[Rq-rules] Re: Hero Points

[Tom Zunder (Home)]

On 19 Jun 2006 at 11:29, Nick.Middleton at invensys.com wrote:

> > Hero Points are fine.
> 
> Generally perceived as a step back by my group. If we want to play that
> sort of game, we wouldn't be playing BRP / "RuneQuest". 

That is my point exactly. It's like D&D 3, it almost got to the 
point of being pure D&D, the core mechanics for everything. It 
then fudged it in some places, but it got close to the paradigm: 
xp, levels, classes. 

RQ should be d100, skill is what you see, roll under to succeed, 
roll over to get better. A uber-feat/mastery system should be the 
same.

It's a stylistic choice.

> old RQ Divine Intervention, if there was to be a mechanic for this sort of
> thing

Elan in Stormbringer for example.

> It is a nice idea, but again, not a noticeable improvement on RQII/III. And
> as you say, the implementation was poor (I have obviously not seen the
> final version).

It makes it much more the arcane preserve of specialists, I 
think. They'll have to loosen it a lot for Glorantha to feel 
Gloranthan, or find another approach.

> But then, very few people used the resistance table for opposed skill tests

Skill tests no, but I used to use it a lot. I am happy to seeit go 
since (as someone once said) it is a game system in it's own 
right.

> But then, "different things for the sake of different things" seemed to be
> the overriding design criteria from Mongoose's PoV as far as I could
> discern.

Yes, but not criteria, style. They're D&D heads and D&D heads 
that add rather than simplify. Conan solved d20 problems by 
adding when it could have done the same by simplifying. It's 
their house style I am afraid.

 
> Quite possibly, but I am not a sub-contractor or business client of
> Mongoose or Issaries - I am a customer, and if they want my cash, they have
> to convince me their product is worth it, and that they are companies I
> wish to do business with. And the incident referred to, plus the clumsy
> handling of the open play test in general, the clumsy design of MRQ through
> iterations 1 - 1.4 and the apparent inept revisions since# has largely done
> the opposite I'm afraid.

Yup. I wish them well tho' I'd like to go to my FLGS and get 
some BRPish gamers playing Glorantha, rather than endless 
Exalted and d20 games.


Tom Zunder
http://www.zunder.org.uk
http://tzunder.livejournal.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tzunder/
ICQ: 1521799
MSN: tom at zunder.org.uk
Y!: tzunder
Google Talk: tom.zunder