The Drenai Chronicles

[Grimolde]

For those are familiar with the following books:

Legend
King Beyond the Gate
Waylander I, II, and III
Quest for Lost Heroes
The First Chronicles of Druss

etc...

I'm looking to create a game setting on the above using MRQ2. The setting is one of tragic heroes, courage, going the final mile, getting up for the one last round, bloody and graphic combats and wrestling with your inner demons.

I think MRQ2 would be a good fit. Do you agree, and do you think the Viking supplement will be of any use, concerning bloody combats?

Can you suggest any other books/supplements, what about Arms and Equipment?

Thanks all

EDIT: Read the books if you haven't. They are very good.

 

[Mongoose Pete]

I'm looking to create a game setting on the above using MRQ2. The setting is one of tragic heroes, courage, going the final mile, getting up for the one last round, bloody and graphic combats and wrestling with your inner demons.

Its one of my favourite fantasy series which the MRQ2 Combat rules suit perfectly.

I think MRQ2 would be a good fit. Do you agree, and do you think the Viking supplement will be of any use, concerning bloody combats?

Vikings probably won't add much to the combat side of things, but you should get it anyway. :wink:

You might however want to take a quick look at the expanded Passion rules in Wraith Recon, which would help flesh out the psychological motivation side of the Drenai saga. That combined with Hero Points should emulate the setting perfectly.

Can you suggest any other books/supplements, what about Arms and Equipment?

The forthcoming Blood Magic uses some Drenai inspired pastiches to illustrate aspects of Spirit Magic. Unfortunately I don't know when the book will be out in print as it seems to have fallen into a schedule black hole at the moment.

I hope this helps.

 

[Grimolde]

Sounds very promising.

Thinking about it, magic isn't really a problem. I may even just restrict it to npcs and hand wave it.

Thanks for the input

 

[SJE]

Hi Grimolde,

One game that might be of interest to you - an RPG based on the setting
http://www.1km1kt.net/rpg/chronicles-of-the-drenai

Personally I dont hold quite with all the authors interpretations. When I ran a Drenai game, I used HeroQuest 2 rules. One issue I can see with the game is that to have Gemmell-style heroes, then you have the "Best Noun in the World" problem. If someone is playing Decados, deadliest swordsman of the era, are you going to represent that with 200% sword skill? How do you balance battles if the Party is Decados and an enthusiastic farm boy chasing after his kidnapped wife whose only skill is Thundering Right Hool 50%?

And while the Drenaiverse is fairly gritty some of the time (with people dying of infected wounds, or from accidents), the main thing holding them back or impairing them is things like guilt, pacifism, age and regret. MRQII doesnt seem to balance such considerations. The deadliest killer of the age isnt going to kill some thugs because he lacks the skill- its rather he's sworn a vow not to kill and is struggling with that choice and his faith as war brings terrible atrocities back to his life.

Good luck with your game - I had some thoughts on what I wanted to run here-

http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/155696-drenai-d20-open-gaming-license-starting-point-4.html#post2804838

SJE

 

[Grimolde]

Hi Grimolde,

One game that might be of interest to you - an RPG based on the setting
http://www.1km1kt.net/rpg/chronicles-of-the-drenai

Personally I dont hold quite with all the authors interpretations. When I ran a Drenai game, I used HeroQuest 2 rules. One issue I can see with the game is that to have Gemmell-style heroes, then you have the "Best Noun in the World" problem. If someone is playing Decados, deadliest swordsman of the era, are you going to represent that with 200% sword skill? How do you balance battles if the Party is Decados and an enthusiastic farm boy chasing after his kidnapped wife whose only skill is Thundering Right Hool 50%?

And while the Drenaiverse is fairly gritty some of the time (with people dying of infected wounds, or from accidents), the main thing holding them back or impairing them is things like guilt, pacifism, age and regret. MRQII doesnt seem to balance such considerations. The deadliest killer of the age isnt going to kill some thugs because he lacks the skill- its rather he's sworn a vow not to kill and is struggling with that choice and his faith as war brings terrible atrocities back to his life.

Good luck with your game - I had some thoughts on what I wanted to run here-

http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/155696-drenai-d20-open-gaming-license-starting-point-4.html#post2804838

SJE

Yes that game is pretty good, with some novel ideas that fit the setting well, and some ideas that don't work quite as well. The magic was pretty much accurate, and resembles something I would go for.

There would definitely need to be some sort of 'passion' rule system, wherein a character's drives, motives, weaknesses were taken into account.

I like your ideas too.