From: owner-runequest-rules@ (RuneQuest-Rules-Digest) To: runequest-rules-digest@lists.MPGN.COM Subject: RuneQuest-Rules-Digest V1 #14 Reply-To: runequest-rules@mpgn.com Sender: owner-runequest-rules@ Errors-To: owner-runequest-rules@ Precedence: bulk RuneQuest-Rules-Digest Saturday, February 7 1998 Volume 01 : Number 014 RuneQuest is a trademark of Avalon Hill Games. All Rights Reserved. TABLE OF CONTENTS [RQ-RULES] Elementals and Illumination Re: [RQ-RULES] Illumination, Enlightenment Re: [RQ-RULES] Multispell/Shamanism/Homepage Re: [RQ-RULES] RE: sHADES [RQ-RULES] RuneQuest: Slayers Re: [RQ-RULES] Elementals [RQ-RULES] Sorcery Spells Re: [RQ-RULES] RE: sHADES [RQ-RULES] Shamanism [RQ-RULES] Illumination 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: Fri, 6 Feb 1998 15:34:32 -0800 (PST) From: allen wallace Subject: [RQ-RULES] Elementals and Illumination When I commented on a shades, etc, power levels I forgot I have been using some house rules, now they're just the rules. First only magic affects elementals, be reasonable they don't have the complex body structures living creatures have, and they have a great deal of control over the substances that they are made of, why would a normal weapon hurt them. Second, you have to overcome any elementals strength to get loose of them even without envelopment. I roll location-s- trapped, and actions using those body parts have the elementals strength subtracted from them. With earth elementals that location is immobilized unless the character breaks free. Have been using damage resist on elementals, never twigged to haste. Eshaella Twinsinger in Nochet is interested in trading spell lore, any Nochet sorcerers Know haste? I've always had illumination as closer to Sufi, with maybe some Taoism togive it the dualist edge. Allen *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe runequest-rules' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 06 Feb 1998 16:27:52 -0500 From: Tal Meta Subject: Re: [RQ-RULES] Illumination, Enlightenment Erik Nolander wrote: > > You're probably right. I also think that the Kralori Enlightenment > may be more Zen-like than Illumination is. I usually played it thus (of course, IMC, the Kralori were the Jha, but a rose by any other name... The Jha got a pretty bad rep in my game, early on, even though they were technically trying to capture the REAL bad guy that the party was unwittingly protecting. But the party just got nervous around soldiers who kept turning into dragons, and who could sometimes land blow after blow, without pausing (ki rules). (I think half the fun of RQ is introducing long term AD&D players to it - - nothing works the way it 'oughtta'.) - -- talmeta@cybercomm.net - Former sysop / netgod, now 'net bum. Do I look like someone who cares what GOD thinks?! / I have no webpage. / Curiosity killed the cat... Loathesome rituals BROUGHT IT BACK! / Will work for cash. / Insert Nifty ASCII graphic here. / Give me Slack, or give me Food. *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe runequest-rules' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 06 Feb 1998 16:42:28 -0500 From: Tal Meta Subject: Re: [RQ-RULES] Multispell/Shamanism/Homepage Nikk Effingham wrote: > > MULTISPELL > > I'd play it that the entire spell collapses. One of the drawbacks > of using Multispell I suppose.... I think of a set of multispelled > spells being just one huge spell doing many things at once. > I think Multispell is pretty damn powerful as it is. This at least > limits it in some fashion. I think that this is what I'm leaning towards as well. Of course, on the flip side, I think you ought to be able to Hold as many spells as your presence allows... > SHAMANISM > > I've been thinking of trying to rewrite the Shaman rules as they > stand in RQIII. One of the points that I came across was the > concept of the Fetch. I think it was raised on the Glorantha > Digest, that not all shamans would have their fetch equivalent > stored as an actual Fetch. For instance, some would have Spirit > Allies (like good old RQII) while some might have their power > invested into an area of power such as a grove (in the case of > Aldryan shamans), or in an object - a fetish. Totem animals are a good example too; the last Shaman I ref'd had a ferret as his spirit animal, and sometimes it was like a member of the party on it's own, especialy after the shaman learned Visibility. A couple of times he was tempted by the spirit ally concept, but then he'd lose an arm or leg in the next fight and would be busy regrowing it again... (that shaman had the WORST luck...) > I was wondering if anyone could add to this list of alternatives, > and possibly give any rules ideas that they might have on the > benefits/disadvantages of such alternatives. Depends on the culture. I'd say most of the folks in Prax have totems, but I'm not familiar enough with the other shamanic groups to really say which direction they'd turn. > HOMEPAGE > > Does the RQ Rules Digest ahve a homepage???? If not, I volunteer > to set up a small operation on Angelfire - although I'm not sure > what you'd have to do about archiving (I was thinking more along > the lines of an introduction and details on joining etc....) That much'd be more than appreciated. A couple of the new faces in here are folks whose webpages I've surfed, who still had this digest pointing back at Loren's server. MPGN archives them automagically, and when all else fails I keep copies of the digests here locally (available by request). Tapani Mylly wrote: > > Shamanism (in real world) is thought to be sort of a extatic > technique and I think that shamanism in Glorantha and RQ should > more closely reflect actual shamanism. Well, over the years I've met a fair number of modern 'shamans', and thusfar it's a fair estimate that if I've met 5 shamans, I've heard 6 definitions of what a shaman is/does. > At least in the north almost all shamans had two very important > "objects of power". The first was shamans clothes, which reflected > the animal whose form the shaman would take in the spirit world. > Second object was a drum, that was used to enter the spirit world. Amerindians would probably have the Medecine Bundle and the Rattle, but the parallells run close enough. > In game terms the drum could act like fetch. > Maybe spells could be chaneled trough the thing, to both > directions... Sort of an Uberfetish. But would he have to cast his spells limited by his 'Play Drums' skill, I wonder? :) - -- talmeta@cybercomm.net - Former sysop / netgod, now 'net bum. Do I look like someone who cares what GOD thinks?! / I have no webpage. / Curiosity killed the cat... Loathesome rituals BROUGHT IT BACK! / Will work for cash. / Insert Nifty ASCII graphic here. / Give me Slack, or give me Food. *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe runequest-rules' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 6 Feb 1998 15:38:09 -0800 (PST) From: allen wallace Subject: Re: [RQ-RULES] RE: sHADES Phillip Hibbs Where did you find that shades can only use fearshock once per full turn, I havent found the reference? Allen *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe runequest-rules' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 6 Feb 1998 21:11:31 +0000 From: "Loren Miller" Subject: [RQ-RULES] RuneQuest: Slayers Have you checked out Avalon Hill's page? Michael O'Brien pointed out that their page for "RQ Slayers" now says a little more about what the game is about: http://www.avalonhill.com/rqslay.html The best quote from the page is this: "RuneQuest: Slayers is a completely new incarnation of the classic RuneQuest game. Gone are the number-heavy mechanics and wearisome campaign worlds." Hmm. I guess they got rid of everything that made RQ RQ. Here are some other quotes. Characters come from a variety of races, backgrounds and professions and enter the ranks of the "WarClans," guilds of mercenaries, soldiers, knights, and barbarians. Warriors may occasionally stumble across these magic-wielders - sometimes as allies, other times as foes in battle - but wizards are not the focus of RuneQuest. Is RuneQuest: Slayers compatible with the older versions of RuneQuest? No. RuneQuest: Slayers uses an entirely different system. If there is enough interest, we may post conversion notes on the web. Who's writing the new game? Who's the artist? In addition to the in-house design team, Avalon Hill has several artists working on the project. Ugh. Avalon Hill is using an inhouse design team? - -- Loren Miller Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery; but invention is the sincerest form of criticism. *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe runequest-rules' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 06 Feb 1998 23:01:20 -0500 From: Tal Meta Subject: Re: [RQ-RULES] Elementals allen wallace wrote: > > Second, you have to overcome any elementals strength to get loose > of them even without envelopment. I roll location-s- trapped, and > actions using those body parts have the elementals strength > subtracted from them. With earth elementals that location is > immobilized unless the character breaks free. Now THIS, I like! I'm gonna use this... it makes elementals having STR make sense (other than the ones it already applies to , leastwise). > I've always had illumination as closer to Sufi, with maybe some > Taoism togive it the dualist edge. Heh. Just ran off the edges of my comparative religion studies.. :) > Where did you find that shades can only use fearshock once per > full turn, I havent found the reference? Second paragraph under Attack Forms. - -- talmeta@cybercomm.net - Former sysop / netgod, now 'net bum. Do I look like someone who cares what GOD thinks?! / I have no webpage. / Curiosity killed the cat... Loathesome rituals BROUGHT IT BACK! / Will work for cash. / Insert Nifty ASCII graphic here. / Give me Slack, or give me Food. *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe runequest-rules' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 7 Feb 1998 02:45:52 EST From: JULIAKIR@aol.com Subject: [RQ-RULES] Sorcery Spells Several years ago at the Baltimore convention Greg, then asked about magic point matrixes, was horified and called them God Learner things. So, I am assuming that there are not a whole lot of these things floating about in Glorantha. To address this immediate inbalance of power on the part of the sorcery using community, I came up with a pair of spells for my campaing, which I hope will interest the members of this list: STORAGE Ritual (Ceremony), Low Ritual Magic This ritual allows its caster to store MP in an item until used. The item maybe anything none living. The amount of MP stored will equal to the intensity level of the spell cast. A person may normally have only one storage spell cast at a time. STORAGE ENCHANTMENT Ritual (Enchantment), High Ritual Magic This ritual creates a permanent storage device which can be used by anyone fitting the conditions on the item. It the MP in the item may be recharged by the use of the Storage spell and can hold MP equal to 5*POW expended in the ritual. The item to be turned into a storage device must already be enchanted, usually by an Enchant spell, or be otherwise magical such as a crystal. Note: This enchantment is not in a matrix form and can not be broken even if the item is broken, however in this case it could not be recharged, but can be dispelled. A sorcerer may have any number of such devices. P.S. Here is another spell which is a favorate of mine to really piss of the characters: ENCUMBER Ranged, Temporal, Low Magic A target overcome by this spell (MP vs POW) must immediately make a Fatigue check (CON roll). In addition each point of Intensity adds 5 ENC to the targets TOTAL ENC for the duration of the spell. The target can only be effected by the highest Intensity spell, but other Encumber spells will still force additional Fatigue checks Leon Kirshtein *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe runequest-rules' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 7 Feb 1998 02:24:51 EST From: JULIAKIR@aol.com Subject: Re: [RQ-RULES] RE: sHADES Then I said "couple", I meant against several opponents, who would be in the path of the passing shade. The Best elemental in the game of course is the Selene. It is !!!!!!1.- invisible, so the enemies( or the party) do not realize what is happening and !!!!!!2- therefore lose a couple of rounds just fumbling about while their 'personal' magic points are reduced. Leon Kirshtein *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe runequest-rules' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 7 Feb 1998 14:20:14 GMT From: "Nikk Effingham" Subject: [RQ-RULES] Shamanism Tapani: > At least in the north almost all shamans had two very important >"objects of power". The first was shamans clothes, which reflected >the animal whose form the shaman would take in the spirit world. >Second object was a drum, that was used to enter the spirit world. >In game terms the drum could act like fetch. The drum was very >closely connected to the shaman, and when a shaman retired, he/she >could sink his drum to a lake or swamp in order to prevent the >misuse of this "other part of his soul". Paintings on the drum also >reflected shamans personal and traditional wievs of the world. Yes, this is the sort of thing we want! I think a joint effort between the Glorantha digest and the rules digest could generate some intresting shamanistic variations. If we came up with rules ideas and possbilities here, and then fixed them to Glorantha cultures on the other Digest it'd be neat. Plus, for those who play non-Glorantha RQ, it'd still be useful! I think I'll mull over this for a while and then give it another stab. Nikk E. Nikk Effingham eng7nje@leeds.ac.uk http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Lair/7556/ "If absolute power corrupts absolutely Where does that leave God?" -- George Daacon *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe runequest-rules' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 7 Feb 1998 14:37:04 GMT From: "Nikk Effingham" Subject: [RQ-RULES] Illumination Nikk Effingham eng7nje@leeds.ac.uk http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Lair/7556/ "If absolute power corrupts absolutely Where does that leave God?" -- George Daacon X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Windows (v2.54) Message-ID: <251AE304C2E@arts-01.novell.leeds.ac.uk> Tal: >> One player in my game started off as an Illuminate, but only >> received the first Illuminating power and must learn more riddles >> and more illuminating knowledge to gain the rest of them. > >This I don't think I would do... I learned my lesson when I allowed >a player to start the game as a priest. Some things should be earned >in-game, I think. As I use a Character Generation system based on points, he paid for the privelage. You might think it made him more powerful - but he had only one power "The ability to know there is no difference between chaos/law" which, in game terms, is useless (although in philosophical terms very enlightening to the character). He mainly bought it to allow him to begin dually in Vivamort and Orlanth without being excommunicated (something else he paid more points for). As he only has about 10% Illumination skill, he doesn't look set to gain more powers for a long time. He actually thinks, and I agree, that those players who are not Iluminated are better off as they have the chance to gain all the powers at once, whereas he has to get them one by one (and of course, the next one will be Sense Illumination, then Do Not Detect has Law/Chaos (which he already has via a chaos feature he aquired) and so I'm saving the powerful ones for last). It has been very effective so far, and while a lot of the other players grumbled it was unfair, they have since changed their minds. >lol. I dunno if I'd let that work, but then again, if you're willing >to blow 14 POW to be Illuminated, why not? (It's Arkat the Deceiver, >btw: the Betrayer requires that you already be Illuminated. I don't think the players should become Illuminated by just blowing POW. I've already decided that if they do do this course of action, they will only become Basic Illuminates with one POW, and will have to aquire the other powers one by one (which, through Arkat's Blessing they can do, so another 12 POW will assure them of all the powers : ) 26 POW to become fully illuminated might just be worth it to watch them try : ))) >> I think there are different schools of Illumination granting >> different powers (like Rashorana Illumination, Nysalorian >> Illumination, Metsylan Illumination etc...) has anybody seen >> "Cults of Life and Death" wherein the Cult of Eudaimon has >> Enlightenment, it's own version of Illumination???? > >No, I must have missed that one. What's the source? An English product by the "Apprentice's Guild" (I think). It's in the MIG. It's out of print now as Avlon Hill complained (probably as the products were quite successful : )) Basically it's Nysalorian Illumination in reverse - they believe that the Community is more important than the Individual. It's... intriguing. >This seems fair enough. You don't even need to limit it to Riddles, >IMO... I seem to remember someone suggesting that paintings, poetry, >even perhaps certain musical numbers or theatric plays (King in >Yellow, anyone? ) might be illuminating in and of themselves. Agreed! My players already read ancient tomes with forbidden Illumination knowledge (something like one grimoire might give +2 Illumination skill)! Of course, such tomes are rare (although my players got a good laugh when they discovered a chaos worshipper with "Gbajism: The ABC Guide to Illumination" - much to the distate of the Illuminate, they burnt it). I think that not only Art and Books can help Illuminate you, but having a character who "thinks" like an Illuminate should give a bonus (say +5 to +10%) to their Illumination skill. I once had a renegade Brithini who thought a lot like an Illuminate - while he had the bonus, he had negative modifiers and hindarances to his test of Holiness rolls for the cults he joined as he obviously didn't *really* believe in what they said. So it was good in some respects, bad in others. I think Illumination skill can be taught, not only by Riddles - but this only really occurs in the Lunar Empire, although Invoking the appropiate Blessing of Arkat aids in this as well. Illumination, it should be remembered, is also magical in nature, as well as philosophical, and so ancient artifacts might help you (such as the Hand of Nysalor might Illuminate you, or help Illuminate you) as well as HeroQuests (refer to the cult description of Jalmar Ironwood where all members become Illuminated upon initiation). In all cases, I think you can only become Illuminated if it's within you to begin with. Perhaps certain cult gifts/geases help your Illumination skill? >Maybe some of us could work out different schools of Illumination, >as a net.project? I'd be up for this!!!!!! From what I remember the main schools of Illumination would be Nysalorian, Metsylan (see some of Nils Weinander's web pages for stuff on this), Rashorana (and other Pelorian cults of Illumination), various sects of Arkatism (again see Jalmar Ironwood's description) and we could just make up a few others on the fly. Does anybody use Illumination in a non-Glorantha setting? Nikk E. *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe runequest-rules' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ End of RuneQuest-Rules-Digest V1 #14 ************************************ *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe runequest-rules' as the body of the message. RuneQuest is a Trademark of 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.