Where are the Scenarios?

S

soltakss

Cosmic Mongoose
I've just read through a stack of newly bought RQ material.

One thing that has puzzled me was the relative lack of scenarios. Newhon has one, Granbretan has one, Rune of Chaos is one and that's about it.

What happened to the tradition of excellent background and excellent scenarios of yesteryear?

Look at what we used to get?
RQ2 Rulebook - no scenarios (Although Games Worskshop's bundle included 2 scenarios)
Foes/Fangs/Runemasters
Cults of Prax - no scenarios
Cults of Terror - no scenarios
Griffin Mountain - loads of scenarios
Pavis - a couple of scenarios
Big Rubble - loads of scenarios
Borderlands - loads of scenarios
Trollpack - Loads of scenarios
Judges Guild RQ products - all scenarios.

I could go on. RQ3 had a number of supplements with scenarios in.

Mongoose:
Rulebook - no scenarios
Companion - no scenarios
Legendary Heroes - no scenarios
Arms and Equipment - no scenarios
Monsters - No scenarios
Pirates - No scenarios
Rune of Chaos - one (bad) scenario

Glorantha the Second Age - no scenarios
Players Guide to Glorantha - no scenarios
Cults of Glorantha I - no scenarios
Cults of Glorantha II - no scenarios
Magic of Glorantha - no scenarios
Trolls a Guide to the Uz - no scenarios
Jrustela - no scenarios
Clanking City - no scenarios

Lankmhar - no scenarios
Newhon - one scenario (hooray)

Elric - no scenarios

Granbretan - one scenario (hooray)

So, that's three scenarios in 19 supplements.

I'm not including non-Mongoose supplements here as they tend to be generic scenario packs and you shouldn't have to hide behind the argument that "our partners are producing scenarios".

Now, I know that Signs and Portents have some scenarios:
Signs and Portents 35 - one scenario
Signs and Portents 36 - one scenario
Signs and Portents 37 - no RQ scenarios
Signs and Portents 38 - no RQ scenarios
Signs and Portents 39 - no RQ scenarios
Signs and Portents 40 - no RQ scenarios
Signs and Portents 41 - one scenario
Signs and Portents 42 - one scenario
Signs and Portents 43 - 4 RQ Vignettes
Signs and Portents 44 - one scenario
Signs and Portents 45 - no scenarios
Signs and Portents 46 - one scenario and a busty woman on the cover

Ok, so they do a bit better with 10 scenarios, including vignettes, out of 12. But, that still makes 13 scenarios out of 31 supplements, which is a pretty poor return.

So, when are we going to see scenarios or scenario packs or campaign packs? After all, they are the bread and butter of a roleplaying game.
 
Well, Blood of Orlanth is in playtest now, and I should be handing in a Hawkmoon adventure book (Secrets of Tragic Europe) in a few weeks. Both of those are weighing in at 160 pages or so.
 
Lord High Munchkin said:
Dear All,

A Hawkmoon adventure book (Secrets of Tragic Europe)!?!

Now, that's talking!!!
Click to expand...

Basic plot thus far: an eccentric German count hires the PCs to travel around Europe, collecting ancient relics. Then things get weird.

I'll tease ye with the chapter titles:
The Honour of Count Tierkreis
The Lady in the Chapel
The Demon in the Crystal
The Moon-Bog
The Divine Mother of Jaguars
The Guardian Machine
The Slave of the Jewel
The Crown of Chaos
???????
???????
???????
 
On the upside, books like Glorantha 2nd age had a ton of plot hooks and "stuff to do" in its pages. I like plot hooks better than full blown scenarios, but I agree, a nice, long adventure would be nice
 
There are third party scenarios:

Sceaptune Games:
Singleton Scenarios: The Lost Isles

OtherWorld Creations:
Danger in the City of Immer
Outpost Qether
The Lost City of Jershon

Goblinoid Games:
Night of the Living Dead Revisted
The Secret of Whispering wood

Rosen McStern's Stupor Mundi has the following two scenarios in it:
Kidnapping in Al-Halisa
The Lord of the Golden Eagle
 
Smirogan wrote:
There is also the Lankhmar pdf release 'Swords Against Sorcery" which is a fairly decent scenario.
Click to expand...

So i ask:
Where is the saddle stitched REAL publication in ink and paper of this?

I want REAL book, not bits and bytes!


Cheers

Osentalka
 
I also have:

'Breaking the Stones' for Second Age Glorantha - don't know how this will publication. Perhaps PDF or S&P, but that concerns Dangk and Hrelar Amali.

I'll also be working on the Dara Happa Campaign (tentatively titled 'Dara Happa Stirs'), and an Elric epic similar to Mongoose Gar's.

So there's plenty of scenario goodness in the works.
 
Magistus said:
There are third party scenarios:
Sceaptune Games:
Singleton Scenarios: The Lost Isles by
Click to expand...
Thanks for this, Magistus.

There are two - The Lost Isles 1 - Exile and the Lost Isles 2 - Dryhaven. The second is much more of a mini-campaign. Both are in a "hold in your hands and read on the train" format. :D

Though non-Gloranthan, they are relatively easy to slip into any campaign.

Our next book, The Quester's Guide to Duck also contains a scenario, "Three Duck".
 
Osentalka said:
*'Breaking the Stones' for Second Age Glorantha*

How many pages?
Click to expand...

About 20 - but don't get too excited just yet, Andre. As I said, I don't know how, or when, it'll get published, but its written. Just a question of timing and outlet.
 
Mongoose Gar said:
Well, Blood of Orlanth is in playtest now, and I should be handing in a Hawkmoon adventure book (Secrets of Tragic Europe) in a few weeks. Both of those are weighing in at 160 pages or so.
Click to expand...

That is EXCELLENT news!
Yes, well developped background and good scenarios ARE what makes me buy RpG books!

Hourray for the Mongoose!
 
"After all, [published scenarios] are the bread and butter of a roleplaying game."

I second this idea. I know that really amazing settings and good mechanics are necessary and loads of players write scenarios to play for their own group. I've done this, too.

But the demands of school or work or family often meant trading money for time and buying commercial scenarios. And I'm not a professional quality writer anyway - my stuff was pretty weak compared to the pros.

Unfortunately over the years I have seen a lot of RPGs put out an original rule/setting book, then nothing. Or a setting but no additional scenarios.

Please put out scenario/scenario pack/multi-scenario series in some way. As a lazy player/game runner, my time and money gravitates to games that supported their brand with scenarios.

And thanks!
 
Loz is right that you can't rush your Jam Making - On the other hand, Mongoose knew they were going to be baking the bread over a year ago, so they should have planned ahead better to get the jam ready in time to accompany it...

I know there is a school of thought that Adventures are not as important or as profitable to a publisher as rulebooks, setting books and "Splat" books, but as this thread shows, there are people who, for a variety of reasons do like/want/need them - whether to mine for ideas, adapt for their own setting, or run exactly as written, because they don't have the time/skill/experience to write their own, or because it is easier to assimilate setting details that you encounter "in play" than from reading pages of descriptive prose in a source book. (The Zistorite factions or God Learner schools are great, but I feel I would grok the differences better from a scenario where the players find themselves caught between two of them and having to decide which way to jump than reading hte descriptions of all of them in one sitting...
 
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