Re: RuneQuest Daily, Fri, 15 Apr 1994, part 2

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From: devinc@aol.com
Date: Sun 17 Apr 1994 - 03:41:32 EEST


Devin Cutler here:

Lewis writes:

"Finally I got round to looking in the RQ3 magic book and sure enough the
casting chance for spirit magic is POW*5 - ENC; the magic bonus is not mentioned and the text implies that this is the complete formula. I think that this was on page 16 or thereabouts. Also divine magic is 100 - ENC. Only in sorcery and ritual magic is the magic bonus included (as it would have to be with the casting chance for spells starting at d6% - ENC. "

I just bought the RQ3 Deluxe Editions set that has been presente dunder a single binding. My comments on this product below.

Lewis, your statement is correct, although I had successfully deduced that the authors had meant the Magic Bonus to apply to Spirit and Divine Magics.

Now, if you can get your hands on the official RQ3 errata, you will find that the Magic Bonus IS explicitly added to both Spirit Magic and Divine Magic.

The errata reads:

Page 100 "A spirit magician has a percentile chance of successfully casting non-ritual spells equal to his POW x5, plus his Magic skill category bonus."

I presume that ENC is still subtracted (do we need errata for the errata?)

Page 111 "A user of divine Magic skill has a 100% chance of successfully casting a divine spell, plus his Magic skill category modifier, but this chance is reduced by 1 percentile for each ENC carried. (with no ENC there is still a chance of failure with a d100 roll of 96-00)"

or, I might add, if the magic Skill category modifier is a -6% or less, then the spell fails on a roll less than 96-00 even with no ENC.

Looking throughout Roc, Sun County, Stranger in Prax, etc., even ignoring obvious spell casting chance errors, the percentages often add Magic Bonus or do not in a haphazard fashion.

Regarding the RQ3 rules in the single book format, I love this format, let's use it for RQAiG (if that ever gets made...and if we are not going to use three-ring binders :). I notice that every attempt is made to position RQ3 as a Gloranthan work without changing any of the text. How is this done?

  1. A map of Peloria, Dragon Pass, and Kaethela is superimposed on the back cover. Glorantha is blurbbed extensively in its own paragraphs on the rear cover without any mention of Alternate Earth.
  2. The Gloranthan Runes have been added to the front cover and side binding.
  3. The entire inside front cover advertises mostly Gloranthan RQ supplements and exclaims "Expand your Adventures in the World of Glorantha..." Unfortunately, Monster Coliseum and Daughters of Darkness are then listed below this heading, falsely suggesting that they are Gloranthan.
  4. The first page has "May Arachne Solara bless and protect this book"
  5. Page 3 and 4 offer an introduction to RQ3 and to Glorantha. TOTRM is plugged, and nowhere is Alternate Earth mentioned.

I do feel sorry for novices who are going to read all of this and then see all of the Alternate Earth crap in the rules. I feel especially sorry for the neophyte who buys Daughters of Darkness thinking it's Gloranthan!

Curtis writes:

" I was at least expecting the Red Goddess
initiate in Strangers to have Lunar Magic."

Um. he does. I quote from page 30, the writeup of Maculus the Monitor (whose spirit magic casting chance is botched, of course:)):

Magic +15:Ceremony 119%, Enchant 107%, Summon 103%, Intensity 121%, Duration 112%, Range 93%, Multispell 97%, Amplify 100%, Combine 69%, Distance 81%, Prolong 55%

As you can see, the Lunar Magics are therein.

Curtis also asks if anyone has invented a SECRET (i.e. the God Learners' secret) for their campaign. Yes, I have...but I can;t say what it is because my players may be reading this.

regards,

Devin Cutler

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