From: owner-runequest-rules@ (RuneQuest Rules Digest) To: runequest-rules-digest@lists.MPGN.COM Subject: RuneQuest Rules Digest V1 #126 Reply-To: runequest-rules@mpgn.com Sender: owner-runequest-rules@ Errors-To: owner-runequest-rules@ Precedence: bulk RuneQuest Rules Digest Friday, July 17 1998 Volume 01 : Number 126 RuneQuest is a trademark of Avalon Hill Games. All Rights Reserved. TABLE OF CONTENTS RE: [RQ-RULES] discussion RE: [RQ-RULES] discussion RE: [RQ-RULES] discussion [RQ-RULES] DMD - Procan for RQ/Greyhawk [RQ-RULES] Gloranthan wargaming [RQ-RULES] DMD - Atroa for RQ/Greyhawk RE: [RQ-RULES] Red Vadeli Blood Sorcery [RQ-RULES] Tentacle Sorcery! RE: [RQ-RULES] Tentacle Sorcery! 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: Wed, 15 Jul 1998 08:47:27 +0100 From: "Hibbs, Philip" Subject: RE: [RQ-RULES] discussion >Rune Lords defended magically with their full POW >stat, even if they'd cast spirit/battle magic spells to deplete >POW, since MP weren't used in RQ2. MP and Battle Magic POW are, in all respects that I can discern, entirely identical other than in name. Saying the MP weren't used in RQ2 is like saying that there were no Orcs in the Hobbit - there were, but they were just called Goblins. It's a minor point, but is the source of some confusion. I always think of the terms as interchangeable. POW = Characteristic POW MP = Battle Magic POW philip.hibbs@tnt.co.uk or phibbs@compuserve.com http://members.tripod.com/~PhilHibbs/ You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough. - William Blake *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe runequest-rules' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1998 10:39:39 -0700 (PDT) From: jarold davis Subject: RE: [RQ-RULES] discussion Mr. Hibbs wrote: >MP and Battle Magic POW are, in all respects that I can discern, entirely >identical other than in name. Saying the MP weren't used in RQ2 is like >saying that there were no Orcs in the Hobbit - there were, but they were >just called Goblins. It's a minor point, but is the source of some >confusion. I always think of the terms as interchangeable. > >POW = Characteristic POW >MP = Battle Magic POW > Sorry for causing confusion. The term MP hadn't been invented in RQ2. I apologize profusely. *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe runequest-rules' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1998 18:46:56 +0100 From: "Hibbs, Philip" Subject: RE: [RQ-RULES] discussion >>POW = Characteristic POW >>MP = Battle Magic POW Jarold Davis: >Sorry for causing confusion. It wasn't you that caused the confusion, that was an inevitable side-effect of the change in terminoligy. philip.hibbs@tnt.co.uk or phibbs@compuserve.com http://members.tripod.com/~PhilHibbs/ You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough. - William Blake *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe runequest-rules' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1998 23:30:04 -0400 From: Tal Meta Subject: [RQ-RULES] DMD - Procan for RQ/Greyhawk Forty-fifth in my series of Greyhawk gods in RQ format... (actually, I went off and did Atroa, Sotillion, Wenta, & Telchur, but I didn't really feel they needed to get posted here). PROCAN Runes: Water x2, Motion, Moon Procan is the Lord of the Oceans, Seas, Motion, and the Tides. He is brother to Velnius, and son of Zilchus. Cult in the World Procan is the Lord of the Deep. Firstborn of the pantheon, he is seen as an elemental force of nature more than anything else. It was only after the Oeridians began to build permanent settlements that Procan began to build a following. While he is touched by the Moon Rune, he is more ruled by it than in control of it himself. Lay Membership Requirements: In modern times, Procan is worshipped by sailors, merchants, fishermen, and anyone else who makes their living on or from the sea. Skills taught by the cult include Boat, Climb, Swim, Throw, Orate, Sing, Speak Languages, Craft (rope making, other nautical crafts), Shiphandling, World Lore, Slight, Play (instrument), Scan, Ceremony, Trident attack, and Net attack/parry. Initiate Membership Requirements: In addition to the standard requirements, prospective initiates are set adrift on a small raft or boat in a known current, and are expected to survive for three days alone on the water. Spirit Magic: Farsee, FlowNet, Protection, Repair, Strength Acolyte Membership Requirements: As per priests. Priesthood Requirements: As they did as initiates, prospective priests of Procan, in addition to all other standard requirements, must once again be set adrift alone, only this time for three weeks. Fully half the initiates set adrift are recovered alive, and half of the remainder are never found at all. Such individuals are assumed to have been taken directly to Procan's Heart, deep beneath the waves. Virtues for Procan include Energetic, Joyous, Pragmatic, Proud, and Spiritual. Common Divine Magic: all Special Divine Magic: Breathe Air/Water, Command Undine, Drown, Float, Summon Undine, Waterspout, Whirlpool Associated Gods Velnius: provides Command Sylph *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe runequest-rules' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Jul 1998 21:30:11 +0200 From: Julian Lord Subject: [RQ-RULES] Gloranthan wargaming James Frusetta : > I've been playing around with mini wargaming in a Glorantha setting, I have spent YEARS and YEARS wrestling with exactly this problem; ie how to do mass conlict in Gloranthan RuneQuest. (Yes, the following is for RuneQuest, so I'd better cross-post it.) > and > was wondering what rules others have used (several events have been run at > cons, so there must be some wargaming out there). I've been using > Warhamster, but it seems a little clumsy for 1:1 scale. Also, you cannot run RQ characters in Warhamster, and Warhamster isn't RQ. It also uses only one scale, and a set of fantasy RPG wargaming rules ought to have scale as a variable. That is, it ought to handle RQ scale skirmishing, with PC actions being VERY influential towards an outcome, and it should also handle WB&RM scale mass conflict with Crimson Bats, Mothers of Monsters, Arkats and, again, the possibility of RQ PC involvement. > Any comments? I've > played a little DBA/DBR recently (I usually play 1912-45), and it seems > nice -- is De Bellis Fantasticus adaptable for Glorantha? Fantasy Rules? > Chronopia? Some thoughts : First, wargames. Most wargames use a 1D6 for resolving conflict. This is, in fact, a very subtle and highly realistic system for simulating battles (I discovered this to my great surprise when I finished my analysis of these systems), based on mathematical determinism. This system assumes that under good conditions a battle will be won, with a 1/6th chance of a fluke result. This is realistic. (Good conditions means an outnumbered enemy, decisive tactical advantages, etc...) RPGs make a very different assumption. They assume 1) That battles will normally be won half the time in good conditions, not always (although the final results are actually quite similar). 2) That some characters have superhuman abilities. A good fantasy RPG system for mass conflict, then, requires IMO as its foundation rules for characters and army units to fight in the same game system. The key, here, is SCALE. In a RQ mass combat system, which was *actually* for RuneQuest, the time scale should be organically linked with the scale used for army units. This gives you a basis for working out how many RQ scale attacks an individual hero-type character can make in a given turn, and thus how effective he might be versus an army unit. His combat skills, then, are defined against this scale as a meta-rule, and reduced incrementally (IMG by 10% steps) against the scale used for unit SIZ. So, the hero would fight a SIZ 1 unit at -10%, a SIZ 2 unit at -20% and so on. (SIZ 1 units are V, small (ie about three soldiers), and IMG an ordinary WB&RM unit is SIZ 42) Divide parry or dodge skill by 10, and add this to his armour for the purposes of mass combat, and use something like the minor wound/major wound rules from Elric! for army units, and you have the basis for doing mass combat in RQ. IMG I use a heroic success rule (1% chance for every full 100% of skill), a critical which also allows the hero a second action in the same round. If you prefer to have more manageable skill levels, though, you can say that in mass combat a normal critical gives the heroic individual an extra action. Spirit combat should be changed so as to resemble melee combat for the purposes of wargaming. Missile weapons are a delicate matter. The best parts of Warhamster, and bits from the Dragon Pass boardgames will be of great use. (Chaos Factors, and all that jazz.) Heroic combat between RQ characters during battle should be played as a certain (reasonably small) number of RQ rounds according to the time scale used, although I have found that this isn't usually much of a problem. Depending on your local version of RQ rules, it is then easy to mathematically derive the skill levels of a heroic character, and come up with a general model for combat skills IYG (or vice-versa), which will be accurate, playable, and simple, and handle any level of Gloranthan combat. I have found that it is best to keep the number of army units present in a scenario quite small, although they can be of any SIZ. Then, you can keep the flavour of RQ quite intact, 'cos you're using v. similar rules to RQ, and the army units are like big monsters. The PCs then have the unrealistic opportunity of exercising DECISIVE influence on the outcome of battle. This IMO is meat and wine for heroic fantasy ! If the number of units is fairly small, then a battle, or skirmish, should play at about the same speed as normal RQ combat. I hope this is of use :-) *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the line 'unsubscribe runequest-rules' as the body of the message. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Jul 1998 18:46:36 -0400 From: Tal Meta Subject: [RQ-RULES] DMD - Atroa for RQ/Greyhawk Forty-sixth in my series of Greyhawk Gods in RQ/Format... (... I got requests.) ATROA Runes: Air, Fertility, Moon Atroa is the East Wind, Goddess of the Spring and Fertility. She is sister to Wenta, the West Wind of Autumn, and the mother of Celestian & Fharlanghn. Cult in the World Atroa is worshipped in a variety of ways. Farmers offer prayer to her while planting, that their yeild will be high come harvest time, but her major sphere of influence is as the patron of lovers and children. Her cult is very popular among adolescents, who generally join as lay members before moving on to more "serious" cults as adults. The majority of Atroa's followers are women; men seldom are found in the priesthood of this faith. Lay Membership Requirements: Lay members of Atroa's cult are taught pretty much the same skills, but men and women attend seperate services. Men who join the cult are taught the basics of pleasing a woman, generally by a female initiate or priestess. Women are taught the same skills (in reverse), but also how to attract and hold a man, those skills needed for organizing a home, and the proper methods of raising choldren (also how to avoid undesired pregnancy). Skills taught by the cult include: Dance, Seduction, Sing, Craft (Courtesan, Farming, Homemaking), Mineral Lore, Plant Lore, World Lore, and Ceremony. Initiate Membership Requirements: Standard. Initiates of Atroa are given more intensive training in the skills previously described, as well as Human Lore. In addition to the teaching lay members, initiates are expected to offer counselling to married couples experiencing difficulties, and to watch over the children of their communities. Spirit Magic: Coordination, Endurance, Glamour, Mobility. Priesthood Requirements: Standard. In the recorded history of the cult, fewer than a hundred men have risen to become priests of this cult, and only once has a male assumed the mantle of High Priest. Atroa's priesthood serves to train initiates, provide more intensive counselling for those in need, bless croplands, and does a steady business in potions insuring beauty, love, or stamina. Virtues for Atroa include Creative, Energetic, Indulgent, Loyal, and Social. Common Divine Magic: all Special Divine Magic: Bless Crops, Control Child, Erotocomatose Lucidity, Household Harmony, Reproduce. Associated Gods Velnius: provides Command Sylph *************************************************************************** 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, 17 Jul 1998 08:56:54 +0100 From: "Hibbs, Philip" Subject: RE: [RQ-RULES] Red Vadeli Blood Sorcery Julian Lord: >I think that a sorceror should only have ONE High Vow/Vessel ensemble >at a time. I mean, it IS possible, I think, to know several different styles of >magic, but not without cutting up one's soul, and Presence, into several >fairly ineffective little pieces. Except for spirit magic, that is. >Forgetting the old style should surely be the first prerequisite for learning a >new one? I don't think Blood Sorcery is really a new philosophy, it's just an advanced, optional technique within Vadeli sorcery. I see no need to redo the High Vow in order to use it. I think there would be special benefits to the use of exotic creatures' blood. philip.hibbs@tnt.co.uk or phibbs@compuserve.com http://members.tripod.com/~PhilHibbs/ Any view of things that is not strange is false - Neil Gaiman, Sandman *************************************************************************** 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, 17 Jul 1998 10:11:48 -0400 From: Tal Meta Subject: [RQ-RULES] Tentacle Sorcery! Just received my copy of Ye Book of Tentacles, and while reading over the latest version of Sandy's Sorcery there, I had some interesting observations/questions to put forth. Abjure Arts (either one): I like this. I might make them worth another couple of points each, but the concept seems very sound. Only problem I forsee is Sorcerers with no real access to an Art (say a Malkioni) taking an Abjure Lunar Magic (which they'd have no chance of getting anyway) and gaining PRE for it. Maybe the Sorcerer should already know/have mastered the Art in question before he can get PRE for forswearing it? Specialists - Alchemist: New Art of Alchemy listed, but not described. Thoughts? Specialists - Enchanter: No POW for adding conditions? I like this one, but I can forsee problems with it too. Hmm. Spell - Regenerate Damage: If I've got 15 hit points, and I maintain a Reg.Dmg 6, multispell 7, I'm one hell of a combat machine. Does the regenration of damage cease for a limb if it gets severed? Or will it grow back? (or can I stick the severed bit to the stump and it'll heal?) Spell - True Self: Ogres are gonna want this one! East Isles Sorcery - Lucidity: What new exciting powers and arts? This sounded quite interesting... Art of Illusion: Effectively, this gives non-enchantments target conditions, no? Perhaps it should give one condition for for it's basic cost, and additional conditions for each additional point. (If nothing else, I'm now considering the Art of Condition, if I'm wrong about this one.... - -- talmeta@bellatlantic.net - I *am* one of the Chosen Few! ICQ - 12594453 AIM - talmeta1 TANJ Lives! - *************************************************************************** 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, 17 Jul 1998 15:34:30 +0100 From: "Hibbs, Philip" Subject: RE: [RQ-RULES] Tentacle Sorcery! >Just received my copy of Ye Book of Tentacles, and while reading over >the latest version of Sandy's Sorcery there, I had some interesting >observations/questions to put forth. The latest version is also available at: http://www.hccweb.demon.co.uk/glorantha/rules.htm#SorceryRules as Word v6 documents. I don't have YBoT yet, so I don't know if it's identical, but all Tal's descriptions fit. >Only problem I forsee >is Sorcerers with no real access to an Art (say a Malkioni) >taking an Abjure Lunar Magic Lunar Magic is not an Art. The Secondary Arts (which is what the vow stipulates) are Accuracy, Ease, Force, Hold, Permanence, Reinforce and Speed. I'd say it only applies to Arts which the sorceror has access to, so Abjure Immersion is not an option to non-Waertagi, neither would Abjure Red Vadeli Blood Sorcery be meaningful to anyone other than Red Vadeli. "Hey, I just found out about some strange foreign Art - let's all Abjure it!" >Specialists - Enchanter: No POW for adding conditions? >I like this one, but I can forsee problems with it too. Hmm. I'd say any number of conditions can be packed into 1 POW, so any conditioned enchantment can be further restricted at no cost. >Spell - True Self: Ogres are gonna want this one! They get magics for this from Cacodemon, anyway. >Spell - Regenerate Damage: >Does the regenration >of damage cease for a limb if it gets severed? Or will it grow back? >(or can I stick the severed bit to the stump and it'll heal?) I'd say it ceases, unless the limb can be re-applied before SR10, and is held in place for at least 10 SR while it re-attaches, then it continues to heal. philip.hibbs@tnt.co.uk or phibbs@compuserve.com http://members.tripod.com/~PhilHibbs/ Any view of things that is not strange is false - Neil Gaiman, Sandman *************************************************************************** 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 #126 ************************************* *************************************************************************** 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. 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