Of Mythras, Runequest, Glorantha, Edition wars, and where to start???

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tenbones

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So I've been seriously wanting to dig into Runequest/Mythras for some time. I want to read it, absorb it and put it in my back pocket for when my players least expect it and whip it out, and go BOOM! This is what we're doing... (and hopefully they'll bite. I've been taking them out of their comfort zone a lot lately). I also admit I have ulterior motives to learning RQ6/Mythras... but that's for another thread.

What I don't want to do is waste time and treasure on figuring out the optimal path. Glorantha is *very* interesting to me. And I know Mythras isn't Glorantha, and it's based off Runequest... But I'm summoning all your RQ/Mythras players/GM's to sell me on...

the PATH OF MOST GLORIOUS GAMING! Where to start?

Caveats -

1) I played Stormbringer for a bit when it first dropped. That's the total extent of my practical knowledge of RQ as a system.
2) I'm *very* facinated in Glorantha as a magical bronze-age fantasy setting? I know very little about it other than that.
3) I'm looking for rules consistency. Crunch - middling to CRUNCHY-CRUNCH. But I want the mechanics to be robust enough to scale to level 15+ D&D style gaming if possible.
4) While I like the idea of Glorantha - I don't *need* Glorantha. I saw the Mythic Britain, Rome and other books I think are being used with Mythras? All of it looks awesome.
6) Which edition?

So (up)sell me on RQ/Mythras!
 
1. Congratulations, I guess?
2. The hardcore fandom makes a tempest out of a teacup but the gist of it is simple: it’s a world where myth exists in a separate “God Plane”, but influences our world, and there’s an apocalyptic war in the near future. The best introductions might be the King of Dragon Pass video game and the Prince of Sartar webcomic. (I am also a sucker for the defunct Second Age Glorantha line.)
3. Mythras will give you the sweet, sweet crunch but level 15+ D&D might be tricky. Maybe the Classic Fantasy line has what you need?
4. Monster Island for a self-contained pulp fantasy sandbox that can be dropped in just about any setting. Luther Arkwright for dimension-hopping shenanigans. Thennla for a different, more Classical flavor of Bronze Age fantasy. Jack Vance’s Lyonesse is coming this year. And of course, the Mythic Earth series has Rome, Britain and Constantinople covered, with Babylon and Greece planned down the line.
5. Look into the Mythras Imperative quickstart and then get the full core rules.
 
I can't speak a lot about Glorantha. I did it back in the early 90s for a bit and it's not really a strong pull for me. WhatI can do is talk about Mythras pretty extensively.

1) the author of Mythras did one of the later versions of Stormbringer.

3) rules consistency - Mythras is your baby you hold close. The book has gone through multiple printings, it has been purged of virtually all editing issues. It's gone through the transition from MRQ1->MRQ2->RQ6 before, which are bigger modifications. It's been hammered and folded a thousand times. It is a san mai of rpgs.
3a) 15+, no sweat. really. Don't even need classic fantasy.The important thing here to remember is that mythras core is more of a framework. a high magic (1 magic point per hour, start with 1d3+6 spells if you just go by the book) will have you tossing out Transmogrify to Flesh + Shape Flesh + Switch body + Enchant to get you your clone. Or just do up a Clone spell. it'll work great. Earthquakes, resurrections, meteor swarms, etc. all quite doable.

4) Monster Island is my favorite for pulpy. I also like After the Vampire Wars and Worlds United for their consistent system for powers and power levels of the game. Particularly if you are looking at 15+ stuff, these will be handy.

5/6) Mythras Imperative is the free start. But after that, get Mythras 3rd printing.

Bilharzia Bilharzia did the best post over on TBP https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/mythras-tell-me-a-bit-about-it.857530/post-23036782 for all your mythras everythings. I can see now my programming will need to be upgraded to be able to keep up with the new Bilharzia model.
 
Yeah, I'm just going to echo the Butcher here.

For Glorantha specifically I enjoyed the recent The Smoking Ruin & Other Stories and the older Sartar: Kingdom of Heroes. Note the latter is for another system (Heroquest, a more narrative system) but is a good set up for a Glorantha campaign. However I'd give Butcher's sources a try first to be honest. I do think a problem with the new Runequest Glorantha is that a new GM will have a hard time getting a feel for some of the groups in the core.

The hardcore fandom makes a tempest out of a teacup but the gist of it is simple: it’s a world where myth exists in a separate “God Plane”, but influences our world, and there’s an apocalyptic war in the near future
That's basically it to be honest.

The game tends to focus on a bunch of ethnic groups who are collectively called the Orlanthi because they are most strongly associated with the Air gods led by the storm god Orlanth. It adheres to a bronze age view of religion where every god has different local or functional versions. Like Orlanth Rex (Orlanth of Kingship) etc.

Whether all these different Orlanths are the same god, different similar gods, whether Orlanth and his brother are actually the same and how exactly Orlanth and the Sun God fought/reconciled and so on has no true answer. They're all true. Just different mortal ways of viewing the truth. Even whether the gods are actual personages or Platonic concepts or very powerful spirits depends on local beliefs and again all are true to some degree.

The mortal world is basically a result of the "gods" agreeing to become physical forces and substances, e.g. Orlanth became part of the atmosphere, so as to protect the world from dissolving back into the primordial realm of possibilities/nothingness it arose from. Often called Chaos in the setting.

The apocalypse T The Butcher mentioned is related to this agreement coming apart and Chaos beginning to emerge again. The "baddies" of the setting, the expansionist Lunar Empire, don't see Chaos as evil but as just another part of the world. So they see its return as a good thing.
 
3) I'm looking for rules consistency. Crunch - middling to CRUNCHY-CRUNCH. But I want the mechanics to be robust enough to scale to level 15+ D&D style gaming if possible.
TDM has a superhero book in the works, I'm not sure how far along it is but the writers are building it off the Agony & Ecstasy supers adventure they wrote for Mythras a while back. It will be Mythras compatible... so that, along with elements of Luther Arkwright, should allow for some higher powered monster punching adventure.
 
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TDM has a superhero book in the works, I'm not sure how far along it is but the writers are building it off the Agony & Ecstasy supers adventure they wrote for Mythras a while back. It will be Mythras compatible... so that, along with elements of Luther Arkwright, should allow for some higher powered monster punching adventure.

totally forgot about those two. A&E is very much at that superhero level. Just shy of Thor/Hulk levels.
 
Then of course there's the Magic World RPG that Nu Chaosium threw under the bus and drove Ben Monroe to the OSR. From what I understand, there's at least one fully written Magic World book that will never see the light of day.
 
Then of course there's the Magic World RPG that Nu Chaosium threw under the bus and drove Ben Monroe to the OSR. From what I understand, there's at least one fully written Magic World book that will never see the light of day.
I love Magic World (which is pretty much Stormbringer, minus the IP)... so that's sad to hear. Any idea what it was about?
Nu-Chaosium has said that while THEY aren't going to create more MW stuff, they're open to people creating new stuff for it under license. So I'm wondering if there is a path to getting it out there... or is it fully owned by Chaosium and they're just going to use it for bird cage liner?
 
Back in the 80s/90s I was very well served by a mix of RQ2 & RQ3 stuff. Generally the former is better for personal-scale adventuring and the latter is better for large-scale encyclopedic info about the setting:

RQ3 Deluxe Edition: I like these rules better than RQ2, and Book 5 is a nice high-level intro to Glorantha
Apple Lane: classic introductory Glorantha-set adventure, exists in both RQ2 & 3 versions that are functionally identical
Cults of Prax: THE essential RQ2 supplement and intro to personal-scale Glorantha
Glorantha: Genertela, Crucible of the Hero Wars: THE essential RQ3 supplement, with tons of detail and flavor about Glorantha's northern continent
Gods of Glorantha: updates the stats from Cults of Prax to RQ3 and gives less-detailed encyclopedia-style info on tons of other religions
Gloranthan Bestiary: encyclopedia-type RQ3 product with descriptions and stats for tons of unique Gloranthan beasties
Elder Secrets of Glorantha: another RQ3 encyclopedia-type product that covers dwarfs, elves, trolls, and has tons of adventure hooks about how to use them as well as all of the minor races

Those are the essential products. There are also more specifically-focused play-oriented ones that are all also good. You probably eventually want all of them, but any one is enough content for a nice campaign:

Borderlands: probably the best introductory package; a series of episodic adventures set in Prax that starts out simple and gradually introduces more complexity and lore (RQ2)
Trollpak: deep-dive into Glorantha's trolls including tons of details about their culture and history and a bunch of adventures for both non-troll PCs and troll PCs; there are both RQ2 and 3 versions but the RQ2 version is way better (in RQ3 they split the content of the RQ2 set into 4 separate products, which was a total ripoff)
Pavis, Big Rubble, Sun County, Shadows on the Borderland: combined sourcebook/adventure material all set in the same region of Prax (just north of where Borderlands is set); the first two are RQ2, the latter two RQ3
Griffin Mountain: self-contained setting north of the main RQ2-era play area of Sartar and Prax; this is my vote for all-time best rpg adventure because it's so packed with content - multiple towns, factions, adventure areas, huge tables of rumors & info, etc. - you can literally play this one adventure for years; there was a RQ3 version called Griffin Island that's not anywhere near as good (it's non-Glorantha and cut out a ton of flavorful content)
Dorastor, Land of Doom: RQ3 sourcebook/adventure about one of the most dangerous locations in all of Glorantha, plus an episodic Borderlands-style campaign about hapless PC would-be homesteaders dwelling on its borders

For additional Glorantha lore, I also recommend:

Dragon Pass: Glorantha-set boardgame; RQ is actually an adaptation of this game's setting to rpgs, not the other way around
RuneQuest Companion & Wyrm's Footprints: compilations of Glorantha lore articles from Greg Stafford's 70s-era "Wyrm's Footnotes" zine
Cults of Terror: RQ2 write-ups of various evil religions combined with a framing story about a war in Dorastor
Missing Lands: A companion to the Glorantha: Genertela set covering the other continents that was never finished and eventually published as a "chapbook" manuscript
 
What Trent said, well, except I like RQ1 best of the first 3 editions... For those who don't quite want to go back to RQ1, I think RQ2 would be a very solid choice. But I'm not really a good judge of RQ/Glorantha. While I run in Glorantha (and have essentially all the official RQ1, RQ2, and RQ3 products, plus WIld Hunt submissions, a complete run of Different Worlds, and an almost complete early run of White Dwarf), I got started playing before RQ2 and Cults of Prax came out, so my Glorantha tends to reflect what 15 year old Frank interpreted of the game world from the start supplemented as new supplements came out. Because of this I actually mostly dismiss anything post-RQ3 since it reflects a more serious cultural investigation of Glorantha while my Glorantha is OSR play style using Gloranthan trappings, and I'm not bothered by the "medieval" flavor of the RQ1 rules with a supposed bronze age setting. This makes me quite an odd duck (even more so since I LOVE Gloranthan ducks...). I'm not sure ANYONE else runs RQ1 (it seems almost everyone has moved to RuneQuest Glorantha - so that may actually be the best recommendation for someone new to the game and setting).
 
Play Mythras. It's the best RQ variant out there.

If you want Glorantha specific rules, take a look at RQ6 and the partial copy of AiG that's floating around. Pick up the two bigass, ruleless Glorantha Books, and a crapload of old pdfs the old ones reference above.

If you don't want Glorantha, here's some suggestions:

Sword and Sorcery - Mythras, Book of Quests, and Monster Island
Dark Age - Mythras, Mythic Britain, Logres, Waterlands and Mythic Rome
Viking Age - Mythras, MRQII Vikings and Mythic Constantinople for Varangians
Anything you do you'll want Ships and Shield Walls and the two combat pdfs.
 
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Sword and Sorcery - Mythras, Book of Quests, and Monster Island

and the Legend version of The Spider God's Bride and Legend's Arcania of Legend: Blood Magic

Dark Age - Mythras, Mythic Britain, Logres, Waterlands and Mythic Rome
Viking Age - Mythras, RQ6 Vikings and Mythic Constantinople for Varangians

and Vikings of Legend (I think you mean this, since there is no RQ6 Vikings AFAIK)

all of the legend stuff is mostly compatible. You need to change some names of some skills, and you might want to retweak careers (or just use the Mythras versions) and stuff, but it largely works great.

Monster Island is one I hit regularly. There are so many good nuggets in there. I am in an SGB campaign right now, and did up one a couple years ago that had an NPC so hated that my players don't trust female NPCs in my games anymore. I could not have been prouder ;)
 
I love Magic World (which is pretty much Stormbringer, minus the IP)... so that's sad to hear. Any idea what it was about?
Nu-Chaosium has said that while THEY aren't going to create more MW stuff, they're open to people creating new stuff for it under license. So I'm wondering if there is a path to getting it out there... or is it fully owned by Chaosium and they're just going to use it for bird cage liner?

I am sure if there was room and desire, there would be a home for it with other folks. Maybe one day!
 
This is a hard one to answer because if you really, really want to play Glorantha, that RQG book is fantastic. It's a very beautifully done book from a production values standpoint. And the introduction to Glorantha will certainly get you going. My only words of caution would be:
  • There's no bestiary in the core book - for that you need to buy another volume.
  • Non-human playable races are also only detailed in the bestiary book
  • Character creation takes a goddamn eternity. There are optional rules for bypassing the family history mini-game it has you play by default, but damn! Strap yourself in for the long haul your first few times through.
All the above stated, however, I have to say that Mythras is my baby. I love that game (and I don't usually like crunchy games at all). It turns out that, while I love bronze age settings, Glorantha isn't actually my preference. I tend to like settings closer to Greece (c'mon TDM - need that Mythic Greece book already!) and their Thennla setting. Or even closer still would be D&D 4e's Points of Light (as a loose framework setting). Give me city states and vast stretches of wilderness and turn me loose. And I couldn't rave enough over Monster Island. To this day I've never been happier with a supplement.

Factor in the fact that Luther Arkwright and Worlds United are totally my jam, and I just don't see myself going back.
 
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(Disclaimer: I haven't had time to read the above posts yet, I'm just replying to tenbones tenbones original query - I will check out the discussion later tonight)


Glorantha is a great setting, one of the most immersive I have seen. So I would recommend anyone grabbing RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, it's absolutely brilliant.

However if wanting a generic system, then Mythras is definately the one to get. The rules feel a little more modern, yet retain all the great stuff from the RQ line. I prefer the Mythras mechanics to the RQ mecahnics in many ways. Highly recomended.

The other option is grab some indie versions, OpenQuest is really good, and feels like Mythras-Lite. Revolution D100 is also quite good, although I find the rules a little arduous to read (author's first language is not English). RD100 is probably one of the best versions of BRP I have seen, really trims the skill bloat somewhat, yet lots of room for customisation. Plus it has some modern narrative rules in there as well.

In terms of game line support, the choice is more clear, it's either RuneQuest: Roleplaying In Glorantha (RQG) or Mythras.

Both are great games, it's really hard to decide.

Mythras is starting to get a fair bit of titles for it, although they are spread across different settings. They are really well done however, the authors do deserve the praise they often receive in the forums.

There is also the MRQ2 back catalogue (republished as LEGEND) which is highly compatible, and the DM RQ6 back catalogue is 99% compatible, so that adds to the resources for Mythras quite considerably.

Mythras is actually the best value-for-money, as the core book has everything you need, including multiple magic systems, and a decent sized bestiary chapter.

On the other hand, RQG is relatively recent, and only starting to get supplements and resources. They are incredibly rich in detail, and it is hard not to be immersed in the Gloranthan setting.

To do RQG justice, you will definately need to go beyond just the core book, you really need to get the Bestiary as well. Also due to the significant presence of the Gloranthan Gods and their influence on the setting, you will likely want to get the upcoming Cults Book (not published yet). The RQG core book has a few Cults to kick things off, but there's plenty more to come. So this is either a feature or a flaw, depending upon how you view it

RQG is 90% compatible with RQ2, so the majority of the old RQ2 line has been republished in recent times, and most of RQ2 resources are easily adjusted for RQG. Some of the portrayal of Glorantha is different in RQ2, although the flavour is still very ancient, and can be easily tweaked to be consistent with RQG.

This choice faced here is the same if one has a few days of holidaying in Orlando FL USA - do you go to Walt Disney World, or to the Universal Parks? That's a decision that no one should be forced to make, heh heh.

I really cannot choose between these game lines, I have to go with BOTH of them: RQG for Glorantha, and Mythras for generic settings.

(But to kick things off, grab the free Mythras Imperative pdf for a look)
 
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The other option is grab some indie versions, OpenQuest is really good, and feels like Mythras-Lite.

It really does. It's on my short short list for my kid here in the near future. I might hack it and Mythras Imperative together into something that gains the efficiencies from Mythras with the simplified everything of OpenQuest.

Revolution D100 is also quite good, although I find the rules a little arduous to read (author's first language is not English). RD100 is probably one of the best versions of BRP I have seen, really trims the skill bloat somewhat, yet lots of room for customisation. Plus it has some modern narrative rules in there as well.

RD100 was really useful for the skills for me, and it made me think/taught me about how to really treat professional skills in my game. I regularly use the equivalent of the +30% specialization shift that RD100 has in my Mythras game as a mechanism to show how specialized training pays off (I do a 1 step easier roll for most professional skills that are applicable)
 
and the Legend version of The Spider God's Bride and Legend's Arcania of Legend: Blood Magic



and Vikings of Legend (I think you mean this, since there is no RQ6 Vikings AFAIK)

all of the legend stuff is mostly compatible. You need to change some names of some skills, and you might want to retweak careers (or just use the Mythras versions) and stuff, but it largely works great.

Monster Island is one I hit regularly. There are so many good nuggets in there. I am in an SGB campaign right now, and did up one a couple years ago that had an NPC so hated that my players don't trust female NPCs in my games anymore. I could not have been prouder ;)
Actually I meant Mongoose Runequest II Vikings, but if you don’t want to pirate or eBay, Legend will have to do.
 
Actually I meant Mongoose Runequest II Vikings, but if you don’t want to pirate or eBay, Legend will have to do.
I think that MRQ2 vikings and Vikings of Legend are virtually the same content. Maybe an editing pass, but I think I have both.
 
I'm not sure it fits Tenbones' interests, but since Legend and Mythras are kissing cousins, that also opens up Legend's Deus Vult line as well... playing as an ultra-secret sect of 12th century Vatican-sanctioned monster hunters. Kind of a 'clockpunk' (I know...) version of Dark Heresy. PCs get access to special training and fancy James Bond-ish weapons and gizmos.
Not a game that gets mentioned much, but it has plenty of fun potential... though, given some of its inventions, I'm sure it doesn't pass the 'medieval authentic' test.
 
Thinking about this a bit more, I'd say get Mythras Imperative and one or both of the combat modules. As little as $6 in total if you're happy with PDFs.

Imperative is enough rules to easily run a game or campaign and the modules will show you the combat system. Run the combats and I think once you see the use of tactics in the "Take Cover" module you might be hooked :thumbsup:
 
Culture and worldview matter in Glorantha. There's a good section in Gods of Glorantha called "what my father told me", which was expanded for Heroquest as a free PDF.

River of Cradles/Sun County/Cults of Terror go into more cultural/religious depth than Gods of Glorantha, the reprinted Cults Compendium is also good (and more compatible with RQG).

The big boxed set for RQG is fantastic - lots of world and cult information, unique monsters, maps and adventures. Expensive, but the best one-stop shop for the game setting.

I personally find the big encyclopedia too much, but it's still excellent.

Mythras is the dog's bollocks (i.e. very, very good).
 
Want to play in Glorantha? Go with RuneQuest Roleplaying in Glorantha.
It's made to play in Glorantha and IMO the rules work better, because the game was crafted for the setting.

I started playing RuneQuest because of RQG and found no difficult in it. If you want monsters, the bestiary indeed will be useful, but as for adventures you can find good samples free both on the Quickstart (which I suggest you give a go) as on the Rattling Wind. Just develop a bit of mythological thinking and you will see there is no secret to running it.

If you want to get into Glorantha I would like to suggest the Glorantha Sourcebook too, It has no rules, only setting lore.

As folks pointed out Myhtras is good too, but IMO It's counter intuitive and some of the design decisions made the game worse for me, you will find out everyone has a different opinion on this and you probably will have yours in the future. I certainly see the value in getting Mythras to have a more broad toolkit for the BRP games family, and running crazy stuff. But the BRP SRD is supposed to come out soon, so this may also be another good entry for other genres.

I will also mention that all rules variation of RQ are easily compatible with each version. Here is a simple analysis on all RuneQuest systems including MRQ on this zine here http://rpgreview.net/node/297 , last chapter page 58.

If you don't want to go into Glorantha, people already left great suggestions in the thread.

I suggest reading both systems, really. And when you have any Mythras question you can summon Raleel Raleel. He is the Mythras man of the pub:thumbsup:
 
Runequest II is perhaps my fave ever fantasy system. You can get by with the RQII handbook and Cults of Prax, but there is a fair amount of other material around for it as well. The Glorantha lore and setting are one of the best backgrounds ever produced for a fantasy game. Although it's rare enough to be collectable now and thus quite expensive, The RQII stuff has been re-issued in electronic form as Runequest Classic and is available from Chaosium Here.

The RQII material was very much a labour of love on the part of the author(s) and has a charm lacking in subsequent editions of RQ. RQIII was produced by Avalon-Hill and considered to be a lot more sterile than RQII. I've never read any of the modern Glorantha collateral so I can't really comment much on the current state of the art.

The Runequest system is a somewhat crunchy percentile roll-under mechanic from the BRP family and has been documented elsewhere. Runequest II is very much a design classic and has actually aged quite well. Calling it timeless might be an overstatement buy you could play it today and not feel you were working with outdated, crusty old first generation system.

I'm quite happy with it as a system and would happily play or DM it again, although it's been quite a while since I've been involved in a Runequest game.

I've never played Mythras or even read the rulebooks. As I understand it started out life as a Runequest edition but there was some sort of spat over the Glorantha IP and the publishers re-invented it as a generic system. Raleel Raleel is its primary advocate here, although it has several other fans amongst the Pub regulars.
 
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When Chaosium stopped working with The Design Mechanism on RuneQuest, the reason cited was ‘creative differences’. Basically, the Chaosium view was that each game system should be discrete to the game being made, but The Design Mechanism had designed a generic, universal game system. There is probably more to it than that.

In any case, the differences between RuneQuest: Glorantha and Mythras is now a pretty measurable thing.

RuneQuest: Glorantha is purely set in Glorantha (obviously) and is nominally based upon the RuneQuest 2 rules. The developments to the system are mainly sourced from Pendragon - the additional detail in character generation, the passions and the personality factors (in the form of Runes) - and to a degree from Nephilm (the life path stuff and the way in which symbolic traits enhance others) and Ars Magica (the Sorcery system, to an extent). Character generation also tends to advance the characteristic and skill levels much more - partially by advising how to fudge the rolls. I do note that the original game actually put characters in debt to various Guilds and Cults - a bit like the mortgages needed in Traveller for a spaceship - by requiring extra training to get skill levels to a reasonable level. This doesn’t seem to be the case anymore - in fact, characters are much more at heroic levels of competence from the start.

The combat reverts to pre-calculated Strike Ranks, and the details of special effects like Impales (although they have branched this out a little to other effects). For the most part this is Ok, although I actually find some of the combat more clunky than it could be.The use of Shields is a bit redundant when attack/parry scores are based on single weapon types - why spend % on an extra Shield score, when you can just parry with your sword. I also feel that there is now a bunch of extra stats on the sheet which makes the game more complicated than previous too. The magic systems revert to three systems - Spirit, Rune and Sorcery. The latter is more involved but uses Runes in a Verb and Noun way (a bit like Ars Magica - but without room for spontaneous casting), and is quite evocative to read about at least.

Mythras has a bunch of settings for it, including the all important Classic Fantasy, which ties it in with D&D style play which is probably to the distaste of the Chaosium team. M-Space also ties in the system with Traveller style play, and there has been some work on other genres too, like Supers. I still think that the general notion of doing discrete games for specific settings is something that they should consider - not every setting needs five magic systems (Folk, Animism, Theism, Mysticism and Sorcery), or even detail on Cults, etc. I was pleased to see a standalone core book for Lyonnesse announced, for example, and really wish they had done the same with Luther Arkwright. It is a chore to have to flick between two books for rules at times - when a complete set could have been fully integrated.

Regarding the rules, it’s probably worth noting that some of the ideas emerged from Mongoose’s first attempt at RuneQuest, which was a bit of a mess, but still had merit in some ways. It’s good, for example, that the Characteristic scores are all integrated with the base skill scores - although it can be a bit time consuming in character generation when calculating all the skill scores. The combat system involves 'special effects’, if you strike well, and although I miss pre-calculated Strike Ranks (the game uses a more D&Dish initiative system), I think combat is more interesting because it allows you to build your own style more.

I like both, but Mythras really wants to keep expanding with settings and RuneQuest needs an epic campaign.

Pendragon is still best.....
 
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T Trippy: a shield is a relatively inexpensive slab of wood that can be hacked to pieces and discarded, and you still have a weapon to attack and parry with. It works as part of a shieldwall in big battles, it can hang/defend passively, and it stops missiles.

A decent weapon, possibly enchanted, possibly an heirloom - not so much. If it gets broken in combat, you have a more immediate problem too.

RQ was always the game where this shit matters.
 
T Trippy: a shield is a relatively inexpensive slab of wood that can be hacked to pieces and discarded, and you still have a weapon to attack and parry with. It works as part of a shieldwall in big battles, it can hang/defend passively, and it stops missiles.

A decent weapon, possibly enchanted, possibly an heirloom - not so much. If it gets broken in combat, you have a more immediate problem too.

RQ was always the game where this shit matters.
This is as may be. However, the shift in the rules from RQ2 to RG:G makes the spending of valuable skill points more important than these considerations. Why split your points, say 35% in a Sword to attack and 35% in a Shield to parry, when you can invest 70% in a Sword skill to attack and parry? It used to be the case that you’d have to purchase separate skills in attack and parry, which meant investing in a Shield skill made sense.

Personally, this is where I think Mythras gets it right, where entire styles (like Sword & Shield) are collectively coined into a single skill.
 
When Chaosium stopped working with The Design Mechanism on RuneQuest, the reason cited was ‘creative differences’
If I remember correctly, that was the 2nd or 3rd of different reasons they cited. It is perhaps a good thing for the game that most people don't have the patience to dig up that particular dog's ass.

That said, the new RQG is a beautiful thing if you are, or want to be, into Glorantha. Mythras remains the better game.
 
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Pendragon is still best.....
Hear, hear. Where else can find mechanics for writing mocking poetry or buying unusual dogs by the gross.

My character's name was Sir Cumolocution (he never got to the point). He also got his arse handed to him in Backgammon by Morganna (IIRC). One of the other players had a character called Sir Loin de Boeuf.

And then there where the Monty Python and the Holy Grail quotes. So many Monty Python quotes . . .
I may have been responsible for somequite a fewmost of the Monty Python quotes.
 
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If I remember correctly, that was the 2nd or 3rd of different reasons they cited. It is perhaps a good thing for the game that most people don't have the patience to dig up that particular dog's ass.

That said, the new RQG is a beautiful thing if you are, or want to be, into Glorantha. Mythras remains the better game.
I agree with his opinion, but his facts are correct, too.
 
How willing do you think your players would be to take a bite out of Glorantha?
In my experience, if your players are up to try new things. Just play the game and start slow, Glorantha isn't easy to pitch in a paragraph, but once you get the mythological stuff going, people starting to think twice before combat, and players using rune magic to summon god powers the players will be hooked. The moment players are thinking like bronze age people, and caring more about cattle them gold you will know you hit the nail.
 
This is as may be. However, the shift in the rules from RQ2 to RG:G makes the spending of valuable skill points more important than these considerations. Why split your points, say 35% in a Sword to attack and 35% in a Shield to parry, when you can invest 70% in a Sword skill to attack and parry? It used to be the case that you’d have to purchase separate skills in attack and parry, which meant investing in a Shield skill made sense.

True, a few folk have complained about the effectiveness of shields in RQG, I wonder if that will see any errata? There's also the -20% to each parry after the first with the same weapon though. Shield slows the penalties down, and adds more HP in the way of blows. I'd need to run some numbers.

Any decent leader of an Aldryami or Uz warband will first attack with a wave of screaming runners, trollkin or bugs. Fighting fair is for mugs...

Personally, this is where I think Mythras gets it right, where entire styles (like Sword & Shield) are collectively coined into a single skill.

With you on that.
 
Personally, this is where I think Mythras gets it right, where entire styles (like Sword & Shield) are collectively coined into a single skill.
With you on that.
thirded. It's a really nice tool to evoke a style of character. I have a few styles that I am using for an upcoming game. Very little is different between them, but they strongly evoke their user's image
  1. Street - (Pistol, Shotgun, Dagger, Club, Skirmishing Trait [can run and shoot ranged weapons])
  2. Corp - (Pistol, SMG, Dagger, Club, Ranged Marksman Trait [can shift your location you hit with ranged weapons])
  3. Rural - (Pistol, rifle, knife, club, Trained Beast [get a pet, can use AP to attack with him] or Mounted Combat [Style allows driver to ignore the skill cap placed upon combat rolls by the Ride skill] )
  4. Nomad - (Pistol, rifle, knife, club, Improvised Weapon [can use most any object as a club] or Mechanized Cavalry [Style allows driver to ignore the skill cap placed upon combat rolls by the Drive skill.])
 
Then of course there's the Magic World RPG that Nu Chaosium threw under the bus and drove Ben Monroe to the OSR. From what I understand, there's at least one fully written Magic World book that will never see the light of day.
I thought Chaosium cancelled Magic World because it didn't sell very well.
 
I thought Chaosium cancelled Magic World because it didn't sell very well.
We never really got to see the sales numbers, but there were pointed remarks about wanting to stop making bland, generic games. Magic World was basically the old Elric rules, with the unique setting removed and a fairly standard one put in place. Also, Steve Perrin expressed his own issues that his own Magic World, written as part of Worlds of Adventure wasn’t used for the title.
 
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