Mankcam

The artistic depictions are certainly quite different, and I feel that the Mostali have a vague Brian Froud 'goblinoid' edge to them now. I would have to compare the products however to see if the content has changed however. I'll get back to you on that, but someone may be happy to jump in here and elaborate further.

...I only posted links to those pics, I didn't expect them to be presented within the post in such a manner - sorry about that....

Just in case people have not seen these, here is how the Mostali are depicted in the G2G. Much more flavour than previous portrayals which felt a bit sterile to me. Weird little buggers, I trust them not... The Guide To Glorantha has some excellent content on them

They are not direct analogies for the 'gadgeteer dwarves' from Warhammer Fantasy's Old World, or 'tinkerer gnomes' from D&D's Forgotten Realms or Eberron. However that is kind of their role at times. All of the Elder Races are truly alien to humankind, including the Mostali, which are more like something out of Brian Froud's imagination, even 'goblinoid' at times, and also quite primal at other times. The Guide To Glorantha really drives this home with how the artwork depicts the Mostali, and the chapter concerning them has some great content. Their creations are unusual and weird, I think mytho-tech is quite an appropriate term

Honestly check out OpenQuest Basic, its a pretty cheap little digest sized book to have at the gaming table. The reason why it works well is the skill list is already quite condensed, which is good for kids. If you make your own character sheets then you can easily shorten the skill list even further if you think that would work better with your children. There are no gritty hit locations (although a Major Wound table option exists). It's only got one Magic system, Basic/Battle Magic which is just the common magic spells from RQ/Legend, but you can outfit a spellcaster with these and it works well. I wouldn't allow non-spell casters access to it, and treat their magic as potions instead. OpenQuest also has Hero Points, and if you hand these out liberally then the kids will sure make use of them. Also the book even has a small creatures section that is pretty useful, it covers many fantasy opponents The other main reason I am recommending it is that the pdf version of OpenQuest Basic is usually free, so curiosity will cost you nothing.

I have two sons, 10yrs old and 8yrs old, whom I have recently introduced to roleplaying games. I run simplistic dungeon crawl style games with them, using plots from Fighting Fantasy game books, Basic D&D (1980s style), and various simple scenarios I find on the net. For game mechanics I run BRP using the OpenQuest Basic rules and convert the scenarios on the fly. My 8yr old doesn't really grasp the notion of percentile yet, but my 10yr old certainly does; so a simple version of BRP is fine. If he couldn't grasp percentiles then I would have gone with another RPG instead (probably Advanced Fighting Fantasy), but considering there were no issues then OpenQuest Basic seemed to be a great choice. If they keep going they will be probably running their own games in a couple of years. However at present my boys are loving it, and it sure beats them playing console games all weekend

Resolve Points are, in my opinion, quite a good idea that many have tinkered with before, including myself. Personally I would not add another complete set of points to the character sheet, but I would still run with the concept. I would use the actual Power Points tally, even for namesake alone. There's no reason why Power Points can't be used to portray both Resolve and Essence at the same time, plus it also gives non magic users a reason to have Power Points on their sheet. I have actually done this for my cinematic Pulp Adventure setting, and it has worked well for the past few years. Keep the recovery along the lines of Morale as you have done, but also add a Meditation or Contemplation skill for a quicker recharge for magic users, then you can easily use Power Points for Magic as well as Resolve.

I would not mind one or two old Luis Perrin illustrations as a homage to RQ2, but most of the other art that gets recycled probably shouldn't turn up again in the next edition of RQ. Having said that, a few of the pieces from G2G and HWG could be used to provide a sense of setting consistency, but like most others I would like to see the majority of the book having its own identity with new art of a high quality.

Fun house rule for BRP: Critical Success = 10% of skill. Easy to calculate, and it happens more often. Special Success = Half of skill. Makes those effects happen way more often, which is fun but I think also more realistic. This may also quicken up the combat scene to a degree, however it works both ways in the fact that characters may also be impaired quicker as well.

I'm one of your backers and I have pretty much liked everything you have rolled out for Revolution so far, so I am eagerly waiting to see these rules published

Glorantha did have a more Bronze Age flavour in the 1980s and early 1990s. However the Norse/Celtic Orlanthi have been a big thing since about the year 2000, so it is understandable why people who were introduced to Glorantha during that period feel a little unhappy now. I think there needs to be compromise and middle ground. Whilst I very much agree with Dragon Pass / Holy Country having Orlanthi with Thraco-Dacian & Mycenean influences, I think other regions will have different flavours. As I previously said, the Manirians could be a mix of Dacian-Norse for instance. It would certainly fit the description of the Solanthi raiding parties loosely united under Greymane's banner. Also in a heavily forested region I believe that timber would be a mainstay of building structure rather than masonry. And unless there will be more resources published for this region, then that's exactly how I am running my Orlanthi from Wenelia. So I think there is a lot of wiggle room in Glorantha. However I do welcome the return of the Mycenaean influences in Dragon Pass and especially in Holy Country.

Yeah they should of directly consulted us first, heh heh

I really do like the Norse/Saxon/Celtic flavour, but it just doesn't feel the best fit for kingdoms like Sartar, Esrolia, or Tarsh. In my Glorantha I will probably give the Manirian Theylans a little of this flavour. Being such a heavy forested region I will probably give them square timber houses with villages fortified by wooden pallistrades. They need to feel different from their Esrolian neighbours in some ways, and a few Norse trappings added to a Dacian core may work well for them. However if I really want to get my teeth into the whole Norse/Saxon/Celtic thing I will use RQ6/Mythras to play MRQ2 Vikings or Mythic Britain. For Dragon Pass and Holy Country these Thraco-Dacian Mycenaean references work better from my way of thinking. Most of the HW/HQ depictions of the cultures just seemed too Celtic for me. When Dragon Pass Land Of Thunder was published I was pleasantly surprised to see some cities with stone walls and such, and there was a return to the Mycenaean undercurrent (although there was also some medieval artwork that was plain wrong). Then when the two more recent Sartar books were published I was a little confused as most of the artwork seemed back on track having a Bronze Age flavour, while some of the artwork still retained a more Saxon/celtic influenced depiction, mainly with things like background buildings and such; it's no wonder that people have established different ideas of these cultures over the years. Yes it's good to see authors and artists working together to create a distinct vision of Glorantha.

The HeroQuest 'Blood Over Gold' campaign was set on The New Coast of Maniria, but most of that certainly isn't canon now. The Malkioni themselves are much more ancient flavoured now, perhaps use the Byzantine Empire as a vague reference ( but add in bits n pieces from Macedoian Empire, Palmyrian Empire, etc). The influence of the Trader Princes throughout Wenelia appears much less than in 'Blood Over Gold', they are more like Malkioni traders who replace the role of 'Kings' for the Orlanthi, although not for military purposes, primarily to keep the peace amongst the clans and to keep the trade routes open. Similar in concept in some ways to earlier versions of the region, although the Malkioni appear less in number and much less in actual population. Except for Handra I think. It appears to a major Malkioni centre for the region, but with a lot more impact of external cultures than Seshnelan and Safelteran Malkioni. I think Handra itself was a small fishing settlement until Dormal arrived. Then trade from Esrolia followed, so there is now a huge Esrolian influence upon Handra. Not sure how this plays out, but the pictures of the High Priestess of Handra, Obrana, make her look very Earth pantheon influenced. I am eagerly waiting for a Handra supplement, perhaps after Dragon Pass and Holy Country we may see the authors turn their attentions to Wenelia, and perhaps beyond to Safelster or Seshnela. Here is a thread regarding the Malkioni: We really need a good campaign set in The West to really get a handle on Malkioni these days.

Welcome to this forum. You will find it is generally quite a hospitable place, probably on account of a large number of our members generally being quite mature and centred in their posts. Most of the time we bicker over issues that would rarely turn up in other 'gaming' forums heh heh Getting back to your situation, if you are trying to adhere to strict archetypes then the 'Classic Fantasy' monograph ports classes to BRP. The monograph is being reprinted as a high quality new edition supplement for the Mythras system (previously RQ6). Having said that, it is easy enough to stat up characters as analogies to their D&D counterparts. However the trick may be porting across Feats, as many of these abilities are encompassed in high level skills instead. The biggest difficulty is more from a GM perspective with toning down the high numbers of 'fodder' NPCs that exist in D&D dungeon grinds. Characters in RQ and BRP don't have all that many hit points to spare, and healing happens much more slowly, typically weekly natural healing rolls unless magic is involved. The amount of hit points recovered on these occasions is also not large. So the combat system can end up being quite gritty, especially if using the Hit Locations option (although the default Major Wound option is still gritty at times). This means combat is visceral, and great when it occurs. The consequences of such often lead experienced players to choose creative ways to overcome threats rather than direct force. If they don't learn to do this quickly, then you'll find it difficult to continue a campaign when all the main characters are maimed or already dead.

Artesia is an excellent example

It has been suggested to look at images of folk from Thracian, Dacian, Halstatt, and Mycenaean origin for assistance portraying the Orlanthi. Dacians, Halstatt Kelts, and Thracians seemed to be a great fit for the kind of Orlanthi that are being described now. However I initially thought that Mycenaeans were an odd choice, but this notion was obscured by my impressions of Hellenic Greece which, of course, historically occurred much later. My knowledge deficit here was my shortfall, as there are certainly many aspects of Mycenaean culture that do seem to mesh quite well for analogies for Orlanthi. Whilst this may not be the case in every Mycenaean depiction, there is many facets that obviously have influenced current depictions of the Orlanthi people. Here is a picture of Mycenaean Warriors which appears more or less consistent with contemporary Orlanthi descriptions. Note some of the clothing styles, as well as the architecture in the background which seems to be along the lines of the building depictions that have been discussed above: Here's a link to some info on Mycenaean men, some of which which I can see pertaining to the Orlanthi in many ways: http://helens-daughter.livejournal.com/10233.html All this seems to be vaguely along the lines of my early impressions of Orlanthi during the late RQ2/early RQ3 period, before the more celtic, saxon, and norse influences were permeated through the late RQ3/HeroWars/HeroQuest 1 era of Gloranthan publications. I do like what I see here

I think the title for this thread should be "Common Pitfalls with BRP" Every game has pitfalls, although I feel BRP has less than most, but I am bias. I think the most common pitfall is under estimating the lethality of the system. Injuries can impair and death can happen quickly, so if porting classic dungeon crawls to RQ/BRP then tone down the number of foes, and always look for creative non-combat solutions. When combat does occur, it should be pivotal. I also think try not to replicate tropes and classes for BRP characters (unless using the Classic Fantasy rules). Certain characters will have particular strengths, but they will all be a bit more fuzzy around the edges and not fit into strict archetype structure. I totally agree with Chaot and Baulderstone. In BRP games, the character sheet follows as a backup to what the player wants a character to do, not the other way around like in many other games. The charm of the game mechanics not intruding upon the flow of the narrative has always been a strength of the BRP system. (As a tip for newbie players, the GM can always keep the character sheets, and just hand the players index cards with a few narrative details like background, strengths, flaws, notable skills, and a character portrait on the other side. No actual game mechanic stats. Show them the actual character sheet when a roll is made so they can become more familar over a few sessions. That way the players will behave more like actors rather than wargamers).

All these artists are excellent choices !!! Artists of such skill and detail would be great for the next RuneQuest. European graphic novel art is truly a pinnacle for realistic fantasy settings, usually with a high level of detail and grittiness at times. Reminds me of the cutting edge mature artwork I would hunt the shelves for after acquiring magazines like Epic and Heavy Metal / Metal Hurlant. This is certainly the kind of art many of us would want to see in a publication like RuneQuest. They could blow the budget, but great art is a must for any product. Let's never see a return to some of that dodgy internal art of RQ3 products. I would also not want to see cartoon-like art in the next RuneQuest either. It has its place, but not in the flagship core rulebook The only concern I have is that Glorantha is a very unique fantasy setting, with the detail being right down to specific clothing styles and architecture. Readers will make cultural analogies based on the artists illustrations, and sometimes this may deviate slightly from the authors perspectives. Over time very different interpretations of the cultures may develop, hence the numerous issues people have envisioning Orlanthi, Pelorian, Malkioni, etc I could see these artists doing great incidental art, but unless they can work exactly to the specifications of the authors then I would not want them involved in the big colour spreads. For the large full-colour pages I would still prefer the artists who were involved in The Guide To Glorantha (and also HeroQuest), as this will retain the flavour and identity of Glorantha. I agree that there needs to be great artists involved, so art direction needs to be the same standard as the G2G. As a mature audience, we have high standards for these things and are willing to shell out money, so I would prefer limited runs of high standard products as opposed to mass market low budget stuff. I think from what I have seen with Moon Design, they really understand the market for Glorantha.

I always presumed that the Orlanthi adapted their own architecture to the environment and materials at hand, so I can see why there is a link between the homes of the Orlanthi colonists in New Pavis to that of the houses of the folk living in the Orlanthi homelands. However I also thought that the city would be a hodgepodge of mixed styles, with the next major influence coming from Old Pavisite heritage. Obviously there will be at least a third influence, probably from Oasis People and Riverfolk heritage; I can envision poorer areas with semi-permanent housing made of reed, for instance.

When I was tinkering with a home brew BRP character sheet I decided to get rid of the base skill chances, and put an emphasis on the Skill Categories. I have never seen Ringworld, so I just reworked the skill categories from RQ and BGB. Every category had a primary skill and two secondary skills. Primary skill equals Characteristic, and secondary equals half Characteristic. For example, the skill category of Combat = Primary DEX, Secondary STR, INT. So this looks like Combat = DEX + (half STR + half INT). Most skill categories had a score of around 15% to 35%, which is pretty decent. This meant that I could ask a player-character to make a "Communication Roll', a 'Mental Roll', a 'Combat Roll' etc. If they had any skill of relevance within that skill category then they roll that skill instead, to increase their chances of success. In some cases they may have specialties of those skills which give them further advantages. I really liked the idea, as the character sheet doesn't get overloaded with huge skill lists, just the highlights for that character. From my way of thinking, this makes the game feel 'cleaner', more modern, and hopefully simpler for the players to look at. It also makes the initial core Characteristics much more important to the character as well. I would love to see something like this in a new version of BRP or RQ +++

l did exactly the same thing as well, so we are obiviously onto something here. I am really hoping the new RQ goes down this path.

I like really the flavour of the Orlanthi houses above. I am happy with these designs, and they certainly feel right for Esrolians, Sartarites, Tarshites, and New Pavisites. However I wonder if Orlanthi in other regions are into masonry to the same extent? It strikes me that the Wenelian Orlanthi (Ditali, Solanthi, Nimistori) may make more use of timber perhaps, given it is such a heavily wooded region The general layout would be similar, although I could easily see them having square timber houses in villages surrounded by wooden pallistrades. I know this may not be canon, but I tend to envision the Wenelian Orlanthi having a few norse trappings mixed with Dacian, probably on account of Greymane reminding me of an old norse raider. I like how the Orlanthi are shaping up, 'The Coming Storm' sounds like it's gonna be pretty good

Yes, of course you're right, I wasn't thinking 'Gloranthan', and that changes things considerably.

I really like the look of this Orlanthi stead/village. I do see alot of square-based houses, but not too many with large internal courtyards, which leads me to think this is from northern Dragon Pass rather than southern, due to the climate. This could work well, although I do agree with others that in heavily forested regions you could find alot more wood/daub structures. However I do like the notion that Orlanthi are quite skilled in masonry, as this lends consistency to why the settlers of New Pavis easily adapted their homes to the region. I can live with this vision of Orlanthi :-)