So far (and I'll include MRQ I as well as II here, since there are distinct similarities), my group and I have run the following types of games using RQ:

'Standard' Fantasy games based in a homebrew world of our group's creation, with games that ranged from dungeon crawls to political intrigue to high seas adventures.

A 'save the world' game set 100 years later in the same world where the characters were out to stop the Ice Queen and her minions from casting the world into an Ice Age (very High Fantasy/High Action) . . . oh, and the players had no warning of the overgame, so we started out with a diverse group that were hiring on to work in an archaeological expedition and had characters like a Farmer who was very good with animals; a Swamp-dwelling, yarn telling redneck guide; the youngest son of a knight; that type of thing.  And in the end, they were the Big Damned Heroes the world needed.

A post-apocalyptic fantasy setting done by one of our GM's where the characters were among the human survivors of a Demon War.

A traveller-eque Science Fiction game, with exploration, space combat, trading and political intrigue

Been working on some notes for doing my 1936 pulp setting or my 1952 pulp/atomic horror/red scare setting using it as well.

I'd say MRQ is quite versatile.

Quote from: Benoist;458167What is RuneQuest designed to help you run?

• The rules were designed to make the action of a FRPG easier to visualize. I.e. one roll equals one swing of the sword.
• In addition they were designed to make playing in the world of Glorantha easy.

That what I get from reading Perrin's and Stafford's comments on the creation of Runequest. There were two campaigns the first was Dragon Pass and the other Pavis/Big Rubble. The latter was more D&Dish as it involved the exploration of ruins.

Quote from: Benoist;458174...
The separation in types of magic is telling IMO. The existence of Common Magic means that the world is thoroughly magical, that magic itself is, by default, a very pervasive force in the world. Divine magic and Spirit Magic at least reinforce the earlier points about culture and origins, in that dedication to gods/religion, and/or the communication with the higher worlds and spirits that inhabit them do matter as well. All these things participate to a kind of classical, mythological feel of a culturally diverse world (it's no wonder that Glorantha took the form it did looking at this, but I also think that Glorantha is just one way to look at a practical interpretation of these principles, not the 'only' way to look at them). Sorcery is more reminiscent of the shapers of forms and occult forces, a bit like the hermetic traditions or Merlin or these kinds of 'practioners of the art'. ...

Of course, the magic systems in RQ, especially MRQII, are all modular, and thus need not exist in any given game world.  If one removes 'common magic' -- or simply makes it 'rare' instead of 'common' -- the feel of the world changes entirely. One could easily run a MRQII game in which only 'sorcery' exists.

In the Elric setting, the core magic systems are not used at all (with exception of shamanism, which seems marginal).  Instead, it uses its own magic systems (dream magic, summoning sorcery, and runes).  Magic is actually quite rare (but powerful).

Of course. I was just extrapolating on what's available in the core book, with the basic premise that you're using the whole, instead of toggling parts of the system off and/or replacing them with bits from other books.

Quote from: Akrasia;458616Of course, the magic systems in RQ, especially MRQII, are all modular, and thus need not exist in any given game world.  If one removes 'common magic' -- or simply makes it 'rare' instead of 'common' -- the feel of the world changes entirely. One could easily run a MRQII game in which only 'sorcery' exists.

In the Elric setting, the core magic systems are not used at all (with exception of shamanism, which seems marginal).  Instead, it uses its own magic systems (dream magic, summoning sorcery, and runes).  Magic is actually quite rare (but powerful).

I find that modularity a strength, one that allows some flexibility in meshing a system to a setting.

Quote from: Benoist;458617Of course. I was just extrapolating on what's available in the core book, with the basic premise that you're using the whole, instead of toggling parts of the system off and/or replacing them with bits from other books.

Right. I was just pointing out that MRQII's magic system is quite modular -- far more so than the magic system of AD&D/D&D.

Quote from: LordVreeg;458618I find that modularity a strength, one that allows some flexibility in meshing a system to a setting.

Indeed.

Myself, I think that I prefer the Elric magic systems over the core ones, and could easily envision using them for non-Moorcock settings.

Quote from: Akrasia;458919Right. I was just pointing out that MRQII's magic system is quite modular -- far more so than the magic system of AD&D/D&D.

I see what you mean. It is a good point.