I thought that some folks here might be interested to learn that Chaosium's Strombringer (1e and 4e versions) and Elric! role-playing games are now available for sale at DriveThruRPG and RPGNow! Most of the support material for those games are also now available in PDF, as is the 1e version of Chaosium's Hawkmoon RPG.

Strangely, Stormbringer 5e is not available. However, since SB5 is essentially identical to Elric!, this is no big deal.

Far more unfortunate, in my opinion, is unavailability of Darcsyde's excellent supplement for SB5/Elric!, Corum. The Corum supplement provides some very cool twists to the Elric! system (including an intriguing alternative 'magic' system for Law). And, personally, I find Moorcock's 'Corum' stories to be far superior to his 'Elric' ones.

Nonetheless, this is great news for fans of BRP!  

WOW. That is AWESOME. :eek:

Quote from: Akrasia;392613Far more unfortunate, in my opinion, is unavailability of Darcsyde's excellent supplement for SB5/Elric!, Corum. The Corum supplement provides some very cool twists to the Elric! system (including an intriguing alternative 'magic' system for Law). And, personally, I find Moorcock's 'Corum' stories to be far superior to his 'Elric' ones.

Though I wouldn't necessarily favor Corum's saga over Elric's, I have to agree that the Corum sourcebook is one hell of a good supplement. Two thumbs up in this case.

Link to Stormbringer titles on DriveThruRPG.

I have ..benefitted from this.
Seems like Chaosium has dumped quite alot of files to RPGnow. Which is nice.

Here is the complete catalogue (RPGnow):

http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?cPath=5618

Cool. I have a lot of nostalgia for Stormbringer 1e. I'd totally play it again.

Very cool -- I always wanted to try this out. What would people recommend to start with?

Quote from: Akrasia;392613And, personally, I find Moorcock's 'Corum' stories to be far superior to his 'Elric' ones.

Same here. They're better-written and the protagonist is actually interesting and a hero.

Anyway, thanks for the heads-up on those pdfs.

Quote from: Garnfellow;392685Very cool -- I always wanted to try this out. What would people recommend to start with?

the first edition written mostly by Ken St. Andre is IMO one of the best games ever. Good place to start.

Quote from: ragnorakk;393042the first edition written mostly by Ken St. Andre is IMO one of the best games ever. Good place to start.

I agree. I have a huge weakness for Stombringer 1e. One of my favorite games ever.

Quote from: Garnfellow;392685Very cool -- I always wanted to try this out. What would people recommend to start with?

I would recommend checking out either (or both) of the core rulebooks: Elric! or Stormbringer (1e).  Both rulebooks are good reads, and include sample adventures to get you going.

Since both games are based on BRP, they share a lot of the same core mechanics.  Consequently, it is best to view them as 'variants' of the same game (although they do diverge significantly in certain respects).

Both have magic systems that involve summoning and controlling entities (demons, elementals).  Other aspects of their magic systems are quite different (Elric! is the more prosaic of the two, unless one uses the Corum supplement).  

Noteworthy elements of Elric!:

1. Streamlined, coherent ruleset (the most focused fantasy version of BRP available).  It can easily be used for any 'swords & sorcery' setting, IMO.  Overall, Elric! is less 'fiddly' than Stormbringer.  

2. Options for both random and non-random character creation.

3. Most characters will be roughly comparable in ability, starting out (unless the party includes both Melniboneans and non-Melniboneans; Melniboneans are superior to all others).

4. A decent 'allegiance' system (characters accumulate points in Law, Chaos, and Balance).

5. Lots of support material (and the core rules include conversion notes for 4e material).

6. When combined with the Corum supplement, you have one amazing FRP game that does a great job of capturing the Law-versus-Chaos nature of the Moorcockian multiverse.  (Alas, the Corum supplement is not available in PDF.)

Noteworthy elements of Stormbringer:

1. Randomness of character creation -- you can end up as anything from a Melnibonean sorcerer to a Nadsokorian beggar (with some random afflictions!).

2. Characters are not 'balanced' in terms of their abilities -- sorcerers are vastly more powerful than everyone else.  (This is not a criticism.  I think that this is fine for the genre.)

3. A very cool magic system.  Sorcery involves 'binding' entities (demons for Chaotic types, 'virtues' for Lawful types) into objects.  All magic in Stormbringer consists in summoning/controlling/binding creatures.

4. Compatible with the original Hawkmoon RPG (also available in PDF).


Overall, I think that Elric! is the superior game.  Its rules are more coherent and less 'fiddly' (especially combat).  However, Stormbringer's magic system is very cool.  Although I'm more likely to run an Elric! campaign, I'd like to play a Stormbringer game someday (I did run some Hawkmoon years and years ago, and quite enjoyed it).

That's the coherence or "non-fiddliness" of Elric! that kills it for me when compared to Stormbringer. It's like comparing the Black Album of Metallica to Ride The Lightning, as far as I'm concerned. I'll go with the latter.

Quote from: Benoist;393091That's the coherence or "non-fiddliness" of Elric! that kills it for me when compared to Stormbringer. It's like comparing the Black Album of Metallica to Ride The Lightning, as far as I'm concerned. I'll go with the latter.

:confused:  (Metallica references are lost on me.)

I thought that you were a fan of SB5e (which is identical, rules-wise, to Elric!).

In any case, most of the 'fiddliness' of SB1e doesn't really add anything to the game in terms of flavour, IMO (e.g., separate skills for attacking and parrying, blech).  The big exception is SB1e's magic system, which is very flavourful indeed.

One main reason why I'd run Elric! instead of SB1e, though, is the Corum supplement, which has a magic system every bit as cool as the one in SB1e.

Quote from: Akrasia;393101:confused:  (Metallica references are lost on me.)

I thought that you were a fan of SB5e (which is identical, rules-wise, to Elric!).

Regarding Metallica metaphors: the "Black Album" is for many fans of Metallica the moment when "they went commercial". It's a well-rounded, coherent album, but it loses the wackiness of the prior albums, like Ride the Lightning (second Metallica album), which is a personal favorite.

Now, about me being a fan of Storm 5e/Elric: I am!! I know we're on the intarwebz and all, but I did precise that it's non-fiddliness killed it for me when compared to Stormbringer 1e. I realize now that my post could indeed have been read as "Elric! suxxorz!" Not at all. I love the game. But if forced to choose, I'll prefer 1e precisely for the wacky randomness, the uber-powerful bindings and so on, so forth.

Quote from: Akrasia;393101In any case, most of the 'fiddliness' of SB1e doesn't really add anything to the game in terms of flavour, IMO (e.g., separate skills for attacking and parrying, blech).  The big exception is SB1e's magic system, which is very flavourful indeed.

One main reason why I'd run Elric! instead of SB1e, though, is the Corum supplement, which has a magic system every bit as cool as the one in SB1e.

I understand the Corum+Elric! synergy, and there you have my agreement.

As for SB1e not adding anything to the game. If anything, I think it's Elric!'s smooth design that doesn't really add anything to the table, or rather, it's kind of give and take: it adds in smoothness and coherence, but takes away in wackiness and rock n'roll. Part of the fun of 1e is to get to play characters you really wouldn't have thought of, or wouldn't wish to play if given a point-buy/repartition option. You make the best of what you get, and it often leads to wacky character concepts, which is really cool with the right players. It SURE is NOT for everyone, especially these days...