From: Wayne Shaw (shadow@qedbbs.com)
Date: Mon 30 Aug 1993 - 11:56:24 EEST
David Dunham (via RadioMail) <ddunham@radiomail.net> writes:
>
> You have the advantage of knowing the complaints of people who actually do
> play RuneQuest. I admit I'm speaking somewhat hypothetically, because I'm
> trying to figure out how to make RuneQuest have more appeal to people who
> _don't_ play it. I don't know why they don't play. (I suspect the cost of
> boxed Deluxe RQ was largely to blame -- RQ has always had semi-random
> character generation and RQ3 was no different.)
I must disagree. If used straight, RQ3 did something previous editions
had NOT done; stuck you with the TYPE of character you could play. Short
of GM limitations on culture, in the past, if you wanted to play a
warrior type, you could pick, say, the barbarian previous experience and
expect to end up with at least an acceptable warrior. Further, while
there were random rolls in the skill distirubtion within these
backgrounds, you didn't live or die on a SINGLE die roll the way the RQ
age roll did. RQ3 was, in effect, far MORE random than earlier issues.
I will agree about the price, however; I've heard complaints from any
number of people about it. By 1990's boxed-set standards, it's only
high; but by the standards of the RPGs out at the time, other than AD&D,
it was WAY over the line.
>
> Still, I've recently tried explaining RQ to a couple of new players, and I
> know it's a lot easier explaining Pendragon (even with the RQ magic added).
> So I suspect complexity is an issue. It might be addressed simply by
> rewriting the rules and separating many of the details out into a companion
> volume (or in the back of the same volume, though I favor a slim book).
>
> And I've been running both RQ4 and PenDragon Pass, and I know from personal
> experience, a combat takes several times as long in RQ. I used to run RQ
> all the time, but never noticed how a single melee could so dominate a
> session until I started running both rules sets alternately.
So? Any combat system can be simplified; any rules set can be
> Out of curiousity, are they mostly people new to the hobby, or confirmed game
Some of each. Most were ex-D&D folks, but a few were brought into RQ
simplified. The question is, is what you throw out worth the simplicity
and time you gain.
>
directly from outside the hobby.
------------------------------
shadow@qedbbs.com (Wayne Shaw) or qed!shadow
The QED BBS -- (310)420-9327
0,,
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.7 : Sat 05 Jul 2003 - 20:29:17 EEST