Lords of Chaos! Free League also producing a Stormbringer game?

Well this is a bit confusing. Just two days ago I mentioned that Goodman Games announced that they will be producing material based upon Michael Moorcock’s “Elric” novels for the Dungeon Crawl Classics and 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons role-playing games.

Now it looks like the Free League also will be getting in on the Eternal Champion multiverse action, with Legends of Stormbringer, based upon their Dragonbane system. (Hat tip to Todd S for alerting me to this in his comment on my previous post.)

“Today, we are thrilled to announce Legends of Stormbringer, a new officially licensed tabletop roleplaying game based on the iconic fantasy works of Michael Moorcock, planned for release in 2027.

Legends of Stormbringer will carry you into the Young Kingdoms – a world of dying empires, warring gods, and doomed heroes – and bring Moorcock’s richly imagined setting to the tabletop using rules mechanics based on our award-winning Dragonbane RPG. The game will feature the same accessible, dynamic, and deadly approach that has made Dragonbane one of our most celebrated titles.

Returning to the Young Kingdoms as setting writer is Richard Watts, whose work on previous Stormbringer RPGs helped define how generations of roleplayers have experienced Moorcock’s world.”

This announcement is a lot more interesting and appealing to me than the one from Goodman Games, given Watts’s involvement and the use of Dragonbane instead of DCC or 5e D&D. I have yet to actually play Dragonbane, but I own and have read it. My overall impression of the game is quite positive. Moreover, since Dragonbane is descended from the Basic Roleplaying System – just as were Chaosium’s various editions of Stormbringer – there is greater continuity here with previous Eternal Champion role-playing material than there is with Good Games’ projects. This continuity is reinforced with Watts’s involvement.  

But I have to confess that I’m a bit confused by these multiple announcements! Given the setting in question, though, I suppose that this kind of Chaos is appropriate. 

By Arioch!

The return of Elric?

It looks like the multiverse of the Eternal Champion Elric will be returning to the world of in-print role-playing games thanks to Goodman Games:

“Goodman Games is thrilled to announce a licensing agreement to publish official tabletop role-playing material based on Elric of Melniboné, the iconic sword & sorcery character and setting created by legendary author Michael Moorcock! 

The Classic Era of Elric will include a line of sourcebooks, adventures, maps, and additional supplements, all designed for compatibility with both Fifth Edition and Dungeon Crawl Classics role-playing game systems. The project is scheduled to launch via crowdfunding in 2027. Products will be released following the successful campaign and will be available at game stores worldwide.”

Despite the influence that the early Elric stories had on me (and I remain fond of them to this day), I have to confess that I’m not all that excited about this. One reason is that the setting will use 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons and Dungeon Crawl Classics – two systems about which I have decidedly cool feelings. DCC was a poor fit for another cherished fictional setting – Jack Vance’s Dying Earth – and I doubt that it will be appropriate for Elric (at least not without some heavy reworking). 

A second – more decisive – reason is that I already own a lot of "Elric" role-playing books: three editions of Chaosium’s Stormbringer (including Elric!, which is the same system as 5th edition Stormbringer), and a lot of supplemental books for those editions, as well as all the Elric of Melniboné books that were published for Mongoose’s Runequest II (MRQII) system. (MRQII, as many readers no doubt know, eventually evolved into Mythras.) So I already have more than enough Elric material – as well as some Hawkmoon and Corum material – to run multiple campaigns, all using RPG systems that I much prefer to both 5e D&D and DCC.

But who knows – maybe the new material will be good! Time (and funds) permitting, I may check out what Goodman Games produces for everyone’s favourite melancholy albino. 

Top 10 Science Fiction Films

In honour of "May Fourth" ("May the Force Be With You") -- and even though "Star Wars" is not "science fiction" (but rather "science fantasy") -- here are my top 10 sci fi films:

Blade Runner

The Thing

Alien

Children of Men

Aliens

The Road Warrior (Mad Max 2)

Fury Road (Mad Max 4)

12 Monkeys

2001

Looper

Honourable mention: Dune 1 and Dune 2.

(Perhaps I would end up with a slightly different list if I thought about this for a few hours -- but I'm sure that nothing in the "top 5" would change.)

As for Star Wars, my favourite two films are The Empire Strikes Back and Rogue One. I regard the "Andor" series -- Andor seasons one and two, and Rogue One -- to be the best thing out of the Star Wars universe (and not really like anything else in it).

Have a good May 4th!

Thanks for your replies!

I can’t believe that two months have passed since my last post! I’ve been insanely busy at work – and, sadly, mostly with various soul-crushing “admin” tasks. But I really shouldn’t complain, as I like my job overall. And while I have a stack of tasks to get through over the next few months, my schedule will be a bit more flexible over the summer.  

Anyhow, I wanted to thank those of you who took the time to post replies to my questions: “What roleplaying games are you playing now? What games do you want to play?” I enjoyed reading them all.

I was especially impressed by the wide variety of games mentioned. (And I was heartened to learn that there is a MERP campaign going!) 

The replies reminded me that I would like to try Ars Magica someday. One of the guys in my “large” group has run it before and has expressed interest in running it again sometime in the future, so hopefully this will happen at some point.