Nozbat

I can see thats tough to resolve without being overly generous and remaining realistic. I’d see what the players want to do first, particularly the player left behind. It might be that they are ok about their character taking ‘one for the team’. They might think a heroic death by execution is a good motivation for their new character wanting revenge for a wrong. Feuds are good. Other options might be someone who is sympathetic on the inside helping with the escape. Perhaps different factions within the castle using the prisoner to further their own agenda? The prisoner is allowed to escape but has to carry out some task that might not benefit the players? Or they lose something that they don’t want in return for a ransom? An outside party negotiates the release but leaves the players bound to the negotiator? It might vary from the written scenario but I think if it is a realistic solution then it is workable. I always like moral ambiguity in solutions, so the players may be forced to act in ways that they are uncomfortable with or at least make them think. I’m happy to flesh out any ideas with you if it’d be helpful for you

Sorry Butters.. most of my game stuff is in storage so I haven’t got access to K&C to even have a look at it for you. What bits are you struggling with?

Thanks for pointing out your Review.. I enjoyed reading it… maybe someday .. I’ll buy it… Rouen still intrigues me more though

Samurai of Legend is still available at Mongoose.. I’m tempted to buy it.. but like the idea of Rouen module better which would fit into my current Early Modern Period campaign. I had previously looked at the Vikings as a possible source material for an Anglo–Saxon game but discarded the idea due to superhuman characters. However, I’m intrigued by nuclear katanas and Samurai doesn’t cost that much https://www.mongoosepublishing.com/products/samurai-of-legend-1

Sorry must have missed that ..somewhat scatty at the moment and skim reading stuff

Didn’t Mongoose do a Samurai of Legend book? I’ve never seen it but I do have the Vikings of Legend.. if it’s the same format the PCs have demigod-like stats.. Anyone ever used/ seen it?

That's my view of the Campaign @rsanford .. you'd have to ask my players if they find it as amusing as I do...

I played in Land of the Ninja @Stan Shinn but never GM'd it..but it was 30 years ago. We had lots of fun with it, including identical twins who had a good and bad reputations and no-one could tell them apart, developing new skills such as impressive shoulder shrug (as in the film Yojimbo, where the hero shoulder shrugs after dispatching the baddies).. a glamrock band of Biwa players... as well as trying to outdo each other in Tea ceremonies, flying kites, creating artwork and playing Go. It was fun and different from the Glorantha-Nordic Vikings-CoC we were playing at the time. RQ3 is very similar to BR:UGE so with a few tweaks here and there it should really not be difficult to run. If I remember correctly (though I may be mixing this up), Spirit Magic was gained through Kami and as @Runeblogger says Divine Magic tended to be one use, sacrificing POW to gain as we didn't have many priests. As I recall Japanese society is so stratified that it is difficult to have many different professions. You were not able to carry weapons if you weren't a samurai or at best an ashigaru. We were also playing at the era of black powder weapons which was the first time we had done so. Good luck with the campaign, I think if your players are up for it, it will be fun. If I wasn't so caught up in running other campaigns and writing stuff, I'd hunt out my old copy of it, although I think it might have been a hardback Games Workshop version rather than the Avalon Hill boxed set

I don’t usually do a lot of combat in my games so augments tend to be on non-combat skills. I usually ask the player to roleplay what they are doing ie a speech to persuade someone to give information or form an alliance and then depending on how good their argument is, I’d give them a bonus to their skill level modified by the difficulty level of what they want to do. Generally, I’d give a bonus of 10-50%. I have allowed passions as augments at times, generally if it’s family or religion, and those are usually in the critical moment of the interaction. I tend not to allow it for trivial reasons.

I always go back to what a melee round mechanic is.. it's a series of thrusts, parries, feints, dodges, etc to try and get an opening with one opportunity to damage your opponent and to parry in the 12 seconds of time. I also think that, as others have said earlier, common sense should apply. Describing the combat scene is also critical, helped if its TTG by using figures or counters or accurate use of counters if VTTG. Players can then see what is possible to do, either switching targets, with or without a possible DEX SR penalty. If there is a penalty, for movement or for reaching further, then a strike might not happen that round. I would always rule that if this happens the attack (opening) happens on the DEX SR of the next MR using a formula such as Initial SR + SR penalty - 12 (for the missed round). That means the players strike might happen on DEX SR 1 or 2 of the following round. After that, in the next round, SR reverts to normal, unless of course there is another change of SoI !!! In missile combat or spell casting, I'd use different rules and as others have said applying DEX SR penalties might be appropriate. I like @g33k's idea of appraisal of the situation by using a Battle or INT based roll to be aware of the surroundings to be able to make the switch in a highly stressful situation. Attention shift and awareness is likely part of the general risk assessment of combat situations and a skill that the best combatants have to survive a combat. Those that only focus on their direct opponent in a melee are likely to be short lived. Those that are capable of taking in a wider environment are more likely to survive and continue to use that behaviour, which is more adaptive, in future. I have never been in combat so this is very hypothetical but I am reminded of sporting situations in football or rugby where as I am about to make a pass, I see an opposition player that could intercept the ball. I delay the pass, move forward several metres to create a new angle, and then make a safer pass. It all happens in a blink of an eye but requires the use of many skills to assess the situation and adjust my 'statement of intent'. Can I also point out that my sporting career ended a few decades ago.

I'm not sure why you posted this or what the circumstances were that you felt you needed to do so but I felt I had to comment on this @svensson.. not because I want to start a discussion or have an argument.. but because I think it's dangerous, and if you'll forgive me for saying, a lazy argument, to lump all these things together and you need to provide context to statements like that. I'm not sure what you mean by 'born-again'.. but if its about proselytising their views then while I accept vegans very often are emphatic and outspoken about eating flesh and animal cruelty, I've never come across that in atheists. Both are personal views which they are entitled to hold and everyone else can chose to accept them or reject them. Apart from some totalitarian states, atheists and vegans don't ban books because they hold a different world view, they don't believe women should be confined to the home and have as many children as possible or tell women they have no say over their own bodies, to name just a few things that tend to be imposed by minority actions. Those acts are carried out by theists of all faiths. In my view, there are worse things in this world than vegans and atheists. 'Ignorance is bliss' has a context. It's usually to denote inaction when faced with a moral dilemma. Your 'pissed off stupid people' are demanding action on some perceived wrong and just because you or I don't agree with them doesn't necessarily mean their grievances are wrong. They might chose the wrong people to fix the problem, be misinformed about the grievance and react on an emotional level or be told that its easy to be put right by being offered simple solutions to complex issues. I feel that not listening or engaging and not considering their views as valid is wrong and sets up polarities which ends in shouting at each other and not reaching compromise. I find it curious you then disparage the political systems and lump them all together as liars. Yes, there are people that say anything to get elected and then forget about their constituents afterwards to pursue their own agendas or the agendas of those that bankrolled them. However, there are clear differences in world views between left and right and how they see their citizens. I've always thought that the Anglo-Saxon system of government of 'we won- you lost' does not encourage compromise, even if they won by 51%-49%. Ignoring the views of the losing 49% breeds dissatisfaction and anger and worse still in a lot of western countries the voting is so low, it only needs 30% of the population to win an election and impose extremist views on 70% of rest of the voting and non-voting population for the next 4-5 years. Systems of government and voting systems are imperfect, but it is what we have and really if you don't engage with it then by inaction you are complicit.

Excellent.. I used to think history ended on 29th May 1453, but I'm better now and have realised the Capture of Constantinople didn't mean the end of civilisation. Have you looked at Design Mechanisms Mythic Constantinople? Excellent source material. That's an interesting idea. Personally, I wouldn't have set it so high other than for a Bishop. I think there are lots of 'country' priests who can use spells like Heal, Bless Crops, Cure Barrenness, etc that keep the faith going by providing low level 'miracles'. Use of Saints and Angels as 'subcults' can be interesting. I came across an icon in a cobblers shop in Hamburg that was to St Crispin (Patron Saint of Cobblers, Tanners and Leather workers) and thought that it might be useful to have cults that offer skills and minor magics (including summoning elves to finish the shoes you couldn't be bothered to finish yourself). More seriously, a Subcult of Michael the Archangel might be useful for warriors and so on. If I remember correctly, Crusaders of the Amber Coast deals with magic and Christian Priests along with the pagan Slavic gods and shamans. There is also a Frankish Lord in the RQ3 Vikings stats for GMs who has a piece of the True Cross that acts as a spell storage device for Heal Body. I think relics offer an option for one use spells that can be later 're-charged' by appropriate overnight-on-your-knees worship at a major shrine. This is always good for annoying the faithful and the priests.. realpolitik triumphing over fundamentalism and a good source of social, political and religious conflict. Again in RQ3 Vikings there is a Finnish (?) Shaman who unleashes the wind to escape enemies by sailing boat by untying knots in his string fetish. Always interesting ways of portraying magic. The Slavs have a number of small household spirts akin to the huldafolk who can be prevailed upon to carry out small magicks too for the price of a bowl of milk and some cheese. Christianity in 800s, particularly in the provinces, was a mishmash of paganism with a gloss of Christianity over it and many of the 'old ways' were still carried out with the Church's blessing. Consider the excesses of Carnival, particularly the sexual frivolity, that the Church tried to suppress but gave up as it was impossible to quash. How many saints in Ireland are just christianised versions of pagan goddesses? They even have the same attributes, except they had to have an additional feature of being a martyr. I recently re-read Poul Anderson's The Mermaids Children which has an interesting take on Christianity, Faerie and paganism in the Balkans and Hansa areas. I like this.. it brings a sense of jeopardy for the PCs.. not every battle is needed! Although too late for your campaign, the Renaissance interest in Greek philosophy opened up many areas of new thinking. In Prague and Bohemia, astrology, talking to angels, alchemy were state funded and encouraged. However, who is not to say that it started in Constantinople with the vast classical libraries still extant? Some of those libraries had forbidden texts and knowledge from older times. Might be a good idea rather than paying the toll for crossing the bridge though Good luck with the campaign. Sounds interesting.. and do keep us updated

I think the Sorcery rules are being re-written and due for publishing soon in RQG and I suspect new rules for BRP will follow closely. I'm probably in the minority in saying I actually liked the Sorcery rules in RQ3 and the current iterations so I'm probably not the best person to comment on them and others will have a view. In my view, Sorcery is not the fast, snappy instantaneous type of magic unless you want the crowd pleasing cantrip type stuff of making eggs appear out of nostrils or lighting a pipe with a flame from a finger. Sorcery is contemplative, requiring careful preparation, the exact quantities and quality of ingredients, long periods of study and meditation to be in the right frame of mind and then oodles of MPs to make it last longer than a still-born mayfly. The way I see it is that Sorcery is summoning and binding, enchanting, divining (knowledge and power), necromancy, alchemy and blood magic.. all of which take a significant cost in time, energy and often components. Therefore, its not really that attractive to PCs who might want to go adventuring as there is nothing very helpful when faced by the Troll guardian of the bridge you want to cross other than to split the cost with the rest of the party for the toll. I guess it depends on what your world is like. I usually run low magic, more alternative historical type campaigns but sorcery, witches, alchemists, theists, mysticism, Kabbalists etc are all part of it and generally terrify the PCs. Most of the spell casting happens off screen and has been days, weeks or even years in the making when the PCs have to interact with it, so mechanics for me are not that important but rather a focus on the outcome and possibly how to stop the outcome. I sometimes, for effect and because I generally like cinematography, have a Sorcerer cast a flashy, devastating spell that kills an NPC in a horrible and gruesome manner to ground the PCs and make them cautious when dealing with Sorcerers. For instance, when running a Saxon campaign, the Læches usually had their own, very different agendas. Sometimes they coincided with the PCs, sometimes they worked very much against them. The PCs hated the Læches and would happily have killed them but had been on a quest to free their father's spirit and happened upon Nastrond's Hall, where the people who killed Læches (amongst other demeanours) where tortured endlessly. This had a rather sobering effect on the PCs plans to kill the Læche that sacrificed their friends to the spirits. I think it's possible to pick and choose from existing published material for what you want for Sorcery, if it's important to have PCs as Sorcerers. However, whatever you choose, balance is important. Sorcery can be powerful and easy access to high levels of spells leads to the D&D fireball syndrome of rolling too many 1d6 dice.

Intersting @Ian A. Thomson.. I had been reading an article on Missed Connections and how much they can be regretted or what people subsequently do to try and put them right. The flip side of the coin is that sometimes those small things can change the direction of life. Taking that turn, staying somewhere an extra night, a chance smile in a busy café.. or stopping to look at a second hand bookshop. Life can be full of those small decisions..

and for those that don't know the references, there's always Well of Daliath https://wellofdaliath.chaosium.com and this wiki page which gives all the references https://glorantha.fandom.com/wiki/Main_Page