Atlantean

On 3/16/2022 at 3:10 AM, soltakss said:

That's a lovely picture.

HeroQuesting should work well in that setting, especially if you have the Fae Lands.

Very much so! Your descriptions made the mechanics for liminal spaces like fairy circles so much more practical.

Well deserved!!

Finally had my copy printed out with high quality glossy print and bound at the printers.

Absolutely fantastic addition to the rules set!

Filled some large gaps in game mechanics and now I won’t have to sift through multiple versions during games anymore. Well done!

Not being a hyper rationalist, I wouldn’t look to any canonical statement. First edition RuneQuest is all Glorantha and the mythic element is what drives it. So many mechanics are missing (hiring henchmen, how many monsters show up if a random encounter table is even available, so many more) that granular pulp interactions are very difficult to play.

On 2/22/2022 at 3:30 PM, Garrik said:

I would say we had something of a setting-immersion goal (Trad but also some Nordic LARP thrown in) while we were playing RQ the last time, around 2005. However, at that time we also wanted to play RQ purely as a game, so our goal had even some Story Game in it. We played RQ as RQ, enjoying the RQ-ence game play and character cycle as it happens in pure RQ played by the rules. We didn't go Glorantha first, but RQ rules first, and let the game mechanics define our Glorantha. (When we didn't like it anymore, we dropped RQ, but not Glorantha.)

But this latest goal or goals of our RQ experience was definitely different from my first RQ games, which sound pretty much like Classic in this Six Cultures theory. We didn't emphasize the setting at all and our characters were not partaking in any specified story. It was just about the characters interacting in random situations through the RQ mechanic. And when the characters had depleted their resources or died, we had a stop or made new characters, and into the fray we went again. And I think RQ handled that very well.

So I guess RQ can be played in many different ways, and it can have something to give in different play cultures. However, it harbors Classic and Trad the best, and with the emphasis on and simulation of Glorantha and character development, it clearly leans towards Trad.

Being most recently immersed in BROSR style play and the attendant conversations thereof, the primary story model for one style of play (label it what you will) is “pulp fiction” (see Jeffro Johnson’s blog and book “Appendix N.”)

RuneQuest in its classical form uses the myth/legend as story model so play tends to be very different. 

The primary driver of the difference, imo, is how magic is treated in the game. 5e made magic ubiquitous and morphed into a weird little d20 simulacrum of RuneQuest. Most of the BX crowd are playing LFG whether they realize it or not where Low Fantasy Gaming is anthropocentric with restricted magic.

As an edit, an example of this treatment of magic is the difference between RQG and Call of Cthulhu.

3 hours ago, soltakss said:

Our last campaign ran from 2006 to 2020, I think, so 14 years. We didn't have a blog, though.

One of the things I have learned from my return to the d20 crowd is that blogging about the game increases engagement and allows folks to share best practices. This is a blog from the ACKS game in which I am currently playing https://bdubsanddragons.blogspot.com/2022/03/dubzaron-session-46-nine-thousand.html

This is the blog from my current RQ game (set in Bronze Age Wales)

https://bronzeagewales.blogspot.com/

1 hour ago, jajagappa said:

Play-by-post (aka play-by-forum or PbF) is a very different style of play.  There are no meetings or sessions - instead, it's a continuous stream on a forum (we use RPGGeek) with posts made back-and-forth.  As a GM I'll make a post, players respond, I respond to those and keep the story progressing (typically with posts occurring around every other day at present).  A scenario or "session" may well take 3-6 months to complete.

Good point. My RQ game has been in person for two years now but am adding in an online component on Roll20. I have been in an ACKS game as a player for a little over two years which has been Roll20 sessions and pbp during a very active downtime. I am hoping to bring that to the RQ Roll20 game so that we will have 2-3 contemporaneous bands of PC’s wandering about.

30 minutes ago, David Scott said:

You might be interested in Sandy Petersen's epic game log here: https://wellofdaliath.chaosium.com/home/gloranthan-documents/petersens-campaign-log-1984/

 

Indeed! I need to spend some time with that, it would seem.

6 minutes ago, jajagappa said:

My original campaign ran 10 years (1987-97).  No recordings or blogs, though pieces went into my short-lived fanzine, New Lolon Gospel. 

My current HQG campaign (Orlmarth) has been running since 2014.  It's play-by-post, so the entire thread exists.  Has included a transposed Harvest Bride (from Sun County), varied community events to address the loss of Orane (from HQG book), a quest to Hell to rescue Orane (expanded from HQG book scenario), the Clearwine Feast of Flamal and now the Red Hands of Hofstaring (from Sartar Kingdom of Heroes).

My longest running RQG game (Colymar) has been going since mid-2017 starting with the Quickstart, going through some custom events, and now working on the Smoking Ruins.  Also play-by-post, and again whole thread exists.

How often do you meet for gaming sessions? Do you track 1:1 time when not in session?

43 minutes ago, Kloster said:

They beat me. Our's is 'only' 13 years old, and just to answer, there is no recording, nor blog.

Fantastic!

18 minutes ago, soltakss said:

Many thanks.

I am glad that you enjoyed it.

When writing it, I tried to make HeroQuesting accessible and relatively straightforward to do.

 

I am not exaggerating when I say reading through your creation offered me an epiphany regarding the ritual overlay intrinsic in RQ approach to magic. It has always been the strongest part of the game but you have succeeded in making explicit what was before only implicit. So many examples from my game fit paradigms you described (e.g magic road or cult initiation). I included a piece done by Mae (character in the game) reflecting a Magic Road that may be turning up often now that I understand what we did. Our game setting is Bronze Age Wales but the concepts translate well.

31 minutes ago, Crel said:

I don't know for sure, but I have a friend who has been playing in the same game for about 15 years. His father started GMing this campaign with my friend, his brother, and a few friends when they were starting high school. Same characters, too.

That is absolutely fantastic! Do you know if they blog session reports or considered doing so? 

Is there a blog site or record of longest running RuneQuest game?

9 hours ago, Ryan Kent said:

I have not if another skill applies, but a stealthy party opening a door or going around a corner I could see it applying.

I have used it for ambush situations and it seemed to work well. I don’t see another option for passive detection. It is something in 5e that seems to work well (not quite the only thing but close!)

1 hour ago, Ryan Kent said:

As GM you figure out when the party could conceivably sense the other based upon a multitude of factors, including activity, terrain, background noise or fog, etc. Make opposed or normal stealth perception rolls as appropriate. Base surprise on results; I.e. if one side fails scan and other succeeds they have surprise. 

That is the way I have been running it as well. Have you used a Luck modifier/augment at all? 

19 minutes ago, Godlearner said:

I once had both sides fumble and literally walk past each other without noticing.

Beautiful!

30 minutes ago, Godlearner said:

If they notice it. I use surprise more at short range.

Well, that’s the point really. There is not a mechanic in RuneQuest for determining the state of Surprise which is a defined state within the game. There does exist “when you notice it”. If you notice it because you have been stabbed, you are, in fact, surprised. If you notice the troll a ways out, it may well not notice you until a large rock has fallen on it…resulting in it having been surprised.

33 minutes ago, Godlearner said:

Farsee does not add to the skill, so it should not make a difference. The Luck factor is already built into the rolling the dice.

Farsee doesn’t add to the skill but it does set an encounter distance to allow “buffing” and other preparations for the encounter, potentially even setting an ambush.

54 minutes ago, Godlearner said:

If I am not certain about surprise, I will ask for an opposed Perception (average of Scan and Listen) checks to see if either side has an advantage.

Thank you so much! I have been using the most appropriate detection skill (makes Farsee a powerful spell!). Do you factor in a Luck roll?

43 minutes ago, Kloster said:

Never heard about it before now, but from what I just read, not my cup of tea.

Crazy thing is they have introduced a minor mechanism for the creation of Petty Heroes from player characters…which we did successfully in a game. It does a great job with economics and downtime activities which I am (partially) importing into my RQ game. Magic system is basic Vancian and really not what I want in a game. 

27 minutes ago, Squaredeal Sten said:

I have to say that even in the restricted case of an opponent within 7 meters, rolling a D6 for surprise seems to me to be vastly less realistic than the GM judging the situation,  with the optional aid of a perception roll.  

I completely agree with you. The “gotcha” moments encouraging a high probability of failure that discourage proper planning was what drove me away from AD&D years ago and have maintained a distaste for ACKS even now. 5e is a RuneQuest simulacrum with the surprise mechanics being among the worst parts of the system. Do you use Luck in any way on the surprise determination (skill augment or allow a perception roll)?

49 minutes ago, Baron Wulfraed said:

At the risk of offending the readers -- especially those not in US -- consider https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tueller_Drill  (I'd had a few other links, but felt Wikipedia would be the least offensive)

Why?

Absolutely excellent resource. It both confirmed my observation that this was more of a potential than an actual facet of the game…and actualized it in an accessible manner!

Very, very well done!

28 minutes ago, Kloster said:

PC are surprised when the GM needs them to be surprised. It's his job to have situation where players are surprised.

I have been impressed with ACKS and it’s ability to create a shared story environment which frees the game master to participate in the story telling without railroading characters into predetermined outcomes. The RuneQuest magic system is far superior, though, as is the character development in play, so I am working to improve this deficit in RuneQuest.

1 hour ago, French Desperate WindChild said:

pc are surprised when

 

- they did not see/hear/.. their opponent before the attack

example : ambush

- they did not expect people in front of them could attack them

example : negotiation table

- they saw/heard/... their opponent but are not prepared and have not enough time to

example : you see a troll charging you when you harvest your field

1 hour ago, French Desperate WindChild said:

pc are surprised when

 

- they did not see/hear/.. their opponent before the attack

example : ambush

- they did not expect people in front of them could attack them

example : negotiation table

- they saw/heard/... their opponent but are not prepared and have not enough time to

example : you see a troll charging you when you harvest your field

1 hour ago, French Desperate WindChild said:

pc are surprised when

 

- they did not see/hear/.. their opponent before the attack

example : ambush

- they did not expect people in front of them could attack them

example : negotiation table

- they saw/heard/... their opponent but are not prepared and have not enough time to

example : you see a troll charging you when you harvest your field

 

The saw heard/not able to react would not cause a strike rank modifier. Troll charging across the field while you are harvesting the field is a nasty situation, to be sure, but you can raise the alarm, cast a spell, run away.