simonh

It looks like there's a copy in the files section, along with a whole bunch of related stuff over here.

We don't know yet, I suppose source material on other regions might introduce more runes into the system. The questions is, to do what? It's all very well saying sorcerers should have the Law Rune and Shamans should have the Spirit Rune, but that only makes sense if you give them a meaningful job to do in the game system and I'm not seeing an obvious gap for them to fill right now. Also let's be clear that just because a rune isn't on a character sheet, it doesn't mean your character has no connection to it. All it means is there's no specific role for that connection in the game system right now. Sorcerers might all have Law Rune 90% just by knowing sorcery, but it's just not relevant to the game mechanics so it's not on the sheet.

It does look spookily familiar. I seem to remember the original booklet had an example of play in a sidebar where a character with a spear is fighting a bear. Maybe that was an illustration though. It was a long time ago.

That’s right, each edition might have tweaked a few things here or there, but as with new Call of Cthulhu editions, the main changes were expanding the material and adding in content from supplements and scenario packs that could usefully go into the main book. So sometimes a scenario might feature a monster, or a new skill, or a supplement might add in character generation options for a new homeland, and these would end up in the core rulebook in a later edition. 4th edition was the ultimate expression of this, a real kitchen sink and tons of fun but a bit clunky. With 5th edition, Greg stripped it all back down and focused on what you need to get going with the Great Pendragon Campaign. It’s really the rulebook for the GPC, more than the GPC being a campaign pack for 5th edition.

The cults with a section on Shaman Membership in their description in the Rune Cults chapter allow it, those without that section don't. Also it's not so much allowing it, as it is having a tradition and pathway in the teachings and rituals of the cult enabling a member to become a Shaman. The Yinkin cult is primarily theist and doesn't have a path to shamanhood in it's magical practices, at least as it exists in Dragon Pass.

I suppose it depends on whether you consider those components essential. I'd say not technically, but it's the closest thing we're going to have to a gameable setting book or GM book for quite a while. It would be on my list of recommendations too, while the cults book would not since so much on cults is presented in the core book and, by the looks of it, in the monster book. In a year's time that might change. If there's another bigger setting book, campaign pack, or such out by then I suppose the GM pack might lose that distinguishing status. It's all relative. If you intend to run a highly political game set in human lands, the monster book might be less useful to you than the cults book.

The Dragonewts believe they reincarnate through the stages enough that they will even commit Utuma in order to aid their personal progress. Also humans have met dragonewts of later stages that seem to have clear memories and personality traits of dragonewts they had previously met in earlier stages. Most humans who have experience of dragonewts accept this theory and simply proceed on the assumption that it is true, so the game is mainly written from that point of view.

Wow, I remember David used to send out copies by mail back in the 90s if you sent him the postage. I've got mine in a box up in the attic. Good times.

I like the idea of auctioning off high stats and powers, but I think the high stat should be something like 22 or 25, significantly above human range such that another character can't achieve it some other way. Bear in mind that all Amberites are very resilient. having HP down to zero will knock them out, but they'll need to take a LOT of damage, or being at someone's complete mercy and deliberately going out of their way for a kill to actually finish them off. Good luck.

This should work fine, the BGB provides tons of tools for something like this. Some Amber powers would work like superpowers, power words would be spirit magic/Elric style sorcery. You'd also need a system fro Amber style sorcery, possibly like the one in the new RQG, or something custom built. Like you say, start small with basic powers and then bring in more later so you can fine tune new rules and mechanics based on continuing experience. Pattern could be like a mini-game. Maybe work up a little board game with different waypoints and psychic barriers you have to overcome to reach them. Different patters (Primal, Rebma) would have slight variations. You'd have a skill in it which you'd need to factor in somehow, but would also need to roll MP vs escalating opposition at different stages (can't remember what they are called). I'd use MP not POW because in the books being tired or drained makes it harder. The details of this could be tricky to figure out. You need some kind of mechanic for psyche battles, such as when two minds connect via Trump or Logrus and try to dominate each other. RQ spirit combat could work for that, especially the more developed system in the new RQ. Logrus and Trump would also probably be skills, I'd need to take a look through the rules for this in ADRPG for ideas.

I've watched some Youtube videos on historical close combat techniques, so I'm no expert but these people do seem to know what they're talking about and demonstrating. It does like having two weapons should confer a general advantage in combat to both attack and parry over having a single weapon. I'm not sure how to represent that in a game though. The thing is, while two weapons is better than one, a weapon and shield is better still in pretty much every respect - offensive as well as defensive. One thing I'm thinking about is giving players a choice. If you take two weapons - two swords, two axes, whatever, you can choose to have that as your main style and get a one-time 10% bonus on that skill. However, if you ever find yourself down to just one of them, you're at a -20 penalty. Otherwise if you train with just one, having two of them just gives you a +5%. Something like that maybe? Honestly the rules as is work fine though.

You don't have to forego it to parry multiple times though. There's nothing there that says you can't still attack and use the option of multiple parries with a cumulative -20 each time after the first. Nothing is being taken away from you.

Yes I agree it could be clearer, but if the intent is that wielding two weapons gives you and extra option to parry twice at full chance if forgo your attack, that's a useful option to have.

I've added this and the first entry in a character sheets and forms page to the RQG Wiki, hope you don't mind.

So he's going to be making maps and writing evocative descriptions of places and people, maybe cataloging the flora and fauna, etc. It's a great opportunity for a prominent student of the natural history of the Dragon Pass region. I can see a certain potential for conflict between the character's natural interests and tendencies, and the military dimensions of the expedition. That's great! Just be aware the powers pulling the strings will have very specific ideas about what the team is there for and the results and contribution they expect from everyone.

Since the man rune represents civilisation, culture and society, that doesn’t seem quite right. Anyway shouldn’t law oppose chaos?

You’re probably right, characters already have darkness so with trolls there’s no real need to find a home for it, as it already has one. Maybe just make sure it meets the requirements and in the bestiary. Again if there’s more to it than that we can course correct later.

No, but if you want to use a law rune rating in a rule, you will also need to come up with your own rules for assigning it a rating.

I used to run RQ2 scenarios in RQ3 with no conversion. Just used Strike Ranks, HP by location, etc as given. It worked out very slightly in the PCs favour mostly but not enough to care.

It says on page 194 that a parry does not take any strike ranks. On page 197 it says "an adventurer can attempt to parry an attack on any strike rank of the melee round during which the parrying weapon is prepared (in hand and ready for use)". That implies to me that yes you can parry on the same strike rank you attack on, and yes you can parry multiple attacks on the same strike rank. Remember these are just initiative order counters, not units of time. The last two paragraphs on page 192 make this clear. Also, regarding that last paragraph on page 192. If it were not possible to parry on the same strike rank as your own attack, and your attack came later in the round than your opponent, then your faster opponent would be able to play SR delay tricks to try and force you into giving up either your attack or parry.

Sure, that’s reasonable. There may be some cases where it’s just a case of can’t because won’t. There may be other cases that might trigger spirits of reprisal or revocation of priestly powers. I could imagine there may be other cases where e.g. having a theistic allied spirit or having priestly powers of some cults might be obstacles to using certain sorcerous magic, because they change the way a character interacts with the magical environment.

Well, sometimes people must die for the greater good Think French resistance fighters in WW2.

Just thinking it’s more likely resources for one game could be usable with another.

Setting and the core activities in the game come first. Then the rules should be chosen to serve them. Having said that, it would make sense to me for new fantasy games to tend towards RQ compatibility, and for modern/future games to tend towards CoC compatibility, as long as doing so doesn’t compromise the first principle.

That’s fantastic, congratulations Chris. BRP is well suited to modern and SF gaming. Ringworld was a masterpiece and I’ve adapted the system to several SF settings for my own gaming needs. Ill just echo a comment I made moments ago on another thread. Modern RPGs live and die on their setting and the core activities the game and setting support, as much as the rules. While I loved Ringworld, most GMs struggled to figure out what to do with it. Fortunately Chris comes with excellent credentials on the setting development front. I’m really excited to see what comes from this.