Howdy Folks -
So my current gaming group is in the mood for a new rpg and a few members suggested trying a Viking theme. Can anyone recommend a good Norse themed RPG?
So far we've got:
Ygdrassil
Rune
Fate of the Norns
HR1 Vikings Campaign Sourcebook (2e)
GURPS - Vikings
If anyone has any other suggestions, I'd appreciate it.
Thanks -
Wolves of God isn't explicitly designed for vikings, but it looks like it could be one of the best systems for it. Or if not to use, as inspiration for theme and atmosphere.
RuneQuest had a pretty good Viking Campaign and Mongoose updated it at some point.
Quote from: Ruprecht on April 12, 2022, 11:33:56 AM
RuneQuest had a pretty good Viking Campaign and Mongoose updated it at some point.
I would second the recommendation for RuneQuest. I would add a particular plug about why I chose RuneQuest for my viking campaign. Compared to something like Lord of the Rings, in a viking campaign the characters are highly overlapping. Almost everyone is a fighter of some sort, but some have distinctive other skills like scouting, smithing, oratory, etc. I feel that this worked better in RQ than in many other games.
This is more for more historical vikings. Rune is quite different being based on a video game.
Yeah, Runequest or BRP would be my go-to for this. There's the original Vikings supplement for RQ, the Mongoose Vikings supplement for MRQII, and Mythic Iceland for BRP. Also, while being "Britons and Saxons" instead of "vikings" and a little earlier in the "dark ages" period, there's Mythic Britain, Mythic Logres, and the Waterlands campaign for Mythic Britain (all those are from The Design Mechanism).
While RQ/BRP would be my first choice, I'll add that the HR1 Vikings supplement for AD&D is actually pretty good. It's one of the few 2e AD&D products that I actually found worthwhile.
RQ would be my first choice too (either the old Avalon Hill supplement for RQ3, or the MRQII Vikings supplement), but if D&D-style is more to your liking there's the free Vikings & Valkyries.
If you're looking for a ORS type then I'd highly recommend Skaldic Sagas.
It really emulated the old Viking vibes really well.
I've played with the designer of Fate of the Norns: Ragnarok at a convention and carry his books on my marketplace (https://composedreamgames.com/marketplace/pendelhaven).
If you want a game steeped in Norse/Viking Mythology this is definitely it. Andrew Valkauskas translated all the eddas and published them with some "middleware" in the Illuminated Eddas.
The game uses a really neat engine involving drawing runes out of a bag rather than dice. If you are looking for a quick-start with adventure that would be Fafnir's Treasure.
Standard game concept for FotN:R is usually the players are Einjahar (sp?) in Valhalla (dead, powerful warriors) going on quests for the Aesir gods (Odin, Thor, Heimdall etc) in the lead up to Ragnarok.
I'm quite keen to play in a campaign of this :)
@Thondor -
Concerning Fate of the Norns, we had considered this, but it seems confusing as a system. How well does it play? Does each player need to have a set of the runes (could be expensive) or can you just get one set and the group can use them together?
If you're up for anything 5e-adjacent, there's both Iskloft and Svilland; PDFs are $20-25, but I'd been in little enough rush that I've been holding off for a physical book, so can't speak to content. There are a bunch of reviews of each online, however.
Of course, there's also D20, if you like lingerie pinup "vikings" ;D
Y'all go me curious. What should be in a viking RPG that isn't going to already be in the more general games?
Trudvang might also fit.
Quote from: Mishihari on April 13, 2022, 06:49:09 PM
Y'all go me curious. What should be in a viking RPG that isn't going to already be in the more general games?
Most of these are just a system, with viking info thrown in and made to fit. Having said that, a specialized rules set including oaths, blood feuds, and maybe some inbaked mythology could be cool. Maybe it's out there?
HR1 Vikings for 2e D&D is not a bad one to have. Gives lots of details and presents a fairly consistent take on how to approach playing it.
Overall the whole HR series was pretty good. Esoecially if you want a human-centric or humans only setting.
Quote from: Mishihari on April 13, 2022, 06:49:09 PM
Y'all go me curious. What should be in a viking RPG that isn't going to already be in the more general games?
Obviously, it differs for different campaigns. What I looked for was:
(1) Handling overlapping roles. I expect most PCs will all be fighters to some degree.
(2) Detailed combat that works well for axe and shield or similar styles, with a gritty feel to it.
(3) A way to handle mass combat, so that raids with a ship full of warriors can be a part of the game.
(4) Magic and/or miracles that are appropriate to the sagas.
(5) A monetary system that can handle varied status and loot rather than standardized coinage.
For my viking game, I ended up homebrewing most of that - using RuneQuest for #1 and #2, mostly.
I did mine HR1 Vikings (AD&D2) for ideas, but most of the magic system was homebrew.
Quote from: aztecman on April 13, 2022, 04:36:57 PM
@Thondor -
Concerning Fate of the Norns, we had considered this, but it seems confusing as a system. How well does it play? Does each player need to have a set of the runes (could be expensive) or can you just get one set and the group can use them together?
Takes a bit to wrap your head around things, but it plays very smoothly. The play mat helps. (Easily printable from any of the book's PDF.) There's a fair bit of depth to the engine, so I haven't really explored it fully.
As for needing the runes; I just checked Fafnir's Treasure and some of the 5 example characters/pregens do have overlapping runes, but some don't - GM would need their own set too. However, every game book does have printable runes that you could print on cardstock for the first few games until folks want to buy their own wood or even metal runes.
(Metal runes are only available in Odin's Path which has an extra game in it too - I just got this in and it isn't actually listed yet.)
Quote from: Trond on April 13, 2022, 08:08:59 PM
Quote from: Mishihari on April 13, 2022, 06:49:09 PM
Y'all go me curious. What should be in a viking RPG that isn't going to already be in the more general games?
Most of these are just a system, with viking info thrown in and made to fit. Having said that, a specialized rules set including oaths, blood feuds, and maybe some inbaked mythology could be cool. Maybe it's out there?
Yep, Fate of the Norns: Ragnarok (https://composedreamgames.com/marketplace/fate-of-the-norns) and it's family of games are heavily rooted in the mythology and use drawing actual runes out of a bag for task resolution. I'd say it's very baked in.
Children of Eiru is the latest game and focuses less on Viking and more on celtic and irish mythology.
VIKINGS & VALKYRIES
http://mazesandminotaurs.free.fr/VIK.pdf (http://mazesandminotaurs.free.fr/VIK.pdf)
It's a FREE game based on Mazes & Minotaurs.
It's an OSR-ish system
It plays very well if you want a minimal system with 12 unique classes that are very flavorful for the players to get into their roles quickly. As its mostly OSR from the player side, your players already know 90% of the system.
Did I mention it's FREE?
Plenty of good ideas here (now i'm curious about the Viking supplement for GURPS)
But i've been trying to go down the HarnWorld - Ivinia road to get my norse-themed fix.
Quote from: aztecman on April 12, 2022, 02:37:30 AM
Can anyone recommend a good Norse themed RPG?
A lot of people here say that Mongoose Publishing's Shield Maidens is good. RPG NET loves it.
Quote from: Shawn Driscoll on April 15, 2022, 09:57:01 AM
Quote from: aztecman on April 12, 2022, 02:37:30 AM
Can anyone recommend a good Norse themed RPG?
A lot of people here say that Mongoose Publishing's Shield Maidens is good. RPG NET loves it.
Haw haw haw... ;D
I have an onrunning campaign set in the 11th century. Some of the players are Norwegians. The Pendragon rules were pretty easy to adapt and it has been a blast. Indeed there is actually a Beowulf/Land of Giants supplement that I was able to adapt.
It also has the advantage that you can easily introduce Saxons, Normans, Welsh etc
That said it does lean towards a more mythical/300 vibe and so probably depends on how grounded you want your game to be. Not to mention it is very lethal. We've had three player deaths and two very near misses over ten or twelve sessions 3 hour sessions.
Did anyone mention Wyrd Sails?
Basically, Vikings vs Lovecraftian monsters based on the BoL engine. Needless to say, your characters are tough hombres.
Weird!
No one has mentioned the obvious choice of Mythras. Pick up the Legends Viking book or Mythic Iceland and you are set.
Quote from: Leon_ap_Hywel on April 16, 2022, 09:48:04 AM
Weird!
No one has mentioned the obvious choice of Mythras. Pick up the Legends Viking book or Mythic Iceland and you are set.
Well, Mythras is a version of Runequest, (they did Runequest 6e, and when they lost the license continued publishing as Mythras), so people have talked about it in that regard. Glad you pointed out these specific supplements. I imagine they'd be handy resources for anyone using BRP /d% games?
Plus The Design Mechanism (http://thedesignmechanism.com/) folks are good peeps. I got a preview of their upcoming supers game "Destined" earlier this month :)
I always like to think of a comparison between RQ and Mythras like comparing the painting of a pre-schooler to the works of Michaelangelo.
You can enjoy both but one is definitely better than the other ;D
I'm hoping TDM return to our Viking friends in a Mythic book in the future.
Yggdrasil
Castles and Crusade Codex Norsica
I'm always exited about Mythras but then look at the monster blocks and combat and it looks too crunchy for ME to manage. I know you can use Mythras Imperative but as soon as you add stuff to that you end up with Mythras. Also managing monster block hit locations is too much for me.
As far as Mythras goes, I won't give money to communists.
Shield Maidens
Quote from: Shawn Driscoll on April 16, 2022, 05:17:03 PM
As far as Mythras goes, I won't give money to communists.
What?
Design Mechanism is listed as Green on the woke list so I'm not sure what they mean.
Quote from: Ruprecht on April 16, 2022, 05:50:01 PM
Design Mechanism is listed as Green on the woke list so I'm not sure what they mean.
I can't be assed with that nonsense but I thought I'd traveled back to the 1950s with the commie call out.
I saw the video that Design Mechanism put out for one of their games. It bashed customers that were not woke. Comparing them to Nazis, etc.
Quote from: Shawn Driscoll on April 16, 2022, 07:39:53 PM
I saw the video that Design Mechanism put out for one of their games. It bashed customers that were not woke.
::)
I would suggest you look at Chivalry & Sorcery 2nd edition. This system was designed with Vikings in mind and they are a favourite of my players over the past 35+ years. Comes complete with Futhark runes and very detailed info for rolling up Viking characters
Quote from: Ruprecht on April 16, 2022, 05:50:01 PM
Design Mechanism is listed as Green on the woke list so I'm not sure what they mean.
The list isn't reliable.
Quote from: migo on April 17, 2022, 02:50:10 AM
Quote from: Ruprecht on April 16, 2022, 05:50:01 PM
Design Mechanism is listed as Green on the woke list so I'm not sure what they mean.
The list isn't reliable.
Never read it, don't intend to.
Trudvang Chronicles by Riotminds. Viking/ Celtic setting, no woke BS (as far as i know), and something that i don't see people care much about on TTRPG's books that i personally always look for: Gorgeous art.
Quote from: Sanson on April 15, 2022, 03:36:34 AM
But i've been trying to go down the HarnWorld - Ivinia road to get my norse-themed fix.
I love Harn, but found the map of Ivania somewhat confusing. They overdid the fjords and lakes just a bit. Orbaal is where I ended up placing my mini-vikings campaign.
Quote from: Shawn Driscoll on April 16, 2022, 07:39:53 PM
I saw the video that Design Mechanism put out for one of their games. It bashed customers that were not woke. Comparing them to Nazis, etc.
The claim is that the video was meant as a parody and pulled when misunderstood.
Just as an FYI because I didn't see it mentioned, there's also Vikingr (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/243681/Vikingr) by Arion Games. It uses the D6 System for those interested. I don't really know much about it.
For a different take on the vikings theme - more family drama than saxons raiding - have a look at Sagas of the Icelanders.
https://platonic-solids.com/2017/01/24/review-sagas-of-the-icelanders/
Quote from: Itachi on April 19, 2022, 04:41:59 PM
than saxons raiding[/i].
This is an interesting point. DO any games have modules that involve raids?
I think Chaosium/Mongoose only created adventures that came with the setting and those were not actual Vikings but Norse tribal squabbles or exploring North America type scenarios.
Quote from: Ruprecht on April 19, 2022, 01:22:17 PM
Quote from: Sanson on April 15, 2022, 03:36:34 AM
But i've been trying to go down the HarnWorld - Ivinia road to get my norse-themed fix.
I love Harn, but found the map of Ivania somewhat confusing. They overdid the fjords and lakes just a bit. Orbaal is where I ended up placing my mini-vikings campaign.
Orbaal works just fine & dandy too, it's just i picked up the fancy Ivinia map to hang on the way, and you're doubtless correct they overdid they fjords.
Ahh well, still like their materials.
Quote from: Sanson on April 20, 2022, 11:51:27 AM
Orbaal works just fine & dandy too, it's just i picked up the fancy Ivinia map to hang on the way, and you're doubtless correct they overdid they fjords.
I have no regrets buying Ivania or putting in a fancy frame on my wall. It is a beautiful map, just not great for planning your Dragonships course to the sea. And the text on Ivanian culture is just gravy.
C&C Codex Nordica is particularly excellent. Codex Germania is Viking-adjacent and well worth getting also.
I agree the various Viking treatments in Runequest are outstanding, from the original Vikings box set by Avalon Hill to the Runequest II Vikings book.
Ars Magica had a really good Viking related book called Land of Fire and Ice (basically Iceland) and it has an awesome cover. I mean a really really great cover. https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/348442/Land-of-Fire-and-Ice (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/348442/Land-of-Fire-and-Ice)
Also for Ars Magica is Mythic Seas.
I am working on a Valkyrie book for my OSR line that is coming along well.
Thanks folks for all the great suggestions. I am sure we'll find something that suits our fancy. Top picks so far seem to be: Vikings D&D 2E, Viking Runequest, and Fate of the Norns. The C&C book is intriguing though. For the others, the group is sorta lukewarm on, but for sure, Shield Maidens is a hard pass...