From: [g p m] at [caelab1.cae.wisc.edu] (Gene P. Masters)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.announce
Subject: Announcing a new shareware FRP game system
Summary: A complete rules system for Fantasy role playing
Date: 31 Dec 93 01:51:40 GMT
Article-I.D.: charm.2g9i1h$8hn
Announcing the availability of a new electronically distributed fantasy
role-playing game, Quest.
Quest is not a computer/video game, but one designed for humans
interacting around a table. It is not just another game which was hacked
together late one Saturday night by a couple of people unsatisfied with
their current role-playing system. It has been developed and play tested
in Madison, WI for the past 8 years, and is now deemed (by us) mature
and ready for distribution. Thousands of hours of play testing,
revision, and discussion have gone into developing this system. Play
testers have included biologists, chemists, engineers, accountants, and,
of course, college students of all types. The various influences of
these people will probably be evident in the system.
This game is designed to be an open-ended game system in which you, the
Player, design your own Character conception. Virtually any fantasy
concept is reproducible using Quest, although this may not seem to be
the case at first glance.
Quest is a skill-based system based on nine different Statistics, and a
number of derived Statistics (this is where you may see a bit of the
accountant slipping in). How well you learn the various skills in Quest
is based on your Statistics. Any character may take any skill, the only
obstacle being how quickly they may learn the skill. Players choose a
primary profession for their Character, but the only way this is
involved with the various skills in the system is to give you a bonus in
learning those skills in your primary profession. You can have a fighter
who can use a broadsword in each hand, heal him- or herself, and cast
damage-causing spells at his/her opponents, or a sneak thief who can use
magic to cloak him- or herself in illusions and disarm magical and
mundane traps.
There are twelve religions in Quest, corresponding to most of the
major religions of the past and present. Fighters have a choice of
different weapons and styles, including Martial Arts, Fencing, active
shield use and use of two weapons. Mages have a number of different
Spell Lists to choose from, including a working system for creating
Enchanted items, potions and scrolls. Magic tends to be much more
general purpose and individualistic than in other systems. A single
spell may allow you to do a number of different things, though area of
effect spells (like the D&D fireball) are almost nonexistent. Tradesman
skills, and other skills useful to adventurers, are included in the Open
category. Thieves have Acrobatics, Sleight of Hand, Stealth, and other
such skills. Last of all are the Technical lists, things like Chemistry,
Craftsman, Ordnance Engineering and Life Science. Again, these lists
cover the general areas, leaving flexible for the Game Master and Player
alike. A Technical Appendices is available which details the expenditure
of time and money to create many technical items, up to and including
present day items.
The synergistic effects of the various Spells and abilities are, for the
most part, left up to the discretion of the Game Master. This philosophy
will allow the Game Master to control the game more easily, and will
allow the Game Master to tailor the rules to his or her campaign. Some
of the synergistic effects are discussed, because of their importance to
game balance. The Game Master may use these as a guide for making
decisions concerning other synergistic effects, but he or she should not
feel constrained by these discussions.
Potential Players and Game Masters should note that unlike most fantasy
role playing games, reasonably high levels of technology are possible
within the system. Cyberpunk/Shadowrun type games, a modern day
espionage type game and a space game have all been played using these
rules. We are not, however, advocating that Quest replace all other
gaming systems. Quest was designed from the beginning to run a medieval
level campaign, though the flexibility of the system allows it to be
adapted to almost any setting.
It is also possible to eliminate whole sections of skills without too
severely damaging the rules system. An example of deleting bodies of
skills would be to eliminate the fantasy elements and play in some
historical time period (for the purposes of technological development)
of the real world. A realistic representation of the European Middle
Ages would require the Game Master to limit the Technical Disciplines to
certain levels and delete Fencing, the Oriental Disciplines, and all
Spell Lists from the game. Be prepared for a bloody game! There will be
no magical healing and the medical services will be poor. There are good
possibilities for tailoring the game to a specific campaign.
We are distributing this game electronically, as shareware. That means -
download it, try it, play it, give it to your friends and only if you
start using it regularly would you pay us for the privilege. Just be
sure to include this message with any copies you distribute or post. We
have chosen to distribute it electronically so that you can make your
own modifications, print out pertinent subsets of the rules, add your
own monsters to the manual, and so on (not to mention trying it for
free). We would like to be informed of interesting modifications that
you make, and will try to include them in any forthcoming releases.
The files will be available in two forms, Word for Windows 2.0 files and
PostScript files. Other file formats can be requested if they don't
require too much additional work (ASCII, RTF, etc.) The files that you
need are all compressed using PKZip. You definitely need the Players
Manual, and game masters will need the Monster Manual and the Operations
Manual,which details refereeing the Quest System. The other 4 files are
the World Book (how to set up a world), and the Technical Appendices
(additional specifications for the Technical Lists), a Character sheet
and this README file. These files are not necessary to get started but
may add to the game as you get more familiar with the system.
The approximate PKZIPPED file sizes are listed below:
Word for Windows 2.0 Pages Filename Size
--------------------------------------------------------------
Players Manual 250 pages handbook.doc 205 K
Monster Manual 215 pages monster.doc 145 K
Operations Manual 60 pages opsman.doc 65 K
World Book 23 pages world.doc 25 K
Technical Appendices 36 pages techapd.doc 25 K
Character Sheet 4 pages charsht.doc 7 K
All together in questdoc.zip 470 K
Postscript files Pages Filename Size
--------------------------------------------------------------
Players Manual 250 pages handbook.ps 390 K
Monster Manual 215 pages monster.ps 195 K
Operations Manual 60 pages opsman.ps 250 K
World Book 23 pages world.ps 45 K
Technical Appendices 36 pages techapd.ps 80 K
Character Sheet 4 pages charsht.ps 16 K
All together in questps.zip 976 K
Quest was primarily written by Mike Greenholdt. In its early days it was
heavily edited by John Woodford. The two longest play testers are Gene
Masters and Todd Richmond, and they are the ones who have inherited the
game, have cleaned up, rewritten, and formatted the manuals for
distribution. Please direct any comments to them electronically at
[m--t--s] at [engr.wisc.edu] and/or [t--d] at [genetics.wisc.edu.] Both of these are
Internet addresses.
Once you've played this game and realize what an effective system it is,
send your shareware payments of $10 (that's for any or all of the files)
to
Computer Concepts - FRP Division
4146 Country Club Rd.
Madison, WI 53711-3004
Thank you for your interest, and enjoy playing Quest!
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
------------------------------------------------------------------
This electronic document is Copyright 1993 by Computer Concepts-FRP
Division. All rights reserved.
You are granted the following rights:
I. To make copies of this work, so long as
(a) the copies are exact and complete;
(b) the copies include the copyright notice and these paragraphs
in their entirety;
(c) the copies give obvious credit to the authors;
II. To distribute this work, or copies made under the provisions above,
so long as
(a) you do not charge a fee for copying or for distribution;
(b) you ensure that the distributed form includes the copyright
notice, this paragraph, and credit to the authors;
(c) the distributed form is not in an electronic magazine or
within computer software (prior explicit permission may be
obtained from the authors);
These rights are temporary and revocable upon written, oral, or other
notice by the authors. This copyright notice shall be governed by the
laws of the state of Wisconsin.