Subject: RuneQuest Digest Volume 8, issue no 3.
Comments: Revision @(#)v8n03 1.6 92/09/09
Contents:
RuneQuest-Request Contents, Editorial
Peter Maranci Dragonewts +188
Jeff Okamoto Discussion, Convulsion +36
David Cheng A report on "Convulsion of a Trillion Tentacles" +248
J.R.Davis@bnr.co.uk Convulsion auction prices report +83
Editorial:
This issue took rather long to prepare. I hope to put out issue four
soon after this one. On request of some people who are not on the
internet, I will from now on limit issues to approximately 25000
characters.
I have two cult write-ups lying in store, one by Steve Maurer,
"Arin the Smuggler", and one from David Williams, "Golden Bow".
These are respectively 250 and 400 lines long.
Both have been posted on usenet, so I intend to make them
available as supplements, that would be available on request.
Administrativia:
When sending a request to RuneQuest-Request, use one of the following
keywords in the subject line, this will help me automate maintenance of
the list.
SUBSCRIBE name@address (Full Name)
UNSUB name@addres
SEND volume # issue #
or
SEND supplement #
Anybody interested in a typeset version of the Digest?
Pending submissions:
DrCheng Alternate Rune Magic
Tom Zunder
gharris@Jade.Tufts Revising Strike Rank Modifiers
Antoon Pardon Training limitations with non humans
Tom Zunder Re: RuneQuest Digest Volume 8, no 1, an MOB special
Mark C Wallace RuneQuest at GenCon 93
Bryan J. Maloney RQ4 Rumors
--
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--------------------
From: Peter Maranci
Date: Mon, 29 Jun 92 18:56:39 EDT
Subject: Dragonewts
**********************************************************************
The following was first printed in "Rack & Rune" #2, a 'zine by me
(Peter Maranci) which appears regularly in "The Wild Hunt" APA.
I may be reached in the following ways:
Voice: (617) 397-7958 after 6 PM EST
Post: 81 Washington St., Apt. #2, Malden MA 02148, USA
Net: rune@trystro.uucp or trystro!rune@think.com
**********************************************************************
DRAGONEWTS
The Chaosium claims that non-rebel dragonewts are unmanageable as
PCs. I believe otherwise; at least three different players that I know
of have successfully played dragonewts, and every time it's been a
hell of a lot of fun. Though styles of play did vary somewhat, there
were certain things all players had in common:
A) A sense of quirkiness. Dragonewts have a totally alien logic of
existence. While players, being human, may not be able to understand
dragonewt philosophy, a penchant for bizarre and (in human terms)
insane practices can make a convincing simulation. Needless to say,
they should not behave so all of the time; that in itself would be
predictability, which is the antithesis of the Dragon Way.
B) Roleplaying above powergaming. Dragonewts possess a far greater
potential for power than an ordinary character. They are, in fact,
unbalanced as PCs; after all, they may die any number of times, and be
reincarnated as long as they remain on the Dragon Path (though there
are occasional exceptions). This imbalance must be corrected by good
roleplaying (refusal to accept human magic, for example), combined
with GM supervision. In crude terms, a player must be willing to screw
himself and the party for the sake of the character. If
immortality/rebirth is being used as an unfair advantage by the
player, then the dragonewt is off the Dragon Path -- and will no
longer be reborn. Q.E.D.
C) Gamemaster supervision. This is perhaps a more controversial idea:
I believe that in GMing for dragonewts, the GM's gut feeling is a
better controller than any mechanical system (in fact, that may apply
to many areas of gaming). While there are certain obvious indicators
of deviance from the Dragon Way (such as overuse of dragon effects
and/or frequent human-logical behavior), the GM should rely chiefly on
his/her own judgement as to the dragonewt's Dragon Path status,
including advancement from scout to warrior stage, etc. Needless to
say, a dragonewt should not be advanced to Warrior status until all
other players are at high Initiate standing. The dragonewt section of
the RQII book also gives some useful skill & POW minimums for
advancement in stage.
Below is a table which was used for dragonewt PCs. Keep in mind that
Warrior dragonewts generally have a POW of 12 - 14, and that use of
these effects can cause deviation from the Dragon Path. Death may
often be preferable.
DRACONIC EFFECTS TABLE: WARRIOR STAGE
1) Dragon Armor. See RQIII Glorantha book.
2) Dragon Claw. See RQIII Glorantha book.
3) Dragon Strength. See RQIII Glorantha book.
4) Firebreath. See RQIII Glorantha book.
5) Growth. See RQIII Glorantha book.
6) Sprout Wings. See RQIII Glorantha book.
7) Alertness. Stay awake/alert for 1MP/hour cost. Each MP expended
increases all Perception abilities by 5%.
8) Dragon Dread. The dragonewt's eyes seem to glow and whirl. Costs
1MP/rd, and must be maintained for 10 rounds. While in effect, newt
gains ability to cause Befuddle effect at a glance. Can gaze at one
victim + attack & defend, or can replace either action with additional
gaze (up to 3 per round).
9) Dragon Roar. A deafening, terrifying sound, causing a Demoralize
effect in all with the area of a sphere centered on the dragonewt with
a radius equal in meters to the number of MPs spent by the newt. A 5
MP Roar would cause all within 5 meters of the dragonewt to resist a
POW vs. POW attack or be Demoralized for 20 - INT minutes. The minimum
duration is 1 round.
10) Dragon Tail. At will, dragonewt's tail becomes 2x larger. The
Tails hit points are doubled, and the dragonewt gains a sweep attack
vs. rear foes. 10% base + attack bonus, SR 0 + DEX for first attacker,
1 + DEX for second, etc.. Damage is 1D6 + Damage bonus. This attack is
in addition to normal front attack and parry, but newt's Dodge is
halved for duration of effect. Skill may be gained in Tail attack as
per normal.
11) Sharing Dream. The dragonewt performs a bizarre ritual upon
another individual. On completion, the dragonewt must overcome the
targets MP with his own -- the target cannot help but resist. If
successful, both immediately enter a deep coma. In that time, one-half
of all damage received by the target will be transferred to the newt.
Armor does not protect against this damage, but the Dragon Armor
effect may be used by the newt on himself. The coma lasts for as many
hours as points of damage are transferred. Violent stimulation
(damage) may awaken either party before the effect is complete, in
which case the newt takes damage equal to the damage of the target,
without curing the target at all.
12) Forced Rapport. The dragonewt touches a spell-afflicted object or
person, and resists the MP of the caster at the time he/she cast the
spell. If successful, the spell is negated. If not the dragonewt is
affected by the spell himself, probably in some adverse way (GM's
choice).
13) Dragon Heart. For as long as desired, the dragonewt's CON is 1.5 x
original.
14) Swallow. The dragonewt may swallow any object up to 1/2 his own
SIZ, without taking damage. This includes living things, sharp
objects, etc.. The material may be disgorged later. A living thing
will continue to breathe, but extra food must be Swallowed for its
consumption. If the dragonewt is killed, any living creature inside
will suffer drowning effects as per World Book until released (cut
out).
15) Destruction. This effect destroys enchantments. The dragonewt
sacrifices a number of Power points. The enchantment then makes a
resistance roll, using the points used in its creation vs. the point
sacrificed by the dragonewt. If it fails the enchantment is destroyed.
If it succeeds, the enchantment survives and the dragonewt suffers a
Backfire effect from the Sorcery table. Note: overuse of this effect
is a known cause of the extremely rare dragonewt de-evolution, in
which the dragonewt is reincarnated at the next lowest stage!
16) Dragon Sleep. By paying a cost of 1MP/hour/day/season, the
dragonewt may suspend its animation. During this time, it need not eat
nor breathe, and indeed cannot. It can endure any temperature or
condition that does not destroy its body.
17) Death. The dragonewt dies at will, and may be reborn normally.
18) Dragon Jaws. Gain Bite attack, damage 1D10 + 1 + Damage bonus.
Base attack chance = 20%. The SR is 2. May be increased by experience
and training (from who?).
19) Dragon's Mark. By expending a permanent point of POW, the
dragonewt may place an invisible mark that will enable it to locate
the object desired, even after it has died and been reincarnated. The
object marked may be a person, spirit, place, or thing. If the
dragonewt is able to touch and freely handle the object/person/item in
question for its POW in minutes, it will be able to locate the object
to within 1 - 100 meters. Every minute or fraction thereof less which
the dragonewt spends increases uncertainty by a further 1 - 20 meters.
If the dragonewt cannot touch the item, but can see it, it may mark it
nonetheless. In this case, however, the accuracy drops to 1 - 1000
meters. If the dragonewt is marking its' own skin, it is automatically
successful at the 1 - 100 range. No extra time need be spent. Within
the range of uncertainty, the dragonewt can only sense that the item
is within range.
Note: overuse of this effect is a known cause of the extremely rare
dragonewt de-evolution, in which the dragonewt is reincarnated at the
next lowest stage!
20) Elemental Shield. When invoked, all elementals must overcome the
dragonewts' POW to attack it in any way. The dragonewt may also
survive in hostile environments by spending 1 MP per 10 points of
damage it would normally take.
GAINING A NEW EFFECT: Upon first attaining Warrior status, a dragonewt
possesses none of these effects. Once each week, the dragonewt may
attempt to roll percentiles equal to or beneath its POW. If the number
is below, it gains a randomly rolled Effect. This Effect is permanent;
it may be used over and over again. In the case of duplication, there
may be no increase, a reroll, or an increase in the effectiveness of
the Effect in question, at the GM's whim. If the number rolled by the
dragonewt is equal to it's POW, it may experience a conversation with
a True Dragon, summon a Dream Dragon, or experience some other bizarre
manifestation.
Finally, the easiest way to keep a dragonewt with a party is to simply
have a Noble order it to observe the group for a while. Let a Scout
scout out the human frontier!
--
(c) Copyright 1992 Peter Maranci. This version is freely
redistributable as long as this copyright message is included.
Commercial rights for derivative works are retained by the author.
--------------------
From: Jeff Okamoto
Date: Tue, 4 Aug 92 9:43:33 PDT
Subject: Discussion, Convulsion
> From: Tim Leask
> Subject: RQ Discussion - When can a player D.I. ?
In the Chaosium house campaign (whose Log was auctioned off at Convulsion --
more on that later), we allowed characters to DI if they were about to die.
If we had to "rationalize" it, we probably would have said that although
the conscious part may be non-functioning, the rest of the soul is doing just
fine and is able to call on the gods to intervene.
> From: Peter Wake
> Subject: Re: Convulsion '92
> Apparently the Palmaltela stuff is written (it was completed for the
> Glorantha box) but will not be coming out for the moment - no reason
> was given.
Just a bit of background -- Pamaltela was not included in WoG because it
would have driven the cost of it too high.
> Declared that HeroQuest will be called `Glorantha the Story' and will
> be released SOON. He's back working on Glorantha and keen on it
> again.
Yes, it's been pretty interesting testing it. It's role-playing taken one
notch higher. No munchkin would ever be able to understand it.
> The Gloranthan Cyclopaedia went for GBP 420 (I think) and Sandy
> Petersen's campaign notes went for almost as much.
Anyone know exactly who purchased it? The PC version I provided was a poor
transfer from Microsoft Word on the Mac (AmiPro really barfed on converting
the style sheets). Once I get more done, I want to send the person an
upgraded version.
Jeff
--------------------
From: David Cheng
Date: Tue, 4 Aug 92 20:37:46 EDT
Subject: A report on "Convulsion of a Trillion Tentacles"
A report on "Convulsion of a Trillion Tentacles"
July 24-26, 1992
College Hall, University of Leicester ("Lester"), England
I went to England hoping for the _RuneQuest Event of the
Decade,_ and I wasn't disappointed. Here's a rundown of
what happened. I'll only discuss the events I attended:
Guests of Honor:
Greg Stafford
Sandy Petersen
Organized by:
David Hall (Editor of _Tales of the Reaching Moon_)
Kevin Jacklin
Lewis & Karen Jardine
Steve Thomas
Elaine Waterson
Other notable attendees:
Ken Rolston (Avalon Hill's RQ Master)
GS' financee, Suzanne Courteau
Oliver Dickinson (author of the "Griselda" tales)
contingents from Sweden, Germany, France, some other
countries, and even a few (2-3 ???) of us Yanks, including
David Gadbois, the guy who distributes TotRM to all of us here
in the US.
FRIDAY:
"RQ Renaissance", hosted by Ken Rolston & Sandy Petersen
(I took no notes, so this is from memory) They discussed and fielded
questions about future RQ product releases. Hopefully for
Origins/GenCon is "River of Cradles," which gives lots of background
material on the region, and at least one good-sized (multi-session)
adventure. At least 50% new material. Old material pulled from
_Borderlands, Pavis, Big Rubble, and cult write-ups from Cults of
Prax_.
Also expect the long-rumoured Dorastor pack. Escort a Lunar trade
caravan through this chaos-twisted land. Have dinner with Ralzakark,
King of Broos!
_Strangers in Prax_ details several groups of non-Praxian visitors
to Prax. Not adventures per se, but these groups form the core of
adventures, with lots of ideas for how to structure adventures around
them. There is a western Sorcerer, an oriental Kralori, some
Pamaltelan guy, and some others I can't remember. Also gives insight
into their cultures, by how they view Prax.
RQIV was discussed. It is at least a year away.
There were several other products discussed. I apologize for my
poor memory. I think the theme was something like: "We're going to
develop Prax as a campaign setting, and then move on to Sartar."
Rolston is looking for good Gloranthan material! Send it to him, he
begs!
SATURDAY:
"Talking about Tekumel", hosted by Mike Cule and Dave Morris
I only caught the tail end of this, but these guys really
seemed to know their stuff.
"Bothered about D&D", hosted by me
I expected 4 or 5, but over 20 turned up. We had an excellent,
animated discussion about the anti-gaming propaganda going around. It
is not nearly as bad over in England, they tell me. Perhaps because
fundamentalist Christianity is not as prevalent in the UK??? (Please
reply to last comment on mail, not by posting)
Eat at Geo's
Dozens of people brought normal to strange foods, which
were judged for prizes. Alcoholic beverages were judged too.
Gloranthan Panel, hosted by Greg Stafford, Sandy Petersen, Ken
Rolston, and Nick Brooke (a Brit Gloranthan encyclopedia).
No rules questions were allowed! I DID take notes, and here are some
of the good points:
- Almost all non-sorcery using cultures are violently anti-sorcery.
They are heretics, after all! This includes trolls. Only in areas
where Arkati trolls are prevalent is their use of sorcery tolerated.
- Greg Stafford says: "Humakt is not illuminated... but once I thought
he was."
- GS: "Cultural biases are always allowed to override religious biases
in Glorantha."
- Yelm (and his worshippers) are not all that anti-chaos... He was
safe in Hell when all that was going on, eh? Perhaps that is why the
Yelmi get along so well with the Lunars...
- Once Daka Fal judges a soul that comes before the Court of Silence,
there is no chance for resurrection.
- Divine Intervention will not remove a chaos taint.
- The entire basis for the Yelmalio cult is being rethought.
Look for more in Stafford's forthcoming game, or TotRM.
HOME OF THE BOLD
Freeform role-play game
77 (plus a few more squeezed in at the last minute) players
This was definitely the centerpiece event of the convention. Pretty
much everything else halted while this was going on. Those not
participating either open-gamed, or observed. From what I heard from
some non-players, that was great fun too.
The basic premise:
It is Storm Season, 1624, in the city of Boldhome. Will the Sartarites
foment a rebellion? Will the Lunars be able to keep the peace? What
side will the Independents ally with?
There were about 20 Lunar players, and I can only guess about 20-30
independents. I guess that leaves 25-35 Sartarites.
Each player got a character description about 3 pages long,
detailing who you know, what your motivations/goals are, and what you
can do. Try to imagine the web of intrigue that gets woven between 77
players!
Known major events were a big chariot race, and the elections for
the Mayor of Boldhome. Of course, there were political implications
for each faction associated with these.
Other events that surfaced were a Vampire killer stalking the
streets (a PC of course), assassination attempts, romance, pickpockets,
invisible people walking around getting to spy on you, and the Lunar
Tax Collector lightening your purse.
I played Lergius Cassius, the Lunar General in charge of all troops in
Sartar and Prax. Without rambling on too much, let me summarize by
saying it was quite fun, albeit stressful. I kept getting reports
about attacks all around the region. Is this the sign of rebellion, or
just standard raiding? How do I respond?
The Sartarites did indeed drive us out of Boldhome in the end. But,
it might have been a replay of Starbrow's Rebellion, because the Tarsh
Ambassador PC thought that rebellion was immanent, so he called in the
Tarshite army to occupy the city, as the real Starbrow was leading an
army of Heortland Orlanthi up from the south...
Kevin Jacklin and David Hall did an excellent job putting all this
together. Stafford gave them a lot of material to work with, so that
the characters could best fit into the political reality of the time.
A physical keepsake of the event is the "Rough Guide to Boldhome," a 30
page booklet which includes a fairly detailed map of the city, and
essays detailing the physical and cultural setting. They even had the
guy who produces the "Alternative Armies" figures (whose name escapes
me right now) mint actual Lunar coins. Amazing!
SUNDAY:
Bitch Panel, hosted by Ken Rolston, Sandy Petersen, Greg Stafford, and
Ian Marsh (of Games Workshop?).
A discussion about the state of the industry. Topics included: RQ
targeting a mature gamer market, women in gaming, allocating small
budgets to please the most people, certain game manufacturers trying to
drive the competition out of business, the scarcity of gaming magazines
in the UK, and a bunch of other things.
Stafford's Main Address
Not about RQ, Glorantha, or HQ. Stafford spoke about Elvis (yes,
with some seriousness), women in gaming, and why he things RPG's appeal
to us.
The Auction
Lots of hard to find RQ stuff. I sold a copy of Cults of Prax for
28L (over $50). A copy of Stafford's _Gloranthan Encyclopedia_ went
for over $750, and a transcript of Petersen's world-spanning Pamaltelan
campaign went for over $500. The crowd was ravenous for out-of-print
or unique RQ stuff!
Stafford Reads
Stafford read from "The Elusive King," or Argrath's Saga. Relates
the story of Argrath's fight against the Lunar Empire, ending with the
Red Moon falling from the sky. Neat stuff! No, I was too busy
listening to take notes. Write pesky letters to David Hall, and
perhaps he will be persuaded to print tidbits in TotRM.
Other stuff I did not attend:
Cthulhu Tournament; Pendragon Tournament; Panel discussions on
Cthulhu, Pendragon, Fanzines & Interactive Literature; Oliver Dickinson
reads new Griselda stuff; Pub Quiz; open gaming.
General Impressions:
BEER
This was new to me. At Convulsion, and all British cons, they drink.
Not to excessive drunkenness, mind you. But, many people are walking
around with these big pint glasses of brew. This took a little getting
used to on my part, being used to having 35% of convention attendees
being young kids whose parents would have a fit over such activity.
David Hall tells me that any British con without an open bar would be a
failure! Apparently, even the type of brews available is a major
issue...
GLORANTHAN AMBIGUITY
At one point, Stafford came out and said that he doesn't want to
provide all the answers. With new Gloranthan material he produces, he
will deliberately be including conflicting info. This is not new;
previous Chaosium releases have taken this "cultural bias" viewpoint.
He also emphasizes that there is no "right" answer; searching for one
is a God Learner mistake.
A TOTAL RQ CONVENTION
The best part of the experience for me was that this was a RuneQuest
convention. Usually, I'll go to a con of 300-400, and have a RQ chat
with 5 or 6 people.
But, at Convulsion, a good 85%+ of the ~175 attendees were
Gloranthan enthusiasts. It was a very pleasant change of affairs.
CAN WE DO IT IN THE USA?
It was such a neat experience, I am thinking about trying to do one
here in the states. Do we have enough RQ-devotees, with the money to
congregate, to have a RQ-con? The U.S. is significantly bigger than
Britain, and thus travel expenses would be greater. But, even there,
they attracted attendees from around Europe. Are there enough
RuneQuesters left in the U.S. to make this a success?
Is there the interest? Do U.S. RQers WANT to attend such an event?
What do you think? How many people do you know who would attend such
an event?
I envision having the centerpiece event be "Home of the Bold," just
as it was at Convulsion (which is why I didn't go into pages of detail
about it earlier). David Hall has given me a preliminary word that
this is possible. Certainly we would invite as many RQ-names as
possible, to speak as they did at Convulsion.
Where would we have it? California has a reputation for a heavier
RQ-playing population. Is this fact? Is there someone in Cali who
would do logistics? Being in New York, I could not imagine that I
could do this unless the location was here in the Northeast.
These are just preliminary ramblings. Certainly this could not take
place for about a year, at least. Your feedback and volunteerism is
welcome at:
--
David Cheng
drcheng@wissel.stern.nyu.edu
v124pz9t@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu
GEnie: D.CHENG
313 East 85th St, Apt 2C
New York, NY 10028
(212) 472-7752
--------------------
From: J.R.Davis@bnr.co.uk
Date: Thu, 6 Aug 92 9:05:37 BST
Subject: Convulsion auction prices report
The recent RQ digest mentioned the Convulsion games auction - here is a
listing of the major items which were sold, and the prices reached. No
guarantees of accuracy, as I was only noting them down on scratch
paper! Where multiple prices are listed, this indicates several copies
sold. Interestingly, condition of goods seemed to have little effect
on prices. If you are interested in selling this sort of thing, you
might expect to get this sort of money for the items, if you can find a
serious buyer. Probably, most of the "serious" wealthy RQ people in
Europe were present.
Here 'tis: this is not complete, I concentrated on the (old) Runequest
stuff. Prices in pounds Sterling.
Borderlands 31,31
Questworld 20,20
Big Rubble 60
Snakepipe Hollow (old) 7,8,3
Trollpack (old) 30,30
Foes 12,6
Griffin Mountain 35,37,35
Balastor's Barracks 10,11
Cults of Prax 21,27,31,24
Cults of Terror 32
Gateway Bestiary 7,8,15
Hellpits of Nightfang 3
Broken Tree Inn 9,8
Duck Tower 12,11
Dragon Pass 10
White Bear Red Moon (3rd ed.) 30
White Bear Red Moon (1st ed.) 40
Nomad Gods 75
Soloquest 2 and 3 10,10
Runemasters 17
Plunder 30 (amazing!)
City of Lei Tabor - (reserve price 5 not reached)
Duck Pond 10
Soloquest 2 4
Tales of the Reaching Moon #1 14
Tales of the Reaching Moon #2 11 (signed by authors)
Tales of the Reaching Moon #3 7 (signed by authors)
Tales of the Reaching Moon #4 5 (signed by authors)
Tales of the Reaching Moon #5 5 (signed by authors)
Wyrms Footnotes 1 - (reserve price 60 not reached)
Wyrms Footnotes 2 30
Wyrms Footnotes 5 15 (second copy reserve price 20 not reached)
Wyrms Footnotes 6 14,12
Wyrms Footnotes 8 10
Wyrms Footnotes 9 11
Wyrms Footnotes 10 11
Wyrms Footnotes 11 7,7,7
Wyrms Footnotes 12 10,10
Wyrms Footnotes 13 7
Wyrms Footnotes 14 15
Pendragon Campaign 21
There was also a bunch of unique stuff supplied by Greg Stafford, this
went for fairly silly money: I include just for information, this stuff
hasn't got a "Market Value" as such...
Gloranthan Encyclopedia (290 pages) 420
Campaign log of BIG "official" campaign 340
Runequest movie script 60
Jonat's saga (book manuscript) 75
Alpha notes of Greg's latest project 170
Draft of Glorantha book (with extra info) 80
If you want more info, mail me. I'm not going to post or mail
descriptions of any of the items, though!
Hope some of you find this useful...
-jrd
--
John Davis, sysmgr EB20, | Hoare's law of small problems:
T4E east end, ext 3618 | Inside every small problem is a
| large problem struggling to get out.