I'm backing THIS (as soon as Kickstarter accepts my change in profile info, which is holding up my payment!)
Looks like an eminently playable Wraith derivative, which I found interesting but a bit heavy and needing more motivation.
Tanya's game seems to have motivation in spades.
Good luck Tanya!
Just listened to this BANGER of a podcast with Andy at BitR and irrepressible game designer Tanya Floaker.
The conversation circles back around the perennial question, "What do we mean by Moorcockean gaming?"
The answer depends on which works you are basing the game on.
Andy calls The Eternal Champion games from Chaosium and some indie publishers 'Geographical trappings' without larger themes. He is not wrong. I even called these Young Kingdoms tourism ads when we spoke years ago.
The Elric stories are a fantasy saga and pulp mix up, with serious literary inspirations, with gods and sundry beyond the power of the players to influence. Stormbringer RPG et al do a good enough job of this, but I wrote Stormbringer Redux because I felt more that an overarching framework that emphasized the themes of fate was needed.
Andy notes that players are intimidated by other players changing the narrative, so adding meta mechanics is of necessity limited.
This is what I would call bottom up Moorcock gaming.
For her part, Tanya posits making a game based on The Multiverse Comic - a self-referential series which includes meta-gaming for the multiverse at actual gaming tables. Sounds like a combination of The Microcope RPG and Playing At Worlds RPG, hopefully with better mechanics. She and Andy bandy about using cards to simulate moves of the Lords of the Higher Worlds, both poker and Tarot. Tanya gives hints on poker and the roles (Champion, Consort, Companion, Enemy), something which I have toyed with before.
Andy adds that this would emulate the Balance and the 'correction through violence' that is a staple of Moorcock's works.
This is what I would term top down Moorcock gaming.
Tanya then brings up the Lester Dent master formula for writing pulp as Moorcock's process.
How about instead of the game mechanics, we focus on GM training. Lester Dent as a guide to Moorcockean storytelling?
1 Fistful of trouble - The armada from the Young Kingdom draws near!
2 Hero Pitches In - Elric armors up and heads out to meet them on his battle barge
3 Introduce Everyone - By this time we've met Elric, Cymoril, Yrkoon, and Dyvim Tvar in short order.
4 Hero In Trouble - Elric is thrown overboard by his cousin. GAME OVER?
5 Surprise, It's A Twist - Strassha comes to save Elric, upending Yrkoon's betrayal and ursurpation of the throne.
In hindsight, we can see that Moorcock used this framework in his stories. But how do we adapt it to a game about fragile rat kickers? Maybe preparing a Fiasco style playset is the ticket.
Tanya notes that Moorcock was unsettled by the accuracy of Tarot readings. Maybe the cards give not only randomized events, but also the possible moves to counter or deflect them as determined by the cards.
We are thus trapped between the tendency of random events to go off the rails, and the need for superior improvisation and interpretation of game events by masters.
This is what I'd call Meta Moorcocking.
As for me, I think I would be up to creating a Bestiary that leans into the aesthetics of Moorcock's monsters that I previously categorized into Metaphorical, Allegorical, Psychedelic, Weird, Alien, and Cosmic Horror, or a combination of the above. This would spice up any bottom up Moorcock game and avoid the baby + bathwater conundrum. Could also be used as moves in top down gaming.
I'm also interested in making scenarios for the old games. Other than that, I would just continue my fine tuning of the old rulesets.
I like what I like.
As I see it, there is always a contradiction between player interests and the meta game. Can you play Elric if you control Arioch and see what move is coming? Also, what is the benefit for players of being pawns? Elric is a main character who dies, yet players want to avoid death.
In the end, game and fiction are not the same. We have to temper our expectations (ie prepare to die) but reach for the stars (improvise like madmen and madwomen).
One thing that I really dug was the talk of character fashion. Andy hits the nail on the head when he notes any Elric or Moorcockean game needs a haberdashery with a wild array of absurd or frivolous clothing options. I remember Elric's yellow silk kimono, later on his kilt and tartan breeches, and the infamous shopping scene from the 2nd or 3rd Hawkmoon book just before the hero acquires the Sword of the Dawn (the comic adaptation was simply Zoolander with a sword). Moorcockean fashion seems to be a mix of 1960's psychedelic clothes and Camden Market thrifting, but it should also give advantages to social skills or survival I reckon.
There was an old OSR random table that did this. Maybe I should make one for Stormbringer...
Thanks again Andy and Tanya!
PS I am editing and polishing up Stormbringer redux again.
I am currently enjoying the incredible warm weather and sunshine here in Vancouver. First snowless year in 47 years, with the rest of the country snowed under.
(I wanted to put a movie poster here but Blogger is having issues today)
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| Meh, this is all I could upload. Tilt your head right to see correctly. |
While I recuperate from balancing work and writing the Nuna QuickStart, I am reading The Great Buddha Pass - a huge work of fiction from the prewar period about a wandering, evil samurai. Post Nuna, my next project is Giri-Ninjou, my rules light TRPG about Duty & Humanity among the samurai.
You can read The Great Buddha Pass HERE, and several movies have been made based on the property over the years.
I just tied the Nuna Quickstart draft to the leg of a giant owl and sent it winging its way to the Lord of the Round Shield and his wildmen playtesters.
And I'm spent...
I'll be taking a little break from Nuna. Writing an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) for a game is a massive chore compared to all the discrete bits of Stormbringer Redux.
Speaking of, expect more Stormbringer and Hawkmoon posts, as well as other musings, when I have my strength back.
NUNA News.
Playtest 1 was done online with a crack group of Vancouver Film School (video game specialization) students.
Playtest 2 was done downtown Raincouver at an infamous game shoppe in a liminal mall with various characters from this fair city.
Playtest 3 will be done in a secretive, dragon infested part of the UK by an elite squad of chemically enhanced dice chuckers.
For the first 2 sessions, my powers as an indigenous storyteller were at the max. But the question is, will the lightning still appear in the bottle with a different captain at the helm?
Only time will tell
OK, so I am teaching a career studies class at the HS where I work, and I decided to use my experience the past years of producing an RPG to help students figure out their future career.
STEP ONE - Imagine your future self.
I used AI to make this picture of me (the hands are mutante gigantic)
STEP TWO - Get a plan for success
Once again, I asked AI. Lots of good advice for anyone looking to produce an RPG here.
Heck yes—nice momentum. A novel out and an RPG design contest win is already a legit foundation. You’re not starting from zero; you’re starting from “early pro.”
Below is a practical, industry-facing roadmap focused on visibility, credibility, and relationships (the three currencies that matter most).
Phase 1 – Turn your past wins into public proof
1. Build a single “home base” identity
This becomes the link you drop everywhere.
2. Package your achievements properly
Award-winning RPG designer
That phrasing matters more than you’d think.
3. Collect social proof
Phase 2 – Enter the professional RPG + publishing ecosystem
4. Join the right platforms (seriously important)
For RPGs:
For fiction:
5. Become visible without being annoying
Post about:
You’re signaling: peer, not fan.
Phase 3 – Strategic networking (the non-gross way)
6. Make a target list
Create 3 columns:
Aim for 20–30 names.
7. Warm networking > cold pitching
Before pitching:
After 1–2 months, you’re no longer a stranger.
8. Go where deals actually happen
If possible:
At cons:
Your goal is not selling.
It’s:
“I design RPGs and write fiction. What are you working on?”
That’s it.
Phase 4 – Position yourself as “bestselling-capable”
9. Collaborate
Fastest reputation builder:
Shared audiences = growth multiplier.
10. Get on podcasts & panels
Pitch yourself as:
Award-winning RPG designer and novelist working at the intersection of narrative and game design.
Niche + credibility = bookings.
11. Engineer a “breakout” product
Plan one project designed to:
Example:
Virality comes from clarity, not size.
Phase 5 – Publisher & agent path (optional but powerful)
12. Query with leverage
Your pitch becomes:
Previously published novelist and award-winning RPG designer seeking representation…
That line opens doors.
13. Attend pitch events
You’re already closer than most people who dream about this stuff. The next step is just making the industry aware you exist.
STEP THREE - Reflect on the plan and your performance
REFLECTIONS
Initial comments
I feel very encouraged to learn I am a starting pro and not starting at zero. Still, lots of work to be done while juggling family and the day job.
Phase 1 – I have done so so with this and need to turn this into a routine, as well as organize my presence better.
Phase 2 – Some great ideas here, such as what I learned from mistakes. Doing alright here, have to restart X even though I hate Elon Musk.
Phase 3 – I just started making connections so have to keep momentum up. Just did a live session at a game shop in Vancouver, but need to go to events. Still, I will avoid the USA for now.
Phase 4 – I’ve been on podcasts, need to package myself better.
Phase 5 – I’ve made some connections with industry, but seems hard to get into. I plan to publish independently first, but would be up for working for a game design company after that.
Overall, the advice is a solid A. My performance is B+, so I need to catch up!
