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Some questions: Do you have a bigger version of this picture? And do we know if there is just one type of Bison, or multiple types? Do we know if species actually evolve in Glorantha? Or if such changes would be considered a chaotic thing? I wondering if there are multiple species of creatures, or just one (or a few). If there are multiple species then what are the in world, mythic reasons for it?

In an odd way, it fits too. Part of what drove Anakin to the Dark Side was his desire to do good and fix things. Even as a Sith he wanted to restore peace and order.A Draconian, oppressive order, true. but it does check off most of the things on your list. Keep in mind that the Allegiance system, like much of Magic World, originated in Strombinger/Elric, so Light=Law, and Shadow=Chaos. Viewed from that perspective, everything falls into place. The idea is that mankind needs the features of both Law and Chaos to survive and progress, yet both forces tend to pull towards increasing their own influence at the cost of the other. In the Elric saga, Law was mostly good, but prone to being too controlling, and Chaos was mostly evil, but still the source for freedom and creativity. Balance was the power that would occasionally try to step in and keep one side or the other from getting to powerful and ruining everything-on a multiversal level. That's also why not everyone wants to use it, as it doesn't really fit all settings, as each side has negative traits that might not go over well. For example, in a historical setting, if you link a real world religion with Light you also give it the negative aspects which you might not want, or which some people could find offensive.

Don't be so hasty Phil. I read a story about something like this, and if you play your cards right you could marry a prince!

It's mostly a matter of cost in relative to return, and it's not unique to Chasoium products. Typically, you have to see quite a few copies of something to break even with the licensing fee. That's on top of the time and effort it takes to produce the product in the first place. That's why most independent companies have their own in house system, use something OGL, or do something for a big game, such ads D&D, where the fan base is larger (and so the potential return is greater). From a company's perspective it's a bit of a minefield. On the one hand they want fan support and commercial support for their products as it promotes the game and unilaterally makes it more profitable for the original company, but on the other hand, they also need to protect their intellectual property. On top of that, there is the fact that a company can't actually protect it's game mechanics. So it's a tough spot for everyone.

There is a Youtuber (Lindybeige) who has some Glorantha Monster card drawings on his website available for free download. I'm not plugging his site or Youtube stuff, but he does videos about gaming, ancient warfare, weapons and such, so people might be interested in his other stuff, but I just posted this to alert people about the RQ content.I though some one people around here might be interested in the figures so here is the URL : http://www.lloydianaspects.co.uk/rolePlayGaming/runeQuest.html.

I have to say Wow! I was skeptical when I read the title, and wondered just how "Handcrafted" a Scrren could be, but again, wow! It looks pretty solid for a "screen".

The Sweep Attack in BRP was pretty much taken from RuneQuest 3, and in RQ3 it is a 60 degree arc. Not that you are limited to that. Just letting you know what got dropped.

Sure they will, you can bet on it. But when they have to track more and more things it starts to become a pain. For example,in my last Pendragon campaign, we used the Book of the Manor to manage the various estates that the characters acquired.Now in that supplement you can make various improvements to their lands, and hire people, and this can increase the characters income, glory, and even give skill checks and other benefits. But, eventually, the bookkeeping got excessive, and we were starting to spend almost as much time managing the lands as we did adventuring. Much easier to track. But also easy to exploit. I think there would have to be limit on just how many points of STR or DEX someone can get that way. Especially if the similar weapon rule is in use.

Yeah, I believe it will be at least semi-mythic, much like Pendragon is. Although just when it will be set remains to be seen. I suspect around the time of the Trojan War, since it would be a story rich time that most people who be somewhat familiar with, and allow for the integration of the famous Greek Heroes, but earlier or later could work. And, of course, the game setting could be expanded, much like KAP has done in the past with books on Saxons, Scandinavians, and Irish. I could easily see a Phillip or Alexander of Macedon campaign coming from a Greek RPG, with nearly identical game rules. Or even a campaign centered around Theran Atlantis. It's a rich setting, and the core KAP game mechanics are robust enough to adapt.

Is there an RQG cult writeup for Vivamort? I could see rune spell-draining being a Vivamort ability, not a vampire one. It's just that as most vampires in the area are Vivamort cultists, it's the same for practical purposes. Or basically, what soltakss wrote.

No, but it's tough to find something that is descriptive enough, fits the subject, and is recognizable to the average person or gamer. Probably too obscure. Maybe if you added something to it, the way Pendragon has King Arthur in front of it. But is is rather vague. Something like Bronze Age, or Men of Bronze would better fit. By itself "Before Iron" does sound like instructions for a dietary supplement. If it's the Bronze Age then Bronze Age, or Men of Bronze (which supposedly they were) or Heroic Age, or some such might work. Any idea just how far back they are going? Ultimately it probably doesn't matter too much what it's called, except for first impressions of people seeing it listed somewhere. Of course on places that can show a cover image, the context should be clear.

Just about any interesting, non -generic name will. Anything that invokes an image of any type, such as Hoplite, or Spartans, will too closely identify the game with one aspect of the culture. Conversely, anything more generic, such as Ancient Greece, will seem bland and non-descriptive. So it's tough to pin down.

Yea, but nothing on the D&D scale. Something like a D&D fireball is somewhat possible with RQ3 Sorcery, but the Magic Point requirements would be prohibitive. You get a lot more options and flexibility with RQ3 magic, but its geared to a one target, item type of spell. It's much easier to burn a single opponent to cinders than it is to give a dozen opponents a hot foot. But there is lots of stuff that can be used very effectively if someone is clever, especially if they have time to prepare and cast long term spells.

I'm not sure of your "Why did Chaosium make magic World with RuneQuest was such a hit?" line of reasoning. At the time Magic World was released RQ hadn't been among their product lines for a decade, perhaps closer to two. So RQ really ins't a factor. Magic World really grew out of Strombringer, which did date back to the old RQ days, but remained a Chasoium product after the infamous Avalon Hill deal. But, after the lost the rights to use Elric, they didn't have the Strombringer setting anymore. So Magic World allowed them to retain most of the rules with a more generic fantasy setting. And on the plus side, Magic World is far more generic and customizable than RQ or Stormbringer were, because they were tied to Glorantha and the Young Kingdoms receptively. So it wasn't like Chasoium had RQ going as a hit and came up with Magic World. They didn't. The came up with Stormbinger, which was adapting the core RQ/BRP system to Young Kingdoms, then went with that a bit more after it became tier "in house FRPG". It looks like NewChaosium getting RQ seems to have killed off Magic World. I don't believe it is still in print or are there any more supplements in the works..

Probably not. But I've seen some people who are close to it. I think it's because some of the fun and immersion of an RPG comes from reading it. Especially for the GM, since the GM has to run it.

Yeah, I'm the same way. There are only a handful of RPGs that I get every product for, and those tend to be games written by, or at least overseen by one person, or one group of people, such as Pendragon (except for the Green Knight era, which in all honesty, wasn't all that bad). It's a lot harder to be loyal to a product line or company when the people who write the products or run the company change, and much of what I liked about a line or company changed as well. Also, the reality of Paper & Pencil RPGs is that so much of it depends on the GM. A good GM might want a supplement but probably doesn't need it. A bad GM can buy all the books in the world and it won't necessarily translate into a better RPG experience. That makes RPGs very different and a much tougher market than most other hobbies. Someone who is into a basketball, skiing, hiking, chess, baking, archery, video games or whatever has to go out and get certain equipment, and then has to replace it or but additional supplies as time goes on. With a paper & pencil RPG, once you have a rulebook and dice, you only really need players, some paper and the odd pencil or two here and there. People can get decades of enjoyment out of a RPG without ever buying anything else for that game.

That used to be the experience around here. In no small part because it would have been impossible to maintain a campaign solely on published adventures. Personally, I think A GM needs to write some of the adventures, or at least rewrite prewritten ones, if he plans on having an actual campaign with a storyline, and events that the PCs can have an effect on. True. I wasn't really referring to trends just what the current line appears to be with Chaosium now. It probably makes sense for them, too as the company has had more success in the past with setting specific RPGs. Even though those RPGs were using the same game system, for the most part. Maybe. I think the problem is that generic rule sets don't sell as well and don't produce a line of supplements the same way that a specific setting can. Nor do they generate the same type of loyalty. Then there is the fact that back when most of the generic RPGs and generic source books were first produced, many of them were covering new ground. Today, not only are cultures like the Romans or Vikings covered, but they have been covered multiple times in multiple games, making the information more accessible. So there is a lot more information out there, including many of the older generic supplements. Most of information is a true now as it was when those books were first published.

Yes, that's the the 20/80 rule that Matt Sprange mentioned over at Mongoose. Allegedly, people who buy RPG products only actually play 20% of what they buy, and the other 80% they read and put on the shelf. One nasty by product/reality check to this is that, from the standpoint of an RPG company, it doesn't matter if people actually play a particular RPG or not, only that they have purchased it. From a purely financial standpoint the money of someone who doesn't play a game is just as good as the money of someone who plays the game regularly. Personally, I think ther situation is a little more complex. To start with I think games that people buy, but don't play might be adapted for use with something that they do play. For instance, if someone was running a Rome: Life and Death of the Republic campaign, they could conceivable but and use stuff from Cthulhu Invictus, or even GURPS Imperial Rome, not to mention a half dozen other RPGs for that setting. And once purchased such books would be used as a reference for any other Roman based RPgs they play in the future. So the 20/80 rule is probably more like a 20/50/30 rule, if yoiu factor in for stuff used as resources for other games. Most of my GURPS and Rolemaster historical books are things that I doubt I will run but do use for other RPGs. Then, there is the fact that people who don't like a game are less inclined to purchase supplements for it, and are also less likely to buy other games from that company or author. So there are consequences to targeting the 80% bracket.

I mean as far a Chaosium goes. I thought that they have decided to go back to the idea of integrating the rules with specific settings. Personally, it is, of course a different matter. I think the idea is that many, if most most GMs use pre-written stuff and don't do as much world building or even adventure designing.

Yeah, Isn't Magic World discontinued? In fact pretty much the whole approach of a generic source book sort of a thing of the past now?

Thanks! I'll have to break the bad news to my PKs. I started the campaign very early in the time line , and just ran them though 415, when Constatin sailed over, gather together all the Brits and defeated the Picts (and Huns). The PKs racked up lots of Glory, but then I remembered the 1000 per event limit. On the plus side, they'll get 100 of it back at the Royal feast.

Yup, a more realistic take on things would be for check in skills to count in some way towards improve attributes that the skill is based on. So someone who does a lot of sword fighting would, over time, naturally become stronger and quicker. I suppose you could have each checked box count as a certain number of hours of training towards a characteristic, but it probably isn't worth the bookkeeping.

There is also a matter of it training for 8 hours a day is any more effective than training for four hours a day. After a point it turns into a matter of time. For physical abilities it could be time to put on more mass (SIZ) and muscle (STR), time for the immune system to build up (CON), and so forth. For metnal abilities and skills, it is time to learn what you have studied, and time to let the knowledge sink in and become second nature.

Me either, I goggled it. It's mostly for video games, where you can do a running commentary while playing, but it could be useful to show how a tabletop RPG is played, or how some rules are supposed to be interpreted, in context. It might also help to showcase Pen & Paper RPGs to the video game crowd. Or maybe they are planning on a new video game, or updating King of Dragon Pass?

It's a suite that is focused on games, primarily video games, but I guess that it can be used for pen & paper RPGs too. So I would expect things like game play video, perhaps explanations or examples of some rules. It's like Youtube in some respects, only geared towards gaming. So you mostly go there and watch videos.