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Questions from a rookie


Tymophil

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Hi all,

I played my first RuneQuest game last night and enjoyed it quite a bit. Still there some things that are unclear to me... I played the MRQ2 version of the game.

1. If my character impales a target with his long spear, what does happen if he doesn't remove the spear from the impaled body ? Can he attack again with the spear by simply twisting the blade and shaft inside the wound ? Des he have to remove the spear first to attack again ? Does the -10% per size range maneuver modificator apply only to the target or to the attacker too ?

2. Where are the tarifications for transportation ? I found the price of a boat, but not how much I pay for being ferried from one place to another.

3. Can I charge a creature that is 20 m away from me if I am a human being wearin soft leather armour ?

4. Does an escape defensive maneuver throw the defender to the ground ?

5. Is there a place/book where a player can find information that is picturing common knowledge of the people of Glorantha ? I found the game slow to the point of being TOO slow because the game master had to depict everything on the way, as places and people where too different for us to infere their demeanour and behave accordingly... I have the same question about maps.

Best regards.

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MRQ2 is just about the only BRP-game that I don't own, or have owned. That said:

1. If you impale with your spear, you can yank it out on your next action(doing additional damage). Until the spear is removed, it will not be available to you as a weapon, but it will still severely hamper the opponent( based on Legend/RQ6)

2. The boatman will charge whatever the GM determines, or what the PC can haggle. I base the price on the number of feet. Some charge extra for ears.

3. Yes, but if wearing soft leather, it might not be the best idea.

4. Moon Design Publications, the masters of everything Gloranthan has some info. RQ6's Design Mechanism have released PDF's of all the race-books of MRQ2(and other nifty things) for a song. Lastly, maranci.net has lots of allsorts.

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Thanks for your answers.

Oops.

No.4: No, the Escape-manuevre allows you to escape a grapple or pin. It does not effect the opponent( again, based on Legend/RQ6).

I was not clear. Does a creature succeeding in an evade move fall on the ground ?

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No, Evading only loses you your next offensive action, it won't leave you prone in a normal situation.

Of course, there might be a difference between running in cicles around a sluggish thug and dodging a giant's club.

Evade will leave you prone in RQ6, however.

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No, Evading only loses you your next offensive action, it won't leave you prone in a normal situation.

Of course, there might be a difference between running in cicles around a sluggish thug and dodging a giant's club.

Evade will leave you prone in RQ6, however.

Okay, that's cristal clear.

By the way, I can answer my own question about the cost of transportation : the prices are on page 81 of the core rules book...

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I have another set of questions.

How do I find out which combat manoeuvres my charcter can perform with a weapon ? I cannot find a place where the rules give the available combat manoeuvres. And yet, my game master gave me the impression that only a few of them were available to my character. For example, I was not given "choose location" for my long spear but only : impale (fair enough), bypass parry and stun location (this one seems inappropriate). Is it normal ? Is there a limit to the number of combat manoeuvres one can master ?

What is the skill lore (tactics) about ? It is given for a mercenary background, but it doesn't come with a description of what it does...

Do weapons emcumbrance factors modify the striking rank of my character ? It seems, from what I've read, that only the armour impacts the strinking rank. Yet my game master sent my an excel file where the encumbrance of the shield and the weapons is substracted from the ranks. Is it a houserule ?

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Hi all,

I played my first RuneQuest game last night and enjoyed it quite a bit. Still there some things that are unclear to me... I played the MRQ2 version of the game.

1. If my character impales a target with his long spear, what does happen if he doesn't remove the spear from the impaled body ? Can he attack again with the spear by simply twisting the blade and shaft inside the wound ? Des he have to remove the spear first to attack again ? Does the -10% per size range maneuver modificator apply only to the target or to the attacker too ?

2. Where are the tarifications for transportation ? I found the price of a boat, but not how much I pay for being ferried from one place to another.

3. Can I charge a creature that is 20 m away from me if I am a human being wearin soft leather armour ?

4. Does an escape defensive maneuver throw the defender to the ground ?

5. Is there a place/book where a player can find information that is picturing common knowledge of the people of Glorantha ? I found the game slow to the point of being TOO slow because the game master had to depict everything on the way, as places and people where too different for us to infere their demeanour and behave accordingly... I have the same question about maps.

Best regards.

1) Impale details p88. If you deal damage then you can pull out the spear (Brawn check) or leaave it in. Leaving it in -20% to all impaled enemies checks. Pulling the weapon out cause damage as the weapon without the DM.

2) You've answered that.

3) Charge has nothing to do with the armour you're wearing.

4) There is no Escape defensive manoeuvre. Slip Free is just that, escaping from a being Gripped. Maybe a house rule.

5) The MRQII book 'Glorantha, the Second Age - Core rulebook' is the one with all the information about Glorantha. Cults of Glorantha has the information about the cults and there are other books covering other aspects of Second Age Glorantha.

The table on page 70 et al has the information about which Combat Manoeuvres weapons have. The column with this information clarifies which counts as a 'Cutting weapon' for Bleed, as a 'Entangling weapon' for Entangle, as a 'Thrusting weapon' for Impale, as a 2-handed weapon for 'Sunder', and as a 'Bludgeoning weapon for 'Stun Location'. All other Combat Manoeuvres can be done by all weapons. A longspear can only Impale out of these effects.

What is the skill lore (tactics) about ? It is given for a mercenary background, but it doesn't come with a description of what it does...

Do weapons emcumbrance factors modify the striking rank of my character ? It seems, from what I've read, that only the armour impacts the strinking rank. Yet my game master sent my an excel file where the encumbrance of the shield and the weapons is substracted from the ranks. Is it a houserule ?

There are a lot of Skill () skills and they are used when the GM decides they are used. If you have a situation where an ambush is planned the GM may give a bonus to the surprise if the Skill (Tactics) roll is made.

ENCumberance modifies the SR. All your equipment has a ENC rating that is totalled for the reduction in SR. It's just that armour does the most to reduce SR.

Edited by nclarke

Nigel

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3) Charge has nothing to do with the armour you're wearing.
The problem was not the armour per se, but the distance. The monster was 20 m away from my character. Could I charge, sprinting, this distance in a single combat action ? Does it require one combat action to move to the monster (sprinting), and another one for attacking ? It seems unlikely, but what do I know ?

4) There is no Escape defensive manoeuvre. Slip Free is just that, escaping from a being Gripped. Maybe a house rule.
I made a mistake, I was thinking about "evade".

5) The MRQII book 'Glorantha, the Second Age - Core rulebook' is the one with all the information about Glorantha. Cults of Glorantha has the information about the cults and there are other books covering other aspects of Second Age Glorantha.
Is this information for players ? I don't want to spoil my own fun...

The table on page 70 et al has the information about which Combat Manoeuvres weapons have. The column with this information clarifies which counts as a 'Cutting weapon' for Bleed, as a 'Entangling weapon' for Entangle, as a 'Thrusting weapon' for Impale, as a 2-handed weapon for 'Sunder', and as a 'Bludgeoning weapon for 'Stun Location'. All other Combat Manoeuvres can be done by all weapons. A longspear can only Impale out of these effects.
Okay that makes plain sense. Thanks. My search is over on this topic.

There are a lot of Skill () skills and they are used when the GM decides they are used. If you have a situation where an ambush is planned the GM may give a bonus to the surprise if the Skill (Tactics) roll is made.
That doesn't make that much sense... Why mention a specific skill within the system with no guideline on how to use it ? Is there anything on this skill anywhere ?

I would agree that an obscure skill such as cyptography would need some extra ruling from the game master, but it seems unlikely with a skill given to several characters by the system (mercenaries, warriors and soldiers get this skill).

ENCumberance modifies the SR. All your equipment has a ENC rating that is totalled for the reduction in SR. It's just that armour does the most to reduce SR.
This makes sense, but why not simply state it in the rules where Striking Ranks are calculated (Core Rules p. 11) ? In the combat chapter, where initiative is described, there is no mention of encumbrance either (see p.83), only armour is mentioned... In the examples, (see p.84) there is no mention of encumbrance, only the armour is mentionned. The weapons of Edric, Liliana and Thrace are not taken into account at any level... Nor are the weapons of the Trollkins...

May I ask where you got your information from ? Is there an errata on this topic I am not aware of ?

Anyway, thanks for the interest you took in my newbie questions.

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OK, Let's look at your problem areas.

The problem was not the armour per se, but the distance. The monster was 20 m away from my character. Could I charge, sprinting, this distance in a single combat action ? Does it require one combat action to move to the monster (sprinting), and another one for attacking ? It seems unlikely, but what do I know ?

Move 8m per combat round p11, Sprinting p63 Base movement (8), multiply by 5 (40). deduct Armour Penalty (hard leather in 5 locations is 10 divide by 5 for an Armour Penalty of 2) -2 for a total charge/sprint move of 38 m. in 3 CAs. Unlike Legend (MRQII rewritten excluding Glorantha) there is no detail concerning how far you can move per CA but 38m in 3CA is roughly 13M per CA.

Next up, Evade has no connection with getting out of contact except as diving for cover or throwing yourself away from a charge so yes you usually end up on the floor.

The Glorantha Core rulebook is likely to have some information that your GM may not want you to know.Ask your GM if he doesn't want you to read it.

Lore skills are designed to fill in information on a variety of subjects and generally don't specify exact details. An example is used of tactics being useful in cattle raids. It's up to the GM to determine the benefit for a successful Lore skill use. As an example the rules would be more than 5 times larger if they had to explain Lore (Minerals) or Lore (Heraldry) for example

ENCumberance has always been made up of things that you carry and I have always known that a system that uses encumberance adds up the weight/volume of stuff you carry/wear and puts it towards a reduction in capability. Thirty plus years of gaming have ingrained that into my psyche. A person might infer that as weapons and shields have an ENCumberance value as armour does it might be necessary to include those. Your GM should explain stuff you don't realise if he's using it.

I think there is some MRQII errata about, check the downloads section here.

Nigel

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OK, Let's look at your problem areas.
You're very kind.

Move 8m per combat round p11, Sprinting p63 Base movement (8), multiply by 5 (40). deduct Armour Penalty (hard leather in 5 locations is 10 divide by 5 for an Armour Penalty of 2) -2 for a total charge/sprint move of 38 m. in 3 CAs. Unlike Legend (MRQII rewritten excluding Glorantha) there is no detail concerning how far you can move per CA but 38m in 3CA is roughly 13M per CA.
This seems to imply that the movement is to be split between the different CA actions during the whole round. Do I have to declare that I sprint at the start of my first CA ?

For example, if I have 3 CA (plus a free one for usiing my sheild in parying), can I move 20 m in my first CA and attack in the same CA. Or do I have to decompose the actions in 1 CA for reaching my enemy and wait for my next CA to strike ?

Next up, Evade has no connection with getting out of contact except as diving for cover or throwing yourself away from a charge so yes you usually end up on the floor.
The MRQ2 rules only state that you cannot attack on the next CA. Is it an oversight ? I see nothing in the errata.

The Glorantha Core rulebook is likely to have some information that your GM may not want you to know.Ask your GM if he doesn't want you to read it.
Where can I find common knowledge on Glorantha. In the first session I played the GM stopped the flow of the game in order to give us lots and lots of informations. This was important, but this slowed the game to a crawl. Moreover, most of the information came in huge amounts, most being lost in the process. It would be much better to have some basic information, so that the GM would only concentrate on the most interesting information. Moreover it places us (players) in a very passive mode. With some basic information we could ask for information in a more interesting, narrative way.

Lore skills are designed to fill in information on a variety of subjects and generally don't specify exact details. An example is used of tactics being useful in cattle raids. It's up to the GM to determine the benefit for a successful Lore skill use. As an example the rules would be more than 5 times larger if they had to explain Lore (Minerals) or Lore (Heraldry) for example
So it should be a dialog between me and my GM. Fair enough. Do some official scenario give some hint on how to use this skill ? For example, to give an edge when setting up an ambush, when searching for cover, etc.

ENCumberance has always been made up of things that you carry and I have always known that a system that uses encumberance adds up the weight/volume of stuff you carry/wear and puts it towards a reduction in capability. Thirty plus years of gaming have ingrained that into my psyche. A person might infer that as weapons and shields have an ENCumberance value as armour does it might be necessary to include those. Your GM should explain stuff you don't realise if he's using it.
I quickly scanned some monster stats (troll kins) and the strike ranks don't include the ENC of the weapons. The only factors modifying it are armour penalties. So taking ENC of weapons and other equipment would put the player characters in a huge disadvantage.

I think there is some MRQII errata about, check the downloads section here.
I already dowloaded it.

I have another question. I want to play a Yelmalion. I portrayed it as a mercenary that would be part of a phalanx in his youth. My problem is that something doesn't make sense. The hoplite is fighting with a long spear and a shield. But this weapon is two handed in the rules. If I use a short spear, then, obviously, I won't be playing an hoplite... Now, as combat is portrayed with styles in MRQ2, it seems that it is possible to create an hoplite style that would customize the use of the long spear and shield but removing, for example, the possibility to sunder with the long spear when using this style ?

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Where can I find common knowledge on Glorantha.

Try these:

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This seems to imply that the movement is to be split between the different CA actions during the whole round. Do I have to declare that I sprint at the start of my first CA ?

For example, if I have 3 CA (plus a free one for usiing my sheild in parying), can I move 20 m in my first CA and attack in the same CA. Or do I have to decompose the actions in 1 CA for reaching my enemy and wait for my next CA to strike ?

There's nothing in MRQII that say you have to declare a sprint except when it's your turn. Also nothing about how to split the move over CA's. However Legend which is a cleaned up version of MRQII does have all these little holes filled in for you. It'll be down to teh GM to rule how far each CA will get you move-wise.

Where can I find common knowledge on Glorantha. In the first session I played the GM stopped the flow of the game in order to give us lots and lots of informations. This was important, but this slowed the game to a crawl. Moreover, most of the information came in huge amounts, most being lost in the process. It would be much better to have some basic information, so that the GM would only concentrate on the most interesting information. Moreover it places us (players) in a very passive mode. With some basic information we could ask for information in a more interesting, narrative way.

You've got some help on that but the GM should provide you with handouts rather than do an infodump. That way you have the information and can digest it at your own speed and keep it for reference. In many (BRP/RQ) campaign settings/products there is a handout for each area which tells what characters from that area know as standard.

I quickly scanned some monster stats (troll kins) and the strike ranks don't include the ENC of the weapons. The only factors modifying it are armour penalties. So taking ENC of weapons and other equipment would put the player characters in a huge disadvantage.
Don't forget that ENCumberence affects your fatigue so while the ENC from weapons etc don't affect SR they do affect how long you can run before getting tired. Look at page 59, 61 and 62 for information about this.

The hoplite is fighting with a long spear and a shield. But this weapon is two handed in the rules. If I use a short spear, then, obviously, I won't be playing an hoplite...
You issue is misunderstanding or not enough historical knowledge. An original Greek hoplite used a short spear (in MRQII terms) with a hoplon (big round shield). You are thinking of a much later Hoplite with a long spear and smaller round shield strapped to his arm so he can use his long spear two-handed. The Macedonians used a longer spear (21 foot pike) without a shield relying on the forest of pike shafts to deflect incoming arrows.

Spears never sunder with the exception of a Lance and that relies on the force of a charging horse to provide the energy to sunder armour. Sundering is mostly the preserve of 2-handed bladed weapons or a massive lump of something (lead/steel) being swung with more force than a spear can deliver. Pointy weapons are good for impaling and do a lot of damage but armour shattering weapons they aren't. In real life the use of armour shattering weapons arose when armour got pretty sophisticated and kept out many swords and spears necessitating the use of smashing weapons to cave in the metal plates or something pointed to penetrate the joints (awl, rondel, pick).

Nigel

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Try these:

Is this safer than the same title for MRQ2 ?

Gloranthan Folk Tales at Etyries.com
HeroQuest Voices at Etyries.com; Third Age
[Glorantha] Tell me about it like I'm a 3-year-old, a thread at RPG.net forums

I shall check these links.

Thank you very much.

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There's nothing in MRQII that say you have to declare a sprint except when it's your turn. Also nothing about how to split the move over CA's. However Legend which is a cleaned up version of MRQII does have all these little holes filled in for you. It'll be down to teh GM to rule how far each CA will get you move-wise.
Okay, I get it... So I must see with my GM how he handles movement within a round.

You've got some help on that but the GM should provide you with handouts rather than do an infodump. That way you have the information and can digest it at your own speed and keep it for reference. In many (BRP/RQ) campaign settings/products there is a handout for each area which tells what characters from that area know as standard.

So, once again, the problem lies with the communication between the players and the GM.

Don't forget that ENCumberence affects your fatigue so while the ENC from weapons etc don't affect SR they do affect how long you can run before getting tired. Look at page 59, 61 and 62 for information about this.

I understand tha ENC can be a problem, and the rulebook gives directions to reflects how it impacts on the character. I just wanted to make sure that it did not DIRECTLY impact Strike Ranks.

You issue is misunderstanding or not enough historical knowledge. An original Greek hoplite used a short spear (in MRQII terms) with a hoplon (big round shield). You are thinking of a much later Hoplite with a long spear and smaller round shield strapped to his arm so he can use his long spear two-handed. The Macedonians used a longer spear (21 foot pike) without a shield relying on the forest of pike shafts to deflect incoming arrows.
I think that I got carried away but the term "short"... Yet the hoplite seemed to carry something like a 3m (ten feet) long weapon. Are these "short" spears in terms of MRQ2 rules ?
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Is this safer than the same title for MRQ2 ?

I believe there is no MRQ2 version of The Player's Guide. I haven't read the book, so I don't know about the "safety". You should probably ask your GM's opinion on what is safe to read and what is not.

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I think that I got carried away but the term "short"... Yet the hoplite seemed to carry something like a 3m (ten feet) long weapon. Are these "short" spears in terms of MRQ2 rules ?

Yes. A short spear is named thus for two reasons. First its shorter than a long spear. Second, when you wield a short spear one handed, even one three metres long, you need to grasp it midway along its half , otherwise the spear head drags the tip down. So the weapon effectively halves its reach. However, the normal length for single handed spears usually ranged from 2-3 metres, so 3m is about the maximum for a 'shortspear'.

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  • 1 year later...

I think you need more info about longspears and short spears and pikes.   A 9ft short spear seems rather contradictory.  One definition I have seen is human height, if its taller than you are then it is a long spear.

 

It is quite possible to use a longspear one handed, with a hoplon, thats why they were called hoplites.  Nobody in their right mind would tell a spartan he was using a short spear (this is Sparta! :)) Yes you suffer a loss of length due to having to balance it, but they all included a heavy butt spike to help with this, plus if used underhanded you can brace it under your forearm to gain extra length.  

 

I suppose it comes down to definitions of length. In ancients rules long spears are 6-10ft long, pikes are 11ft+. Anything less is a short spear.  Most of the time it is HOW you use it rather than how long it is.

 

Macedonian pikemen did have a small shield, strapped to their forearms (passive). Most Macedonian pikes of Alexanders time were 14-18ft long. Later period pikes were longer, upto 21ft, but you eventually get to a point where the wood cannot support the length without bending.

 

My take would be to make Longspears heavier (ENC) and allow either 1H or 2H use. 1H they do short spear damage and have short spear reach. 2H they do 2H damage and gain extra reach. Short spears are lighter, shorter and easier and less costly to throw.

 

Interesting to watch this: 

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