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Judging from the rest of the book, it certainly looks like it. Oh, and it might be worth pointing out that although a character above the salt cannot draw feast cards, I didn't see anything that says he or she cannot play a feast card if they wind up with one.

It was a tough situation, almost a Catch-22. On the one hand if they wanted to bring in lots of new fans and grab a bigger share of the market they did need to make the game more accessible and put out a setting that most gamers and new combers could understand. AH was right about that. On the other hand, they needed to continue putting out new, quality Glorantha stuff from the RQ2 fans, and that put Glornatha in competition with RuneQuest -at least that's what it looked like. It felt like we got non-Glorantha products instead of Glorantha products. I also think that the Non-Glorantha stuff benefited by being given the same sort of treatment that old RQ stuff had. We got a setting, scenarios, NPC stats, all in one set. A campaign Pack. With RQ3 Glorantha, we got some adventures, mostly rehashed RQ2 adventures, along with Soruce books that were even less accessible that the RQ2 stuff ever was. Had they done a Dragon Pass boxed set, along the lines of Vikings or Land of the Ninja, they could have drawn new fans into the world. Most of the benefits of the deal that Chaoisum thought they were going to get from the deal never materialized either. I recall one of the reasons for the deal was that AH had this huge distribution network and could put the game into more places, at least that was the theory. In practice RQ3 only seemed to get in to the dedicated gaming stores, where RQ2 actually had managed to get onto the shelves of some book stores. I don't know if this was due to a conscious lack of support by AH (they did seem to wanbt to push P&P over RQ at one point, or maybe figured that like wargames that fans one one RPG would by another), or if thier distrubtion network dried up. Or both.

No it does't. All those Lore skills were already on the RQ3 character sheet.

That may be bur the core GPC campaign tends to use those idealized versions. I could see (and one day might) running a game without Lancelot at all. The affair actually isn't necessary for the story.

I wouldn't doubt it. There might have been oodles of stuff all written up that just never got out. Ultimately all I can say is that what Gloranthan stuff did get out was either a reworking of an RQ2 product, interesting but not applicable to a old style Dragon Pass campaign, or came out too late. The non-Gloranthan line looked interesting but we never got other cultures to round out the setting.

Free INT was alright, although it did limit sorcerers based on INT something that they couldn't improve. Sandy Peterson did do a alternate set of Sorcery rules that helped with some aspects. I think the basic problem was that R Q 2 didn't have any sort of sorcery to draw upon. So the RQ3 Sorcery system was sort of used and ignored by most people and was sort of the go to for many new players coming from games like D&D.

It wasn't successful for MRG but has been, and continues to be successful for many of their other lines. The problem with aiming for the 75% that sits on the shelf is that fans get fed up and stop buying. That's okay with D&D, where there is both a larger fanbase to begin with and new players always joining, and new editions every few years, to restart the cycle. But Mongoose, with the basic strategy of publish lots of stuff, take the profits and run has done remarkably well for them. Unfortunately. Just like how the specialized class/clan book approach on some companies, giving each sub-set of PCs it's own book with new and special abilities for players to droll over has done well in getting players to buy books. It's basically MtG, and how to get around the problem that most of the players don't buy many books, and there is no need with a RPG to buy more than the core books. Splat books with new "powerups" gets player to fork over cash so they can take those cool new abilities. That's why there are a gazillion specialized guidebooks to each class in D&D.

Yes, I think bring RQ out of Glorantha probably helped RQ, as a system, but it hurt Glorantha, a s did the the AH release rate for new Gloranthan stuff, especially adventures. Adventures tend to be the lifeblood of an RPG and the fact that most of the RQ3 Glorantha ones were updates of previously available adventures, already owned by most RQ GMs, didn't help. Accessibility was always something that hurt RQ2 and Glroantha in general. People could pickup Vikings or Land of the Ninja and have a decent understanding of the setting , and get some adventures to get them started. With RQ3 Glorantha, what you got was glimpses into a far more detailed setting, but not enough information to feel comfortable with it.

Probably because most of us didn't suspect, and just thought that these things take time. I'm sure you folk want to get the stuff out as fast as we do. You can't make a profit with out a product. I think it''s just that when people hear of a product they assume that it is (nearly) finished and ready for print.

I'm surprised you said that. I would have expected you to support the Bedwry/Bedivere connection, or Llwch Llenllawg It's also been claimed that there was an older source for Lanceleot that has been lost. From what I' ve read the Vulgate is where his stroy come from, assuming that there was no earlier source. Per that Arthurian Name Dictionary I linked to in another thread.

Oh, they are fine, I am the one wrote statted up the Dullhan, but it can't all be fun and games. We need armies for the battlefield, lead by someone with a good head on their shoulders, preferably their own. Outsourcing is never quite the same as doing it yourself.

I only mention it to make you aware of the potential pitfalls. Anytime a GM house rules something there could be unforeseen consequences, especially for a GM new to the game. Most of the truly broken games I've been in happened because of a house rule or even an official rule change that caused other problems. The changes from Book of the Manor helped to kill off my last Pendragon campaign. There were other reasons, but it was a contributing factor.It's why many of us are hesitant to alter some of the things that we feel should be improved. Before implementing any change I stop and try to consider what the potential ramifications of the change will be, or post it here so that someone else can point out something I might have overlooked. Usually something painfully obvious to anyone not suffering from my tunnel vision about the thing it was meant to fix. Exactly. If one knight is a mastery of Courtesy and grants a bonus to his requires Courtesy skill, then any knight who values courtesy (that practically everybody) would be interested. That would probably help, you can use the Family Character tables as a rough guideline. At least until you run more and start to see what skills get used more than the others. It depends a lot of what sort of adventures you run, and your GMing style. I tend to have my players make a lot of Awareness rolls to notice things, so it is a key skill in my groups, but another GM might not use it as much.

Maybe if we keep quiet nobody will think of it and do a graphic novel. Looking at the seriously though. what if the Once and Future King (TM) were to return to a post apocalyptic Britain to lead it out of a new Dark Age? That might not suck. Take out the cheese and it might be a valid alternate telling.Arthur returns from Avalon, finally healed (and you thought there was a long wait in the ER in the modern era-I bet his health insurance got canceled because he was reported to be dead), Merlin is freed from his cave. I think it has potential. Or maybe I'm just for an excuse to expand the timeline ever further.

So instead of Knights serving on the Round thable they could be served up on the Round Table. Considering the recently Zombie mania, has anybody has done a Zombie King Arthur yet?

Niot to mention a lot of Universal and Hammer films. It remains my favorite horror RPG. Considering how stats and skills worked, it wouldn't be hard to adapt to CoC7 rules, either.

I don't use cloning, but do use Passions porting over at (Rating/4)d6. We like family characteristics. That is one of the problems with Pendragon is that some skills (and attributes) have little or no value. Now I know and agree that not all skills should be equal, but in all the published Pendragon adventures produced over approximately 35 years, has there been even one istnace of a dancing roll? And Hawking plaes in comparison to Hunting in both useful ness and in the chance of it being part of an adventure. IMO, I think what is needed is to flesh out the courty activities the way the miltiary and quest stuff are. Ways to build adventures, and earn glory, and other rewards by using those courtly skills. Yes, that's why I cautioned the OP. It's not that getting rid of FC will remove generation play, but it, combined with some of the other, more gender neutral elements, could reach the tipping point. Almost any change can be dealt with by itself, but the cumulative effect of changes can have a butterfly effect.

Then you are used to it. Right now the game is on solid footing and should do good, providing they can maintain product quality and address any game mechanics issues that still exist. If they put something out before it is ready they jeopardize losing the new fans and the casual fans.

I'd agree with you too. It seems to have a solid secure fanbase. It doesn't appeal to everybody, but it never could have. I don't mean that in a bad way, just that no matter what you published somebody wouldn't have liked it. Exactly. Or tons of option books that give each culture/subgroup whatever special abilities designed to get players to buy the books just to chase those abilities. The CCG philosophy.

Yes there is, but that balance also depends upon the time, resources, speed and creative inspiration of the various people involved in making the product, not in those wanting the product. For example, at one time I was involved with the Book of Castles for Pendragon, but dropped out due to some issues with the game, and some not directly relating to it, such as a housefire. I can safely say that just from what I've seen in Book of the Estate and on the forms, the current state of the book if far better than the version I was working on several years back. The authors fixed quite a few problems that existed with the draft version. So I for one and glad to wait if the end product is superior. Keep in mind that from a business point of view, the MRQ model is more successful as the goal of a RPG company is to get people to buy the RPG , not to play it. While my dislike of RQG is is well known on the board, I'll admit that RQG is a much better product that MRQ and designed to be played not just sold. I think we all understand your desire and frustration to have a new book right away, but patience. This is part for the coruse, and in all honesty, Jeff can't be any slower than Greg was with HeroQuest. I nearly had a stroke when that finally came out.

But both groups have money to spend. While ues the ol' grognards might be dying off and new blood is needed to replace them, in general when a company goes after a new fanbase they unusually don't get it and end up just losing the fans they have. For instance look at New Coke did, or how Nu Star Wars, and NuTrek are doing. Now I'm on your side regarding how fast you put stuff out. Take all the time you need to make sure that whatever you put out is something you are happy with, but you have to expect and accept that not everyone will agree with a given direction for a product line, and also that a lot of the fans who are gushing about a game and praising it endless one month are the sort who will be moving onto the new flavor next month.

There is a difference between thriving and putting out product. Look at MRQ.

Christoper Bruce's excellent Arthurian Names Dictionary has been made available as part of a website with the author' permission. It has entries on many , many characters and is an invaluable resource for tracking down obscure characters, stories, or for finding the origin of of a particular person or story, or identify characters by their alternate names. It also has tons of little tidbits and rabbit holes to follow that can provide the germ of all sorts of adventures.I can't praise it highly enough, and plan to buy a cop of the book to add to my Arthurian library. The Dictionary can be found at: http://www.zendonaldson.com/twilight/camelot/bruce_dictionary/index.htm which also has other stuff on King Arthur and Charlemagne that could be of use to Pendragon GMs.

I meant that as the Post-Vulgate went too far with Galahad, maybe the verse romances went too far with Lancelot.

Who stole my safe?!!

In defense of Jeff, I'd rather have good product come out slowly rather that just get buried in a lot of junk. There are RPG companies out there who just publish a lot of stuff that they don't really expect people to play, just buy (it's Mongooses whole strategy, just ask them,). Also Chasoium is a smaller company and cannot put out product as the same rate that the big companies do. If RQ had D&D's marketshare, then maybe, but then we'd also get the variable quality that comes from having a host of people writing and releasing product at a near constant rate. I for one, despite waiting with baited breath for the Book of Salisbury, Book of Magician, Book of Castles, and other stuff in the pipeline for Pendragon, would rather wait for a product that I will like and can use than get something rushed and poor quality just so a company can get something out. Besides, "Gregging" referred to Greg's habit of continually changing and retconning aspects of Gloratha, (i.e. Emal) to the point that it frustrated players. Similar to how George Lucas changing the Star Wars trilogy, although at least we never got to "Rurik shot first".