g33k

Skills can interact in different ways. One skill Augmenting another skill is one of those ways; but skills capping one another (mounted attack uses lower of relevant Ride & relevant Weapon) is another. I don't recall anywhere in the rules seeing that the GM can/should "force" a player to Augment a skill; but a skill cap IS one of the tools a GM can/should use to further challenge a PC...

The entire notion of a "horde" attack is that them li'l bastids is EVER'WHIR, dammitol !!! They come at you faster than you can kill them, surround you, mob you from all sides, etc. They hit you with so many attacks that they can reasonably hope to get an ignores-armor Crit in the first round or two, and disable a location... head/chest/abdomen and it's the end, even an arm or a leg is likely to be the "beginning of the end". This is how the mob/horde/pack works. It is terrifyingly effective. Most predators have a 10%-20% success rate; lions have about 30%. Cape Hunting Dogs success rates vary by what prey they hunt, from 60%-90% but overall about 80%-85% success. Agreed, allies can make a HUGE difference -- just 1-2 allies going back-to-back (or a Sardaukar-style trio) can HUGELY reduce the threat of such a mob... but not eliminate it. If the numbers are sufficient, they'll pull them down one by one (likely the non-Trance'rs first, who only have 100% / 120% / etc ). But woe the lone fighter, however skilled, who gets surrounded by a desperate mob. It's one of the "features" of RQ/BRP -- hordes of "minor" foes can become a major challenge; even for the 200%'ers. Not sure about the 1000%'ers... I think you may need missiles & spells & spirits & poison &c for Mr.Kilosword; a simple mob won't suffice! Of course, there's also the not-so-simple mob, too. Let's take that "horde of minor Trollkin" ... let's say there's a ringer in there ... a Superior enlo, or a small uzko, boasting a native skill near/at/over 100% himself, and a bit of his own magic; ZZ with bladesharp? Poison? Maul Trance??? Smart enough to hold his attack, pretend to cowardice/klutziness/etc, wait 'til the SwordTrance'r is at maximum parry-penalty. ZZ waited for Yelmalio to be defeated and weakened for the ambush at Hill of Gold, so that's a Heroquest tactic, right there! n.b. RE "missiles & spells & spirits & poison &c" -- there's a LOT of other things on the Gloranthan battlefield than honorable duelling. There is NO skill, however high, that is a blanket "I Win" button. Except maybe over-100% with the Infinity Rune? 🤡

But this is the whole POINT of a horde of minor opponents -- to swamp the mighty defender with innumerable minor attacks. Mythras makes it really explicit with the Action Point economy, but the same principle applies in most BRP's. I would expect AT LEAST 6 Trollkin to mob the Trance'r. If reasonably trained, a ring of 6 using short weapons or natural weapons, and an outer ring of 12 using spears to reach past the inner ring (just counting hexes on a hex-map). I'm also wanting to go look at grappling rules -- if unarmed enlo are actually JUMPING on the Trance'r, it won;t take many to impair him...

It means the Trance'd doesn't have an "I win" button: they have an "I win a 1:1 or 1:few melee" button. Just like a massive Spirit Screen gives somebody an "I win Spirit Combat" button. So you use spirits on the Trance'r, and a sword against the shaman Or a poisoned arrow against either of them. Even a huge mob of pathetic trollkin, if they are all desperate enough to ignore the risk to each of them, are a credible threat to both. There are so many different threats, of different kinds, that I don't see a spell like Sword Trance as an "I win" button; it's just too limited. I don't think it's "broken" in the context of the entire system, to have a spell that makes one PC the best fighter in the melee. I expect MOST combats to have BOTH melee and ranged parts, and at least some metaphysical parts. Dominating the melee is just... don't get me wrong, it's good, REALLY good. But it doesn't dominate the whole melee/missile/spell/spirit/etc battlefield. After a round or two, that melee-dominant fighter is *THE* favored target of all the non-melee types (who do NOT want to face THAT in melee!). To have this Trance+Extension going, they DON'T have other rune-spells available that might save them from the threats they just invited... I mean NUMBERS WILL TELL. Lots of attack-rolls from foes mean that a few criticals will, statistically, get rolled. Lots of foes mean the Trancer splitting attacks, dropping that massive attack roll down to something that misses often enough; or just not engaging some attackers(!). Even Subsequent Parries begin to lag a bit vs. a horde. My point is that it's good, maybe REALLY good... but not "broken" good.

They impede a Humakti as much as any other character ... if being subject to those ranged attacks is a danger to them, it's just as much a danger to SwordTrance'd characters! And don't forget that Sword Trance isn't the only Rune Spell floating around... Earth/Fertility Aldryami might object with ArrowTrance, for example. And there's no reason to think (as suggested above) that there won't be a "Maul Trance" (or something comparable) in some Darkness cult; or just Berserker/Fanaticism or a bunch or MP's dumped into Bludgeon or something (he may hit less, but a Great Troll with a Maul probably only needs to hit once to end the fight... ) , And not every magical spirit attacks via Spirit Combat. Sword Trance doesn't help you avoid falling into that big ol' hole in the ground, or being covered by the tons of earth, from a gnome; or being sucked underwater by an Undine; etc etc etc. You can be sure that any Humakti who are easily carving their way through the melee ranks will suddenly be the preferred target for ALL the casters and ranged-combat specialists. Huh. Well, that would NOT be my own expectation as a GM or player (in any edition of RQ (or any other Gloranthan RPG)). I'd expect some of the casters and summoners to be just as badass in their own way as the Humakti is in theirs. Same for the missile-specialists. And I would expect the "majority" of encounters to NOT be limited to melee-fighters only. YGMV, and clearly does. But don't forget that this is RQ, and numbers STILL tell... Even low chances to hit add up, when enough attack-rolls get made... And even with a 240+ on %Attk, splitting the attack 4 ways, or 6 ways, means the mighty will, eventually, still fall. Sword Trance is powerful, yes! Broken... I don't see it that way, no.

non-melee attacks? Arrows, slings, ranged magic ... ?

Speaking as a grognard (who spent maybe more than I should on the RQClassic KS) I have always winced a bit at the oft-repeated accusations I've seen: that said KS was partly to cash in on older/richer fans -- fans with more disposable income than sense (given how "obsolete" the RQ2 book is in the 20teen RPG scene). I cannot find it in me to justify the expense of these shields, but I admit to wistful more-than-admiration! It makes me wince, again. With items like this, and the also-amazing / also $1K-ish HPLS Masks prop-set, I am finding it hard to rebut the notion that Chaosium has a set of fans who have a really startling-to-me amount of money to spend on gaming stuff. More power to 'em (even if I don't understand the financial priorities that justify these buys). I hope the fans get great joy from all these products, and that Chaosium & their licensee's prosper!

And IMHO some cultures will see most "codes of Honor" as being ... more what you'd call guidelines, than actual rules...

... but you know what they mean! 😈

I don't. At least, not yet. I'm pretty sure Renaissance is going to be the chassis for a campaign I have in mind, set a bit later -- Napoleonic era; I'll be FrankenBRP'ing other elements into it, though. I'm still working on various conceptual stuff, but I'm about 80% settled on Renaissance as the core ruleset.

Hostages? A row of innocent victims can keep the heroic sorts from shooting, without preventing a sorcerer from casting... Illusions? If there's a whole LOT of sorcerers, the players can shoot for 2-3 rounds before hitting the "right" sorcerer. More-immediate threats? The cultist 3' away -- holding a blade gleaming with black ichor -- might seem like the one you NEED to deal with, if you think the sorcerer isn't going to target you THIS round.

The last time I had a chance to compare them was at a 'Con. D&DAL was... present, I guess. So I heard. Never saw them much. PFS has a hallway outside 3-4 rooms. All the rooms were running games, 3-5 tables per room; all of them seemed to be actively playing, not rules-wrangling. 1-3 PFS "officials" (depending on time of day) were in the hallway outside, to expedite players in getting characters and getting to a table to game (if they were new) or getting their existing PFS characters updated... and to a table to game. There was a HUGE box of pre-gen PC's available to browse and take, play, steal, whatever.

Yes, absolutely! The tick-box "learn by doing" advancement is a hallmark of RQ and a really wonderful element; it should be featured in any demo/OP program on offer! I think it looks like you've hit on a good model -- do an "open call" and get fans & authors to submit material. More than one respected RPG author got their start that way, after all! Admittedly, you still have the edit/art/layout issues to consider, but you might be able to re-use some art, farm out edit/layout to freelancers? You guys seem to have a decent handle on this, from what I can see. I don't think a "Living Game" IS any better at getting people to try it that first time; after all, the newbies can't really tell from the outside, can they? Except... Except insofar as ongoing campaigns tend to have more-invested / more-enthusiastic players, who may do a better job of being player-ambassadors, spreading the word, inviting friends, bringing the game out of the OP program to their homes and schools and their own non-OP games. I don't think it's a unidirectional cause/effect thing, though -- I think the larger player-base allows for (rather than creating) that small fraction of devoted players, of potential player-ambassadors, to get nurtured in their FLGS'es. The more-casual players try it, and drift away; or only play occasionally, etc. There may be as MANY players at any given table... but the avid ones keep coming back, bring friends, etc. Would those avid ones, those "player-ambassadors," do the same if it were a bunch of standalone / demo / one-shot adventures? I dunno, I really don't. I think it's worth separating out some of the threads of "drop-in play" and "living campaign" and "player / character portability;" not try to clone all the features of other OP programs. It's possible to do drop-in RQ, with a suite of PC's available for drop-in play. You might have a "living" game with ongoing PC's AND permit drop-in PCs who are wandering Humakti sell-swords, Orlanth Adventurous "itinerant adventurer" types, Heroquest'ers from various cults, etc etc etc -- PC's who are happy to lend a hand with the current adventure, but not invested in the broader situation and who "hit the road" when/if the player decides that game isn't for them after all... I also think it's worth looking at "new players" vs. "new-to-RQ" (likely PFS or D&D-AL) players. Which cohort will a RQ OP program get more of? Again: I dunno! Though I'm confident that statistical variance will mean there will be tables leaning (or entirely) one way, AND tables going t'other way. Helping new players learn the ropes of RPG'ing is rather different than helping D&D-heritage players understand how RQ is different (both in mechanics and world-assumptions). I think helping the OP game-masters with these parallel but dissimilar chores could be a really key element of a successful OP program.

We're getting into the semantic weeds, here... You may be right, EXCEPT that abilities A & B were never applied to D; only C augmented D. So that's legal... kinda... I'm playing devil's advocate here -- I think the argument I make (above) is incorrect, and I disallow it at my table. But I can understand a different reading of the RAW and I cannot find either one to be the definitively correct one. In the end, I don't actually mind if another table plays another way; but I do wish Chaosium would clarify this point, because I expect to get into disagreements (at a 'Con or FLGS, if the game flourishes enough) and I really dislike this sort of disagreement at the actual gaming-table, particularly in the limited timeframe of 'Con/demo/etc.

Hello, and welcome! Possibly the most-accessible bit is the "Prince of Sartar" webcomic. Look for the "Griselda" stories for traditional fiction. Also, our own "Baelor" (the user here) runs -- and writes stories of -- his "Brightwater Company" & campaign (on d-infinty.net), which are loads of fun! I know there are other fictionalized campaigns floating 'round, too. You might want to look at the new "Glorantha Sourcebook" -- it has no game-mechanics, but lots of lore! For really, REALLY deep lore -- like, in-character Gloranthan "scholars" writing about other parts of Glorantha -- look for the "Stafford Library" on Chaosium.com. As to "How Long" the Broken Tower takes... that depends, frankly! I've seen claims of finishing in under 3 hours, and taking over 8 hours. I believe it's "designed" for a 4-hour run, but I've never managed it that fast.

Speaking as someone who has done this in RL -- as the "lead" person I can point to snap'able sticks, rustling leaves, slippery spots, branches & twigs that might snag/grab. If I spot one of a flocking bird species nearby, I can halt the group until the flock naturally moves on (where if I/anyone moved in, they'd startle en masse); etc etc etc. The stealthiest won't be able to raise others to the same level, but they can help others who are less-skilled!

Yes. but if we're being pedantic the Fire/Sky rune's Perception use isn't the same ability as Listen isn't the same ability as Scan. So... can I augment my Scan with my Listen, which was augmented by a Fire/Sky? I'm not sure there's a clear RAW answer (I'm not sure there's not, either), but I'm disinclined to permit it, in any case. But can adventurer A augment adventurer B who uses the augmented ability to augment Adventurer C (and so on, and so on, and so on)? The RAW doesn't seem to address this "induction to infinity" case, but it makes the first step from which (by induction) all the rest follow. By the RAW, this appears legal... And this one I AM inclined to allow -- it makes for teamwork within the party, adds some interesting tactical options (do I take my OWN action as Harmast, or augment Vasana's possibly-better action to be even-better?)

Something I have done with "deep lore" settings (in this case, Ars Magica / Mythic Europe) at a convention is possibly relevant... the "character in an envelope." Each envelope had a VERY SHORT description of the PC, listing mostly public/obvious info about that PC. It also, if relevant, mentioned having any "Dark Secret" or "Hidden Past" or the like, so the player(s) would know about that feature (some players ADORE having a "dark secret" or the like; others ABHOR it). There was a brief (1-page) outline of "Mythic Europe & the Order of Hermes" that was available to read, and re-read if desired, and that I read out loud (because different folks absorb info differently). Then I spread the envelopes onto the table for them to choose, according to preference. I made sure there was at least "2 of everything" -- 2 melee types, 2 ranged-combat types, 2 scout/ranger types, 2 quirky-oddball types, 2 dark/secret past types, 2 "generalist/utility" magi, etc etc etc. About twice as many PC''s to choose from as there was room at the table to play, so nobody was "stuck" with the "last choice". Then INSIDE the envelope, each PC had the character sheet with all their details, House within the Order, details of spells or other supernatural powers, etc (and of course any secrets). . Also, each had enough info to understand the who/what/why of the other PC's in the group. Nobody had to deal with the whole infodump -- there was maybe 15 pages of info, all told, but NOBODY saw more than 2-3 pages (unless they solicited others' info) -- but everyone had rich detail for THEIR character, and info to help with relating to the other characters at the table. THEN I allowed anyone who knew the system & wanted to customize (or had problems with their choice) some time to work the details to better suit them. The key was nesting the info: a brief context/overview then a choice which led the players into their characters. Character-sheet 1st, with evocative spell-names, Virtues & Flaws, etc... then the details to fill in their curiosity. Get their buy-in, get them to CARE about the character, and the details are MUCH more interesting to them. === For Glorantha, I'd include (in addition to a standard character sheet): a 1 page "political" doc, roughly 50% the PC's homeland / local polity (who am I) & 50% surrounding ones; a comparable 1-page "cults" doc 50% the PC cult & 50% related/rival/enemy ones; an expanded spell-list, with descriptions of spells; other notable details as needed (e.g. you need more to explain the Morokanth than the Bison Tribe!). This calls for a bit more work than the typical 5e "Adventurer's League" or "PFS" stuff. But with Glorantha, that's IMHO unavoidable -- everybody gets "pseudo-medieval euro-pastiche fantasy" these days, the Dwarf/Elf/Orc/etc & Fighter/Wizard/Cleric/etc tropes; they are ubiquitous these days! People don't "get" the whole "pseudo-Classical-Bronze-Age & Mediterranean/Vedic/Edda pastiche mytho-fantasy" tropes in the same way. But we don't have to throw them into the deep end; we don't even have to throw them into the shallow end! Give them a bathing-suit that suits them, give them a choice of stairway, ladder, ramp, or diving board, and show them the lap-swim lane if they like THAT or the stand-waist-deep-and-visit area if they like THAT. They'll find their own way to the raucous section of the pool, or the high-dive platform, or the hot-tub, as their own preferences suit them.

Is this canonically legal, though? Using A to augment B, using the (augmented) B to augment C, using the (doubly-augmented) C to augment D...? I'm pretty sure it's NOT legal for a single character to entrain a suite of augmentations this way. I'm not sure (either way) about a group. This COULD be a very nice mechanism for expressing how group activities work, why a Group is better than the sum of their parts...

And that whole "Pavis" thing ... crossing ( humans X plants X earthen/human magical constructs ) , all into one heritage ...

With the device I am currently using, the owner of "glorantha.tumblr.com" isn't something I see (that may be as simple as me being unfamiliar with this interface). I'm not "getting at" anything more than the fact that (to me, at least) the owner isn't self-evident. There is certainly both text & art, and deep lore! Is all content by the same creator? Is it the (c)-owner (who would, it appears, have to be a Chaosium/ MoonDesign/ Isaries entity)? Or just a really avid fan (for whom Chaosium chooses not to issue a takedown)? No idea. I cannot tell.

I'm not a backer, and I haven't read the update(s) provided, but one thing caught my attention: Yeah, this. Depression can be as disabling as a heart attack or a stroke; there is no "contempt" involved (more likely is anguish & despair). I have seen over half my family -- and several close friends -- struggle with depression. It's a horrible, horrible thing. I'm glad he seems to be making progress on fulfilling obligations to his backers on KS (and, I presume, other obligations in his life). That's a real win-win: the backers get their stuff & he gets to climb out of that black hole of depression.

I'm not accusing that account of pirating any content; not at all! I honestly don't know who owns that account. I simply assert that putting such content online isn't the same as being the owner of the content; I don't presume that I know they ARE (or are NOT!) the same.

I am unconvinced (but willing to believe)... Given the way the Internet generally (and Tumblr in particular) is prone to <s>taking</s>borrowing without attribution; the presence of ANYONE's content isn't proof that person owns a Tumblr...

Indeed. In particular -- who IS "glorantha.tumblr.com" ???