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Hi, The answer to that question varies a lot based upon your group, familiarity with the game, and style of play. I fleshes this out a bit, but my beast suggestion is in the last paragraph, if you want to skip to the "good stuff". If your group can make quick decisions and act swiftly, then you can go through adventures in less time. If, your group takes time to come to a decision, and are slow to set things into motion, then it can take a lot longer to go through the same adventure. This could literally double or triple the time it takes to go through an adventure! Likewise a group that is familiar with the game system and setting will tend to play faster, since they can better judge most situations, and estimate how tactics will work out. This will overlap the first point, as the more familiar the group is the faster they will be able to figure some things out and come to a conclusion. If the group isn't familiar with the game system and setting, then it will take them more time to understand how things work and what some things mean. It willl also take them that much longer to figure out how to rate their characters in relation to other characters, especially the opposition in an adventure, longer to figure out what tactics to use and the importance of superior numbers, and other things. On top of that, the GM will have to stop and explain more things to the players, stuff like modifiers to rolls, character options, magic, healing, parrying, all that can slow down the pace of the game, but is vital to the players understanding. If your group is new to the game, expect things to take longer , especially at first. Don't be surprised if it takes your group longer to do things that most of the times you see here, as many of the people here have been playing a version of this game for decades, and so their groups are very familiar with the rules. You style of play, and your styling of GMing also play a factor. Some GMs will play though every day of travel and such, and that will take time. Others will just gloss over minor things and just right to the important stuff, and that speeds the game along. Some GMs are sticklers for things like what equipment the characters are carrying, others will let the players "have things like rope, despite not doing so while they were in a town or city. Others will force the players to actually go back and get the stuff if they forgot to do so in the first place. Just how much of a stickler the GM is for details, how much time he needs to look up stuff, how much time the players "waste" chatting, eating, catching up on the latest sports scores, texturing, emailing, and doing other non-game related stuff all affects the pace of the game. Ultimately, just how long it should take you to go through an adventure has little to do with what it expected. I've had groups zip through an adventure in half the suggested time, and other groups take forever to get through the same adventure. It's more about what pace the GM and players enjoy playing at. If everything is having fun and things are exciting, then that's the right speed to be playing at, and it doesn't matter if you go through an adventure in two hours or twenty two. If you get the feeling that things are dragging, and the players are getting bored or frustrated, or a struck for what to do, then the GM needs to trying to pick up the pace a little. If the players are being rushed, and are making mistakes because they are being overwhelmed by the speed of events, then slow down. But any suggested time for a pre-written adventure is just that "suggested.".

The crossguard does provide good hand protection. Probably any culture that developed a cutting sword would see the value of crossguards or develop more advanced hand protection. Especially one where the civilians carry swords.

I'm aware that the ancients of said globe were able to work out a lot of details about it's size and shape. I'm not saying the residents of Glorantha couldn't have the math to work this stuff out about Glorantha, only that said math might not apply, or be in any way logical or scientific. We don''t really know how much of modern concepts such as physics and mathematics actually apply to Glorantha. For instance, we know that disease in Glorantha comes from spirits, so germ theory would be on shaky ground. Does gravity exist? I doubt it, and so I doubt Newtonian laws apply. I think a lot of higher mathematics and geometric laws probably don't apply either. And what does apply probably can be circumvented by Chaos. That leads the question and to how and why objects are in the sky. I suspect the answers are much more mythical and cultural that logical and scientific.

Not so simple. For one thing, on horse you have to go cross body with a lance charge to keep from dislocating your shoulder, and I don't think that could be done with two riders. Then there are the saddles to consider. I could see the first rider being pushed back and hitting the lance of the second rider upon impact. If the lead rider should get unhorsed, he has a very good chance of taking out the second one. And, if the second rider did manage to stay on, how could he control the rhino? Then there are the drawbacks on multiple impacts. Basically, the force and energy of the charge would be divided between two lances inside to being concentrated on only one, so the damage would end up being less.

Yeah, and the style fits with the reference book nature of the project, too.

I suspect you're right. A good part of the difficulty here is that we are trying to make sense out of things using our modern methods, and they probably don't apply. For instacne how much of the "known" information we have from official sources has been proven to be true and correct? A lot of the information we get is taken from a particular viewpoint, and might not be correct. Likewise, with the mythic and metapysical nature of Glorantha some of the "true" details we end up with might not hold up to modern science. We are talking about a place where a mountain could be a sleeping dragon.

It can compute under very select circumstances. Namely that the "50 miles high" is measured from the tallest point/peak in Glorantha, and that such a point is 3450 miles above sea level. But I don't think there is any evidence about any land mass being that high up, or the existence of a Gloranthan "Tower of Babel", so I'm with you on this.

Noit really. What matters is how good the best characters are, and how much the average varies from 50%, as those over 50% will get more augments Going with my four on four example above, the PCs a 75% will probably get two augments and be in the 95% success range, while the guards will be lucky to get any augments. So you wind up with 95% vs. 25% which is better for the PCs. And frankly it doesn't make sense, and sets a bad precedent for future sessions.. From now on your group of PCs will want to sneak in larger groups so as not to be detected. I could see a grouip of PC hiring a small army of incompetents just for the augment bonuses.

Not really. The thing is more people shouldn't make hiding or sneaking easier. Think about it. An army can't sneak past another army easier than one guy can sneak past another. Instead of an augment, maybe you have failure take away from the best character?

This is kinda why everybody, including old Chaosium, dipped into the D&D 3E OLG pool last decade (seems like yesterday). Bigger fanbase, more potential sales. So there is a certain point where the returns aren't worth the investments, financially, and Chaosium isn't owned by a multimillionare who can just keep funding it for years while losing money (i.e. David Brown and Aston Martin in the 70s). Of course part of this is the higher production values coming back to haunt us, too. The prettier a RPG looks, the more color, art, and the nicer the layout, glossy paper, hardcover, all increase the investment in terms of cost and time, and thus the higher the return required to be profitable. That higher return can be somewhat offset by a higher price tag, but also requires higher volume of sales. So there is a trade off. Of course if the PDF sales Magic World would to suddenly skyrocket, things would probably change. But the only possible way for that to happen is probably by third party (=fan produced) stuff. Maybe someone would like to do a Magic World fanzine? .

OH, just to clarify, this "problem" with groups is more a matter of mathematics and dice than one of game system and game mechanics. The same sort of thing happens with most RPGs. It's just a case of the more rolls you make the better the chances are than one roll will fail, but the PCs can't afford even one failure. Some possible ways to address this could be: 1. Allow the PCs to fail a roll, or just say the majority of the group has to succeed in order to succeed. If only some of the PCs fail you get one of those classic scenes where sone guard asks another 'Did you hear something?" they Reply" No, did you?" followed by the sound of chirping crickets and and a return to the poker game. 2. Give those who move quietly a certain safe distance that can be where they don't have to make a roll. This kinda makes sense, since if someone is 100 meters away when they trip, they probably won't be heard. Something like, say the lowest of thier MQ special chance (in yards/meters) or the opponents Listen special chance. Same for Hide and Spot/Search, That would encourage PCs to keep their distance when sneaking (realistic) but also keep them a bit unsure as to just what a safe distance would be (also realistic). And it's playable too.

Since some people want to go down this path , here is the real world math. Don't say I didn't warn you.... In the real world the relationship between Mass and STR is a cube-square relationship. Now since, SIZ (and STR) in most BRP games are on a logarithmic scale this means that there is a 3/2 relationship in the changes between SIZ and STR. That means if you had some sort of growth ray, or shrinking ray, that for every 3 points that you change SIZ, STR would be changed 2 points in the same direction.This is the reason why smaller creatures can be so strong relative to their SIZ and also why certain types of creatures can only grow so big before they lack the Strength (muscular or material) to function. One reason why fantasy creatures such as dragons and giants "work" in BRP is that they are much stronger than they should be for their SIZ. At least that's true for Giants, as they are big humans. Since different creatures have different percentages of muscle mass, and body shapes that lever that muscle mass differently, you can have different STR values for creatures of the same SIZ. Also, since there is variation among creatures of the same type,STR can vary somewhat from one individual to another. But overall, this works out to STR , on average, being around 2/3rd SIZ plus a modifier. For humans about 2/3 STR +2. But due to variations among individuals we probably want to random this a bit more. Oh, BTW, a simple practical application of this is that it makes it possible to come up with game stats for a creature by taking the stats for something similar and scaling up SIZ and the other Stats to match. For example, let's say I'm running RQ3 and I want, for who know what fiendish reason, stats for a Megalodon. Now looking up information of Mega I note thta the most common estimation of maximum length was 18m, or about 3 times the length of a White Shark. Now if we assume that a mega is 3 times as wide and tall as a White Shark as well as 3 times a long, we would expect it to weight 27 times as much. This is about 39 SIZ points higher. So if we took the Large Shark stats from RQ3 and raised the average SIZ by 39 points, we'd have the right SIZ. Then if we raised STR by 2/3rd of that (26 points), and then raise CON by the same amount, POW seems to go up at about half of SIZ (+20, and probably so they aren't too vulnerable to magic), and maybe shave a point off of DEX, and we'd have a pretty solid base for a Mega. Armor is usually tied to db in RQ3, and is 2.5xdb for a shark, so we'd want to increase the armor based on the new damage bonus +(9D6, I think) so 23 armor. Now the really nice thing about the former paragraph is that it can be automated to get game stats for a range of similar creatures of different SIZ.

Yeah that could work. Bascially the sytem in MW is great for a world similar to something from Moocock, with two opposite sides and a third side to counterbalance them, but needs to be fine tuned for anything else. Umm, not so much. In most cultures don';t really have two sides as far as worship goes. You usually have a good side and a bad side, but there normally aren't many if any open followers of the bad/evil side. Yeah. Although I think I liked the old Strombringer Elan system a little better. RQ and even BTRC's Warp World also have some ideas that could touch upon this. Names the concept that the PCs sacrifice Magic Points/POW to the Gods who give back magic abilities (Spirit/Rune Magic) as a reward. But the underlying concept for the approaches are all the same. You do something that the deity likes and get something back in return. It's a very direct "cause & effect" relationship that makes things very clear to the players. That's neat. Do you put any sort of limits as to how fast characters can earn allegiance points? There were lot of minor things that characters could do in Strombringer that could net them a point or two. Not so big a deal with Strombringers' DI rules, but something that player might try to exploit if they get spells out of it.

I agree with either not rolling for the guards or using only one roll for the guards. Otherwise that mathematics behind things turns heavily against the players, who not only must succeed in order to be quiet, but must also hope one of the four NPCs don't beat them. What happens is that the need to have all the rolls in the series come out in favor of the PCs in order to succeed, can quickly make stealth completely impractical, and thus not worth trying. For instance, let's say you got 4 PCs who are good at Stealth (75%) and four guards who are not especially Perceptive (say 25%) skill. The chances of all four PCs succeeding in Stealth is less than 32%, as is the chance for all four guards to fail to make their roll. The final chance of success is only 10%, and that is without factoring in degrees of success or opposed rolls, which would make things even worse for the PCs. I'd suggest that if the PCs are just sneaking past the guards, have good cover, and not attacking them, that the guards shouldn't even get a roll unless a PC fails, or if the guard's relevant perception skill (i.e. Listen) is higher than the PCs Move Quietly/Hide, and that would be after factoring in any modifiers (range, lighting, cover, distractions, fatigue, weather). Otherwise the guards will notice something just about all the time. Most of the time nothing happens on guard duty, so most of the time the guards wouldn't expect trouble and wouldn't notice much. If when the guards have a good reason to be expecting someone to be sneaking by, fairly soon, that they would be more alert and attentive, and harder to sneak past. I'd probably just reat numbers of guards as a modfier to the roll, should they get one, and that's assuming the guards are close together. . .

There are some on this site: https://everything2.com/title/Nysalori+riddles

Especially when it wasn't even a major marriage consideration.Even if she wins Madoc heart and is available for marriage (which as a knight she'd probably have a bit more control over than normal for a woman). Uther might just suddenly decide to finance her pilgrimage to the Holy Land (i.e. big bribe to get lost) so he can talk some sense into Madoc. Or the PK could see the Duke kill Madoc at Tintagel, get inspired, kill Gorlois, and end up on Uthers' good side.

It originated the major wound mechanic. Pendragon does't use a major wound table, and instead just forces a roll on the aging table. But the Major Wound =CON is the same. Not really. Stormbinger uses a variable die roll with an average value for armor with helm being about the same as the RQ value. Pendragon uses a value close to about twice that of RQ. For example Leather is worth 1-2 points in RQ, but 2-4 points in Pendragon. Mail is worth 5-6 points in RQ, and 10-12 points in Pendragon. Plate is worth 8 in RQ and 16 in Pendragon and so on. And damage about twice that of RQ as well. For instance in RQ a STR 12, SIZ 13 character with a a sword does 1D8+1+1D4 (average 8 ) damage. In Pendragon that same character would do 4d6 (average 14) which is close. A character in RQ with STR 18 SIZ 18, would do 1D8+1+1D6 (average 9) but in Pendragon they would do 6d6 (average 21). Again, about double.

Yeah, but that might just be edition related. There was a change in the stats of a few creatures between RQ2 and RQ3, and beyond. For instance BRP BGB and, appropriately, RQG horses are smaller than their RQ3 counterparts. Probably to reduce the horse's db from 4d6 back to the +3d6 it was in RQ2. But does than mean that horses (or at least the most common breeds) are supposed to be smaller in BRP and RQG or just that SIZ increases faster? In fact it is the RQ2 T-Rex stats that contribute to my disapproval of going back to RQ2 category modifiers.

My suggestion there is only introduce a few characters at a time, and them bring them back a couple of times so the players will remember them, and so you can see which ones the players take an interest in and which ones they do not. In my campaign, the big note taker didn't bother to note any of the heiresses, despite being given an opportunity to lead a raiding party for one, because she didn't have any knights of her own. The latter brick should have been noticed, but no, the player just remembered the raid-and that ended up being aborted when they got invaded by Picts and the Knight whom they were going to raid saved the PKs bacon. Ouch! That will be a tough blow for the PK, especially if they have no other children to continue the family line.There would be some interesting possibilities for a PK who is Arthur's illegitimate cousin.

Yeah, armor is the problem. in standard Pendragon the high armor values work to give Knights (the player characters) and advantage, since they will usually havebetter armor than the non-knight opponents-especially as the game progresses. The simplest solution would be to fall back on Pendragon's source for game mechanics, RuneQuest/BRP. In RQ armor is about half of the value than in Pendragon, but shields are worth twice as much, and weapons can be used to parry as well. So if Errol Flynn type Robin Hood could parry 10 points of damage with his sword he won't need much armor to get by. You might even want to consider bringing back the double feint tactic in some some too, to make DEX more useful, and give such a game a more swashbuckling feel. You might even want to consider bringing in category modifiers in some form to make DEX, STR, and APP more significant (as they would be in such a game).

I've thought about it, but in some ways it's like playing in the minor leagues. After King Arthur real history is a bit low keyed. Real knight probably would be less chivalric.

Oh sure. I just want you, as GM, to be aware of it the full situation. And, as GM, you should probably clue in the player to her situation, so she realizes the difficulties. Often players fail to grasp the realties of medieval marriages. In my own campaign, I've got PKs who are household knights and who want land, but couldn't remember even one of the half dozen heiress they've met in the first 7 sessions of play. Good. Also note that if the female PK does get involved with Madoc and has a son, then that son would be a factor in the course of the game. Once Madoc and Uther dies, the son would have a claim on the throne of Logres. It might not be a good claim, (unless Madoc and the PK were secretly married), but it would be a claim, nonetheless. At a time where there is no other claimant. So if his parentage were known, it could lead to problems (and opportunities) for the PK. Not to mention the "child out of wedlock" problems that she might have to deal with.

Like Khanwulf says, the fine Armor stuff is non-existent at this time. You can't even get glory for Romance yet. You could probably use the Romance rules for a guideline, give Madoc a high resistance, and reduce it a bit for the PKs APP. Then have the PKs actions reduce the resistance score over time. Good luck to the female knight but her chances of getting married to Madoc should be extremely remote. What you have to keep in mind is that for the nobility, marriage is more about political, military and economic alliances than about love. As the son of the most powerful King in Britian, Madoc would be expected to marry the daughter of another King, or at least a powerful Baron of some sort. The idea is that the marriage should extend his lands and influence in a meaningful way. Especially if Uther is going to permit it. For the PK to have any real chance of success, she needs to bring something substantial to the table. Yes, she might win Madoc's affection with her APP and charm, not that that would be easy, but that probably won't be enough to get married to him. Or to stay married to him once Uther finds out. Now if the PK has a title and lots of land it become a different story. Ditto if she is insanely rich, has a powerful army (tough to do without land or riches), or carries an impressive magical weapon or something (Excalibur, for example). But you do need to look at the situation as what does she do that makes her a better match than, say, a Countess. Remember too that she is aiming for what is supposed to be the best "job" that a woman can get. In theory she would eventually become queen.

That's true of many of the major battles, for some obvious story reasons. For instance, if Arthur lost his early battles he wouldn't be King, and the land would probably get overrun by the Saxons. You don't need to. The battle system in the core rulebook does just that. Generally, in the scirpted battles the coruse of events is spelled out., Even more so in older editions of KAP. Also, if you replace the random roll for intensity each round with a scripted amount, you can use the Book of Battle for scripted events just fine. Ditto Jon L's system if you script the die rolls for Battle. One of the drawbacks to completely scripting the battles is that the players have no effect on the battle, unless some sort of opportunity is scripted in.

It does, if the active gods match up with the Law vs. Chaos split of the Young Kingdoms. If not, then it doesn't work so well. I wouldn't want it for something like Ancient Greece.