RQ:AiG

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From: Anthony Ragan (ECZ5RAR@MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU)
Date: Sat 02 Apr 1994 - 03:27:00 EEST


Hi all,

(Sorry to post this here, but I don't get the RQ4 group and since the letters were cross-posted here.....:>)

Like most of us, I don't know why Greg denied approval of RQ:AiG -- I hope the matter gets sorted out soon and then we can all look forward to the Glorious Reascent of Runequest. :>

This crisis gives all concerned a chance to reassess the kind of product we'd like to see so, with the hope of having a bit of influence, let me throw in my two bolgs' worth:

  1. Keep it Simple. I love Chaosium's Basic Roleplay system -- I think it's an amazingly flexible vehicle for roleplay. But RQ in its current incarnation (RQ3, I've never seen any draft of RQ4) involves too many clumsy mechanics that get in the way: strike ranks (nice idea, clumsy execution); variable modifiers based on stats that change (a pain to keep track of at tense moments); and fatigue. I'm sure there are others that escape me at the moment. Now, I love tactical options in combat and some measure of realism (if such a word can ever be logically applied to an rpg), but things that involve extensive book-keeping get in the way (IMHO, of course) of the excitement.

    What I as a consumer would like to see is a simplified RQ based on Basic Roleplay, a la Call of Cthulhu or Elric. (I think Loren proposed something similar as RQ Lite) I don't think anyone will deny that these are elegant games. The more bookkeeping-intensive elements could be kept in an appendix to be added in modular fashion by those who like them.

2) Write the rule book in such a way that those of us who don't want to play in Glorantha will have an easy time adapting it to our own preferred settings. Don't get me wrong, Glorantha is a marvellous setting, just not my preferred place to play. Wouldn't it be possible to have a core rules section and then a section/supplement that explains how to adapt these very flexible rules to the Gloranthan setting? I know some people will scream that "RQ is *nothing* without Glorantha!" I respectfully disagree. I think that RQ could very well be a successful general fantasy game, with Glorantha being its special, but not only world.

Well, that's all I wanted to say.More than anything else, though, I'd like to see this dispute settled and work on RQ4 re-commenced with renewed enthusiasm.

cheers!
--Anthony Ragan
  ecz5rar@mvs.oac.ucla.edu -OR- IrishSpy@aol.com   Rune Chia Pet of Ernalda, Snotling in Chief

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