[Rq-rules] Re: increasing characteristics/Playing Using MRQ Rules

[Lance Dyas]

Bjorn Stolen wrote:
> When you say that RQ isn't heroic, I do not agree with you.
> I think that it is possible to play RQ in a heroic way; several 
> background-things in setting-books, adventure-books, etc. suggests 
> that the playing-characters were cut out/destined to become somthing 
> more than the averidge peassant. That's why the game is called Rune 
> Quest, not "Peassents quest for the lost cow" (shortened to "TQFTLC"). 
> If you (as GM) let players get an experience check every time they 
> succeed in a skill, and let them train and find mentors, they can race 
> up in skill pretty fast. If you give them access to stat-increasing 
> spells, they will go even higher up the scales in a faster way, as 
> they have to roll under their skill+modifier in order to get an 
> experience-check, but they do only need to roll over their actual 
> skill in order to get a skill increase. You could then let them go up 
> 1d10 (as in CoC), instead of 1d6.
people can advance fairly quickly in RQ
>
> My point is that RQ could be played "Beowulf"-style just as well as 
> D&D. The only difference is that your hero can die in RQ, whereas it 
> cannot in D&D.
Well in some sense you are right on..  D&D character death is highly 
predictable (that doesnt sound right) errrrrrr its something one plan 
for and or avoid. The reliability of HP as a measure of fatigue and 
running out of luck means that crit hit occurs well predictable when 
your hitpoints are shot.  HP only vaguely model wounding in that game ;-)
> (The other difference is that it is perfectly possible to play a 
> low-level hero-free campagin in RQ as well as playing "Beowulf"-style.
Yup but in RQ you really do have to do something over the top.. if you 
want to avoid pointless random death ...  and still act like Glimli and 
Legalos...counting them Orc heads with impudence.  Ofcourse your 
character could be clinically insane<insert mad cackle>. 

Somebody added Fate Points to patch this kind of difficulty and we have 
seen critical hits  introduced to D&D many many times to give it the 
element of random danger you are talking about... either are fairly 
straight forward mods.

D&D is Heroic out of the box and playing your character like a hero is 
pretty much encourage systemically...
RQ is non-heroic out of the box and playing your character like a hero 
means you usually die early...which interestingly I have heard as a 
definition of a real hero but is certainly not of a fantasy one.

Lance