From: owner-rq-rules-digest To: rq-rules-digest@hops.wharton.upenn.edu Subject: RQ Rules Digest: V2 #71 Reply-To: rq-rules Errors-To: owner-rq-rules-digest Precedence: bulk Content-Return: Prohibited Return-Path: owner-rq-rules-digest RQ Rules Digest: Friday, 15 September 1995 Volume 02 : Number 071 TABLE OF CONTENTS Steve Lieb Alternate Settings for RQ John R. Snead RQ Tekumel? Havard Kristoffersen Alt. settings, Fantasy Earth Frederic J Moulin Alternate Settings for RQ Jake Meredith Alternate settings... Sandy Petersen Monster/NPC trick Gregory C. Walsh Alternate Worlds ANDOVER@delphi.com Monster/NPC trick Gregory C. Walsh Horse combat example Loren Miller (Fwd) Spells description Sandy Petersen Holy hopping Humakti Loren Miller testing rehacked aliases file RULES OF THE ROAD 1. Do not include large sections of a message in your reply. Especially not to add "Yeah, I agree" or "No, I disagree." Or be excoriated. If someone writes something good and you want to say "good show" please do. But don't include the whole message you praise. 2. Use an appropriate Subject line. 3. Learn the art of paraphrasing: Don't just quote and comment on a point-by-point basis. When paraphrasing you demonstrate exactly how well you understand the point someone was trying to make. 4. There is no number 4. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: liebx004@maroon.tc.umn.edu (Steve Lieb) Date: Wed, 13 Sep 95 23:51:05 -0500 Subject: Re: Alternate Settings for RQ My main favorite world to run is alternate Earth . . . I basically hacked the Euro continent into an RQ world thusly: take a map of europe, and eliminate just about every city <50,000 people. Civilized areas: Italy, parts of spain, northern france/gaul, northern germany, england, Byzantium, egypt Not so civilzed: Scandanavia, Scotland, ireland, Brittany (magical) south central france, most spanish highlands, most everything east of the iron gates with a great dark forest stretching from geneva (covering switz) all over the alps/south germany/austria, bohemia, silesia, moravia, and down thru austria to illyria. cities remaining are walled, and even in civilized areas, most people don't spend too much time out in the dark. nope, no explanations to my players as to why earth is like this. it just is. (some read this list :) ) sorcerors guild based, very organized with some rebels. BIG guild in byzantium. another big one in alexandria. catholicism, islam, nature worship, norse, nomad religions, druidism are main religions, ranked roughly in order of prevalence, although druidism is VERY powerful in certain areas, for example. some trade routes thru the wilderness exist, venetia/vienna/munchen/augsburg/frankfurt, for example, but this one is especially risky, as the alps hold dragons. i have a ton of info, settings, encounters, and full-blown scenarios. let me know. one scenario hook for two players playing byzantine ex-soldiers. they were contracted to the byzantine army to provide service as scouts along the black sea (near where varna would be) where they encountered a group of people who grabbed one of the two long-term NPCs and threatened the others to flee. They pretended to leave, and on further investigation, found that the NPC was to be sacrificed to the peacock angel, (a religious appeasement to the devil by god fearing people - a real cult!)... Well, some sneaking about, some sword waving, and a memorable charge on horseback later, the NPC was rescued, and the PCs had a new job - finding the remians -and origin - of this cult. Steve Lieb Cologne, MN (liebx004@maroon.tc.umn.edu) "To drive your enemies before you; to hear the wailing of their women; to know your O/S is dominant in the marketplace; THAT is the true taste of victory!." - -Ghengis Bill, Microkhan ------------------------------ From: "John R. Snead" Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 02:11:29 -0700 (PDT) Subject: RQ Tekumel? Someone mentioned Sandy's RQ Tekumel rules. Where is this wondrous compendium of lore. If it's on the net I most appreciate someone giving me the address. Thanks - -John jsnead@netcom.com ------------------------------ From: Havard.Kristoffersen@nrk.no (Havard Kristoffersen) Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 12:50:39 -0500 Subject: Re: Alt. settings, Fantasy Earth > May they endure whatever curses are provided in the sacred canons and the >apostolic decrees for homicide and sacrilege...And so as these lights thrown >from our hands are extinguished today, so may their lights be extinguished in >eternity." > >If that ain't magic -- divine or otherwise -- then what is? Perhaps a real advanced form of cursing and swearing ? *smile*.... I supposed it worked since you call it magic... Havard Hoyaas Kristoffersen Havard@NRK.no NRK - TEDB Tel: Bj. Bjornsons Plass 1 Work: +47 22 45 87 82 N-0340 OSLO Home: +47 22 67 92 00 ------------------------------ From: "Frederic J Moulin" Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 09:40:44 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: Alternate Settings for RQ > Mark) that a Fantasy Europe/Earth is "stifling"; I do not. The real > histories, cultures, religions, etc. of our world are unimaginably rich and > complex; real human cultures exhibit world-views and patterns of behavior > more unusual and striking (from a 20th c. Euro-American viewpoint) than the > vast majority of alien or non-human races in science-fiction or fantasy > literature (or games). The real world is a very rich resource to draw on > in creating a campaign; indeed, as Loren has argued lately on the Glorantha > digest, even much of Glorantha is, perforce, based on Earth. I could say > more on this topic, but have probably already said too much. Talking about totally different RQ setting, a few years ago (probably 10 actually), we adapted the RQ rules to play Space Opera. Maybe the really old gamers on the list remember the grand-father of every Sci-Fi games. It worked wonderfully, all the players were good RQ players and could get the system working really quick. I must still have archives of that somewhere if somebody is interested, but I am afraid they are in French. The magic system became Psionic, with POW as the mark of your PSI strenght. The Space Op. player creation table, that takes in account the size, atmosphere, gravity... of the home planete of the PCs is a Blast. We never used the other races of Space Op., finding them goofy and way to much anthropomorphic. This is just to say that you don't have to limite yourself to a medieval-type setting: Your imagination is the limite!! frederic ------------------------------ From: Jake Meredith Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 10:00:33 -0600 (MDT) Subject: Alternate settings... I have happily used rq rules for a western game (WestQuest) with iaiajitsu being used for fast draws and very little magic (what there was was mostly ritualistic and/or shamanic). I have also run TrekQuest, where magic was explained as psionics, and magic was either nonexistant or limited to certain racial patterns. Phasors could do fatigue damage on stun, HP damage on kill, and _SIZ_ damage on disintegrate! However my usual rq game is set in a fantasy world of my own design. It has been my experience that rq works in just about any game world that would be consistent with combat being deadly, and magic being not terribly powerful. btw those interested in modern or near modern rq ought to examine CoC, Cthulhu Now, and (for 1860's games) Fatal Experiments. Ringworld might have some good far future stuff, but I wouldn't know, having never seen it. :( *---------------*------------------------------------------------* | Jake Meredith | All day and night I hunger for truth, | | jake@spy.org | but in the morning I hunger for breakfast. | *---------------*------------------------------------------------* ------------------------------ From: Sandy Petersen Date: Thu, 14 Sep 95 12:04:16 -0500 Subject: Re: Monster/NPC trick >For a scenario I have in mind, I need a 'monster' or an NPC trick or >spell which can influence the behaviour of elves, much the same as a >lamia can influence humans. Can a lamia charm an elf (or any other >non-human species, come to that)? I personally picture humans as about the randiest of all common intelligent species in Runequest (broos and satyrs might have us beat, but not by far). Sex is, to my way of thinking, less important to elves, trolls, etc. Though still nice. However, I see no reason that a lamia or succubus could not work its wiles on any species that cared for sex at all. It might take the beasty an extra hour or two to work over an elf, but she'd get there in the end. ------------------------------ From: "Gregory C. Walsh" Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 13:28:35 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Alternate Worlds I employ an alternate world of my own design. As soon as I get out from under this work load at work, I will post some details if people are interested, probably to the world design list. In any case, the world is a near earth equivalent. The region of main interest is geographically similar to the Caspian sea, mushed in with the Black sea. To the east there is steppe/dessert, then the inland sea, then forest lands to the west. There are mountains along the southern edge. I had posted earlier on horse rules, because most characters are steppe nomads. I am fairly happy with the rough set I use now, mainly because the fights are fun, though fast. I try to keep the rules as vanilla as I can, and concentrate on other details. I have removed the sorcery rules and inserted a mixture of Sandy's rules and the Vessel system (Rielly, I think, but I have the reference with the rules). I think, but I have the reference with the rules). I play fatigue rules, because it forces specialization and in particular cooperation among the players. Although I do admitt not starting players with fatigue rules -- my new new players are almost always D&Der people. It is too much all at once. Anyhow, I have decided to post one good mounted combat using the rules I have. But I will do that in a seperate message. GReg ------------------------------ From: ANDOVER@delphi.com Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 13:51:36 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Monster/NPC trick The obvious thing for elves is being dominated by some evil form of plant life, perhaps something like the evil plant monster Naghreb in Runequest Adventures. Jim Chapin ------------------------------ From: "Gregory C. Walsh" Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 14:14:33 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Horse combat example Situation: I pretty much thought the characters were dead meat. Two player characters (mounted warriors), one NPC boy of no particular value, also mounted. They have one prisoner they just freed over the back of player 1's horse, so that horse is slow. Warrior 1 is "Groul", human, maybe 17 or 18 years old. Warrior 2 is "Matare", old at about 20. Prisoner is 23, "Roan", NPC. They are hastily retreating from a surprised enemy camp. MANY warriors. The should have NEVER gone in. That is another thing altogether. Matare, unloaded, is rear gaurd. The boy rides ahead. And in the middle is Groul with Roan thrown over like a sack of potatoes. Hopeless. But, if you calculate how fast a horse moves, and put the effective range of these bows (when not firing into massed targets) at 100 M (considering isolated, moving targets), then there is only 1 MR for the non-mounted archers to fire. Horses, even loaded down, move pretty fast. Still they got 9 arrows shot at them. (7 warriors ready, two were fast). 6 concentrated on Matare, 3 or Groul. Hit rates were pretty good, considering. 1 impale on Matare, 2 hits, all misses on Groul though one miss hit Roan. No horses were targeted, none got hit. They like to keep the horses, worth something. Anyhow, I would type at this level of detail, showing how each of my rules came into use, but it would bore people to tears. It was a fiasco, anyow. Matare pulled out the arrow (amazed I got an impale, since my chance to hit was 50% - 20% = 30%). Essentially I allow mobility as an action (one of the two). So, for example, you can ride/shoot, ride/ride, or shoot/shoot, whatever. If you don't concentrate on riding, then the horse moves as you direct it, but not super fast. It is analogous to not spending actions with movement in combat (3 meters/sr). Riding (and making the roll) as an action adds to the distance you move, since you are guiding the horse and all that. So these players opted to ride/action, generally. Once the pursuers caught up they did too, taking shots at the players. Range is 1/2 while riding. Rather large minuses. In a few melee rounds the pursuers (about 500 meters from the camp) switched tactics, and concetrated fire on the un-Protected horses. It took them two melee rounds to take down the double loaded horse (which had Mobility on it to compensate). They killed the horse and sent the two riders for 3d6 (full gallop) spills. The prisoner broke his leg but the player survived intact thanks to making his Luck roll (powx5) so armor counted. They were about 3/4 kilometer from the camp and not it view when the spill took place. I gave them 3 minutes before reinforcements from the camp arrived. The camp had some other serious problems. Perhaps I was being generous. Anyhow, they beat off the enemies, kill one, hurting the others, and took one horse, retreated and got away. Well, that is my war story. I just hope I have not posted this before. Greg ------------------------------ From: "Loren Miller" Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 15:01:50 EST Subject: (Fwd) Spells description I received this question, and there's no mention of the spells he mentioned in my Carmania homepage. Anybody know where he can find the spell descriptions? My stuff is at home and I'm at work. Thanks, Loren - ------- Forwarded Message Follows ------- Subject: Spells description To: loren@hops.wharton.upenn.edu Date: Thu, 14 Sep 1995 11:21:01 -0400 (EDT) From: "Frederic J Moulin" Dear loren, I need the description of a few spells dating from before my introduction to RQ. These spells are all Divine magic, and I found them mentionned in your Carmania campaign homepage. Yelm: Courage, Shield of fire, Curse Vampire. Dendara: Marriage Oath, Household harmony. Peloria: Preserve food, Ward vermin. Chalana A.: Calm Berserker Also how do you play the divine "Command Specie" spells. Thanks a lot Frederic - -- +++++++++++++++++++++++23 Loren Miller Life at the water's edge is the real life for men and women, and penguins ------------------------------ From: Sandy Petersen Date: Thu, 14 Sep 95 14:12:21 -0500 Subject: Re: Holy hopping Humakti Me >If the character sincerely believes that a tactical retreat >is honorable, and if he can convince _me_ that he so believes, then >sure, I'll let Humakt DI their asses out of trouble. I'm just more >stringent about it than if they were Issaries or Lhankor Mhy >cultists. David Cake >>Oh. >>So maybe I do agree with you then, as that is pretty much my view >>as well. So who was it that I did disagree with? I am sure there >>was someone. David >>Are you trapped by the cave in and going to die from lack of air? I >>wouldn't say that not wanting to die is necessarily cowardly. Me >Holy hopping Humakti, David, of course I'd let Humakt >rescue you in a second from a natural disaster like that. David >>Well, fair enough then. We obviously don't disagree then. So who >>was it that I did disagree with? I'm sure it was me. I think the point we differ on is where the dividing line is that Humakt rescues you. You are more liberal on this point than I. You stated that if a Humakti was surrounded by evil soul-sucking undead and was certain to be killed, you'd let him DI out of there, and take his pals along. I probably wouldn't, though I'd let him DI a pal out. Of course, I temper my harsh doctrine with the fact that any Sword surrounded by soul-sucking undead in my campaign has already been given at least three chances to evade the danger (and I don't mean by running away). And I do believe that Humakt doesn't care whether his worshipers die or not. Why? Because _all_ his worshipers die. He's noticed that over time. So what the hell does it matter _when_ they die? He doesn't really grok this "Time" thing anyway. Humakt is inured to losing worshipers because just about every single worshiper he's got is going to be dead in a hundred years. So screw it. Plus he's a death god, so go figure. David Cake listed his house rules for teaching AD&Ders about RQ. Great house rules, Dave. I've copied them to use in my own introductory campaigns. (Well, I may not use your rules descriptions, as I've already written my own, but the philosophical stuff about teh difference between RQ & D*D was stupendous!) ------------------------------ From: Loren Miller Date: Fri, 15 Sep 1995 04:25:42 -0400 (EDT) Subject: testing rehacked aliases file Testing the rehacked aliases file, lost in an upgrade. - -- +++++++++++++++++++++++23 Loren Miller Working my butt off and wishing I had the time and the equipment to sit down. ------------------------------ End of RQ Rules Digest: V2 #71 ****************************** This is the bottom of the RuneQuest Rules Digest. RuneQuest is a trademark of Avalon Hill, and Glorantha is a trademark of Chaosium. With the exception of previously copyrighted material, unless specified otherwise all text in this digest is copyright by the author or authors, with rights granted to copy for personal use, to excerpt in reviews and replies, and to archive unchanged for electronic retrieval. 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