Ruins of Glorantha, anyone pick it up ?
- Thread starter Shibby
- Start date
Yup, Got it last week by mail order - at least there's one thing good about living in the UK.
First off, I really do not like the cover, the layout is OK, but the colouring and artwork (it is sub-sea) are really not my taste. There is a comparatively low illustration content otherwise, but what there is is OK.
As written, this is s strictly Gloranthan volume, almost all the real ruins and regions (with their typical ruins) are Gloranthan: but like all the recent Mogoose Gloranthan stuff, an inventive GM should have no trouble converting to just about any system.
It is a softback with about half of the contents giving how to create ruins, and a similar portion devoted to actual areas and the ruins PC's are liable to find and nine more-or-less fully fleshed ruins.
The creation section is useable for any RPG, but is obviously slanted to RQ. It has a quick-and-dirty emergency requirement generator and a full-blown, 'By the time I have finished this, the PC's will be imprisoned here for weeks' deep, ruination creator.
The second half is definitely not a campaign resource, but as advertised is an 'Oh-Oh, I need something off the story arc to keep them busy this week while I re-think to account for the changes the PC's have wrought on the campaign'. Currently each of the ruins is set in a different region, which makes it less easy to use in a hurry, but again could be re-worked quickly to fit your Glorantha.
As I have not yet had time to read the book in great detail (Chargers at Saints intervened), I cannot critique each of the ruins. However with the time I have spent I estimate no more than a single session mnaxiumum from each of the ruins.
All in all, I would rate this an enthusiastic GM's purchase, or for a GM who wants to understand just a little more about the forces at work in the end of the First age and the beginning of the Second age, which is when most of these will need to have been constructed in order to fall into disrepair of this order.
Hope this helps.
elgrin
First off, I really do not like the cover, the layout is OK, but the colouring and artwork (it is sub-sea) are really not my taste. There is a comparatively low illustration content otherwise, but what there is is OK.
As written, this is s strictly Gloranthan volume, almost all the real ruins and regions (with their typical ruins) are Gloranthan: but like all the recent Mogoose Gloranthan stuff, an inventive GM should have no trouble converting to just about any system.
It is a softback with about half of the contents giving how to create ruins, and a similar portion devoted to actual areas and the ruins PC's are liable to find and nine more-or-less fully fleshed ruins.
The creation section is useable for any RPG, but is obviously slanted to RQ. It has a quick-and-dirty emergency requirement generator and a full-blown, 'By the time I have finished this, the PC's will be imprisoned here for weeks' deep, ruination creator.
The second half is definitely not a campaign resource, but as advertised is an 'Oh-Oh, I need something off the story arc to keep them busy this week while I re-think to account for the changes the PC's have wrought on the campaign'. Currently each of the ruins is set in a different region, which makes it less easy to use in a hurry, but again could be re-worked quickly to fit your Glorantha.
As I have not yet had time to read the book in great detail (Chargers at Saints intervened), I cannot critique each of the ruins. However with the time I have spent I estimate no more than a single session mnaxiumum from each of the ruins.
All in all, I would rate this an enthusiastic GM's purchase, or for a GM who wants to understand just a little more about the forces at work in the end of the First age and the beginning of the Second age, which is when most of these will need to have been constructed in order to fall into disrepair of this order.
Hope this helps.
elgrin
Daithi O'an tSionnaigh
Mongoose
I am still waiting to get my hands on this book. I pre-ordered it from my FLGS but if it doesn't come in soon I will get it somewhere else. Really looking forward to reading it.
The King
Cosmic Mongoose
Thank you for the short review.elgrin said:
I am pretty sure one can use the ruins to make some campaign around it. Take Balastor's barrack as an example. Taken alone, it is just a rather short dungeon crawl in some part of some ruins.
But when you give it a frame and developp all the surroundings following (or not) the way Big Rubble was developped, you have something pretty much concrete.
One can even make it as a sort of prequel to campaigns like Dara Happa Stirs of Blood of Orlanth where the recovery of some lost artefact in some ruins can have an awesome importance to win the day.
I haven't got my copy at work and need to do a full review sometime, but this is definitely a book of two halves.
The first half is a very detailed (perhaps overly detailed) ruin generator for a GM to sit down with some dice and a sheet of paper and rol up a completely new ruin. I haven't used it to generate a ruin, as I have a life (sort of), but it looks as though it will do the job. There are a few niggles with ruins possibly being associated with runes, the cultures/ages don't really add up for me but they are probably fine.
The second half is a set of ruins from all across Glorantha that have very sketchy descriptions and some NPC stats. These seem to be a very mixed bag to me. The descriptions are good, but frustratingly brief. No area within the ruins is described in detail and many of the ruins do not describe what is there. The NPCs are overly-detailed (The Plateau of Statues describes all of the Chaos Statues at half a page each) where they could have been skipped or described in a paragraph and more room left for the detail within the ruins.
I suppose it's a matter of balance. I'd have cut down the ruin generation rules and included more detail in the named ruins. But, from a hard-dice/rolling-up-ruins point of view, I can see why the first half is very detailed.
If I wanted to roll up ruins using this then I'd put everything into tables and automate it on a PC, so I wouldn't need to look at the first half of the book again.
So, down to the nitty-gritty.
Is it worth buying? If you need to roll up ruins in a methodical way then Yes. If you want information on some ruins in Glorantha then Yes. Otherwise, maybe.
Is it worth the money? If you have decided that this is the kind of thing you need or could use then you will probably think that, yes, it is worth the money. If you bought it expecting loads of descriptions of ruins then it probably isn't worth it, but if that's what you wanted then this would be disappointing anyway.
I'd give it a B (Good) Overall.
A=Excellent, B=Good, C=Average, D=Poor, E=Very Poor, F=Awful
The first half is a very detailed (perhaps overly detailed) ruin generator for a GM to sit down with some dice and a sheet of paper and rol up a completely new ruin. I haven't used it to generate a ruin, as I have a life (sort of), but it looks as though it will do the job. There are a few niggles with ruins possibly being associated with runes, the cultures/ages don't really add up for me but they are probably fine.
The second half is a set of ruins from all across Glorantha that have very sketchy descriptions and some NPC stats. These seem to be a very mixed bag to me. The descriptions are good, but frustratingly brief. No area within the ruins is described in detail and many of the ruins do not describe what is there. The NPCs are overly-detailed (The Plateau of Statues describes all of the Chaos Statues at half a page each) where they could have been skipped or described in a paragraph and more room left for the detail within the ruins.
I suppose it's a matter of balance. I'd have cut down the ruin generation rules and included more detail in the named ruins. But, from a hard-dice/rolling-up-ruins point of view, I can see why the first half is very detailed.
If I wanted to roll up ruins using this then I'd put everything into tables and automate it on a PC, so I wouldn't need to look at the first half of the book again.
So, down to the nitty-gritty.
Is it worth buying? If you need to roll up ruins in a methodical way then Yes. If you want information on some ruins in Glorantha then Yes. Otherwise, maybe.
Is it worth the money? If you have decided that this is the kind of thing you need or could use then you will probably think that, yes, it is worth the money. If you bought it expecting loads of descriptions of ruins then it probably isn't worth it, but if that's what you wanted then this would be disappointing anyway.
I'd give it a B (Good) Overall.
A=Excellent, B=Good, C=Average, D=Poor, E=Very Poor, F=Awful
Cleombrotus
Mongoose
Our game is heading toward the Plateau of Statues and I find myself contemplating my first Mongoose Runequest purchase since I spat my dummy about rules changing between prints.
Since I'm dipping my toe back in the pond, could someone tell me how much is in there about the Plateau of Statues, is there a map, and are the stats interesting from a Gloranthan perspective?
Since I'm dipping my toe back in the pond, could someone tell me how much is in there about the Plateau of Statues, is there a map, and are the stats interesting from a Gloranthan perspective?
Cleombrotus said:
The Plateau of Statues has 3 paragraphs of History, which don't tell us anything, 4 paragraphs of Layout, which are very general but give an idea of what the Plateau looks like and a few parapgraphs on its present state, including how to get there and descriptions of its arid state.
There are stats for the 6 Chaos Guardians that guard the Bloody Path, but I can't see them stoppijng anything but a beginning party. These stats are not interesting from a Gloranthan or a RQ perspective.
There is no map of the Plateau of Statues.
Cleombrotus said:
If you want a detailed description of the Plateau of Statues, then you won't find it in Ruins of Glorantha. If you want something to base a scenario on then fine, but you will need to do a fair bit of work to get something usable.
Cleombrotus
Mongoose
Thanks for that Simon. It's what I expected really, but I live in hope. I guess I'll have to get out the sketch pad and stimulate the old imagination with a few cans of red bull.
I know I'm not going to use the Issaries treatment of Boggles, nor anything from the Sandy Peterson campaign that's floating around.
So it's meant to be a part of Genert's garden that wasn't completely destroyed by chaos?
I'm thinking last scene of Planet of the Apes for atmosphere. I always assumed that the statues were dead gods. Maybe Gods about to be overcome by Chaos and saved from that fate by Acos and turned to Truestone?
I know I'm not going to use the Issaries treatment of Boggles, nor anything from the Sandy Peterson campaign that's floating around.
So it's meant to be a part of Genert's garden that wasn't completely destroyed by chaos?
I'm thinking last scene of Planet of the Apes for atmosphere. I always assumed that the statues were dead gods. Maybe Gods about to be overcome by Chaos and saved from that fate by Acos and turned to Truestone?
Blackyinkin
Mongoose
Hi,
There is a a map of the Plateau of Statues at the back of one of the old Tales of the Reaching moons (14 or 15) which I drew from Sandy's maps. I will see if I still have a copy somewhere.
Cheers Simon Bray
There is a a map of the Plateau of Statues at the back of one of the old Tales of the Reaching moons (14 or 15) which I drew from Sandy's maps. I will see if I still have a copy somewhere.
Cheers Simon Bray
Cleombrotus
Mongoose
Was that the map of the Tunnelled Hills from TOTRM#15? Very very good issue. Loved that map too.
Very disapointed. Got excited at mention of tunneled hills, classic rq location i knew nothing about, but face fell while reading it.
Some of this stuff just isn't well...
...Tales of the Reaching Moon was better than some of the releases from Mongoose and that was written by lonely men in their bedrooms after work. There i've said it.
But not Blood of Orlanth and Glorantha Second Age which are really good quality.
[edited to be less rude]
Some of this stuff just isn't well...
...Tales of the Reaching Moon was better than some of the releases from Mongoose and that was written by lonely men in their bedrooms after work. There i've said it.
But not Blood of Orlanth and Glorantha Second Age which are really good quality.
[edited to be less rude]
The King
Cosmic Mongoose
I also bought it and though I didn't read it yet, the font is taller than usual and the page count is less.
What I especially don't like is that each location is very shortly described (2-3 pages) as if there was nothing really interesting to write about. I hope the ruins creation system is better.
What I especially don't like is that each location is very shortly described (2-3 pages) as if there was nothing really interesting to write about. I hope the ruins creation system is better.
As the King is lurking on both forums (Conan & RQ), maybe he can tell me more about it...
I'm not a huge fan of the ruins creation system in Ruins of Hyboria (actually I don't think I'll ever use it), but I like the ruins descriptions that make the second part of the book. They have a definitive "non D&D" approach (a very rare fact in a D20 book !) that better suits my style of gaming.
Glorantha is a very specific setting that's not always easy to adapt to other settings. Even if I played RQ a lot some twenty years or so, I have gradually given up Glorantha with the passing of years. I have wonderful memories of the old Chaosium edition, with gems like Cults of Prax, Cults of Terror, Griffin Mountain, Pavis or Big Rubble, but Glorantha doesn't appeal to me no more.
I picked up RQ III and some suplements (Vikings was really great!), bought the MRQ book, along with the Elric books (some of which are really good), but I don't think I'll ever send again my players stride the plains of Prax.
MRQ rules are OK but the new BRP from Chaosium seems better to my eyes. Anyways I'm always looking for new stuff and inspirations for my games, so I don't limit myself to a single game line, hence my initial questions.
Thanks for the answers, anyways...
I'm not a huge fan of the ruins creation system in Ruins of Hyboria (actually I don't think I'll ever use it), but I like the ruins descriptions that make the second part of the book. They have a definitive "non D&D" approach (a very rare fact in a D20 book !) that better suits my style of gaming.
Glorantha is a very specific setting that's not always easy to adapt to other settings. Even if I played RQ a lot some twenty years or so, I have gradually given up Glorantha with the passing of years. I have wonderful memories of the old Chaosium edition, with gems like Cults of Prax, Cults of Terror, Griffin Mountain, Pavis or Big Rubble, but Glorantha doesn't appeal to me no more.
I picked up RQ III and some suplements (Vikings was really great!), bought the MRQ book, along with the Elric books (some of which are really good), but I don't think I'll ever send again my players stride the plains of Prax.
MRQ rules are OK but the new BRP from Chaosium seems better to my eyes. Anyways I'm always looking for new stuff and inspirations for my games, so I don't limit myself to a single game line, hence my initial questions.
Thanks for the answers, anyways...
The King
Cosmic Mongoose
I didn't know you wanted to ask me directly.Hervé said:
As I wrote one post above, I didn't read the book yet (only browse through) but as I also have Ruins of Hyboria, I can say you don't need another one.
Ruins of Hyboria is better done IMO. Moreover you know that Glorantha bathes in magic. Everything that is or has magic is related to godly powers which are transcribed through runes (hence the name Runequest).
There is also ruins from other races which are as evolved as humans (if not more).
In conclusion:
1. it would be too much work to use it for Conan
2. too few material would be really usable
3. RoH is really sufficient in this field (in fact I would have loved if RoG would have received the same treatment as RoH).
4. In fact I think it would be easier to use RoH for Glorantha than RoG for Conan.
But of course, if you want to include ducks in your campaign you're welcome. :wink:
I got Ruins right around Christmas and I've read the whole thing a couple of times. I thought the ruin generator was pretty good if you want to come up with some random ruins on the fly or are stuck for ideas.
The next section of the book lists the types of ruins found in various geographical areas of Glorantha. There was a least one example of a ruin for each area which listed the type of ruin, general description, condition, guardians, ambient magic, etc. but didn't give maps or go into great detail.
Finally, there were some maps of specific ruins included along with an introductory description and a few stats for some of the guardians likely to be encountered. This had potential but personally I would have liked some more detail in this section. For instance, I agree with earlier posters that it would have been great to have the plateau of statues fleshed out more.
Overall I liked the book, but personally I could have done without the ruin generator (although it is well done) and would have liked more detail in the other sections instead.
The next section of the book lists the types of ruins found in various geographical areas of Glorantha. There was a least one example of a ruin for each area which listed the type of ruin, general description, condition, guardians, ambient magic, etc. but didn't give maps or go into great detail.
Finally, there were some maps of specific ruins included along with an introductory description and a few stats for some of the guardians likely to be encountered. This had potential but personally I would have liked some more detail in this section. For instance, I agree with earlier posters that it would have been great to have the plateau of statues fleshed out more.
Overall I liked the book, but personally I could have done without the ruin generator (although it is well done) and would have liked more detail in the other sections instead.
Inspector Zero
Mongoose
Me too - The ruin generator has a RuneQuest Gateway feel about it - it reminds me of RuneQuest cities from RQIII. Perfectly servicable and well thought through but just feels like a changeling somehow...
