Runequest Glorantha, how does this blend in?

[tmanmerlin]

Looking at the RQG version of RQ.  So looks like there are now Rune points, and some other stuff that I was reading in the conversion guide.

Are you playing RQG, those of you long time RQ players?

Looking to get people's good bad and ugly comments about it all.  

I'm enjoying the RQG core rule book, but I have to say the magic system is not so clear.  Spirit, Sorcery, and Rune spells.  Magic points and Rune points and Power.  A lot of moving parts.  I wish there was a straightforward guide to the mechanics of the combat and spells for the RQG edition.

Here is an additional simple question, if you are casting a magic point spell, and it is resisted, does    the caster use their power before the spell is started, or do you take the spells cost off your power for the cast/resist roll.  Is this question even correct?

thanks in advance, my first RQ question on the boards.

Tmanmerlin

Edited August 6, 2020 by tmanmerlin
my spelling is teriblle

[Zit]

Before the spell is started

[Austin]

4 hours ago, tmanmerlin said:

I'm enjoying the RQG core rule book, but I have to say the magic system is not so clear.  Spirit, Sorcery, and Rune spells.  Magic points and Rune points and Power.  A lot of moving parts.  I wish there was a straightforward guide to the mechanics of the combat and spells for the RQG edition.

My suggestion, for starters, is just ignore the Sorcery chapter. It's explicitly incomplete, and makes life easier if you're just starting out with the game to avoid it. If you've got a player who gets attracted to it, let them do the work of learning the system.

You have two main magical resources: magic points and Rune points. Rune points are used for big spells from the gods, and magic points are used for little spells that pretty much anyone can learn. Sometimes, a Rune spell also requires you to spend magic points, but it'll be noted in the spell description. An example is the common Rune spell "Heal Wound," which heals hit points equal to the magic points spent. Your magic points come back over the course of 24 hours, but Rune points only come back when you worship your god.

4 hours ago, tmanmerlin said:

Here is an additional simple question, if you are casting a magic point spell, and it is resisted, does    the caster use their power before the spell is started, or do you take the spells cost off your power for the cast/resist roll.

You always resist spells with your POW characteristic. You always use your POW characteristic to overcome someone else's POW, if that's required to affect them with the spell. In general, if the spell's going to harm them, you need to overcome their POW. How many magic points you have doesn't matter for resisting spells or casting spells on others. It also doesn't impact your casting percentage. There's multiple exceptions to these rules (for example, shamans operate a little differently), but don't worry about them while starting out.

Let's assume I'm playing my Odaylan adventurer, Kali Stormwalker. He has 14 POW, and knows a bunch of different spirit magic spells and Rune spells. If I want to cast a spirit magic spell, I say what spell I'm casting (statement of intent), then say that I'm acting on the appropriate strike rank. This is my DEX SR, plus 1 SR per magic point beyond the first in the spell. I know, that's an awkward phrasing 😕. On that strike rank, I roll my POW×5, or 70%. If I roll under, I've cast the spell successfully, and I reduce my magic points by three to 11. If I fail, I don't touch my magic points. Then if I need to overcome the opponent's POW, my GM will call for me to roll a D100 on the resistance table (and will sometimes ask to double-check what my POW is, cuz I'm a greedy bugger and tend to sacrifice it wantonly for extra Rune points), and he'll compare my 14 to the opponent's. I tell him my roll, and he tells me if I overcame their POW or not.

To cast a Rune spell, you need to roll under your appropriate Rune affinity. You might still need to overcome POW if you're trying to harm someone. If you succeed, you mark down those spent Rune points. You don't have to worry about rolling POW×5. Rune spells are cast on strike rank 1. You can do other stuff after, but you can't cast more than one Rune spell in a round, and you can't cast other magic in the same round you cast a Rune spell.

For example, if I'm casting the Sleep spell I recently won from a ghost on an enemy troll, I declare that I'm casting Sleep. Sleep's a three-point spell, so it takes place on my DEX SR +2 strike ranks. I roll a 45 to cast, comfortably under 70%. Then I roll to overcome my opponent's POW, and roll an 88. My GM informs me that, no, I did not succeed, not by a long way.

The next round I decide "Screw this, I'm just going to smack the troll." So I declare that I'm casting one of my Rune spells, Bear's Strength, then charging. On SR 1 I roll against my Beast Rune 85%, and succeed. I mark off 2 Rune points, leaving me with 7 remaining. My STR characteristic doubles, and I charge the troll with my broadsword, planning to hack them to pieces.

[Arcadiagt5]

The first step in casting spirit magic is a POWx5 roll. If this succeeds, then the magic points for the spell are expended, including any additional magic points committed to overcome resistance such as Countermagic.

The POW vs POW resistance roll takes place after that. 

[Arcadiagt5]

1 minute ago, Crel said:

My suggestion, for starters, is just ignore the Sorcery chapter. It's explicitly incomplete, and makes life easier if you're just starting out with the game to avoid it. If you've got a player who gets attracted to it, let them do the work of learning the system.

THIS. Seriously just say no to sorcery, I've been running the game for over a year now and I still don't understand it. 

The rest of @Crel's response is a solid guide which I also cheerfully endorse. 👍

[soltakss]

4 hours ago, tmanmerlin said:

Are you playing RQG, those of you long time RQ players?

I am not at the moment, but will when we start playing again.

4 hours ago, tmanmerlin said:

Looking to get people's good bad and ugly comments about it all.  

I think it is probably the best version of RQ, but has a lot of flaws, badly-designed rules and internally inconsistent parts.

4 hours ago, tmanmerlin said:

I'm enjoying the RQG core rule book, but I have to say the magic system is not so clear.  Spirit, Sorcery, and Rune spells.  Magic points and Rune points and Power.  A lot of moving parts.  I wish there was a straightforward guide to the mechanics of the combat and spells for the RQG edition.

That would definitely help, with some clear examples of how things work.

4 hours ago, tmanmerlin said:

Here is an additional simple question, if you are casting a magic point spell, and it is resisted, does    the caster use their power before the spell is started, or do you take the spells cost off your power for the cast/resist roll.  Is this question even correct?

The Magic Points are spent when the spell is cast. If you fail your casting roll, the points are not lost, unless you fumble, I think. However, once you have succeeded in casting the spell then the points are spent.

The POW vs POW roll happens after that, when the spell is in motion towards the target.

4 hours ago, tmanmerlin said:

thanks in advance, my first RQ question on the boards.

Welcome aboard.

We are generally a friendly bunch.

[Austin]

3 minutes ago, soltakss said:

I think it is probably the best version of RQ, but has a lot of flaws, badly-designed rules and internally inconsistent parts.

Without getting into the weeds, that's a good summary. If you'd like the details, Tman, there's plenty of 'em in recent threads to gawk at.

By the way, another useful resource is the collected errata at the Well of Daliath website. It's not always helpfully phrased, but it's a good starting point when you have rules questions. The errata's mostly a collection of the posts in the "Core Rules Questions" thread, organized by book and chapter of the rulebooks.

[David Scott]

7 hours ago, tmanmerlin said:

Are you playing RQG, those of you long time RQ players?

Yes

7 hours ago, tmanmerlin said:

I'm enjoying the RQG core rule book, but I have to say the magic system is not so clear.  Spirit, Sorcery, and Rune spells.  Magic points and Rune points and Power.  A lot of moving parts.  I wish there was a straightforward guide to the mechanics of the combat and spells for the RQG edition.

Try to dive in and try to run a game with friends. Learning the game as you go along is a great way of doing it. In my first game we had two sorcerers, an assistant shaman, a hunter and a merchant ! There's no fear of sorcery in my groups. Like all RPGs it's like learning to ride a bicycle.

7 hours ago, tmanmerlin said:

Here is an additional simple question, if you are casting a magic point spell, and it is resisted, does    the caster use their power before the spell is started, or do you take the spells cost off your power for the cast/resist roll.  Is this question even correct?

You resist with your POW and cast with your magic points. Magic points are derived from your POW and are variable, spend them to cast spirit magic.

7 hours ago, tmanmerlin said:

thanks in advance, my first RQ question on the boards.

Welcome aboard.

If you are inclined, there's a few other new player & GM friendly groups at MeWe & Facebook.

[Kloster]

8 hours ago, tmanmerlin said:

Are you playing RQG, those of you long time RQ players?

Not currently, but I tried it.

8 hours ago, tmanmerlin said:

Looking to get people's good bad and ugly comments about it all.

It's quite pretty. Apart that, mixed feelings. Some points are clearly major improvements compared to previous editions, but I am less enthusiastic on some others. All in all, I agree with Soltakss, this is the best version, but with problems.

8 hours ago, tmanmerlin said:

I'm enjoying the RQG core rule book, but I have to say the magic system is not so clear.  Spirit, Sorcery, and Rune spells.  Magic points and Rune points and Power.  A lot of moving parts.  I wish there was a straightforward guide to the mechanics of the combat and spells for the RQG edition.

Yes, you are right, this would help. And examples are needed.

8 hours ago, tmanmerlin said:

Here is an additional simple question, if you are casting a magic point spell, and it is resisted, does    the caster use their power before the spell is started, or do you take the spells cost off your power for the cast/resist roll.  Is this question even correct?

The question is correct. You roll POWx5, if successful, spend the Magic Points, then test the resistance.

8 hours ago, tmanmerlin said:

thanks in advance, my first RQ question on the boards.

Welcome on board.

[jajagappa]

10 hours ago, tmanmerlin said:

Are you playing RQG, those of you long time RQ players?

Looking to get people's good bad and ugly comments about it all.  

I'm enjoying the RQG core rule book, but I have to say the magic system is not so clear.  Spirit, Sorcery, and Rune spells. 

Yes, long-time RQ player and have been running RQG for 2+ years now.

Love RQG.  Really love the addition of Runes, Passions, augments onto the core game.

Bad/Ugly?  Some text in book unclear or confusing.  Most of that has Errata, Fixes, or else extensive discussions in these forums.  Nothing that has prevented me from playing or enjoying the game.

Magic. 

Spirit magic is simplest.  You learn the spell and you manipulate a small change in the world.  POW x5% roll to cast.  Expend Magic Points for the spell.  And in some cases overcome target resistance by making POW vs POW resistance roll.

Rune magic is more powerful and is channeling the power of the gods.  You need to have sacrificed POW for Rune Points in advance.  Rune % to cast.  Expend # of Rune Points for the spell.  In some cases overcome target resistance by making POW vs POW resistance roll.  

As others have noted, Sorcery is the most complex to work with.  Some ignore or just don't have characters that would use.  You need to learn specific Runes and Techniques (note these are not the same Runes as your character has, but ones you've learned to manipulate).  Once you know those, then you can learn Sorcery spells associated with those Runes and Techniques.  You get a starting % to cast the spell (to which your magic bonus may be added).  You expend Magic Points to manipulate the intensity of the spell (strength, duration, range), and in this way it is the most flexible in use.  If targeting a foe, you still must overcome their resistance by making a POW vs POW resistance roll.

[Jason D]

11 hours ago, tmanmerlin said:

Here is an additional simple question, if you are casting a magic point spell, and it is resisted, does    the caster use their power before the spell is started, or do you take the spells cost off your power for the cast/resist roll.  Is this question even correct?

If you were able to successfully cast the spell (the POWx5 roll succeeded) then the magic points are spent immediately. 

Your chance to cast a spell is based off POWx5, not magic points, and (IIRC) every spell uses POW instead of current magic points for the resistance roll. 

[Trotsky]

Hi tmanmerlin,

I cannot be called a long time RQ player – although I played a lot of RQ2 in the early eighties. Back then the world of Glorantha was very mysterious for us, glimpsed only through tomes such as Cults of Prax and Terror. There was no internet back then and so the mantra YGMV was inherent in everyone’s game. 

RQ2 was great system and completely converted my friends and I from D&D. I am returning to role-playing and took the plunge a few months ago to learn the RQ:G. 

I am a couple of sessions into running my first campaign for… nearly 40 years! The rules are a little vague in places – but as others have said the new/revised/repurposed system works.

Much of the system is still recognisable to me. The removal of a separate parry skill surprised me at first but now we are playing it doesn’t bother me a bit – and it is one less thing to track. I, and the players in the campaign I am running, really love the integration of family history and detail in adventurer creation – it has really sparked some excellent roleplay and character development. An added bonus is that all the work put into a character’s backstory can even continue after their death as there are usually several family members that can pick up from where the previous character left off.

By far my favourite addition is the central role runes now have in the game – it is called RuneQuest after all! Rolling for inspiration from runes and passions really amp up the roleplaying and character immersion. You will find some discussion on how different groups use these on the forums here – I tend to let the players create a rationale on why such and such would inspire them and if it adds to the story them I allow it. I did create a simple A4 chart on the runes that the players have access to when deciding on inspiration.

The spirit magic system is much improved over RQ2 (although I think these changes occurred in RQ3 – which I never owned or played). Separating magic points from POW definitely improves the previous magic system. Rune magic is completely different – it used to be quite rare and now is far more common. I suppose these powerful spells reflect the more powerful characters are in RQ:G over RQ2. The general ramping up of magic in the game system I think gives RQ:G as far more magical and heroic feel. That being said we are running Six Seasons in Sartar (from Jonstown Compendium) in which the characters start younger and with corresponding less abilities and skills. Sorcery was introduced in RQ3 so I have never used it – none of the current adventurers in our campaign have any so I am safely ignoring it for now.

Overall I am very pleased with the latest version of RuneQuest – it has been fascinating returning to Glorantha and seen how it has grown and evolved. But best of all in our game last night when broos attacked the party and I threw the (virtual) dice, I felt the same excitement I did all those years ago sitting on the floor of my friend Greg’s sitting room trying to defend Gringles Pawnshop. Whatever flaws the game has those experiences are priceless…

Rune Inspiration.pdf

[Nick Brooke]

11 hours ago, tmanmerlin said:

Are you playing RQG, those of you long time RQ players?

Yes: I' was running mostly-monthly RQG sessions for two groups, from when the game came out in print right up until lockdown bit. I started with RQ2 in 1980-ish and swapped to RQ3 in 1984, but hadn't played previous versions of RQ since the nineties (other than one-off con games). Not a Mongoose fan, to put it mildly.

I'm a big fan of this new edition; while it'd be nice if it had somehow made more of a break with its simulationist roots, since it's BRP-based everything makes sense and hangs together nicely enough. There is some inherited clunkiness that doesn't get in the way of my fun. We don't use Sorcery, but I have a lot of fun with the group's trainee Shaman.

[Lordabdul]

16 hours ago, Crel said:

Then if I need to overcome the opponent's POW, my GM will call for me to roll a D100 on the resistance table [...], and he'll compare my 14 to the opponent's. I tell him my roll, and he tells me if I overcame their POW or not.

For what it's worth, this is absolutely the way to GM it in my opinion: the player gets to roll, but they don't know how much POW the enemy has exactly. I usually also do a quick narration to give a vague idea if the player's roll was close or wide of the mark.

Edited August 6, 2020 by lordabdul