g33k

Like mileage, intuition may vary... Something may be very intuitive to me, and counter-intuitive to you. Which of us is "right"? Well... both of us. Until we try to argue that ONLY our position is right (or is "more right); then we're wrong.

I don't think "unique" is the apt term for a d100 roll-under skills-not-classes system. 😁 Not identical to the others, but hardly "unique!" As per the review quoted above: "00" is a low (zero) roll, not high (hundred)... so 0-99 is the range. This fixes some asymmetrical crit-vs-fumble odds when "doubles" marks crit/fumble. Skills are very limited, simplifying the game further. "Simple" (aka "lite") seems to be a primary goal; I think this is where it differentiates itself. I'm unclear how much "simpler" it is than, FrEx, OpenQuest. I can't really answer very many questions about it because... well, I just don't know the game (hence my starting this thread!) They also have a "Covert Ops" game. FrontierSpace is (I think) their first game, and (I'm pretty sure) is very much based on the old (early 80s) TSR game Star Frontiers... I'm unsure, but Covert Ops may also be very much aimed at an old TSR game, Top Secret... And that puts BareBones Fantasy as a OSR/D&D entry... 😉 All running d00lite.

I suddenly realized that we don't see much of this mechanic discussed here. It's clearly a variant of BRP -- skillcentric, roll-under d100 with "classic" D&D-esque stats -- though it has its own quirks and is IMHO one of the more-varied variants. Is there any sort of "bad blood" or other "history" on this? Or is it simply a matter of being variant-enough to have less crossover potential with other BRP games, and hence less interest here? Or ... ?

Her joining up with Louis in the first place was also a bit discordant, a waitWHAT? interaction. Leaving him even moreso. Niven was (I always thought) attempting -- badly; character-driven stories aren't his oeuvre -- to show Teela as being essentially driven by and a victim of her "Luck," not really having self-determination. Floating through life following her whims, with the proddings of "Luck" being the strongest.

The Teela Brown / Louis Wu romance elements, I presume. It always seemed a bit forced to me, from a character standpoint; but kind of critical to the arc of the stories.

Yes; but my point that not every figure in the Torah / Old Testament is universally averse to pissing-off an angel... (edit: presuming that the offer to wrestle does indeed annoy the angel)

I think smaller spirits have a small purview -- they are interested in only a very narrow slice of things, only the things they were already interested in. Bigger spirits are equally "only interested in what they're already interested in," but their greater power gives them both more stuff to be interested in, and a broader grasp of what may be relevant to the things they're (already) interested in. But if it's outside their spiritual identity, then it's as irrelevant to the spirit -- small or large -- as you or I would find it irrelevant how many grains of sand are on the 15th-largest beach in Madagascar.

(unless you're looking for a wrasslin' match, a la Jacob)

I've gotta point at MRQ/Legend's "Land of Ice & Stone" here! The mechanics are about 92.5% Mythras (the directly-ancestral system). @soltakss might have more to say... 😉 ? I agree that one shouldn't add non-weapons into a "Combat Style," however... At what point do you just slide down to have a single skill, e.g. "Hunter"? Some Hunters will be better with weapons-use; some will be better at tracking; some will have better field-skills with twine and glue and field-repairs; etc etc etc ... What is it you want to achieve by rolling other skills into the Combat Style (and thus reducing the number of Skills the characters have, other niches than Weapons/Fighty Guy)? There's some odd crossovers in this space, too... e.g. "hunting" vs "fishing" vs "trapping." All get meat to eat, but ... Spearfishing looks a lot like "hunting," while hiding with a net and then throwing it when someone flushes birds your way sits neatly in a hunting/trapping intersection; net-fishing and weir-fishing are pretty much trapping in the water; etc... "Coastal" vs. other waterside tribes: I expect they will ALL have some form of boats. The bigger the water -- and that includes big lakes -- the more likely to include sails, though oars will always remain a thing, of course!

Look into Kolat. I have a hard time understanding why Kolat is a "Spirit" and not a "God" ... At some point, I think these beings just get to CHOOSE a role...

AFAIK, a shaman following a "cult" will have a primary focus (reverence, veneration, & sacrifice; even actual Worship) upon one God/dess, or maybe a pair (such as Twins), etc. They get Cultic Bennie's, but suffer Cultic Restrictions. But the fundamental Shamanic role is addressing the Spirit World, and a Cult affiliation isn't actually required. I confess I'm still a bit fuzzy on the precise differences between a "God" and a "Great Spirit." I think that's OK, though... I think some of the deities & spirits of Glorantha are also a bit fuzzy on the differences...

tl;dr -- it depends. It really REALLY depends on the stone. Sandstone is quite soft, but has many desirable/luxurious qualities; limestone & marble too. These are softer than most concrete (n.b. one can get differing grades/hardness of concrete, depending on how you work with it, what you include, etc). Basalt, on the other hand, or granite; or quartz/ite... You can get rocks that are notably harder than concrete.

I think the lesson to take to your Gloranthan heart is the classic Narrative-game lesson -- where a Trad game asks the simulatiionist mechanics, "what happens next (in light of the setting/tropes)" a narrative game asks the players, "what's the interesting thing (in light of the setting/tropes) to happen next?" Start with as much Glorantha as you have handy. When you come up with this "happens next" question, and your in-house resources don't answer sufficiently, then you might ask the Glorantha Wiki, or the lore/docs at Glorantha.com (or here on BRPC if your answer can wait) ... Or you might just let this be a YGWV moment ... realizing that for YOUR game, at YOUR table, with YOUR characters, the "most interesting" thing is very likely to depart from canon anyhow...

I permit choosing another relative of the appropriate generation... a great-aunt, an elder cousin, etc. Much of Glorantha is kin/clan centric, so it's entirely possible for a non-ancestor to be in that "most influential" role.

Broosaurus rex, Bill.

Info on the KS page, of course. Also a couple of substantive threads (including author/dev's participation) over on RPGnet: https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/against-the-darkmaster.834208/ https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/whos-against-the-darkmaster.844971/

It strikes me that the Passion rules might make a decent first pass at "forcing" a PC to do the will of an NPC sword... Pick up the Windsword, gain "Passion: Always Fight Chaos" at 65% (or +20% if you already HAVE that Passion). I pick 65% as midway between the 80% "forcing" level, and the 50% "actually the opposite, fails more than works" level. Does the sword drive you up over 80% into nigh-Uroxi turf? Can you draw it down to under 50% where you're mostly in control? I (strongly) suspect an artifact such as the Windsword will have an array of ancillary Augments available to enhance that Passion at critical moments... 🗡️

A query at a slight tangent... I tried to look it up, but did not find recent info: Who's working on / what is the status of the "Glorantha Skirmish War" rules mentioned? Where can I follow that to stay up to date?

I have LA already. It's a misfit for GW in several ways, but could possibly be a significant piece of a Mythras-centric / FrankenBRP homebrew in a GWesque vein.

Hmmmmmmm ... Just having some thoughts spark... How easy would it be to re-skin this as the engine for a d100-driven Gamma World-alike, the gonzo post-apocalyptic science-fantasy game from the 70's? Powers as mutations (and yes, with a random generator), etc... Mutated plants, animals, & pseudoscience psi out the wazoo, madmax & bits of Clarketech, etc... (Edit: obviously, all that setting-specific stuff would have to BE re-skinned, it isn't just a slam-dunk; but does it seem like it'd be more a straightforward mechanical re-implentation, or would things need a fair bit of tweaking & re-interpretation?)

Sorry, my bad! <quickly sprinkles vetch & wildflower-seeds in the garden bed>

Well... the land is for the wilds. Animals and (wild) plants. Which, runically speaking, seems to trend away from agriculture but not plants, so... Disorder (non-harmony, no neat crops & fields)? Weak Man-rune, ag being human/etc version of going heavily into plants?

Pretty sure that causes gout. Use the rich as fertilizer, eat the plants they push up. Going vegan is very "in" these days.

Well, that explains it; TYVM! Would it be possible -- and worthwhile in terms of time/ROI -- to code/automate the webstore to show "Out of stock, but more have been ordered from the printer!" (presuming stock have been ordered for the item)? Or if none are ordered, "Out of stock. We are investigating POD options" (presuming it looks like a low-volume item that doesn't justify a whole print-run)? I guess it'd call for some sort of extra linkage -- between your print/order mechanism with your printer(s), and your webstore selling to customers -- for it to be fully automated. But even as a mere fan, I've noticed these sorts of queries quite a few times; I presume you folks have seen it much more than I have! So you're already investing some effort into manual, per-occasion answers... And now the (inevitable) followup: how soon is "soon"? Is there an ETA? 😉 Presumably you cannot automate this part, other than a blanket "too many issues outside Chaosium control, or even visibility, for us to reliably ETA this." Which maybe (given the inevitability of this followup) puts an upper limit on the worthwhile-ness / ROI available from such automation ...

@Dustin O'Chaosium @Rick Meints @... I dunno, whoever over there is in charge of the webstore. Product page says it's in stock in US/UK/Aus warehouses, but no "Add to Cart" button. Neither is the toplevel "RuneQuest Glorantha" webstore page showing the button (where it's the ONLY product (without an "Add to Cart" link), nor the Heroquest page ...