(Message rqd:75) Return-Path: Received: from Holland.Sun.COM (sunnl) by homeland.Holland.Sun.COM (4.1/SMI-4.1) id AA01505; Thu, 20 May 93 17:16:53 +0200 Received: from glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM by Holland.Sun.COM (4.1/SMI-4.1e) id AA22743; Thu, 20 May 93 17:16:41 +0200 Received: by glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (4.1/SMI-4.1) id AA03468; Thu, 20 May 93 17:15:28 +0200 Date: Thu, 20 May 93 17:15:28 +0200 Message-Id: <9305201515.AA03468@glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM> From: RuneQuest-Request@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (RQ Digest Maintainer) To: RuneQuest@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (Daily automated RQ-Digest) Reply-To: RuneQuest@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (RuneQuest Daily) Subject: RuneQuest Daily, Thu, 20 May 1993, part 1 Precedence: junk Status: OR The RuneQuest Daily and RuneQuest Digest deal with the subjects of Avalon Hill's RPG and Greg Stafford's world of Glorantha. Send submissions and followup to "RuneQuest@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM", they will automatically be included in a next issue. Try to change the Subject: line from the default Re: RuneQuest Daily... on replying. Selected articles may also appear in a regular Digest. If you want to submit articles to the Digest only, contact the editor at RuneQuest-Digest-Editor@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM. Send enquiries and Subscription Requests to the editor: RuneQuest-Request@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (Henk Langeveld) --------------------- From: bell@cs.unc.edu (Andrew Bell) Subject: Runic ties and scenario distribution Message-ID: <9305191549.AA16125@beethoven.cs.unc.edu> Date: 19 May 93 07:49:26 GMT X-RQ-ID: 813 > From: paul@phyast.pitt.edu > Subject: Re: RuneQuest Daily, Tue, 18 May 1993, part 2 > Arganth: Try these addresses: Note that if you can reach the Digest but not another person's internet address, a method of last resort is: %
@holland.sun.com For example: > paul@bondi.phyast.pitt.edu should be reachable at paul%bondi.phyast.pitt.edu@holland.sun.com if you can't get him with the direct address. Likewise, if you can reach the digest by UUCP "bang" paths, you can replace the userid with paul%bondi... For example, if you can reach me by UUCP, the address paul%bondi.phyast.pitt.edu!unc!mcnc!... should also reach Paul. > I gave people Runic Ties for their characters which gave them a bonus > whenever they acted along with the Runic Tie. I like it! Presumably heroquesting might allow you to "cheat", and thus get strong ties to opposing runes. > I should mention that PCs could be born with some Runic Ties, indicating > a personality type. Especially particular races, presumably: Agimori with Fire, elves with the plant rune, trolls with darkness, etc. > From: awr0@aberystwyth.ac.uk > Subject: Scenarios etc > This I think would be a perfect forum for the distribution of scenarios. >[...] Other options include the > use of particular software packages..ie Pagemaker but that may be > getting too selective. Presumably Pagemaker and other layout programs can spit out Postscript as the final result, so in general that shouldn't be too selective if you write the scenario by yourself. Andrew Bell bell@cs.unc.edu --------------------- From: okamoto@hpcc90.corp.hp.com (Jeff Okamoto) Subject: Re: RuneQuest Daily, Wed, 19 May 1993, part 1 Message-ID: <9305191608.AA29015@hpcc90.corp.hp.com> Date: 19 May 93 16:08:41 GMT X-RQ-ID: 814 > From: paul@phyast.pitt.edu > Subject: Re: RuneQuest Daily, Tue, 18 May 1993, part 2 > > OPPOSED RUNES: Earth and Water are definitely opposed in Glorantha. > Remember the great invasion of the land by the Rivers? I think that > the alliances and enmities among elements are more complicated that > just one opposite per element. The elemental runes are not opposed, but rather in a rock-scissors-paper kind of relationship. I don't remember completely, but off the top of my head (and this is probably wrong), Air "defeats" Water "defeats" Earth "defeats" Fire "defeats" Darkness "defeats" Air. The Moon sits in the center of the pentagram/pentagon. Only the Power Runes are opposed (Fertility-Death, Harmony-Disorder, etc). Jeff --------------------- From: MILLERL@wharton.upenn.edu (Loren J. Miller) Subject: Strike Ranks Message-ID: <9305191611.AA05526@noc1.dccs.upenn.edu> Date: 19 May 93 16:09:00 GMT X-RQ-ID: 815 drcheng@sales.stern.nyu.edu (David Cheng) > Strike Rank Theory: > (Long & Boring - Read at your own risk) And I think it's misguided... I converted my Stormbringer game to RQ mainly because I thought SRs were better than Dex order for initiative. > The Strike Rank system is obviously not one of the strongest, most > fool-proof ideas in the RQ system. But, you've got to admit, it's > better than "we won initiative - we all swing first." True. It also handles long weapons better than any other system. All the other systems borrow a D&Dism and operate under the assumption that light weapons go first. Wrong. Properly ranged weapons go first. And when your weapon is longer than your opponent's weapon it's much easier for you to be in range. Thus, long weapons get precedence. > That said, one of my peeves is when people get too stuck on the idea > of strike ranks determining exactly when in a melee round something > happens. Your example points out the complexity of strike ranks, but I think it also points why they *work*. Bladesharp 2 is a minor spell. It should be easy to cast it quickly. Remember that spirit magic is a quickly focused bit of concentration. It should go fast. I don't think that it's a bug for you to be able to cast a minor spirit spell and also parry or dodge the same round. I'd like a less complex alternative to strike ranks, but it has to maintain the long weapon advantage, the speed advantage of missile fire, and the ability to cast minor magic quickly, otherwise it won't have the right feel. In fact, I think a much easier way to do it would be to count strike ranks down from ten to one, to set DSR at Dex/4, to set MSR at (Dex+Siz/4), and to flip the SR of weapons from 0 to 4. That would be a good fix. It would get rid of much of the minimaxing of Dex and Siz, which I see as a good thing. It would get rid of some of the table lookups. It would keep everything I like about SRs. whoah, +++++++++++++++++++++++23 Loren Miller internet: MILLERL@wharton.upenn.edu S sign lists littles what wetland received in phire bonuse --1M Monkeys --------------------- From: curtiss@netcom.com (Curtis Shenton) Subject: More Moon Stuff Message-ID: <9305191629.AA07237@netcom3.netcom.com> Date: 19 May 93 16:29:26 GMT X-RQ-ID: 816 Nick Brook said: > ______________ > Green Moonies: > > I am *not* using my now-legendary Gloranthan insight in the following > comments: > > > Green Lunar rocks were scattered to the edge of the Universe > > Like Gloranthan Kryptonite?? Of course, what else do you think the Elves use to stop Iron Dwarf HeroQuesters from becoming the Superhero, Mostali of Steel? ;) > > Curtis's latest posting (Yelm + Red + Blue = White) seems sensible, and > avoids the need to create new and unheard-of Gloranthan moons. > > Yeah, it would make sense (says my God Learner slave) for the Godtime's > Perfect Sun to have been White. Then it fragments into three. The New Sun > (which rose at the Dawning) was only the Yellow fragment of the original. > Now the Waertagi are back, there's a chance we can get the Blue Moon under > control and recreate the Perfect World. Where does the Waertagi/Blue Moon connection come from? But the White Moon--->3 Moons idea does allow another explanation of why the Solar and Lunar cults seem to get along so well. > > Have you considered that if the Mostali are intending to use the Red Moon > as a giant bath-plug, the Blue Moon will crash into it at an > *unpredictable* moment during the operation? It's in her nature... This is true. Now we just need to convice Yelm he's really a moonie and we're set. -- Curtis Shenton curtiss@netcom.com internet Too lazy to do a 4@3091 WWIVnet "real" .sig file Currently working on a war of the gods adventure for WotC. If you're intrested email LISTSERV@wizards.com with SUBSCRIBE LOC-L --------------------- From: curtiss@netcom.com (Curtis Shenton) Subject: More Green Moon Ideas Message-ID: <9305191637.AA07765@netcom3.netcom.com> Date: 19 May 93 16:37:38 GMT X-RQ-ID: 817 > Paul Reilly here. > > Curtis Shenton writes: > > > ...the Green Moon! After > > all we've got red and blue now we need the last primary color. Has this > > ever been discussed before? > > Around here we've played with this idea for years - another currently > completely unknown Moon aspect. I'd say that there are several possible > good ideas here: > 1. No Green Moon - Maybe the Red Moon is red like a red star rather than > a laser and includes the Green energies. Yes it depends on which primary color scheme you want to use. using Yellow gives us Yelm who works quite nicely as a moon but I still ike green too. > 2. Green Moon energies have been scattered through the cosmos and need > to be recollected via the ritual which will unite the Red and Blue Moons. > Perhaps some of these energies are in the green star (Dragon's Eye or > some such) associated with Orlanth's Ring and this is secretly the main > reason for conquering Orlanth! Hmmm, that would be interesting. What would the powers of the Green Moon be? I'd have a hard time accepting anything that didn't have to do with plants/Earth. > 3. Green Moon energies are associated with plants and/or copper and > this helps to explain the firestorms engineered by the Lunars and their > allies in Rist and Erigia. > 4. Green Lunar energies and/or rocks were scattered to the edge of the > Universe and need to be recovered by Heroquest. Nothing like adding glowing green rocks to Glorantha. > 5. Green Lunar energy resides not in rocks (like Red and Blue) but instead > mingled with Water and ran down to the Sea. This would explain nicely the > 'yearning' of sea water to be reunited with the Blue Moon - I rather > like this one. > It seems that the Blue Moon if any would have had it's powers blend with water though. > > Other Lunar ideas: > I have a friend (Mike Holliday) who suggests that the Mostali, who after > all claim to have constructed the Red Moon, designed to exactly plug the > hole at the bottom of Magasta's Pool. He also has many other more > serious suggestions, but I like this one because I think it captures something > about Mostali thinking. At some level of reality they are down there > operating the switches for geysers, volcanoes, etc. The Mostali view of cosmology is alot of fun. I wonder what they would think a green moon is for... -- Curtis Shenton curtiss@netcom.com internet Too lazy to do a 4@3091 WWIVnet "real" .sig file Currently working on a war of the gods adventure for WotC. If you're intrested email LISTSERV@wizards.com with SUBSCRIBE LOC-L --------------------- From: burt@ptltd.com (Burton Choinski) Subject: Replys Message-ID: <9305191651.AA10726@vino> Date: 19 May 93 16:51:46 GMT X-RQ-ID: 818 Paul Reilly notes: ------------------ >> I tried a system which worked fairly well with this. I gave people >>Runic Ties for their characters which gave them a bonus whenever they >>acted along with the Runic Tie. Initiates of Storm Bull for example >>got a 5% Tie to the Beast, Death, and Air Runes. Whenever performing >>an action favored by one of these Runes they got a 5% bonus. When >>acting against their Runes they got either a 5% or 10% penalty (we tried >>both. Players like 5% penalties better). This is intriging. I'll have to give this a try. >> Examples: >> A Humakti initiate gets a 10% Tie to the Death Rune and a 5% Tie to >>the Truth Rune (and he may get more at some point.) Whenever trying to >>kill someone or sever something he gets a 10% bonus on his skill (max >>of double skill, i.e. won't give you a skill you don't have.) When >>trying to oppose Death, say by Healing someone to save their life, or >>to oppose Truth, say by using Fast Talk to tell a lie, they get a 10% >>or 5% penalty or their skill. This can get hairy, but I'm willing to give it a go. David Cheng notes on Strike Rankings: ------------------------------------- >>Strike Rank Theory: >>The Strike Rank system is obviously not one of the strongest, most >>fool-proof ideas in the RQ system. But, you've got to admit, it's >>better than "we won initiative - we all swing first." Sure is. >>That said, one of my peeves is when people get too stuck on the idea >>of strike ranks determining exactly when in a melee round something >>happens. ...common example deleted... ...system deleted... Actually I think a more streamlined system is already there -- as hardware: DEX+SIZ Strike Die SRA 1-13 d12 >6.0 14-24 d10 >4.5 25-34 d8 >3.0 35-39 d6 >1.5 40+ d4 While the actual breakdowns can be changed (I did a quick caculation of DEX+SIZ to produce strike ranks and tried to use some sort of consistant break of numbers...the SRA in the third column is the breakpoint I used. The low number is for special cases, the high is the leftover. The above is figured for "Gross Physical actions" I would use an INT+DEX for "Fine Physical Actions" (i.e. magic, bows). Each general index is calculated in advance. The overall idea is faster characters roll better dice...Actions go in low->high roll order. But having a d4 does not gaurentee that you will always go before someone who rolls a d10. Magic points used and weapon range add to the roll. Thus, if you need to run up to someone to attack them (one move action, add 3 to your roll). A magic using person adds the MP's used to his or her roll. >>Melee is happening all twelve seconds of the melee round. Weapons >>are constantly swinging back and forth, not just in the "strike ranks" >>when you roll to attack. There are no "safe pockets of time before >>the foe swings on you" where you can sneak in other actions. This provides for that, but adds that little bit of uncertainty while retaining most of the original sytem. -- Burton --------------------- From: f6ri@midway.uchicago.edu (charles gregory fried) Subject: Re: RuneQuest Daily, Wed, 19 May 1993, part 4 Message-ID: Date: 19 May 93 17:19:51 GMT X-RQ-ID: 819 A few comments and questions: Strike Ranks: I imagine someone has suggested this before, but in my campaign, at the start of each round I have one PC make a d10 roll for all the PCs and I make one for all their enemies. Then everone adds the SR of their activity to their side's roll. Then I say, "OK, any one act on SR 1? 2? Etc... I still assume that this all occurs in a 12 second round -- that the segments get 'squished up' depending on the d10 rolls. Big battles get a bit complicated, but I try to make the SRs of the PC's opponents as uniform as possible. My players like this sytem: they say it helps them visualize the combat sequence better. I like the suggestion about INTx3% rolls for spell casting in combat, with *immediate* attack by an opponent, regardless of SR. -------------------- Encouraging other forms of attack. I allow initiates of warlike cults to develop a skill called Combat Sense (a Perception skill). For each segment the PC delays in a round, s/he may use the skill to ask one 'question' about an opponent's skills and intentions. This may be used to estimate how good that Lunar is with his scimitar, but if the player uses it to assess the opponents intentions that round, and is successful, then -- depending on the circumstances -- I may allow the PC a bonus on a more unconventional form of attack. Eg: Player: "I use my combat sense to predict what the troll plans to do this round!" Me: "Looks like he's raising his maul overhead for an all-out crushing blow!" Player: "I knee him in the groin!" Me: "OK, you get +40% kick." (Or alternatively: "Sorry, you blew your Combat Sense roll! The troll was really planning to rush past you and attack the priestess you were guarding; he's going to get some plusses against YOU now...") ------------------- What's the David Cheng Runepower system? Anyone care to email me about it? ------------------- I don't think Initiation should be a spell. I think that overly formalizes something that is a discretional power of Rune Masters and Priests -- at most, have it rely on Ceremony. ------------------- Could someone tell us newbies how to get in on the RQ IV rules?!?!?! Thanx! Long live the Renaissance! Greg Fried --------------------- From: kokko@eemeli.enet.dec.com (The Stars Are Right) Subject: RE: RuneQuest Daily, Wed, 19 May 1993, part 2 Message-ID: <9305191635.AA29197@vbormc.vbo.dec.com> Date: 19 May 93 20:35:28 GMT X-RQ-ID: 820 Re: Runic ties This seems a good idea. Does it scale up in practice. Say you have several players in a big melee, how do you keep up with these ties as players are doing lots of different actions. Penalties sound good also, but how do you judge what is against one's rune. Death and Truth and maybe Darkness are easier to judge but how about Man, Beast or Water?. Could you expand a bit more about what benefits and penalties would each rune hold. -- hannu