Some Sorcery & Combat Rules Questions

[Nickbergquist]

So, I am running my new RuneQuest group last night when a couple odd questions arise that I am not 100% sure of the answers to (hand-waving and rule-calling ensued). My questions:

1. Sorcery spells: As I understand it, using a Manipulation (Magnitude, Target, etc.) skill to enhance a sorcery spell only ever costs 1 magic point, even if you achieve a nice effect....i.e. a successful magnitude skill check increasing the spell to mag 3, for example, still only costs 1 MP and not 3. Am I right?

2. No summoning rules! I recall seeing another post about this, but didn't notice until one of my players was heart-set on designing a summoner-type (too much Warlock goodness in WoW, heh). So I whipped up a Summon (Entity) sorcery spell on the spot and went from there. Any summoning rules I have somehow missed, or anyone heard any plans for such down the pipes?

3. Animate (substance) appears to be the only spell or means I can find of reanimating dead tissue....but not the same as creating true undead, near as I can tell. Am I missing something about necromantic powers, or is this it for now in the main book and Companion?

4. On combat with reactions: A character has as many reactions in a round as he has CAs, but my question is: on opening action in combat, three foes strike simultaneously on the same CA. The target also has 3 CAs but acts on a later strike rank....can he dodge all three times (burn all 3 reactions) at once? This of course leaves him vulnerable for the rest of the combat, but, at least he'll live to see the rest of the combat...!

Anyone who can help on these questions, thanks!

 

[weasel_fierce]

1. Sorcery spells: As I understand it, using a Manipulation (Magnitude, Target, etc.) skill to enhance a sorcery spell only ever costs 1 magic point, even if you achieve a nice effect....i.e. a successful magnitude skill check increasing the spell to mag 3, for example, still only costs 1 MP and not 3. Am I right?

Yes, its one MP to use the manipulation skill. The effect (if your roll is successfull) comes from the chart

2. No summoning rules! I recall seeing another post about this, but didn't notice until one of my players was heart-set on designing a summoner-type (too much Warlock goodness in WoW, heh). So I whipped up a Summon (Entity) sorcery spell on the spot and went from there. Any summoning rules I have somehow missed, or anyone heard any plans for such down the pipes?

Nothing published. Folks in Glorantha dont summon things. If you want it for your own games, by all means make one

3. Animate (substance) appears to be the only spell or means I can find of reanimating dead tissue....but not the same as creating true undead, near as I can tell. Am I missing something about necromantic powers, or is this it for now in the main book and Companion?

Thats it for now, unless the magic of glorantha book adds things for this

4. On combat with reactions: A character has as many reactions in a round as he has CAs, but my question is: on opening action in combat, three foes strike simultaneously on the same CA. The target also has 3 CAs but acts on a later strike rank....can he dodge all three times (burn all 3 reactions) at once? This of course leaves him vulnerable for the rest of the combat, but, at least he'll live to see the rest of the combat...!

Certainly. You can react anytime someone takes a swing at you, or someone exposes themselves to a free attack. Strike ranks are purely for when your own actual actions occur.

 

[Banned Beetle]

2. No summoning rules! I recall seeing another post about this, but didn't notice until one of my players was heart-set on designing a summoner-type (too much Warlock goodness in WoW, heh). So I whipped up a Summon (Entity) sorcery spell on the spot and went from there. Any summoning rules I have somehow missed, or anyone heard any plans for such down the pipes?

Cults 2 probably. Would expect some summoning rules there as shamans are given more consideration. Will probably appear later for divine and sorcery too. Summon (in old RQ) wasn't something used in combat though. Usually, you would have summoned and bound a spirit or elemental earlier, then release it to attack your opponents during melee. Only Subere high-rank cultists were in the habit of summoning "entities".

3. Animate (substance) appears to be the only spell or means I can find of reanimating dead tissue....but not the same as creating true undead, near as I can tell. Am I missing something about necromantic powers, or is this it for now in the main book and Companion?

Maybe in Cults 2, but probably you have to wait for something like "Sorcerer's handbook" or something like that. Necromantic sorcery spells were rare to have, but present in the old rules. Probably it will show up in some time.

Trifletraxor.

 

[Nickbergquist]

Cool, thanks for the quick answers!

Summoning is not a pivotal element of my campaign (a homebrew non-Glorantha campign that harkens back to RuneQuest II), but I figure, if my player wants to do it....why not? I'll leave the regrets for later, when she's trying to summon up Diablo or something :twisted:

As for necromancy, the Animate sorcery spell works well....and a variation called Reanimate (undead type) can easily be extrapolated from the base spell, obviously, so that works well enough.

For those interested, I worked up a Summoning spell as follows:

SUMMON (ENTITY) (sorcery effect)
Casting Time 2*, Concentration, Resist (Resilience, by summoned entity)

This sorcery spell requires a specific entity described per spell. At the GM's option it may be a somewhat broader description (such as Summon Demons or Summon Angels, Summon Animals or Summon Elementals). The power of the entity is determined by magnitude. A rough guide to the entity magnitude is as follows: Mag 1-4: equivalent to a beginning character; Mag 5-7: Seasoned; Mag 8-10: Veteran; Mag 11-15: Master; Mag 16-19: Hero; Mag 20: Legendary.

To save GM sanity, it is suggested that the sorcerer have a "stable" of creatures of the specific type which are statted out according to magnitude; they may be the same creature, or simply the same type and level of power, but it will help the GM immensely. Likewise, the GM should be strict in defining what creatures and level of ability can be summoned using these guidelines. Indeed, the GM can provide a limited list of what sort of creatures can be summoned.

Summoned creatures may, depending on world, be from other dimensions (alien/planar), elemental planes (elementals), realms of chaos (chaoskin), or local (the guy down the street). The last one is especially fun: you keep summoning the same poor goblin/orc/minotaur, who in turn gets pretty tired of being pulled away by this errant sorcerer....so one day he decides to go hiking off to find the guy who's making a shambles of his life!

Summoned entities are bound to aid the summoner only if the summoner expends magic points equal to the magnitude of the being summoned. If done, then the summoned entity will not attack the summoner and will behave as friendly (if grudgingly) to the summoner. If the cost is not paid, then the entity will appear with no sense of loyalty and the summoner had better start making some influence rolls to avoid becoming the object of the beast's ire!

Summoned beings do not act on the round they are summoned. They are, frankly, completely surprised at their sudden appearance, and do not begin action until the start of the next round, rolling for strike rank as normal.

*Casting time defaults at 2. If you want summoning to be a long process, then make the summoning time considerably longer, and a manipulation (magnitude) check will reduce the summoning length by the number of magnitudes of success.

Anys suggestions on this spell are welcome!

 

[weasel_fierce]

that doesnt look bad at all.

If you have spare change, look on ebay for a copy of Chaosiums Stormbringer game, which has lots of stuff on summoning demons, and its BRP, so its pretty much compatible with MRQ

 

[Nickbergquist]

that doesnt look bad at all.

If you have spare change, look on ebay for a copy of Chaosiums Stormbringer game, which has lots of stuff on summoning demons, and its BRP, so its pretty much compatible with MRQ

Heh! I hadn't thought of that at all....as it happens I do believe I have a copy of Stormbringer lying around somewhere. Thanks for the idea!

 

[weasel_fierce]

No problem. Stormbringer 5th edition / Elric, is a worthy rival to MRQ on its own, as well

And if you want a more gritty, but faster game, you could easily swap RQ's hit locations for the hit points and major wound system in SB