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About this blog

This blog is going to explore the RQG rules and offer thoughts on refining, advancing or applying them. One thing I really want to help new and old players alike with is bringing the rules to life whilst keeping their simplicity.

These will be my views not those of The Chaosium and should not be considered official interpretations of the rules as written (RAW). 

My hope is that I can help someone get more enjoyment from the game, sweat less about the rules and find the richness and fun that can be had with Runequest. 

Keep it simple. Keep it fun.

Entries in this blog

Communication Skills

Bargain Skill

Trading can be extraordinarily complex and the rules hint at what things can cost or make in terms of profit for a merchant. If you don’t know much about (bronze age) trading and economies it only gives a framework – lots is left to the GM to figure out. I don't propose to try to solve that one here. If you don’t have Weapons and Equipment I strongly advise you to get that because it certainly expands on trading and gives some useful tips on availability and value of things. I don’t propose to g
Communication Skills

Art Skill

This post will actually extend beyond just the communication skill of Art and cover the broader topic of art in Runequest. For me art is split across three aspects:         Knowledge         Production         Aestheticism Knowledge includes theory, history, analysis, identification. Production is the ability to work with the medium and need not be limited to craft skills.  Artistic medium can include words (both the spoken word and written word), music and ele
Communication Skills

Acting Skill

This post is about the communication skill Act. We could be lovies and debate what acting actually is but I don’t have the stomach for that. I’m going to give a simple definition and one that steers away from acting as art (although art is unfortunately the next cab off the ranks in communication skills!). Pretending.  Pretending to be something you are not. It can be pretending to be a specific person or just a different persona or in a different mental or emotional state.  Pretending to
Communication Skills

Communication Skills

In this category I am going to expand on each of the Communication skills with ideas on describing outcomes, what they are and what they aren’t, applying the skill to different contexts, maybe some extensions or alternatives to the rules as written (RAW), thoughts on how to apply the skill and some potential scenario seeds. Before getting into each specific skill I will cover a bit about communication in general, touching on persuasion, sharing information and altering emotional state. I’l
Game Enrichment

Skill Interactions - making more from less

This blog is going to cover the idea of skills combining and interacting to create a more diverse set of possible outcomes and interpretations. I will look at the challenge of an ever-increasing arsenal of skills and present a couple of ideas about augmentation use. Skill Sprawl It’s very tempting to create new skills to deal with tasks and challenges that do not have an appropriate skill in the rules as written (RAW). There are examples of new skills popping up in the published wor
Game Enrichment

Mythic Resonance

Want to flirt with the fringes of mythology but don’t feel ready to start heroquesting in earnest? Want to fake it until you make it? One thing you can do is start to foreshadow and/or enrich your adventures with mythic resonance. What do I mean by that?  Foreshadowing is a story telling technique whereby you present clues or snippets to what will come later. In terms of film it can be as simple as showing a knife on a tabletop before a stabbing later in the film or it could be some
Basics

Difficulty, Opposition and Resistance

In this blog I’m going to talk about how to handle varying levels of difficulty in variable outcome events. I’ll explore this using four different mechanics from the RQG rules. As with many things in gaming there are not always right and wrong answers. I give my views and advice and you can take what you like and discard the rest. Not all tasks and challenges are equal. Some boulders are easier to move than others. Some pieces of music are easier to play than others. Some mountains are mo
glarkhag

glarkhag in Basics

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Game Enrichment

Just Enough Enrichment - JEE

Thanks for stopping by. This post is about an idea I call Just Enough Enrichment (JEE).  In this context I use enrichment to describe the amount of colour or flavour you use to layer over the top of game mechanics when talking about the situations and outcomes.  I find that the more enrichment there is the more you feel like you’re actually experiencing and living what is going on in the game. You can certainly hold it better in your mind’s eye (and mind's ear and mind's nose etc). Abstract play
Basics

Limitations of a ruleset - Part 2

In Part 1 I took you through some rulestorming for the enigmatic area of Heroquesting. The rules I produced are not the point (although if they help you, great, added bonus!). The process is the piece you can take away and use. Just in case it didn’t help, here’s another example. It’s a bit less exotic to say the least and therefore perhaps a bit more accessible for newbies or converts struggling to grapple with the (brilliant) differences RQG has compared to other fantasy RPGs. One point
glarkhag

glarkhag in Basics

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Basics

Limitations of a Ruleset - Part 1

I did say this would be my next entry in an earlier one but the MVP one jumped the queue...I couldn't hold it in any longer. 🙂   I've called this one Limitations of a Ruleset but the subheading would be Challenges and Opportunities. I've split it into two parts because it's too long, probably still too long but if you perservere and read to the end, thank you for indulging me. Before ranting a bit about Heroquesting in one of my previous blog entries I suggested that you prob
glarkhag

glarkhag in Basics

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Musings

Constipation and the MVP

Astute readers may have noticed a little bit of frustration seeping through into my last but one blog. I am surely not alone in that frustration. It rarely bursts out, preferring to linger below the surface as an unseen force of darkness. What is this dark force? Waiting for Heroquest rules for Runequest.  I can’t speak for RQ1 but RQ2 had them on the list of upcoming products back in the early ‘80s. Now for those of you who read my awful one paragraph hack at Heroquest rules you must be w
glarkhag

glarkhag in Musings

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Basics

Game Mechanics vs the Real World

One thing that people often struggle with is trying to make sense of Glorantha by comparing it to the real world. This is useful in general obviously. It’s the most accessible point of reference we have. Alternatively, we can also look to books, films, other games and last but not least our collective imaginations. When using our own experiences it’s important to consider that game mechanics for RQG do not have to align with our real world.  While we can assume a lot of the science we beli
glarkhag

glarkhag in Basics

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Basics

Rules and Rolls and a smattering of controversy/heresy

Rules come in two basic categories:  Fixed outcome Variable outcome For a fixed outcome rule there is a trigger or event that brings the rule into effect. For example, the old classic,  a character pulls a lever. The rules dictate that whenever the lever is pulled a trapdoor opens. The trapdoor opening in this case is a certainty and no die roll is required. When the outcome is not fixed we introduce variability into play. Event A will sometimes result in this a
glarkhag

glarkhag in Basics

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Intro

Hello, good evening and welcome

Welcome to Rich's Runequest Rules Ruminations blog.  I've been playing Runequest since the early eighties but only recently picked up RQG. So glad I did. I absolutely love this latest version. I also love the new perspective on Glorantha that comes with it. This blog is in the main going to avoid commentary on the world though. I'll leave that to more learned members of the community. Though I have played a long time it would be fair to say that I've only skated over the surface of the rich
glarkhag

glarkhag in Intro

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