New Magic World review on the big purple

[Ronnie Sanford]

Its really good and can be found here https://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/17/17905.phtml. I know I am living a pipe dream but I wish Chaosium would republish this book perhaps with a new title, cleaned up layout and typos and a deeper (nautical setting). I know there are a lot of Magic World players on this site - what say you?

 

[Ronnie Sanford]

Baulderstone can you change the title? I meant to say new Magic World review not thread....

 

[Raleel]

Its really good and can be found here https://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/17/17905.phtml. I know I am living a pipe dream but I wish Chaosium would republish this book perhaps with a new title, cleaned up layout and typos and a deeper (nautical setting). I know there are a lot of Magic World players on this site - what say you?

if I remember correctly, the writer of magic world and Chaosium are not friendly. Probably not going to get good support there. Just to throw turds into your pipe ;)

I’ve not read it, but I’ve heard that magic world’s magic and Mythras are not far off, but it doesn’t use hit lovations. Is that accurate?

 

[K_Peterson]

I think that Magic World was such a missed opportunity. Slapdash afterthought from Chaosium when it was released. And I think it's still an afterthought to Nu-Chaosium, sadly.

I still have all my Elric!/Stormbringer 5/Runequest 3e books so MW was a little redundant and unnecessary for me to own. But I did like that they recompiled them and brought the system back to life for others - even poorly. The core is still my favorite fantasy Rpg toolkit - enough mechanical depth but not going to the heavier extent of the MRQ2/RQ6/Mythras timeline.

 

[K_Peterson]

I’ve not read it, but I’ve heard that magic world’s magic and Mythras are not far off, but it doesn’t use hit lovations. Is that accurate?

No hit locations. A Major Wound table, though.

 

[Raleel]

enough mechanical depth but not going to the heavier extent of the MRQ2/RQ6/Mythras timeline.

 

[Raleel]

No hit locations. A Major Wound table, though.

I'll have to look around for a copy. should be easy enough to convert

 

[Simlasa]

I know I am living a pipe dream but I wish Chaosium would republish this book perhaps with a new title, cleaned up layout and typos and a deeper (nautical setting). I know there are a lot of Magic World players on this site - what say you?

Magic World isn't a pretty book (though nowhere as homely as CoC 6e) and yeah, it never got its due from Chaosium... but I really like it, including its name/title. The name is a bit quaint and 'old fashioned'... not 'edgy' at all... it's very open-ended about what sort of things might be done with it.
At this point I really don't trust nu-Chaosium to revamp it into anything I'd like better, though I'm sure it would be prettier... so I'm kind of glad it's 'dead'. It's still my BRP fantasy of choice, warts and all.

 

[Rob Necronomicon]

I really like Magic World!

Shame it's not going to get any more material though. Terrible name for a RPG in my opinion. But at least you can pair it off with a lot of the RQ material.

 

[Ronnie Sanford]

I'll have to look around for a copy. should be easy enough to convert

Chaosium still sells it in soft cover and digital.

 

[Simlasa]

Terrible name for a RPG in my opinion.

Why 'terrible'? It has provenance with earlier BRP games and is nicely generic, it being a generic fantasy game.
For me it harkens back to older boardgames like Magic Realm and Magic Wood.
I can see that it's probably not as marketable as something like 'Blood Orgy of the Blood Whores', but I blame its lack of market resonance more on that-era-Chaosium's lack of support for it (or much of anything except maybe/kinda CoC).

My all-time favorite RPG fantasy game name is Lamentations of the Flame Princess... but it's less apt since that's also a fairly generic fantasy RPG... containing no Flame Princesses or Lamentations at all, unless you were to stat them up.

 

[K_Peterson]

View attachment 6573

Yeah, I know I'm not going to score any points with The First Church of Mythras' followers on the RpgPub. But I think we can all get along without inciting a D100 holy war.

I was fond of the Mythras-approach around 2011 - gamed the living shit out of MRQ2, and leveraged its heavier mechanics for a number of campaigns. Played a little bit of RQ6. Decided that I wanted to use a more abstracted approach to reduce the GM-load and reverted to an old favorite (Elric!/Stormbringer). More in my wheelhouse and closer mechanically to Call of Cthulhu.

 

[Ronnie Sanford]

Why 'terrible'? It has provenance with earlier BRP games and is nicely generic, it being a generic fantasy game.
For me it harkens back to older boardgames like Magic Realm and Magic Wood.
I can see that it's probably not as marketable as something like 'Blood Orgy of the Blood Whores', but I blame its lack of market resonance more on that-era-Chaosium's lack of support for it (or much of anything except maybe/kinda CoC).

My all-time favorite RPG fantasy game name is Lamentations of the Flame Princess... but it's less apt since that's also a fairly generic fantasy RPG... containing no Flame Princesses or Lamentations at all, unless you were to stat them up.

Personally I think Magic World is not a good name because I see it as generic. Something a little edgier would have been nice and likely sold more copies. I bet most gamers don't know that Magic World is named after an earlier (but different) Chaosium game.

 

[Bilharzia]

It's closest to the Elric! RPG with the Moorcock IP stripped out, that was the design intent. I can't see Chaosium ever going back to supporting MW, for them it's a distraction from RQG. The name "Magic World" is a callback to Chaosium's Worlds of Wonder which included Magic World as one of the settings.

 

[Raleel]

Yeah, I know I'm not going to score any points with The First Church of Mythras' followers on the RpgPub. But I think we can all get along without inciting a D100 holy war.

I was fond of the Mythras-approach around 2011 - gamed the living shit out of MRQ2, and leveraged its heavier mechanics for a number of campaigns. Played a little bit of RQ6. Decided that I wanted to use a more abstracted approach to reduce the GM-load and reverted to an old favorite (Elric!/Stormbringer). More in my wheelhouse and closer mechanically to Call of Cthulhu.

I jest with tongue firmly in cheek For me, there is an incentive to be able to tell my group "Mythras, but we change this part" instead of saying "Magic world, which is different in few ways" because they will get to different and shut off.

Though now I feel like I need to change my tag to John the Mythrist something ;)

 

[TheophilusCarter]

BackInTheDay(TM), I was a big fan of MERP. I dabbled in RM2 for a while, but I still preferred the relative simplicity of MERP. That's kinda how I feel about Magic World and Mythras. Mythras is awesome, and I'm definitely falling in love with it, but the crunch is a bit intimidating, and I keep finding myself look back to Magic World. The biggest seller for Mythras vs. Magic World is, of course, active support, but having said that, there's so much cross-compatibility within the BRP family that one could easily adapt from one to the other.

 

[Toadmaster]

if I remember correctly, the writer of magic world and Chaosium are not friendly. Probably not going to get good support there. Just to throw turds into your pipe ;)

I’ve not read it, but I’ve heard that magic world’s magic and Mythras are not far off, but it doesn’t use hit lovations. Is that accurate?

Imagine Call of Cthulhu but fantasy and with fewer tentacles.

I think it would be a great base for a sword and sorcery game that is lighter than RQ or Mythras. It makes a great gateway drug to the more complex games.

Chaosium owns it, so I don't think it really matters what terms they are on with the author. That said I didn't get the impression that they were on particularly bad terms. I was under the impression that he was more disappointed that they chose not to continue the line, than the fact his job was eliminated during the change over.

I don't hate the name, but do agree that something less generic with more of a sword and sorcery flavor would be more appropriate. It was after all originally the foundation for the Elric and Stormbringer RPGs and fits a S&S style of play quite well.

 

[Baulderstone]

Baulderstone can you change the title? I meant to say new Magic World review not thread....

Slowly but surely, I have arrived to fix the title.

 

[Nick J]

Goddamn I love Magic World. Ugly layout? Check! Poorly organized? Check! Uneven/repurposed/terrible art? Double check! I don't give a damn, I still love its mechanics and its flexibility. Not being able to run it or play it due to RL for the past few months has me pining even more to finally get my Dolmenwood/Magic World mashup game off the ground (hint, hint Simlasa and Ronnie Sanford ).

I missed Elric! and Stormbringer back in the day probably because I was a dyed in the wool D&Der since junior high, and I was just graduating high school right about the time it was out, but when I finally dipped my toes into d100/BRP/RuneQuest 6th ed./Open Quest this was the game that clicked for me. Light enough I can keep all of the rules in my head, intuitive enough that I don't really have to look anything up.

I have zero hope that Chaosium will ever do anything with these excellent rules - to give it a proper publication run. But to hell with them, I'll keep using this game because I don't need them to do anything with it, and I'm perfectly happy to support The Design Mechanism, Cakebread & Walton and anybody else that keeps putting out d100 adventures so I can re-skin and re-purpose them to MW.

 

[D100Homebrew]

Are you guys talking about the Magic World book in the Worlds of Wonder boxed set, or the newer set of books published over the last ten years or so? I got no axe to grind here. I heard the Chaosium dudes say they put it on hold because it didn't sell that well and they had to try and spend their cash on saving the company. I'd pay my rent before going to the bar, that much I know.

 

[TheophilusCarter]

We're talking about this:
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/128323/Magic-World

 

[Nick J]

Are you guys talking about the Magic World book in the Worlds of Wonder boxed set, or the newer set of books published over the last ten years or so? I got no axe to grind here. I heard the Chaosium dudes say they put it on hold because it didn't sell that well and they had to try and spend their cash on saving the company. I'd pay my rent before going to the bar, that much I know.

Read the review in the OP. The newer book released in 2012; basically the old Elric!/Stormbringer 5th ed. game with the Moorcock IP stripped out and some BRP/RuneQuest 3 monsters thrown in and a default lite setting called "The Southern Reaches."

Anyway, I don't begrudge new management tabling the game. It didn't sell well because it was produced under the Charlie Krank regime when the company was basically on the verge of bankruptcy and it didn't get a very appealing design.

 

[D100Homebrew]

My bad, I should have read the review. I took a look and see its a review of a book from seven years ago, which is kind of ancient when it comes to new games. Seems like that book is a mess. I looked on the Chaosium site and they still sell it, so it ain't dead. I'm in no hurry to buy it, that much I know. I've got no clue what the whole Charlie Krank angle is and don't know about the author being fired so I'll leave all that baggage in the aisle. Maybe somebody angry about it can tell me the story. :-)

 

[Nick J]

D100Homebrew I'd say I'm disappointed in the circumstances that lead to Magic World's demise, but I don't know of anybody that's actually "angry" about Chaosium's decision. They let Ben Monroe go because they decided they were going to focus on CoC and RQ:G moving forward. Charlie Krank was a long time employee/editor at Chaosium and he probably wasn't the greatest businessman (missed payments to writers, artists, royalties, etc.).

I've come to the conclusion that Magic World's demise was just more of a missed opportunity and a victim of bad timing. Such is the way of the world.

 

[Trippy]

I miss Stormbringer - which was actually what Magic World was set to replace - but Magic World itself was a big load of meh to me.

Had it been a modernisation/expansion of Steve Perrin's original, with plans to redo Superworld and Futureworld, that might have been something - but in all honesty the world didn't really need another generic fantasy RPG with average presentation. Some liked the fact that it kept the simple Elric-based BRP system in print, I guess - and I've no issues with Ben Munroe giving it his best, either. Wasn't anything I was genuinely wanting though.

 

[urbwar]

I wouldn't mind seeing Ben do it again for OpenQuest (or even Mythras or revolution D100), with a new title. Ben's a good guy (we hung out once when he came to NYC, and he showed me One of the Living for AFMBE, which he had written at the time). Seems he has bad luck working for some publishers, as I believe he had a falling out with Eden Studios as well.

 

[Spartan]

Magic World is excellent. It's ugly as sin, needs a new name, but under the hood it purrs. Chaosium has said they'd consider licensing the IP out. If I had the shekels I'd do it.

 

[Simlasa]

It's not so much that it's 'ugly'... I don't mind the cover at all... it's just that it lacks a cohesive look. The illustrations are from all over the map of previous BRP games. The worst ones are the ones I suspect were done new for the book.
I think Ben did a great job with what sounds like very little support or oversight. He's always seemed like a nice guy, and was a good online face for Chaosium... something I think they're kinda missing nowadays.

 

[Spartan]

It's not so much that it's 'ugly'... I don't mind the cover at all...

Yeh, the cover is cool enough. The insides are all over the place though.

 

[Mankcam]

I like the classic feel of Magic World, but yeah the title lets it down. Something like 'Mythbringer' would have worked better, and paid homage to it's 'Stormbringer' origins.

I also like it's very slim approach, it has quick char gen and plays very 'clean' at the table. No Hit Locations, but still it works very well, it runs a bit smoother than RQ and Mythras (both of which are great BRP games).

However, what a missed opportunity this is. It was published with relatively little fanfare beyond creating a buzz on BRPCentral. After it was released, there was alot of fan creativity put out for it on BRPCentral. However this was swamped with the new push from Chaosium regarding CoC 7E and RQG. Both are excellent game lines, however Magic World got shelved. You can buy it in pdf from Chaosium, but there is nothing else supporting it, and it feels like Magic World discussions on BRPCentral are not encouraged anymore.

Which is a shame, as it is an excellent little rpg.

I really would have liked to have seen an exploration of the sample setting at the back of the book, and amped the S&S vibe up a notch to make it hum along the lines of Goodman Games 'Dungeon Crawl Classics'. That would have been way cool

As it stands, Magic World is possibly the best introduction to fantasy roleplaying that Classic BRP has. It doesn't have the weight of Gloranthan lore, and it has simple char gen that gets you in there playing relatively quickly for this kind of ruleset.

Still a go-to game for me in many ways



I really love the whole classic fantasy vibe on the cover !!!

 

[Ronnie Sanford]

BackInTheDay(TM), I was a big fan of MERP. I dabbled in RM2 for a while, but I still preferred the relative simplicity of MERP. That's kinda how I feel about Magic World and Mythras. Mythras is awesome, and I'm definitely falling in love with it, but the crunch is a bit intimidating, and I keep finding myself look back to Magic World. The biggest seller for Mythras vs. Magic World is, of course, active support, but having said that, there's so much cross-compatibility within the BRP family that one could easily adapt from one to the other.

Cross-compatability is the great thing about all the BRP games. For example I have run Magic World with BRP's In Search of Trollslayer and will soon run it with Madness and Other Colors and Khakun Shrugs for Mythras.

 

[Ronnie Sanford]

Slowly but surely, I have arrived to fix the title.

Thanks Baulderstone!

 

[Ronnie Sanford]

Read the review in the OP. The newer book released in 2012; basically the old Elric!/Stormbringer 5th ed. game with the Moorcock IP stripped out and some BRP/RuneQuest 3 monsters thrown in and a default lite setting called "The Southern Reaches."

Anyway, I don't begrudge new management tabling the game. It didn't sell well because it was produced under the Charlie Krank regime when the company was basically on the verge of bankruptcy and it didn't get a very appealing design.

Yeah, I don't begrudge them either. Chaosium's new management has shown they are up to doing what is necessary to save and grow their company and that includes taking focus away from Magic World. I will just hope that one of you stalwart RPG designers will pick up the mantel and license Magic World from them.

 

[Apparition]

I wouldn't mind seeing Ben do it again for OpenQuest (or even Mythras or revolution D100), with a new title. Ben's a good guy (we hung out once when he came to NYC, and he showed me One of the Living for AFMBE, which he had written at the time). Seems he has bad luck working for some publishers, as I believe he had a falling out with Eden Studios as well.

From what I've read, the whole Chaosium takeover thing has soured Ben Monroe on d100 as a whole and has turned to the OSR. Can't blame him. But that was back around 2017 or so, perhaps the past couple of years has healed the wounds.

 

[Baulderstone]

From what I've read, the whole Chaosium takeover thing has soured Ben Monroe on d100 as a whole and has turned to the OSR. Can't blame him. But that was back around 2017 or so, perhaps the past couple of years has healed the wounds.

He's certainly keeping a lot lower profile. He used to be highly active on a number of forums, but I can't remember the last time I saw him post somewhere.

In any case, I hope he's having fun with some game or another. Getting off the Internet and staying out of the business, focusing on RPGs as just something fun might be the best thing for him. I can remember running a game store took a bit of a toll on my love of gaming, and when it went back to purely being my hobby again, it was pure joy.

 

[urbwar]

From what I've read, the whole Chaosium takeover thing has soured Ben Monroe on d100 as a whole and has turned to the OSR. Can't blame him. But that was back around 2017 or so, perhaps the past couple of years has healed the wounds.

He's also recently gotten into Mythic D6, and IIRC, the Pip System from Third Eye Games. I dunno if he would want to do it with Mythic, as that 3rd party license does have a price tag (which is why I wouldn't bother with it. Too many free 3rd party licenses exist for games equally as good)

 

[TheophilusCarter]

Ben's also become a fan of Fate, IIRC from some of the last handful of threads I read on the Big Purple.

 

[urbwar]

He's certainly keeping a lot lower profile. He used to be highly active on a number of forums, but I can't remember the last time I saw him post somewhere.

He's been posting on tbp in a thread about Mythic D6 recently. I saw some posts within the last month or two

 

[Armchair Gamer]

From what I've read, the whole Chaosium takeover thing has soured Ben Monroe on d100 as a whole and has turned to the OSR. Can't blame him. But that was back around 2017 or so, perhaps the past couple of years has healed the wounds.

He posted on the TBP thread on this review saying he was still burnt out on d100.

 

[Endless Flight]

I can remember running a game store took a bit of a toll on my love of gaming, and when it went back to purely being my hobby again, it was pure joy.

Retail sucks the joy out of a lot of things.