Sven Norén

Timing is tricky thing indeed. While an earlier publication of BRP might have caused some to pick up and try it, chances are that they would have laid it aside when a new (and big!) shiny came along. Better would actually be to introduce a new game just when the D&D4th hype begins to fade, and restless players start looking around for something else. Then we stand ready with our modest BRP books and can run a demo game or five for them. Just make sure you know the rules and can run smooth game, preferably one that highlights the spots where BRP is decidedly better than That Other Game: no limiting classes, no levels, no level caps, the "you can try anything" attitude.

RQ2: Pavis What's this "RQ3" I see you youngsters going on about?

Do we need tides at all? It's not like they are of much use, except perhaps for restricting when larger ships can enter or leave harbour.

Am I the only one to miss the Defense ability from RQ2?

Maybe putting it in the Links section? Please?

Yes PLEASE not in a thread titled "Glorantha"! Start a new thread and call it "Comparative systemology" or something. Pretty please with a cherry on top? :focus:

I do it only once; When the contest starts. If you have a 200% Hide skill anyone looking for you would do so at a penalty of -100% from their skill, so that poor sod with 25% Spot would have to roll 5 or less to see you ('cos 5 or lower is always a sucess). With the "no opposed rolls" method the sneaker would roll once, to see if he manages to sneak at all. The GM then roll for the NPC:s (with appropriate modifiers) to see if they notice him. And maybe a couple of extra rolls, just to keep players on their toes.

I've never seen the sneak/spot situation as requiring opposed rolls, but that may be because I never upgraded from RQ2 to RQ3... What I would do is ask for a straight roll from the sneaker. If he fails he can be spotted by anyone looking in the right direction. If he succeds it takes a succesful Spot roll to spot him, and if he scores a critical success it takes a critical Spot to discover him. If you want skill levels over 100% to make a difference, then borrow from the (optional?) combat rules: Any attack percentage over 100% acts as a penalty to parry, such as if you attack with a skill of 120% then the defender gets a -20% penalty to his parry skill.

Here are some ideas cribbed from another thread:

Maybe he meant that PC:s in his experience ususally are NOT very sucessful, and by and large DO end up eaten or naked in a ditch?

INT as the capacity for collecting, analysing and evaluating information, a.k.a. Intelligence... meesa like! Should we start new thread for brainstorming spaceship construction rules?

STR is engines. High STR and low SIZ makes for an agile ship that has a good chance to dodge incoming missiles or feint enemy artillerists, the reverse - less so. Cargo is just part of the overall SIZ.

Not metal armour; flexible armour. What maille does is turning a cut from a sword into a blunt hit. The mace is already blunt so loses nothing, and is usually heavier. That is not a Roman idea, it came up during the rennaissance. German Landsknecht used two-handers to deal with Swiss Pike blocks. The guys hacking pike heads got double pay (doppelsoldner) for the risk they took getting in that close. Yes, it is much easier forging an axe head than a good sword. The weight and balance makes the axe hit harder, at the cost of a slower recovery. As far as costs go, this list gives the price of an axe as 5d in 1457, while a "cheap sword (peasants)" cost 6d in 1350.

In RQ2 specials did extra damage, criticals did the extra damage AND ignored armour. Either way, why do you think maces and mauls are preferred cultural weapons for trolls while humans use swords and axes? Perfectly good in-game reasons!

Two points here: 1) The spearman has to be very nimble to run backwards nearly as fast as the swordsman runs forward, while blocking with the spear haft AND drawing a backup weapon, and 2) if the spearman can reach the swordsman with a small mace or short sword, then the swordsman is NOT at his ideal range! Not a problem; I've done it myself and had it done to me more often than not. Basically, push the spear point with the shield while winding up with the sword. On a 9 foot spear you get much better leverage than the spearman can get since his hands are at the most 3 1/2 feet apart. (Unless we are fighting orangutans?) Where have you done your fighting? My experinces are from the SCA, where throwing an opponent is not permitted (safety reasons). When fighting as a unit yes; rushing a close order unit in two or three ranks is suicidal. When fighting one-on-one a spearman is at a definite disadvantage against a sword-and-shield fighter of similar competence. I have seen very few spears in the lists, and even fewer used successfully (though a short spear-and-sword combo has been popular hereabouts recently).

Doing that actually increases the average damage for a Crush. I.E: 2D6 average 7, vs. 6 for a maxed out d6.

What haven't I got? Let's see: > Boxed sets: - Runequest DeLuxe 3rd ed. - Gods of Glorantha - Glorantha: Genertela, Crucible of the Hero Wars - Elder Secrets of Glorantha > Softbound books: - Dorastor, Land of Doom - River of Cradles - Sun county > Booklets: - Shadows on the Borderlands - Apple Lane - Gloranthan Bestiary In addition to this is a number of Tales of the Reaching Moon and Wyrm's Footprints. I'm just trying to figure out how to put this on eBay with the least hazzle.

One idea I saw on a discussion of BRP houserules on RPG.NET (see, it's not all bad!) was to have a short list of special effects, like: - Do extra damage (impale/slash/crush) - ignore armour - choose hit location - do knockback - disarm - All are taken from the RQ3 combat rules, some of them optional. When you roll a special hit, pick one of the above. On a critical, pick two. Gives the players (and NPC:s) a bit more control over the fight, without adding an extra layer of rules. I'm going to try this next campaign.

Hello, I'm Sven Norén and I am based in Uppsala, Sweden. I started playing, like so many else, AD&D in the early 80:ies. After about two sittings I found the system somewhat less than satisfying. I went down to our FLGS and found the new and shiny RQ2 hardback on the shelf, and the rest is history. I have tried some other games: Fantasy Hero, TFT, T&T, Cyberpunk, and Space Opera, but always came back to RQ and other BRP games. I have done more GM:ing than playing though. My players still talk about some special moments in our games, like when Punchem the troll wrestled a were-tiger while the others magicked their weapons to gut it (made a very hard-wearing rug.) Or the famous line: "The dragon opens one eye and says 'Think fast!'" Or when the duck with DEX 18 was the only one to fall from a slippery bridge - repeatedly. (Poor sod had played Roll Master the night before and his %dice were set to roll high.) Over time I have collected almost everything there is to collect for RQ2, and lots of the Glorantha stuff for RQ3. I am contemplating selling the latter, look out on eBay....