womble

You still wouldn't be able to polish it though...

Are you saying Mostali parquetry is sub-standard?

2 hours ago, Atgxtg said:

Yeah, I can go along with that. It just makes a sword more "swordly".But then why doesn't it help with a weapon parry?

Because parrying isn't part of the mythic purpose of the Death Rune, which is to END YOU!!!   I'd say the bonus to hit is applied before splitting: while it doesn't make the user 'better', it 'makes their job easier', and it doesn't do that twice as much if the user is trying to hit two people. Situational bonuses (attacking prone target, etc) should be added after, though, because they can be different between targets. Situational penalties probably come off before splitting, if they're the same across all targets.

How did you 'model' the impact of the stampede on the combat, @Narl? Or was it sufficiently spatially separated that it was just some herding rolls for the character tasked with getting them corralled? 

I think the entry level for Priest appears easy to gain (those POW rolls come pretty often) because the general competence of a starting character is set higher in RQG than in most previous versions that use similar mechanics and tests.

8 hours ago, Crel said:

Enchant Iron is a one-use Rune spell, and all of the Rune enchantments are locked to God-Talkers, Priests, and Rune Lords only. So it'll probably be pretty hard to get it enchanted (without GM fiat, anyway). My suggestion is that your player could have it forged into the desired weapon by a skilled redsmith (I don't think RQG really has a distinction in different types of smithing... yet, anyway), and then the enchantment might be a reward for completing a big quest or service for a temple.

That is, unless they become a Rune Lord or Priest and enchant it on their own. It's going to cost a point of POW for whoever casts it, so it's a non-trivial spell.

Strictly, it's a 1 point Rune Spell which requires the sacrifice of POW during its casting to affect up to 10 ENC of the material (only relevant in that you don't 'forget' the knowledge of how to do the Enchantment, and that it takes 1 Rune Point (which comes back at Worship time) plus the previously-uncommitted POW). Since 'additional' points of POW can be provided by folks other than the Enchanter, you'll only have to pay for 1 point of POW (which, though it's not explicitly stated, probably costs the same as a 1 point single-use Rune Spell, because the difference isn't worth the Temple giving a discount).

Are there any equivalents in Glorantha of the "D'ivers" from Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen series? Basically, shapeshifters whose shifted shape is a 'swarm' of (usually) small creatures.

I think there's another pointer that Heal Wound should take SR per MP: Heal Body is an instant total heal (trading 2 additional RP for the needed MP). The difference between that and Heal Wound becomes less marked if Heal Wound is also an SR1 spell regardless of size.

Also Heal 6 takes 6 points of Spirit Magic cap (CHA, by default), whereas Heal Wound just uses a Rune Point to cast. You might want more variation in your array of usable Spirit Magic than retaining the potential to cast a high strength Heal spell permits.

1 hour ago, Skovari said:

I also don't see how removing the roll to cast changes the spell or strike rule?  You still follow that.  Just that at the end of casting your spell, it works automatically.  You are still limited in what you can do in your round and with available strike ranks.  And the spells still do take many strike ranks to cast.

It doesn't change it per se but it interacts with it. The time limitations and the chance of failure combine to set the 'rate' of successful casting.

And, as Psullie says, it does it in a truly thematic way. Your Wind Lord will be better at their 'native' Wind and Motion based spells than the ones they get from the Associate cults. I suspect your players will find things improve as their Rune ratings and their POW naturally rise. And surely, that's thematic too: an experienced Hero will be better at the magic of their God than both an inexperienced Hero and an experienced uncommitted person. Part of gaining power in Glorantha is committing yourself to a course: a Rune. They're where Power rests. They're the levers you use to pull on when you find that firm fulcrum.

I'm used to it from RQ3 of course, and it does bring frustrations. There's another thread about different games needing different approaches... and to a lesser extent the evolution into this iteration of Glorantha-sim requires some comparable paradigm shifting. In the same way that magic takes SR to cast, and adhering to the time-based limitations is important (IMO) as a limiting factor while still allowing for the possibility of flexibility, the chance of failure is something to take into account, rather than ignore, then kvetch about when it bites you in the ass.

Out-of-combat, there are a number of options for improving your chances of successfully casting, which take, variously, time and/or skill checks to achieve. In combat, you'll be wanting to rely on spells that require your strong Runes or keep your POW high (trading off with reduced chances of getting gains...) for Spirit Magic.

As Joerg says, there are compensations in the systems changes between previous versions and this one... We're starting at, effectively, Acolyte levels of power, or even full Priest if you're lucky and good at min-maxing  Not having 100% reliable magics in combat is a rein back on that.

3 hours ago, Pentallion said:

Oh, and from now on, the Cradle Baby has to be named Jane

D'oh?

I think people like Gloranthas to vary more than would be practicable for a 'definitive canon' book to be produced covering three generations. With Pendragon, most groups don't have the players replacing Art, Gwen, Lance and Morty, and there is One Big Maguffin, so the general storyline is going to go down the broad lines that everyone knows, helped by the fact that the PKs are all from one narrow profession/social class. I reckon the PCs in RQG games are going to end up being 'among the Argraths' that determine the course and outcomes of the Hero Wars, and the routes travelled will be too diverse and varied for anything overarching beyond a 'spine timeline' to be very much use.

17 minutes ago, Sir_Godspeed said:

Maybe Crom is the very reason he can start off with all those high stats though.
 

Nah, that's his Ernalda (Associate) Priestess mother.

17 minutes ago, Sir_Godspeed said:

Heck, maybe he's not really a god in Glorantha, but some kind of cultural echo of Vadrus. ("God's dead, better manage ourselves now!")

That fits, for my two clacks. Perhaps that's the root of the distrust of the Meldeks: both godless (as far as the Storm Tribe see it)...

You don't need any racial bonus to get 41 STR + SIZ,  just max rolls (or a Bless Pregnancy) and the right Runes (and you might not need the Runes if you get a good enough Priestess doing the Bless, and don't roll unfortunately - "...no characteristic may be above species maximum...). And Conan definitely needs his "Steel-trap reflexes" to be Conan. He's no genius, but his CON is pushing 20 as well, and his willpower and smouldering personality probably need all the Bless Pregnancy and Rune help he can get... And if you take the film version, he gets probably a few dozen seasons of STR training before gladiator school.

His canonical attitude to magic is definitely informed by the magic of Hyboria, where true power inevitably requires unsavoury moral choices; magic in Hyboria is in no way as tightly incorporated into the life of your everyday folk as it is in Glorantha. If he was Theyalan, he would probably carry the mistrust of the godless Meldeks to extremes, but I don't think he'd balk at Spirit Magic or Rune Spells.

Crom, though, doesn't give any Rune Spells. Or have any priests, and it's not worth Initiating, because He won't tell you any secrets, or give you any return on your sacrificed POW and MPs. You get no access to Rune Spells, Common or Special, from worshipping him. Mostly you get ignored. Maybe your highest Rune is Storm, and you get the STR bonus... and that's Crom breathing strength into you... But that's the extent of the congress with the Divine.

On 11/4/2018 at 11:49 AM, Julian Lord said:

According to one website, they have dogs (supposedly similar to the RW Catahoula Leopard Dog)

That seems counter to their Miffic History, with the disagreements with the Bad Dog. Or is that just Heortling Orlanthi? So:

Assuming they'd rather have a domesticated working animal/companion that's feline rather than canine, aren't there any other 'largish' cat species in the area that could stand in for Yinkin? Cheetah were used by the Pharoahs of Egypt as hunting beasts (apparently, their wild existence is precarious enough that they'll relatively readily 'come indoors' for a regular supply of food and safety from the other big predators of the savannah...) though they weren't 'properly' domesticated. Video of the practice descended into modern times in this link: https://theglyptodon.wordpress.com/2012/02/25/hunting-with-cheetahs/

Or they could have dogs, but I know Shadow Panther or Shadow Jaguar are cooler. As is Shadow Cheetah...

There are accounts of the Crimson Bat being back in time to bear Jar-Eel into battle during the time she proves her full power in the first year of the 8th Wane, IIRC (Sourcebook, p189). How true that is for non-Lunar readers, I leave for others to judge.

Something I saw (in a web comic about a DnD game, of all places) which I'm going to steal is the concept of giving the players "strategising time" before a fight (potentially even if they're surprised) to represent the fact that the characters are a team who are used to combat and working together and are, presumably, more familiar with their capabilities than their players are. I'm planning on basing it on a Battle roll, with more time given for better level of success, and situational modifiers reflecting surprise and the like... I reckon it'll reduce the amount of havering during the action rounds.

While the Rubble is dangerous, I think the so-far published scenarios for beginning characters are a stretch too... but without having played 'em I don't know whether the new power level is actually enough for 3rd-session adventurers to be taking on Dream Dragons...

26 minutes ago, styopa said:

...wtf does "readying a spell" even mean in RQ?...

Mechanically, it's a 5 SR overhead for doing something 'else'.

Thematically? It's getting the Focus ready to use again, after you've [done something] with it during the last time you used it or getting the Focus ready to use if it was stowed somewhere.

RAW, you don't have to 'ready' a spell to cast on something you're holding. Nor do you apparently have to 'ready' a spell if casting it is the first thing you intend to do in the round, having had a read of p194.

Frankly, it's a kludge for simplicity's sake, or just poorly stated.

2 hours ago, StephenMcG said:

But hitting with a dagger or light weapon might prefer to avoid armour.  I need to look again but I think the critical avoids both armour and magical protection.  Well worth it for a trollkin spear-carrier, or beginning character with no damage bonus or much magic...

The choice provides some flexibility (IMO anyway!).

🙂

Stephen

Having gone back and had a better think about the numbers, it seems the break point for the decision is higher than I had initially thought, but the point is that most of the time you 'lose' (as the damage inflictor) less damage-inflicted by letting the armour and its magical backup soak some of your inflicted damage than you do by reducing your damage to half its maximum. An Enlo with 1d6+1 damage for their short spear does [14 points - location AP], if you take 'max damage' as your option, as opposed to 9 points (on average) straight up if you take 'negates armour' instead. So the target has to have 5 AP in the relevant location to make taking the 'negates armour' option the better. Broadsword goes 18 vs 11 (7AP breakpoint), Battleaxe is the same. It basically comes down to 1 less than the die you're rolling (2 less if you're rolling 2 dice) difference in armour. So there might, you're right, be more occasions than I originally thought when the 'Avoids armour' option is better, and I was in error when I included dagger level damage (most serious targets will have 3 AP).

With bigger weapons, the difference is still great enough that significant Protection/Shield will need to be present to make taking 'negates armour' as your choice the better. It seems to me to be an actual choice for the lesser combatants of the world, rather than those who should actually be going in harm's way.

A couple of off-the-cuff options for deciding (if you feel it's necessary) who declares their intent first:

Use 'INT SR' (same table as DEX SR) to decide who declares first: lowest INT SR specifies first, raw INT breaking ties. You could get more complicated, having CHA, maybe (as 'force of personality' feeds into 'dynamic (right or wrong  ) decision maker'), take the place of SIZ for a combined "Declaration SR". Or just use INT.

Use Battle (skill or a roll): worst result declares last.

11 hours ago, Anunnaki said:

 

@StephenMcG, I like your idea of giving players a choice when they critical. If facing a lightly-armored opponent, maximum damage might be better than ignore armor; and the other way round for heavily-armored opponents. But, of course, the same rule applies to NPCs.

Given the difference between max and 'average' damage, it's going to have to be a pretty heavily armoured target to make ignoring armour the better choice. Even with a dagger, average rolled special damage is 6 vs maximum of 12, so you're looking at plate or better levels of protection before it's worth avoiding. Take a broadsword and it's plate with a significant magical assist, and a two handed weapon is pretty much always (until you're getting into superheroic levels of armour points) going to be more effective if you take the max damage.

I think the effect of parrying amplifies this at the low end: take 'rolled' damage, and after the parrying weapon has blocked, you're left with nothing to avoid the target's AP with anyway.

4 hours ago, Sir_Godspeed said:

Does the weather maps in the Guide show when the temperature in areas rise over zero or go below? That's usually an important aspect of vernacular agricultural calendars. I think the start of spring sowing in my own country was traditionally determined by counting a certain number of days without frost to make sure it wasn't a false spring. Point is, it wasn't a set date, really, but relative to climatic events.

I get the impression that the progress of the seasons (barring exceptions like the Windstop) is more consistent in Glorantha, due to the magical nature of the world and the interaction of that magic with the Great Compromise. Also, the shorter length of the year means any delay before sowing is more significant on the lozenge than on our sphere. But some 'customary expected' timings would be a welcome addition to the ambience of the farmer-warrior culture of Sartar.

2 hours ago, Psullie said:

I think an almanac of fairs and markets for Dragon Pass, Esrolia and the Lunar Empire would be an excellent supplement.

And some agricultural dates like Plowing, sowing, lambing, calving and the like. That'd be good...