The original OQ Online idea exploded into my head one morning over coffee. With the anniversary of OpenQuest 3rd Edtion going on general release (July 2021 see the Great OpenQuest Mailout) and having run many successful online games and taking part in online conventions, it was an obvious one.
This year was a bit last minute – previous attempts to run it as a part 2 in 2022 were frustrated by my family situation. I ended up saying, damn it lets do it the same time as we did last year (ie July). Then the week before, when I should have been promoting it to get numbers up, I was away from the office and on a much needed family holiday.
Despite the low turn out, it was a fun thing to run.
Saturday
“In The Shadow of the Volcano”, Dr Mitch’s game, set in Ancient Rome, was rescheduled due to personal circumstances.
“What’s Going on with OpenQuest” roundtable went well on Saturday night, with Mitch and me chatting with Jane and Keith about what we are currently working on for OpenQuest. I didn’t record it, which meant I talked freely off the record about a few things, which was nice to get off my chest 😉 Overall, OpenQuest is doing well regarding continuing sales and reputation. OpenQuest is widely regarded as the most approachable of the big three fantasy D100 games (the others being RuneQuest: Glorantha and Mythras). My main focus for the rest of the year is not only getting the adventure/setting books Swords for the Savage North and The Feathers and the Fury out but also getting some other writers on board as well as helping @DrMitch with his Clockwork Palace adventure collection and Year of Four Emperors spin-off game.
Sunday
Sky Pirates of the Floating Realms. This is a D100-based game. Not OQ directly, but more a continuation of the ideas found in OQ. I produced a Zero Edition yonks ago, back in 2020, and I’m currently working on the first draft of the complete game. I devised a new introductory adventure called Sky Vault Island for this session. This is probably going to be the introductory adventure for the game and follows directly from the introductory story at the start of the book, where the character’s sky ship, the Flying Freedom, crash lands on the sky island that the step pyramid that houses the Great Vault is built on. The players really warmed to the light-hearted fantasy nature of the game without going full gonzo on me and were engaged enough to play out the adventure to its resolution, where it was revealed that “all that glitters is not gold”. A good game that has inspired me further to get this one done and out.
Maximum thanks to Dr Mitch (who co-hosted the talk with me) and the other participants.
Hopefully, the release of OpenQuest on Role VTT soon, will mean we will have more GMs for next year’s event. Also, more promo and notice wouldn’t go amiss 😀 So circle July 2024 for the next OQ online 🙂
