From: RuneQuest-Request@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (RQ Digest Maintainer) To: RuneQuest@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (Daily automated RQ-Digest) Reply-To: RuneQuest@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (RuneQuest Daily) Subject: RuneQuest Daily, Fri, 14 Jan 1994, part 1 Content-Return: Prohibited Precedence: junk X-RQ-ID: Intro This is the RuneQuest Daily Bulletin, a mailing list on the subjects of Avalon Hill's RPG and Greg Stafford's world of Glorantha. It is sent out once per day in digest format. More details on the RuneQuest Daily and Digest can be found after the last message in this digest. --------------------- From: pearse_w_r@bt-web.bt.co.uk (pearse_w_r) Subject: RQ/Tekumel Message-ID: <9401130950.AA00577@Sun.COM> Date: 13 Jan 94 09:49:42 GMT X-RQ-ID: 2794 Allow me to join the throng of EPT'ers and thank Sandy Peterson very much for posting the RQ/Tekumel stuff. I've never bought the RQ III rules, but I'm going to do just that, in order to play RQ/Tekumel. I saw that the spells for Belkhanu were missing. Any kind soul with a copy of Swords & Glory II like to complete this section? The priests of the Lord of the Isles of the Excellent Dead sound like they should spend a fair bit of time in the Underworlds, and might be fun to play. I know there are others using RQ for Tekumel. What scenarios do people use? Roger Pearse --------------------- From: jclannom@mathlab.mtu.edu (Joe Lannom) Subject: re: Protection forts/stockades give? (maybe Sun County Spoilers, I dunno) Message-ID: <9401131409.AA20469@mathlab.mtu.edu> Date: 13 Jan 94 14:09:07 GMT X-RQ-ID: 2795 Robert McArthur wrote: |> Comments from anyone? Are spirits normally bound like this? How many of |> them? Size of them? Can they detect enemies (and of whom)? Can they engage |> in spirit combat with a spirit coming through the wall? Over the wall? Under |> the walls? |> Since the Lunars are so tight with the Sun worshippers in the east, near the river of cradles, I don't see why they wouldn't have tried to adopt some of their practices. I don't know how common the knowledge of the different aspects of the Dome's protections are, but since Um, whats his name, the Lunar tax guy that visited there that was really into architecture, especially Religious architecture... Fred, that must be it. (its a joke, but I need a name to use) So Fred is wandering around looking at the dome and the guards kindly/coldy (You know, its funny how cold worshippers of a Sun god can be... but then, they could be Yelmalians and not need warm personalities...) ahem, the guards warn him not to step there, or over there, don't touch that.... etc. Eventually Fred is going to get curious and ask a couple questions. Maybe he'd get some answers and pass them on to the Irripi Ontor temple... On the same subject, Joerg Baumgartner writes: |> >A Warding spell would be a more "normal" way to protect a building; but |> >there's nothing to stop them Lunars binding spirits if they like. |> |> Except that there is a limit to the total mana available to them... |> Well, if Lunar settlers are going to live near there (within 5KM), any large contingent with a priest/RL in the party could be required to bind a spirit to the walls as a pledge to the empire and show support for the "troops" out in the backwaters of the Empire. We pioneers have to stick together. Besides if I add to your defenses, thats a couple more members of your garrison that you can send out to protect us from the evil Barbarians who don't like our horses. If it was greater than a 5KM distance, it doesn't matter as the spirits would become free when the binder moved further away than that. (Unless its changed in RQ3, or ever was in RQ2... I'm still trying to sort out some of the rules 8-/ ) Unless there are attendant priests to reaffirm the bindings, or the wall/town doesn't get attacked very often, the number of bound spirits would be a constantly diminishing thing. During a battle or a raid, you'd think that at least ONE of the spirits would get a power gain roll, make it in the week after the battle when nothing is happening and resultantly be freed from their bindings... Some of the R/L are going to WANT to wander away, adventure calls ya know. Others will die since its such a hard life. Any of those factors (plus more!) would release a bound spirit. Hmm.... Since the youths of some of the native american tribes used to steal horses to prove their manhood or just to raise some hell, it might not be too far fetched for a shaman to send their young aprentice to try and steal a spirit from the invaders wall... joe --------------------- From: apbanut@aol.com Subject: Re: RuneQuest Daily, Thu, 13 Jan 1994, part 1 Message-ID: <9401131309.tn95547@aol.com> Date: 13 Jan 94 18:09:11 GMT X-RQ-ID: 2796 Hello! Could you please re-transmit part two of January 13th? Thanks! I am enjoying the digest! Michael (aka APBA NUT) --------------------- From: dagibbs@qnx.com (David Gibbs) Subject: Trolls and other miscellany Message-ID: <9401140144.AA29781@qnx.com> Date: 13 Jan 94 15:44:21 GMT X-RQ-ID: 2797 Just a few comments on a couple threads that have been wandering through the digest lately -- one old, one new. First on trolls, trollkin, etc. Somebody noted that Great Trolls were "created" by Cragspider in an attempt to re-create Mistress-race Trolls. In the RQ2 rules, it claims the Cragspider created them for her personal bodyguard, but I also recall that they were created by one of her attempts to break the trollkin curse. The other attempt resulted in litters of trollkin, instead of single trollkin births. (An interesting side result of this, is that if an Uzko mother has twins, and they are Uzko, they may be treated as Enlo, since multiple births are "always" Enlo.) The old rules imply that trollkin breed true, but that many are born dead. The idea of many stillbirths makes sense, and that the ones that survive tend to be even weaker makes sense as well -- or maybe it also follows the split rule, some are normal trollkin, some are weaker. Also, does any "miscegenation" occur between the different types of trolls? For instance, what would the off-spring of an Uzuz father and an Uzko mother be -- guaranteed Uzko, or is there a chance of an Uzuz child? Would this reduce or eliminate the chance of Enlo children? What of vice-versa, Uzuz mother, Uzko father? I feel that this is far less likely to happen, Different topic -- A while back there was some discussion on how to do in the Crimson Bat. One method that wasn't suggested was to get a really big lightbringer priest to kill it. How about Gonn Orta, a 150m tall giant who is also an Issaries priest. (150m at 3d6 str/2m and 3d6 size/2m [both plus 18] gives an average strength and size both of about 800. This gives Gonn Orta an attack bonus of about 780%, and a damage bonus of about 98d6 for an average damage bonus of 343! Plus any damage from the weapon he wields, and he gets a special hit 156%, and a critical 39% of them time. Now the bat only has 85 armor, and 162 hp, so one blow and it is toast. I wonder what the range penalties are for throwing a rock from a km away.) Of course, you have to convince Gonn Orta to do something. -David Gibbs (dagibbs@qnx.com) --------------------- From: msheinb@eis.calstate.edu (Mark Sheinberg) Subject: Antii-Archer Spell Message-ID: <9401140641.AA28290@eis.calstate.edu> Date: 14 Jan 94 06:41:27 GMT X-RQ-ID: 2798 Anti Archer Spell: [BA Attract Missiles (Sorcery) Ranged Passive Temporal If the caster overcomes the target's magic points, the spell causes the next missile aimed at the target or at anyone touchin the target to strike the target. An individual standing between the target and a missile user may be struck by happenstance. Even a missile that would normally miss will strike the target Each additional point of intinsety increase the number of missiles drawn to the target by 1. Thus if a target were hit by an intensity 7 attract missile spell, the next 7 missiles fired at him or at anyone touching him would strike him. The spell has no effect on melee weapons. Source: Heroes Magazine #6 --------------------- From: ddunham@radiomail.net (David Dunham) Subject: the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune Message-ID: <199401140706.AA28758@radiomail.net> Date: 14 Jan 94 07:06:30 GMT X-RQ-ID: 2799 >From: joe@sartar.toppoint.de (Joerg Baumgartner) >archery accuracy and effectivity are much higher than the >percentages allow for What we don't know anything about with our own practice is armor and shield penetration. >a musket bullet may have the higher velocity >when hitting the target compared to an arrow (I'm not too sure about >that) I do know that a crossbow has a much greater "muzzle velocity" than a bow (90 metres/s vs about 44 metres/s for a longbow -- the more powerful composite bows can shoot at 90 m/s). Slings can exceed 28 m/s. I think damage is actually related to momentum (mv), but if your energy formula is correct, then the mass of the projectile is far less important than the velocity. I believe modern bullets are supersonic... And "Vegetius said that biconical sling missles were more deadly than arrows against opponents clad in leather armor. Even if the missile did not penetrate the armor, Vegetius noted, it was capable of inflicting a fatal internal injury." Peruvian slings were also effective; a Spaniard said "I have seen how a stone flung from a sling over a distance of 30 paces broke in two a sword that a man was holding in his hand." Incidentally, my notes say that the English military longbow target practice was often held at 200 metres, well past RQ's effective range. I'm strongly leaning towards giving some shield value if the shield owner does nothing but hold it up and try to block arrows. In PenDragon Pass, probably 3 points (half shield value), no roll required. Joerg and Brent, I'll be bringing my PowerBook and modem, but I can't promise time to report until I get back. I'll try, however. ---------------------