RuneQuest
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| RuneQuest | |
 Runequest deluxe edition from Avalon Hill. |
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| Designer | Steve Perrin Ray Turney Steve Henderson Warren James Glorantha Material by Greg Stafford |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Chaosium Avalon Hill |
| Publication date | 1978 |
| Genre(s) | Fantasy |
| System | Basic Role-Playing |
RuneQuest is a fantasy role-playing game first published in 1978 by Chaosium. It was notable for its use of a hit location system. Early editions were set in the world of Glorantha with its own distinctive mythology and monsters, such as Broo and Scorpionmen.
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[edit] History
RuneQuest quickly established itself as the second most popular fantasy role-playing game, after Dungeons & Dragons.[1] The first and second editions are set in the mythical world of Glorantha, while the third edition in the mid 1980s is more generic and was much less successful.[2] RuneQuest is the original percentile die-based and skill-based rule set.
The game had been sold to Avalon Hill under a complex agreement that required all Glorantha-related content first be approved by Chaosium. In an attempt to also have a setting they could release freely, Avalon Hill also supported a new "default" setting, Fantasy Earth, based on fantasy interpretations of several eras of earth's pre-modern history. Later Avalon Hill published "generic"/"Gateway" fantasy material (Lost City of Eldarad, Daughters of Darkness). Critics consider these later "generic"/"Gateway" publications inferior to the earlier Runequest publications.[3]
Although both supplements for Fantasy Earth (Vikings, Land of Ninja) were well-regarded, the popularity of RuneQuest as a system seems to have come from the strength of its original setting, reflected in the remarkably high sales of materials that were new editions of out-of-print Glorantha content.[citation needed] A proposed fourth edition was originally meant to return the tight RuneQuest/Glorantha relationship, but it was shelved in 1994, mid-project.
Glorantha is the official setting of a new rules system called HeroQuest, which is the successor to Hero Wars. Part of the agreement that permitted a new Glorantha-based game was that Avalon Hill retained rights to the name "RuneQuest" but not to the RuneQuest game rules. An attempt was made to produce a new game called RuneQuest:Slayers in 1997 that was neither Gloranthan nor used the original rules, but it was shelved when Avalon Hill was bought by toymaker Hasbro. At some stage in 2003 the rights to the trademarked name "RuneQuest" were acquired by Issaries, Inc.
In 2004, Chaosium began preparing the most complete version yet of Basic Role-Playing, a multi-genre system derived from 3rd Edition RuneQuest and Chaosium's other BRP-based games. The new system, provisionally named Deluxe Basic RolePlaying (DBRP) includes many optional rules for use with different genres, including fantasy, horror, and science fiction. DBRP will reportedly be released in November 2007,[4] and will not include any Gloranthan content.
Mongoose Publishing released a new version of RuneQuest in August 2006, under a license from Issaries, Inc., and "developed under the watchful eyes of Messrs Stafford and Perrin". However, Steve Perrin was no longer associated with the Mongoose RuneQuest project as of December 2005. The new rules were released under a variant of the Open Game License, and the official setting takes place much earlier in Glorantha's history than previous editions covered.
[edit] System
Players create one or more Player Characters (PCs) through randomly generating their statistics using dice. Humans generally have a stats range of 3 to 18 points per attribute (e.g. Strength, Intelligence, Dexterity), rolled by using three six-sided dice. There was nothing to stop a player opting for a non-human PC, beyond the fear, suspicion and hostility it would be likely to receive going in most human areas (a standard -10 to Charisma was applied when dealing across different sentient species). Once the character is defined physically, it is up to the player to decide on gender, background, motives and starting equipment, although this has to be moderated by the player running the game. The player in charge is often called "Dungeon Master" as a legacy term from Dungeons & Dragons, or sometimes more simply "The Narrator". The Narrator determines the general situation of the part of Glorantha that the players find themselves within (political context, season of the year, current weather etc.), and the specifics of the "scenario" i.e. the story plot lines that the players will encounter and choose to follow (or not). The general situation will be obvious to a player and the Narrator will describe this in order to get the game started. What any individual non Player Character (NPC) is up to is something that the PCs must discover either by direct questioning or investigation & observation.
The rule book contained a large selection of fantasy monsters including all the traditional types (Elves, Dwarves, Trolls, Undead, Lycanthropes) and their physical stats. An invention of the game designers (and by some indications one of their favourites on the basis of their use and importance in Glorantha mythology) were creatures called Broo, humanoid goat-headed monsters. This race were orc-like in prevalence and organisation and usage (i.e. default standard enemy), and even had their own God to worship. Also detailed for each type of creature were what magic spells they might know, which cults they might belong to, and at what level.
The game's combat system was designed in an attempt to use what its creator, Steve Perrin, had experienced through live-action combat with the Society for Creative Anachronism. An attack is rolled using percentile dice (a ten-sided die, twice, to create numbers between 01-99, and 00 counts as 100). If your skill level is equal to or higher than the number rolled, you have hit your target. The defender has the chance to try to avoid the blow or parry it, again determined with percentile dice. For very low rolls there was a system of critical hits (armour protection negated), or for certain weapons a chance to 'impale' (double damage). Attackers always had a chance of missing (if they rolled 96% or above). They also had a very small chance of Fumbling, where something unfortunate happened to the attacker, such as losing a piece of equipment, falling over or even causing damage to themselves or friends. (These outcomes were randomly determined following the botched attack roll.)
A key component of the RuneQuest combat system was hit location. Successful attacks were allocated randomly to a part of the target's body. (Or else a particular part could be aimed at with a reduced chance to hit.) Combined with the innate chance of everyone to hit, as well as the critical/impale system, this meant that even the most powerful character could be disabled and killed by a weak opponent. For example, a lucky hit against a leg, weapon arm or head could render a character defenceless or severely limited in their attack.
The original versions of RuneQuest were known for making most levels of magic notably weaker than in other games, at least in its ability to directly attack rather than enhance a warrior's ability. Magical attack was resolved with a comparison between the attacker's and the target's Power provided a single percentile chance of the spell working.
As a result, combat in RuneQuest became more detailed, slower and always in some ways riskier than most other RPGs. This often meant play was not as combat focused as other RPGs.
[edit] Cults
Once a character has been created (often being recorded on commercially available character sheets) the player must then determine which (if any) Cult the PC belongs to, as this was one of the main character progression themes of the game. Entry to the Cult as a Lay Member is marked by passing a generally simple entrance test (each cult varies across a broad spectrum for how hard a test) or set of requirements. As a Lay Member some skills and spells training is normally available at a reduced rate, but there are some minor restrictions on personal freedoms. After several years of good service it then becomes possible to apply to become an Initiate of the Cult. This involves a tougher test but access to better cult specialty spells if passed, plus further mundane benefits for other spells & training. The restrictions can also be harder to observe. The leaders of a cult are called "Rune Masters", which are further subdivided. "Rune Lords" are the warrior elite that are the melee specialists. "Rune Priests" are the mages of the cult. Both gain access to Rune Spells, the most powerful magics in the game.
The basic rules came with a handful of Gods (both good and evil) which was then greatly expanded in the Cults of Prax and Cults of Terror supplements.
[edit] The Dragon Pass area
The Dragon Pass area is the main land and focus of the game, detailed on a large map in the original rules. The recent history of the game is that the Lunar Empire has invaded from the Northwest through Dragon Pass, and have subdued but not beaten the people of Sartar and the various tribes living in Prax. The Cults of Prax supplement adds more detail to many of the places marked, by the vehicle of a merchant travelling these lands and encountering each cult in turn.
[edit] Legacy
Chaosium reused the rules system developed in RuneQuest to form the basis of several other games, including:
- Call of Cthulhu
- Corum
- ElfQuest
- Hawkmoon
- Nephilim
- Ringworld RPG
- Elric!
- Stormbringer
- Superworld
- Worlds of Wonder
Chaosium called this rules system the Basic Role-Playing System (BRP). In 2004, Chaosium released a print-on-demand version of the 3rd edition RuneQuest rules under the titles Basic Roleplaying Players Book, Basic Roleplaying Magic Book, and Basic Roleplaying Creatures Book.
Steve Perrin, one of the authors of the original RuneQuest game, later developed a similar system known as Steve Perrin's Quest Rules (SPQR), which some RuneQuest fans consider to be a successor to the original game.
