Arrows of Indra Q&A

I've decided to start up a new Q&A for Arrows of Indra, after a year of not having one.  So if YOU have any questions about Arrows of Indra, please feel free to go to this thread, where you will get an answer from me.   I'll also provide a digest of questions and answers here on this blog as needed, to a maximum of once in a week.

So, let's get started!

Q:Are there any further products in the line planned? Adventures, etc? 




A:At the present time there isn't any material being actively worked on, however there is a very good possibility that sometime down the line there will be a setting book that will detail at least one region (probably the Bahlika Kingdoms) in more detail.

Furthermore, as the game is "open" there's always the opportunity for someone other than myself to produce adventures or source material for it, if they wanted to.



Q: Any plans to use a similar set of rules for a different setting? There's no shortage of other mythologies that haven't been covered. 

A: These rules were, on the whole, created for this specific setting. If I did some other pseudo-historical setting (say, fantasy epic china, or aztecs, or something like that), I might use the some similar rules in terms of the very basic core mechanics, but I would not (for example) use the same magic system, monsters, magic items, races, etc. because so much of this additional material is directly driven from the Indian mythological concept.



Q:  What method of going open did you pick for the game? How much of the rules stuff is open? How much of the setting? What parts are not able to be used by another author without getting your permission first?

A:I think for the specific of this answer you'd need to ask Bedrock Games (Bedrock Brendan on here). As I understand it, all the rules are open; what you can't do is just cut-and-paste the setting material into your book, nor can you use the art or the maps. Aside from that, anything goes.
Note that its not quite right to say the setting "isn't open"; because of course most of the setting is just directly taken from the Epic Indian milieu itself. For me to say that you can't use that would be like if Greg Stafford claimed you couldn't use Camelot or Silchester or the Welsh in an RPG because those are in Pendragon.
So really, as long as you aren't doing a cut-and-paste of the specific way I wrote up the setting stuff, and as long as you don't use the maps or art, you can do anything else with it.
And I'm sure that if you talk about it with Bedrock games, they'd be glad to consider endorsing it; and if you talk about it with me, and I found it interesting enough, I'd be glad to endorse it too and maybe help out a bit with it. I'd be tickled pink if old-schoolers wanted to write adventures or sourcebook material for Arrows of Indra.




Q: When I meant the rules, I didn't so much mean the India specific stuff, but the basic stuff, like the skill system, which is really one of the better ones I've seen in an OSR style game.


A: Not a question, but thanks! The skill system is definitely something I'd use (again, not the exact same tables, but the same structure) if I were ever to do another OSR rulebook; and that I'd be glad to see other people doing too. I think its one of the most innovative parts of the game.


Remember, if you have a question about Arrow of Indra, go ask!

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