RQ4:AIG advice

[juhanfg]

Hi,

I'm planing on running a campaign using the rules from RQ4:AIG. Has anyone done this? Have you found anything broken, that needed house-ruling? Have you got any advice?

Thanks,

J

[Shiba Homer]

This thread might help a little;

http://basicroleplaying.com/forum/basic-roleplaying/369-status-rqiv.html

Adrian

[juhanfg]

I've read that thread, thanks.

I'm looking for first hand advice from anyone that has used the system. I doesn't seem broken or anything, but I might be missing something.

[Trifletraxor]

Haven't played it, but it looks good. Very good actually. Char-gen looks a bit complicated, but probably no more than RQ3 was. Hard, normal and easy skills is also an extra layer of complexity. It has a great integration of the system with the setting though. I'm interested to hear from old RQ4 players as well.

SGL.

[juhanfg]

Haven't played it, but it looks good. Very good actually. Char-gen looks a bit complicated, but probably no more than RQ3 was. Hard, normal and easy skills is also an extra layer of complexity. It has a great integration of the system with the setting though. I'm interested to hear from old RQ4 players as well.

SGL.

I've created a few characters and I haven't found it too difficult.

It's different from RQ3 but from my point of view it allows you to get a wider range of characters. Not all characters with the same profession will have the same exactly the same skills, which is nice.

The things that I'm not too sure about are the fatigue system as it seems like you might have to make too many con rolls, and... I think that's it!!!

[RosenMcStern]

I am currently playing one (which means three, as I have three characters in it) campaigns with a mix of RQ3/4 rules, and have generated characters with RQ4 rules more than once. The system is better than RQ3, and also overall better than MRQ if you accept some complexity (but, heck, once you have learned to play without skill category modifiers, they seem rather clumsy when you return to a system that has them).

It is probably the best incarnation of BRP ever written. We alll know the real reasons why it never saw the light, and the false accusations against Oliver Jovanovic were just one part of it. Things happen. So if you are not worried about using a system that cannot be referenced on any "official" forum, go for it, you will not regret your choice.

[juhanfg]

Thanks, I'll go for it.

I'll let you all know how it goes.

J

[Nightshade]

I used a hybrid between it and RQ3 for some time, and it worked well enough for us.

[juhanfg]

I used a hybrid between it and RQ3 for some time, and it worked well enough for us.

What did you use and what did you left out?

[Nightshade]

What did you use and what did you left out?

Well, that gets a little complicated, as parts of it were based on an earlier draft that was less Glorantha-centric. The previous experience system was a little less chunky, for example, as it was based on spending points, and each profession had both a point cost associated with it, and point costs for optional skills; so depending on the power level you started at, you could potentially have the skills from a moderate cost profession and a low cost one (a fisherman who'd gone off and become a soldier, for example) and there were some other odds and ends you could buy.

Because I don't run a Gloranthan game, there were some cherry-picking that went on in other parts of the system too; the shamnistic runic affiliation was a non-starter, as were some of the Malkioni specific issues in sorcery.

I think I also used closer to the RQ3 weapon tables, too, but I'd have to check to be sure.

[Mr. What]

I've found several misstatements and possible typos in the SRD.

Most are fairly straightforward... a bit too detailed to handle here.

We have had some discussion of the teaching sorcery rules.

I'd stick with the RQ3 rule of "you need 75% skill to teach"

instead of "you need 2x base skill of student" to teach, which makes

no sense. You need less skill to teach a weak student than

a naturally adept one? silly.

We are allowing Minataur and Broo as PC's, which is a little broken.

Their combat expertese is awesome, and the penalty of slightly

lower INT/POW... seems to be only a minor inconvenience.

All they want is stuff like bladesharp anyway.

[Nightshade]

I'm not sure you're talking about the same RQ4 the rest of us are, since you're refering to an SRD; we're not talking about Mongoose RQ.

That said, as a side comment, nonhumans weren't really balanced in any incarnation of RQ; simple dark trolls tended to be as good as humans in any edition, except they were bigger and stronger.

[juhanfg]

I most definetly wasn't thinking about MRQ.

I bought some of the books and I feel cheated. There are a few things that I like but I wouldn't know how to use the rules. Even after all the erratas I still think the combat system is broken, the rune requirement for battle magic in glorantha doesn't fit and the fact that I can outrun a horse in a 100m sprint laughable (just look at the movement tables in MRQ if you have the books).

So no, I wasn't asking about MRQ, but the RQ4 that never got to be published.

[Merak Gren]

I have taken RQ:AIG with me on a conference to read while travelling etc.

Wow! *What can I say, I'm very impressed. *This is the best RQ Glorantha game ever written. *It's a damn shame it never saw the light of day.

It had a strong feeling of RQ2 which I love, with some of the sophistication of RQ3. *

It has put some things into perspective for me. *Some of the things I thought were new for BRP are in there (like slashing weapons bleeding on specials), and things I liked about MoRQ like the fatigue classes, are in AIG too. *

I like the chargen section, a bit confusing at first, but an improvement to RQ3, which is very bitty, and with no built in way to scale up. *

This will seriously compete for my attention when BRP arrives for any 3rd Age Gloarantha *goodness. *There may be a need for some houseruling, but I like the way, it seems designed to work with RQ3 supplements, I guess that some of the changes, like fixed damage from STR + SIZ bonus, are compatible / interchangeable with the random rolled bonus.

Just a couple of questions. *Is there a character sheet out there for it? *I haven't got the time to do one from scratch.

Any Character conversion notes, and anything else from the appendices?

Thanks a lot.

[Shiba Homer]

Please try not to triple post.

I think Nightshade was refering to what juhanfg said, if you read what he wrote and when he wrote it.

[Trifletraxor]

I have taken RQ:AIG with me on a conference to read while travelling etc.

Wow! *What can I say, I'm very impressed. *This is the best RQ Glorantha game ever written. *It's a damn shame it never saw the light of day.

Hi Merak! Got rid of the triple post! Yes, very impressive, without doubt the best Glorantha game. A shame Greg gregged it all.

It had a strong feeling of RQ2 which I love, with some of the sophistication of RQ3. *

It has put some things into perspective for me. *Some of the things I thought were new for BRP are in there (like slashing weapons bleeding on specials), and things I liked about MoRQ like the fatigue classes, are in AIG too. *

I like the chargen section, a bit confusing at first, but an improvement to RQ3, which is very bitty, and with no built in way to scale up. *

This will seriously compete for my attention when BRP arrives for any 3rd Age Gloarantha *goodness. *There may be a need for some houseruling, but I like the way, it seems designed to work with RQ3 supplements, I guess that some of the changes, like fixed damage from STR + SIZ bonus, are compatible / interchangeable with the random ]rolled bonus.

3rd Age Glorantha won't arrive for BRP. You will have to convert it.

Just a couple of questions. *Is there a character sheet out there for it? *I haven't got the time to do one from scratch.

Tse download section!

SGL.

[RosenMcStern]

Hi Merak! Got rid of the triple post! Yes, very impressive, without doubt the best Glorantha game. A shame Greg gregged it all.

The story is even more serious than that. Greg could be convinced to un-greg it (IIRC it was Stephen Martin that persuaded him RQ:AiG was bad). The point is that the author of RQ:AiGwas falsely accused of heinous crimes. Even though he was later cleared of all charges, no publisher of games the target of which includes minors would touch that manuscript with a 10 feet long pole!

[Merak Gren]

Please try not to triple post.

My apologies. I'm posting from a Blackberry device and I lost data services yesterday immediately after making the post. I am back to 'normal' this morning.

[frogspawner]

The point is that the author of RQ:AiGwas falsely accused of heinous crimes.

Well it's a good job our Jason is whiter-than-white, perfectly pure in thought and deed! That's right, isn't it Mr D?

(Not sure about that Sam bloke, though... )

[RosenMcStern]

Well it's a good job our Jason is whiter-than-white, perfectly pure in thought and deed! That's right, isn't it Mr D?

I was not questioning Jason's criminal record. The point is that explicitly quoting/using/reviving RQ:AiG is a no-no for any publisher, unfortunately. A pity, because the manuscript is very good.

[Nightshade]

Yeah, all evidence I've seen is that the death of RQ:AIG had more to do with AH's cold feet following AJ arrest (especially given the sexual nature of the accusations) than problems with Greg (though its not impossible the latter could have killed the project by itself, but the former ensured it wasn't even going to get reworked sans Glorantha).

[soltakss]

I liked some of it (different levels of skill difficulty, some of the shamanic stuff) but found the combat to be very wargamey (hex-based combat, movement in phases, extreme number of combat options) and thought it was a retrograde step, nowhere near as good as RQ3 overall.

[RosenMcStern]

but found the combat to be very wargamey (hex-based combat, movement in phases, extreme number of combat options)

Indeed. But do not tell my 3rd age gaming group. They love the Maneuver skill (which sucks IMO).

and thought it was a retrograde step, nowhere near as good as RQ3 overall.

Some points were, but most changes were in fact improvements.

[Nightshade]

I liked some of it (different levels of skill difficulty, some of the shamanic stuff) but found the combat to be very wargamey (hex-based combat, movement in phases, extreme number of combat options) and thought it was a retrograde step, nowhere near as good as RQ3 overall.

The hex based combat was pretty much true in RQ3 too, and the movement system was, on the whole, _less_ gamey than RQ3's interwoven movement (which was a nightmare to keep up with with large numbers of opponents).

[Nightshade]

Indeed. But do not tell my 3rd age gaming group. They love the Maneuver skill (which sucks IMO).

I thought it was one of the better solutions to engagement and disengagement I've seen, honestly (though I liked the implementation in the earlier draft a bit better than the final).