What should I run?

[icebrand]

Players are (almost) complete newbies to RPGs (but they are getting 2d6+6 all stats and RQG rules, not Classic). I think most played very few DnD. 

If i run borderlands they are a band of adventurers the duke recruits at horns gate. I'll start with them negotiating the contract with the duke.

Maybe make them run rainbow mounds as 1st adventure (and maaaaaaybe griswalds pawnshop as 2nd)?

If i run Land of Doom... I never ran it before 😕 but the first spider encounter seems amazing and the second one with the scorpion men is to die for!

 

Edited March 12, 2021 by icebrand

[jajagappa]

1 hour ago, icebrand said:

If i run Risklands they are a band of adventurers the duke recruits at horns gate. I'll start with them negotiating the contract with the duke.

Assume you meant Borderlands here, but it's a very good starting adventure.  I'm in a Borderlands campaign right now that includes a couple folk new to RQG, as well as some veterans.  You can start them either at Horn Gate or Pavis.  The opening scenario scouting the land is a good chance to introduce them to the setting.  Plus, the character background works well for it (though I would recommend having folk start as Praxians so you don't have to deal with 'language' barriers).

1 hour ago, icebrand said:

If i run Land of Doom...

I have it, but haven't run it.  You could use character background from either Sartar or Tarsh fairly readily for the new settlers.  But Dorastor is a killing ground.  As a plus, you can add in ideas from Simon Phipp's https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/318512/Secrets-of-Dorastor

[icebrand]

1 minute ago, jajagappa said:

Assume you meant Borderlands here,

Yes, thank you!

[Bill the barbarian]

1 hour ago, jajagappa said:

I have it, but haven't run it.  You could use character background from either Sartar or Tarsh fairly readily for the new settlers.  But Dorastor is a killing ground.  As a plus, you can add in ideas from Simon Phipp's https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/318512/Secrets-of-Dorastor

The RQG CharGen create new adventurers that are quite a bit more powerful than RQG characters were at creation. Might help in Dorastor, might not.

[Questbird]

I ran Troubled Waters from River of Cradles as my first Runequest adventure. I started Borderlands later but by then the characters had no interest in working for Duke Raus. We completed the first adventure, then transported far away via a mystic portal from Horn Gate.

I've got Dorastor: Land of Doom but I've never run it and it looks like it is designed to slaughter PCs (think Tomb of Horrors in AD&D). So probably not such a great choice for a first adventure, if that's what you meant.

 

Edited March 12, 2021 by Questbird

[soltakss]

Borderlands is a solid and fun campaign, they would enjoy it.

However, I voted for Risklands, for purely selfish reasons, as you could buy Secrets of Dorastor for lots of ideas how to expand a Risklands campaign.

8 hours ago, icebrand said:

If i run Land of Doom... I never ran it before 😕 but the first spider encounter seems amazing and the second one with the scorpion men is to die for!

The actual scenarios in the Risklands campaign are OK, but nothing spectacular. The strength of a Risklands campaign is that you can interact with Dorastor as much or as little as you want, but it is always there, simmering in the background.

[Thaz]

I think Dorastor is a little much for new folks whereas Prax and the Borderlands is such a great setting and leads into the 90's Sun County etc

 

Personally however I think I'd be looking at the new RQG Gm Pack, TSR and PP and the forthcoming starter set. Why take a backseat to the hero wars when you can be at ground zero?

[Akhôrahil]

6 hours ago, Questbird said:

I've got Dorastor: Land of Doom but I've never run it and it looks like it is designed to slaughter PCs (think Tomb of Horrors in AD&D). So probably not such a great choice for a first adventure, if that's what you meant.

The Risklands campaign is more Icelandic saga, if Iceland was neighbour to Tentacle Mordor. It’s fairly low-level as long as you don’t go wild with sticking your head into Dorastor.

[Goldennose]

Borderlands is a fantastic introduction to Glorantha. That or Six Seasons in Sartar are the best way to introduce Glorantha to new players.

[David Scott]

I've run both. One was grim, one was fun, run Borderlands (then Griffin Mountain, they are linked)

[Ian Absentia]

22 hours ago, Thaz said:

Personally however I think I'd be looking at the new RQG Gm Pack, TSR and PP and the forthcoming starter set. Why take a backseat to the hero wars when you can be at ground zero?

Because Borderlands will effectively be a preamble to the Hero Wars, and by the time the events of the GM pack roll around, the characters will be seasoned veterans tied to the setting and well positioned to take the front seat.  Note that a lot of the really significant events from the Family History tables take place in Prax.  Why roll randomly when you can actually play them in person?

As others have pointed out above, Borderlands is a fantastic adventure, and can still tie Sartar exiles to their homecoming in the 1625-era.  If it's good enough for Argrath, it's good enough for your players.

!i!

[NB: Argrath actually appears in the Pavis boxed adventure episode, "The Cradle".  But as goes the Zol Fel, so goes Argrath.]

Edited March 13, 2021 by Ian Absentia
"Preamble"? Dude, prelude.

[icebrand]

18 hours ago, David Scott said:

I've run both. One was grim, one was fun, run Borderlands (then Griffin Mountain, they are linked)

Griffin mountain? I think you misspelled snake pipe hollow 🤣

[Dissolv]

Risklands is awesome in its concept, I had great fun with that one....for a short time.

Borderlands is possibly the best introductory campaign pack ever published for any game.  For new players there just isn't a contest.  Work up to Risklands, and use it as an outlet for Rune levels who insist on annoying the Lunars.

[icebrand]

14 hours ago, Dissolv said:

Risklands is awesome in its concept, I had great fun with that one....for a short time.

Borderlands is possibly the best introductory campaign pack ever published for any game.  For new players there just isn't a contest.  Work up to Risklands, and use it as an outlet for Rune levels who insist on annoying the Lunars.

I'm worried about the first scenario being pretty weak for a new group and second kinda horrible too (ducks don't work as your first ever opposition, and they are awesome at shaking things up, change my mind)

I should open with rainbow mounds. It will make scouting the land 100x better. And i can run gringle's pawnshop 2nd session...

Dammit icebrand, you are pulling a reverse apple lane again... I hate myself sometimes 😞

 

 

 

Edited March 14, 2021 by icebrand

[David Scott]

1 hour ago, icebrand said:

I should open with rainbow mounds. It will make scouting the land 100x better. And i can run griswold's pawnshop 2nd session...

Dammit icebrand, you are pulling a reverse apple lane again... I hate myself sometimes

If you are going to run Apple Lane, then the RQG GM Screen Pack is far better than the old adventure pack. It doesn't have the Gringle's Pawnshop or the Rainbow mounds. What it does have is an up to date setting and adventures that integrate the players into it, It even links to the other new adventure books. You can reset Gringle's Pawnshop to a later date and location (I'm going use it as Sora Goodseller's house in Clearwine) and the Rainbow mounds is an easy add on once the players are settled.

Rainbow mounds is a dungeon crawl, whereas Defending Apple Lane is the opposite.

I've a new group and that's what I started with. I thought of going back to older material, but I've played it all before and although Borderlands is excellent, Raus will be gone in  a few years. 

[icebrand]

1 hour ago, David Scott said:

If you are going to run Apple Lane, then the RQG GM Screen Pack is far better than the old adventure pack. It doesn't have the Gringle's Pawnshop or the Rainbow mounds. What it does have is an up to date setting and adventures that integrate the players into it, It even links to the other new adventure books. You can reset Gringle's Pawnshop to a later date and location (I'm going use it as Sora Goodseller's house in Clearwine) and the Rainbow mounds is an easy add on once the players are settled.

Rainbow mounds is a dungeon crawl, whereas Defending Apple Lane is the opposite.

I've a new group and that's what I started with. I thought of going back to older material, but I've played it all before and although Borderlands is excellent, Raus will be gone in  a few years. 

I'm skipping gringle's (griswold's 🤣 whoosh). I don't like that scenario; I'll just run rainbow mounds from horns gate and call it a day.

The PC s are the surviving members of a mercenary company that will be looking for work at horns gate. Then bam! Rainbow mounds.

[Darius West]

On 3/12/2021 at 10:12 AM, icebrand said:

Players are (almost) complete newbies to RPGs (but they are getting 2d6+6 all stats and RQG rules, not Classic). I think most played very few DnD. 

If i run borderlands they are a band of adventurers the duke recruits at horns gate. I'll start with them negotiating the contract with the duke.

Maybe make them run rainbow mounds as 1st adventure (and maaaaaaybe griswalds pawnshop as 2nd)?

If i run Land of Doom... I never ran it before 😕 but the first spider encounter seems amazing and the second one with the scorpion men is to die for!

 

Borderlands is a classic setting for introducing players to RQ.  Risklands by comparison is where high level characters go to die.

[soltakss]

6 hours ago, Darius West said:

Risklands by comparison is where high level characters go to die.

Depends on the GM.

I see it as a place where they go to change.

[Darius West]

2 hours ago, soltakss said:

Depends on the GM.

I see it as a place where they go to change.

Wrong rune buddy 🙂

[French Desperate WindChild]

9 hours ago, Darius West said:

Risklands by comparison is where high level characters go to die.

I think you can have two very differents way

 

- "chaos monster hunt" and yes they die

- settler social campaign, here new pc can survive (or at least some of them) if they don't try to provoke powerful opponents and try diplomacy before every thing

but seems to me harder  for new players to start Glorantha there

[soltakss]

11 hours ago, Darius West said:

Wrong rune buddy 🙂

Pocharngo would disagree ...

[Darius West]

23 hours ago, soltakss said:

Pocharngo would disagree ...

And a minute later he would change his opinion.