Some Details About Chaosium's Runequest 4th Edition

While Runequest 2 is currently being revived on Kickstarter, a brand new version (4th Edition) of the game is coming in 2016. Runequest (and other properties, such as HeroQuest) were acquired by Moon Design in 2013; and Chaosium now owns Moon Design. Runequest 4E is the fourth Chaosium edition of the game and was announced at Gen Con earlier this year. The 4E version will be developed from the 2E game, building up from what they refer to as "first principles", and incorporating lessons from other editions, plus games such as Call of Cthulhu.

Other elements include influences from RQ6 -- "combined Attack & Parry skills, opposed rolls, combat styles such as Sword and Shield, hit locations instead of general hit points, 100%+ scalability, actions, adding two characteristics to determine the starting values of skills." However, they are clear to disavow RQ3 -- "we avoid many elements of RQ3 that its own writers considered to be significant design flaws."

Glorantha is, of course, the setting. The project includes Sandy Peterson and Ken Rolston.

 

[Christopher Helton]

So this means it's all now in a big tent with Moon Design squarely at the helm, and from here MD can do what they like and involve whoever they want to, correct? If yes, wouldn't this in theory be a big win for all involved?

That would be my guess, sure. I think that "win" will be judged by whether or not they can pull off what they are looking to do (which my assumption would be to return Runequest to the prominence that it once had among gamers).

 

[TrippyHippy]

Your information is deep enough to make me ask: are or were you ever involved in any of these various companies, or are you just a really keen RQ fan?

Just a keen fan, but the community is very communicative with the various creators in open, daily conversation. If you ask politely, they will explain a lot.

 

[Doctor Futurity]

I've come to the conclusion that we're all going to win here as long as CoC7, RQ4 and TDM's House Rule reprint/revision all come to pass. Only fans of the BGB and MW will be left wanting....and even then, if they do the BRP/RQ4 tie-in right, we might come out okay.

But it would be nice if this was all likely to come to pass sometime in the next six months, when in reality we'll be lucky to see it all go down before 2018. That's a lot of time for people to stew in discontent, and RQ has always managed to have a miniature version of it's own edition war in the past...I really hope that doesn't happen again.

 

[Lord Twig]

I am cautiously optimistic about this new version. I started playing RuneQuest with the 2nd edition (bought the rule book and Cults of Prax with my lunch money back in the day). Then switched to Avalon Hill's RuneQuest 3 when it came out. My group played RQ3 (with a few important house rules) for 10+ years until we started having families and couldn't make the commitment anymore.

I was very excited when Mongoose said they were bringing back RQ, but was very disappointed with the result. So much so that I skipped their second edition. I heard some rumors of RQ6 by a different company (which I now know is The Design Mechanism), but I was in a dry period for RPGs and I never really looked into it.

About the same time I got somewhat involved in the BRP release and bought a couple copies of it. I'm very pleased with it, but have never had a chance to actually sit down and play it with a group. My interactions with Chaosium regarding BRP was very good, so they have generated some good will from me.

So I am not sure if I will back the 2nd Edition RuneQuest Kickstarter. I still have my original book, but it is in bad shape. A replacement might be nice.

Odds are I will pick up this latest version of RuneQuest. My hope is that it is good enough to allow me to actually play RQ again in a way that is familiar from years ago, but has enough modern changes that it can be played with the vastly reduced amount of time I can dedicate to games. A bit of a tall order, but one can hope for the best.

 

[Lawrence Whitaker]

Mongoose's RuneQuest was released as open license, but RuneQuest II was not. Mongoose RQ1 was written 'by committee' with Matt Sprange as the lead designer, and indeed it was Pete and Loz who actually persuaded Matt to pick up the license in the first place.

Let me just correct this. I’m the Loz in question, and neither myself nor Pete had anything at all to do with Mongoose acquiring the RuneQuest license in the first place. I became a Mongoose staff writer in 2007, close to a year after Mongoose had attained the license. Pete and I wrote the second version of RuneQuest for Mongoose, starting it in around 2009.

Mongoose's Matthew Sprague did more than this Pete or Loz - by unethical means, but still- He acquired the trademark, he sunk a huge lot of money into it, he secured a license from Greg - who, no matter your opinion, is the legal owner of the Glorantha setting under the relevant copyright laws (to wit, US and UK). His acquisition was legal, and he used the Trademark to coerce Greg (both Greg and Matthew have stated this more politely in public posts) into licensing Glorantha non-exclusively to Mongoose, in exchange for return of the Trademark to Greg.

And this is just plain wrong. Issaries owned the trademark for both RuneQuest and Glorantha and entered into a licensing agreement with Mongoose. There was no coercion at all and Mongoose certainly never owned the trademark which was then ‘traded’ back to Greg. Lord only knows where you got that from.

 

[Doctor Futurity]

I realize there is/was a sizable segment of RQ3 fans, especially in Europe through It is not nearly as well received as RQ2. That said, that market and Mongoose probably kept Glorantha and/or the RQ name from sinking into oblivion over the decades despite mediocre at best products. Some people like myself, like 4eD&D, but we are few. RQ3 kinda shares the same issue with a big chunk of the RQ fanbase. Were it not for some great Glorantha products in the early 1990s revival, there would be no saving grace for it in the grand scheme of things.

It is very weird to read this as it was generally felt back in the day that RQ3 was an excellent edition...or so it seemed? 1983-1992ish was my main time spent with that edition so pre-internet; maybe it was just a local phenomenon. RQ2 was a blip in the radar and the main problem RQ3 suffered from was it's ownership under Avalon Hill. The idea that RQ3 had no saving grace is just...weird.

 

[oknazevad]

I wouldn't say RQ2 was just a blip by any means. It was what most people played when they played RQ before RQ3 came out. RQ1 was only around for a year or so before it was revised into RQ2; the revision was mostly in the presentation (re-typesetting the main book and packaging it in a box set with the original "Basic Role-playing" booklet, which was really just a primer for new players, along with a coupe of starter adventures, character sheets and dice). There were actually very few overall who got the 1st edition booklet, because it's small print run sold out quickly and Chaosium expanded it into the classic 2nd edition box set instead of just reprinting it. So, no, not a blip at all, but the full classic game, as opposed to what was essentially a prototype.

 

[Michael O'Brien]

I wouldn't say RQ2 was just a blip by any means. It was what most people played when they played RQ before RQ3 came out. RQ1 was only around for a year or so before it was revised into RQ2; the revision was mostly in the presentation (re-typesetting the main book and packaging it in a box set with the original "Basic Role-playing" booklet, which was really just a primer for new players, along with a coupe of starter adventures, character sheets and dice). There were actually very few overall who got the 1st edition booklet, because it's small print run sold out quickly and Chaosium expanded it into the classic 2nd edition box set instead of just reprinting it. So, no, not a blip at all, but the full classic game, as opposed to what was essentially a prototype.

You can now get a PDF of RQ1 with the RuneQuest Classic Kickstarter as an Add-On for $10, but don't tarry as the KS ends in 44 hours to go... concludes 7PM Monday night US Eastern Standard.