D&D vs Runequest?

[buzz]

I've heard a lot of complaints on RPG.net that the Mongoose books are too thin and too expensive and have poor art.

Yup.

Mongoose originally said it'd be a complete game in a simple $19.95 package. Now, however, it's in separate $24.95-$34.95 books. You probably need the main book and the Companion to get something roughly equivalent to the D&D PHB, so that's about $50 retail right there. If you want to play in Glorantha, a la classic RQ, you're easily looking at $135 or so, if you don't go nuts with supplements.

Of course, there's the MRQ SRD, which is free, and that's pretty nice.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

I've heard a lot of complaints on RPG.net that the Mongoose books are too thin and too expensive and have poor art. The Lankhimar cover in particular gets a lot of bashing over there.

I would concur. It was on my 'must buy' list at GenCon last year, but after picking it up and reading through it, I put it back down and walked away. The nostalgic lure wasn't enough to plunk down the cash for something that felt anemic. Runequest was about the setting as much as the rules, and I thought they had given the game the shaft. Especially considering how many other complete books with high production values that other people were offering (Artesia, Hollow Earth Expedition, Etherscope, for example, were all within a stone's throw).

 

[buzz]

(Artesia, Hollow Earth Expedition, Etherscope, for example, were all within a stone's throw)

Artesia is a great example of a game with a rich setting and classless, level-less system in the vein of old-school RQ. If what you're looking for is an un-D&D FRPG in that sort of vein, I'd recommend that, Burning Wheel, Reign, and possibly GURPS long before I'd even think of mentioning MRQ.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

Artesia is a great example of a game with a rich setting and classless, level-less system in the vein of old-school RQ. If what you're looking for is an un-D&D FRPG in that sort of vein, I'd recommend that, Burning Wheel, Reign, and possibly GURPS long before I'd even think of mentioning MRQ.

That's what I ended up getting instead, after seeing it at the ENnies and talking to the guys at the booth. Burning Wheel intrigues me, as it seemed to garner some attention as well, but after downloading the preview stuff, I'm not so sure. I hope to check that one out further this year.

 

[Odhanan]

You probably need the main book and the Companion to get something roughly equivalent to the D&D PHB, so that's about $50 retail right there.

There's RuneQuest Deluxe that's supposed to be available in September 2007. It most probably will be a combination of the base rulebook, Companion and Monsters in a single volume. No idea on the price point we're looking at, though.

 

[buzz]

There's RuneQuest Deluxe that's supposed to be available in September 2007. It most probably will be a combination of the base rulebook, Companion and Monsters in a single volume. No idea on the price point we're looking at, though.

If it includes the player's update content, that's a good move on Mongoose's part.

 

[dmccoy1693]

If it includes the player's update content, that's a good move on Mongoose's part.

They did say that the player's update is suppose to be incorporated into all future printings of the existing manuals. So I'd guess yes.

 

[Plane Sailing]

I've not tried it, but have been tinkering with the idea. The original Runequest was built on top of Chaosium's Basic Role-Playing system.

If I might correct you, the BRP system was actually extracted from RQ2 as a sort of simplified version of RQ2, so it came after.

I've had many of my most fun gaming (and DMing) moments with RQ2. It was such a great system that I developed a sci-fi game using the rules (we called it StarQuest), and I did the necessary work for a Dark Sun campaign (worked well, but I wasn't around enough to really get the campaign going at that time) and also for an Empire of the Petal Throne campaign.

I've got a huge urge to run an Eberron campaign using RQ2 rules, because I think I could map things together very nicely...

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Much as I was impressed by the Glorantha setting, I'm really excited about the Hawkmoon setting. Somehow, I completely missed that they were doing those two Moorcock properties.

As far as RQ's rules, I like everything but the combat section - I'd have prefered something a bit simpler. The layout seems pretty good, but the art is very minimal.

Hey, just wanted to let you know that there's a Lankhmar setting, as well as a Hawkmoon and Stormbringer setting for the Runequest rules. Lankhmar is an add-on book, and Hawkmoon has rules and setting in one book. The Stormbringer book releases this month and will be stand alone as well.

 

[yojimbouk]

I came to BRP (Basic Role-Playing, a percentile based game engine derived from RuneQuest which was used in Chaosium's RPGs) via Call of Cthulhu and Stormbringer. I bought the Games Workshop version of RuneQuest III but I felt it was overly complex compared to Stormbringer (with its fatigue points and 3 different magic systems).

My favourite version of BRP is Elric!/Stormbringer 5th Edition which manages to be fast and fun yet avoid some of the problems inherent in CoC (like the unbeatable dodge).

That said, MRQ isn't bad. I get the feeling that it was somewhat rushed through playtesting and that more recent iterations of the system such as Elric, Hawkmoon and the forthcoming SpaceQuest will have a more solid rules base. I bought it because I love Glorantha (which I got into in the early 90s). My major gripes are with the thin pricy books and the unappealing layout (which doesn't seem to have improved much from Mongoose's early days).

Anyway, I'm looking forward to "Basic Role-Playing: Chaosium's d100 System" which is supposed to be due out this Autumn. It's core is based on CoC 5th/6th Edition and Elric!/Stormbringer 5th Edition.