Runequest

[TheAuldGrump]

Ny biggest complaint is that the current edition of Runequest no longer uses the old experience system from the previous three editios - and that was the best part of the game, at least in my opinion. A very organic method - you had a chance of going up in any skills you used, but the better you were with a skill the less likely you were to get better in it.

It is possible to understand what might be the reason - the original Runequest was the basis for Basic Role Play, and while I believe that Chaosium no longer controls the Runequest property they do still hold BRP. Call of Cthulhu and other BRP based games still use the experience system from the original Runequest.

The Auld Grump

 

[Ariosto]

I'm sure the change in method was not dictated by copyright considerations (which could reasonably have required some adjustments in detail to the old training system).

Ray Turney (co-designer of the original RQ) also changed experience in his Fire and Sword rules, even including a GURPS-like points system as an option. There are good points and bad points all around. The original approach -- including the training rules, which are not duplicated in other BRP games -- is in my opinion most excellent and a key part of the RQ identity.

That said, I think it would probably be simple to tip back in without messing much with the rest of the new game or imposing a house rule too troublesome for Mongoose RQ devotees to grasp.

Other departures in the new rules, and in the end the sheer volume of changes, seem to me more complaint-worthy from an old hand's perspective. One might find some pretty nifty, but the cumulative effect is even greater than the shift to 3rd (AH-published) edition. It also seems to me more often ill conceived, but that's not informed by actually playing MRQ.

I would not balk at playing it! It should be fun, and I can swing with different rules in a different Age. (HeroQuest was always promised as "a revolutionary concept and approach to myth, magic, and role-playing" -- and in the event it lives up to that enough not to be quite my cup of tea.)

The OGL/SRD aspect is pretty groovy for those always keen on more material for kit-bashing their own personal BRP mixes. Being "by the book" is not such a big deal to many folks.

 

[radferth]

I have only skimmed the new rules. I didn't like some of the changes, but overall it seemed somewhat similar to older editions. It does appear to still be set in Glorantha, which is one of my favorite all-time settings. It is much more of a mythic/ancient-world setting. I'd recommend it for folks who want that sort of setting, or who want a more "skill-based" system for characters, but it doesn't strike me as being any better for new gamers than 3.x or 4th ed.