Chaosium + Glorantha + RuneQuest

[Vile Traveller]

I have to say I’m slightly alarmed at the surprise announcement at GenCon that RuneQuest would become re-integrated with Glorantha. Not only is RQ6 a very young edition, it is a fine version in its own right and does not deserve to be taken off the shelves in its prime as it were. Added to this is the fact that Adventures in Glorantha previewed at GenCon (from which I can only surmise that the Design Mechanism was as surprised as the rest of us).

I would like to request that Moon Design and Chaosium reconsider the idea of a Gloranthan “RQ7” and allow the rules and the setting to stay independent. I cannot see the benefit in combining these two books, and I see many disadvantages, not least that the resources spent on this would be much better used elsewhere at this difficult time for Chaosium.

[Mankcam]

Yes I agree very much with your post, there is no reason why there cannot be a RuneQuest Adventures In Glorantha published, and also have a generic RQ rulebook in publication at the same time – it works for HeroQuest and HeroQuest Glorantha, so it will work for RQ as well

[Adam]

I’m not that happy about AiG being pulled for a year or so, but its the complete replacement of RQ6 that worries me. I get that it will be the same system, and we won’t be obliged to buy the new version. I just wonder what it will do the momentum the system seems to be enjoying. Nothing is more likely to kill my interest in picking up a game than hearing a new version of the game is coming. To me, it feels like interest in RQ6 is still rising, and this will be dropping a brick on its momentum.

I’ll admit, I could be misreading things. I don’t know TDMs sale figure. Maybe they can see that RQ6 has already peaked, and the increasing attention on forums that I see isn’t affecting sales.

Still, I feel that a lot of the what has been winning people over with RQ6 is its flexibility. It’s a brilliantly written book that inspires setting creation. While I have no doubts that the the new Glorantha Runequest book will be excellent, I will be buying it, I can’t imagine it will have the toolkit nature of RQ6 that drew me to the game in the first place.

Anyway, I don’t want you guys at Moon Design to think I am furious at you. I think you are great. I own the Guide, the Gloranthan Classic Books, and everything for HQ from 2nd edition on. I’m just getting my concerns off my chest.

With that out of the way, let me say that it is great that you are stepping into help Chaosium. While I wasn’t personally a backer on CoC 7, it would have been a huge black mark for one the greatest games and companies in gaming history. I have confidence you will make things right, and I am more optimistic about Chaosium’s future than I have been since the early 90s. I’m expecting that great things are ahead. Whether I get the exact things I want or not, I am sure that what is coming will be impressive.

I hope you had a great GenCon.

[Carcosa]

Sad to hear Runequest6 is going to be replaced already. I bought the hardcover (think I did the kickstarter) plus a softcover and pdf to use at the gaming table to preserve my hardcover. I have already been running Griffin Mountain with the new rules, but more Glorantha specific game mechanics for RQ would be appreciated. I own the guide and much of the other stuff from Moon Design, and was looking forward to AiG this year, but I’m glad Runequest is being merged with Glorantha again like it was when I was a kid. I will buy either 7e or AiG when it comes out.

Keep it coming!

Sean

[Peter Marstrand]

Agree with op. Seems there’s little to gain & a great deal to lose from this initiative.

[Vile Traveller]

Unless there were a RuneQuest published by Chaosium and a book identical to RQ6 but with a different name by The Design Mechanism?

[Gavin Kenny]

I have to say I agree with the OP. Runequest 6 is a huge edition and adding in all the Gloranthan material will just make it unmanageable. Integrating it like this will a) throw off the people who use RQ6 in a separate game world and b) annoy everyone who bought RQ6 (which was not a cheap purchase).

Please, please reconsider this decision and pulish AiG as a separate book.

[Red Moon]

I’m not happy with this either, and that’s kind of an understatement. I bought the pdf, softcover and hardcover of the RQ6 core rules and I was really looking forward to an AiG supplement. I want to use RQ6 in Glorantha, but I am not keen on buying yet another rulesbook for a system I already own. I resent this move as highly disrespectful towards TDM’s fans and customers.

[Dominic]

I also agree with the original poster. Better to have a RQ6 rulebook, and a separate RQ in Glorantha supplement.
.
1. It makes sales of RQ possible to non Glorantha fans.
2. RQ6 is already a massive book.
3. Does not annoy those who ordered the new supplement.

[Carcosa]

It has been bugging me in the back of my head since I first found out about this when I last posted on this thread. I really have to say RQ6 is such a great edition, and I have to agree with everyone else that you should continue supporting it and publish AIG as a seperate book, even if you call it Runequest Glorantha and write it up as a completely seperate system like you have planned, but one that is compatible with RQ6…

[Carcosa]

Is there a place where I can go to find out more about this, or has there only been the brief announcement at Gencon?

[Vile Traveller]

Nothing on the Chaosium website yet. The most detailed news (only relating to RuneQuest) is in The Design Mechanism’s statement: http://designmechanism.freeforums.org/post12596.html#p12596

[Steve Hammatt]

I thought I had read somewhere that the forthcoming Runequest Glorantha (or whatever it ends up being called) is still going to use the RQ6 system?

Edit – I just found it, it was here.

Edit2 – and even more confirmation, direct from Loz, here.

Loz says “The new RQ will be RQ6 set in Glorantha just as RQ2 was. Same system, different emphasis, firm setting”. That seems pretty definitive.

[Pentallion]

I hope they change it up some. I really like a lot of things about RQ6, but my group has tried so hard to run a campaign around RQ6 and we just prefer RQ3 with a mix of RQ6. The true game killer is bleed. Everyone quickly learns you take Bleed every time you get a combat maneuver if you want to emerge victorious and not have to roll up a new PC. As a GM, I have to be very careful about taking Bleed. The death toll would be insane if I took it any chance I got. Players would have no continuity with their characters.
…
Spectral Combat is a little too nerfed in the favor of spirits now too. Ghosts and other spirits are pretty common encounters in many Gloranthan products. In RQ3 the PCs matched their power in spirit combat. Now spectral combat requires they make a to hit at half chance while the spirit is not so encumbered. Since the damage is directly correlated to the chance to hit instead of the willpower stat, the spirits tend to hit for at least twice as much. No matter how powerful the player, they are going to get hit. I could literally throw a bunch of 6 pt ghosts at the party and wipe them out because I’m GOING to hit them. And they can’t heal wounds on lost mp’s. This almost makes a shaman a mandatory character in the group. Then, to make it more frustrating as a GM to employ ghosts, the defense for a shamanless party – spirit block and spirit resistance – completely shut down the ghosts, making them pointless to include in the adventure except as an excuse to make the PC cast the spell. Spiritshield at least leaves open the possibility of the ghosts making it interesting, but then you’re back to square one and the spirits are so much more powerful.
…
The idea to make spectral combat more like regular combat with a to hit required isn’t a bad idea, it’s just that the PCs have no armor, they can’t parry. If I want them to understand how truly screwed they are, I have to make a statement by taking out one of their characters. Anything less won’t get the message through. What happens when they play a product that has three or four ghosts like many do and they don’t realize just how screwed they are? Party wipe. And if they do realize? Probably party wipe anyways. suddenly, guardian spirits and fetishes become mandatory. Let’s replace Bert who just died to a ghost with a shaman. Oh, shaman in every party now. Have to. That’s nerfed.
…
I hated the old spirit combat of RQ3 and had my own houserules, but something needs to be tweaked with spectral combat in RQ6. Perhaps the answer is to change the spells so they act more like armor, reducing the damage. That would bring down spirit damage to a level the players could contend with. That would also be more scalable. As they get more powerful spells, the ghosts flung at them can become more powerful too.
…
Finally, allowances have to be made for high end play. It’s been 30 years real time, the Hero Wars started already. If I can jump into the Hero Wars in 13th Age in Glorantha and not have to spend an entire year of my real life gaining levels to reach the point where I’m having truly epic fun, then NO, I do NOT want to spend longer getting my RQ6 character past the nerfed stage to reach the truly epic and FUN point of the campaign just to be told that that’s not going to work for RQ6.
…
MAKE IT WORK AT THAT LEVEL – or don’t bother with RQ at all. It’s almost like you think players should be ashamed to have a Hero level character. When instead, that should be the GOAL. You promised the Hero Wars. Not the farmer wars. Not the Tula Wars. Not the Low Level characters Wars. The HERO WARS.
…
Deliver. I think after 30 plus years, a faithful customer shouldn’t have to see a version of D&D do what RQ cannot. It’s not an unreasonable demand.

[Hannu Kokko]

“The true game killer is bleed. Everyone quickly learns you take Bleed every time you get a combat maneuver if you want to emerge victorious and not have to roll up a new PC. As a GM, I have to be very careful about taking Bleed. The death toll would be insane if I took it any chance I got. Players would have no continuity with their characters. ”

I have not found bleed to be game changer so far in our campaign since RQ6 was published. Our fights are usually over by the time bleed would make any difference. I can think of situation where party is clearly outnumbered and having very large number of bleeds possibly could make bleed dangerous. What are the situations where you find bleed powerful? I would like to learn the tactical situation…

I did make house rule that choose location can be done only with critical.

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