Anyone ever tried to Hero-ify the Malazan Book of the Fallen?

[Anomandaris]

As the title suggests, i'm looking for people who have tried to game in the World of Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen (first book is called Gardens of the Moon).

 

If so, care to share it with us?

 

If not, but you still know the books: How would you do it? Or to put it another way - care to brainstorm it in a thread (you can use this one if you want to)?

 

I always wanted to play in Steven's universe (Fun Fact - the world and setting started as an AD&D campaign of the author but very soon moved to GURPS. Steven even mentioned that the way GURPS handles things had an impact on the worldbuilding...so yeah, he's definitely a gamer    ) but i never found a system that really matched. As i said, the author himself used GURPS, but i don't know the system very well. It's in a similar niche than Hero (aka toolkit, generic). At the moment i think Hero has more appeal for me as it is an even stronger "do it yourself" kind of toolbox than GURPS is.

 

So anyone interested? Are there some fans of this series on here?

 

Thanks in advance for any and all help

[Ndreare]

This is one of my favorite series. I would love to see what you come up with.

In my mind most of the races are simply renamed common fantasy races such as High Elves, Moon Elves, Dark Elves, Ogre, Half Ogre, and Orcs.

However handling the Warrens correctly would be hard without making then really expensive. Yes most characters only have access to one Warren, but Quick Ben has 12. I imagine my normal thinking of each Warren being its own power skill and multipower would get ridiculously expensive.

[TheQuestionMan]

GURPS Magic is focused on themes. It lends itself to abuse in high level games.

 

HERO System Magic is based on effects. It lends itself to personalization.

 

Both have pros and cons, but ultimately it comes down to the game system your Player's and you are comfortable with.

 

IMOHO

 

QM

 

Malazan Book of the Fallen has been addressed here on several occassions. Defining the Power Level I leave to the GM.

[mhd]

It's been a while since I read the first two books of that, and I hope I'm not mixing anything up with the somewhat similar Black Company stories.

 

But IIRC there was something about mages having "Warrens", which were both "specialties" and dimensions used for e.g. quick travel.

If this is GURPS-inspired, it's probably about its "Aspected Magery", where you could only cast spells from one "college". Which is a common enough concept and pretty easy to emulate in any kind of game system.

 

Other than that, was there something special about Malazan magic? If it's just about curtailing access to spells, that's no problem. Spells themselves and balancing with non-casting characters on the other hand...

[Anomandaris]

Well the magic system is surely one of the big points, yes. And yes, the magic in the MBotF is very much aspected (i guess you could say GURPS-DNA ). Warren of Shadow, Warren of Elder Ice, Warren of Darkness etc. ...

But there is other things i am wondering about. For example how would you model ascendancy* ? Or would you do race templates (i think i would) for the various races in the MBotF? If so, let's see them

 

* i know you can just model each Ascendant/God as a single entity with many points. But i think there is such a thing on the world of the MBotF as a "path to ascendancy" (or more precise, paths) and i always tried to figure out a way to model that in game terms. For example: giving out ascendancy points that go into a reservoir that slowly rises when you "walk the paths". As the GM, you'd need to fix some thresholds and if a player reaches one of those, he gets some bonus/special-points for buying special abilities and the like.

[Manic Typist]

What are the mechanical differences between being ascendant and simply "just" being 500 points in a world where everyone else is 250?

[Anomandaris]

Please keep in my mind that i am a Hero newb, so i have not much idea of what kind of difference really is between 250 and 500 points (in in-play effectiveness). .

 

Ascendancy is not just about higher stats. Sure, it is part of it...some ascendants surely are smarter, stronger, what-have-you than mere mortals. But there are also other things...for example : having lifespans in the thousands and ten-thousands of years, being faster (in movement and reflexes) than normal, being able to transform into other shapes (shapechanger) ... the list goes on.

One has to keep in mind one very important detail as well - Ascendants are not overall better than normal beings. Well at least not the majority of Ascendants (there are some pretty powerful ones). They have their portfolios where they shine but in other aspects they can be as vulnerable and mortal as everyone else. So they are NOT the fantasy Superman equivalent of superhero-comics.

 

As i said above, i also want to be able to measure progress on the path to ascendancy. I guess that's not necessarily something that has to be very Hero specific in how we model it. But i think i'd be cool to know where "on the ladder to godhood" someone currently is. Depending on that, she/he gets the appropriate amount of "cool stuff".

[Manic Typist]

Don't all Ascendants/gods get their own warren? I'd hazard that's the single ability/power that they have that is unique from other powerful denizens of the setting.

[Ndreare]

No, not really.

While each Warren includes a throne. And sitting on that throne makes you the ruler of that Warren. There are many more ascended being s. They are grouped into houses (which correlate to Warrens) and un-aligned.

The path to become ascendant can be as simple as sitting on a throne, being selected by another, or becoming famous for some legendary feat. At one point an entire battalion becomes ascended at the same time.

 

The primary benefit from being ascended is as follows:

Immune to aging

Can only be killed by mortals, yes mortals that is not my phones autocorrect (unless it is a time of change)

Increased prowess within your role. For example if you are made the first sword you would get what I consider to be about +5 to your combat abilities, if you sit on the throne as the ruler you get unlimited endurance for casting spells of that Warren and can even deny it to others. This would be from about 75 to 150 points depending on if the Warren is week or strong.

Become Soul Taken: this means you gain a multiform into an iconic shape.

Pass through and even live in the Warren indefinitely and with ease.

 

That is all that comes to mind right now. But being ascended makes an awesome character, more awesome. But it does not translate into what we would consider godlike.

 

There are three primary ranks

Ascended

Gods (powerful older ascended)

 

Azoth/Elder gods.

You are either born an elder or not, but they do have descendents.

 

To me the different races are cookie cutter fantasy races with longevity add to some and new names. For example the ande are obviously elves.