Anyone any experience running Runequest or incorporating elements of it into D&D? I'm intrigued by Glorantha and the mythological/metaphysical elements of the setting.
I loved playing a DUCK!
Elves are teh yummy!
Anyone any experience running Runequest or incorporating elements of it into D&D? I'm intrigued by Glorantha and the mythological/metaphysical elements of the setting.
Well, this question is almost 30 years too late :)
I played 1st edition RQ, starting around 1979, and fell in love w/ the depth of the world's history and mythology. That I no longer own all those old products is distressing at times. I still have a campaign notebook of adventures I ran; and characters I loved became NPCs in D&D that still exist today.
I have no experience w/ the later versions of RQ, like what's being put out (in surprising numbers!) by Mongoose, or the Glorantha materials put out by someone else (I think competing groups got the rights to both RQ & Glorantha, but someone will no doubt correct me if I'm wrong...).
Regardless of whether you check out current offerings, I would highly recommend searching out copies of 1st edition stuff. An incredibly rich, rewarding world in terms of fluff.
There was a computer game some years back (I'm blanking on the name) that, if not set in Glorantha, was an attempt at infusing RQ lore into a game. I regret not giving that a try as well.
What else can I tell you...RQ used to be a skill-based game (no levels). I don't even think there were classes per se, but memory fails a bit. In any case, you sound like you're attracted to the fluff more than the crunch, which is what got me hooked back in the day. Good luck finding some of the OOP material!
Mongoose have released tons of supplements for it so its by no means dead. I picked up their version of the core rules for free in ENWorld's pdf sale a while ago.
The PC game is King of Dragon Pass and you can still buy it from the designers (A Sharp) at their website.
Mongoose have released tons of supplements for it so its by no means dead. I picked up their version of the core rules for free in ENWorld's pdf sale a while ago.
The PC game is King of Dragon Pass and you can still buy it from the designers (A Sharp) at their website.
"King of Dragon Pass" is/was a wonderful game, though not for the short-attention-span set. Beautiful graphics -- that don't move! I spent many hours on it. It takes its heritage in RQ very seriously.
RQ1 was indeed completely skill-based. I did most of my playing back in the 80s in RQ3, which came closer to having classes, but really only in which magic system you chose to use.
No experience with the Mongoose stuff.
Anyone any experience running Runequest or incorporating elements of it into D&D? I'm intrigued by Glorantha and the mythological/metaphysical elements of the setting.
You know the details of the skill-based Basic system, so I won't go into that.
Glorantha, to put it mildly, is to tabletop role-playing games what Middle-earth is to fiction. It is easily one of the most detailed, mythical, coherent fantasy worlds out there. It's pure bliss.
Magic permeates everything, but it isn't the superhero, flash-bang kind of magic a D&D player is accustomed to. Or rather, it doesn't have to be. Ever read stuff like Joseph Campbell, Hero with a Thousand Faces and such? Well, you've got an entire fantasy world that's built around a love of mythologies and spiritual traditions. I should mention that Greg Stafford, the creator and main author of Glorantha, is a real-life Shaman.
Everything makes sense in Glorantha, and nothing really feels too "earthly". It has a life or its own. It's epic, but it allows for characters to be as mundane as you'd like to raise to the highest heroic destinies you could imagine.
... it's just awesome. You should learn more about it. Really.
Post Scriptum: building a d20 variant of Glorantha seems perfectly feasible. Using Gods, Myths, magical or even geographical/historical elements of the world in a D&D context seem totally feasible as well.
I'm interested in that my PbP game, "Treasure Hunt" is getting more and more Runequest-like in feel, but it would be impossible to completely convert.
Thanks for all the thoughts! Very helpful, all.
(Bathes in a wave of nostalgia...)
Thanks for reminding me of the name of the computer game. Maybe I'll finally check it out.
And thanks to BP for the interesting note on Greg Stafford being a shaman. That explains a lot of the feel of RQ1!
Am looking at running pathfinder under Mongoose's RQ rules after finally playing a duck rogue in a rq game (not mongoose's version).
I really liked the game and since one of the others loathes d&d (mostly because he can't pull most of his shenanigans with 3.5) however that means trying to rework Mongoose's spell system since divine spells in its version means that the caster would have to go to a temple or shrine dedicated to their god just to relearn a spell and they can't memorise more than 1 unless they spend a few pow for one higher progressive spell version and then spend it a few pts at a time let alone they can only specify a no of their pow in spells which I need to reread to make sure it doesn't mean their pow score is reduced until they're cast...
Sorry really need to think this one out!
Glad to see a thread on rq though!
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Anyone any experience running Runequest or incorporating elements of it into D&D? I'm intrigued by Glorantha and the mythological/metaphysical elements of the setting.
I gave up D&D in 1982 to play Runequest. In my experience it was very difficult to mix the two since RQ is low fantasy and D&D is high fantasy. Even the most experienced "high level" RQ characters have to worry about the lowest level opposition. The "power curve" is not as dramatic in RQ.
Yes, that's the feel I'm getting.
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Forgotten realms was my place of choice until WotC's changes...Before that it was Harn, and before that Glorantha. I will be dredging back up Glorantha until I can pick up the Pathfinder setting....After I can read and dgest it all, then Ill place my home City in its setting and Ill be off to the races again.
I am currently heading towards the end of my 3.5 Realms campaign and am busy trying to build a set of house rules using RQII to start a new campaign using the Forgotten Realms setting.
Anyone any experience running Runequest or incorporating elements of it into D&D? I'm intrigued by Glorantha and the mythological/metaphysical elements of the setting.I gave up D&D in 1982 to play Runequest. In my experience it was very difficult to mix the two since RQ is low fantasy and D&D is high fantasy. Even the most experienced "high level" RQ characters have to worry about the lowest level opposition. The "power curve" is not as dramatic in RQ.
Well there's certainly a degree of truth to what you say there, but with a couple of (very) simple rules tweaks one can change the curve to be more D&D like - ie tougher, always increasingly powerful, pcs - without losing the essential beauty of the RQ system.
I have been playing RQ rules in my D&D homebrew setting since roughly when 4e came out, and it's working fantastically well so far. My first tweak was to allow skills to advance beyond 100% and have 'heroic powers' (as per the Ki rules in RQ-Land of Ninja), and to make skill advancement easier by capping off the chance of a skill advancing at 50% - ie you have 65% in sword parry, you just have to roll over 50% to get your D6 increase. This means skills will continue to advance rather than slow down as you get better in them.
I have also ported in the D&D spells, giving an advancing Magic Point total to spell casters that equates out to 'Levels'.
Converting monsters, stats, and magic items, from D&D (any edition bar 4th) is to my surprise massively easy. I'm so good at it now, I can convert monster stats in my head on the fly at the game table (after many hours spent converting stuff from old campaigns to see how they'd equate).
Seriously guys, this is easier than you might think, and boy does it make for a better game system. It is truly a joy to play, and we still have everything we loved about playing D&D ... it's the same game without the quirky, wildly illogical, clunky old D&D game mechanic.
Yes some things are a little different ... I have opted NOT to increase hitpoints (other than with magic), so yes everyone is very nervy in every combat ... but a 'high level' character (that is to say an experienced adventurer) still far out matches a farmer or raw militiaman, and the chances of the later taking out the former (with all his magic items, armour, weapons, and high parry/dodge chances) is minimal.
Still it is true, and imo a good thing, that there is a degree of levelling. Tough pcs can no longer assume they outclass NPCs in every way - sure farmer Giles might be inexperienced when it comes to swordplay, fighting monsters, and have no magic items, but rather than rolling to hit as a 1st level nobody, he may well have a very respectable wrestling skill level and good strength.
Then there's the way the system actively seems to encourage roleplaying, thru active use of your non-combat skills, and the dreamlike simplicity and unarguable experience system ... which takes out the routine haggling over XP awards in D&D.
If I sound like I'm gushing, it's because I'm in love with this system. I ain't never going back I tells ya.
I am currently heading towards the end of my 3.5 Realms campaign and am busy trying to build a set of house rules using RQII to start a new campaign using the Forgotten Realms setting.
We use 3rd Edition RQ as our core base rulebooks.
If you like I can forward you my conversion rules. I'd also recomend you pick up the new Basic System Rulebook - it's a bit cluttered, but it has some VERY useful stuff that ain't in 3rd edition;
* Crit, Fumble, Special, descriptions for every skill.
* A couple of pages showing how hps spread for different monster types.
* A table that shows height and weight ranges for SIZEs.
Ooh one thing I learnt pretty quickly, don't be tempted to cut corners and use published RQ stats for monsters, even when they are the same basic monster type as a D&D monster (i.e. Chimera). The RQ monsters are scaled somewhat differently, and you'll want to run the conversion rules over them from the D&D stats to ensure they come out on the same level they were at in D&D.
To show a converted monster, here's one of the nastiest monsters from the Epic Handbook, which I converted across to see how a REALLY nasty high level type monster would look;
Winterwight
STR:(9D6) 32 CON: (12D6) 42 SIZ:(3D6+9) 18 INT:(2D6+4) 10 POW: (7D6) 25 DEX:(7D6) 27 APP: -
H: 36/10 C: 36/12 A: 36/10 RA: 36/9 LA: 36/9 RL: 36/10 LL: 36/10
Hit Points: 30 Move: 2
Fatigue: - Magic Points: 230
DEX SR: 1 MELEE SR: 2
Skills: Dodge 66%,
Armor: 36 pt. Unnatural
Attacks: 2 Claws and Head Butt
Hero Points - 25
Heroic Attack - Claw:14%
Heroic Parry - Claw:14%
Heroic Parry - Skull Butt:14%
Hero Points - 25
Heroic Attack (Claw) - 43%
Heroic Parry (Claw) - 43%
Heroic Attack (Skull Butt) - 24%
Weapon SR Att/Par% Damage ENC/AP
Claw (x2) 3 / 6 185 / 185 3D8 + 2D6 + Balefire -
Skull Butt 9 139 / - 2D6 + 2D6 + Balefire -
Balefire = Victim must make CON SAVE (DC35) or lose 4 points of CON permanently, then must save for the next 4 rounds, losing another 4 points of CON for each failure. The Winterwight regains 10 lost hps per 4 points of CON absorbed (and any excess as temporary hps). If all CON is lost the character is irretrievably dead.
Rend = If the winterwight hits with both claws in a round it latches on and tears the flesh. Automatically dealing an additional 6D8+2D6 points of damage.