Jump to content

Spring 2014 News


lawrence.whitaker

Recommended Posts

It's been a while since we gave you a news update, so I thought we'd celebrate spring's arrival (not that you'd know it in deepest Ontario) with some news on recent developments.

Let's start with the RuneQuest Gateway news. The RQ Gateway is a third party license allowing publishers to create their own supplements for RuneQuest.

Chronicles of Future Earth (Mindjammer Press)

This news broke yesterday, but we're more than happy to repeat it. Mindjammer Press, the company behind 'Mindjammer', 'Monsters and Magic' and 'Chronicles of Future Earth' will be publishing the second edition of the Chronicles book using RQ6 as the game engine. We're thrilled that Sarah Newton chose us because we've been friends for quite a while and its always great to work with people like Sarah and companies like Mindjammer. We're really looking forward to what Sarah does with Chronicles and it's terrific to have her as a partner.

http://mindjammerpress.com

Stupor Mundi (Alephtar Games)

Another good friend, Paolo Guccione, will be releasing the excellent Stupor Mundi sourcebook for RQ6 under the Gateway license. Stupor Mundi was originally an MRQ1 release, but Paolo has taken the opportunity to fully update the book using RQ and, having seen the first-draft files, it's looking very good indeed. If you're interested in historical roleplaying in 13th Century Europe, then this will be the setting for you.

http://www.alephtargames.com

Solace Games

Anthony Uyl's Solace Games is another new RQ Gateway partner that we're delighted to welcome aboard. Solace has produced a number of diverse supplements for Pathfinder, Legend, Call of Cthulhu and, now, RQ6. The first release is a detailed cult write-up, The Cult of the Black Veil, and we're looking forward to seeing this - and more - of his work.

https://www.facebook.com/SolaceGames

So that's the RuneQuest Gateway partnership news. Now for Design Mechanism's plans...

RuneQuest: Classic Fantasy

Rod Leary's excellent guide to traditional dungeon crawling, evoking the halcyon days of fantasy roleplaying's origins, comes to RuneQuest. Rod is adapting his Classic Fantasy rules (first published as an acclaimed BRP monograph) exclusively for RuneQuest 6th edition. This isn't a supplement - it's a complete game specifically tailored to recreating that original dungeoneering experience. Rod's hard at work on the manuscript, and we are anticipating a late 2014/early 2015 release.

RQ:Classic Fantasy will be completely compatible with all our existing supplements and adventures, but communicates a unique feel and gaming style that is geared wholeheartedly towards dungeon crawls and subterranean campaigns, recreating many of the themes found in the very first fantasy roleplaying games.

Shores of Korantia

This is currently in final proofing and should be going to press in the next few weeks. Once it's on the way to the printer, we will be opening pre-orders. Shores of Korantia is 230 pages and will be priced at $30. We will be publishing some page previews in the course of the next week.

RuneQuest: Adventures in Glorantha

Work continues on AiG and we know that many of you are impatient for its release as The Guide to Glorantha draws ever closer. Well, there's still a lot of work to do, and we cannot give any indication of publication date as yet. However, it is Pete's main priority and he's working very hard on making this a definitive Glorantha gaming reference. We will keep everyone posted on progress when there's more to report.

Mythic Britain

The manuscript will shortly be going for editing and the intention is to have Mythic Britain available for Gencon - but this isn't a guarantee. It will certainly be out by the autumn and we'll publish some previews as soon as we can.

Mythic Constantinople

At the recent Petecon in Sweden, Michael 'MOB' O'Brien ran a whole evening's worth of Byzantine goodness. The campaign takes you into an Ottoman-besieged Constantinople, across to the Ottoman heartlands, over the seas to medieval Italy and Greece, through huge naval battles, intimate court intrigues and more. This will be a terrific campaign - with large parts based on real events of 1453 and that period. Very excited about this book.

Sun County

Because MOB is multi-talented, he's working on both Constantinople and Sun County simultaneously. We're hoping to be able to release Sun County very close to AiG, but there's a way to go yet.

Luther Arkwright

We have much of the groundwork on Arkwright done and this will be my next project once I've finished everything I need to do on Mythic Britain. John White is contributing an excellent, detailed, parallel that examines an alternate Europe and America following a Confederate victory in the American Civil War with plenty of adventuring scope to find out what hand the Disruptors had in the grand scheme of things. Rules-wise, characters will play WOTAN agents, each with a unique ability or power, and a unique neurosis or dependency, that marks them out from the rank and file. Still lots to do on this book, but we're aiming for an Autumn/Winter 2014 release.

'Red Rocks'

Following-on from Hessaret's Treasure, Matt Eager is working on a longer, more intricate scenario pack that will, once again, be set in The Realm. Its working title is 'Red Rocks' but expect this to change as the scenario develops.

Free Supplements

We have several free supplements planned for release: one, which Pete is working on, is super-secret for now. The others will cover ships and sea-faring, and rules for shield walls and larger scale conflicts. These will appear when they're ready, and as our schedule allows.

As ever, thank you for your continued support and questions. It will be a great year for RuneQuest!

The Design Mechanism: Publishers of Mythras

DM logo Freeforums Icon.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mythic Constantinople

At the recent Petecon in Sweden, Michael 'MOB' O'Brien ran a whole evening's worth of Byzantine goodness. The campaign takes you into an Ottoman-besieged Constantinople, across to the Ottoman heartlands, over the seas to medieval Italy and Greece, through huge naval battles, intimate court intrigues and more. This will be a terrific campaign - with large parts based on real events of 1453 and that period. Very excited about this book.

My group might be particularly interested in this one. I understand from what you wrote that this is not just a sandbox, right? Can you give us a hint of what the campaign is about, and how big will it be?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow, the future looks bright ahead, I can say I'm shelling out for the majority of these upcoming titles!

" Sure it's fun, but it is also well known that a D20 roll and an AC is no match against a hefty swing of a D100% and a D20 Hit Location Table!"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My group might be particularly interested in this one. I understand from what you wrote that this is not just a sandbox, right? Can you give us a hint of what the campaign is about, and how big will it be?

Difficult, without major spoilers. Its a combination of sandbox and campaign, with individual scenarios resembling missions to help (or possibly hinder) Constantinople's struggle against the growing Ottoman hordes. In the parts we played, the characters were engaged as emissaries by the Emperor to attend the Ottoman court, and then travel through the Adriatic and Mediterranean in a bid to persuade the various Italianate City States (Milan, Venice, Rome and Genoa) to provide more aid as the siege began to intensify. We had to learn how to use Greek Fire, equip a ship, and then run the Ottoman naval blockade. So it's a vast sweep with a lot to do - and lots of it grounded in history.

The Design Mechanism: Publishers of Mythras

DM logo Freeforums Icon.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm fascinated by the history and struggles of the Eastern Roman Empire and its successor states, but have never felt that I knew enough about them to really run (or play) a game set in the region. Mythic Constantinople sounds like an excellent way to remedy that problem.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Difficult, without major spoilers. Its a combination of sandbox and campaign, with individual scenarios resembling missions to help (or possibly hinder) Constantinople's struggle against the growing Ottoman hordes. In the parts we played, the characters were engaged as emissaries by the Emperor to attend the Ottoman court, and then travel through the Adriatic and Mediterranean in a bid to persuade the various Italianate City States (Milan, Venice, Rome and Genoa) to provide more aid as the siege began to intensify. We had to learn how to use Greek Fire, equip a ship, and then run the Ottoman naval blockade. So it's a vast sweep with a lot to do - and lots of it grounded in history.

Thank you!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Wow, what a list. I'm gonna be broke!

The quality of DM products thus far have been absolutely superb. As a GM I often get excited about a genre, story, a set of mechanics, or a milieu. I'm not a brand kind of guy, so it's something else entirely to be excited about a publisher and a group of writers. I'll likely buy most everything on this list.

Mythic Constantinople should prove immensely interesting. Byzantium is such a bizarre yet familiar place. It should be perfect as an RPG setting full of religion, war, and intrigue. I'll have to pick up "Red Rocks" as I am currently running a campaign based on the Book of Quests. I'm also a fan of Classic Fantasy, and have had a great time with that game, though I thought it was going to Legend rather than RQ6 (essentially the same in terms of mechanics). About the only book on the list that I am not interested in is Glorantha. With respect to Greg Stafford (Pendragon is my desert isle RPG) and all the Glorantha fans, its just not my thing. I am also excited about the Shores of Korantia, as I have heard great things about Age of Treason, though unfortunately, not until it was OOP. I have to say though, that my deepest anticipation is for Mythic Britain. As a medieval historian and long time d100 GM who has run Celtic, Viking, and Arthurian campaigns (and sometimes mixed them all together) - this is a book that I have longed for.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...