ravenspoe said:
Hello all,
I am new to the forums, but not new to Glorantha or RuneQuest. I was fortunate to play a few sessions with Mr. Stafford back in the day and have always had a fondness for the rules and setting.
I have not really ran the MRQ, and although the changes were subtle it has been some time since I ran and would love to have a one sheet summary of combat and skill usage.
Does such a document exist?
Not really I'm afraid. A quick summary for those who have played previous RQs though:
Characteristics: CHA is back instead of APP. Scales are like RQ3 though - e.g. humans have 2D6+6 SIZ and INT.
No general Hit Points. You die when a vital location has received twice as much damage as it can take.
Locational HPs are usually 1 to 2 points per location higher than RQ3 at the low end but a little less at the top end.
Skills separated into basic (everyone starts with them) and advanced (have to be learned specially).
Criticals and specials simplified to just criticals at 1/10 of skill level. Power of a critical is roughly equal to an old special result.
No resistance table. All contests are resolved through pitting skills against each other.
Opposed skill rolls are front and centre in the system. work on a blackjack system: if you both score the same result (e.g. both succeed normally) then *highest* roll wins.
The three magic systems from RQ3 are retained but what RQ3 called Spirit Magic has been renamed rune magic and tied explicitly to runes. Ironically causing severe problems when running MRQ in Glorantha.
You no longer sacrifice POW to gain Divine Magic but you have to temporarily suppress you POW instead. This has a practical effect of making it easier for initiates but priests quickly run out of room to store divine magic.
Sorcery made more usable for beginning characters but now scales linearly not exponentially.
Armour roughly on RQ2 scale, weapons damage ratings generally down a little from RQ3. Parrying uses AP (as per RQ3) but parry APs halved from RQ3.
Combat works on Actions and reactions. Spend actions to attack, use reactions to defend.
Strike Rank is now an initiative measure.
Hero Points introduced. HPs are "save your bacon" points.
Legendary Abilities introduced. These are powerful abilities which require high skills, high stats and spending Hero Points.
Those are the basics. The overall effect is that low level characters are less fragile and tend to be more competent than RQ2 or RQ3 equivalents. On the other hand, progression is more linear than the past. Magic is not as common though still usable by everyone. Combat is not as lethal as earlier versions but one hit kills are still possible. PCs tend to take several minor injuries to different locations and then frantically burn Hero Points to avoid instant death. Gives it a Die Hard feel.
