Malazan Books of the Fallen HERO

[TheQuestionMan]

Greetings HEROphiles, I wanted to know if anyone here has read Steven Erikson's Malazan Books of the Fallen series and thinks it would make a good Campaign Setting?

Malazan Books of the Fallen by Steven Erikson and Ian Cameron Esslemont.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malazan_Book_of_the_Fallen

Malazan Empire Tale of the Malazan Books of the Fallen
http://www.malazanempire.com/site/index.shtml

Malazan Forums
http://www.malazanempire.com/forums/

Encylopaedia Malazica
http://encylopaediamalazica.pbwiki.com/

Magic, Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malazan...e_Fallen#Magic


Cheers


QM

[Steve Long]

I've read the first couple; Mike Stackpole recommended them to me, and I'm glad he did. They're longer and more convoluted than they ought to be, I think, but still quite good and I think very game-able.

[TheQuestionMan]

The Warrens seem to me to be the real challenge build wise.


Thanks Mike's a good barometer and writer.


QM

[Savinien]

I read the first book and enjoyed it. I'm looking to get the rest.

I thought they seemed gamable as well!

[Nolgroth]

Hmmm. The wiki entry compares the series favorably to both Black Company and Song of Fire and Ice. Liked one, despise the other. Any thoughts on which one the series is closer in feel to? I really don't want to waste time and money on another series where people of good character die more often than bed bugs in a mattress fire. Thanks.

[Sgt_Pedro]

Definitely more like Black Company. It has a lot of High Fantasy elements that Song does not have. I have only read the first two, even though I own all 5 available in the States. They're a good read for any fan of the genre I'd say.

[Nolgroth]

Definitely more like Black Company. It has a lot of High Fantasy elements that Song does not have. I have only read the first two, even though I own all 5 available in the States. They're a good read for any fan of the genre I'd say.

Thanks. Sounds like I may actually like it.

[Steve Long]

I don't like Black Company at all, and I enjoy what I've read of the Song of Ice and Fire, and I like the Malazan books. I wouldn't compare Malazan to Song except that they're both too long and convoluted. The Malazan world is much more a High Fantasy one, with squads of battle-wizards helping armies fight wars and so on. It's not nearly as High Fantasy as, say, your typical D&D campaign, but compared to Song it's got a lot more magic and "fantastic" elements.

[Nolgroth]

I don't like Black Company at all, and I enjoy what I've read of the Song of Ice and Fire, and I like the Malazan books. I wouldn't compare Malazan to Song except that they're both too long and convoluted. The Malazan world is much more a High Fantasy one, with squads of battle-wizards helping armies fight wars and so on. It's not nearly as High Fantasy as, say, your typical D&D campaign, but compared to Song it's got a lot more magic and "fantastic" elements.

Well I'm convinced to try it out once I finish getting my HERO collection up to date. A man has to have his priorities straight and Tuala Morn is about number 1 on the list of things I want to buy.

[Markdoc]

Well I'm convinced to try it out once I finish getting my HERO collection up to date. A man has to have his priorities straight and Tuala Morn is about number 1 on the list of things I want to buy.

I finally got around to picking up a copy last week - it's sitting on my desk half-read in front of me right now.

Cheers, Mark

[Savinien]

I believe it was compared to Song only because it is primarily an epic about massive battles and the diplomacy of Nations, while attempting to focus on the movers and shakers.

I haven't read Black Company.

[Shadowsoul]

The Malazan series is a fairly awesome series and I think the setting was in fact intended to be for roleplaying; that may be how it started out in fact.
The main problem apart from the complicated nature of warrens is the sheer number of immensely powerful beings wandering around the setting.
A very brief list would include were-dragons, prehistoric undead, assassin mages and ancient superbeings. Not to mention the preponderance of godlike immortals and actual gods that tend to turn up whenever anything gets interesting.

An adventuring party would have to either be very powerful or very clever and in order to stay true to the spirit of the setting I think you would have to allow different PC's to be built on different amounts of points. You would not have to reveal how powerful any particular PC was; no harm in keeping players guessing and it might help reduce any PC bullying.
It might be worth creating a few rules for the path to ascendancy or even the path to incredible power and skill. Something along the lines of increased experience points simply for following destiny or the currents of power or whatever force you prefer to apply.

The Warren system would mean that a mage or ascendant draws his power from a particular warren; thus a requisit skill would perhaps be warren familiarity? Elder warrens would provide more raw power but perhaps have less subtle applications. In order to simulate the warren's corporeal existence a mage character might be forced to learn one or two transport spells e.g. travel to warren or travel via warren.

There are one or two other types of magic in Malazan aswell such as chaos magic and primitive or pre-warren magic; they might be best beyond the reach of PC's.

Those are my thoughts for now, I'm afraid I can offer more in the way of Malazan expertise than knowledge of the Hero System.

I will leave you with a few ideas for disadvantages.
Ennui, (mental, major), - After millenia of existence you've been everywhere and done everything and now you can't seem to muster much interest in anything.
Bridgeburner - Counts as 1d6 of unluck.
Noticeable - Power draws power and therefore so do you. Mandatory for characters built on a certain number of points?
You're a card - Character is associated with one of the cards of the Fatid and is thus highly visible to those who scry using the Deck of Dragons. Again this might be a mandatory disadvantage to those who reach a certain level of power although it can apply to more 'normal' characters.

[Savinien]

I am now reading teh second book, Deadhouse Gates.

I'm horribly confused. These things are wonderfully, horribly hard to follow with any length of time between volumes and I think this excerpt from a review says it best:

Erikson is a master of lost and forgotten epochs, a weaver of ancient epics on a scale that would approach absurdity if it wasn't so much fun. His time span ranges over hundreds of thousands of years. Races (both human and nonhuman), cultures, empires and even gods rise and fall. Vast struggles range across multiple continents and dimensions of time and space. There are so many fragments of myth, so many hints of back-story unending, and so little explained, that it is all the reader can do to comprehend what is going on, to hang on to the narrative as if clinging by one hand to the underbelly of a flying dragon. (And yes, there are dragons, and magic swords, and quests, too. But not a whole lot of teenagers.)

[Legatus]

Steven Erikson's Malazan Books Of The Fallen are my favorites.
They are long and complicated, but that's part of the fun. You can read them times and times again and still find things you didn't notice before. I love his characters and his setting. It' s so wonderfullly refreshing not to have your average orcs and ogres every other day. He has a lot of humour and a really good action and battles. Brilliant! Just brilliant!

I rate it: Five Stars (out of five, of course)

[MorpheousXO]

Finished the first one and liked it so much I bought the next four (amazon's 4 for 3 deal helped with that too), and am currently in the middle of the second book. Loaned the first book to my mom and now she's bugging me to finish the second one cause she needs it.

Not sure if my fiancee would like it, though...

In any case, gamable completely in my oppinion, just have to let your players get some super skills (and maybe even some just totally exceptional abilities). That is all. Go read the books now... NOW!!!!