jezreel

Thanks Raleel

CAn you, or anyone,  post a copy of the miniatures movement that you speak of ? It sounds interesting and useful-  I find using miniatures very helpful myself

I see that having a Skirmishing combat style allows a character to launch  a ranged attack whilst running  

 what about reloading? I would have thought it was OK  to reload an arrow or slingshot whilst moving - how do people play this? And how far can a character move in one combat round ? 

I believe the rules say at the GM's discretion, but it seems a fairly key issue to me, especially if one character might wish to close , and another wishes not to, and keep firing a ranged weapon.

thankyou

sorry Matt but TDM forum?

Yeah , so in my campaign Animism is a big part of the picture-   are the spirit plane and the materiel plane mutually imcompatible- ie you can be in either one or the other, and not both together- I think the rules suggest that a mystic in "trance" is NOT present to the mundane plane so I infer that a fetch "scouting" then spirit plane is NOT present in the Mundane plane either- unless it has , and is using , the "manifest" trait , in which case it's present in the mundane, but I guess, NOT present in the spirit plane.

The thing is, this shaman is making his way through enemy territory with some braves from his tribe- the enemy have prepared an ambush up ahead- can his "scouting" fetch detect the ambush? If so, does it have to be manifest ie present  and observable to the ambushers?

thanks Matt - I see your point - I guess it is a matter of experience as to which abilities to give to NPC's that the players will run up against and maybe giving the players  plenty of warnings if they seem to be about to commit collective suicide

I notice that a fetch can "scout"   if it has the "autonomy" ability- does this allow a fetch to "see" the mundane /physical plane of just the spirit plane? In other words, can a scouting fetch float ahead of a party and give warning of both physical and spirit-plane encounters, - could be kinda handy....

sorry for all the questions, but it really helps me set out on the right path at the start

So here's a Shaman, with a fetch , engaging with some PC's -the shaman's fetch has  intensity 2 action points 3 spirit damage D10 discorporate 81% folk magic 73% spectral combat 84%   spirit fetch ability-  persistent -conjugated- autonomous-recurring trait - shapechange -possession (usually the shaman or cult animal)

Am I correct that this shaman can roll on his binding skill to set the fetch loose- fetch can then act independently of the shaman, but remains in telepathic contact- it can use folk magic against the PC@s or on the shaman  and can also drag a mortal  target onto the spirit plane(discorporation abiltiy)  and then engage them in spirit combat ( spirit's spectral combat against character's binding or half-willpower) and does D10 damage to their magic points when it (likely) wins - this will eat up their magic points in a few turns if it beats them - when they are down to zero, it may ?possess them but not kill them as it lacks the deadly trait. If it possesses a character, can it have that character attack his/her mates? Can the fetch , if not possessing but simply draining all of a players magic points, ,then attack all the PC's in turn and do likewise ? does it need a binding roll success from the shaman for each instruction  or just to "set it on its way" as it is in telepathic connection with the Juju man?

If it has the "deadly" trait, would one such spirit not be able to kill all the player characters in short measure? as it cannot be magically dispelled because of the "persistent trait" - unless the PC's have a beefy character who is a beast on the spectral plane, are they surely doomed ?

It it has "cannibalistic" trait, it can shore up its magic points at the rate of 1MP/ intensity of spirit that it sunders...(1-3 MP points per character killed)

And this is ONLY an Intensity 2 spirit(!)

And a decent shaman has SEVERAL spirits at his beck and call..........

I'm liking the idea that magic items might have an agenda- A "consciousness" and bend the bearer to their (perhaps unknown) own ambition

OK I see your point- I guess magic items have flaws to make them less awesome- but maybe it's better just to limit them to "one use per week" or "needs a temple recharge before re-use" - but I suppose a bunch of PCs with a bunch of wholly useful magic weapons can just beat down on bigger and stronger creatures/nasties  that they used to have to run away from- and there must be some fun in that

I suppose it's whether there is an "arms-race" feel to the campaign or whether it's kept "down to earth" ( where the goblins can still kill ya!)

yeah I think you both mirror my preference -  if you get a juicy magic item, there either has to be a serious drawback, or it's made for a heroic purpose and "loaned" to a specific character-  I quite like the juicy drawbacks actually - so you lose in another area what you gain somewhere else- but I guess there's a time to let a single character take down a powerful monster/NPC with an awesome weapon, otherwise it's going to have to be avoidance/ negotiation,/ numbers /magic /luck  to take it down. 

And I did grow up on halfling nobodies having magic swords that could take down a ringwraith and that was pretty cool

I am interested in game masters' experiences with  the use of magically enhanced  weapons in Mythras.  Do most GM's allow ubiquity with magically enhanced weapons or does this screw the gameplay too much?

Is it better to restrict magic use to time-limited casting onto weapons eg bladesharp? or do you allow Rune-weopens or weapons with a sorcerous matrix embedded that  convey permanent benefits to the wielder? or weapons that give on one hand and hamper on the other eg +10% to combat skill but -10% to evade

As a side-question, does casting bladesharp on a weapon allow it to damage a wraith? and if so, is it only the magical enhancement damage or full weapon damage that is inflicted?

Is there a website that connects wannabe Mythras players and GMs ? 

If not , how do people scout for local groups ?

that's useful advice too - thanks

Out of interest, do you set up encounters where the PC will likely need to AVOID confrontation to prevail? and if so, do you allow them to use  their wits/ skill rolls or do you tend to drop heavy hints that taking on that large Ogre when your character is unarmoured and at 50% with a boomerang is likely going to end in tears?  

I guess it depends on the player group as to whether they want their hands held or whether they want it hard and direct

interesting and useful stuff- thank you

If a party are making a roll, say, they meet a creature, and roll badly against Lore(weird creatures we met on the way to the forum)

DOes the GM roll this for them in secret (maybe a task-type roll) so they may in fact roll badly, estimate the creature is easy to take down, and then fail horribly;  or do they roll themselves against their own skill and then  roleplay the mistake they have just made?

As GM, how do you provide  balance in a game?-  by which I mean giving the players a good level of challenge ?    is it just down to experience? or are there rough guidelines?  I can see that you could roughly equate the numbers and skill levels of opposition to those of the players, but this would soon get tiresome. What about a larger group of lower level denizens  or just one very strong monster?    

How can players assess the strength of opposition - when to fight and when to run/parley/surrender  or do GM's just cheese the challenge level to make every encounter winnable?

And how does magic fare against muscle in the game?  

I like the idea of Shift Location - you still have the die roll,(which generates unpredictability and  excitement)  but you get an advantage and can use your nouse.

Do GM's usually  allow unintelligent monsters,to pick their combat Special Effects or is there a way to randomise them in such cases- also traps, rock falls, etc

question 1 ,

is it OK to ask for rules clarification on this forum-? 

if so, question 2

   I swing at my opponent and get a critical success - he parries and gets success - I get to choose one offensive special effect, say, disarm

opponent now gets to make an opposed roll of his combat style against my ORIGINAL roll- (the critical success) and he would need a critical success of his own that was higher than my original roll but within his critical success bracket ?  this appears to be almost impossible to pull off - if this is a correct interpretation , then it appears that rolling a critical success not only gets you yummy special effects but makes it almost impossible for the opponent to counter them- is this correct? 

question 3

I have read that some GM's only allow "choose location" as a special effect on an offensive critical roll, rather than just for achieving one level of success better on a differential roll

Is this unusual? What do people think from experience works better?

great stuff guys

thanks again for being so generous with your time and experience

g33k

GLorantha is such a rich setting that I feel I want to start there- I can always invent and add where I feel it is necessary/desirable - it seems crazy to ignore such a wealth of foundational materiel and it has clearly stood the test of time and clearly prompts others to imagine and be creative- both important tests of quality, I think

BUt I'm very new to GM-ing ( my previous experience is limited to 4 years in late teens and  that's a world away now)  so any help is very much appreciated- I love learning from others who have experience and then adding my own twists and features.

Is there actually any  materiel (written or video)  that anyone can recommend for, say, key tips to providing a flexible and fun RP environment so new players can thrive and enjoy their experiences with a keen-but-green GM?

well thanks guys

I was half expecting a reply sometime in the next week or so- I am humbled by your help

I will check out the one-pager's and Monster Island is on its way in the post as I type

thanks Joerg

Is there a particularly useful source for the Runequest Cults - anything accessible on the web, say?

I'm new to Mythras having last been into RPG in the form of Runequest 1 (a few years ago...)

I'm excited to get back in as gamesmaster but I feel I need a little more inspiration and guidance  re cults and brotherhoods- the examples given in the core rulebook are few -  

I've found the wonderful random Mythras encounter generator to help with denizens and NPC but can anyone point me to a web-page or publication which can flesh out the wonderful weird world of cults?

And what happened re Runes? Are they out now once the Runequest licence expired? 

many thanks