From: owner-rq-rules-digest To: rq-rules-digest@hops.wharton.upenn.edu Subject: RQ Rules Digest: V1 #65 Reply-To: rq-rules Errors-To: owner-rq-rules-digest Precedence: bulk Content-Return: Prohibited Return-Path: owner-rq-rules-digest RQ Rules Digest: Saturday, 4 February 1995 Volume 01 : Number 065 RULES OF THE ROAD 1. Do not include large sections of a message in your reply. Especially not to say "Yeah, I agree." Those who do will be lynched. 2. Use an appropriate Subject line. RQR: will be prepended to it. 3. Do not engage in a point-by-point analysis or rebuttal of another person's message. It is too confusing for others to follow, qualifies as nit-picking, and it usually leads to flame wars. 4. There is no number 4. TABLE OF CONTENTS Loren Miller RQR: Sandi's sorcery rules Loren Miller RQR: Dump roll for divine... Loren Miller RQR: Comments and Horse Questions NDROBINS@NDROBINS.FIN.GOV.BC RQR: Level of Complexity SPerrin@aol.com RQR: Strike Ranks Kirsten Jacobus RQR: A "RuneQuest" computer game Kirsten Jacobus RQR: The roll for Divine Magic Kirsten Jacobus RQR: Plans Mark R. Hansen RQR: RQ3: pages keep falling out Chris Cooke RQR: RQ3: pages keep falling out Gregory C. Walsh RQR: RQ computer game Mike Cule RQR: RQ Rules Digest: V1 #61 JOVANOVIC@CUCCFA.CCC.COLUMBI RQR: RuneQuest update SPerrin@aol.com RQR: A "RuneQuest" comput... Steven E Barnes RQR: A "RuneQuest" comput... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Loren Miller" Date: Fri, 3 Feb 1995 13:02:43 EST Subject: RQR: Sandi's sorcery rules I don't remember them either, and I'm as tied into the net as anybody. Anyone want to ask Sandi to send them out to this list? - -- +++++++++++++++++++++++23 Loren Miller LOREN@marketing.wharton.upenn.edu Life at the water's edge is the real life for men and women ------------------------------ From: "Loren Miller" Date: Fri, 3 Feb 1995 13:07:28 EST Subject: Re: RQR: Dump roll for divine... Not only do I dislike rolling dice to see if your divine spell went off, I also dislike the way the dice rolling mechanic works in spirit magic and sorcery. I preferred the RQ2 rules for battle magic to rolling against POWx5 to see if your spirit magic spells worked, and I would get rid of all skill rolls for casting magic. Instead, since the real function of those skill rolls is to make magic casting take several rounds, I'd increase the casting time for large spells. - -- +++++++++++++++++++++++23 Loren Miller LOREN@marketing.wharton.upenn.edu Life at the water's edge is the real life for men and women ------------------------------ From: "Loren Miller" Date: Fri, 3 Feb 1995 13:10:16 EST Subject: Re: RQR: Comments and Horse Questions Greg, want to elaborate here and repost the rules you came up with for horses? even though my campaigns are not as horse-centric as yours is i think that such rules could easily be generalized to cover other problematic areas of the rules (such as encumbrance and maneuver). - -- +++++++++++++++++++++++23 Loren Miller LOREN@marketing.wharton.upenn.edu Life at the water's edge is the real life for men and women ------------------------------ From: NDROBINS@NDROBINS.FIN.GOV.BC.CA Date: Fri, 3 Feb 95 10:13:50 PST Subject: RQR: Level of Complexity Neil Robinson here (a lurker reporting in). The discussion about strike ranks always brings me back to the basic concepts of what the rules should do, IMHO: maximize realism and minimize complexity Of course, playing an epic game may give you a different concept of realism, but that's ok. Any rules that don't follow that basic principle I tend to ignore. The rules must be able to support a number of different styles. In my game we have a diverse group of players. I come from the wargaming->D&D (powergaming)->RQ style, and don't really have a problem with complex sets of rules (maybe that's why I'm a programmer/analyst). Other players, often female, are coming directly into role-playing and really don't give a damn about the rules. They want to listen to the neat mythical stories and have their characters lead interesting lives. How do you have the rules hand both types? I have a simple solution. I start with all the rules, and depending on who is playing, I ignore a certain number of them. Things like fatigue and strike ranks fall to the wayside unless I have players that are really interested in it. I just use my limited experience to keep track of when characters get tired and who gets to strike first. Of course, this type of system is pretty useless to a beginning GM, who tend to try all the rules first, and often end up going mad. Present a basic system, maybe based on dex, and add weapon speed and the like as needed. Just my $2.99 (Canadian) worth ($0.02 for you Americans). Neil _______________________________________________________________ Neil Robinson NDROBINS@NDROBINS.FIN.GOV.BC.CA ------------------------------ From: SPerrin@aol.com Date: Fri, 3 Feb 1995 13:28:40 -0500 Subject: Re: RQR: Re: Strike Ranks Guy Robinson says, >One of the problems is that we never saw the revised RQ:AiG >version that benefited from our playtesting feedback. I was told that >it existed but the project stalled before it was dispatched. I'm told that the "final" compilation (of the previous playtest results) is now under way. People should keep in mind that everything I have said about the progress of the project is still _tenative_. There have been a lot of "that sounds good" discussions, but nothing in writing. Considering how things got delayed before, no one should assume that a new set of rules with a separate Glorantha book is actually going to happen until you get a more definitive word. Keep thinking, Steve Perrin ------------------------------ From: jacobus@sonata.cc.purdue.edu (Kirsten Jacobus) Date: Fri, 3 Feb 95 13:33:02 -0500 Subject: RQR: A "RuneQuest" computer game By a "RuneQuest" computer game, I presume you mean a GLORANTHA computer game using RuneQuest-like mechanics, right? ------------------------------ From: jacobus@sonata.cc.purdue.edu (Kirsten Jacobus) Date: Fri, 3 Feb 95 13:40:22 -0500 Subject: RQR: The roll for Divine Magic The way I handle the roll for Divine Magic is that if it's a 96-99, the effect goes off, but at the end of the round (you're momentarily distracted from your prayer by conditions). On a 00, try again next round. You still have the spell, un-cast. ------------------------------ From: jacobus@sonata.cc.purdue.edu (Kirsten Jacobus) Date: Fri, 3 Feb 95 13:49:23 -0500 Subject: RQR: Plans >People should keep in mind that everything I have said about the progress of >the project is still _tenative_. There have been a lot of "that sounds good" >discussions, but nothing in writing. Considering how things got delayed Uh, okay... We know what THAT means, don't we folks? Anybody remember when GenCon was the target release date for RQ4? ...GenCon '94, that is. ------------------------------ From: "Mark R. Hansen" Date: Fri, 03 Feb 1995 13:09:09 -0500 (CDT) Subject: RQR: RQ3: pages keep falling out Hi, Thanks Guy for putting into words several of the things that attract me to RQ that go beyond Glorantha. I kind of had a feel for them but had been unable to articulate them well. I think your understanding of the RQ bottleneck is also astute. However.... The main reason I write is to find out if anyone has a problem similar to one that my group is having. As I may have mentioned, we are a fledgling group. Our enthusiasm for RQ is great but is also being greatly dampened by the quality of glue in the bindings of our rulebooks. Every member's rulebook has the pages falling out and we've only played 3-4 times. Does anybody else have this problem? Does anyone know if AH has approached their printer about this quality problem? Does anyone know if AH has a solution for customers like me? Please note, getting a new rulebook (while being a noble attempt at satisfying the customer) isn't a solution if its pages fall out too. - -Mark ------------------------------ From: Chris Cooke Date: Fri, 3 Feb 95 14:36:35 EST Subject: Re: RQR: RQ3: pages keep falling out : quality of glue in the bindings of our rulebooks. Every member's rulebook has : the pages falling out and we've only played 3-4 times. : : Does anybody else have this problem? Does anyone know if AH has approached I posted on this just after the new book came out. The current count for my group is 8 copies and only 1 ONE!!! has NOT had MANY pages fall out. He is being EXTREMLY carful. :-( I know one of my group called AH (we are in the same city even) and he got blown off. maybe someone else will have better luck. I don't know about the rest of the people on this list but my group would love any info you can pass along... - -- /> Chris Cooke // cookec@io.com (//////[O]>====================================- - OR - \\ cookec@mml.mmc.com \> Too much of a good thing is WONDERFUL! ------------------------------ From: "Gregory C. Walsh" Date: Fri, 3 Feb 1995 14:45:55 -0500 Subject: RQR: RQ computer game In reply, actually, I am working on one. I figure it is a good way to learn the Windows API, being a Unix and X windows C hack myself. What I am making isnt exactly a game, more like a GM assist. Being a GM myself, and liking RPG's far more than straight computer games. The trick is having the right GUI, so it actually saves time for the GM as opposed to slowing him/her down. The idea is to have a laptop computer at the game (I have an IBM clone laptop), and it helps me keep track of the, say, 15 or so bad guys and perhaps the NPC's as well. It will do rolling for me, calculate SR, and so forth. It will prompt me to roll if one manual control. Main problem is damage from players. All I got is a dialog box that you can pop up; click on location, type it in. Slow, too slow. Cheers, Greg (I call it the GM's BM. Battle Manager. Pretty dismal so far.) ------------------------------ From: Mike Cule Date: Fri, 03 Feb 1995 11:14:43 GMT Subject: RQR: Re: RQ Rules Digest: V1 #61 I forget who said it but someone remarked that 'who strikes first in a combat rarely makes any difference'. Hah! To paraphrase Mr Mickawber: SIZ 13 DEX 13 Armed with a spear. Result happiness! SIZ 13 DEX 13 Armed with a kitchen knife. Result misery! Or if that's too literary for you, you can't strike back at your enemy if you're already dead. - -- Mike Cule ------------------------------ From: JOVANOVIC@CUCCFA.CCC.COLUMBIA.EDU Date: Fri, 3 Feb 1995 15:50:00 -0500 (EST) Subject: RQR: RuneQuest update Hello again. My electronic presence has been fairly limited over the last months because I was asked by both Chaosium Inc. and Avalon Hill to refrain from making posts or comments until they resolved their differences regarding a new edition of RuneQuest. Those differences have been resolved by an agreement in which a new edition of the rules would be produced as two books instead of one. The first book will simply be called "RuneQuest", and will be the new edition of the RuneQuest rules. The second book will be called "Adventures in Glorantha", and will consist of Glorantha specific background, character generation and other material. This approach will allow us to present more material than we originally planned, but will also take more time and effort than we originally anticipated, so we have to ask your patience. We have gotten a great deal of very helpful playtest feedback, but it will take us a while to do as good a job as possible incorporating it. Please understand that the sheer volume of feedback makes it very difficult to respond to the comments personally, but we are committed to reviewing all of the comments we have received, and doing the best we can to address them in the final rules. Steve Perrin should be joining us as the editor of Adventures in Glorantha, pending final approval from Avalon Hill. He would be editing the Adventures in Glorantha manuscript and acting as a liaison to Greg Stafford. The work involved in these two projects will keep me fairly busy, so my online presence is going to remain limited, but I will continue to track and read the RuneQuest Rules Digest and my mail, though my rate of response will unfortunately be slow to nonexistent. I hope this addresses some of the concerns that have been brought up. Yours truly, Oliver Jovanovic ------------------------------ From: SPerrin@aol.com Date: Fri, 3 Feb 1995 17:44:03 -0500 Subject: Re: RQR: A "RuneQuest" comput... Kirsten Jacobus asks: "By a "RuneQuest" computer game, I presume you mean a GLORANTHA computer game using RuneQuest-like mechanics, right?" No, not at all necessarily. After all, the rights to a RuneQuest computer game are held by Avalon Hill, but a RuneQuest-like Glorantha game would essentially be held by both AH and Chaosium. Licensing from one site is much more logical. At some point, there could actually be a RuneQuest computer game and a Glorantha computer game (perhaps called Dragon Pass or something else appropriate and dynamic), each from a different company and each using different game systems (perhaps based on BRP or Pendragon for the Glorantha game). All of this is entirely speculative. I have been told that Avalon Hill is not adamant about doing a RuneQuest computer game themselves, but this is hearsay from a semi-authoritative source, not from Avalon Hill. And I know that Greg has been trying to entice some computer game company to do a Dragon Pass game for years because I keep seeing him pushing it over the years at various Computer Game Developers Conferences. The usual reaction is "why should I pay you a licensing fee for a neat world when it isn't all that popular (by computer game publishing standards) and I'd make as much money designing a new fantasy world inhouse that I would have complete control over?" Similarly, the people who are interested in doing a RuneQuest game are not at all sure the licensing fees are worth the price. - --Steve Perrin ------------------------------ From: akuma@netcom.com (Steven E Barnes) Date: Fri, 3 Feb 1995 16:36:55 -0800 Subject: Re: RQR: A "RuneQuest" comput... Steve Perrin writes: > All of this is entirely speculative. I have been told that Avalon Hill is >not adamant about doing a RuneQuest computer game themselves, but this is >hearsay from a semi-authoritative source, not from Avalon Hill. And I know >that Greg has been trying to entice some computer game company to do a Dragon >Pass game for years because I keep seeing him pushing it over the years at >various Computer Game Developers Conferences. At RQ Con, Greg indicated that a Dragon Pass game was under development. - -steve ------------------------------ End of RQ Rules Digest: V1 #65 ****************************** This is the bottom of the RuneQuest Rules Digest. 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