Daniel Stevenson

At first, I thought you were offering the WFRP 2e campaign "Paths of the Damned."  I am much less confused now.

The Description Principle: While you shouldn't overdo it, describing your players' surroundings is important for immersing them in the game world.  Saying, "You enter an enormous cavern lit by softly glowing moss that covers the walls" is much more interesting (and helpful!) than simply telling them, "You walk into a cave."

1 hour ago, PhilHibbs said:

Neither do Orlanth, Seven Mothers, Yelm, or a bunch of others.

I know they don't.  I pointed out those two because I failed to see why low  CHA caused any problems for Rune Lords of those cults.

On 8/2/2018 at 10:21 AM, PhilHibbs said:

Maybe not, I merely raised it as other examples where a race can't become Rune Lords. My main concern is Tusk Riders and Broo, neither of whom can become Rune Lords of Thed or The Bloody Tusk. 

I would like to point out that The Bloody Tusk and Thed do not have CHA requirements for Rune Lords ("Standard" is not specified.)  This and the low CHA honestly make sense for these species, anyway: a broo or Tusk Rider is much more likely to respond to force than persuasion.  Great Trolls still present a problem, though.

EDIT: I forgot to get to the point of this post.  Broo and Tusk Riders can indeed become Rune Lords of Thed and The Bloody Tusk, respectively.

Some interesting videos I found about the mathematics behind how dice work.  Evidently, old-style D10's (D20's numbered 0-9 twice) are more fair.

On 8/5/2018 at 6:34 AM, Crel said:

Personally, I also think that a thorny problem is setting. Even disregarding the danger of having the player characters overshadowed by the ta'veren heroes of the Third Age, the dangers of male channelers and the extent to which WoT fans are often lore-nerds (I am, anyway...) makes it tricksy to find meaningful space to play. That was one of my frustrations with the WotC campaign for WoT d20, Prophecies of the Dragon. When I was trying to figure out my homebrew, I was setting the game within the Fourth Age, a few hundred years after Tarmon Gai'don. My general themes I wanted to explore were the increasing use and development of steam tech and firearms interacting with established Aes Sedai magical and political dominance (sort of like how Sanderson's Era Two books of Mistborn do) and how Andor and "New Manetheren" (the Two Rivers and Ghealdan, with other bits, set up by Perrin's descendants) interact since Elaine is probably still alive at that time.

I was a little concerned about this too.  I think I'll wait until I finish the series (almost done with Book 11) before I make a final decision, though.

On 8/5/2018 at 6:34 AM, Crel said:

I was thinking for all characters to have POW, and to have MP/PP/whatever, and that there should also be other abilities that could be learned, not just channeling. Wolfbrothers, Dreamwalking, and maybe some funky abilities tied to being a swordmaster (since the different techniques and styles play a major role in the story, and I'm just a sucker for bad-ass pseudo-magical swordsmen). It's definitely possible to invent non-canon magic/pseudo-magical abilities--after all, some things which were once lost may return as the Wheel turns!

We considered broadening POW (maybe changing the name) to facilitate that kind of stuff.  Haven't gone too deep into it yet, though—we're trying to iron out channeling first.

On 8/5/2018 at 6:34 AM, Crel said:

I was thinking maybe that a character who can channel could assign points equal to their POW to the five elements, maybe with a free point in their gender's element (Water & Air for women, Fire and Earth for men) and everyone gets one point in Spirit. They probably wouldn't have to assign points right at character creation, but I never made that decision. Each point represents 10% they can learn of the five element "skills." Per 10%, they can use a 1MP of that element in creating weaves. Each element has a cap based on those assigned points because every channeler has natural strengths and weaknesses. Overchanneling would probably have been going past those mastered amounts. Perhaps someone with a fully mastered Air 5 (50% Air skill) could safely use 5MP in the Air portion of a weave, or could overchannel up to Air 10, with risks. Specific weaves would have been skills, too, although just using/creating the element might have been possible just with that element's skill.

I hadn't thought of this.  We were going to use the Five Powers like sorcerous techniques, but this seems to be closer to how they are presented in the book.

On 8/5/2018 at 6:34 AM, Crel said:

I think a big part of making channelers kind of more fair is having it be this mess of different skills to spend a lot of time training and mastering. It's rather lore-friendly too! After all, the process for becoming an Aes Sedai often takes decades.

Of course!  Probably the best balancing mechanism out there.  Becoming Aes Sedia is rather akin to Rune Master status, perhaps even more difficult.

On 8/5/2018 at 6:34 AM, Crel said:

(While it's less time for the Asha'man, they also do some incredibly dangerous forcing. I don't know how to model that, but it could be useful to keep in mind. After all, player characters are pretty likely to end up in dangerous situations and doing more than is safe.)

Thanks for bringing this up.  I actually hadn't considered it at all.

On 8/5/2018 at 6:34 AM, Crel said:

I like your ta'veren points, mainly because of how they shift between the GM and players. That's a great way to model characters who are central to the Pattern, without giving too many freebies. A lot of my thinking has been for players who aren't ta'veren, but that's a pretty cool mechanic.

Don't thank me, thank WotC!  That was stolen directly from the d20 edition.

On 8/5/2018 at 6:34 AM, Crel said:

Another benefit of the skill-overload approach could be a multichannel skill, for modeling those Shield v. Shield fights. One weave trying to shield, the other trying to cut the enemy's shield.

I was thinking of being able to channel a total cost of weaves up to your POW, but each weave beyond the first inducing a penalty on all of them (probably -5% or -10%.)  This is a little different than what we presented earlier in this thread, as I read something in New Spring that changed my idea of how this works.  Shield vs. shield will probably be handled by a resistance roll or opposed rolls.

On 8/5/2018 at 6:34 AM, Crel said:

The simple truth is that a lot of weaves, going pretty strictly by the books, won't allow any sort of resistance save. It's part of why Aes Sedai are so frightening (and the Asha'man, unbound by the Oath Rod, even more so). Unless the target is a channeler of the same gender, odds are an alpha-striking weave is just going to happen. I would probably go with this (because I'm too big a fan of the books) but honestly, there should be some sort of resistance save, or maybe a DEXx3 chance to dodge Arms of Air, or whatever. It's better, more fair game balance, which is more likely to cause Maximum Game Fun in the long run.

I think the best way to remain true to the books and balance the game at the same time is for the GM to establish a power level for the campaign.  Do you want to start with stickpickers, or do you want to have a party of Aes Sedai and Warders?  I'll have to give it more thought, though.

On 8/5/2018 at 6:34 AM, Crel said:

I like the notion that grasping the Source basically just fills the character up to their POW with MP. It makes sense. Personally, I might model that with a basic "Channel" skill, which is capped by POWx10 % (ex. POW 16 = Channel 160%), then maybe the same Skill%x2 rule as above for maximum MP a character could hold, even while Overchanneling. Perhaps the Overchanneling Failure table numbers could be affected by the method of overchanneling. Ex: Nynaeve has Earth 20%, and Channel 180%, with POW 18. She wants to lift a boulder, so has to overchannel to Earth 4. This is still 4MP (or maybe 6MP, doubling the MP for overchanneled elements?...), which is less than her Channel% restricts, but she still must roll to Overchannel more than natural capacity (Earth 2) allows of the element.

That makes sense, but then how do you account for holding more or less of the Power?  It does seem a good way to measure how long one should be able to channel, but that's a lot of numbers in flux.  It seems easier just to track a number of melee rounds or full turns.  Channeling combatants would run out of ammunition quickly too.

6 hours ago, Humakt said:

Yes I already got the pdf but I’m asking about the book, sorry if my English is a bit poor, I’m about 25 years playing runequest and I’m so excited for the new way it’s taken so i just wander if at gencon would be the slipcase or is gonna be the option to buy it separately

If I understand correctly, the hardcover is coming out at Gen Con, but the slipcase doesn't until October or November.

1 minute ago, MOB said:

The Yelmalio forces adroitly change sides midway through the Second Battle of Moonbroth, shortly after the (somewhat mysterious, some would say suspicious) death of the reigning count in battle. Civil strife ensues when the authorities back at the Sun Dome Temple itself refuse to accept the victorious general who took over command and proclaimed himself count, considering that indecently presumptuous, or the political-religious deal he made with Argrath White Bull, which they consider outrageously blasphemous.

So, in other words, it depends on the Count.

1 minute ago, soltakss said:

Probably, or probably not.

Yelmalians are tied to the Dara Happan way, as Yelmalio is the son of Yelm. The Red Emperor is the Dara Happan Emperor, so is the effective, but very far away, head of the cult.

However, it probably varies by area. 

In Prax, the Yelmalians definitely helped the Lunars in the Cradle scenario and in the Sun County supplement.

In the Dragon Pass area, they are probably neutral, but the Yelmalians of Alda Chur are probably friendly.

In Balazar, the Yelmalian Temple in Elkoi is controlled by the Lunars, but the one on Dykene is very independent.

Does that make Rurik Runespear a rebel, then?

2 minutes ago, soltakss said:

All Yelmalian Sun Dome Temples are autonomous, in that the Count rules the Sun County. They are mercenaries and hire soldiers out to certain people, not necessarily the highest bidders, but to like-minded people.

They have a strong connection to the Lunars, as the Red Emperor is Emperor of Dara Happa and outranks all Yelmalians. In fact, any Yelm worshipper outranks all Yelmalians, so they don't like it when Dara Happan Yelm worshippers come to visit.

So do all Temples have pro-Lunar attitudes?

7 hours ago, Steve said:

The developers have said they're looking at other platforms for the future. It doesn't help your question, but they've just announced a partnership to develop Windows and MacOS versions.

Although I still would very much like an Android version, I'll look into the Windows one when it comes out.  Thank you!

Will there mayhap be an Android version sometime in the future?

38 minutes ago, David Scott said:

I'd say the section in the Homelands on page 108 pretty much answers it:

self-sufficient would answer that for me, and not Orlanthi but Heorling culture/yelmalio - so completely autonomous and have their own cult customs. Other sun domes - Yes as this is the one the others look to.

(avoiding pointing you at stuff you might not have)

Oh, yes, I did mean Heortling.  The part that made me unsure was the description of Goldedge:

Quote

This is one of the Sun Dome Temples of the Yelmalio cult. The city is home to the Goldedge Foot Regiment of the Provincial Army.

It made it sound like the Sun Domers were Incorporated into the Lunar army.

I recall the RQG rulebook saying that the Sun Dome Temple in Sartar is a small theocracy independent from the surrounding state.  Are they completely autonomous, or do they simply have different customs which they defend despite their neighbors' hostility?  Does this degree of autonomy extend to the other Sun Dome Temples as well?

Thanks!  This answered my question perfectly.

2 minutes ago, Jakob said:

I think he actually made that explicit - "The Darkening of Mirkwood", the big generational TOR campaign, has been inspired by the Great Pendragon Campaign. And there's also some quote from Francesco Nepitello about RQG out there, where he praises it along the lines of "taking RPGs to a new level."

I guess he knows a good game when he sees it!

I know that buying the PDF version of RQG or the Glorantha Sourcebook gets the price of the PDF off of the hardcover, and I'm assuming the same will be true of upcoming books like the Bestiary.  If I was planning on buying the boxed set when it comes in, would these discounts stack on the one product or would I have to buy each book separately to use all of my discounts?

30 minutes ago, Jakob said:

It's a really great RPG, and it actually has a lot in common with RQG - regional focus, how it stresses the importance of community, seasonal play ... I'm pretty sure that the chaosium team took some inspiration from Francesco Nepitello's The One Ring when designing RGQ.

Perhaps it was somewhat influential, but much of the "new" RQ rules (Passions, Runes, seasonal play) are adapted from Pendragon, which is, after all, Greg's game.  I wouldn't be surprised if Francesco Nepitello got some of his ideas from Pendragon, though.

9 hours ago, Jakob said:

Also, with a setting like Middle-Earth or the Star Trek Universe, players often come with quite clear expectations, which might not be met by the actual campaign ... 

I heartily agree with this.  Also, I'd like to point out that although tweaking an established engine works for most things, building a system from the ground up, or at least choosing one carefully, is a great help in conveying the "feel" of a work, especially for well-known worlds that players will come into with strong expectations.  The One Ring RPG is a great example of this.

2 hours ago, Sean_RDP said:

So once a year and on the occasional evening during the year I run a SF track at JordanCon here in the ATL.  Obviously it was born from people who are fans of The Wheel of Time. Of what little I know, getting the license would be complex and layered. Chaosium might have the gravitas to pull it off though.

Oh yeah.  The WoT license is a mess.  I read something about it when I learned about the upcoming TV show.

2 hours ago, Sean_RDP said:

I also have a ton of SF settings that I think would work, but one of them - an homage to Smith's Lensmen (sort of) I am working on myself with Runed Worlds, and the rest I would wait anyway to see what Chris Spivey has up his sleeves. Pretty excited to see what he will do with that.

That's what I forgot—Lensman!  That is a setting I would like to see.  I started reading it, but never actually finished—I couldn't find a copy of one of the books.  Funny thing is that I actually discovered Lensman from a GURPS 3e supplement I found at my local game store.  I was curious, Googled it, and read a few of the books, but my players weren't interested.

This may be a wee bit self-promotional, but I think The Wheel of Time would work well for BRP.  There is plenty of world background to draw on, and the magic system is structured enough to work well in an RPG.

EDIT: I say self-promotional because I'm working on a WoT BRP ruleset myself.  There's a thread here.

Another mechanic we were thinking of including (actually a shameless rip-off from the d20 edition) was "Ta'veren Points."  They have a similar role to Fate points/Momentum & Doom/Force points.

Basically, you have some counters that are black on one side and white on the other.  Each player gets one with the white side up and the GM gets one with the black side up.  The players can spend theirs for turning a failure into a success, minor retconning (e.g. remembering to pack rope,) creating a favorable external circumstances (e.g. saying a guard is a mercenary who will accept bribes,) and other such.  When they do this, they flip their counter over and give it to the GM.  The GM can make a roll fail, introduce an unfavorable circumstance, etc. by flipping a counter and giving it to a player.

Although this introduces a cinematic element uncharacteristic of BRP, it represents how events in WoT are moulded around those individuals the Pattern deems important to it, and most high fantasy RP'rs are interested in an important, heroic role anyway.

Of course, this mechanic could be altered—characters starting with no points and being awarded them for awesome roleplaying/world-shaking events or the number of points based on an inherent characteristic.  Anyway, your thoughts are appreciated.

1 hour ago, Joerg said:

This would make weaves like Compulsion automatic instant successes against anyone not holding on to the source. Making it an attrition contest between magic points (which would be replenished by someone holding on to the source, but be used up rather quickly by non-channelers) would at least delay the effect, analogous to RQ Spirit Combat. But then, using a Resistance roll against some other stat would do this job just as well, repeating for as long as either the victim succumbs or the channeler breaks off (due to a wound or the appearance of a more immediate threat).

...

IIRC, Morgase is using a passion to counter the Compulsion, and probably rolls a critical in rules terms. And she is a (however weak) channeler educated in the White Tower.

Compulsion results in a POW (being put into the Compulsion) vs. PER resistance roll.  Morgase using a passion does make sense, but it doesn't have anything to do with her being able to channel.  In the prologue of Fires (I think it was the prologue) Rahvin muses to himself how Morgase's force of will means he has to be especially vigilant in maintaining his Compulsion.

1 hour ago, Joerg said:

Air bonds would match weave effect STR vs. the STR of the victim. Is there a way to use an opposing weave of air to counter air bonds?

I probably shouldn't have mentioned this.  Although it is an example of normal folks resisting channeling, I can think of no instance in which this was even remotely successful without using the Power to cut the flows—the attacker is, after all, supplied with constant energy from the Source.

I supposeyou could "arm wrestle" Air vs. Air, but I think flows are usually cut with Spirit—those would both be POW vs. POW (spent on the weave, not total POW.)

1 hour ago, Joerg said:

Do you have mechanics for shielding and breaking through a shield? (Or for unraveling a weave?)

Tying off a weave means it stops being active, requiring no further concentration (and allowing no further modification). Does it still occupy some of the weaver's POW?

As was in the update post, tying off and unraveling are both Channeling-category skills.  A tied-off weave does not occupy POW.

A shield is just another weave.  After it is successfully woven, there is an attrition contest between the amount of POW put into the weave and the free POW of the defender (see Nynaeve and Moghedien's fight near the end of The Shadow Rising.)  I will have to look into how breaking a shield once it is in place works, but untying the knot on a tied-off shield (or other weave) as Rand does near the end of Lord of Chaos will be another Channeling-based skill.  It would also be good to note that this, among other weaves/skills, is lost to the Third Age.

1 hour ago, Joerg said:

Your rules variant as presented now might work for other settings where magicians tap into external energy flows, too, like e.g. Asprin's MYTH series.

Happy to make a contribution!

On 7/5/2018 at 2:18 PM, trystero said:

One of my local game stores (Pandemonium Books & Games in Central Square, Cambridge MA) sells sets they call "Pandy Dice", which have 4D4, 6D6, 4D8, 3D10 (one of them a "tens" die), 1D12, and 2D20 in a small tin. These are great for D&D-type games, and I've bought several sets for use as "guest dice" (for when my players leave their own dice at home).

Obviously this loadout wouldn't be quite right for RQ:G, but I'd love to see a practical set like this rather than the usual one-die-of-each-size set.

What do folks think is the minimal reasonable set of dice needed at the table?

D4: So far I can't see anything in the rulebook that uses more than 2D4 (either 2D4+2 for the light or repeating crossbow or a 1D4 weapon with a +1D4 damage bonus).

D6: Whoah. Wyter and spirit POW values range up through 10D6. I suspect most players would get by just fine with 4D6 (or even 3D6) at the table, though 5D6 would be better.

D8: I don't see anything that needs more than 2D8.

D10: We need a "tens" die and a "ones" die, at least, and there are a few places (cold exposure, bison attacks!) that call for more. I'd suggest 3D10, with one of them being a "tens" die.

D20: Just one needed, I'd think.

In every case, I'm assuming that we're okay asking folks to roll their damage dice twice (so we don't need 4D8 just to account for greatsword slash results), but I'm prepared to be convinced otherwise.

Phew, this is one thing you never have to worry about with GURPS.  Although it honestly detracts from the cool factor...

On 6/29/2018 at 10:29 PM, styopa said:

 

Sharp edge dice 4eva.

If you're really concerned about fair dice, check out this article.  Gamescience is indeed generally more fair, although their d20's roll significantly fewer 14's 🙄.  Also, don't buy Crystal Caste.