Tywyll

1 hour ago, womble said:

To pick nits, only, and for clarity, 'my' approach would have that 80% give a success on 1-80, a special on 65-76 (65 thru 80 is 16 ticks of special, but the top 4 are crits, so...) and a crit on 77-80 (4%).

To constructively criticise your arithmetic for simply turning the sums on their head, you're looking at 97-00 for a crit, and 85+ for a special.

Ah, I see.

Yeah I was going the Rolemaster method of D100+skill. 

It also resolves skill v skill challenges more smoothly.

2 hours ago, Jakob said:

Revolution has "Advantage" which is similar to a Special success (no criticals, though). You succeed with Advantage when your ten die is higher than you ones die - this means that the chances for a succes with advantage increase exponentially the higher your skill goes. I actually really like it, it is elegant, avoids additional math, and you get a sizeable extra benefit from being really good at a skill.

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

On 12/2/2018 at 9:25 PM, soltakss said:

Revolution just says the highest roll wins. Since it doesn't rely on a low roll for an Advantage (Critical), you don't have the problem of aiming low but needing high.

How does it handle specials and criticals?

21 hours ago, Roko Joko said:

One roll on the resistance table, simpler.

Can you explain this?

On 12/3/2018 at 12:53 PM, womble said:

Re: 'greatest margin of success'

For skills over 100, I'd take the higher skill down to 100 and subtract the same from the lower (assuming skills lower than 200), as that's how I read the rules working - it retains the higher chances of crit and special for the better skill without making them 'dead certs'. 

Rolling high and adding skill is actually my preferred method of constructing a game engine, but RQ relies on crits and specials which are an arithmetical function of your chance to succeed, most easily reckoned at the bottom end of a d100 roll. Still, at my current table, I'm having the crit be the top 0.05 portion of the success range, and special be the top 0.2 portion, with 01 to [.8 * successchance] being a plain success.

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.

On 12/3/2018 at 3:43 AM, Mechashef said:

I have used this and quite like it. 

The reason that it isn’t popular in my group is that it breaks the “philosophy”  that when rolling D100, lower is better.

It is a nice, elegant way of resolving the issue.

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.

On 12/2/2018 at 11:14 PM, Mechashef said:

I have most frequently encountered this conundrum with the Scan/Search vs Hide and Listen vs Move Quietly and have never found a solution I really like.

 

You feel my pain!

On 12/2/2018 at 11:14 PM, Mechashef said:

 

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?

56 minutes ago, womble said:

You could use 'one who made it by the most' rather than 'highest roll'. If people hate arithmetic so much they can't be bothered to take a rolled 2-digit integer away from the target 2-digit integer, RQ probably isn't for them, anyway. Keeps the direction of 'hope' consistent.

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!

One of the things I NEVER understood, if your physical attributes are limited to 21 (human limit) but yet you also can't increase your attribute above the highest of your Str, Con, or Siz rolled at character creation.... how can ANY human get to a 21? Speaking specifically of RQ here.

If the answer is 'magic', then I'd argue that such would allow you to overcome maximums.

I know some of you probably think that I and this project have fallen off the earth, but the manuscript is nearly finished and I'm already pulling in lots of amazing art to make it look fantastic.

I'm toying with the 'back cover blurb' and this is what I've come up with so far:

In the pages of this Grimoire, you will find many new and exciting ways to expand the power of magic within your campaigns. Regardless of which magic system you choose to use, Grimoire has something for them all!

Divine Magic-New miracles for many different faiths.

Magic-New spells for magicians to master, as well as a guide to converting spells from other Basic Roleplaying power systems to Magic. Additonally, rules for Masteries and Grand Masteries, skills that allow master magicians and archmages to manipulate magic in potent and diverse ways.

Spirit Magic-A plethora of new spells.

Sorcery-New spells that highlight the often dark nature of Sorcery and those that use it. Also, some new ritual spells that can increase the power of any Sorcerer willing to learn them.

Basic Magic Sorcery-Extra spells to expand the Sorcerer’s repertoire, as well as new sorcery skills that allow sorcerers even greater ability to fine tune their magic.

Ritual Magic-A completely new method for using and casting Ritual Magic that is compatible with all Basic Roleplaying magic systems, and can be used alongside the system presented in Basic Magic. And what’s the point of a ritual system without tons of new rituals? Absolutely none! So Grimoire comes stocked with a large selection of rituals to suit any style of campaign, from the dark and gritty to epic high fantasy.

Enchanted Items-Using the rules presented in this book and Basic Magic, Grimoire provides a catalog of useful enchanted objects, from the petty to the most potent of artifacts. All are listed with costs of their creation, in case a truly ambitious ritualist wished to build their own, or a gamemaster wanted to make sure they appear with the rarity, and are treated with the respect, they deserve.