Runequest House rules

toddd240

Mongoose
Hey everyone. I am looking forward to the new Runequest rpg just as much as anyone else. In the meantime I have put together a new runequest site and I am looking for input on house rules for systems RQ2 and RQ3. When the new RuneQuest comes out I want to do a comparison of old rules and house rules to the new system.

Anyone remember their old house rules?
 
toddd240 said:
Anyone remember their old house rules?

Sure.

Problem is, there's just too many. There's almost no part of the RQ3 rules I wouldn't want to rewrite in some form or another.

So: Do you want them mailed to you? Do you expect us to post them here? Do you want to specify your question?
 
Oh dear. OK, here you go.

I'll give you a rough overview - not everything we ever tried, only what I ended up with. In my old days, I've come to simplify a lot of things. I stole a lot from the Elric/Stormbringer system (and the unfinished RQ4 draft floating around the net).

Characteristics: Roll 2D6+6 seven times and assign scores to stats as you see fit. (Only works for all-human parties, of course.)

Occupations: Reworked in Elric/SB-style. Each occupation has a list of 10-12 skills and you distribute 250 points among them (more for a higher-powered game).

Skills: Shortened skill list which looks more like the one from Elric/SB. No skill category bonuses.

System: No Fatigue Points (If really needed, I use Fatigue rolls and fatigue levels as in RQ4). All stats except SIZ can be trained to 21 (again, for humans only).

Combat: No separate Attack/Parry skills. No Strike Ranks, straight DEX order instead. Hit Points can go below 0, but you automatically lose 1 hp/rd to bleeding. You die if your negative hp equal your CON.

Magic: Depends a lot on the setting. In my Hyborian campaign, spells aren't simply available to anyone. Cult membership is required for spirit/divine magic; apprenticeship (and minimum INT 16) is required for sorcery. Resistance rolls are POW vs POW (not MP vs MP). Demons (and a few spells) added from Elric/Stormbringer.

That's it in a nutshell. Nothing spectacular, I'm sure lots of groups do similar things. Does that help?
 
Tend to be pretty straight. I'll have to look mine up, but ones I do use...

Characteristics: 4d6 best 3 for the 3d6 stats (often allowing a minimum 10) and 3d6-convert-one-to-a-six for the 2d6+6 stats (humans).

Magic: No sorcery, limited shamen (shamans?) but either home-brew magic system OR Battle/Spirit magic & Cult magic... use Turloigh's current POW vs POW for magic resistance (not MP) and also, now it's been pointed out, tended to limit spells very much to cult membership

Non-Magic or Low-Magic: Raise hit location damage by several points, enhance the Herb Lore, Craft(Medicines/salve) and First Aid skills, and add in other longer-term skills (nursing care) to cope with the damage.

Other's tend to be rulings for very specific circumstances....
 
I rewrote how healing and damage work (reasons to have Heal other than 2 or 6); I rewrote how skill checks/training/study were done; I modified stats for a lot of critters; I experimented with a number of action-point systems for multiple attacks and movement orders. I fiddled with prices for everything. I was never quite satisfied with any of the results, since I have problems with certain fundamental assumptions of the system. Still, some of the most memorable campaigns I ever ran were Gloranthan RQ, and I look forward to the new edition; will probably run something in 2007.
 
eyelessgame said:
I rewrote how healing and damage work (reasons to have Heal other than 2 or 6) ...
Details? Healing was painfully slow, I agree.

eyelessgame said:
... I rewrote how skill checks/training/study were done ...
Really? I thought those were among the best parts of RQ3. Too detailed may be, I streamlined the training/study rules a bit, but nothing substantial. What did you do?

eyelessgame said:
... I have problems with certain fundamental assumptions of the system. ...
Care to explain? I'm curious.
 
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