RQ abilities and spells

[thormagni]

Am I reading it wrong to conclude that characters in RQ don't acquire any sort of special abilities until pretty late in their adventuring career and that spells are prohibitively expensive in time and silver to actually be any sort of factor in the game? It certainly doesn't appear that there is anything equivalent to feats or class abilities available. And while my monk-ish guy has a pretty high Lore (Theology) skill I can't see him ever getting enough money or having any in-game time to learn spells.

Is this a bug or a feature?

For example, most of the Legendary abilities require skill rolls in the 90+ level. I don't know about anyone else but I'm a good 20-30 adventures away from having any skill that high. And frankly, most of the Legendary abilities look to be the equivalent of class abilities or lower-level feats in D&D.

 

[InzeladunMaster]

Am I reading it wrong to conclude that characters in RQ don't acquire any sort of special abilities until pretty late in their adventuring career and that spells are prohibitively expensive in time and silver to actually be any sort of factor in the game?

Silver? Sorcery? What page of the Companion are you reading? (Inzeladun does not use Runes. It uses the sorcery rules found in the Companion).

It certainly doesn't appear that there is anything equivalent to feats or class abilities available. And while my monk-ish guy has a pretty high Lore (Theology) skill I can't see him ever getting enough money or having any in-game time to learn spells.

Is this a bug or a feature?

I see it as a feature. Feats slowed things down and were used so much, and in certain combinations, they ceased to be "feats" but became rather common place.

If you don't see your character as learning spells, then don't. As for silver, I am not sure what you mean. Under "aquiring sorcery" you can learn sorcery from a mentor, book or through research. Research can cost money, sure, but not necessarily the other options.

For example, most of the Legendary abilities require skill rolls in the 90+ level. I don't know about anyone else but I'm a good 20-30 adventures away from having any skill that high. And frankly, most of the Legendary abilities look to be the equivalent of class abilities or lower-level feats in D&D.

I am interested in seeing how it works before I start tinkering with it. But if it isn't working, then tinker with it I will. Or change systems. As far as I am concerned, we are using RQ on a trial basis.

I would like Inzeladun's Legendary Abilities to be a bit more epic, though.

I recently bought Savage Worlds, so that is an option if RQ doesn't please us.

 

[thormagni]

Silver? Sorcery?

The rules for divine spellcasting in the Companion SRD...

 

[thormagni]

I recently bought Savage Worlds, so that is an option if RQ doesn't please us.

I haven't really looked through Savage Worlds. Is it any good?

 

[InzeladunMaster]

The rules for divine spellcasting in the Companion SRD...

Oh. I thought I had been clear. Sorcery only is allowed in Inzeladun. There is no divine magic.

There is no proof the gods exist. One of my old players had a psionicist who believed his powers were divine. That is fine. If you want to believe your sorcery is divine, cool - but there is no actual divine magic in Inzeladun and no direct proof of the gods.

I will bring in other magic types later, but for now sorcery is it. But I doubt I will ever allow divine magic... except through PC actions that might bring it about.

The current overlords will not allow "commoners" to just walk into temples and learn magic that might be used against them.

I apologize for not being clear on that earlier. Sorcery is the magic system Inzeladun will use for now.

 

[InzeladunMaster]

I haven't really looked through Savage Worlds. Is it any good?

Yes.

 

[thormagni]

Oh. I thought I had been clear. Sorcery only is allowed in Inzeladun. There is no divine magic.

There is no proof the gods exist.

Well, that's a shame. I was assuming I could use divine spells to simulate monk-like abilities down the road.

Just looking through the sorcery spells, I could see some that could work for a monk, effect-wise. Such as Damage Resistance or Haste. But I don't see a monk carrying around a spell book and all that sort of thing. Verbal or somatic type components could easily be "chi" channelling katas, I suppose...

I could see a monk's focus and concentration leading to psionic abilities. Are there psionics rules available somewhere?

I will have to rethink this character. it doesn't seem like the RQ rules are very conducive to running a D&D style monk. Seems like I would be running a big, squishy, unarmored guy that would make for a good pin cushion.

 

[thormagni]

And just to be clear, I am in no way saying that D&D's class-based system is in any way superior to what I am seeing in RuneQuest. Only that RQ at this beginning level seems to be a very low-powered in terms of abilities and competency for the characters.

With no healing magic, very low money for equipment and such poor success chances on our rolls, it will be a challenge not to wipe the characters out. I see that Hero Points can offset these disadvantages to some extent, but I don't think we get any at the start, or do we? I've only skimmed most of the book.

 

[Fyrestryke]

You get 2 hero points to start with. There's a healing spell under the sorcery section (my character is planning on questing for it), but I forget what it's called. I like the way combat works too, I need to re-read it again.

 

[chachi]

Thor, I think that part of the problem that you have found with low starting money is because your cultural background stinks. Well, not yours, but your character's. As a Townsman, I really have not wanted for money in equipping my character. Armor is wildly expensive, but heavy armor also detracts from a lot of your skills, including weapon skills. I could have bought more armor but didn't. I found that my character was ineffective with anything but the lightest armor.