Roleplaying in Hungary

[Oren]

I've been living in Budapest, Hungary for almost a year now. I know of 2 shops that sell RPGs, mainly WotC and WW products. This week I've seen the DMG in Hungarian; I guess it's a recent release.

I'm also aware of one or two native Hungarian RPGs. One of them is called Magus and seems quite interesting. Unfortunately, I can't read Hungarian well yet. I was wondering if somebody knows more about this game, and can share it with me.

I've also been looking for English speaking gamers around, but to no avail :-( It's now a year since my last D&D session, and I miss the experience a lot. Anyone in Hungary running their games in English? Cam I join?

Thanks,

Oren

 

[The Sigil]

Been a while since I was in Budapest (about 4.5 years now) and I was there doing ecclesiastical work - no time for finding a playing group - so don't know if I can help you find a playing group.

However, I don't know if one of the stores you refer to is the one I visited a couple of times, but if it is still in operation (it was there the entire two years I was in Hungary), it might be the place to go as many of the natives there speak English - I don't remember the name of the place, but it's a little shop on the south side of the main Boulevard (on the 4-6 tram/villamos line) right near the Danube. If I recall correctly, it's within sight of the Petofi bridge, and within a block or so of Ulloi ut.

Don't know how much that helps ya, but hopefully it's a place to start.

Also, I would be exceedingly interested in getting a Hungarian copy of the PHB, DMG, and MM (if they have them) - I haven't been able to find them here. Please e-mail me off-thread - I'm willing to pay for them, and to pay for getting them back to the States.

Where in Budapest are you at? I might be able to let you in on some secrets of good local spots to eat, hang out, etc. E-mail me - my address is protected by Angry Kobolds.

ANGRYthe_sigil@hotmail.comKOBOLDS

--The Sigil

 

[Melan]

Greetings!

If you are looking for shops, I would recommend the following:
-Camelot: for WotC and WW stuff plus cards. Not much else, unfortunately. That's the shop The Sigil was talking about. You can find it near the corner of Ferenc krt. and Tompa utca. Approachable with the 4 and 6 trams, or take subway 3 to Ferenc krt and walk towards the Danube.
-Silverland: Lajos utca 40 in Buda, you can get here with the bus No. 86 (from Batthiany ter). Get out at "Kolosi ter", the shop is under the arches (almost) opposite the bus stop. Silverlands is the oldest shop in Hungary (I bought my first dice here, IIRC, back when we all played with photocopied books!). They have lots of OOP stuff, including some first edition modules (ToEE, etc.), various RPG lines (WoD, Rifts, Gurps, Palladium, Cyberpunk, etc.) and d20/D&D supplements. Recommended, although a tad expensive.
-Virtuarium: here. e-mail address: virtuarium@virtuarium.hu
They can order just about everything you want, even OOP games. Shipping can take a few months but they are reliable and deliver stuff to your doorstep.

Continued...

 

[Melan]

The new DMG and PHB is an atrocity against our Fair and Elevated Language. If you have the English ones, you can avoid them.

Now, M.A.G.U.S.: this is essentially a D&D clone [I only have the first edition - latter ones are worse], and a d20 version is expected next year. The original game (which I played for a little while before returning to AD&D) came out in early 1994, being the second game on the market. It is set in the world of Ynev, based on two novels (at the time - more have come out since). It's a huge world, and a lot like FR... Great variety of diverse cultures, mostly inspired by history and fantasy clichés. The system is race/class based, with some twists on magic users (you have illusion using Bards, Fire Mages, Warlocks [necromancers and foul evildoers all], Witches [mostly dealing with curses, sexual magic and poisons], Clerics and Wizards. All forms of magic are point-based. Except for wizards, spells are formulae like in D&D, costing X. amount of magical energy. Wizards can "assemble" their spells from "mosaics" - for example, a Wall of Fire would be the element Fire, formed into a wall and its life extended to, say, five minutes. The system is pretty versatile and open to abuse - some people have constructed auto-firing magic "machine guns", flying chariots and A-Bombs.
Combat is slightly more complex than in AD&D, you can become a more defensive or offensive fighter, or choose from various martial styles...
There were psionics (Psi), which, when I played, everyone used since it was extremely useful. And magic items, monsters, etc., etc., etc.
All in all, it was an unbalanced system but fun for those who started with it.

Continued...

 

[Melan]

You may probably find players/Dms here:
Groups, Players or DMs.
Unfortunately, the number of English players is likely pretty low at the place... You should have more luck starting a group on your own. You may also inquire at univerities - the big ones usually have their own clubs, and a sufficient number of English-speaking students.

Good luck!

(If you have any questions, ask here or mail me at melanthenotsogreat[at]hotmail.com)

 

[Oren]

Thanks

Thanks for the information for both The Sigil and Melan.

Melan: I think the other Hungarian RPG I saw is called KHAOS. Any info on that one?

Oh, and the Silverland shop is just a block from my workplace, so I know it quite well!

 

[Melan]

Greetings!

Oren: now Kaosz (Chaos) is a weird one with a pretty long story.
It started out with a group of friends playing AD&D in the Great Old Days of the hobby in Hungary (back in 1986, or 1985). After about three years, one of them, Istvan Nemes decided to write a fantasy novel based on his character and party. The result was The Word of Chaos, the first modern Hungarian fantasy novel (there were quite some before, some brilliant, some less so, but we won't go into that here).
This was not the usual kind of heroic literature - the main protagonist, Skandar Graun, was a stinking half-orc, the evil warrior/cleric of Yvorl, God of Chaos. The story is sometimes humorous, sometimes pretty grim. It is essentially a masterfully transcribed AD&D campaign, loosely based on modules The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh and The Secret of Bone Hill. The novel was a huge success, spawning several sequels. The first few were really good, but after a while, it started to drift into a radically different style, with pretty crude humour and paper-thin stories.
Unfortunately, the game follows the style of the latter. The world guide has lots of cool stuff, but the rules are fairly messy (skill-based with optional "orders" you can belong to) and complicated. Our group had fun with it for a while, but this was despite the game, not because of.

Personally, I would give it a wide berth if I were you. On the other hand, if the same company publishes a supplement for Cherubion (another world by the same author, sort of an everything-goes fantasy with mutants, dark magics and modern technology), you should definitely buy it - if only for the world details.

 

[William Ronald]

Melan, to steer this only slightly off track, do you know of any internet or other resources dealing with Hungarian culture, legend, and myth? (Is it me or are supplements dealing with any culture west of Germany and east of China about as rare as hen's teeth?)

Oren, good to see you on the boards. I had not seen you in a while. Good luck in finding a good group.

 

[Melan]

Greetings!

Your best bet would be Mór Bán's fantasy novels set in mythical "Karpathia", but those are sadly unavailable in English. Which is too bad, since they are really good - better than Steven Brust's works IMO. (Brust works more from folk tales, while Ban is more historical)

Here is a pretty good source on history and legends:
Hungarian Myths and Legends - Has some useful stuff, although I don't neccessarily subscribe to the historical or political views put forth on the site. (That is, Hungary's relation to the Sumeric civilization)

If you can find it, the compilation "Quest for the Miracle Stag" has a wide sampling of poetry, including the excellent ballads of John Arany. You can also find some of them here: http://www.mek.iif.hu/porta/szint/human/szepirod/forditas/ "Legend of the wondrous hunt" is one you might be interested in.

 

[William Ronald]

Thanks, Melan! I will check out the links.

Oren, any luck finding a group yet. There should be some options besides taking a train ride to visit Darkness in Vienna. (Hmm, an idea. Maybe an EN World: Central Europe-Eastern Europe Game Day. The one's here in Chicago have been fun.)