From: lro@melb.bull.oz.au (Liam Routt)
Subject: A Preview of Elric!
System: Elric!
For any who are interested, I am currently involved in some playtesting for the successor
to Stormbringer: Elric! I am willing to answer any (simple) questions about the system,
and to attempt to indicate the major differences between it and earlier systems.
For the uninitiated, Chaosium have decided to discontinue Stormbringer, replacing the line
with Elric!, which is clearly a related game. I have heard a number of possible reasons
for the change, but the most convincing seems to be that there was dissatisfaction with
the way the Stormbringer treated the Moorcock world, both with magic and in general. In
Elric! it seems that Lynn Willis (who I gather is primarily responsible for the rules) has
attempted to create a simple game of epic heroes.
The epic hero nature of the game might be its distinguishing factor; it sure is for me.
Starting characters are offered a sizeable number of points to spread around skills pretty
much as they feel. While this might allow one to create an unbalanced character, it does
allow you to concentrate to a great extent on certain areas, and even excel in them. My
first character, for example, has a 90% Rapier skill, which would have been pretty
incredible for a starting Stormbringer character.
Such changes may appear to be cosmetic (I mean, can't the GM make such changes in the
course of a game, if things seem to be unbalanced?), but I think that they have a lot of
effect on the overall genre of the game. The biggest critizisms I remember from
Stormbringer had to do with the fragile characters - one hit and they flew apart. It was
not a game that seemed to encourage sagas and heroics. The revised system seems to favor
such things, starting from the character creation.
While I have not compared such details as the damage that weapons do, it seems that Elric has increased the protection afforded by armor, and possibly increased the life-span of characters.
Magic is an interesting change. While magic in Stormbringer was limited to
strange practioners, in Elric! there are a set of almost RuneQuest-like spells available
to all characters. Each spell taken in your character creation, however, clocks up a
"chaos" point, as the use of magics is considered to be a sign of a chaotic
taint. I am not yet sure what effect the chaos points will have. I agree in principle with
allowing easy access to magic, and providing a penalty to those who choose to take it.
A word or two is in order about the spells themselves, I suppose. There are fewer than
twenty spells, all up, I believe. They have made a good selection of effects, ranging from
fairly standard combat spells through spells that enhance your characteristics, or allow
interaction with other forces. My favorite has to be the spell that allows you to take on
the appearance of another person. The roleplaying uses of such spells are endless. Indeed
the selection of spells would seem to encourage roleplaying rather than simple combat.
Overall the system seems to be a lot like other Chaosium systems. The skills are
percentile based, and the characteristics are familiar. There are x5% rolls for each of
the "active" characteristics, including a very useful Dexterity (DEXx5) which I
can see being used all the time. The skill list seems to have been well chosen, allowing
for a wide selection of skills, without a lot of useless choices. The most interesting
category, in my opinion, is the Arts category. Amongst the suggested Arts are the Art of
Conversation, and others which are both useful and interesting.
A final (for the moment) word on characters: part of the character creation process
(which, by the way is contained on a single page in the rules - a fine innovation) is the
selection of a demeanour (I may have the term wrong). This is a general attitude: Crafty,
Skilled, Active, Knowledgeable. From memory, this attitude gives you a basic set of
bonuses or skills to work with. I feel that this really helps in the initial creation of a
character. Working with an attitude and possibly a suggested occupation (and a homeland),
it is quite easy to create a character rapidly. Maybe it is just a simple crutch, but I
think that it is a powerful one.
I've heard that some people are a bit restless that the Stormbringer (now Elric!) material
is taking a long time to hit the shelves. I know for a fact that the material is there,
and is of high quality. The delays are due to the desire to produce all of the material
for the new system, rather than publishing another supplement in the old, now redundant,
system. I do not know what the release dates are to be, but I think that it will be worth
the wait.
Hopefully this will generate some discussion. Maybe you want to know more about Elric!,
maybe there are things about Stormbringer, or other
Chaosium systems that particularly impress you, and you'd like to see retained. Maybe you
can correct some of the errors that have likely managed to sneak into my description of
Elric!
Liam Routt
"Murder by Pirates is Good!" Co-Director
- The Princess Bride Darcsyde Productions
Melbourne, AUSTRALIA