Gloranthan Character Generation

[GianniVacca]

Well... I know the relevant book is supposed to hit the shelves in about a fortnight, but has anybody tried and summed up a nice MRQ Gloranthan character generation algorithm?

 

[Magistus]

Are you asking about a Character Generator?

 

[Yoda300]

I think that by algorithm he means a summary of the character generation process (as opposed to rules dispersed in different books), and a process specifically gloranthan (as opposed to the generic process of the main rulebook).

 

[GianniVacca]

I think that by algorithm he means a summary of the character generation process (as opposed to rules dispersed in different books), and a process specifically gloranthan (as opposed to the generic process of the main rulebook).

Correct.... It is still unclear to me what skill a Gloranthan character should use when casting a Battle Magic spell -- and you will admit that this is a pretty fundamental part of any game!

 

[simonh]

Correct.... It is still unclear to me what skill a Gloranthan character should use when casting a Battle Magic spell -- and you will admit that this is a pretty fundamental part of any game!

There's only one answer in the rules - the appropriate Runecasting skill for the Rune.

Any other options discussed here are variants.

 

[Rurik]

Correct.... It is still unclear to me what skill a Gloranthan character should use when casting a Battle Magic spell -- and you will admit that this is a pretty fundamental part of any game!

Technically according to the rules you need to Integrate the required rune and you use that runes runecasting skill.

A number of people on this board are allowing the learning of cult spells without integrating the rune and using the cults theology skill as long as you are an intiate.

 

[GianniVacca]

More specifically--
I want to create a party of God Learners that are already Seasoned or Veteran characters as per the RQ rules pages 104-105. The rules are too generic and not Gloranthan enough.

 

[simonh]

More specifically--
I want to create a party of God Learners that are already Seasoned or Veteran characters as per the RQ rules pages 104-105. The rules are too generic and not Gloranthan enough.

MRQ, like previous editions of Runequest, doesn't provide much in the way of guidelines for generating experienced characters. For my own games, I sometimes had to create my own rules for geenrating such characters, and would tailor the set of options I presented to the players depending on the needs of my game.

Frankly I don't think this is a limitation of the published rules. The requireemnts of difefrent games will vary widely, and sensible options to present for one game might not be sensible for another. For example the character generation options I would need for a game in which the characetrs are all members of a Wyrmfriend ambassadorial mission to Teshnoss would be very different from those I would need if they were all all slave gladiators in the Kingdom of Ignorance. I don't think Mongoose can realistically be expected to cater to the huge variety of possible advanced characters you might encounter, or play, in Glorantha.

RQ allows for considerable freedom and flexibility in character advancement, it's not just a pick-list of options along a restricted set of pre-determined paths, but this is one downside of this freedom. Personaly I see it as an opportunity for creativity.

 

[Magistus]

There are rules for creating more advanced characters, I belive they are in the companion.

 

[simonh]

There are rules for creating more advanced characters, I belive they are in the companion.

There are rules for it in the basic rulebook, but they are very rudimentary. The original poster refers to them (by page number, even). However they don't take into account sorcery, divine magic, shamanism, etc or magic items. Not that I'm complaining, they're a reasonable basic framework from which to build a customised character generation workflow for your game.

 

[Yoda300]

Perhaps the Players Guide to Glorantha will offer some answers.