I've recently been bit hard by the Glorantha bug and will soon be purchasing a schwack of the most recent Gloranta books.

   Sartar: Kingdom of Heroes
Sartar Companion
Pavis: Gateway to Adventure
Guide to Glorantha 1
Guide to Glorantha 2

But I am not so sure about the RPG rules to go with it. I am a "Simulationist" at heart and can't stand "Narrativist" stuff for the most part. So in the sage opinion of the RPG Grognards assembled here do you think I should go with the Narrativist HeroQuest Glorantha rules? Or stick with the more Simulationist RuneQuest 6E ruleset? Or as a Grognard will I most likely find both rulesets to be to "Forge-Swine" for me?

I'm also waiting on the "13th Age Glorantha" as 13th Age is about as Narrativist as I care to get. But that book but that could be years away. And there is always the HERO system that could handle the heroic/epic power-levels and rules quite well I think.

RQ6 is getting a revision with built-in Gloranthan bits.

Quote from: Gwarh;850007But I am not so sure about the RPG rules to go with it. I am a "Simulationist" at heart and can't stand "Narrativist" stuff for the most part. So in the sage opinion of the RPG Grognards assembled here do you think I should go with the Narrativist HeroQuest Glorantha rules? Or stick with the more Simulationist RuneQuest 6E ruleset? Or as a Grognard will I most likely find both rulesets to be to "Forge-Swine" for me?

Heroquest does nothing for me. It's way too far toward the narrative of the line for me. While RQ6 isn't my favorite edition of RQ, it's a good edition and much easier for players to get their hands on than my favorite Chaosium RQ2.  So I'd pick RQ6.

Between those two RQ6 is the easy choice given your criteria. But it's not optimised for Glorantha yet, and it won't be for another year or thereabouts. Whether you want to dive in now or wait depends on your willingness to adapt & make do.

It should be pretty easy if you have previously played RQ in Glorantha, because you'll be able to spot where in RQ6 the serial numbers were filed off. If you have access to MRQ2 you could also make comparisons.

Not sure if I would splurge so much if you're new to Glorantha, RQ & HQ.
First, RQ6 Essentials rules are free

http://www.thedesignmechanism.com/downloads.php

Download essentials and the free adventure, you decide.

Glorantha for RQ - theres a lot published, but not specifically for RQ6 yet. A good place to start might be one of the classica like Griffin Mountain or Borderlands.

http://www.glorantha.com/product-category/glorantha-classics/

Some conversion is needed to use stats and magic for RQ6. A useful place for RQ6 in Glorantha is
https://notesfrompavis.wordpress.com

The RQ6 rules for Glorantha will be out sometime next year

Quote from: Gwarh;850007I've recently been bit hard by the Glorantha bug and will soon be purchasing a schwack of the most recent Gloranta books.

That is gratifying to hear!

Quote from: Gwarh;850007But I am not so sure about the RPG rules to go with it. I am a "Simulationist" at heart and can't stand "Narrativist" stuff for the most part. So in the sage opinion of the RPG Grognards assembled here do you think I should go with the Narrativist HeroQuest Glorantha rules? Or stick with the more Simulationist RuneQuest 6E ruleset? Or as a Grognard will I most likely find both rulesets to be to "Forge-Swine" for me?

I'm also waiting on the "13th Age Glorantha" as 13th Age is about as Narrativist as I care to get. But that book but that could be years away. And there is always the HERO system that could handle the heroic/epic power-levels and rules quite well I think.

All three rules systems appeal to different strokes for different folks, and have different strengths. 13G builds off the 13th Age system and wonderfully captures Gloranthan feel and color. RQ is the classic gritty Bronze Age, perfect for exploring the Big Rubble or Balazar. HQG best models the dream-logic of myth - where a warriors Deadly Sword can be countered by a Brilliant Smile. The best system for you is going to depend on how you plan to explore Glorantha.

The one plug I'd give for HQG is that for right now it gives the best treatment of how to work Gloranthan themes (such as heroquesting) into a tabletop game, as well as gives plenty of game-related Gloranthan material.

That being said, 13G and RQ will both have similar treatments (although focusing on different specifics). But HQG is available now.

Jeff

HeroQuest is worth getting, as it opens up a new way of playing, with a strong narrative style. At the moment, I play RuneQuest with a healthy dose of ideas from HeroQuest.

As to which you should play, that entirely depends on what you like in a game. I'd pick up RuneQuest, when it comes out next year, with a view to mixing elements from HeroQuest Glorantha and RuneQuest.

From what you posted, you'll find HeroQuest total, complete Forge-Swine fare.  Stick with RuneQuest.

However, using HeroQuest only when you're actually HeroQuesting does make sense and could be interesting.

Quote from: Gwarh;850007But I am not so sure about the RPG rules to go with it. I am a "Simulationist" at heart and can't stand "Narrativist" stuff for the most part. So in the sage opinion of the RPG Grognards assembled here do you think I should go with the Narrativist HeroQuest Glorantha rules? Or stick with the more Simulationist RuneQuest 6E ruleset? Or as a Grognard will I most likely find both rulesets to be to "Forge-Swine" for me?

With these prerequisites, you are probably going to enjoy Runequest a lot more than HeroQuest. Allthough one could make the argument that due to its cosmology and the adabtability of the world to the change of myths, Glorantha is inherently a 'narrative' setting, making a similarly 'narrrative' set of rules more appropriate and actually better at simulating the world than a classic 'simulationist' one.
On the other Hand, Runequest is a much more accessible, transparent und intuitive game, with mechanics that rarely feel (at least to me) as disruptive and disconnected from the in-game events they try to represent as most 'narrative' games I have played so far.

If I made the choice, which one of the systems I want to use, it would almost always be Runequest. Even though the idea to use HeroQuest as an alternative set of rules specifically for actual HeroQuests and to emulate the different realities of the Godsworld from the actual physical world seems like a pretty cool idea, despite the effectively redundant systems.

You already have a few books that use the Heroquest rules.  You can grab the HQ core rulebook pdf for $10.  Those are the generic HQ rules with a small bit of Glorantha in the back.

There was mention too of getting the RQ essentials pdf.

I have HeroQuest Glornatha, but just haven't gotten around to reading it.  I've read HeroQuest Core and liked it.

I think both games have their merits, but it really seems you are answering your own question. It sounds like Runequest is what you are looking for.

Here's my completely unbiased, non-commercial reply.

Buy both HeroQuest Glorantha, RuneQuest Essentials (free, or pay what you want) and, when it's out, RuneQuest from Chaosium.

Here's why. HeroQuest Glorantha gives you a great introduction to the setting, history, cultures and cults. You can take or leave the system, but you will get a very good introduction and grounding in Glorantha.

RQ Essentials will showcase the RQ system and, you'll start to see, quite easily, how to make it work with the information in HeroQuest. It really isn't that difficult.

Then next year, having been bitten by the bug, you'll want Chaosium's RuneQuest because, as Jeff has said, it will tightly integrate RQ and Glorantha - and in a way that hasn't been done before. But you'll already be familiar with both setting and rules from your previous acquisitions, and will be ready to take the next steps into detailed Glorantha gaming.

Thank you for everyone's feedback and especially for Jeff Richard's input, I appreciate it.

I've read allot more reviews and grabbed the RQ6 freebie and it does seem the way I'd go, though I'm tempted to use the HERO engine or even the SCION rpg.

Either way I'll focus on the fluff for the time being then check out RQ7E (with it's Glorantha focus when it comes out.

Aargh Don't call it 7e as Loz and Pete will appear and beat you to death. It has no number it's purely Runequest published by Chaosium :-)

Quote from: Hermes Serpent;850435Aargh Don't call it 7e as Loz and Pete will appear and beat you to death. It has no number it's purely Runequest published by Chaosium :-)

At the risk of being mischievous, Chaosium's last email update says:

Quote from: Chaosium UpdateNext year will see a new edition of RuneQuest, written by Pete Nash, Lawrence Whitaker, and Jeff Richard, and once again firmly based in Glorantha.  

So, even Chaosium are saying it is a new version.