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RQG - Where we are. And the new cover.


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My first reaction to the cover art is that it's a lovely piece which would be great on a HeroQuest book. Its tone doesn't really match the tone of most of my RuneQuest games; it's larger-than-life and heroic and doesn't provide much focus on the gritty details which are (IMO) so important in RQ. But I'm trying to keep an open mind and will see whether the art grows on me.

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I like the cover. I think the new logo works fine.

There's been some criticism on Twitter over the woman on the left. I don't really see her as being all that sexualized, honestly. I'm guessing the critics are unfamiliar with the priestesses of Ernalda in some of the HeroQuest books who are depicted bare-breasted in the Minoan fashion. I also saw a bit of criticism about Vasana's armor. To me that's not so far from historical muscle cuirasses, albeit for a woman rather than a man. I would imagine the critics are familiar with the Luise Perrin original, but who knows. 
 

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4 hours ago, trystero said:

 

My first reaction to the cover art is that it's a lovely piece which would be great on a HeroQuest book. Its tone doesn't really match the tone of most of my RuneQuest games; it's larger-than-life and heroic and doesn't provide much focus on the gritty details which are (IMO) so important in RQ. But I'm trying to keep an open mind and will see whether the art grows on me.

 

Picture is great, but I do see this perspective as well. RuneQuest was always a gritty experience for us. Hopefully that tradition will be upheld in new RuneQuest too - as well as the expanded heroquesting stuff. Always thought Rurik’s saga complimented RuneQuests rules for gritty combat brilliantly. It set the tone well 

Have to say I like the changes that have been made to the picture from the version in 13th age.  It’s doesn’t leave any questions about its ancient mythic credentials, and its heritage from the RQ2

 

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5 hours ago, trystero said:

My first reaction to the cover art is that it's a lovely piece which would be great on a HeroQuest book. Its tone doesn't really match the tone of most of my RuneQuest games; it's larger-than-life and heroic and doesn't provide much focus on the gritty details which are (IMO) so important in RQ. But I'm trying to keep an open mind and will see whether the art grows on me.

My RQ campaigns have always been larger than life and heroic, so I welcome this.

I am so tired of the "You are cattle herders and someone is stealing your cattle" or "Some of your flock have been killed and eaten", or "One of your cows is found with its guts torn out and a trail of small bloody footprints leading to a nearby marsh".

Give me the Hero Wars, HeroQuesting, PCs making a difference to the big picture. That is what I have been waiting for now for over 30 years.

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14 minutes ago, soltakss said:

My RQ campaigns have always been larger than life and heroic, so I welcome this.

I am so tired of the "You are cattle herders and someone is stealing your cattle" or "Some of your flock have been killed and eaten", or "One of your cows is found with its guts torn out and a trail of small bloody footprints leading to a nearby marsh".

Give me the Hero Wars, HeroQuesting, PCs making a difference to the big picture. That is what I have been waiting for now for over 30 years.

My campaign never got to huge world-shaking levels, but we weren't really doing that low of a game either. I feel RQ actually works best for mid-level games, with just a group of adventurers making their own way in the world without any huge obligations to their clan or city, even if that isn't the "Gloranthan" way to play.

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54 minutes ago, soltakss said:

I am so tired of the "You are cattle herders and someone is stealing your cattle" or "Some of your flock have been killed and eaten", or "One of your cows is found with its guts torn out and a trail of small bloody footprints leading to a nearby marsh".

We were never cattle herders in our games either - not sure where all the cows came from?...but the games we had were mostly quite low level in feel, pretty much like the Rurik saga, vulnerable & death always just around the corner. Don’t get me wrong i’m Looking forward to a RuneQuest with the full range - all the way up to heroquesting.

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I really like that image of an Orlanthi rumble coming your way, very evocative.

 I do like it, but from first impressions it also looks a bit too computer-gamey, especially with the new logo as well. I realise it may not be fully finished yet, but at this stage this is not really grabbing me as cover art.  

It is a great piece, but I think I would prefer to see this artwork as a a title page instead. 

I guess that’s because I thought the RQG QuickStart was a perfect cover to link RQG with the nostalgia of the classic RQ2 cover.

I incorrectly assumed the QuickStart cover would be would be same as the cover of RQG core rulebook , so this has come out of left field for me.

The other issue is that the more I look at this cover, the more I feel that it would make a great HeroQuest cover. I agree that the tone of HeroQuest has been quite different to that of RuneQuest., and I think that this may be my main concern .

HeroQuest feels like a great system for a more pulpy, heroic, and cinematic view of Glorantha.

RuneQuest’s Glorantha has always felt a bit different for me; more gritty, down and dusty, with a tone like CONAN and HBO ROME, mixed with The Man With No Name western movies (or possibly the Mad Mad series).

Not sure if my RQ is being consumed by my HQ with a cover like this. 

This is a great piece of art, but the RQG QuickStart cover just captured RQ so much better for me

 

 

Edited by Mankcam
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58 minutes ago, Mankcam said:

The other issue is that the more I look at this cover, the more I feel that it would make a great HeroQuest cover. I agree that the tone of HeroQuest has been quite different to that of RuneQuest., and I think that this may be my main concern .

I’ve heard this sentiment from others too. Some saying it’s great, but not sure if it marries with the RQ gritty experience. It certainly promotes the high fantasy aspect .

 

 

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I'm a traditionalist too, but I very much like the cover.  Sure, have the homage art as the frontispiece or whatever, but FLGS have a *ton* of games on the shelf - RQG has to jump out and grab people.  Cover art is HUGE at doing that in the waning days of physical-book purchasing.  Plus, every review, every selling-link is going to use that cover art and it's exciting, it's engaging, it suggests drama.

I get the point about it sort of suggesting heroquest instead of the gritty RQ thing, but hey, maybe this time since we're starting default a little higher up the adventurer food-chain as nearly- or actual-Runelords, we'll get a little more mechanics to represent the mystical levels of hero operations.  I think that part of the focus of RQ on the gritty lower stuff was because a) there never WAS this extra-high-power detail and b.) the RQ core mechanics sort of broke down at those points.  Hopefully RQG addresses both.

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13 hours ago, Gene M. said:

I like the cover. I think the new logo works fine.

There's been some criticism on Twitter over the woman on the left. I don't really see her as being all that sexualized, honestly. I'm guessing the critics are unfamiliar with the priestesses of Ernalda in some of the HeroQuest books who are depicted bare-breasted in the Minoan fashion. I also saw a bit of criticism about Vasana's armor. To me that's not so far from historical muscle cuirasses, albeit for a woman rather than a man. I would imagine the critics are familiar with the Luise Perrin original, but who knows. 
 

Bah.  She's an Earth/fertility priestess.  What do they expect?  Have these people ever seen a Frazetta cover?

I agree with the criticism on the breastplate, though.  First, not many women warriors would be well-endowed enough to need it, and second, it's a target and an identifier for the chauvinists among the opposition who figure a woman would be easy pickin's.

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14 minutes ago, Yelm's Light said:

Bah.  She's an Earth/fertility priestess.  What do they expect?  Have these people ever seen a Frazetta cover?

I agree with the criticism on the breastplate, though.  First, not many women warriors would be well-endowed enough to need it, and second, it's a target and an identifier for the chauvinists among the opposition who figure a woman would be easy pickin's.

Anyone who thinks Heortling women are easy pickin's is a fool. (Not disagreeing with the idea that chauvinists might behave that way... but...)

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A bit more insight about the new RuneQuest cover we're working on. One of the groundbreaking RPG design innovations RuneQuest introduced way back in 1978 was the "example character", with ongoing vignettes of their adventures to show how the rules operate in play. Original RQ had 'The Saga of Rurik the Restless'; for RQG it's 'Vasana's Saga'! Like with Rurik's Saga, many of the RQG examples stem from actual play, from the Chaosium house campaign.

The warrior woman on the right of the new cover is Vasana herself, the example character of RQG. Vasana's companions are arrayed there too: Harmast, a chieftain's son; Sorala, an adventurous sage; Vostor, a Lunar deserter; Yanioth, a magically-adept Earth priestess; and Vishi Dun, a High Llama tribe shaman's apprentice.

(And that's Vasana on RuneQuest Quickstart cover too, fighting the legendary rock lizard. Vasana and her friends are the pre-gen characters).

Vasanas.png.48340673066bc4687999195628071b59.png

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I guess this is aimed to appeal to newcomers. The hardcore fans are like us are going to buy it anyway, so there isn't any sense in going after them. 

The Gen Con copy shows the new game is gritty, but there is the promise of the game being playable up to the heroic level. In which case the cover makes much more sense. 

However, I think that the scenarios that follow will set the tone of the game, after all that's what really made RQ2 great. Let us all pray for no cattle raiding ones. 

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8 minutes ago, Paid a bod yn dwp said:

Thinking about it - Regarding *Cowgate*, the RQG QuickStart adventure was great. The tone felt right...good use of cows

The GM's pack has a pretty diverse range of scenarios from gritty, mundane stuff of life to epic Bronze Age fantasy. 

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11 hours ago, jeffjerwin said:

Anyone who thinks Heortling women are easy pickin's is a fool. (Not disagreeing with the idea that chauvinists might behave that way... but...)

So, asking Miss Glow Hands for her phone number wouldn't end well? Rats!

"Say, not to be forward, but are you doing anything after the hero war?"

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