Glorantha - a d20 setting?

[Waylander]

Hi!

I know that Glorantha and RuneQuest are so intertwined in people's minds for it to be heresey to suggest that Glorantha could be used with any other rule system . . . However, I believe Mongoose RuneQuest (at least the first edition) was based on a heavily modified OGL ruleset.

So I was wondering if anyone had tried using Glorantha as a setting using another system (of particular interest would be D&D 3.xE).

 

[Aus_Snow]

I know that Glorantha and RuneQuest are so intertwined in people's minds for it to be heresey to suggest that Glorantha could be used with any other rule system

Not at all. Have you seen all the system and settings hacks and conversions scattered all over the internet? If not, check it out. There's nWoD being used for D&D, D&D being used for WoD, FATE for just about any setting you can name, same goes for GURPS, d20, HERO, etc., etc. . .

I believe Mongoose RuneQuest (at least the first edition) was based on a heavily modified OGL ruleset.

OGL isn't a ruleset. It's a license (Open Game License, to be precise.) So, while Mongoose Publishing used (and still uses) the OGL to render much of their editions of RuneQuest 'open' (that is, with a RQSRD 'n all) there's nothing d20ish about it whatsoever. At least, no more than any similarities that might've been there as of the year ~2000.

So I was wondering if anyone had tried using Glorantha as a setting using another system (of particular interest would be D&D 3.xE).

Again, hell yes. Well, not me, but no doubt plenty of other GMs out there.

 

[Bluenose]

Hi!

I know that Glorantha and RuneQuest are so intertwined in people's minds for it to be heresey to suggest that Glorantha could be used with any other rule system . . . However, I believe Mongoose RuneQuest (at least the first edition) was based on a heavily modified OGL ruleset.

So I was wondering if anyone had tried using Glorantha as a setting using another system (of particular interest would be D&D 3.xE).

I assume you mean apart from Heroquest, which is also written with Glorantha in mind (at least partly). Pendragon is the obvious example, try searching for Pendragon Pass on Google. I've seen GURPS being used, on one occasion. Although honestly it depends what you're trying to do in Glorantha, and I could certainly see some d20 variants working with Western societies with their Orders of knights, wizards, and clerics.

 

[Plane Sailing]

I've not tried using D&D or any other system for Glorantha. I imagine that a rather loose version would be easier to do than a high fidelity version when you consider that baseline Glorantha has ubiqutous low-power magic, almost no high level magic at all, cults as the centre of all higher powered magic and so forth.

I think if I wanted to do it in 4e I'd probably stick with martial classes and allow PHB1 style multiclassing into classes with magical powers (arcane/divine/primal) to reflect limited gloranthan style spells. Perhaps limited to heroic level magical powers only.

If I wanted to do it in 3e I might specify fighters/rangers/paladins/rogues/monks(?). Anyone can take 1 level of cleric (healing spells and minor buffs are very common). Initiates in a cult can take up to 3 levels of cleric. Priests of a cult can take up to 9 levels of a cleric.

(FWIW I've always found it easy to move other campaigns into RQ2 - I've done it with Dark Sun, Empire of the Petal Throne and Eberron)

Cheers

 

[Haffrung Helleyes]

Glorantha

I've toyed with this idea for years -- I was a hardcore RQ player/Gloranthaphile between about 1984 and when 3E came out (with a slight detour into TORG).

I always came to the conclusion that it would be very hard to do, though.

RuneQuest is a system that encourages generalists -- you quickly reach a point of diminishing returns when trying to enhance individual skills. There is no niche protection whatsoever, save for major focus of magical study (someone won't be both a sorcerer and a shaman, for example).

Also, of the 3 magic systems in RuneQuest (battle magic, rune magic, and sorcery) , only rune magic has a mechanic for acquisition (POW sacrifice) which involves more than money and time -- RuneQuest characters can generally learn new spells whenever they have the cash and can find someone to teach them.

So, for these two reasons, I think it's difficult to shoehorn RuneQuest/Glorantha into a class-based system with discrete packages of advancement (IE 'levels').

If I were going to attempt this, I would start with society/role based classes, with the societies being Primitive, Nomadic, Barbarian, and Civilized and roles being occupations (where they exist)... and I would have a class for each combination (where appropriate, for example Scribe would only be available to Civilized cultures, and Hunter would only be available to noncivilized cultures).

The various magical occupations -- Shaman, Sorcerer, Acolyte, Runelord, Runepriest -- would be prestige classes accessible only at say, level 6.

Ken

 

[Haffrung Helleyes]

Glorantha

Plane Sailing,

One thing to consider WRT Glorantha is that, in most cultures every adult over the age of 15 is an initiate of a cult. The only exceptions occur in primitive shamanistic societies, and in the sorcery-oriented societies of the West. So saying that initiates can take 3 levels in Cleric effectively opens that to everyone.

Ken

 

[Haffrung Helleyes]

3rd post in a row

Can you tell that this issue is dear to my heart?

Also, I don't think you want a 'cleric' class in a d20 version of Glorantha. Cult access to spells varies widely, and is generally strictly defined by the Runes that the diety in question possesses , with a few exceptions (divination and heal wound come to mind). In my mind you would create spell lists for each rune, then dieties would have access to these spells based on their runic associations.

Ken

 

[Plane Sailing]

Plane Sailing,

One thing to consider WRT Glorantha is that, in most cultures every adult over the age of 15 is an initiate of a cult. The only exceptions occur in primitive shamanistic societies, and in the sorcery-oriented societies of the West. So saying that initiates can take 3 levels in Cleric effectively opens that to everyone.

Ken

My frame of reference is RQ2, when pretty much everyone was a lay member of a cult, but Initiation into a cult was a bigger thing - requiring more of a sacrifice and attempt to get in, providing access to some cult specific magics or gifts/geases and subjecting you to a spirit of reprisal if you left. By the time rules for sorcery had been introduced it appears that some things about the society had changed, perhaps!

Cheers

 

[Plane Sailing]

Can you tell that this issue is dear to my heart?

Also, I don't think you want a 'cleric' class in a d20 version of Glorantha. Cult access to spells varies widely, and is generally strictly defined by the Runes that the diety in question possesses , with a few exceptions (divination and heal wound come to mind). In my mind you would create spell lists for each rune, then dieties would have access to these spells based on their runic associations.

Ken

Again, with my RQ2 hat on I was just thinking in terms of Rune Priests got to sacrifice for Rune Magic which was 90% drawn from the big pool of rune spells, and were largely buffing related magic. That's why my suggestion would be to use 'cleric' as their magic is typically lower powered and more buffing related. They wouldn't be clerics, but they would be using their spell lists.

As per my first post though, I don't think it is something I'd try to actually do!

Cheers

 

[Haffrung Helleyes]

Rq2/rq3

Yeah, my frame of reference for RQ mostly comes from RQ3, the Tales of the Reaching Moon fanzine, the King of Sartar book, and the Gloranthan Digest mailing list. I was pretty active on it back in the 90s. Then D&D 3E came out and I convinced my entire gaming group to switch to it and that was the end of my RQ involvement. I haven't read most of the Mongoose stuff; I wasn't happy with the first edition of Mongoose RQ. I hear though that the 2nd edition is much improved.

Greg Stafford changed his mind about so many things about Glorantha over the years, the lay members->initiates thing really doesn't surprise me! In the most recent stuff I read, initiation was presented as a 'coming of age ceremony' that all Orlanthi pantheon types underwent at age 15 in the Sartar region. Initiation to Orlanth (for men) and Ernalda (for women) was just about universal. When people belonged to other cults (Lhankor Mhy or Vinga for example) it was typically in addition to these two.

Ken