Deal of the Day - 7th Sea Core Rulebook (Second Edition - 80% Off)

There comes a price point where a product falls under "impulse buy", especially RPGs. For me, that's the "5 Dollars and Under" point. Well, the 7th Sea Core Rulebook (Second Edition) certainly does that for me today. With a list price of 24.99, and a normal price of 14.99, until tomorrow morning the 7th Sea Core Rulebook (Second Edition) is the Deal of the Day at DTRPG (in PDF), and can be had for a mere 3 bucks!

Yep, purchased today's Deal of the Day just before putting up this post, as 7th Sea is a title I've heard much about and have yet to experience. 

7th Sea is a tabletop roleplaying game of swashbuckling and intrigue, exploration and adventure, taking place on the continent of Theah, a land of magic and mystery inspired by our own Europe. Players take the roles of heroes thrown into global conspiracies and sinister plots, exploring ancient ruins of a race long vanished and protecting the rightful kings and queens of Theah from murderous villains.

Save the Queen of Avalon from treacherous blackmail!

Thwart a dastardly assassination attempt on the Cardinal of Castille!

Raid the villainous fleets of Vodacce Merchant Princes!

Free the Prince of the Sarmatian Commonwealth from a mysterious curse!

Make decisions that alter the very course of Thean history!

In 7th Sea, you are a Hero, an icon of Theah ready to live and die for causes that matter. You bravely take on a dozen thugs with swords, knives and guns all on your own. You are the trusted knight, a loyal bodyguard or even an adventuring queen herself.

In other words—you are d’Artagnan, Milady de Winter, the Dread Pirate Roberts, Jack Sparrow, Julie d’Aubigney, and the Scarlet Pimpernel all rolled up in one!

This is a game of high adventure, mystery and action. This is a game of intrigue and romance.

This is 7th Sea. 

 

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Deal of the Day - Griffin Mountain (RuneQuest)

 

I was introduced to RuneQuest back in 1987 or so, at a gaming convention at Columbia University. The dealer's room had a shelf-worn copy of the RQ rulebook and water-damaged boxes of Big Rubble and Pavis. All for 20 bucks. I was sold. Sadly, I never came across a copy of Griffin Mountain at the time, but for 3 bucks in PDF until tomorrow morning, that is about to be corrected ;)

Griffin Mountain details an area 800 kilometers wide. Elder Wilds is where non-humans live and high adventures thrive. Balazar is a wild frontier where anything can happen.

This book contains extensive notes on the area's geography, history, and inhabitants.

Meet King Yalaring Monsterslayer who became king of the citadel of Trilus by right of conquest. Visit picturesque Elkoi, built by giants. Trade with Joh Mith, a fat, jovial caravan master with high bargaining skills. Gamble with Hen Cik, one of the caretakers of a legendary caste in Giant Land. Cross the dangerous River of the Damned (full river crossing rules inside). Quest for the powerful windberries, rumored to be found on Griffin Mountain itself. Beware of the ever-present baboons, bears, dragonewts, wild hawks, trolls...

Get your adventurers ready for a glorious time in Griffin Mountain!

Running Griffin Mountain

This book is designed for use with the fantasy role-playing game system RuneQuest. It is recommended that the referee owns and is familiar with Cults of Prax.

The authors and publishers of this book take no responsibility for inexperienced characters that may get trashed by these scenarios; nor do we accept responsibility for any referees who may get trashed by the players thereof. Seriously, these adventures are designed to provide a challenge to mixed level characters including Rune Masters. Even then, the going might be a little tough.

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Basic Roleplaying for 99 Cents!

Note: Another day without OSR Christmas. Tomorrow I HOPEFULLY will catch up.

Instead, here's something EVERYONE can treat themselves to - Chaosium's Basic Roleplaying is on sale for 99 cents (marked down from 19.99). An excellent ruleset at full price, for 99 cents it should be in everyone's gaming library!

I'm not sure how long the sale is on for, so grab a copy now and read later ;)

Welcome to Chaosium’s Basic Roleplaying system, a book that collects in one place rules and options for one of the original and most influential role playing game systems in the world.

This book comprises a roleplaying game system, a framework of rules aimed at allowing players to enact a sort of improvisational radio theater—only without microphones—and with dice determining whe­ther the characters succeed or fail at what they attempt to do. In roleplaying games, one player takes on the role of the gamemaster (GM), while the other player(s) assume the roles of player characters (PCs) in the game. The gamemaster also acts out the roles of characters who aren’t being guided by players: these are called non-player characters (NPCs).

From its origin, Basic Roleplaying was designed to be intuitive and easy to play. Character attributes follow a 3D6 curve, and the other Basic Roleplaying mechanics are even simpler. Virtually all rolls determining success or failure of a task are determined via the roll of percentile dice. This means that there’s less fiddling with dice of different types, and the concept of a percentile chance of success is extremely easy for beginners and experienced players to grasp. There aren’t many easier ways to say a character has a 70% chance of succeeding at an activity.

The core virtues of the system are as evident today as they were when it was first introduced. Primary characteristics of Basic Roleplaying that have emerged from decades of play, across many different varieties of the system are as follows:

• The system is remarkably friendly to newcomers. It is easy to describe the basics of the game system, and the percentile mechanics, to non-gamers.
• Players of other game systems often find Basic Roleplaying to be much less mechanistic and less of a barrier to the actual act of roleplaying. Less time spent on game systems usually equals more time available for roleplaying and thinking “in character.”
• Most of the information players need to know is present on their character sheets.
• Characters tend to evolve based on practicing the skills they use the most. They do not arbitrarily gain experience in skills and qualities based on ephemeral elements such as levels or experience ranks.
• Combat can be very quick and deadly, and often the deciding blow in a conflict is the one to land first.
• Basic Roleplaying is remarkably modular: levels of complexity can be added or removed as needed, and the core system works equally well with considerable detail as it does with a minimal amount of rules.
• The internal consistency of Basic Roleplaying allows for rules judgments to be made rapidly and with little searching through the rulebook for special cases.

This book represents a first for Basic Roleplaying—a system complete in one book, without a defined setting. Previously, Basic Roleplaying has been an integral part of standalone games, usually with rich and deep world settings. Due to differences in these settings, Basic Roleplaying has had many different incarnations. Variant and sometimes contradictory rules have emerged between versions, to better support one particular setting over another.

Chaosium’s Basic Roleplaying system reconciles these different flavors of the system and brings many variant rules together between the covers of one book, something that has never been done before. Some of these rules are provided as optional extensions, some as alternate systems, and others have been integrated into the core system. By design, this work is not a reinvention of Basic Roleplaying nor a significant evolution of the system. It is instead a collected and complete version of it, without setting, provided as a guide to players and gamemasters everywhere and compatible with most Basic Roleplaying games. It also allows the gamemaster the ability to create his or her own game world (or worlds), to adapt others from fiction, films, or even translate settings from other roleplaying games into Basic Roleplaying.

 

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Deal of the Day - RuneQuest 2nd Edition (1980)

I still remember picking up RuneQuest 2nd Edition back in the summer of 1986(?) at a small gaming convention at Columbia University. In the dealer hall, I was able to pick up RQ2 as well as the Pavis and Big Rubble box sets for 20 bucks. Sure, the boxes were water damaged and the core book had shelf-wear, but in between the worn cover and the slightly damaged boxes, the contents were pristine and new, and oh so well done.

I ran a near-daily RQ2 campaign the rest of that summer and into the fall semester. Seriously, some of the best RPG material I ever ran (I'd put WFRP 1ed in a similar category)

Until tomorrow morning at 11 AM eastern, you can snag the RuneQuest 2nd Edition (1980) rulebook for a mere 2.99 in PDF. Trust me, its well worth the price of a cup of coffee ;)

The classic that founded an industry - An entire fantasy role-playing game in one book

Freshly reprinted from the successful Kickstarter!

In July of 1978, the Origins Game Fair was held in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Over 3500 people attended what was the largest gaming convention in the US at that time. In the main hall gamers could pick up the latest games from all the major publishers: Cross of Iron by Avalon Hill, Atlantic Wall by SPI, and The Hall of the Fire Giant King module by TSR. In one small booth near a corner you could also purchase RuneQuest, the first Roleplaying game published by The Chaosium, a quirky 3 person company from the Bay Area. It sold out over the weekend, and every print run continued to do so for the next several years. 

This is the second edition of the RuneQuest rules in its final form, with all errata incorporated into the text. Additional material has been added to the appendices at the end.

RuneQuest took the young world of roleplaying games by storm; it cast aside many of the approaches most other games took. It had no character classes, no experience points, no levels, and far fewer restrictions on how weapons, armor, and spells could be used. Instead of a D20 it uses a percentile 01-100 system. It also has the built-in fantasy world of Glorantha. 

During what many consider to be the golden age of roleplaying, RuneQuest enjoyed its greatest popularity, second only to AD&D in sales. It won numerous awards, starting in 1978 with the Strategist’s Club Award for “Outstanding Miniatures Rules”, which may sound quirky, but that was because the industry had yet to create award categories specifically for roleplaying games.

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Magic World (Basic Roleplaying/Complete Game/Setting) on Sale for 2.99 in PDF

I actually happened to notice that Magic World was on sale yesterday when Basic Roleplaying from Chaosium was the Deal of the Day.

Magic World is powered by the Basic Roleplaying System, Chaosium's d100 house ruleset, but it is self-contained and complete unto itself. No need to buy Basic Roleplaying to enjoy this high magic/fantasy take on the d100 system. Magic World is on sale for 2.99 in PDF (marked down from 24.42(?)) 

Enter a world of fantastic adventure, where your destiny is limited only by your imagination. Where powerful sorcerers manipulate the very essence of reality, and where warriors decide the fate of kingdoms with blade and spear. A world of magic, myth, and menace... a MAGIC WORLD!

MAGIC WORLD is a self-contained fantasy roleplaying game using the classic Basic Roleplaying system. The game allows you to play characters in a world of fantasy, adventure, and excitement. The rules of MAGIC WORLD are simple to grasp, while having enough options and complexity to suit any gaming style. Characters grow in experience organically, without relying on artificial constructs such as classes, levels, etc. Any sort of fantasy character you can imagine, you can play. MAGIC WORLD contains:

• Full rules for creating characters in a world of magic and fantasy.
• A robust magic system with nearly one hundred spells. Any character may become a spell caster with the right combination of raw talent, and training!
• Detailed, yet streamlined skills and combat rules.
• Complete rules for nautical adventures.
• A bestiary of more than sixty creatures to use as foes for the characters, or as the characters themselves! Play as any species imaginable: Human, Elf, Orc, Centaur, Troll, Talking Beast, and more!
• Gamemaster advice, and resources.
• A gallery of enchanted items which might be found in your characters adventures.
• A complete sample campaign setting, "the Southlands", to jump start your adventures.
• And more!

 

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Deal of the Day - Basic Roleplaying (Chaosium D100 System)

I've been a fan of Chaosium's D100 System since I first found RuneQuest 2 and later Call of Chtulhu. I've owned Basic Roleplaying for years in print and I'm a huge fan of the ruleset, but apparently, I never snagged the PDF. I'll rectify that momentarily.

Normally 21.95 in PDF, Basic Roleplaying is today's Deal of the Day and is currently 4.39 (an 80% discount) until tomorrow morning.

This book comprises a roleplaying game system, a framework of rules aimed at allowing players to enact a sort of improvisational radio theater—only without microphones—and with dice determining whe­ther the characters succeed or fail at what they attempt to do. In roleplaying games, one player takes on the role of the gamemaster (GM), while the other player(s) assume the roles of player characters (PCs) in the game. The gamemaster also acts out the roles of characters who aren’t being guided by players: these are called non-player characters (NPCs).

From its origin, Basic Roleplaying was designed to be intuitive and easy to play. Character attributes follow a 3D6 curve, and the other Basic Roleplaying mechanics are even simpler. Virtually all rolls determining success or failure of a task are determined via the roll of percentile dice. This means that there’s less fiddling with dice of different types, and the concept of a percentile chance of success is extremely easy for beginners and experienced players to grasp. There aren’t many easier ways to say a character has a 70% chance of succeeding at an activity.

The core virtues of the system are as evident today as they were when it was first introduced. Primary characteristics of Basic Roleplaying that have emerged from decades of play, across many different varieties of the system are as follows:

• The system is remarkably friendly to newcomers. It is easy to describe the basics of the game system, and the percentile mechanics, to non-gamers.
• Players of other game systems often find Basic Roleplaying to be much less mechanistic and less of a barrier to the actual act of roleplaying. Less time spent on game systems usually equals more time available for roleplaying and thinking “in character.”
• Most of the information players need to know is present on their character sheets.
• Characters tend to evolve based on practicing the skills they use the most. They do not arbitrarily gain experience in skills and qualities based on ephemeral elements such as levels or experience ranks.
• Combat can be very quick and deadly, and often the deciding blow in a conflict is the one to land first.
• Basic Roleplaying is remarkably modular: levels of complexity can be added or removed as needed, and the core system works equally well with considerable detail as it does with a minimal amount of rules.
• The internal consistency of Basic Roleplaying allows for rules judgments to be made rapidly and with little searching through the rulebook for special cases.

This book represents a first for Basic Roleplaying—a system complete in one book, without a defined setting. Previously, Basic Roleplaying has been an integral part of standalone games, usually with rich and deep world settings. Due to differences in these settings, Basic Roleplaying has had many different incarnations. Variant and sometimes contradictory rules have emerged between versions, to better support one particular setting over another.

Chaosium’s Basic Roleplaying system reconciles these different flavors of the system and brings many variant rules together between the covers of one book, something that has never been done before. Some of these rules are provided as optional extensions, some as alternate systems, and others have been integrated into the core system. By design, this work is not a reinvention of Basic Roleplaying nor a significant evolution of the system. It is instead a collected and complete version of it, without setting, provided as a guide to players and gamemasters everywhere and compatible with most Basic Roleplaying games. It also allows the gamemaster the ability to create his or her own game world (or worlds), to adapt others from fiction, films, or even translate settings from other roleplaying games into Basic Roleplaying.

If you want a free peek, the Basic Roleplaying Quickstart can be found here. 

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Deal of the Day - King Arthur Pendragon: Edition 5.2

My memories of the Pendragon RPG go back to the boxed set. Very much built on the chassis of Basic Roleplaying / CoC / RuneQuest, and yet so, so different. I read the book as an authoritative source on the Arthurian legends, and sadly never got to run anything other than some one-shots with the rules.

This makes today's Deal of the Day - King Arthur Pendragon: Edition 5.2 - very satisfying (especially since DTRPG tells me I already own this in PDF - downloaded for some light reading later this week). With the current times, we are in, some Arthurian legend immersion isn't a bad deal.

Normally 19.99 in PDF, King Arthur Pendragon: Edition 5.2 is 9.99 until 11 AM Eastern, tomorrow morning.

Capture the Spirit of Arthurian Legend!

Relive the grandeur, romance and adventure of the greatest of all legends — the story of King Arthur. Assume the role of a knight starting his career in the time of Uther Pendragon, undertaking quests and perilous adventures for your lord, for your lady-love, for the Church, or for your own glory. Win great renown with your laudable deeds and feats of arms, perhaps even winning the right to carve your name into the Round Table itself as the story of Arthur and Camelot unfolds around you.

With its innovative rules, including the distinctive traits and passions system designed to help you in determining your character's behavior under any circumstances, King Arthur Pendragon provides a unique roleplaying experience laid out against the richest tapestry in Western literature.

This Edition 5.2 offers hundreds of corrections to Edition 5.1 which itself updated the redesigned and reorganized 5th Edition. This book also contains new material and rules changes for 5th Edition by Greg Stafford, the creator of the original game.

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Borderlands & Beyond for RuneQuest - Glorantian Classics Reprint Print plus PDF Sale (over 50% off)

I've recently been bitten (again) by the RuneQuest Bug. I last ran a RuneQuest Campaign over 30 years ago, using the RuneQuest 2nd edition rules and the Pavis and Big Rubble box sets. It was an amazing summer of RuneQuest fun, and although we didn't call it a "sandbox" back then, it was certainly the first sandbox I ran.

I noticed last night that on the Chaosium website, they offer Glorantian Classics: Borderlands and Beyond for $18.99, in print plus free PDF - basically half off the regular price. Not owning a prior version of Borderlands (but remembering the rave reviews of it from years ago) I promptly ordered the hard copy and started perusing my newly acquired PDF.

I'm inspired to run a RuneQuest Campaign again, with Pavis & Big Rubble, as well as the Borderlands at my disposal. Apparently, I ordered a PDF copy of Pavis & Big Rubble from DTRPG in the past, and I'll be uploading that to my iPad, much like I've uploaded Borderlands. Edition changes don't phase me, as I've been running all editions of various D&D / OGL adventures for years using Swords & Wizardry rules. So long as the players don't know what the "true" stats should be, any stats you present as a GM are the "true" stats ;)

So, what do you get in Borderlands & Beyond?

This is an updated and reformatted 300+ page reprint of ALL of the information from the original Chaosium Borderlands boxed set, Plunder, and Runemasters.

Rick also included additional Plunder items, expanded Runemasters character histories, and loads of background info from Nomad Gods and Wyrms Footnotes magazine. The interior is lavishly illustrated with dozens of new pictures from Simon Bray, Dario Corallo, plus loads of oldies but goodies from Lisa Free, Luise Perrinne, Gene Day and Rick Becker.

Note, this is the last of the Glorantian Classics line Chaosium has in print.

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Deal of the Day - The Great Pendragon Campaign

Simply a great Deal of the Day - The Great Pendragon Campaign. Normally 24.99 in PDF, on sale till tomorrow morning for 10 bucks.

For 1500 years King Arthur’s story has been told around campfires, in noble courts, in taverns, books, movies and now, with the prize-winning King Arthur Pendragon roleplaying game, at your game table. 

The Great Pendragon Campaign begins during the reign of Arthur’s father King Uther, when player knights can participate in the events of Arthur’s conception. The long and brutal Interregnum of Saxon wars is forever altered when Arthur draws the Sword from the Stone to start his great and glorious reign. The Boy King leads his knights through periods of consolidation and expansion until the entire Western world is brought under his sway. Then, to High Adventure! Knights gain Glory and lands in the periods of Romance and Tournaments, and at last engage in the greatest adventure of all, The Quest for the Holy Grail. Then, amidst tragedy and broken dreams, the Twilight Period draws the epic to a close. 

Eighty years of campaign detailed year-by-year provide the background, on-going events and adventures that define structure of King Arthur’s glorious reign. 

The Magic is in The Details, and The Details are in This Book. 

Included in this book are:
* Year-by-year details from 485 to 566.
* Maps and descriptions of Logres, Cambria. Cornwall, Brittany, Cumbria, the North, Ireland and France
* Maps of the important cities of Britain, including Early and Late Camelot and London
* Over 100 Adventures
* Statistics for over 50 Faerie Creatures and Nonplayer Characters
* Expansions for the Pendragon rules 

“I’ve been working on this book for over 20 years, since the first publication of King Arthur Pendragon. This is the culmination of forty years of research, pleasure and gaming. It’s a tremendous joy to bring my love of the legend all together here.” –Greg Stafford, designer of King Arthur Pendragon

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Chaosium's Basic Roleplaying to go OGL with an SRD?

Sure, Mongoose made their licensed version of RuneQuest Open Game License and released an SRD, then did the same with the later Legend rules, which are both built off of Basic Roleplaying (BRP). But to have Chaosium do the same for their actual "house" rules? Color me surprised:

Interesting development.

Original thread here: https://basicroleplaying.org/topic/10565-new-version/page/5/?tab=comments#comment-162231

Tip of the hat to Rob Conley of the Bat in the Attic blog.

News - John Wick Joins Chaosium - Chaosium to fulfill 7th Sea Second Edition and 7th Sea Khitai Kickstarters

Received this in today's email and felt it was newsworthy. A company almost killed off by successful Kickstarters acquires one of the most successful RPG Kickstarters. Interesting times.


Chaosium, publishers of the award-winning tabletop roleplaying games Call of Cthulhu, RuneQuest, and King Arthur Pendragon, has acquired John Wick’s acclaimed 7th Sea RPG, it was announced today.

7th Sea is John’s Wick’s swashbuckling and sorcery roleplaying game set in the fictional world of Théah. The second edition of 7th Sea was crowdfunded by John Wick’s own company, John Wick Presents in 2016, setting a then-record on Kickstarter for a tabletop RPG, raising over $1.3 million dollars.

John Wick himself will be joining Chaosium as creative director for 7th Sea. He will continue to have creative oversight of his game, and will remain a principal author of 7th Sea material going forward. Beyond that, John Wick will also write for other Chaosium game lines, for which he has great affection.

“John is an extraordinarily talented designer and highly regarded figure in the world of tabletop rpgs. We are delighted to have him join our team”, said Chaosium President Rick Meints.

Following the death of Chaosium founder Greg Stafford in November last year, John’s memorial piece about Greg's titanic influence on the landscape of tabletop games was shared and quoted widely (The Gray Crane).

John Wick said,"My first RPG was a Chaosium game. My second RPG was a Chaosium game. My third RPG was a Chaosium game. Saying 'I'm excited to be joining the Chaosium team' just doesn't do it. I've respected and admired the company for over thirty years. I'm joining the same company who started me on this journey and I couldn't be prouder."

Upon acquiring this new game line, Chaosium’s paramount objective for 7th Sea is the fulfillment of the outstanding rewards from the 7th Sea Second Edition and 7th Sea Khitai Kickstarters. Coinciding with this announcement, John Wick has updated all Kickstarter backers with the new arrangements, which will see Chaosium overseeing the remaining fulfillment of the campaigns.

Overcoming weeks, 7th Sea products and content will begin to be migrated to Chaosium.com and Chaosium’s page at DriveThruRPG. A 7th Sea discussion board will also be set up at BRP Central, Chaosium’s forums.

Announcement - Vale Greg Stafford (1948 - 2018) - Deceased

From the latest Chaosium Newsletter:

The shock and grief the Chaosium family felt at the news of the passing of our beloved and revered company founder, Greg Stafford, cannot be measured. Greg died yesterday in his sweat lodge at his home in Arcata, CA. Mercifully, his passing was painless and quick. He died as he lived, on a spiritual quest of enlightenment.

As one of the greatest game designers of all time; winner of too many awards to count; and a friend, mentor, guide, and inspiration to generations of gamers, “the Grand Shaman of Gaming” influenced the universe of tabletop gaming beyond measure.

Greg founded The Chaosium in 1975, and from the outset (to quote his own words) “was never content to imitate, but instead published games that were original in their style of play, content and design”. Under his leadership, the company quickly became renowned for its originality and creativity and was responsible for introducing numerous things to the hobby that are standards today. As John Wick (7th Sea, Legend of the Five Rings) memorably said, “The older I get, the more I hear young RPG designers say ‘Never been done before!’ And then I just point at something Greg Stafford did a few decades ago.”

Greg’s work in roleplaying games, board games, and fiction have been acclaimed as some of the most engaging and innovative of all time. There will doubtless be many valedictory messages over the coming days from the countless many that Greg inspired and enthused across his many interests and passions - Glorantha, Oaxaca, King Arthur, shamanism, mythology and more.

For now, we leave you with the words of the Myth maker himself, speaking at the 2018 ENnies Awards ceremony, his last public engagement. Greg was immensely proud of the work Chaosium had done in recent years, particularly since his return as chair of the board in 2015. Ultimately, on reflection, he recognized that everyone’s success in the gaming industry was down to the enthusiasm and support of the fans. We at Chaosium recognize that countless RPG fans are fans (including us!) because of Greg Stafford and what he achieved.

Our heartfelt condolences to Greg’s wife Suzanne, and his children Noah, Alisha, Jason, and their families.

Vale Greg—from the team at Chaosium
#WeAreAllUs

Condolence Thread at BRP Central

We have created a special Condolence Thread at BRP Central - The Chaosium Forums for messages from the gaming community of condolence, and remembrance, and celebration, about Greg Stafford.
If you would like to show your appreciation for his life and legacy, or express your feelings, or pay your respects, please feel free to leave a note there. Greg's wife Suzanne and his family know that he was greatly loved, respected and revered in the gaming community all over the world, and they have the link to this thread to read your posts when they are ready. Greg's family request that you respect their privacy in this time of grief.

Here is the link: https://basicroleplaying.org/topic/8417-greg-stafford-condolence-thread

Cthulhu For President: The Game (Chaosium)

I don't discuss much politics, especially presidential politics, on social media. There isn't really a chance for a good outcome with that. Suffice to say I've yet to see a presidential candidate make it to the national convention that I really liked from either party - it has always been a choice of the lesser evil for me.

Which makes Chaosium's Cthulhu For President: The Game at $4.95 an excellent pick up for this year's presidential election. Shame it's only available in PDF, but they do have a store for prints and t-shirts and such.

Kickstarter - RuneQuest: Classic Edition - RQ2 is BACK!

Sometimes what is old is new again. Sometimes old is simply better than new.

Much like with Dungeons & Dragons, there is a certain charm and simplicity to RuneQuest's earlier editions. RQ2 (Chaosium)is what I cut my RuneQuest teeth on back in the day even if technically RQ3 (Avalon Hill Edition) was my first encounter with RuneQuest.

Ducks! You have to have ducks!

In just over a day the Kickstarter to bring RuneQuest 2 back into print has raised over $65k. In just over a day. Holy shit. It's knocking over stretch goals like they're bowling pins (unless I'm the one bowling - I have a knack for gutter balls)

Pavis and Big Rubble might just see their first use by me in nearly 30 years this spring...

Chaosium RuneQuest 2 Coming Back in Print? Time to Break Out Pavis and Big Rubble :)

Although RuneQuest III (Avalon Hill) was my introduction to RuneQuest, it didn't take long for me to find RuneQuest 2 and fall in love. It was my go to system after AD&D and my group spent many a Saturday afternoon exploring the ruins of Big Rubble and the manipulations of Pavis. Good times.

To see it will be coming back in print is awesome (sure, called "Classic RuneQuest, but we know the truth - anything before Avalon Hill is gold.)  I'm very excited. Now the question is - how soon? It's not mentioned yet at the Chaosium site.

50 - 75% off Select Chaosium Print Products - Rach is Gonna Kill Me!

Holy green poop! From the email I got a few minutes ago:

(they left out the link, so use this - Chaosium)


The Stars Are Right...
For a blow-out sale!

We’re here to sell games, and chew bubblegum. And we’re all out of bubblegum.

Over the years, our warehouse has become stuffed full of more Cthulhuy goodness than the Martense Mansion. We’re bursting at the seams and need to make room for the new things coming in!

We’ve decided to blow the doors off Cthulhu’s tomb, and close out all the “Non-Standard” items in our warehouse.

So now’s your chance to get deep discounts on Monographs, Fantasy Flight Games’ Cthulhu games, non-English language editions of our games, CDs, Magazines, The Laundry RPG, miniatures and much more!

Thus, we have 50% off the Following: All BRP and Call of Cthulhu Monographs! Novelties & Accessories! All licensed Call of Cthulhu products, including Fantasy Flight Games boardgames and miniatures, Cubicle 7 books, Golden Goblin, Arc Dreams, and more! All non-English language books! Nephilim!  (These books will not be reprinted or reordered once they’re gone!)

Also, we have 75% off all the remaining stock of Eternal Champion games and D20 Call of Cthulhu Gamemaster’s Packs! (Last chance!)

Plus, look for special bundle packs of Eternal Champion and Nephilim books!

Lastly, as an added incentive, take 10% off everything else we sell. Just because we love you so much.

Ia! Ia! Discounts Fhtagn!

(PLEASE NOTE: Discounts are not shown on the webstore catalog pages! You must add items to your shopping cart, and then the discount will be reflected in the cart.)

Chaosium Reboots back to It's Roots - The Return of Stafford and Petersen

From the latest update: Project Update #129: Horror on the Orient Express: Call of Cthulhu by Chaosium by Chaosium Inc.

Greetings to all our Patient Backers,

We have pressed the reset button...

In 1975 Chaosium started out as a quirky boutique game company. We were all about creativity, artistry and craftsmanship. With every game we provided you with new realms of imagination and entertainment. Over the last few years we forgot that, and lost our way.

The Great Old Ones have Returned…

Greg Stafford, founder of Chaosium and creative force during its heyday, is now President. Sandy Petersen, world renowned game designer who brought Cthulhu into the light three decades ago, has rejoined the team as well.

Greg says: "Chaosium is part of my legacy. My intent is to restore it to its rightful place in the world of gaming. Something we can all take pride in, and something that fans will look forward to.Where 'what’s next?' is answered with 'I can’t wait'."

The Stars are Right…

Sandy says: "I am excited to return to active participation in the Call of Cthulhu line, and I’m eagerly looking forward to working directly with Greg again. We are Chaosium's original team from the 1980s. My first focus is going to be the Call of Cthulhu 7th edition Kickstarter campaign."

Our main plan is simple (but will be a lot of work):

Quickly sift and sort through the current company problems

Immediately ship the remaining Horror on the Orient Express backer rewards

Focus on the Call of Cthulhu 7th edition Kickstarter backer rewards

Return to regularly making awesome new games.

We offer new hope, and ask only for your patience."

Please visit Chaosium.com for regular news and updates. Contact us with questions, kudos, curses, or kindness. We are listening, and we will respond.

Greg Stafford, President and CEO of Chaosium Inc.
I’m puttin' the band back together.

Chaos? Nope, Chaosium

Over the last week or so Chaosium has been pumping up its selection at RPGNow.  From what I can tell, if it's offered at Chaosium's site, its offered at RPGNow too.  This means that a lot of the classic Call of Cthulhu adventures are now available.  The shame is, except for possibly around Halloween, I have virtually no chance of running this stuff with my extremely hard to corral group.

What I find really interesting is that they are  offering the Basic Roleplay Monographs.  These are like small print run settings or adventures, such as Agents of the Crown (Victorian) and Aces High (Western).  If you are a Basic Roleplay gamer, you options are increased exponentially.

I need to figure out how close the BRP Fantasy rules hew to Runequest 2nd edition.  Might be my new Old School backup game...

In any case, I have way to many options to review from Chaosium.  Drop a line and let me know what you are interested in me giving a look to.  A sense of direction is always nice ;)