familiar enough to be able to work with it and produce things like Spider God's Bride 2 and 3 after fixing SGB itself.

I've also written a list of those cultures as a fix, for Matt, it wouldn't be hard to put them in the pdf.

Darren

 

[soltakss]

Don't take forum comments personally.

You are doing a good job with these, so carry on doing what you are doing.

It is difficult taking over when someone has made a mess, or done something that people don't like, especially as it isn't always clear that you weren't the original author. That's the problem with Logon names and is why I always include my real name in my signature, so there is no confusion.

 

[The Wolf]

Aye. Thanks, this was more a: clear things up, and avoid confusion kind of post. It is extremely difficult coming in and basically troubleshooting, re-writing.

 

[Cain - Rpg.Org]

Hi !

Where can I find info on the Decadent, Degenerate and Enlightened cultures ? Are these in Citadel ?

I'm ready to start a new campaign on the world of Xoth, based on Spider God's Bride.

Thanks.

Regards,
Zoltan

 

[The Wolf]

I believe you can find them in Song of the Beast Gods, and Citadel. Cheers!

 

[Cain - Rpg.Org]

Thanks, I found them in the Song of the Beast Gods.

 

[Prime_Evil]

I just realized that the maths behind the new cultural backgrounds on p37 of the Song of the Beast Gods is out of sync with those presented in the Core Rulebook.

Here's a revised version of the Swords and Sorcery cultural backgrounds for those who would like them balanced against the cultural backgrounds from the Core Rulebook. To some extent, these are based upon my own preferences - some of them have skills marked with n asterisk that were originally presented on these messageboards and subsequently included in the Sheoloth book:

Enlightened

Common Skill Bonuses: +30% to Culture (Own) and Lore (Regional). In addition, Enlightened Adventurers also receive +25% to any two of the following skills: Evaluate, Influence or Insight.

Combat Styles: Enlightened Adventurers choose one Combat Style from the following list and gain a +10% bonus: 2H spear, 2H sword, bow, crossbow, dagger, polearm, rapier, spear and shield, spear, sword and shield.

Advanced Skills: All Enlightened Adventurers receive the following Advanced Skills: Courtesy and Language (Native) +50% In addition, Enlightened Adventurers may choose two additional Advanced Skills from the following list: Art (any), Craft (any), Engineering, Language (any), Lore (Astronomy), Lore (History), Lore (Multiverse), Lore (Philosophy), Mechanisms, Play Instrument, Style*

Decadent

Common Skill Bonuses: +30% to Culture (Own) and Lore (Regional). In addition, Decadent Adventurers also receive +20% to Dance and either Sleight orStealth, as well at +10% to Resilience

Combat Styles: Decadent Adventurers choose one Combat Style from the following list and gain a +10% bonus: 2H spear, 2H sword, bow, crossbow, dagger, polearm, rapier, spear and shield, spear, sword and shield.

Advanced Skills: All Decadent Adventurers receive the following Advanced Skills: Courtesy and Language (Native) +50%. In addition, Decadent Adventurers receive Seduction and one additional Advanced Skill from the following list: Art (any), Commerce, Craft (any), Intimidation*, Intrigue*, Language (any), Lore (Demonology), Lore (Poisons), Lore (Multiverse), Play Instrument, Streetwise, Style*


Degenerate

Common Skill Bonuses: +30% to Culture (Own) and Lore (Regional). In addition, Degenerate Adventurers also receive +20% to Persistence as well as +10% to Brawn and Resilience.

Combat Styles: Degenerate Adventurers choose two Combat Styles from the following list and gain a +10% bonus with each: 2H spear, 2H sword, bow, crossbow, dagger, polearm, rapier, spear and shield, spear, sword and shield.

Advanced Skills: All Degenerate Adventurers receive the following Advanced Skills: Language (Native) +50% and either Intrigue* or Intimidation*. In addition, Decadent Adventurers receive two additional Advanced Skill from the following list: Art (any), Craft (any), Language (any), Lore (Demonology), Lore (Poisons), Mechanisms, Play Instrument, Streetwise, Style*

And finally, here is a new cultural background suitable for Swords and Sorcery settings

Bestial

Common Skill Bonuses: +30% to Culture (Own) and Lore (Regional). In addition, Bestial Adventurers also receive +20% to Resilience as well as +10% to Brawn and Athletics or Stealth .

Combat Styles: Bestial Adventurers choose two Combat Styles from the following list and gain a +10% bonus with each of them: 1H Axe, 1H Hammer, 1H Spear, 2H Hammer, Blowgun, Bow, Dagger, Sling, Spear and Shield.

Advanced Skills: All Bestial Adventurers receive the following Advanced Skills: Language (Native) +50%, Survival, Track. In addition, Adventurers receive one additional Advanced Skill from the following list: Intimidation*, Healing, Lore (Herbalism), Lore (Nature).

If anyone is interested, I'll also post my modified version of the Depraved Cultural Background from the Sheoloth book....

 

[tarkhan bey]

Just a quick heads up guys. Morten has posted a free 60 page PDF Players Guide to Xoth on his Xoth.net page.

 

[Prime_Evil]

Just a quick heads up guys. Morten has posted a free 60 page PDF Players Guide to Xoth on his Xoth.net page.

This is awesome. The artwork is perfect too. I'd love to see a proper Legend conversion. In fact, I'm tempted to do an unofficial one myself just to add in some of the stuff that isn't in the official Legend conversion.

Also, the choice of artwork in this PDF rocks