Mankcam

Well since youre in a vulnerable mood, its time to put a plug in for an OpenQuest version of Journey To The West. Just sayin'

Call of Cthulhu can easily be played as an action-adventure game if desired, especially with the Pulp Cthulhu volume added to it. Just a matter of taste really

Cool - saved! Lots of goodies here to pillage. Considering your involvement with CONAN over the years, and more recently, then these downloads certainly have quite some weight behind them!

Well rest assured that you were onto a good thing

I had a similar assumption regarding the majority of spirits being 'natural beings from the Spirit Realm'; although for PC Runemasters I felt that they would prefer ancestors and cult heroes as their allied spirit companions so I generally went down that path. Didn't get to play it all that much however, due to time factors.

I'ld sooner just use a pack of Jelly if I want to create a swarm of Gorp heh heh

Yeah I also ended up using allied cult spirits in a similar fashion by the time I was playing Glorantha with a mix of RQ2, RQ3, and BGB rules. The POW reservoir was a bonus due to the bond, but I described the Allied Spirit's personality and also gave them counselling roles. The player-character was also able to get access to additional Knowledge skills according to the Spirit's mental skills, and also complimentary bonus to other skill rolls from the Spirit remembering various physical skills that they were adept in when alive. It just seemed to be in keeping with the concept of ancestor and hero spirits (I think initially they were blandly referred to as 'INT' Spirits). I would like to see how Mythic Abilities are portrayed in RQG. In many cases it may be access to abilities like these (likely acquired through HeroQuesting) that will distinguish powerful Runemasters; not the standard abilities such as high skills, Runepower Points and Rune Spell access, and Allied Spirits which will be common to all Rune Lords and Priests. I expect there may be some preconceived abilities within this range, as well as hopefully the structure to design quite unique and individual abilities, just like how many of the notable heroes are portrayed in Greg Stafford's writings. If abilities of that scope are not covered in the core book, then they could easily be addressed in the RQG Cults Book or in a RQG HeroQuesting Companion volume for instance. But they definitely should be looked at in the rules for the next version of RQ.. In earlier versions of RQ you started out as a dirtcrawler, and reaching Rune Level was more of a goal rather than a given for our group. However if the new RQG starts characters out as veterans then the liklihood is that many will attain Rune Level status much earlier; so there needs to be another carrot at some stage. Mythic Abilities (or another name) obtained via HeroQuesting would be the logical answer.

Ah yes, the Malkioni book, now I remember. Unfortunately rendered a little obsolete by the G2G non-medieval portrayal of Malkioni, although it was a pretty good book. Great descriptions of Gerlant etc. I knew I had it somewhere, it must be in my box of HeroWars books. Yes it's nice to see that cover get a renewed life, good call on that mate. Also thanks for the update on River Of Heaven, I'll likely be grabbing the River Of Heaven Companion once I cast an eye over it, cheers

Good idea getting the core rulebook under 200 pages, a slim book suits the smooth nature of the mechanics. For what it's worth, OQ Basic is a great little book to have, and something between the size of that and the OQ Deluxe book would be a good option. Newt the artwork for the cover of From Darkness Into Light looks familiar, although I cannot place it. Have you used it for a previous publication? The Year Of The Four Emperors sounds pretty compelling, I'll have to add that to my list once it's out. Good to see OQ hasn't gone the way of the dinosaur, it is nice to have a simpler version of Mythras kicking around, and most of it is interchangeable. More River Of Heaven scenarios are in my OQ wishlist, so any plans in that direction at some stage?

If using MW, then the Allegiance system should work fine, although the concepts may need to be slightly retrapped for The Hyborian Age. The ones in the MW rulebook would work well for a high fantasy setting like Middle Earth. Obviously they were originally used for The Young Kingdoms, although the titles were named slightly different for that setting. That would work just as well here, as in essence the concepts are fairly universal and should port across fine. Use titles like 'Benevolence' instead of Light; 'Corruption' instead of Shadow; and possibly 'Concordance' or 'Instinct' instead of Balance. I think most of the Hyborian Deities probably fit into 'Concordance' or 'Instinct'. Most are either self-serving and egocentric, or they are objective expressions of nature and reality. They are often petitioned for what services they offer their worshipers: generally skills, knowledge, protections. Not really highly moralistic at all; very much a consumerism model to it. Some of them aren't petitioned, but may be simply respected and acknowledged. Off the top of my head I would only place Mitra and Ibis in the 'Benevolence' allegiance, although this is a far cry from the moralistic 'Light' that Tolkienesque fantasy would eschew. Both deities are often identified with civilisation, academia, healing, and asylum. So this is perhaps as close to 'Benevolence' as Howard's writing ever got. Of course there would be numerous dark deities and such to place under 'Corruption', ranging from those indifferent to human suffering through to intrinsically malevolent beings. Some of these may be worshiped for appeasement, while others are negotiated with for whatever dark pacts they can grant. Mongoose Conan (D20 OGL) really captured the setting and atmosphere very well. Most of the narrative content is excellent, and the pantheon rules have good guidelines for cults etc which can be easily converted to BRP games like BGB, MW, RQ, or Mythras. I have been toying with porting The Hyborian Age into the Mythras rules, using the Mongoose Conan rpg as a guideline. However I can see the setting playing equally well in a version of MW.

Mythos Magic from Call of Cthulhu can be easily retrapped as Hyborian Sorcery, given its dark and often ritualistic nature - a much better fit for the setting than MagicWorld Sorcery IMO Legend rpg has cool Blood Magic rules which you could also use. Also MRQ2 Lhankmar had rules for spellcasting that almost directly port to Hyboria, complete with Corruption mechanics. With a little work you could probably rework the Mongoose Conan spell lists to MW if necessary; they do use evocative names quite well. MW mechanics should be fine for the base BRP engine although I think that the BGB or RQ may have been even better, considering they have a focus on hit locations etc . Having said that, the SB/ MW engine certainly can portray Conan quite well. You gotta love those Major Wounds results! Not much else to add. Any of the BRP games suit the Hyborian setting quite well.

I am still reeling with jealousy that you are assuming the average troupe plays 50 sessions a year. Thats impressive, I count myself lucky if my group manages to keep on track for regular monthly to six weekly sessions...

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Definately get Cult Compedium (Cults of Prax + Cults of Terror), Pavis & Big Rubble, Griffin Mountain, and Borderlands & Beyond.

If you tinker with your own sheets it would be easy enough to make RQ2 sheets with Runes modeled from Pendragon. Plus the Rune Pool idea sounds easy enough. One POW equals a Runepower Pt or something like that, and just grant access to all the spells. However I think its prob best to wait to get it from the horse's mouth so as that way you dont need to do retconning down the track, as players will hate that. I would look at developing a campaign now using the RQ2 Gloranthan Classics as a base. Then it should be ready for kickoff once the official rules arrive late this year. Plenty of other games to play before then..

hkokko pretty much just sumed up my views on a RuneQuest wish list. Focusing supplements on Central Genertela is fine, using Sartar as the core then moving outwards. However it needs to keep moving outwards in all directions, definately down to the Sixths of Holy Country, and north to the Lunar Provinces. Although I'm worried that Western Genertela gets neglected . Throw in some Malkioni stuff and I'ld be pretty happy I can take or leave the cards.

I like how magic is tied to natural elements in Glorantha. Various metals and ores had properties of varied resilience and durability, as well as additional attributes not consistent with earthly anologies of those metals (hence why I prefer to use their Gloranthan titles, like 'Ur-metal' for instance). The ability to store magical energy and to store temporary magical effects was a natural property of the ancient crystalised blood of dead gods which had become part of the earth. So Crystals were mined as a sought-after commodity, so that they could be adorned or crafted into items, thus creating Charms, which is almost a currency amongst Cults and members. Storing more permanent magics often required Truestone (in RQ3 there was the Enchantment skill, but I think Truestone may have been the implied component if transferring permanent POW to create magic items in Glorantha). There also appeared to be a magical resonance in the world which imbues various unique properties in different regions, which could be use to make 'special' items. Also items of great heroic or emotional significance often accumulated resonance from their owners' deeds, thus acquiring unique magics. Good examples of items imbued with magical resonance are found throughout the RQ2 Plunder Book. Alchemy and Herbcraft also exisit where special properties can be concocted, some of which are magical in nature. So magic items certainly exist in Glorantha, but the economy of such is very different to games like D&D or Rolemaster, especially in regards to items that have infinite uses. It really makes artifacts much more valuable, and adds a lot of colour to the setting. Sorry to digress somewhat

I love the HeroQuest system, its really pulpy and handwavey, perhaps the best narrative system out there. Despite such, I feel that it is not my favourite system when trying to evoke the Fantasy genre. Maybe it could do classic fables, or possibly something like Wizarding World; but I feel that heroic fantasy, psuedo-historic settings, and sword and sorcery, are better suited to a more simulationist ruleset for me. If I want to play Hyboria or Glorantha, then rules like RuneQuest seem to work better for me. I really would love to see HeroQuest in a pulpy setting like Hong Kong Action Cinema or Hollywood Action Flick style. Characters like Lethal Weapon's Riggs or even Magnum PI and good old Macgyver seem to be perfect for portrayal with HQ. The Fast and The Furious also spring to mind. However converting HQG is quite easy, so I am more than happy to buy Gloranthan products regardless of whether they are made for RQ or HQG. When RQG is released, I am quite interested in starting the PCs in Apple Lane (using the RQ2 scenario), with options to either moving from Sartar to Pavis & Prax (RQ2 supplements, HQ supplements, or some D&D dungeons for The Big Rubble), or remaining in Sartar (HQ supplements - likely The Coming Storm). Systems don't really factor into my campaigns I can easily see the day when Gloranthan products come out in pure narative content, no game mechanics. Then low cost pdfs of 'stat packs' could be purchased online which have the official stats for particular scenarios in different game engines. Sorry for digressing a bit. In reply to David's original question, I have played HQ supplements using RQ3/BGB, and just winged it in regards to game mechanics.

I never find it hard to convert HQ to RQ. I don't have a system, I just wing it. HQ is so narrative that it provides enough flavour for me to come up with approximate NPCs stats, and often many of the HQ stats translate into behavioural ways to play the NPC rather than into any statistical form. Magic is the biggest thing to deal with. HQ Magic is much more free-form than RQ, and it sometimes takes alot of work to find RQ spells which fit, although I often makes new ones up if really necessary. Hopefully RQG may be a little easier in that regard. I never really found game conversion much of any issue, regardless of any system.

I totally forgot about the Dragonewts. Yes I agree that draconic dances are very mystical in nature, you cannot get much more mysterious then these unusual behaviours and rites. However originally I just would have viewed this as Rune Magic using the Dragon Rune, which has always been portrayed as one of the more exotic and obscure Runes. But if wanting to use the Mythras book to its fullest potential, then I can see why Mysticism could be used for Draconic magic.

Yes there certainly is alot of room for mysterious foreign magic in Glorantha. It just doesnt fit with my RQ2/RQ3 preconceptions, as I would just use Theism or Sorcery to portray Mystics and exotic magic from foreign lands. But thats just me - the rules for Mysticism are really cool, so no reason for them not to be used RAW in other people's portrayal of Glorantha.

Not sure where Mysticism fits into Glorantha. If using some earlier HW influences it probably slots into Kralori magic, and possibly some Lunar magic. However that doesnt feel right to me, given that my views of Glorantha are shaped by the RQ2/RQ3 era. I tend to envision Gloranthan spells just falling into two categories: Basic Magic and Rune Magic, it feels less cumbersome and fits the setting material. Note that I view Rune Magic as having three paths: Theism, Animism, and Sorcery. I just dont fit Mysticism neatly into that model, although I guess it could be another form of Rune Magic. However it doesn't feel like it fits in with Rune Magiic (I even dislike including Animism in this model, although those rules in Mythras are too good to ignore). It doesn't mean the Mysticism rules would be redundant for me however. Given the 'jedi-superhero' like nature of the abilities, I may be inclined to retrap them as HeroQuest Abilities, although Gifts probably also cover this space.

Although the new RQ is definately going to be very tailored to Glorantha, I also see hardly any issues using RQ6/Mythras pretty much as written. RQ6/Mythras feel like an updated RQ3 anyway. Folk Magic is Basic Magic ( in RQG it may be called Spirit Magic once again ), and can port directly across. Theism ports across to Rune Magic, and Sorcery remains as is. As an aside, I would actually use the term 'Rune Magic' to present two forms of higher magic: Rune Magic (Theism), and Rune Magic (Sorcery). It just seems to feel right to me. Sorcery apparently has the most changes in the new version of RQ, but that doesnt mean you need to alter the Mythras rules to portray it. Mythras Sorcery is a more recent version of Sorcery as initially presented in RQ3, and I feel it is a better version of those rules. If setting the game in Central Genertela then you don't need to worry too much about Sorcery anyway. I think anyone beyond Initiate rank in a religious cult may be referred to as a 'Godtalker' in Glorantha, so I would probably use that term instead of Acolyte. I would definately introduce Runes using the Passions rules. HQ Glorantha describes the Runes quite well, so it's easy see what aspect or traits are associated with particular Runes. So you could get the Passion bonus with any action relevant to the traits associated with that Rune, as well as any Rune Magic that uses that Rune as a trapping. I would probably start an individual Rune at the suggested starting chance for a Passion which is a concept or ideal, so 30%+(POW+INT). Pethaps you could possibly replace INT with CHA, I'm unsure. I cannot see anything that would need to change with the character gen as written in the core rules. Mythras is designed very well in regards to evoking ancient and medevial settings, so I would just tailor what I want depending upon the region the character is from in Glorantha. So in addition to the usual Passions, I would just add 1D3 Runic Passions and be pretty much good to go.

Cool, very evocative and ancient looking, great stuff However I still think this book needs to be called 'Glorantha D20' as '13th Age Glorantha' just feels odd given it is set in a Third Age Glorantha. 'Glorantha D20' just works better I think. Anyway, the artwork looks good!

In response to the original question, I don't see HQ as being my go-to game for Glorantha, but I would really love to see HQ do pulpy stuff like Hollywood Action films and such. I see it as a great set of rules for running stuff like Magnum PI, CSI, Dirty Harry, Bosch, MI, Die Hard, The Transporter, The Fast & The Furious, etc. That's just the kind of genre that I think the game mechanics support really well. However if the original poll is more about what Gloranthan settings I would like to see, then I am definitely eager for The Holy Country and Ralios. In fact Dragon Pass really needs to be developed more in conjunction with Esrolia and the other ex-Sixths, considering the proximity to each other. I love Pavis and Prax, but I don't think I really need to see it further developed, given the source material already out there. As far as The Big Rubble goes, it's quite easy to retrap old D&D dungeon-delves and fit them into The Big Rubble, which seems like it was designed to do. I would not mind seeing the HQ Sartar books brought out again with some of the artwork more consistent with the current portrayals of Sartarites. Not much would change regarding content, if at all, and at least half of the artwork still works. But presenting them consistently with the presentation described in the G2G and The Coming Storm is a good idea. For more new material I would love to see the Malkioni finally officially developed. Especially how the G2G reinforces that they are more consistent with ancient world cultures than their earlier medieval portrayals. They sound like a mix of Etruscans meets Byzantium Empire meets Vedic culture, but who really knows at this stage? I think that given they are such a presence in western Genertela that we really should see some official development on them. I would like to see how Seshnela is, although as a region Ralios may have more play opportunities with the Safelstan City-States. Any of these regions would be great to see developed. If it is for HQ then its not an issue to me as it's very easy to convert to any system, so I would quickly translate it into RQ. I am eager for any further material to be developed for Glorantha