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Modular: Chaosium Announces New Version of RuneQuest

Modular: Chaosium Announces New Version of RuneQuest

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Runequest Quickstart Free RPG Day-small

Chaosium announced last week that a new version of its classic RPG will be released by Christmas 2017.

The new edition of the iconic roleplaying game RuneQuest will be formally known as RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, or ‘RQG‘ for short, Chaosium announced today… RQG is built off the chassis of the acclaimed RuneQuest 2nd Edition (1980). This enables RQG to be compatible with RuneQuest Classic, the updated reprints of the RQ2 line which Chaosium recently kickstarted to great success.

“Fans had been referring to the new rules variously as ‘RQ4‘ and ‘RQ7‘”, said Chaosium creative director Jeff Richard, “But our new game is simply not a layer atop the Avalon Hill edition (RQ3) or the Mongoose variants that came after that. Nor is it built from the version Design Mechanism produced under license (RQ6). So, rather than try to give the new edition a number, calling it ‘RQG‘ neatly avoids any confusion…”

The products scheduled for 2017 release are the RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha core rules, a Gloranthan Bestiary, and a scenarios book featuring adventures by game design legends Steve Perrin (RQ1 & 2), Ken Rolston (RQ3‘s ‘rune czar’, Morrowwind, Elder Scrolls), Chris Klug (DragonQuest II, James Bond 007 RPG) and the ‘grand shaman of gaming’ himself Greg Stafford… The first new RQG product is the RuneQuest Quickstart, which will be available in June for Free RPG Day and at the Chaosium website from July 1, 2017.

The products will not be kickstarted. The Art for the RuneQuest Quickstart is by Andrey Fetisov; old-school gamers will recognize it as an homage to Luise Perrine’s much-loved cover for the classic 2nd edition.

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My Favorite Game: Mount and Blade/Warband – Part One

My Favorite Game: Mount and Blade/Warband – Part One

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Mount and Blade banner

I have spent a lot of hours on a lot of different PC/video games over the years – mostly of the fantasy/RPG variety (though Out of the Park Baseball is my favorite simulation game). And from Temple of Apshai to Dungeon Master to Baldur’s Gate to Age of Conan, I’ve quite enjoyed them. But Mount and Blade (and the stand alone expansion, Mount and Blade: Warband) holds a unique spot for me and several years after last playing it, I’m in up to my elbows again.

I spent my first round playing the original, Mount and Blade (M&B). Now, I’m playing Warband. There are some gameplay differences, the most prominent being that the latter includes multiplayer. However, I have never tried that option and don’t plan on doing so. Mount and Blade and Warband are overall, quite similar and I’ll be using the phrases interchangeably, distinguishing between versions when relevant.

The Game

M&B is a combination first person combat and strategy wargame, with some role playing elements. It is a sandbox, without a storyline. The latter is both a strength and a weakness. You create a character, form a band of troops and roam around the land, solving unrelated quests, fighting enemies and either serving a liege or carving out your own kingdom (creating your own Faction was a Warband addition). You won’t survive long if you don’t build a strong war band, and recruiting, commanding and building up your troops is really the heart of the game.

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Modular: Star Trek Adventures is Versed in Multiple Techniques

Modular: Star Trek Adventures is Versed in Multiple Techniques

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startrekadventuresThis week marked the -46th anniversary of First Contact Day, the date in 2063 when Zefram Cochrane was the first human to create and engage a warp drive (time travel situations excluded), as depicted in the film Star Trek: First Contact. As such, it seems appropriate to look at the state of affairs with the upcoming Star Trek Adventures roleplaying game, slated for a 2017 release from Modiphius Entertainment.

Modiphius has been playtesting the game since late last year as an open live playtest, using gamers from across the world as guinea pigs to find bugs in their design and crowdsourcing improvement suggestions. In addition to the Alpha set of rules for playtest, the Round 1 included a generic “starter” adventure that all of the playtesters could run through. I discussed my thoughts on this shortly after I playtested it, back in December, playing the group with a mix of Star Trek enthusiasts and their less-enthusiastic spouses, all of whom are relative novices at roleplaying games.

Earlier this year, based on feedback from the first round, Modiphius released a second round of playtest, as well as new adventures focused on the specific ship that you signed up to test for, allowing them to test science/exploration missions vs. combat-oriented missions vs. diplomacy missions, and so on. The new set of rules contained updates to earlier rules, but also a key new gaming system: starships. Once we provided feedback on the Round 2 playtest, playtesters were given access to the character creation system.

So let’s take a moment to dive into Star Trek Adventures …

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Modular: The New Mongoose Traveller #1 — First Impressions

Modular: The New Mongoose Traveller #1 — First Impressions

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Traveller is 40 years old and there’s a new edition!

Jake squeezes between some crates.

Silence.

He exhales. It seems he’s evaded the Imperial black ops team. Now if he could just find his mates in the darkened warehouse. He pushes a little further between the crates. There in the space between the aisles is the alien weapon that started this whole mess.

Jake looks left and right then ghosts into the open. Breathing hard now, he reaches out and picks up the alien artefact. Despite its bulk, it’s surprisingly light and he hefts it higher than he intended.

Lights flash along its stock. It emits a, “Whirrrrrrrrr PING!”

Shadowy figures pop up around the dimly-lit warehouse. The air fills with bullets.

One slams into Jake, punches through his chest armour. Almost spent, it still smashes his rib cage.

Everything goes dark…

Yes, this is the new Mongoose Traveller, the latest incarnation of a roleplaying game so influential that the book and TV inspirations listed in its introduction all arguably owe something to early versions of the game.

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What Lies Beyond The Yawning Portal? Some of the Best Adventures in Gaming

What Lies Beyond The Yawning Portal? Some of the Best Adventures in Gaming

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Tales From the Yawning Portal-smallNow here’s a splendid idea, long overdue. Next month Wizards of the Coast is releasing an anthology of some of the finest D&D adventures ever created — including Gygax’s masterpiece Against the Giants, and the insidious and infamous Tomb of Horrors — under one cover, all updated for use with the Fifth Edition of the rules. There’s a lot of excitement building for this book, and rightly so… it’s a great way for modern players to experience some of the classic dungeon crawls that transformed early players into life-long gamers a generation ago.

Dread tales told in the dead of night!

When the shadows grow long in Waterdeep and the fireplace in the taproom of the Yawning Portal dims to a deep crimson glow, adventurers from across the Forgotten Realms, and even from other worlds, spin tales and spread rumors of dark dungeons and lost treasures. Some of the yarns overheard by Durnan, the barkeep of the Yawning Portal, are inspired by places and events in far-flung lands from across the D&D multiverse, and these tales have been collected into a single volume.

Within this tome are seven of the most compelling dungeons from the 40+ year history of Dungeons & Dragons. Some are classics that have hosted an untold number of adventurers, while others are some of the most popular adventures ever printed. The seeds of these stories now rest in your hands. D&D’s most storied dungeons are now part of your modern repertoire of adventures. Enjoy, and remember to keep a few spare character sheets handy.

For use with the fifth edition Player’s Handbook, Monster Manual, and Dungeon Master’s Guide, this book provides fans with adventures, magic items and deadly monsters, all of which have been updated to the fifth edition rules. Explore seven deadly dungeons in this adventure supplement for the world’s greatest roleplaying game.

Tales from the Yawning Portal will be released in hardcover on April 4. It includes the following seven adventures.

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7th-9th April is Conpulsion! Edinburgh’s Ultimate Roleplaying and Tabletop Convention!

7th-9th April is Conpulsion! Edinburgh’s Ultimate Roleplaying and Tabletop Convention!

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Scotland’s biggest weekend gaming convention
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I’ll be doing a writing workshop based on my Storyteller Tools

If you’re anywhere near Edinburgh, then don’t miss Conpulsion this Easter!

It’s basically Valhalla for geeks, a temporary Nerdtopia — think Burning Man, but with less sun and more dice.

We’re talking two and a bit days of actual table top gaming in a popup community that you wish would just settle down and start its own township!

It’s Scotland’s biggest weekend gaming convention, and it is a splendid experience. (See reviews for 2014 and 2o15)

There are dozens of roleplaying games squirrelled away in the Gothic venue’s labyrinth, all refereed by experienced GMs. These run morning, afternoon and evening, so it really is possible to roleplay solidly for two days.

There are whole areas devoted to modern board and card games, some of them entirely new, plus various LARP games and panel discussions.

There’s also always wargaming going on, especially X-Wing and Warhammer 40K, but also games you  won’t have heard of, or are yearning to try.

The atmosphere is inclusive and have-a-go, with roleplaying sessions aimed at a range of ages and experiences, and board and wargames hosted by enthusiastic demonstrators.

Overall it’s a really good chance to try out — or at least, watch — the kind of games that look tempting but are a bit too expensive to just buy on the off-chance that they are any good. It’s also the place to pick up copies of games without having to pay shipping —  a refreshingly retro experience in an era when the Internet is usually cheaper.

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Goth Chick News: A LARPing We Will Go…

Goth Chick News: A LARPing We Will Go…

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Black Gate LARP-small

The conversation in the office at my day job was, for once, interesting this week. I overheard several of the engineers discussing LARPs, meaning Live Action Role Play, an activity with which I only have a nodding familiarity. The topic occasionally comes up at the various Cons we cover each year, in the context that cosplayers are sometimes also LARPers.

As there was no way I was going to blow my Black Gate cover by jumping in the middle of the engineers’ discussion, I decided to do a bit of investigation on this topic. I became curious to know how popular LARPs actually were, what type of scenarios are explored and who were the people engaged in the activity?

First, to begin as they say, at the beginning…

LARP is described as one-part improvisational theater, one-part reenactment and one-part role playing game. As you may have guessed, it owes its structure origin to Dungeons and Dragons. Like D&D, a game master or GM (vs a dungeon master) determines the rules and the setting of the game, and may also influence events or act as a referee during play. Unlike D&D where players build and describe their characters through a narrative, LARP players take on the physical role of their player character (PC) and act out the storyline in a real environment.

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Modular: Dungeons That Fight Back: 13th Age: Bestiary and Eyes of the Stone Thief from Pelgrane Press

Modular: Dungeons That Fight Back: 13th Age: Bestiary and Eyes of the Stone Thief from Pelgrane Press

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13th Age Bestiary-small Eyes of the Stone Thief-small

This past Saturday was the bi-annual Games Plus auction in Mount Prospect, Illinois, an event I celebrate every year (usually by massively blowing my budget in a prolonged bout of auction fever). A lot of folks attend looking for collectible vintage SF & fantasy games, and there’s certainly plenty of those to be had. But the chief reason I go is to find bargains, and especially bargains on new games. Heck, the big reason I sit in an uncomfortable metal chair for seven hours is just to see all the new games that flash by (and to see which ones the crowd goes nuts for). It’s sort of like attending a Paris fashion show for games, a comparison I’ve made previously.

When you’re sitting in the front row and the auctioneer starts fast-talking about a fascinating new game you’ve never seen before, you need to be ready to make a quick assessment. Is it a rare out-of-print title, like that copy of Victory Point Games’ Darkest Night I foolishly let get away for $40? Or are copies still available on Amazon for 20 bucks, like that Star Trek: Five Year Mission from Mayfair Games I agonized over? I kept my smartphone handy, and got pretty adept at fast-thumbing online prices as the auction progressed.

I made out pretty well this year, carting home seven big boxes of games — including plenty that fell into both categories. Some of my most intriguing purchases included Krosmaster Arena (for $20), Z-man Games Tragedy Looper ($10), City of Horror ($12), a shrinkwrapped copy of SoulJar Games’ Torn Amor ($15), and even an unread copy of KenzerCo’s Cattlepunk Chronicles ($5). But when I got home, there was one item I wanted to get my hands on immediately, and I dug through all seven boxes until I found it (nestled at the bottom of the seventh box, naturally): Eyes of the Stone Thief, a massive adventure supplement for the popular 13th Age RPG from Pelgrane Press. Along with it I won a copy of the 13th Age Bestiary, a full color monster compendium for the same system.

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Modular: James Sutter Fields Some Starfinder RPG Questions

Modular: James Sutter Fields Some Starfinder RPG Questions

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starfinderPaizo Publishing is a major force in the fantasy gaming industry, having taken the core mechanics of Dungeons & Dragons edition 3.5 and transforming it into the Pathfinder RPG, an impressive stand-alone game system in its own right. Beyond the core tabletop roleplaying game, Pathfinder has also diversified out into the Pathfinder Tales series of novels, the various versions of the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game (including a digital edition), audio dramas, comic books, and ever-expanding other platforms and formats.

But ultimately the Pathfinder game is set in a fantasy adventure world, and retains the feel of the Dungeons & Dragons adventures from which it was derived.

Last fall, Paizo announced a new game system that would take them into the distant future with their Starfinder RPG, and would set a far more distinctive course. This is a game that will take the basic Pathfinder mechanics, but translate them into a far future space opera style of setting.

Last fall at GenCon, I spoke with the Creative Director of Starfinder, long-time Black Gate friend James L. Sutter. In addition to being the author of a couple of great Pathfinder Tales novels, Death’s Heretic and The Redemption Engine, James is also the author of the recent Pathfinder Campaign Setting: The First World, Realm of the Fey (Amazon, Paizo), a supplement that explores a portion of the Pathfinder setting that I have long been hoping would get some additional attention.

Between our GenCon discussion and subsequent information, such as a great GameInformer interview, we got new information about the new classes and races, the backward compatibility with Pathfinder, and some hints about what to expect from starship combat. Everything about this game is looking and sounding great.

Toward the end of January, I ran into James again at the Detroit convention ConFusion, and asked him if I could buy him a beer and riddle him with some additional questions.

He said no.

Instead, he asked if I could e-mail him the questions, because he was heavily booked over the weekend. Below is our exchange, which I hope sheds some some new light on what to expect from the Starfinder RPG, due out from Paizo this August (and available for preorder now).

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GDW Co-Founder and Game Designer Loren Wiseman Has Died

GDW Co-Founder and Game Designer Loren Wiseman Has Died

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Just a few of the classic SF games pubished by GDW

I heard from my friend Jolly Blackburn that gaming pioneer Loren Wiseman died yesterday.

Wiseman was a name well known to old-time gamers. With Frank Chadwick, Rich Banner, and Marc Miller, he co-founded legendary publisher Game Designers’ Workshop in 1973. GDW published some of the greatest SF and fantasy boardgames and RPGs ever made, including Traveller, Twlight 2000, Space 1889, Gary Gygax’s Dangerous Journeys, Imperium, Fifth Frontier War, Mayday, Azhanti High Lightning, Dark Nebula, and countless others (Wayne’s Books has a nice summary of the Traveller Universe board games, and there’s a compete list of GDW’s gaming output at Wikipedia).

Many tributes have been pouring it on Facebook and other places — including one from Jolly, who credits Wiseman with giving him his start in the gaming industry. In addition to his lengthy list of credits as a game designer and publisher, Wiseman was also editor of the Journal of the Travellers Aid Society and Challenge magazines. After GDW closed in 1995 he joined Steve Jackson Games, where he became the Traveller Line Editor. He received the Origins Award for Best Role-Playing Adventure (for Twilight: 2000 Going Home) and was inducted into the Origins Hall of Fame in 2003.

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