Getting started (building characters)

[dorward]

I'm about to take the plunge and GM a RuneQuest game despite having almost no experience of the system or the Glorantha setting. Happily for me, I still have more experience of it then my players, which should stop them running rings around me.

After reading some of the older threads on the forum, I went for Blood of Orlanth, which has managed to be one of the most engaging campaigns I've read. Now I'm on the verge of running it (the plain Orlanthi version) and will be hitting character generation in a few days.

I'm fairly comfortable with walking people through rolling up a basic fighter type, but there are a couple of areas that I'm a little shaky on.

First up, the campaign calls for seasons adventurers. I found the rules for that without much trouble, but I don't know how to advise people on spreading the skill points around. With D&D the way to go was usually to max out as many skills as possible, but I'm guessing with RQ things might be a little different. Any hints here?

The rest of my questions are about magic users.

I gather that buying a copy of the spellbook is essential if you want to roll up a starting character who can use magic (and it looks pretty important for anyone serious about spellcasting - the core book has only a limited selection of spells). Is that right?

Rune Magic - is it feasible to run a character who is focused on RuneMagic? The books suggest that it isn't powerful when compared to other types of magic, so should it be left as something people dabble in while their real skills are focused elsewhere?

Divine Magic - The requirements for gaining spells seem quite arduous. Is this a case of a character needing to be good with other skills and saving spells for emergencies?

Sorcery - If I remember rightly, this is something Orlanthi generally don't dabble in and is accompanied by fear and suspicion. Would it be best to avoid this for player characters?

Thanks.

 

[Rurik]

The Spellbook does have backgrounds and professions that include divine magic and sorcery (plus a lot of spells too).

The Players Guide to Glorantha does also, and is Glorantha specific. It also has Folk Magic, low powered but easy to cast cantrip type spells everyone can learn.

As you are playing Blood of Orlanth the book Magic of Glorantha book will be helpful too - it actually contains the Draconic Magic System as well as some God Learner sorcery spells - it does not contain any professions though. It also has a lot of source material on the God LEarners and EWF.

Personally, I would get Magic of Glorantha or the Players Guide before the spellbook to run Blood of Orlanth (unless you really like lots of spells). Cults of Glorantha 1 is also a good buy - it will have all the cults Orlanthi Players would belong to (Cults 1 is all Divine Magic, Cults 2 is Sorcery and Shamans).

It is easy to modify the backgrounds from the core books to Divine Magic and Sorcery - just let players substitute any Advanced Lore skill or Runecasting skill from chargen for either a Specific Theology skill or a sorcery skill or spell.

Divine magic is what Orlanthi use, and there is only one skill needed for that (Specific Theology), so the modification to chargen is pretty easy if your party is all Orlanthi.

On to your other questions:

Rune Magic: Can be very potent, but because the character can only learn so many runecasting skills you need to specialise in a couple of runes. Note that many players allow characters to cast the Runespells associated with their cults using their Cult's Theology skill as a houserule.

Divine Magic is potent but once used is a pain to replenish. All Divine magic uses just one skill though, so it is easy to be good at other things (as you mention).

Sorcery is VERY skill intensive, as each spell is a skill and there are also the Manipulation Skills (of which Magnitude is a MUST) that also need to be learned. However, a decent sorcerer will indeed be a potent caster able to cast powerful spells repeatedly. You are correct in that Orlanthi do not use Sorcery - they stick to Divine Magic and Rune Magic (and Folk Magic if you have the Players Guide).

I hope I have helped more than confused. Most of all have fun and convert a few new players!

 

[nezeray]

Good questions and answers. I wondered the same thing. That's why I'm sticking with RQ Pirates for now.

James / Nezeray

 

[dorward]

I hope I have helped more than confused. Most of all have fun and convert a few new players!

That's very helpful. Thanks.

I think I'll see about picking up the spell book and MoG tomorrow. Both my FLGS have them in stock IIRC.

 

[RosenMcStern]

Go for Cults 1 before the SpellBook if you are playing Blood of Orlanth, or at least buy the PDF. All spells in the SpellBook are not related to cults, and I would not recommend them for starting characters. Tons of the divine spells in CoG are freely available to starting Orlanthi characters, instead, and it only takes one skill to cast them all, as Rurik said.

As for sorcerers, the Orlanthi term is "Meldek", and it is usually connected to the concept of "Kill him and also burn the body just in case".

 

[weasel_fierce]

I find players usually stock up on some divine spells, to have ready if the s**t hits the fan. .then rely on other magic types for more regular use.

The advantage of divine magic of course is that its not skill intensive, so you can easier develop other abilities. That makes up for some of the limitations quite well, I think.

 

[Denalor]

I actually intend to do the same, i.e. start with Blood of Orlanth and not having played before (well ages ago, I did play a couple of sessions, but my group found RQ too deadly and to ocomplex)
.
So I, too, need to start with Seasoned Characters.
Looking at page 192 of RQ Deluxe I can see that Seasoned chracters may be Lay Members of a cult.
On page 84 I see that in order to learn Divine Magic you need to be at least Initiate.
Thus, those "starting seasoned" characters should actually not have access to divine spells, right ?

Looking at several NPCs in Blood of Orlanth, I can see that you need to learn each runic spells separately, including different magnitude versions. Thus you would need e.g. Bladesharp not just once but actually several times (Bladesharp 1, 2 and 4) to be more versatile.

But: what actually are the runic spells learned by starting characters ? If your professions allows you to pick the Runecasting skill, you automatically gain the corresponding skill, gain one spell ( both page 12) and lose 1 POW (page 68 for integrating the rune). If you took the Fire rune, you'd have the choice between three spells (Ignite, Firearrow, Fireblade), ranging from Magnitude 1 to 4, no progressive spells available there (only considering RQ Deluxe right now), whereas Earth has a progressive spell available. Which spells (at which magnitude) to you allow for your chars ? If the char chose Fireblade he gains a 800sp "bonus" (that would be the price if he learned the spell at a later stage (page 69).

 

[Deleriad]

I actually intend to do the same, i.e. start with Blood of Orlanth and not having played before (well ages ago, I did play a couple of sessions, but my group found RQ too deadly and to ocomplex)
.
So I, too, need to start with Seasoned Characters.
Looking at page 192 of RQ Deluxe I can see that Seasoned chracters may be Lay Members of a cult.
On page 84 I see that in order to learn Divine Magic you need to be at least Initiate.
Thus, those "starting seasoned" characters should actually not have access to divine spells, right ?

Looking at several NPCs in Blood of Orlanth, I can see that you need to learn each runic spells separately, including different magnitude versions. Thus you would need e.g. Bladesharp not just once but actually several times (Bladesharp 1, 2 and 4) to be more versatile.

But: what actually are the runic spells learned by starting characters ? If your professions allows you to pick the Runecasting skill, you automatically gain the corresponding skill, gain one spell ( both page 12) and lose 1 POW (page 68 for integrating the rune). If you took the Fire rune, you'd have the choice between three spells (Ignite, Firearrow, Fireblade), ranging from Magnitude 1 to 4, no progressive spells available there (only considering RQ Deluxe right now), whereas Earth has a progressive spell available. Which spells (at which magnitude) to you allow for your chars ? If the char chose Fireblade he gains a 800sp "bonus" (that would be the price if he learned the spell at a later stage (page 69).

You actually have a lot of difficult questions, partially because the MRQ rulebooks aren't very well joined up. A lot therefore depends how comfortable you feel with the rules. The simplest thing is just to say that each PC has the option to integrate one rune and can gain up to 1 Magnitude 1 spell, and 1 Magnitude 2 spell that they can cast through that rune. Not every rune will give you viable spells however. That will get you PCs with a degree of magical competence that should see them through.

If someone wants to play a magician type, then use the priest background and assume that the character has integrated one or two runes (one of which must be air) and is an initiate in the cult of Orlanth. That character can then learn as much Divine Magic as their starting income allows.

If you want to start opening up Divine Magic and cult benefits to everyone etc then you really need to get some of the Glorantha books - primarily Cults of Glorantha Vol 1. From the sounds of it though you might be better off getting started on Blood of Orlanth and, if your group enjoys it, then buying Cults I and letting your PCs become initiates during the campaign. This way they can pick up Divine Magic as they go and they have less to learn at the beginning.

 

[Blackyinkin]

Hi,

Fore ease of play I recommend that you house rule Rune Magic for Divine Cultist in Glorantha. There are a number of ways in which you can do this. Rune intergration is not a very Gloranthan mechanic...

1) The Uberpowerful version, assume that the players automatically intergrate the Runes of their cult, and that cult spells are cast using these rune casting skills. However you have to decided what runes affect which cult spells and if you allow players to join subcults and gain magic from associated cults then you need to decide if they intergrate Runes from those cults or can just learn the relevant magic.

2) The cultic version, assume that all Rune Spells listed under the cult can be learned from them. There is no rune intergration, to cast spells the players roll under their Lore (Cult Theology) skill, they can learn magic from subcults and associated cults but have to develop a seperate Lore (Theology) for each cult. This is the version that I use, I also place prohibitions on learning spells from other cults. The assumption is that the Rune Spells represent lesser manifestations of the divine powers, so a Humakti using Bladsharp is evoking one weaker sword fighting affinity of his god, while when he is using Truesword he is using a more powerful one. If felt this best comparisoned the concepts in Heroquest/Hero Wars. I would treat each spell use differently for each skill, for example an Orlanthi using Bladesharp causes a slicing wind to emanate from his blade, while the Humakti's sword becomes keen and deadly looking. A Maran Gor priestess using a Bludgeon spell causes her mace to become stone like and cause cracks in objects she hits, a troll using the same spell causes his maul to become midnight black. A Yinkini using coordination can walk easily along a thin beam, moving catlike and cracefully, a Destor (Orlanth Adventurous) moves with confident and warlike agility. The effects are the same, but I would allow players to take advantage of these effects.

3) The revised version, this is a bit of both really, you are treated as if you have intergrated the cult runes for your cult and gain a Runecasting skill in each, however you do not get any intergration powers. Rune Spells available for your cult are assumed to be powered by the cult Runes.

I personally use Rune Intergration as a minor heroquest power in my games. There are a few other versions of Rune Magic revisions, these are the ones that I personally use.

 

[Deleriad]

Hi,

Fore ease of play I recommend that you house rule Rune Magic for Divine Cultist in Glorantha. There are a number of ways in which you can do this. Rune intergration is not a very Gloranthan mechanic...

1) The Uberpowerful version, assume that the players automatically intergrate the Runes of their cult, and that cult spells are cast using these rune casting skills. However you have to decided what runes affect which cult spells and if you allow players to join subcults and gain magic from associated cults then you need to decide if they intergrate Runes from those cults or can just learn the relevant magic.

2) The cultic version, assume that all Rune Spells listed under the cult can be learned from them. There is no rune intergration, to cast spells the players roll under their Lore (Cult Theology) skill, they can learn magic from subcults and associated cults but have to develop a seperate Lore (Theology) for each cult. This is the version that I use, I also place prohibitions on learning spells from other cults. The assumption is that the Rune Spells represent lesser manifestations of the divine powers, so a Humakti using Bladsharp is evoking one weaker sword fighting affinity of his god, while when he is using Truesword he is using a more powerful one. If felt this best comparisoned the concepts in Heroquest/Hero Wars. I would treat each spell use differently for each skill, for example an Orlanthi using Bladesharp causes a slicing wind to emanate from his blade, while the Humakti's sword becomes keen and deadly looking. A Maran Gor priestess using a Bludgeon spell causes her mace to become stone like and cause cracks in objects she hits, a troll using the same spell causes his maul to become midnight black. A Yinkini using coordination can walk easily along a thin beam, moving catlike and cracefully, a Destor (Orlanth Adventurous) moves with confident and warlike agility. The effects are the same, but I would allow players to take advantage of these effects.

3) The revised version, this is a bit of both really, you are treated as if you have intergrated the cult runes for your cult and gain a Runecasting skill in each, however you do not get any intergration powers. Rune Spells available for your cult are assumed to be powered by the cult Runes.

I personally use Rune Intergration as a minor heroquest power in my games. There are a few other versions of Rune Magic revisions, these are the ones that I personally use.

This is a really useful summary, I like it. Kind of thing that should go on the MRQ wiki IMO.

For the record, I started off with option 2 and it worked quite nicely but it got a little complex when players started to have rune spells from runes and rune spells from different cults. I've also quite grown to like the extra prominence that runecasting gives to runes so I have moved to option 3. It's a bit of extra work and still has the potential for odd interactions but I like the flavour better.

Funnily enough the right mess that Mongoose made with runes allied to the work being done on HQ2.0 has been really useful in making me think through these issues.

 

[Denalor]

Okay, let me see if I get this right.
Please bear with me as I have to do this with examples so I can properly grasp the whole thing. I do not like option #1, so I’ll not discuss it.

Let us assume we have an Orlanthi Barbarian Mercenary, who is just about to become an initiate of Orlanth Adventurous.
Until now, he was only a lay member of the cult.
As such he was allowed to learn cult specific skills and cult specific runic spells, namely Bladesharp, Cover of Night, Mobility, Skybolt and Thunder’s Voice. Note: in RQ Deluxe lay members are not allowed to learn spells, but Cults of Glorantha allows this. As an initiative may only learn runic spells up to magnitude 2, I do assume that a lay member may also learn spells of max. magnitude 2, thus he could not learn Skybolt, which is Magnitude 3. He did not have the possibility to learn any divine magic as only initiates are taught divine spells up to Magnitude 4.
To make the example complete, let us further assume that during his adventures, he found a rune of Motion. He spent 1 POW and succeeded in his Persistence roll and thus integrated the rune. He benefits from the rune power (i.e. +1 movement) and gained the skill Runecasting (Motion) at POW+CHA skill but did not gain a specific spell.
For his initiation he has the following cult skills: Athletics 50%, Dodge 45%, Lore (Orlanth theology) 50%, Perception 25%, Stealth 20%, 1H Sword 70%, Spear 30%, Shield 60%; his Runecasting (Motion) skill is 25%

Now let’s see the situation as in option #2
During his lay membership the Char wants to learn the runic spell Bladesharp 2.
He spends 200silver and 2 days at a local temple and then learns the spell. When he wants to cast this spell, he will use his Lore (Orlanthi theology) skill, i.e. 50%.
He also wants to learn the spell Mobility 2. Again he spends 200silver and 2 days and now knows the spell. He could use either his Lore (Orlanthi theology) skill of 50% or his Runecasting (Motion) skill of 25% to cast this spell.
Our character is initiated in the above mentioned cult. He’s tested in Athletics, Dodge, Lore (Orlanth theology), 1H Sword and Shield. He gives a gift of at least 50silver and passes all tests and thus becomes an initiate of this cult and automatically a lay member of all allied cults (Ernalda, Issaries, Lankor Mhy, Mastakos, Valind, Vinga and Yinkin).
From now on, he pays only half price for learning spells. He can learn divine spells of the allied gods. Whether he can also learn runic spells of the allied gods is a matter of GM preference.
He immediately pays 200silver (half price of 400silver) and stays 4 days in the temple to learn the divine spell Lightning Strike 4. This also reduces his POW by 4, so his Runecasting (Motion) is now only 21%.
He can also learn the runic spells Bladesharp, Cover of Night, Mobility and Thunder’s Voice up to magnitude 2 (at half price) and will use his Lore (Orlanth theology) skill to cast them.
He wants to learn the runic spell Co-ordination 1, which is not a cult spell. However, as this specific cult generally uses the runes Air, Mastery and Motion let us assume that he actually finds a Storm Servant (Acolyte) who knows this spell and is willing to teach it. He spends 50silver and stays 1 day in the temple to learn this spell. He needs to use his Runecasting (Motion) skill to cast this spell though, not his Lore skill
Since he did not actually integrate a Metal rune, he cannot learn other Metal spells, e.g. Dullblade. The same is true for other Shadow or Mastery runic spells

Now let’s see the situation as in option #3
During his lay membership the Char wants to learn the runic spell Bladesharp 2. He spends 200silver and 2 days at a local temple and then learns the spell. He gains the Runecasting (Metal) skill at 25%.
He also wants to learn the spell Mobility 2. Again he spends 200silver and 2 days and now knows the spell. He must use his Runecasting (Motion) skill of 25% to cast this spell.
Our character is initiated in the above mentioned cult. He gives a gift of at least 50silver and passes all tests and thus becomes an initiate of this cult and automatically a lay member of all allied cults (Ernalda, Issaries, Lankor Mhy, Mastakos, Valind, Vinga and Yinkin).
From now on, he pays only half price for learning spells. He can learn divine spells of the allied gods. Whether he can also learn runic spells of the allied gods is a matter of GM preference.
He immediately pays 200silver (half price of 400silver) and stays 4 days in the temple to learn the divine spell Lightning Strike 4. This also reduces his POW by 4, so his Runecasting (Metal) and Runecasting (Motion) are now only 21%.
He can also learn the runic spells Bladesharp, Cover of Night, Mobility and Thunder’s Voice up to magnitude 2 (at half price). When he learns those spells he will immediately (i.e. without needing to learn the respective advanced skill, i.e. without needing to spend two improvement rolls or spending money or time) gain the skills Runecasting (Shadow) (for Cover of Night) and Runecasting (Mastery) (for Thunder’s Voice). However, he does not gain the runic powers !
He wants to learn the runic spell Co-ordination 1, which is not a cult spell. However, as this specific cult generally uses the runes Air, Mastery and Motion let us assume that he actually finds a Storm Servant (Acolyte) who knows this spell and is willing to teach it (the Storm Servant probably learned it himself from a Mastakos or Yigg cultist ?). He spends 50silver and stays 1 day in the temple to learn this spell. He needs to use his Runecasting (Motion) skill to cast this spell.
Let’s assume he actually learns Thunder’s Voice 1 at his temple and thus gained the Runecasting (Mastery) skill (again for free). Is he able to learn the runic spell Central Aim (RQ Spellbook)? Or does he need to find a Mastery rune and integrate it first (and thus gain the Mastery runic power, too) ? Or do you actually differentiate between Runecasting (Motion – non-cult), Runecasting (Motion – cult) etc. ?

Quite complex !

 

[Deleriad]

Okay, let me see if I get this right.

Quite complex !

Yup

Most of what you have is correct. For option #3 though what I do is to look at the cult rune magic available and assign it to the cult runes. So for example, in my version, most Orlanth cults know how to cast Bladesharp through the Air Rune rather than the standard Metal Rune. So, when you learn Bladesharp from an Orlanthi you learn a version that can be cast through Runecasting (Air). This, to me, is an Orlanthi secret that will, therefore, only be passed on to someone who is willing to become at least a lay member of Orlanth. This also means that you get social and cultural variations in magic as different organisations will know different magics for each rune.

That is a house rule pure and simple.

As you say, it can get potentially very complicated and turn into rune accountancy rather than rune questing. Option 2 is simpler and is how I started out for precisely that reason. If you and your players like exploring runes and the world in more depth, then option 3 can be very rich.