I'm writing a free pdf, under the Open Gaming License, containing some of the things I would have liked to have seen in the Mongoose version of Runequest. These are not necessarily broken, just new options that can be used by GMs.

It's non-gloranthan but written by a mad Glorantha fan. It should have the right feel (I hope) in the same way Griffin Island has the right feel, even though it is a generic fantasy supplement. It's about a third of the way finished.

The main areas I am concentrating on are:

  • Combat: Rewriting the whole thing, abandoning combat actions and reinstituting armour points for parries without dropping the opposed resolution test.
  • Personality Traits: Let's get grown up in our gaming. People behave according to their nature. Personality traits can give characters the edge as well as make them manipulable.
  • Guardian "spirits": A magical ally that guards and represents a corporate group, ie the adventuring party. How to get one and how to roll him up.

    • Why abandon combat actions (CA)?

    It's the age old problem with initiative systems in that often contestants are stood around frozen as if by magic because they have run out of actions. Meanwhile other contestants are merrily continuing to act. I don't believe that an easy to use initiave system can remove this problem entirely but I aim to minimise it.

    I've been running a game with a strike rank system that allows multiple actions for the quickest and most skilled. It's not a million miles from iniative systems that Runequesters have been used to but with some unique rules.

  • The round ends once everyone has taken an action (not counting actions that spread over an entire round or more). If a quick and skilled contestant can fit in a few extra actions so be it.
  • Starting strike rank (i'm going to rename this to action rank) is based on skill and DEX (POW for magic casting)

    • Personality rules, not very heroic are they?

    I disagree, heroic stories are littered with character flaws and strongly held feelings. Often these passions give them the edge when they try to defeat their enemies. That is what these rules aim to do. They also aim to counterbalance the advantage by allowing contestants to activate traits in opponents. For example, a clever orator can activate the hatred in a man known for his rage, goading him into attacking impossible opponents or disgracing himself in front of an audience. Personality Traits work for you and sometimes against you.

    Guardian "Spirits" they are like allied spirits are they?

    Yes but for an entire group. They represent the group itself, provide the group with magic and may act as the group's mascot. Depending how it is rolled up, the guardian "spirit" may be physical, ghost-like, animate, conscious, have unusual magic, provide magic points, let it's group cast it's spells and generally be useful to a party. But it is a collective entity and not the property of an individual.

    Due soon..

    Your Comments

    Matthew    3 months ago

    Looking forward to your pdf.

    If you would like to leave a comment feel free. I would like to keep these pages and their comments as a resource for other fans of Glorantha so occasionally I will be pruning out the odd nonsensical or useless post. Anything at least half sane or useful will be left here as is.

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