From: owner-rq-rules-digest To: rq-rules-digest@hops.wharton.upenn.edu Subject: RQ Rules Digest: V2 #258 Reply-To: rq-rules Errors-To: owner-rq-rules-digest Precedence: bulk Content-Return: Prohibited Return-Path: owner-rq-rules-digest RQ Rules Digest: Wednesday, 22 May 1996 Volume 02 : Number 258 TABLE OF CONTENTS Lewis Jardine BODGERS as simple replacement for RQ? LEGRAND Pascal 10000 times asked questions ian i. gorlick STR etc. ian i. gorlick STR and SIZ 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: Lewis Jardine Date: Mon, 20 May 1996 14:25:08 +0100 (BST) Subject: BODGERS as simple replacement for RQ? Hi All Recent discussions on the Glorantha Digest have promted me to write this. It is a very brief overview of the very quick RPG system I use for Glorantha. Overview of BODGERS (Copyright (c) Lewis Jardine 1994, 95 & 96). (Basic One-Die Gloranthan Epic Roleplaying System) This RP system uses simple dice rolls to de-emphasize complex rules and mechanics and to place more importance on role playing where it belongs. The system is based upon a skill and statistic range from 0 to 10, with 10 being the equivalent of a RQ 100%. In normal everyday, non-stressful use a character with a skill of 10 will always succeed. In difficult tasks or under stress this is no longer certain. Dice Rolling: Roll a ten-sided die from 0 to 9: In unstressful conditions add this to a characters' skill. If the result is 10 or more they succeed. In stressful conditions: (Use open-endded dice rolls) If 9 was rolled, roll again and add the two rolls. If 9 was rolled again (roll again and add recursively). If 0 was rolled, roll again and subtract the two rolls. If 9 was rolled (roll again and subtract recursively). If the result is 10 or more they succeed. The above can be further modified by the difficulty of the task: Very Easy + 10 Easy + 5 Normal 0 Difficult - 5 Very Difficult - 10 Nearly Impossible - 15 Damage is rolled using the same dice rolling system. Note that some weapons have negative modifiers such as fists. However, a blow with any weapon might just kill you, although a greatsword (+5) is far more likely to that a fist (-3). Comat rRounds are approximately 6 seconds long and characters may perform only one significant action per round! Strike ranks et al. do not exist. If timing is critical then an opposed DEX roll sorts things out. RQ Compatibility: (Very, very high) Divide stats by 2. Divide skills by 10. Divide points of spirit magic by 2, but generally their effect is similar. Combat and spells use opposed dice rolls. HP = CON + SIZ (is basically the same as RQ) AP is unaltered Average weapon damage is the same (but extremes vary). Damage bonus = (STR+SIZ)/2 - 5 (basically the same average, but no dice now). Thus published scenarios can be used without conversion (I know this is true as I do it). Any stat/skill conversions are made on the fly. Spirit Spells: Examples:- Bladesharp = +1 to hit and damage per point. Disruption = 2 HP + 1 HP per 10 points that the victims MPs are overcome by. Healing = +1 HP per point (NB I have nobbled Healing). Protection = +2 AP per point. Summary: I believe that this system offers a simple, smooth mechanism to encourage roleplaying. It has been designed to avoid arbitary break points as much as possible (STR = 17, SIZ = 16 anyone?) and speed up play by removing superfluous detail. I am an adamant believer that "There's a million to one chance, but it just might work, Jim!" My basic view point can be summarized in two lines:- No Risk = No Excitement = No Point = Death of Campaign No Chance = Boring = No Point = Death of Campaign. Most RPGs recognise the above and introduce artifical rules to cover it such always 5% chance to hit and 96+ = miss, even in AD&D you fail on a "1". BODGERS just integrates and streamlines this concept to provide a smooth seamless system (well I might be a bit biased). I will be at the German RQ Con next weekend and I intend to run a BODGERS session. If you would like to participate please bring along some reasonable RQ Characters (last time I ran with a party on or near rune level including an adept sorceror!). Bring a selection as I would prefer a party or reasonably compatible characters. Cheers Lewis ------------------------------ From: LEGRAND Pascal Date: Mon, 20 May 1996 20:32:52 +-200 Subject: 10000 times asked questions Hi over there, I'm rather new to this list and you know what ? Where can I find RQIV - = AiG ? Where can I find the Warhamster rules ? I know this the kind of questions which must be asked by the thousand = on this list but I've never found an answer. Maybe RQIV is unavailable = because playtesting is ended, but if it's the case there is two = solutions : - it's a great improvement of the rules and Avalon Hill will release it = (so WHEN ?). - these rules are great but don't deserve to bring down hundred of = trees to make paper necessary for their release, and so why are they = unavailable on the Net ? I could say the same about Warhamster. If you want me to beg on my = knees that's ok, I'll do that. But anyway I'm like the Number 2, I want = answers. Sorry if some of you think my mail is a waste of bandwidth but I think = it's important to share improvement of our game (I started to play with = Stormbringer in 1981 and switched to RQ in 1983) if the autors don(t = plan to release them on paper. Anyway on everybody on this list I'd like to say thanks because this is = a great list with intelligent topics and long interesting mails (maybe = except my own). Thanks ! Pascal (another french on this list...). ------------------------------ From: "ian (i.) gorlick" Date: Wed, 22 May 1996 17:03:00 -0400 Subject: STR etc. Colin: You contend that the Resistance table is broken. I'd call that an overstatement. The resistance table works pretty well for forces that match to within plus or minus 10 points. Beyond that the rate of change of the table is distorted. I assume this was done for dramatic reasons, so that there would be a chance of miraculous successes, not for strictly accurate modelling reasons. Personally, I feel entirely justified in refusing to allow a roll if the difference between forces is greater than 10. I will allow one if it seems potentially amusing or dramatic. To work on your example of trolls and monkeys: The huge troll spots the monkey sneaking for the stairs. The troll reaches for his mace and, in his hurry, swings from a stooped position. Bending from the waist and twisting, he fails his STR roll, and a painful spasm wracks his lumbar vertebrae. He leaves the mace where it lies and staggers in pain. The cunning monkey sees a chance. The monkey grabs the troll's sandal, lifts and pulls. He has no chance of actually picking up the troll, but with a lucky roll manages to overbalance him. The troll tumbles down the stairs and the monkey makes his escape. (An exceedingly unlikely scenario but, as Terry Pratchet put it, a real million-to-one shot will come off 9 times out of 10.) If you don't like this sort of thing then just fix the table at 0% and 100% for forces differing by 10 points or more. By the way, on the scale for mass, a difference of 10 points is a factor of 2.37 times the mass. So if someone is 2.37 times stronger than someone else then there is no chance of the weaker ever beating the stronger in a contest of strength without some miraculous luck. That seems like the right sort of number to me. ------------------------------ From: "ian (i.) gorlick" Date: Wed, 22 May 1996 17:11:00 -0400 Subject: STR and SIZ Just to be sure we are all on the same waverlength, here are a few thoughts on how strength and size are related in the real world and in RuneQuest. 1. The Square-Cube Law is an accepted principle of biology and physics. It states simply that the ~strength? of an object of any form increases with the cross-sectional area (which increases as the square of the linear dimension) and the size or mass increases with the volume (the cube of the linear dimension. To avoid confusion with the RQ terms of SIZ and STR, I will use the terms mass and force. Force refering to either the force a supporting structure can endure without buckling or the force a motive element can exert. This leads us to state that as mass increases, force increases at a lower rate, proportional to the 2/3 root of mass; or the force/mass ratio decreases with increasing mass. 2. To get around the Square-Cube law, organisms have to undergo changes if they are to successfully achieve very different body mass. The typical approach is for the structures to increase in thickness more rapidly than in length. There are distinct limits to this approach. However, if we were to apply the S-C law too strictly then giant arthropods, which are a staple of fantasy literature, would become completely impossible which is not what we want to achieve. 3. Therefore, let us make the assumption that, within certain limits of mass, for a creature of a particular body plan, it is possible to increase force proportional to mass. Thus for our fantasy physics the force/mass ratio remains constant. 4. The tricky bit to remember is that the RQ factors of STR and SIZ which represent force and mass are not linear functions, they are exponentials. Mass = constant * 2^(SIZ/8) and force = constant * 2^(STR/8) (See STR & SIZ conversion table in Players Book.) NB. for creatures smaller than human normal range the table is no longer exponential, presumably the authors did not wish to deal with negative SIZ values for very small masses. Because of the exponential nature of SIZ and STR, the force/mass ratio actually depends upon the difference between an organism?s SIZ and STR. Force/mass varies as STR-SIZ. 5. To create a creature that is disproportionatly strong for its mass one adds a constant to the STR rather than multiplying STR by a constant. If STR is allowed to increase faster than SIZ then the force/mass ratio of the creature will be increasing exponentially which is a violation even of our fantasy physics. If we want to stick to real physics then we would have STR increase at about 2/3 the rate of SIZ, for our fantasy physics STR should increase at about the same rate as SIZ. ------------------------------ End of RQ Rules Digest: V2 #258 ******************************* This is the bottom of the RuneQuest Rules Digest. RuneQuest is a trademark of Avalon Hill, and Glorantha is a trademark of Chaosium. 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