Pitch me the current RuneQuest
- Thread starter Yora
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Wolfpack48
Hero
Well, first thing to realize is that while Glorantha has bits of different alt earth feels, it is NOT alt earth, and has its own flavor and quirks. Look for a casual relation to real earth, not a direct one.
But the most simple reason is that Jonstown is in Sartar which is different culturally from the plains of Prax.
But the most simple reason is that Jonstown is in Sartar which is different culturally from the plains of Prax.
I believe many of the places were named for Greg Stafford’s players in the 1970s: Stafford was born in 1948, so your dating is spot on.
Baron Opal II
Legend
Jonstown is named after a player named John. Nochet is named so because when a player asked if the town had a name, Greg answered "Not yet." That's what I've been told, anyway.
aramis erak
Legend
Greg has a warped sense of humor. Anachronisms are intentionally placed by Greg in a number of products with his hands in the making of them.
Some (as noted by others) are due to players. Others are just because Greg was in a chaotic mood.
He was a founder of The Chaosium, after all.
Wolfpack48
Hero
Thought I would write just a bit more about RuneQuest Glorantha itself, and why it's a great game:
First off, cults are a central part of the game an essential to every character. The gods are active (and real) in the world, so they influence everything in daily life, and the magic they offer is instilled in everyone. There are no "magic users" because everyone uses magic. That said, there are different kinds of magic in the world. Spirit Magic is the everyday magic used by all peoples. It is generally lower powered but can be more powerful if properly manipulated. Rune Magic is granted by the gods through worship, and is generally the most powerful, but most narrow in scope -- it will generally align with the god's sphere of influence. Most people know of and follow multiple gods but can choose to be initiates of a single god and gain that's god's Rune Magic. A character is also aligned to the runes of his deity, and these runes can voluntarily or involuntarily be accessed to augment skill or tests experienced during play. With experience, the character may become a Rune Lord which has powerful Rune Magics associated with the status. Sorcery is learned magic, and is more esoteric in nature, employed by fewer practitioners, and more typically in the west northern continent.
Combat in RuneQuest can be brutal. Hit points stay pretty much static throughout the game, but armor and magic can provide protection if hit, and there are many ways (shield/parry/dodge) to avoid getting hit in the first place. But combat is not to be taken lightly, and a critical or special hit, if it gets through defenses can cause a lot of hurt. That said, there are many mundane and magical ways to heal.
Glorantha itself is a strange yet familiar setting. You'll see echoes of the bronze age throughout, with the Lunars having a similar feel to ancient Rome, and the Heortlings a civilized "barbarian" people. the plainsmen of Prax, the zebra (and other beast) riders, the tapir-like Morkanth who herd beastmen, intelligent baboons, the Telmori wolf worshippers, the cursed ducks (a divine joke), the trolls, who can literally eat anything, the mechanistic Mostali, the Aldryami plant people, dragons the size of mountain ranges and their smaller cousins the dragonnewts, and the chaos worshipping broo who are hated by all. And much more. There is a vast mythology backing all these peoples and there is no single truth, only the world as viewed by different cultures and creatures. There is no need to know everything to start, it's best if the world is discovered one adventure at a time.
First off, cults are a central part of the game an essential to every character. The gods are active (and real) in the world, so they influence everything in daily life, and the magic they offer is instilled in everyone. There are no "magic users" because everyone uses magic. That said, there are different kinds of magic in the world. Spirit Magic is the everyday magic used by all peoples. It is generally lower powered but can be more powerful if properly manipulated. Rune Magic is granted by the gods through worship, and is generally the most powerful, but most narrow in scope -- it will generally align with the god's sphere of influence. Most people know of and follow multiple gods but can choose to be initiates of a single god and gain that's god's Rune Magic. A character is also aligned to the runes of his deity, and these runes can voluntarily or involuntarily be accessed to augment skill or tests experienced during play. With experience, the character may become a Rune Lord which has powerful Rune Magics associated with the status. Sorcery is learned magic, and is more esoteric in nature, employed by fewer practitioners, and more typically in the west northern continent.
Combat in RuneQuest can be brutal. Hit points stay pretty much static throughout the game, but armor and magic can provide protection if hit, and there are many ways (shield/parry/dodge) to avoid getting hit in the first place. But combat is not to be taken lightly, and a critical or special hit, if it gets through defenses can cause a lot of hurt. That said, there are many mundane and magical ways to heal.
Glorantha itself is a strange yet familiar setting. You'll see echoes of the bronze age throughout, with the Lunars having a similar feel to ancient Rome, and the Heortlings a civilized "barbarian" people. the plainsmen of Prax, the zebra (and other beast) riders, the tapir-like Morkanth who herd beastmen, intelligent baboons, the Telmori wolf worshippers, the cursed ducks (a divine joke), the trolls, who can literally eat anything, the mechanistic Mostali, the Aldryami plant people, dragons the size of mountain ranges and their smaller cousins the dragonnewts, and the chaos worshipping broo who are hated by all. And much more. There is a vast mythology backing all these peoples and there is no single truth, only the world as viewed by different cultures and creatures. There is no need to know everything to start, it's best if the world is discovered one adventure at a time.
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So, people who love whatever the current edition of RuneQuest is, please gush to me about why more people should check it out.
People who want to check out RuneQuest should take a look at the RuneQuest Humble Bundle currently running (ends July 27). It features literally everything published for the RuneQuest Roleplaying in Glorantha line up to April this year, plus the 800 page Guide to Glorantha (which on its own costs $49.99 for the PDF). All this for $18.00.
Humble RPG Bundle: RuneQuest by Chaosium, Inc.
Discover the beloved TTRP RuneQuest with this bundle, packed with everything you need for endless adventure in Glorantha! Your purchase helps support Code.org.
www.humblebundle.com
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Thomas Shey
Legend
As Mr. O'Brien notes above, its pretty cheap right now if you want to find out if the current RQ is for you; I purchased that bundle even though I'm not a massive fan of Glorantha because it was hard to not think there'd be $25 of reading value in all that.
(As a side note to the middlin' necro here, there's been a sort of dynamic tension within RQ fandom about how much Glorantha should dominate the design of the system for a long time; back when RuneQuest: Adventures in Glorantha was under design before outside events made it collapse there were some outright fights about whether, say, a given spell should be done a particular way "because that's how it works in the setting" even though it was obviously overpowered by comparison to everything else of similar cost. I suspect with the proliferation of BRP derivatives, that's probably mostly a thing of the past here since people have a number of RQ-alikes besides the game formally named that).
(As a side note to the middlin' necro here, there's been a sort of dynamic tension within RQ fandom about how much Glorantha should dominate the design of the system for a long time; back when RuneQuest: Adventures in Glorantha was under design before outside events made it collapse there were some outright fights about whether, say, a given spell should be done a particular way "because that's how it works in the setting" even though it was obviously overpowered by comparison to everything else of similar cost. I suspect with the proliferation of BRP derivatives, that's probably mostly a thing of the past here since people have a number of RQ-alikes besides the game formally named that).
Something else I should add: the designated charity for our RuneQuest Humble Bundle is code.org, a non-profit dedicated to expanding participation in computer science by making it available in more schools. The vast majority of the students on Code.org are from student groups historically underrepresented in computer science. Code.org is based in the United States but also works with many international partners. Code.org courses are available in over 67 languages, used in 180+ countries.People who want to check out RuneQuest should take a look at the RuneQuest Humble Bundle currently running (ends July 27). It features literally everything published for the RuneQuest Roleplaying in Glorantha line up to April this year, plus the 800 page Guide to Glorantha (which on its own costs $49.99 for the PDF). All this for $18.00.
Humble RPG Bundle: RuneQuest by Chaosium, Inc.
Discover the beloved TTRP RuneQuest with this bundle, packed with everything you need for endless adventure in Glorantha! Your purchase helps support Code.org.
MGibster
Legend
Please note that here in Arkansas we have exotic names for towns including El Dorado (not pronounced like you think it is), Beebe, Toad Suck (technically an unincorporated community), Smackover, Flippin, Goobertown, and Possum Grape.
I don't know a whole lot about Runequest, but I just recently purchased a bunch of books for it fromthe Humble Bundle mentioned above. I've started reading through it, and I am not sure I'll ever be able to play it. Explaining the both the rules and the setting to my players will likely prove a daunting task, one that I might not be prepared to understake. It's interesting though. Given the price I paid, I simply can't be disappointed in it.
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