So, RQ and Glorantha has always struck me as a somewhat mismatched setting and rules set. The world is replete with Major Hero NPCs, Heroquestors, and Horrific Fiends...all of which are so far beyond what PCs can seemingly achieve. While a lot of this (seems) to be a fault of lack of real Heroquesting rules (that I know of), another big problem seems to be a mismatch between the gritty realism of the rules versus the mythic setting. Also at high levels, the roll under mechanic seems to break.
While the world has all these interesting and powerful figures, starting characters are rarely more than initiates. Even as Rune Priests and Lords they are still little match for some of the foes and NPCs in the setting (at least in the old Avalon HIll material...Dorastor, I'm looking at you).
I find the same issue with Warhammer, where the wargame shows one High Fantasy setting, but the RPG limits players to dirt farmers and shit carriers that would barely rise above the standard infantry model on the battlefield in the wargame.
Does this bother anyone but me? Has anyone found a way around it? Are there any good Heroquesting rules out there? Any good ways of handling high powered characters that doesn't break the game? Or should players just resolve themselves to be secondary to NPCs in the setting?