How Dwarfs Came to Live With Us
This a human tale from Gatanese folk-lore that originates from before the Empire of Gatan that explains from the point of view of a Gatanese commoner how the group known as Forge Dwarfs came to set up their communities (known as Forges) amongst the human settlements. It came about in-game from one of the players asking what their character, who comes from Gatan (which is the example setting in the OpenQuest rulebook).
I forgot how much I liked writing this sort of thing, not just from years of playing in Glorantha but also from writing up fragments of myths to present in Monkey the Roleplaying Game.
Note, none of this is Open Gaming Content, as is anything I write about Gatan (which is defined as product identity in OpenQuest 3).
How Dwarfs Came to Live With Us
Hundreds of years ago, a group of dwarfs came down from their mountain homes*
“Why are you here?” asked our Elders?
“We want to have houses like you, try your foods, and have women” the Spokes Dwarf replied.
“No, you can’t have our women. They are ours,” replied the Elders.
“No, you have misunderstood us. We don’t have any women where we come from. We will live among you and learn,” the Spokes Dwarf replied.
The Elders were still confused, but the Dwarfs said they would make crafted goods and trade directly with the Elders in exchange for an area of housing in our village. So this was amenable to our ancestors, and so they set up what became known as a Forge in our town.
One day the Elders noticed that Dwarfen women were wandering about the Forge and even popping over to the bakers to pick up bread and cakes. Confused, they went to the Spokes Dwarf.
“I see you have women now. How did they get here? They weren’t here yesterday,” they asked.
“They did not come here. We made them. We watched how your women work, and we made copies of them,” replied the Dwarf.
So that is how the Dwarfs who live in our towns, cities and villages came here many hundreds of years ago so that they could be more like us. The dwarfs who stayed in their mountain homes, are rather stuffy and don’t have any women. The Forge Dwarfs say that their Mountain brothers suffer from in-flexibility. I don’t know what that means, but I like our Dwarfs much more.
More Detail About The Lost Outpost
This is the OpenQuest Quickstart Rules + Adventure. If you are new to OpenQuest or a returning old hand wanting to see what’s changed, or simply want to pick up an introductory adventure suitable for newcomers this is for you.
I posted about this when I released it, but here’s a more detailed view, along with some design notes at the end.
OpenQuest Quickstart Cover by Jonny Gray
A bit more about what it contains.
The Rules
The Rules is a cut-down selection, that has the basic mechanics explained, one of the three magic systems (personal Magic), a slightly cut down version of Physical Combat (with some of the combat actions left out). In short just enough rules so you can play the Adventure.
The Adventure
The Lost Outpost is set on the borderlands of the Empire of Gatan setting, which is the example in the OpenQuest Rulebook. Intertwined with the numbers you need to run it, there are lots of bits of explanation about the non-player character’s motives and what they are doing in the adventure in the context of their cultures and religious beliefs. I was very keen that the adventure shows that these more intangible things are just as big a driver in play as the numbers on the NPC’s profiles. Even for the “mooks” who are the accompanying warriors of the higher ranking NPCs.
Structure wise it’s a simple three-beat adventure in that the Referee presents the set of the situation in-game, the players explore the encounter area where the situation is, and then with the Referee’s help bring it to a resolution. Within that explanation that I try to show that player choice is central to the Quest plays out at the table. If this sounds a bit worryingly story-game to you, don’t worry its presented with a reassuringly old-school introduction for both the Players and Referee, an adventure (or Quest as I call it in OQ) made up of six encounters – all placed on this wonderful map by Glynn Seal (of Midderlands fame).
The Garrison House, map by Glynn Seal
Take note, this edition of OpenQuest is a lot darker in tone than previous ones and the quickstart reflects that. There’s a section that points out its mature themes in the introduction of the Quickstart. I’m not sure whether this tonal shift has been because of the fact that this edition’s art is black and white, or (more likely) because of the implied Dark Ages/Early Medieval setting, combined with I’m an adult playing with other adults.
Six Pre-made Characters
I used the full character generation rules, with six of the ready-made concepts, to make these starting level characters. From playing them you’ll get a good idea of how powerful new characters are, and what their limitations are. If you choose to continue the adventure, by either using the adventure in the main rulebook or the upcoming adventure pack (The Edge of Empire) you can continue to use them.
Here’s one of them Amon Durak, with comments on the pdf that explain how he works as a starting player character in OpenQuest.
Overall the Quickstart aims to give players new to D100 roleplaying games, a taste of what the full rulebook contains, and how D100 role-playing is different from D20 Level based games.
So if that sounds like something you’d like to use.
Designer’s Notes
This is probably the most involved adventure I’ve written since Life and Death, a three adventure collection that I released for OQ1 and revised slightly for OQ2.
I had three aims with it.
- Show how OpenQuest 3rd works.
- Provide clear examples to new Referees, and a clear structure that is easy to follow while allowing player choice to be king.
- Explain in a show not tell fashion the Empire of Gatan setting, without getting too deep and involved.
It was a struggle to get the three aims of the adventure across without vastly expanding the page count, and necessarily padding it. I think I got there 🙂
On a personal level, I want to be able to point to people new to OQ and say, “that’s what OpenQuest is”. Not have to, recommend they read the rulebook and then a follow on adventure pack to get what the game is all about.
The OpenQuester on YouTube + Podcast
D101 Games now has a YouTube channel. I’ll be posting content as time goes on, but one of the first bits is a chat I had with my OQ collaborator Paul Mitchener, way back in at the end of the OpenQuest Kickstarter in September last year.
If you want just the audio, it’s also available as a podcast, as The OpenQuester Episode 1 – Plans with Dr Mitch.
The Lost Outpost Now Available
I am pleased to say the free pdf version of the OpenQuest 3rd Edtion Quickstart, the Lost Outpost is now available:
This pdf is designed to get players and Referees up and playing OpenQuest, with the minimum of preparation.
It contains the following sections.
- Characters. A rundown of what an OpenQuest character is made up of, both in terms of numbers and concepts.
- Quick Rules. A concise version of the OpenQuest rules, enough to play the adventure.
- Combat. The rules for physical combat.
- Magic.The basic approach to magic, known as Personal Magic.
- The Lost Outpost. An introductory adventure set in OpenQuest’s example setting, the Empire of Gatan.
- A set of six pre-made characters. Players should pick one and get ready to play.
Here’s the cover again by Jonny Gray.
The Lost Outpost, cover by Jonny Gray
QO3 Character Sheet now up
I’ve been giving the D101 Games website a bit of a Spring Clean in anticipation of the OQ3 Pre-order (coming very soon) and realised my Files section had disappeared with all the free game aid downloads such as character sheets. A quick bit of fiddling with the site and the Games Downloads section is back up, along with the form fillable pdf version of the OpenQuest 3 character sheet.
So here we go.
OpenQuest 3rd edition character sheet
OpenQuest + Quickstart done!
I hit a major personal milestone yesterday OpenQuest is finally done!
After another round of edits, both by me and by the backers, the final pdf is done and off to print proof. Also, the OpenQuest Quickstart Rules + Adventure, The Lost Outpost, is done bar a final check by my editor. So delivery of final pdfs in the next week or so ????
It features this wonderful piece of art by Dan Barker, Granny Tier who is the pc’s patroness in the Lost Outpost.
Granny Tier, by Dan Barker
Maps for OQ3 and the Quickstart
Nearly there with both OQ main rulebook and the Quickstart. Just applying a bit of last-minute polish.
Part of which has been commissioning a few maps for each book from the fabulous Glynn Seal (of Midderlands/Monkey Blood fame).
Here’s the replacement map for the adventure in the main rulebook.
The Duck Crusade in Grogzilla #2
I’ve jumped into Kickstarter’s ZineQuest promotion with Grogzilla #2, which is the follow up to last years…Grogzilla #1 🙂
At the heart of it is an OpenQuest powered adventure called the Duck Crusade, which is a Grimdark Quest with a firm sense of humour, much like the early GW Warhammer Fantasy Battle releases (McDeath for example). It features the Crusader Ducks of Fort Fury, who are trying to regain their homeland which has been overrun by Cultists of Corruption who worship the Great Terror Lizard, GROGZILLA!
The Duck Crusade is a one-shot adventure, with its own self contained setting and a set of six pre-made duck characters, so you can just pick it up and play it in one to two gaming sessions.
If you fancy backing it, here’s the link
Dan Barker is on art duties and he’s already produced this illustration which will grace the back cover of the zine.
The Duck Crusade by Dan Barker
OpenQuest 3 PDF has gone to the Backers
Small, but significant update, the pdf of OpenQuest 3 has gone out to the backers who have eagerly downloaded it (about 3/5ths of the total backers). Next step is sending it off to the printers.
OpenQuest 3 is done!
Well, my bit anyway. I’m pleased to announce that OQ 3rd edition, was sent over to its Editor/Proofreader yesterday evening for a final check. Its got a table of contents, an index and a set of cross-references ( “see page xx” ) that are all lovingly hyperlinked in the pdf, which is also fully bookmarked. So I expect that to come back within two weeks, in which time I’ll be sending out pdf’s to backers and opening a pre-order for non-backers.
OpenQuest 3rd Edition
The OpenQuest Quickstart
OpenQuest Quickstart Cover © Jonny Gray
OpenQuest Companion
