POW, Rune magic and regaining stats

[Zac]

So my twins have expressed a desire to do some roleplaying in Glorantha. I was originally going to do this using 13G but the paucity of prepared material for the game has made me rethink that and look at the Runequest Starter Set.

I am not a big fan of "crunchy" games and so almost all of my Glorantha gaming has been in Questworlds and as such I have not had to deal with the intricacy of Rune magic and POW. In fact, it is one of the reasons why I have typically not played RQ D100 based games.

That is a thing of the past now and I have to wrap my brain around it so I can explain it to the twins. 

Before I start peppering the forum with questions, is there a document, blog post or video that does a good overview of this?

Also, it strikes me that the RQ D100 game has a different timing than a typical fantasy RPG? Given the time it takes to get back POW it seems as if the Runequest rules are assuming that the party goes out on a few adventures and then is back home for a season to recharge?

[Runeblogger]

1 hour ago, Zac said:

Before I start peppering the forum with questions, is there a document, blog post or video that does a good overview of this?

Maybe this example of play can be helpful:

https://elruneblog.blogspot.com/2020/09/playing-runequest-glorantha-den-of.html?m=1

Playing through the solo-quest in the Starter Set (also available to play online) is also a good way to start getting to know the rules before you even teach them to your players.
 

1 hour ago, Zac said:

Also, it strikes me that the RQ D100 game has a different timing than a typical fantasy RPG? Given the time it takes to get back POW it seems as if the Runequest rules are assuming that the party goes out on a few adventures and then is back home for a season to recharge?

That is indeed the expected “norm” for local adventurers who more or less all belong to the same clan or have been adopted into it. But you can also play with travelling bands of mercenaries or go from one approach to the other.

[Joerg]

2 hours ago, Zac said:

Also, it strikes me that the RQ D100 game has a different timing than a typical fantasy RPG? Given the time it takes to get back POW it seems as if the Runequest rules are assuming that the party goes out on a few adventures and then is back home for a season to recharge?

There are two different sources for magic - the harder to get and replenish rune points which indeed are a limited pool which usually only gets replenished in the downtime between adventures, and the daily recovering magic points that power the more accessible but weaker spirit magic spells which are the standard fare when it comes to magic. Think Rune points like potions - you have some that you use up, and need to re-acquire.

The different timing comes with the suggested "one scenario per season" tempo for which the rune point recovery speed is optimized. From my experience playing RuneQuest, it can be quite hard happily playing say an overland travel with interesting and picturesque encounters with some moderate challenge to the PCs (show the setting, do not just tell). Despite being adventurers, the player characters are supposed to have a life where they need to make a living.

[Zac]

21 hours ago, Joerg said:

Think Rune points like potions - you have some that you use up, and need to re-acquire.

That is a very good analogy. Thanks

[Zac]

22 hours ago, Runeblogger said:

Maybe this example of play can be helpful:

It was. Thanks

[Mugen]

On 9/29/2023 at 5:26 PM, Zac said:

I am not a big fan of "crunchy" games and so almost all of my Glorantha gaming has been in Questworlds and as such I have not had to deal with the intricacy of Rune magic and POW.

Then why don't you use QuestWorld ? Do you think it will not work well for your kids ?

Anyway, Rune Magic is IMHO far from being the most complex aspect of RuneQuest rules, and RQG made it even simpler than before. Combat is far more complex.

Also, it seems to me players will be more encline to use Spirit Magic on a daily basis, and spare Runic Magic for big events.

Edited October 1, 2023 by Mugen