Sumath

44 minutes ago, Brootse said:

The wording isn't 100% clear, but it seems to imply that dropping a weapon and drawing a new one is only one action, and only if you resheath your weapon it takes two actions to change weapons.

Yes, agreed, and I'll be rewording the example to reflect this shortly.

Back on topic though, a single item with all of your spell foci engraved on it would be the Gloranthan equivalent of an iPhone. Everyone would want one. They just wouldn't spend all day staring at it.

20 minutes ago, Bill the barbarian said:

Sorry Sumath, but you are showing your age.

You don't have to tell me. Even the policemen look like teenagers these days.

20 minutes ago, Bill the barbarian said:

a cell phone will appear and the time to the minute given.

Yeah, but do any of them remember when Star Wars movies were actually something to look forward to?

I'll wear my fogey status like a badge of honour, safe in the knowledge that everything was so much better in the 'good old days'. Probably.

I've always felt it was unrealistic when I'd see RQ character descriptions where they had a focus for one spell carved on a tablet around their neck, another on a bracelet, another in a tattoo etc. Who would remember which one was where? From a practical perspective it makes perfect sense to put all of your foci in one place, so you can see them at a glance. The inside of a shield is an ideal place, as is the back of your hand.

Nobody wears fob watches anymore, we all wear them on our wrists. Equally, Gloranthans would put their foci somewhere sensible.

2 hours ago, Russ Massey said:

I've never stopped people cast spells while holding things either. Sheathing your sword before casting Fireblade would seem to be a bad move IMO.

This is definitely one for house ruling upon. The RQG rules are very clear that a free hand is required - although it does say this is not the case for weapon buffs like Bladesharp etc. 

Some GMs will decide that is far too finicky, with characters having to put weapons down or sheathe them every time they cast magic, and lots of time being wasted on axe juggling. Others may decide that it's a tactical constraint that forces characters to think more about when they cast spells and whether it's sensible to walk around with drawn weapons all the time.

Personally, I'm undecided at present. My campaign doesn't kick off until later this year and I'll see what my players think before committing one way or another. I might start with that RAW and drop it if it becomes a pain.

Right, so in summary, looking at the RQG rulebook this is what becomes clear:

• Statement of Intent only appears on one page (192), there is no entry for it in the Index, and there is no mention of any penalty for changing SoI. There is also no penalty for it listed in the table on p193. Effectively, SoI no longer has a bearing upon SRs in RQ (or at least RQG RAW).
• What we do have is being able to do multiple activities when not engaged (p.195) with a 5 SR modifier for readying a new weapon or spell.
• Or of doing multiple activities when engaged in melee, either attacking and parrying/dodging OR casting spells and  parrying/dodging (also p.195). 
• A free hand is required to cast Spirit Magic or Sorcery, but not Rune Magic (p. 194), so juggling weapons becomes a crucial part of combat, unless you house rule otherwise.

12 minutes ago, PhilHibbs said:

Except that Brodan starts his actions after SR4 when he is injured.

This goes back to the SoI question that @g33k has raised - namely that there no longer seems to be a penalty for changing Statement of Intent, only for changing between melee and magic. 

The question is, if Bodran is injured before his (adjusted) DEX SR, then what stops him from casting a healing spell straight away? The +5 SR penalty listed on p.193 and 194 seems to account for switching between melee weapon use and spell casting, so it's clearly not readiness. He acts on his DEX SR plus 5 SRs.

The only other impediment was having a hand free to cast the spell, and I'm assuming that dropping a sword (as opposed to sheathing one) takes no time. The downside of that is that someone else can potentially pick it up in combat.

I'll put up an edited version in the next 48 hours. There's a few things I've noticed (or been pointed out to me) that need a tweak.

2 minutes ago, g33k said:

I do not believe the RAW covers changing the SoI at all, actually.  +5 SR's seems like the "default" delay for something of the sort, however!

This is the impression I'm getting too. 

Given that less importance seems to be placed upon SoI in RQG (to the point that either Jeff or Jason said they didn't much bother with it in their own games), it looks like they've put in the +5 SR modifier as a way of speeding things up. 

If that is the case, then fair enough. I don't have a problem with it.

25 minutes ago, Bill the barbarian said:

so the comment in red would be used in place of a DEX SRM

Looking at the list of modifiers on p.193, I'd agree that that is a SRM (whether it is a DEX SRM is unclear) - "Prepare a new weapon, reload a missile weapon, spell or ready a missile" - these are given +5 SRs. Nonetheless it seems to do a similar job to the old DEX SRM.

There is a reverse example of what we're discussing on p.195 'Multiple Activities Outside of Melee' where Vasana casts a Demoralise spell first, taking 5 SRs, then combines movement of 9m and notching an arrow for an additional 5 SRs, taking her to SR 10. She cannot then attack because she runs out of SRs. 

So she has cast a spell and made a preparatory action in one round, like Bodran does, but in a different order. To me, this suggests that Bodran should be able to get the spell off inside the round.

Thanks @Bill the barbarian. That section isn't clear on whether it includes change of intention. If not, then yes Bodran possibly couldn't cast that round, although the Greydogs' statement of intent for round 1 was pretty vague anyway...

The other thing that occurred to me is that the Orlmarth should perhaps have had +40% added to their attack chances in the first round since the Greydogs were unaware of them. It wouldn't have made any difference to the outcome of round 1 though.

As per 'Magical Attacks and Strike Ranks' on p.194: "5 additional strike ranks must be added to an adventurer's normal strike rank for a spell if they are switching from a weapon to the use of a spell in that melee round, so long as one hand remains free"

This seems to cover change of intention, as per my fourth post in this thread above. My original mistake was in having him sheathe the sword (another 5 SRs) instead of just dropping it.

3 minutes ago, Bill the barbarian said:

That is one DEX SRM in the red should there not be another for the spell?

(don;t know if RQ G has eliminated the term SRM but I like it to differentiate twixt strike ranks and strike rank modifiers)

You start casting on your DEX SR though, so it's already there for Bodran, DEX SR 3. Would you need to add it a second time if you haven't actually taken action after your first DEX SR?

Thanks @Psullie, I saw it as them just trying to scare the Greydogs off, not wanting to waste magic, but then the Humakti taking exception and deciding he would engage with them. The use of magic ramps up from reactive healing magic to full blown Rune Magic by the end.

So in order to make that work, I'd need to have Bodran start acting on SR 4 as above, but then change his statement of intent (+5 SRs) to casting Heal 3 and then just drop the sword and cast the spell. That should still be okay to go off on SR 11.

2 minutes ago, Bill the barbarian said:

Now there are two point that still confuse me. Note that I intend to read the Sumath's examples tonight, just commenting on PhilHibb’s comment.

1/ You should have two DEX SRs, no? One for the sword and one for the spell?

Next, a little off the example:

2/  Many things can be combined, I realize that some spells are not included in this statement... moving and sheathing a sword is one example that can be done.
This is done at the same time so for the two actions the longest should add the SRM, no? (this is not clear in the rules and I have seen others using the shorter time in their examples as the SRM).

Regarding point 1/, I figured it as follows: Bodran's Dex SR is 3, +1 for surprise means he can in theory start taking action on SR 4. He can't cast without putting his sword away though, so this adds another 5 SRs to casting time. Then 2 more SRs for the 3 point spell. @PhilHibbs This was what I'd envisaged, although arguably as Bodran was injured on SR 3 you could say that SR 4 is too quick a response time to start the process.

Point 2/ you can normally combine movement and actions, but in the case of Angtyr when he is evading missile fire, the rules for that (p.214) say that an evading target can do nothing else but move half their movement and evade in that round.

5 minutes ago, PhilHibbs said:

Brodan takes a wound on SR4, and elects to cast Heal 3 in response. 5 SR to put away his sword, plus his DEX SR of 2, plus 2 for the 3 point spell, I make it that he can't do it in that round without dropping his sword.

Good point. I may have made that mistake elsewhere too.

6 minutes ago, PhilHibbs said:

I can't find any rules for how long it takes to retrieve a dropped sword. Fumble drops take 1D3 rounds but I think that's harsh for a deliberately, gently dropped sword.

Page 194 notes that 5 SRs is an abstract convention for arming or disarming a weapon, so I've assumed the same for picking one up.

I've uploaded a write-up of 5 rounds of RQG combat, although the early rounds are missile and spell casting. 

Title of document is Multiple Combatants Example.

Feedback appreciated.

2 hours ago, Akhôrahil said:

In principle I agree, but the shaky editing of the combat rules (in some parts, it's downright bad, and Chaosium honestly should look at releasing a 1.1 version) means that we would probably have had an example that doesn't quite match the rules, and that would have increased the confusion.

This is Chaosium's opportunity to give clear guidance on this. A practical example of combat, including missile, melee, spell casting, use of bound spirits etc would resolve a lot of debates around the combat system, give reassurance to new (and returning) players, and act as a great advertisement for the game. Win-win.

If anyone is going to make any sense of the SRs in this example, I feel it would be helpful to have the DEX SR listed for both combatants, plus their total weapon SR. 

Also, is it too late in the day to say that providing a complete illustration of RQG combat from beginning to end should have been done by Chaosium, and not left to the RQ Community? Seriously, how long would it take someone to knock one up, proof read it and post it on here? It would resolve a lot of issues.

There is a village called Greebrass in Ernaldori territory. See thread below and maps.

Ancestor worship? You ought to be blaming them for the state of your face.

By the looks of you, your mother and father were siblings.

Begone, foul spawn of chaos... oh, sorry, it's just Korvan... those eyes and nostrils always look so similar.

Grey Dogs! If only you were half as smart as a mongrel then we could put you to work, pissing on the crops.

Are you part troll? Because it looks as if the kin curse has affected your family.

I'd heard you Sartarites worshipped the wind - I just didn't realise you had it blowing between your ears as well.

I'm not sure which Lunars are ugliest - you lot, or the ones that dragon is still picking out of its teeth. 

*Nodding towards herd/flock*: I didn't know you were bringing your family with you.

How do, you put up with the smell of that awful beast? No, no, I was talking to the bison.

You call this wine? It tastes like your mother's bathwater.

Gah! Your breath is worse than the Crimson Bat's!

Say, that's a big spear - over-compensating for something, are you?

Raise a spirit? Your husband says you haven't made anything rise in years!

Rumour has it that you're hung like a trollkin.

Hah! Just look at those tattoos! Perhaps you should ask a grown-up to help you with those next time...

Your reputation precedes you, how wonderful to finally meet this sycophant everyone keeps referring to.

Well, they said we would have to face their best fighters, but it looks like they've sent a carnival to entertain us instead.

I've been posting on here less than a year. One of the things I really value about BRP is the light touch moderation and I'm heartened by Rick and Jeff's statements above.

I feel it would be wrong to alter the nature of the forums just because of (rare) bad behaviour by a few individuals. That would be punishing everyone else who has used the forums respectfully for the transgressions of others.

@TrifletraxorFor what it's worth, I don't think censorship is really an answer to opinions we disagree with, and I appreciate the sensible level of moderation on these boards.

@Cultist of Sooty I would just like to say that the vast majority of people I've engaged with on these forums are wholly welcoming, reasonable and chilled, and are just interested in making their games better and talking about those games, rather than pushing any kind of agenda. So please do not feel that this is not a place for you - it absolutely is.

42 minutes ago, midwinter said:

I already have my safe space, void of pharisee leeches bleeding a troubled but long since dead man dry

Good, don't let me trouble you then. But equally, don't imagine that your Never Never Land in which HPL was some beleaguered innocent is ever going to be accepted as the real world. 

46 minutes ago, midwinter said:

Otherwise you can lay down your shiny Seattle Armour, your Lance of Righteousness and the Shield of Woke and focus on playing a horror game. 

Or... you could give up:

- pretending you're a victim;

- the idea that literary history and matters of record should be whitewashed in order for you to feel better about your favourite author;

- trying to stifle other people's freedom of speech;

- generally behaving like such a ludicrous fanboy.