Jump to content

RQ Previews


lawrence.whitaker

Recommended Posts

To my mind, one of the strengths of RuneQuest down through the ages has been the value and thoroughness of the examples. I'm glad to see that idea kept alive with this edition.

I'm not sure if I can comment much further. The font is easy on the eyes. The sidebars are unobtrusive, but broadly useful. I'm concerned with the breadth of the combat styles referenced in the Nomad section of the preview, as I'm a fan of a finer grain of skills, but I'll reserve any judgement until I lay hands on the finished goods.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To my mind, one of the strengths of RuneQuest down through the ages has been the value and thoroughness of the examples. I'm glad to see that idea kept alive with this edition.

I'm not sure if I can comment much further. The font is easy on the eyes. The sidebars are unobtrusive, but broadly useful. I'm concerned with the breadth of the combat styles referenced in the Nomad section of the preview, as I'm a fan of a finer grain of skills, but I'll reserve any judgement until I lay hands on the finished goods.

There are lots of examples using Anathaym throughout the book. They're one of my favourite elements.

The combat styles are simply examples of where they can be taken and developed. The rules contain a lot of advice on how to structure them for the culture and campaign.

The Design Mechanism: Publishers of Mythras

DM logo Freeforums Icon.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, I left my comments on the DM site, and needless to say I'm pretty enthusiastic with the glimpse of the upcoming RQ rulebook.

More importantly, it looks like RuneQuest.
Yep, it certainly does, much more than Mongoose's editions. I'm quite impressed!

" Sure it's fun, but it is also well known that a D20 roll and an AC is no match against a hefty swing of a D100% and a D20 Hit Location Table!"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am pleased that they are giving more space to describing cultures - even from a personal perspective, which is a good idea. There is definitely a more Bronze-Age theme to a lot of the artwork, and it just great to be getting a book that has a comprehensive group of five magic systems, as well as a good sized bestiary. It's a pity the original release won't be hardback, but as long as they edit it up properly, it's very much a must buy for me.

If they can get round to making a Classic Greece setting supplement, and then produce a hardback slipcase to fit it together with the core rules, as well as a large full color poster, with a full colour map on the reverse. And lots of adventures. And RuneQuest specific dice. And a t-shirt and mug.

No pressure.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's a pity the original release won't be hardback, but as long as they edit it up properly, it's very much a must buy for me.

Hardback is simply too expensive for us at this stage, but we may make a collector's hardcover edition available a little later. RQ will be available as a print option via Drivethru, and I believe their hardback format is reasonably good, so you can still get a hardback by going down that route if you prefer.

If they can get round to making a Classic Greece setting supplement

This is on the cards...

and then produce a hardback slipcase to fit it together with the core rules, as well as a large full color poster,

Poster, perhaps (in fact quite likely. I'd like one, if nothing else), but slipcase? Don't push it...

with a full colour map on the reverse.

A map of where...? I can do some nice ones of southern Ontario...

And lots of adventures.

Book of Quests and Monster Island are our next two projects. Work is already underway on both.

And RuneQuest specific dice.

These would be cool. If only we could think of some game mechanics for using a rune-engraved d20...

And a t-shirt and mug.

Ah - y'see? You pushed it.

No pressure.

None taken! :-)

The Design Mechanism: Publishers of Mythras

DM logo Freeforums Icon.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hardback is simply too expensive for us at this stage, but we may make a collector's hardcover edition available a little later. RQ will be available as a print option via Drivethru, and I believe their hardback format is reasonably good, so you can still get a hardback by going down that route if you prefer.

You said it clearly enough, but I would like to make sure I understood it correctly. Is there going to be a hardback POD version available on rpgnow/drivethru? That would be very good news. :)

Grając zaś w grę komputerową, być może zdarzyło się wam zapragnąć zejść z wyznaczonej przez autorów ścieżki i, miast zabić smoka i ożenić się z księżniczką, zabić księżniczkę i ożenić się ze smokiem.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm concerned with the breadth of the combat styles referenced in the Nomad section of the preview, as I'm a fan of a finer grain of skills, but I'll reserve any judgement until I lay hands on the finished goods.

I'm the opposite, I hated one-different-skill-for-every-different-weapon. It drove me bonkers that if you lost your sword and picked a spear, your combat skill dropped from 90% to 25%.

Grając zaś w grę komputerową, być może zdarzyło się wam zapragnąć zejść z wyznaczonej przez autorów ścieżki i, miast zabić smoka i ożenić się z księżniczką, zabić księżniczkę i ożenić się ze smokiem.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm the opposite, I hated one-different-skill-for-every-different-weapon. It drove me bonkers that if you lost your sword and picked a spear, your combat skill dropped from 90% to 25%.

I'm sure there's a middle ground that would be both realistic and fun to play, but to my mind even a stabbing sword like a gladius would be different enough to warrant different skillsets. And if you lost your slashing longsword, and replaced it with a spear? You deserve to have a lower skill - barring cross-training, of course.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We've posted some pre-prod preview pages here.

Look forward to the feedback.

I very much like the clean look, and the art giving a bronze feel is reasonably good. There is two much blank spaces at some places (around the hoplite page 22 and the skills section header page 55) but generally the spacing is allright. Nice touch with the runes to identify the sections!

I like the character skills (it gives me a nice "RQ3 good old days") and I definitely like the rearrangement of the characteristics in a more logical order. Without knowing how Fatigue works now, I would have like to see the penalties per level of exhaustion written on the sheet (so you don't have to rewrite the penalties everytime your fatigue level changes). A sheet on one page is also a bit cramped, sections about Professional Skills, Passions and Magical Skills are a bit small. My guess is that the second page is for equipments and notes. I also hope the full size sheet doesn't have such huge left and right margins (or top and bottom for that matter). I also like the renaming of a few skills. The creature stat block is very neat and in great RQ tradition, I like to see in the bestiary notes to play non-human.

Unfortunately, I have a very negative comment about the preview. It is unfortunate that it was chosen to preview only 17 pages when in my sense a preview of 300 pages would have been a lot more appropriate.

I even would have paid bucks for it... ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for the feedback.

I like the character skills (it gives me a nice "RQ3 good old days") and I definitely like the rearrangement of the characteristics in a more logical order. Without knowing how Fatigue works now, I would have like to see the penalties per level of exhaustion written on the sheet (so you don't have to rewrite the penalties everytime your fatigue level changes). A sheet on one page is also a bit cramped, sections about Professional Skills, Passions and Magical Skills are a bit small.

My guess is that the second page is for equipments and notes. I also hope the full size sheet doesn't have such huge left and right margins (or top and bottom for that matter).

We have changed the Fatigue rules and believe me, if we list the levels and effects then the character sheet looks very cramped indeed (and, in fact, would mean losing another, more important, play-related element). The margins in the character sheet are the narrowest I can get away with to maximise usable space.

You're not viewing a full-sized sheet in the preview. The original is a full letter-sized page so it doesn't look as squeezed as the preview suggests. It also runs to two pages with equipment, magic and other areas accommodated on the second page.

I also like the renaming of a few skills. The creature stat block is very neat and in great RQ tradition, I like to see in the bestiary notes to play non-human.

That's good to know! No-one's yet commented on the renamed skills or the creature stat-block. I actually though the stat-block might attract more criticism than the character sheet!

Unfortunately, I have a very negative comment about the preview. It is unfortunate that it was chosen to preview only 17 pages when in my sense a preview of 300 pages would have been a lot more appropriate.

:-)

I even would have paid bucks for it...

Oh, there's time.

The Design Mechanism: Publishers of Mythras

DM logo Freeforums Icon.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sharp! Really sharp!

That looks great. I was going to put this book on the 'purchase at some future date' list instead of picking it up right away, but I think that preview convinced me to pick it up when it comes out.

Nicely done.

70/420

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Regarding the skill list, I just wonder whether one of the starting bases could be refitted:

Brawn STRx2 (currently there isn't a skill solely based on STR, so there is nothing to do a pure Strength test against).

Conceal as INT+DEX (you have to think where you are going to hide something)

Stealth as DEX+POW (basic intuition required only)

Ride as DEX+CHA (need to build a relationship with your steed)

Unarmed - renamed to 'Brawl' - just a more evocative name.

Otherwise, I thought Endurance and Willpower were good, clear names for skills.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fonts - like

Clean layout - like - more than that it is clear on screen and will print 2 per side (4 per page) readably - like x2

'Brawl' more evocative than 'Unarmed Cbt' - agree, but Brawl presumably is a 'combat style' involving fists, feet, knees, heads, mugs, barstools and knives as practiced by Vikingr, sailors and drinkers there's no way my Wushu warrior is using that style unarmed

'Willpower' - like

'Endurance' should clearly be 'Stamina' obviously

Why is 'Conceal' seperate from 'Deceit'?

'Passions' - like a lot

300 page preview - well obviously

Re-ordering characteristics - alphabetically would be best obviously - its not CDO its just correct

Rule Zero: Don't be on fire

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for your feedback Al.

Fonts - like

Clean layout - like - more than that it is clear on screen and will print 2 per side (4 per page) readably - like x2

Excellent. We have tested the previews on a variety of tablet devices too, and even on a 7" screen it remains clear and readable.

'Brawl' more evocative than 'Unarmed Cbt' - agree, but Brawl presumably is a 'combat style' involving fists, feet, knees, heads, mugs, barstools and knives as practiced by Vikingr, sailors and drinkers there's no way my Wushu warrior is using that style unarmed

Yes, brawling in this context is a combat style, hence why we left Unarmed as it is.

'Endurance' should clearly be 'Stamina' obviously

It could've been, but isn't.

Why is 'Conceal' seperate from 'Deceit'?

They're very different skills. Conceal is used to physically hide things. Deceit is used to lie, cheat, deceive, obfuscate and so on.

Re-ordering characteristics - alphabetically would be best obviously - its not CDO its just correct

Maybe, but RQ and BRP's traditional ordering (clearly inherited from D&D) has been STR, CON, SIZ etc. You can tinker with the established order a little, but re-ordering into alphabetical would probably push quite a few grognard buttons a little too forcefully.

The Design Mechanism: Publishers of Mythras

DM logo Freeforums Icon.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also, alphabetical ordering would break down as soon as you translate the rules into other languages, so you would get a different order for French stat-blocks than English ones.

Simon Phipp - Caldmore Chameleon - Wallowing in my elitism since 1982. Many Systems, One Family. Just a fanboy. 

www.soltakss.com/index.html

Jonstown Compendium author. Find my contributions here

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also, alphabetical ordering would break down as soon as you translate the rules into other languages, so you would get a different order for French stat-blocks than English ones.

Indeed. For example, in German the traditional stats are ST, KO, GR, IN, MA, GE, ER and BI.

An alphabetical ordering would only lead to confusion.

"Mind like parachute, function only when open."

(Charlie Chan)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

'Brawl' more evocative than 'Unarmed Cbt' - agree, but Brawl presumably is a 'combat style' involving fists, feet, knees, heads, mugs, barstools and knives as practiced by Vikingr, sailors and drinkers there's no way my Wushu warrior is using that style unarmed

I dunno - it depends how you define 'Brawl' really. I mean "Unarmed" sounds like a combat style too, in this respect. Indeed, on one level there is an argument to did rid of the Standard combat skill, unarmed or whatever, and simply subsume it into the broad Athletics skill (untrained wrestling and fighting is pretty much an athletic endeavor in the same way throwing, climbing, jumping and running is, and the skill base is still STR+DEX anyway).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Which skills you use in a particular game is very much setting and campaign dependent. If you were playing a martial-arts themed game with studied unarmed combat disciplines, you probably wouldn't want the skill to be called something as crass as 'brawl'. Similarly, if athletics competitions were a big feature (a setting inspired by the ancient Olympic games, for example) you might want to break 'athletics' into more skills. It all depends on your focus. In a ruleset intended to be generic to a degree, you can only chart a middle ground by keeping skill names broad, and give advice to GMs on how to change skills to suit their particular adventure as appropriate.

"Tell me what you found, not what you lost" Mesopotamian proverb

__________________________________

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Originally Posted by soltakss View Post

Also, alphabetical ordering would break down as soon as you translate the rules into other languages, so you would get a different order for French stat-blocks than English ones.

Indeed. For example, in German the traditional stats are ST, KO, GR, IN, MA, GE, ER and BI.

An alphabetical ordering would only lead to confusion.

Are you thrashing this out amongst yourselves or answering me? If the former please carry on and have fun but if the latter there was a healthy dose of urine sampling in my post I wasn't expecting any reply. (FWIW I think that Loz' answer is the more commercially important one)

I dunno - it depends how you define 'Brawl' really.

Well of course it does old boy.

Rule Zero: Don't be on fire

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are you thrashing this out amongst yourselves or answering me?

Just pointing out one of the flaws of that approach.

But it does raise an interesting point. Reaction to new editions generally falls into three camps - those who don't want things changed; those who want loads of things changed and those who don't care. Changing things because it is a new edition doesn't really work for me, but leaving everything as it is doesn't really work either. The trick is to decide what needs changing and what needs keeping.

Simon Phipp - Caldmore Chameleon - Wallowing in my elitism since 1982. Many Systems, One Family. Just a fanboy. 

www.soltakss.com/index.html

Jonstown Compendium author. Find my contributions here

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Answering you, but if that was a mistake I will not repeat it. :7

I suspect that reading my posts is more of a mistake in wasted time than responding to them.

I do appreciate the replies (and they're interesting) but I wouldn't want you to feel the need to compose careful replies to what I thought was a pretty blatant a p!ss take

[purely Devils' advocate: as there is less than zero chance of any change being made and there's more important feedback to be given and responded in this thread:

ordering in English language alphabetically has no negative impact on other language editions; either the translations remain as they are and OL editions are STILL not alphabetical (nothing lost from current) and Eng is alphabetical (small nitpicky gain) or a translator (who is probably good with you know words and stuff) finds German/French/Latvian/Uz synonyms which do fit alphabetically as appropriate]

Edited by Al.

Rule Zero: Don't be on fire

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...