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Sayerson

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Posts posted by Sayerson

    Quickstart Rune Magic & Spirit Magic

    in RuneQuest

    Posted

    My personal preference, house rulesey, is to allow 1 Rune point (RP) per day with all RP recovered during a holy day. Initiates, 1 RP per season with all RP recovered during a holy day. This seems to me a playable, gradual, increase that keeps players from fighting above their magical 'weight class' too often. 

    We also choose to constrain character battle magics to 1/3 character INT in maximum variable POW. A very different approach, (ala TDM), which makes matrixed spells set by an 18 POW more valuable. Especially to someone like INT 12 Phred with only POW 4 variable spells vs INT 15 Rikki (with POW 5 variable battle magic). Both house rules work well overall for us and keeps games away from over blown magic ratings and the 'let's do this adventure after a few months of RP replenishment'. Although that happens too. (Nothing like the joy of raiding your enemies in a religiously endorsed vendetta right after your holy day. Except for their retaliation after their deity's holy day).

    QuickStart 2 attacks in one round?

    in RuneQuest

    Posted

     

    19 minutes ago, boztakang said:

    you are forgetting the SR used to fire the weapon the first time:

    SR 1 - fire first shot

    SR 2-6 - +5 to Ready next shot

    SR 7 -  +1 to fire second shot

    able to ready, but not fire a third shot this round. 7+5+1 = 13

    Yes. You are right.

    QuickStart 2 attacks in one round?

    in RuneQuest

    Posted · Edited by Sayerson
    Readability

    @Jeff "No, it still takes 5 SR to ready a weapon. So SR 1, then 5 to ready, then shoot again on SR 7, then 5, ready to shoot SR 1 of the next round"

    Wouldn't that be ready in sr 6? Combining readying the weapon and dex/siz srs?

    Skill list

    in drools

    Posted

    "devise for easy mechanical and electrical work and research for computer use, while a craft mechanic, craft electrician or lore computers would be needed for more advanced use."

    That would work nicely. And good point on languages.

    Skill list

    in drools

    Posted · Edited by Sayerson
    Additional

    Operate may work for drive and pilot but I believe there are only so many skill names you can multipurpose like that.

    For example - Athletics, covering most physical exertion skills, doesn't necessarily stretch well to include a Swim skill. (Generally, one can jump, climb and run through an obstacle course but why should that imply that a character could survive crossing a raging river or even a lengthy floatation on a body of water?)

    When we did this with some of our house games, we found that specific skill lists supported different genres easier than one general list for all. Maybe discuss with your players to see what they would settle for. 

    Additionally, your list could use a Communications or Language skill. 

    Skill list

    in drools

    Posted

    Right off the top, I'd say branch 

    • Survival - City
    • Survival - wilderness 
    • Survival - desert 
    • etc  

    and get rid of streetwise as survival city would cover it

    • Like 2

    Matrix magic and charms

    in Mythras

    Posted

    8 hours ago, Mankcam said:

    BTW I remember when the term 'grognard' was almost derogatory, meaning someone who was a 'stale old gamer'. It seems since the OSR we have embraced the term, encompassing it to mean 'rpg consultants'. Or perhaps its just because we ARE actually stale older gamers now, heh heh

    'Seasoned' gamers, thaaank you. Lol. 

    • Like 1

    Matrix magic and charms

    in Mythras

    Posted · Edited by Sayerson
    readability

    10 hours ago, Mankcam said:

    Matrices were discussed in RQ2, and in RQ3 they were used interchangeable with Enchanted Items. I always felt the rather objective term of 'matrix' may have been a God Learner title, and perhaps many of the more theistic or animistic cultures referred to these items as being 'enchanted', instead of being a 'matrix'. Basically a matrix is an item which holds spells, and grants the user to cast those spells as if they had the knowledge to do so.

    Given how long these games have been in existence, like many people I ended up playing Glorantha with a mix of RQ2/RQ3/BGB, as well as my own homebrew rules. So this is one of those YGMV posts.

    Glorantha strikes me as a mix of a high-magic AND low-magic setting. Everyone can cast some folky low-magic (which fulfills the role of Feats/Talents in more pulpy settings), and the more proficient and prominent people (Runemasters) have access to more potent magics. With magic being known everywhere, sometimes limits need to be placed so not to detract from the importance of the Runemasters.

    One thing I did stipulate in my Glorantha was that matrices/enchanted items had to have their spells imbued into either Crystals or Truestone in order to contain permanent magic. This excluded unique magical items which had magical properties created from magical resonance, or were holy/mythic items from other Planes etc (so this gave a rationale for many of the unique items from RQ2 Plunder, for instance).

    When enchanting an item other than Crystals or Truestone, the item was merely 'charmed', and only held one-use magic, which was expended upon use. For permanent magic which could be replenished, the item needed to have POW, which Crystals and Truestone have as natural properties.

    So for charms, our characters had to roll under their spell casting skill and their Enchant skill, and spend double MP, and then the item was charmed with a one-use version of that spell that anyone could use (unless specific additional conditions were placed on use, an extra MP per condition).

    For permanent enchantments, the character had to transfer a number of POW into a crystal or piece of Truestone. The POW equaled the MP used in the spell, and they were also required to roll under their spell casting skill and their Enchant skill, and then the crystal had a permanent version of that spell. The crystal had its own POW, which was the maximum that could be filled with POW from the character used for a spell.

    In its natural state, a crystal's POW could be used as additional MP for an attuned character; but this POW could also be 're-purposed' if a spell was imbued into the crystal. So for example, a crystal with POW 7 would have naturally been able to be used as an additional 7MP to an attuned character. But it could also be re-purposed to contain Heal 3 and Befuddle 2, with 2 POW left-over 'unenchanted'; thus being able to be used as an additional 2MP supply for the attuned character.

    So I often had crystals built into items, and decreed if the item was associated with the intended purpose of the magic, then that spell was easier to enchant into the item. So a crystal which held Bladesharp 3 would often be crafted into a sword, for instance.

    This led to crystals being quite valuable, as they had all the typical properties of RQ2/RQ3 Crystals, as well as the exclusivity of being able to hold permanent spells. This also kept the game from getting bloated from every commoner running around with heaps of magic items. Given that crystals are actually the crystalline formation of the Blood of Dead Gods, it really felt quite Gloranthan.

    I should point out that this was not my idea. It seemed to develop in the minds of many, I have read it before numerous times in mailing lists, forums, game table discussions etc. I was unsure if any of the official writers elaborated on it or not, but it was a great way not to overbalance the magical economy, yet still felt very Gloranthan.

    We used something very similar in our games, as you outlined, with a more esoteric explanation on why it was possible. We also renamed the POW stat to Spirit (SPI) which generated Power (POW) instead of MP as it felt more intuitive to the game and original mechanics in play to us. Excerpted from our house rules;

    "When the god's war occurred, many deities and their followers were killed. Unlike deaths on the mortal plane, the bodies of the slain would transform. 
    The very blood of deities and heroes would crystallize while their bones would harden into elements of bronze, copper, gold, silver, tin and  various other metals before crumpling to pieces. (The Copper Sands are said to be created from the bodies of followers of the Earth God in the area).
     
    From these crystals, a spirit memory of the fallen would sometimes remain, containing a vestige of the fallen's SPI and, at times, their POW. Crystals that still retain a fragment of the fallen's SPI are known as POW Crystals. Those that have no SPI came to be known as Dead Crystals.
     
    The remains are sometimes found by characters and highly sought after for their intrinsic worth as gateways to a deity's or hero's POW. It is rumored that if a large enough portion of POW crystals and ur-metals were located, a deity or hero might be reformed.
     
    Crystals found, come in two forms. Power crystals and Dead crystals. Power crystals will carry a trace of the deity's SPI and are able to recharge their POW as a living character but must be attuned to in order to use. These crystals come in various ratings and are worth more than a Dead Crystal.
     
    Dead crystals are those crystals that no longer have a lingering SPI memory of a Deity but will still store POW up to their limits. POW must be transferred from a character and stored in the crystal but unlike a Power Crystal, will not self recharge and do not require attuning to. 
     
    Characters may carry the same number of Power crystals as bound spirits and does count against that number. Dead Crystals do not unless used to bind a spirit into.
    Both Crystal types may be used to bind a Matrixed spell.
     
    Matrixed spells are created by overlaying a spell onto a Crystal and using that Crystal as a spell foci. Matrixed spells allow a character to cast a spell as if known and in active memory without either being necessary.
     
    An Active matrix is a Matrixed spell that is overlaid onto a Power Crystal. An inactive matrix is one that is overlaid onto a Dead Crystal. Matrices may be attached to objects to create usable magic items.
     
    An inactive matrixed spell item does not count toward bound spirits count but an active matrixed spell does. Truestone, a dead portion of the Law rune, may also be used as an active matrix and will not count against bound spirit numbers. It is the only rune that may be found uniquely as a tangible item."
     
    This was a unique divergence from the rules for our game and together with a modified Cheng variant, battle magic level limits (1//3 SPI for intensity and battle magic spells bought as a spell instead of a fractured partial level), binding and spirit stat changes, created our YGMV and became the norm as you said.
     
    It's also interesting to me that many grognards came to similiar rule changes.
     
     
     
    • Like 1

    What happens when you're dead

    in Glorantha

    Posted

    4 hours ago, soltakss said:

    It all comes down to opinions and interpretation really.

    After seeing this thread continue long after I thought it would end, (and should have), I am certain that Soltakss has the best and only answer and any further discussion is just going to meet everyone's dug in viewpoint and become wasted space. Whatever point you could,  and have made, Darius West is long lost due to the constant argumentative diatribe that followed.

    Is one view more right or wrong, that you are dead or alive when Heroquesting? This not a real life religious, philosophical or sophistical view and doesn't matter as what is going to be official is set and is a MINOR impact. Is it relevant any longer?

    What should not be set is how will this impact your game play. Every scenario up to this point didn't matter if you were alive or dead (when Heroquesting) as there was no official release specifically on Heroquesting. Yet each were usually still playable and enjoyable. Why would future scenarios be any different? My advice is to see it from both sides first and see how it plays out and can be used in game. If it doesn't work for you, try the other view, adjust it accordingly and carry on. The new version isn't even out yet. 

    41 minutes ago, MOB said:

    But in this case, I do think it is specifically referring to the Resurrection spell, which is in the book.

    . And agreed.

    Oy, the humanity...

    • Like 3

    Just a bit o'fun

    in Glorantha

    Posted

    After completing the "flying monkey", ( a grotesque sexual act no doubt), the vingan is never the same after and applies for Babeestor Gori membership with her fearful companion Basmoli. 

    Seems plausible...

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