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radmonger

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  1. radmonger
    The previous blog entry described how clans work in the Runequest rules. However, in Dragon Pass, almost all clans are organised into tribes and tribal federations, which add an extra level of complexity and options. As such, to a clan member, being part of a tribe offers opportunities that a clan by itself could not support.
    In Runequest a tribe is an alliance or federation of clans. Tribes typically number in the thousands or more, so it is unlikely for anyone to know everyone. Unlike a clan, a tribe doesn't naturally generate a wyter, or community spirit. This means that leadership at the tribal level will require explicit magical infrastructure to support it. This is described in the Runequest rules as a cult.
    There are two types of tribal organisation described by currently-published cults:
    In Prax, the Waha cult teaches tribal khans to summon a legendary founder. In and near Dragon Pass, the Orlanth Rex subcult anoints tribal kings (also know as a Rex). It is likely others exist elsewhere in Glorantha.
    Waha Tribe

    The animal nomads of Prax are organised  into tribes, where each tribe is a specific type of riding animal (bison, high llama, and so on). As nomads, they have very limited access to temples, which must be portable to move with the herd. So they mostly rely on shamanic priests of Waha, and Eiritha priestesses trained at the single major temple complex of the Paps.
    Each tribe is ruled by a single individual known as the Tribal Khan. Waha shamanic priests teach the legitimate Khan the Rune Spell Summon Founder, which is both proof of the legitimacy of their status, and a means of enforcing it. In most tribes, it is those Waha shamans who picks the Khan. But in the Morokanth and Sable clans there is a tribal queen, a High Pirestess of Eiritha, who has a a joint leadership role, and a major say in picking the Khan.
    Dividing the tribe into clans (which raise children) and warbands (which don't) is at the discretion of the Tribal Khan, who appoints their khans. Some clans have a long tradition and a khan would be unwise to permanently splitting them, or appointing an outsider as their khan. Others are just temporary divisions, forced by military strategy, or the necessity of avoiding overgrazing of a single area. Storm Bulls warbands are led by a Storm Khan, and are largely independent of the tribe, fighting their own battles with Chaos.
    The cults of Waha and Eiritha provide the necessities of survival, and so are the foundations of society. Magic beyond that necessary for common survival is a matter for the individual, and is typically treated pragmatically. The temples of settled people often offer useful magic at a lower price than a tribal shaman would charge. So a tribesman might well be an initiate of Orlanth or Humakt, and it would be impossible for anyone unfamiliar with the tribe to know whether they got that status from a Pavis temple or a shamanic spirit cult.
     
    Orlanth Rex Tribe

    The Orlanthi tribes of Dragon Pass are organised alliances between clans, which are the fundamental social unit. Clans can leave one tribe and join another while keeping their identity. 
    All tribes have a small town or fort, which contains a selection of tribal temples. These temples are available for worship and magical instruction by all clans, and are maintained by the revenues the clans pay to the tribe. This revenue also supports the tribal king and his retinue, and any warband the tribe maintains. Almost all residents of the town are members of one of the clans of the tribe, to which they pwn their primary loyalty.
    Tribal leadership is organised around the subcult of Orlanth Rex, representing Orlanth's claim to be King of the Gods. The tribal Orlanth Rex temple to is responsible for selecting a  tribal king to rule the tribe. Atribal king must worship Orlanth, although it need not be their only, or even main, cult. They receive an especially powerful allied spirit in the form of the tribal Guardian Spirit, even if they are only an initiate. This spirit is typically not a community wyter, as the tribe itself is not a permanent settled  community. Instead, it is often bound into tribal regalia held by the Orlanth Rex temple.
    For example, the Colymar tribe is based around Clearwine Fort. As a traditionalist tribe, the Colymar send their militia to war when needed, led by the thanes of each clan. Other tribes instead organise those thanes into a permanent military formation, such as the Headhunters of the Culbrea.
     
     
     
     
     
    Header image: Cardiff castle mural showing Silurian tribesmen fighting the Roman military.
    By Steve F-E-Cameron (Merlin-UK) - Self-photographed, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2052071
     
     
     
  2. radmonger
    How to roll
    In Rivers of Sartar, all rolls are opposed rolls, between contestants, each of which is using an ability. Each contestant simultaneously rolls a single D100 (the success D100), and zero or more D20s (the bonus D20).
    The option of using different numbers of bonus D20 provides an additional dimension by which different situations may be handled in game:
    if a contestant has advantage, roll 2 bonus die; use the higher one. if a contestant has disadvantage, roll 2 bonus die; use the lower value. if a contestant has inspiration, roll 2 bonus die; use the higher value on a success, and the lower value on a failure if a contestant is inactive, they do not roll a bonus dice. How to read the D100 success dice
    The success D100 is rolled in the same way as RQ:G. So if both dice are 0, the result is 100.
    Ability values over 96 are treated as 96, 150 or more as 97, and so forth, up to a maximum of 99% at 250%. This modified value is the effective ability.
    Given that, a rolled value below or equal to the effective ability is counted as a succesful roll.
    How to read the D20 bonus dice
    On a successful roll:
    a roll of 20 or more is a critical, of value 3 a roll of 17, 18 or 19 is a special success, of value 2. any other value is a normal success, of value 1. On a failed roll:
    a roll of 1 is a fumble, of value -1 any other roll is a normal failure, of value 0. Every full 50 ability points over 100 lowers the value required to score a critical by 1 (so 19 at 150%, 18 at 200%, and so on).
    Every 10 ability points over 100 lowers the value required to score a special success by 1 (so 16 at 110%, 17 at 120%, and so on).
    Tie break mechanism
    Normally, the contestant with the highest number of successes wins. Ties can be broken by looking at the D100 value rolled; the contestant with the highest value scores an extra success.
     

  3. radmonger

    Cults of Runequest: Clans

    By radmonger,


    Runequest
    The previous blog entry described Rune Cults in abstract rules terms. This by itself is enough for running an adventure-focused game, where rune cults serve a game function much like that of D&D character classes. 
    However, many people prefer a community-focused game, in the style of the Red Cow campaign or Six Seasons in Sartar. This requires a somewhat deeper understanding of how the rules portray the setting, in particular what a clan is.
    In the RQ:G rules, the term clan is used in much the same way as in popular anthropology; a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent, especially when part of a larger group such as a tribe, nation or empire. Membership of a clan is by birth, marriage or adoption; being a member of more than one clan is normally not possible. Clans typically make a better focus of a community-focused campaign than cults themselves, simply because they allow a greater diversity of characters. 
    Using the default character generation rules, all characters are born into a clan. However, there is little in the explicit rules that explains how clan, tribe and cult relate to each other. So, as these rules are intended to be usable for running such community-focused campaigns, this blog post takes a closer look at how this works. 
    To do this, we look at 3 examples of clan-level community:
    a Valind clan, organised around a single temple, led by a priest a great temple to Asrelia, organised around a single large temple led by a chief priest, presiding over subservient cults an Orlanth Thunderous clan, organised around a pair of temples to Orlanth and Ernalda, run by a chieftain For each case, there are three perspectives; the Otherworld of gods and spirits, the mundane world of people and temples, and then the game rules that describe them.
    Note that in Dragon Pass, almost all clans are organised into tribes and tribal federations, which add an extra level of complexity and options. These will will be looked at in the next part of this series.

    Valind Clan

    Some clans support initiation into only a single rune or spirit cult; clan and cult membership are synonymous. Clans following this pattern are commonly run by the senior Rune Priest, Shaman Priest or Rune Lord. It is possible for a senior initiate to temporarily lead a clan, but such a clan will be greatly magically weakened if a more appropriate replacement is not soon found.
    It is not possible to be a full member of the clan, or marry into it, without being or becoming an initiate of the clan cult. The clan maintains a community spirit, or wyter, which provides a bridge to a specific deity on the God Plane. Such a deity is almost always massively more powerful and long lasting than a spirit directly contactable by a shaman.
    The clan wyter is responsible for detecting and enforcing any behavior taboos or restrictions described in the cult write-up. It knows what the community knows, and what the priest and deity tell it. So a secret successfully kept from the clan, and not revealed during worship, may stay a secret. It also teaches cult spirit magic, at the discretion of the community leader. Many clans have additional spirit magic available from their wyter; some rare ones provide specialist Rune magic too.
    As such clans are literally a monoculture, they perhaps represent a better place to have come from than a setting for a long-term campaign.
    Perhaps as this somewhat matches the contemporary real-world usage of the word 'cult', it's a common misconception that all Gloranthan clans are this way. However, while they are a clear minority of clans, they do exist. Examples include:
    Hsunchen clans such as the Telmori Clans following Valind, from the glacier lands where agriculture is not possible Isolationist or refugee  ethnic groups that follow Daka Fal ancestor worship Tusk Riders following the cult of the Bloody Tusk. Riverfolk following Heler or Engizi. Some God Learners speculated that this was the primordial form of social organisation from which all others derive. Others thought that it was the easiest to create, or recreate after a catastrophe. So usually it would be newer than other, more complex, forms of religious organisation.
    Some cult-based organisations like Storm Bull warbands, Yggite pirate crews and Gagarthi  bandit gangs have a similar organisation internally. However, they are not usually counted as clans as they rarely bring up children. It would be highly unusual to be born into one; instead you join them in adulthood.
    Asrelian Great  Temple 
    Sometimes, great or major temples of a cult own and control their own lands, within which people are born and raised. Within those lands, the cult is entirely dominant, structuring society as much as a primordial clan does. Other examples include the Paps in Prax, Old Wind in Sartar, and the Shaker Temple in Tarsh. However, due to the size and magical power of temples of that size, an additional level of complexity is present. This corresponding to the RQ:G term subordinate cult.

     
    Some great temples and temple complexes, whether they count as clans or not, support subordinate cults. These are run by Specialist Priests, typically of Godtalker rank. These report to the temple High Priestess, tend a shrine, and worship a lesser deity who resides at the otherwold home of the great deity in question. Such specialist priests are recruited from the general population of cult initiates; there is not a separate community of those dedicated to the subordinate cult. Consequently, there will pretty much never be a full cult writeup available, as the number of actual members of the subordinate cult is negligible.
    The net result is that if the subordinate cult provides rune magic, it is available to all cult initiates, subject to the discretion of the Chief priest. This could be considered to be cult association, but with a single cult managing both ends of the relationship.
    For example, in Esrolia, the independent Great Temple  Asrelia's Retreat maintains a subservient cult to Aleshmara, a Pamaltean deity. This was initially set up by persuading a priestess of that cult to cross the ocean and set up shop in the temple. The daughter of that original priestess initiated to Asrelia when she came of age, and now tends the shine her mother established. That provides the Rune Spell Bounty to all Asrelia cult members who visit the temple. This process was ruinously expensive in both wealth and magical power, but the cult hierarchy considers it a sound investment.
    Great temples can be interesting and useful places to visit, if only because they contain magic available nowhere else. However, they make a poor setting for a typical campaign, as there is still only a single cult that initiates must belong to.
    Orlanth Thunderous Clan
    One common pattern of clan worship is where a clan supports two temples to two associated cults, representing deities who are husband and wife. Normally, when a clan worships two cults, this causes divisions within the community,. This weakens the wyter and commonly leads to the split of the clan into two. Having the two cults be segregated by gender, and then tied together by marriage avoids that. The two temples share a shrine (or sometimes two shrines) representing the bond. This makes available the two rune spells listed under the associated cults section of their writeup. For example, for a clan focused around Orlanth Thunderous and Ernalda, the shrine would make available Heal Body and Cloud Call.
    The work of tending the shrine is shared between the two priesthoods. The clan is led by a Chieftan, who ideally should qualify as a Rune Lord and/or Priest. Note that the rules section 'Chief priest' applies to either; the chieftan of an Orlanthi clan is only required to be an initiate of Orlanth.

     
    As the Orlanth Rune Cult write-up is split into subcults, it is necessary to specify which one the clan temple corresponds to; in this case Orlanth Thunderous. The Ernalda cult write-up is not so split, so the temple is described by the writeup directly. This should not be taken to mean that all clan-level Ernalda temples are identical, merely that there is no systematic pattern to how they vary.
    This type of clan is recommended for a community-based campaign, as it is possible, with some flexibility, to accommodate initiates of many different cults into the clan.
    For all genders, initiation into the clan precedes initiation into a specific temple, cult or subcult.  taking the form of a minor heroquest as described in 6SiS. This gives the new adult access to the Otherworld palace Orlanth and Ernalda share. From there, forming a connection to any deity who lives at that palace, including most of the Lightbringers and Ernalda's family is normally automatically successful. Those who chose to form such a connection become initiates of that specific god. If using the RoS rules, this counts as a friendly transfer between cults.  Those who do not transfer remain in Orlanth or Ernalda.  
    Those who fail the adulthood ordeal must successfully initiate to some other acceptable god in order to count as a full clan member; hunter gods are the most common alternate path. Those who do not find such a path are usually supported by the clan, so long as hope remains that they some day will.
    Exceptional performance at the adulthood initiation heroquest can earn a single use of any rune spell available to the clan. This is generally taken as an omen. For example someone who starts as an Ernaldan and is awarded the Lightning spell will likely be directed to the path of Vinga. In the abscence of such a clear sign, the clan elders use their best judgement, taking account of both the needs of the community and the wishes and capability of the young adult.
    Completing initiation to the level represented by the default character generation rules (i.e. 21 years old with 3 rune spells and a reasonable level of cult skills) requires access to a full temple,which will likely not be present locally to the clan. If the temple is available at tribal, or tribal association, level, this is routine. Otherwise it may require a long and dangerous pilgrimage to a foreign temple, who may or may not accept the candidate. It is GM's discretion whether his can be assumed to have taken place before play. If not, they will have more RP than spells known.
    Ernalda's other husband-protectors include Argan Argar, Flamal, Lodril, Magasta, Pamalt, Strom Bull, Yelm and Yelmalio. So any of these deities can replace Orlanth. although only Yelmalio (sometimes called Elmal), Lodril and Argan Argar do so in the Dragon Pass region. In Prax, it is her daughter Eiritha  who is married to Waha. 
     
     
     
     
  4. radmonger

    Introducing Rivers of Sartar

    By radmonger,


    Rivers of Sartar
    There are many BRP-derived, Runequest-inspired fantasy role-playing game systems; ones I am aware of include Mythras, OpenQuest, SpeedRune, SimpleQuest, Revolution D100, Jackals and Legend.
    This is mine[1].
    For people who are not me, it's main selling point is that it is a unofficial adaptation of some of the principles behind the QuestWorld game engine to Chaosium's world of Glorantha. In particular, it changes certain aspects of the QuestWorlds core mechanics to support the direct use of Chaosium-produced supplements such as the Gloranthan Bestiary, Red Book of Magic and Cults of Runequest. It does not have the ambition of being a complete publishable game line, instead referencing sections and supplements from RQ:G whenever I don't feel like writing a replacement.
    As such, it  follows Chaosium Inc’s Fan Material Policy, with the disclaimer:
     
     
    General Description
    Runequest:Glorantha provides detailed rules for effectively simulating the world of Glorantha. These help in understanding how that unfamiliar world works, but are often ignored in actual play by experienced GMs.
    QuestWorlds provides fast-handling storytelling rules that are capable of handling any genre, providing only that players and GM already understand that genre.
    Rivers of Sartar attempts to blend these two approaches to provide the best of both worlds, in a way reminiscent of modern Chaosium BRP games such as Rivers of London.
     
    It is always fast-handling, in that it requires almost no arithmetic, table lookup or repetitive dice rolling during play.
    It starts from a baseline of storytelling, in a way that also allows elements of world-simulation and simple tactical gameplay to be added as desired.
    In addition to the games listed above, a key inspiration is David Dunham's Pendragon Pass, This set the precedent of mashing together multiple games systems to produce something that could never be commercially published, but was useful to its target audience.
     
    [1] Or at least, will be when it is done.
     
    image credit: wikimedia.
     
     
     
     
     
  5. radmonger

    Cults of Runequest

    By radmonger,


    Runequest
    For Rune and Spirit Magic,Rivers of Sartar uses a lightly modified version of the RQ:G cult rules that underlay the supplements in the Cults of Runequest (CoR) line. So in order to explain these rules, and justify their existence, it is necessary to first explain how the official rules work.
    Hopefully this will also prove useful to those who want to stick with the Rules As Written (RAW), or make their own preferred tweaks.
    RQ:G RAW

    A PC is born into a clan, which is normally part of a tribe, and located in a homeland. Default PCs are all initiates, so worship a god via a Rune Cult. This means they have a Rune Pool (RP), which initially has a size of 3. This can be used to cast any of the three Rune Spells they initially know.
    Rune Cults can be complex multifaceted things, and so many have one or more:
    magical relationships (cult associations) with other Rune Cults, such as a jointly-run shrine or ceremony. Subcults representing particular traditions of worship, aspects or understandings of the deity. These describe the ways in which different cult temples tend to vary. Subordinate Cults representing other magical organisations run by the cult, such a shrine or ceremony to a minor deity or hero tended by priests of the cult. The description of a Rune Cult is generally written up using either a short form (as in RQ:G)  or long form (as in CoR) template. Sub cults usually only have a short form writeup, noting only how they differ from the default. However, a long form writeup of a subcult is possible, for example Barntar in CoR.
    At the time of character creation, a PC will normally have only dealt with one tradition of worship, and so has been taught by only one subcult. So the cult skills learnt in Step 6 of character creation are technically those of the subcult picked by the PC. In most currently-published cases, these are the same for all subcults. Again, Barntar is an exception.
    Using skills has no associated costs, and using Spirit Magic only costs Magic Points, which refill automatically. But In order for a Rune Spell to be reusable, they have to have a way to refill their rune pool after casting it. This is done using the worship skill appropriate to a cult that is available to. This means that if they  are not initiated into that cult, the spell is 1-use. So it not only goes away after casting, but permanently drops their RP size by the value of the spell. This is presumably true whether it was initially learnt from  a cult they later left, or they acquired the spell by some non-standard means. Such means include being a reward for a favor to a cult, or succeeding at a heroquest.
    A Rune Spell will be available to a Rune Cult if any of the following apply:
    if it listed as Special Rune Magic in the most recent write-up if it is named as the spell provided by an Associated Cult if it a spell available to any  Subcult or Subordinate Cult. Note that available to does not necessarily mean easily available; if a particular subcult is only available in Kralorela, the character must travel there to learn it. It is entirely GM's discretion if such a trip can be assumed to have taken place during the PCs backstory. So there is no rule explicitly restricting Rune Spells taken during character generation to only those available to their subcult. However, they must take at least one, other they would not actually be members.
    Initiation into multiple cults
    After character creation, initiation into multiple cults is possible, even if the cults are not associated.
    However, membership in multiple cults confers additional obligations in terms of donations of income and time, without any correspondingly increased status or reward.
    For skills and spirit magic, common sense applies; this only changes what is available for training, and at what cost. 
    Things get more complex where Rune Magic is concerned, and the results differ between the case where a Subcult or Rune Cult is joined. 
    In either case, once any preconditions are met and tests of initiation passed, the deal is sealed by learning a single Rune Spell, at a cost of 1 POW. But if joining a new top level rune cult, then a new Rune Pool is needed, corresponding to the fact that the Worship skill is cult-specific. Such split Rune Pools are then tracked separately.
    This means that, unlike in most previous  Gloranthan rulesets, in RQ:G the question of whether two deities with different names are or are not aspects of each other has to have a rule-defined answer. Given that, it is better it be defined in advance than debated during play.
    More common than multiple cult membership is transferring between cults, often in a way corresponding to different stages of life. For example, the CoR writes up of Asrelia states that priestesses of Ernalda past childbearing age may retire from that role and automatically become a Priestess of Asrelia.
    Rivers of Sartar House Rules
    A few minor  changes to the RAW are recommended, whether or not you are using the rest of these rules.
    In the case of split Rune Pools, the CHA cap on the size of a Rune Pool applies to the sum of such split Rune Pools. This avoids multiple cult initiation being not just more flexible, but a stronger route to raw power than focusing on a single cult. When transferring between friendly or associated cults in a way approved by the new cults, access to spells available to both cults is retained. The new Rune Pool has a size based on the number of such spells known. When joining an associated or related cult, the new Worship skill starts not at zero, but at a fraction of the most similar worship skill known, in the same way that related languages work.  These changes means that a Priestess of Ernalda who knows Absorption, Hide Wealth,  Command Snake, Summon Earth Elemental and Fertilize will, on transferring to Asrelia, start with a Rune Pool of size 5.  If they had a Worship[Ernalda] skill of 90%, they now have Worship[Asrelia] 60%. So they are immediately able to function as a priestess, without requiring a multiple-year retraining period late in life. Of course, they still have a lot to learn about the deeper mysteries of the cult.
    As usual, their other Rune Magic such as Birthing and Bless Champion becomes 1-use. Most priestesses ensure they expend these spells before transferring cults, as afterwards casting them will permanently shrink their Rune Pool size. Others hold them in reserve for some emergency.
    More relevant to all but the most long-running campaigns, this also provides more flexibility early in life. So a PC might change from Orlanth to Lhankhor Mhy with only a small loss of magic. A warrior might even convert from Humakt to Yanafil Tarnils; while they lose a lot, they do not lose everything.
     
     
     
     
  6. radmonger

    Scenario 2: Voria's Run

    By radmonger,


    Lyksos
    The Festival
    The first day of the year is Freezeday of Disorder week, Sea season. This day is holy to Voria the Spring Virgin, the goddess of new beginnings, youth and innocence. In Nochet, this is traditionally celebrated by a mass run. Horns call children, and the young-at-heart, into the streets. There, they simply run until exhaustion. There is no start or finish line, no winning or losing, just run until you drop. Wherever you fall, when you recover you look around for a sign of Voria's blessing. Most participants are happy to go home with just a symbolic token, a pretty stone or early flower. But every year, there are stories of some children who find a treasure.
    The year is 1617. This is the first such festival since Belintar, the God King, was slain by a mysterious assassin. The Sacred Time omens have been bad, and all the adults are worried. But he has been killed before; virtually no-one suspects he is not coming back this time. That this will be the last year his magics blesses the land, earning it the name Holy Country. Never again will the spring day shine so bright, the race be run so swiftly, exhaustion be so complete, or prospect of a prize so exciting.
    In the hard times to come, all hope of the restoration of what was lost will be placed in the hands of the Last Holy Generation. This is the beginning of their story.
    The Cult of Voria
    In most Lightbringer lands, Voria is celebrated but rarely worshiped. Nochet and other great cities of Esrolia are an exception. There, the cult of Voria is a formal organisation with permanent temples and Rune Priestesses. Those priestess are vital to the agricultural rituals that allow those cities to grow to an unprecedented size. Nochet, with over 100,000 residents, is commonly held to be the largest city in all Glorantha.
    Note that Earth Goddesses book says that only women may be a Rune Priestess of Voria. However, Nochet follows the  Heortling Six Paths gender system, so this is more a matter of definition than restriction.  
    Like the ancient Roman Vestal Virgins, the adult Priestesses of Voria lead luxurious but secluded lives, rarely leaving their temples other than to perform rituals, and never marrying.  Becoming a Priestess is an honored and prestigious vocation that few qualify for. Unlike Roman Vestals, those of Nochet are not harshly punished if they break their vows. But they do lose their magic, and their Grandmother will be disappointed. 
    PCs will be old enough to be able to decide whether becoming a Priestess is a fate that they aspire to, or would kill to avoid. 
    Rules
    The Festival of Voria's Run is run as an ongoing contest. As the race has no winner, and always ends in collapse, what matters is the number of successes each participant scores before then. As with Scenario 1, characters have not been created yet, and so have no characteristics or abilities other than those established during that scenario. 
    This time new abilities should be on a scale of 10 to 65. Those repeated from last time may be increased to 75. The total of all abilities taken, across both scenarios, cannot exceed 350.
    As before, abilities taken now will have to be paid for in later stages of character generation. So taking many high abilities will restrict the available options for occupation and cult to those that fit.
    For each stage in the run, the GM describes the situation. The PC describes what they are doing in response, and picks an ability rating. The GM assigns that to a RQ:G skill, characteristic, skill passion or rune, and then sets the difficulty based on how appropriate the response is. 
    While the contest is ongoing, the tie break rule is not used. If a PC picks an action that indicates they are withdrawing from the race, that roll is counted as decisive, uses the tiebreak rule and ends the contest. If at any time a PC has 3 successes scored against them, the next stage is automatically decisive. Once all contestants have withdrawn or collapsed, the contest is over; proceed to handing out rewards.
    All oppositions represent environmental factors, and so have status inactive. So the opposition does not roll a bonus D20.
    Stage 1: Before the start
    Horns call the Runners onto the street, where they await the touch of the Priestess that forms the signal to start running.
    Normally children are not initiated, and so have no magic. But in the special circumstances of a Holy festival on the last year of existence of the Holy Country, this rule is suspended. So Runes or Passions may be taken as abilities, and may be used to roll for inspiration. Inspiration lasts for the whole contest. A failed inspiration roll means an additional rune or passion would have to be taken to try again.
    Highly suitable options include Love Family, Loyalty Nochet, Devotion [any God], , or ; these are opposed by a rating of 20. will be opposed by 40. Less suitable options will face a higher opposition still.
    Stage 2: The Crush
    As the run starts, the street is packed densely with runners, many of them larger and older than the PCs. There is a risk of being jostled and falling, or being stuck in a group and unable to run freely.
    This might be avoid by being too strong or large to be jostled, too nimble or lucky to fall over, too popular to be crowded, or tough enough to get back up after falling down.
    The festival is a situation of low danger, so the base difficulty rating for a highly appropriate ability is 20.  As always, this will be increased for less appropriate choices.
    Stage 3: The Run
    The crowd thins, and there is nothing to do but keep on running. 
    Base difficulty is 40, highly suitable abilities include dexterity and constitution. This stage can be repeated several times, at a higher base difficulty each time. 
    Stage 4: Lost in the City
    Running beyond the streets they know, each PC finds themselves in a strange district, where foreigners live who do not necessarily respect the sanctity of the Run. These may be trolls, Malkioni, Kralorelans or Teshnans. They loom in front of the runner.
    A runner might place their trust in their good nature, or common respect for the Goddess. They might try to intimidate them, trick them, bargain with them, or just outrun them.
    Base difficulty is 30, highly suitable abilities are homeland or other relevant lore skills. In reality, no permanent resident of Nochet would harm a child during this sacred festival, but the participants don't necessarily know that.
    Stage 5: The Accident
    A drastic incident interrupts the run. A cart may be turned over, a horse bolt, or a brawl break out. Someone may be hurt and in need of healing; can the runner find someone to help them without ending their run?
    Base difficulty is 40, highly suitable abilities depend on the details of the situation.
    Stage 6: The Blessing
    Nearly passing out from exhaustion, the PC starts to feel the presence of Voria herself running beside them. Such things can happen in the capital of the Holy Country, where Goddesses walk the streets.
    If they ask, they may receive Her blessing.
    This is a simple opposed roll with tie break, against difficulty 50. Highly suitable abilities include  , , or Devotion or Worship to any Earth Goddess.  If they pass, they receive Voria's blessing. A failure has no effect; it does not affect the state of the ongoing contest.
    The blessing is a free single-use of the Invigorate Rune spell. During this ongoing contest, it may be cast at any time to cancel out all contest successes scored so far by the environment. Once cast, the spell is gone, as is usual for one-use magic.
    Stage 7: The Dawn Gate
    The Sacred City at the heart of Nochet is guarded by three gates. Runners who approach the Virtue or Petitioners gate will be politely turned away. But on this festival day, the Dawn Gate is open. But not to anyone.
    The runner must convince the Dawn Gate guards that they are a legitimate and serious participant in the ritual. And not a street urchin trying something on.
    Base difficulty is 50, highly suitable abilities are Loyalty to a high status house, or any abilities restricted to high status professions such as Priest or Noble. Having, and using, the Invigorate spell will be an automatic success. If they have the spell but choose not to use it, they may try to persuade the guards to go fetch a priest or shaman who can confirm its existence using their own magic.
    Stage 8: The Garden of Heavenly Delights
    The Garden is filled with many wondrous sights, smells and tastes. Some of which are immensely valuable. It will be a temptation to lie down next to some small desirable object, and so wake claiming it. For anyone permitted entry to the garden, such a claim will naturally be honored.
    Doing so counts as withdrawing from the contest; use some skill such as bargain or streetwise to pick the most valuable object.
    Continuing on requires a success against a difficulty of 60; only a relevant passion (e.g. Honor or Devotion) is likely to be appropriate.
    If any PC makes it past here, repeat Stage 3 with steadily increasing difficulty until they pass out.
    The Prize
    Contestants who continued on until collapse subtract 3 from the number of successes scored against them, and then count the remaining net successes.
    5+ : +1 to any two or more characteristics, added after completion of character generation. 4 : +1 to any characteristic, added after completion of character generation. 3 : a magical item rolled on the Family Heirloom table of N:AG. This may be planted by their parents, a gift from the Goddess herself, or something in between. 2: a contact, mentor or ally (see N:AG, Common Character Table). 1: a small gift or discovery, worth 10L 0 or less: a small item of no intrinsic value Contestants who successfully withdraw at a certain stage get rewards appropriate to that stage. The value uses the table above, but restricted to a maximum of
    1 if they withdrew before stage 3 2 if they withdrew before stage 6 3 if the withdrew at stage 8 Contestants who attempted to withdraw, but failed, get nothing.
    What Comes After
    If any contestant received Voria's blessing, but did not use it, they are identified as a potential candidate for becoming a Priestess of Voria. They receive a contact of a senior family member who wants that to happen. Depending on how they feel about that, that character will be either a Current Mentor or Worst Foe.
    If they do end up fully initiating to Voria, they keep the spell without having to spend a POW; personally meeting a Goddess overrides the usual rules.
    Anyone who failed to get a reward may try again next year. However, they will not meet the Goddess, and so step 6. The era when Goddesses freely walked the streets of Nochet has gone, and none knows if or when it will return.
     
  7. radmonger
    When a contest resolves, whether simple or ongoing, if the result is not to any contestants liking, they may reject it. Normally this will because they lost, but a particularly confident contestant might be unsatisfied in the level of success they achieved and try for more.
    In order to do so, if they are losing, they must accept a number of consequences sufficient to bring the contest back to being a draw. If they were winning, they must give up successes instead. Either way, at this point it becomes an ongoing contest, with both sides counting as having an equal number of successes scored so far.
    There are two types of consequences:
    resource loss involves the attrition of some limited resource such as time, money or magic. lethal consequences involve taking damage to a random hit location, following a simplified version of the RQ:G combat rules. Resources

    Any value that would normally be tracked on a character sheet, but is not an ability, may be treated as a resource. This includes:
    hit points  magic points rune points money gear (supplies, food, water,  social status followers Resources are not reduced to any uniform or abstract scale; it is simpler to keep track of having '400 lunars' or '30 cows' than '15 wealth'. In play, they are spent and gained in the obvious way; spending 20L means you have 20L less. Casting a spell decreases magic or rune points appropriately.
    Resources normally have an associated ability, which may be used to replenish the value when given a suitable opportunity. 
    In addition, new temporary resources can be created based on the circumstances of a situation. For example, if there is a deadline by which something must be done, then the time available can be treated as a resource to be spent.
    Resource Loss as a Consequence
    When rejecting a losing contest result, buying one success costs 1 unit of resources. two successes cost 3, three successes 6, and so on. A mixture of resources may be sent to reach these totals.
    The contestant must have the required resources, an there must be an explanation as to how spending those resources can solve the problem of having lost the contest, bearing in mid the ability used to that resolve it. For magic and rune points, this will normally require knowing a relevant spell, for example some form of healing magic.
    The value of a resource unit used in such an exchange should be set by the GM based on the logic of the situation.
    For example, if a hunter fails a ranged attack on a deer, they could merely lose 1 of the 20 arrows they carry. This means eventual success is virtually guaranteed, and so may not not be worth rolling for.
    If a warband leader with 20 followers loses a decisive battle contest by a margin of 3, they must accept 6 casualties in order to avoid surrender or rout.
    If a merchant loses a bargaining contest by 1 level, they must take a loss of 10% of the nominal value of the good being traded in order to acquire it.
    Lethal consequences will be described in a future blog post.
     
     
     
  8. radmonger
    One of the three modes of play that these rules support is free-form play, where every contest is resolved with a single opposed roll. For some GMs and groups, this by itself is enough. Many successful campaigns have been run in this way, ever since it was adapted for RPGs from the style of wargame invented by Tom Mouat.
    However, sometimes you might want a contest that isn't resolved so quickly. One that fills more of the session, one that has several twists and turns that generate an emergent story without the GM having to work too hard. And sometimes you might just want to roll more dice.
    Chaosium's Questworld SRD has 4 distinct mechanisms aimed at filling that gap (group, chained, wagered and scored sequences). These rules propose a 5th, which in Questworlds terms would be called an ongoing sequence, but we call a ongoing contest.
    To understand why these rules are the way, we go back to the probability table produced for opposed rolls:

     
    We could use the direct equivalent of a QW scored sequence on that table; repeatedly rolling until 5 successes have been scored by one side or the other. As in QW, we use a tiebreak  rule of 'highest roll wins'.  Without such a rule, the number of rolls required is unbounded, and sometimes excessive. With such a rule in place, every roll moves you at least one step closer to completing the contest. So there can't be more than 10, and are commonly less than 5.
    This would lead to:

    This table has several problems. For one thing, it has large areas where the chance of the underdog wining is less than 5%. This is because an unexpected result might occur once, but it is less likely to show up repeatedly. 
    Consequently, it is sufficiently different from the single-roll table that players may be tempted to try and persuade the GM to use this type of contest when it favors them. Worse, it favors them most when they are dealing with inferior opposition, and penalizes them when they are the underdogs. This is the opposite of the typical use of the two types of contests for pacing and drama. The climax of a session or campaign, the crux to be focused on, would normally the harder conflict. The boss fight, not the easier job of dealing with the guards.
    Things become worse once one or two successes have been scored, and the stronger side now has a 99.99% chance of winning. Unless the GM realizes this and cuts things short, the conflict must still proceed for several more rolls in order to ensure the overwhelmingly likely thing does indeed happen.
    The solution adopted for ongoing contests is to have two different types of rolls:
    A decisive roll represents a test to definitively resolve a contest, determining a winner, using a tie-break mechanism if required.  An task roll represents a test to see if specific attempt as an individual challenge or task is successful.  A contest is complete not at a fixed threshold, but because one side decided to attempt a decisive roll. Typically, this will be because they think they are in an advantageous position. This approach places the climax, the decisive moment, at the end of the contest. Which is where it belongs.
    As this involves active decision-making, you can't really give a definitive single table for the probabilities involved. The table below comes from using a fixed tactic of 'decisive roll if ahead, task roll if behind but not yet lost'.
     

     
    This has a less steep gradient than the scored contest table, much closer to the original..It has a slight bis to the PC, assuming hey are the ones making the decisions as o what roll to attempt.
     
     
     
     
     
  9. radmonger

    Game Mechanic: Ongoing Contests

    By radmonger,


    Game Mechanics
    In an ongoing contest, a sequence of rolls are used to resolve a single contest. As with freeform play, success or failure simply changes the situation which must be dealt with.
    Compared to freeform play, within that contest, additional rules and guidelines apply, and so the need for GM fiat is somewhat lessened.
    A contest normally ends with a decisive roll, which will indicate the degree of success or failure the contest resulted in.
    A PC may reject the result of a decisive roll, normally because they lost. If they do, the contest continues, but they must immediately apply mechanical consequences based on how badly they would have lost.
    An ongoing contest in which the first roll is decisive is effectively the same as an opposed roll in freeform play. So the type of contest does not need to be selected in advance,  it can emerge organically based on what the players actually decide to do. Do they hang back to evaluate the situation, or charge in?
    Contest Resolution
    Within an ongoing contest, the type and sequence of rolls to be made should be based on the logic of the situation, the underlying reason why it is being rolled for, and the need to involve all participating players. For example, for a challenge that takes place at a time known in advance, there is likely time for as many status actions as can be thought of. A trial with three witnesses to be presented will be three opposed rolls, before a decisive concluding argument.
    On the other hand, if there is no time pressure or risk, a task might reasonably be attempted indefinitely until the desired result is achieved. In such cases, it is better to treat the task as automatically successful if there is a non-zero chance of success.
    A contest has two or more opposing sides, each of which has one or more contestants. A contestant is typically an individual, but may be a closely cooperating group, or environmental factor.
    PCs will commonly be contestants on the same side. But if they are not, then the same rules work.
    Only those contestants participating in a given roll are the involved contestants. This will commonly not be all the contestant in the contest, and may be only two. For example an archer and a target, or a lawspeaker and a witness. For either, while the results of that roll will contribute to the success of the battle or trial, only those involved get to roll
    In a tactical challenge, additional rules apply to who gets to make what type of roll, and when; see the next section for details.
    Types of Roll

    A decisive roll represents a test to definitively resolve a contest, determining a winner, using a tie-break mechanism if required. The result indicates what happens, allowing the result to be applied and the story to move on to whatever happens next.
    An task roll represents a test to see if specific attempt as an individual challenge or task is successful. It is normally part of a larger sequence of tasks, called a contest, which will eventually terminate by a decisive roll.
    The consequences of success and failure apply only to the state of that contest; a task roll that is not part of a contest has no mechanical effect.
    A status roll represents an attempt to inspire, prepare for, assist in, or supervise the performance of a task or challenge.
    Note that as a contest evolves over a sequence of rolls, it is not necessary to commit to any set of possible consequences until the time a decisive roll is called for.
    So a party may scout a group of unknown raiders in order to evaluate their strength, before committing to either a skirmish, a full combat, or running away.
    Status Roll
    A status roll represents an attempt to inspire, prepare for, assist in, or supervise the performance of a task or challenge.
    This is an opposed roll without tiebreak rule, against an opposition set by the GMs estimation of how plausible the action is. The initiating contestant rolls a D100 and zero or more D20, with the number depending on any status effects they have active.
    If successful, a status effect is applied to, or removed from one contestant for each level of success.
    Status rolls broadly correspond to the QW mechanism of augments. They are less consequential than an opposed roll, but may be possible in circumstances, or at a timing, where a full opposed roll is not.
    Task Roll
    This is an opposed roll with no tiebreak. All involved contestants roll a D100 and zero or more D20, with the number depending on any status effects they have active.
    The number of successes each contestant scores is added to the ongoing tally kept for the contest.
    Decisive roll
    This is an opposed roll with tiebreak rule applied. All involved contestants roll a D100 and zero or more D20, as for a task roll.
    Then the totals for each contestant on each side are added up and compared.
    If the final result is an equal number of successes, a tie break rule is applied to all contestants from tied sides to give one side an extra success. This means the contestant with the highest dice value rolled scores an extra success for their side.
    In the rare case that this doesn't produce a winner, the outcome is a dead heat. The contest either continues or ends without resolution.
    Rejecting a contest result
    By default, a contest ends immediately after a decisive roll. The side with the most successes wins.
    However, the losers of a contest may take as many consequences as required to match the successes scored by the winning side.
    If they are able to do so, and are still standing, the contest continues.
    Consequences are long-lasting mechanical effects that are not inherent in the contest result,. This includes being killed, wounded, losing social standing, or expending resources.
    Consequences and resources are described in detail in a future section.
     
     
     
     
  10. radmonger
    Questworlds is Chaosium's rules and prep-lite RPG system. Fundamental to it is the opposed roll, in which a skill is rolled against a resistance, using  'highest rolled value  as a tiebreak i both rolls succeed. The produces a table of probabilities that looks like this:

     
    This table skill on the left, and resistance on top. Both are unrolled so 22 is 42.  This table has 2 key desirable properties:
    thanks to the tiebreak rule, it almost always (at least 95% of the time) produces a winner on the first try. it only *saturates*, i.e. has successive cells with the same value at the extreme edges of the table. These edges representing a two-mastery advantage that can basically never be overcome, even when the best possible D20 result is opposed by the worst. For Rivers of Sartar, we want to make similar use of opposed rolls, but using a D100 rather than a D20.
    RQ:G has (on p142) a comparable system for opposed rolls, with corresponding table:

     
    Unfortunately, compared to the QW table:
    for some pairs of skills and opposition, it produces a draw more than 50% of the time. it saturates fairly early, at a difference of only 100% in skill. With several RQ:G spells doubling effective skill, this leads to a situation where a fight with an reasonably elite opponent and a trollkin have the same, albeit small, chance of defeat.  
    Rivers of Sartar uses a novel D100-based system that, for opposed rolls, has a table like:

     
    This produces a winner more than 99% of the time, and never saturates for any plausible skill value. It works by making two changes to the core RQ dice roll mechanics:
    using a separate d20 to roll the degree of success (critical, special or fumble),rather than using fractional thresholds of the d100 chance of success. for skills over 100, changing the numbers required to hit criticals and specials, instead of subtracting from an opponents skills.  
    The details are described in the next blog post in this series.
     
     
     
    Image credit: 
    Turn2538, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
     
     
     
     

  11. radmonger
    This short cameo is designed to introduce players to the basics of the rules in a low-threat environment. Player characters are 11 or 12 year old children in Nochet (N:AG), the largest city in all Glorantha.  At the start of play, nothing else is known about them; they will gain characteristics and skills during play.
    In Nochet, children of that age spend their morning doing chores, and evening with their families. But for much of the afternoon, they are free to play in the streets. The games they play vary wildly; TrueToss is described in N:AG. But this morning, the game being played is Dormal the Sailor.
    This is a version of the real-world playground game British Bulldog. Two areas of land, marked by whatever is available, are separated by a sea. One player is the wizard, and the others are sailors. The sailors must make it from land to land, and the wizard must stop them. Any sailors who fail to make it to land become sea monsters, and must assist the wizard in capturing the other sailors. Once only one sailor is left, they are declared to be Dormal the Sailor, and win the game. 
    Picking the Wizard
    Being the wizard is generally unpopular, as it offers no chance to win the game. But the game can't be played without one. There is no standard method for doing this, and it often devolves into argument.
    Each player should  be asked if they are willing to play the wizard. If there is exactly one volunteer, they get the role. Otherwise, there will be an opposed toll to either get to be the wizard, or (more likely) avoid having to be it.
    Reasons for being the wizard might include that they are smart, can read, or 'someone has to step up'. 
    Reasons for not being the wizard might include that they are popular, intimidating, or 'their grandmother owns this street'. 
    Each such reason should be rated by the player on a scale of 10 to 60, and then mapped by the GM to a RQ:G characteristic, skill, passion or relationship. 
    All contestants then do an opposed roll, using the ability value picked above, and applying the tiebreak rule. Depending on what is being rolled for, either the winner or loser becomes the wizard. 
    The wizard must kick off the game by declaring 'I am Zzabur the Mighty, and this sea is Closed'. 
    Example:
    Capturing the Sailors
    This involves more opposed rolls, using the same rules. For each round, contestant may declare they are using a new ability, or repeat one used earlier. No ability taken can exceed 60, and the total of all abilities cannot exceed 200. Magical abilities, including rune affinities, may not be taken.
    Both capturing a sailor and avoiding capture might involve sheer size, strength, speed, grapple skill, tactics, quoting precedent or myth, cooperating with another player or anything else the player can think of.
    All contestants do an opposed roll based on their selected ability, using the tiebreak rule.
    Each contestant on the wizard's side may capture one sailor who rolled worse than them. They become a sea monster for future rounds.
    Declaring a Winner
    If a round ends with only one sailor remaining, they win. If all sailors are captured during a single round, the one who rolled best wins, representing the one who got furthest. In the rare case of a true tie (equal success level and same number rolled), an argument breaks out over who exacty won. This can be resolved by another roll.
    Either way all the sailors are freed, and cheer the winner and jeer the wizard.
    Sometimes a game is just a game, and grants no secret magical powers or rewards. But a character who wins this game and later joins the cult of Dormal the Sailor gets +10% to a cult favored passion.
    All contestants who succeeded at a roll should tick the corresponding checkbox for experience gains. As a special rule, given the characters are growing children characteristics as well as skills may be so checked. These checks will be rolled for after character creation.
    Further Games
    The GM may ask players to describe other games they played as children. These should be translated into a sequence of opposed rolls, and optionally given a mythical veneer.
     
     
     
     
     
  12. radmonger

    The Lyksos Campaign

    By radmonger,


    Lyksos
    The Lyksos mini-campaign is intended as a step-by-step tutorial for these rules. It is based on Harald Smith's Nochet, Queen of Cities, and in particular the adventurer's guide  (N:AG).
    It is designed to be run interleaved with RQ:G character creation, so that characters emerge through play, start out knowing each other. By default, when going through the first two steps of family history, it is suggested to pick an answer by consensus.  This means the players will have a common authority, their House Grandmother, who can 'ask' them to do any dangerous task. If GM and players desire a more complex dynamic, players can deviate from that consensus.
    Characters are 11-12 in the first scenario, 13-14 in the second,and 15-16 in the last. So to create characters who will be 21 years old in the default RQ:G starting date of 1625, they should be born in 1604, initiating at age 16 in 1620. 
    Only minor changes would be required to set it elsewhere or at a different time.
    Step 1: Homeland - set to Nochet  (as in N:AG). Nochet and Esrolia should be briefly described. Scenario 1: Childhood Games (uses only the Opposed Roll and Tiebreak mechanics) Step 2a: Family History. Use N:AG entry Evil Year (1616). Scenario 2: Voria's Race (uses the Structured Contest mechanics) Step 2b: Family History. Use N:AG entry Red Earth (1619), and select house correspondingly. Step 3: Rune affinities Scenario 3: Grace Temple (uses Heroquest mechanics) Step 2c: Family History. Use N:AG entries Great Winter (1621) Step 3a: Quick Character background table from N:AG. Step 4: Characteristics (allow assigning dice rolls to characteristics) Step 2d: Family History. Use N:AG entry  Queen Samastina (1622) Step 5: Occupation Step 2e: Family History. Use N:AG entries  Siege of Nochet (1623) Step 6: Cult Step 7: Personal Skill Bonuses Step 2f: Family History. Use N:AG entry  Dragonrise (1625) Step 8: Other Information Cradle Of Heroes is recommended for doing the bookkeeping of character creation, ideally after the session. Within it, is only necessary to note down choices made.
    As all three scenarios take place interleaved with character creation, in the course of each scenario, players may state they wish to use abilities they will only actually gain at  later step. When they do so, they pick the rating of that ability, subject to a scenario-specific cap. This represents a commitment to raise the skill to that level by the end of character creation.
    For example, when playing  street game, a player decides that their character will be large for their age, and gain an ability at 60%. They play the game using that ability, barging their characters out of the way. When it is time to roll and assign characteristics, they must assign at least a 12 to their SIZ (as characteristic-based abilities multiply the value of the characteristic by 5). When they reach adulthood, they will be at least as large as they were at age 12, and likely larger.
    Experience checks earned during all scenarios should be rolled after character creation is complete, and only if all commitments were met. 
     
     
     
     
  13. radmonger

    Game Mechanics: Free-form Game-play

    By radmonger,


    Game Mechanics
    Rivers of Sartar supports three modes: free-form game play, structured contests and tactical combat. A given game may use any or all of these, by simply switching between them as required for pacing and to maintain player interest.
    In free-form play, the rolls to be made should be based on the logic of the situation as it unfolds. Each roll is standalone, in that there are no built-in mechanical consequences for succeeding or failing. There is no defined time scale.
    Instead, success or failure of a roll simply changes the situation which must be dealt with.
    What to roll?

    Rivers of Sartar is based on a set of dice roll mechanics that can be applied in a uniform way to any value on a percentile scale. These include:
    skills runes passions characteristics reputation relationships For RQ:G characters, all of these values are on a scale compatible with the dice rolling mechanism, except characteristics, which should be multiplied by 5.
    For QuestWorlds characters, all values should be multiplied by 5.
    Typically these values are fixed over the scope of a single game session, and should be recorded on a character sheet as an ability.
    In circumstances where it make sense, contestants will also one or more bonus d20 to determine the success level (i.e. check for critical and special successes, or fumbles).
    Status affects such as inspiration will vary the number of bonus D20 rolled.
    Inspiration from Runes and Passions.
    Before attempting a roll, contestants may attempt to become inspired by a rune or passion.
    This involves rolling the corresponding ability against an opposition set by how appropriate the GM judges the usage to be.
    Inspiration lasts for a scene, as defined by the GM.
    Note that when inspired, but fails the opposed ability roll, the lowest value D20 is used. This means that acting passionately increase both the chance of great success and great failure.
     
    For guidelines on what the runes represent and can be used for, see RQ:G. Runic inspiration is a form of magic, and so requires cult initiation, or an equivalent form of access to a source of magical power.
    Inspiration by a passion does not.
    An ability may not be used to inspire itself.
    The roll to attempt inspiration does not have a variable level of success, and so does not itself use a bonus D20.
    Gaining Circumstantial Advantages and Avoiding Disadvantages
    In free-form play, granting advantages and disadvantages is at the discretion of the GM.
    These should reflect things that change dynamically during the course of play, not static features of the character or opposition.
    Examples would include:
    in combat, being able to see when your opponent can not is an advantage  trying to argue a legal case in a language with which you are not fluent is a disadvantage  firing a bow from a moving horse is a disadvantage Disadvantages can commonly be cancelled out by making an appropriate opposed skill roll.
    For example, a successful ride roll will allow a contestant to fire a bow from horseback without disadvantage for the rest of the scene.
    Advantages are somewhat harder to gain, usually requiring either clever play, making use of the environment, or magic.
    Any roll to gain an advantage, or clear a disadvantage, does not have a variable level of success, and so does not itself use a bonus D20.
    Effects of Magic in Free-form Play
    These rules uses the same spell list as RQ:G, as described the Red Book of Magic and other supplements. Before attempting a roll a contestant may cast any spells they know. Normally attempts to cast magic should considered automatically successful, as they may be retried without penalty. But in cases of time pressure, the GM may require a roll against a rune or POW characteristic, as per RQ:G. 
    RQ:G spells that have a mechanical effect that carries over directly into these rules, such as raising a skill or characteristic, have the same effect here too.
    Other spells have effects that are described in real-world terms, such as being able to see in the dark, or effect mechanics not present in the free-form rules, such as weapon damage.
    These will effect whether circumstantial advantages or disadvantages are in play. For example, a farsee spell may grant advantage on long distance scan rolls.
    What to Roll Against
    The opposition to a roll is on the same scale as PC skills. It can be determined in any of a number of ways:.
    known value: one established previously, or printed in a published scenario estimated difficulty: one estimated based on similar examples narratively appropriate value: one necessary to support the reasons for making this roll in the first place. zero: having zero as a possible opposition simplifies the rules by dropping the need for unopposed rolls The value chosen is the opposition value: a number at least 0, and typically under a hundred. An opposition value of 300 or more is unlikely to be directly overcome by a normal group of PCs.
    Note that the case the opposition value is chosen for narrative reasons, the description of what is happening should be adjusted correspondingly.
    For example, if the GM expects the players to probably be captured, but not rule out the possibility of escape, then a high but not unbeatable opposition should be chosen. This should then be described as an appropriate number of well armed and competent opponents.
    In other words, ideally the in-world description of the opposition and their mechanical rating should generally match, by whatever method the two are selected.
    A lowly farmer who fights with godlike skill will be doing so because they are literally inspired by the gods, rather than because the plot demands it. This can still be so, even if it is the case that the plot required that they be so inspired.
    A contestant that represents purely environment factors, or disinterested characters not actively opposing the PCs (e.g. unalert guards) is inactive; it does not roll a bonus dice.
    Optionally, significant opponents who have a reason why what they are doing is deeply important to them may be treated as inspired.
    What happens next
    Success or failure of a roll so will simply determine what happens next, according to the judgement of the gm. This will normally involve changes to the circumstances of the situation, and so the opposition and bonus die used on future rolls.
     
    Greater levels of success, achieved from rolling well on the bonus dice, simply correspond to greater changes to the situation..
     
     
    In free-form game-play a character who becomes wounded simply finds future opposition values to be higher than they would otherwise be, representing the GMs judgment of how much their wounds affect what they are trying to do.
    A player character will never normally die in free-form game-play. However, if the player describes their actions as a heroic sacrifice resulting in their death, the GM will likely select an appropriately lower opposition to roll against.
    If either of these choices is not appropriate for how you as a GM wants to handle a particular type of situation in-game, then you may find the other two game modes to be more appropriate. Those modes will be described in future blog posts.
     
     
     
     
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