MRQ versus BRP versus OpenQuest versus GORE

[joela]

Hi, y'all. Newbie here. Played RQ v1 back back in high school during the AD&D 1st edition heyday, and offsprings CoC 1st edition and Stormbringer 1st edition, and Hawkmoon 1st edition.

Fast forward nearly two decades. Now there's D&D 3.x (now defunct/living through Paizo's Pathfinder)/4th edition. CoC is, what? Sixth edition/printing? And Runequest is owned/controlled/published by Mongoose and is about to embark on RQ II. Oy vey!

So what, exactly, are the differences between Mongoose's RQ; Basic Roleplaying supp (I have the book); something called "OpenQuest"; and GORE? :confused:

[Newt]

As author of OpenQuest I'm going to be lazy and point you in the direction of the two webpages that explain what Openquest is

The main game page

D101 Games » OpenQuest

and this page which sums up the main features of the game

D101 Games » Contents

I'm sure others will explain the subjective merits of OpenQuest in comparision to other D100 systems, but in short I was aiming to produce a cleaned up version of old skool BRP/RQ mixed in with some of my own house rulings and that was completely OGL so others could use it freely (which they are are I have knowledge of at least four games in development using OQ as a base).

Finally here's the link to the OpenQuest Developers kit, which has the free text only version

http://d101games.co.uk/books/openquest/openquest-developers-kit/

Edited December 28, 2009 by Newt

[joela]

As author of OpenQuest I'm going to be lazy and point you in the direction of the two webpages that explain what Openquest is

The main game page

D101 Games » OpenQuest

and this page which sums up the main features of the game

D101 Games » Contents

I'm sure others will explain the subjective merits of OpenQuest in comparision to other D100 systems, but in short I was aiming to produce a cleaned up version of old skool BRP/RQ mixed in with some of my own house rulings and that was completely OGL so others could use it freely (which they are are I have knowledge of at least four games in development using OQ as a base).

Finally here's the link to the OpenQuest Developers kit, which has the free text only version

D101 Games » OpenQuest Developers Kit

Coolio. Also just discovered this review via Google.

[frogspawner]

So what, exactly, are the differences between Mongoose's RQ; Basic Roleplaying supp (I have the book); something called "OpenQuest"; and GORE? :confused:

Hi Joela. You can judge for yourself - as well as Newt's OpenQuest, the MRQ1 SRD and GORE are available for free in the Downloads area. (I take it you mean you've got the big new BRP book with a mutant 'Vitruvian Man' on the cover, but otherwise the BRP QuickStart is there too).

Obviously most people around here should prefer BRP, including me. These are my reasons:

Mongoose's version is RuneQuest only in name, them having rented the rights to that trademark from Greg Stafford who had nabbed it before Chaosium got their act together. There are quite a few differences from old-time RQ, and not good ones either IMHO - initiative, opposed-roll combat, only-HP-per-location, feat-like Legendary Abilities, a form of experience points instead of skill-ticks, Resilience/Persistemce skills replacing POWx5 and CONx5, and initially cacked-up combat and magic systems (most of which making it more D&D-like). Worst, though, they introduced 'Runes' as magic objects that you had to kill their owners to take - forcing D&D-like behaviour that turned me right off. With the rules They have rights to '2nd age' Glorantha, but not the traditional 3rd-Age/Hero Wars era, and that doesn't interest me.

If you fancy it, though, I'd advise waiting for MRQ2 which looks like it may fix quite a few of those problems.

OpenQuest is based on MRQ1. It's free (or can be), it's out there, and Newt is a nice guy. (But it's still too MRQ-ish for me. Soz!)

GORE is apparently based on MRQ1 blended with Elric!, so is a bit more old-school. It pre-dates the new BRP, and people are a bit wary of it because it 'borrows' heavily from Elric!, but without Chaosium's permission (though it probably is, strictly speaking, legal).

The new BRP is a toolkit of options from CoC and Stormbringer/Elric and the old WorldsOfWonder BRP. But you can stitch together the options to make pretty-much old-school RQ (or a simplifuied version, as is my preference), though it does have a few quirks (like the opposed-roll combat, which is a personal bugbear of mine). But such things are easy to house-rule away...

[seneschal]

Frogspawner gave a good overview, and the differences have been debated to death on this forum (check the old threads). Also, take a glance at my side-by-side comparison of BRP Quick-Start Edition and GORE in the reviews section.

If it looks like a duck and waddles like a duck and quacks like a duck ... then it's probably a cursed Gloranthian denizen best left alone!

[joela]

Hi Joela. You can judge for yourself - as well as Newt's OpenQuest, the MRQ1 SRD and GORE are available for free in the Downloads area. (I take it you mean you've got the big new BRP book with a mutant 'Vitruvian Man' on the cover, but otherwise the BRP QuickStart is there too).

Obviously most people around here should prefer BRP, including me. These are my reasons:

Thanks for the lowdown, frogspawner!

RE: MRQ1. That's a goodly number of changes. Some sound intriguing, some do not. I'll have to grab a copy to check out their implementation. (I think my FLGS may still have one.)

RE: OQ. I'll check it out.

RE: GORE. It's kinda the SRD from Mongoose, eh?

RE: The new BRP and opposed-roll combat. I'm confused. Isn't the latter the old attack versus parry from the original RQ?

[joela]

Also, take a glance at my side-by-side comparison of BRP Quick-Start Edition and GORE in the reviews section.

I'll check it out. Thanks!

[Trifletraxor]

RE: MRQ1. That's a goodly number of changes. Some sound intriguing, some do not. I'll have to grab a copy to check out their implementation. (I think my FLGS may still have one.)

Don't. Wait for MRQ2, the first edition is horribly flawed.

RE: GORE. It's kinda the SRD from Mongoose, eh?

It's the words from the Mongoose SRD twisted in a CoC direction. Not really supported anymore, but hey, it's free.

SGL.

[joela]

Don't. Wait for MRQ2, the first edition is horribly flawed.

It's the words from the Mongoose SRD twisted in a CoC direction. Not really supported anymore, but hey, it's free.

SGL.

Thanks! I'll have to check Mongoose for more RQII news.

[Atgxtg]

RE: The new BRP and opposed-roll combat. I'm confused. Isn't the latter the old attack versus parry from the original RQ?

You've got a right to be confused. The original attack vs. parry system is from RQ, and is also in every incarnation of BRP except BRP itself. Instead BRP uses an opposed resolution mechanic similar to that used in MRQ (for everything except combat).

However, the original, unopposed method is still a viable option in BRP. In fact, one thing about BRP that sets it apart from the rest is that it has several options so that a GM can try to run in in any one of the various incarnations that Chasoium used in the past (CoC, Stormbringer, Worlds of Wonder, RQ3, Elric!, etc.).

IMO it is only semi-successful in this endeavor. Since many of the old Chaosium RPGs are only semi-compatible with each other, BRP had to pick which method to go with as a base, and so it works more like Elric! than anything else.

If you are curious about each I recommend downloading the BRP Quick Start, and the MOngoose SRD.

I also recommend avoid MRQ like the plague. At least until the new edition comes out. IMO, the First Edition is dysfunctional.

In fact, within hours of it's release, the author posted a message on the Mongoose forums stating that the rule book was wrong in its examples of how to play the game. This was followed a few days later by a PDF Player's Upgrade file with the supposed "correct" way. This caused more problems and led to another Update file that tried to fix the problems raised by the first update file.

[TrippyHippy]

The best version of BRP is the Pendragon rules - unless you wish to play in any genre other than Arthurian Romance, where you all play knights! :thumb:

This is really the difference, though, between BRP and most of it's other incarnations: BRP is a broad church of ideas, collected over decades of games and brought into one place. Other specific games are more focused on a particular game style. This includes MRQ, which I agree definitely needed redevelopment after plenty of mistakes were made in the 1st edition.

MRQ2 looks to have made some decent adjustments, according to the previews, but it's major advantages are basically that it's streamlined the design choices for the gamestyle it seeks. Character generation uses cultural/professional packages to build templated characters, the skill system is more integrated with the characteristics, the combat system is more cinematic and tactical in application by default, and it has different set of magic/power systems in operation. It also uses stuff like Hero Points, legendary abilities and combat maneuvers.

To a degree, most of these things could be done with BRP too, but are only provided as options, meaning you have to sort out what you want or don't want in your own games. This can be a liberation for some, but a hassle for others.