RuneQuest Quickstart - The Broken Tower

[smascrns]

I've crafted a timeline for the events up to the moment when the adventurers reach the ruins. Here it is:

 

Day 1, morning. Danakos steals the cattle and kills the herders.

Day 1, late evening. Zarah sends the runner to check what happened, and comes to know what happened after rescuing Berra.

Day 2, early morning, cloudy weather. The adventurers start the persecution.

Day 2, early evening, prospects of rain. The party reaches the Grey Dogs’ encampment*. Finds Lannike’s body. Notices Carthalo.

OPTION 1

Day 2, evening, prospects of storm. Party doesn’t contact Carthalo. May or may not bury Lannike. Resumes persecution. Storm. Party has to improvise a shelter (appropriate skill rolls).

Day 2, night, storm and heavy rain. Party has to endure an eventful night (appropriate skill rolls).

Day 3, morning, cloudy weather, light rain. Party resumes persecution, but the track is lost. Female statues.

Day 3, noon and evening, light rain. Party decides what to do. Options (whenever an option directs you to another moment in the timeline, adjust day and timing accordingly):

OPTION 1.1

Search for the track to the north. Encounter with XX, go to option 2, day 3, noon.

OPTION 1.2

Search in circles around the place where they found Lannike. May: find Carthalo and interact with him, go to option 2, day 2, evening; extend the search to the north, go to option 1.1; search to the west or northwest, go to option 1.3.

OPTION 1.3

Day 3, noon and evening, light rain. Party goes after Danako in a northwest direction, entering Lismelder’s lands. Eventually they will cross the local population. Encounter will range from hostile to neutral to (moderately) friendly, according to the way the party behaves. Sooner or later the party realizes that Danako didn’t return to his tribal lands, so he must still be in the Badlands. Party moves back.

Day 3+, <as per events>, light rain. Party returned to the Badlands and searches Danako to the north. Encounter with X, go to option 2, day 3, noon.

OPTION 2

Day 2, evening, prospects of storm. Interaction with Carthalo. Lannike’s burial. Party gets refuge from storm at Carthalo’s place.

Day 2, night, storm and heavy rain. Conversation/information exchange with Carthalo.

Day 3, morning, cloudy weather, light rain. Party resumes persecution, but the track is lost. Female statues.

Day 3, noon, light rain. Encounter with XX. Following the track of the XX allows them to regain the track of Danako’s party.

Day 3, evening, rain increases in intensity. Arrival at the ruins.

Day 3, night, or Day 4, morning, in both case mist or fog. Party enters the ruins.

 

* I consider a rate of movement faster than what's mentionned in the RQQS. If you don't agree with this, change timings accordingly.

[styopa]

I took it as implied (both by the text, and by the sense that we should be keeping these games playably short) that 'tracking' Danako is perfunctory - they might fail some rolls here and there, but 'tracking ' a herd of cattle is nearly automatic.

As far as that bit's concerned, the adventure is more or less on rails as long as they choose to follow them.

[smascrns]

The issue is the heavy rain and the storm. I assume that it may wash out the track. Untill then, I also think following it does not require any rolls; after they find it again, it's the same situation.

[Eric Christian Berg]

1 hour ago, smascrns said:

The issue is the heavy rain and the storm. I assume that it may wash out the track. Untill then, I also think following it does not require any rolls; after they find it again, it's the same situation.

This is addressed. If they wait out the storm, they have to actually make a Track roll at double the normal chance to find it. They can try a second time if they fail, taking another hour. And after that it says they eventually find it after a few hours of searching.

[Eric Christian Berg]

On 6/11/2017 at 2:02 AM, styopa said:

The explanation of how to use a shield to block locations vs missiles is missing some bits; I understand what you mean only because of previous rules knowledge.  The text descr is unclear.  It says how many locations they can block, but not how that works (ie can you block locations and still use it for parrying, etc)

Was there clarification on this that I missed? Does it mean you can only roll to parry missile attacks that hit one of the blocked locations?

[styopa]

1 minute ago, Eric Christian Berg said:

Was there clarification on this that I missed? Does it mean you can only roll to parry missile attacks that hit one of the blocked locations?

If it's the old rules, you could either use a shield in a round to parry (ie a blow) _or_ use it to block missiles.  The only way to block missiles was to declare locations you were warding with the shield.  If the incoming missile hit that location, it hit the shield instead.  This was the key advantage to parrying with a shield instead of a weapon - weapons couldn't block locations like shields could.

I think it was only my houserule that we DID allow shields to parry hand-thrown weapons.

[styopa]

Consistent typo: the character sheets have R Leg 01-04, L Leg 05-09, Abd 09-11

Unless you can get hit in the left leg simultaneously with the abdomen, that L Leg should probably be 05-08?

Same on all toons, Danakos, Sprul Pa, Varanik, Carthalo.

[Greg]

Just want to make sure I got this: Characters have Rune Points they can spend on Rune spells just as they have Magic points they can spend on Spirit Magic spells. So, for example, Vostor has 3 Rune Points and can therefore cast Command Cult Spirit once and Heal Wound once. And, given there are no opportunities for worship or rites, that would be it for this adventure.

Correct?

[Jeff]

2 hours ago, Greg said:

Just want to make sure I got this: Characters have Rune Points they can spend on Rune spells just as they have Magic points they can spend on Spirit Magic spells. So, for example, Vostor has 3 Rune Points and can therefore cast Command Cult Spirit once and Heal Wound once. And, given there are no opportunities for worship or rites, that would be it for this adventure.

Correct?

Correct.

[GamingGlen]

Several things came up with a dry run of three characters through the adventure.

Too many characteristic checks for what should be pertinent skill checks, such as Intelligent checks for Animal Lore. 
This brought up an idea: add 1/2 Area Lore skill to any Lore skill pertaining to things of that area; one should be more familiar with things from home, either from direct observation or heard about from your fellow natives (a 'home field advantage' bonus).

Pg 28, second paragraph: "A successful Customs roll reveals...".  Isn't Customs one of those skills with specialties?  So which Customs?  Heortling?

[GamingGlen]

A size 3 air elemental, which Vasana could summon, would keep any sprul-pa* from coming close to the character, probably while they're dealing with Idrima.

 

How do you pronounce Idrima?   Eye-dream-ah?  Eh-drim-ay?

 

* Really?  Earth zombies?  Have I said how much I detest the whole zombie fad?

[Psullie]

3 hours ago, GamingGlen said:

Several things came up with a dry run of three characters through the adventure.

Too many characteristic checks for what should be pertinent skill checks, such as Intelligent checks for Animal Lore. 
This brought up an idea: add 1/2 Area Lore skill to any Lore skill pertaining to things of that area; one should be more familiar with things from home, either from direct observation or heard about from your fellow natives (a 'home field advantage' bonus).

Pg 28, second paragraph: "A successful Customs roll reveals...".  Isn't Customs one of those skills with specialties?  So which Customs?  Heortling?

I think that is one of the functions of the augment roll. Make your Area Lore roll to see if it boosts your Animal Lore. 

[Psullie]

Harmast has the same DEX & SIZ SR as Sorala. Both use the broadsword yet Harmast's adjusted SR is 6 while Sorala's is 5. 

I'm assuming that this is due to his plate armour?

[smascrns]

14 hours ago, Eric Christian Berg said:

This is addressed. If they wait out the storm, they have to actually make a Track roll at double the normal chance to find it. They can try a second time if they fail, taking another hour. And after that it says they eventually find it after a few hours of searching.

True, but I prefer to allow players to decide what they do. If they think the riders are returning to the Grey Dog clan, they can figure out the approximate direction they would follow in normal circumstances, and may just move forward instead of spending time trying to find the track. If they do this, they eventually enter Lismelder lands, and may find local people. I just opened up that possibility and think it may actually be very interesting in game and setting terms.

[tedopon]

I have more than five people, but due to time constraints it would make more sense to run one session that goes long than two four hour sessions back to back. 

Is there an official party line on whether I can add in more material?

[MOB]

1 hour ago, tedopon said:

Is there an official party line on whether I can add in more material?

YGWV!

[Sean_RDP]

And so it begins... going to TRY and paint these to represent the 5 adventurers.  Then the bad guy and maybe the Stone Woman as well if I have time. Not sure where I am getting Rock lizards atm or a bison, but a trip to Hobbytown might be in my future. 

[GamingGlen]

7 hours ago, Psullie said:

I think that is one of the functions of the augment roll. Make your Area Lore roll to see if it boosts your Animal Lore. 

I'd rather cut down on the amount of dice rolling and keep the math simple (one fraction, not 3, and 50% is the simplest: divide by 2).

[GamingGlen]

2 hours ago, tedopon said:

I have more than five people, but due to time constraints it would make more sense to run one session that goes long than two four hour sessions back to back. 

Is there an official party line on whether I can add in more material?

Due to the high number of female to male pre-gens and knowing the level of machismo of the male gamers that play at my store, they will not ever play a female character. So I've created two male characters similar to the pre-gens and written up a few paragraphs of their back story. (e.g., the sneaky lazy "thief" had to be volunteered for the militia to help in the Battle of Pennel Ford where he got wounded and healed by Yanioth)  

[styopa]

In Rune Spell Descriptions, in the RUNE column, there are a few spells listed with "ANY" (extension, for example)

Does that mean that if someone is casting extension, they can literally choose ANY runic affinity for the roll?  So if I was casting extension on an Earth spell, I could use my Air value or even Death?

Thanks!

[Psullie]

2 minutes ago, styopa said:

In Rune Spell Descriptions, in the RUNE column, there are a few spells listed with "ANY" (extension, for example)

Does that mean that if someone is casting extension, they can literally choose ANY runic affinity for the roll?  So if I was casting extension on an Earth spell, I could use my Air value or even Death?

Thanks!

As these spells can be leaned by Any cult, I'd say that you'd be limited by the nature of your cult. So if you learned Soul Sight from a Daka Fal cult it would use Man or Spirit

[Psullie]

26 minutes ago, GamingGlen said:

I'd rather cut down on the amount of dice rolling and keep the math simple (one fraction, not 3, and 50% is the simplest: divide by 2).

Fair enough, on a related issue...

I read those as add 20, 30 or 50 percentiles - a skill of 35 would become 55, 65 or 85; and not 50% of the original skill, but it did give me pause to consider.

[styopa]

Leap spell listed as 1 point, actually variable.

Mist Cloud listed as 1 point, actually variable.

Does Multispell really have a range, or is it Self?

Does the caster have to overcome the target POW for Soul Sight?

Teleport is listed as 3 points, but is actually variable, so would this be 3+?

Edited June 15, 2017 by styopa

[styopa]

On 6/12/2017 at 4:40 AM, Jason Durall said:

• Pathwatch is focused on the caster, as long as they're awake. 

Then in a practical sense the 'must be cast on a path or road to be traveled by the caster' doesn't matter?  

[styopa]

On 6/12/2017 at 4:40 AM, Jason Durall said:

• Spell Trading works for whatever Rune spells desired, as long as both parties agree. 

Sorry, but since we no longer have limited-use Rune spells, I'm not sure I understand how this mechanically works?  

Spell description says "Allows the caster to trade one use of any Rune magic (except this one!) in exchange for one use of any Rune spell known by another priest of any cult."

If the Issaries trades away "one use" of a spell, what does that mean?  If she trades away Extension 1, does that mean she can't use extension 1 ever, until the traded spell is cast, or when?  Can she still cast Extension 2?  Does she spend the rune points for the spell she's trading away, and in exchange "get" one (free) casting of the spell she's trading for?