The last game I want to touch on in my little list of old fave’s is Legend, another game by Mongoose publishing.
Legend is the Generic re-print of the defunct to Mongoose Runequest game, before it became on one hand the equally non-Runequest Mythras (from the writers of Legend and Rune Quest 6e) or “the other” Runequest 6e (the new one from Chaosium the original publisher, now in possession of the name again).
Confused? It matters not. The are all pretty much compatible anyway.
Little coat-pocket sized books, that will not win any awards for cover art, but are eye catching enough to get me on board impulsively while travelling to Melbourne a few years ago.
So, why Legend? I have no love of Mongoose as a company, except they keep re-publishing old games from my past. This game is not considered to be as evolved as Mythras (being the more streamlined version of the game that came after the game the writers wanted to make originally when they did Legend, being RQ 6e, but further refined). Regardless, I just like it for many of the same reasons cited previously.
It has an approachable, loosy-goosy feel with plain as you like presentation and little to no preciousness. A theme I have noticed in my gaming is a love for good (or even not) black and white pencil or line drawn illustrations. They maybe make me feel like the game is within my realm of expertise and pay-in? Or they may just remind me of good experiences from my past, before everything got too polished? Don’t know, they do however feel tactile, practical, familiar and not overly opinionated.
Mythras heroes and perfects the core ideas in Legend. Legend though offers a solid 95% foundation, with room to grow it your way. I have no issue with fiddling with Legend (or MT 1e, CoC 5e or WHFRP 1e). Mythras sits more in an “our way or the highway because we got it right” camp. Another small thematic niggle for me is Mythras has a Bronze Age theme, Legend is more traditional Dark Age-early Medieval.
Combat is one of the main reasons people try Mythras. it has a gritty, detailed and dramatic style, perfect for legendary battles. Legend has the basis for this with fewer options, but it has the ones you will want and room for the Gm to make up what is needed, even making it part of the “Combat style” skill grouping. The reality is, once a character has achieved a critical hit, they can put forward (or pre nominate if you play that way) any reasonable idea as their “special action”, even drawing from Mythras.
Mythras Imperative, the core of M-Space and other Mythras based systems also has an abridged version of the combat rules which I prefer, so Legend really is not any different.
Is it a complete Game?
Like the other games on this list, Legend can almost stand alone for the same reasons. The book is comprehensive enough to provide a decent standard fantasy, horror or historical Medieval to Dark ages game, with dangerous combat, magic and other systems to master and unlike most d20 games, nothing is a push over. It does lack some details though making it the only one of the four I have looked at that needs expanding. There is no Bestiary and no race outside of Human is represented in the core book.
Unlike the other games reviewed here though, the support materiel is cheap and to be honest hard to resist, so filling the gaps with Monsters of Legend, adding detail with Arms of Legend or Mythras Spear and Sail etc is no big deal. The best way to expand the game is to explore the background books available.
Unlike the other systems we have looked at, Legend really shines with more books. Samurai, Vikings and Pirates are handled in system with Legend format reprints of well respected older RQ2 books. Crusader monster hunters in Deus Vult and anthropomorphic animals from Historica Rodentia can be found in closely related expansions. Other periods can also be used with Legend like any of the RQ6/Mythras Arthurian Britain/Rome books etc. and most other BRP d% books can be used with only a little fiddling.
On the plus side, three or four Legend books only fill a coat pocket and cost about as much as a normal core book.
Is it relevant?
For some reasons d% games are seen by many as inherently “retro”, like a game mechanic can go stale or be bettered by something else over time. Dice are dice. The system written around them is the real key. The RQ and Warhammer renaissance we are in now is as valid as any other gaming process, probably more so, but I have to admit, I do wish they would move on with some older ideas (the RQ 6e Resistance table still, really?).
Just because it’s ancestors came out 40+ years ago, does not make it out of date which for gaming is a largely irrelevant measure anyway (what about the even older d20 systems, or even Chess?). Legend is streets ahead of many older d% games, but it does not make these redundant, nor do they force it to wear the “new guy” crown. It sits in the middle ground between solid older retro and the sometimes over polished new, without too much of either.
One of the really great things about d% games is their inherent versatility. Don’t like the core dice mechanic? use one from another game or make one up. There are many options.
Other stuff.
So who wins the award for most approachable? Legend is $1 for the core pdf and often $9.99 for the paper version. Warhammer 1e is tough to find now and MT 1e and CoC 5e are getting harder (but 6e is easily had). Most are available as pdf’s, the irony of which I do see, but the old school presentation lends itself to home printing (often much the same quality).
The award for support goes to the d% games as most things from most games can be used and none can ever be considered to be truly out of date.
So what makes an ideal “retro” RPG system for me?
1) An unassuming, un-precious presentation that invites pencil notes in the margins and hand drawn illustrations. The odd coffee stain should add character, not evoke tears.
2) A solid and realistic system that is flexible enough to handle most things, but does not feel the need to control everything.
3) A full game in a book if possible, with extras available, but no real urgency to get them.
4) An intangible something that transports me to a gaming table far far away in a time long forgotten (the ‘80’s), with pencils, dice, paper, coffee and friends on a rainy afternoon.
This has been therapeutic and has helped me to reach a decision that is as practical as it is scary. Die to seriously limited opportunity to play and even less desire to force the issue, I am going to seriously look at selling off all systems I have that are not d% based, with a few exceptions like Traveller 1e, which is not worth much to anyone here anyway. I have resource pdf’s of many (I don’t count these as real), so potentially they are accessible, but otherwise, out they go.