What should I run?

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What game should I run once things settle down a bit?

  • Basic D&D (Or reasonable facsimile)

    Votes: 2 15.4%
  • Cyberpunk 2020

    Votes: 1 7.7%
  • Stormbringer

    Votes: 10 76.9%
  • GURPSHammer

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    13
  • Poll closed .

Stevethulhu

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I'm sure you know the feeling, You want to run a game, but you're not sure exactly what you want to do. The Gamer ADD is strong with me, so I figured I'd put some options out there and see what was the most popular choice.

And so, here is the poll asking what I should run. Here's the thing, though. September is a hectic month for me. Multiple birthdays, wedding anniversary and karate grading all fall in this month. So I'll leave this open for a couple of weeks, then start a recruitment thread with the intent of starting play in early October. Assuming there's sufficient interest.

Anyway, the relevant games I'm thinking of are, in approximate order or prep time I'd require are:

1: Basic D&D (or a reasonable facsimile thereof). I've been getting a hankering towards this game for a while now. Back in the day, we never really got past 5th or 6th level. And my having a better understanding of how things like morale, reaction rolls and so on work, combined with there being a vast amount of quality modules both from the OSR and TSR makes this game very appealing. And even the B/X or BECMI version of the game have huge potential.

2: Cyberpunk 2020. I picked up the Bundle of Holding for this recently and was reminded just how much I liked this game back in the day. And how it's aged pretty well. And there's a ton of supplementary material that I have that I never really got to use. Modules, 3rd party source and fanzines. Then there's the Chthulhupunk/Delta Green crossover I've wanted to do for years. And who doesn't want to shoot a Great Old One in the face with a rocket launcher while their Full Cyborg buddy rassles Deep Ones?

3: Stormbringer. For while now, I've had this weird idea for a campaign loosely based on the songs of Iron Maiden. Sometimes drawing on imagery from the songs, like a Priest-King making deals with Chaos in order to live forever. Or the sailors holding back Eternity on the edge of the world. And sometimes using the titles more literally. Drawing rules elements from the Big Gold Book to help update and clarify the core rules, along with That magic system seems like one of those things that just begs to be done.

GURPSHammer. A while ago, I found a document called GURPSHammer. Someone did all the heavy lifting converting 1st edition Warhammer to GURPS. And me being a huge fan of 1st edition Warhammer, while finding the rules a bit clunky, and being a huge fan of GURPS, but finding the in-house settings a bit lacking sometimes, this seems like a match made in heaven. The drawback is, this is the option that comes with the most work attached. And I'd have to decide between being a grognard or appealing to people who've played GURPS in the past 10 years.

So there are the options. Feel free to discuss, debate and explain your choices. And who knows, maybe a game will emerge from the primordial conversation!
 
I love me some D&D and the other choices are not too shabby but seriously, Stormbringer + Iron Maiden is too much awesomeness for me not to vote.
 
Has to be Stormbringer, especially with campaign inspiration already found :smile:
 
You have your inspiration. It's Stormbringer for me.
 
Ok, so even though there's only been a few votes or comments so far, I finished the draft character creation document I'd drawn up. There's two variants, one using the BRP classes and the other using the original Stormbringer version. Either way, the system is what I call a semi-random method. That is, some things you get to decide and other things you get to roll for.

Comment, criticisms and suggestions are welcome.
 
I voted Stormbringer, because I'm biased towards BRP anyway.

Only input I've got is: damn, it sucks to be a farmer. :smile:

EDIT: personally speaking, I think it'd be a blast to go pure-SB3e. I own a number of pdfs of early editions of SB, but I've never gotten around to running or playing it. Just used Elric!/SB5 for other sword & sorcery campaigns.
 
Looks good. I'm not sure it warrants mention that there is no difference between generating men and woman in character creation since that's a standard in most rpgs.

You going to post a campaign log? I love Stormbringer and I'd get a blast out of seeing how your game goes.
 
EDIT: personally speaking, I think it'd be a blast to go pure-SB3e. I own a number of pdfs of early editions of SB, but I've never gotten around to running or playing it. Just used Elric!/SB5 for other sword & sorcery campaigns.

I've got some pdfs myself. And a hardcopy of the 3rd ed book that inspired me to look up how you glue pages back in. Yay Games Workshop! I nebver played much back in the day, though it was enough to cement the love for the Chaosium system that Call of Cthulhu and RuneQuest 3 gamve me. RQ 3 being another game on my wish list of things to play.

Going full on old school would be a blast. Wonder how long it would go before the BGB got dug out to clarify an edge case? There's a couple of things I'd want to use from there anyway. Like Attack and Parry being a single skill. And the Personal Skill Pool instead of D6+2 skills at a random total.

My original plan was, use BGB character creation, skills and combat in tandem with Stormbringer setting, races and magic. Taking advantage of the more sophisticated newer rule set and the whacky and dark Young Kingdoms setting.

Looks good. I'm not sure it warrants mention that there is no difference between generating men and woman in character creation since that's a standard in most rpgs.

You going to post a campaign log? I love Stormbringer and I'd get a blast out of seeing how your game goes.

Good catch there. I think that's a copypasta artefact.

And I never thought of a campaign log, but now I'm thinking it would be a great idea. I never did it before and it might be a good way to keep myself motivated and focus on the game instead of my own random and sometimes stressful life.
 
As an aside, are there any good (and preferably free) bestiaries for BRP?

I've got Call of Chtuhlu 5th ed, RuneQuest Monsters (3rd edition Games Workshop reprint), the BRP core book and two editions of Stormbringer (3rd and 4th). Oh, and GORE.

I was wondering if there was anything else out there that might have new and weirdly wonderful critters. Or conversions of classic ones.
 
As an aside, are there any good (and preferably free) bestiaries for BRP?

I've got Call of Chtuhlu 5th ed, RuneQuest Monsters (3rd edition Games Workshop reprint), the BRP core book and two editions of Stormbringer (3rd and 4th). Oh, and GORE.

I was wondering if there was anything else out there that might have new and weirdly wonderful critters. Or conversions of classic ones.
There's Monster Coliseum for the old RQ3.
 
Steve, would you mind to go into your creative process a bit? Specifically on how Iron Maiden songs become gaming material? I love music and it all too often gets me in the mood to game but never derived any solid inspiration from it.
 
Steve, would you mind to go into your creative process a bit? Specifically on how Iron Maiden songs become gaming material? I love music and it all too often gets me in the mood to game but never derived any solid inspiration from it.
Ok, the song I linked earlier, If Eternity Should Fail. First up, that's an evocative name. Second, there's a lyric in there that goes

Reef in a sail at the edge of the world
If eternity should fail
Waiting in line for the ending of time
If eternity should fail

This was my start point. The Young Kingdoms is a very maritime place and also floats in a sea of chaos that gradually forms into the world as it gets experienced by adventurers. So the image of a ship reefing it's sails at the edge of the world seems very evocative. And the idea of beings waiting in line for the ending of time makes me think of some strange immortal entities that were trapped by even stranger immortals because they present a danger to time itself.

And there's also this

Good day my name is Necropolis
I am formed of the dead
I am the harvester of the soul meat
And I suck the lives from around my bed
My own two sons I gave them breath
And I filled their living corpses with my bile
What humanity I knew I have long forgotten
For me eternity is nothing
But a short while

And when you add images like this

maiden-1.jpg

I get this idea for an immortal, undead creature bound in some kind of Mayan temple. Possibly on the jungle continent of the Young Kingdoms. And there's your Big Bad for a campaign.

So rather than using an entire song as a template, I'm using bits of songs to spark ideas and adapting them to the gaming environment as seeds that can lead in other directions.
 
Goood... keep going. Are you familiar with the abyssal chaotic god Pyaray (the Tentacled Whisperer of Impossible Secrets) from the Melnibonéan mythos? Might make a fun BBEG foil among an Age of Exploration navigation of the Young Kingdom's "unknown" and "off map" sub-tropical islands.

Tighten up Time and Place. Seems like you got Atmosphere and Impetus mostly down now.
 
"So the image of a ship reefing it's sails at the edge of the world seems very evocative. And the idea of beings waiting in line for the ending of time makes me think of some strange immortal entities that were trapped by even stranger immortals because they present a danger to time itself."

"I get this idea for an immortal, undead creature bound in some kind of Mayan temple. Possibly on the jungle continent of the Young Kingdoms. And there's your Big Bad for a campaign."


The Atmosphere is about Age of Exploration into The Unknown, where cthonic mysteries rest uneasily. The Impetus is Stumbling Upon Mortal Peril, and Keeping that Which Rests Asleep.

Atmosphere is the mood, the air, the brightness and humor of play. The Impetus is the reason for gathering players, the driving force for play. Basically the "How" and the "Why." Even the suggested BBEG alludes to the "Who."

Now I think he needs to tighten up the "What," "Where," and "When." After that, he should be mostly done to start going into Thumbnail sketchtes, location and NPC seeds, and then march off into PbP! :smile:
 
Goood... keep going. Are you familiar with the abyssal chaotic god Pyaray (the Tentacled Whisperer of Impossible Secrets) from the Melnibonéan mythos? Might make a fun BBEG foil among an Age of Exploration navigation of the Young Kingdom's "unknown" and "off map" sub-tropical islands.

Tighten up Time and Place. Seems like you got Atmosphere and Impetus mostly down now.
I'm very familiar with the mythos of the Eternal Champion. I think I was about 12 when I first read Stormbringer, and that scene where Elric climbs Pyaray to plunge the Black Sword into the crystal that held the Chaos Lord's essence was just one of the many wild and vivid images I got from that book.

I have my high end NPCs in mind, if not statted up. I know what their motivations and end goals are. This being an old school game, I'm not worrying too much about the kind of things that games now tell me are a concern. Things like Theme, Tone, Atmosphere and so on are likely to be emergent, rather than planned properties. What I'm shooting for is going to be something that tries for the wild, freewheeling anything goes tone of early Moorcock, David Gemmel and Robert Howard. Rather than the more sombre tones of modern Moorcock.

I've got an idea for an opening scenario, using a pre published one. The reason for that being, I don't know what people are going to play, so it makes sense to use a starter that doesn't have any expectations of what people will play. I know where I want to aim for, in broad terms. The rest can be filled in partly based on player antics and partly on NPC actions.

The Time will be, the Age of the Young Kingdoms. In the style of the writer that inspired the game, time is kind of hazy. As is Place. Such things are less rigid in the Young Kingdoms than they are in other places.
 
And all this reminds me. Can anyone suggest a good set of rules for sailing to seas of the Young Kingdoms?
 
I haven't updated in a while. Well, just under two weeks going by datestamps. But the grading is next week, and so I'm thinking it's time to start the ball rolling on this. Who's up for a game of Stormbringer?
 
What sort of detail you looking at?
I'd say light to medium. Enough that ships aren't just an abstracted location, but not so much that they become the focus of the campaign. I might crack open RQIII and see what's in there.
 
I'd say light to medium. Enough that ships aren't just an abstracted location, but not so much that they become the focus of the campaign. I might crack open RQIII and see what's in there.
Ships and shield walls for Mythras is pretty good and still in the same rules family and only £2.91
 
Ships and shield walls for Mythras is pretty good and still in the same rules family and only £2.91
Thanks for the tip. Snagged at a abrgain price. And it looks not a million miles off the RQIII rules.
 
Thanks for the tip. Snagged at a abrgain price. And it looks not a million miles off the RQIII rules.
No problem. Mythras is my favourite system but it's nice to actually be able to recommend it or it's supplements without feeling like a one true wayist :confused:

Besides I'm still banking on reading your campaign logs when the game gets going...vicarious gaming ;)
 
No problem. Mythras is my favourite system but it's nice to actually be able to recommend it or it's supplements without feeling like a one true wayist :confused:

Besides I'm still banking on reading your campaign logs when the game gets going...vicarious gaming ;)
I've got one guy interested, but only if it's typed text. He's shy about speaking out loud. And I'm kind of meh on play by post. I'm thinking Discord with a dice bot and either voice or text is likely the way to go.
 
There's a site everyone keeps recommending if your looking for players but I'm struggling to remember the name.

I'd definitely encourage him to go audio if he can. Not like your video chatting.
 
I haven't updated in a while. Well, just under two weeks going by datestamps. But the grading is next week, and so I'm thinking it's time to start the ball rolling on this. Who's up for a game of Stormbringer?
I'd be interested. Depending on factors, of course: frequency, day, time window, whether time zone would be a factor, etc.
 
I'd be interested. Depending on factors, of course: frequency, day, time window, whether time zone would be a factor, etc.
Frequency is likely to be every two weeks on a Sunday at 1900 GMT. Give or take depending on how meatspace decides to play along.
 
Interested but the odds of me being free anytime from 6am Pacific until 8pm are excruciatingly low.
 
Frequency is likely to be every two weeks on a Sunday at 1900 GMT. Give or take depending on how meatspace decides to play along.
1900 GMT is 1400 CST right? Assuming we are not talking about an in person game I could make this. While I don't have Stormbringer 3, I do have Stormbringer 4 and 5 as well as Magic World which I have played a lot. Also since my last group played a Stormbringer derivative set in the Young Kingdoms, I also have a couple maps and references that might prove useful if you are interested.
 
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