d20 Runequest
- Thread starter kobold
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bmcdaniel
Adventurer
D20 Glorantha
I have to differ with some of the things said here; I think d20 Glorantha is more true to the spirit of Glorantha than BRP (Runequest) Glorantha.
The Gloranthan game world is full of heroes that are far, far more powrful than ordinary humans. Unfortunately, BRP/RQ doesn't model the scaling well. Two examples, hit points generally don't increase; and a master swordsman with 75% skill in sword isn't that much better than a beginner with 25% (the master swordsman can handle *at best* 3 beginners). BRP/RQ is a much more low-powered game.
But Glorantha is full of heroes that can do amazing things. Single heroes worth a whole company of men in combat. Lunar priests that could call down meteors on opposing armies. etc, etc.
BRP/RQ never supported playing, or even encountering, these heroes. At best, they were handled as one-off special powers, with no rules mechanics on how to gain or use them. At worst, players just "weren't allowed" to play heroes.
D20 on the other hand, provides fairly good mechanics for scaling up to power. Admittedly, the magic system would have to be scrapped and built from scratch. But the cult-affiliation works well as prestige classes. But fundamentally, the BAB, AC, hp, levels, skills, DC, XP mechanics work better than BRP/RQ for Glorantha.
* There is another reason that BRP doesn't reflect Glorantha. The BRP experience mechanic makes it progressively more difficult to increase each increment in skill. As a result, characters tend to homogenous bundles of skills; again unlike Glorantha where heroes are supposed to be very different.
I have to differ with some of the things said here; I think d20 Glorantha is more true to the spirit of Glorantha than BRP (Runequest) Glorantha.
The Gloranthan game world is full of heroes that are far, far more powrful than ordinary humans. Unfortunately, BRP/RQ doesn't model the scaling well. Two examples, hit points generally don't increase; and a master swordsman with 75% skill in sword isn't that much better than a beginner with 25% (the master swordsman can handle *at best* 3 beginners). BRP/RQ is a much more low-powered game.
But Glorantha is full of heroes that can do amazing things. Single heroes worth a whole company of men in combat. Lunar priests that could call down meteors on opposing armies. etc, etc.
BRP/RQ never supported playing, or even encountering, these heroes. At best, they were handled as one-off special powers, with no rules mechanics on how to gain or use them. At worst, players just "weren't allowed" to play heroes.
D20 on the other hand, provides fairly good mechanics for scaling up to power. Admittedly, the magic system would have to be scrapped and built from scratch. But the cult-affiliation works well as prestige classes. But fundamentally, the BAB, AC, hp, levels, skills, DC, XP mechanics work better than BRP/RQ for Glorantha.
* There is another reason that BRP doesn't reflect Glorantha. The BRP experience mechanic makes it progressively more difficult to increase each increment in skill. As a result, characters tend to homogenous bundles of skills; again unlike Glorantha where heroes are supposed to be very different.
ninthcouncil
First Post
bmcdaniel's arguments sum up exactly why I don't think there would be a problem with doing a d20 Glorantha. You'd want to prevent some of the most obvious DnD'isms, but I think that's probably largely to do with the handling of magic and religion.
When you think about characters like Prince Argrath, Harrek the Berserk, or Jar-Eel the Razoress, they are clearly Epic in nature. The BRP derived RQ system, as has been pointed out, breaks down at higher levels, a problem which, despite a lot of work in the background, Chaosium never managed to fix satisfactorily.
When you think about characters like Prince Argrath, Harrek the Berserk, or Jar-Eel the Razoress, they are clearly Epic in nature. The BRP derived RQ system, as has been pointed out, breaks down at higher levels, a problem which, despite a lot of work in the background, Chaosium never managed to fix satisfactorily.
I also agree with bmmcdaniel. The nature of D&D's magic is the only real obstacle.
Here are a few randoms thoughts on various Glorantha things. I've been reading the Call of Cuthullu D20 book and find that a few mechanics of this book would lend themselves to a Glorantha conversion.
1. Its Classless and seems well balanced. The only draw back in my mind is the slow feat progression, but I like a highpower game.
2. Its magic is not dependent on class. I'm not sure any of its spell cross over verywell but its a base to work with.
Here are a few randoms thoughts on various Glorantha things. I've been reading the Call of Cuthullu D20 book and find that a few mechanics of this book would lend themselves to a Glorantha conversion.
1. Its Classless and seems well balanced. The only draw back in my mind is the slow feat progression, but I like a highpower game.
2. Its magic is not dependent on class. I'm not sure any of its spell cross over verywell but its a base to work with.
Since I started this thread I finally convinced some members of my group to give Hero Wars another try. Turns out they really enjoyed it and we really like the system.
Now the real point of this post- seems there are some who think its possible to use D20 to run a Glorantha campaign.
So can we start to reall put forth some ideas about how? I'd really appreaciate it, and would enjoy working with others ona project like this.
Now the real point of this post- seems there are some who think its possible to use D20 to run a Glorantha campaign.
So can we start to reall put forth some ideas about how? I'd really appreaciate it, and would enjoy working with others ona project like this.
ninthcouncil
First Post
bump
What do you think the best way of handling it would be? Here or somewhere else, e.g. a Yahoo group. How many people here are actually interested?
Or has the action already moved elsewhere and I've dropped the ball?
kobold said:
What do you think the best way of handling it would be? Here or somewhere else, e.g. a Yahoo group. How many people here are actually interested?
Or has the action already moved elsewhere and I've dropped the ball?
Glorantha
Count one more person interested in doing a conversion for this.
I have been a huge fan of Glorantha since I first bought the 3rd Ed RQ books. Yes the system was slow and cumbersome but the Glorantha setting was fantastic. You just had to ignore all of the alternate earth crap they put in and get the old 2nd ed stuff which was still easily available.
Having said that I highly recommend the HeroWars system, very rules and system light which is a good thing. It can be a bit daunting to newb's though which is where a d20 conversion could be handy.
Count one more person interested in doing a conversion for this.
I have been a huge fan of Glorantha since I first bought the 3rd Ed RQ books. Yes the system was slow and cumbersome but the Glorantha setting was fantastic. You just had to ignore all of the alternate earth crap they put in and get the old 2nd ed stuff which was still easily available.
Having said that I highly recommend the HeroWars system, very rules and system light which is a good thing. It can be a bit daunting to newb's though which is where a d20 conversion could be handy.
kengar
First Post
A good idea NC, and to help things along here we go:ninthcouncil said:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/d20glorantha/
kengar
First Post
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