What Kind of Books are You Interested In?
- Thread starter dmccoy1693
- Start date
I also have my world I use for the novel, short stories and webcomic. Which isn't S&S but could be described as a bit of Dieselpunk meets Industrial Dark Fantasy and a tad of Renaissance thrown in. The novel was edited by (District 9 script editor) Scott Fitzgerald Grey. It also has a nod or two to Equilibrium thrown in.
I think Legend might work quite well for something like that.
What I tend to do is write world bibles for my short stories and books, so I build up a collection of materials which I can use for any kind of media.
I think Legend might work quite well for something like that.
What I tend to do is write world bibles for my short stories and books, so I build up a collection of materials which I can use for any kind of media.
Prime_Evil
Emperor Mongoose
The Wolf said:
I think you might be right
Incidentally, if you like "Industrial Dark Fantasy and a tad of Renaissance thrown in", you might want to check out The Iron Dragon's Daughter by Michael Swanwick and Perdido Street Station by China Mieville.
The Wolf said:
That's the way to do it in the era of transmedia - a successful intellectual property can be licensed for use in various other media formats.
Thanks Prime_Evil. I shall do, they look pretty neat. I think it is quite reasonable these days to think of a setting in a wider scope yeah. There are elements of mine which would make for a pretty neat CRPG on the PC for example. Especially in turn based combat.
As for the S&S thing I might look to developing it further after I'm done with SGB. I'm also putting out some generic system-agnostic locations which can be picked up from Drivethru.rpg and might work well with Legend if a GM needs a neat village or (the latest) pirate haven.
All the maps are done by my wife who does a lot of mapping for the Glorantha guys.
As for the S&S thing I might look to developing it further after I'm done with SGB. I'm also putting out some generic system-agnostic locations which can be picked up from Drivethru.rpg and might work well with Legend if a GM needs a neat village or (the latest) pirate haven.
All the maps are done by my wife who does a lot of mapping for the Glorantha guys.
Right now, my company is working on a supplement for elves and new rules for a forest setting. It introduces a couple new elven races, some new equipment, new spells and a handful of new creatures specifically tied to a forest setting. Hopefully it will find a home in the Legend world and fans will like it. Might try some adventures tied to this specific work after I get this piece done since that is what a large amount of people on here seem to want.
warlock1971
Mongoose
Asyme said:Been said above but a well fleshed out and generic-Ish setting would be great. Runequest has always had hundreds of what felt like novelty campaign worlds ("this setting is a realistic look at the Hittite empire" or "this is a 18th century setting meets silence of the lambs!") but precious few gateway settings for me to lure people away from pathfinder and dungeons and dragons.
While I love all the unique stuff my players like dusty tombs, flagons of mead, dragons, loot and all the other trappings. I can sell them on a hook or theme to a campaign such as the world is cold, old, at war, etc but any more and they get grumpy...
Basically a legend version of greyhawk, forgotten realms etc NOT another realistic setting or tekumel.
Agree 100%
Prime_Evil said:
I agree but I dont believe that D&D does ''high-powered cinematic mayhem''. Not with the combat system most versions have...
Now I am a newbie with Legend but I wish it can deliver in the cinematic aspect. Airships,mage duels and powerfull mage-knights riding pigasi, is my kind of thing...
But before I get off topic here,what I would love to see as a setting for Legend:
1) The world of Thief (yes the videogame)
2) The Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks (Dark Fantasy)
3) any of the worlds in books of Guy Gavriel Kay. I believe its a great mix of High Fantasy with gritty and realistic ideas and a great literary look at magic and other aspects...
I guess Mongoose or Brazen could invest in a campaign book that containts different worlds, from different genres.
On the adventure front:
any introductory adventure you can use within your own world would do.
Prime_Evil said:
Totally understand what you're saying but I still feel a (supported) gateway world would be a great boon to the system. No legend/runequest isn't dungeons and dragons in any of its forms. Players take more damage and lack some of the oomph of high level play. What it does have though is far more skill based rules and far less of an emphasis on grid based tactical play. From my experience (limited I hasten to add) the real strength of the system is on roleplaying and evolving a humble character in any direction, something it's rivals are less concerned with.
Taking warhammer as a more specific example that's the kind of world I'd love to see produced and referred to in future books (much as glorantha was the de facto setting before now). Warhammer had all the trappings of fantasy. Elves, dwarves, orcs and so on. European setting. Undead. Magic. Etc etc. it's two twists were CoC style horror and a renaissance setting rather than high medieval. So basically generic enough that players familiar with Tolkien get it, but individual enough to stand on its own feet. I'd accept a more low magic setting than pathfinder for example would suit the rules but also would suggest running with standard races and a broad range of fantasy archetypes would help sell the system to as wide a bunch as possible.
Lastly a core setting would allow mongoose to introduce people to the style of the world and lock down the setting to showcase and reinforce the game mechanics. At the mi ute one of the....not exactly weak points of runequest/legend but definite feels is that every gm usually house rules on how it plays. What is magic like in their campaign? What weapons are used? What skills are available? Even simple things like making religions up or organisations means designing or borrowing cults, new spells and the like. There's been so many variants released over the years that it almost begins to work against the gm and players who just want to dive in and fight some orcs.
Prime_Evil
Emperor Mongoose
I agree that a 'gateway' campaign setting is a good idea, but it's hard to pull off in practice. It would need to be designed with care to ensure that it appeals to a broad audience but has enough originality to stand out from similar products. You're aiming for that sweet spot where the setting is familiar enough for players to feel comfortable, but different enough for players to feel excited by the possibilities it offers. This can be achieved, but is tough to do. There's a reason why commercial campaign settings that manage to get this mix right are regarded as classics - the Old World of Warhammer is one example, but there are a few others that spring to mind (Harn, ICE's Shadow World, etc).
Definitely hard but still useful IMO.
Of the old classic settings you've definitely got Greyhawk, Glorantha, Traveller's Imperium and Tekumel (ish ish... it's awesome but too weird for most groups).
Later you have the Forgotten Realms (pretty much the gold standard for D+D adventuring as it combined geography with recognizable NPCs), Warhammer, Harn (as you mentioned - I'm less convinced Shadow World was that distinctive), Shadowrun and eventually the old World of Darkness. Oh and rifts if you're feeling utterly Gonzo.
Roleplaying seemed to fall off a cliff sales wise after that so a lot of settings appeared and vanished but once that seemed memorable were Midnight, Exalted, the 7th Sea and Rokugan.
I'm missing loads (and for what its worth I love settings like Age of Treason) but looking back at the above games they tend to all play to a basic gamer's sweet tooth. Almost all of them use classic tropes. The ones that don't tend to have a very strong pitch with distinct groups that appeal to different subsets of players (Rokugan or WoD's clans). Also most of them are generic enough to make adapting adventures and campaigns from other settings fairly straightforward which means less GM prep time.
Anyway, I could be wrong. Legend fans could be craving more unique historical stuff or specific modules. My gut though feels the system needs a good setting to latch onto and grow with. A world that feels familiar enough to be accessible but has enough of a 'hook' to make it unique. Something with its own art style that is recognisable and doesn't get buried in similar releases. Two examples that spring to mind are Hellfrost for savage worlds (its your basic world but defined by cold) and for setting flavour Trudvang from the swedish game of Drakar och Demoner. The art there is recognisable as a Swedish take on trolls, elves, etc which does what Warhammer did ages ago. Interpret basic settings through a unique lens.
Of the old classic settings you've definitely got Greyhawk, Glorantha, Traveller's Imperium and Tekumel (ish ish... it's awesome but too weird for most groups).
Later you have the Forgotten Realms (pretty much the gold standard for D+D adventuring as it combined geography with recognizable NPCs), Warhammer, Harn (as you mentioned - I'm less convinced Shadow World was that distinctive), Shadowrun and eventually the old World of Darkness. Oh and rifts if you're feeling utterly Gonzo.
Roleplaying seemed to fall off a cliff sales wise after that so a lot of settings appeared and vanished but once that seemed memorable were Midnight, Exalted, the 7th Sea and Rokugan.
I'm missing loads (and for what its worth I love settings like Age of Treason) but looking back at the above games they tend to all play to a basic gamer's sweet tooth. Almost all of them use classic tropes. The ones that don't tend to have a very strong pitch with distinct groups that appeal to different subsets of players (Rokugan or WoD's clans). Also most of them are generic enough to make adapting adventures and campaigns from other settings fairly straightforward which means less GM prep time.
Anyway, I could be wrong. Legend fans could be craving more unique historical stuff or specific modules. My gut though feels the system needs a good setting to latch onto and grow with. A world that feels familiar enough to be accessible but has enough of a 'hook' to make it unique. Something with its own art style that is recognisable and doesn't get buried in similar releases. Two examples that spring to mind are Hellfrost for savage worlds (its your basic world but defined by cold) and for setting flavour Trudvang from the swedish game of Drakar och Demoner. The art there is recognisable as a Swedish take on trolls, elves, etc which does what Warhammer did ages ago. Interpret basic settings through a unique lens.
Re. settings, I suggest Middle-earth with the serial numbers filed off. Perhaps something like Age of Shadow (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=93514&filters=0_0_0_0&manufacturers_id=3785)
Sword & sorcery seems to me kind of done for Legend/MRQ2 with Elric. Not sure another S&S setting would add a lot.
Forgotten Realms is so full of different races and creatures it feels like a zoo. D&D is full of that stuff. 'The PCs arrive in the town of Redbluff (60% gnolls, 30% halfling, 10% sky elves) and are asked to investigate mysterious events, blamed on local tribes of hobgoblins'.
Sword & sorcery seems to me kind of done for Legend/MRQ2 with Elric. Not sure another S&S setting would add a lot.
Forgotten Realms is so full of different races and creatures it feels like a zoo. D&D is full of that stuff. 'The PCs arrive in the town of Redbluff (60% gnolls, 30% halfling, 10% sky elves) and are asked to investigate mysterious events, blamed on local tribes of hobgoblins'.
alex_greene
Guest
It's probably been said, but - Lankhmar, maybe? Perhaps they could resurrect the old Thieves World supplement, just shaving off all the non-D100 stuff and retooling it for Legend?torus said:
And I would love to see what they could do with Gormenghast, Earthsea or Discworld. I know, I know, no money to buy the property licenses, but I can dream, can't I?
I suspect the ideal world is something where you can run any type of adventure.
I saw an interesting interview with the Pathfinder lot recently where they mentioned their setting was designed specifically to have areas where a GM could recreate any style of adventure. You want horror? There's a gothic kingdom. Elric style decadence? Devil worshipping kingdom. New frontiers? Check. And so on.
Strikes me that the more successful worlds are ones which encompass any style of play. I love Tekumel with a fervent man-crush for example but its an awful gateway setting as it's so specific; the best ones provide a broad enough tapestry that any game you want to run is possible.
I saw an interesting interview with the Pathfinder lot recently where they mentioned their setting was designed specifically to have areas where a GM could recreate any style of adventure. You want horror? There's a gothic kingdom. Elric style decadence? Devil worshipping kingdom. New frontiers? Check. And so on.
Strikes me that the more successful worlds are ones which encompass any style of play. I love Tekumel with a fervent man-crush for example but its an awful gateway setting as it's so specific; the best ones provide a broad enough tapestry that any game you want to run is possible.
alex_greene
Guest
Sort of a sandbox setting, like the world of Kethira for the Harnmaster game?Asyme said:
My gut reaction is yes. You want a campaign world that:
1) Shows off the rules
2) Offers most styles of play (in the case of legends might include sanity/dark fantasy, exploring ruins, have some access to black powder weapons, have more sunny 'fun' areas, and include most fantasy races).
3) Has a good core of things like factions, cults and so on which show why the RQ/Legend rules are so fantastic. Probably also stresses things like 'morality is a shade of grey' vs the alignment chart of D+D.
4) Has a recognizable visual feel to it. You can tell warhammer, Vampire, pathfinder, etc instantly from a few pictures.
*waves hands* make it so.... *cough*
1) Shows off the rules
2) Offers most styles of play (in the case of legends might include sanity/dark fantasy, exploring ruins, have some access to black powder weapons, have more sunny 'fun' areas, and include most fantasy races).
3) Has a good core of things like factions, cults and so on which show why the RQ/Legend rules are so fantastic. Probably also stresses things like 'morality is a shade of grey' vs the alignment chart of D+D.
4) Has a recognizable visual feel to it. You can tell warhammer, Vampire, pathfinder, etc instantly from a few pictures.
*waves hands* make it so.... *cough*
Or perhaps a world built bit-by-bit, shared-world style, via smaller pieces; scenarios or location pieces in the vein of Secrets of the Steppes for Elric - a region with scenario seeds?
GM"s can then piece this together however best suits them and still have plenty of room to grow the 'setting' with their own material without being overwhelmed by info overload.
GM"s can then piece this together however best suits them and still have plenty of room to grow the 'setting' with their own material without being overwhelmed by info overload.
Prime_Evil
Emperor Mongoose
alex_greene said:
Kethira ticks most of the boxes - it is close enough to standard fantasy tropes that it is instantly familiar, but different enough that it is original. Plus the emphasis on realistic feudalism (albeit one based on England at the time of the Hundred Years War) is a strong plus. It's always been one of my favourite settings. I don't suppose Columbia Games would license it though
dmccoy1693
Cosmic Mongoose
These are all really good. I've gotten more than a few ideas from this thread. Thanks everyone. I'll be looking at a setting in the near future. I'm thinking about a single country to start off an, if popular enough, expanding from there. Thoughts?
warlock1971
Mongoose
dmccoy1693 said:
I'm really looking forward to seeing what you produce. Hopefully a port city with docks and sewers ... to explore?
Similar threads
