g33k

To get us a bit more back-on-topic... Go over to Mongoose and grab "Land of Ice and Stone." You can adapt it to BRP (with a bit of work) or use Legend as-is (or Mythras). Replace the glaciated setting with temperate, and use any decent tribal and/or anthro resources as your setting. Add an appropriate collection of relevant myth and folktales. Run with it.

I think some aliens -- even intelligent aliens -- should NOT be playable species, for whatever reasons (just as nobody expects to play an Ent or Balrog in Middle Earth); they are part of the setting. Also, I'll depart from your list of must-haves. Communication is the crucial one, or the player can't RP the character interacting with other PCs & NPCs. But mobility (specifically self-mobility) isn't a must-have, IMHO; neither is tool-use (though in intelligent sci-fi/alien who's NOT a tool-user is a bit of a genre stretch ... 😉

Also note that there's no reason to think our notions of cyber-enhancement, genetic engineering, and "transhuman" tech (which can easily go asymmetrical) might not have "transalien" cognates ...

I will advocate AGAINST the BGB for an intro/starter short-arc use. It's too much of a toolkit, not enough of a ready-to-run game. You mention not wanting to put in a lot of effort up-front, and the BGB's comprehensive nature is exactly wrong for that! As others have noted, Magic World was the "generic fantasy" entry from Chaosium, and is still available for sale. It would be a great option. If you want to go really simple, just get the quickstart rules (same "DaVinci Man" cover-art as the BGB) and add a few bits. It's a feee PDF (or cheap in print) direct from Chaosium. But then I'm gonna circle-back and kinda-sorta contradict myself, and recommend you DO use the BGB... as a toolkit/reosource, to add a few widgets or features & flesh out your game a bit. === As noted, the "Classic Fantasy" + "Mythras" option is a good one! It's a reworking/expansion of the older BRP-based "Classic Fantasy" just as Mythras expands upon BRP.; so you could stay with the older BRP versions, if desired. This gives them a standard "class/race" framework they are used to, but shows off the d100 engine. === As for specific subsystems to use or not... I'll advocate FOR hit-locations! BackInTheDay when I moved from AD&D(aka 1e) to RQ2, combat with hit locations was AMAZING; I fell in love then, and still haven't found any RPG's melee-combat to beat it.

Come now, styopa! Nobody here wants to kill you, not on SR6 or any other round! You're being paranoid, man! We plan to cut off your sword arm to prevent your action (your argument is in all other ways perfectly valid). Reattachment of styopa's arm is left as an exercise for the reader.

It might, actually... after all, Sorcery is tainted by the "wisdom" of the God Learners ... No telling WHAT perverse ideas they have embedded in their vile practices ! /ReactionaryOrlanthiPOV

Are you the GM, or "Player 2"? Or do you sometimes GM, and sometimes be Arrrrrgh'ing Player-N? 😉

Corflu? Nochet? Ummm... No idea where you got the idea Greg was bad at making up names!

I'm thinking that a new RQG rule-set might merit a new way of figuring this. Absent any "official" answer, I am probably going to allow any of several methods... - Spells to ID the item - Lore Roles from the same Cult, if any, as created the matrix. "This matrix has the exact same odd sheen-and-sparkle effect as all my Temple's other Heal-3 matrices... It's really very distinctive!" - Examination on the Spirit Plane (e.g. by bound or allied spirits, by Second Sight, etc). Also, I think I want to look at matrix creation rules and so forth for.cues in similar/related bits of the rules, for hints & inspiration. I don't think it should be terribly onerous, mostly, but neither a "gimme." Players should routinely expect a bit of time and effort, occasional expense, and even find they occasionally need to adventure or quest if they want to really pin down something obscure. YGMV

Dunno ... "they"? Why would "they" work on it? Who even are "they"? Chaosium hosts their own "official" downloads at Chaosium.com (and stuff at glorantha.com, too). I don't really see them backing the BRPCentral d/l section, honestly. @Trifletraxor is already putting in more time and effort than is reasonable to expect as a donated effort. Who is this "they" you speak of? ... I could maybe see Trif putting up a Patreon page to fund some better storage, indexing, etc ... ?

Following! TYVM for this. Looks very useful & very interesting...

A badly-indexed and/or non-searchable download section... yeah. But most folks' dropbox/GDrive/OneBox/etc are equally not indexed, and (by virtue of being random internet users' data) are even less find'able. People expect to find RQ/CoC/BRP content on a place like BRPCentral. I d/l from here sometimes. I've also gone to the d/l section trying to find stuff -- that I was reasonably confident was here... somewhere... -- and left frustrated.

This is a fascinating thought. Maybe Genert didn't die, but was split into multiple portions... SOME of which died, while others continued as lesser beings. This... feels very Gloranthan to me. YGMV.

Yeah, but the ISPs & co-lo providers (needed to run the forum s/w) aren't so generous. 😞

I don't believe Chaosium is interested in the old "Monograph" model. If you can come up with a standalone game based upon BRP or HQ rules, it might be something to pursue .... Also note the forthcoming "SRD + GenrePack" model for (likely re-named) HQ3. But Chaosium would be the folk to say for sure!

Is the 2nd printing for the core rules coming so quickly?

I think that I /would/ apply it twice -- the Movement SR's + the Spell-Prep SR's. Each one happens to cost DEX SRs, but each is a separate thing that has to happen, and is harder to do together. Alternatively-- for those who REALLY want to go sooner -- I'd ask for a Concentration check; if it fails, you either trip or do not get the spell prep'ed... or maybe both... I mean, this is NOT walking and chewing gum!!! This is <moving tactically on the worldly battlefield> while <communing with the Spirit World to cast a spell> . I do not think it's a "gimme" to do those both at once. Conc-roll at least ...

One cure for the cookie-cutter'ing of exactly-to-the-pointbreak build systems might be to decree that only ONE stat (or none?) may be bought to the exact pointbreak... Must overbuy, or buy "almost" there for the rest, and then look for in-game stat-raises for those "almosts". Granted, that may STILL yield a build-optimum that many aim for, but without that insta-reward it might be a lesser problem... An idea I have had (but not tried) is to do a rolled-as-per-rulebook, then rank each player's rolled stat-set from best (most points) to worst; best roll gets ONE (or so) point to put anywhere; 2nd-best gets enough points (to put anywhere) to bring them up to one less (or so) than the best; 3rd-best gets enough points to get to one less (or so) than 2nd-best, and so on... Best roll stays best, & everyone gets a bit to customize with, but the "less lucky" rolls get a bit more customization; and for those unhappy souls focused on "balance," the party is roughly at parity.

Have you gotten replies PM'ed? Honestly, I think you'll get more response at one of the higher volume websites such as RPG.net or ENWorld, or a dedicated player/group matcher. Look into "meetup.com" and local FB groups, maybe Reddit, nearbygamers, etc ...

OK, tyvm!

I envision this as invisible pixies, but NOT invisible pole-axes; so the appearance of animated weapons. Somehow, I do NOT envision this part. 😉

Look on the bright side... at least you didn't have a bedroom that bordered on a courtyard inhabited by peacocks!

Is it appropriate/acceptable to use the physical book as our review document?

But where is the "too much realism" line? RQ melee has always drawn their line more to the gritty/dangerous/realistic end of the spectrum vs. (FrEx) D&D... I've got no problem with not all weapons being quite so equal. Some weapons really ARE better. Wielded by human-level strength, having pointy/slashy sharps really IS more dangerous (in general) than blunt force. Having the rules reflect that is OK with me; in fact, MORE than OK -- the unrealistic results damage my suspension of disbelief, weakening my own fantasy roleplaying. <shrug> YGMV? Well, but a cosh is always (and a club is often) intended to be a sub-lethal weapon. They are mostly useful so peasants who rob their betters don't trigger a manhunt for murdering the nobility. Honestly, yeah: I DO want the system to represent this sort of thing.

Some possibly relevant context is that RQ fans have been known as "grognards" for at least a couple of decades. The term originated in the Napoleonic wars, and literally means "grumblers." Grumbling (in ways that would normally elicit military discipline) was considered a perquisite of a few soldiers who had served Napoleon for long years...