Chromatism

I missed Rune Fixes 2. Much obliged!

Hey everyone! I've just been refreshing myself on the rules, doing a complete read through. My question arises on the topic of subsequent parries - and I promise I've looked through the Runequest Q&A! I couldn't find an answer, so here we are. To quote the text in question on page 200: "An adventurer may make a subsequent parry with a weapon they have already parried with. Any subsequent parry is at a cumulative -20% penalty..." My interpretation is then, assuming armaments are both a sword & shield, that my adventurer could make one sword parry, one shield parry, and would then start toting up the subsequent parry penalties on his/her weapons. Seems like a decent bonus for using a shield, but I don't know whether I'm overthinking it and right... or overthinking it and wrong! 😁

Clearly when the God Learners were divining the future they approached the Cult of the Crimson Bat with a soupcon of snootiness. Not so unexpected really... They probably even thought they'd have the last laugh.

I'd appreciate that greatly. Plus the time suits me down to the ground as well. Whatever the outcome of the ask, thank you very much!

Hello all, I've been around the forums in the past, absorbing the insights of the community all with a view to running some Runequest locally with a group of friends. Needless to say this plan hasn't really gone so well over the past year... However it's definitely still a plan, but with a bit of a hitch. I seem to have hit a creative pothole. It might well just be events that have sapped my creative juices a bit, however I don't really have any experience with the sort of societal play Runequest leans towards. That combined with just how incredibly integrated the cults are with society (magic and myth equating to Gloranthan physics) means I'm feeling totally out of my depth. It'll probably help when I can finally read the POD cult books in paper form at Christmas (PDFs do not read well with me), but until then the question is... Would anyone care to run a game? Even just one or two sessions would be good. I reckon I could run with that introduction and find my feet a little better as a player rather than kicking it all off as a GM. It's also worth stating I'm in the UK, but generally a bit of a night owl where pesky time-zones are concerned. So whatever anyone would like really... the game master adventures, something from Jonstown or homebrew. Thanks very much!

I'm not sure. On the table on page 199 it specifically states that for a Special Attack vs a Normal Parry - "parrying weapon takes damage over its HP, with the same amount of damage going to adjacent hit location". The entry for a critical attack on the table states the same, with the added line "with no armour protection". The wording on page 200 under "Parrying a Critical Hit" flies in the face of this and really obfuscates things.

Ah! Yes... thank's so much. I was reading the text, but I wasn't putting it together properly. The shield absorbs it's current HP in damage, then the remaining damage is dealt to both the arm and the shield, in this case 6 points. And you're quite right about the arm armour being allowed to absorb in this example. Terrific help.

Thank you! I might just do that. And you're quite right. Definitely a moral to be taken away, however in this case just used to illustrate my thought process at hand

Edit: Thanks for your help! One piece of the puzzle has become clear; I was incorrectly equating the damage absorbed by a weapon/shield as also being the damage it received in certain circumstances (such as with a critical or special hit vs a normal parry). I now understand that the weapon/shield absorbs up to it's current HP in damage, and then any remaining damage applies as per the chart on page 199. I'm still not entirely clear about the wording on page 200 "Parrying a Critical Hit" vs the Parry table on 199, but I've posted an edited version of question 2 in the Core Rules thread on these forums. Great stuff I looked! I promise! But unfortunately I can't quite locate an answer to these particular questions. I'm struggling a just a little when it comes to the concept of HP with Weapons and Shields, particularly in regards to parrying. What I've learned so far can best be summarised below: The current total HP of a weapon or shield indicates how much damage it can absorb while parrying, with any remaining damage carrying over to strike the defender. At 0 HP the Weapon or Shield becomes "unusable" - it can still be used, but at half skill penalty. At 0 HP and above the weapon/shield can be repaired in the field, but damage taken into the negative requires special attention. A weapon or shield can take twice it's max total HP before it's destroyed. So here are the missing pieces of this particular puzzle: It becomes clear that parrying with a weapon or shield that is "unusable" will not block any damage, since it's current total HP is is at or below 0. However am I right in reading that an "unusable" weapon can (for example) still be used to parry if a special or critical result is rolled against a normal attack? In the case of a critical attack vs a normal parry, the parry chart shows that the defender's weapon/shield has it's HP reduced by the damage rolled. However in the blurb on page 200 it states that while the weapon/shield blocks the damage it normally would, it receives double the damage from the attack. To my mind, as written, this makes little sense... if I have an undamaged small shield imposed against a critically attacking broad sword, the broad sword will deal max damage (18 + damage bonus). The small shield then absorbs 8 damage as normal, but receives another 8 damage on top and is destroyed. If it had less HP, it wouldn't be destroyed since it could only absorb up to it's current HP total. I'm quite sure this is just a case of extremely confusing wording, but clarification would be grand. Returning to the chart for special/critical attacks vs normal parries, it makes it clear that the parrying weapon or shield receives damage over it's normal HP. This ties into my confusion from the above question, so I just want to make absolutely sure I have this correct - A special attack swings in against my normal small shield parry for 14 points of damage. My small shield takes 8 points of damage while also absorbing the same, leaving 6 damage remaining from the attack and my shield at 0 HP. This 6 damage penetrates my defences, ignoring armour, dealing direct damage to the arm carrying the shield. In addition my small shield receives an equal amount of damage, bringing it to -6HP. Is this correct? Thanks very much guys. Your help is hugely appreciated

This is a topic I wanted to come back to now I'm making my second pass through the rules. I do very much like the above approach, but this does hinge a little one whether your combats are firmly theatre of the mind or you're someone who likes to use "MOV units" as an imaginary/visual indicator during combat. What I mean to say is it's potentially a bit of an obfuscation when a character with a MOV below 12 moves four units, and a character with a MOV above 12 moves four units... exactly how far in front does that put it? Sure you can do some quick maths, but personally I'd prefer that calculation up front: We're interested in MOV units above 12, so in this example we'll use 15. The difference between MOV 12 and 15 is 3 units. We can then divide 12 by 3, which equals 4. This means that every 4 units of movement, we only expend one Strike Rank to move 2 units. The question then becomes where to put that "free" movement. You can continue the above example and say that you have a free MOV unit on Strike Ranks 4, 8 and 12. Or, if you're after flexibility (but you're not concerned about things so thematically), you can place the free MOV unit on every fourth strike rank beginning from the 1st. So Strike Ranks 1, 5 and 9. Why is this important? Two reasons. If you have a character with a MOV of 13, under this system you get one free MOV unit. The question is do you prefer to place it at the end, perhaps to represent acceleration and momentum? Or do you put it at the beginning so that character has more flexibility when compared to a MOV 12 counterpart. We also have to consider how this affects characters with MOV above 6 that isn't so easily divisible. (You can also just fudge MOV 13 and place that free MOV unit on SR 6 or 7 at your discretion) I'll include two quick tables using the above methods I've calculated. I'm not great when it comes to maths, so please feel free to correct me if I'm being numerically illiterate. Also note that the "Early Strike Rank Table" will be tweaked for reason and sanity: 1) Using the "later" Strike Rank method SR 13 = 12 SR 14 = 6/12 SR 15 = 4/8/12 SR 16 = 3/6/9/12 SR 17 = 2/5/7/10/12 SR 18 = 2/4/6/8/10/12 SR 19 = 2/3/5/7/9/10/12 SR 20 = 2/3/5/6/8/9/11/12 SR 21 = 1/3/4/5/7/8/9/10/12 SR 22 = 1/2/4/5/6/7/8/10/11/12 SR 23 = 1/2/3/4/6/7/8/9/10/11/12 SR 24 = ... you've got this! 😁 2) Using the "early" Strike Rank method SR 13 = 1 SR 14 = 1/7 SR 15 = 1/5/9 SR 16 = 1/4/7/10 SR 17 = 1/4/6/9/11 SR 18 = 1/3/5/7/9/11 SR 19 = 1/2/4/6/8/9/11 SR 20 = 1/2/4/5/7/8/10/11 SR 21 = 1/3/4/5/7/8/9/10/12 SR 22 = 1/2/4/5/6/7/8/10/11/12 SR 23 = 1/2/3/4/6/7/8/9/10/11/12 SR 24 = ... you've got this! 😁 Well! Now that I've felt the need to type all that. I certainly wouldn't recommend doing this if you're constantly featuring creatures with more than MOV 12 in your games (or at least, if they have ridiculous MOV towards the higher end of the tables...) but for a one off, and if you're that way inclined to run combats with a bit more table top presence, maybe this will see some use. Cheers!

In my continuing second read of the mighty RG:Q tome the Treat Poison skill is really sticking out to me. As read someone may, once per poisoning, attempt a skill check to purge 2D6 POT of the poison from their patient's system before damage is rolled. I definitely like this, since a straight up poisoning looks downright lethal in some circumstances (refreshingly as it should!). Ingested something bad? A quick regurgitation should help deal with some of the incoming damage. However this does come with a thematic incongruity: what about venom entering someone's blood stream? Or even vapour? We can look to the old "suck and spit" method perhaps, even combined with a tourniquet with a dramatic spot of bleeding for good measure. It's a shame that this method rarely manages to do anything meaningful, and can even be detrimental in the wrong circumstances. I'm certainly not trying to poke holes! But in a system that loves to model reality in a truly fantastical world with certain bronze age trappings, I'm wondering how this might actually look. One of the things I find striking about Glorantha is how ritualism is so tightly bound with the spirit. Looking at such things as the peaceful cut or, it's polar opposite, inflicting such pain that you cause a person's spirit to flee into their extremities, I don't believe it's a reach that something like Treat Poison could also be ritualistic. I can very easily imagine inciting the person's spirit, and thus their body in turn, to reject the invading substance whether through instant and severe sweats or some forced and deep exhalation. Perhaps even some form of pressure point manipulation? Certainly not a serious thread, it's just an image that appeals. How does it look in your Glorantha?

Thank you both! I'm glad it's not just me. I was also reading some of the SIZ entries for one or two larger creatures in the Bestiary and trying to work out what that nebulous number actually meant. In essence it seems like "winging it" and "logical crowbar-ing" are in order.

A little help if anyone would be so kind. Now that I understand all the various bits and pieces separately, I'm working through RQ:G a second time to cement everything together. In regards to Adventurer Sizes, it seems clear that 1 Siz roughly equals 1 stone in terms of weight/healthy mass. This doesn't fully track (especially earlier on in the table) presumably because of the system's insistence of otherwise being metric in all other respects. I'm guessing the KG ranges had to be tweaked to keep numbers near enough whole and vaguely correct when compared to lbs. Now we come to page 151 and the Size of items table... If someone could help me out here, I'd be extremely grateful. On the table it seems like a mathematical formula comes into play at SIZ 23 that steadily increases the KG ranges with one or two odd spots (notably SIZ 42 to 43 and Siz 45 to 46) that completely throw me. Are these range increases arbitrary, or would some kindly and mathematically inclined soul enlighten me as to how this is being calculated? Thanks very much!

Above and beyond! Thanks again everyone. A truly brilliant response. One of the most amazing things about Glorantha is the wealth of material, but it does make it a bit of a facer to a new comer. So much information out there, but discerning what's useful now? Not so easy. This has answered my questions and more.

I am, but thank you for the heads up. I must admit I'm keeping my fingers crossed for print on demand. We can hope!

I'm very much a new comer to Runequest and Glorantha in general. The character creation system in RQ:G immediately hooked me as a real winner, save for a distinct lack of spell summaries to aid in spell choices and cut down on book flicking/backing and forthing. To help with that problem I've put together a simple spread sheet for Spirit Magic, Rune Magic, Bestiary Rune Magic and Sorcery pulled from the RQ:G core books. I've included runes, points expended and a brief synopsis. Find it here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1voKm6zmVZDGmNS0crmTdaumip7io8zmGJUps9jtSnOo/edit?usp=sharing I hope it helps any new players get to grips more quickly, or as a handy reference. If you want to edit the sheet just save your own copy. I intend to restructure/add more stuff as I read through the swathes of RQ material, but it's a start for now. Cheers!

I don't suppose you could be persuaded to share the histories you came up with? It's certainly one of the aspects of RQ:G that caught my eye coming to the system. Speaking of sharing I created a spreadsheet to aid with page numbering and spell synopsis. Please feel free to make use of it: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1voKm6zmVZDGmNS0crmTdaumip7io8zmGJUps9jtSnOo/edit?usp=sharing

Very kind of you! Thanks very much for sharing them.

Thank you both very much for taking the time to write all of that. I wasn't aware of the Troll Pack, so I'll definitely put that on the list. Brilliantly informative on both counts, and I think it sets me leaning towards Borderlands and Beyond to begin with... though Pavis and the Big Rubble absolutely sounds like something to absorb and dive into sometime soon. For now I shall also indulge in play throughs of King of Dragon Pass and Six Ages and dream of a good old tribal campaign. Many thanks!

Hi everyone. I'm a new devotee to the wonderful world of Runequest, Heroquest and Glorantha. Right now I'm diving head long into the world and slamming into the enormity of the prospect! So time to start smaller. I'm very interested in the Gloranthan Classics, however I can't seem to find a good synopsis about the flavour that the big three offer. Can anyone kindly oblige? I'm aware that Pavis and the Big Rubble is likely good old dungeon delving, but I'm guessing there's a city intrigue component? And I don't know what to make of Griffin Mountain and Borderlands just atm. Thanks very much.