Malin

Not gonna lie, the GM book is the thing I am awaiting the most. I just want to see how my reverse-engineered rules (from their liveplay) holds up to the real thing.

1 hour ago, Akhôrahil said:

This also applies to Impede Chaos, which otherwise gets downright crazy when you dump 5+ Rune Points into it.

I have a Babeester Gor with a hero ability, which is basically just Impede Chaos, and yes, it can go right mad. Though to be fair her Axe-trance is scary enough.

1 hour ago, Akhôrahil said:

Like I mentioned above, limiting the reduction to half of the printed skill helps a lot (extensively tested in my campaign).

Yeah, that sounds like a smart way of doing it for the more reasonable monsters.

17 minutes ago, mfbrandi said:

If I am really good at waving my sword around, that won’t help me against a howitzer, an avalanche, or a building falling on me. It is not a matter of degree, my fighting skill is just irrelevant.

Yeah, I absolutely agree with you there. The truly big ones my players have fought outside the hero plane have either been "fought" by avoiding them and escaping, or in some cases, been fought with special rules, just like I handle warbands and other smaller skirmishers. And, most of the time that has just been to drive it off...

I know that technically there is no "parry" skill as you can parry with your weapon and attack with your shield. So I guess you could augment your shield way above 100% or use your weapon to parry since a failed attack vs a successful parry does nothing to the weapon. I get it now. Huh. That's a massively exploitable hole.

Though on the other hand, pc's with augmented skills in their 150%s I can see taking down dinosaurs and mammoths on their own, that makes sense. It's the massive monstrosities that turn weird.

Thank you for the explanation everyone! I have just never run a big weird monster as is out of the box, and never had to deal with players exploiting the rules like that... I like my weird special rules way too much.

1 hour ago, radmonger said:

s in RQ:G weapon skill counts for parry, and there are several magical ways to double or more your weapon skill, then combatants not using or countering those methods will normally be reduced to relying on the 'always 5% chance to hit' rule.

I do know that one, but correct me if I am wrong, having above 100% weapon skill reduces the opponent's chance to PARRY, not their chance to attack. They need above 100% parry to reduce the opponent's chance of attack.

Quote

An adventurer has augmented their Broadsword skill to 135%. Everyone facing that adventurer in melee combat while that skill is above 100% must reduce their chance to parry that attack by 35%

But that is beside the point, what I was wondering about was what this has to do with outnumbering? That was what confused me in your post, because the only outnumbering rules that I have seen are the ones that reduce your chance to parry/dodge by 20% per additional attack.

On 6/19/2024 at 2:08 AM, radmonger said:

Outnumber it, reduce it's chance to hit to 05%, roll dice until someone gets a special.

I might have been missing something in the rules, but how?

So far we have two draconically illuminated characters in my Sun County campaign (current year late 1617). They were both illuminated by draconic exposure and some rather fascinating discussions with Wind Whistler the wyrm with some stupidly low rolls (06 and 08, what are the odds). No proper teaching after that, so they are both fumbling along a path that they don't know. Neither of them see themselves as illuminated, nor do their character have a proper concept of what that means yet. One player is a gloranthaphile, for the other this is his first long campaign, so he doesn't have the player knowledge to immediately know what's up.

Character One (played by the experienced player) is a Babeester Gor, and for her the illumination has had some interesting effects. She was already an experienced heroquester with 90+ in Death, Earth, and Movement runes. Classical Babeester Gor, stone-faced and driven. After illumination and some other soul-shaking experiences in a draconic temple and some more heroquests she has... I don't even know how to describe this properly. She has decided that she won't die. Not like a quest to live forever or anything like that; she just knows that she won't die. She did that (and was reborn) on a heroquest once already; she's over and done with that, thank you very much. She told the Ferryman that it was nice to meet once, but they wouldn't meet again. She has also decided that it would be nice to get married and have children, and has uncoupled her life rune from her death rune, and it is growing stronger. She has tapped into a lot of Ernalda, which weirds her fellow Babeester Gor out. She's on the path to Rune Lady, but there's gonna be some issues there if she doesn't play her cards right, since she's turning weeeird. She also sacrificed her rather high Loyalty (Sun County) (we're all patriots here) as part of a sacrificial ritual at the dragon temple, and now she's building a mercenary band and leaning strongly into her position in the White Bull spirit cult. So far she has been very diligent about her Babeester Gor duties, but I can see it building towards a conflict in the future.

Character Two (played by the glorantha newbie) is a Yelmalio Light Servant, and for him, illumination just added fuel to the fire. He was already borderline heretical with his conflicts with the Sun Dome and Count Ironpike, and had been banished to the sticks as a result. His teacher and grandmother had both been a part of a movement digging into the Sun Dragon cult and other heretical ideas, and while he escaped more serious censure, they did not. For him, the first thing that happened was the uncoupling of his Truth and Illusion runes, and they now work independently from each other (or at the same time). In the final conflict at the dragon temple, he (the peacemaker, the talker, the reasonable one) won the battle by taking down all the other contenders in an all against all. This was in the heroplane, so the battle was not physical but done with passions and runes. His ruthlessness and determination shocked everybody to the core, and there was a big fallout afterward, which made him re-evaluate his own self-image. At this point, he has broken into the old Sun Dome, liberating some books from the old (true) library, and is researching what really happened in Sun County's past that the current regime is suppressing. He's learning about the Sun Dragon, and Nysalor... and his passions are changing subtly. He's still a very devout Yelmalian, but now he has Loyalty (the idealized temple) rather than submitting to any mundane authority. He is convinced that he is correct, the current Sun Dome is wrong, and he is actively digging deeper into forbidden knowledge to learn the truth. Sure, he's sometimes worried that he's straying too far and that the draconic truths he is uncovering might be very dangerous, but damnit, he KNOWS he's right. Add to this that he is actively working on establishing the White Bull cult inside Sun County under a secret identity and things are getting complicated. Especially since he is working on reconnecting with the Sun County administration again because he needs their authority to do what he feels needs to be done. He still follows all his geases, his beef is not with Yelmalio but with the people who choose to speak in his name.

So far, the biggest change for me when I watch the characters from the outside has been that they have both lost their ties to... hmmm common sense, for lack of a better word. They see no reason why their grand ideas can't be made reality, reality is malleable. They are both sticking hard to the strength of their core faiths but choose to ignore what they see as limitations that don't need to be there. This means that they are heading on a collision course with their cults, but so far, they have managed to toe the line just enough (and give rich gifts), so their eccentricity is tolerated for now.

4 hours ago, French Desperate WindChild said:

Managing a people of illuminates seems to me more "entropic", "hazardous" than managing a chaotic troop. You can't anticipate, you can't force them, you even can't be sure that you successfully convince them to do what you want

And this is why you send out your riddles among your enemies to try to make them see the (red) light faster... much better than working at home.

4 hours ago, Rodney Dangerduck said:

How did you handle starting bonuses to cult skills?  And cult or occupational checks between adventures?

He was an ex-Lunar soldier who was a lay member in Yanafal Tarnils like most soldiers were, so I allowed him the Humakti starter skills since they fitted his background (this was before the Lunar Way). I never limit people by cult occupational skills between adventures, I tend to focus more on whether they have had a chance of using them (which I see cult and profession as shorthand for). Thus there's no real issue there for me.

It will be interesting to see whether he decides on a god, he is a deserter now so maybe he'll find one who fits him. He was kinda charmed by an Odalaya rebel he met last session, so who knows. So far only two people really use their rune spells very much (divination is a favorite).

4 hours ago, Videopete said:

It's one of the reasons I wish RQG offered an option for characters that don't start start as initiates. 

One of the players in my post-dragonrise sartar campaign is not initated into anything. I just gave him 3 extra POW to simulate that he hadn't used them for runepoints. So far he hasn't felt underpowered compared to the others, we'll see if he wants to initiate into something eventually.

2 hours ago, smiorgan said:

Regarding your Sun County book, does it contain also rulesy stuff or it is 100% background?

I'm currently running a Sun County/ Sandheart game set in 1619. I see your book is set in 1625, but I guess much of it would be useable...

As Nick said above, also weather and npcs... but it will absolutely be perfect for 1619, our campaign is currently in 1617, the pre-great winter is the focus for most of the book.

A subreddit is sadly defined by its users and mods...

Oh the horrors of having to interact with the world, thank you so much for your help everyone, you make it so much easier. Unfortunately for me, my co-writer stays as far away from the internet as he can. So that bit is up to me.

EDIT: Oh boy you weren't kidding about the interactions! Busiest place I've been on since Reddit (but less weird).

Alright, I have a facebook account now but I have no idea how to use it. Oh, they do not make it easy... Are there groups, like on Reddit?

2 minutes ago, mfbrandi said:

Gbaji on both? 😉

Look, I've been on tumblr long enough to be well acquainted with Eurmal already... how much worse can it get?

10 minutes ago, Austin said:

FWIW Facebook is by far the best spot for marketing JC stuff, if you're looking into writing for RuneQuest. There's a significant enough difference in engagement that I do suspect authors who aren't active over there sell noticeably fewer books.

Oh hell... thank you for the warning. I guess... yeah.... I guess I might need to make a facebook account. Oh boy. But I suppose I did brave and survive Reddit so....

Thank you, that's what I figured! The person that asked will be disappointed, but that's life. Just wanted to check to make sure.

9 minutes ago, Nick Brooke said:

NB: There is lots of sales information at the back of my Jonstown Compendium Catalogues and the current year Index, with different slices and updates in every release.

Oh yeah, that one I already have!

3 hours ago, Nick Brooke said:

In my experience, products have a long tail: blue curve, not red.

You make me very happy, it is so RARE to see someone who likes charting stuff and making statistics as much as I do! Really. There's so much openness about sales and stuff here, in many other places, that's the kind of thing you have to work really hard at finding out, if people even are willing to share in the first place.

Sadly I am not on facebook, and have no plans on starting at this point... so I do miss some stuff.

15 minutes ago, Super Thunder Bros. said:

What are peoples thoughts on giving quests to prove themselves to the cult first or just allowing the players to initiate and get the goodies?

I would say that this depends on your group a lot. Would it be fun to play? Would your players enjoy it? Would they feel unfairly treated compared to other people who are already initiated? There is no right or wrong here. Don't wait for the high holy day though, no need for that. Better get this done early!

17 minutes ago, Super Thunder Bros. said:

Could I somehow repurpose the Defending Apple Lane scenario for this?

I can absolutely see that! It is a really fun scenario. I had a blast when we played it. And if the players have no nostalgic connection to Apple Lane as a village in a specific place now fallen on hard times, a lot of that could just be moved and adjusted elsewhere.

An interesting question came up, and I am not sure if this has been dealt with in the rules or QnA, so I am asking people here if they have seen any official mention?

A character is initiated in two runecults. One gives access to a VERY limited amount of general rune spells (let's say extension and multispell), while the other cult gives access to the full spectrum of general rune spells.

So, the character has access to Sanctify through one cult. Can they use Sanctify to sanctify the ground and then perform ceremonies for the other cult they are initiated into?

Has this been touched on, or is it a case of MGF and YGMV?

Had a meeting yesterday, and a question came up that I don't have an answer to, but which @Nick Brooke might? The number of sales and cost per page is tracked in the catalog, but is there a general theme on how those sales are structured? Bear with me while I explain.

Some products have a very sharp dropoff (red curve). They sell almost everything in their first two to four months, and then the sales drop off very sharply, selling maybe one or two a month.

Other products have a very long tail (blue curve). Sure, the majority of sales will be in the first release months, but then they keep selling constantly, getting bumps with exposure, sales etc, slowly adding up the numbers.

Asking for statistical reasons and to try to predict how having one or more products in the Jonstown Comepdium might behave. I also write other things, and my favorite ones are the ones with long tails, that really add up after you've got a few in the market. I'm in the lucky position of being able to support my family through my writing and part of that is through regular monthly royalties so it would be interesting to see how things perform here.

26 minutes ago, Aurelius said:

(Funny thing, I don't think Glorantha Runequest players need to be policed much against "bad roleplaying". With rare exceptions, such as gift geasas, I don't think the point of those rules is even to "balance" the system with tradeoffs, but to establish cultures and customs. As such the overemphasis on litigiousness, sanctions and Spirits of Reprisal is a bit of an artifact from the olden days when grognards were young. This might be a rare Glorantha thing I think HeroQuestWorlds did better than RQ?) 

100% this!

1 hour ago, Aurelius said:

To be honest I love those ideas in the Lightbringers book, but they are also a bit much for playability.

I always tend to treat the official/main versions of cults as only one dominant sect/path. For example, the Babeester Gor conflicted quite hard with how we had always played them/earlier versions, so I simply decided that the way it is described in the Earth Goddesses is how things are in Esrolia. Since we have not gone there yet, it will be an interesting experience for our Babeester Gor player to see her sisters follow slightly different traditions. For me, that's the kind of diversity that makes Glorantha alive.

And that is not even considering the whole "fusing of regional gods/traditions into greater deities" that the God Learners were up to. To me, large, primal deities like Orlanth, Ernalda, and yes, Chalana Arroy consists of a great number of local traditions, leading to slightly varying ways of worship everywhere.

15 hours ago, mfbrandi said:

Hmm … maybe what the gods/spirits consider to be a serious infraction should not track our own moral reasoning°, else the GM is turned into the morality police. Twist the logic of the cult rules to keep the story interesting — forget ‘morality.’

Huh, I feel what I do is the opposite of that? The GM is the one that controls the gods and spirits, and their reading of the rules, thus, if we go fully on that, the GM is the morality police (following the cult script). The way I do it, I leave much of it in the hands of the Player; it is their reading of their character's actions that are the central part. But then again, I think it must depend on the play style of the table. The two groups I play with are very interested in being true to their culture and digging into things like that. They take responsibility for their own character's actions. I've never needed to be the "GM who keeps their players on the straight and narrow and makes sure they don't powergame and stay in character for their cult." So I think this part in particular is very personal style.

10 hours ago, Aurelius said:

"An initiate must take an oath never to ... needlessly cause pain to any living thing" is extremely hard to keep. Would be at least a tiny bit less impossible if only the violations the Initiate notices would count... 

For me, needlessly does a lot of the heavy lifting here. Will an operation cause the patient pain? Well, the pain is not needless then. Does the healer need to travel somewhere to help people? Then it is not needless pain to accidentally step on bugs. Of course the tricky thing for any Chalana Arroy cultist is where that line is drawn. Like with the sweeper. If stepping on a bug could be avoided by having people sweep the ground you walk on, then the pain you'd cause by stepping on a bug might be seen as needless. While others might argue that the people doing the sweeping would better serve people by helping them in other ways.

Chalana Arroy for me, is about healing and avoiding harm. One might argue that to read her strictures too literally would do more to withhold her gifts from the world by causing people to become stationary hermits than accepting that every being who lives and breathes in the world will also, on occasion, harm another being just by existing. After all, a plant is also a living thing, and yet the healers both eat them and use them as medicine. So looking at the intention is the important part. The healer needs to eat, and has judged killing a plant is a lesser sacrifice than killing an animal. The healer needs herbs to help people, thus harvesting them is not needless. Nor is cutting a tree for firewood for the winter. However, killing plants for fun or because they are in your way, would be needless. Better to brush the branches aside than break them.

We don't have any Chalana Arroy player characters in my games, but we do have two regularly occurring NPC's (including the future wife of a player). Both of them are very different people. One is borderline heretical by virtue of her spoiled noble upbringing. I specifically recall her slapping a man, and when he expressed shock that a healer would do such a thing she just asked "Oh did I hurt you?" Which of course he could not admit to, seeing as she was a tiny weak woman and he was a big macho man. Thus, did she really cause him pain? Let me tell you, that was a close one...

The other is basically an Arroin army medic who got into a huge argument with a PC who wanted to help another NPC they just met who had a leg that had been broken and then healed crooked. In order to fix it, it needed to be rebroken, and the healer refused on the grounds that the leg worked; it was just wonky and slow. To rebreak it would cause needless pain, and deplete his resources by healing the break fast (since they were on the road). They finally came to a compromise where the PC would do the breaking under the healer's instruction, and another PC would use his runepoints to heal the break afterward. It was a really cool scene.

I always try to remember "Maximum Game Fun." If a rule looks like it would make a cult unplayable or even unusable in the game world, then I am probably reading that rule too strictly.

I deal with it in two ways (my glorantha, not saying these are general rules):

1) I would suppose this would get close to a minimalist approach but with a dash of personal guilt put in. Someone who knowingly breaks cult strictures (and still remains somewhat close to temple areas or other sites of powerwill attracts cult spirits of retribution naturally. I see at least some of them as sniffing out guilt and knowng wrongdoings. This is the reason why some illuminates can sidestep this whole thing, they understand that everything is relative. Of course, this also means that people who break rules for what they see as good reasons (let's say a Sage who burned papers to keep them from Lunars) will still attract retribution (they know it is wrong, even for a good cause) but might attract the mildest of the spirits. Accepting your punishment is part of trying to remain in the cult after all. This also means that you can outrun the judgment of more local gods, by traveling far from their temples and sites of powers. Like outrunning the wrath of Sea Gods by going far inland. Pray they don't follow.

This is milder but similar to taboos and geases. The onus is on the individual and their beliefs.

This is ALSO not a free-for-all if the player says that they are not feeling any guilt, because if they have any loyalty or devotion related to their cult and god, they do. Otherwise, I'd remove that passion. At that point they might start getting in trouble replenishing runepoints, probably starting with a hefty negative modifier until they ask for forgiveness, eventually being cut off entirely if they persist.

2) This is a cult thing. Priests send spirits of retribution after people who break the rules, and this can absolutely be maximalist in their interpretations. An illuminate would not be safe here, but their "clear conscience" would let them cast command cult spirit and tell them to go away because they did nothing wrong. This, like divination, can and is often used politically, there is no greater tool than to condemn someone as a blasphemer after all. This means that if things are done in secret, people can get away with it if they can justify it in a more minimalist approach. This is technically not against the rules, just the spirit of them...

I play the gods as distant and trapped in time, but people's feelings are present and strong.