olskool

Mikus; We had issues with RQ2/RQ3's Strike Rank system too. We eventually began using a Time (ROUGHLY) = SR System that still used Strike Ranks but was randomized and counted DOWN to zero. Each Strike Rank is loosely equal to 1 second's worth of activity in our system. We combined this with a Weapon reach system and it worked pretty well. Here's a rough overview of our "initiative system." REACH: All weapons have a Reach in meters that indicates how far away you can attack a target. The range of each Reach Class was; Short Reach = 1-meter attack range. Examples include fists, daggers, kicks. Medium Reach = 2-meter attack range. This is the "default Reach." Examples include swords (both short and long), axes, hammers, maces, etc... Long Reach = 3-meter attack range. Examples include poleaxes, short Spears, and morningstar/war flails. Extreme Reach = 4-meter attack range. Examples include whips and long spears. SIZ doesn't impact Strike Ranks anymore BUT it does affect Reach. For every 10 SIZ or fraction thereof over 20 a creature has, you add 1 meter to its Reach. Thus a Troll using a dagger has a Reach of 2 meters with it. Reach also assumes that the attacker is using some movement to position himself for a better attack. That movement is considered part of his weapon's Reach. A longer weapon's Reach is often balanced by the fact that it is heavier and bulkier and therefore requires MORE Strike Ranks to make an attack with (this is dealt with below). Now onto actual Strike Ranks. Strike Ranks: To determine a Character's base Strike Rank, you just divide DEX by 4 rounding up (please note that our characteristics are determined by 3D6+2 Rolls and range from 5 to 20). This gives you the character's Base Strike Rank. To determine the actual Strike Rank each round, we roll 1D6 and ADD that roll to the character's Base Strike Rank. Strike Ranks can be reduced by wounds, fatigue, and encumbrance. This Strike Rank then COUNTS DOWN instead of up. Different actions take different Strike Ranks but each Strike Rank is LOOSELY based on 1 second's worth of activity. If you want to know how long something takes, just time it. The Declaration Phase: In this phase, everyone narratively describes what they are doing and the SR Cost of each of those actions is calculated. This is where Reach affects things. If a person cannot currently reach the desired target, they must move into position to attack. Responding to attacks with parries or dodges also take time as well as drawing weapons and readying spells. Examples of the number of Strike Ranks various actions take are listed below: Attack (small light weapons like daggers) =1SR. Attack (normal weapons like swords) = 2SR. Attack (heavy weapons like poleaxes, hammers, and great axes) = 3SR Attack (large or very heavy weapons like the morningstar and long spear) = 4SR Missile Attack, *Short Range = 1SR Missile Attack, *Medium Range = 2SR Missile Attack, *Long Range = 3SR Missile Attack, *Extreme Range = 4SR Readying/Loading a Missile = 5SR Drawing a Weapon = 1/2 the weapon's attack SR (rounding up). For example, a dagger (SR1) takes 1SR to ready. A great axe (SR3) takes 2SR to ready. Changing an action requires a 2SR "hesitation" from the point you desire to change. For example, you want to attack the Trollkin on SR5 but another character kills him. changing to another target will take 2SRs. Changing from melee to spell casting will require a 5SR "Concentration/focusing" action. Parrying/Dodging require a 1SR Reaction to parry and recover. The desire to defend MUST be declared in this phase and the character loses the SR even if the attack fails. The Hard Look. Characters trying to spot hidden or invisible enemies, using detection spells and Spirit Sight must expend 1SR to "look around." They can examine the 3 hexsides that they are facing. Looking behind you costs 1 ADDITIONAL SR per hexside you check. Magic costs 1SR per POW Point you cast for Spirit and Divine Magic. Sorcery costs 1SR per Manipulation/Shaping X the Intensity you cast at. For example, casting an Intensity 3 spell with Range and Duration Shapings would take 6SR to do. Movement [crawling, climbing, sneaking] = 1SR per meter traveled. Movement [walking] = 1SR per 2 meters traveled. Attack penalties may apply at the GM's discretion. Movement [trotting] = 1SR per 3 meters traveled. Attack penalties usually apply. Movement [running] = 1SR per 4 meters traveled. Attack penalties WILL apply. A character cannot go from a standing start to Running without a skill check (Athletics). Movement [dropping to ground or rising from crouch/sitting] = 1SR. Movement [rising from prone] = 2SR. It is fairly easy to figure what the SR Cost of other actions will be from this list. I then record all the actions on a dry-erase sheet with 12 lines (we used RQ2's 12 strike rank system with RQ3). At the start of the Action Phase, we would simply go down through the SR chart and resolve all the actions in order down to zero. Actions could "roll over" into following rounds. In fact, this was common for magic and reloading missile weapons like crossbows. Finally, we would finalize the "bookkeeping in the Resolution phase. One easy way to keep track of SRs is to give everyone either checkers or poker chips for their SR. They then give you back those chips as they declare their actions. This helps new player a great deal as they have a visual reference of how many SRs they have to work with. I would also swap out RED poker chips (our default colored chips) for BLACK chips when the Character "owed" SRs to complete an action that took more than ONE round. This was a visual cue to collect the needed SRs during the Declaration Phase of the next round. I hope this gives you some "insight" into an alternative method of doing initiative in RuneQuest. *We use a differing missile combat system where the weapon's Base Range is divided into FOUR (mostly) EQUAL Range Bands. Each range band not only takes more time to shoot to but also reduces the shooter's Skill accordingly. Short Range is full Skill and 1SR. Medium Range is 3/4 Skill and 2SR. Long Range is 1/2 Skill and 3SR. Extreme Range is 1/4 Skill and 4SR. For example, a master archer (100% Skill) is using an RQ2 Composite Bow (100m Base Range). His Short Range Limit is 25m and 100% Skill. His Medium Range is 26m to 50m and 75% Skill. His Long Range is 51m to 75m and 50% Skill. Finally, his Extreme Range is 76m to 100m and all shots are at 25% Skill. The SR times take into account the time needed to gauge the range, lead the target (if moving), fire the missile weapon, and for the projectile's flight to the target. A normal arrow will travel at around 80m per second, so the SRs are designed to mirror this.

Yep, and it shows right from the First Chapter too. I bought RQ6 in the first run of hardbacks TDM put out and there was NO HOPE of Legend (which I bought at the same time) competing against it. At least Legend had a good price point, although I'm not fond of the digest-sized book my hobby shop was selling. But then again, I'm a fan of big hard-backed "dead tree" editions. I cannot wait for Chaosium or The Design Mechanism to print their games in a BIG leather and brass bound full-color hardcover like an old Gutenberg Bible (you know, the ones that break your toes if you drop them on your foot). I'm SO buying that!

As Runeblogger stated, one issue was that you had to find and "attune" Runes in order to cast magic in the game. In addition, different spells REQUIRED different Runes so you could find yourself searching high and low for a specific Rune in order to cast a given spell, or being limited in the spells you could cast based on your collection of Runes. MRQ1 WAS true to the name RuneQuest. You would also gain special abilities from your Runes. I would classify those abilities as something similar to Feats in D&D. They were not well thought out. Nor were the Heroic Abilities that you could buy with Hero Points IF you had a sufficiently high skill in something. Then there was the hassle of Divine Magic/Theism requiring a certain size of temple to regain Divine Magic. The biggest gripe initially was splitting the base rules into TWO BOOKS (ala D&D), RuneQuest and The RuneQuest Companion. Sorcery was in the Companion so you were screwed IF you wanted to be a Sorcerer initially. I liked the CONCEPT of attuning Runes but disliked the IMPLEMENTATION in MRQ1. I changed this concept to requiring the attuning of the Spirit Rune for the Shaman and the Magic Rune for Sorcerers. Runes could be granted by Cults or found as physical Relics/Manifestations just like True Stone or Magic Crystals for those who might NOT like the idea of committing to a Cult. Thus, in my game, Runes were both "spiritual" (mostly granted by Cult Affiliation) AND "physical" (an actual Rune made "solid" that granted connection to that Rune's power without a Cult Affiliation). I changed the rules to allow you to "attune" a number of Crystals, Relics, True Stone Fragments, or Runes (I use a Willpower stat to replace POW and this is what I use for a limit to attunements, but you could also use CHA or POW). Attuning one of these items would cost 1 point of permanent POW (remember that I made POW a "derived characteristic" like HP) and you COULD buy heroic abilities linked to Runes IF you spent permanent POW. Attuning a Rune would grant a POW gain roll. Some players also didn't like the idea that weapons had both Hitpoints AND Armor Points. I thought it was a good idea as it added another distinct trait to weapons. Overall, my impression of MRQ1 was that the product was "rushed" in development and suffered from being "designed by committee" where the committee didn't always agree on the direction the game was heading.

I find it shameful that you aren't allowed to hunt there. Most game is far from helpless and I find it rewarding to kill, dress, and EAT an animal as opposed to buying a processed animal at the store. For the record, I'm NOT trying to offend any PETA followers here. I killed predators on my farm (mostly Raccoon or Opossum killing my Chickens) and hunted animals to supplement my supply of meat. The way I grew up if you were eating meat, you probably knew its name when it lived (we raised beef cattle) OR you hunted and killed it. That's just life in rural PA (I'm so rural that I have Amish neighbors). Please don't be offended by my mention of hunting/killing deer (or other animals). I use 400 to 500-grain arrows with a fairly stiff SPLINE (for the uninitiated, SPLINE is how stiff the arrow shaft is). Even using illuminated nocks, I lose a LOT of arrows hunting. Most arrows that hit game will crack or bend, rendering them useless. I wonder if this would be the case with heavier "War arrows" which often weigh 10 grains per pound of Draw Weight (so a 120lb Draw Weight Warbow would use a 1200 grain/78 gram arrow). I use my back muscles to draw my recurve. My Compound Bow is much less finicky. In addition, it has an 80% "Letoff" at full draw. This means it only takes 15lbs of Draw Weight to hold my 80lb Bow at full draw. This is why I use my Compound Bow in tree stands... A much easier seated draw.

This is my BIG beef with the Damage Bonus System. A strong character receives the double bonus of being able to use high damage weapons like Great Axes or Troll Mauls AND then they get their FULL Damage Bonus as well. There is just something WRONG with a strong warrior being able to do as much damage with a plastic spork as an ordinary man with a Dagger. This is why I have recently started using a "Surplus STR" system for Damage Bonuses. If you are using a large, heavy weapon like a Great Axe; you will see a "reduced damage bonus" over using a smaller weapon like a Short Sword because you simply cannot swing that Great Axe as fast as that Short Sword. Under my system, EVERY weapon has a SIZ, STR, and DEX requirement that you must meet in order to wield it. This not only reduces the number of larger weapons in the game, it also eliminates issues like the "Halfling with a Great Sword" one often sees in games without these requirements. Once the players accept that you must have a certain SIZ and STR to wield the larger damage weapons, they begin to accept that larger weapons can have smaller damage bonuses due to less extra STR to generate that bonus. The difference in damage bonus being offset by the larger base damage that the weapon generates. The big issue I have with this system is regulating the NUMBER of "SURPLUS STR Points" needed to generate a Damage Bonus. I always err on the side of caution and am using 5 surplus STR points per +1 Damage Bonus. I allow the Character to add 1 to their effective STR for every 10 FULL points of SIZ they possess over the SIZ needed to wield the weapon. I have this Bonus expressed as a "die" in my game. If you would have +2 Damage due to excess STR, I would express it as +1D2 Damage.

I'm actually using the idea presented by MJ Sadique where armor is multiplied by 1.5 or 2 for poor penetrators or by 0.75 or 0.5 for good penetrators. It adds an additional level of flavor/differentiation between the weapons and hasn't adversely affected game balance. It helps that the most common weapons have no penetration modifier.

Wrong guess. I do own a Compound Bow (80lb Draw Weight, 31" Draw Length) but most of my shooting was done with a Hoyt Recurve (50lb Draw Weight, 31" Draw Length) under HUNTING conditions. My longest kill with a Recurve is 58 yards on a white-tailed deer. This is a long shot and I was very lucky. Now let's address some of your issues with my post so I can clarify my position. I will start by the RuneQuest RAW rules involving Bows from the newly reprinted RuneQuest Classic. This will give people reading this post a "benchmark" to use in comparing my rules to the basic rules in RQ2. We will use the Composite Bow as it is the closest example to a modern Recurve Bow (the bow I'm using in these examples). The Composite Bow: Base Range 100 meters, Long Range 150 meters, Extreme Range 200 meters. Shooting Skill is HALVED at Long Range (so a 100% Skill is reduced to 50%) and QUARTERED at Extreme Range (So a 100% Skill is now reduced to 25%). The SR Cost remains the same regardless of the Range at which the Bowman is shooting. There are Skill reductions for environmental factors. Now here are my "stats" for a Composite Bow with a Draw Weight of STR10 (a perfectly average STR) and a medium SIZ to the bow (I have Pixi, Short, Medium, and long Bow Staves which are used in a formula with Draw Weight (10lbs of Draw Weight equal 1 STR required to use the bow) to determine the bow's Base Range. Skipping all of that, my STR10 Composite Bow would also have a Range of 100 meters as a Base Range. I then DIVIDE this Base Range by FOUR to determine my four range bands. So my Compound Bow would have a 25 meter Short Range with a normal Skill roll to hit (so a 100% Skill would be unaffected). At the 50m Medium Range Band, the chance to hit reduces by 25% (so a 100% Skill becomes 75%). Carrying on to Long Range at 75 meters will cut the shooter's Skill in HALF (so a 100% Skill becomes 50%). Reaching the limit of Extreme Range at 100 meters will have reduced the shooter's Skill to ONE QUARTER (or 25% for a Skill of 100%). As you can see, my Range Bands are more "real world oriented" where any shot on a point target over 50 yards is a very long shot and fairly difficult to achieve. "It is also a myth that you can purposefully hit a man-sized target at extreme range." Not True. Just YouTube Long Range Archery and dozens of long ranged shots on game animals with Recurve Bows will come up. Hitting a man is no more difficult than hitting a Bear, Deer, or Hog and there are examples of those shots in plenty. Is it easy? NO! Can it be done? Yes it can. I'll be the first to admit it is hard to do and that is why a MASTER BOWMAN will only have a 25% chance to hit a target at 100 meters under my rules. "It is interesting to see lighting as your skill modifiers but not wind..." As a great many of the Forum users are not English-as-a-first-language speakers, I will explain the meaning of "etc..." This phrase is Latin for "Et Cetera" which translates as "and so forth." It is used to denote an INCOMPLETE LISTING of items. In my modifiers, I listed a few examples for reference so readers could visualize how my modifiers might affect the shot. Yes, I use modifiers for wind. I just didn't include a complete list here. Now I will address your "issues" with the added Strike Ranks and Range Estimation. You make a statement that leads me to believe that YOU think that the time in Strike Ranks is "logged" while holding a "drawn Bow." You also point out the difficulty of Range Estimation and the role it plays in accuracy. I'll start with Range Estimation. This is a function of a shooter's SKILL. Highly skilled shooters are masters of Range Estimation. I factored this in by reducing the Skill for each Range Band. This "models" the increasing difficulty in estimating the target's range and calculating a proper "lead" for a moving target. These mental calculations also take time to do. Thus, Range Estimation has a hand in the time in SRs that a shot takes. As for the assertion you make about holding a Recurve Bow of any weight, I agree TOTALLY. Where the issue comes in is in this assumption. I never said that the shooter would be holding his draw the whole time. I see a missile weapon attack the same way one is supposed to visualize a melee attack. We are explicitly told by RuneQuest that an attack is "a series of blows, feints, and maneuvers" that culminate in a to hit roll. Missile combat should be NO DIFFERENT. I visualize a missile attack being... 1) The shooter orients his weapon towards his target. 2) he then considers the Range (Range Estimation) and any lead he may need to incorporate in order to hit the target. 3) He then steadies, draws, and smoothly releases the projectile. 4) he "follows through" on his release as he observes his projectile's flight. All of those steps take TIME. I measure that time in Strike Ranks (although my SRs are "roughly" 1/2 a second as my rounds are only 6 seconds long). 4 Strike Ranks (potentially representing 4 seconds in the RAW RQ2) is pretty generous for a shot to 100 meters. Just looking at a typical arrow traveling about 80 meters per second will tell you that even a "snapshot" at 100 yards is going to take about 2 seconds between the draw and release and including the arrow's flight time to 100 yards. I hope these explanations "clarify" my previous post for you.

It won't be the first time I've had to "fix" something that [Insert ANY game designer's name here] wrote. I'm used to it now. I mean, "vegetarian Morokanth??!!" Seriously??

When I first saw the Rune Tree with MAN at the top and BEAST at the bottom, I thought of a similar concept. To me, that represented "Sentient Being from Beast." The percentage of Rune affiliation would signify how far evolved the "Being" was. Thus Herdmen could be 5% Man and 95% Beast (based on their fixed INT). A Baboon might be 30%/70% and a Duck 25%/75%. Therefore, I could envision Elves and Runners being "Intelligent Being from Plant," with the MAN Rune at the top of the Rune Tree and the Plant Rune at the bottom. This could work for all the races except maybe the Mostali who COULD be from Earth but I think I would create a separate Dwarf Rune instead. I would STILL move the Chaos Rune out of the Forms section and put it with the Magic, Mastery, and Infinity CONDITION Runes. Chaos can taint ANYTHING... including magic, elements, powers, and forms. Because of this, Chaos should be with the other CONDITION Runes (which can affect or align with anything too)! In fact, I have already suggested in another post that a row of vertical boxes be added between the POWER Runes and the FORM Runes at the Top and Bottom of the Tree. Any CONDITION Runes a character gains would be placed in those boxes (which I propose denote the "evolution" of the character even further). There would be nothing in my mind to prevent the "adding" of FORM Runes in the boxes for CONDITIONS. Some examples of FORMS being added to the CONDITION boxes I suggest would be the Spirit Rune for a Shaman, and the Dragon Rune for the Emperor's guard (who can shape change into dragons). If RQG doesn't do this, I'll probably just HR it.

This is why I divide my Missile weapons' ranges into four Range Bands. Those four range bands all have different Skill Modifications and Strike Rank costs. I list the Skill Modification to simulate the difficulty in hitting a distant target that may be moving unpredictably due to the attack. I list the Strike Rank Modification (please understand that I use a differing SR system that is randomized and counts down) to simulate the TIME (the Strike Rank cost) it takes to aim AND compute the needed "lead" to hit a moving target as well as the "flight time" of the projectile needed to reach the target. My Range Bands are: SHORT RANGE (up to 1/4 Base Range): Normal Skill Level (1 X Skill) and 1 Strike Rank to shoot (nocking an arrow is 5 SRs). An arrow can be carried nocked. MEDIUM RANGE (From 1/4 Base to 1/2 Base Range): Fairly Difficult Skill Level (0.75 X Skill) and 2 Strike Ranks to shoot to medium range. LONG RANGE (From 1/2 Base to 3/4 Base Range): Difficult Skill Level (0.5 X Skill) and 3 Strike Ranks to shoot to long range. EXTREME RANGE (From 3/4 Base to Total Base Range): Formidable Skill Level (0.25 X Skill) and 4 Strike Ranks to shoot to extreme range. These chances are also modified by conditions (lighting, target running, small targets, etc...) and the shooter's health. I find that this system really helps balance the power of projectile weapons' range and rate of fire by making the long shots more challenging (as they would be in the real world). The Dodge Skill: As I have stated in previous posts, my Dodge Skill is a special skill only possessed by certain warriors and martial artists. The Dodge Skill does work against projectile weapons but the skill is INVERSED for projectile weapons. What this means is that the Skill Chance Modifier for Dodge starts at EXTREME RANGE and gets progressively worse as you get closer to the shooter. The Skill Modifications are: EXTREME RANGE: Dodge Skill is Fairly Difficult (0.75 X Skill) at Extreme Range. LONG RANGE: Dodge Skill is Difficult (0.5 X Skill) at Long Range. MEDIUM RANGE: Dodge Skill is Formidable (0.25 X Skill) at Medium Range. SHORT RANGE: Dodge Skill is Impossible (0.1 X Skill) at Short Range. This is the base skill for evading projectile weapons and it is modified by combat conditions as well. I hope this may give you some insight into how to model projectile weapons for more realistic behavior during combat.

I use the "Experience Point" system in my game. Whenever you use a skill under stress or receive SUCCESSFUL TRAINING, you get ONE Experience Point. Fumbles and Crits/Specials give you an additional EXP Point. You must acquire 1/10th your current Skill Level (rounding 0.5< up) in EXP points to gain an Experience Roll. So you would need 6 Experience points to gain a Skill Increase Roll on a skill of 58% (and 5 on a Skill of 52%). I do the rolls identically to RAW but I do add 1 to the 1D6 increase for every 10 FULL points of INT, WILL (I added this), and CHA the character has. The 1D6 roll STILL CANNOT EXCEED 6 with the characteristic modifications added to the roll. The Experience points cashed in on a roll are lost regardless of the roll's success (Generous GMs could allow the player to keep their EXP on a failed Skill gain roll... YGMV). Learning/Improving Skills: I remove Skill Level limits and allow ANY SKILL LEVEL to teach provided they have The Instruction Skill (I use RQ6 skill adds and this Skill is WILL+CHA+INT to start). To teach a person a Skill, the prospective Instructor MUST have a higher level than their prospective Student IN THE SKILL BEING TAUGHT. The Instructor must SUBTRACT their skill from their student's skill and DIVIDE that total by 10 (Instructor's Skill - Student's Skill/10) to determine the maximum number of Experience Points the Student may gain from the Instruction. For example; Siglar is training Edward in Broadsword. Siglar's Swordsmanship is 85% while Edward's is 40%. Edward COULD gain 5 Experience Points (4.5 rounding up) from Siglar's instruction IF Siglar succeeds in his Instruction Skill Test. To gain the Experience Points, the Instructor MUST train the Student for 8 hours AND roll under his Instruction Skill. If the Instructor is successful, the Student will gain ONE Experience point for that period of training. A Special Success in the Instruction roll will net TWO Experience Points. A Critical Success will net the Student THREE Experience Points. A Student will then treat these training-gained Experience Points like he would normal Experience Points. If you use a typical 40-hour Training Regimine, the Instructor will have 5 Instruction Rolls to generate Experience Points for the Student. A Student may not gain more Experience Points that the previously determined limit from an Instructor NO MATTER HOW LONG THEY TRAIN TOGETHER. A Student may return to a Trainer AFTER gaining Skill through a Skill Gain roll (whether from adventuring experience or training). Please note that it is possible to train with an Instructor and NOT GAIN ANY Experience Points. This may be because the Instructor "overstated" his Skill and actually has a LOWER Skill than his Student or because the Instructor FAILS all of his Instruction rolls. This generally leads to bad feelings between the Instructor and the Student. The typical cost of this training in my campaign is 10 Silver Guilders/Lunars per hour of instruction. This cost will vary with the QUALITY of the Instruction.

This method could be especially good for systems using characteristic scores as percentiles ala COC 7th edition. Let's look at the idea of multiple dice based on STR for damage. To determine hit points, just take CON and modify it by SIZ/10. Thus a perfectly average character would have 55 hit points. To determine the damage of weapons, you add SIZ/10 to STR (which would also be 55 for a perfectly average character). You then DIVIDE this score by either 20 or 25 (rd) to determine the number of DICE OF DAMAGE the character does. The character above (with a score of 55) would do 2 DICE of damage. WHICH DIE TO ROLL would be determined by the weapon type. Small weapons such as Daggers could use D4 (giving our character 2D4 damage). Weapons like Short Swords and Hand Axes could do D6 (giving our character 2D6). Other weapons could do D8 or D10. The options are nearly limitless. Armor could be multiplied by 5 or even 10 to give a reasonable level of protection. You could even modify the Damage Inflicted by the Location hit. Hitting the Limbs could do 1/2 Damage. Hitting the Torso (Chest & Abdomen) could do unmodified damage. Striking the Head could double the Damage inflicted. You could even do a Less Than Lethal system where punching and kicking just reduced CON to 0. This would knock out the character but not kill him. You could even add "wound damage" from a beating by dividing non-lethal damage by 5 or 10 to get an additional "wound damage" in addition to the non-lethal damage. This idea should be explored for BRP if nothing else.

I use the STR stat to determine the "Draw Weight" of missile weapons. The higher the STR, the greater the weapon's draw weight and the more damage it does. To determine the weapon's Range, I use STR modified by the SIZ needed to wield it (to account for the length of the "bow stave.") and the bow type (composite, self, recurve, or composite recurve). By segregating the Range and Damage into separate formulas, you get a huge variety in missile weapon performance.

This would depend on certain circumstances. If the Difficulty Shift was the product of injuries, conditions or the special ability of an animal, I would not. If the Difficulty Shift was built into a scenario as a part of the adventure, I would consider allowing it based on how difficult and how important that task was to the adventurer's progress. The key to using Difficulty Shifts is not to OVERUSE a given difficulty level. Average Difficulty (base skill) is the default for a reason. Here are some notable instances where I do use a predetermined Difficulty Shift during an adventure. Shimmer Cats: I don't use Defense in my games (preferring Dodge instead). I simply give the Shimmer Cat a magic ability that causes a 2 Difficulty Level shift in an attacker's chance to hit. Thus, an Average chance to hit (Base Skill) becomes Difficult (1/2 Base Skill) when trying to hit a Shimmer Cat. Hidden Doors: I frequently use Difficulty Shifts for concealed or hidden items. Some hidden items are just easier to find than others. Locks or Traps: I had a strong box that required a Formidable Lockpicking to open. The characters couldn't open it and had to lug that strong box back to Pavis and pay a locksmith to open it. This does work both ways and I do put Easy Skill Tests in my adventures as well. The players once had to get past a disgruntled Trollkin guard. They had watched him be bullied by a Troll and could see he was mad. They decided to try a Persuasion test on him and sweetened the pot with a bribe of Silver Guilders. This made the Persuasion test to convince the Trollkin to let them pass and remain silent about it an Easy Difficulty Test. The plan worked flawlessly.

I just wanted to say Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holidays to all of the Forum. I hope you are all well and happy during this holiday season!

I use CON as a modifier for POW because it represents your "physical health" which weighs into the amount of POW you can attract and hold. I use Charisma for POW in my game because I see it as part of the Mental Strength of a character. I see it more as "force of personality" than "looks." This goes hand in hand with WILL which is the other aspect of Mental Strength. Think of WILL as the mental version of CON, while CHA would be the mental version of AGL. INT would be the mental version of STR. My players will tell you that there are NO "expendable" characteristics in my game. Here are some things CHA is used for in my game: - Casting Rune Magic: When you are casting Rune Spells, you are, in essence, imploring the god to use their power to help you. Thus CHA is key in all Rune Priest Skills and Spells. -Morale Checks: Do you want your men-at-arms to stand their ground against that advancing enemy horde? Make that Oratory roll (which is a CHA-based skill). -"Presence Attacks:" How many people remember the T-Rex roar from Jurrasic Park? How about the Dragon's roar in Game of Thrones? These are "presence attacks" designed to cause a "failure of moral" in weaker beings (which will cause them to flee). That is based (in part) on CHA. The attack by the "Mountain Golem(?)" on the men sent to bring Cersi to trial would be another. They flee when the mountain kills the first one with his bare hands. This is a "presence attack." Thus ignoring or "shorting" CHA can have a negative impact on everything from brokering deals on loot to being unable to convince your forces to stand against a foe on the battlefield.

I don't use RQ3's Fatigue Points rules. I have a special system based on Fantasy Hero's Stun Damage. The wound tests are done when the limb is damaged in combat. A wound that can be healed by Natural/Skill-Based healing is denoted by an N with the number of days it takes to heal afterward. A wound that requires spirit magic to heal is denoted with an S and the number of days to heal it. A wound that requires a rune magic healing spell to cure is denoted with an R followed by the number of weeks needed to heal. An amputated limb is denoted with an Amputated: "%" where the percentage listed is how much limb remains. This is resolved (by the resistance table) when the wound is inflicted and subsequent wounds to that location are ignored UNTIL a worse wound is inflicted. Damage is still tracked on the main Damage Track in total (a 9 point hit is recorded as 9 points regardless of what damage a location can take). This is usually what ends a fight. As for the Skill Reductions: We use the RQ6/Mythras system with Difficulty Levels. We use 7 skill Difficulty Levels and conditions will shift by level for difficulty increases. So a small target or slippery footing may shift you one Skill Level worse. Surprise can improve your chance by one Skill Level. The Damage Modifiers mirror this. Our Difficulty Levels are: Very Easy: 2 X Skill % Easy: 1.5 X Skill % Average: Base Skill % and the default skill for most tasks. Fairly Difficult: 0.75 X Skill % Difficult: 0.5 X Skill % Formidable: 0.25 X Skill % Impossible: 0.1 X Skill % Tasks are set by these standard difficulties and they are recorded for EVERY SKILL (along with special success chances) during character creation. This way, when I call for a Formidable test of Spot Hidden, the player simply looks it up on his character sheet. The reductions due to damage are simply following the same system. Since this system is used for all tasks (where the Difficulty Level is named along with the skill involved in a given task), it becomes quite intuitive. Characteristic Score Reductions: We reduce characteristic just like skills because there should be REAL CONSEQUENCES for getting wounded. The Reduction in scores is only used for Resistance Tests or Characteristic Checks (very rare in our games). We do NOT go back in and "refigure" skill bonuses. As a result, this modifier really only shows up in Resistance tests. Yes, our house system CAN be pretty brutal. In fact, it works fairly well because it applies to the bad guys as well. Most bad guys will flee (or surrender) when they hit the level of a Serious Wound. Very rarely do you see large piles of dead combatants in our campaign.

There is no error in the calculation for the damages I posted because the game I mentioned was game mastered by another person and I was a PLAYER in that game. The game in question was essentially a RAW RuneQuest 2 game. The damage bonus of the character who broke his bastard sword was 1D6. His punch damage was 1D3. This nets a 2 to 9 damage. The fighter with the battleaxe was doing 1D8+1 because this GM house ruled that using a battleaxe ONE HANDED only did 1D8+1 (or 1D8+2 when wielded with two hands). In addition, this fighter had no damage bonus. This is where the 2-9 damage comes from. Anytime you have a human punch doing the same damage as a Battleaxe, the damage bonus system IS BROKEN.

I house-ruled that POW was expended in those holy day rituals. However, this loss would net you a POW gain roll in my system. It actually balanced out quite well during play.

Damage Bonuses: The problem with 1 Damage Point per 2 STR points is that it recreates the imbalance of the original rules damage. In a Thanksgiving game I just participated in, the group's heavy hitter broke his Bastard Sword. He proceeded to PUNCH Trollkin with his gloved hand, doing 1D3+1D6 (2-9 damage points). He was doing roughly the SAME DAMAGE as the Battle Axe armed fighter with NO STR bonus (2-9 points). This demonstrates just how broken the Damage Bonus System is. Using 2 points of Surplus STR to net 1 point of Damage would bring the damage back to the original system's ridiculous levels as lighter swords would have damage bonuses that allowed them to match the damage of larger weapons like Great Swords. You could probably get away with 1 point of damage per 4 STR without upsetting balance too much. Armor Modifiers: I like this idea and actually considered it myself. The more I consider it, the more I like the idea. I like the following modifiers: Excellent Penetrators: Multiply AP by 0.5 (rounding up). Good Penetrators: Multiply AP by 0.75 (rounding up) Normal Penetrators: AP is UNCHANGED. Poor Penetrators: Multiply AP by 1.5 (rounding down) Very Poor Penetrators: Multiply AP by 2 (rounding down) With most Characters in my campaign wearing between 3 and 5 AP, this wouldn't unbalance the game too much. while I do have armor types running up to 10 points for Heavy Plate (12 to 14 gauge thickness), the vast majority of the population CANNOT afford most metal armors and others avoid them due to weight or Skill penalties. Thus, the higher APs are often around 6 points (chainmail) and not up to the max of 10. This will also help replicate the protection that Heavy Plate armor afforded. There is a reason that Knights are often referred as "Medieval Tanks." Most weapons couldn't effectively penetrate Heavy Plate Armor.

We always used thresholds for Location Damage. *If an arm could take 3 hp, then a hit OVER 3 hit points MAY INCAPACITATE IT until healed. When Damage exceeds the base HP Threshold, compare the Damage to the Average of STR and CON adding 1 point for every 10 points of SIZ Skills like Healing CAN heal this damage. The total damage healed is 1 point per 5 CON with a successful Skill check. The healing period is 1 DAY per check. Please note, we just determine the number of days for healing to occur. We really don't track the individual points. For example, a person with a 15 CON gets hit for 5 points in the arm. It will take 2 days to heal the arm if no points are restored by a Healing Skill check (First Aid doesn't restore HP). *If an arm has 3 hp, then a hit OVER 6 hit points would not only Incapacitate the location, but would require at least Spirit Magic to heal it back to use in the near term. The First Aid or Healing skill can be used to stop bleeding but will heal no damage. Such a wound could heal back NATURALLY to just a basic Incapacitation IF a healer treated the wound INITIALLY AND DURING THE STANDARD HEALING PERIOD (of ONE WEEK). To heal Naturally, pit the AVERAGE of the Character's STR and CON adding 1 point for every 10 SIZ points against the damage on the Resistance Table. Success means Natural Healing can take place under a Healer's supervision. A person's healing rate is 1 hp per WEEK for every 5 full points of CON the wounded character has. Natural healing requires a successful Healing Skill check to occur EACH WEEK during the healing period. Please note, we just determine the number of weeks it will take for the wound to heal. we don't usually track actual points. For example, a person with a 15 CON suffers a 9 point hit. It will take 3 weeks for that wound to heal. *If a 3 hp arm takes a hit for MORE THAN 9 points, that arm is MAIMED and only Special Rune Level Magic (like our Chalana Arroy's Regeneration spell) will heal it. The limb may be amputated if enough damage occurs. I use ONE HALF of the AVERAGE of CON and STR and add 1 point for every 10 points of SIZ to get the wounded target's base Resistance Table number. I then compare this to the TOTAL DAMAGE INFLICTED by the attack on the Resistance table to determine if an amputation has occurred. Bludgeoning Damage is HALVED for determining an amputation. We also roll percentile dice to determine the level of amputation. A maimed limb still takes damage (and checks for amputation when it does) while an amputated limb may be missed (if the attacker rolls under the percentage of the limb amputated. A hit that misses an amputated limb hits the torso (chest or abdomen based on whether the hit was to an arm or a leg). We do NOT track individual hit points on the location charts. A Spirit Magic Healing (but NOT First Aid or Healing Skills) can heal a functionally incapacitated location while Rune Magic would be needed to heal a Maimed limb. Amputated limbs are beyond help. The "death of a thousand cuts" occurs on the main Hit Point Track. When the main track reaches 0, the player is down and dying. A character is DEAD when Damage reaches CON in negative damage (ie a CON of 10 will die at -10). We also break the Hit Point Track into 4 Levels with EACH LEVEL taking 1/4 of the total Hit Points (Rd). The four Levels are: Lightly Wounded, Moderately Wounded, Seriously Wounded, and Critically Wounded. The Wound Track for a character with 12 Hit Points would be; Lightly Wounded: 12 to 10 Moderately Wounded: 9 to 7 Seriously Wounded: 6 to 3 Critically Wounded: 3 to 1 Deadly Wound Threshold: 0 to -CON below 0. We add extra Hit Points at the rate of 1 hp per Wound Level, starting at the LOWEST Wound level (you could make things rougher by starting at the highest Wound Level). For example, a character with 15 hp would have 3 "surplus" hit points after dividing the total by 4. One point would be added to the Light Level, while one point would also be added to the Moderate, and Serious Wound Levels, making those levels higher than the Critical Wound Level. The healing period for the Wound Track is 1 Day per Skill check. The number of Hit Points healed is 1 per 5 points of CON. This IS MODIFIED by the Wound Level (see below). Light Wounds: These only reduce the character's Strike Rank by 1 (we use a randomized SR that counts down). The Character also cannot Sprint. Moderate Wounds: These reduce SR by 1 as well. Any Characteristics used in tests are reduced by 1. Wounded Limbs reduce skills tests by X 0.75. The Character cannot Sprint or Run. Serious Wounds: SR is reduced by 2. Any tests involving Characteristics are X0.75. Skills tests are HALVED. The Character cannot Sprint, Run, or Trot. Critical Wounds: SR is reduced by 4. Any tests involving Characteristics are HALVED. Skill tests are QUARTERED. The Character cannot Sprint, Run, Trot, or Walk. We record all Skill Levels at full, 3/4, 1/2, 1/4, 1/5 (special), and 1/20 (critical) on the character sheet to expedite both damage adjustments and skill difficulty adjustments. This helps speed up the game.

I felt the need to shrink the stat range in order to create room for smaller humanoids in the game. I currently roll 3D6+2 for everything but SIZ and INT. For those, I roll 2D6+8. This gives a range of from 10 to 20 for the stats that cannot be improved during play and a range of 5 to 20 for improvable stats. I also set my species maximum at 20* for humans. *Please note that I do allow PLAYERS to reduce scores below these thresholds with GM approval (in order to play dwarfs or mentally challenged characters). I also replace POW with Willpower (a measure of mental strength) and turn POW into a "derived value" like hit points. POW is being calculated in my current game by dividing WILL in half (Rd) and adding 1 point for every 4 points of CON and 1 point for every 4 points of CHA. Maximum POW for a character is determined by multiplying the species maximum (20 for humans) by 1.5. Thus a human's POW could be 30. Also note, as a control for POW, I require the sacrifice of a permanent point of POW to learn spells, worship gods, or attune magic items or Relics (Rune magic items). However, learning a spell, attuning a magic item, or dedicating POW to your god nets you a POW gain roll because of the sacrifice you must make.

As several of you know, I have modified my weapons and armor extensively from the basic game. My most recent modification is dropping the Damage Bonus in favor of a Surplus STR Rule. I always HATED the RQ Damage Bonus because it was applied to EVERY weapon regardless of its weight. Thus a fighter with a 1d4 damage bonus applied it equally to a shortsword or a troll maul. If this fighter PUNCHED you, he could inflict as much damage as an ordinary man wielding a Broadsword. I found this problematic, so I changed the Damage Bonus Rule. Under the new system I use, I now subtract the weapon's Required STR from the Character's STR and give a bonus of +1 to damage for every 5 points of "Surplus STR" he has left. I also add 1 point to his Surplus STR for every 10 points of SIZ he has over the weapon's Required SIZ. All weapons now have a Required SIZ, STR, and DEX. HTH damage is now a chart based on STR modified by SIZ and the largest man does about 1D4 damage with an ordinary man doing 1D2 damage. This system has worked well for balancing out damages (a larger man might take a Broadsword because he will have more "Surplus STR" than with that Greatsword). There is one more "reality-based" weapon behavior that I have wanted to model and only just recently began to try out... armor penetration. As we all know, the traditional way to deal with this is to increase weapon damage to overcome AP. This tends to generate weapons that "one-shot" unarmored foes and that simply isn't realistic. A Bodkin arrow isn't really more damaging than a broadhead arrow but it will penetrate armor better. So how do we model this in a simple and fast game rule? To do so, I have added Penetration Ratings to my weapons. Penetration Ratings: So what are Penetration Ratings? In a word, they Modify the Armor Value of worn armor WITHOUT increasing or decreasing a weapon's listed Damage. If the target of an attack is wearing armor, you will increase it or decrease it according to the Penetration Rating of the attacking weapon. If the target is NOT wearing armor, the Penetration Rating is ignored. Below are the 5 Penetration Rating along with examples of weapons that possess those ratings. Very Poor Penetrators: These weapons have trouble with even light armor. Very Poor Penetrators ADD 2 to the Armor Points of the target location hit. Examples include Punches, Kicks, and Headbutts from non-martial artists, The Bo Staff, Bolas, *Primitive Light Spears/Javelins, Whips, Single Sticks, Shovels, Clubs, and the Runner's Whipstick. Stones which are thrown or from Shepard's Slings (but not Staff Sling stones or any sling bullets) also fall into this Rating. Poor Penetrators: These weapons have trouble with many armors. They ADD 1 to the target's Armor Points on a given location. Examples include Staff Sling Stones (but not Bullets), Hammers, Light Maces (without flanges), Rocks in HTH (as clubs), *Primitive Heavy Spears/Javelins, Darts (thrown and blown), ^Self-bow Broadheads, Grain Flails, and the Quarter Staff. Normal Penetrators: These weapons are in the majority and provide NO BONUS OR PENALTY TO AP. This list includes most Swords, Axes, Daggers, ^Self-Bow Bodkins, Sling Bullets, Mauls, ^Composite Bow Broadheads, and ^Light Crossbow Broadheads among others. Good Penetrators: These weapons are better than normal at penetrating armor. The target's AP is REDUCED by 1 (minimum of 0) on a given location. Examples include The Rapier, the Rondel Dagger, *Heavy Spears/Javelins, ^Elf Bow Broadheads, ^Composite Bow Bodkins, ^Light Crossbow Bolts, Black Powder Firearms, ^Heavy Crossbow Broadheads, Mining Pickaxes, and Militarized Pitchforks/Tridents. Excellent Penetrators: These weapons are very good at penetrating armor. The target's AP is REDUCED by 2 (minimum of 0) on the location in question. Examples include Military Picks, *Light Spears/Javelins, ^Elf Bow Bodkins, ^Heavy Crossbow Bodkin/Bolts, and Crow's Beak or Lucern Hammer style Polearms. This system has not been tested yet but I'm confident that it will add a bit of depth to the weapons without unbalancing the system too much. It also allows for better armor penetration without creating a "Damage Arms Race." After watching how much the addition of Reach affected my game, without unbalancing it, I'm confident enough in Penetration to post it. So, what are your thoughts on my idea? * My Spears are segregated by Reach Length (2m Javelins, 3m Short Spears, 4m Long Spears) and Weapon Weight. Primitive Light Spears/Javelins (in both Short and Long variants) have fire-hardened wooden tips (1D4 damage). Primitive Heavy Spears (in all lengths) have stone tips (1D6 damage) and thicker hafts. Light Spears/Javelins have smaller metal tips (and do 1D6+1 Damage) and smaller hafts while Heavy Spears/Javelins have thicker longer blades (like daggers but doing 1D8+1) heavier hafts and metal counter-weights on the back of the haft (like the Spartan Spear). The larger blade reduces the Heavy Spear/Javelin's Penetration Rating. ^My bows do damage according to the Bow/Crossbow's Draw Weight. The weapon requires 1 STR per 10lbs of Draw Weight (20lbs for Crossbows). Damage is based on Draw Weight and ranges from 1D2 to 2D8 by individual weapon.

As for determining the actual Recoil of a given weapon in STR points, I think I would use the Chuck Hawk's Recoil Calculator (easily Googled). The real issue is how to convert Recoil Energy in foot-pounds into a STR Rating. I'm torn between using a straight formula (ie X ft-lbs = Y points of STR) versus an increasing chart that lists STR per a range of Recoil Energy so as to allow for an increasing Energy curve (for rounds like .416 Rigby, .338 Lapua, and .50 BMG) while to not overwhelming STR too quickly. Autofire would simply multiply the Rate of Fire (Cyclic Rate/100) by the Recoil for a single round. The larger calibers should exceed human STR (thus incurring a penalty To Hit). Ideas on how to model this anyone?

As you guys are already guessing, my Modifications to Recoil List involves ways to increase or decrease the STR needed to fire a weapon. Thus "Recoil," as I'm defining it here, is just how much STR it takes to fire the weapon without a "To Hit" penalty taking effect. The modification based on stocks being "wobbly" takes into account two factors. The first is whether the stock allows the weapon to shift during firing (even though the stock itself is braced by the shooter). This shifting will take the weapon's sights out of alignment with the target (usually in the vertical plane BUT not always). I fired an Insurgent AK with an underfolding stock during RESTORE HOPE that was VERY "wobbly." That stock was nearly impossible to use as it wobbled from side to side as well as vertically. The captured AK-74 (probably smuggling into Somalia from Yemen) we played with was a side folder and was actually very nice to shoot. The second factor is when the design of the stock imparts a control issue to the weapon... usually during full-auto fire. The original design of the Thompson M1 was one of these. The stock setup below the receiver's rear in combination with its 700 to 750 rpm cyclic rate resulted in significant muzzle climb when firing full 1-second bursts (although I must admit it WAS FUN TO SHOOT). Experienced "subgunners" only fire 3 round burst when accuracy is important. The original M14 was another "climber" when you held down the trigger with the "fun switch" engaged. Its 720 rpm cyclic rate didn't help with muzzle climb either. This is why that particular entry exists on the list.