From: Sandy Petersen (sandyp@idgecko.idsoftware.com)
Date: Tue 03 Sep 1996 - 17:45:58 EEST
I made some points about RQ's importance in Glorantha's development.
Lew Jardine comments
Me
>RQ, unlike most games, makes it easy to create non-human PCs, even
>weird ones like griffins or giants. In addition, RQ non-humans are
>_significantly_ different from humans. The multiplicity and alien
>nature of Glorantha's nonhumans testifies to the usefulness of this
>particular RQ quality.
Lew
>I don't believe this is a very unique feature of RQ!
But it _is_! You're familiar with other games on the market.
Few permit playing a non-human with the facility of RQ even today. In
fact, the trend is rather away from playing non-humans. 'Tis not
necessarily a bad trend, given the rather lame interpretations of
these beings that have infested the RPG market. Partly as a result of
the difficulty in playing them.
You see, most games render non-humans as variations on
humans. Example: "dwerlfs are like humans, but with -2 from STR and
INT" or whatever. RQ nonhumans are completely independent -- you
could set up a RQ game with no nonhumans at all, and never make any
reference to humans, and character creation and play would be
smooth. I think that the psychological aspects of this difference
have had an effect on scenario designers, essayists, and gamemasters.
There is another way in which RQ affected Glorantha. By the nature of
most of Greg's early stories, plus WB/RM, Nomad Gods, etc., Glorantha
seemed to be a place where titans battled far above the level of mere
mortal fodder.
But RQ's combat system is _anti_ heroic. A mighty swordmaster
of 90% is comparatively easy meat for a trio of 50% mercenaries. The
huge bad troll with tons of magic and a 3d6 damage bonus was killed
by my stinking players on the first blow of the combat, via critical
spear impale to his face. When a scrawny crossbow-armed guard gets
the drop on a mighty-thewed (but unarmored) barbarian, the latter
raises his hands in surrender. No matter how skilled your hero is, a
single blow from a mediocre giant's cudgel breaks bones and maims.
RQ combat rewards numbers and luck (criticals & fumbles) more
than PC skill. Even the infamously weak RQ magic serves as an
equalizer. Facing a mean magician? -- the worst he can do is zap one
of your number with his Sunspear, and a simple Demoralize settles
_his hash just fine.
The effect of all this was to draw Glorantha's emphasis
_away_ from the mighty heroes on the heights, and focus on the little
guys on society's underside, scrabbling to maintain a meager
subsistence-level ecology. RQ PCs live close to the bone.
One result is that mercantile activities hold more interest
than in most RPGs. You can make money on trade expeditions, and from
Joh Mith to the Desert Trackers to the redheaded Lunar caravans
across Pent, merchants have become an indelible part of the
Gloranthan ethos. In most games, caravans serve only as employers
(PCs-as-caravan-guards being a staple of RPGs) or as targets to
pillage.
A typical evening of play has maybe a single combat. Even a
combat-crazed player perforce must use brains and tongue before going
off half-cocked. In addition, tactical skill (as opposed to mere high
percentiles) is rewarded -- those smart enough to do a Shield Bash at
the right moment, or to close up on the halberdier reap the rewards.
When's the last time in RQ you stepped back to permit a fallen foe to
get back on his feet? We press our advantage mercilessly. This is
hardly the stuff of heroic one-on-one duello, as each side rolls
combat dice endlessly till one falls. Instead, cunning and strategem
are rewarded to such a degree that the stereotypic "big strong dumb"
PC is viewed as interesting and quirky instead of a dull norm.
A tradition has arisen of prisoner-taking and ransom-paying.
I like my Glorantha PCs the way they are -- tattoos, scars,
In many RPGs, battles end with everyone on the losing side dead. Some
games have special techniques to prevent this, or cultural niceties,
but RQ does it as a matter of practicality.
Finally, RQ combat is different from most other medieval or
ancient RPG. A typical fight is a running skirmish, not a set-piece
battle. Arrows, javelins, and spells zip across the battlefield, as
both sides use available cover, dodging from tree to tree.
Hand-to-hand fighting is brief, rarely lasting more than a few rounds
against equal opponents. It's not the stuff of Hollywood.
scavenged bits of armor, bristling with eclectic weapons, painted
runes, muddy boots, and mangy familiars. More like something out of
Road Warrior than King Arthur.
Sandy Petersen
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