From: owner-runequest-rules@lists.ient.com (RuneQuest Rules Digest) To: runequest-rules-digest@lists.ient.com Subject: RuneQuest Rules Digest V4 #94 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 Saturday, July 14 2001 Volume 04 : Number 094 RuneQuest is a trademark of Hasbro/Avalon Hill Games. All Rights Reserved. TABLE OF CONTENTS [RQ-RULES] SFBRPS RE: [RQ-RULES] Attack, Parry & tactics [RQ-RULES] Re: Stormbringer (& other stuff) Re: [RQ-RULES] Re: Stormbringer RE: [RQ-RULES] Re: Stormbringer (& other stuff) Re: [RQ-RULES] Attack, Parry & tactics Re: [RQ-RULES] SFBRPS Re: [RQ-RULES] Re: Stormbringer Re: [RQ-RULES] SFBRPS Re: [RQ-RULES] SFBRPS Re: [RQ-RULES] SFBRPS Re: [RQ-RULES] SFBRPS [RQ-RULES] Re: Stormbringer [RQ-RULES] A Second RQ Quiz 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, 13 Jul 2001 11:28:07 +0200 From: Alexandre Lanciani Subject: [RQ-RULES] SFBRPS Il giorno 13-07-2001 10:44, Peter Keel, killer@discordia.ch ha scritto: > These would provide interesting settings, but I actually prefer > hard clean space opera in the style of Traveller. Traveller took > actually a lot of background from Asimov's foundation trilogy. > So I'd say Asimov or Heinlein would probably make the best background > for something like this. > > Peter What about Poul Anderson's Flandry series? Lots of bizarre races in the tradition of BRPS games... - -- Regards, Alexandre. "What came first, the idea or the perception of the idea?" *************************************************************************** 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, 13 Jul 2001 11:24:01 +0200 From: Julian Lord Subject: RE: [RQ-RULES] Attack, Parry & tactics Simon : > I realy don't see how Mr Oakeshott's comments make any difference > to RQ. In RQ if your opponent doesn't have a shield, the chances > are your parrying weapon is going to take a beating. Every time > the attackign damage exceeds your weapon's AP it loses one AP. > An acctual attack against the weapon degrades it even faster. > In my experience, these rules are often under-utilised by > many groups. Following his comments stricto sensu, we should be seeing damage reduction for bladed weapons far more often than AP loss. > The references to parrying, even where it was unstated, I think > from context were clearly talking about parrying with a sword. That, and the unrealistic depiction of swordfighting in Hollywood films. The thing that really got me thinking was the HACA interviewer's comment that "Those who go out of their way to parry open themselves up to all sorts of actions". Yes, this comment was specifically linked with sword fighting and parrying with a sword, but I still think that it's valid as a comment on parrying in general. RQ2's Defence skill was a realistic simulation for the picture I now have of medieval close combat, but I really didn't like using it in the game. But I'd like to see some sort of rule setting up parrying as a dubious tactic. ___________________________ Jim : > RQ3 Attack Modifies state; "+10% Attacking the targets unshielded side or > from behind." > > So what does that do to the person not using a shield at all? I would and > have said that the opponent gains a +10% advantage. Hm, right. Completely logical. How about : "Attacking a shield-using opponent : -10%" ??? Julian *************************************************************************** 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, 13 Jul 2001 10:01:49 -0000 From: simonh@msi-uk.com Subject: [RQ-RULES] Re: Stormbringer (& other stuff) Viktor Haag >Poll: what SF background do *you* think would make a swell BRP >game, other than Niven's Known Space. Keep in mind that the >background should fit in with Chaosium's stated policies for >RPGs: i.e. downplay violence as a solution to all problems, rich >"literary" background, not post-apocalyptic. I still think there's a lot of possibilities in a return to Known Space. The Man Kzin Wars books were published after the Ringworld game, and that era of KS history is full of great roleplaying adventure opportunities. >I would jump up immediately and say "Gene Wolfe's Long/New Sun >books!", but that's mostly my Wolfeian bias peeking >through. Wouldn't sell, though - not nearly mainstream enough I >think. (Hell, I'm not sure that CoC would sell either, if it were >just produced today as opposed to when it was.) There's already a GURPS supplement for this, so the license is already taken. The product info is at : http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/newsun/ Simon Hibbs *************************************************************************** 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, 13 Jul 2001 09:21:57 -0400 From: Viktor Haag Subject: Re: [RQ-RULES] Re: Stormbringer Stephen Posey [TurboPower Software] writes: > > Poll: what SF background do *you* think would make a swell > > BRP game, other than Niven's Known Space. Keep in mind that > > the background should fit in with Chaosium's stated policies > > for RPGs: i.e. downplay violence as a solution to all > > problems, rich "literary" background, not post-apocalyptic. > > Tough criteria. Too bad licenses for Star Wars and Star Trek are > already taken ;-). I think those fall on the 'downplay violence' criteria. 8-) > How about Heinlein's future history? Never been all that keen on Heinlein's world, but it is vast, there's no doubt about that. Second candidates I thought of afterwards were Cherryh's 'Kif' universe, or perhaps her new one (in which are set Invader, Foreigner, etc, etc). > There's already a GURPS "New Sun" if you didn't know. I did, and I wasn't all that keen on it. It miserably failed to convey the tone of the books, I thought, and so seemed a rather bland catalog of facts. > BTW, have you ever looked at Other Suns? Yes, I own it. It has some nice bits, but I'm not all that keen on Fuzzy stuff. I thought Albedo was a better game backgroundwise, but mechanically much poorer. Iain Banks' Culture seemed also like a good candidate, but I'm not sure that BRP scales as well as it would need to in order to handle the huge sweep of power levels in that. What the Culture can do with force fields, for example, makes one absolutely shudder to think about representing mechanically. Anyway, it occurs to me now that this is the 'RuneQuest' list, and not the 'BRP' list. My apologies for drifting off topic, and encouraging others to do the same. - -- Viktor Haag : Software & Information Design : Research In Motion +--+ "We are Spacemen! We know what we are doing!" *************************************************************************** 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, 13 Jul 2001 08:01:12 -0600 From: "Rich Allen" Subject: RE: [RQ-RULES] Re: Stormbringer (& other stuff) > There's already a GURPS supplement for this, so the license is > already taken. The product info is at : Are all of the licenses held by Steve Jackson exclusive?? I can't imagine an author giving exclusive game rights to SJG, especially if only one book is ever published. I would love to see a game based on Brin's Uplift; the possibilities in that universe are endless! You could play one of the Earth sentients, or one of the thousands of other uplifted species. You could play as outlaws on a planet that has been placed off-limits to colonists, etc. etc. There's even some ESP for those that want that in their game. Rich *************************************************************************** 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, 13 Jul 2001 11:18:37 -0400 From: "Jim Bickmeyer" Subject: Re: [RQ-RULES] Attack, Parry & tactics From me >> RQ3 Attack Modifies state; "+10% Attacking the targets unshielded side or >> from behind." >> >> So what does that do to the person not using a shield at all? I would and >> have said that the opponent gains a +10% advantage. Julian Lord >Hm, right. Completely logical. > >How about : "Attacking a shield-using opponent : -10%" ??? That I like. Works into the concept that the attack percent is not your chance to just smack a guy, but the chance of finding an opening that you stand a chance of doing something with. Attacking an opponent with a shield used defensively would incur this. This give thought to the defensive tactics of offensive weapons. I am thinking of the defensive figure eight of nun-chukas. Maybe something like a trade of +3 SR to gain the -10% to opponents attack. Jim Bickmeyer *************************************************************************** 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, 13 Jul 2001 09:35:35 -0600 From: "Stephen Posey [TurboPower Software]" Subject: Re: [RQ-RULES] SFBRPS Alexandre Lanciani wrote: > > Il giorno 13-07-2001 10:44, Peter Keel, killer@discordia.ch ha scritto: > > > These would provide interesting settings, but I actually prefer > > hard clean space opera in the style of Traveller. Traveller took > > actually a lot of background from Asimov's foundation trilogy. > > So I'd say Asimov or Heinlein would probably make the best background > > for something like this. > > > > Peter > > What about Poul Anderson's Flandry series? Lots of bizarre races in the > tradition of BRPS games... For that how about Keith Laumer's "Retief" books? And in the same lighter vein: Harry Harrison's "Stainless Steel Rat" or "Bill the Galactic Hero"? Stephen Posey slposey@concentric.net *************************************************************************** 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, 13 Jul 2001 09:46:20 -0600 From: "Stephen Posey [TurboPower Software]" Subject: Re: [RQ-RULES] Re: Stormbringer Viktor Haag wrote: > > Stephen Posey [TurboPower Software] writes: > > > Poll: what SF background do *you* think would make a swell > > > BRP game, other than Niven's Known Space. Keep in mind that > > > the background should fit in with Chaosium's stated policies > > > for RPGs: i.e. downplay violence as a solution to all > > > problems, rich "literary" background, not post-apocalyptic. > > > > Tough criteria. Too bad licenses for Star Wars and Star Trek are > > already taken ;-). > > I think those fall on the 'downplay violence' criteria. 8-) Well, there's certainly violence to be had (as there is/was in Known Space), but I think both offer alternatives as well. > > BTW, have you ever looked at Other Suns? > > Yes, I own it. It has some nice bits, but I'm not all that keen > on Fuzzy stuff. I thought Albedo was a better game > backgroundwise, but mechanically much poorer. I'll definitely buy the jaundiced eye toward the Fuzzy stuff, I was just astonished when I first encountered it at the similarities in the rules system to RQ/BRP, I tend to consider it another RQ spin-off even though it was published by FGU. > Anyway, it occurs to me now that this is the 'RuneQuest' list, > and not the 'BRP' list. My apologies for drifting off topic, and > encouraging others to do the same. I'm not sure what the list concensus is but IMO, all of the BRP derived games (and even some others) are fair game for looking for interesting/compatible mechanics. Is there some formal statement regarding this in the List Charter? Stephen Posey slposey@concentric.net *************************************************************************** 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, 13 Jul 2001 08:59:51 -0700 From: "Andrew O. Mellinger" Subject: Re: [RQ-RULES] SFBRPS >Il giorno 13-07-2001 10:44, Peter Keel, killer@discordia.ch ha scritto: > >> These would provide interesting settings, but I actually prefer >> hard clean space opera in the style of Traveller. Traveller took >> actually a lot of background from Asimov's foundation trilogy. >> So I'd say Asimov or Heinlein would probably make the best background >> for something like this. >> >> Peter > >What about Poul Anderson's Flandry series? Lots of bizarre races in the >tradition of BRPS games... Lois McMaster Bujold (Vor Game, Barrayar, etc) is a nice series of SF with good attention to detail on politics and whatnot. From what she has written it would be pretty easy to fire up a campaign in Vor space. It would mesh well with traveller. It is unfortunate that Traveller went they way of Gurps. What a waste of a good world. - -Andrew - -- /*----------------------------------------------------------------- mailto:andrew@crashbox.com http://www.crashbox.com -----------------------------------------------------------------*/ *************************************************************************** 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, 13 Jul 2001 18:50:14 +0100 From: Michael Cule Subject: Re: [RQ-RULES] SFBRPS In message , Andrew O. Mellinger writes >Lois McMaster Bujold (Vor Game, Barrayar, etc) is a nice series of SF >with good attention to detail on politics and whatnot. From what she >has written it would be pretty easy to fire up a campaign in Vor >space. It would mesh well with traveller. > >It is unfortunate that Traveller went they way of Gurps. What a >waste of a good world. Hate to annoy you, but there's going to be a GURPS: VORKOSIGAN soon as they can find a writer. Let me a Honor Harrington to the list of damn fine SF that needs a good campaign. - -- Michael Cule *************************************************************************** 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, 13 Jul 2001 11:09:00 -0700 From: "Andrew O. Mellinger" Subject: Re: [RQ-RULES] SFBRPS >In message , Andrew O. Mellinger > writes >>Lois McMaster Bujold (Vor Game, Barrayar, etc) is a nice series of SF >>with good attention to detail on politics and whatnot. From what she >>has written it would be pretty easy to fire up a campaign in Vor >>space. It would mesh well with traveller. >> >>It is unfortunate that Traveller went they way of Gurps. What a >>waste of a good world. > >Hate to annoy you, but there's going to be a GURPS: VORKOSIGAN soon as >they can find a writer. GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Ah well, I may need to finally take up serious drinking. >Let me a Honor Harrington to the list of damn fine SF that needs a good >campaign. - -Andrew - -- /*----------------------------------------------------------------- mailto:andrew@crashbox.com http://www.crashbox.com -----------------------------------------------------------------*/ *************************************************************************** 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, 13 Jul 2001 18:30:12 -0400 From: Viktor Haag Subject: Re: [RQ-RULES] SFBRPS Andrew O. Mellinger writes: > It is unfortunate that Traveller went they way of Gurps. What a > waste of a good world. To briefly drift even further off topic, Classic Traveller is newly available again: Marc Miller's 'Far Future Enterprises' is busy reprinting all the old Classic Traveller material in handsome little 11x8.5" volumes. Four books so far, and counting. Very nice for those with fond memories of the Little Black Books but missing them in their gaming collections. - -- Viktor Haag : Software & Information Design : Research In Motion +--+ "[This] is a two-hour movie squeezed into three hours about how the Japanese staged a surprise attack on an American love triangle." *************************************************************************** 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, 13 Jul 2001 15:44:30 -0700 From: sneadj@mindspring.com Subject: [RQ-RULES] Re: Stormbringer Viktor Haag wrote: > AFAIK, DarcSyde has been given the license to produce the > Hawkmoon book. I have their Corum book and it looks rather nice. I'd heard rumors of that book, but didn't know it was out. Where cna one order it, is there a web site? Thanks- - -John Snead sneadj@mindspring.com *************************************************************************** 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: Sat, 14 Jul 2001 01:33:19 -0400 From: Peter Maranci Subject: [RQ-RULES] A Second RQ Quiz I've put a second RuneQuest quiz up on my RQ site (in the "Quizzes & Polls" section). It's a bit more focused on the mechanics of the system(s) than the first quiz, although I fear that some readers will still disapprove. :o) Disapproving readers, please send me your own, more pure questions! Seriously. Right now the correct answers are not given after you take the test--you'll receive your own score only. In about a month I'll alter the test to give back the correct answer for every question. This way for the first month everyone can compete sort of fairly, if that makes any sense. Of course the top scorers will still be listed on the Roster of Honor. :o) ->Peter PS - Oh yes, almost forgot: the site recently won a Gold Wyrm award from Effie Rover. ->PM - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Peter Maranci peter@maranci.net Woonsocket, RI Come to Pete's RuneQuest & Roleplaying!: http://www.maranci.net/rq.htm *************************************************************************** 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 V4 #94 ************************************ *************************************************************************** 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. 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