Sword-and-Sorcery Gaming
Even though I have a vast assortment of old role-playing modules staring down at me from my bookshelves, and even though it’s been a few years since I played, I’m still tempted sometimes to buy more. I can’t help it — I’ve been a gamer since junior high. Ever since I was 12 or so I don’t think I’ve gone more than 2 years at any stretch without playing (or, usually, running) an adventure or campaign, and one of the things I love most is reading through adventure supplements. It’s the storyteller in me, I suppose.
Right now I’m tempted by a pretty nifty setting on Kickstarter titled Primeval Thule. If you’re a sword-and-sorcery fan you should really go take a look. It sounds cool enough that it might be a good read even if you’re not interested in playing a game. As of the moment I’m typing this note, there’s only about 50 hours to pledge money to the project, so I thought I’d help spread the word.
Last year I was tempted by a game titled Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea for pretty much the same reason. It’s clearly designed by sword-and-sorcery fans and the setting sounds like it would be a blast to read. So far I’ve resisted the impulse, but sooner or later I may crack and pick it up. I would probably already have done so if I was actually running a game these days.
Any of you gamers have a recommendation for the best sword-and-sorcery style setting you’ve read? This one looks great, but so far as I can tell it’s never been released! Blade of the Iron Throne is excellent — I managed to read a sort of “sneak peek” edition.
I think my two favorite sword-and-sorcery settings are the one found in Barbarians of Lemuria and Legends of Steel, both of which I liked well enough to purchase in dead-tree format. I noted as I was creating the product links for this essay that a reviewer complained that there was no difference between the two and that the system was basically the same. Well, yes, the system is almost the same, but the world and the adventures are different, and they’re both glorious old school fun. I suppose that some people are more interested in the numbers than the system, but I just don’t get that. More than half the fun is reading about all the inspiring locations just dripping with the promise of adventure…
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Hey Phil,I've played a lot of old systems, but never RuneQuest. How complex is the combat? Are there a lot of charts to cross index and feats to min/max and all that other time consuming stuff?
Runequest is solidly rules-medium. It's much more involved than Barbarians of Lemuria, but not as complex as the recent editions of D&D/Pathfinder. I'm not a rules enthusiast, and the game is right at the sweet spot in terms of complexity; detailed enough, but not overwhelming.If you've ever played Call of Cthulhu, you've played a member of the Runequest family. It's a percentile system and almost entirely skill-based; characteristics (Strength, Dexterity, etc.) aren't used often after character creation and there are no feats.
Runequest combat is slightly more complex than in Call of Cthulhu--as it involves hit locations, limb-specific HP, and combat maneuvers (parry, riposte, bypass armor, etc)--but I find it quick and fast paced. It's fairly deadly, though, so players will want to avoid being outnumbered and keep non-combat options available. Generally no charts are necessary after character creation, but players will want a copy of the combat maneuver list.
Runequest offers a variety of magic systems in an attempt to cover all the fantasy bases (sorcery, divine, shamanic, etc.), but if you pick one or two for your particular setting and stick with them magic-related complexity can be kept to a minimum.
The new Runequest 6 by Design Mechanism is an expanded, deluxe package, but if you just want to check out the rules cheaply I'd recommend Mongoose Publishing's Legend RPG, which is available as a PDF for a dollar. It's the previous version of the Runequest rules, but released under a different title (Mongoose lost the Runequest license). It was written by the same two designers and the rules are 95% the same, if less fleshed-out in parts.
Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea is excellent, by the way. The rules are basically house-ruled 1st edition AD&D (which may be appealing if you're into the current "Old School Renaissance" retro-clone movement) and the setting is extremely evocative, combining Clark Ashton Smith-style weirdness with Robert E. Howard-style heroes.
Thanks for the detailed discussion! I appreciated the comparison to Call of Cthulhu, which I used to play. I may just try out that dollar PDF so I can see whether or not I want to look further!Best,
Howard
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I've had good luck with licensed games, since the settings are a bit more familiar and it's nice to have fiction, comics, etc., to point players to for additional background. I've run Elric using Mongoose Publishing's Runequest II system and Conan using the OGL system. I prefer Runequest's rules and Conan's setting, so my next campaign will probably use Design Mechanism's new Runequest 6 system with the setting books from the Conan RPG.
Primeval Thule looks interesting, but I'm more tempted by the new Monster Island book for Runequest 6. It has a similar premise, uses my preferred rules set, and it's out now.