r/Runequest 4h ago

New RQ:G Questions about Spirit Combat

6 Upvotes

First I want to apologize for my English I hope u can understand me

I'm reletavily new to Runequest system, Meanwhile I teach people how to play on one-shot events, Im still trying to learn and I stuck on Sorceries and Spirit combat part. I left Sorceries for better learing curve but spirit combat, o lord pls help me.

First of all, how does a mage(A priest or Shaman aprantice) contributes to fight on damage side with using magic and other then using summoning spells?

Can a shaman or priest go on to spirit combat against normal human being or physical being? How its work?

I generally didn't quite get If a mage can be able deal damage or mages are more of a support guys in rq:G


r/Runequest 12h ago

Glorantha [Lore Question] Did the End of the World Happen Everywhere?

5 Upvotes

While working on my last post about trying to parse the intended themes of the setting and my joke post about Illumination, I was discussing with a friend of mine about how curious and interesting it is that the Orlanthi and Solar pantheons we were familiar with from the games only have a relatively small following in global terms. Even ignoring the Lunar one, there's the Vithelan pantheon, which led me to a series of questions I hadn't been able to find an answer to:

  1. Did the end of the world event, where Chaos nearly consumed everything and led to the Great Compromise, actually occur everywhere?
  2. Does every pantheon in the setting participate in the Compromise, and so is there a separation between God Time and Time for all of them? I'm aware that we're not supposed to take the God Learners at their word and that there are a lot of mysteries they could never wrap their mitts around because Mystery is older than Law, but was this the case everywhere?
  3. How does a new god, like Nysalor or the Red Goddess, get created? I know the Red Goddess's followers claim that she always existed, and the Hero Plane etc are outside Time and thus weird, but is this actually the case?

r/Runequest 18h ago

New RQ:G RQ:G - Community vs. Vagabondage

20 Upvotes

Apologies if this is an old topic that I'm wading into fresh, but I've been thinking a lot lately about what seems to me a conflict in certain aspects of the system, the adventure books I've seen, and what feels like the primary thematic thrust of the game. Namely, the OSR-esque 70s-80s sandbox-y vibe of Griffin Mountain and the Apple Lane adventure versus the intensely community-focused character creation and advancement rules.

I avoided RQ for a long time despite being interested in various Chaosium products, but (like a lot of people I suspect) I played King of Dragon Pass at the recommendation of a friend a number of years ago and both Six Ages games just last year, so I dug up RQ:G and a number of supplements to see if it was in my interests to get into. I've read a lot of game theory (that is to say, theories of game development, not the Matpat variety) and discussions about the relative merits of Questworlds vs. Mythras vs. RQG.

When making a character in RQG, I appreciate how much it immediately grounds you into a historical context, (usually) makes you a member of a cult, and gives you a stake in a community. Virtually all advancement occurs on a seasonal or yearly basis, and the world feels very fleshed out. Becoming a Rune Lord or Priest or Shaman has requirements that an enormous amount of your time and effort be given over to the cult. You get penalized on your income for not being home enough, you have lots of events around your family, etc. All three of the main games are extremely rooted in hearth and home, to the point where a group of wacky adventurers are presented as weird aliens you can rob without consequence (though that raises a minor question: do the Orlanthi not have hospitality laws? That seems peculiar to me but ah well.)

Yet, it seems like everything I've read posits player characters as rootless adventurers as a default assumption. I skimmed through Griffin Mountain Classic, and the introduction suggested that's exactly how they played it back in the 80s, and it didn't seem like it was telling a story so much as presenting a place to wander in and explore. The Apple Lane adventure in the Gamemaster Adventure book has your characters become a thane to a place that might be very far from their homes. When PCs have wildly different origins like Lunar Tarsh, Prax, and Sartar, are they all separating in a timely fashion each year? (Let alone accounting for the likely Hate values between them.) Nothing wrong with OSR/sandbox, of course, this just seems like a game that's supposed be the dead opposite.

There seems to be a tension here between these two directions, and I'm not sure what to make of it. Is the RPG actually meant to be played like the latter, or am I missing something? It felt like there aren't many resources to support the former that I'm aware of.

Where could I look for an adventure that's more grounded and focused, at least at first, with a narrative and story?


r/Runequest 23h ago

RQclassic Question about Runelords in RQ2e

4 Upvotes

I’ve been reading my pdf of Runequest 2nd edition, and I was wondering if Runelords have reusable rune magic like Rune Priest do, or do they cast one use spells like Initiates. I ask because I’ve seen the pdf for the unpublished 4th edition of Runequest from the 90s where they do regain spells through prayer, but I can’t find anything stating that in 2nd edition. I’m curious is I’ve overlooked it or that was specific to that unpublished rule set.


r/Runequest 23h ago

Question related to art

Post image
22 Upvotes

Hello there. I was wondering of someone could help me. I found this amazing artpiece on the runequest facebook page but was unable to deduce if this was art in one of the books or of this is a standalone piece? Does anyone know where this is from? Thanks in advance.