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Pen & Paper Roleplaying Central => Pen and Paper Roleplaying Games (RPGs) Discussion => Topic started by: crkrueger on January 20, 2011, 11:46:52 PM

Poll
Question: What version of Runequest do you use, and do you use Glorantha?
Option 1: RQII system, Glorantha setting votes: 5
Option 2: RQII system, Non-Glorantha setting votes: 16
Option 3: on-MRQII system, Glorantha setting votes: 5
Option 4: on-MRQII system, Non-Glorantha setting votes: 13
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: crkrueger on January 20, 2011, 11:46:52 PM
Looking at this (http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/home/detail.php?qsID=1948&qsSeries=39) 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.

My suspicion is the Gloranthans are using an older version of RQ and if you're not running in Glorantha with RQ, then your version is probably MRQII.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: ggroy on January 20, 2011, 11:52:49 PM
Quote from: CRKrueger;434016Looking at this (http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/home/detail.php?qsID=1948&qsSeries=39) I wondered why a 50-run limited edition of something Glorantha hadn't been snapped up yet

Once burned, twice shy?
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: crkrueger on January 20, 2011, 11:55:54 PM
Quote from: ggroy;434017Once burned, twice shy?

Do tell.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: ggroy on January 21, 2011, 12:05:28 AM
Quote from: CRKrueger;434018Do tell.

Some people may be skeptical of Mongoose, after the major botched up MRQ2 "Arms & Equipment" book (and the Necromancy book to a lesser extent).
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: Benoist on January 21, 2011, 12:22:43 AM
No 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.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: crkrueger on January 21, 2011, 12:29:19 AM
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.

Well A&EII is probably going to go down as one of the worst edited Mongoose books.  There definitely was a "get those MRQI books converted to MRQII right now" feel with a couple books, but according to what I have heard, the Glorantha stuff is always top notch.

Quote from: Benoist;434022As 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.
Oh sure, piss on my theory right out of the gate.  Seriously though, why RQ3 vs. MRQII, what are the decision points for you between versions?
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: ggroy on January 21, 2011, 12:32:55 AM
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.

That's been my perception of the book.  Got MRQ2 A&E recently in a trade.

(Somebody else may have a different perception).
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: ggroy on January 21, 2011, 12:36:22 AM
Some day I'll get around to playing more than just a one-shot game using MRQ2.

One previous attempt at getting together a regular campaign fell through.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: Benoist on January 21, 2011, 12:46:30 AM
Quote from: CRKrueger;434023Oh sure, piss on my theory right out of the gate.  Seriously though, why RQ3 vs. MRQII, what are the decision points for you between versions?
To me, it's mostly a question of overall feel, and as far as the rules are concerned, it's the differences in the systems of combat (all the maneuvers of MRQ II vs. sans is a biggie, differences in strike ranks, etc), and the difference in how oppositions and basic skills are treated (i.e. general skills used for resistance in MRQ II vs. stats and resistance table in RQ3). More generally, MRQ II does have a more "modern" feel in how it uses the same principles across the board of task resolutions, while RuneQuest 3 doesn't quite feel the same.

I 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.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: Benoist on January 21, 2011, 12:52:41 AM
Quote from: CRKrueger;434023Oh sure, piss on my theory right out of the gate.
By the way, just to support that part of your theory, if I was to run Glorantha right now, I'd use RuneQuest 3 for sure, because most of the stuff I want to use is for earlier editions of RQ, including stuff like Pavis & Big Rubble, Griffin Mountain, Genertela, Gods of Glorantha etc etc.

There's no point for me to reinvent the wheel and use another game with it.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: ggroy on January 21, 2011, 12:53:59 AM
I never really got into Glorantha back in the day.  (We use to think the ducks looked kinda lame).

With that being said, I'm relatively agnostic about the choice of RQ/BRP version used.  These days I would be more likely to just generate my own setting, depending on what the players are interested in.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: Benoist on January 21, 2011, 12:56:42 AM
Quote from: ggroy;434028I never really got into Glorantha back in the day.  (We use to think the ducks looked kinda lame).
It'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?
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: crkrueger on January 21, 2011, 01:01:08 AM
Quote from: Benoist;434026I 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.

For me, it doesn't really seem "New Wave" at all.  When I thought about it, it seemed a pretty fair simulation of combat.  You may plan to use a certain maneuver in combat, but you always end up doing something else because the opportunity presented itself, which seems like exactly what MRQII is doing.  I think the maneuvers are probably the best selling point of MRQII (well and that it's currently being sold :D), and I'm thinking of ways to make them come alive - in a brutal, gritty fashion of course.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: ggroy on January 21, 2011, 01:04:17 AM
Back in the day, I didn't know any better about the ducks.  Then again, I didn't own any of the RQ box sets or books at the time.

It was only years later when I picked up some of the older RQ stuff, and realized ducks weren't a major part of Glorantha.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: Benoist on January 21, 2011, 01:05:01 AM
Quote from: CRKrueger;434030For me, it doesn't really seem "New Wave" at all.  When I thought about it, it seemed a pretty fair simulation of combat.  You may plan to use a certain maneuver in combat, but you always end up doing something else because the opportunity presented itself, which seems like exactly what MRQII is doing.  I think the maneuvers are probably the best selling point of MRQII (well and that it's currently being sold :D), and I'm thinking of ways to make them come alive - in a brutal, gritty fashion of course.
OK. Let me put it this way. The way the MRQ II system reads, it feels like is a move-per-move sort of combat where the camera stops on the particular actions, while RQ3 feels more tactical in intent. Like AD&D if you will. You see what I mean?

And then, there's the description of things. RuneQuest and BRP to me are very fast and loose in the descriptions of things, and that's why it goes rather fast. Either 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.

Don't get me wrong - I love what Mongoose did with MRQ. I'm just wondering at this point if I'm just better off with RQ3 in the first place.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: crkrueger on January 21, 2011, 01:10:14 AM
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?

I remember seeing an ad for Runequest that had the ducks pictured in it.  I was probably 12 at the time, and a game never really recovers from that.  By the time I got into CoC and Stormbringer, Runequest would have held more appeal for me, but I always felt like I needed a PhD in Glorantha and a MA in Joseph Campbell to even get past the cover.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: Benoist on January 21, 2011, 01:10:38 AM
Quote from: ggroy;434031Back in the day, I didn't know any better about the ducks.  Then again, I didn't own any of the RQ box sets or books at the time.

It was only years later when I picked up some of the older RQ stuff, and realized ducks weren't a major part of Glorantha.
It's really weird. Now I know for a fact that you are not a particular individual in this, that this "Glorantha! DUCKS!" thing is actually wide spread. I don't understand why this is the case. I'd like to understand.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: Benoist on January 21, 2011, 01:13:34 AM
Quote from: CRKrueger;434033I remember seeing an ad for Runequest that had the ducks pictured in it.
Oooh. So that would be the way the game was originally marketed in the US, then... that would make sense, and explain why in France I wasn't exposed to this.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: ggroy on January 21, 2011, 01:21:42 AM
Quote from: CRKrueger;434033but I always felt like I needed a PhD in Glorantha and a MA in Joseph Campbell to even get past the cover.

Did Glorantha ever fall into the "canon lawyer" territory?
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: crkrueger on January 21, 2011, 01:22:07 AM
Quote from: Benoist;434035Oooh. So that would be the way the game was originally marketed in the US, then... that would make sense, and explain why in France I wasn't exposed to this.

Yeah, it's not like I saw this awesome game Runequest, found out it had ducks and then tossed it.  The first time I saw it, I was exposed to both, so Runequest=ManDucks.  I was 12, sue me. :D
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: ggroy on January 21, 2011, 01:23:05 AM
Quote from: CRKrueger;434037Yeah, it's not like I saw this awesome game Runequest, found out it had ducks and then tossed it.  The first time I saw it, I was exposed to both, so Runequest=ManDucks.  I was 12, sue me. :D

At first I thought it was an evil Donald Duck.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: hanszurcher on January 21, 2011, 01:34:33 AM
Quote from: CRKrueger;434023Well A&EII is probably going to go down as one of the worst edited Mongoose books.  There definitely was a "get those MRQI books converted to MRQII right now" feel with a couple books, but according to what I have heard, the Glorantha stuff is always top notch.
...

Unfortunately Cults of Glorantha also had a lot of issues.

-Hans
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: danbuter on January 21, 2011, 02:14:46 AM
Quote from: ggroy;434036Did Glorantha ever fall into the "canon lawyer" territory?

Very much so. For a real eye opener, get on the Glorantha Digest list.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: danbuter on January 21, 2011, 02:15:23 AM
Quote from: Benoist;434034It's really weird. Now I know for a fact that you are not a particular individual in this, that this "Glorantha! DUCKS!" thing is actually wide spread. I don't understand why this is the case. I'd like to understand.

Donald Duck and Daffy Duck. That's the range of duck RQ players I've met.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: danbuter on January 21, 2011, 02:16:27 AM
Quote from: hanszurcher;434039Unfortunately Cults of Glorantha also had a lot of issues.

-Hans

Unfortunately correct. Missing spells, incorrect modifiers, etc, all over the place.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: Pseudoephedrine on January 21, 2011, 03:19:43 AM
I'm mostly not interested in Glorantha 2nd Age, which is the version currently being published for RQ. Also, pretty much every place I'm interested in that's in Glorantha is only covered in Heroquest books, or some product that's been out of print for 20 years. Pavis leaves me totally cold, as does most of the River of Cradles.

I mainly want info on the Heortlings (Tarsh, Sartar, Whitewall & surrounds), Fronela, the Lunar Empire, and the Holy Country, and I want them in the 3rd age. Finding info at the basic level of a gazetteer is nearly impossible online. Hell, so far as I know, Genertela: Crucible of the Hero Wars is so rare that it isn't even available in a pirated pdf!

Edit: I am a MRQII guy.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: Kyle Aaron on January 21, 2011, 04:21:22 AM
I most recently used RQIII in my own oft-played Tiwedaeg setting. Lots of fun, but the limbs being chopped off all the time got a bit tedious.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: Pete Nash on January 21, 2011, 04:50:27 AM
I voted for Glorantha, but unsurprisingly I also play/run other non Gloranthan campaigns with MRQ2 too.

Quote from: Benoist;434026I 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. ;)
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: hanszurcher on January 21, 2011, 04:52:12 AM
Going with Non-MRQII system, Non-Glorantha setting at this time.

Mostly played games derived from the BRP Gold Book over the last year, but I like Mongoose RuneQuestII.

Never been a Glorantha fan. When Mongoose releases the Lankhmar Unleashed errata I would really like to give MRQII a campaign length spin. Also hearing good things about the new Elric of Melnibone.

-Hans
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: deleriad on January 21, 2011, 05:49:10 AM
Playing Glorantha (Pavis Rises campaign to be precise) under MRQII. Haven't had time to play any non-Gloranthan RQ but would use MRQII for it. I'm very tempted to come up with a swords & tentacles campaign using MRQII but there is no time.

I 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.

In a "pre-roll" system like BRP standard then any non-standard combat manoeuvre is always harder than a standard attack so the whiff factor increases. In a post-roll system you wait until you get an advantage then choose how to exploit it.

From being very sceptical in the playtest, to the point of sending feedback saying that I don't think I'll be using combat manoeuvres in my own games after the playtest I've become an ardent proponent of it after actually playing it.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: The Butcher on January 21, 2011, 07:44:52 AM
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).
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: The Butcher on January 21, 2011, 07:51:21 AM
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.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: RandallS on January 21, 2011, 08:13:06 AM
Quote from: CRKrueger;434016Looking at this (http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/home/detail.php?qsID=1948&qsSeries=39) 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.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: Loz on January 21, 2011, 08:36:35 AM
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.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: ggroy on January 21, 2011, 09:38:54 AM
(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?
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: Loz on January 21, 2011, 10:13:16 AM
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.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: ggroy on January 21, 2011, 10:29:51 AM
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 ...).
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: Benoist on January 21, 2011, 10:52:11 AM
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.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: Benoist on January 21, 2011, 10:58:23 AM
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. :)
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: Pete Nash on January 21, 2011, 11:12:57 AM
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.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: ggroy on January 21, 2011, 11:25:58 AM
(Another question to Loz).

How much does the 2009 "Guilds, Factions & Cults" book overlap with the MRQ2 Empires book?
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: Spike on January 21, 2011, 11:29:56 AM
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.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: Benoist on January 21, 2011, 11:33:51 AM
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! :)
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: Sigmund on January 21, 2011, 12:15:34 PM
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 :D 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 :)
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: Sigmund on January 21, 2011, 12:18:33 PM
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 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091225/)
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: ggroy on January 21, 2011, 12:20:00 PM
Quote from: Sigmund;434158I 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.

I just tucked in the errata pages (with the corrected tables) into the appropriate pages in my copy of MRQ2 A&E, with numerous post-it notes outlining the rest of the errata in the appropriate spots.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: Sigmund on January 21, 2011, 12:26:56 PM
Quote from: The Butcher;434074I'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).

I picked up Guilds, Factions & Cults (http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/rpg/detail.php?qsID=1645&qsSeries=67) and it is perfectly usable with MRQII and contains invaluable info on creating cults and other organizations IMO. Really great stuff, highly recommend it.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: ggroy on January 21, 2011, 12:35:09 PM
Quote from: Sigmund;434170I picked up Guilds, Factions & Cults (http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/rpg/detail.php?qsID=1645&qsSeries=67) and it is perfectly usable with MRQII and contains invaluable info on creating cults and other organizations IMO. Really great stuff, highly recommend it.

From skimming the "Guilds, Factions & Cults" book at a gaming store, the metagame section caught my attention.

I thought it would be amusing to do a random generated metagame of organizations (or empires), either at each other's throats or attempting to ally and/or colluding with one another at destroying or taking over a third (or fourth) organization.  (All the while the player characters are going about their own business).
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: Sigmund on January 21, 2011, 12:47:08 PM
Quote from: ggroy;434175From skimming the "Guilds, Factions & Cults" book at a gaming store, the metagame section caught my attention.

I thought it would be amusing to do a random generated metagame of organizations (or empires), either at each other's throats or attempting to ally and/or colluding with one another at destroying or taking over a third (or fourth) organization.  (All the while the player characters are going about their own business).

I'm finding it invaluable for adapting Birthright's various types of holdings as well as the bloodline stuff into MRQII's system.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: crkrueger on January 21, 2011, 03:16:11 PM
Quote from: Sigmund;434184I'm finding it invaluable for adapting Birthright's various types of holdings as well as the bloodline stuff into MRQII's system.

Sigmund have you picked up Empires?  That would help with Birthright too.  Also, Empires has a section on how to run characters in a major battle, which would also help with Vikings, unless you have enough players to man a longship.  :D
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: Sigmund on January 21, 2011, 03:37:29 PM
Quote from: CRKrueger;434221Sigmund have you picked up Empires?  That would help with Birthright too.  Also, Empires has a section on how to run characters in a major battle, which would also help with Vikings, unless you have enough players to man a longship.  :D

Yep, have Empires and Monster Col.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: Pseudoephedrine on January 21, 2011, 05:26:36 PM
I'm super-slowly writing up the Church of the Hidden God for Moragne. The plan is that upon completion, it'll be a modular monotheistic religion with multiple sects & heresies that only needs a bit of reworking (mainly changing the myths) to plug into your own, non-Moragnian games.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: arminius on January 21, 2011, 10:27:48 PM
Don't have an active game right now. I'd gladly play in a Glorantha-based game using any RQ, but when I consider running RQ, it's for non-Glorantha stuff. MRII looks interesting but I've put off buying it because I don't think I'd use the combat maneuvers. I already have Chaosium RQ II & AH RQ III, and if anything I'd move toward simplifying combat in the direction of Chaosium's Elric!

What really interests me is "packages"/"archetypes"/"lifepaths" that can be used to create characters from different cultures. RQ III has some of this; MRQ II looks like it might have some improvements but it hasn't been enough to get me to pull out the wallet yet.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: Darran on January 22, 2011, 12:28:21 AM
Quote from: Benoist;434119Oh 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.


I would have to agree.
The biggest bugbear I have about Glorantha now is the whole 'One True Way' that gets constantly pushed.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: Akrasia on January 23, 2011, 02:32:21 AM
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.

Vikings is great.  My only complaint is that there isn't a 'sample adventure' included.

I'll definitely check out Ancient Greece when it's released.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: Akrasia on January 23, 2011, 02:34:50 AM
I would love to run MRQII someday.  Alas, it's probably too 'rules heavy' for my current group (Call of Cthulhu is about their limit).  

I'd be happy to be a player in a campaign that used any version of RuneQuest -- in a non-Glorantha setting or in Glorantha.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: IceBlinkLuck on January 23, 2011, 04:24:56 AM
I voted MRQII non-Glorantha setting mostly because that's just the current writing project I'm working on. I'm putting together a fantasy Arabia setting to run after I'm done with the game I'm running now.

Like a lot of people in this thread, I'm not really interested in 2nd age Glorantha. If I was to go back to running Glorantha I would probably fall back to Avalon Hill's rule set. As much as I like MRQII there are a couple of things that still feel wrong to me. This is probably just because I've not run MRQII yet and I'm still used to thinking in the previous mindset, but I miss the stat vs stat resistance check mechanic and I also have some minor dislikes in how MRQII handles the different kinds of magic. It might be possible for me to meld the two approaches together, but I haven't really thought too much about it.

As far as the ducks go, it never really bothered me. I actually played a duck character for a bit and it was fun. But Glorantha does have quite a bit of weirdness in it and I can see how that would turn people off. I mean, elves are a species of plant, dwarves are basically sentient rocks, trolls are a player race, and in addition to ducks there are Aardvarks (called Morocanths) and Baboons which are playable species. It definitely isn't the normal fantasy setting.

And yeah, canon vs non-canon can be pretty obnoxious. I run into this sometimes because I like Tekumel which also has a huge canon following and oddly enough so does old World of Darkness. I've run into a few people who want to quote canon to me at the table, my usual response is "I paid for this game so it is now my game. If I want to turn the Red Moon Goddess out on the street as a common whore and bring back the old Solar Cult, that's my business at my table. You are free to go to another game anytime." Obviously that's hyperbole. I like her right where she is, but the point is still valid.

M. A. R. Barker has a similar quote in one of the Tekumel sourcebooks. Something along the lines of "Here's my Tekumel, now make it your Tekumel." Too lazy to look it up.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: Colin Chapman on January 23, 2011, 10:01:01 AM
MRQ2 + Clockwork & Chivalry for me, but I've also grabbed Vikings (excellent), Wraith Recon (surprisingly good), and will use it to run Freeport at some point. I do own the big gold BRP as well. Zero interest in the various Eternal Champion series or Glorantha's 2nd Age.

Colin
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: Loz on January 23, 2011, 11:12:34 AM
What particularly encourages me is the setting scope people now have for MRQII. To date you have:

Glorantha Second Age
Elric
Clockwork and Chivalry
Vikings
Wraith Recon

and very soon there will be:

Age of Treason
Hawkmoon

And maybe something I come up with independently. There are also plans for further historicals. However, that's five, in-print, very different settings, and a further two very different settings in the pipeline. I'm also really pleased to see lots of discussion around converting settings like Birthright and Eberron to MRQ - and all the homebrews that are being powered by the rules. There really is a lot of choice, a lot of personal conversions and a lot of personal creativity that are making the most of the rules.

That's what Pete and I wanted to see happen with MRQII. Glorantha might be the default 'house' setting for Mongoose, but its not the only one and I think that the rules are sufficiently geared to allowing all kinds of settings to arise with, I hope, minimal effort for GMs.

:)
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: ggroy on January 23, 2011, 03:11:35 PM
I picked up the 2009 "Guilds, Factions & Cults" MRQ1 book yesterday evening.  (The gaming store placed all the MRQ1 books in the bargain bin).

From a first read, not a lot of overlap with the MRQ2 Empires book.

Will have to read it more closely.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: Loz on January 23, 2011, 04:36:52 PM
Quote from: ggroy;434658I picked up the 2009 "Guilds, Factions & Cults" MRQ1 book yesterday evening.  (The gaming store placed all the MRQ1 books in the bargain bin).

From a first read, not a lot of overlap with the MRQ2 Empires book.

Will have to read it more closely.

There's a little overlap but otherwise they're standalone products and quite compatible. They're intended to do very different things: Empires - national and international metagaming; GF&Cs - community/societal metagaming.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: johnmarron on January 24, 2011, 04:46:31 PM
Quote from: Loz;434610What particularly encourages me is the setting scope people now have for MRQII. To date you have:

Glorantha Second Age
Elric
Clockwork and Chivalry
Vikings
Wraith Recon

and very soon there will be:

Age of Treason
Hawkmoon

You forgot Deus Vult, which is the setting I'm leaning towards at the moment.  It is great to see so many different settings using the rules.  Lots of options, and hopefully the RQ2 "family" will continue to grow.

John
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: Newt on January 25, 2011, 01:37:20 AM
If I had time I'd be run an EPIC campaign set in 2nd Age Glorantha using the MRQ2 rules as written with everything turned up to 11!  Probably using Dara Happa Stirs converted over from MRQ1, although Pavis Rises intrigues me greatly.

I'm big enough a man to house rule any holes, mistooks, or bits I find just plain wrong to may tastes. As for Gloranthan One Wayism pah! I bought the book ITS MY GLORANTHA NOW :P

I've not had oportunity to pick up Deus Vult or Vikings yet, but I heartily recommend Clockwork and Chivalry - it has a lovely gritty on the road feel I've not seen since WFRP 1st Ed and tis a million miles away from Glorantha (the only ducks are on the village pond ;) )
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: Benoist on January 25, 2011, 01:40:35 AM
Welcome to the RPG Site by the way, guys. :)
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: Loz on January 25, 2011, 07:19:44 AM
Quote from: johnmarron;434924You forgot Deus Vult, which is the setting I'm leaning towards at the moment.  It is great to see so many different settings using the rules.  Lots of options, and hopefully the RQ2 "family" will continue to grow.

John

You're right John! I'm a berk.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: deleriad on January 25, 2011, 08:10:43 AM
Although the numbers are small it's interesting to see them. I'm surprised that there are more people playing MRQII than playing older editions. Though it might well be that a fair few people have the book but haven't got around to playing it.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: ggroy on January 25, 2011, 09:20:13 AM
Quote from: deleriad;435028Although the numbers are small it's interesting to see them. I'm surprised that there are more people playing MRQII than playing older editions. Though it might well be that a fair few people have the book but haven't got around to playing it.

Back in the day, the groups I gamed with never really got into the original Runequest, Call of Cthulhu, Stormbringer, etc ..  At most, we only ever got around to playing Chaosium games as evening one-shots or a marathon over a long weekend.

Fast forward to the present, I only ever got around to playing an evening one-shot game using MRQ2.

When I first picked up the MRQ2 core book, I tried putting together a game with some local friends who were veterans of Chaosium games from the 1980's.  (I wasn't playing anything else at the time in early-2010, after my 4E game died in January 2010).  This MRQ2 game ended up falling through when two of the players changed their minds and left.  We only got around to making characters and playing one game.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: Sigmund on January 25, 2011, 09:25:21 AM
Quote from: deleriad;435028Although the numbers are small it's interesting to see them. I'm surprised that there are more people playing MRQII than playing older editions. Though it might well be that a fair few people have the book but haven't got around to playing it.

MRQII is my first RQ. I'm not new to BRP though because I of course played CoC for years off and on, and my brother and I played 1e and 2e Stormbringer, which I still have. I'm bummed I never picked up RQ, but glad I have now, it's turning out to be everything i ever wanted in a FRPG. With GD3 as my go-to for more modern genre's and SC3 and both classic and Mong Trav for sci-fi my system coverage is pretty much complete. Happy Siggy :D
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: The Butcher on January 25, 2011, 10:35:48 AM
Quote from: Sigmund;435037MRQII is my first RQ.

My story is similar to Sigmund's. I was familiar with BRP by way of CoC (which I've played, and play, rather a lot) and Stormbringer (4e? 5e? Played a couple of games in high school). RQ was never big around here, and I was only vaguely aware of its existence via Dragon magazine (and later, Internet forums).

In the aftermath of the great d20 burnout, I thumbed through the MRQI books (the Hawkmoon ones I found particularly interesting) and my interest was piqued. And when MRQII come out with great reviews, I finally decided I'd pick it up.

Right now I'm focusing on one game at a time, and it's The Day After Ragnarok's turn to get a proper campaign. But I really, really like what I see, and I can't wait for a chance to run (or play) a MRQII game. Maybe I'll try my hand at Second Age Glorantha, or pick up a few old PDFs and try a Third Age Dragon Pass game. I've also been toying with the idea of a homebrew, vaguely inspired by Scarred Lands (the old D&D 3.0e White Wolf setting, which is big on gods and myth, and which strikes me as perfect for RQ); or a "Mythic Medieval Europe" setting, less Deus Vult (I dislike the "agents of X" setup for fantasy gaming) and more Dragon Warriors meets Ars Magica meets Bernard Cornwall's Warlord Chronicles and Saxon Stories.

Damn, so many possibilities. :D It's been a long time since I was this excited with a toolkit fantasy RPG. Everyone who was involved with MRQII's development and writing is to be congratulated on the breadth and quality of the supplements I've seen so far (editing still needs work, though... sorry guys :o). I can't wait to see what MRQII Hawkmoon will look like.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: RPGPundit on January 26, 2011, 09:07:41 AM
Doesn't the fourth option of the poll basically encompass every other RPG there is? I mean, if I like RIFTS, should I choose that option? I didn't realize that it was, in a way, a version of Runequest.

RPGPundit
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: KenHR on January 26, 2011, 10:22:39 AM
I'm pretty sure option 4 is about non-Mongoose RuneQuest.  Frex, I run RQ 3 (AH edition) in a pseudo-Korean setting called Gompan.  Thus, non-MRQII, non-Glorantha.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: Drohem on January 26, 2011, 11:25:26 AM
Quote from: Benoist;434027By the way, just to support that part of your theory, if I was to run Glorantha right now, I'd use RuneQuest 3 for sure, because most of the stuff I want to use is for earlier editions of RQ, including stuff like Pavis & Big Rubble, Griffin Mountain, Genertela, Gods of Glorantha etc etc.

There's no point for me to reinvent the wheel and use another game with it.

Ditto! :)
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: Benoist on January 26, 2011, 11:34:15 AM
Quote from: RPGPundit;435298Doesn't the fourth option of the poll basically encompass every other RPG there is? I mean, if I like RIFTS, should I choose that option? I didn't realize that it was, in a way, a version of Runequest.

RPGPundit
Nah, because the premise is that it's a poll for runequesters (title of thread). So it's basically about which version of RuneQuest, as a RQer, you use at your game table, not what system in general as a RPGer. The assumption is that if you don't play any version of RQ, then you do not vote in the poll. That's how I understand it anyway.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: The Butcher on January 26, 2011, 01:14:49 PM
Quote from: RPGPundit;435298Doesn't the fourth option of the poll basically encompass every other RPG there is?

Only if (a) you fail to read (because you're not paying attention) or understand (by dint of massive, brain-hemorrhaging stupidity) the question, or (b) you, for some mind-boggling reason, feel Rifts qualifies as "a version of Runequest".
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: Spike on January 26, 2011, 06:10:27 PM
You mean its not?!?

:p
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: The Butcher on January 26, 2011, 09:15:04 PM
Quote from: Spike;435403You mean its not?!?

The Palladium house system owes more to AD&D 1e than to BRP.

You might as well say WFRP 1e and Eclipse Phase are versions of RQ.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: Pseudoephedrine on January 27, 2011, 12:17:17 AM
WFRP does strike me at times as being someone's heavily houseruled mix of BRP with D&Disms.
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: Spike on January 27, 2011, 01:23:58 AM
Quote from: The Butcher;435418You might as well say WFRP 1e and Eclipse Phase are versions of RQ.

:eek:

They're NOT!?!
Title: Poll for Runequesters
Post by: Benoist on January 27, 2011, 02:17:14 AM
Well, I'm no one to talk about this, since I have delved into west coast OD&D and the Perrin Conventions, I have this reflex to think of RuneQuest as an extension of the game. I'm serious.