From: owner-rq-rules-digest To: rq-rules-digest@hops.wharton.upenn.edu Subject: RQ Rules Digest: V2 #285 Reply-To: rq-rules Errors-To: owner-rq-rules-digest Precedence: bulk Content-Return: Prohibited Return-Path: owner-rq-rules-digest RQ Rules Digest: Wednesday, 19 June 1996 Volume 02 : Number 285 TABLE OF CONTENTS David Dunham Nomad Gods Martin Declan Kelly Mass Battles Lewis Jardine Example was way OTT!? Not as much as you t Bernuetz, Oliver: WPG Nan's in Houston Thor Christensen Nan's in Houston Loren Miller BODGERS sure thing Loren Miller ADMIN: I'm baaaaaaaack david boatright Learning Magic Bernuetz, Oliver: WPG Learning divine magic Hartley Patterson Bushido 3rd Edition SimonPhipp@aol.com Learning Magic SimonPhipp@aol.com RQ Breaks Down at High Level Sandy Petersen BUSHIDO battles RULES OF THE ROAD 1. Do not include large sections of a message in your reply. Especially not to add "Yeah, I agree" or "No, I disagree." Or be excoriated. If someone writes something good and you want to say "good show" please do. But don't include the whole message you praise. 2. Use an appropriate Subject line. 3. Learn the art of paraphrasing: Don't just quote and comment on a point-by-point basis. When paraphrasing you demonstrate exactly how well you understand the point someone was trying to make. 4. There is no number 4. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: dunham@pensee.com (David Dunham) Date: Tue, 18 Jun 1996 22:50:33 -0700 Subject: Re: Nomad Gods Harry Bowman wondered > I assume that, like many of the best RQ products, Nomad Gods is out of > print. Does anyone know of a way to get a copy (legally and without > spending a lot of money) ? Also, could someone please email me a basic > description (I've been inferring things)? If you have Web access, check (which, I just verified, can also be found from typing "Nomad Gods" into my search page). I heartily recommend my Glorantha page as the place to start with any Glorantha or RQ query. Nomad Gods is expensive but not outrageous, and has far better art than the original (the counters are wonderful). I only have the French edition, so I haven't investigated all the rules differences, but there are a few new units. Slightly off-topic, but people have been mentioning Bushido. By accident, I ended up with one booklet. Were there three, like so many games of its day, or two? As for Eldarad, it's a reasonable source of RQ3 broo statistics, which I think I once used running Pavis (which is what Eldarad is, after all). David Dunham Pensee Corporation dunham@pensee.com Voice/Fax: 206 783 7404 http://www.pensee.com/dunham/ NO ZUKES! Stop zucchini proliferation. ------------------------------ From: Martin Declan Kelly Date: Tue, 18 Jun 1996 19:26:26 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Re: Mass Battles At 08:57 PM 6/18/96 +0000, Jens Carlberg wrote: >A short comment on Bushido : It seems to be in reprint, at least in >the catalogs I have, from a company named FGU. I'll have to check to >see if that's just a short form. Fantasy Games Unlimited: they've been publishing it (and some other great games... Flashing Blades, Aftermath etc) for years... now all out of print, but still available as a lot were never sold... you can often find them still shrink-wrapped if you look in the right places.... Nan's in Houston do mail order and have it in stock most of the time... can't remember the phone number... anyone with a Houston SWBYP? Declan > > - -- We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars... - Oscar Wilde o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o Martin Declan Kelly Teleport Tech Support My views and opinions are my own: go get your own http://www.teleport.com/~declan/ o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o ------------------------------ From: Lewis Jardine Date: Wed, 19 Jun 1996 11:15:33 -0700 Subject: Example was way OTT!? Not as much as you think Glenn! Hi All & Glenn Glenn comments that my example of 475% was way over the top. Well it was a bit, but consider this. Zoran Zoran Hero Wanabe... 200% Mace or Maul attack (good but not unreasonable) Bludgeon 7 Crush 4 Berserker None of the above totally outrageous. Result = 475% versus Mr Broo. OK so this guy is tougher than you would normally meet, but I doubt whether many would claim that he would not exist in their Glorantha! Cheers Lewis ------------------------------ From: bernuetz.oliver@ic.gc.ca (Bernuetz, Oliver: WPG) Date: Wed, 19 Jun 1996 10:07:35 -0400 Subject: Nan's in Houston The address and phone number I found for them is: Nan's Games & Comics Too Southwest Freeway Houston, TX 77098 713-520-8700 Oliver D. Bernuetz bernuetz.oliver@ic.gc.ca ------------------------------ From: ThorC@UH.EDU (Thor Christensen) Date: Wed, 19 Jun 1996 09:27:53 -0500 (CDT) Subject: Nan's in Houston >At 08:57 PM 6/18/96 +0000, Jens Carlberg wrote: >Fantasy Games Unlimited: they've been publishing it (and some other great >games... Flashing Blades, Aftermath etc) for years... now all out of print, >but still available as a lot were never sold... you can often find them >still shrink-wrapped if you look in the right places.... Nan's in Houston do >mail order and have it in stock most of the time... can't remember the phone >number... anyone with a Houston SWBYP? I think someone already replied with the phone number. I live in Houston and would be willing to check on this game for anyone interested. E-mail me privately if you would like me to do that. I go to Nan's once a week anyway... Thor Christensen Asst. Director, Center for Public Policy University of Houston Houston, TX 77204-5341 phone (713) 743-3975 fax: (713) 743-3978 ------------------------------ From: "Loren Miller" Date: Wed, 19 Jun 1996 11:46:10 EST Subject: BODGERS sure thing Sure thing. Post BODGERS. Isn't it within the charter of the rq-rules list? - -- +++++++++++++++++++++++23 Loren Miller Life at the water's edge is the real life for men and women, and penguins ------------------------------ From: "Loren Miller" Date: Wed, 19 Jun 1996 11:48:03 EST Subject: ADMIN: I'm baaaaaaaack The List Owner has returned and is astoundingly cheery, as he just had the most amazingly wonderful ten days of his life. Did everybody behave? :) - -- +++++++++++++++++++++++23 Loren Miller Life at the water's edge is the real life for men and women, and penguins ------------------------------ From: david boatright Date: Tue, 18 Jun 1996 12:40:38 +0000 Subject: Re: Learning Magic Sandy Petersen =========== Good information Sandy. But the problem I have is with the priests role in the learning of Divine\Rune magic. From current information it looks like the priest spends the same amount teaching as the pupil does learning. How many priests does a temple like the Old Wind have I am sure they hate when in Fire Season when hundreds of intiates turn up wanting to learn spells. I guess what I am trying to get straight is how is divine magic learned and does the priest have to know the spell to teach it. ------------------------------ From: bernuetz.oliver@ic.gc.ca (Bernuetz, Oliver: WPG) Date: Wed, 19 Jun 1996 17:48:49 -0400 Subject: Learning divine magic My feeling is that you don't "learn" divine magic like you would say sorcery. I envision it as going something like this... The devout initiate, acolyte or whatever approaches the temple authorities. S/he goes though the proper channels, greasing the correct palms and is given permission to join one of the worship ceremonies meant to bring the worshippers into such close contact with their deity that they may sacrifice 1 or more points of POW in order to obtain a tiny little bit of the god/goddesses' grace in the form of a rune spell. Maybe these services are in the form of a minor hero quest or maybe all you have to do is to look deep within yourself and examine your faith and your motives so that the god/goddess may evaluate your worthiness to "learn" the spell. This could easily result in your lying prostrate on the floor of your temple praying your little heart out. It could very well be that a whole crowd of different people could be learning spells at he same time. I'm sure the deity can sort them out. After the god/goddess has judged you worthy you're granted the spell. What have you got after all that trouble? A nearly foolproof little bundle of magic. They're like hand grenades-you pull the pin, you aim, you say a (brief) prayer, you throw and you duck. As long as you don't get the order mixed up you'll be okay. The base chance is 100% plus magic bonus and they're direct manifestations of the god's/goddess' will. There doesn't seem to be much else to them. After all it's divine magic, not rocket science ;-) (Now sorcery, that's rocket science!)\ Oliver D. Bernuetz ------------------------------ From: hpttrsn@vossnet.co.uk (Hartley Patterson) Date: Thu, 20 Jun 1996 00:30:54 +0100 (BST) Subject: Bushido 3rd Edition The 2nd Edition was indeed published by Fantasy Games Unlimited (FGU) in 1981. They abandoned it thereafter with I think only one scenario supplement appearing. In the UK (I don't know about elsewhere) it became something of a cult game, with fans xeroxing copies. Gold Rush Games got permission of the original authors, laid plans for a new-but-compatible edition with lots of supplements, then FGU started muttering about still owning the rights! Details on the Web Site mentioned previously. Brett Evill: >Actually, I would advise anyone against using the Bushido battle system. So would I in Glorantha! I guess we've had different experiences of the 'PCs in battles' system, but then I've never GMed Bushido. But then I also like the combat system, which is really wierd. - -- Hartley Patterson ------------------------------ From: SimonPhipp@aol.com Date: Wed, 19 Jun 1996 19:53:54 -0400 Subject: Re: Learning Magic In RQ2 it took a priest a week to teach a Battle Magic spell which he had to know in order to teach it. In RQ3 it takes a few hours, depending on the Spell Spirit's POW, and he does not need to know the spell in order to teach it. Things have changed quite drastically. In my opinion, one priest can quite happily teach a number of cult members Divine Magic simply by walking them through the rituals, teaching them the meanings behind the words and actions used, telling them the myths, dressing them in ritual costumes and leading them in a song-and-dance routine at the end. As long as he knows the form of the ritual, he can lead the service in order to teach Divine Magic. If many initiates come along in Fire Season, all the priests need to do is to organise extra classes, pull out those old robes which no-one uses any more, put some more chairs in the teaching rooms and get on with it. The problem comes when everyone wants to learn a different spell. This is not a problem at Shrines (1 spell and the acolyte knows the ritual inside out) or minor temples (only a few spells available and the same people generally attending - - they don't want to learn those weird spells anyway). Amongst Great Temples, there should be a large enough number of Priests/Acolytes to ensure a number of classes each day - if not, the initiates will have to wait. Who says that everyone can learn magic whenever they like? ------------------------------ From: SimonPhipp@aol.com Date: Wed, 19 Jun 1996 19:53:57 -0400 Subject: Re: RQ Breaks Down at High Level >If characters in a campaign of mine ever got skills at 475%, I would have long ago given up the > campaign to start a new one. The extreme of Heros on HeroQuest around 200% is one problem, your > example goes way beyond the pale. If you enjoy playing low-level characters or running low-level campaigns, then fair enough. However, there is a great deal to be said about playing in a campaign which has run since 1982 with the same main characters since 1983 or so, moving up the ranks and becoming politically and culturally powerful, even to the point where you can begin to challenge Heroes and Godlings. Just because you do not like it does not mean that others should not. The most "skillful" characters in my campaign have skills in the 400% - 600% range, with one having a magically-enhanced Sense Chaos skill of nearly 800% or so. I recently tried to introduce the idea that Sense Chaos meant that every wound you took from the type of Chaos creature sensed seemed to open up and hurt you, the player of this character disagreed since he could sense chaos at 160m range (Skill/5 in my campaign) and was currently doing nefarious deeds in Dorastor. If you are feeling faint after reading this, you had better lie down in a darkened room while my players try to kill the Bronze Sword Prophet. ------------------------------ From: Sandy Petersen Date: Wed, 19 Jun 96 19:29:40 -0500 Subject: Re: BUSHIDO battles Brett Evill >I would advise anyone against using the Bushido battle system No, Brett -- not the Command in Battle system, the Characters-in-Battle system. Brett obviously hates even the part about the characters, but I urge you all to see it for yourselves. Sandy P. ------------------------------ End of RQ Rules Digest: V2 #285 ******************************* This is the bottom of the RuneQuest Rules Digest. 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