"Norse" campaign resources

[Necrozius]

Some friends of mine want to play a gritty, bloody, heavy-metal inspired, vengeance-fuelled Norse campaign.

We're using Mythras because they want some cinematic realism.

Does anyone know of any good Norse-themed sandboxes or campaign modules (system is unimportant) that are a good set-up or setting for something like this?

Note: Mork Borg and Frostbitten & Mutilated are too much. Need something with a more historical feel. Low-magic, but mythic is okay.

 

[Fenris-77]

Those aren't really Norse anyway. Maybe take a look at Iron Sworn.

 

[Necrozius]

Those aren't really Norse anyway.

I agree! LOL

Maybe take a look at Iron Sworn.

Will do!

From a cursory Google search, Svilland for 5e and Savage World's Hellfrost come up. Are either of those good settings?

 

[Necrozius]

Maybe take a look at Iron Sworn.

Iron Sworn is fantastic. Exactly what I was looking for, thank you.

This thread might be useful for others, so we could keep it open? Any resources for Viking / Norse campaigns are welcome.

As an aside, Mythic Britain for Mythras has nice Saxon write-ups that are decent stand-ins for Vikings.

 

[Fenris-77]

I'd recommend Neil Gaiman's Norse Myths book.

 

[Spellslinging Sellsword]

I assume you have the Vikings sourcebook from MRQ2 that Pete wrote? If not, you can grab it under the Legend brand.

DriveThruRPG

www.drivethrurpg.com

 

[Raleel]

Vikings of Legend, the book for Legend is like 95% Mythras compatible and has a lot of good stuff. Also written by one of the Mythras authors. There are quite a few adventure seeds in the back. Mythic Iceland is also a thing, a BRP supplement

I did a small write up to use Monster Island as Vinland and they got sent to find resources for Erik the Red’s Icelandic colony.

https://sites.google.com/site/journeyofnaglfar/ I did a 13th age viking game. It was substantially more heroic. Also fate of the norns is a thing, but it’s also less gritty as a whole

 

[Raleel]

Also the Icelandic sagas and the Saga Thing Podcast, which goes over them. It’s a lot of fun and very inspirational

 

[Voros]

I was obsessed with the D&D gazetteers and The Northern Reaches was one of my favourites. Haven't revisited it in a long time but confident it is as awesome as I remember.



Now also available POD (may need to order hardcopies of all my fav gazetteers someday):

DriveThruRPG

www.drivethrurpg.com

For fiction The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson is essential as a fantasy classic and a solid distillation of the sagas.

 

[A Fiery Flying Roll]

Vikingr from Arion Games has a lot of useful stuff in it.

 

[Bilharzia]

Not directly RPG material, but a very accessible series

Children of Ash



Life and Afterlife



The Viking Mind



Neil Price has also written a number of books on the Vikings.

 

[Necrozius]

I'd recommend Neil Gaiman's Norse Myths book.

I was curious about that book, wondering if it is a genuine look at those myths, or a post-modernist re-imagining. Glad to see your recommendation (and glad that I'm wrong).

 

[Ossian]

There’s the Northlands Saga Complete, an 800 page monstrosity from Frog God Games. It’s a setting and complete campaign, but quite expensive for even just the pdf. It’s for Swords & Wizardry or Pathfinder, so there will be D&Disms.

There’s also an adventure for Mongoose d20 Conan called Betrayer of Asgard that sounds like it may have to do with vengeance & vikings.

 

[zanshin]

A bit expensive now, though going at a reasonable price in one ebay auction, and an obvious fit for Mythras is Avalon Hills RQ3 boxed set Vikings

Vikings (RuneQuest) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[robertsconley]

Does anyone know of any good Norse-themed sandboxes or campaign modules (system is unimportant) that are a good set-up or setting for something like this?

Sure anything Ivinia or Orbaal related from Columbia Game


Ivinia
Orbaal

Free stuff

Search Results for “Ivinia” – Lýthia.com

www.lythia.com

Search Results for “Orbaal” – Lýthia.com

www.lythia.com

In fact they have a complete viking saga for free
The Sage of Gundar Green-eye

For those with a bigger appetite, dig into the first chapter of the expansive Saga of Gundar Green-Eye, an epic story arc in the style of the old Icelandic sagas that will have your players trying to right an old wrong, and find the savage murderers of their parents.

Although not system neutral like Harn stuff is anything related to Nordlund from Gaming Ballistic is also good.

Gaming Ballistic | Fantasy & Dungeon Roleplaying Games

Gaming Ballistic is a leading creator of Fantasy & Dungeon roleplaying games. Digital and Print Versions Available.

gaming-ballistic.myshopify.com

 

[arjunstc]

Some friends of mine want to play a gritty, bloody, heavy-metal inspired, vengeance-fuelled Norse campaign.

Wasn't there a movie recently that was just that?

 

[Necrozius]

Wasn't there a movie recently that was just that?

 

[Grelan]

I was curious about that book, wondering if it is a genuine look at those myths, or a post-modernist re-imagining. Glad to see your recommendation (and glad that I'm wrong).

Thankfully it's not a post-modernist reimagining, but it's far from complete. More of a Neil Gaiman's Selected Norse Mythology.

 

[Ronin]

Theres a group called Hurstwic that does training and research into Norse fighting techniques, and such. They have a very useful resource page of viking culture and what not.

 

[SJB]

We last discussed this topic in April.

These were my suggestions:

Beowulf, a 5E adaption from Handiwork Games, is based on the assumption that all PCs are from a warrior culture. That culture is based on heroic expeditions by sea (“the Whale Road”). Handiwork Games offers a free quickstart with rules and an adventure, The Hermit’s Sanctuary. The culture of Beowulf is pre-Viking Anglo-Scandinavian and certainly not the Icelandic saga version which Northlands claims as its main source but the reskinning would be linguistic rather than mechanical.

On the linguistic front there is a good series of Icelandic saga based games supplements from Gaming Ballistic for GURPS DFRPG (yes, I know, boo hiss). They start with The Hall of Judgement of which there is also a D&D version entitled, The Lost Hall of Tyr.

The OpenQuest “Viking” supplement is The Savage North.

 

[Atelerix]

GURPS Vikings is fairly solid, obviously not statted for Mythras though.

The Mythic Iceland BRP suplement from Chaosium is fantastic:

Basic Roleplaying - Mythic Iceland - Chaosium Inc.

www.chaosium.com

It also has a lot about the politics, law, life and settlement of the island.

Shoutout for the sagas themselves: Njal's Saga, Egil's Saga and Orkneyinga Saga are classics of uncompromising mind, cold steel and burning revenge.

 

[AsenRG]

GURPS Vikings is fairly solid, obviously not statted for Mythras though.

Let's just say that even to me, that's not necessarily such a huge disadvantage (5 points at most, and all GURPS books have solid research).

Vikingr from Arion Games has a lot of useful stuff in it.

I was actually going to recommend that one!

Also, for a different part of the North and different era, The Medieval Baltic 1&2 by one of our co-forumites is nothing short of excellent.

DriveThruRPG

www.drivethrurpg.com

DriveThruRPG

www.drivethrurpg.com

 

[Joseph Wolz]

Codex Nordica for Castles and Crusades (kind of) is really really good.

It is 95% explanatory, it’s about the myths and world of the Vikings. They did a German one, too, Codex Germania.

They’re excellent!

 

[Mankcam]

I just came here to second the recommendations of Mythic Iceland (BRP), and MRQ2/ Vikings of Legend, both work well with Mythras - Vikings of Legend practically is Mythras.

The Rune Magic in Mythic Iceland can be easily plugged into Mythras, and it really captures the flavour well, as does the narrative content of that book. It's almost a must-buy for any Viking game, the content is so well done.

 

[Ronnie Sanford]

Mythic Iceland from Chaosium is incredible though be aware a second edition is currently under development. Also Vikings for Fantasy Hero had some great scenarios

 

[Raleel]

be aware a second edition is currently under development

I believe it has been in development nearly as long as Mythras' Mythic Greece in all seriousness, they've had a finished manuscript for 3 years, not sure when it's coming out.

 

[Llew ap Hywel]

DriveThruRPG

www.drivethrurpg.com

might be useful.

 

[Rogerdee]

Okay so getting Classic Fantasy Basic and Expert for DnD converted to Mythras. Coupled with Mythras Companion to help with the cinematic aspect.

Then two amazing settings are Svilland and Norrongard for DnD 5e. Of the two I believe the latter is more gritty. Hope that helps?

 

[Necrozius]

Okay so getting Classic Fantasy Basic and Expert for DnD converted to Mythras. Coupled with Mythras Companion to help with the cinematic aspect.

Then two amazing settings are Svilland and Norrongard for DnD 5e. Of the two I believe the latter is more gritty. Hope that helps?

Good advice.

For the record, I have a solution. I just recommended that we keep this thread alive for others.

 

[CRKrueger]

As said above, Mythras/MRQII or Legends Vikings/Mythic Iceland is the perfect Nordic setup.

If the system is to your taste, Yggdrasil and Keltia are also great games with awesome supplements and adventures, but the translation from French to English is slow. I can’t wait for their two books on Hrolf Kraki, one of my favorite sagas.

Anyone know of any Mythic Finland gaming stuff (Louhi, etc).

 

[CRKrueger]

Let's just say that even to me, that's not necessarily such a huge disadvantage (5 points at most, and all GURPS books have solid research).


I was actually going to recommend that one!

Also, for a different part of the North and different era, The Medieval Baltic 1&2 by one of our co-forumites is nothing short of excellent.

DriveThruRPG

www.drivethrurpg.com

DriveThruRPG

www.drivethrurpg.com

Who’s Jean Chandler?

 

[Spellslinging Sellsword]

If one were to write a companion to Vikings of Legend, what should be in it that wasn't covered in Vikings of Legend?

 

[robertsconley]

If one were to write a companion to Vikings of Legend, what should be in it that wasn't covered in Vikings of Legend?

Given how thorough (234 digest pages) the original is, a companion should focus on giving specific examples of what is generalized in the book in a ready to use format. Like present a typical Viking petty-kingdom with some NPCs, locale description to illustrate how it hangs together. And do the same for a viking colony. Basically take all the stuff mentioned in Vikings of Legend and implement it, along with comments explaining how different choices could be made.

 

[SJB]

@

Who’s Jean Chandler?

Peter Von Danzig

 

[Cornelius]

I would recommend Iskloft by Skald publishing. Not exactly rigorous, but quite enjoyable. It's for D&D 5Ed, but it shouldn't be aproblem to adapt to Mythras.

As for fiction, I'd like to mention "Eaters of the Dead" by Michael Crichton and the book that inspired, very loosely, "ibn Faḍlān and the land of darkness".

 

[CRKrueger]

I would recommend Iskloft by Skald publishing. Not exactly rigorous, but quite enjoyable. It's for D&D 5Ed, but it shouldn't be aproblem to adapt to Mythras.

As for fiction, I'd like to mention "Eaters of the Dead" by Michael Crichton and the book that inspired, very loosely, "ibn Faḍlān and the land of darkness".

Or watch 13th Warrior.

 

[Fenris-77]

Or watch 13th Warrior.

'Lo, there do I see my father.
'Lo, there do I see my mother, and my sisters, and my brothers.
'Lo, there do I see the line of my people...
Back to the beginning.
'Lo do they call to me.
They bid me take my place among them.
In the halls of Valhalla
Where the brave may live forever.

 

[raniE]

If you know Swedish, the Swedish rpg Viking (I think you can guess what the game was about) from the 90s might be a good resource. About half of the book was all info on religion, customs, clothes etc, with extracts from various sagas and the edda sprinkled in.

There were also a few expansions, Västerled was about the western lands, Norden was more detailed info on the nordic countries themselves. The game was printed in such an enormous print run that the Swedish gaming federation Sverok was still giving out free copies of the game to new gaming societies only a few years ago, so it should be easy to find a copy. But unless you can understand Swedish, it won't help much I guess.

 

[CRKrueger]

'Lo, there do I see my father.
'Lo, there do I see my mother, and my sisters, and my brothers.
'Lo, there do I see the line of my people...
Back to the beginning.
'Lo do they call to me.
They bid me take my place among them.
In the halls of Valhalla
Where the brave may live forever.

Such a badass movie.

 

[Toadmaster]

Norse adjacent you also have Mythic Russia for Heroquest

Mythic Russia

Let's just say that even to me, that's not necessarily such a huge disadvantage (5 points at most, and all GURPS books have solid research).


I was actually going to recommend that one!

Also, for a different part of the North and different era, The Medieval Baltic 1&2 by one of our co-forumites is nothing short of excellent.

DriveThruRPG

www.drivethrurpg.com

DriveThruRPG

www.drivethrurpg.com

These will be very useful. I have a lot of "viking" stuff but I've been very interested in a game set in the post Viking period (900-1200-ish) in the Greater Baltic region (Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Western Russia) ever since visiting some of the old cities in Denmark and Norway and finding out how differently Christianity spread there compared to other parts of Europe (Cliff's notes version, much more delicately as one does not just walk into a land filled with Vikings and demand change).