I Ran RQG And It Made Me So Very Happy

[Cultist of Sooty]

I've been a fan of Glorantha for a very long time. I bought a copy of RQ2 way back in 1983 (just in time for everything to go OOP!) and just the little hints in that made me fall in love with the world. That and a copy of Griffin Mountain.

But I never got to play it. One of the players in my school gaming group skimmed the book, took against it and that was it. Whenever the choice came up, it was "no" to Runequest. Sure, we had lots of good games. But never Runequest.

After I left school, it was similar. Yeah, we played good games but I never managed to sell a group on playing Runequest.

When Hero Wars came out, I finally got to play and run games in Glorantha. We did a lot of Hero Wars and HeroQuest. So I got my Glorantha fix in the end. But it still wasn't my first love, Runequest.

Not until a few evenings ago. The runes were finally right and I ran a game of RQG for a couple of friends. I don't think the scenario itself was anything special. An encounter on the road leading to Apple Lane, a little skirmish.

But when the PCs rode into Apple Lane with Gringle - who they had met on the road - and went to stay at the Tin Inn, where they met a troll trader? I have wanted to take some Runequest characters to that place for a very long time.

36 years. That's how long it took. I couldn't be happier. We had a beautiful new map of Apple Lane to show them (though my game is set when the pawnshop is still there).

I'm a little surprised by how emotional I felt about it. Not right at the time, but when I was thinking about it the day after. As much as I liked the HW/HQ games I played, it was Runequest that introduced me to Glorantha. That carries some weight. To finally get to play in Apple Lane after all these years made my heart young again. It took me right back to the moment I opened the box and read about dark trolls and newtlings and runes for the first time.

It took me right back to when I fell in love with the world that has given me so much pleasure down the years. Pleasure that sometimes came from playing, sometimes from chatting about it with friends, sometimes from reading and musing.

What a wonderful creation it is and how grateful I am that people worked so hard over so many years to show it to us.

And one of the best things about this current game is, these players are new to Glorantha. I get to see it be new again through their eyes, like it was for me all those years ago.

There are rumours of trouble at the Rainbow Mounds. I can't wait to see the PCs go there.

[g33k]

Thank you!!!

I have a new-to-Glorantha group I am hoping/expecting to run with RQG in the near future.

Your post fills me with optimism and delight, as I imagine running it for my own friends!

[borbetomagnus]

Thank you for sharing your longing to finally play RQ @Cultist of Sooty

I have a similar situation. I didn't get to experience RQ in the "classic" period. I remember seeing the books and supplements for RQ2 and RQ3 many years ago, and was well aware that RQ used the same BRP system used by Call of Cthulhu. I played CoC since 1st edition. However, none of my gaming groups throughout the years were interested in trying it out. D&D ruled the gaming tables.

I was able to play Hero Wars / Heroquest at a convention in the early 2000s and finally got a taste of Glorantha. HQ games were fun, but I still wanted to experience the original. I collected the Moon Design reprints and all of the Hero Wars / Heroquest material. I even played Mongoose RQ "Living Glorantha" adventures at conventions and it was fun, but wasn't set in the 3rd Age...

My current gaming group is somewhat interested, but currently focused on a recently started Lord of the Rings RPG (Decipher) so they have their current fantasy RPG fix. So now, I have the RQG books and I'm seeking out players. My sons are interested in experiencing this rich world so I have two players. I'd like to get a few more for a group of five to seven players. I'm confident that I can get some of the gamers at the FLGS who play weekly D&D games to give RuneQuest Glorantha a try.

[Shiningbrow]

I ran an RQ (mashup) session about a year ago to introduce players to the idea of D100 and everyone has magic, etc. First time in 30 years or so I'd gotten to actually do something with a system I've loved.

Very rewarding to have one of the players get very engrossed, and emotional against the Lunar occupying force! But, it sort of sucks when you fumble when the attacker Crits (also, being the bastard GM that I am, I roll perception checks, and fumbles were a-plenty... I was amused, but some of the players didn't like it being a bit more 'real' than other games they'd played. Nor enemies that actually think!).

[Cultist of Sooty]

Thanks, everyone!

One thing that did make us all laugh in the session was that one of the very first attacks was a fumble that saw one of the PCs shoot his friend in the arm. Which left his friend concluding "I need better armour". They've already learned it's a dangerous world when it's run with Runequest. 

I'm playing a mini-session with one of the players tomorrow as the other can't make it. We'll play a full second session next week. I'm still all fired up for it.

One thing I do need to remember to do, which @Shiningbrow reminds me of, is to give them plenty of chances to roll for skills so they have a chance to tick off those experience checks.

And good luck, everyone, with getting your games going!

Edited April 17, 2019 by Cultist of Sooty

[Bohemond]

My older brother found RQ within about a year or so of its original publication. I was about 11. We all gave up D&D and never went back. While I love HQ and the things the system makes possible, I still find myself pining for some RQ hack n slash. I think my next campaign (once the two I'm currently running wind down) will be RQG. 

[Ochoa]

I've been gaming since 1982 and this is my first go at Glorantha. Joyful all around, indeed.

[Cultist of Sooty]

We played again tonight and, for the first time, the otherworldly aspects of Glorantha came to the front. The previous sessions had been "every day" stuff. Tonight's session featured a holy day and clan rituals, where the PCs perceived the other side and acted "as/with" their deities (stopping Nontraya the Taker from dragging Esrola down into the underworld).

And in the same session, they were doing something as simple as dealing with apple thieves.

We're all enjoying the game and it was very pleasing to have one of the players say "I think I get it" now about Glorantha, and liking that collision between the mythic and the mundane and how having protected the goddess will have a tangible effect in better harvests to come.

This feels good.

[Cultist of Sooty]

The game is still going strong, and still making me very happy. We've played 14 sessions of play now, and I think it's rattling along really nicely.

I started an "Actual Play" thread about it on RPGnet:

https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/runequest-glorantha-apple-lane-at-last.849524/

So I could post writeups of the sessions and witter on endlessly about what happened and what I was thinking.

I'm still a very happy chap about this.