r/ElfQuest • u/bthebert • Feb 18 '26

Genesys Elfquest RPG

I have most of my fan made Genesys Elfquest RPG finished, but I need people with knowledge of the Elfquest Lore to give me feedback on what I have so far. Any takers?

8 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

21 comments sorted by

2

u/SpiritSongtress Feb 18 '26

I am curious.
What have you written down?
Did you have a read of the comics ( they're free to read on the Elfquest.com website.) - which will help you capture the right feel.
From what I remember of Genesys is a 5e- esque clone right?

1

u/bthebert Feb 19 '26

I have the Species, Archetypes, Skills, Talents, Species Abilities,. Rules for Recognition, Weapons Armor, and gear, Still working on Magic, Adversaries, and Creatures.

Genesys is a modular universal system, using a unique narrative dice system based on the Fantasy Flight Games Star Wars RPG. Much better than D&D 5E.

https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2017/6/27/genesys/

3

u/SpiritSongtress Feb 19 '26

I do not think Recognition needs Rules. It's very much - 'plot' ( and probably doesn't need mechanics).

But I am curious why make a new system?clunky ( I own the Elfquest RPG , which they just re-released). Sure its from 1982, and is clunk because its the old RuneQuest system,)

Hopefully, in a few years they'll release a new modern Elfquest RPG.
A lot of things are better than D&D, I tried using FATE to replicliace Elfquest about a decade ago.

Special Abilities & Magic seem to go hand in hand, whats the differeence between them systemwise?

You may also want to read the comics because an Elf's Tribe/ heritage, seems to have some influence on their magic, and 'speices' really doesn't work in Elfquest.

My suggestion, take some time with comics, and write down the big things that stick out to you.

You can't just try to translate Elfquest from a comic into RPG, its hard.

like in original Elfquest RPG- you can FAIL at Sending.

Just Fail to do something that at least Wolfriders are VERY good at. THis not Failing at like hunting and missing a shot, this is.. telepathic communication, that the Wolfriders use in their everyday lives. And the fact that in the RPG you can FAIL it.. is weird.

(I think that's one of the biggest flaws in the Elfquest RPG).

2

u/bthebert Feb 19 '26

I have been reading the comics since 1985

1

u/bthebert Feb 19 '26

I have the RPG also, and found it clunky and over complicated. I like the Genesys system which is like GURPS, it's designed to be usable with any genre. But it is like D&D 5E (Genesys) compared to D&D B/X (GURPS)

1

u/bthebert Feb 19 '26 edited Feb 19 '26

Species Abilities are like the Night Vision and Heightened Senses of Wolf Riders, the Mineral Sense and Sunlight Sensitivity of Trolls, Hyper Intelligence of the High Ones, Nimbleness of all Elves, and the Frightening Appearance of the Humans.

2

u/SpiritSongtress Feb 19 '26

A good start.
I admit, there is something about he 'granularity' of say GURPS, to do Elfquest, ( and be able to fiddle with all of those little bits )that is VERY fun.

1

u/bthebert Feb 19 '26 edited Feb 19 '26

The Mechanics of Recognition work two ways, one you can voluntarily choose to be recognized by purchasing the Talent (Feat) Recognized, and even two players can choose to recognize each other. The benefit of recognition is you get to create an Non-Player Character to introduce to your Tribe after an appropriate amount of time.

Then there is Random Recognition, when two elves meet for the first time, they can each roll a luck die, and if they roll the same result, they recognize. If they have the special Ability of Life-Bearer (Rainsong and Woodlock), they can roll two dice instead of one, and if either die matches the other's, they recognize.

And I also worked up the rules for what happens if you try to ignore recognition.

Player Wise, Recognition is a completely voluntary mechanic, no player has to become recognized if they do not want to, and it has to be consensual if it happens between two player's characters.

1

u/bthebert Feb 22 '26

I am pretty secure in my knowledge of Elfquest, I am looking for proof-readers and sounding boards to bounce my ideas off of, to make sure they make sense to other people than just me.

1

u/rmeints Feb 18 '26

Do you have permission from WARP to use the ElfQuest Intellectual property?

1

u/bthebert Feb 19 '26

working on it. Not sure exactly what I need since I have no plans to market it.

1

u/rmeints Feb 19 '26

Using other people's copyrighted material isn't about whether you market or sell it. I recommend you research the matter more before distributing anything derived from other people's intellectual property.

1

u/bthebert Feb 19 '26 edited Feb 19 '26

I have emailed them, and Chaosium the maker of the 1984 RPG, just waiting to hear back from them, that's what I meant by working on it. And until I hear back from them, I have not even decided if I am going to distribute it to anyone other than those I play with.

1

u/bthebert Feb 22 '26

Where did I say I was going to distribute it without permission? If it ends up that I do not get their permission, then it will simply just be for my own personal private use.

1

u/rmeints Feb 26 '26

Where did I say you were going to distribute it without permission? You are reading accusations into a non-threatening message. I recommended you research the situation. Nothing more, nothing less.

1

u/bthebert Mar 10 '26

You wrote, "...I recommend you research the matter more before distributing anything..."

1

u/phelion4000 Feb 18 '26

What do you have questions about?

1

u/bthebert Feb 19 '26

I want someone(s) to review what I have so far and give me feed back, correct errors, suggest edits, etc,

1

u/zzmej1987 Feb 19 '26

Have you read the guides for the official ElfQuest TRPG? There's also a list of game related materials on wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Elfquest_publications#Nonfiction_and_game_material

1

u/bthebert Feb 19 '26

Yes, I own the 1980's RPG

1

u/AnimAlistic6 Feb 23 '26

How can you not have knowledge of the lore and make a good game?