12:03 thanks to @user-jh1wr2bx8l for the clarification In the starter set rules this seems fine, but the full rules (pg 148) have more stipulatuions You can't take more than twice the possible points of damage from a single blow. This was a hit to the abdomen, so the troll would take 10 damage to the total hit points, but would be unconscious and losing 1 hp per melle round unless healed or treated with First Aid 14:09 the damage should be reduced by 12 (the broadsword's current HP) so only 2 damage goes to my left leg. Then the broadsword HP is reduced by 1.
Hello Paddy. I just got my hands on a PDF of the RuneQuest starter set and have never played this game before; I'm finding that it's more different from Call of Cthulhu than I realized. Thanks for this video; I've been combing RUclips for breakdowns on RuneQuest combat and found yours. 🙂 Thanks!
I've been searching for a turn-by-turn RQ:G combat tutorial on RUclips for a long time, and to the best of my knowledge, you are the first to provide one. Hats off to you, Paddy, nice job!
I hope it was helpful to you! It's not perfect, as combat can be much more complex and dynamic than this example, but hopefully it helped to understand the core mechanics of it at least :)
I *think* you have that wrong at 13:42. The way I read it, if the parry was successful, the defender only takes damage if the total damage is more than the sword's HP (breaking it). Otherwise it's like the blade is notched (1 HP) and the parrying character is unharmed.
Thanks JT, I'm still learning the system, so I always appreciate stuff like this being pointed out :) But I think I'm reading this rule correctly, check out where the comma is. So if we just put the "if" clause at the start of the sentence it reads: "If damage is more than its (the weapon's) current HP, defender's parrying weapon takes 1HP damage. Any excess damage goes to the affected hit location." So the weapon should only take 1HP damage. If you look at the critical attack vs normal parry "Defender's parrying weapon HP reduced by the damage rolled." So it really depends on how good an attack and how good a parry it was. Here for regular vs regular, I THINK I have it right. HOWEVER, I was wrong. After checking out the full rules (Runequest - Roleplaying in Glorantha pg 198). It says that "A successful parry blocks points of damage equal to the parrying weapon's current hit points....The parrying weapon/shield loses 1 HP, simulating the damage it took by blocking such an overwhelming blow" So in my example, the damage was 14. The damage is reduced by the weapon's current HP (12) down to just 2 points, which goes to my left leg. And then the broadsword HP is reduced by 1hp. Wow! This combat is confusing, but I will get a hang of it some day!
@@rpgswithpaddy Looking at the full rules for further info, it seems we were both off in slightly different ways. The sword is damaged (-1hp from its 12) and the parry prevents up to 12 hp from getting through. (p.198 of the main book). But the sword is not broken in the process. "A successful parry blocks points of damage only equal to the parrying weapon’s current hit points. If more points of damage get through, those points go on to affect a hit location of the defender, determined randomly in the case of a parrying weapon, or referring to the Shield Hit Location table (page 219). In most cases, a hit to a shield damages the arm wielding it. Additionally, the parrying weapon or shield loses 1 hit point, simulating the damage it took blocking such an overwhelming blow."
Yep, that sounds right to me now :) I really like the combat system because I think it's so variable and dynamic. But it does take a long time to get to grips with!
The first troll's hit points after the axe hit should, I believe, only be -10, not -13, as his abdomen only has 5 hit points (and 5 negative hit points). He's still unconscious from the abdomen damage and is bleeding to death unless someone hits him with Heal 2 or better...
I *think* my calculations are still correct though. Total damage (2d8+4 + 1d4) = 6+6+4 + 2 = 18 damage total Attack to the abdomen reduces the damage by 5 because of the abdomens armour 13 is applied to both the hit location AND the total hit points. pg. 26-27 of the starter set book 1 rules: "Armor protects its wearer by subtracting its value from that damage. The rest gets through, subtracted from the hit points of the hit location struck, as well as the adventurer's total hit points." Does that make sense? Or am I missing something?
I can't speak to the starter rules, but I'm fairly certain that you cannot do more total hit point damage than twice the value of a given hit location. (This doesn't matter for a head hit -- your head is destroyed? You're dead.) For example, an elf with 10 total hit points and 3-point arms takes a critical hit to the left arm from a great troll with a greataxe. Suffice it to say that the troll did a *ton* of damage [let's say 25], and the unfortunate elf is a Yelmalio with no armor on that location. The elf's arm is off and will have to be reattached or regenerated (if the elf survives the encounter), but the elf's total hit points are only reduced to 4, not the "instant death" from the other 19 points of damage.
I just looked this up in the core rules an you are correct. The starter set does not have this restriction for Head, Chest, or Abdomen. But in the core rules on page 148 it does state that it's capped at double. The core rules are actually confusing too, it says that for limbs, you're limited to double damage. It doesn't say that for head, chest and abdomen although the example provided has that limit for the head! This example was just running through the starter set for New GM Month, so the starter rules were what I was using. But thanks for the correction, i'll pin a comment!
This video didnt help much. If fighter 1 plan to move say 3 meters in planing face thats strike 1 and say weapon whit strike rating 7, total strike rating 8 and plans to attac troll. And lets say troll moves 6 meters = 2 strike rating and then hit whit weapon 7 striker. Total rating is 9. So do they move same time, where they move? If troll moves further away from fighter 1 say attacking some one else...what fighter 1 will do because then his movement of 3 metres wont take him to close combat whit troll? Can she add more strike ratings to move extra or what? These rules are so confusing.
I'm sorry you didn't find the video useful. Combat in Runequest is (in my opinion) quite complicated, so I wanted to just give a simple version to explain the actual fighting. You're right, the rules are really confusing! The important thing is - have the statement of intent round first. Explain what the different characters want to do. If there is confusion, the GM can tell you what is required. You do NOT have to state "I move three meters and then attack." Instead "I move toward the troll and attack." The GM says "The troll is heading to the right, so it will take extra movement to meet it" The player "ok, i'll do it" or "ok i'll change my mind". This stage is really important, and it seems like it might break the immersion a bit. But it's reflecting how you would act in the situation. If you see the troll moving in a different direction, you're not just going to keep going in the wrong direction. After discussion, all movement happens at the same time. The GM will rule what kind of movement was required from each party, and thus what modifiers. Then the attacks go in Strike rank order. If the strike rank is the same, whoever has the higher DEX will go first. If that's still the same, then the attacks happen at the same time, so the results (damage etc) of each attack happen at the same time. I hope that answered your question (the rules are really confusing!) 1. the movement required will be determined in the statement of intent round 2. The movements all happen simultaneously before any attacks or spells 3. The actions happen in strike rank order. If it's the same, then in dex order, and if still the same, the actions happen at the same time.
12:03 thanks to @user-jh1wr2bx8l for the clarification
In the starter set rules this seems fine, but the full rules (pg 148) have more stipulatuions
You can't take more than twice the possible points of damage from a single blow.
This was a hit to the abdomen, so the troll would take 10 damage to the total hit points, but would be unconscious and losing 1 hp per melle round unless healed or treated with First Aid
14:09 the damage should be reduced by 12 (the broadsword's current HP) so only 2 damage goes to my left leg. Then the broadsword HP is reduced by 1.
Hello Paddy. I just got my hands on a PDF of the RuneQuest starter set and have never played this game before; I'm finding that it's more different from Call of Cthulhu than I realized. Thanks for this video; I've been combing RUclips for breakdowns on RuneQuest combat and found yours. 🙂 Thanks!
I've been searching for a turn-by-turn RQ:G combat tutorial on RUclips for a long time, and to the best of my knowledge, you are the first to provide one. Hats off to you, Paddy, nice job!
Thanks Duane! I'm just learning it, so take it with a grain of salt. But I hope it helps you and other get to grips with the strike rank :)
Thank you. As others have pointed out, finding a concise demonstration of Runequest combat on RUclips is very rare.
I hope it was helpful to you! It's not perfect, as combat can be much more complex and dynamic than this example, but hopefully it helped to understand the core mechanics of it at least :)
Thanks for this tutorial. Very clearly presented, and you've got a new subscriber. 🤘
Nice overview
I *think* you have that wrong at 13:42. The way I read it, if the parry was successful, the defender only takes damage if the total damage is more than the sword's HP (breaking it). Otherwise it's like the blade is notched (1 HP) and the parrying character is unharmed.
Thanks JT, I'm still learning the system, so I always appreciate stuff like this being pointed out :)
But I think I'm reading this rule correctly, check out where the comma is. So if we just put the "if" clause at the start of the sentence it reads:
"If damage is more than its (the weapon's) current HP, defender's parrying weapon takes 1HP damage. Any excess damage goes to the affected hit location."
So the weapon should only take 1HP damage. If you look at the critical attack vs normal parry "Defender's parrying weapon HP reduced by the damage rolled." So it really depends on how good an attack and how good a parry it was.
Here for regular vs regular, I THINK I have it right.
HOWEVER, I was wrong. After checking out the full rules (Runequest - Roleplaying in Glorantha pg 198). It says that "A successful parry blocks points of damage equal to the parrying weapon's current hit points....The parrying weapon/shield loses 1 HP, simulating the damage it took by blocking such an overwhelming blow"
So in my example, the damage was 14. The damage is reduced by the weapon's current HP (12) down to just 2 points, which goes to my left leg. And then the broadsword HP is reduced by 1hp.
Wow! This combat is confusing, but I will get a hang of it some day!
Thanks so much for asking. Always feel free to point out mistakes I make!
@@rpgswithpaddy Looking at the full rules for further info, it seems we were both off in slightly different ways. The sword is damaged (-1hp from its 12) and the parry prevents up to 12 hp from getting through. (p.198 of the main book). But the sword is not broken in the process. "A successful parry blocks points of damage only equal to
the parrying weapon’s current hit points. If more points of damage get through, those points go on to affect a hit location of the defender, determined randomly in the case of
a parrying weapon, or referring to the Shield Hit Location table (page 219). In most cases, a hit to a shield damages the arm wielding it.
Additionally, the parrying weapon or shield loses 1 hit point, simulating the damage it took blocking such an overwhelming blow."
Yep, that sounds right to me now :) I really like the combat system because I think it's so variable and dynamic. But it does take a long time to get to grips with!
The first troll's hit points after the axe hit should, I believe, only be -10, not -13, as his abdomen only has 5 hit points (and 5 negative hit points). He's still unconscious from the abdomen damage and is bleeding to death unless someone hits him with Heal 2 or better...
I *think* my calculations are still correct though.
Total damage (2d8+4 + 1d4) = 6+6+4 + 2 = 18 damage total
Attack to the abdomen reduces the damage by 5 because of the abdomens armour
13 is applied to both the hit location AND the total hit points.
pg. 26-27 of the starter set book 1 rules:
"Armor protects its wearer by subtracting its value from that damage. The rest gets through, subtracted from the hit points of the hit location struck, as well as the adventurer's total hit points."
Does that make sense? Or am I missing something?
I can't speak to the starter rules, but I'm fairly certain that you cannot do more total hit point damage than twice the value of a given hit location. (This doesn't matter for a head hit -- your head is destroyed? You're dead.) For example, an elf with 10 total hit points and 3-point arms takes a critical hit to the left arm from a great troll with a greataxe. Suffice it to say that the troll did a *ton* of damage [let's say 25], and the unfortunate elf is a Yelmalio with no armor on that location. The elf's arm is off and will have to be reattached or regenerated (if the elf survives the encounter), but the elf's total hit points are only reduced to 4, not the "instant death" from the other 19 points of damage.
I just looked this up in the core rules an you are correct. The starter set does not have this restriction for Head, Chest, or Abdomen.
But in the core rules on page 148 it does state that it's capped at double.
The core rules are actually confusing too, it says that for limbs, you're limited to double damage. It doesn't say that for head, chest and abdomen although the example provided has that limit for the head!
This example was just running through the starter set for New GM Month, so the starter rules were what I was using. But thanks for the correction, i'll pin a comment!
This video didnt help much. If fighter 1 plan to move say 3 meters in planing face thats strike 1 and say weapon whit strike rating 7, total strike rating 8 and plans to attac troll. And lets say troll moves 6 meters = 2 strike rating and then hit whit weapon 7 striker. Total rating is 9. So do they move same time, where they move? If troll moves further away from fighter 1 say attacking some one else...what fighter 1 will do because then his movement of 3 metres wont take him to close combat whit troll? Can she add more strike ratings to move extra or what? These rules are so confusing.
I'm sorry you didn't find the video useful. Combat in Runequest is (in my opinion) quite complicated, so I wanted to just give a simple version to explain the actual fighting. You're right, the rules are really confusing!
The important thing is - have the statement of intent round first. Explain what the different characters want to do. If there is confusion, the GM can tell you what is required.
You do NOT have to state "I move three meters and then attack." Instead "I move toward the troll and attack."
The GM says "The troll is heading to the right, so it will take extra movement to meet it"
The player "ok, i'll do it" or "ok i'll change my mind".
This stage is really important, and it seems like it might break the immersion a bit. But it's reflecting how you would act in the situation. If you see the troll moving in a different direction, you're not just going to keep going in the wrong direction.
After discussion, all movement happens at the same time. The GM will rule what kind of movement was required from each party, and thus what modifiers.
Then the attacks go in Strike rank order. If the strike rank is the same, whoever has the higher DEX will go first. If that's still the same, then the attacks happen at the same time, so the results (damage etc) of each attack happen at the same time.
I hope that answered your question (the rules are really confusing!)
1. the movement required will be determined in the statement of intent round
2. The movements all happen simultaneously before any attacks or spells
3. The actions happen in strike rank order. If it's the same, then in dex order, and if still the same, the actions happen at the same time.