[Rq-rules] Re: Playing Using MRQ Rules

[Simon Phipp]

Bjorn Stolen:

  > -but how can a sword do damage to full plate armor then? -you might ask.
> the simple (and to roleplaygamers' horrible) answer is that swords don't do 
> damage to full plate armor. They only do damage under extraordinary 
> circomstances, that I feel is perfectly covered by the speical and critical 
> hit- rules. I've made houserules that differs between the kind of damage a 
> weapon can do. A spear can do piercing and bashing damage (each point), a 
> sword can do cutting/piercing damage, a club can do bashing only, a spiked 
> club can do piercing/bashing, etc.
   
  In past games, people have overcome high armour by using a lot of magic or getting lucky and getting a good hit in. In RQ terms, that means using Bladesharp, Truesword, Slash, other weapon-enhancing spells or increasing damage bonus via Strength or similar spells and/or rolling a special or critical hit. Specials can do more damage if you use the RQ2 specials, critical hits ignore armour entirely.
   
  So, GMs could put a massively armoured but not particularly dangeous foe against PCs and hope it hurts them before being worn down. Now, that option isn't there as the PCs do an aimed blow to ignore armour, at half chance, and hit 1 in 4 to 1 in 2 times. As PCs normally gang up on such opponents, on average a hit ignoring armour happens every round, at least.

  Devin:
  > Let's also not forget that, especially in the sort of pre-Medieval times that RQ often mimics, metal armour was 
  > immensely expensive and generally beyond the ken of armourers from many lands to fashion.

  Well, RQ3 ramped up the cost of armour quite considerably, but it also made spells ridiculously cheap.
   
  I use RQ2 prices for spells, when I use RQ2/3 style Spirit Magic, and RQ3 prices for armour. They work best when you are not in a big city, in Pavis for instance, then armour is rtuly expensive.
  
> In Dark Ages Britain, a chainmail or ringmail surcoat would be the property of a lord or king.
   
  Yes, but a little bit later you had the armies of Harold and William I routinely wearing chainmail and earlier the Roman Legionaries had a healthy scale mail suit. I think it's more to do with the surrounding technological level rather than status. In the Dark Ages, they had good metal working skills and made swords, axes and spears, but didn't have the capability to mass-produce metal armour. Later on, they had more armour around, I think.
  
> I have always felt that in most RPGs, armour is way too inexpensive.
   
  Perhaps, but PCs have a tendency to take armour from fallen foes and so can collect more expensive armour than they could otherwise reasonably afford. Look at Robin Hood and the number of soldiers/knights he stripped and sent on their way, he even armoured a poor knight and gave him a good horse from his armoury.

Ashley Munday:
> I've only run one initiation quest (and one with a
> twist, however crap) at a convention. You just
> happened to play in it...
   
  I know, I'm sorry, I was having a very bad day ....
   
  It's just that I had played a couple of games, HQ and RQ, at a couple of conventions and they were ALL Initiations. I also played in a few outside conventions as people think they are really good intorductions, so I have reached Initiation Quest Overload.

> I'm running a HQ game, one Dogs in the Vineyard and
> another Gloranthan game on non-determined rules, I
> doubt it'll be Runequest though.
   
  That's a shame. I've heard that Dogs in the Vineyard is very good, so depending when you run it, I might be interested. The idea of Mormon gunslingers appeals to me.
   
  Devin:
  > "Any system that gives an Orlanth cultist the same magic as a Ygg cultist simply because they both have the > Storm Rune doesn't work, in my opinion."
>
> I think a runic approach can work if there are synergies developed between the runes. By that I mean powers 
  > for Orlanthi magic derive not so much from his Storm Rune alone, but the interaction of his Storm Rune with the 
  > other runes he has. This makes Orlanthi magic different from another Storm deity unless they happen to have 
  > all the same runes.
>
> As far as a system utilizing this concept? Would probably have to be one that uses a god's "major" rune as a 
  > base for powers and then modifies them based on the god's other runic ties.

  But you still have the problem that cults with similar runes have similar spells/abilities. I'm struggling to think of examples, though. Wachaza and Blue Gloom both have Water and Death, I think, but one has Whirlpool, Water Walking and Fang of Wachaza and the other has Drown and Undead capability. Maybe that wasn't a good example. Now look what you've made me do, I've got to go away and list all the RQ cults and all their Runes now. Thanks a lot :-(
   
  Waha (Death, Beast) and Foundchild (Death, Beast(?)) have different spells - one is a Nomad Khan the other a Hunter. A Runic system would not relfect this. I've got to look these up, I'm afraid.
   
   
  By the way, any ideas about the Runemetals Question (ENC/Cost)?
   
  See Ya
   
  Simon (Not having quite as bad a day as yesterday)
   
   
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