g33k

Well, it's just as good today as it was back then (which is to say, pretty darned good!). Very "practical" to use for your own games. It's also operating under the same (non-ORC) legal framework as it ever did: everything is fine on a personal-use basis, but "supplements" (i.e. creating products for publication, distribution, sale, etc) require a separate license from Chaosium. BRP:UGE is available for use under the ORC license. So far as I know, that is the only Chaosium text available under the ORC license. Despite the vast similarities, BRP BGB is not open via ORC... nor is Magic World, CoC, RQ, etc etc etc, in either "Main Rulebook" or "Quickstart" editions (despite the QS's being free PDF's!) (n.b. I am not a lawyer; I am not Chaosium; I am relatively confident that what I've written is correct; you should consult both Chaosium and your own lawyer)

I don't actually see any reason for Lunar Magic to get a new suite of rules. It follows the established precedent of using mostly RQ2+RQ3 rules... no substantive changes to "Spirit Magic" so I haven't expected to see anything new in "Lunar Magic" either.

Well, except you are restricted if... But... I think you already understand this? Because: But that initial quote (above) makes me uncertain...

Look again, dude: the US/UK/EU are not waiting on AU: - 22 May for US/UK/EU - "in June" for AU BRP was a special case: Chaosium needed to get it onto the market as fast as humanly possible. They were trying to "catch the wave" of discontent following Hasbro/WotC's OGLpocalypse (them caving all the way back to CreativeCommons I think soothed a lot of ruffled feathers, and put extra pressure on those trying to ride that wave). I don't know why they did RoL differently. It's possible there was a contractual obligation (it's only a licensed IP, they don't control it). There may have been specific tie-in's to the novels' release-schedule, too, where getting any version of the RPG out the door in time with a new novel was a priority. In the end: Chaosium is in the business of selling RPG's. They seem to be pretty damned good at it, too... (they took a failing company and turned it into one of the top few, in just a few years). I expect they have very good reasons to do it they way they're doing it (even if I too prefer to get the PDFs on an ASAP basis); I expect they are selling the most books they know how to sell...

I have never -- ever -- heard of such a complaint being leveled. You're fine! Newbies often arrive with tons of questions, enthusiasm, etc. Helps enliven the grognards! 😉 Your Glorantha Will Vary ! Personally, I wouldn't equate Sun & Moon. But with the Lunar/Solar marriage, I expect the Blood Sun has some profound links with some of the more-arcane X more-violent apects of the Red Moon!

To me, the obvious solution is to say that they have several critical tasks to undertake along the route; indeed, it may be something en route (not the ostensible goal in Sog City) that is the primary reason for the trip, but something about the "doing" of this thing requires them to go onward from there, after "completing" the thing (else it's not been done "right"). Because it's fewkin' Dragonewts. Some of the en-route tasks likely involve figuring out what needs doing (in concrete terms), how to get it done, etc (i.e. PC investigations); because Things Have Changed in the thousand years or so since the 'newts last passed this way.

Paging @Rick Meints to the topic... Or maybe @ShannonA ? Dunno if this content is Wayback'ed or otherwise available... As the OP says, a "moment in time".

Chaosium doesn't do "pre-orders" -- they're allergic to that specific language (I think for legal reasons). But they have been very clear that they also will not be doing a "PDF First, then physical book later as-available" sales model. It's a huge hassle (aka "expense") on the back-end for them to do it that way, with little to no advantage in sales-numbers. US/UK/EU customers aren't being "punished" for AU's sins -- we are getting it as soon as available, while the AU contingent will have to wait. (personally, I would *love* to get the PDF first (as in "right now"); I have cut my Chaosium-direct buying to only those titles they DO release PDF-first (and buy from a Bits&Mortar participating FLGS for all other Chaosium books)).

Yes; slightly more detail here: https://basicroleplaying.org/topic/23295-shipping-fulfilment-update-29-april-2024/ (TL;DR -- 22 May for most warehouses; but not 'til the following month in AU)

Yeah. Chaosium website should be kept up to date. This page: https://www.chaosium.com/blogcoming-in-march-cults-of-runequest-the-lunar-way/ should be prefaced with something along the lines of: "We apologize. There have been shipping problems getting this to our warehouse. We will update this page as soon as we have a new, reliable date." And then, Chaosium can quote that, or link to it, across all social media.

There has been; just not a big all-social-media push. Basically: "Shipping problems. We're not sure how long before they clear up, so we are not announcing a new ETA." I think it's that "not sure how long... so not announcing" element, that makes Chaosium not feel like a big all-social-media push is the thing to do. (honestly, I disagree with that final element -- I think they should have made a big a-s-m push; we are seeing this sort of sentiment in pretty much every social media venue)

Does that also apply to a QW clean-sheet genre-pack for Glorantha? Or specifically to the idea of a "HQG retrofit"?

I think there's a bit of nuance missing from that last bit... The whole "HQW" product line never really seemed to gain all that much traction, even when it was the only Gloranthan game in print. Maybe that was "the market" telling us; but maybe it was (the perennial accusation) just not supported/marketed as it deserved. Issaries was never but a very-tiny company, after all, though Greg licensed to Moon Design (and others) in an effort to get more resources for the line(s). Maybe "the market" has spoken... but maybe the market was never adequately engaged... I'd love to ask the question in relative terms: what percent of all RQ titles on the JC go to Electrum or better? And what percent of QW titles do so? Perhaps the singular datum that is Valley of Plenty renders such a query statistically invalid. But we're deep into the Black Arts of market-analysis here.

It's not that there's any "formal" wait-time. Just, as noted, most BRP discussion isn't as well-populated as many D&D ones are. Then D&D-adaptations are a specific minority of the BRP crowd. And a specific-world query is going to be a yet-smaller minority of that. So you need a bit of extra patience for relevant folks to loop back to the forum, read your query, maybe mull for a bit and/or go look up old notes, old links, etc. My experience is that core topics usually get same-day (sometimes next-day; sometimes same-hour) replies, but it stretches out a LOT for every "interest filter" applied.

CF is a very-slick re-implementation of D&D with BRP-esque classless/level-less/skill-centric rules. $30 rulebook - https://thedesignmechanism.com/classic-fantasy-imperative/ Free PDF - https://thedesignmechanism.com/classic-fantasy-imperative-pdf/ Out of Stock - https://www.nobleknight.com/P/2147433071/Monograph-0383---Classic-Fantasy (but at least you've got a lead...) But also: A nice solid "setting bible" bit of media like Treasure Planet? That's awesome! I'll be honest: I'd grab "Magic World" (which is a fantasy-specific subset of the BRP core) and maybe one of the related seafaring books (a Mythras one from TDM, the RQ one on the JC, a copy of Blood Tide (sadly OOP), etc). I'd take some notes as I re-watched my Bible a couple or three times. I'd sticky-note Magic World where it needs some extra bits ... sticky-note BRP core and/or my seafaring book (places where I'm getting those extra bits)... maybe work-out some details? But maybe not. And I'd call that my campaign. But, as noted: I'd ALSO go look at @inwils game(s) on YouTube, running an actual Spelljammer module via CF. (ETA - I just checked his profile -- he hasn't logged on here for years, and was never very prolific here, so my @Summons likely won't call him)

That's a shame! But tends a bit to reinforce @Chaosium's scant resource-allocation to the QW project. It's not like the Chaosium-Con attendees will be generally unaware of the product-line; so it's not a matter of "lack of advertising" or the like. Attendees voted with their registrations, and their attendance. I do not doubt that there is some way to elevate the QW product-line in the market, attract new blood & new attention, etc etc etc. But in this "golden age" of rpg-productivity, it's increasingly hard (for which read "expensive") to stand out & gain that attention.

... Dude, you waited 19h (less than a DAY!) for replies. (FWIW -- I usually figure on a minimum of 3-4 days for specialty/oddity requests like this)

Note that there's a general-use "D&D-style" BRP engine, "Classic Fantasy". It's not Spelljammer-specific, but it'll do a LOT of the heavy lifting for you. I think it's no longer available for BRP directly; the author has moved to the (extremely-BRP-like) Mythras engine, from The Design Mechanism. You may be able to pick up the BRP edition on the used market -- it was Monograph #0383. But I commend TDM's edition! And it's eminently back-portable to BRP, if desired. The simplified & slimmed-down "Classic Fantasy Imperative" rule-set is available as an ORC-licensed product (with printed hardcopy available, complete with lovely production values) from the TDM website. Googling around, I find that noted Mythras content-creator @inwils seems to have done a Spelljammer session, playing a Spelljammer module AP on YouTube!

Fear can promote a fiercer, more-desperate degree of fighting -- if you lose this fight, you'll be rendered helpless before the [person/thing/etc] that you Fear... so you fight that much harder. If you failed that roll, you don't get that edge: you didn't feel it keenly-enough in that moment, and your Fear doesn't inspire that extra degree of effort.

How do you (or do you, even?) separate / distinguish two swordsmen, from two different schools of swordsmanship? However you differentiate the swordsmen, I'd pursue a similar strategy in differentiating any other set of schools focused on the same field.

Take a close look at the exact skills; "similar" skills isn't enough to advance Ranks. Possibly add a few specific mandatory skills, such as School-specific Lores: Even if the "skill list" of classic adventurers' skills is identical between the Grey Crane School & the School of the Reaching Storm, each also teaches (and requires for advancement in Rank) either Lore (Grey Crane) or Lore (Reaching Storm). Returning to Mythras / ClassicFantasy (and the Class/Rank system there) -- multiclassing rules don't exist in the new Classic Fantasy Imperative book, I think; but they do exist in the main Classic Fantasy rules.

Excellent advice, TYVM! ... 🥺 (Actually, I have more than enough to keep myself occupied! Chaosium "official" product + "must-have" JC content exceeds my budget for gaming; and my spending is actually exceeding my available reading-time... none of which prevents me from wanting more ... )

Yes, thank you, but... when? (for the rest of us, that is... I think C.Con has a few copies available, in a limited-release?)

Yes; but what's the time & VAT/cost differences for a UK buyer, between a UK printer and the one in Poland? If Chaosium says "go" on the 1st of the month, how long before the UK-printed books are in the UK warehouse, vs. Poland-printed books... and how much is VAT going to bump price? And then -- this'd be Chaosium-internal numbers -- what are the UK vs EU market-sizes (for Chaosium's English-language RPGs)? If there's to be a single European print-shop, it makes sense to choose it in the larger market, and -- however regretfully -- let the smaller take their lumps. But the key question is: even combined, would UK+EU be a big-enough market to justify an entire Euro-centric print-run from a local printer (whichever side of Brexit that is)? (I kinda take it for granted that NZ+Oz are not a big enough market) I presume they(EU+UK) are NOT big enough, as Chaosiums AFAIK has only ever used a single print-house for a given product-run (economies of scale on larger print runs): China or Poland, but not both (despite delivery advantages).

I don't know enough of the nitty-gritty details. Chaosium IIRC has done at least some printing in Poland. But I've heard lots of Brits complain both about VAT costs and govt-induced delays at the point of import. No idea whether the situation is symmetrical... would a Brit printer suffer similar extra costs/delays going to an EU warehouse?