How Much RuneQuest Do I Need to Know to Play RQG?

[Pheres]

I am a new player in the world of Glorantha, starting playing using RQG, and i completely agree with Cawdorthane.

I think for both players and master it's a great idea to learn the game litlle by litlle.

So you can start using only RQG core book. The only things that are missing from my point of view, is rules for heroquesting and opponents/animals/elders/... technical and social description. Two things that are not necessary in order to start play the game, but are quickly needed in order to improve game experience.

So i think that at start only core book can be used, but the two first books to buy after that should be the bestiary and the GM book who detail heroquesting.

Personnaly, i am also waiting for the cults book, because i want to deep more in the Glorantha universe.

All this stuff is in the road map (if i have weel understood all i read)

[creativehum]

30 minutes ago, Simon Hallett said:

Hi Creativehum,

It is also worth noting that having nearly 40 years of various rules kicking about in your head sometimes makes you interpret things incorrectly, as you graft on how you think things should work rather than actually reading the rules!

I am absolutely sure that the designers intend RQG to stand firmly on its own (once the odd correction and clarification is made).

S. 

To be clear, I posted something like this point on another thread. I know I've gotten caught up in someone worrying about something not making sense in RQG only to find out it was explained elsewhere in the rules.

My goal right now is to shut the fuck up and finish reading the book before getting caught up in any more discussions.

[soltakss]

On 7/4/2018 at 5:49 PM, creativehum said:

Apparently the RQG text doesn't include the limits imposed on the use of this spell outlined in Cults of Prax.

Let's say my players and I have never read Cults of Prax. Should such limits apply? Are we supposed to read Cults of Prax to play RQG?

And more importantly, are there other details and ideas included in RQG that longtime players of RuneQuest or students of Glorantha would know how to handle well... that some of without such experience will simply be confounded the current rules or uncertain what to do with them?

No, you do not need any of the books from years ago to play RQG.

However, a lot of us old-timers are quite happy to use rules from previous editions, or magic items, or spells, when they have not yet appeared in RQG. So, if I wanted to use Powered Crystals, I'd use the ones from RQ2 or RQ3 Elder Secrets, at least until they appear in the GM's Sourcebook, then I'll use those.

RuneQuest has always had various levels of depth and you can play with whichever level of depth suits you.

I know people who still will only use what is in the RQ2 Rulebook, I kid you not, they say they don;t need anything else. Other people use rules found in Wyrms Footnotes, spells found in obscure fanzines and so on. Whatever suits you is fine.

If all you have is the RQG Rulebook then you can run a decent game. If you have the new supplements that are about to come out, then you can run a much richer game. If you include the things in RQ2/RQ3 that aren't included in the new supplements, then you can run a richer game still. However, there is no need to use them at all.

[jajagappa]

2 hours ago, soltakss said:

So, if I wanted to use Powered Crystals, I'd use the ones from RQ2 or RQ3 Elder Secrets, at least until they appear in the GM's Sourcebook

Or if you've signed up for the RQG previews, you can get them now!  Pre-release mail-out #11 includes Rune Metals and Magic Crystals, a 4 page teaser from the Gamemaster Sourcebook!

[Gryphaea]

On 7/5/2018 at 1:16 AM, jajagappa said:

I'd note that my experience with rule books is that you're never going to understand all the nuances on one or two (or three...) reads.  It doesn't mean you need to go back to other texts.  It may mean you need to get clarifications where some bit isn't as clear as it could be.  If you've had the benefit of prior editions without much substantive change (e.g. Call of Cthulhu), then most of those bits will have been fully worked out.  Overall, compared to what I remember when getting started with either RQ2 (which really was pretty bare bones and needed supplements) or RQ3 (where I really did have to rely on Cults of Prax, Griffin Mountain, and other earlier texts to help complete the Glorantha picture), RQG can stand well on its own as a rule system and as a source for getting started in Glorantha.

I very much agree with the above, slowly working through the book has given me the impression that it is not a bad introduction to the glorious sprawling mess that is Glorantha. Remember the best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time, and RQG has done a reasonable job in serving up palatable servings.

On a less serious note... you don't have to have seen the Python Old Yorkshireman sketch to need to be told that things were always a lot worse back in the day.

Edited July 10, 2018 by Gryphaea

[21st Century Moose]

On 7/4/2018 at 5:49 PM, creativehum said:

... are there other details and ideas included in RQG that longtime players of RuneQuest or students of Glorantha would know how to handle well... that some of without such experience will simply be confounded the current rules or uncertain what to do with them?

The big one that I've seen people have difficulty with elsewhere is starting characteristics. 

I get the sense this comes from familiarity with other games where starting characteristics are more important, and where the values you start with are - barring magic or other special events - pretty much what you're stuck with forever. 

With the exception of SIZ and INT that's very much not the case in RQ, and those values can and will change over even quite a small number of sessions.

So the message is: don't be too attached to, or disappointed in, your starting characteristics because in a month or two they'll likely be completely different. 

[styopa]

2 hours ago, Gryphaea said:

 it is not a bad introduction to the glorious sprawling mess that is Glorantha.

That should be a quote for the book cover.

58 minutes ago, 21stCenturyMoose said:

So the message is: don't be too attached to, or disappointed in, your starting characteristics because in a month or two they'll likely be completely different. 

One reason that I'm not a huge fan of the breakpoint-based stat mods.  RQ stats do change a fair amount, with some of the changes being meaningful (I got a +5% now!) and most not.

[tedopon]

On 7/4/2018 at 1:52 PM, styopa said:

Ignore the excessive navel-contemplation of Deep Gloranthan Esoterica that you see here.

That about sums it up for me.

I love Glorantha and have for nearly 30 years...I have hard copies of most of the zines going back to the early 80s, and read much of what comes out in both the RQ and HQ (and now 13G) lines. 

Ignore anything you have a problem with and add anything you think would make your game better.

The shoegaze crew are enjoying themselves...good on them. I'd rather play a game and laugh with my friends than get another Anthropology degree (the real one from an accredited university was plenty, I don't need a pretendland one).

[Atgxtg]

I agree. One of my most memorable RQ adventures was something I ran before I had gotten most of the books. I was running Hellpits of Nightfang, and lacking the Vivamort cult writeup, I had to sort of wing it. As a result I ran the vampire as a more tradtional folklore/horror movie type vampire. The players were holed up in a house, and the vampire couldn't get inside without an invitation (again, traditional vampire stuff). One of the PCs was trading insults with the vampire and I had the vampire reply" Why don't you come out here and say that?"

The PC actually got as far as "Why don't you c-" before his eyes widened and he realized he was just about to issue an invitation. Spooked the hell out of him. To this day the player reminds me about it. 

Edited July 13, 2018 by Atgxtg