Psullie

all joking aside, are the concepts of racial stereotypes grotesque broad stokes of prejudice like they are here on Earth? It seems contrary to the whole principle of Glorantha to say that all elves hate dwarves. Sure at any given time a particular group may harbour animosity towards another and with long lived species these grudges can last a long time, but these usually stem from some past slight or insult. Apple Lane was my first introduction to Glorantha/RuneQuest and not only was Xarban's gang an eclectic mix but having Pinfeather and Quackjohn on opposite sides clearly stated that sentient beings are free to make their own alliances, a welcome relief from the all Orcs are Chaotic Evil mindset.

The River of Cradles cover is my all time favourite piece of RQ art, along with Sun County and Borderlands really captures the style of RQ. I also like how it's the same woman on RoC & Borderlands and that her scar hasn't quite healed on the later (although the LOVE/HATE finger tattoos are a bit cheesy)

I think this would be great. the common thread seems to be that mixed groups are uncommon, but the history/mythology of Glorantha is full of cooperative enterprises when the stakes are high enough. As we aim to re-enact the myths as part of our games then mixed groups would be quite common. Ideally I'd like to see the Elder races getting a similar level of uplift in RQ as they have in other sources (the Guide for example). Right now RQ2's dwarves and elves do not reflect those races as we see them today.

cheers guys the random dragonewt sounded like fun, perhaps a potential for vaudeville, but did have a game mechanical element that supported the creature type homogenous groups are probably the easiest, at least by being able to present a common lens through which to view the world. Even here, as Yelm's Light suggests, it would take a lot off work on the GM's part to create the truly non-human world of the Aldryami or the Mostali so that the players are able to see humans as alien invaders It is the 'can I play a dwarf/elf/hobbit?' type of player though that I'm most interested in. The 'Gimli v Legolas' stereotype haunts our games. It relies on all players to see beyond tolkien's ghost (what Glorantha aims to do) and perceive the elf as something different. For example Brown Elves are deciduous plants. The rely on photosynthesis, they need water, cycle CO2 & Oxygen rather than breath, they feel pain differently than mammals, have different senses (perhaps see in a different wavelengths (as troll hate red)), and need to 'hibernate' each winter. While all this alters their view on the world, it also alters how the world interacts with them. What happens if an elf is denied sunlight, (Yelm's Light ), can they drown, if they don't sleep. These mechanics can really influence and underline racial differences so that your elf is more than a long haired bowman. Another (bad) example is the Agimori, how many GM's have regretted showing the character gen table from River of Cradles to players, all they see is 3d6+6 STR & SIZ, 2 pt natural armour and they're off with little interest in their actual social background.

that is a great instance for a Passion roll, even a fumble could send a PC off into a careless frenzy...

The weekly discussions relating to the Guide have highlighted the alien nature of the Elder Races. I've always stuck with humans as PC's in my RQ games as there is enough cultural diversity for me in Glorantha. Broken dwarves, aldryami scouts, exiled dragonewts not to mention all the beast men offer interesting role-playing opportunities. However I often found that as written in RQ2 they lacked a truly alien appeal, they were the same as human but with a slightly different Characteristic spread and perhaps an aversion to iron. They really were no different than elves & dwarves from D&D. I hoping that RQG addresses this but I though I'd like to through it out to the community too. So, what have you done in the past that worked or not when having an Elder Race PC? Also, has anyone ever played an entirely Elder Race group?

I believe that players can be just as impetuous as your NPCs. One of the great things that RQ laid down was the universal nature of the rules, players could play monsters, and monsters were subject to the same skill advancement and (barring social limits) open to the same opportunities. (perhaps one of your pixies is a rune lord with 185% toothpick skill :-) ). So what ever ruling is put in place it would be open to all (fanatic tigress protecting cubs, you could state an equal number of examples to support NPC use). I also feel that having NPC's as sword fodder is a D&D thing. RQ has favoured placing NPCs in scenarios for reasons (admittedly some of the earliest scenarios were dungeon bashes). There are no morale rules in RQ because it accepted the fact that the GM would 'play' the NPC's with sense suited to them. RQ's lethal combat means that risk of death or serious injury is always present. Now how much restrictions a GM places on their player's action is a style thing, I personally favour a guided approach as I find that often players would happily forget character restrictions for player benefit.

but just think, somewhere in Seshnela a team of Malkion lead by the famous wizard Oppenheimer seek to end all wars…

but you cannot magically attack and physically in the same round while engaged

that last pic is great!

Always a tricky one and very much case dependant, however if I was the GM of that particular encounter I would be inclined to suggest: Casting Mobility on another counts as attacking/offensive magic (even if the target is willing, but in your case the bull is not), therefore I would not allow the player to cast then melee attack that round, he/she may parry though, as per p8 I generally read that casting during combat relates to spells on self. Bladesharp on your sword for example, but not on someone else's. My rule of thumb is that spells targeting others are considered 'attacks' even if beneficial.

Perhaps fire is an important part of forest ecology, like the controlled burning of sequoia woods to kill ants and promote seed scatter

whenever I have players new to Glorantha one of my go to lines by way of introduction is 'and elves are plants' and usually it is at that point they realise they are no longer in Middle Earth/Faerun/Kansas and you can see the imagination start to kick in.

What I'd like to see with the cults is something similar to Pendragon's Religious Virtues, gaining game bonuses if the certain traits are kept at high values. Establishing which Runes are Primary, Secondary and Adverse for example with required minimums (or maximums for Adverse Runes) and granting suitable boons; access to Rune Magic, extra HP, natural armour, faster healing etc. Of course this would only work if the GM made use of Runic traits during play to 'encourage' players to follow their faith.

Hi jajagappa, I referring to how one acquires the magic rather than casts it, in that a religious functionary 'introduces' you to the knowledge. I like how the QS describe the awesome nature of a Rune Spell, even momentarily taking on aspects of the deity. However I find it odd that channelling your divine power, which should be a momentous occasion in a game warranting attention, seems to take no time at all. I get the MGF and that the power of Rune Magic means that it kicks off first, but I can imagine many a future discussion with players who upon seeing their arch nemesis channel Thed or the Red Goddess shouting I attack before she finishes etc.

I generally saw foci as aide de memoire, something you used to assist concentration. Other peoples foci would have no resonance or meaning and therefore useless to anyone but themselves. As for the recognition, I imagine many would be runes or stylised runes, for example the Air rune on your sword might be your foci for Bladesharp, but on my spear could be a foci for Mobility.

I think this models Rune Magic rather than BattleSpirtGarden Magic But yes very Gloranthan

Here’s my take on all this, pages refer to RQ2 original print edition P10: ‘Hit Points are a measure of how much damage one can take before dying.’ - this sets up the concept that Hit Points are a finite resource reduced by damage. P17: ‘Each of the above areas has a certain amount of hit points’ - this is a clear statement that locations also have hit points ‘when a character has taken sufficient damage to surpass his Hit Points […] he is dead. ’ - the ‘death by many cuts’ rule, multiple small injures can lead to death. The Notes on Damage Results points (P17 - 18) clearly sates that locations take damage and that this damage is also deducted from total HP - ‘Thus a 2 points arm hit for 5 points will only take 4 points of damage off the total Hit Points, the remaining having no effect. Further blows to that arm will effect the Hit Points.’ It also stats that if the damage to a location 'equaled or exceeded' suggesting damage from either cumulative minor wounds or major wounds. Point 3 goes on to say that ‘a 2 point arm struck for 8 points […] only takes four points of damage against his Hit Points.’ this implies locations can have a negative HP, subsequent hits pass directly to main HP but no more than Location HPx2 In Fight In Gimpy’s Tavern Rurik takes a 2 point wound to the abdomen, and a 3 point wound to the leg. Neither of these impair him, and combined the 5 points of damage are well below 16. Poor Herkan is killed by massive damage to one location. Herkan has only 4 HP in the abdomen, the damage rolled is 10 which is 6 more than he has, even though his total can only be reduced by 4x2=8, the shock of the blow killed him even though he has 3 HP remaining, Note that this ‘shock’ only applies to Head, Chest and Abdomen. An arm taking 25 points of damage can only effect total HP by the Arm HPx2, even on subsequent hits In the Rumble in the Rubble example Horus take a 6 point wound to his 3 point arm (reducing is total by 6 to 5) taking his arm down to -3. This is important because later when he cast Heal 2 it states that he’ll need to wait 5 rounds to cast it again to ‘get back in the fight’ meaning that his arm went from -3 to -1, needing a second Heal 2 spell to get use of his arm. While I agree it’s not the clearest, I feel that the when taken in their entirety the rules suggest that locations take damage up to twice their HP. And that if the total damage ever exceeds total HP then your character is dead. Also that twice location HP is the most damage you can ever take, but if this is greater than 6 in key locations, shock will kill the PC. As for bookkeeping, you need to record HP loss by location and total HP. The example above Horus ‘ left arm dropped to -3, his total Hit Points down to 5. After the Heal, they would be -1 & 7

Thanks Oracle, perhaps I should invest in a copy. But I see too that this was added later in the errata

I absolutely agree that a game system should reflect the world it models, but on a much more meta level than +1 v's +5. CoC's Sanity, Pentagon's Passions, are core to the world in which we play. Remove this and we're playing generic Glorantha has it's roots in WB&RM and RQ1 & 2. Fundamental to RQ1&2 was the concept that all intelligent beings has access to limited Battle Magic which was only available from your cult. Spirits with spells etc was introduced in RQ3. Battle magic was "the forceful alteration of the fabric of reality by using one's POW". It had nothing to do with spirits. Personally I feel calling it 'Spirit magic' is misleading unless it refers to one's own spirit (POW). These 'cantrips' were fundamental to RQ and Glorantha. Anybody with cult affiliation would have access, it underlined the importance of cult membership in society and gave players a reason for their adventurers to be part of something. Community has always been a major theme of Glorantha The binding of spirits as suggested by kaydet was also open to all adventures, not just a shaman. Your adventurer could acquire bound allies which you could teach battle magic as an 'external hard drive' or uses as a source of POW. But spirits were limited in how they directly effect the mundane world. Cults of Chaos introduced Disease Spirits which (AFAIK) would be developed into the wider spirit types in RQ3 including the option of learning magic by mugging spirits rather than from your cult - something I'm sure your gods wouldn't be too happy about. To me battle magic is the technology of Glorantha, from cooks using bladesharp to gut fish, partygoers using Glamour at a soirée to kids using Speeddart to knock apples off a tree. my 2c

I think the Notes on Damage Results on page 17 (original RQ2) strongly suggest that Locations take damage. While notes 2 & 3 refer to damage from a single blow, note 1 does not. Also the fact that Healing works by location reinforces this.

does the reprint differ that much, I though it was just typos etc

One thing that the Resistance table does that the straight rolls doesn't do is modify your chance based on the resistance. As only once dice is rolled, the active participant, it is for example easier for your spell to work on a POW 8 target than a POW 15 target, how much easier depends of your POW. Let's say your adventurer has a POW of 12, in CoC this would be 60%. Two possible targets, POW 8 (CoC = 40%) or 15 (CoC = 75%). In CoC your adventurer would need to roll 60% or less on the first (regular difficulty), or 30% on the second (Hard Difficulty). In RGQ your rolls are 70% or 35% respectively (taken from the table). Now if your adventurer had POW 18 (80%) the difficulty levels are the same (80% on the first, and 40% on the second), but in RQG it would be 95% and 65% Also with regard to Skills, RQG has adopted the 'high-roll wins ties' from HeroQuest rather than higher Skill, which IMO provides a better mechanic by allowing weaker opponents a chance to win.

I also think that this is just a nod to RQ2 which has the same title on the table

Also, any damage in excess of the Shield is carried through to the arm, but not when parrying with a weapon.