From: Dakin Burdick (burdickd@copper.ucs.indiana.edu)
Date: Fri 26 Jul 1991 - 09:56:33 EEST
A lot of interesting stuff has been popping up here recently. The Runic
Sorcery system was quite impressive, IMHO. I think it would give a much
more "authentic" feel to Gloranthan sorcery than the system in RQIII.
I too, like every other RQ referee on the face of the Earth, have written
my own sorcery system. I started from RQIII and started mutating it
immediately. It really had very little going for it. Because of that
sorcery system, I no longer play RQ; I went ahead and wrote my own
system (600+ pages!). The sorcery system I settled on is somewhat similar
to GURPS in that it uses prerequisite skills. First you have to be
able to heal yourself. Then you can heal others and later you can
heal many others. I used some ideas from "Autobiography of a Yogi"
(in terms of gaining internal power before being able to manifest
said power externally) and went from there. The system keeps mutating,
and is rapidly approaching D&D type spells (with a limit at about
3rd level). Magic is slow to learn, but I also allow mages to wear
armor and use swords, etc. The system still favors fighters and mages;
like RQ it is very hard to be a good thief.
The Byzantine Earth sounds really good! I'd be interested in helping,
just let me know what is needed (I have access to the Indiana Univ.
Library, which is excellent). In my own world I use saints, angels and
demons to good effect (people are more used to them than cult spirits).
Also, I think this idea is a good example of the possibilities of
playing in an alternate Earth rather than Glorantha. I've never
liked Glorantha (gasp! heresy!) but I loved RQII. I I buywhat I can
for RQ, even if I can't use all of it (but Eldarad and the new stuff
is worthless), but I would especially like to see alternate Earth
stuff. I boght the Ninja/Japan package and immediately resold it.
I couldn't believe what a bad job they had done. The material itself
was simply Bushido (the game) regurgitated in RQ fashion, and the art
(of course) was awful. "Japanese Mom preparing Dinner" was the
clincher. Who thought up that line? The worst disappointment was
the art taken from Japanese prints. Any fool with a Xerox machine
and a minimum of artistic talent could have done better at reproducing
those prints, and those pictures might even have saved my copy from
resale.
Ah well, I don't want you to think all I do is complain, so I'll
post one of my demons as well:
NIGHTMARE (c1990 Dakin Burdick; all rights reserved)
A Nightmare is a large black horse with red-hot coals for eyes and
whose hooves cause puffs of flame with every step. They reek of
brimstone, but can travel any terrain at 30 km./hour.
SIZ:2d6+20 STR:4d6+20 CON:1d6+15 INT:3d6 POW:2d6+6 DEX:3d6
Armor: Skin like heavy leather
Attacks: Rear & Plunge as Warhorse [45%] If the Nightmare makes
a POW vs. POW roll against a victim, it can discorporate
the target.
Skills: Move Silently [20%], Spot Hidden [65%]
NOTE: I got a lot of the ideas for my demons from the White Dwarf
articles on them a few years back. Details on controlling the
Nightmare follow:
Hostility: 15% chance
Payment: A pint of the summoner's blood (1d3 STR, regained as
Hit Points).
Service: It will serve the summoner for only one night. It can
only be evoked after sunset and will dissolve into
sulphurous mist if exposed to sunlight.
Dakin Burdick
burdickd@copper.ucs.indiana.edu
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