soltakss

As @Ian Cooper says, Chained Contests are simply having a number of Simple Contests running together, with the results being used to solve a Contest.

In fact, in much the same way that Extended Contests now work in HQ2.

I took part in a HQ2 playtest game for Glorantha Games a few weeks ago and found Extended Contests to be playable as written. Much better than the HQ1 version and very similar to Chained Contests.

On 4/5/2019 at 9:32 PM, Humakt said:

May be is a silly question but what happens if your allied spirit loose all the mp?

Same thing as happens when a normal Spirit loses its Magic Points, nothing. You cannot possess a Spirit, you cannot bind an Allied Spirit, so nothing happens.

I'd just allow the attacking spirit to move on to the Rune Lord/Rune Priest.

I've mentioned before, maybe here maybe in other forums, that I think that a Jeeves and Wooster 1920s setting would suit Call of Cthulhu really well. You'd have between the wars decadence, flappers, cultists masquerading as chinless wonders, chinless wonder, Wooster wandering about without a clue what was going on and Jeeves solving all the problems and avoiding going insane.

On 4/5/2019 at 5:14 PM, Shiningbrow said:

Firstly, since there are multiple times throughout the year when Initiates and above get their (often full) complement of Rune Points back, and the amazement that is Extension, would it not make sense for any forward-thinking cultist to be throwing their best temporal spells packed with Extension 5 (for a 1-year duration) on a regular basis? If I'm an Orlanthi, Humakti or other combat-oriented Rune Lord, I'd be putting up a Shield 7+ with a 5pt Extension (probably just before a major Holy Day (so I can go battling with my full complement of RPs afterwards).

A rule that Rune Points cannot be regained until the spell expires sorts this out.

On 4/5/2019 at 5:14 PM, Shiningbrow said:

Secondly, if a person is a member of multiple cults, and has multiple sources of Rune Points, can they be used across different deities spells? Eg. could an Orlanthi Shield spell be Extended through RP's dedicated to, say, Ernalda (presuming initiate level or above to both)?  (this is not about whether RP's used on Associate Cult special spells are being combined with base cult spells - eg, an Ernalda cultist using Orlanth's Shield spell, backed by Ernalda's Extensions ... this should be obvious). The question is being asked as a way to get around the CHA maximum Rune Points per cult rule.

I'd play that it can't.

On 4/5/2019 at 5:14 PM, Shiningbrow said:

Secondly, if a person is a member of multiple cults, and has multiple sources of Rune Points, can they be used across different deities spells? Eg. could an Orlanthi Shield spell be Extended through RP's dedicated to, say, Ernalda (presuming initiate level or above to both)?  (this is not about whether RP's used on Associate Cult special spells are being combined with base cult spells - eg, an Ernalda cultist using Orlanth's Shield spell, backed by Ernalda's Extensions ... this should be obvious). The question is being asked as a way to get around the CHA maximum Rune Points per cult rule.

I play that Extension is Extension is Extension. It is a spell, it has an effect and doesn't matter where it came from, Divination/Sanctify aside. So, Extension from Orlanth is the same spell as Extension from Issaries, for example, and I could use Orlanthi Extension on an Issaries spell and vice versa, I could also use Orlanthi and Issaries Extension together.

Regarding Rune Pools for different cults in general, of a Runespell is common between the cults, then I'd allow Rune Points from both sets of rune Pools to cast the common spell. So, Flight, Lock and Analyze Magic are common to Orlanth and Issaries, though the Associate Cults, so a member of both Issaries and Orlanth could use Rune Points from either Rune Pool to cast those spells.

For Divination and Sanctify, I'd actually make those cult-specific, so Divination (Orlanth) and Sanctify (Issaries), which means they are restricted in scope. Otherwise, you could use Sanctify gained from Orlanth to set up an Issaries shrine, which makes no sense to me.

On 4/5/2019 at 4:52 PM, dstack1776 said:

Looking at my most recent download of the character sheet included in the core book, it seems odd that 1H/2H Axe and Spear plus 1H Mace are listed on the sheet. Per the rules (and the sample characters), those are weapon categories - shouldn't the skills be, for example, Small Axe, Battle Axe, Great Axe, and Dagger-Axe? (Though I wonder if it should also be Battle Axe 1H and Battle Axe 2H since the default starting value for those different styles are different.)

 

When I looked at the Character Sheet, I shuddered. For me, it is awful.

Regarding weapons, a good Character Sheet, for me, should contain blank spaces for weapons so that I can write whatever weapons I wan in the Character Sheet. Having weapons explicitly stated is a complete waste of space.

It makes sense for the skills to be weapon categories, as those are the skills that you use, except that weapons have different damage/AP/HP. What I would do is to have the different weapon categories as skills and detail weapons with the skill listed. So, you would have a skill of 1H Sword in the skills list and a Broadsword listed as a weapon with its stats and 1H Sword as the weapon skill. That way, you have the weapons categories to hand, in case you pick up a weapon, but don't clog up the character sheet with things you don't need.

17 hours ago, klecser said:

At the same time, I'm like: Why? Why do we need game-stated prices for slaves? Even if they are part of the setting? It seems to cross a line to me. It implies that player characters are going to have characters that purchase slaves as a "regular" part of the setting.

Slavery can be difficult, especially when it touches on people's family or cultural experience.

Other people have given very reasoned answers, but my view follows.

In Glorantha, as in many Real World World historical settings, slavery is a thing.

In many cases, slavery is an alternative to death. If I capture prisoners in a war, what do I do with them? Kill/Maim them, ransom them, set them free or enslave them? If I set them free, they can fight me again. If I ransom them and the ransom is not paid, then what do I do? If I blind them or cut off their hands so they cannot fight, that is very cruel and bad for them. If I kill them, it solves my problem but is cruel and could cause resentment. If I sell them into slavery, I gain money and they remain alive. 

There are many routes into slavery. Prisoners of war can be sold as slaves. Poor families can sell themselves, or family members, into slavery. People can be born as slaves to slaves. Criminals can be sold into slavery as a punishment. Whether these are good reasons or bad reasons is up to Games Masters and Players.

Slaves are treated very differently, depending on the culture. Pentians routinely geld their male slaves. Praxians don't keep slaves, as it is too hard to keep them, instead they sell them to slavers. Morocanth can turn some slaves into Herd Men. Sartarites have Thralls who work the fields. Grazelanders have vendref who farm for them.

Part of playing a RPG is suspending your own moral views and playing the part of a character with a different set of morals. Slavery can be part of this. However, simply not owning slaves, or freeing slaves whenever you can, is a perfectly valid choice.

Pantheonic membership could have a Lay Member status, in which case you are loosely tied to the Pantheon. For the West, this would mean becoming a Lay Member of the various Malkioni sects and gaining some benefits in terms of Spirit Magic spell access. I doubt whether Lay Membership would give you access to Sorcery, in the same way that it doesn't give you access to Runemagic.

Lay Membership of a Tradition might allow you to learn some specialised Spirit Magic or skills, but not more than an Initiate would get.

For me, Malknioni Sects and Animist traditions are effectively Pantheons and can be treated in a very similar way.

HeroQuesting Rules, as that is an area that I am really interested in.

The order I would like these in is:

1. Gloranthan rules supplements e.g. GMs book, sorcery rules expansion
2. Gloranthan campaign/area sourcebooks e.g. Barbarian Town, Upland Marsh
3. Gloranthan scenario books e.g. easy-to-use scenarios that can be dropped into any campaign
4. Racial/cultural supplements e.g. Gods & Goddesses, Trollpak
5. Non-Gloranthan material e.g. Fantasy Earth
6. Game aids e.g. spell cards, miniatures, adventurers journal

2 hours ago, Tywyll said:

Did you limit it to helping only vs things attacking it's owner or could it launch its own attacks?

Only defending the Rune Priest/Rune Lord. If an Allied Spirit needed to attack in Spirit Combat, it would have to use Discorporation, which we did sometimes.

I prefer a strict SR implementation for things such as Disengaging, Fleeing and Moving.

Swifty the Great Troll has DEX 21, SIZ 30 and a Quarterstaff, so attacks on SR1. Slowy has SIZ 6, DEX 3 and is using a dagger, so attacks on SR 11.

If Swifty and Slowy are in combat and Slowy wants to disengage, is that the same as if Swifty wants to disengage? According to the rules, the person who disengages can and the other person gets a free attack. 

26 minutes ago, PhilHibbs said:

So to "their opponent can make one attack against the adventurer which cannot be parried or Dodged", you would add the caveat "...if their DEX, SIZ, and weapon SR is lower than the fleeing adventurer's DEX SR alone"?

Potentially. It all depends on the situation. A Great Troll with a Troll Maul and high DEX would attack on SR1. If facing someone with a low DEX, who cannot act until SR4, why should they lose their attack just because someone moves away?

If moving away gives your a free attack, then sure, the attack happens without SR considerations. But someone trying to follow should get their normal attack in first.

We played that an Allied Spirit not in a familiar could intervene in Spirit Combat. However, that was always a House Rule.

21 hours ago, Mechashef said:

Yet again this probably falls into the category of whatever the GM decides but I'm curious as to what the general consensus is.

My Number One Rule is "If you can do it in Real Life then you can do it with RuneQuest".

In Real Life, if I turn and flee, then that should be possible. If the other combatant wants to chase after me, then that is possible as well.

21 hours ago, Mechashef said:

When does David's movement start and when does Ella's attack take place?

In most cases it isn't important, but if Frank shoots an arrow at Ella on SR 2 it could have an effect.

Is it that:

1. David's movement and Ella's attack are assumed to occur at SR 1, that means Ella's attack has been brought forward 5 SRs.  That would presumably also mean that if Frank shot an arrow at Ella on SR 2, then he would have his normal chance of hitting her because he is no longer firing into melee.  The same would apply to his 2nd shot on SR 9.
2. They are in melee all the round and David can move his full movement rate at the end of SR 12.  Ella can attack on SR 6.  Frank gets his attacks on SR 2 and 9.  Both his attacks would use the "Shooting Into Melee" rules.  Frank could incapacitate or kill Ella before she can attack David (or David before he can flee).
3. David starts moving at his Dex SR of 3 and Ella's attack is brought forward to SR 3. Frank's 1st shot on SR 2 would use the "Shooting Into Melee" rules, while his 2nd shot on SR 9 would have his normal chance of hitting Ella.  Frank could incapacitate or kill Ella before she can attack David (or David before he can flee).
4. David's movement is delayed until SR 6 which is when Ella's attack occurs.  Frank's 1st shot on SR 2 would use the "Shooting Into Melee" rules, while his 2nd shot on SR 9 would have his normal chance of hitting Ella.  Frank could incapacitate or kill Ella before she can attack David (or David before he can flee).
5. Some other option.

As a GM, I would say (5) some other option.

David has a higher SR then Ella, but can move before she attacks, as he would start moving on SR3 and she attacks on SR6.

Frank gets his first shot in at SR2, while they are in combat.

Now, if Ella doesn't chase after him, then Frank gets his second shot in on SR7 and they are out of combat.

However, if Ella decides to chase after him then things get tricky. If you apply the 5 SR penalty for changing your statement of intent, then Ella can't start moving until SR8, which is patently ridiculous. I'd apply her DEX SR penalty while she realises what has happened, then allow her to move, so she probably starts moving on SR5 and Frank can shoot her while moving.

If Ella and David move at the same rate, then Ella can never catch David, unless one of them stops through Fatigue Loss, so Ella should probably throw her sword at him in a last-ditch attempt to stop him, or give up.

10 hours ago, g33k said:

Waiting ... patiently?

You have ... patience?

We waited patiently for HeroQuest for 20 years. We waited patiently for RuneQuest to appear for many years, and then waited again and again.

We have lots of patience.

In the meantime, we carried on playing what we already had and making stuff up.

14 hours ago, Code Ronin said:

First, how's the learning curve? For the past decade, I've mostly been running & playing d20 systems (Pathfinder, Starfinder, 5e) and while I do love them, I need a break. I don't want character creation or running a game to feel like doing my taxes.

The basic system is really easy - Roll 1d00 under your skill, better if you roll low, really good if you roll really low. 

There is some complexity in combat, but after a few tries it becomes second nature.

There are a lot of extra rules around various things, but they only come up when you are doing those things.

Chargen can be complex, as there is a lot of background stuff that comes in, but I think there's a simpler option that should be straightforward.

14 hours ago, Code Ronin said:

Second, is it relatively child-friendly? My daughter is ten now, and she games. She's played a little Pathfinder, made a character for the Starfinder game I keep trying to get off the ground, and joins me at the 5e drop-in game my FLGS runs. Getting into RuneQuest will be easier to sell to the wife if the kid can play too.

I don't have kids, but it should be OK. The mechanics are very simple and you can draw up a table for Special/Critical rolls, if there isn't one in the book.

14 hours ago, Code Ronin said:

Lastly off the top of my head, what's the setting like? I've heard the phrase 'mythic bronze age' thrown around, but can someone explain that in more detail?

Glorantha is a very rich, very detailed and very atmospheric setting. 

Although people say it is Bronze Age, it really isn't, although a fair amount harks back to Bronze/Iron Age ideas. People talk about Orlanth being Thracians/Dacians or whatever, but if you think of them as being like Heroic Celts/Anglo Saxons/Vikings then that is good enough.

Myth is far more important than history and magic is all-pervasive, although magic tends to be personal rather than army-destroying spells.

2 minutes ago, Jeff said:

If you don't have the RQ Core Rules, the Bestiary, and the GM Pack and Adventures Book what precisely are you doing on this forum?

Waiting patiently for Gods & Goddesses and the HeroQuesting rules in the GamesMaster Book.

12 hours ago, Richard S. said:

Huh. I've never heard of that except for something similar in HW/HQ1 so I didn't think it was canon. How would that function in game terms?

You would probably initiate to a Pantheon and get some Spirit Magic out of the link. I am not sure if Runemagic is appropriate, as you don't have a link to a specific Deity. However, if a cult gives the same Runespell to all associate cults, then it makes sense for that to be available to Pantheonic Initiates. So, Gorgorma used to give Second Mouth to all Earth Cultists, so it makes sense for female Earth Tribe Initiates to be able to sacrifice for Second Mouth.

Historically, wives of Knights and nobles were often Castellans, they were in charge of the knight's castle and its defence while the knight was away. I can see that working in Pendragon.

9 hours ago, jajagappa said:

Under the guidance of a shaman, I've taken PC's into the Spirit Plane. One transformed from a Yinkini into a Odaylan because she discovered she really had an inner bear spirit.

That kind of thing really works as a Spirit Quest, to awaken a totem or make an inner journey of discovery. I could see Animists doing similar Quests to awaken powers, as they become higher level in Traditions or encounter new Spirits.

We know that Pantheonic Initiation is a thing, where people initiate to a Pantheon rather than a single deity. So, you initiate to the Lightbringer, Praxian, Storm tribe, Water tribe, Earth tribe, or Lunar Pantheon and gain some minor magic that way. 

2 hours ago, Bohemond said:

If a Spirit plane heroquest doesn't have a fixed narrative and spirit quests are more of a guided tour of meet n greets with spirits, does that mean that animists can't pull the power of their spirit's deeds into the present?

Yes they can, they just don't do it on the Spirit Plane, but as a HeroQuest in the Mundane Plane or in the Hero/God Plane.

If they did this on the Spirit Plane, the HeroQuest could shape the Encounters on the Spirit Plane to match the HeroQuest.

2 hours ago, Bohemond said:

Waha diverted the Good Canal to erode the Devil, but I can't repeat that to divert these Magasta worshippers from their goals? Are spirit quests limited to acquiring specific powers? 

As a Wahs cultist, I would do the Good Canal Quest to divert a water source to wash away Chaos. If I had some pesky Magasta cultists then I could do in in Prax to get them to do something. It wouldn't be on the Spirit Plane.

However, if I have a place that was full of hostile water spirits, for example the Five Eyes Caves, then I could perform the Good Canal Quest on the Spirit Plane in the Five Eyes Caves to flush those spirits away, washing some chaos away. In this case, the chaos to be washed away is a means to an end, the Waha cultist couldn't care less about the chaos but wants to get rid of the Spirits.

Don't forget that Animists have access to all the Planes, in the same way that Theists do. not everything Animists do has to be on the Spirit Plane and not everything Theists do needs to be on the God Plane. Most of their stuff is on the Mundane Plane.

The Seven Mothers stitched something together to bring back a Goddess. One of the participants was in Llankhor Mhy, so knew of the LightBringer Quest. Another was in Ernalda, so probably knew of the LBQ as well. A third was in Humakt, so was probably aware of bits of the LBQ. They probably knew enough to be able to start the Quest and then make it up as they went along. Presumably, they knew who they were going for and had ways around the bits they didn't know.

It may well be that they could use Gerra or Ikadz in place of the Baths of Nelat, for example, to punish those taking part.

There are lots of ways of getting through a Station or section of the HeroQuest when you don't know it. Substitute something else, try it and see what happens, force it into place.

1 hour ago, Shiningbrow said:

firstly, how's the new cults book looking? Given that RQ basically revolves around the whole idea, I thought it would be an important book to be printing. And, hopefully, will include a variety of heroquesting material...

The last I heard, it was nearing completion and awaiting artwork.

1 hour ago, Shiningbrow said:

Secondly, in the main book, there are references to a "Runequest Gamemaster's Guide". I have only just purchased the PDF of the GM's Pack (and I'm having problems dl'ing it), but it doesn't appear to cover some of what's referred to... On Chaosium's products page, such a book does not exist (with this title).  Would someone please clarify?

This is a new book and is still being written, as far as I am aware.

Normally, Chaosium don't tell us when something will be out until they have a firm date they can meet and things only appear on the Product page when it is available.

Don't forget the various supplements "Coming Soon" or "Coming Next Year" that appeared in various Chaosium publications way back when. heroQuest was coming "Next Year" for over 20 years, I think. That's one reason why Chaosium won't commit until they know something is ready to go.

The way I'd play it is that an Orlanthi cannot learn Sorcery, but someone who knows Sorcery can possibly join Orlanth as an Associate Priest.

Arkat is the most famous example, he gave his Sorcery Regalia to the Orlanth temple. Can't remember where I read that, but it was fairly recent.

What are we talking about here?

Are we talking about the basic concept of Theism "I join your cult, obey your rules, give you POW and you give me magic", or are we talking about different cult structures and so on.

In my opinion, all Theist cults and most Animist cults follow the basic "I join your cult, obey your rules, give you POW and you give me magic" structure.

If you expand it to "I follow you, obey your rules, give you POW and you give me magic" then that applies to Shamans contacting deities personally and also Shamanic/Animist Spirit Cults.

Or are you talking about things like the worship of Hearth Woman in Griffin Island, where the elder women gather in winter and gain Spirit Magic from communal worship?

56 minutes ago, Joerg said:

We are still left with vast areas with less personal (less animist) interaction with the deities than the Theyalan model, more on a vague general initiation and development of that soul organ that allows the flow of magic from the worshippers to the deity without devoting to one or two in specific unless you are a holy person. And possibly with rites that involve multiple active participants under the ritual leadership of a head priest, performing divine magic like e.g. the river priests did when the Cradle arrived north of Pavis in the Prince of Sartar webcomic (or the Pelaskite ship priests calling up the Kraken against Harrek in 1616).

This seems to mean that you are talking about different ways that cultists can do magic, but I am not sure.