Runequest

[Zhaleskra]

I'm going to put both my copies of Runequest Deluxe (Mongoose 1st ed) up on eBay. They're in near new condition, maybe a little bending from being on a bookcase with no bookends. Same name as here.

 

[chaochou]

Can anyone give me a quick rundown of Mongoose RQ2?

I was a huge fan of the Chaosium stuff, was disappointed with AH's fantasy Europe take but impressed with their later Gloranthan books (Sun County, Dorastor, Pavis reprints etc) and then jumped ship to HeroWars and HeroQuest for my Glorantha fix.

I'd appreciate an idea of what the new Mongoose version brings to the table.

 

[JeffB]

I'd appreciate an idea of what the new Mongoose version brings to the table.

If you mean as far as Glorantha? Eh...not much, IMO. I'm not a fan of the 2nd age of Glorantha as MRQ has been using. One of the real attractions for me in Glorantha is the Lunar Empire, and the "stage as set" during the Chaosium and later AH days (also Chaoisum, but I digress). Not to mention the writing quality is much better in those Chaosium/AH Glorantha products. 2nd age kinda feels like the "prequels" for Star Wars- you already know whats gonna happen, and the plots/characters are lame. The new Glorantha 2nd Age book for MRQ2 is however much better as a resource than the MRQ1 version which is disjointed, difficult to read and utilize. They totally overhauled it from a utility standpoint.

IMO, the strongest point of MRQ2 is it's an improvement over RQ3 from a rules standpoint- not nearly as fiddly/more streamlined while still offering alot of the flexibility in magic, combat and character options-probably what many people hoped RQ3 would have been (including myself)

 

[chaochou]

IMO, the strongest point of MRQ2 is it's an improvement over RQ3 from a rules standpoint- not nearly as fiddly/more streamlined while still offering alot of the flexibility in magic, combat and character options-probably what many people hoped RQ3 would have been (including myself)

When I stopped running RQ it was partly because I had such a hotch-potch of rules I lost the will to keep up. I mean, I was running combat rounds with 10 strike ranks and then 12 strike ranks in the same session (sometimes the same battle), magic was all over the place, encumbrance and fatigue were out the window, impales and criticals and crushes had no definite meaning any more and armour values were a intuitive mash-up of RQ2 and 3. It was fun, but disorganised, tiring and a pain to stat up.

So streamlining sounds good. Is there anything you can add to that - any really neat things in the new system?

 

[Treebore]

I was reading through the magic section in RQ II last night and I could definitely see why it reads like it is complex, Divine, Spirit, Sorcery, (I'm forgetting one, Common? Naw, I think "common" is the name for these categories of magic.) and then the Runes, from which all the other magics are derived, and then Runes itself has a number of different facets to it to know and understand. That also each has links back to the magics derived from them that you need to understand.

So it definitely has a learning curve, but so far I think I can master it. Definitely going to take some time and effort, that is for sure.

 

[Treebore]

Given the quote in your signature, I doubt this is a barrier, but you should be aware that the MRQ II rules are definitely written with a "spirit of the rules" intent. There are several sections where the rules are deliberately ambiguous, and the correct interpretation of how they work is, "how do you want it to work?" I'm not sure if this was true of MRQ I, as I don't have it.

If something doesn't quite click, it is definitely worth going over to the Mongoose forums and reading through some of the topics.

Compared to previous versions of Runequest, the latest version has sorcery that is easier for a character to start, but not as powerful for an accomplished character. This could make converting some spells from older sources a bit dicey. OTOH, the new spirit rules are simply cruel to any character without the appropriate counters--by design.

They blatantly say as much early in the book, then I caught it again when they explained that Runes were no longer physical, but metaphysical, but if you want to keep them physical like they are in RQ I you are free to do so, etc...

Which is good, even if they didn't say all that they did, once I master a set of rules, I always tweak them into something I like better. So it is always nice to have "permission" to do what I am likely going to do anyways. Once I feel like I have mastered it.

 

[Treebore]

Did you get "Empires" in the bundle? That's got an interesting approach to running estates/countries.



Which version of Ruenquest, and which magic system, did you find confusing? Some types are more complex than others.

No I did not get Empires, but that is because I am already happy with using Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe for such things. But I'll keep an eye out for it on the cheap now.

 

[Treebore]

I also read through pieces/parts of the Glorantha setting book.

This is my first time really ever reading about Glorantha's "history" and I have to say it is still very unique to this day with its basic rule of "Our laws are based on magic, not physics." I think the world of "Oathbound" is the only other world I have read where similar rules apply.

Which is cool, because as a GM you can pretty much have anything happen and you can say, "Its that way because some god decided they wanted it that way back in the "X" Age."

So if for some reason you want a river flowing up a hill or mountain, it can have happened in Glorantha.

I also like that it has a Blue Moon, which is a god, and is very hard to ever see at night except at a specific time, and I think it is even a place. Don't remember. I was reading for feel, not rules retention.

 

[Bluenose]

If you mean as far as Glorantha? Eh...not much, IMO. I'm not a fan of the 2nd age of Glorantha as MRQ has been using. One of the real attractions for me in Glorantha is the Lunar Empire, and the "stage as set" during the Chaosium and later AH days (also Chaoisum, but I digress). Not to mention the writing quality is much better in those Chaosium/AH Glorantha products. 2nd age kinda feels like the "prequels" for Star Wars- you already know whats gonna happen, and the plots/characters are lame. The new Glorantha 2nd Age book for MRQ2 is however much better as a resource than the MRQ1 version which is disjointed, difficult to read and utilize. They totally overhauled it from a utility standpoint.

I understand where you're coming from, but have a rather different view. The quality of the Mongoose products is variable, but that was true for the 2e/3e material as well. While there may not have been anything quite matching Cults of Terror or Trollpak, there are excellent books in the Mongoose line. Pavis Rises might be my favourite, Prax being my old stamping ground, but the MRQ2 material is generally excellent. I actually find the 2nd Age setting a plus, because it's a more experimental time. In 3rd Age Glorantha, it's only really the Lunar Empire which is trying something new (OK, Loskalm too), whereas in the 2nd Age things are a lot less conservative.

I also read through pieces/parts of the Glorantha setting book.

This is my first time really ever reading about Glorantha's "history" and I have to say it is still very unique to this day with its basic rule of "Our laws are based on magic, not physics." I think the world of "Oathbound" is the only other world I have read where similar rules apply.

Which is cool, because as a GM you can pretty much have anything happen and you can say, "Its that way because some god decided they wanted it that way back in the "X" Age."

So if for some reason you want a river flowing up a hill or mountain, it can have happened in Glorantha.

I also like that it has a Blue Moon, which is a god, and is very hard to ever see at night except at a specific time, and I think it is even a place. Don't remember. I was reading for feel, not rules retention.

One thing to remember is that there might be more than one myth explaining why a river flows uphill. They're all true. Even when they contradict each other. Visiting those myths to keep them running smoothly is what religion is about.

 

[Eric Tolle]

Granted I don't have a copy of Mongoose Runequest, but I've got a copy of RQII, and I haven't found the magic rules difficult to understand at all. There's common magic which anyone can buy, spirit binding, and then the special powers and spells of Rune Priests and Rune Lords. It's pretty basic. Of course in RQIII they tried to make everything much more complicated, but I just pretend that edition didn't happen.