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

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I thought Chaosium cancelled Magic World because it didn't sell very well.
It came at the tail end of Chaosium's previous lackluster incarnation and got nothing close to the support it deserved. Ben Monroe did his best but wasn't given much support. Since it's based on Stormbringer/Elric it's still a great game (and not 'bland')... but it's a bit blah to look at (a curse nowadays), and could have done with another look through by an editor.
It's got a basic setting that is meant mostly as an example, but it's actually pretty cool if you read it... humans settled in an ancient fairy land where the fae are returning. It sets up some good hooks for adventure and intrigue. If they had expanded it in further books I'd have been interested. As it is, I think it's a good jumping off point if a GM didn't have some other setting in mind already.

People also give it a hard time about its name, I guess it's too quaint for them, but I'm quite fond of it. It's a good name for a generic fantasy game and harkens back to a previous Chaosium title.

I'm not surprised nu-Chaosium has no interest in it... it's not Glorantha or CoC... it was never going to be the New Hotness. But I'm happy to keep on playing it.
 
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Was the new RuneQuest the one where everyone gets riding beasts? I seem to remember getting a good laugh out of the quickstart for that, then thinking a riding yak was ridiculous and never opening the file again.
 
People also give it a hard time about its name, I guess it's too quaint for them, but I'm quite fond of it. It's a good name for a generic fantasy game and harkens back to a previous Chaosium title.
The name is an issue for two reasons. A) It is bland, and B) it harken’s back to a previous title written by Steve Perrin, but not having anything to do with the work Steve Perrin wrote. He actually went online to complain about this - as he felt both the rules and setting were unfaithful to the title he created as part of the World of Wonders box set. It’s also notable that Steve Perrin is back at Chaosium in some creative capacity, although I can’t remember the role.

His own Magic World was also the basis for the Swedish game, Drakar Och Demoner, which in turn was adapted to the Trudvang Chronicles setting in more recent times.

The Elric! rules, which weren’t quite the same as the original Stormbringer rules either, were actually mainly the work of the late Lynn Willis - which seemed to the editor in chief for Chaosium in the 1990s, I think.
 
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So while we are only sort of on topic, tell me more about the BRP SRD. i heard it was OGL, but not really OGL by the definition that many folks think of it, but I haven’t been following that close at all.
 
The name is an issue for two reasons. A) It is bland
In your opinion... no more objective than mine. To me it harkens to an older flavor of fantasy, less overtly concerned with wars and superheroes.

B) it harken’s back to a previous title written by Steve Perrin, but not having anything to do with the work Steve Perrin wrote.
I'm not sure that anyone knows or cares about that except Steve Perrin.

I think people are grasping when they want to hang the game's lack of attention on its name... vs. Chaosium just not giving it much/any support.

His own Magic World was also the basis for the Swedish game, Drakar Och Demoner, which in turn was adapted to the Trudvang Chronicles setting in more recent times.
That's cool... but... ? There's nothing all that distinctive the original Magic World... it's a move toward D&D with class-like professions and memorization of magic. I'm much happier having it based on Stormbringer/Elric.
 
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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.

No, there was never a spat over the Glorantha IP. The Chaosium team decided to go in a different direction, but it really had nothing at all to do with Glorantha itself. Ancient history now, everything's moved on.
 
In your opinion... no more objective than mine. To me it harkens to an older flavor of fantasy, less overtly concerned with wars and superheroes.

I'm not sure that anyone knows or cares about that except Steve Perrin.

I think people are grasping when they want to hang the game's lack of attention on its name... vs. Chaosium just not giving it much/any support.

That's cool... but... ? There's nothing all that distinctive the original Magic World... it's a move toward D&D with class-like professions and memorization of magic. I'm much happier having it based on Stormbringer/Elric.
You do know that Steve Perrin was the original designer of the RuneQuest system as well as Magic World/Worlds of Adventure, yes? And he went public with his statement on the basicroleplaying.com forums at the time.

It’s a moot point in any case, as Magic World isn’t going to be supported and frankly not that many people actually miss it. I feel Ben Monroe wasn’t treated very well, but beyond that it’s a 'no great loss’ of a game. If it’s a choice between the current version of RuneQuest: Glorantha and Magic World, I know where I’d be investing my time and efforts if I was Chaosium.
 
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You do know that Steve Perrin was the original designer of the RuneQuest system as well as Magic World/Worlds of Adventure, yes?
Of course... but that doesn't mean I care what he thinks about the name getting re-purposed. Did he have plans for it?
I don't seem to have the same reverential attitude toward designers that some people do.

It’s a moot point in any case, as Magic World isn’t going to be supported and frankly not that many people actually miss it.
Relatively few people ever even heard about it, let alone played it... so hard to say they'd miss it or not if they had.

It's a no-brainer to invest limited funds into a game with an established (and voracious) fan base... but that says nothing about Magic World's inherit merits or lack of them.
Meanwhile, I've got no interest in Glorantha... so I cease to be a customer.
 
Of course... but that doesn't mean I care what he thinks about the name getting re-purposed. Did he have plans for it?

Relatively few people ever even heard about it, let alone played it... so hard to say they'd miss it or not if they had.

It's a no-brainer to invest limited funds into a game with an established (and voracious) fan base... but that says nothing about Magic World's inherit merits or lack of them.
Meanwhile, I've got no interest in Glorantha... so I cease to be a customer.
Do you think people care more about your thoughts than Steve Perrin’s?

I’m not sure what plans, if any he has for Magic World, but he is part of the Chaosium staff again, and they might choose, for example, to redevelop the Worlds of Wonder entirely in time. I’d personally find this a lot more interesting than a generic fantasy game based on the old Elric! game minus all the interesting stuff (i.e. Moorecock’s fantasy setting). Who knows? If they can show they can do things like Rivers of London well, maybe Moorecock will let Chaosium do a new version of Stormbringer in time too.

Indeed, had Mongoose ever got the production standards in the art/layout for the Elric of Melniboné setting book right, (for the RuneQuest/proto-Mythras), then the rules and writing were actually stronger and more faithful to the source than Elric! ever was.
 
Mythras: Talislanta?
When does the KS launch?

Officially I'm not doing anything with Talislanta other than running it privately for my crew.*

*But there is something I'm working on obliquely touching on Talislanta.

As far as Mythras: Talislanta... Some thoughts, and these are just my opinions.

1) Talislanta with Mythras as its chassis or not, probably won't get people to play Talislanta more without more people just going out and running Talislanta for the masses publicly. I mean Talislanta: Savage Lands, all biases aside, is imnsho an excellent game, and probably the best rendition of Talislanta to date, especially if it had been capstoned with a modern rendition of Talislanta to go with it using the same designed standards (closer to 2e with a Magic system overhaul). But even with a D&D 5e edition with really novel takes on D&D 5e that alone is probably worth the price of the PDF much less the print edition (assuming POD finally lands soon) - I don't hear very many people running it, or even talking about it, outside myself. Even half-ass forum polls don't get much traction. The system is excellent, the setting is excellent, but for whatever reason... "It's too weird" or "Look! all these Elves in the No-Elf Game!" or reductionist simplistic toss-off phrases that I've heard for years, if 5e D&D isn't going to get Talislanta over that hump, I seriously doubt Mythras would. But if someone were going to do it as a fan project... it wouldn't be me, for Reason #2

2) I'm a Mythras NOOB. I don't pretend to know Mythras other than having read the Quickstart rules (and there is a LOT to like mechanically I could see being used in many other systems). I simply don't feel comfortable (yet) doing conversions to Mythras. But as casual as I am on the system right now, I can see Mythras *VERY* much fits the Talislanta tone for gritty gameplay. It would be a VERY interesting setting on the Mythras chassis.

If I were doing an official Talislanta 6e project - I'd definitely want to do a Savage Worlds edition (which fell through on Talislanta: Savage Lands for reasons) But I wouldn't be the guy to do a Mythras conversion mostly because of my lack of familiarity with the system rather than the setting... but I'm sure if it ever happened there's folks out there who could do it from this forum. Weirder things have happened.
 
mmmmm,Talislanta is all Creative Commons too. That would be rather good.

yeah but not for commercial purpose. But nothing is keeping you from doing your fan-conversion edition!!!
 
But I want the mechanics to be robust enough to scale to level 15+ D&D style gaming if possible.

and I just found cloning, time stop, concoct chimera (merge to creatures together), scry back in time, suspend animation, phasing, make yourself into a lich, and precognition in Monster Island. So... I feel like we are up into that 15+ space.
 
and I just found cloning, time stop, concoct chimera (merge to creatures together), scry back in time, suspend animation, phasing, make yourself into a lich, and precognition. So... I feel like we are up into that 15+ space.
Yeah if you're pulling out those kinds of effects... we're DEFINITELY in that range. I'm pulling the trigger on Mythras core rules. Phase 1 means devouring it and assimilating it. Then Phase 2 is convincing me core-players to try it.
 
Yeah if you're pulling out those kinds of effects... we're DEFINITELY in that range. I'm pulling the trigger on Mythras core rules. Phase 1 means devouring it and assimilating it. Then Phase 2 is convincing me core-players to try it.

you know where to reach any of us if you want to yack, get examples, how we think about it, ask question, all that. we got a discord too for all the youngins!
 
I think Pendragon and the original Stormbringer are my favourite variation of the BRP rules for fantasy, RQG and Mythras both have their strengths but are a bit too crunchy for my tastes but I love the world of Glorantha, the cults and adventures (Griffin Mountain is amazing and I'd love to run or play it one day).

The Mythras books on Rome and Britain are excellent too, I need to get Monster Island one day soon. Lyonesse will be an instabuy once it is released. Just got Luther Arkwright in a quality hardback and looking forward to checking it out.
 
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To push this thread a little further - who here is running/actively runs RQ/Mythras - and what specifically are you running with it?

I'm interested in any "pitfalls" or house-rules you guys n' gals use in your games (and *WHY* you use them)! I'm priming my own pump!!!
 
I think Pendragon and the original Stormbringer are my favourite variation of the BRP rules for fantasy, RQG and Mythras both have their strengths but are a bit too crunchy for my tastes but I love the world of Glorantha, the cults and adventures (Griffin Mountain is amazing and I'd love to run or play it one day).
[ . . . ]
I remembered my mocking poem ...

There was a bold knight called Sir Lancelot
And with the kings wife he did dance a lot.
The lady Guinivere
Said 'I'm happiest dear,
When you're skillfully wielding your lance a lot.'
I just thought of an improvement to it.
 
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Naturally enough, me... :smile:

I've run three or four extensive Mythic Britain campaigns, Lyonesse, and my group has just embarked on a Game of Thrones campaign, which is already shaping up to be pretty epic in scope.

For House Rules, we created characters using the skill pyramid method found in the Mythras Companion, but otherwise will cleave to RAW. We do tend to ramp-up the use of Passions; they bring the game alive, and in a setting like Westeros, extremely important. Hate Lannisters is looking to be a default Passion for all the characters...
 
I've done two Mythras campaigns. One as a GM and another as a player. Have played a few mini-campaigns as well. Settings were Constantinople, Venice, Rome, Mycenaean Greece. I have four settings I'd like to try out that I have written up a good bit about: Biblical Israel (informed more by current archaeology and literary analysis of the Bible), Mayan Empire, Uruk and Medieval Ireland.

Currently running a RQG game.

I don't have house rules for Mythras.

I house ruled RQG to have Mythras combat after a few sessions simply because I find it easier to remember, more intuitive and the players said they preferred Mythras combat.
 
To push this thread a little further - who here is running/actively runs RQ/Mythras - and what specifically are you running with it?

I'm interested in any "pitfalls" or house-rules you guys n' gals use in your games (and *WHY* you use them)! I'm priming my own pump!!!
I'm actively running an RQ1 campaign in Glorantha. They started in Sartar with the Rainbow Caverns from Apple Lane and then the White Wyrm's Lair from White Dwarf and are now on their way to Pavis. The campaign has been a lot of fun, and the remaining original PC from the very first actual play session has become a Wyrm's Friend having helped the White Wyrm get free from his entrapment which has led to some interesting encounters with Dragonnewts.

House rules are mostly minimal, though one major one I use is that anything dealing with skill percentages (previous experience, training cost, learning from experience) is done not counting the Ability bonus. This has led to one downside, an Elf PC rolled REALLY good and has incredible Ability bonuses which combined with previous experience allowed him to qualify for Rune Priest after completing the Rainbow Caverns, and he's pretty close to being a Rune Lord also. Now I am reminded why some time ago I had decided to stop allowing Elf PCs...

Another major house rule is that HP is (SIZ + CON) / 2 + bonus for POW + bonus for SIZ (up to a max of +2). Another house rule is that the "Oratory" Ability becomes Communication and spoken language skill becomes a Communication skill instead of the Knowledge skill. There are a few additional Communication skills. I've also added a few other skills that I had in a set of more extensive house rules.

For a few more that I can think of, there's also running Protection as a Variable Spell as in RQ2 (and Spirit Block from RQ2 is also available, and I use RQ2 for Variable Spell training costs). I also made some modifications to Previous Experience, though mostly in the form of adding a few new options.

My House Rules document: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UaDB0IJo96DzDRSQLL9j4-vQuBiSLs6U3SySHgUUuG8/edit?usp=sharing

The PCs: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rWGIs196VfU-_vbuo2-a0sC7bBNBdcMI0cjw82Oda4Q/edit?usp=sharing

I have loved RuneQuest since I first picked it up in 1978 and am happy to have been able to find players excited about playing it, especially considering how at least based on any web discussion I've found so far, RuneQuest Glorantha has swept the field (well, it's probably left some of the HeroQuest players alone). I've never looked into any version of RQ past RQ3 with any seriousness (though I did buy a lot of the Hero Wars and Hero Quest stuff before realizing I didn't like what the setting had become and how many folks were so invested in setting minutiae. These days I run MY Glorantha, and it's happy to have weapons and armor look more medieval than bronze age, and yes, women can be Orlanthi members with no limitations. And Dragon Rise didn't happen in my campaign, but while there is a Lunar occupation (because I will use the Pavis from the boxed sets), it probably looks way different than the Lunar occupation of canon.
 
Currently running a modified Classic Fantasy game with a decidedly east asian fantasy flavor. The major house rules are listed on the site, but
  • Ward location I modified because of personal preference for shield parry size being a function of active defense and not passive defense. It works fine the other way, but I think it makes more sense this way. It is exactly the same mod that firearms have when interacting with shields because they don't have a Force rating
  • sweep attacks vs rabble - slightly more heroic feel
  • professional skills - just more of a clarification, and to promote diversity of skills
  • rapid reload because it allows for fast drawing of thrown weapons. heroic feel
  • I disliked the multiclass rules in CF, so I heavily modified them. I also allow for any race to play any class
  • movement we fairly radically altered because my people are old and hate change. so it feels more like regular D&D. there also happens to be a missed passage in CF and the tactical movement rules that was present in RQ6 that I find makes things a lot clearer.
  • a pile of house rules/beta rules that we are testing out. the rogue is the big one, since i like Mythras surprise attack more than just raw damage.
  • I totally rewrote much of the classic fantasy monk. largely because the default mysticism doesn't feel like a D&D monk. The new one has a special emphasis on special effects, which gives him a very cool feel. I'm happy with this hack so far.
I have also run a Hyborian Age game back when it was RQ6. for this game, we decided we liked choose location as a critical only effect. We did allow for shifting location by 1 spot on a standard success.

I did a shorter lived classic fantasy game based on Isle of dread. not many house rules here, except I modified experience progression to take out a roll.

I do use Monster Island's reknown as a framework for some things. Connections are a nice reward, and lately I've been exploring using a system somewhat like animism for a bigger emphasis on access to contacts. It would roughly be Influence = Binding and Streetwise = Trance.

I have a Cyberpunk/Shadowrun thing I've been tinkering with for a while.

Small edit - I also play in a couple of online ones - one os sword and Sorcery based in the world of Xoth, and one is Classic fantasy for a playtest.
 
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I was running MRQII/RQ6/Mythras Conan for years. I play it mainly raw with a few changes.
  • I added some skills. I play long term campaigns, and I like more skills to prevent high-level characters from being one of a few set templates.
  • I changed the races and cultures to match The Hyborian Age, incorporating some ideas from Mongoose Conan d20.
  • I added in stuff from MRQII Vikings.
  • I added in the Special Success level from BRP, to give a greater chance of special effects.
  • I made the Power Point regen 1/week. A sorcerer nova’s and it can take months to recover without drugs, sacrifices, power sites, etc.
  • Added magic systems and goodies from the whole Mythras line. Magic in Conan should be weird, strange and alien.
  • Like Howard himself, I see Hyboria as being linked to the Mythos and use a bunch of CoC/RoR stuff.
  • I don’t use Mook Rules or Passions, but do have Corruption and Insanity.
  • I use the combat cards, great way for players to learn the rules.
  • I added some hit locations, for two reasons. First, it makes the combat system slightly less deadly, and second, I can look at any mini and assign it perfect armor values in seconds, no more ”what does a metal forearm bracer and bare bicep mean for arm armor value?”
 
I added in the Special Success level from BRP, to give a greater chance of special effects.
RQG has these as well. When I went over to Mythras combat I retained them. Glorantha is a bit more miss,miss,dead than the default Bronze/Iron Age Mythras setting.
 
What do all the RQ heads think of the BRP big gold book how does it compare to Mythras or the new Chaosium RQ? I have the BGB but haven't really delved into it. Do the newer editions add anything that isn't covered by the BRP rules?

For reference I loved RQ2 but only ever had the (UK) boxed set and we were snot-nosed kids so played it more or less like we played T&T, and D&D so my Glorantha is a very different beast than the one most Glorantha fans would recognise.
 
What do all the RQ heads think of the BRP big gold book how does it compare to Mythras or the new Chaosium RQ? I have the BGB but haven't really delved into it. Do the newer editions add anything that isn't covered by the BRP rules?

For reference I loved RQ2 but only ever had the (UK) boxed set and we were snot-nosed kids so played it more or less like we played T&T, and D&D so my Glorantha is a very different beast than the one most Glorantha fans would recognise.
BRP BGB is just a modular toolkit really that includes multiple systems derived from multiple iterations of D100 games (CoC, RQ, Stormbringer, etc.) and Mythras is to a lesser degree. What RQG offers is a very tightly bound character creation system that really only works with its intended setting (Glorantha), and Mythras offers a lot of refinements/tweaks to the way systems like magic are handled, the way skills are grouped, improved, how opposed skill tests work, etc. I really like the BGB, but it's probably not something I would pull off the shelf to run a game because I know there's a lot of switches I'm going to have to toggle on/off. Instead I prefer to start with a base game that's broadly compatible (Magic World for instance) and then pick and choose certain monographs or sub-systems to season to taste.

The easiest way to compare would be to pick up the free quickstart version of RQG, or Mythras Imperative and see how it compares to the BGB. The biggest differences I can think of off the top of my head are as follows:
  • BGB provides skill categories, and its skills are flat with modifiers derived from various characteristics. Mythras derives all skills from a combination of characteristics (DEX+STR, STRx2, etc.).
  • BGB/Chaosium uses the resistance table (50% +/- 5% per difference in active and resisting characteristic) .Mythras uses opposed tests where the highest degree of success (Crit vs. a normal) or highest non-failing roll wins.
  • Thresholds of success are different. BGB Critical is 5% of skill, Special is 20% of skill, plus normal, failure and fumble. Mythras has 10% of skill as a critical, plus normal success, failure and fumble.
  • Improvement is different. BGB is a learn by doing system, where successes are checked, while Mythras awards a certain number of experience rolls that can be distributed however the player likes (or even stashed for use in purchasing more powerful abilities, etc.)
There's a bunch of other minor differences here and there, but really what makes BRP/D100 so great is that almost all of these games and subsystems can be mixed and matched, tweaked and modified and it will all just work without the whole thing collapsing like a house of cards.
 
Like Loz said, for Mythras definately put an emphasis on Passions and make them central to the game. RQG now does this to good effect with Runes & Passions, but in Mythras they can possibly be read as an afterthought, if you let them - putting them up front and centre is the key.

In many ways Passions can and should define a character just as much as their culture and core attributes do.
I suspect we will see more emphasis placed on them in future editions of Mythras.

Also a good thing to do with any BRP game is to show the characters the damage dice on the weapons list - it is more or less in scale with D&D. Then explain to them that there is no ever- increasing Hit Points like in D&D, and also show them the natural healing rate for HP recovery.
Let them take all that in... :grin:
 
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Like Loz said, for Mythras definately put an emphasis on Passions and make them central to the game. RQG now does this to good effect with Runes & Passions, but in Mythras they can be read as an afterthought, if you let them - putting them up front and centre is the key.

In many ways Passions can and should define a character more than core attributes do.

this is one reason I am looking very hard at doing a Monster Island all lizardman savage campaign. everyone has the same culture, everyone has the same career (mostly, might be a shaman in the mix), same set of skills (some variance). it'll force some character distinctions.
 
RQG has these as well. When I went over to Mythras combat I retained them. Glorantha is a bit more miss,miss,dead than the default Bronze/Iron Age Mythras setting.

For RQG I actually added in the additional Hard Success level (half skill%) from CoC 7E

It was already kinda there for some manuvers, but I wanted it in place to make things quicker in combat.

It works on the same principle at the better success level wins for opposed rolls, but the standard success level is so broad in the classic BRP / RQG that you often get those stalemates in combat rounds. This cuts out about half of those instances, keeping things runninng smoothly.

I have no idea why RQG didn't look to CoC 7E in this regard, it's a big improvement.
 
RQG and Mythras both have their strengths but are a bit too crunchy for my tastes but I love the world of Glorantha, the cults and adventures (Griffin Mountain is amazing and I'd love to run or play it one day).
Did you ever take a look at Heroquest Glorantha? It's the 2nd Ed Heroquest system (much less crunchy, d20 roll under and quite similar to Pendragon) with additional rules for the Glorantha setting. You might enjoy it.
 
this is one reason I am looking very hard at doing a Monster Island all lizardman savage campaign. everyone has the same culture, everyone has the same career (mostly, might be a shaman in the mix), same set of skills (some variance). it'll force some character distinctions.
Yep, that's a great idea to help define characters. The rules for Passions are fine, but shifting the emphasis on making them integral to the character really helps flesh the character out.

In many ways it may be best to create characters by discussing the character concept, then rolling Passions as the first part of the character generation process. Really makes Passions seem much more part of the core character concept this way, rather than something to add later on.
 
RQG and Mythras both have their strengths but are a bit too crunchy for my tastes but I love the world of Glorantha, the cults and adventures (Griffin Mountain is amazing and I'd love to run or play it one day).
I would recommend you take a look at the indie-BRP game, OpenQuest. It is like 'Mythras-Lite', and you could easily use that to play in Glorantha, as conversion wouldn't be too hard.
 
For RQG I actually added in the additional Hard Success level (half skill%) from CoC 7E
Nice idea. I'll do a few little tests to see how it interfaces with the rest of the Mythras combat system.

You could look on RQG combat as Mythras with static initiative, a smaller pool of compulsory special effects, no fatigue and an extra success level. One of the compulsory effects being Damage Weapon (getting a bit more technical also in RQG Weapon AP = Weapon HP).

So looking at the setting through Mythras glasses: Gloranthan heroes fight without tiring, go for the pure and simple damage, quite often inflict tremendously powerful blows (extra success level permits three special effects) and shattering weapons. So more like Heracles than the Achilles of Mythras.
 
Yeah if you're pulling out those kinds of effects... we're DEFINITELY in that range. I'm pulling the trigger on Mythras core rules. Phase 1 means devouring it and assimilating it. Then Phase 2 is convincing me core-players to try it.
I have being playing RQG from time to time, and it was the game I played the most last year, 1 small campaign and 3 one-shots.
At the moment my opinion will be based since RQG has become my favorite game, and I'm in love with the setting, so I prefer not to talk about the ups and downs while I'm under passions and runes influence. I'm in the school of thought that I have to be impartial do break things down clinically.

Personally I prefer personal weapon choice over combat style, but as this thread showed both implementations have their value and depends on what you seek, personal taste, group preferences, etc... just as Séadna Séadna replied earlier in the thread.

This thread also showed the overall flexibility of the BRP family as CRKrueger CRKrueger and Raleel Raleel can attest. Once you get the core concept you see how easy you can build things for you. I will suggest grabbing all the free material you can to grow your toolkit, BRP has a lite version, Mythras has imperative, Classic Fantasy has a intro and there is more stuff you can find. All this just adds up.

I think you are in for good times once you staring running your games.
 
For RQG I actually added in the additional Hard Success level (half skill%) from CoC 7E

It was already kinda there for some manuvers, but I wanted it in place to make things quicker in combat.

It works on the same principle at the better success level wins for opposed rolls, but the standard success level is so broad in the classic BRP / RQG that you often get those stalemates in combat rounds. This cuts out about half of those instances, keeping things runninng smoothly.

I have no idea why RQG didn't look to CoC 7E in this regard, it's a big improvement.
Two reasons.

Firstly the design brief undertaken by RuneQuest: Glorantha was to retain the mechanics of RQ2 as much as was possible. Sure, the Sorcery system was changed and the Rune-based personality factors added, but the designers would argue that these ideas were always under development. And even though some other changes were made here and there, the intent was that the game was meant to feel like the RQ of old.

Secondly, the rules mechanic used in CoC7E isn’t really all that elegant. It requires that half and fifth % scores be calculated and recorded on the character sheet. This increases the maths of the game and, if you’ve seen the RQ:G character sheet, you can see it’s heavy with stats already. Essentially tripling the number of stats on the sheet would make some gamer's eyes glaze over, no matter how much you might argue for its logic.

The mechanical innovation that was introduced, as far as I am aware, in King Arthur Pendragon and then adopted by other systems like Mythras, is to have opposed rolls determined by the 'highest successful roll wins”. That is, so long as your dice roll below the skill score target, then the dice are read and compared to the opponents roll. Whoever is highest, so long as they pass, wins. If somebody fails then obviously they are bust. To me, this is much more elegant, because it requires no calculations or table referencing and is entirely intuitive.
 
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Before I forget.
Yes, definitively use passions, in fact, passions are so good that I recommend using it all the games regardless of the system. The degree of implementation will vary of course. That's probably the best design Greg done, it really bring characters to life and makes them feel "real".
 
Did you ever take a look at Heroquest Glorantha? It's the 2nd Ed Heroquest system (much less crunchy, d20 roll under and quite similar to Pendragon) with additional rules for the Glorantha setting. You might enjoy it.

I have it on my wishlist, I do have HQ2.
 
Currently running a modified Classic Fantasy game with a decidedly east asian fantasy flavor. The major house rules are listed on the site, but
  • Ward location I modified because of personal preference for shield parry size being a function of active defense and not passive defense. It works fine the other way, but I think it makes more sense this way. It is exactly the same mod that firearms have when interacting with shields because they don't have a Force rating
  • sweep attacks vs rabble - slightly more heroic feel
  • professional skills - just more of a clarification, and to promote diversity of skills
  • rapid reload because it allows for fast drawing of thrown weapons. heroic feel
  • I disliked the multiclass rules in CF, so I heavily modified them. I also allow for any race to play any class
  • movement we fairly radically altered because my people are old and hate change. so it feels more like regular D&D. there also happens to be a missed passage in CF and the tactical movement rules that was present in RQ6 that I find makes things a lot clearer.
  • a pile of house rules/beta rules that we are testing out. the rogue is the big one, since i like Mythras surprise attack more than just raw damage.
  • I totally rewrote much of the classic fantasy monk. largely because the default mysticism doesn't feel like a D&D monk. The new one has a special emphasis on special effects, which gives him a very cool feel. I'm happy with this hack so far.
I have also run a Hyborian Age game back when it was RQ6. for this game, we decided we liked choose location as a critical only effect. We did allow for shifting location by 1 spot on a standard success.

I did a shorter lived classic fantasy game based on Isle of dread. not many house rules here, except I modified experience progression to take out a roll.

I do use Monster Island's reknown as a framework for some things. Connections are a nice reward, and lately I've been exploring using a system somewhat like animism for a bigger emphasis on access to contacts. It would roughly be Influence = Binding and Streetwise = Trance.

I have a Cyberpunk/Shadowrun thing I've been tinkering with for a while.

Small edit - I also play in a couple of online ones - one os sword and Sorcery based in the world of Xoth, and one is Classic fantasy for a playtest.

This makes me think of a couple more changes I made.
  • Since I added in Special successes, I made Choose Location a Special if the opponent is aware of the attack.
  • I use the “Shift One Location” like Raleel, but it’s available through Combat Styles, not open to everyone.
 
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