What does "MR" mean with regards to rate of fire?

[Edge Case Doomvortecco]

In the Big Gold Book, page 252, the arbalest and crossbows have an odd "SR" (strike rank, I'm assuming?  The tables on all other missile weapons use "RF" aka rate of fire, but this one table breaks convention.  "SR" means strike rank on all other melee weapons, perhaps a typo?).

They have a "SR" of 1/4MR, 1/3MR, or 1/2MR... 

On page 257 it attempts to clarify all the possible values that field could have... such as 1/CR meaning it can only be used once per combat round, or 1/SR meaning it can be used once on your DEX, and again on DEX+3.  But it makes no mention of what "MR" means... I checked all the erratas and they make no mention of it... what is MR?

[g33k]

I believe that's "melee round," i.e. it takes one entire round (or two, or three) just to cock & load the heavier weapons.

[Nick Brooke]

Correct. Those weapons come from RuneQuest, which uses Melee Rounds not Combat Rounds, and the abbreviation wasn't changed (in error). So 1/4MR means 1/4CR, i.e. one shot every four combat rounds. If someone's maintaining the errata, that's the answer. Note that these weapons still need to reload over multiple combat rounds even if you aren't using the optional Strike Rank rules.

[Edge Case Doomvortecco]

Ahhh ok, I really should read the RuneQuest rules.  Problem is there are so many editions (by several names even) it's difficult to know where to start haha.  This definitely answers the question though, so thank you.

[Baron Wulfraed]

1 hour ago, Edge Case Doomvortecco said:

Ahhh ok, I really should read the RuneQuest rules.  Problem is there are so many editions (by several names even) it's difficult to know where to start haha.  This definitely answers the question though, so thank you.

I suspect Chaosium RQ2, Avalon Hill/Chaosium RQ3 (which almost considered Glorantha an add-on setting vs Fantasy Europe), and Chaosium RQ:RiG would be the majors for this. No experience with Mongoose, and seeing how the Design Mechanism planned RQ6 became Mythras (when Chaosium reclaimed RQ) with way too many changes for my taste I'd probably avoid it (Mythras) just to reduce confusion.

 

[g33k]

On 7/13/2022 at 9:20 AM, Edge Case Doomvortecco said:

Ahhh ok, I really should read the RuneQuest rules.  Problem is there are so many editions (by several names even)

RQ1 / RQ2 / RQ3 -- all highly-similar & largely intercompatible.
RQ1 & RQ2 returned to availability via the "RuneQuest Classic" Kickstarter a few years ago.
RQ3 was published by Avalon Hill (but was actually written by Chaosium-folk); it *might* be brought back, one day, but AFAIK it isn't a current project & isn't seen as a priority (so it's quite a few YEARS away, at the soonest (if ever)).

>>> I would pick RQ2 (available today as "RuneQuest Classic" on Chaosium.com) as the edition most-contributory to BRP's core rules. <<<
(but all 3 are highly-similar, and a good case could be made for RQ3 instead, as the better-organized ruleset)

Mongoose Games produced the next two editions; they have some fans, but those are generally a minority.  Most people on this forum aren't fans of "the Mongoose interregnum," and Chaosium itself seems to have been less happy with Mongoose than any other licensee.  These editions are conventionally called "MRQ" -- MRQi & MRQii -- although some call them "RQ4" and "RQ5" (but that can be a bit ambiguous, because there was a never-published ms. for a new edition floating around, also known as "RQ4").  MRQii was a complete redesign/rewrite, abandoning much of MRQi.  MRQii  is generally regarded as the better of the two. 

Then Mongoose lost the RQ license (MRQii in turn being republished as "Legend" -- same rules, but with RQ/Glorantha IP stripped out), and The Design Mechanism picked up the license.  TDM produced "RQ6," as a more-or-less lineal descendant of MRQii (same authors, most of the same conceptual / mechanical elements).  The RQ6 rules are available today as "Mythras" (like Mongoose Games' "Legend," it just has the RQ/Glorantha IP stripped out).  Mythras is actually it's own entire thriving game-system, with multiple settings, supplements, and 3rd-party licensees (and a large degree of intercompatibility with "Legend").

[ Those games -- from Mongoose & TDM -- were (c) their respective companies & *not* available to Chaosium, so AFAIK none of their rules & innovations ever made it into any Chaosium publication.  They are, nonetheless, recognizably all BRP-style games -- skill-centric / classless / roll-low-on-d100; hacking them together is relatively-easy, and many people produce their own custom "FrankenBRP" games that include elements from multiple publishers & iterations (including many not discussed in this RQ-only topic). ]

Chaosium took the RQ license back in-house after RQ6, and produced the latest edition -- RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha (usually "RQG" online, though I've also seen "RQ7" & "RQ:RiG"), the one with the Big Blue Guy on the cover.  Because of the success of the RQClassic Kickstarter -- proving hunger for those mechanics -- RQG largely returned to that older ruleset as the basis for development; the intent was for folks to be able to use all that older material with minimal adaptation, as we waited for new RQG content to get published.  RQG adds new elements to the BRP chassis, not seen in the older "BRP" core.

Edited July 15, 2022 by g33k

[Edge Case Doomvortecco]

That was super helpful.  Far better than what I found through googling and wikipedia... You've got a serious knack for summarizing - Now I know exactly which editions are worth looking at and maybe attempting in my own tabletop group. 😮

As for better understanding BRP, I'll check out RQ2 and RQ3 back-to-back to better understand the rules. 

I can't believe it's taken me this long to finally discover this system... feels like discovering a hidden passage in your house that opens up a whole wing you never knew was there, full of stuff to dig through 🙂

[g33k]

1 hour ago, Edge Case Doomvortecco said:

... Now I know exactly which editions are worth looking at and maybe attempting in my own tabletop group. 😮

n.b. it's worth noting (when you say "worth" above, I gotta include the "value proposition" aspect) the freebies & ultra-cheap's...

The "quickstart" edition of Mythras (titled "Mythras Imperative") is a freebie at TDM
Chaosium has both BRP and RQG quickstart PDFs for free on their website.
Legend is available in PDF from Mongoose for $1 (this is the entire core rulebook, not a "quickstart")

And if you want to pursue RQ2/RQClassic, I'm very partial to one fan's "how-to" that collects the somewhat-disorganized character-creation bits:
http://2ndage.blogspot.com/2016/07/runequest-classic-edition-char-gen.html
 

[Mugen]

On 7/15/2022 at 6:58 PM, g33k said:

>>> I would pick RQ2 (available today as "RuneQuest Classic" on Chaosium.com) as the edition most-contributory to BRP's core rules. <<<
(but all 3 are highly-similar, and a good case could be made for RQ3 instead, as the better-organized ruleset)

RuneQuest 2 was the game that was simplified to give BRP original booklet, but BRP diverged from it afterwards.

If you pick the BGB, you're more likely to re-create a game that looks like ElfQuest, CoC 4 or Elric! (or even RQ3 with the "Advanced Magic" book) than RQ2.