How do you efficiently teach the game to one-shot groups?

[klecser]

My Call of Cthulhu group has been seeing my videos for "How To Build A Runequest Character" and they naturally want in, at least for a one-shot to try it.  I would likely run Defending Apple Lane and use the Pre-Gens.

My players are open-minded, but their experience is rooted almost exclusively in DND and Call of Cthulhu. Given the rarity of combat in our CoC campaign and the differences between this game and DND, I anticipate a steep learning curve for them. I will have a learning curve as well, as this will be my first time running RQ. Yet, I have 20+ years as a GM under my belt and I know how to anticipate a lot of the general challenges. I'm also a teacher by profession, so helping people understand and choosing the best questions comes naturally to me.

I'm expecting that we are going to actually do this in a minimum of two sessions: One to learn the rules basics and one to start play. I know that really doesn't happen for FLGS-based one shots, so I'm curious as to how you all teach the Basics as efficiently as possible.

My biggest fear right now is attempting to explain the three tiers of the Magic system and players having a character that they feel is ineffective because  of this. Some of the slipcase characters seem fairly complex to my untrained eye and specialize in calling Spirits and casting magic and I'm not sure how to "pitch" that to whoever plays one. Combat will obviously be a huge part of DAL. Another challenge is that we will only have one rulebook, so I anticipate printing full spell text from the PDF for players to use (for personal use only!  )

How do you teach Runequest efficiently to one-shot groups? Which pre-gens are the obvious choices for new players? Do you feel like a "pre" session is unnecessary with specific in-session choices to support understanding?

As always, thanks in advance.

 

[Bill the barbarian]

1 hour ago, klecser said:

My biggest fear right now is attempting to explain the three tiers of the Magic system and players having a character that they feel is ineffective because  of this. Some of the slipcase characters seem fairly complex to my untrained eye and specialize in calling Spirits and casting magic and I'm not sure how to "pitch" that to whoever plays one. Combat will obviously be a huge part of DAL. Another challenge is that we will only have one rulebook, so I anticipate printing full spell text from the PDF for players to use (for personal use only!  )

 

Good call! Explaining rune spells and rune points and rune cults briefly, spirit magics magic points and their cults or shamans again briefly will pre-emptive a true hard spot. take care of it first!

 Laminate (optional but what happens when that coke slurpy goes flying in the heat of combat)  multiple copies of spirit spell and rune spell tables and leave in the middle of the table. A selection of other items should be laminated and left in the players area as we'll. The table on dealing with wounds, (name and page?) Armour tables, weapons tables  The parry and attack results!!!!!!!! table (make a few and get help form the players when you need it and PS you will need it!). if you laminate the adventurer sheets you will be able to track changes with grease pencil. (and use agin at the next one off, signed... ecological barbarian!)

Do not go into a lot of detail about associated, friendly and opposed cults other that to acknowledged them (these guys are friends these guys, meh...). Same with combat. Attack and parry, parry - 20 parry, - 20 etc... Simple, and ignore ENC and maybe weapon categories accept broadly for the moment. Do not allow sorcery art all. It's for this godless westerners should suffice. Give em a good patter about Glorantha, (sounds like they already have that). Bows and spells separate from melee that is an adventurer can not do both in same Melee Round (optional but simple and take a look at all the threads of confusion though out the forums about this topic)

IGNORE GLORANTHA MINUTIAE OR THESE FORUMS AT ALL COSTS
well okay not you, the players... or your explanations to them should ignore the above.

Yes, simplification with good reason, This game is an unwieldy beast to  fly with all the  rules intact. I have done so now a half dozen times, it takes off like a 747 with Bruce Dickinson at the controls impossibly wrestling itself off the ground, throwing itself away from earth lacking all grace but having gravitas,  WEIGHT and POW! 

1 hour ago, klecser said:

I'm expecting that we are going to actually do this in a minimum of two sessions: One to learn the rules basics and one to start play. I know that really doesn't happen for FLGS-based one shots, so I'm curious as to how you all teach the Basics as efficiently as possible.

 

Take 20 minutes (hell a half hour, this is a great place to start and almost finish, they are so good) ) and show them the adventurer sheets.This will mean using the pre gens or pre gen your own (not recommended) It would be a lot of work. Transfer the pre gens to official adventurer sheets (at least the first two, maybe ignore the last two for now) and use them as visual aids to explain the rules with the players. Stats, Runes, Hit Points, Skills. Cover the pages.  Lots of work but it will help fix them in your mind and agin the sheets are truly the secret to RQ pat pending!

The actual character sheets (not the ones provided  with the pre gens) have an awful lot of the game right there at your and the parties finger tips. Cool, eh? Make two copies and keep a copy for your self for those times when you roll their skills and they don't know that you are. 

 

1 hour ago, klecser said:

Another challenge is that we will only have one rulebook, so I anticipate printing full spell text from the PDF for players to use (for personal use only!  )

See above on lamented items and using full adventure sheets.

Last as every good Gamemaster, Dungeon Maste,r Keeper or Time Lord knows, nothing wrong with a little hand wavery every now and again! Make it up for MGF!

Edited May 5, 2019 by Bill the barbarian

[Bill the barbarian]

Things I forgot last post

1 hour ago, klecser said:

Another challenge is that we will only have one rulebook, so I anticipate printing full spell text from the PDF for players to use (for personal use only!  )

spells and descriptions maybe copy, laminate and cut only the ones you need not all of them (lots of spells already and many more to come) Lamintate and add  more as adventures spells or more npcs spells are needed and added.

A laptop and or actual computer and one or two tablets with the core books always open an your favourite pages scrolled to or bookmarked are incredible aids in addition  to all of the above. I use a tablet desktop and laptop...

So do all the above in an hour and then take a 15 minute break and start the game. (be ready to hand hold, it's all right)

Cheers

Edited May 5, 2019 by Bill the barbarian

[jajagappa]

1 hour ago, klecser said:

Which pre-gens are the obvious choices for new players?

To keep it simpler at the start, particularly running the Apple Lane scenario, I'd suggest using:  Harmast (leader, good mix of skills), Vasana (Orlanthi warrior), Yanioth (healer and earth magics, good counter to spirits), Vostor (muscle), and Nathem (scouting, tracking). If you want Sorola (knowledge/lore, some combat), I'd suggest using the Quickstart version with spirit magic rather than the GM Screen pack version with sorcery, simply to focus on the two types of magic rather than three.

1 hour ago, klecser said:

How do you teach Runequest efficiently to one-shot groups?

Introduce Glorantha - basics of the world.

Basics of skills (d100, basic rolls, resistance rolls, opposed rolls). Everything whether normal skills, magical skills, combat uses those basics.

Runes & passions, inspirations & augments. Their individual personalities and the ability to boost your basic skills with these.

Spirit magic and Rune magic.  Everyone knows some magic.  Spirit magic is quick, short, but gives some basic boosts.  Rune magic is stronger, more powerful, more dramatic.

Review their character choices in light of these.

Introduce the setting, and get underway.

[jajagappa]

51 minutes ago, Bill the barbarian said:

Do not go into a lot of detail about associated, friendly and opposed cults other that to acknowledged them (these guys are friends these guys, meh...).

Agree. Irrelevant for a one-shot, or getting any campaign underway.

52 minutes ago, Bill the barbarian said:

Simple, and ignore ENC and maybe weapon categories accept broadly for the moment.

Yep.

52 minutes ago, Bill the barbarian said:

Do not allow sorcery art all. It's for this godless westerners should suffice.

Definitely agree.

53 minutes ago, Bill the barbarian said:

IGNORE GLORANTHA MINUTIAE OR THESE FORUMS AT ALL COSTS

Agree, keep it focused on a bit of Glorantha summary, and getting going in the adventure.

55 minutes ago, Bill the barbarian said:

Last as every good Gamemaster, Dungeon Maste,r Keeper or Time Lord knows, nothing wrong with a little hand wavery every now and again! Make it up for MGF!

Definitely!

[Psullie]

Don't get bogged down in the rules. So what if they miss a modifier here or SR penalty there. You're the GM so hand wave any complicated bits with a quick dice roll. All you can do in two sessions is give someone a taste of the game. That means a dash of Glorantha lore with a sprinkle of RuneQuest rules. Have fun!

[Bill the barbarian]

1 hour ago, Bill the barbarian said:

A selection of other items should be laminated and left in the players area as we'll. The table on dealing with wounds, (name and page?)

page 150 RQ RiG

Edited May 5, 2019 by Bill the barbarian

[soltakss]

3 hours ago, klecser said:

My biggest fear right now is attempting to explain the three tiers of the Magic system and players having a character that they feel is ineffective because  of this. Some of the slipcase characters seem fairly complex to my untrained eye and specialize in calling Spirits and casting magic and I'm not sure how to "pitch" that to whoever plays one. Combat will obviously be a huge part of DAL. Another challenge is that we will only have one rulebook, so I anticipate printing full spell text from the PDF for players to use (for personal use only!  )

Don't explain the Magic Systems. Instead, explain what you need to.

"Anyone can learn Spirit Magic, if you can find a teacher. If you join a cult, you can get some Spirit Magic, if you become an Initiate you can learn Divine Magic, which is more powerful.", that's all you need at the start. Explain rune Pools when they come up, explain sacrificing POW for Runemagic if it comes up. Don;t bother with Sorcery, unless they want to play a Sorcerer.

If you don't really get Spirits, then don't use them at first. 

3 hours ago, klecser said:

How do you teach Runequest efficiently to one-shot groups?

Start with the Basics - You have a skill and need to roll under it on 1D100, if you roll low then you get a Special, if you roll really low then you get a Critical, a Critical is better than a Special, which is better than a Normal Success. If you roll above your skill then you Fail, if you roll 96-100 then you Fail, but if you roll 100 or just below then you Fumble, Fumbles are bad.

For combat, leave it until you have a combat. Nothing teaches RuneQuest like playing RuneQuest. People learn about Combat by rolling a Combat.

Ignore all the fancy rules, you just don't need them. 

Take little baby steps, don't explain everything at once otherwise they'll forget the first thing you said when you explain the third thing.

Edited May 5, 2019 by soltakss

[Ian Absentia]

For ages, my RQ go-to (and HQ, for that matter) has been a variation on Jack and the Beanstalk, minus the beanstalk.  As Bill and Simon suggest above, it's stripped down to the basics, in terms of both mechanics and setting.  A young cowherd is tasked by his father to take a couple of cows to market for sale, his first real almost-adult job.  Sartar or Prax works fine, but it could be anywhere in Glorantha -- I've used hunters from Balazar and Teshnos taking furs to market.  En route, he encounters a troll (or dragonewt) with a human princess in a bag slung over his shoulder.  What do you do?

Features for a new player?

• Familiarity of a typical fairy-tale set-up.
• A provincial yokel is largely naive to the details of the broader world, though they may have heard wild rumor.
• Limited skill- and power-set of a young character -- nothing fancy to get hung up on.
• Combat, assuming it occurs, is limited in scope.
• Monsters talk?  They can negotiate?  They have legal standing and can pursue legal recourse?
• Follow-on play hooks galore. 

This scenario is generally a 1-on-1 experience, but can handle maybe two players with little adjustment.  For more players, maybe run a couple of similar quick "pre-sessions" like this with other fairy tales. (I've never tried Hansel and Gretel!  Who'd be the witch in Glorantha?)  In general, though, look to classic fairy tales, lay down the Gloranthan template for setting, and keep the details simple.

!i!

Edited May 5, 2019 by Ian Absentia

[jajagappa]

46 minutes ago, Ian Absentia said:

(I've never tried Hansel and Gretel!  Who'd be the witch in Glorantha?)

Priestesses of Ty Kora Tek or Asrelia, either one works fine!  Or a Witch of Jakaleel if you prefer a Lunar version.

[g33k]

Lots of good advice, above!  Not going to argue against any of it!  I will add my own (mostly being +1 paraphrases to various ideas above)...

• Transcribe the pre-gen PC's onto "official" character sheets... the Quickstart format is NOT a friendly-at-the-table format!  Corebook pregen format is only a bit better (are they properly "sheeted" in the GM's Pack?  I forget...    )
• If you include Sorala, use the Quickstart/BrokenTower version with SpiritMagic, not the Lhankoring Sorceress version:  avoid sorcery rules at first.
• Your idea of printing out each PC's spells (for each player to have) is a good idea!  Similarly the frequently-needed lists & charts (maybe laminated copies, as described above) as table shares.
• Don't teach "tiers" of magic, teach "two kinds of magic" (for now) -- Spirit Magic (so widely-taught that every adult knows at least a little) is based upon "ambient, ubiquitous magic" & your PC fuels it themself, regenerates MP's just by living.  Then there's Rune Magic:  given by the Gods, Rune-pools re-filled by worshiping... Holy Days MATTER... attending worship MATTERS... these ain't your D&D clerics & deities!
• Have a decent chunk of each Homeland written up for each PC whose Homeland it is; not that there's no-sharing at the table, but everyone should read their own FIRST, and have theirs on-hand for reference/browsing during the session (snippets from the book work, and/or your own writing).
• Same "decent chunk" idea for the Cult / Deity of each PC.
• Given that they know D&D5 for its combat-heavy ways, and CoC for its run-away-from-fights ways, teach RQG as a "middle way" -- still FAR more dangerous than D&D: avoid is better!  BUT there's magic healing, so it's not as automatically-run-away as CoC.

You don't need to spend much time teaching the rules to a group that already knows CoC !!!

• Explain Passions, Augmenting with Passions:   Love, Hate, Fear, Loyalty... this is intuitive stuff!
• Then Runes & Augmenting, Runes as identity, as personality traits; Runic info merits a table hand-out (laminated if you're laminating).
• Explain the 80% behavior-forcing rule (unless you can overcome the impulse with a opposing trait; or reduce to below 80).
• Explain the skills-over-100 reduce combat-skills so highest is-at-100 rule (because a top skill with an augment will go over 100 easily).
• Explain RQ hit-locations & location effects.
• Explain special/critical thresholds & rules.
• Explain... maybe that's all the big differences?  I don't play much CoC, can't be sure!

Have a written precis of the main rules-variations from CoC, 1 per player, so they can reference it without waiting.

[PhilHibbs]

4 hours ago, jajagappa said:

If you want Sorola (knowledge/lore, some combat), I'd suggest using the Quickstart version with spirit magic rather than the GM Screen pack version with sorcery, simply to focus on the two types of magic rather than three.

Good idea - I will make a version of Sorala in my character creation spreadsheet for this, as @JavaApp is going to use them for con games.

[The God Learner]

And don't forget to introduce a duck!

 

[David Scott]

6 hours ago, klecser said:

How do you teach Runequest efficiently to one-shot groups? Which pre-gens are the obvious choices for new players? Do you feel like a "pre" session is unnecessary with specific in-session choices to support understanding?

This is exactly what the Cult of Chaos RQG demo game does. Firstly make the premise of the game something everyone can relate to whether they know the game or background. In this case it's a robbery, the player have to steal something important. Next, I use the pregens, why? They have pictures and aren't really a character sheet. I have a magic cheat sheet for each character with the % cast in big numbers. If running with all 6 then one will be using sorcery.

WHAT'S IT ABOUT

• Fantasy world with magic.
• Swords and sandels
• A once occupied land has just been freed from oppressors
• Still some pockets of resistance and treasure to be found
• You have to steal an important item from a possibly still enemy occupied stockade

TIME TO CHOOSE a ready made adventurer (words are important - Adventurer not PC or character)

• Who wants to be... - Show pictures, read out occupation and brief outline:
• Armoured foot soldier, who has changed sides.
• Warrior on a bison
• Hunter with hunting cat
• Farmer turned fighter in the rebellion
• Shamanic nomad on a weirdly big Llama with a monkey friend
• respected trainee earth priestess with powerful earth magics
• Follower of the Knowledge god (Lara Croft or indiana jones)

Let them swap around if need be.

START within 5 mins

Straight off I bring up Vasanna's Hate Lunar Empire of 80% against the Lunar adventurer Vostor. Passions take over and there's an opposed roll usually against Vostor's honour. That get's the how do % rolls out of the way and often sets up a tension in the group. Vostor normally has to make an opposed roll against robbing the Lunar shrine...

IN MEDIA RES

You're all in the treeline outside the stockade there, it's night with no moon, but you can see a tall rocky outcrop on the left that is part of the stockage, in the centre there are high stockade gates with a watch tower behind and to the right.

GO...

As people start to discuss what they are going to do the system unfolds itself. Usually someone say I'll climb up the outcrop and youre off. This where someone helps someone else and you explain augmenting.

Later as adversaries are discovered you add in how fighting order works, I use a Strike rank marker from infinity engine.

Everyone places their counter down when describing their action. It's visual so obvious who's turn it is.

Most people notice the magic names and descriptions and ask how to use it - it's all the same % system. I never explain any detail,  I just call it spirit magic, rune magic from your god and sorcery.

Adversaries appear and I have 50mm standees of how they look (everyone has a 50mm standee of their adventurer).

The adversaries are an even match for the adventurers apart from the "biggie". Most realise how to fight the biggie (with magic) set it going and run.

Don't explain the setting, magic, mythological relationships, anything, concentrate on the plot.

Edited May 5, 2019 by David Scott

[Bill the barbarian]

1 hour ago, jajagappa said:

Priestesses of Ty Kora Tek or Asrelia, either one works fine!  Or a Witch of Jakaleel if you prefer a Lunar version.

an ogre witch of Ty Kora Tek or Asrelia? A hungry one?

[Bill the barbarian]

28 minutes ago, g33k said:

Lots of good advice, above!  Not going to argue against any of it!  I will add my own (mostly being +1 paraphrases to various ideas above)...

•  

As noted elsewhere g33 have much many word, and use very gud 2!

[jajagappa]

1 hour ago, Bill the barbarian said:

an ogre witch of Ty Kora Tek or Asrelia? A hungry one?

Well, certainly could be an ogre witch!... But other options with variants on the story:

• Ty Kora Tek priestess - scary old hag, her cottage borders upon the urnfield (or barrows, or mausoleum, or necropolis); there are restless ghosts of children that won't stay silent - they long for playmates; Hansel and Gretel arrive at a convenient time; and if Ty Kora Tek has decreed that their Fated time is up... 
• Asrelia priestess - the Earth was robbed, robbed by greedy Lunars, treacherous Sartarites, etc.; two special blessings were stolen by someone from a nearby clan, blessings bestowed upon Hansel and Gretel by their ambitious father/mother; now Asrelia wants her treasures back; Asrelia has instructed her priestess well - bake a pair of gingerbread loaves in the likeness of the children, let the children breathe their essence into the loaves, and send the loaves back to the clan as a warning; Asrelia will take the children into her Hut where they will spend their days until Fate cuts their threads, and Asrelia can keep the blessings once more.

[Bill the barbarian]

56 minutes ago, jajagappa said:

2 hours ago, Bill the barbarian said:

an ogre witch of Ty Kora Tek or Asrelia? A hungry one?

 

Silly me.

[EpicureanDM]

Definitely follow along with @g33k's ideas. That's the right direction.

I'm currently running RQG for brand-new players who'd never played any BRP games before. Their primary RPG experience was D&D 5e. Here's where they've struggled so far.

1. Remembering that they have common Rune spells. Definitely remind them once in a while, especially about Heal Wound.
2. They were initially confused about how the skill bonuses worked. They kept forgetting to add them to their skills before rolling. 
3. Coming from D&D, they had fixed ideas about what sorts of equipment could be worn by different characters. The assistant shaman didn't think to buy armor of any sort until I gently pointed out that there's no problem provided you have the ENC for it.
4. They didn't grasp at first how useless a single point in a spirit magic spell can be when you're fighting. It's too slow and ineffective given how fast combat can be. If you're designing pre-gens, definitely give them 2-3 points in whatever spirit magic spells they've learned.

The biggest hurdle, by a long shot, was combat and the SR system. We've played six sessions and they still struggle with it. It's very counterintuitive and confusing for my D&D players. We've had a few character deaths, so they've learned that combat is deadly. But the idea of how to act and plan according to SR will definitely slow the game down for new players. EDIT: It's probably not a coincidence that the two public games I found on YouTube GMed by RQG's designers either didn't involve combat or fudged/ignored the SR system for the new-to-RQG players.

Because of that, the relatively sophisticated tactics that forum veterans will recognize will not be obvious to new players. They won't understand the importance of buffing and debuffing. They will also have a D&D player's tendency to rush into battle with faith that the system will keep them relatively safe during the fight. RQ veterans approach combat like small-arms tacticians. Modern D&D players think of it as an action movie. Beware of that.

I've created a work-in-progress that describes how RQG's SR system works and linked to it below (as a PDF). You might find it helpful as a guide to teach others or you might just give it to your players directly. I'll say two things about it:

1. It's a work-in-progress. If anyone's got feedback for improvements (or corrections), I'd be glad to get them.
2. It doesn't describe RQG RAW. In a few places, it goes back to RQ3's rules, specifically in how many actions a character has when they're engaged in melee. It also gets rid of RQG's multiple parries/dodges rule from Pendragon and ignores the similar rule about skill percentages over 100% reducing your opponents skill. I don't think those two changes are an improvement over RQ3.

Link for those interested: https://www.dropbox.com/s/sqmq88ratu5s6go/Newcomer's Guide to Runequest's Strike Rank Combat v0.5.pdf?dl=0

Edited May 6, 2019 by EpicureanDM

[Austin]

2 hours ago, EpicureanDM said:

Remembering that they have common Rune spells. Definitely remind them once in a while, especially about Heal Wound.

This is something my players struggle with too (especially since I'm the only one in the group who owns the book). I've got a quick summary of common Rune magic and some other rules prepped and in a binder on the table so they don't have to slog through the rulebook, but they still don't have the instinctive "well, what're my Rune spell options?" feeling. Of course I'm probably fighting more of an uphill battle than I would with new players because most of mine are used to our previous campaign, which was RQ3 with very little divine magic used at all. Mostly Petersen's shamanism and sorcery.

[Jeff]

I ran a wonderful session of RQG in Poland last week to a group of great players. None had ever played RQ (in any form before) - two were familiar with Call of Cthulhu, one was familiar with D&D, and one just started playing RPGs two days before. We played the Cattle Raid from the GM Adventures Book and used the Pregens.

A few suggestions: 

1. Don't overexplain stuff. The key concepts that players needed to grasp were: how do skills work? how do Runes work? how do passions work? How do I augment? Once they were familiar with that, they were 90% of the way there.

2. Only tell them about the spells they have. That's three special Rune spells and about an equal number of spirit magic spells. Let them know about Heal Wound and Divination - none of the other Common Spells really matter in the initial play. Tell them Rune spells are powerful and you aren't going to get your Rune points back until there is a holy day at your temple. Spirit spells are easier to recover and every day you will wake up refreshed.

3. Walk them through the first combat with something they are very likely to beat, but will show them that combat is dangerous. Rock Lizards, Saber-toothed Cats, Pig Dogs - all are good options. SR just gives them the order of action.

4. Give them non-combat conflict with their characters. Play up those Runes and passions. Make sure their characters have a backstory and connections between them. Give them a moral dilemma they have to wrestle through.

5. Tell them a little bit about THEIR gods but use the god's title as much as its name. Storm King says more than Orlanth to most people. Same thing with clan and tribe. You are a member of the Clearwine clan (Ernaldoring) who are the most powerful clan of the Colymar Tribe, the most important tribe in Sartar. Most players grab that quickly.

IMO, the best current starting scenarios are either Broken Tower or Cattle Raid. Both are easy to run, teach elements of the setting, and have lots of different ways of resolution.

[Jeff]

7 hours ago, EpicureanDM said:

EDIT: It's probably not a coincidence that the two public games I found on YouTube GMed by RQG's designers either didn't involve combat or fudged/ignored the SR system for the new-to-RQG players.

That's not the reason at all. Both Jason and I were running those games at about 3 am our time and had a very tight time limit for the game. 

[styopa]

7 hours ago, Jeff said:

That's not the reason at all. Both Jason and I were running those games at about 3 am our time and had a very tight time limit for the game. 

Off topic: Why make it so brutal on yourselves (I can't imagine GMing at 3am...)?  There wasn't any compelling reason this had to be live, was there?  (It's not like anyone was really live-answering the comments, IIRC.)

I have to imagine there are (relative) legions of english-speaking RPGers within EU zone that would be slavering to either play it at a convenient hour or even make the trek to Berlin to play face to face.  Hell, I have to imagine the idea of a face to face game with the devs would practically be something you could auction at a con.

[PhilHibbs]

2 hours ago, styopa said:

Off topic: Why make it so brutal on yourselves (I can't imagine GMing at 3am...)?  There wasn't any compelling reason this had to be live, was there?  (It's not like anyone was really live-answering the comments, IIRC.)

Time zone difference.

[Atgxtg]

Some suggestions:

1.  Have them make a lot of skill, resistance and STATx5% rolls early on,  basically the trivial stuff that you'd normal not bother with in a normal game. That can help to teach them about tie die mechanics, success levels and so on. yes they have played CoC, but impales don't matter much against mythos nasties. A lot of begging adventures from Chasoium used to do something like that to help teach the game. 
2. Have them play a mock combat, in character. Something like a training fight with padded or rebated weapons. The idea is that they can see and learn what would have happened if the fight were real before it actually is real. That way they can see how much more fragile RQ characters are compared to D&D characters, and can adapt their actions accordingly. The guy who would have lost a limb and sees the bullet he just dodged,  will learn much faster that way than if you just tell him how dangerous combat is. 
3. Don't bother much with magic. Give the characters a little Spirit Magic, say an offensive spell like bladesharp, speedart, or disrupt, a defensive spell (protection, countermagic) and some healing. That way they will all know the same few or similar spells and can learn from seeing each other cast.Basically stick with the common stuff that most everybody has in the game.
4. Ignore Rune Magic. Yes the PCs have it, but it adds another layer of complexity and if they can use it in a one shot they will, and probably too early on something trivial, and then they won't have it for when they need it. If the game continues as more than a one shot you can introduce it then. 
5. Use the setting culture for color to make the game world seem rich--is it one of the main reasons for playing RQ, but don't get into a lot of depth, or you could easily waste the entire session in a big infodump explaining Glorantha instead of playing - and just scratch the surface. So just explain things in simple broad strokes and use the minutiae as little bits to enhance the characterization of the NPCs.