I've picked up MRQII and I am very eager to give it a try, but right now I'm focusing on my Day After Ragnarök (Savage Worlds) campaign.

I'm only vaguely familiar with Glorantha, and I would love to play in a game set in either the Second or (preferrably) the Third Age.

If I run MRQII, I just might end up creating my own setting, taking cues from Glorantha as well as other settings (White Wolf's old Scarred Lands setting for D&D 3.0e jumps to mind), aiming for the combination of gritty sword-and-sorcery and mythic fantasy that Runequest seems to be all about.

I'm seriously considering picking up the Glorantha books, if only for inspiration (Cults of Glorantha might be particularly helpful as a compilation of cults I might relabel and modify for a setting of my own).

Quote from: deleriad;434066I ran and played RQ3 for 10 years or so but I reckon that is much more scripted and prescriptive than MRQII.

E.g.#1  in RQ3 if you roll a critical success you get the same, pre-scripted effect every time. In MRQII if you roll a critical success you can choose the most useful critical effect.

E.g. #2. If you want to try to trip someone in RQ3 you declare before hand that you want to trip them and make a trip attempt roll. It works or it doesn't but it'll usually be harder than just hitting someone. In RQII if you want to trip someone you wait until the dice give you a chance then you trip them.

Like I've said, I have yet to run MRQII, but I'm not sure which is better: to choose a tactic before the roll, and try it (with or without penalty), or to be unexpectedly rewarded with a Combat Maneuver after the roll.

I understand how the post-facto Combat Maneuver may even be more "realistic", the unforeseen advantageous result of a lucky strike (e.g. Bogo the peasant stabs blindly at the attacker, and hits an artery, resulting in a Bleed), but I like the idea of experienced warriors doing more than standing around and hitting each other wioth swords until either of them gets lucky.

Still, this is a theoretical concern, a musing, and I'm eager to see how things play out.

Quote from: CRKrueger;434016Looking at this I wondered why a 50-run limited edition of something Glorantha hadn't been snapped up yet, but then I wondered how many people playing in Glorantha actually use MRQII? Hence the poll.

Other possible reasons it hasn't been snapped up: Some people aren't into buying artificially created collectibles. Some Glorantha fans aren't that interested in Mongoose's second age setting, preferring the Third Age/Hero Wars setting of the original Chaosium materials.

QuoteEither the GM or the player gets to improvise descriptions of actions as they interpret the dice results, whereas they seem scripted in the MRQ combat system like feats are with 3rd ed D&D.

They're actually anything but scripted. The descriptions of the CMs describe their games effects; you can layer as much or as little narration onto those as you wish. What you will find, though, is a depth of interest to combat, as a result of using the CMs, that older versions of RQ lack.

It does take a fight or two to get used to them, but when you do, and if you use the CMs creatively, you'll get a very different combat experience from RQII.

(Maybe Loz can comment on this).

I recently saw the 2009 "Guilds, Factions & Cults" book, which I presume is formally for MRQ1.  It appears on the surface to be more generic than the MRQ2 Glorantha cults book.

How compatible is this 2009 "Guilds, Factions & Cults" book with MRQ2?

Quote from: ggroy;434101(Maybe Loz can comment on this).

I recently saw the 2009 "Guilds, Factions & Cults" book, which I presume is formally for MRQ1.  It appears on the surface to be more generic than the MRQ2 Glorantha cults book.

How compatible is this 2009 "Guilds, Factions & Cults" book with MRQ2?

Highly compatible. The thinking around cults in that book forms the core of MRQII's cult rules.

Quote from: Loz;434107Highly compatible. The thinking around cults in that book forms the core of MRQII's cult rules.

Cool.  Good to know.  I'll pick it up if it is still on the shelves at a nearby gaming store.

I thought about whether the MRQ2 ruleset could be used generically for something like a "modern" or cheesy cyberpunk type game, where a cult/faction/guild could represent different types of organizations (ie. corporations, local governments, organized crime, street gangs, etc ...).

Dunno yet how modern tech could be implemented.  (ie.  Vehicles, planes, guns, computers, etc ...).

Quote from: ggroy;434036Did Glorantha ever fall into the "canon lawyer" territory?

Oh my GOD yes. It's the single biggest turn off to the setting for me.

I LOVE Glorantha. I really, really don't like the way everything about it is taken apart by canon lawyers. It's an RPG setting. It's meant to be played, not read. You fill in the blanks at the game table, and nobody should rub his nose in your face and yell you're doing it wrong.

Quote from: Pete Nash;434063I voted for Glorantha, but unsurprisingly I also play/run other non Gloranthan campaigns with MRQ2 too.

Quote from: BenoistI think there's a big part of familiarity playing into it. I'm not exactly sure how the MRQ II combat system plays out, in particular. I love the idea of the maneuvers in theory, but after a while thinking about it, it seems too scripted to me. Too narrative/move/mechanics focused, maybe. I'm not sure. I'd really have to run the darn thing with Vikings, for instance, to see the combat system in action.

It shouldn't feel scripted at all once you start rolling, in fact it flows really well and makes combat swing back and forth in marvellously unexpected ways. If nothing else it cuts down on having to be constantly creative on the narrative front because the rules are doing it all for you.

Run the darn thing with Vikings, you won't regret it.

Alright. Good enough for me. I love the game, and the whole maneuvers thing really struck a chord with me, in a positive way, so much so it's what inspired me to come up with alternate maneuvering mechanics for my OD&D game, which worked brilliantly. So I love the base concept, no question about it. Just wondering how it plays out, and if I'm better off in my comfort zone (RQ3), so to speak.

I'll give it a try. Vikings is sweet, by the way! I don't regret the purchase.

Quote from: Benoist;434123I'll give it a try. Vikings is sweet, by the way! I don't regret the purchase.

Good to hear. I'm (currently) scheduled to write an Ancient Greece source book at the end of this year, in case you're interested.

(Another question to Loz).

How much does the 2009 "Guilds, Factions & Cults" book overlap with the MRQ2 Empires book?

My players and I really enjoyed MRQ, and we had no problems converting to MRQII.  I don't recall many glaring errors in A&EII, though it did seem very much like a quick rehash of A&EI (and with little need to actually convert things, a bit unnecessary), though I appreciated the alchemy rules quite a bit.

Glorantha, as a setting, has never appealed to me in any way... though that has nothing to do with Ducks.  I once had the old red hardback RQ, which barely touched on Glorantha, and I still have my Avalon Hill (in Magic Earth) RQ (II?), which I use for the fumble charts (hahahahahahaha!!!! oh, my players love those for some reason.. I had to use them in D&D too... awkward!)

I did get the cults book, which did have some issues, yes, but mostly to mine for sample cults to use in my setting.

Hm.. this makes me think I should start planning a new campaign.  I'll start smaller, with a single village with only a few local cults.



Also: Limb lopping does get tedius.  I've taken to being somewhat generous with crippling limbs and healing as a result... and passing characters healing magic early on seems to work better than the alternative, though it can reduce the gritty feel of the combat system.

Quote from: Pete Nash;434131Good to hear. I'm (currently) scheduled to write an Ancient Greece source book at the end of this year, in case you're interested.

Oh yes. Very much indeed!

Quote from: Benoist;434022No offense intended at all, g, but each time the subject of botches on A&E et al pops up here, you are the one who brings it up. I'm starting to wonder how widely shared that opinion is. Honest.

As for my answer to the poll, I voted non-MRQII, non-Glorantha, because I'm thinking of using the Avalon Hill RQ (i.e. RQ3) with my Medieval Eurth lately.

I went ahead and bought the pdf of MRQII's A&E and I really don't see what all the fuss is about. It looks like a perfectly usable book to me, and between it and the errata I DLed it doesn't look anywhere near as horrible as I had thought based on what I've read. The Alchemy rules alone are worth it IMO and I'm fairly sure I'm gonna go ahead and order the print before it's gone. I think I'm going to be gving the necro book a look too... if it's no more "botched up" than A&E I believe I'll find it perfectly usable.

As for the OP, I haven't been initerested in the linked book because I picked up the Glorantha core book, and despite really falling in love with MRQII the system, the Glorantha setting I am not fond of at all. I've been thinking majorly about, and have started writing up a conversion guide to use Birthright with the MRQII system. I think the two are like chocolate and peanut butter, and I'm looking forward to taking this hot rod out for a spin once she's put together. I really think MRQII is the fantasy system I've been looking for all my life Ya'all can keep Glorantha though. I will be picking up Eternal Champion stuff and Clockwork and Chivalry stuff as well as tailoring BR and that should be enough to keep me busy.

Edit: I also should mention I picked up Vikings and it's a really nice book. I believe it's my favorite RPG book on the subject so far, well organized and loads of historical, cultural and mythological info. Count me as another who is very satisfied with the purchase

Quote from: Benoist;434029It's really weird the way Americans (you are American, right?) seem to focus on the ducks as soon as Glorantha is mentioned. For me they are a teeny tiny part of the overall setting. A detail in Dragon Pass at best. It's really strange that so many think about them first when they think "Glorantha." Is that due to some particular product that somehow never made it in France or something?

Howard the Duck