The new version answers in detail some of the more esoteric aspects of Glorantha. Since the advent of the game in the 1970s, the amount of material both generated by the companies and the players is incredible and the newer version has many of the important landmarks, sites history and notaries in one location or book. I still prefer the original for the simplicity and appreciate the hard work the AH version did in fleshing out the Glorantha and making it adaptable for customization.
What I noticed about Runequest when we played it is people who normally were not roleplay heavy started to roleplay a lot more. Not sure why that was but it was really cool. I also think the art in RQ 3rd edition is pretty awesome. Its simple but pretty evocative.
I started with Runequest 2nd edition...Apple Lane, Snakepipe Hollow and Pavis. Glorantha was baked in, but since it was murder to locate stuff in the UK... especially after Avalon Hill and Rq3...we drifted into other fantasy games. New Runequest just restores the feel of 2nd edition, but with more help/support straight outta da box. Your Glorantha will vary from my Glorantha as well...even if you buy all those lush hardcover slipcase volumes. Greg encouraged exploration and customisation.
The setting neutrality was something introduced in 3rd edition. 1st and 2nd was very closely tied to Glorantha. AiG was intentionally meant to go back and be more in-line with the basics of 1/2 with some later ideas thrown in. I think one of the designers even described their goal for AiG as being "Runequest 2.5". As people have pointed out The Design Mechanism still produce the 6th Edition with all the Glorantha stuff stripped out as Mythras, but Mongoose also sells an extreamly compressed (and also Glorantha free, obviously) version of their 2nd edition (5th edition overall) as Legend. Both have historical supplements along the line of what was made for 3rd edition.
Yes and no. The 1st and 2nd Runequest Editions, now available in POD as ‘Classic’ Runequest were definitely set in Glorantha as the default setting with all the supplements building the world through adventure. However, the game itself was adaptable to other settings. It was largely this flexibility that allowed Runequest to be the big influence on other game’s design that followed on. Runequest wasn’t just a game about Glorantha, it was a game system that was seen as the big rival to AD&D in the early 1980s.
@@danbuter I think that's two very different things tho. In 2e references to Glorantha is weaved throughout the entire book and is either explicitly or implicitly used as the reason for it's mechanics. In 3e the Gloranthia info is pushed to it's own separate booklet and instead of saying like "in Glorantha x works like this" it will say something like "in the worlds of Runequest" (note "worlds" plural). If anything the main text feels more tied to Fantasy Europe. 3e might have more Glorantha fluff in word count than 2e, but 3e was also around 300 pages while 2e was around 130 pages, so it's not really indicative of the setting-neutrality of the presentation.
I was an RQ3 player. When I started looking about for a newer version it was to Mythras that I went. I have the new RQ Roleplaying in Glorantha, and it is beautiful, but more importantly, it is now RUNEquest. It is a shame that it is not more generic, but if you love Glorantha, then RQ RP in Glorantha is the bomb. I will however be sticking to Mythras as it is more flexible.
I agree with the Andre there. I AM running 2 RQG campaigns and love it but there are some things in RQ3 I like. The separate hit locations for melee/missile combat is the big one for me
I too like the separation between melee and missile hit locations. It's just as easy to use because the tables are combined, adds flavor and actually makes sense. In melee limbs get in the way and exposed while projectiles tend to target the center of mass unless specifically aimed otherwise. There really is a lot to like about RQ3 and I have been working on a way use SR+Initiative for the initial contact then Speed (based on a Base Speed, (Dex + a Str vs Siz relationship) + Weapon Speed. So combat becomes a count up by seconds. Attacks can be adjusted in time by modifying the skill %. It requires more tracking but opens quite a few options and keeps everyone on their toes. Don't want to miss the opportunity for a snap attack because your texting while waiting for your turn to pop up.
Great review. I'd be interested in playing RQ again! But you can only play what you can find players for. I still have my 1st edition red hard-cover from Chaosium, and I have my soft-cover Cults of Prax, and I have my Avalon Hill boxed set! Oh, and I have a humakt tattoo!!! RQ FOREVER!! Although I play Pathfinder 2e now, and I love it!
I started out with RuneQuest in school, with RQ2, and a Duck character, which involved a degree of whimsy I wasn't fully into at the time. I then bought the Games Workshop version (UK Distribution) of RQ3, which came in 3 volumes, RuneQuest, Advanced RuneQuest and RuneQuest Bestiary. I always felt there was something missing from RQ3 though. They sorta hand-waved the setting "Oh, it's Bronze-Age Europe, myths & legends time" & it felt like a lot was put on the GM to come up with setting. Now that we have Wikipedia I guess it's not so hard to research bronze-age settlements but still, lot of work. Glorantha back in the 80s was a little scrappy-looking but with the new RQ:G slipcase set you have everything you need. Chaosium have created some great gameplay series for the beginner, the starter set even has a solo adventure you can pass round your group & get everyone au fait with the mechanics, so onboarding is super-easy. I do have a question though: Mythras seems like a pretty chonky book. Does it have as much detail on its game world as RQ:G has on Glorantha?
I'm a RQ lover from way back. I started with RQ2- I had the red faux leather-covered version. But I didn't really take off until RQIII the AH version - got them all and built my fantasy earth. I backed the RQ2 reprint Kickstarter and when RQG came out I went all in again and have been running Con Games for Chaosium since RQG was published. I liked the whole you are a part of the community/not murder hobos feal it is striving for. I do miss some of the mechanics of RQIII. Which reminds me in RQIII I set up character creation in 3 phases: 1-7 (childhood) where you learn racial skills; 8-14 (pre-adolescence) where you learn your parents' occupation skills; and 15-21(pre-adulthood) where you learn skills for the occupation you want (Journeyman/apprentice). I did have players roll there age, but don't reember now what the range was (probably 16-21) and would prorate skills for thier chosen occupation. So even if your parents were sailors you could still be a mage you were just behind your peers who had wizards as parents by some %.
I would have said that the complaint about AH artwork was most strident from RQ2 players and GM’s who watched RQ go from being an equal to D&D to effectively nothing. 😳As a long term RQ fanboy I never ever had characters role who their parents were. They just picked the background they wanted and progressed from there with perhaps a constraint on the culture or setting. Something you might want to consider and really interesting review. Tx so much for sharing.
It was hard enough to find people who'd play RQ in 'Straya in the 80s, let alone anyone who knew anything about Glorantha. I did however have experience with Stormbringer, Hawkmoon, Pendragon, Elfquest, RQ3 Historical (homebrew bronze age, Japanese & Viking RQ3), CoC, Ringworld and homebrewed campaigns based on its basic rule system. I never ended up playing a game in Glorantha, even though I played more of the generic system than I played any of the D&D's.
The original RQ1 and RQ2 from Chaosium did have Glorantha heavily baked into the system. When Avalon Hill produced RQ3 they dropped a lot of that and used a sort of alternate history of Europe as their setting in the boxset (though it did have a Glorantha setting pamplet in the box it wasn't part of the system per se). A load of Glorantha supplements were subsequently released to support RQ3 though when the RQ2 fans sort of rebelled! When Mongoose picked up the system for MRQ1 and MRQ2 (later to be Legends) they based it in the 2nd Age of Glorantha which was more of a traditional pseudo-medieval setting than the mythic 3rd Age. RQ6/Mythras, developed by The Design Mechanism, dropped Glorantha entirely and is, in my opinion, quite superior to RQ3 (and Chaosium's BRP) whilst still retaining much of the flavour - it's what I use now with my RQ3 Glorantha supplements to run both Gloranthan and non-Glorathan games. (I don't talk about the GW versions of RQ.)
I actually quite liked the presentation of RQ3 when it came out. And the art style was quite good as far as I was concerned. Sure, I've seen the art of Elmore, but that was module cover art for the most, the art spread through the texts was certainly not rubbish. The absence of inbuilt Gloranthan content of RQ3 was a surprise, but we had our RQ2 module material which was compatible, obviously, and RQ3 Gloranthan material was issued as time progressed, and much to my surprise, some Gloranthan modules suddenly were not Gloranthan any more, like Griffin Mountain becoming Griffin Island; same content, different setting.
You should try MYTHRAS (formerly "RuneQuest 6th edition") by The Design Mechanism. It is going in the direction of RQ3, but doing it even more toolboxy, and updated.
He said he disliked what was done by mongoose but that could have been in relation to MQ1 and not as much as what was done in MQ2 (Legends) and RQ6/Mythras. But RQ2 and RQ6 do offer quite a different experience
@@tracer0017 It is a superb system. The rulebook itself has a few problems with the layout, mostly I believe because of how they edited-out the Glorantha content. So it can be a little frustrating to understand how the system works in detail. However, if you're familiar with RQ3 you know what questions to ask and where to find the info in the rulebook. Once you are comfortable with the rules I find it to be a great framework for the visceral, dangerous, glorious campaigning that RQ3 had.
My thoughts exactly. If I wanted to play in Glorantha then RQG for sure. Anything else RQ3 works better. I looked into RQ6/Mythras and while a good system there are things I just like better about the RQ3 design. More organic skill growth for one. Also the combined attack and parry skill bugs me and Mythras combat styles, while having some cool ideas, are just too abstract for my tastes. I like the idea that if you never use a dagger to parry then you'll never get better at parrying with that dagger. RQG combined them as well and it just feels like a dumbing down VS an improvement. Like leveling giving you benefits out of nowhere. RQ3 forces you to train or use the skills to get better. You can't just buy stuff like the Chariot Driver skill while out sailing the seas because you got some skill points to spend after an emotional demonstration of your Dancing Skill and playing in character. Also it seems the combat system seems much more tailored for man to man combat than man VS monster. Mythras is doing a great job of core fantasy with setting options and I would love to see their take on Mythic Greece and also Mythic India. India seems an untapped resource. Perhaps because it is so alien to western culture. Thanks for the review.
I agree that the classic experience system of RQ is more organic than Mythras, but in Mythras it's the GM and not the system which arbitraits where a character can attempt a Skill Check - so the player really has to justify why they believe they can spend their pts, and the GM can always disallow if the situation sounds unlikely. So it certainly doesn't play like D&D when a character just levels up, the situation is requires much more generally requires narrative explanation.
I'll be honest (as opposed to my other posts), I bought Runequest as a combat supplement to my Call of Cthulu game. But as I go through it, it has a much nicer "feel" to it than DnD.
@@timbuktu8069 I would agree, I had a GM running a D&D Oriental Adventures game that he converted to RQ3 with the Land of Ninja supplement. And it was a nigh6 and day difference, from there I grabbed a copy, and I have played D&D butRQ is my preferred game
You can still get BRP with all its supplements. Design Mechanisms edition aka "Mythras" Core Rules is very very very good (If you can get copies of the core book and Moster Island etc dont get Design Mechanisms extra Campaign world stuff its a sort of weird world) . You can use either/both of these to get your RuneQuest of old. Especially Mythras as a game is much under rated and in many ways updates adn replaces the AH books you know.
For Glorantha I would still use RQ6 or Mythras with a few tweaks, there is not much to change. Introduce some additional Passions (Rune Affinity), and allow them to be augments for lots of things,, especially Exhort skill - or just use them as a replacement for exhort skill - then Divine Magic pretty much becomes Rune Magic. Rename Devotional Pool as 'Runepower' for flavour and you're good to go.
As a person who never liked Glorantha (the tropes were much too "tropey" and the cultures too, well, dull) I loved RQ3. For me Mythras, by the Design Mechanism, hits the good parts of RQ3 but provides enough of an inspirational framework to breathe life into a fantasy setting without the straight jacket of Glorantha baked into the rules. Inwills runs a Mythras campaign on RUclips that is worth a watch if you want to get a sense of the game. His current "The Harpy Queen"(ruclips.net/p/PLYN9uanG7ahBHXJuA05Id39g3kuSEqsx4) is quite fun.
I started with Runequest 2 back in the day and loved the system and what I call Glorantha light. We never got into the mythos much nor the gods etc and we just used the maps etc and adventured in Pavis and Borderlands. I am currently playin the new Runequest and to be honest I still long the the old days. It doesnt feel the same. LOL to be honest the new artwork to me is just wierd and not how I viewed Glorantha. I'm not into all this holy days and constant praying and being forced to do things based on your religion and passions etc. Again I just want to adventure and have fun doing it. I dont like how Glorantha is so embedded in the new rules either. I wonder what a Runequest campaign would be like in a completely different setting?
Why don´t we have a 3rd edition reprint? I guess Chaosium are Gloranthian lovers and they decided to bury the third edition. There are many erratas to be fixed and a few improvements to be done (sorcery MP cost, fatigue), but the game is fully playable after 40 years. Home rules are a little help to enjoy this classic even more.
it also may have something to do with licensing as it was published by Avalon Hill, which is now part of Hasbro in the US and Games Workshop in the UK< so it may be more bother to reprint it than it is worth.
I'm a long time RQ3 gm and player. I wanted to like RQG and while it is absolutely beautiful, mechanically its design isn't nearly as tight nor simulationist as RQ3 was. RQG is much more about heroes and mythic roleplaying in the way the current designers want, not so much adventure-having.
Thank you for this video. I would have liked the RQ3 booklets to have had studier covers but I definitely prefer the boxed sets to plain books. The additional material you create can go where it belongs. I'm still trying to get other box sets, (ninja) but when they do come up on eBay they cost £££how much! I don't see any reason some company couldn't create new boxed sets for RQ3, the distancing shouldn't be too hard or too awkward in use. As to the artwork. While SOME box covers were good the internal illustrations were bad, no that's not fair, they are appalling. If I were in charge of AH at the time people would have been fired for releasing such rubbish. Pencil artwork can be good [ as in Twighlight 2000 ] here it is a plain disgrace.
The Games Workshop version of 3rd edition will always be the definitive version for me. I have the latest edition books, but would never play it simply because of how tied to Glorantha it is. Never have liked the vibe of Glorantha much.
I have to disagree on the grounds that the 'open-ended' nature of RQ3 offends the Glorantha-phile in me. RQ Earth was a hot mess of garbage, dull and lackluster and every way. Nothing personal, though. I just think the game is better in its native setting. I'm not a total hater- I started with RQ3, so I do have some fondness for it. But I definitely don't miss the encumbrance system, the overall low quality of art and layout- and that complete faliure of a sorcery system.
There are rules for skipping the family history part during character creation. Makes it a lot less complicated and dense for new players. After that just pick the parts of the Glorantha setting you like and want to use. After all your Glorantha will vary :-)
I am so old that my Runequest is not even here, lol; it has a picture of a Dragon newt fighting a woman on the cover.
I regret chucking out my RQ1 after buying RQ2.
I still have my copy of RQ1 that I bought in the 70s. Truly an awesome game.
Same here.
Chaosium sells a beautiful reprint of that:)
The new version answers in detail some of the more esoteric aspects of Glorantha. Since the advent of the game in the 1970s, the amount of material both generated by the companies and the players is incredible and the newer version has many of the important landmarks, sites history and notaries in one location or book. I still prefer the original for the simplicity and appreciate the hard work the AH version did in fleshing out the Glorantha and making it adaptable for customization.
What I noticed about Runequest when we played it is people who normally were not roleplay heavy started to roleplay a lot more. Not sure why that was but it was really cool.
I also think the art in RQ 3rd edition is pretty awesome. Its simple but pretty evocative.
Tecamel? Empire of the petal throne EotPT not Egypt 🇪🇬 but weird any way
@@roylecomte4606 I think you mean Tekumel, and that is heavily based on mythic India but also somewhat the middle east and South America.
I started with Runequest 2nd edition...Apple Lane, Snakepipe Hollow and Pavis. Glorantha was baked in, but since it was murder to locate stuff in the UK... especially after Avalon Hill and Rq3...we drifted into other fantasy games. New Runequest just restores the feel of 2nd edition, but with more help/support straight outta da box. Your Glorantha will vary from my Glorantha as well...even if you buy all those lush hardcover slipcase volumes. Greg encouraged exploration and customisation.
The setting neutrality was something introduced in 3rd edition. 1st and 2nd was very closely tied to Glorantha. AiG was intentionally meant to go back and be more in-line with the basics of 1/2 with some later ideas thrown in. I think one of the designers even described their goal for AiG as being "Runequest 2.5".
As people have pointed out The Design Mechanism still produce the 6th Edition with all the Glorantha stuff stripped out as Mythras, but Mongoose also sells an extreamly compressed (and also Glorantha free, obviously) version of their 2nd edition (5th edition overall) as Legend. Both have historical supplements along the line of what was made for 3rd edition.
Yes and no.
The 1st and 2nd Runequest Editions, now available in POD as ‘Classic’ Runequest were definitely set in Glorantha as the default setting with all the supplements building the world through adventure. However, the game itself was adaptable to other settings. It was largely this flexibility that allowed Runequest to be the big influence on other game’s design that followed on. Runequest wasn’t just a game about Glorantha, it was a game system that was seen as the big rival to AD&D in the early 1980s.
2nd edition had less Glorantha information than the 3e boxed set. You're thinking of all the supplements, which were loaded with awesome stuff.
@@danbuter I think that's two very different things tho. In 2e references to Glorantha is weaved throughout the entire book and is either explicitly or implicitly used as the reason for it's mechanics. In 3e the Gloranthia info is pushed to it's own separate booklet and instead of saying like "in Glorantha x works like this" it will say something like "in the worlds of Runequest" (note "worlds" plural). If anything the main text feels more tied to Fantasy Europe. 3e might have more Glorantha fluff in word count than 2e, but 3e was also around 300 pages while 2e was around 130 pages, so it's not really indicative of the setting-neutrality of the presentation.
I was an RQ3 player. When I started looking about for a newer version it was to Mythras that I went. I have the new RQ Roleplaying in Glorantha, and it is beautiful, but more importantly, it is now RUNEquest. It is a shame that it is not more generic, but if you love Glorantha, then RQ RP in Glorantha is the bomb. I will however be sticking to Mythras as it is more flexible.
I agree with the Andre there. I AM running 2 RQG campaigns and love it but there are some things in RQ3 I like. The separate hit locations for melee/missile combat is the big one for me
I too like the separation between melee and missile hit locations. It's just as easy to use because the tables are combined, adds flavor and actually makes sense. In melee limbs get in the way and exposed while projectiles tend to target the center of mass unless specifically aimed otherwise.
There really is a lot to like about RQ3 and I have been working on a way use SR+Initiative for the initial contact then Speed (based on a Base Speed, (Dex + a Str vs Siz relationship) + Weapon Speed. So combat becomes a count up by seconds. Attacks can be adjusted in time by modifying the skill %. It requires more tracking but opens quite a few options and keeps everyone on their toes. Don't want to miss the opportunity for a snap attack because your texting while waiting for your turn to pop up.
Great review. I'd be interested in playing RQ again! But you can only play what you can find players for. I still have my 1st edition red hard-cover from Chaosium, and I have my soft-cover Cults of Prax, and I have my Avalon Hill boxed set! Oh, and I have a humakt tattoo!!! RQ FOREVER!! Although I play Pathfinder 2e now, and I love it!
I started out with RuneQuest in school, with RQ2, and a Duck character, which involved a degree of whimsy I wasn't fully into at the time. I then bought the Games Workshop version (UK Distribution) of RQ3, which came in 3 volumes, RuneQuest, Advanced RuneQuest and RuneQuest Bestiary. I always felt there was something missing from RQ3 though. They sorta hand-waved the setting "Oh, it's Bronze-Age Europe, myths & legends time" & it felt like a lot was put on the GM to come up with setting. Now that we have Wikipedia I guess it's not so hard to research bronze-age settlements but still, lot of work. Glorantha back in the 80s was a little scrappy-looking but with the new RQ:G slipcase set you have everything you need. Chaosium have created some great gameplay series for the beginner, the starter set even has a solo adventure you can pass round your group & get everyone au fait with the mechanics, so onboarding is super-easy.
I do have a question though: Mythras seems like a pretty chonky book. Does it have as much detail on its game world as RQ:G has on Glorantha?
I'm a RQ lover from way back. I started with RQ2- I had the red faux leather-covered version. But I didn't really take off until RQIII the AH version - got them all and built my fantasy earth. I backed the RQ2 reprint Kickstarter and when RQG came out I went all in again and have been running Con Games for Chaosium since RQG was published. I liked the whole you are a part of the community/not murder hobos feal it is striving for. I do miss some of the mechanics of RQIII. Which reminds me in RQIII I set up character creation in 3 phases: 1-7 (childhood) where you learn racial skills; 8-14 (pre-adolescence) where you learn your parents' occupation skills; and 15-21(pre-adulthood) where you learn skills for the occupation you want (Journeyman/apprentice). I did have players roll there age, but don't reember now what the range was (probably 16-21) and would prorate skills for thier chosen occupation. So even if your parents were sailors you could still be a mage you were just behind your peers who had wizards as parents by some %.
I would have said that the complaint about AH artwork was most strident from RQ2 players and GM’s who watched RQ go from being an equal to D&D to effectively nothing. 😳As a long term RQ fanboy I never ever had characters role who their parents were. They just picked the background they wanted and progressed from there with perhaps a constraint on the culture or setting. Something you might want to consider and really interesting review. Tx so much for sharing.
It was hard enough to find people who'd play RQ in 'Straya in the 80s, let alone anyone who knew anything about Glorantha.
I did however have experience with Stormbringer, Hawkmoon, Pendragon, Elfquest, RQ3 Historical (homebrew bronze age, Japanese & Viking RQ3), CoC, Ringworld and homebrewed campaigns based on its basic rule system.
I never ended up playing a game in Glorantha, even though I played more of the generic system than I played any of the D&D's.
Thanks for the overview, just picked up the starter set
Like Runequest for the system elegance but like Rolemaster even better for the more straightforward feel and those crits:)
A Deep Dive into the Runequest Deluxe Avalon Hill 3rd edition Box set: ruclips.net/video/mo-_EOqdblo/видео.html
I’m sure someone else has told you that the Chaosium Basic Role playing system may be what you are looking for.
Good review thanks.
The original RQ1 and RQ2 from Chaosium did have Glorantha heavily baked into the system. When Avalon Hill produced RQ3 they dropped a lot of that and used a sort of alternate history of Europe as their setting in the boxset (though it did have a Glorantha setting pamplet in the box it wasn't part of the system per se). A load of Glorantha supplements were subsequently released to support RQ3 though when the RQ2 fans sort of rebelled! When Mongoose picked up the system for MRQ1 and MRQ2 (later to be Legends) they based it in the 2nd Age of Glorantha which was more of a traditional pseudo-medieval setting than the mythic 3rd Age. RQ6/Mythras, developed by The Design Mechanism, dropped Glorantha entirely and is, in my opinion, quite superior to RQ3 (and Chaosium's BRP) whilst still retaining much of the flavour - it's what I use now with my RQ3 Glorantha supplements to run both Gloranthan and non-Glorathan games. (I don't talk about the GW versions of RQ.)
I actually quite liked the presentation of RQ3 when it came out. And the art style was quite good as far as I was concerned. Sure, I've seen the art of Elmore, but that was module cover art for the most, the art spread through the texts was certainly not rubbish.
The absence of inbuilt Gloranthan content of RQ3 was a surprise, but we had our RQ2 module material which was compatible, obviously, and RQ3 Gloranthan material was issued as time progressed, and much to my surprise, some Gloranthan modules suddenly were not Gloranthan any more, like Griffin Mountain becoming Griffin Island; same content, different setting.
You should try MYTHRAS (formerly "RuneQuest 6th edition") by The Design Mechanism.
It is going in the direction of RQ3, but doing it even more toolboxy, and updated.
He said he disliked what was done by mongoose but that could have been in relation to MQ1 and not as much as what was done in MQ2 (Legends) and RQ6/Mythras. But RQ2 and RQ6 do offer quite a different experience
I bought Mythras last year but still cannot find any groups that play it. It looked like a good system.
@@tracer0017 It is a superb system. The rulebook itself has a few problems with the layout, mostly I believe because of how they edited-out the Glorantha content. So it can be a little frustrating to understand how the system works in detail. However, if you're familiar with RQ3 you know what questions to ask and where to find the info in the rulebook. Once you are comfortable with the rules I find it to be a great framework for the visceral, dangerous, glorious campaigning that RQ3 had.
Roll over stat & Or % skill & Or time training mechanic Compare EXPerience systems
Roll over Stat gain ; Stormbringer (Elric Law/Chaos ; Morcock . )
RQ system rules, because no warrior can't stand damage like a horse or an elephant.
Exactly, making things like a tactical retreat viable, versus have enough HP to withstand monster damage
RQG's heritage is descended primarily from RQ2, whereas Mythras is more the inheritor of RQ3
My thoughts exactly. If I wanted to play in Glorantha then RQG for sure. Anything else RQ3 works better. I looked into RQ6/Mythras and while a good system there are things I just like better about the RQ3 design. More organic skill growth for one. Also the combined attack and parry skill bugs me and Mythras combat styles, while having some cool ideas, are just too abstract for my tastes. I like the idea that if you never use a dagger to parry then you'll never get better at parrying with that dagger. RQG combined them as well and it just feels like a dumbing down VS an improvement. Like leveling giving you benefits out of nowhere.
RQ3 forces you to train or use the skills to get better. You can't just buy stuff like the Chariot Driver skill while out sailing the seas because you got some skill points to spend after an emotional demonstration of your Dancing Skill and playing in character. Also it seems the combat system seems much more tailored for man to man combat than man VS monster.
Mythras is doing a great job of core fantasy with setting options and I would love to see their take on Mythic Greece and also Mythic India. India seems an untapped resource. Perhaps because it is so alien to western culture.
Thanks for the review.
I agree that the classic experience system of RQ is more organic than Mythras, but in Mythras it's the GM and not the system which arbitraits where a character can attempt a Skill Check - so the player really has to justify why they believe they can spend their pts, and the GM can always disallow if the situation sounds unlikely. So it certainly doesn't play like D&D when a character just levels up, the situation is requires much more generally requires narrative explanation.
I'll be honest (as opposed to my other posts), I bought Runequest as a combat supplement to my Call of Cthulu game. But as I go through it, it has a much nicer "feel" to it than DnD.
@@timbuktu8069 I would agree, I had a GM running a D&D Oriental Adventures game that he converted to RQ3 with the Land of Ninja supplement. And it was a nigh6 and day difference, from there I grabbed a copy, and I have played D&D butRQ is my preferred game
You can still get BRP with all its supplements. Design Mechanisms edition aka "Mythras" Core Rules is very very very good (If you can get copies of the core book and Moster Island etc dont get Design Mechanisms extra Campaign world stuff its a sort of weird world) . You can use either/both of these to get your RuneQuest of old. Especially Mythras as a game is much under rated and in many ways updates adn replaces the AH books you know.
For Glorantha I would still use RQ6 or Mythras with a few tweaks, there is not much to change. Introduce some additional Passions (Rune Affinity), and allow them to be augments for lots of things,, especially Exhort skill - or just use them as a replacement for exhort skill - then Divine Magic pretty much becomes Rune Magic. Rename Devotional Pool as 'Runepower' for flavour and you're good to go.
Happy Gaming!!
As a person who never liked Glorantha (the tropes were much too "tropey" and the cultures too, well, dull) I loved RQ3. For me Mythras, by the Design Mechanism, hits the good parts of RQ3 but provides enough of an inspirational framework to breathe life into a fantasy setting without the straight jacket of Glorantha baked into the rules.
Inwills runs a Mythras campaign on RUclips that is worth a watch if you want to get a sense of the game. His current "The Harpy Queen"(ruclips.net/p/PLYN9uanG7ahBHXJuA05Id39g3kuSEqsx4) is quite fun.
Runequest Straight jacket %-) verses Flavourful world .
I started with Runequest 2 back in the day and loved the system and what I call Glorantha light. We never got into the mythos much nor the gods etc and we just used the maps etc and adventured in Pavis and Borderlands. I am currently playin the new Runequest and to be honest I still long the the old days. It doesnt feel the same. LOL to be honest the new artwork to me is just wierd and not how I viewed Glorantha. I'm not into all this holy days and constant praying and being forced to do things based on your religion and passions etc. Again I just want to adventure and have fun doing it. I dont like how Glorantha is so embedded in the new rules either. I wonder what a Runequest campaign would be like in a completely different setting?
If your are not really satisfied with the Glorantha world, wouldn't the Mythras RPG be a good development to the Runequest 3rd Edition?
Why don´t we have a 3rd edition reprint? I guess Chaosium are Gloranthian lovers and they decided to bury the third edition.
There are many erratas to be fixed and a few improvements to be done (sorcery MP cost, fatigue), but the game is fully playable after 40 years. Home rules are a little help to enjoy this classic even more.
it also may have something to do with licensing as it was published by Avalon Hill, which is now part of Hasbro in the US and Games Workshop in the UK< so it may be more bother to reprint it than it is worth.
I'm a long time RQ3 gm and player. I wanted to like RQG and while it is absolutely beautiful, mechanically its design isn't nearly as tight nor simulationist as RQ3 was. RQG is much more about heroes and mythic roleplaying in the way the current designers want, not so much adventure-having.
Because D&D OSR is too mainstream, we are going to play an older edition of Runequest - you probably haven't heard of it.😜
holy shit your intro song mix is wild....too loud!
Play Mythras. Mythras is great BRP and no binding into a complex mega immersion setting.
Thank you for this video. I would have liked the RQ3 booklets to have had studier covers but I definitely prefer the boxed sets to plain books. The additional material you create can go where it belongs. I'm still trying to get other box sets, (ninja) but when they do come up on eBay they cost £££how much!
I don't see any reason some company couldn't create new boxed sets for RQ3, the distancing shouldn't be too hard or too awkward in use.
As to the artwork. While SOME box covers were good the internal illustrations were bad, no that's not fair, they are appalling. If I were in charge of AH at the time people would have been fired for releasing such rubbish. Pencil artwork can be good [ as in Twighlight 2000 ] here it is a plain disgrace.
The Games Workshop version of 3rd edition will always be the definitive version for me.
I have the latest edition books, but would never play it simply because of how tied to Glorantha it is. Never have liked the vibe of Glorantha much.
Look at Basic Roleplyin, or Mythras, BRP Is the generic Runequest system
Started to listen to a actual play of the new RQ. Had to stop as character generation was going into the parents and grandparents. 😬
I have to disagree on the grounds that the 'open-ended' nature of RQ3 offends the Glorantha-phile in me. RQ Earth was a hot mess of garbage, dull and lackluster and every way. Nothing personal, though. I just think the game is better in its native setting. I'm not a total hater- I started with RQ3, so I do have some fondness for it. But I definitely don't miss the encumbrance system, the overall low quality of art and layout- and that complete faliure of a sorcery system.
Sound is completely distorted, specially in the intro but even throughout during speaking. Totally unwatchable
There are rules for skipping the family history part during character creation. Makes it a lot less complicated and dense for new players. After that just pick the parts of the Glorantha setting you like and want to use. After all your Glorantha will vary :-)