Aquelarre

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The latest KS update said that there would be copies in retail. I can't remember exactly what it said so I don't know if that was a limited run or if they intend to keep it in print.
 
I got to this thread after spotting the game on DriveThru and wondering if anyone knew anything about it. It looks gorgeous and super-detailed. It's also expensive and huge. I'm wondering (a) how are the rules, and (b) how well does it prepare someone ignorant of Spanish medieval culture to play in that setting?

It looks so good, that if I had any faith I'd play it, I'd consider springing for the $95 premium hardcover. I mean, that art is dazzling.
 
It is a gorgeous book and it's an interesting read too. I haven't read the whole book yet (as it is big!) but it's a good read. I knew next to nothing about medieval Spain when starting to read this and I've learnt plenty of interesting things since so I think you'll be good in that respect.

Rules-wise, if you're familiar with any iterations of BRP it will feel very familiar. In fact, if you want to convert BRP stuff to it, or the other way around, you'll have little trouble. It uses some slightly different terminology and has a few unique subsystems and rules but is clearly part of that family and not overly complex. I'd say it's slightly less crunchy than the latest RuneQuest but I haven't got into the meat of the magic in Aquelarre yet.

I was in on the Kickstarter and the physical book was worth the long wait. It is amazing to look at.
 
I'll have to save up money from my paper route but that's gonna be a must-have. Even if not played directly, it's great inspiration for any medieval horror or things like Deus Vult.
 
Rules-wise, if you're familiar with any iterations of BRP it will feel very familiar. In fact, if you want to convert BRP stuff to it, or the other way around, you'll have little trouble.
Hmm, that means it can probably mix well with the various Mythras historical campaigns. And it clearly has its own unique and flavorful magic system. The two spells they show in the preview feel very true to the sensibility of folktales and literature.

I am wondering what kind of campaign it encourages. Is it open-ended? I get the feeling that there is some kind of focus on the paranormal, but I can't tell exactly how that ties into a standard campaign.
I was in on the Kickstarter and the physical book was worth the long wait. It is amazing to look at.
I can tell...with a good paper/print/binding it looks like it would be extremely appealing even for display.
 
There is also the following supplement for Asturias:

When I played the game Edgewise (six sessions) it was very much like CoC (especially recent books like the Berlin one) in that it has a richly painted historical background but dealing with the supernatural is assumed. And this is due to the supernatural being everywhere.

The best way I could describe it is that it's like being a peasant in the Witcher but there are no Witchers. You were in the wrong field at the wrong time or you didn't bury a plague victim correctly so now something wants to eat your head.

Also the Spanish folk monsters are amazing.
 
I find it reminiscent of Ars Magica in a number of ways - but the game is more focussed in terms of the setting, while the magic in the game is more directly lifted from real world alchemical lore. There are organisations to join, although you may end up being the Inquisition rather than the magical practitioners. There is a number of scenarios in the core book too.

The ‘sanity’ system is two headed - you are split between Rational and Irrational drives. For me, this is actually better than the the CoC Sanity system as it doesn’t conflate the use of magic with the resistance to it. The spells (there is a big list) are described by the rituals performed - these are quite evocative.

Beyond anything else, the book is a gorgeous artifact. Well worth owning.
 
I’ve been curious about this game since the... late 90s? I think. Anyway there was a review in an old Dragon or Dungeon magazine. It seemed super awesome.

The kickstarter was too expensive.
 
Looks like retail will be in a few months.
From the Kickstarter
With the KickStarter completed, we have have just now launched Aquelarre for public sale on DriveThruRPG. Copies will also be in game retail stores this April/May.
 
I'm a sucker for anything that expands my options for BRP type games, so this looks like it's right in my bailiwick.

Thanks for the heads up.
 
Cool! I just checked and there is a Cantabrian language (should have known) that's transitional between Asturllionés and Castellano. Pretty cool all the languages there are in Spain.
Agreed, it's absolutely fascinating, especially when you look at modern maps of old dialects still spoken today and see the same areas, a thousand years later, where the language still hasn't been assimilated. There may only be a couple thousand people still speaking it, but it's there.
 
HAHA so amazingly the review I had read in Dragon magazine in the 90s was by one of the translators of the game into English. He writes about it here, check it out!!

 
It is a magnificent game, arguably the best Spanish game and one of the best from Europe. I hope it is successful and that more supplements are to be translated. I am specially found of “Ars Maléfica” and of the campaigns “Ex Mundo Tenebrarum” and “Retorno a Rincón”.
 
Might get a bit sporty at certain forums...
Let them foam at the mouth all they want, we'll just play the game:thumbsup:.

I didn't miss the KS, but I suspected that they would "tone down the medieval aesthetics", so I only got a PDF level.
I'd have ordered two hardback copies, had I suspected that they would stay firm :shade:!
 
I bit the bullet on the PDF. It's gorgeous, although I have a small pet peeve: the page backgrounds have all that fake aged parchment look. I don't mind it in the margins (actually I kind of like it), but when it mixes in with the text, I find it incredibly irritating. Little off-color splotches and spots are...so unnecessary when it actually makes things harder to read. When you're dealing with a six-hundred page tome, small irritations can obviously snowball.
 
Might get a bit sporty at certain forums...
Well, the silver lining in the Bledsaw implosion is that honestly talking about how 15th century Spanish Catholics and Muslims thought about Jews is not that problematic by comparison to actual Stormfront talking points.
 
Let them foam at the mouth all they want, we'll just play the game:thumbsup:.

I didn't miss the KS, but I suspected that they would "tone down the medieval aesthetics", so I only got a PDF level.
I'd have ordered two hardback copies, had I suspected that they would stay firm :shade:!
Just on a lark, I found a 3rd edition Spanish version and compared them artwise. It’s the same except for a full-color page of an actual Akelarre, which I think was the special edition cover.
 
Well, the silver lining in the Bledsaw implosion is that honestly talking about how 15th century Spanish Catholics and Muslims thought about Jews is not that problematic by comparison to actual Stormfront talking points.
The what now?
 
The what now?

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Recent posts at Tenkar’s Tavern and Bat In The Attic shall enlighten you.
 
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Recent posts at Tenkar’s Tavern and Bat In The Attic shall enlighten you.
PM, please :smile:? I don't want to get in dangerous territory, I just didn't find anything by a quick Google search!
 
PM, please :smile:? I don't want to get in dangerous territory, I just didn't find anything by a quick Google search!

Sent.

What happened to Imperator anyway? You should tell that bastage to get back over here.

He’s active on social media, and from the looks of it has his hands full with work and family stuff. He’ll swing back here eventually, I’m sure.
 
If you can read Spanish there is some material here for Cantabrian monsters and folklore for Aquelarre:

Pretty cool stuff in general. From this amazing fansite:
 
I'm so glad I backed the KS on this, was a fluke acctually as at the same time I was googling other countries first RPG's, like Drakkar & Demoner from Germany, or Japanese Old School RPG's looking to pick stuff up from ebay and I saw the KS. (also how I got in on the Trudvang KS).

It's a great book, love the art and the presentation and how true it hues to the actual medieval history and mythology of the region and cultures. I've always been a sucker for semi-historical pastiche settings/games (HARN anyone?) and Aquellar has been great.
 
I'm a sucker for random life-path chargen, so for a lark I rolled up a party of 4 for this. First guy was pretty vanilla, a Jewish Mariner from Portugal whose parents were pirates! Decent with an axe and his discovery skill was maxed out. Highest age he could start at meant lots of Boon/Bane rolls...and he got 4 boons! Next guy was ridiculous. Randomly rolled the first son of a Duke Of Castile. Aged 17, so 4 optional boon/bane rolls. This kid is mixed up, he's scared of water, is dismissive of women, had a bride die on him, but started with 15,000 mv in money. Next up another Castilian, this guy is a Parda, which is basically a mounted raider of the Grenada border. Figured he was a commoner pal of the Duke's son who get up to no good down south. Lastly, a Galician Priest, who got both Naïve and Honest as banes, and also an arcane relic (I chose Wolf's Eyes as the talismans spell). Just having this relic lowers his Faith a bit, so he's on shaky theological ground!

Good fun. I like chargen mini-games.
 
Weird, why is it going through Chaosium? What did they have to do with it? Do they have a relation with Nocturnal because of Paladin?
They seem to be Nocturnal's distributors for BRP stuff now.
 
After Steve Wieck died, Chaosium partnered with Nocturnal to deliver their books.
 
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