As RetroQuest Evolves

Flavor, Genre, and Feel

In a previous post I announced that RetroQuest: Timeless Fantasy Roleplaying was going to be my next major project and that it’d start with three books: Core Rulebook, Monstrous Menagerie, and Perilous Plunder. All three books are drafted and were in proofreading and editing when I realized that the flavor of RetroQuest didn’t really come through in the core book. The flavor was in the first two supplements. So, after some deliberation, I decided to fold all of the content of Monstrous Menagerie and Perilous Plunder into the Core Rulebook. This means that the Core Rulebook will be much more extensive.

As the Core Rulebook was originally presented, it was pretty much a B/X game with some rules to lean into the early 20th century tendency to blend sci-fi and fantasy. This is done primarily through the inclusion of unique monsters and magic items that reinforce that blend. So, alongside orcs and goblins and dragons you’ll find Skull-Bots, Temporal Barbarians, and Denizens of the Dream-City. The monster count in the core book went from around 100 to over 225.

Temporal Barbarian by Rick Hershey

The same is genre reinforcement is also found in the magic items. There is your traditional Sword+1, +3 vs. Goblins, sure. But you’ll also find some more exotic creations like the Sword+1, +3 vs. Time Travelers and technology that hints at an apocalypse from the far flung reaches of time - whether that be the past or the future, no one knows. Items like the Techno-Blade and the unpredictable Temporal Device. These aren’t going to appear often on the random tables - and that’s by design. They just hint at the blending of sci-fi, post apocalypse fiction, and fantasy that was common in the early days of pulp writing. I didn’t want to overwhelm the book, but offer hints and flavors.

I also wanted to turn up the tendency to take disks. Therefore, RetroQuest will include a Hero Token system. Basically, you can spend them to re-roll any failed attack or save. Simple enough, except that every time a PC rolls a natural, unmodified 1 on an attack roll or saving throw, they add a Hero Token to the pool. Similarly, if they roll a natural 20 on an attack or saving throw, then a Hero Token is removed. This way PCs are encouraged to spend them fast and furious. Finally, if only one Hero Token is left in the pool and the PCs are low on Hit Points, they can spend that final token for a Do or Die Moment - a full combat round where every PC gets bonuses to help them accomplish what seems impossible in the moment.

But PCs aren’t the only ones who can ratchet up the danger. Some monsters can be named Boss Monsters - they’ve got maximum possible Hit Points and if you don’t take them out before the Boss Timer runs out, then things get complicated and very, very dangerous.

Finally, I was really on the fence about including non-traditional classes. I felt like a few of them highlighted the feel I was going for with RetroQuest, but I didn’t want to bloat the game too much. So, they ended up in an Appendix as purely optional. There are seven optional classes:

Bucca: These satyr-like humanoids are gregarious, bawdy characters who are resilient and tough in a fight. They excellent in mountainous environments and can surprise goes with a quick headbutt with their horns. I love goats and goat-people, so I wanted to put something in that had the robustness of a dwarf, but was a bit more outgoing and wilderness oriented.

Goblin: Yep, your classic stealthy, backstabbing, cowardly goblin - mainly because I freakin’ love goblins and think they should be pretty much available as PCs in every OSR style game.

Half-Elf: I didn’t just do a slightly different Fighter/Magic-User hybrid akin to an elf here. Half-Elves in RetroQuest are flashy, socially adept, and have a talent for magic. They shine in social situations where their natural charm can let them learn the difference between truth and falsehood when it comes to news and rumors, while in battle they can draw attention to themselves with an impressive display of swordsmanship or cast spells from a Magic-User/Elf Scroll without ever learning to cast spells like other classes.

Mystic: I love the original Mystic from the Rules Cyclopedia, but it’s too complicated and feels really bolted on. So, I cleaned up a lot of the seemingly disparate text and made a clean, fast playing character that relies on physical prowess and unarmed combat.

Orc: None of that half-orc nonsense here. This is a straight up, slicing n’ dicing orc. They hit hard, they hit fast, and actually become more deadly as their Hit Points decrease.

Ranger: I noticed that wilderness exploration and doing it exceptionally well doesn’t get a lot of love in B/X spaces. So my ranger does just that. He reduces your chances of getting lost, ambushed, and truly shines when the party is outside the dungeon and forced to address the dangers of mother nature.

Saurian: Dinosaurs are cool. The Saurian is basically an anthropomorphic dinosaur paladin - but they’re not a holy crusader. They’re a wandering mystic in search of spiritual meaning through sacrifice and protection of those they have chosen to be their surrogate tribe. Skilled with swords and shields, they are capable of protecting other members of the party and there seems to be a bit of good luck or divine blessing that hangs about them to aid their allies.

So yeah, RetroQuest has gone from a 95% faithful B/X retroclone to a 90% faithful B/X game with hints of an over-the-top gonzo flavor that blends sci-fi, fantasy, and a post apocalypse that either happened in pre-history or is inevitable in the days to come. I’m really proud of it and am really looking forward to both the Kickstarter and the formal release. Hopefully, we’ll keep everything on track and be able to launch before the end of this month. The crowdfunding will be simple, with backers choose to either support for a PDF and/or an at-cost coupon for a print-on-demand hardcover - both fulfilled via DriveThruRPG.

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