Tell me about your campaigns?

[Deanjday]

I am trying to decide how, where and when to start my Runequest campaign with my group. None of them have much experience with Runequest or Glorantha as such, so my options are wide open. 

To help me decide, I wanted to ask some questions of the community about there own ongoing campaigns. 

1. Which version of Runequest do you run? Or perhaps even another system? 

2. How long have you ran your campaign? 

3. What time period in Glorantha did you start? 

4. Where in Glorantha did you start? What regions has your campaign covered since? 

5. Where are your pcs from? 

6. What products from any version of Runequest have you used? Which were particularly useful? 

7. Is it a sandbox or more plot led campaign? 

8. How much have you followed the arching events of the time period or has your Glorantha varied? 

9. How would you describe your campaign? 

10. What advice would you give newbie gms to runequest and glorantha? 

 

When replying to the thread, don't feel you have to answer every question, just the ones that intrest you. Really curious about how long term runequest gms run their campaigns. 

[RandomNumber]

Hello,

My desire to read, write and play Glorantha and RQ material far exceeds the time I have available. My answers therefore reflect a 'path of least resistance'.

1. RQG
2. Started in May after a c.25 year RPG 'deep freeze'
3. Earth Season 1625
4. Sartar. Colymar lands thus far. Ranging from the Broken Tower (Quickstart) in the South to Apple Lane (GM Adventures) in the North.
5. Ernaldoring clan. Mostly descendants of a notable but bastard daughter of Brandgor, grandfather of Chief Baranthos.
6. GM Screen Maps+Adventures book (indispensable), Glorantha Sourcebook (interesting background), Glorantha Bestiary (expanding on Aldryami in Tarndisi's Grove), HQ Sartar Companion (useful background on Sartar, Encounters, Clans, Personalities, Locations), Duel at Dangerford (ideas and background), Six Seasons in Sartar (ideas).
7. Published scenarios, linked by GM whim and events of the party's own making with reference to sandbox elements of GM Adventures.
8. Haven't gotten far enough for it to diverge very much but see Duel at Dangerford for a neat example of making deviations work.
9. No idea how to respond, sorry. Like asking the goldfish to describe what the goldfish bowl looks like from the outside. Fun, I hope.  The players want to do more but they haven't played RPGs in 25 years either so I'm not sure they are the best judges.
10. Roll some characters and start with something low-key. Introduce elements of Glorantha as you see fit. Most importantly - give it a go and if you are enjoying it then you're doing it right. Concepts such as YGWV and MGF are important. You bought the rules, it's your game now no-one else's.  Another good areas to start is Sun County on the River of Cradles as it's a fairly long way from anywhere and the locals are insular (the Sandheart series of scenarios on JC is worth a look).

NB I play on Roll20, not face-to-face. If the RQ character sheet were not available in Roll20 I expect we would have put RQG in the 'too hard' basket and be playing something else instead (CoC probably). I should add that I discovered this website https://basicroleplaying.net/rqg/adversaries/index.php from listening to Chaosium's Ian Cooper on a podcast - it is a revelation for GM enablement and well worth a look. 

Hope this helps,

Edited July 28, 2021 by RandomNumber

[jajagappa]

4 hours ago, Deanjday said:

I am trying to decide how, where and when to start my Runequest campaign with my group. None of them have much experience with Runequest or Glorantha as such, so my options are wide open. 

To help me decide, I wanted to ask some questions of the community about there own ongoing campaigns. 

1. Which version of Runequest do you run? Or perhaps even another system? 

2. How long have you ran your campaign? 

3. What time period in Glorantha did you start? 

4. Where in Glorantha did you start? What regions has your campaign covered since? 

5. Where are your pcs from? 

6. What products from any version of Runequest have you used? Which were particularly useful? 

7. Is it a sandbox or more plot led campaign? 

8. How much have you followed the arching events of the time period or has your Glorantha varied? 

9. How would you describe your campaign? 

10. What advice would you give newbie gms to runequest and glorantha? 

 

When replying to the thread, don't feel you have to answer every question, just the ones that intrest you. Really curious about how long term runequest gms run their campaigns. 

1. RQG

2. 4 years, starting with the Broken Tower Quickstart.

3. 1625 and on (currently late 1626).

4. Sartar - as far south as the Kitori Woods, as far north as Snakepipe Hollow, soon to go west into the Grazelands.

5. Mostly Sartar (Colymar), one Praxian shaman.

6. RQG Core rules, Bestiary, GM Adventures, and Red Book of Magic; Broken Tower Quickstart - nice beginning scenario; about to run Smoking Ruins and have used other characters from that book.  Also use the Glorantha Sourcebook, the Stafford Library works Heortland Mythology and History of the Heortling Peoples, and the HQG products: Sartar: Kingdom of Heroes and Sartar Companion for ideas. 

7. Largely plot-led, largely scenarios of my own creation. 

8. Have largely followed and PC's were at the Battle of the Queens.

9. Campaign to shape the future of the Colymar tribe.

10. Start with some of the basic scenarios to learn RQG.  Broken Tower is very good.  GM Adventures are very good.  Pegasus Plateau has good scenarios.  There's no need to absorb all of Glorantha to play - just get going in a small area.  Between background about the Homelands in the RQG Core book, and material in the scenario books, there's more than enough to get started and just get a feel for what you and your players find interesting.

Edited July 28, 2021 by jajagappa

[Godlearner]

Quote

1. Which version of Runequest do you run? Or perhaps even another system? 

RQ3+

Quote

2. How long have you ran your campaign? 

About 20 years

Quote

3. What time period in Glorantha did you start? 

Originally 1616

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4. Where in Glorantha did you start? What regions has your campaign covered since? 

It started in Pavis, but has moved off unto an island, far, far away

Quote

5. Where are your pcs from? 

Currently, one PC is from Dara Happa, the rest are island natives

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6. What products from any version of Runequest have you used? Which were particularly useful? 

Too many to list, but safe to say at least 80% of them

Quote

7. Is it a sandbox or more plot led campaign? 

Combination. I have an Arc in mind and when certain events occur, but letting the PCs drive the action.

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8. How much have you followed the arching events of the time period or has your Glorantha varied? 

Initially it followed, but after the Cradle its on its own track.

Quote

9. How would you describe your campaign? 

That's a hard one. I would say I do what I feel my players want to happen.

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10. What advice would you give newbie gms to runequest and glorantha? 

Don't get hung up on canon, do what is fun. If you want to hack and slash, then hack and slash. If a rule seems too restrictive, then change it. Have fun!

[Runeblogger]

1. When I restart my campaign I plan to use RQG with parts from RQ3 (we started the campaign with RQ3+). 

2. There have been several long hiatus in between, but I'd say 4 years.

3. 1619 ST

4. Started in New Pavis, then moved to Sun County and the Zola Fel valley. There have been quick forays into Sartar and the Wastes.

5. 1 Pavic, 2 Sartarites, 2 Praxians, 1 Caladralander.

6. Pavis & Big Rubble, Borderlands reprints by Moon Design (RQ2), River of Cradles (RQ3), Sun County (RQ3), Ian Thompson's fanzines about Pavis & the Zola Fel valley. 

7. Plot led, although I try to accommodate the players' goals as they coalesce.

8. I don't care much. The PCs have just learnt about the Lunar invasion of Karse and Heortland. I'd like them to free Pavis. I choose what year exactly the canonic events happen.

9. Fortune seekers in Pavis and the Zola Fel valley, possibly future liberators of the city.

10. See here for some advice.

[ChrisJ]

OK here go's mine:

1. RQG

2. Nearly 3 years

3. 1625

4. Started in Johnstown - have ranged as fae East as Pavis/North to Aldur-Chur/West to Hope Valley/South to Nochet

5. 2 Praxian's, 1 Esrolian, 1 Sartar

6. All of them

7. Sandbox

8. The events have mostly provided the backdrop for the PCs to act upon - although they are now heavilly involved in the Battle of Queens

9. Hero's of the Hero Wars (meaning our PCs will be the Hero's in the events attributed in the histories to others)

10. Prob my biggest mistake was having the PC's from such diverse backgrounds - difficult to focus on the PC's relationships and relations when their from so many different locations - results in very cyclical focus depending on the location of the PCs.  If I was starting over I would have asked the PCs to pick one or 2 closely located cultures.

[ffilz]

8 hours ago, Deanjday said:

 

RQ1.5 (RQ1 plus some choice bits from RQ2 and RQ3)

 

Almost 3 years now

 

1621 or so (I’m really not up on the timeline)

 

Started in Apple Lane with Rainbow Mounds headed to Alone for training then Wyrms Ghost Ruins then Jonstown for healing then follow the roads to Torkan’s Last Fort. Then off road to Tada’s High Tumulus then to Pavis and the Big Rubble. Soon to head downriver to Dyskund Caverns. 
 

PCs from Sartar and Prax

 

Apple Lane (RQ1), Lair of the White Wyrm (White Dwarf magazine), Pavis and Big Rubble (RQ2), map from RQ3 Trollpak, various other bits. Big use of the Trolls and Trollkin, Militia and Mercenaries, Creatures of Chaos and Foes. 
 

Started as “here’s the adventure” but more sandbox now. 

My Glorantha is my Glorantha. Definitely not canon. 
 

Old school adventure. 
 

Listen to others advice 🙂 mine is to grab RQ1 or RQ2, Cult of Prax and done classic adventures... I think fir newbies these days RQG and some adventures for it are the best way to go unless you really like old school. 

[dumuzid]

9 hours ago, Deanjday said:

1. Which version of Runequest do you run? Or perhaps even another system? 

2. How long have you ran your campaign? 

3. What time period in Glorantha did you start? 

4. Where in Glorantha did you start? What regions has your campaign covered since? 

5. Where are your pcs from? 

6. What products from any version of Runequest have you used? Which were particularly useful? 

7. Is it a sandbox or more plot led campaign? 

8. How much have you followed the arching events of the time period or has your Glorantha varied? 

9. How would you describe your campaign? 

10. What advice would you give newbie gms to runequest and glorantha? 

1) RQG.  I've sometimes referenced rules material from other editions, but only to port things into RQG

2) We've playing every week or two since late June of last year.  With five players and a GM spread across five time zones and two continents scheduling can get tricky

3) 1626, the only way we diverged from RQG core book character creation was to allow Elder Race adventurers.

4) The first year of the campaign was set in Pavis and the wider Zola Fel basin.  Action has mostly taken place between Corflu and the Blue Sable Altar.

5) Most are from Prax or Pavis, one is a Sartarite duck by way of Esrolia, the other a Lunar Tarshite renegade.

6) The RQG Adventure Book has excellent appendices that I use most every session.  The Bestiary and the Red Book of Magic come up almost every session too.   I've been using the HeroQuest supplement Pavis: Gateway to Adventure as my main setting book for the region, supplemented by the Guide to Glorantha and the Glorantha Sourcebook.  I've made use of Drastic Resolutions: Darkness and the old Trollpak for portraying Darkness entities and goods.

7) There's a plot thread, and each season the players get a discrete mission from their patron, but they have pretty wide latitude in how they accomplish their goals.

8) I've payed pretty close attention to the timeline of events as presented in RQG, partly to follow it carefully, and partly to diverge from it in considered ways.

9) The premise is that the player characters are part of the first cadres of Eaglebrown Warlocks trained by Argrath.  They've been doing missions for him up and down the Zola Fel since Sea 1626, and it's now mid-Storm of that year.  in Sea Season they plan to take ship with Gebel, the Teshnan hero-sailor, and Gabaryanga the Fonritian rebel slave, on the quest for the Red Sword of Tolat and the Bones of Artmal, as Argrath's agents to ensure the quests' success.

10) Read the Guide to Glorantha section about whatever region you're setting your game in.  develop in advance a sense of what mythic and elemental forces will fill out the opposition to your players.  Read Greg Stafford's Arcane Lore.  And don't be afraid to embrace the lighter, sillier elements of the setting; getting ducks involved is always good for lightening the mood, between grimmer and more serious subject matter.

Edited July 28, 2021 by dumuzid

[StephenMcG]

8 hours ago, Deanjday said:

I am trying to decide how, where and when to start my Runequest campaign with my group. None of them have much experience with Runequest or Glorantha as such, so my options are wide open. 

To help me decide, I wanted to ask some questions of the community about there own ongoing campaigns.

1. Started with RQ2 but kind of moved it to RQG.

2. This one is barely a year or two in.

3. 1616 was the start, each adventure takes place in a season, so time moves quickly and I provide players with training and background advancement each season.

4. It is a Pavis campaign that roles up and down the Zoka Fel Valley.

5. Pavis, the Big Rubble and Prax

6. I gave used bits from so many but I heavily draw on Pavis and the Big Rubble, Sun County, and all the Ian Thompson companion books for Pavis.

7. It is heavily scripted by me, things happen but the order is pretty much determined by the players actions. I am instilling a mythic feel  the players feel they are part of an overall storyline which they influence.
8. I am heavily invested in the campaign, as supplemented by Ian Thompson.

9. Highly individualised. I am looking for the focus to be on how the characters interact with the mythology of Glorantha, potentially becoming a part of it.  I use Heroquest versions of the characters to play in the hero plane.

10. Relax. You won't know close to 1% of the existing material but you know 100% more than the players.  Stay a page ahead and you will be a master.  Learn what you want, along with the players. Have a blast.

[Jape_Vicho]

1) RuneQuest Glorantha.

2) The current campaign started about 9 months ago but examination periods and other incidents have caused the lose of 3 months or more.

3) Late Earth Season 1625, the start indicated in the GameMaster's Screen Pack Campaign.

4) Colymar lands, and we have not ventured far, only Colymar and Malani tribal lands so far.

5) Two of them are two Colymar soblings, a warrior of Elmal and a healer of Chalana Arroy. Other is a Humakti Durulz orphan originally from the ducklands but mostly raised in Lismelder lands. The fourth is an Uzko from the Troll Woods. Recently we added a Pol-Joni shaman.

6) The Rulebook, Bestiary and GM's Screen Pack. Those are all must haves, and I recommend reading some commentaries on the adventures of the latter product in order to improve them. (For exemple, the ones from this blog https://monstersandmusings.blogspot.com/).

7) The best definition would be "episodic".

😎 (this is an 8 ) ) We're still at late 1625 so there hasn't been time for much change or events, but I have followed Nick Brooke's timeline and ideas regarding the Battle of the Queens. No other major change that I can remember.

9) I have pretty strong criticisms of my own work. I would describe it as "underwhelming" even though my players say otherwise.

10) I would recommend you to start with "underpowered" or "young" characters, meaning PCs that have just reached adukthood and thus have only 3 spirit magic spells and 1 RP, in my opinion this makes for a greater progression that the players would probably enjoy more, but you know your players best so you would know if they would enjoy it.

[Arcadiagt5]

11 hours ago, RandomNumber said:

if you are enjoying it then you're doing it right.

THIS. Oh so very much this.

[Yinkin]

On 7/28/2021 at 10:28 AM, Deanjday said:

1. Which version of Runequest do you run? Or perhaps even another system? 

2. How long have you ran your campaign? 

3. What time period in Glorantha did you start? 

4. Where in Glorantha did you start? What regions has your campaign covered since? 

5. Where are your pcs from? 

6. What products from any version of Runequest have you used? Which were particularly useful? 

7. Is it a sandbox or more plot led campaign? 

8. How much have you followed the arching events of the time period or has your Glorantha varied? 

9. How would you describe your campaign? 

10. What advice would you give newbie gms to runequest and glorantha? 

 

I am about to begin a new campaign so I am in the prep stage rn. Session Zero is planned for late august.

1. We're going to use RQ:G. I have not ran or played RQ since the 90's so this will be like a homecoming to a new, refurbished house! 🙂

3. I am going to use the HQ Coming Storm/Eleven Lights as a base and starting poing so we are beginning in 1618.

4. It will all begin in Sartar, Cinsina lands, Red Cow clan.

5. I do not know yet! Other than that the one player who has Glorantha knowledge has talked about Babeester Gor, and my partner who played the Quickstart as Yanioth enjoyed calling forth the Earth Bull. (I played fast and loose with the description of the Earth Elemental she called.)

10. Begin small! Select a location, a clan, a city, a place to begin. A culture to focus on. Later you can branch out and add in other cultures, elder races, more weirdness. But begin small and build on that base. You do not need to know everything! In fact, trying to know everything is probably a bad idea. And YGWV!

[Rodney Dangerduck]

1. Which version...?     

RQG 

2. How long...?   

2 Years

3. What time period?   

1625, now entering 1627

4. Where in Glorantha did you start?    Sartar
What regions has your campaign covered since?   Sartar & Prax

5. Where are your pcs from?   

Mainly Sartar-Colymar-Taraling, with fraternal twins (brother and sister) and a cousin.  Two twin sisters from Boldhome.  Plus the pregen Sorala

6. What products have you used? Which were particularly useful?   

Many, most of them.  If forced to be more specific, I enjoyed Duel at Dangerford, and was least happy with Smoking Ruins.  YMMV.

7. Is it a sandbox or more plot led campaign?   

More plot lead, but some sandbox.  We want the PCs to have major "agency".

8. How much have you followed the arching events...? 

So far we have largely followed the official Hero Wars plotline, and, as emissaries from Leika, we travelled to Pavis to meet with Argrath.  But I'm pretty sure that there will be significant deviations soon.  Which, according to Greg and Jeff, is what you are supposed to do to spare Glorantha from the worst excesses of Argrath.  Just for starters:

1. Elusu is a scumbag.
2. Jaldon is a barbarian tyrant apparently modeled on Pol Pot,.  Some of us like our cities.
3. Harrek ain't so great either...
4. Not sure how we will feel about wiping out the Telmori
5. There's chemistry between my PC and Annstad of Dunstop.   And, er, blushes, some buns in the oven.
6. Shockingly, none of our PCs are mentioned as great heroes in the source material.  This must change!

9. How would you describe your campaign?   

Emphasis on roleplaying, puzzle solving, and wargaming.  Not much storytelling.  Or, where the GM does try storytelling, some of us doze off.  🙂

10. What advice would you give newbie gms to runequest and glorantha? 

You will absolutely have to make things up, either how the rules work or how Glorantha works.  Get used to it, don't fret, and enjoy it.

[soltakss]

RQ2 campaign:

1. Which version of Runequest do you run? Or perhaps even another system? 

• RQ2

2. How long have you ran your campaign? 

• 1986-1990

3. What time period in Glorantha did you start? 

• 1618-1624

4. Where in Glorantha did you start? What regions has your campaign covered since? 

• Multi-GM, Multi-region campaign

5. Where are your pcs from? 

• Sartar, Prax, Dagori Inkarth, Sun County

6. What products from any version of Runequest have you used? Which were particularly useful? 

• RQ2 supplements and packs, the campaign packs were particularly useful

7. Is it a sandbox or more plot led campaign? 

• Plot-led, as it was multi-GM, each GM had their own scenarios to run.

8. How much have you followed the arching events of the time period or has your Glorantha varied? 

• We did not care about the official time period.

9. How would you describe your campaign? 

• Mad, bad and dangerous to know.

10. What advice would you give newbie gms to runequest and glorantha? 

• Forget rules complexities, strip it down to the basics. 
• Start small and work up.
• Don't use the rules to work out why something should not work, assume that things should work unless there is a glaringly obvious reason why not.
• Don't be afraid to make house rules
• If a plot point might not be in the rules, still use it, plot should trump rules
• Use things from the Jonstown Compendium as much as official works
• Make up your own scenarios
• Don't flood Players with loads of background, introduce things drop by drop

[soltakss]

RQ3 Campaign (Continuation of RQ2 Campaign but with 1 GM):

1. Which version of Runequest do you run? Or perhaps even another system? 

• RQ3, heavily modified at the end

2. How long have you ran your campaign? 

• 1990-1996

3. What time period in Glorantha did you start? 

• 1624-Hero Wars

4. Where in Glorantha did you start? What regions has your campaign covered since? 

• We played in Dorastor, Balazar, Dagori Inkarth and Sartar, which is where the main PCs had interests

5. Where are your pcs from? 

• Sartar, Prax, Dagori Inkarth, Sun County

6. What products from any version of Runequest have you used? Which were particularly useful? 

• All RQ3 supplements. Dorastor Land of Doom and Lords of Terror were useful, Griffin Island/Griffin Mountain were useful for Balazar, Troll pack was great for Dagori Inkarth.

7. Is it a sandbox or more plot led campaign? 

• Sandbox, with evil GM input and puppet mastering

8. How much have you followed the arching events of the time period or has your Glorantha varied?

• We followed what was in King of Sartar pretty well, but not the way it was covered. We killed Argrath (Rival to Brankist Farlow) and Harrek (Friend of Argrath), Brankist Farlow wanted to become King of Sartar, Solarus Skywatch became king of Greater Balazar and the adopted son of the Red Emperor and Derak the Darktroll became King of Dagori Inkarth (King of a matriarchy, great, so just a puppet then?) and tried to break the Trollkin Curse by becoming Gbaji and then not cursing the trolls.

9. How would you describe your campaign? 

• HeroQuesting, Politics and King-making, with acid.

10. What advice would you give newbie gms to runequest and glorantha? 

• As above

[soltakss]

River Voices Campaign:

1. Which version of Runequest do you run? Or perhaps even another system? 

• RQ3, but heavily modified

2. How long have you ran your campaign? 

• 2007-2018

3. What time period in Glorantha did you start? 

• 2018-Hero Wars (2030?)

4. Where in Glorantha did you start? What regions has your campaign covered since? 

• Prax, covered the Wastes and Pavis, briefly went to Dorastor and Sartar

5. Where are your pcs from? 

• Pavis

6. What products from any version of Runequest have you used? Which were particularly useful? 

• Pavis & Big Rubble, P&BR Companions, Borderlands, all the RQ3 Praxian supplements, King of Sartar

7. Is it a sandbox or more plot led campaign? 

• Sandbox with with GM input

8. How much have you followed the arching events of the time period or has your Glorantha varied? 

• The PCs were river Voices, so they brought back the Boat Planet, restored Orlanth, brought back Pavis, Tada and Genert, aided and then stopped the Great Reforestation, became King of Dragon Pass and Golden Dragon Emperor of Dara Happa. So, we followed the timeline to a certain extent, but the PCs ended doing what Argrath did in King of Sartar.

9. How would you describe your campaign? 

• Mad, exciting, political, HeroQuesting, ripping the heart out of the Hero Wars.

10. What advice would you give newbie gms to runequest and glorantha? 

• As above

[Samythe41]

1. Which version of Runequest do you run? Or perhaps even another system? 

RQG
 

2. How long have you ran your campaign? 

10 months


3. What time period in Glorantha did you start? 

1618, now entering 1620

4. Where in Glorantha did you start? What regions has your campaign covered since? 

Rural Sartar

5. Where are your pcs from? 

We first ran 6 seasons in Sartar followed by The Company Of The Dragon. So basically, characters are Sartarites, Colymar, from a non canon clan  : the Haraborn

6. What products from any version of Runequest have you used? Which were particularly useful? 

Official : Rulebook, Bestiary. Heroquest Glorantha Sartar Companion was very helpful as well. Gamemaster kit is becoming more important lately
Jonstown compendium : 6 seasons in Sartar is amazing. The Company Of The Dragon is astounding. I also used "in a Merry Green Vale"

7. Is it a sandbox or more plot led campaign? 
Early on, plot led, now it's more of a sandbox.

8. How much have you followed the arching events of the time period or has your Glorantha varied? 

I've followed them as much as possible
 

9. How would you describe your campaign? 

10. What advice would you give newbie gms to runequest and glorantha? 

Start small. Focus on clan problems early on, and slowly widen the range of the campaign.

[Nick Brooke]

1. I run RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha "by the book." My group includes RQ2 & RQ3 veterans (like me).

2. We aimed to have monthly sessions from October 2018 until lockdown (March 2020), but being grown-ups this wasn't always possible; we restarted at the start of this month, with our next session scheduled for late September.

3. Sea Season 1626.

4. We started in Clearwine, because why wouldn't you? The adventurers had already met each other during the early battles of the Hero Wars; they're all based in Colymar lands now, and nobody needs to keep dashing home to a distant birthplace (which would be silly and disruptive). They have travelled west to the Smoking Ruins, east to the edge of the Great Wastes, north to Dangerford and south to Corflu.

5. Gwyntnos is a Welsh Orlanthi from Volsaxiland; Rastalon is a Colymar Yelmalian ("I thought we worshipped Elmal?" "Not now, Kevin"); Surruk is an exiled High Llama shaman from Prax; "The Grazelander" is a Grazelander, originally from the Grazelands.

6. RQG Core Rules, Bestiary, GM Screen Pack Adventure Book (played The Dragon of Thunder Hills and kicked around the Colymar Wilds), Smoking Ruins (played the title scenario), Pegasus Plateau (played the free download of The Rattling Wind that came out for Halloween), plus some playtest manuscripts. I find the big poster map of Dragon Pass & Prax particularly useful, and we're all very fond of the Q-Workshop RuneQuest Dice.

7. It's an episodic campaign, structured largely around scenario playtests (sometimes mine, sometimes Chaosium's). My players signed up for this in Session Zero: some would have liked a more sandboxy vibe, but I ruthlessly squished that. There is less "meat" connecting the seasonal adventures than I'd build in if we played more frequently, but we are growing a recurring cast of antagonists and helpers, some political themes are taking shape, and the adventurers are now building their own stead in a former Lunar fort in Namolding lands (between sessions).

8. My Glorantha Has Varied - see The Duel at Dangerford for a worked example. My current mini-campaign arc Black Spear varies much less (and needn't vary at all). I stay broadly true to themes, but can't be bothered to focus on hitting the right dates or sequences of events just because one book tried to nail them down. What my players lived through is what really happened.

9. EPIC! I like my players to feel like Big Damn Heroes in a widescreen Bronze Age sword & sandal Harryhausen movie with a cast of thousands. And I love using their Rune rolls and Discorporate recon flights to hint at the big-picture stuff - Runic oppositions, mythic reverberations, etc. -- that are secretly behind everything.

10. Don't sweat the small stuff. You do not have to build or detail everything in the world as if it were a player character - that way madness lies. A dozen or so pages of helpful advice to new GMs are in my first Gloranthan Manifesto (Vol.1 & Vol.2), which is a free download. 

 

 

[Dragon]

On 7/28/2021 at 2:28 AM, Deanjday said:

To help me decide, I wanted to ask some questions of the community about there own ongoing campaigns. 

1. Which version of Runequest do you run? Or perhaps even another system? 

2. How long have you ran your campaign? 

3. What time period in Glorantha did you start? 

4. Where in Glorantha did you start? What regions has your campaign covered since? 

5. Where are your pcs from? 

6. What products from any version of Runequest have you used? Which were particularly useful? 

7. Is it a sandbox or more plot led campaign? 

8. How much have you followed the arching events of the time period or has your Glorantha varied? 

9. How would you describe your campaign? 

10. What advice would you give newbie gms to runequest and glorantha? 

1. RQ:G in the current campaign. That campaign started my own version based on RQ3, and we tried QuestWorlds as well. After I read the RQ:G rules, I decided they were better than my own.

2. This one about 2 years. I have played and GM campaigns for nearly 40 years. I used RQ2, then RQ3, and now RQ:G.

3. Pretty much all of them started in 1618 or 1619. My next one will start in 1626.

4. Dragon Pass for the recent one. Pavis/Prax for at least 3 campaigns.

5. Dragon Pass. Mostly Sartar.

6. RQ2, RQ3, Griffin Mountain, Griffin Island, Snake Pipe Hollow (both versions), River of Cradles, Pavis, The Big Rubble, Cults of Prax, Cults of Terror, Shadows on the Borderlands, Sun County, Troll Pack, Gods of Glorantha, Haunted Ruins, Troll Realms, Pegasus Plateau, Smoking Ruin, Lord Skyppen's Mansion, Rainbow Mounds, Apple Lane (old one), Dorastor Land of Doom, Eldarad the Lost City. 

Particularly useful: Big Rubble, Griffin Mountain, Snake Pipe Hollow, River of Cradles, Shadows on the Borderlands, Pegasus Plateau, Smoking Ruin. Oddly, I found that loading the Scorpion Hall solo adventure to new players was helpful to learn basic gameplay. Back in the day, it may confuse RQ:G players as it is older rules.

7. A mixture.

8. The overall timeline has been reasonably close. Sometimes PCs became associated with the big events. e.g. the Cradle.

9. That varies wildly. The last and current one was a bunch from the Malani tribe, with a couple oddballs.

10. Newbie GMs need to have a good grasp of the main rules, and a basic understanding of Glorantha. Start with a group of people who have similar interests, e.g. come from the same clan or tribe. Get them used to that before introducing other cultures or races.

 

[Fedman Kassad]

1. Which version of Runequest do you run? Or perhaps even another system? 

RQ3 and RQ6

2. How long have you ran your campaign? 

4 years / 5 months

3. What time period in Glorantha did you start?

1612 / 1612

4. Where in Glorantha did you start? What regions has your campaign covered since? 

Prax

5. Where are your pcs from? 

Prax, Dragon Pass, Lunar Empire, Holy Lands

6. What products from any version of Runequest have you used? Which were particularly useful? 

Sun Country, Borderlands, River of Cradles

7. Is it a sandbox or more plot led campaign? 

Combo (both a push and a pull)

8. How much have you followed the arching events of the time period or has your Glorantha varied? 

Varied as I dont want either Sartar or Empire to win

9. How would you describe your campaign? 

Varied and a mix of all sorts of ideas from gaming systemsm annd world from the last 40 years

10. What advice would you give newbie gms to runequest and glorantha? 

Pick a place you love, and start small there...  gradually feed in the rest of the Glorantha as you get comfortable, but feel free to leave out what you dont (for me it is dinosaurs)

[g33k]

On 7/28/2021 at 1:28 AM, Deanjday said:

...

10. What advice would you give newbie gms to runequest and glorantha? 

1.
Don't worry too much about sticking to "canon."  That stuff only really matters if you are writing for Chaosium.  I once asked how much Chaosium's own "House Games" stuck to canon, and got varying answers around 1/3 to 1/2 ... so even the uttermost authorities on "The Canon" don't actually play canon games!!!

If you're having fun, you're "doing it right."

2.
For newbies, the classic advice is to start small, and grow organically.  Pick a reasonably-developed-in-the-sources place, so you've got lots of resources -- Prax, Pavis, Sartar are great; also check the Jonstown Compendium (on DTRPG) -- and require all the players either (a) be FROM there, or (b) have solid in-character backstories about why they are not just "happen to be there," but really motivated to help the locals.

I like either a single Tribe (all Bison-Riders, or all Ernaldori-tribe, or etc), or a single unifying co-operative-Cult motivation (that instills loyalties across Tribal lines).  Avoid the "mysterious wanderer" & "loner" tropes; the group of PC's should be a group.

Then, recognize that you've mostly got an insular and fairly parochial bunch of PC's, who won't actually know all that much about the larger world around them.  Your PLAYERS can explore the world and learn about it, just as their characters do (and you, the GM, only need to stay a step or two ahead of them... instead of cramming a half-million words into your brain!).

3.
Depending on the players' gaming-backgrounds, there may need to be some adjustments to their expectations.  D&D, particularly, will have set some norms that don't hold true for RQ mechanics and/or for Glorantha ...

• RQ's combat is grittier and deadlier than D&D; per-location damage can disable swiftly!  Even a mediocre combatant can down a skilled & far-above-average fighter, with one lucky blow.  Granted, Crits are rare; but still...
• If you're playing HeroQuest(QuestWorld) instead, the system is very new-school "narrativist" (as opposed to traditional-RPG simulationist); you're often looking at a much-more-abstracted combat, maybe just a single roll if the combat isn't plot-driving.
•  Missile fire in RQ (particularly a round or two of massed fire as combat opens (such as an ambush)) can be deadly; in otherwise-matched forces, it's often decisive.  Every PC should have a long-range weapon (bow or sling) to join the fun!
• Speaking of ambush:  it's often a winning tactic.  Consequently, retreating from an ambush is often the best defense.  Even for the PC's!  Bravely charging into the fire and "taking a few HP's to close with them" is usually more a TPK than a winning tactic.
• Speaking of TPK's -- they are (or should be) remarkably uncommon for such a deadly system.  Surrender (and ransom) are unusual features.  Lean in on this!
• In Glorantha, magic is ubiquitous.  Even an ordinary housewife, farmer, or shepherd may have a spell or two... or more.  Particularly in Sartar, among the Orlanthi tribes, being a Cult Initiate (and thus having Rune Magic) is remarkably common.
• In Glorantha, religious/Cult affiliations are similarly ubiquitous, and more akin to what D&D thinks of as "character-class" in defining each PC.  Some D&D players have expressed it as "every PC is a cleric, or demi-cleric at least."  From one perspective, that's almost true; from another, it utterly misses the point.
• Having a "healing specialist" in the party (D&D's Cleric/Medic role) is well and good, but I find a RQ party works best if MOST of the characters have at least some healing, and 2-3 of them have substantial healing.
• The Elf/Dwarf/Troll races of Glorantha are  UTTERLY UNLIKE  D&D's "Tolkien-esque" races, and the associated preconceptions can cause confusion.  The races' own names for themselves -- Aldryami, Mostali, Uz -- can help here (though I also like "Dark Men" for Trolls).  Show images.  Avoid each of the D&D-alike names until you've established those races' difference from the Tolkien-trope races.

Best of luck with introducing your players to the world & the game!

Edited August 27, 2021 by g33k
clarifying JC on DTRPG

[Jeff]

On 7/28/2021 at 2:28 AM, Deanjday said:

I am trying to decide how, where and when to start my Runequest campaign with my group. None of them have much experience with Runequest or Glorantha as such, so my options are wide open. 

To help me decide, I wanted to ask some questions of the community about there own ongoing campaigns. 

1. Which version of Runequest do you run? Or perhaps even another system? 

RQG, obviously.

On 7/28/2021 at 2:28 AM, Deanjday said:

2. How long have you ran your campaign? 

The White Bull campaign started in early 2020. Prior to that, I was running the Vasana-Yanioth campaign (all the the original RQ pregens come out of that campaign) from 2016 to 2020. I'm likely going to start a new campaign here in Colorado.

On 7/28/2021 at 2:28 AM, Deanjday said:

3. What time period in Glorantha did you start? 

Both started in 1625.

On 7/28/2021 at 2:28 AM, Deanjday said:

4. Where in Glorantha did you start? What regions has your campaign covered since? 

Dragon Pass. Characters have been to Prax, New Pavis, and the Hoty Country.

 

On 7/28/2021 at 2:28 AM, Deanjday said:

5. Where are your pcs from? 

In the White Bull campaign, two are from Sartar, one is a Wolf Pirate, one is from Esrolia, and another from Prax.

On 7/28/2021 at 2:28 AM, Deanjday said:

6. What products from any version of Runequest have you used? Which were particularly useful? 

I use the campaigns to playtest stuff that is in development.

On 7/28/2021 at 2:28 AM, Deanjday said:

7. Is it a sandbox or more plot led campaign? 

Both.

On 7/28/2021 at 2:28 AM, Deanjday said:

8. How much have you followed the arching events of the time period or has your Glorantha varied? 

These campaigns refine the timeline.

On 7/28/2021 at 2:28 AM, Deanjday said:

9. How would you describe your campaign? 

The White Bull campaign is epic, with a lot of big events going on. 

On 7/28/2021 at 2:28 AM, Deanjday said:

10. What advice would you give newbie gms to runequest and glorantha? 

Just dive in and don't worry!

 

On 7/28/2021 at 2:28 AM, Deanjday said:

 

When replying to the thread, don't feel you have to answer every question, just the ones that intrest you. Really curious about how long term runequest gms run their campaigns. 

 

[styopa]

1. Which version of Runequest do you run? Or perhaps even another system? 

RQ3+heavy modification

2. How long have you ran your campaign? 

I think we're going on around 17-18 years?  My sons were 10 when they started, and in late 20s now.

3. What time period in Glorantha did you start? 

1600ish

4. Where in Glorantha did you start? What regions has your campaign covered since? 

Pavis, but they've gone west to Sog and Yggs, north to Valind, south to Pamalt, east to Technos

5. Where are your pcs from? 

First 2 are River of Cradles folk, one is a troll from Fronela, the other a Hsunchen from Jonatela, the last a shaman from an Eagle tribe high in the remote Eastern Rockwoods.

6. What products from any version of Runequest have you used? Which were particularly useful? 

The RQ3 Renaissance products are absolutely excellent.

7. Is it a sandbox or more plot led campaign? 

Sandbox, but so much is happening that they have no choice but to deal with, sometimes it's a little linear

8. How much have you followed the arching events of the time period or has your Glorantha varied? 

Nearly no attention to canonical events.  Couldn't care less what happens according to canonical timeline, what happens in my campaign is what needs to happen for my story.

9. How would you describe your campaign? 

Sandboxy, dungeon-crawly, high powered, action oriented, loot heavy.  We use miniatures and maps for all interesting combats. Hopefully fun.

10. What advice would you give newbie gms to runequest and glorantha? 

I think far too much effort is made to try to stick to canon.  Glorantha's a wonderful place with some terrific stories, but there's also some silly and dumb stuff.  Too many putative 'experts' who will cheerfully tell you why (whatever) obviously can't be true because of something Greg vaguely alluded to 35 years ago. 

Feel free to add, subtract, multiply, or divide.  It's YOUR game, do what you want.  The point is your players' MGF.

As you can tell from an overview of my campaign below, I cheerfully steal from ANY game I feel like, any adventure that has an interesting story.  Instead of reinventing adventurous wheels, I use those resources and then spend several hours per adventure bending to fit the situation, finding ample character portraits for every NPC, building soundscapes for the setting(s) (they got heartily sick of the jungle in Chult, as well as of the mosquitoes and rain - and legions of undead ...and dinosaurs ...and Fonritian sorcerer-led expeditions looking for the same stuff they were...oh and snake-men....hahah)...

 

To copy a post from the old Glorantha forums (https://wellofdaliath.chaosium.com/wp-content/uploads/www.glorantha.com-forums/www.glorantha.com/forums/topic/a-practical-guide-to-gming-runequest-3/index.html) from 7 (!) years ago...

In summation, I just talked through it with one of my sons (they were the 2 characters that lasted through the whole campaign and various roster-changes of the party), the players did (sort of going by published adventures, but there was plenty of “stuff” in between)
River of Cradles series – they find the glowy ball
Sun County series – one player really wanted to be a sorcerer, so he found an amulet that gave him essentially basic sorcery skills
Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan – one of the main characters got a super-axe, but it was turning him into a vampire over the next year. It did really incentivize him to work to get Rune Lord status, so he could DI and get rid of it.
More Sun County
They encounter Arlaten in Pavis, did some stuff for him, he helped train the newbie sorcerer who eventually took the glowy ball (they still had it!) and turned it into one of the most unique familiars ever.
Some Borderlands campaign adventures
White Plume Mountain
Some ‘helping the Sartars resist the Lunars’ stuff; set a grudge vs the Lunar Coders when they killed one character's allied spirit.
The entire A1-A4 series of dungeons
Lord Skypens Mansion
a Mission to the Block
Forgotten Temple of Tharzidun
Some Lunar Coder stuff
The whole G1-G2-G3 series
Rabbit Hat farm, etc – more Borderlands (Hunt for Muriah, Dyksund Caverns)
More Sartar/Lunar stuff in Pavis, ended up fighting some of the Coders directly, they actually killed Nose-Ring (rezzed the same day, of course)
Fleeing from Pavis 🙂 escorting young man named Garrath to Whitewall.
Getting into Whitewall
Crimson Bat approaching, to power ritual to drive it away, they gathered the elemental stones (The Doomstones Campaign; I converted from WHFRP only finding out later that it was, ironically, originally an RQ scenario that someone had converted to WH and published.) and returned to Whitewall through the Lunar siege
Up to the swamp, Delecti stuff, encountered Death Knights
Snake Pipe Hollow
More Death Knight trouble
Coders…again?
Flee west, find strange place in mtns – expedition to barrier peaks
Continue NW, up into Dorastor, meet Razlakark
He sends them back in time to 2nd age Glorantha Ralios
Dodging armies, they save 2 members of Jrusteli expedition from slaughter by troll ambush\
fight a dream dragon in an underwater cavern
help Jrusteli complete their expedition into a really nasty tomb ahead of approaching armies (Tomb of Horrors – end of that was Lich Acerak as GUARDIAN of entrapped Razlakark whom they then accidentally freed, which then returned them to the present)
Unhappy at saving him, they head NW out of mts, save local monastery from ongoing curse in ancient dwarven tunnels
Hints that Coders might still be tracking them
Go to Sog City do stuff there, not as interesting as they expected (campaign was winding down, people were starting to graduate high school and move on)
D&D adventures C4 and C5 except for the last bit
…campaign finally ends with a wimper, sadly, with the only two remaining players (my sons) relatively crazy-powerful (making adding new players really hard), and all their friends having gone off to college in other states or cities, we just stopped playing. Really sad about that but not sure how else to end it.
They were landed counts (having been granted title to the Rabbit Hat farm in exchange for bringing more settlers there, as well as to Skrypen’s mansion and lands) but couldn’t go back to either because of the bounty on their heads by the Lunar authorities. They were in Sog City (the sorcerer had finally, after 8+ years of play, reached the College of Magic Arlaten had explained to him, and he managed to join) with nothing much to do.

Subsequently, campaign DIDN'T die.  They eventually did things like WHFRPs Bogenhafen (whups, major failure, demon gate opened, lots of effort to close), Tomb of Annihilation took them close to a year of play to complete (6-8 hour session every other weekend; amazing how easily Chult  =  Elamle in Pamaltela) turns out the Grung are a great opponent en masse, as grung-supremacist Nazi frogs, more or less.  They also spent a long series of adventures going through a heavily-modified RQ6 book of quests (some decent ideas but man that needed a lot of work).

As those characters were getting too powerful to really be fun, they also created a bunch of new characters (so they could try new approaches themselves) that also operate in the same world, doing a little less world-saving sorts of things.  That group had a wonderful maybe 4-5 months accidentally getting sucked into a magical snowglobe and doing a cascade of adventures ending with the entire Desert of Desolation series, reformatted to be a sort of endless-loop trap for a massive chaos lord of fire that a Brithini wizard had built, but his instructions to them against even faintly suggesting to the inhabitants of the place that it wasn't real or the whole thing would fail prematurely, releasing the ifrit.  Now those characters are tasked with trying to find a home for the society of thousands who had been trapped in that bubble more than a 1000 years ago (they feel those people are entitled to be rescued from that purgatory).

Still going strong in 2022.

Edited April 22, 2022 by styopa

[icebrand]

1. Which version of Runequest do you run? Or perhaps even another system? 

Yes 🤣... Ik, you asked for it:

We play RQCE (2nd Ed) with some rules from BRP (chargen stuff, dex ranks) and some from RQG (rune points) + a bunch of house rules (tweaks to stuff mostly)

 

2. How long have you ran your campaign? 

This one for 13 months (since March 2021)

 

3. What time period in Glorantha did you start? 

1611, one year after moonbroth.

 

4. Where in Glorantha did you start? What regions has your campaign covered since? 

Prax! (Pavis to be specific).

 

5. Where are your pcs from? 

Prax & sartar

 

6. What products from any version of Runequest have you used? Which were particularly useful? 

Rq2 (ce), cult compendium, borderlands & beyond rq:g, brp4e. Every book is vital!!!

 

7. Is it a sandbox or more plot led campaign? 

Borderlands & beyond but as sandboxy as the PCs like 

 

8. How much have you followed the arching events of the time period or has your Glorantha varied? 

Yes (?). The battle of moonbroth happened, and i have like a year till kallyr gets owned trying to rebell. 

 

9. How would you describe your campaign? 

Call of Runequest: Chtulhu by Borderlands. Cosmic horror, but the Conan/krull flavor, so basically... Sword and sorcery and sandals!

 

10. What advice would you give newbie gms to runequest and glorantha? 

For social stuff i just let them do whatever the hell they want (with the help of the good old "yes but")

For combat the awesome thing is to have good locales.

Steal from movies, art, etc to have the best scenery you can. A good mood+description completely changes stuff.

Fighting some deinonychus is meh, fighting some deinonychus over a small poodle of water  in some abandoned ruins eroded by sand over a thousand years (that provide cover, fall off, etc. Is much better!

I try (keyword: try) to have EPIC fight locales (good to steal from lesser known fighting games, I think I used every.single.arena from warzard hahaha). Write down good descriptions AND ,(not or) have nice pics if you can!!!

My fight scenes usually have at least one environmental mechanic, like use <skill>, attack <thing>, roll <char> x5, etc in order to gain a bonus or not die/take damage or something.

This can also be as simple as "knockback character off the cliff" or "it's dark and you can't see crap, -40% ranged attacks & -20% melee". Start with basic rules and go from there. 

For example, the party attacks the evil sorceror stronghold, and needs to cross a bridge over "the pit"

The bridge is guarded by the sorceror's rock lizard familiar (who also happens to be a ninja lol) and according to a d3 roll result every round the high winds will make the clouds cover the moon, so we can have 0, -10 or -20 darkness penalty. Also, you can knockback or grapple and throw the reptile so it falls to the pit, but ofc it can do the same to you! Also, the bridge is quite narrow, so normally only 1 person can fight at a time (or two side by side with spears).

This makes fights more interactive, less samey, and more memorable while using a couple of reflavored mechanics; wouldn't you love to fight some volcanic dragonsnail in a burning forest (roll CON as per asphyxiation) AND maybe dodge some falling lava/rocks? Don't worry, there's no darkness penalty, the conflagration lights up the sky completely!

 

[Greville]

 1. Runequest - Roleplaying in Glorantha, mostly as written, however I do have a house rule where people get fate points as well.

2. Just over two years, although Covid has slowed things down.

3. We started in 1625, we wanted to try things as written first, especially as this is my first campaign set in Glorantha.

4. The campaign has mostly been the area between the South Wilds, Clearwine City, and as far north as Apple Lane.

5. Duck Point. After a throwaway comment of mine in session 0, my Players decided to play ducks

6. Before the bestiary came out for the current version I used my other Chaosium books to crib monsters from, especially RQ3.

7. A bit of both, the campaign started with the party travelling to the Stone Nest ruins to do some investigating for Joseph Greenface, but no other constraints. So they've been able to go off on side quests and explore as they will. It's a bit like Skyrim - there are plotted quests to do, but they can choose to pick them up or not and there's plenty of other stuff for them.

8. I was intimidated by the sheer amount of history and also tbh by some of the posts on here about the history. I did get a lot of helpful advice, but the threads also tended to attract posts that started "You can do it your own way. But here's how to do it right....". 😀

So I only dipped my toe into the established timeline and only been following it very loosely past the Dragonrise.

9. It's really just two ducks, learning about the world, making a name for themselves and becoming seriously capable in the process.  

10. There is so much history and lore with Glorantha, a lot of it contradicting other parts, or stuff that has been ret-conned multiple times that trying to get it all to fit together is impossible. So don't.

The most helpful piece of advice I got is to treat it all as true, even the parts contradicting each other and then pick the bits you want to focus on.

In terms of getting started the introductory adventure and Vassana's Saga are helpful in seeing how the starting characters can fit into the world.