Mythras as Stormbringer?

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KrakaJak

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Hey, I know there is at least one serious Mythras player here.

I listened to a podcast recently that got me interested in Stormbringer....which is OOP.

Is there an equivalent with Mythras, or some other BRP OSR game? What should I look for?
 
I’m not an expert in Mythras but the authors of Mythras also wrote Mongoose’s Elric of Melnibone based on a Mythras predecessor. I would think it would be highly compatible. Note there were versions of Elric of Melnibone’s for both the first and second edition ruleset (Often called MRQ 2). You want the second edition.

Note Elric of Melnibone is also out of print but easily obtained on EBay or Amazon.
 
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I’m not an expert in Mythras but the authors of Mythras also wrote Mongoose’s Elric of Melnibone based on a Mythras predecessor. I would think it would be highly compatible. Note there were versions of Elric of Melnibone’s first and second edition ruleset (Often called MRQ 2). You want the second edition.

Note Elric of Melnibone is also out or print but easily obtained on EBay or Amazon.
My understanding is Elric is very different from Stormbringer. And the last edition of Stombringer (5th?) was actually the 2nd edition of Elric. It's confusing.
 
Just FYI, Magic World is pretty much Chaosium's Elric with the Moorcock IP removed. So a great set of rules, aimed at a DIY setting (though there is an example setting presented in the rulebook).
If I really wanted to have a game set in the Young Kingdoms then I think I'd favor MRQII's take on the setting... along with Mythras and maybe bits of Legend (MRQII with a name change), especially Blood Magic.
 
My understanding is Elric is very different from Stormbringer. And the last edition of Stombringer (5th?) was actually the 2nd edition of Elric. It's confusing.
Stormbringer 1 through 5 and Elric are based on a trimmed downed variant of BRP that uses the resistance table and generalized hit points. Elric of Melnibone is based on the predecessor of Mythras with it’s opposed rolls and hit locations. They are both similar and mostly compatible but if you like Mythras’ rules you would probably prefer Elric of Melinibone. On the other hand Stormbringer 1 through 5 and Elric from Chaosium are more popular on this board and fit my personal preference. If you want something based on those rules (Not the setting) but still in print you probably want Magic World.
 
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My understanding is Elric is very different from Stormbringer. And the last edition of Stombringer (5th?) was actually the 2nd edition of Elric. It's confusing.
“Elric” by Chaosium is extremely similar to its successor Stormbringer 5 and its predecessor Stormbringer 4 (Though 4’s demon summoning is different and superior in some ways) Chaosium’s Elric however should not be confused with Mongoose’s Elric of Melnibone 1 or 2 - they are quite different.
 
I am most interested in the Ken St. Andre editions, I hear they are the least complex....
I think that was Stormbringer 1. I don’t have that version (I have 4 and 5) but I think the primary difference between the early and late versions is how the characters they generate balance. In Stormbringer 1 no one expects a character party to be balanced and you can literally have a poor human beggar in the same group as a Melnibone’ sorcerer. That was considered a feature of the system and not a flaw.
 
By the way Stormbringer 1 might be pretty costly these days because of Ken’s involvement.
 
I think that was Stormbringer 1...

Ken St. Andre is credited up to the 4th edition, but his editions I believe are 1st-3rd....exactly out of your library :tongue:

4e+ is where it hewed a little closer to Runequest, more so than being it's own thing (as I understand.)
 
Crimson Blades is a great OSRish take on Elric but isn't BRP based.

Ralph Lovegrove of the Fictoplasm podcast has done a nifty (and free) Stormhack which is a OSRish take on the original Stormbringer rpg which also draws on White Hack and Beyond the Wall as inspiration.
I can second the recommendation for Crimson Blades, especially the Chainmail-inspired version. Combat is brutal, and HP can be lost over a single round even at high level, provided you encounter a similarly high-level character.
And demon summoning is all shades of fun:devil:!
 
I think that was Stormbringer 1. I don’t have that version (I have 4 and 5) but I think the primary difference between the early and late versions is how the characters they generate balance. In Stormbringer 1 no one expects a character party to be balanced and you can literally have a poor human beggar in the same group as a Melnibone’ sorcerer. That was considered a feature of the system and not a flaw.

I have Stormbringer 1, and this assessment is correct. If you were Melnibonean, you were in no way balanced nor constrained by those who were not.
 
Mongoose did release their own Elric-line for MRQ2 (mostly penned by Loz if I'm not mistaken). If you're the industrious type you would probably be able to find the books. Even if you don't, the core mechanics of SB and Mythras are still so similar, and both games so open to tinkering, that making the magic of SB table-functional in Mythras should be both quick and straightforward.
The one thing you'd probably want to spend a couple of minutes on is tweaking the powers of demon weapons. Those things were seriously insane in SB.

As an aside, Mythras has "Madness and Other Colours" which is a reskinned Stormbringer-scenario.
 
It seems to me like the only ingrediant missing from Mythras for a great Elric RPG would be the demon-summoning/magic rules. Surely there is some equivalent out there that could be transposed?
As others have mentioned, MRQII is really just an earlier edition of Mythras. The biggest difference is in the addition of combat special effects in Mythras, so magic systems from MRQII are easy to import. Elric of Melnibone for MRQII is written by the authors of Mythras, and the magic in the game is more accurate to the books. It covers Dream Magic, Rune Magic, Potions, Summoning (Elementals, Demons, Beast Lords, Specific entities), Spirit Magic and Automata. You also get 11 pages of stats and random generation tables for demons as well.

I bought it years after it went out of print, and I didn't have any trouble finding it a reasonable price.
 
As others have mentioned, MRQII is really just an earlier edition of Mythras. The biggest difference is in the addition of combat special effects in Mythras, so magic systems from MRQII are easy to import. Elric of Melnibone for MRQII is written by the authors of Mythras, and the magic in the game is more accurate to the books. It covers Dream Magic, Rune Magic, Potions, Summoning (Elementals, Demons, Beast Lords, Specific entities), Spirit Magic and Automata. You also get 11 pages of stats and random generation tables for demons as well.

I bought it years after it went out of print, and I didn't have any trouble finding it a reasonable price.

MRQII also included Combat Styles and Special Effects, so the level of consistency between that game and Mythras is pretty high.

For the MRQ editions of Elric of Melnibone, I included a lot of material that hadn't figured in previous Chaosium versions of the game, such as Quarzhassat, the Dream Realms, material from 'The Making of a Sorcerer' graphic novel (which probes deep into Melnibone's mythical past), and material Moorcock had published during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Magic is much closer to 1st edition Stormbringer, with specific demon archetypes (Combat, Defence, Desire, etc), but with a new summoning system that ties-up a sorcerer's soul into the bargain made with the demon. Summoning a demon isn't too difficult; controlling is, and binding a demon (which happens very, very rarely in the stories) both extremely difficult and extremely dangerous.

To top it all, we introduced Pacts with the Lords of Law, Chaos and the Elements, which, in return for part of your soul, grant you all kinds of Gifts.

And if you can get the Elric books from Mongoose (those with the MRQII logo), they're about 95% compatible with Mythras with very few changes required. There's a copy on ebay at a pretty reasonable price.

 
It seems to me like the only ingrediant missing from Mythras for a great Elric RPG would be the demon-summoning/magic rules. Surely there is some equivalent out there that could be transposed?

MRQII Elric is a must read, but if all you want is the demon summoning subsystem, Arcana of Legend: Blood Magic (from Mongoose, for their Legend ruleset) has you covered.
 
So, I went to the Chaosium site to check that out. Turns out I somehow had $34.99 store credit with them! I had no idea. Still have no idea why. Since fantasy is not really my bag, I ended up ordering Mansions of Madness and Secrets of Morocco for Call of Cthulhu instead, as they are having a big sale on a lot of their older books, presumably clearing out the warehouse and raising capital by getting rid of outdated stock. These will be the first published scenarios I've ever owned for Call of Cthulhu. Paid a total of $6.27. Pretty sweet deal.
 
I also picked up Mansions of Madness vol 1 (the new version) in hard copy and am very happy when comparing it to the original version, loads more pretty pictures and handouts, well up to nuChaosium standards. Also picked up the Aquelarre screen, beautiful.
 
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