Hello fellow fantasy gaming enthusiasts!

Delivering disappointment after disappointment, the soyboys at Wizards of the Coast and Paizo (among many others) have decided to drown themselves in the swamp that is wokeism. The decision from Crawford and his camp to remove the Drow and Orcs from the game "because of their intrinsic evil nature and the fact that there are parallels to be made to marginalized groups in society" is so ridiculous it's truly mindblowing. This and many other decisions to politicize roleplaying games sickens me and made me decide to come up with my own world and gamesystem.
I can hear you think: "Yo David, no one is waiting for yet another game system or world." Perhaps. Doesn't mean I am not allowed to try and make this work.

At this moment this is what I have and what I have planned:

Project title: None yet.
World: Absoleth
Style: 80s sword and sorcery (more sword than sorcery)
Keywords: war, political intrigue, roaming warbands, slavery, sex, sword and sorcery, low magic setting
Looking for:

• Artist with a passion for 80s s&s - big breasted ladies and muscular guys!
• Rule theorist - the dice or... what can you come up with?

Extra info: I got a Discord where we can hangout and work on this project. I can't offer a monetary compensation unfortunately, but down the road, who knows, we could turn to Kickstarter for instance and get the money we need.

I hope to hear from you, even if you're not interested in helping. Any comment would be helpful!

Thanks for reading this and have a splendid day!
David - Black Plague Publishing

I'm no good at art or rules but am a fan of S&S so wish you the best of luck.

One thought, many rulesets fall into the trap of assuming magic corrupts sorcerers and makes them in tentacled or horned monstrosities which is not evidenced in Robert E. Howard's fiction. It also makes it difficult to have have the seductive enchantress trope, no one fancies women who have worms for fingers, empty burning pits for eyes and who smells of rotting flesh.

Magic isn't going to corrupt anyone, but it is reserved for the few. Probably a restriction: on "magic user" per party or no magic for PCs at all (only NPCs). Need to flesh it out.

Thanks for the response though! Appreciate it.

Quote from: Plagued on August 15, 2022, 06:26:40 AM
Magic isn't going to corrupt anyone

Other than the corruption that power over others breeds

All too fucking human ;-)


(Which is the only -playable- race in the game)

Here are some thoughts I had on this.  Have you tried looking at some of the sword & sorcery games that are already out there and maybe altering some of the rules or mechanics that you don't like to try to fit your vision?  Some that come to mind are BARBARIC!!!, Barbarians of Lemuria, and Barbarians VS.  These are just some off of the top of my head.  They all do the genre well, but in my opinion, some of their mechanic ideas need some adjusting. 

As far as magic, I always liked how Robert Howard described it in the Solomon Kane stories.  Basically N'Longa, Solomon Kane's african "side-kick", described that all magic comes from the realm of Angels and Demons, it is the intent and how the wielder uses it that corrupts them.  Also, the hobby can never have too many sword & sorcery rpgs.

I haven't heard of those games. I only know Modiphius' Conan setting/system.
Which mechanic ideas are you referring to?

Angels and Demons are a bit real world... as in: they come from real world religions. I am not sure in what shape or form I'm going to let religion play a role in my game/world, but I suspect a fairly minor role: gods (mono- or polytheistic) are revered in some places but they don't have any power over the material domain. Again: something I need to think about.

That final sentence is what I need to move on. Thanks Greg. Have a great day!

Some of the things I see in these other "barbarian" games is for cinematic purposes, which I think is needed with the genre.  I believe in Barbarians of Lemuria, when one rolls enough damage to "overkill" a minion or mook type enemy, they may apply the excess damage to an adjacent minion enemy.   Barbarians VS. is a B movie style game about "northland" barbarians battling reptile invaders from space who are hellbent on enslaving their planet.  It uses a dice pool system which can generate a lot of damage or high numbers to actions.

One of the things a lot of people seem to like about Barbarians of Lemuria is its career system.  At first I thought it was a little too bare bones but in execution it is quite elegant and "refreshing" for lack of a better term.  Conan had many careers throughout his journeys and therefore was accomplished in many things.  This idea in this game tries to simulate that with ease on book keeping. 

Basically each player chooses up to 4 careers at character creation and distributes ( I believe) 4 points amongst them.  There are many examples of careers given, but players and GMs are encouraged to come up with their own.   Let's say the player chooses, Hunter, pirate, and carpenter, and puts 2 points into Hunter and one point each into the other two.  If the character was trying to track someone the player and the GM decide that doing so would fall under Hunter so the player would add two to his die roll along with his appropriate Attribute.  Instead of having laundry lists of skills, like most games do, the careers cover broader ranges of what the character can do.  It seems too simplistic, but it really is quick and elegant in play and hits the spot of "Rulings over Rules" type game philosophy. 

Their are two retail versions of Barbarians of Lemuria for sale titled Mythic and Legendary, and there is also a free, bare bones version.  If nothing else, one can mine all of these games for ideas.  https://barbariansoflemuria.webs.com/earlier-editions

Dotting for interest!

You might also want to look into Beasts and Barbarians, a setting for Savage Worlds that is doing extremely well on the S&S game front. I am also enjoying By This Axe I Hack, a Sword & Sorcery variation of the Black Hack OSR ruleset. I am surprised by how expansive the magic system is in the last one, but none of the spells seem overpowered and there is always a chance for something to go wrong when performing magic. Not corruption, per se, but insanity might be an end result. Another game you can look into is Forgotten Tales of Sword & Sorcery.

I wonder if your magicians might be tempted to barter with demons? I'm almost certain that's how corruption would enter the world.

On a side note, there is a TTRPG (TTARPG?) that is being developed by the same company that put out the computer game Age of Barbarian which might be more in your line of interest. It seems to take place on a different planet: dinosaurs are prevalent, but definitely find some videos of the game on youtube as it seems to definitely satisfy that 80s Sword & Sorcery feeling. (the computer game, not the TTRPG which is still in development)

I am also developing a game with a Sword & Sorcery feeling, although the magic might be a little bit more powerful than traditional S&S genres. It's called Savages & Sorcery. It uses special d6 dice similar to the combat dice from the game Heroquest to resolve combat, but a few regular d6 and d12s are required as well. I am enjoying playtesting it. It has a classless system, meaning that characters are built from scratch with point-based "feats" called talents.

Quote from: MadCarthos on September 01, 2022, 03:09:54 AM
I am also developing a game with a Sword & Sorcery feeling, although the magic might be a little bit more powerful than traditional S&S genres. It's called Savages & Sorcery. It uses special d6 dice similar to the combat dice from the game Heroquest to resolve combat, but a few regular d6 and d12s are required as well. I am enjoying playtesting it. It has a classless system, meaning that characters are built from scratch with point-based "feats" called talents.

Hey there Madcarthos!
Thanks for the reply. I don't think the PCs in my game will be able to use magic. There is a female-only class called the Enchantress who will get bonusses on "enchanting" (influenincing through words and beauty/charisma). Magic for ancient undead sorcerer kings will be an interesting thing to figure out I think :-)
I love Heroquest! I remember the dice in that game and I'm thinking about using a D6 system as well, accompanied by the occasional D12. But I'm still at the beginning of my journey. And about the classless system: I understand it, but since I am a fan of old school roleplaying games (ttRPGs from the 70s/80s), I think it would be more fitting to work with classes, or Traditions as I call them.
I also try not to focus too much on other ttrpg games in the same genre - even though there are many reasons I most definately should. What do you guys think?

At this moment I have the following classes:

Hunter | Ability score bonus: +1 Agility, +1 Knowledge | Skills: Tracking Level 1, Understanding: Nature Level 1, Sling Level 1

Mercenary | Ability score bonus: +1 Strength, +1 Vigour | Skills: (One 1h melee weapon type of choice) Level 1, Shield or Evasion Level 1, Understanding: Society Level 1

Sage | Ability score bonus: +2 Knowledge | Skills: Understanding: (pick 1 from skill list) Level 1, Understanding: (pick 1 from skill list) Level 1, Staff Level 1
Requirements: minimum 40 years of age

Brute | Ability score bonus: +2 Strength | Skills: (One 2h melee weapon type of choice) Level 1, Coercion Level 2
Requirements: Male

Amazon | Ability score bonus: +1 Agility, +1 Vigour | Skills: Spear Level 1, Understanding: Nature Level 1, Athleticism Level 1
Requirements: Female

Thief | Ability score bonus: +2 Agility | Skills: Dagger or Short Sword Level 1, Sneak Level 1, Thievery Level 1

Acrobat | Ability score bonus: +1 Agility, +1 Presence | Skills: Staff Level 1, Performance Level 1, Athleticism Level 1

Scout | Ability score bonus: +1 Agility, +1 Strength | Skills: Spear Level 1, Sling Level 1, Sneak Level 1

Enchantress | Ability score bonus: +2 Presence | Skills: Staff Level 1, Understanding: Society Level 1, Coercion Level 1
Requirements: Female

Gladiator | Ability score bones: +1 Strength, +1 Agility | Skills: Trident and net Level 1 or (One 1h or 2h melee weapon type of choice) Level 1, Athleticism Level 1, Performance Level 1


If you like to theorycraft the game I'm working on, have a friendly chat or help me in any other way: don't be a stranger and ask for my Discord server's address.
Take care!
David

If you're looking for a S&S new system, then i can offer mine: i am close to end the writing of the core rules... I have started to write a second book of expanded rules but i am far to end it. I have also a setting under construction but i won't mind at all if someone else build his own setting with these rules.
Just drop me a PM.
Ciaooo

i suggest using opend6 as core game engine as its free and legal to do so, then customize that to fit your vision. most of the work is already done for you.

Quote from: Slipshot762 on September 09, 2022, 05:06:34 AM
i suggest using opend6 as core game engine as its free and legal to do so, then customize that to fit your vision. most of the work is already done for you.

Heya, is there some kind of list of OGLs that are available for use in my game? And how does it work? Do I need to use a disclaimer? And are there points to be made if would use my own game system?
Cheers!

Quote from: Plagued on September 10, 2022, 03:36:02 PM

Quote from: Slipshot762 on September 09, 2022, 05:06:34 AM
i suggest using opend6 as core game engine as its free and legal to do so, then customize that to fit your vision. most of the work is already done for you.

Heya, is there some kind of list of OGLs that are available for use in my game? And how does it work? Do I need to use a disclaimer? And are there points to be made if would use my own game system?
Cheers!

There's a listing of systems here: https://www.darkshire.net/jhkim/rpg/srd/

If your rules are going to be complex then it may be time-saving to use an existing rules system, like d20, BRP, or Fuzion (all of which have OGL implementations). If you're making something very simple, then it may be better to use an original system.

It's really going to depend on what you're trying to accomplish. In my experience it's easier to start simple and go from there. A lot of systems are complicated and that makes it harder to get into them, whereas a simpler system is easier to get into and easier to add on to later.