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RuneQuest Digest Compilation Edition.
Volume 1, issues 7-9
edited by: Andrew Bell
transfered to CIS by: Janet Naylor 72727,574
Copyright, Andrew Bell
*************************************************************************
*** A Mote in Orlanth's Eye, Volume 1, Number 7
This issue:
RQ Armor problems (Elliot Wilen)
RQ Fatigue (Mark Abbott)
Re: Elliot's comments (Andrew Bell)
Re: Mark's fatigue system (Andrew Bell)
Subject: RQ Armor problems
From:8hum190@violet.Berkeley.edu (Elliot Wilen)
Incidentally, in the sorcery article, when I
said 'you' I was actually talking to Steve Maurer, to whom I
referred later. He actually sent me his own fix for the rules,
which I have somewhere but haven't looked at very closely.
[Ed: Oops. I also sent you something suggesting penalties for casting
higher point spells, but probably after Steve did.]
I'll ask him if I can submit them as an alternate, but I think my
fix is better (at first glance) since it's simple and involves
very little change from the standard rules.
I have gotten a letter from someone which raises a couple of
points against my approach, though, so I may have some
revising to do. The revising might involve changing
my system, but I'm hoping (in spite of the work it would
involve) it will be preferable to write a new sorcery spell
list.
Here's another problem with the rules which I don't think you
mentioned: the armor rules. Maybe a fix to the fatigue rules
will handle part of the problem, namely the fact that some
types of armor weigh too much for someone really to
wear them. Imagine a knight in plate armor! I also
think that the new approach to helmets is a bad one. It
doesn't really define helmets the way they should be defined--
by construction, not material. Actually, neither is ideal,
but there's no real good way (or is there?) to distinguish
between an open helm made out of plate and a visored one
except by adding a point or two of absorption to the
latter.
Besides, some of the armor types seem to be just plain incorrectly
defined/rated; and many of them shouldn't be available for
use as pieces on every part of the body.
In sum, I like the old (RQ II) approach to armor much better, and
I think I might go back to that and try to elaborate it for
use with RQ III. Maybe other people have ideas/opinions on
the topic.
Far away, I have an idea to make the weapon damages in RQ a little
more GURPSish (conversely, I've already decided the GURPS hit location
system needs to be more RQ-ish). This would mean distinguishing
between crushing, edged, and pointed weapons effects and how
they interact with armor. GURPS does this in a non-complicated manner.
In the meantime, maybe someone can provide a ready-made method of
getting rid of those breakpoints in the damage bonus chart.
For specialization: treat it as follows: if you learn a skill basically
in one environment, and you have to use it under conditions with
which you are unfamiliar, your skill is halved until the GM decides
you've gained familiarity with the environment. This isn't a big
penalty, but then again, hiding behind trees and under piles of
leaves isn't all that different from hiding behind corners and
under tables.
I'd use the same approach when someone picks up a new weapon
and immediately has to fight with it before getting used
to its balance. If half skill seems harsh, maybe just -20 (-10?)
*or* 1/2, whichever is the smaller penalty.
For similar skills, I'm not sure what you're talking about. I thought
you might mean something like a default system, in which a high
skill in one area will help other related skills 'default' to
a semi-decent value. But RQ's skills are quite distinct for the
most part, except the weapon skills. I do think that someone with
a 90% skill in 2H Hammer should also be pretty decent with a Maul.
For that matter, I don't see how a person can be 90% with a
one-handed Bastard Sword, yet 15% with it two-handed. (I could
be very wrong there, though--two-handed fighting style
might be a lot different from one-handed.) I could go on...there
must be a similarity between fighting with a shortsword and a broadsword,
for example.
While we're on weapons, I think it a bit odd that the only only advantage
derived from using certain weapons two-handed instead of one-handed is
that they require less strength. Either they should do a bit more
damage (which might confuse the relationship between a long spear and
a short spear, for example), or weapons should get a bonus for the
amount by which the minimum strength is exceeded. (This also
has problems.) Maybe instead, damage should be set by strength, and
only *modified* by weapon. This is what GURPS does: a strength of
12 does a basic d6-1 with a thrusting weapon, or d6+2 with a swung
weapon. This is then modified by the particular weapon.
But I think the above paragraph is getting rather far afield. One last
tangential point, though: there should be a penalty for parrying
a flail. Right now, flails have a chance of entangling opposing
weapons. This is colorful, but not the real advantage of that
sort of weapon. The real advantage is that they could be swung so
that they'd swing around an interposed object and still hit.
I think a minus or halving for weapon and shield parries would
be appropriate.
For skill increases: I'm in favor of eliminating the learning
by experience system altogether and just using training during
off-time. This is more realistic. To reward good role-playing,
though, you could award e.p. and use your method. To be
hyper-realistic, you could award training time for skills
used during adventure; typically, this would only be worthwhile
for things like riding, shiphandling, and some lores, which might
be considered to be being used all the time.
Incidentally, if the experience-by-rolling method is dropped,
then weapon parry skills should be expressly connected to
attack skills in some way. This might be sticky, though, since
there's actually a complex relationship between shield parries,
weapon parries, and weapon attacks (not to mention Dodge). But
if something isn't done, people will have widely disparate
weapon attack and parry skills. Maybe that's realistic.
I doubt it. So here's another long-term project: rework
the entire relationship between attacks, parries, shield parries,
and dodges. I'll think about it.
You might want to just include this piece of rambling in an upcoming
issue. Probably starting with "Here's another problem..."
[Ok, but I started it earlier, I'll admit it when I make a mistake.]
Yours,
Elliot
Subject: RQ fatigue
From: abbott@dean.berkeley.edu (Mark Abbott)
Concerning the fatigue problem, here's a rulesfix I'm about to try.
It hasn't been playtested yet but it should help some of the problems.
With these rules, STR determines how much you can carry and CON determines
for how long.
Fatigue/Encumbrance: Max ENC = 6xSTR in kilos. FP=2xCON.
Normal FP expenditure is 1FP/round.
At each 10% of Max ENC, +1FP expended/round.
At each 20% Max ENC, -1/2 move with a minimum move of 1.
Each 10% Max ENC reduces Sneak, Swim, Dodge, and all Magic
skills by 10%. (Actually, each 1% of ENC reduces these
skills by 1% but players may round to nearest 10% for
ease during play.)
Mark Abbott
abbott@dean.berkeley.edu
{ihnp4, decwrl, sun, hplabs}!ucbvax!dean!abbott
Subject: Re: Elliot's comments
From: acb@duke.cs.duke.edu (Yep, me again)
Regarding helmets: it would also be nice to make up a system where they affect
perception skills. I agree with you on armor though; I liked the old system
except that they rounded weights to the nearest ENC point. I'd prefer a
smoother system without "breakpoints," i.e. the armor for some 5'6" weighs
slightly less than the armor for someone weighing 5'8" and so on.
Incidentally, I'm considering trying to map normal distributions so that I
can generate results from 2-12 and 3-18 with a bell curve shape and potential
infinite resolution. Not a real important project, but it could be fun.
I'm still waiting for Keith to send me his system for smoothed damage bonuses
(hint,hint.)
As for similar skills, I mention that idea because I would like to have the
option of specializing skills somewhat more than the straight rules. For
example, devise and sleight cover a variety of actions. If you've looked at
the huge list of skills for Rolemaster in the Companion II, you 've seen a
huge list of potential skill breakdowns. I don't think this is always
necessary, but if it can be created as an extension to the game, it could be
beneficial for precise character development.
I agree with you, it's hard to learn attack and parry separately. I make them
related skills simply because you can't train one without training the other.
I'd like to come up with a system where you learn fighting *styles* -- one-
handed weapon and shield, two-handed weapon, fencing, florentine, etc.
instead of learning a specific weapon, and within a fighting style you might
learn how to use a specific type of weapon.
I believe I mentioned that training with a particular weapon (not weapon type),
like a favorite shortsword or grandfather's old morningstar, ought to give
you skill with that particular weapon. That way, the penalty for using a
weapon of a slightly different weight or balance is that you haven't that
extra bit of training in it. Perhaps 10% of training could be counted as being
with the particular weapon, and thus with another weapon you have only 90% of
your training effect.
I don't like extremes like half skill or even -20%, except when the weapon or
whatever is substantially different from the one you're used to. Although I
like the idea of being better with a weapon that is specially made for one's
physique, and I'm not sure how to fit that in the grand scheme of things.
I agree with you that two-handed damage should be higher than one-handed, and
larger people should be able to use larger weapons.
Re: skill increases: I think battlefield skill use should be significant, to
the point of actually being a method of learning. It's the old heat-of-battle
training idea. Lore skills are actually unlikely to go up because you use
them, but in adventuring you may learn something new which would increase
them.
-Andrew (acb@duke.cs.duke.edu)
Subject: Re: Mark's fatigue
From: acb@duke.cs.duke.edu (Your friendly editor)
I like your idea of fatigue being directly related to Con, with strength
determining what ENC is fatiguing.
Let's play with some numbers and see what happens:
Typical soldier has, say, 13 strength. His maximum encumberance is 78 kilos,
or about 172 pounds. That's a bit light for maximum lifting ability, but
lifting more than that should make most other actions well nigh impossible
(other than slowly moving). Our typical soldier will be able to carry this
78 ENC for a little over 4 rounds, assuming negative your fatigue is still
the point of exhaustion. Perhaps you could elaborate on what you wish to do
regarding when you are exhausted?
The only objection I have is that you make no distinction between various
actions in terms of their effect on fatigue, saying merely that you spend one
fatigue point per round.
-Andrew
The RuneQuest(tm) mailing list is a courtesy of Andrew Bell.
All opinions and material above are the responsibility of the originator, and
copyrights are held by them.
RuneQuest is a trademark of either Chaosium or Avalon Hill.
**************************************************************************
*** RQ Undigestables, Volume 1, Number 8
This issue:
Armor, Fatigue, etc. (Mark Abbott)
Re: RQ Sorcery (Steve Maurer (via Elliot Wilen))
From: abbott%dean.Berkeley.EDU@berkeley.edu (+Mark Abbott)
Subject: Armor, Fatigue, etc
Re armor and helmets: I've been playing around with the Harnmaster armor
system lately and I think I may use it for RQ. It uses a hit location
system with a much more detailed breakdown for humanoids. Each location
is rated as a %of the total body area. Armor weight is figured by
multiplying the weight of the armor type (chainmail, leather, etc) by
the % of the body covered. This makes it easy to construct pretty
spotty or idiosyncratic armor or stick with whole suits. What I've done
is take their armor weight values and convert them to kg. I've got
a formula which takes RQ Size, a weight value by armor type, and % of
body covered, and you get out the weight of that piece of armor. Encumbrance
values are closely comparable to current RQIII for the different armor
types but the RQIII size break points are gotten rid of.
When it gets to helmets, the head in the Harnmaster system is broken
into skull, face, and neck allowing quite a bit of detail in helmet
construction. They have an optional table to break up locations on
the face. What I'm doing is using their locations and mapping them
to the RQ locations for HP. So, I've got a location table using the
Harnmaster hit locations. If I roll an 'elbow' location that maps
to the RQ PC's arm, groin maps to abdomen, etc. It allows you to set
up a much more detailed suit of armor for a PC but doesn't force it.
And you can still use unmodified RQ hit points.
You can still use full suits of one armor sort and you can switch back
and forth between the more detailed hit location table and the normal
RQ table pretty much at will.
If anybody is interested in this I'll get it typed up and send it in.
[I am!]
Care to elaborate on the GURPS distinctions between crushing, edged, and
pointed weapons? I don't know much about GURPS.
[Nor do I. Elliot?]
As to flails, around here we halve parry when defending against a chain
weapon and take 3/4 of the parry versus flexible weapons. The catch
is that chains get their fumble chance tripled and flexible weapons
have a double fumble chance.
On skills specialization, I limit PCs to 10 experience rolls per
adventure. This means that I can give them tons of chances to
use skills and they'll still pick a set which they work hardest on.
I also encourage roleplaying PCs such that we don't have much of the
"Everybody try to pick this lock and somebody will succeed" problem.
[I prefer to give higher fumble chances to untrained people, so they break
something in the lock (or whatever, depending upon the skill) and make it
impossible to pick. The 10 rolls per adventure also makes all adventures
equally valuable experience-wise, which may not be desirable; a suggestion
using this approach is for the GM to evaluate the adventure and give a
specific number of rolls (as opposed to the straight 10.)]
On the fatigue stuff, sorry, I should have elaborated a bit more. Effects
of negative FP are exactly the same as per RQIII, -1 FP = -1% in all skills,
unconsciousness at minus double (or whatever, haven't ever had to apply
that rule so I'm not certain what the cutoff is). Even though I called
it Maximum Encumbrance, I don't really use that as a hard limit on what
can be carried. The same rules for fatigue expenditure and movement
can be used for carrying loads over "Maximum ENC". For example, your
soldier with 13 STR and CON would have a Max ENC of 78 and 26 FP. If
he carries 78 ENC that's 11 FP expended per round and his movement is
reduced to 1. This means that he'll have 3 rounds of normal skills and
then he'll be fighting at minuses. He'll quickly hit his limit and have
to stop exerting himself so strenuously. If he carries 91 ENC, 110% his
max, he'll use 12 FP per round and move at 1.
As for what causes you to use up fatigue, any combat or maneuvering in
combat causes you to expend FP at the rate determined by your encumbrance.
I allow characters to sprint (move at double the normal rate) but it
uses one of their actions for that round and it adds 1 to their
FP expenditure rate. Under normal RQIII fatigue rules, sprinting had
the same effect, spend +1 FP per round. Standing back from a fight
but staying very alert and combat ready you spend no fatigue but can
make various perception rolls, see who needs help, etc. Leaning on
your sword allows you to recover fatigue (at d4-2/round, I think, whatever
it is in the book) but you aren't as alert. You'll still notice that troll
charging you but you might not notice that your buddy, 20 yards away
and partly behind a bush, is in need of your help. You definitely won't
notice the elf hidden in the bushes who is about to turn you into a
pincushion.
Simple jogging, outside of a fight, uses fatigue each minute, ie you
use 1 (or more depending on ENC) FP per minute as opposed to the normal
1 per round.
As for short vs long term endurance, I just use fatigue for short term and
CON for long term. If a character hasn't had enough sleep, I take off from
his CON. This effectively lowers his fatigue, resistance to poisons and
disease, etc. CON lost this way is recovered by remedying the situation,
ie taking a nap.
[Your CON versus FP dichotomy is a lot like my adrenal versus basic fatigue
idea.]
Hm, this is getting awfully long. I think I'd better send this off
before it gets completely absurd.
Mark Abbott
abbott@dean.berkeley.edu
{ihnp4, sun, decwrl, sun, hplabs}!ucbvax!dean!abbott
[Editor's note: If you wish to include individual copyrights like the one
below, I have no objection providing you make all materials freely copiable
in the manner of this next article.]
From: Steven Maurer
Subject: Re: RQ Sorcery
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Copyright (C) 1988 Steven Maurer, all rights reserved
All or part of this article may be freely copied for non-commercial
use, provided that this notice in included in said copies and/or
derivations (fixes/changes), and that proper attribution is made.
Any other use, without written permission from the author, is prohibited.
Sorcery Definition:
Sorcery is the skill of magic. Unlike divine (godly) and soul
(samanistic) magic, it is based on the complex practice of directly
invoking the power of the runes, without any intermediaries. While
this "cutting out the middleman" enables a generally greater return
for magical input, it is also very hazardous.
Sorcerers do not have Divine Intervention, cannot attune iron, have
no increased POW gain roll, or any other supernatural or heroic aid
unless they get it directly from Heroquest. They have a DEX x 5
limitation on all non-sorcerous/non-knowledge skill rolls, if they
want to progress beyond 100% as a Runelord in Sorcery skills (due to
intensive study). Some Sorcerers may dabble in cults up to being
Initiates, and some priests dabble in Sorcery (chiefly worshippers
of the man-god { Pharoah }), however doing both is impossible simply
from a practical time-oriented standpoint, much less the fact that
most traditional gods disapprove of Sorcery.
There are other advantages and limitations, such as Sorcery generally
being more slow. Most of these you will find out during play.
Sorcery, unlike Rune/Battle magic, is not "preprogrammed". With
sufficient practice, the Sorcerer has complete control over the effects
of the spell he is attempting to invoke. To a large extent then,
Sorcerers are tinkerers. Many new Sorcery spells are simply unique
combinations of older spells. Such "tinkerings" are called "variations".
There are standard spell variations which will be described below.
Warning: Sorcerery is not an easy magic to learn, so playing a Sorcerer
is not a technically easy job. Though the system is not complex, you
must keep track of the every Sorcerous skill you know, and familiarize
yourself with the rules. I do not suggest beginners play sorcerers.
Sorcery Rules
1] Every Sorcery spell has a percentage.
2] Spell skill base has INT as major modifier, and POW and
DEX as minor modifiers. Some spells may base off of 1/3 or
1/2 of another, related, spell. Of two conflicting start
values, choose the HIGHER percentage.
3] Mastery Level = Skill Percent / 5 (rounding down) The use
of this is explained later. It is abbreviated: ' ML '
3a] Shortcut Table: This describes the rules found below.
-% %thresh Extra Mana
Intensity X X
Area X X
Speed X
Range X X
Ease X
Duration X
Enchantment X *
High-Enc X
Iron X X
Concordances +/- +/-
4] Sorcery costs 1 Mana (Temp-POW) to use. Many Variations
require extra Mana to produce the additional effects. Most
require extra Mana in addition to other requirements.
5] Some Variations may only be produced after the Sorcerer has
attained a certain proficiency ( ML ) with the spell; these
are called Threshold Variations (or %thresh).
5a] Speed - A Sorcery takes (24 + Dex SR - %thesh ML) seconds
to cast; never below Dex SR. Example: Casting a 50%
(ML 10) spell takes (24 + Dex SR - 10) seconds to complete.
5b] Range - A spells range is: 10 * 2 ^^ (%thresh / 4) meters,
round down. At a %thresh of 0, Range is touch.
Ex: At %thresh 8, the range is (10 * 2 ^^ 2 =) 40m.
For every 80m, extra range costs +1 Mana.
5c] Ease to cast / Ease to hold "Active" spells -
%thresh Effect
0 Trance. Sorcerer completely helpless while
casting/holding the spell.
1 - 2 Total concentration; attackers +60% + free
aimed shot. Any disturbance stops spell cast.
3 - 4 Heavy concentration; attackers +40% + free
+2 Hit Loc Mod. Damage stops cast/hold, and
Disturbance forces reroll at -10.
5 - 6 Concentration; attackers +20% Damage forces
reroll at -3 per pt taken, or cast/hold fails,
disturbance forces reroll at -5.
7 - 8 Light Concentration; attackers +10%. Damage
forces reroll at -2 per pt taken, disturbance
forces reroll at -2.
9 -10 Little concentration; attackers +0%. Damage
forces reroll at -1 per pt taken, disturbance
forces reroll.
11 -12 Routine; as above. Can combine with a non-
attack/non-spell action in same phase, can
ignore any "normal" disturbance.
13 -14 Practiced; as above, but Damage merely
forces reroll with no minuses.
15 -16 Easy; Can combine with any non-spell action
in same phase.
17 -18 Very Easy; Damage will not stop spell cast
unless it FIs the caster.
19 -20 Extremely Easy; Can combine with any actions
Sorcerer has SRs for in same phase. Instant
spells may be maintained as if Active.
21 Automatic; may cast even when Functionally
Incapacitated. Active spells may be held
while asleep.
6] Some Variations are extremely difficult to produce, even for
the best adepts; these are called Skill-Subtraction Variations,
and have the symbol ' -% '.
6a] Intensity is the "power" of the spell. All spells start at
a Intensity 0. For each Level of increased intensity, decrease
effective ML by 1 ( EML = ML - Intensity ). The effects of
Intensity are explained with the spell. Each Level also
costs 1 extra Mana. Some spells are so complex, that
they don't work until a high intensity is reached.
6b] Multiple Target - Spells usually only affect only 1 target,
but this can be changed for a varying cost. Target Multiplier
( TM ) is a cost multiple for each spell, with a default of 1.
EML = ML - ( TM * Additional Targets). Extra Mana costs:
2 * TM * (Additional Targets).
6c] Increased Area - Some spells affect an area. As Multiple
Targets, but each DOUBLING of area costs: TM * (# of Doubles)
Extra Mana costs: 4 * TM * (# of double). All creatures in
the area are effected by the spell, including the Sorcerer.
6d] Penetration - Spells may be tuned to penetrate the defenses
of a particular target. For each -1 EML, the Sorcerer may
have an effective +1 POW in any POW vs POW skill roll. This
may only be used against 1 target, though people in Mind Link
are be considered 1 target vs Mind affecting Sorceries.
6e] Combinations - Many Sorceries may be combined to produce new
and interesting effects. These are only partially under the
control of the Sorcerer. Even if the Sorcerer wants to apply
an effect he has practiced, this subtracts from the EML. This
is entirely GM controlled (by me).
7] Thresholds are partially cumulative with Subtractions. For
each -2 ML, subtract -1 from %thresh ML. Example: A Mage at
ML 18 (90%) attempts to Invoke Fire at Intensity 10. His EML
is thus (18 - 10 =) 8, and for purposes of calculating how fast
he can get it off, he is effectively (18 - 10/2 =) 13 %thresh.
Thus, he throws it in 24 + 2 - 13 = 13 SRs (1 full round + 1).
8] A Sorcerer may use ML Subtractions to make up for %thresh losses
(but NOT to get extra %thresh). Thus in the above example,
to Invoke at Intensity 10 with no extra delay (%thresh of 18), the
EML would be: (8 - (18 - 13) =) 3 . This must be stated before
the spell is cast. See me if you have trouble understanding
this rule.
8a] A Sorcerer may also use %thresh in one area, to make up for
lost %thresh in another: Every -2 %thresh, restores 1. In
the above example, to cast with a Speed at %thresh 18, the
Sorcerer would have to make up +5 %thresh. By concentrating,
he might reduce his Ease %thresh to 13 - ( 5 * 2) = 3, allowing
to cast as if Speed %thresh 18.
9] "Passive" Sorcery spells (with Ease %thresh 11 or better), may be
maintained by simply continuing to spend Mana every 2 minutes.
10] A Sorcerer may use ML Subtractions in place of Mana use, down to
1 Mana pt cost. Each -% ML from there doubles the time before
"maintenance" Mana must be put in the spell. This is called
a spell's "Maintained Duration". There are other limits: the
spell ends when the Sorcerer does not pay the Mana, is killed, or
ends up 10 kilometers away (in addition to dead spots). For
"Active" spells, the caster must still concentrate, and this
can be disrupted. For "passive" Sorcery, no concentration
is needed. Adepts typically have several passive defensive
spells up all the time.
11] A Sorcerer may place Mana in an object from which a Spell draws
power, rather than himself. This is exactly like "Maintained
Duration", except that the spell is "attached" to the object,
not the sorcerer.
12] Passive spells may be made "permanent" by Enchanting an object
or area. Each point of Mana required for the spell per day,
is replaced by a point of Permanent POW. The spell will
continue to function forever, unless the object is destroyed,
or a "Destroy Magic" is cast. Bringing the object into a Dead
spot will cause the spell to cease until brought back out again.
The Maximum POW which may be put into an object is %thresh / 4.
12a] Active spells may also be made "permanent", except that
they need something to guide them. This is either a
trigger (e.g. "Harmonize anyone who touches that lock"), or
a directed weapon (e.g. Disruption wand). The attack is
made with the POW of the original caster.
12b] Sorcery Matrices may also be generated using this method.
They are easier to create, but use the Mana and POW of the
person using them. The POW cost to build matricies is 1/4
normal.
13] Sorcery requires easy use of hands and tounge to shape the
glyphs which controls the runes. Thus, ENC penalties for
carrying too many "things" starts at 1/2 normal for all
Sorcery skills. This -% requires no extra Mana.
13a] Some Concordances (q.v.) require strange modes of dress.
Nudity, for example, is useful in casting almost all
Fertility Rune magic.
14] Iron disrupts magic. For each ENC point on the caster,
subtract 1 ML, and add 1 Mana point for every spell cast.
15] A "Concordance" is an an effect in the environment which makes
invoking a particular rune easier. Concordances may increase
effective Mana and even Mastery Level! For instance, there
is a +5ML when attempting to summon a Salamander out of an
Inferno (50' x 50' burning area). Concordances may decrease,
or make impossible some castings (it is impossible to summon a
Salamander underwater). Spell components are concordances.
15a] Certain concordances are permanent, and can be applied to
any spell. Widely known ones include: Dead Spots (remove
all magic), "mage water" (adds Mana), and powered crystals.
Other universal concordances exist, but are not public
knowledge. (You must find this out for yourself.)
16] For every -1 ML taken on a spell, the Sorcerer may subtract
-1% from the die roll, when checking for experience.
17] Incorrectly invoking the runes is a common enough occurance
for Sorcerers, and can be dangerous. Failure/Fumble percentages
are based on skill resulting from the effective ML -- before
Concordances are taken into account.
17a] The majority of failures are perfectly safe. A simple
miss means that the Mana is expended, and wasted in burst
of power on the spirit plane. Unless you are trying to
be invisible to spirits, this has no effect. Free Spirits
often hang around journeymen just waiting for the free Mana.
17b] Fumbles can be quite dangerous, as they are incorrect
invocations of the runes. These can be deadly, damaging,
humourous, completely unintended, interesting, and/or
overwhelmingly useful, depending upon the exact invocation,
and other many factors present at the time. Note that
magic in no wise tries to "get" the Sorcerer, it simply
follows a path of least resistance. In fact, Failure Study
(as it is called) is one of the better known methods of
spell research. A sufficiently skilled Sorcerer can
even intuit the mistakes an Apprentice is likely to make,
and caution against them. In general, the more Mana
cast, the wider the effect of the fumble.
17c] The most well researched spells have lists of common
mis-invocations, and their expected effects. The mistake
made most often is "overinvocation", in which the novice
overestimates the power necessary to invoke the rune,
and ends up applying the spell over a larger magical
field than was intended. Note: "magical field" does not
mean physical area, but rather an over expanded spell
effect. A typical Fumble of Glamour (q.v.) is to
send all animals in the close vicinity into a mating
rut, many seeking to nuzzle the caster in ways dependant
upon their species. The second most common mistake is
"underinvocation". In our example above, this will make
the target suddenly adore only one aspect of the caster,
such as their nose, hands, or possessions.
17d] It is common knowledge among sourcerous circles, that
fumbles of skilled sorcerers are of a different essential
character than those of novices. Further, fumbles from
new research are quite a bit more dangerous than those
of a more established character (dangerous invocations
are simply discarded). Can you say different table?
Knew you could -- but you don't get to see it.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Example Spells
Warm (Passive/TM 1/4)
Invokes the Fire rune to warm a target/area. Does not
bring true Fire onto mundane place, so heat generation is
limited to 100 degrees. Extra levels of Intensity merely
combat Cold related damage. Under heavy exertion, check
for Heat exhaustion after 4 minutes.
Concordances:
Firegem +2 - +6 ML, Fire +2-+8 mana, Magical Fire +2 - +8 ML,
At Night -2 ML, Magical Darkness -2 - -8 ML, Fire Season +4 ML,
Earth Season +2 ML, Dark Season -4 ML, Storm Season -2 ML, each
10 degrees below 0F -2 ML.
Burn (Instant/TM 2)
Invokes the Fire Rune to burn a target, armor protects.
Each successive attack on same target subtracts 1 from the
armor protection value down to 1/2. May be opposed by
Cool/Extinguish. In general, flammible objects will ignite
after taking 1 point of damage. Semi-flammible objects (such
as people) will ignite after taking 12 points. Bronze melts
after taking 20; Stone after 30; Iron 40.
Begins: Base, or Warm / 2
INTENSITY EFFECT
0 1 point damage, as ignite spell
1+ (Intensity) d3 damage
Concordances:
As Warm divided by 2, Target Burning +1 - +10 ML, -1 Intesity
for each point of Cool/Extinguish.
Glamour (Passive/Active)
Invokes the Fertility rune to make the caster more
attractive to other members of it's race, opposite sex.
Intensity of the spell is limited to caster's base CHA.
Each point of Intensity adds: +1 CHA, and +5% to all
Communication-Persuasion based skills: Fast Talk, Barganing,
Seduction, etc. Casting motions are erotic: only Sorcerers
knowledgable of the spell will be likely to recognize it
for what it is. May also be used as Active "attack" against
a target POW vs POW, then Intensity vs INT, to entice the
target into any nonfatal action appropriate to seduction.
As with all mind-affecting spells, once POW vs POW is made,
the target is unaware of the spell's existance.
Concordances:
A +1 ML for each "appreciative" viewer of the caster (usually
requires caster has a base CHA > 12), caster nude/nearly so +3 ML,
caster in heat +2ML - +6ML, target in heat +4ML - +8ML, caster
infertile -3 ML, caster male -1 ML, caster female +1 ML, +/-
Intensity for appropriateness of situation (in combat -5 Intensity).
The RuneQuest(tm) mailing list is a courtesy of Andrew Bell.
All opinions and material above are the responsibility of the originator, and
copyrights are held by them.
*******************************************************************A
*** RQ Digest, Volume 1, Number 9
This issue:
RQ Training (Andrew Bell)
Previous experience (Andrew Bell)
A new look at characteristics (Andrew Bell)
Size mod for RQ (Steven A. Schrader)
Re: Size mod for RQ (Andrew Bell)
Armor and hit locations (Mark Abbott)
---
From: acb@duke.cs.duke.edu (Founder of UGGH)
Subject: RQ Training
I dislike the way people can basically train away size, clumsiness, etcetera,
so when I compute training I consider the skill without the modifier for
purposes of cost, time, etc. I limit training to 60% in general, and allow
unlimited research. I replace the research rules with a table based on the
average research rule results to save the time otherwise spent doing lots of
dice rolling.
With the standard rules, this would allow one to become a RuneLord just by
spending time training. I feel that RuneLords should have to do more for
their cult than just be prepared to be a RuneLord; they must do some questing,
perhaps accompany a heroquester, and so on. Thus this isn't a problem.
---
From: acb@duke.cs.duke.edu (More from the Editor)
Subject: Previous experience
If you have used the previous experience charts in the RuneQuest rules, you
may have noticed that a x4 is much better than 4 x1s, since the cost of
training is non-linear and the rate of skill increases is non-linear. To
get a more even skill distribution, I translated the xA into A*50 hours of
training. I use this with my x hours of training increases you from x% to
x+1% system, and it has worked fairly well.
---
From: acb@duke.cs.duke.edu (Yep, 'tis me!)
Subject: A new look at characteristics
I dislike completely random attributes. In RPGs, a person becomes a fighter
because he/she is strong. In "real life", a person becomes strong because
he/she is athletic. There is genetic variation between people, but their
environment is a large factor too.
I would like to represent this in FRPs. Note that this is intended to replace
any specific strength training, con training, or dex training rules,
although what I write now is incomplete.
Using my ideas, the Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution stats should be
considered as measures of the person's genetic potential, not of the actual
statistic. From this number and the hours of appropriate exercise the
person does per year, we can generate their current strength.
Thus the farmboy fresh off the farm has a high strength from all his chores.
The sorceror who spends all of his time studying his books will have his
muscles atrophying. [Likewise, those of us who spend all day in front of a
computer...]
What is necessary to implement this system is to determine the exercise value
of various forms of exercise and training, and determine how much exercise
(based on one's current strength and genetic strength) is needed to maintain
one's strength, and to increase it.
To make this simpler we can say that it takes a certain number of hours of
"maintenance exercise" missed for attributes to start dropping, regardless of
how much time that missed exercise is spread over. Likewise, additional
hours of appropriate exercise to increase attributes can also be spread over
as much time as necessary. We can make it even simpler by making the amount
of maintenance or enhancement based on the difference between our genetic
strength and our current strength. Thus a person with a 12 genetic strength
needs the same time to maintain a 10 strength as a person with 18 Gen Str. and
a 16 strength.
(Thus if we need 10 hours of exercise a week to maintain strength, missing
one week will have us atrophy as much as if we only did 9 hours of exercise for
10 weeks.)
Any form of activity can be given a rating in terms of aid to strength,
constitution, and dexterity. (This is the part that is most of the work,
although we can group skills to make it easier.)
---
From: S9S@PSUVM.BITNET (Steven A. Schrader)
Subject: Siz mod for RQ
It occured to me that by the rules of RQ, size is an indication of how heavy
one is. I am not sure being heavier makes one strike faster than a
lighter person, so I assume that they are intending to simulate reach
here. What I thought of doing is making characters roll 1D6/10 to be
the number of meters that a person is larger than 1.6 meters. this will
generate a person from between 1.7 and 2.2 meters high or 5.1 feet and
6.6 feet. I would then take 1/3 of the amount of meters and find their
strike rank on the weapon length chart. As can be inferred the system
does not allow for a lot of "reach" advantage in swordfighting. but I
think this makes more sense than a fat person can reach quicker.
Any Thoughts??
---
From: acb@duke.cs.duke.edu (Yep, me...)
Subject: Re: Size mod for RQ
Size in RQ is currently a very simplistic system, that attempts to simulate
both height and weight. Thus it affects damage bonus and hit points (effects
of mass) as well as strike rank (effect of height). The two are to a certain
amount interrelated; RQ adventurer types are assumed to be fairly healthy,
and thus not fat.
I expanded the system (and I will write this up in this journal before
too long) so that size was broken down into two components: reach and weight.
I did not make the first one height, simply because this is not usable with
non-humanoid creatures. The two should be somewhat related, perhaps equal.
To add a little variance between individuals you can roll 2D3 (or 2D4 or even
2D6 for more variance) and add (total - 4) to reach and subtract (total - 4)
from weight.
The breakdown, then, is:
33.3% normal
11.1% tall and thin
11.1% short and stocky
22.2% slimmer than average
22.2% stockier than average
This gives you a 0,2, or 4 difference, which you can smooth out by rolling D6
and:
1-2 subtract 1 from reach
3-4 no change
4-5 add 1 to reach
(If you have a better system, let me know.)
Reach should affect strike ranks and weapon size limitations (they don't
exist, but they should), while weight would affect damage bonus and hit
points. The agility (and parry) modifier, stealth modifier, and bonuses/
penalties for attacks against the being should probably use the combined score.
---
From: acb@duke.cs.duke.edu (I love making up rules...)
Subject: Fumbling lock picking
Mark Abbott asked me about my remark regarding failed lock-picking and
untrained pickers, namely, how do you determine when a picker has jammed the
lock, or prevent the "bring along a hoard of trollkin to try and pick a lock"?
I actually have a couple of ideas:
Simple: If you "special fail" your lockpicking roll (i.e., roll in the top
20% of the failure range), you jam the lock or break your pin, etc. It
requires a critical success to unjam the lock.
More complex: Make it require multiple successes to pick a lock, and a
failure on any one puts you a step back. Thus a 5% chance to pick a lock is
effectively no chance at all. A 50% chance on a "3-step" lock will take a
couple of tries, typically. A "special failure" (10% chance per attempt for
a 50% chance) will jam the lock or whatever, which makes an expert lockpicker
better than two dabblers.
---
From: abbott%dean.Berkeley.EDU@BERKELEY.EDU (+Mark Abbott)
Subject: Armor and hit locations
Okay, here is my setup for using the Harnmaster systems for human
hit locations and armor. The first table lists the standard RQ armor
types with weight, cost, and time factors. The second table lists the
hit locations and their % of the body surface. The final table is
a hit location table for combat. It shows RQ location, Harn location,
and d100 rolls for melee and missile combat.
Keep in mind that much of this comes straight from Harnmaster with
only a little modification. The weight factors have been converted
to kg from the Harnmaster pounds, and the time and cost factors were
taken essentially unchanged. I had to fudge a bit to handle the precise
set of armor types used by RQIII and to accommodate RQ sizes as opposed
to Harnmaster sizes. The % of body area table is a direct
copy from Harnmaster. The hit location table uses the RQIII hit location
tables to set basic probabilities which are then further broken down
using the Harnmaster % of body area table. I heartily recommend
Harnmaster as a source of ideas for RQers.
Armor type weight cost time
Cloth .03 .5 1
Soft Leather .04 .7 2
Hard Leather .055 1 2
Cuirboilli .055 2.25 5
Ringmail .11 14 9
Lamellar .2 36 10
Scale .225 24 13
Bezainted .08 5.6 9
Chainmail .225 50 20
Brigandine .26 45 15
Laminated .225 50 20
Plate .32 65 30
Location % of body
Skull 4%
Face/eyes 3%
Neck 2%
Shoulders 3%
Upper Arms 6%
Elbows 2%
Fore Arms 5%
Hands 5%
Thorax 12%
Abdomen 12%
Hips 9%
Groin 1%
Thighs 14%
Knees 3%
Calves 12%
Feet 7%
To use the first two tables use this formula:
(PC Size x .04 + .42) * Weight factor * %body covered = weight
Substitute time or cost factor for number of hours to construct the armor
or the cost.
As an example, we'll figure a hard leather cap for a size 10 human. The cap
will cover his skull only.
(10 x .04 +.42) * .055 * 4= .18 kg or .18 enc
(10 x .04 +.42) * 2 * 4= 6.56 or 6.56 hours to make
(10 x .04 +.42) * 1 * 4= 3.28 or 3p 28 coppers cost
10 is the PC's size, .055 is the weight factor for hard leather (see table
above), and 4 is the % of body to be covered as the cap just covers the skull.
In the second formula, 2 is the time factor from the table above, and in the
last 1 is the cost factor.
Again for a size 10 PC, a chainmail shirt, covering abdomen (12%),
thorax (12%), shoulders (3%), and hanging low enough to cover hips (9%)
and groin (1%) would work out as:
(10 x .04 + .42) * .225 * 37 = 6.8kg or 6.8 enc
(10 x .04 + .42) * 50 * 37 = 1517p
(10 x .04 + .42) * 20 * 37 = 606 hours
Again, 10 is the PC's size, .225 is the weight factor for chain, and 37 is
the % of body area to be covered. 50 is the cost factor and 20 is the time
factor.
RQ Location Harn Location d100 Missile d100 Melee
Skull 1-2 1-4
Head Face/eyes 3-4 5-8
Neck 5 9-10
Upper Arm 6-11 11-20
Arms Elbow 12-13 21-24
Lower Arm 14-19 25-32
Hand 20-25 33-40
Chest Thorax 26-43 41-47
Shoulder 44-47 48-49
Abdomen 48-59 50-57
Abdomen Hips 60-69 58-63
Groin 70 64
Thigh 71-82 65-78
Legs Knee 83-84 79-82
Calf 85-94 83-94
Foot 95-00 95-00
Even rolls are right side, odd rolls left side. Blows which penetrate
at shoulder, elbow, or knee do +1 damage. Blows which penetrate at groin
on male targets do +1 damage.
The hit location table is fairly straight forward. Use d100 to generate
the location of the strike instead of the usual d20. The Harn location
column will tell you which location's armor to use. The RQ location will
tell you where to apply the damage using RQ hit points.
For example, a a PC hits a troll with his sword and rolls location 34
on d100. 34 is a hand, and since the roll is even, it's the right hand.
The troll is only wearing leather gloves despite his chaimail shirt so
he only gets 1 pt of armor protection. A hand hit is part of the arm
so the damage which gets through the glove is applied to the arm.
If the rolled location had been 26 the strike would have landed on his
right wrist. Fortunately for the troll, his wrists are covered by his
chainmail sleeves and so the blow will most likely be absorbed by his
armor.
Mark Abbott
abbott@dean.berkeley.edu
{decwrl, sun, hplabs}!ucbvax!dean!abbott
The RuneQuest(tm) mailing list is a courtesy of Andrew Bell.
All opinions and material above are the responsibility of the originator, and
copyrights are held by them.
RuneQuest is a trademark of either Chaosium or Avalon Hill.
***********************************************************************