Rurik

But how are supposed to tell the difference between the game RQG (RuneQuest Glorantha) and the members of this board RQG (RuneQuest Grognards)?

10 hours ago, Harshax said:

Is there a summary of rules changes between RQ6 and Mythras available?

This. A pdf of the differences between RQ6 and Mythras would be awesome.

I like just CRQ for Chaosium RuneQuest. Simple and to the point. The numbering is already messed up without Chaosium assigning a number. RQ RQ2 RQ3 RQ RQ2 RQ6 - no matter if they follow with RQ4 or RQ7 it is a mess.

So will weapons go back to base chances based on the weapon? Where a greatsword is much harder to learn than a spear or club?

They have new Bio pages for the new principals at Chaosium and Ben Monroe's page lists him as "Magic World/BRP Line Editor, COO, and Earth Ro-Man", which to me implies they are not killing the line. http://www.chaosium.com/ben-monroe/

The most ominous quote from I've read was that BRP "was not a priority", which has caused much speculation, including doom and gloom. I take as a good sign that there is a Line Editor (and that it is Ben). Chaosium is obviously not in the best financial shape right now, and MDP needs to focus on the money makers to get it back on track, but I for one doubt they are going to drop BRP completely, even if they push RQ as their primary fantasy line.

"That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange eons even RuneQuest may return to Chaosium."

Happy belated Birthday!

You know, you are really not so bad considering you are a Darkness Worshipping Uz.

Rurik? Trolkin!

Yup. What he said.

Great news really. Congrats Loz and Pete. MRQ2 introduced the best and most revolutionary mechanic to the RQ/BRP rules with Combat Maneuvers since the d100.

I have high hopes for RQ6 allowed to be developed as a true Labor of Love rather than rushed to meet external pressures.

Other: Good Maps. Everybody loves 'em.

I voted Gazeteer and Scenarios, but of course it kind of depends on the type of supplement. If a setting warrants it Skills, Backgrounds, spells and even equipment should be included if they are not covered by the BGB. But then if every supplement includes it's own magic/powers, backgrounds, and equipment there are a lot of unnecessary pages in the BGB...

You could always try rewarding them in game for good roleplaying. Give them the things they want as rewards for roleplaying. Don't present them with tough NPC's with good equipment, present them with more numerous poorly equipped foes. The loot factor of 20 pointy sticks is not so much. Then set up situations where roleplaying leads to rewards - you must convince the shaman that your intentions towards the tribe are good before she will give you the magical doodad needed to kill the beast (which is tough but has no treasure). So you have combat, a quest, a beast, etc, but the most powerful rewards come from roleplaying - not killing.

I personally haven't had the problem you have with your players in many a year - since before 'kill it and take it's stuff' was seen as a problem, so I don't actually have experience running a game like this way, but I imagine it could work. Positive re-inforcement and all. I agree that 'punishing' players for bad behavior will probably result in the game not being fun for them (or anyone involved ofr that matter). And the point of the game is to have fun. Different people want different things from their games. Hopefully you can find a way to give your players what they want while still getting what you want out of your games (it is, sadly, entirely possible that what they want to get out of gaming and what you want are incompatable - but hopefully you'll find a way to make it work. Good Luck!).

Played it through? No. But I wish I had.

It reads well and I'd love to run it if I had the time. It's a very good supplement.

I don't really see the MRQ method as leaning from one7s failures as much as making improvment unleated to skill use. I see the same thing in d6 Star Wars. A character goes through an adventure where he is constantly using certain skills. He stubs his toe and puts on a medpac and at the end of the adventure he spends the points to imrpve first aid, even though he used it once, and several other skills multiple times.

Though as I mentioned, it was pretty clear (though often missed due to the scattered rules snippits in MRQ1) that you could use IR's on skills you used during the game, success or failure, without any training or practice, while spending an IR on a skill you did not use in play required just such an investment. So skill improvement was not completely disassociated from skill use during play.

So I have no experience organizing Cons but to put together a US BRP/RQ/HQ type con ala Tentacles/Kraken the steps would be:

1) Book a cool location

2) Ship Fabian over

3) Provide lots of beer (inferred from reading con reports of said conventions).

And the rest will pretty much take care of itself?

Heh. It is to be noted that I'm currently playing in a BRP game using pretty much the traditional open-ended method.

Ahh, I see. Arguing for the sake of argument's sake. Very good.

I just think people are in too big a hurry to blow off other methods, and I'm reasonably sure some of that is simply out of habit.

Then there is the ALL MRQ=BAD! attitude. Which Mongoose kinda brought on itself with the initial release, but there were some changes that weren't all concentrated pure evil. Fully errata'd (as in the errata to the errata to the update to the clarified version) it was perfectly playable (not to everyone's taste, but no longer broken).

Someone really needs to host a d100 convention here in the states.

Preferably in the New England Area.

I could be wrong, but I'd always felt that MRQ design choice about handing out Improvement Rolls had more to do with giving the GM's more control over improvement than 'fixing' skill check hunting. It is a way of allowing the GM more control over the rate of progression/improvement and can be used for rewarding good roleplaying (as can Hero Points).

One of the original RQ designers (I can't remember which) once said somewhere they regretted the way you only improved skills by succeeding - when in reality you often learn more from your mistakes (failing). The MRQ system allows you to learn from failures too. In the MRQ1 Rules you had to practice/train to 'spend' IR's, but you could spend them on skills you'd used during play without practice or training. Quite sensible really.

I don't have a strong preference either way, I use traditional skill checks with BRP and IR's with MRQ. I don't feel the skill checks in BRP are broken (I always had a bigger problem with the practice rules - once characters became wealthy enough they wanted to spend all their down time practicing and training, 16 hours a day, 7 days a week. Sheesh...), but the MRQ way has some advantages.

Since I'm ambivelent on the whole issue, I guess I'll just fan the flames by calling you both wrong.

...it's your daddy's RPG!

True. Just like a 57 Chevy Ragtop was "your daddy's car". That is the key, convincing people it is a 57 Chevy (as we all know it to be ) and not an Edsel.

Tedopon, do ALL of your group share GM duties or just a couple and how often do you switch?

It is fairly generous to allow all players to work off of 1 copy (though they probably wouldn't sell many rulesets if ALL players needed the set). Uninstalling tha ruleset on one machine before using it another, though a pain, does not seem unreasonable.

Another option, though it requires a spare machine or a virtual machine and a good connection, is to set up a dedicated GM machine with the ruleset and have the GM of the day control that machine remotely.

MRQ2 is hit location based. There are not even total HP.

MRQ2 Magic is probably the most radical reworking of the traditional RQ magic systems (Divine, Sorcery, and Shamanism) but the rules work very well and 'make sense' in how the mechanics represent 'how the magic works. The overall power level of the magic seems a bit higher than previous editions. Since BRP does not have the 'classic' RQ magic systems these are not analogous to any of the magic/power systems in BRP.

It should be very easy to use MRQ2 magic in BRP. The only area I can think of that is tricky is casting time (in MRQ2 a typical character has 2-3 actions in one round, and casting times are in Actions). MRQ2 spells are resisted with skills but these could easily be replaced with POW vs POW or POW vs CON rolls on the resistance table.

MRQ2 Combat is also very different. It uses the concept of Combat Maneuvers (CM's) - for every level of success over you opponent you gain a CM, something like Trip, Disarm, Ignore Armor, Impale, etc. Some of these are weapon dependant, others can only be used with criticals, etc. These make combat very graphic and very deadly (a simple success vs a failed defense earns a CM). Most combats last only a few rounds.

Other than what I have mentioned the games are very compatible. They share the same characteristics, skills are all % based, etc.

If you hate hit locations stay clear of MRQ2. Otherwise it is worth a look. I can't say one system is better than the other, but MRQ2 definitely brings some new ideas to the table.

Also don't let apply any bad things you've heard about MRQ1 to MRQ2. It is largely a complete ground up re-write, with the combat and magic systems being totally re-done (not that combat and magic are a major part of a fantasy RPG ). The core rulebook is also largely free of the editorial errors that plagued the first edition.

Rurik, I sent you a free PDF as you are a playtester. Other people who did playtesting please contact me for yours.

Thank You, I will go grab that!

a1 books in the USA offers Crusaders of the Amber Coast as new books on the German Amazon website,

and they are even a bit less expensive than Amazon itself.

I think this is their US website:

http://www.a1books.com/CRUSADERS-AMBER-COAST-RPG/1907204636/catalog

Thanks for the link! I did grab it from Amazon yesterday. Amazon actually had it in stock for under $20, and with free shipping that can't be beat. Usually they get RPG books well after other outlets.

I have given up on my FLGS. I used to order everything through them knowing there were cheaper outlets, but RQ/BRP books were notoriously slow in coming. I got the worst of both worlds, paying full price and getting books well after everyone else. After MRQ2 took over 2 1/2 months I cancelled and went to Amazon and haven't turned back. I had to cancel my BRP big yellow book too after it took over two months. Interestingly non d100 games seemed to come very promptly - I had no troubles with Trail of Cthulhu or Savage Worlds. Given the choice of switching vendor or game system, I stuck with d100 and dumped the FLGS.

I have picked up the RQII core core book and overall like the system. Does anyone have recommendations on how many spells a grimoire should hold?

I wholeheartedly agree with this, though I would certainly assign the same cost for each sorcery spell beyond the first.

This would also solve a problem with the experienced characters creation rules, where "master" Sorcerers or priests begin with the same number of spells as a newbie...

The general guideline is that a grimoire should have about 6 spells. A major, important order of sorcery will have a few more, a minor order a few less.

In my experience it is not always clear to players that the Grimoire Skill does not automatically mean all spells in the Grimoire are learned. The Character creation chapter is not clear on this, though the Improving Adventurers section of the Game System chapter is. Loz cleared up over at the Mongoose boards the intent was that starting Sorcerers are intended to get up to 4 spells from their Grimoire(s) for free. So even if a Grimoire has 6 or more spells, a new character does not know how to cast all of them.

After chargen learning a new spell takes study equivalent to learning a new advanced skill (though once learned it is cast with the Grimoire skill), so I think I am going to simply charge 10 skill points per spell at chargen in future games, same as any other advanced skill, and see how that works. The 40 points for learning 4 spells is a significant chunk, but not debilitating.

Does Cubicle 7 have US shipping (at non international rates) or should I wait for Chaosium or Amazon?

I would strongly recommend adding something to the Amazon descriptions of these books that indicates they are for BRP. Searching for Basic Roleplaying only turns up Rome but not Dragon Lines or Crusaders. Someone not actively seeking these titles but looking for BRP supplements would never find them.

I thought this might make magic more balanced with everything else. I later got MRQ2 and I liked their ideas, but some seemed OP to me. One divine spell, (I can't remember what its called, i don't have the book on me at the moment) could do 3D6! That's a lot! Also I wasn't sure if I wanted to have the idea of Sorcerer's being able to afflict people with their spells from miles away. All that POWx4, POWx5 was giving them some serious range.

I kinda wanted my setting to be a bit of a low magic setting, where magic is there but it takes some time to be a powerful magic user who can smite people with the flick of his finger.

Well I hate to call a magic system Over Powered per se - magic is supposed to be powerful. Different games have different power levels for magic, and MRQ2 has powerful magic for sure. Stormbringer 1 (an early BRP game) made absolutely no effort to balance magic, sorcerers were the shit and that was that. I've had many a good time with SB1 back in the day. In MRQ2 my concern isn't so much with magic being OP, but with magic using starting characters being OP compared to other starting characters. But on to the useful stuff:

You can download the MRQ SRD right from this site. It is the MRQ1 SRD wonderfully formatted in a pdf that is searchable and indexed - actually much easier to use than the actual books/pdf's. MRQ1 SRD is still open content, and MRQ1 sorcery could be used with MRQ2 without much effort. MRQ1 Sorcery may be more what you are looking for: Each Spell is a skill, and each Manipulation (magnitude, duration, range, etc) is a skill, it takes a lot of time to become a really powerful sorcerer. Starting Sorcerers are able to have a couple to three spells they can cast reasonably, and have to be kind of specialized (Magnitude is a must, but do I focus on range, or targets, or duration?). It takes a huge investment of experience to reach the level of a wizard who can do it all. Beware the wizard who manages this.

Lankhmar has it's own sorcery rules that include corruption that might also be worth a look. Finally you can limit access to magic in your game. If a PC isn't allowed to spend chargen skill points on Magic and have to learn the skills in game (hence starting at base percentages) you will get the effect I think you are looking for - not too powerful to start, but gradually growing so over time.

I would actually say that MRQ1 magic was the low point of magic strength in RQ. The lack of general HPs meant that it was nigh on impossible to kill someone outright with magic and sorcery still required multiple skills while Improvement Rolls meant that you could only improve a fairly narrow range of skills. The different subsystems in MRQ1 didn't join up and one of the results was that magic was pretty nerfed.

I mostly agree with that. Rune Magic was about the same power level as battle/spirit but much more difficult to learn and so not as common. Divine Magic was definitely nerfed. Sorcery, though, I found was actually a bit more powerful for starting characters, though it had it's ceiling limited. The sorcery power curve was lessened so to speak. But a starting sorcerer in MRQ1 was a more effective caster than a starting sorcerer in RQ3. Spirit Magic in MRQ1 was such a mess as to be unusable as written.

I do think there is an adjustment phase where people who have been playing MRQ1 or older versions first run into MRQII magic and get marmalised. It's probably not dissimilar to the way that non-BRP players feel when they try it out and charge the guy with the loaded crossbow.

My point is not necessarily about how magic works or it's power level in and of itself. On first reading I realised it was going to take some actual play to get a good handle on it. It is almost a disadvantage being familiar with earlier editions as you bring in preconceptions. It is a pretty radical re-working.

If playing MRQII in a magic-prevalent world like Glorantha, you have to have some sort of magic defences. That's probably no bad thing.

Except by the book the only culture that has access to common magic countermagic is Civilised.

There was a detailed design philosophy behind RQII's magic which went kind of like this:

1. How to support all Glorantha's magical traditions?

2. How to represent, mechanically, what a specific magical tradition is about?

3. How to integrate magic, culture and the above

4. How to allow players to achieve a certain degree of power without waiting until pensionable age.

Pause for a second or two to consider what the higher magical forms are about:

Divine - becoming like your god and channelling divine power

Sorcery - manipulating the raw fabric of the universe and hacking its cheat codes

Spirit - bargaining and controlling spirits and ancestors who have transcended or changed, to work magic through you or on your behalf

If any of these are to be successfully and satisfactorily works and the powers achievable through it must be ramped up frorepresented - and be flexible enough for both Glorantha and other settings - then the way magic m previous editions.

I agree wholeheartedly with the fact that MRQ2 magic represents Glorantha and that the mechanics represent how magic works better than any previous edition. I think I like MRQ2 magic a lot (the proof will be in the play as you say). But...

... although powerful, each higher magical tradition is reasonably balanced against the others and, whilst working slightly different mechanically, are all based on a similar structure (all higher magic uses two skills...

My point was exactly that. Higher magic is more powerful, and only requires 2 skills. Meaning there is very high return on investment for becoming a practitioner of higher magic during chargen. And this is an observation from my first game group. The characters who developed higher magic in chargen are at a distinct advantage over those who did not. To the point of frustration for some of the players. Previous editions did not have as noticeable a gap between characters who focused on magic and those who did not.

I have a fear that MRQ magic may have upset character balance some. In MRQ2 there are 2 generalizations that can be made about the higher magics compared to MRQ1 and earlier editions. First that magic is more powerful as a whole in MRQ2. Second is that the amount of skills (and therefore skill points) to get good at magic has been reduced.

RQ always had pretty good balance among starting characters in that characters that focused on Magic weren't overpowered compared to characters that didn't. I'm not so sure this is the case in MRQ2. In light of the two points I brought up characters who do pursue one of the advanced magics seem to be at a distinct advantage over characters that do not. The Magic types can still be quite formidable fighters as well as casters right out of the box.

The link to the game on RPOL is here: RuneQuest MRQ2 - The Keep

Here's the Intro Blurb for the game from rpol:

Caerolwyn Keep is a remote outpost at the base of the Grey Mountains. Once an important fort during the Wars with the Mountain Orcs over a generation ago, it is now quiet assignment for the minimal garrison.

Winter approaches, and with it the usual months of boredom and isolation as the snow closes the roads and the mountain pass. This year the first snowfall has come early, before the caravan bearing the winter stores.