The Chronicles of Future Earth (Facebook page etc)

For the moment, at least, Chronicles is still available from Chaosium as well.

Both Chronicles of Future Earth and Swords of Cydoria are "science-fantasy." For those of you who've studied both, how do they compare? How are they similar, and how do they handle other things differently?

It is as I suspected: CotFE for RQ:

http://mindjammerpress.com/2014/03/21/mindjammer-press-and-the-design-mechanism-announce-the-chronicles-of-future-earth-for-runequest-6th-edition/

It does sound good.

Hm, as much as I am convinced RQ6 is a solid system, it's really way too rules-heavy for me and from what I read not completely effortlessly compatible with OpenQuest/Renaissance. Hopefully there will be conversion notes for OQ available somewhere...

The original was crunched up to the hilt with the options from the BGB. The transition to RQ6 won't add any more.

And if someone really don't like actionpoints and opposed rolls, it's easy to remove them and just play with normal BRP instead.

So I wouldn't worry too much.

The kicker might be magic and tech..they could be very conversion-friendly, or not. But I'm fairly sure it will still be managable.

That new cover is really nice.

I'll probably just go with regular BRP myself... but that ought not be too much work.

The original did a good job of evoking the Book of the New Sun (though I think the map scales between city and world were off by a bit), with a wide variety of additional bits and pieces tossed in besides. The marketing description of the new version suggests that it will contain substantially more material, and I'll be very interested in seeing what gets added - and how the move to RQ6 impacts the flavor of the setting.

For the moment, at least, Chronicles is still available from Chaosium as well.

Both Chronicles of Future Earth and Swords of Cydoria are "science-fantasy." For those of you who've studied both, how do they compare? How are they similar, and how do they handle other things differently?

I can answer that.

Chronicles of Future Earth is Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun. It's weird. It's incredibly ancient. It feels medieval and old yet also weird and gothic at the same time. It's Jack Vance and Frank Herbert. Chronicles explores themes of decadence and decay and corruption. It also falls more on the fantasy side of science-fantasy.

Swords of Cydoria is Flash Gordon meets Chris Wooding's Ketty Jay series by way of French comics. Cydoria explores themes of imperialism and political power and social class structure. It's also more dieselpunk with a dash of pulp adventure and seventies sci-fi. Cydoria falls more on the science side of science-fantasy. It also depends on where you are in the setting. The City-States are the film Metropolis. The deserts of Eris are American Westerns and Firefly. Everywhere in between is good old Swords and Sorcery with blasters.

Numenera, however, is much more transhumanist, more avant-garde. It is definitely weird, but not in a gothic way. It also feels like a French comic book mixed with anime. It is based more on digital concept art paintings than on literary precedents, I think. In my opinion, there is no strong thematic thread to Numenera, no central gravity pulling it together. It is more patchwork and episodic. One thing I've noticed reading and playing Numenera is that you never see the same thing twice. Everything feels unique, or only found in a small region and nowhere else, which is what contributes to the patchwork feeling I get from the setting.

Personally, I like all three. Each provides a different take and has a different feel.

Chronicles feels more literary.

Cydoria feels more pulpy and cinematic.

Numenera feels more avant-garde and anime.

I can answer that.

Chronicles of Future Earth is Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun. It's weird. It's incredibly ancient. It feels medieval and old yet also weird and gothic at the same time. It's Jack Vance and Frank Herbert. Chronicles explores themes of decadence and decay and corruption. It also falls more on the fantasy side of science-fantasy.

Nicely put. I found CoFE leaned a little too far on the fantasy side for my taste, though maybe I should re-read it. I'm looking forward to giving your Swords of Cydoria a go with my players. What I like about it is its apparent accessibility. For example, the little pictures and descriptions of the various races allow players to pick ones they like the sound of, complete with some story hooks and a little bit of knowlede about the world they will be entering. That sort of thing makes the GM's life easier.

Thanks!

Hm, as much as I am convinced RQ6 is a solid system, it's really way too rules-heavy for me and from what I read not completely effortlessly compatible with OpenQuest/Renaissance. Hopefully there will be conversion notes for OQ available somewhere...

People have their own tastes and perspectives, but RuneQuest only get's significantly more rules heavy than the other games you cite in the combat, and possibly magic systems available.

It is completely, effortlessly compatible with OpenQuest/Renaissance - noting that a) both games are based on RuneQuest rules in their development, and the stats blocks are the same, with only a few variations on things like skill lists, etc. You can pick and choose what various subsystems you want to use in your own game - but the 'family' of RQ derived games are pretty adaptable to personal needs.