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Runequest reviews


tgcb

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Can anyone explain why the Design Mechanism Runequest has so few reviews (in fact only 3 listed on their own site: http://www.thedesignmechanism.com/runequest.php)...yet a D&D retroclone like Dungeon Crawl Classics has about 30 reviews on their page (http://www.goodmangames.com/5070preview.html)?

Google shows about the same ratio of hits if you do searches there.

So, I'm just curious what is or isn't going on? Maybe Runequest people are so busy playing that they don't have time to review? Or is really that few BRP/Runequest players? Or none of the above?

(I have the Design Mechanism version and am also waiting for the updated Classic Fantasy and also Openquest 2....but I'm deep in Pathfinder country and haven't actually played in ages...so I'm not a good source for reviews either).

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Can anyone explain why the Design Mechanism Runequest has so few reviews (in fact only 3 listed on their own site: http://www.thedesignmechanism.com/runequest.php)...yet a D&D retroclone like Dungeon Crawl Classics has about 30 reviews on their page (Dungeon Crawl Classics)?

Google shows about the same ratio of hits if you do searches there.

So, I'm just curious what is or isn't going on? Maybe Runequest people are so busy playing that they don't have time to review? Or is really that few BRP/Runequest players? Or none of the above?

Sorry, can't explain that, but here's a short review I wrote for these forums: My Short (?) Review After Reading RuneQuest 6th Edition Core Rules

I still haven't actually played RQ6 yet, but we did port Luck/Hero Points to our ongoing heroic Dragon Age RuneQuest 3 campaign to increase character survivalibility and enable more heroic or lucky outcomes.

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... a D&D retroclone like Dungeon Crawl Classics has about 30 reviews on their page?

D&D has been the 800 lb owlbear for a while now. There's no official version of D&D (4e is on its way out, and 5e hasn't hit the street), the OSR is gaining attention, and Goodman rose to prominence thanks to its original Dungeon Crawl Classic modules. On the other hand fans of RuneQuest are (I suspect) mostly older, and Mongoose's version didn't exactly win new players. So a 10:1 ratio sounds about right.

Frank

"Welcome to the hottest and fastest-growing hobby of, er, 1977." -- The Laundry RPG
 
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To tell the truth there were a number of reviews written, mostly brief, but we haven't linked to all of them on our web site. We had expected more, especially considering the number of requested gratis review copies we sent out, but that's life I suppose.

Loz and I would have loved to see even more very supportive and glowing reviews, but neither of us are comfortable with whipping-up the fan base to write stuff they would normally be disinclined to do. Neither are we much good at shameless self promotion. So we are at the mercy of our purchasers to promote the quality of our wares to the RPG community at large, rather than tooting our own horns.

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I enjoyed your read-through review enough that it makes we want to try Rune Quest, a

game I have never played and know little about.

Are there significant differences between Rune Quest editions? I ask because I sometimes see used older material for sale but don't want to have to spend time doing a bunch of conversions to make it useful. Is there a particular edition of Rune Quest that is supposed to be superior, and why?

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Are there significant differences between Rune Quest editions? I ask because I sometimes see used older material for sale but don't want to have to spend time doing a bunch of conversions to make it useful.

Thalaba made a list of differences between RQ3 & RQ6: http://basicroleplaying.com/runequest/runequest-6th-edition-2927/#post50439

Also, lawrence.whitaker aka Loz, one of the authors of Mongoose Runequest II/Legend and RQ6 wrote about the differences between the two latest editions of the game: http://basicroleplaying.com/runequest/legend-vs-runequest-6-a-2509/#post50126

If you are at all familiar with the BRP-system, as you seem to be, all conversions should be really easy and straightforward.

Is there a particular edition of Rune Quest that is supposed to be superior, and why?

Not really. Many people still swear by (Chaosium) RQ2 of 1978, whereas a lot of people consider RQ6 the greatest. I have always liked (Avalon Hill/Chaosium) RQ3 'cause that is what I grew up with and have played the most, but really like the 6th Edition a lot. It all comes down to personal preference, although many disliked Mongoose RQI and felt the second version was a great improvement.

All in all, all the versions of RuneQuest are largely compatible, conversions on the fly shouldn't present any great problems even to less experienced GMs.

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Thalaba made a list of differences between RQ3 & RQ6: http://basicroleplaying.com/runequest/runequest-6th-edition-2927/#post50439

Also, lawrence.whitaker aka Loz, one of the authors of Mongoose Runequest II/Legend and RQ6 wrote about the differences between the two latest editions of the game: http://basicroleplaying.com/runequest/legend-vs-runequest-6-a-2509/#post50126

If you are at all familiar with the BRP-system, as you seem to be, all conversions should be really easy and straightforward.

Not really. Many people still swear by (Chaosium) RQ2 of 1978, whereas a lot of people consider RQ6 the greatest. I have always liked (Avalon Hill/Chaosium) RQ3 'cause that is what I grew up with and have played the most, but really like the 6th Edition a lot. It all comes down to personal preference, although many disliked Mongoose RQI and felt the second version was a great improvement.

All in all, all the versions of RuneQuest are largely compatible, conversions on the fly shouldn't present any great problems even to less experienced GMs.

You seem familiar with the game; can you tell me if you feel Rune Quest would suffice for or be compatible with a Harryhausen Sinbad type of setting? I also have GURPS Arabian Nights as a sourcebook. I have never thought D&D, in any of its incarnations, was a very good system even for the genre it supposedly emulates, and other systems have been too convoluted or required too much work to make useful.

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You seem familiar with the game; can you tell me if you feel Rune Quest would suffice for or be compatible with a Harryhausen Sinbad type of setting? I also have GURPS Arabian Nights as a sourcebook. I have never thought D&D, in any of its incarnations, was a very good system even for the genre it supposedly emulates, and other systems have been too convoluted or required too much work to make useful.

Honestly, I'd go with Magic World - Ben's one line pitch name check's Harryhausen and its at the lighter end of the BRP / d100 family which would suit that sort feel perfectly.

Cheers,

Nick

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You seem familiar with the game; can you tell me if you feel Rune Quest would suffice for or be compatible with a Harryhausen Sinbad type of setting? I also have GURPS Arabian Nights as a sourcebook. I have never thought D&D, in any of its incarnations, was a very good system even for the genre it supposedly emulates, and other systems have been too convoluted or required too much work to make useful.

I have played a Harryhausen-style RQ scenario with Loz himself at Eternal 2011, so I would say "yes". Sorry but I cannot give you the details, it is stuff that will see the light as official supplements.

As for Arabian style sourcebooks, there is also a lot of stuff written by Soltakss and me for d100, both BRP and RuneQuest.

Proud member of the Evil CompetitionTM

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You seem familiar with the game; can you tell me if you feel Rune Quest would suffice for or be compatible with a Harryhausen Sinbad type of setting?

Nope, sorry. I may be familiar with RQ, but not with Ray Harryhausen's movies, but I'd trust NickMiddleton and RosenMcStern on that one. Also, if you'd prefer a "lighter" game with a little bit less "crunch" than RQ and/or MW, OpenQuest 2 (coming soon) might be a good choice. But all three a very good and very compatible games, the choice comes down to personal preference.

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consider Magic world at 276 PDF pages, and Runequest 6 at 458

Both are excellent at what they do, but RQ6 is more rule intensive.

I'm considering doing a Lets read Magic World starting in July :)

If you pick runequest 6, Best RQ6 Sheet evar

I'll probably wait and see if you do a "Let's Read." I don't have enough information to determine whether one or the other is preferable. Might even just use the old Conan game from TSR.

I don't buy PDFs...vision issues with computer screens...my eyes hurt if I read too much on the screen so I only buy real books. Unfortunately this means I miss out on many products these days that are only available as PDFs. C'est la vie, I guess.

P.S. Thank you for the link to the nifty character sheet. Seeing the different hit locations makes me think perhaps Rune Quest is not what I want...keeping track of various body parts is a bit much for me. Does Magic World do this as well, or is it more abstract like Call of Cthulhu?

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I don't buy PDFs...vision issues with computer screens...my eyes hurt if I read too much on the screen so I only buy real books. Unfortunately this means I miss out on many products these days that are only available as PDFs. C'est la vie, I guess.

You should consider getting an e-book reader with an eInk display. It feels just like reading paper books, doesn't hurt your eyes, because there is no backlight, and it can even be read in direct sunlight.

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Yes, it would. In fact, two words: 'Monster Island'.

For RQ6, due out in about 6 weeks. Its pure Harryhausen... We've even dedicated the book to his memory.

Ooh...! This has me intrigued! That's my fantasy setting of choice. Is Monster Island a setting, a module...? Is it compatible with BRP or this Magic World game I was recommended for my Sinbadesque adventure cravings?

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Ooh...! This has me intrigued! That's my fantasy setting of choice. Is Monster Island a setting, a module...? Is it compatible with BRP or this Magic World game I was recommended for my Sinbadesque adventure cravings?

In that it is a campaign setting based around a tropical island, overflowing with huge and nasty monsters, ancient mysterious ruins, treasures waiting to be looted, evil sorceries, animate four armed bronze statues, a valley full of ivory, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. The island itself is not Arabian themed by default, but the small human settlement could very easily be re-named/populated to embrace that particular culture. In fact that aspect of the island is designed to be modified so that it can slot into just about any on-running campaign setting with the minimum of fuss.

Being written for RQ6 it is fundamentally compatible with any BRP rules-set, but of course there will be some specifics like certain magic spells and creatures which you'd need to convert/create for yourself. Yet the majority of the book would be usable as is.

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You seem familiar with the game; can you tell me if you feel Rune Quest would suffice for or be compatible with a Harryhausen Sinbad type of setting? I also have GURPS Arabian Nights as a sourcebook. I have never thought D&D, in any of its incarnations, was a very good system even for the genre it supposedly emulates, and other systems have been too convoluted or required too much work to make useful.

Yes, Legend would be perfect for that kind of game.

What you would need, though, is a set of backgrounds and professions, cultural weapons, special magic rules, stats and rules for various types of djinn/genie and a lot of talk about atmosphere.

Simon Phipp - Caldmore Chameleon - Wallowing in my elitism since 1982. Many Systems, One Family. Just a fanboy. 

www.soltakss.com/index.html

Jonstown Compendium author. Find my contributions here. 

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Back to the original point (if I may):

Just tried to get more info on the new Magic World.

If you Google "chaosium brp magic world review" you get nothing, and less than nothing. In fact most of the hits talk about it coming out, not that it is out.

On Amazon the book only has 2 reviews.

Basically trying to figure out why so little info for these games...why are dedicated RPG sites the only place they get mentioned if at all?. I know about BRP, I'm looking for BRP books, and even I can't find much about them...so a "civilian" is going to have zero chance to find out about them.

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