Sell me on Glorantha and RQ:G

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My sense of RQ is a little different, although it's a bit later. I started playing in the mid 80s with RQ3 (my first D&D session was 1983). We did the adventuring and exploring, but also the "meeting other cultures" stuff because it was there in the material. Sure you could kick ass in the Grog Shoppe, Crabtown or the Grubfarm, but the alternatives to fighting were presented (and often more survivable). Same with Cults of Prax and Pavis. Gods of Glorantha (1985) had the "What my father told me" playsheets for different cultures.

We also did the "different religious philosophies" stuff, in the way that only stoned students gaming at 3am can...

By 1995 RQ was moving away from me with its depth and detail. Diamond Dwarfs and Ralzakark belonged to a different game than Runequest, and it's probably no coincidence that Hero Wars was what came out next.

At this point, I'm certainly not going to be bound by what the setting did or was in the first 10% of a lifespan that has included multiple rulesets and setting revisions. Is Star Trek defined only by ToS season 1, or the last season of Discovery? No to both, and with such a huge amount of material the only thing that matters is your headcanon - what interests you and how you want to game that. It shouldn't be a pre-game exam you have to pass before they sell you the book, and I feel RQ:G can feel a little overwhelming - and restrictive - in that regard.

As for the "cultural clothing" thing - I see it as a a bunch of assumptions and cues wrapped up in a shorthand visual description. A Viking warrior, an Orc mercenary and an Aquilonian nobleman are going to interact with you in VERY different ways, even if their stats and equipment are identical. How they enact justice, welcome strangers, call for backup, react to other cultures will lead to radically different adventures - I agree with zanshin zanshin there too, it's an in-game tool.

Of course the GM is then free to mess with those assumptions. Maybe "civilised" noble infighting is dirtier than barbarian cultures with strong rules of hospitality, maybe Praxian nomads are more accepting of people who are "out-laws" from their own cultures but prepared to learn the rules of the desert. Maybe the brutal monsters with tusks who come in the darkness are staunch allies against chaos, and the city nobles and priests are dangerously naive dabblers in cosmic horror.

Another strike against RQ:G is that the new visual cues mean less than previous ones. Celts vs Romans describes a world, a setting and a campaign in a sentence, in a way that, say, "blue Mycenaeans vs moon-worshipping Assyrians" doesn't.
 
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Eh. The Sartarites are still celts as far as I'm concerned. And the Lunars are essentially Rome. I actually like and prefer it that way. At my table, it's my Glorantha and people who think I'm somehow getting it wrong can merrily piss right off.
 
From what I have seen of the fan publications, the old Glorantha fans are sticking with the old cultural associations - Lunars are Romans and Sartarites are Celts. It is pretty clear the fans play around with the setting far more than Chaosium allows itself to:

jc-a-rough-guide-to-glamour-792x1024.png


PS. This looks like Dario Corallo's work to me.
 
From what I have seen of the fan publications, the old Glorantha fans are sticking with the old cultural associations - Lunars are Romans and Sartarites are Celts. It is pretty clear the fans play around with the setting far more than Chaosium allows itself to:

jc-a-rough-guide-to-glamour-792x1024.png


PS. This looks like Dario Corallo's work to me.
If only they’d got him to do the illos for RQ:G.
 
Despite my claims to NOT being a fan of Glorantha I suspect I adopted more of its bits than just the rules. Cults for sure, they're such a great gateway to resources, knowledge/skills, and plot hooks... but also many of the creatures and the whole outlook that everyone/thing is following its own star. The 'monsters' aren't just shooting gallery targets for gaining XP.
The gritty/dangerous combat is another element that pushes the feel of the place (at least the older editions).
If D&D is its own flavor of fantasy, so is Runequest... and it's a flavor I like, even if I completely ignore the specific Gloranthan lore/names/history. Which seemed easy to do with RQ2-3... and RQ6/Mythras.
 
As far as I know, the current portrayal of Glorantha is the result of several projects over the past decade (The Guide To Glorantha, HQG, RQG) having Jeff Richards as lead creative designer, with significant consultation from Greg Stafford before his passing. The current Glorantha is apparently more or less a defining of how Stafford initially saw the setting, and the one that he later returned to in his own writings (Stafford Library).

Richards seems very aware of all the fragmented interpretations of the setting due to all the changes in art direction over the years, and has stated that it was Greg Stafford's wish to see the Glorantha setting more aligned with his personal interpretations.

Having said that, Stafford also seemed quite happy to see people reinterpret his works however they want. From everything I have read, Greg Stafford was more concerned that the mythic content of his stories didn't get lost, rather than people debating over various cultural trappings.

One cannot fault Jeff Richards on pushing forward in a direction that Greg Stafford wanted the setting to be portrayed.
Hearing Richards discuss Glorantha in podcasts and such, he has such an enthusiasm for the setting that no one can deny.

My initial impressions of Glorantha came from RQ2, which was much more ancient world than the artwork that came out from late RQ3 onwards. I just had to jump on board with it all the changing portrayals, even if it didn't feel like what I was reading with my earlier RQ2 books. It wasn’t bad, but it did feel very different from what had initially grabbed me.

After so many years, I was quite surprised to see The Guide To Glorantha present things much more ancient-world flavoured - it was different to what I had remembered, but it was like returning home all the same.

Despite that, I can definately understand why others feel displaced however, as this is pretty much how I had felt earlier on.

I did have some concerns with some of Jeff Richards' decisions, but it certainly wasn't regarding his creative direction of the Glorantha setting.
Although I would prefer a return to a bit more visceral art, rather than too much stylistic art.

My concerns were more to do with the actual game design of the new edition of RQ. I loved earlier editions of RQ, and also like how this current edition is the most realised version of RQ. However the resulting RQG rules feel a bit clunky wibbily wobbly for what I want in a ruleset in this day and age - it almost feels like it is the result of a 1990s rpger's homebrew rules.

If TDM had remained on board then I'm sure the new RQ would have just been a more fined-tuned version of RQ6, heavily intermeshed with the Gloranthan setting. This would have been excellent, hence why I've recently decided to go with RQ6/Mythras for my Gloranthan games in future.

From what I have seen of the fan publications, the old Glorantha fans are sticking with the old cultural associations - Lunars are Romans and Sartarites are Celts. It is pretty clear the fans play around with the setting far more than Chaosium allows itself to:

jc-a-rough-guide-to-glamour-792x1024.png


PS. This looks like Dario Corallo's work to me.
Yeah heh heh, that's a pretty tongue-in-cheek fan book that certainly doesn't take things too seriously.
It's quite a popular title in the Jonstown Compendium line.

The city of Glamour is presented as an analogy of Las Vegas, and the Red Emperor is based on 1970s Elvis.
Yep, Jumpsuit Elvis, heh heh

So it's all a bit gonzo, which is fun.
It's quite a decent publication that hearkens back to the authors homebrews and other previous fan-created material

Jeff Richards has posted that whilst this publication is certainly not canon, he admires the creativity here and to some extent the analogies work - he considers it a great "What If?" book

I think although Richards pushes a consistent intepretation in the official Gloranthan products, he doesn't seem to mind what people do with the non-canon publications, viewing it all healthy creativity

I think he may have even wrote the Forward in this particular title 'A Rough Guide To Glamour', I will check when I get back home later tonight

So I don't think the lines are in the sand as much as some people think

Whatever works at the table I reckon :smile:
 
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While I have not bought much of the fan content from the Johnston Compendium, I appreciate Chaosium's support of that program. It is good that they continue to support the fan community that carried Glorantha through much of the 90s and beyond. I do hope to try out some of the JC adventures if my players ever head to areas well covered by them. And while some of Jeff's output (he posts multiple times a week on Facebook) is over the top delving into things, I appreciate his efforts to better define Sartar and other areas. I look forward to a new map of Dragon Pass when it's finally published.
 
I loved earlier editions of RQ, and also like how this current edition is the most realised version of RQ. However the resulting RQG rules feel a bit clunky wibbily wobbly for what I want in a ruleset in this day and age - it almost feels like it is the result of a 1990s rpger's homebrew rules.

RQG has been in my radar, but having read those same impressions in different places, I almost have decided to pass. It's a shame, since the setting, artwork and publishing line seems very attractive to me.

But, for a BRP/Chaosium fix, I'll put my money and time in Pendragon 6e. Also, I'll be alert of what they do with QuestWorlds Glorantha. I have heard there'll be a rebranding / relaunch of the HQ books.
 
RQG has been in my radar, but having read those same impressions in different places, I almost have decided to pass. It's a shame, since the setting, artwork and publishing line seems very attractive to me.

But, for a BRP/Chaosium fix, I'll put my money and time in Pendragon 6e. Also, I'll be alert of what they do with QuestWorlds Glorantha. I have heard there'll be a rebranding / relaunch of the HQ books.
If you like Glorantha, then the RQG supplemenrs will be well worth getting.
You can easily convert it to RQ6/Mythras and run it quite well, which is a conclusion that many of us are coming to.
 
If you like Glorantha, then the RQG supplemenrs will be well worth getting.
You can easily convert it to RQ6/Mythras and run it quite well, which is a conclusion that many of us are coming to.
Not that I'm going to switch, but I'm curious how you handle Gloranthan magic in Mythras? Do you just use Battle/Spirit Magic and Rune Magic as per RQ, or use some different magic rules?
 
Not that I'm going to switch, but I'm curious how you handle Gloranthan magic in Mythras? Do you just use Battle/Spirit Magic and Rune Magic as per RQ, or use some different magic rules?

It's pretty easy. There is a conversion from RQ6 Folk Magic -> RQ2 Battle Magic, (https://notesfrompavis.blog/2022/04/10/progressive-folk-magic-for-mythras/) and Theism maps directly to Rune Magic. Sorcery in RQ6 is just simply better than RQ3 or RQG sorcery, if that's something you want to use. Hannu of https://notesfrompavis.blog/ has been running a Gloranthan game for over 20 years and currently uses RQ6/Mythras. At the moment his group is down south in Pameltela, using Monster Island as an southern island setting.

There is also the RQ6-in-Glorantha Gencon 2015 preview which includes RQ6 magics for Glorantha, as well as a bestiary.
 
Not that I'm going to switch, but I'm curious how you handle Gloranthan magic in Mythras? Do you just use Battle/Spirit Magic and Rune Magic as per RQ, or use some different magic rules?
Folk Magic in RQ6/Mythras is pretty much Common/Battle/Spirit Magic from the earlier RQ editions. I feel it's more balanced than earlier versions, and it isn't variable now, it all costs 1MP to cast.
It keeps it at the cantrip/utility level (most spells feel like 2MP Spirit Magic spells)

Theism is the Rune/Divine Magic analogy in RQ6/Mythras. It is like the earlier versions of RQ Rune/Divine, but you dont have POW invested. You have a 'Devotional Pool' of pts which need to be recharged at sacred sites, and the amount you can perform before recharge depends on your cult rank. The potentecy of the magic depends up your Devotion trait.

In RQ6/Mythras you have an Exhort skill which is used to cast Theism magic. For Glorantha I will replace the Exhort skill with some Runes, which will be used for casting and shapping the Theism magic (which I will return to calling Rune Magic).
The Devotional Pool will be renamed 'Rune Power'

In this way it will mirror much of how RQG presents Rune Magic

(I have read that TDM authors were intending to do something along these lines when they were initially involved to convert RQ6 to RQG)

That's pretty much how I would handle it
 
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In "Adventures in Glorantha" the Exhort skill is simply replaced by the "Rune Affinity" skill. There is also quite a bit of detail about how Rune Affinities and Devotion can be used by characters. Gods who are strongly associated with certain runes have a wider range of rune spells to call on, so that Kyger Litor would have a large number of spells which have the darkness ⬤ rune associated with them.
 
Hmm, so somewhat of an overhaul of magic...

I guess for myself ultimately I am happy with my RQ1.5 so no real need to look at any other BRP rule set...

Meanwhile, percentile skills and the same basic attribute range mean that creature/NPC stats are 95% portable (I would need to come up with a Defense rating and redo hit points for non-RQ1/2 stat blocks). Magic might be a bit more effort to translate, but for a one-use NPC, it would be easy to wing conversions there.
 
Hmm, so somewhat of an overhaul of magic...

I guess for myself ultimately I am happy with my RQ1.5 so no real need to look at any other BRP rule set...

Meanwhile, percentile skills and the same basic attribute range mean that creature/NPC stats are 95% portable (I would need to come up with a Defense rating and redo hit points for non-RQ1/2 stat blocks). Magic might be a bit more effort to translate, but for a one-use NPC, it would be easy to wing conversions there.

Steady now, it's only been 45+ years, no need to rush things!
 
Yes replacing the Exhort skill with some Rune skills is pretty logical (as well as using those Runes as Passions).

Gven that the origins of RQ6/Mythras is actually RQ, it is a cinch to convert. Any old RQ GM can easily see what to do, and it will be more or less in the same ballpark as what TDM were intending.

They are also old RQ GMs, after all :shade:
 
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Hmm, so somewhat of an overhaul of magic...

I guess for myself ultimately I am happy with my RQ1.5 so no real need to look at any other BRP rule set...

Meanwhile, percentile skills and the same basic attribute range mean that creature/NPC stats are 95% portable (I would need to come up with a Defense rating and redo hit points for non-RQ1/2 stat blocks). Magic might be a bit more effort to translate, but for a one-use NPC, it would be easy to wing conversions there.
RQ6/Mythras = 85/90% compatible RQG
RQ2 = 95% compatible RQG

I don't think you will get all that much benefit from the RQG core book, but I think you might have fun running the adventures books, which would be very easy to do with RQ2, even easier than RQ6/Mythras.
 
If anyone is interested in more details about RQ6 Adventures in Glorantha, send me a PM.
You have my sword :shade:

(Update: This site doesn't let me PM when I access it via my old galaxy phone, so I'll have to PM you via my PC when I get home tonight)
 
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Steady now, it's only been 45+ years, no need to rush things!
Not being in the inner circle, it's only been 44 years for me... :-)

Not only is RQ the only game I've run every decade since 1978, it's also the game that I have used the most stability of rules. Cold Iron comes close, but I feel like I've made more substantial changes to it that my RQ running. D&D is probably the next closest game, but that has been OD&D, AD&D 1e, AD&D 1e + UA, and D&D 3.x over the years with consideration for BX and some pretty radical changes.

Obviously I know what I like...
 
RQ6/Mythras = 85/90% compatible RQG
RQ2 = 95% compatible RQG

I don't think you will get all that much benefit from the RQG core book, but I think you might have fun running the adventures books, which would be very easy to do with RQ2, even easier than RQ6/Mythras.
One day I WILL spring for the RQG core book because I think it DOES have some rules snippets of use to me in there, and may help in better understanding RQG adventures. I do have Mythras courtesy of a sale or something, I just have never actually looked through it much.

And I will eventually purchase more RQG adventures as PCs seek adventure in areas covered by interesting looking adventures.
 
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Eh. The Sartarites are still celts as far as I'm concerned. And the Lunars are essentially Rome. I actually like and prefer it that way. At my table, it's my Glorantha and people who think I'm somehow getting it wrong can merrily piss right off.
And THAT'S how you should approach each and every setting, people.
"I'm the Referee. If I say the Sartarites are Celts, they are. If I say they're Nipponese, they are. The Lore Police can Git Off Ma' Lawn!"
 
Not being in the inner circle, it's only been 44 years for me... :-)

Not only is RQ the only game I've run every decade since 1978, it's also the game that I have used the most stability of rules. Cold Iron comes close, but I feel like I've made more substantial changes to it that my RQ running. D&D is probably the next closest game, but that has been OD&D, AD&D 1e, AD&D 1e + UA, and D&D 3.x over the years with consideration for BX and some pretty radical changes.

Obviously I know what I like...

I will say Mythras has a specific font and size that is " flippin' " hard to read in hard copy, and not that fun even as a PDF - just because I can zoom in using a digital document does not solve readability entirely. More recent books, like Destined, are doing better on that front but there is still a way to go. It is my hope that a new core revised Mythras will be considered - it's not on the cards at the moment.

Mythras tips slightly over the level of complexity that I am comfortable with, but it is pretty close, and easy to pull back a little while keeping what is interesting about the system. Again Destined makes some changes to the core system that are small but tighten things up for the better.
 
I really should take some time to read Mythras...
 
Yeah although I have Mythras, I find RQ6 is the book I reach for
(I have a softcover, a hardcover, and kickstarted the limited edition slipcase hardcover)
I prefer the look of the RQ6 character sheet with the classic RQ Hit Location Figure, but the main reason is that the RQ6 font size is so much easier on the eye!
Mythras font size is a bit too small for my liking, so I usually just read Mythras via my iPad so I can enlarge it if need be.
 
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Yeah although I have Mythras, I find RQ6 is the book I reach for

(I have a softcover, a hardcover, and kickstarted the limited edition slipcase hardcover)

I prefer the look of the RQ6 character sheet with the classic RQ Hit Location Figure, but the main reason is that the RQ6 font size is so much easier on the eye!

Mythras font size f a bit too small for my liking, so I usually just read Mythras via my iPad so I can enlarge it if need be.
Sidebar: Does anyone have any thoughts about Jackals: Bronze Age Fantasy Roleplaying from Osprey?
Where does it fit in the (unofficial) BRP family?
 
Sidebar: Does anyone have any thoughts about Jackals: Bronze Age Fantasy Roleplaying from Osprey?
Where does it fit in the (unofficial) BRP family?
I do have Jackals, but in truth I have not had time to give it the read it deserves.

It's a little digest-sized sturdy hardcover, good artwork, glossy pages, very good production quality
Apparently Osprey originally was going to use BRP (OpenQuest), but Osprey ended up doing it's own thing - so it's not actually BRP.
Having said that, there are lots of analogies, it's very close to BRP - it's percentile based, similar char gen to many BRP games, and I think the Hit Points range and weapon ranges etc may be more or less in the same ballpark - I need to check this however.
At times it feels pretty close to BRP.

Mythic Babylon (for Mythras) kinda took the shine away from Jackals for me, as they are both set during Sumerian times.
Jackals actually looks really good - I must go find it in my library and move it up in my reading list
Thanks for reminding me!

BTW this might be helpful: Gaming Gang review - Jackals
 
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I do have Jackals, but in truth I have not had time to give it the read it deserves.

It's a little digest-sized sturdy hardcover, good artwork, glossy pages, very good production quality
Apparently Osprey originally was going to use BRP (OpenQuest), but Osprey ended up doing it's own thing - so it's not actually BRP.
Having said that, there are lots of analogies, it's very close to BRP - it's percentile based, similar char gen to many BRP games, and I think the Hit Points range and weapon ranges etc may be more or less in the same ballpark - I need to check this however.
At times it feels pretty close to BRP.

Mythic Babylon (for Mythras) kinda took the shine away from Jackals for me, as they are both set during Sumerian times.
Jackals actually looks really good - I must go find it in my library and move it up in my reading list
Thanks for reminding me!

BTW this might be helpful: Gaming Gang review - Jackals

Jackals is based on the OpenQuest and Legend rules, under the OGL. It's not "BRP" in the sense of Chaosium's BRP as it is now. It uses a bit of a strange action economy using "clash points", it also has two different health meters. So there is quite a lot that is different about it. It doesn't work quite like BRP but the resemblance is still there. Although it is sort-of Bronze age in feel, it does not represent any real time periods or places in a mythic-historical way, it's definitely a fantasy of its own kind.
 
I went off Glorantha when Cults of Prax came out and people started calling elves and dwarfs and ducks by made-up names.
So you mean you went off Glorantha when RuneQuest was first published? Because elves were always called Aldryami.
 
Sidebar: Does anyone have any thoughts about Jackals: Bronze Age Fantasy Roleplaying from Osprey?
Where does it fit in the (unofficial) BRP family?
We discussed Jackals on the BRP thread in December 2021.

Opinions were mixed.

The three things I liked were:

1. The very clear presentation of monsters.
2. Combat routines.
3. The limited, ritualistic magic.

The thing that I liked less was the OpenQuest/Mythras mash-up.
 
Pretty much, though people only started getting annoying about it after CoP.
My original vision of Gloranthan Elves and Dwarves was very classic High Fantasy, so this was a bit jarring for me as well
Actually I had to get used to seeing them written as Elfs and Dwarfs, such was Tolkien's impact on me.
Given that the original pics of Elves in the RQ2 core book were of classic high fantasy elves, then it's not surprising.

The more I eventually learnt about the Elder Races of Glorantha, I realised they were much more akin to the alien races in Star Trek or Barsoom, perhaps even more inhuman than them.

These days it’s not an issue for me. If I want High Fantasy Races I can easily get that from Middle Earth or Forgotten Realms

For Glorantha, with my players I now predominantly use the actual Elder Races names of Aldryami, Mostali, Uzko, etc; just to highlight their inhumanity, and not to get them confused with any of the classic fantasy tropes. The only time the terms 'Elfs', 'Dwarfs', or 'Trolls' get raised in-setting is when humans are using them as derogatory slang references.
 
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BTW, for a sense of the setting of Glorantha, perhaps the closest thing I have seen in cinema is HBO ROME.

Then throw in some higher-end epic stuff from Baahubali and 300: Rise Of A Empire. Also lots of scenes from Game of Thrones, especially the Eastern Continent, Essos, Dothraki, etc

So that's sort of in the ballpark when it comes getting a feel for the more epic side of the setting, which can be as upfront as you want or only a background canvas.










What's that second link, it's showing as a dead link on your post. Great posts btw and awesome video examples for the rest.
 
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