From: owner-runequest-rules@lists.imagiconline.com (RuneQuest Rules Digest) To: runequest-rules-digest@lists.imagiconline.com Subject: RuneQuest Rules Digest V2 #107 Reply-To: runequest-rules@lists.imagiconline.com Sender: owner-runequest-rules@lists.imagiconline.com Errors-To: owner-runequest-rules@lists.imagiconline.com Precedence: bulk RuneQuest Rules Digest Tuesday, July 6 1999 Volume 02 : Number 107 RuneQuest is a trademark of Hasbro/Avalon Hill Games. All Rights Reserved. TABLE OF CONTENTS Re: [RQ-RULES] Illusion spells and questions: Sandy's sorcery Re: [RQ-RULES] Statement of Intent Re: [RQ-RULES] Combat Rules Re: [RQ-RULES] Geocities legalities RE: [RQ-RULES] Geocities legalities [RQ-RULES] DMD - Lodot for RQ/Greyhawk Re: [RQ-RULES] Statement of Intent Re: [RQ-RULES] Geocities legalities Re: [RQ-RULES] Statement of Intent RE: [RQ-RULES] Statement of Intent RULES OF THE ROAD 1. Do not include large sections of a message in your reply. Especially not to add "Yeah, I agree" or "No, I disagree." Or be excoriated. If someone writes something good and you want to say "good show" please do. But don't include the whole message you praise. 2. Use an appropriate Subject line. 3. Learn the art of paraphrasing: Don't just quote and comment on a point-by-point basis. 4. No anonymous posting, please. Don't say something unless you're ready to stand by it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 05 Jul 1999 14:28:39 +0200 From: Julian Lord Subject: Re: [RQ-RULES] Illusion spells and questions: Sandy's sorcery Philip Hibbs : > >Phantom Sight doesn't specifically say that you can make an illusion > >of a light source, but I think you *should* be able to do so (after > >all, what's the real difference between an illusion you can see, and > >an illusion of light ?). > > There is a separate spell for creating light, so if you do allow it, then > phantom sight should be less effective than Glow. I agree. If used that way, Phantom Sight should be a more expensive light source than Glow. *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.imagiconline.com with the line 'unsubscribe runequest-rules' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 05 Jul 1999 15:23:59 +0200 From: Julian Lord Subject: Re: [RQ-RULES] Statement of Intent Nikk : > I was thinking that maybe the rules imply that if you change your > statement of intent from an attack to a parry then you cannot parry until 3 > SR's after you've declared the change. But even this doesn't seem all that > good. The rules imply that an attack only begins on the attacker's DEX SR. They say that if you're ready to parry from SR 0 (statement of intent), then fine. But, if you switch S of I, then the switch is made on the SR of the event which made you change your mind. If this event is the beginning of an opponent's attack, then this is implied to be on his DEX SR, plus possible movement etc.. adjustments. Add 3 SR to change the position of your parrying item, and that's the earliest you'll be able to parry. You're right, it's dead easy to change S of I. If you're already in close combat with the opponent, then you probably shouldn't have time to change an attack to a parry, as described. But if you realise that there's an incoming attack because you see some warrior charging at you, battle axe on high, you'll probably be able to switch to a parry, at least, although you might not have time to attack, depending upon the SR that you notice the guy. But in close combat, unless the incoming attack has (SIZ SRm + Weapon SRm) equals 1 or 2 (this is uncommon), then the defender will *always* be able to switch his S o I from 2 attacks, to attack + parry. Hmmm. Bad, bad, bad ... The mathematically logical way to solve this bug, IMO, would be to say that the defender, if changing his S o I, can only react to an opponent's attack on SR = (Attacker's DEX SR plus 7 minus Defender's Weapon SRm) (plus movement SRm adjustment). That's complicated, certainly, but longer parrying weapons, and larger shields, keep the attacker at a certain distance to start with, giving the defender a better chance to react to unsuspected attacks. There's probably a more intuitive way of doing the same thing, with less mathematical hassle ... ;-) *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.imagiconline.com with the line 'unsubscribe runequest-rules' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Jul 1999 14:39:56 +0100 From: "Nikk Effingham" Subject: Re: [RQ-RULES] Combat Rules >Of course Truesword doesn't double the Bladesharp! I know that this is true of the rules, although my group run it differently (a holdover from the house rules of our last GM). >They aren't even compatible! I reckon they are. Not only do the rules not have anything to say about compatibility of Truesword and other weapon enhancing spells, but Count Julan, amongst numerous other NPCs, quite happily uses Bladesharp and Truesword at the same time for double weapon damage+bladesharp damage. >At what point do you get to find out that the opponent is attacking you? If >he hits on SR5, then that means that it takes him 5 SR of getting his >balance, looking for an opening, etc, so it should be immediately obvious to >the target. You could impose a 3SR penalty on all actions, so instead of >attacking on SR4 and SR7, they parry on SR5, and attack on SR7. This does >mean that they hit second instead of first, if they'd declared an attack and >a parry, they would have been on SR4 and SR5 respectively. I agree that this is a reasonable way of solving it. However, not being a great fan of the SR system in the first place, it seems little compensation for changing from an all-out offensive to slightly less than that. Maybe you could impose a different penalty than SR's for statement of intent? Frex, if you change actions then the action you have changed to is at -25 modifier. Does that sound good? >PS. You can't attack the same person twice in one round, unless it is with >different weapons. Split attacks are only for different targets. I was considering someone with two weapons in either hand. However, the upside of letting someone split attacks on the same target is that it greatly decreases the boredom of Rune Lord level fights, which can't be bad. It does, however, allow your 100%+ attackers to slaughter lower level fighters really quickly, but then I don't see that as a big flaw. >Another thing you can say is that no character can act before their DEX SR. >So, if you have a DEX SR of 3 and something can attack you on SR 2, no >parries. Then, when you change statement, it adds 3 to that as well, so you >can only parry on SR 6 or later. I don't play this one personally, but one >of my players has pointed out that it's implied by one of the examples in >the rules. That's a bit harsh! : ) Good work, keep it up! : ) That wouldn't work for me anyhow, as I use RQIV Melee SR rules, and Steve Maurer's SR decreasing rules for skills over 100% so at the level I'm playing at at the moment, attacks often come in before SR 3, and one nippy sorceror even gets attacks on SR 1! All in all it wouldn't work for my system, but if you used the SR system in the book it might work excellently. Cheers for the food for thought. Nikk *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.imagiconline.com with the line 'unsubscribe runequest-rules' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 05 Jul 1999 09:58:13 -0700 From: Richard Pace Subject: Re: [RQ-RULES] Geocities legalities Nikk Effingham wrote: > Before I begin, I am no lawyer, but I think Yahoo > have made it very clear in their contract exactly what the legal situation > of your Content is. Simply put the first line reads: > > "Yahoo does not own Content you submit, unless we specifically tell you > otherwise before you submit it." IIRC, the change is actually on another page and not incorporated into their TOS - - this is a legal dodge so that they can deny the above statement if called to task on it later - unless they clarify their TOS, they do own the content of the site and are free to do with it what they will. At that point it becomes a matter of trust: do you trust Yahoo to not use your materials without your permission. . . and what do you think you can do about it if they do? Not to sound paranoid, but if I had a Geocities/Yahoo homepage with any original content on it I'd be moving it immediately and stay away from them until they addressed their rights-grabbing Terms Of Service. Richard *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.imagiconline.com with the line 'unsubscribe runequest-rules' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Jul 1999 15:54:42 +0100 From: Ashley Munday Subject: RE: [RQ-RULES] Geocities legalities Nikk mentions the Yahoo / Geocities ToS: "Yahoo does not own Content you submit, unless we specifically tell you otherwise before you submit it." That line was only placed in the ToS after loads of people whinged. If they'd meant to say: "We have the right to remove porn, other people's copyright and things we find morally and socially objectionable" they could have said exactly that. They still retain the (non-exclusive) right to distribute your stuff, store it and do whatever they want with it, including creating derivative works from it, so screw 'em. Not that my stuff is worth creating derivative works from of course... The console popups and the endless email were getting me down anyway. Cheers, Ash - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The information contained in this e-mail is confidential and solely for the intended addressee(s). Unauthorised reproduction, disclosure, modification, and/or distribution of this email may be unlawful. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete it from your system. The views expressed in this message do not necessarily reflect those of LIFFE (Holdings) Plc or any of its subsidiary companies. - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.imagiconline.com with the line 'unsubscribe runequest-rules' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 05 Jul 1999 12:14:08 -0400 From: Tal Meta Subject: [RQ-RULES] DMD - Lodot for RQ/Greyhawk (Alternate) Gods of the Touv LODOT Runes: Luck, Magic Lodot is the Master of Magic and Luck. Cult in the World Lodot was born in the city of Ikelan when it was little more than a fishing village. Even at a very young age, people remarked at the way things just seemed to happen around him, though it would be many years before he would learn to control the powers that he was born with. He was the first of his people to master the arcane arts, and to teach them to others. Though it took many decades, Lodot eventually found and traveled the Hero's Path and found his place among the divine. Lodot's High Holy Day is the 23rd of Feast, with lesser holidays on the 23rd of each month. Lodot's temples are thin spires that widen at the top, with extensive catacombs below. Lodot's priests typically wear white linen robes stained blue at the hem and collar. Lay Membership Requirements: Lay members of Lodot's faith are considered student/apprentices of magic, and accorded similar benefits and restrictions. Skills taught by this cult include Dodge, Jump, Fast Talk, Sing, Speak Languages, Lores (Human, Magic, Million Spheres, Olman, Spirit, Touv, World), Read/Write, Listen, Ceremony, Enchant, Summon, and Staff attack/parry. Sorcery Arts and Wizardly skills are sacrificed for, once each High Holy Day (Intensity, Maintain, Multispell, Range, Force, Hold, Permanence, and Speed are available.) Lodot's High Vow includes the Vow of Tend Familiar, and in addition, the mage must always trust to luck whenever possible. He must also oppose the followers of Serpent gods whenever he can, this includes followers of Meyanok, Syrul, and Quetzalcouatl. Initiate Membership Requirements: Must meet the requirements for a journeyman sorcerer, in addition to the standard requirements. Note: Lodot does not offer spirit magic to his followers, only sorcery, wizardry, and divine magics. Priesthood Requirements: Must qualify as an Adept, in addition to the standard requirements. Lodot's priests, in addition to the magical services they perform, also serve their communities in a somewhat less salacious manner by operating gambling houses and providing an outlet for such behavior 'on the road' as they travel. Virtues for Lodot's followers include Curious, Honorable, and Reckless. Common Divine Magic: all. Special Divine Magic: Discern Magic, Forget, Luck, Reflection. Sorcery Notes: Common Vows include Abjure (Alcohol, Arts G/L, Ceremony, Servitude), Adulation, Fasting, Humility, Location, Never Kill, Rituals, Sacrifice (APP, Eye, Hand, STR), Shun (Element, Immortality, Tap), Vegetarianism G/L. Common specialties include Conjurer, Enchanter, Metamorph, and Warlock (any). Associated Gods None - -- talmeta@cybercomm.net - Heretic & Dilettante ICQ - 12594453 AIM - talmeta (note change!) Homepage - *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.imagiconline.com with the line 'unsubscribe runequest-rules' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 05 Jul 1999 12:33:58 -0400 From: Tal Meta Subject: Re: [RQ-RULES] Statement of Intent Nikk Effingham wrote: > > another foe, but was wrong and was attacked. He then claimed that when the > attack was made he could change his statement of intent, after declaring two > attacks, and then change one of those attacks to a parry. In effect, losing If I were to allow this, he'd only be able to parry a 3 speed weapon, as parrying a speed 2,1,or 0 weapon wouldn't leave him enough time to react (by the rules). - -- talmeta@cybercomm.net - Heretic & Dilettante ICQ - 12594453 AIM - talmeta (note change!) Homepage - *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.imagiconline.com with the line 'unsubscribe runequest-rules' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 05 Jul 1999 20:35:11 +0200 From: Julian Lord Subject: Re: [RQ-RULES] Geocities legalities Am I missing something? What, exactly, do Yahoo! and GeoCities have to do with RuneQuest rules? Please, guys : elsewhere ... *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.imagiconline.com with the line 'unsubscribe runequest-rules' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Jul 1999 23:04:38 -0400 From: "Bob Stancliff" Subject: Re: [RQ-RULES] Statement of Intent >>I was thinking that maybe the rules imply that if you change your >>statement of intent from an attack to a parry then you cannot parry >>until 3 SR's after you've declared the change. > >At what point do you get to find out that the opponent is attacking you? >PS. You can't attack the same person twice in one round, unless it is with >different weapons. Split attacks are only for different targets. If you are really running the Statement of Intent fully, then you would allow the higher DEX or INT character to state intent after the opponent, but in any case, statements of intent can be conditional. The player SHOULD have said "I am going to attack these two people unless one, or both, attack me, then I will give up my second attack to parry". Since it is obvious at the start of the round that he is being attacked, a 3SR penalty would mean that he could change intent in SR1 and parry after SR4, that is soon enough to block almost any attack since it is hard, but not impossible, for a human to attack by SR3. In the interest of speeding play, I generally don't enforce more than token intent. Bob Stancliff *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.imagiconline.com with the line 'unsubscribe runequest-rules' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 6 Jul 1999 12:16:43 +0100 From: Ashley Munday Subject: RE: [RQ-RULES] Statement of Intent I don't know if anyone'd be interested, but I'm in the middle of writing an article for my web site on how I ref. RQ. Anyway, in light of the recent statement of intent chat I thought the section on combat was worth slapping here, especially as I'll probably never have such a good captive audience again... *maniacal laughter* Oh, there are a couple of footnotes at the end to explain things that I explained earlier in the article, I wasn't being arty with them. Effective RQ Combat =================== Is this possible? Aren't you supposed to spend all your time adding stuff up, rolling dice and marking stuff off on bits of paper? Well, you can, and if you do, don't be suprised if flaw 1 * rears it's ugly head at you - it'd happen in any game. However, unlike RoleMaster, older versions of Chivalry and Sorcery and DnD, RQ has a big plus point: you can run a combat from the player's adventurer sheets and you don't need to look up things in tables. "Okay," I hear you say, "How? And, while you're at it, tell me how I can keep all the players involved and a sense of storytelling going as well." I find these guidelines help me keep things moving along: 1. Apart from where strictly necessary (and this is hardly anywhere) don't mention game mechanics; 2. Let the players describe what happens to their Adventurers; 3. Be organised!!! These rules can be applied to each phase of a melee round. Statement of intent: - -------------------- (a) When making a statement of intent, a player should NEVER mention the strike rank he or she acts on. The referee knows enough about the Adventurer to work out when he or she acts, so why spoil the flow? If you don't believe this can be done easily, look in the "Handy Hints For Knowing Your Player's Adventurers" at the end. ** (b) If the combat's going to be complicated, as players make statements of intent for their Adventurers, note them down. Again, this can be done quickly, while they're talking. More about this in (d). (c) Where possible, have them use natural language to describe their actions. (d) When a combat starts, have a couple of sheets of paper handy, with a couple of lines for each strike rank. As a player makes a statement of intent, note it, however cryptically in the correct chunk for that strike rank. To be really cunning, place the statement of the Adventurer or NPC in each strike rank in the reverse order they made them. Then, when the action phase comes along, you just work down the page: The combatants are sorted into the correct order to act. Action Phase: - ------------- (a) The Adventurer should make the rolls for his or her character. Have them describe their Adventurer's results in more than game terms, as more appropriate to their Adventurers. Something like "A superb effort doing enough to kill most unarmoured people: 12 points to the head," rather than "I rolled 12 damage and rolled 19 for hit location." (b) Likewise, when an NPC hits an Adventurer, tell them the damage and location and then they can tell you what happens. Ref: "A glancing blow for 3 damage to your right arm." Player: "What's attacking me, a bloody girl? Booiiiinnng! Not a dicky bird got through." Ref: "The bolt of lightning arcs into your abdomen doing 24 damage." Player: "There's a smoking pair of boots here whimpering medic!" (c) Trust the players to keep their own records. Don't let it worry you too much - you've got your own to worry about. Most players are honest and help with the tension. "Shit, I can't heal myself anymore!" "My shield's breaking up, it looks like a sieve and I'm knackered!" Bookeeping Phase: - ----------------- (a) Let the players mark their Adventurer's fatigue points off and any general hitpoints for bleeding. Only check once in a while - you've got bigger fish to fry. (b) Don't believe all you hear about fatigue points being a crap mechanic in the game system: It isn't. It's an excellent mechanism for helping focus the Adventurer's players. When they've run out of fatigue and their chances to hit and parry are trickling away it makes the hardest player sweat and makes his Adventurer question his or her mortality. Don't use some sort of RQ IV fatigue roll variant: It takes longer to roll every 5 rounds for fatigue than it does to add another stroke in a check box at the end of each round. The same goes for weapon damage: An Adventurer who's having his shield battered to breaking is a very worried character. (c) Have a set of crib sheets for all NPCs in the combat. Only keep the minimum of info on them and use these to mark off fatigue, hit and magic points. Have these ready before any punch up begins. Try and prepare them when you create the NPC. Footnotes ========= *Flaw 1 is one of the three percieved flaws of RQ: 1. You spend too much time bookeeping so the story or the flow suffers; 2. It has no integrated skill system or the skill system is too combat oriented; 3. As the system is relatively detailed, it takes a long time to create NPCs and it's hard to balance them against the Adventurers. **Strike Ranks: Most people attack on SR 7. If they're bigger or faster than average, knock a strike rank off. If they're both, knock 2 off. If they're using a long weapon, knock 1 off, using a lance or a long spear, knock 2 off. You can remember a lot in general terms this way. The same sort of thing goes for spell casting and throwing / firing weapons as well. Cheers me dears, Ash - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The information contained in this e-mail is confidential and solely for the intended addressee(s). Unauthorised reproduction, disclosure, modification, and/or distribution of this email may be unlawful. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete it from your system. The views expressed in this message do not necessarily reflect those of LIFFE (Holdings) Plc or any of its subsidiary companies. - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.imagiconline.com with the line 'unsubscribe runequest-rules' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ End of RuneQuest Rules Digest V2 #107 ************************************* *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.imagiconline.com with the line 'unsubscribe runequest-rules' as the body of the message. RuneQuest is a Trademark of Hasbro/Avalon Hill Games. 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