Tywyll

So out of curiosity, what flavor of RQ where you playing? How did you handle such high powered characters?

Yeah you nailed it. Most supplements in the old books showed beings that realistically had levels of power you couldn't achieve in actual game play. At least in Dnd you can reach 20th level in a campaign and reasonably take on Tiamat. RQ never felt like it allowed that. And you certainly could never hope to be the next Arkat as a Pc. I appreciate that RQG characters are more powerful to start with than older editions, but they are still as chaff before the power of some older edition heavy hitters. Another issue I think comes from how damage is handled. As damage dice produce wide results, especially for large mythic foes with several dice damage bonus, but armor and protection exists in a linear line, the further you get from human expectations the more swingy combat becomes. Basically you either laugh off damage or lose a limb...there is little middle ground.

Ah, I see. Yeah I was going the Rolemaster method of D100+skill. It also resolves skill v skill challenges more smoothly.

I assume that mechanic bottoms out at skills of 100%. What happens beyond that?

How does it handle specials and criticals?

Can you explain this?

Yeah, I was making an excel sheet earlier today for doing just that. So if you had an 80 skill, for example, any roll of a 84+ would be special and a 96+ a Crit.

That's exactly my problem with it. It changes what you want with every other roll, and I find it antithetical to the normal rules.

You feel my pain!

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?

Would you handle it the same when skills are above 100%? Also, if you do do that, why not simply roll high and add your skill to the total?

BRP/RQ system has been through a lot of changes over the years. One thing that gets changed a lot is the rule governing what to do when two antagonists both succeed at their skill check. What is your favourite way of handling this conundrum? Why do you like it best? I'll admit that this is one of my hangup about roll under systems in general that I don't think I have ever seen a 100% satisfactory resolution for.

Oh and thanks for helping gang!

Since Spirit Magic now uses Charisma, does that mean Sorcerers can use it without loss of power? So you cannot use a spirit's Int for spell storage, correct?

THANK YOU! I was going insane trying to find it!!!!

Hey all, I'm terribly bothered because I am trying to find something I cannot locate. A long time ago I read an article on how to be a good sorcerer in RQ3/Avalon HIll. It was the first time I understood how you were supposed to play a sorcerer. It talked about summoning spirits to gain back your Free Int and power spirits for MP and all the usual advice. I want to say it was in Dragon Magazine, as I think that is the main magazines I had access to as a kid. I cannot find anything that looks like it. Does this ring any bells?

What about MP? Do you still bind Power spirits? And damn that seems like a costly way to build a character!

So one thing RQ has always had is emergent mechanics. By that I mean it's hard to see what looks ng time characters might look like from just reading the rules. RQ3 sorcery was an excellent example of this issue...for me at least,figuring out all the moving parts for a Sorcerer was very difficult. Now Free Int is back, but I don't think Int spirits are a thing anymore. So how do you make an effective or 'high level' sorcerer these days? How do they free their Int? Where do they get all the more they need? Etc etc.

Pretty much what Thalaba said. A large portion of the book is usable simply with the Big Gold Book. If you use Basic Magic, or the new book, you'll get more out of it as there are new spells and options for those systems as well. The enchantment stuff also is usable with the BGB. I created a Ritual magic system that is a basic version of the rules from Basic Magic but with a vastly expanded selection of ritual magic. And of course there are the enchanted items that work straight with the BGB. Hope that helps.

Thanks gang! I hope that you will find it worth the wait!

Hey Narl, Yes, I included all the magic systems for BRP (Magic, Sorcery) as well as the magic systems included in Basic Magic (i.e. the old Spirit Magic, RQ Sorcery, and Divine Magic). There are new spells and new optional mechanics for (most) of the systems. Also I have sample magic items (and how to create them under the various magic systems). Hopefully there is something in it for just about any group that uses magic in their BRP game.

Well, after many life upheavals and set backs, the Grimoire is finally finished. I sent it to Chaosium today. I was told there are several Monos that need to have lay out finished first, but since mine is already laid out with the art and stuff done, hopefully that will speed it along faster. Don't know though. Anyway, fingers crossed it will be available to everyone soon!!!

Thanks! I have no idea what the delay between turning it in and its availability, but when we pass it to Chaosium, it will be more or less ready for pdf download.

Well, the play tests are finished and we are moving on to lay out for the Grimoire Monograph. Hopefully won't be much longer till we get the final product into Chaosium's hands.

Though there has been a bit of delay recently, I'm nearly finished with the work on a Spellbook for BRP that will contain new spells, rituals, items and optional mechanics for every BRP magic system so far, including the ones in the main rulebook and Basic Magic (or RQ3). Hopefully it will push some buttons for you!