From: owner-runequest-rules@lists.ient.com (RuneQuest Rules Digest) To: runequest-rules-digest@lists.ient.com Subject: RuneQuest Rules Digest V3 #103 Reply-To: runequest-rules@lists.ient.com Sender: owner-runequest-rules@lists.ient.com Errors-To: owner-runequest-rules@lists.ient.com Precedence: bulk RuneQuest Rules Digest Friday, October 20 2000 Volume 03 : Number 103 RuneQuest is a trademark of Hasbro/Avalon Hill Games. All Rights Reserved. TABLE OF CONTENTS [RQ-RULES] Cultural Skill Base Chance Re: [RQ-RULES] Visibility Re: [RQ-RULES] Cultural Skill Base Chance [RQ-RULES] Re: Several Questions Re: [RQ-RULES] Re: Several Questions Re: [RQ-RULES] Visibility Re: [RQ-RULES] Cultural Skill Base Chance RE: [RQ-RULES] Re: Several Questions Re: [RQ-RULES] Re: Several Questions Re: [RQ-RULES] Cultural Skill Base Chance [RQ-RULES] gorp proofing Re: [RQ-RULES] gorp proofing [RQ-RULES] Gorp v Truestone 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: Thu, 19 Oct 2000 14:11:15 +0100 From: Philip.Hibbs@tnt.co.uk Subject: [RQ-RULES] Cultural Skill Base Chance >In short, for every skill base that is improved >by a change in culture, another equally useful >skill base should be penalized. That seems a bit overly mechanistic to me. Philip Hibbs http://www.snark.freeserve.co.uk/ Opinions expressed may not even be my own, let alone those of any organisations, nations, species, or schools of thought to which I may be affiliated. *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe runequest-rules' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2000 14:11:50 +0100 From: Philip.Hibbs@tnt.co.uk Subject: Re: [RQ-RULES] Visibility >I think that Humakts Bladesharp could do the >trick, but the blade flickering with lightning >(blessed by Orlanth) would not. Remember that magical lightning on a blade isn't just a bunch of electrons running around trying to ground themselves. It's Orlanths Power, so are you saying that Orlanth has no power to damage spirits? Philip Hibbs http://www.snark.freeserve.co.uk/ Opinions expressed may not even be my own, let alone those of any organisations, nations, species, or schools of thought to which I may be affiliated. *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe runequest-rules' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2000 09:47:42 EDT From: MurfNMurf@aol.com Subject: Re: [RQ-RULES] Cultural Skill Base Chance In a message dated 10/19/00 8:24:02 AM Central Daylight Time, Philip comments: << In short, for every skill base that is improved >by a change in culture, another equally useful >skill base should be penalized. That seems a bit overly mechanistic to me. >> Being an artificial limiter (a tip of the hat to that ol' bugaboo, Play Balance), it certianly _is_ going to be mechanical. Such an idea _does_ , however, solve some of the problems that you can get with a background that gives nothing but nice plusses to certian skills, while leaving the rest of the skills at base% . If there's no detrimental effects worked into the background, then whatever that particular positively modified background is, it'll soon have _everyone_ playing one. -Ken- *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe runequest-rules' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2000 07:34:03 -0700 From: "Simon Hibbs" Subject: [RQ-RULES] Re: Several Questions Jim Lawrie : > A few questions : > > Is a ghost that has been ordered to possess someone via a >control/command/dominate spell still under control after it has completed >it's possession? Yes. > What is materials are resistant to a gorps acid? It depends on your take on Gorps. In Glorantha they embody the insidiously destructive nature of Chaos, corroding away the fabric of the universe. Some pure metals such as gold, or most enchanted metals may be very resistant to it, but given long enough even these will be corroded away. Truestone might resist Gorp pretty well, but again given long enough and enough Gorp it will probably succumb. Only Adantium is guaranteed to be resistant. This is all IMHO. > Should skill bases change with culture, and if so, how would it be >moderated? That's how it works in RQ3. Skill bases are the skills you learn up to the age of 15 years old, after which you learn skills according to your profession. Clearly a 15 year old Praxian nomad is likely to learn different skills than a 15 year old noble Dara Happan. I'm not sure what you mean by moderated. RQ3 gives base skills for a whole gamut of different cultures. You should be able to extrapolate from those for most gampaign settings. > If Stiletto's and Rapiers do damage x 3 on a special, what other >puncturing weapons should have this feature? (Pilums? Crossbow bolts?) Rapiers and Stilettos are particularly difficult weapons to wield, yet can cause horrific injuries in the hands of a skilled user. The designers seem to have chosen to simulate this by giving them a low basic damage roll, but increased impale damage. To get the most out of them, you need to be good at using them. Crossbows and Pilums are relatively easy weapons to use, so they were given a decent basic damage roll. Thus there is no game design logic in giving them even more damage on an impale. > Should all helmets be considered 'hard armour'? Apart from chain coifs, >I can find few accounts of soft head armour anywhere apart from padding. I >would assume the soft armour covers the neck though. If the body armour is hard, then the equivalent head armour should be hard. I recently watched Excalibur again (great film), and noticed that the plate armour all had raised ridges on the shoulders to deflect sword blows aimed at the neck. > Is a shortsword considered a 'shorter weapon' for closing purposes, than >a broadsword, even though they have the same basic strike rank? (I suspect >that this was a little inconsitency that crept in from the conversion from >12 SRs a round to 10 SRs) I don't treat shortswords as beign sorter than broadswords for closing purposes. After all, a guy with long arms might have a longer reach with a shortsword than a short armed guy with a broadsword. You can't realy say the same about daggers. > What happens if a Shamans fetch is possessed I don't understand. A fetch is a disembodied spirit on the spirit plane, it has no body that can be posessed. It can however be captured into a binding object. > What is Roman Lorica segmata the equivalent of, plate or lammellar? No idea. Steve? Simon Hibbs - ------------------------------------------------------------ - --== Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ ==-- Before you buy. *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe runequest-rules' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2000 01:52:09 +1100 From: "Jim & Peta Lawrie" Subject: Re: [RQ-RULES] Re: Several Questions > What is materials are resistant to a gorps acid? It depends on your take on Gorps. In Glorantha they embody the insidiously destructive nature of Chaos, corroding away the fabric of the universe. Some pure metals such as gold, or most enchanted metals may be very resistant to it, but given long enough even these will be corroded away. Truestone might resist Gorp pretty well, but again given long enough and enough Gorp it will probably succumb. Only Adantium is guaranteed to be resistant. This is all IMHO. Simon Hibbs Damn, that's the common consensus. I'm looking at establishing a dwelling in a certain "Land of Doom" and I was trying to come up with a Gorp-proof wall. I'm going to have to invest in a lot of Warding. Jim Lawrie *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe runequest-rules' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2000 18:58:48 +0300 (EEST) From: Olli Kantola Subject: Re: [RQ-RULES] Visibility On Thu, 19 Oct 2000 Philip.Hibbs@tnt.co.uk wrote: > >I think that Humakts Bladesharp could do the > >trick, but the blade flickering with lightning > >(blessed by Orlanth) would not. > > Remember that magical lightning on a blade isn't just a bunch of electrons > running around trying to ground themselves. It's Orlanths Power, so are you > saying that Orlanth has no power to damage spirits? No, I'm saying that Humakt has special powers of seperation that are hurtful to spirits (that are between worlds). It may be Orlanths power, but does he have special powers against spirits? Maybe I forgot them. My point was that I think that magical power that comes from other worlds has trouble effecting entities that are partially (if not wholly) on the spirit plane. Olli Kantola *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe runequest-rules' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2000 19:16:35 +0300 (EEST) From: Olli Kantola Subject: Re: [RQ-RULES] Cultural Skill Base Chance On Thu, 19 Oct 2000 MurfNMurf@aol.com wrote: > . If there's no detrimental effects worked into the background, then > whatever that particular positively modified background is, it'll soon have > _everyone_ playing one. Remember that foreigners have a social disadvantage when dealing with the native folk. Their gods may lack temples in nearby cities. This limits their divine magics. If there are no friendly shamans around, then their spirit magic isn't going to get more powerfull. Sorcerous learning may also be hard to find! So no magic for outsiders. Even their existing magic may be useless in their new surroundings, for example a yinkini hunter in Prax. Olli Kantola *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe runequest-rules' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2000 13:44:12 -0400 From: "Bob Stancliff" Subject: RE: [RQ-RULES] Re: Several Questions > Damn, that's the common consensus. I'm looking at establishing a >dwelling in a certain "Land of Doom" and I was trying to come up with a >Gorp-proof wall. I'm going to have to invest in a lot of Warding. > Jim Lawrie I'll give you an alternative opinion... Gorps use acid as their primary attack and there is no essential difference between their acid and any other form of acid, so the 'dissolving the universe' argument is an overreach. Glass is usually resistant to acid and can hold almost all forms for several years. Those few acids that dissolve glass are usually blocked by beeswax. Extended contact with Truestone will destroy any Chaos creature so some manner of attack or containment might be worked out with an incredibly generous GM... don't count on this. Large Wardings (8+ points?) are an excellent choice for killing most gorp before they can enter and destroy property. It works pretty well for most common enemies also. Bob Stancliff *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe runequest-rules' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2000 14:28:34 EDT From: SPerrin@aol.com Subject: Re: [RQ-RULES] Re: Several Questions In a message dated 10/19/00 8:04:25 AM Pacific Daylight Time, jimpeta@primus.com.au writes: > > Damn, that's the common consensus. I'm looking at establishing a > dwelling in a certain "Land of Doom" and I was trying to come up with a > Gorp-proof wall. I'm going to have to invest in a lot of Warding. > > How about a simple hut of "gorp skin" or "gorp stuff". Something allows the gorp to remain fairly intact, use that to make the dwelling. It would have to be a magical construct, but truestone or adamantium or Warding is a lot of magic, too. Steve Perrin, noting that you have to make the construction fairly obscure and hard to do, or people will be taking the "technology" back to their own lands... *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe runequest-rules' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2000 14:28:34 EDT From: SPerrin@aol.com Subject: Re: [RQ-RULES] Cultural Skill Base Chance In a message dated 10/19/00 6:24:02 AM Pacific Daylight Time, Philip.Hibbs@tnt.co.uk writes: > > >In short, for every skill base that is improved > >by a change in culture, another equally useful > >skill base should be penalized. > > That seems a bit overly mechanistic to me. > Then again, this is a list about game mechanics. Many decisions about what %iles various cultures and character types should have were based on exactly this consideration, though not at much with RQ as with other games because the Chaosium at the time didn't have as many number crunchers (and had more anthropologists) as some companies. We tended more to eyeball such considerations and it the results sounded right we rarely checked the actual numbers. Balancing cultures was a problem we faced (and punted) with Stormbringer since certain cultures were obviously superior. And of course certain backgrounds in RQ3 were obviously superior to start an adventurer out in because the skill levels provided. So I guess the answer to the original question is another question: Does the GM want certain cultures to be obviously superior within the game world. If so, give them better skill bases (and probably other benefits). If not, balance the skill starts. Steve Perrin, remembering long hours in the Chaosium cottage... *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe runequest-rules' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2000 08:35:56 +1100 From: "Jim & Peta Lawrie" Subject: [RQ-RULES] gorp proofing >> Damn, that's the common consensus. I'm looking at establishing a >>dwelling in a certain "Land of Doom" and I was trying to come up with a >>Gorp-proof wall. I'm going to have to invest in a lot of Warding. >> Jim Lawrie > > I'll give you an alternative opinion... Gorps use acid as their primary >attack and there is no essential difference between their acid and any >other form of acid, so the 'dissolving the universe' argument is an >overreach. Glass is usually resistant to acid and can hold almost all >forms for several years. Those few acids that dissolve glass are usually >blocked by beeswax. > Extended contact with Truestone will destroy any Chaos creature so some >manner of attack or containment might be worked out with an incredibly >generous GM... don't count on this. > Large Wardings (8+ points?) are an excellent choice for killing most gorp >before they can enter and destroy property. It works pretty well for most >common enemies also. >Bob Stancliff >How about a simple hut of "gorp skin" or "gorp stuff". Something allows the >gorp to remain fairly intact, use that to make the dwelling. It would have to >be a magical construct, but truestone or adamantium or Warding is a lot of >magic, too. > >Steve Perrin Both brilliant suggestions! I have to know, why is beeswax so resistant? I can see all my PCs striding forth in shiny beeswax-buffed armour in future! Unfortunately, it's unlikely my PC would think of either of them, he's based on a roman legionary engineer. (That brilliant BBC show 'Secrets of the Ancients' was the motivation, especially the Ceasars Bridge episode.) I'll probably settle on a an earth & turf ditch and rampart, hopefully the watchman will see it by the swathe of dead grass and disrupt away. I suppose a rock wall would encourage the nasty critters to crawl over the top rather than corrode through, but is too work intensive to construct with just a steadholding group. (I'm going to submit work times to the GM using Chris Feltons excellent "Clay to Marble" article from an ancient White Dwarf issue. *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe runequest-rules' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2000 19:06:44 EDT From: SPerrin@aol.com Subject: Re: [RQ-RULES] gorp proofing In a message dated 10/19/00 2:48:06 PM Pacific Daylight Time, jimpeta@primus.com.au writes: > > Both brilliant suggestions! I have to know, why is beeswax so resistant? > I can see all my PCs striding forth in shiny beeswax-buffed armour in > future! > Unfortunately, it's unlikely my PC would think of either of them, he's > based on a roman legionary engineer. (That brilliant BBC show 'Secrets of > the Ancients' was the motivation, especially the Ceasars Bridge episode.) I don't know why it's so resistant, but it is an ancient process and well known to the ancients, I'm sure. You could make the usual occupants of the stead bee keepers. You know you are getting close by the hum of the bees. Now, we have to figure out where they are getting the flowers... Steve Perrin *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe runequest-rules' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2000 17:24:36 +0100 From: "Meirion Hopkins" Subject: [RQ-RULES] Gorp v Truestone > > What is materials are resistant to a gorps acid? > > It depends on your take on Gorps. In Glorantha they embody the > insidiously destructive nature of Chaos, corroding away the > fabric of the universe. Some pure metals such as gold, or most > enchanted metals may be very resistant to it, but given long > enough even these will be corroded away. Truestone might resist > Gorp pretty well, but again given long enough and enough Gorp > it will probably succumb. Only Adantium is guaranteed to be > resistant. This is all IMHO. > > Simon Hibbs > > Damn, that's the common consensus. I'm looking at establishing a > dwelling in a certain "Land of Doom" and I was trying to come up with a > Gorp-proof wall. I'm going to have to invest in a lot of Warding. > > Jim Lawrie I can't remeber where I read it, but I'm sure I saw a reference that Truestone destroys chaos which is in contact with it. The reson I remeber is because a story in ToTRM (a Zero the Detective one I think) has a vampire is holding a piece of Truestone and when I read the other story I thought "whoops, retconed". Sorry I can't remeber the reference. Meirion *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe runequest-rules' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ End of RuneQuest Rules Digest V3 #103 ************************************* *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe runequest-rules' as the body of the message. RuneQuest is a Trademark of Hasbro/Avalon Hill Games. With the exception of previously copyrighted material, unless specified otherwise all text in this digest is copyright by the author or authors, with rights granted to copy for personal use, to excerpt in reviews and replies, and to archive unchanged for electronic retrieval.