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RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha
RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha Quickstart Rules AND Adventure
A mythic world of mortals and gods, myths and cults, monsters and heroes. In Glorantha, the Runes permeate everything, and mastery of Runes allows astonishing feats of bravery and magic.
Glorantha is an ancient world, and has known many ages, but now it is at the brink of the greatest conflict it has ever known… the Hero Wars.
Glorantha is the setting of RuneQuest, one of the oldest and most influential roleplaying games ever published.
This Quickstart collects all the essential rules for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha and presents them in abbreviated form. Use this booklet to start playing immediately, and to discover the improvements to the system. These game rules and a new adventure—The Broken Tower—preview the newest edition of RuneQuest, developed in close consultation with the designers and authors of the original RuneQuest and of Glorantha.
The Broken Tower, set in the heart of the Dragon Pass, is suitable for up to 5 adventurers and one gamemaster, complete with all the rules needed to play.
Glorantha is an ancient world, and has known many ages, but now it is at the brink of the greatest conflict it has ever known… the Hero Wars.
Glorantha is the setting of RuneQuest, one of the oldest and most influential roleplaying games ever published.
This Quickstart collects all the essential rules for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha and presents them in abbreviated form. Use this booklet to start playing immediately, and to discover the improvements to the system. These game rules and a new adventure—The Broken Tower—preview the newest edition of RuneQuest, developed in close consultation with the designers and authors of the original RuneQuest and of Glorantha.
The Broken Tower, set in the heart of the Dragon Pass, is suitable for up to 5 adventurers and one gamemaster, complete with all the rules needed to play.
50 pages, Paperback
Published June 17, 2017
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6 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 26, 2021
Holy crunchiness Batman! I think when I picked this up I was thinking of Tunnels & Trolls, which I believe is a pretty simple system, which made this extremely shocking. I somehow missed out on this one, back in the day. I played most of the TSR role-playing game a bunch (Marvel, Star Frontiers, Gamma World etc...), and then tested out a couple others once or twice (Villains & Vigilantes, Call of Cthulhu, Rifts etc...)
I was disappointed that this was so much like D&D with 5 of the 6 attributes being the same the just changed Wisdom to "Power" and went with it. Then they have "Hit Points". But they use percentile dice for tests. The crunch here is beyond Pathfinder which seems like it puts it into the niche group of people who want to keep track of how many hit points and how much armor each of their body parts has. There are 2 different types of magic, both use points. There's an initiative setup that uses a kind of "Speed Factor" (see D&D 1.0) type mechanic.
The entire book is overly verbose, with stat blocks that sometimes take up half a page or more. I was lost right from the first page of description about the main mechanic which is really bad. Then a page later they split a paragraph from page 3 to continue on page 6, which totally confused me.
The mini adventure wasn't bad and I like the idea of the rune magic, but this is just a system I would never play, and I think as mentioned, it's really only for hardcore, gaming nerds that love rules and record keeping.
I was disappointed that this was so much like D&D with 5 of the 6 attributes being the same the just changed Wisdom to "Power" and went with it. Then they have "Hit Points". But they use percentile dice for tests. The crunch here is beyond Pathfinder which seems like it puts it into the niche group of people who want to keep track of how many hit points and how much armor each of their body parts has. There are 2 different types of magic, both use points. There's an initiative setup that uses a kind of "Speed Factor" (see D&D 1.0) type mechanic.
The entire book is overly verbose, with stat blocks that sometimes take up half a page or more. I was lost right from the first page of description about the main mechanic which is really bad. Then a page later they split a paragraph from page 3 to continue on page 6, which totally confused me.
The mini adventure wasn't bad and I like the idea of the rune magic, but this is just a system I would never play, and I think as mentioned, it's really only for hardcore, gaming nerds that love rules and record keeping.
May 4, 2021
I'm definitely ready do jump into some Bronze Age mytho-madness. RuneQuest is one of those games I've been dancing around most of my life. I cut my RPG teeth on Chaosium's games, but while I was always aware of RuneQuest, I never actually played it. I'm hoping to change that.
This book should give you a nice taste of the setting and the system. It's a very trimmed down and condensed version of the system, which feels like it may be a bit tough to get a handle on if you're not already familiar with Basic Role-Playing and the whole skill-based, percentile system. RuneQuest takes it to another level, though, with some wild high Fantasy elements. The gods are real and they're walking around. Watch out.
It is a bit weird to think of such a High Fantasy setting with such a deadly combat system, but there it is.
There's also a scenario included in this book, as there should be in a quick start. It's designed to give you just a taste, just a sense of the sort of thing you might do. It's very simple, and I imagine should be playable at a con or in a single session.
I hope to dive into the full core books sometime this year. Can't wait.
This book should give you a nice taste of the setting and the system. It's a very trimmed down and condensed version of the system, which feels like it may be a bit tough to get a handle on if you're not already familiar with Basic Role-Playing and the whole skill-based, percentile system. RuneQuest takes it to another level, though, with some wild high Fantasy elements. The gods are real and they're walking around. Watch out.
It is a bit weird to think of such a High Fantasy setting with such a deadly combat system, but there it is.
There's also a scenario included in this book, as there should be in a quick start. It's designed to give you just a taste, just a sense of the sort of thing you might do. It's very simple, and I imagine should be playable at a con or in a single session.
I hope to dive into the full core books sometime this year. Can't wait.
February 16, 2025
Tout comme sont livre de base les règles me paraissaient lourde à la lecture (enfin celles sur les combats).
Et j'en ai eu la confirmation en jouant le scènario présent à l'intérieur.
J'aime l'univers, j'aime certaines idées de jeu comme l'inspiration en fonction des passions ou des runes des personnages.
Mais les combats, sont long tactique et je pense qu'il faut un gros boulot pour rentre le tout fun et intéressant.
Un jdr à ne pas mettre en toutes les mains, mais curieux de découvrir les pans de cet univers.
Et j'en ai eu la confirmation en jouant le scènario présent à l'intérieur.
J'aime l'univers, j'aime certaines idées de jeu comme l'inspiration en fonction des passions ou des runes des personnages.
Mais les combats, sont long tactique et je pense qu'il faut un gros boulot pour rentre le tout fun et intéressant.
Un jdr à ne pas mettre en toutes les mains, mais curieux de découvrir les pans de cet univers.
December 4, 2022
Though the Starter Set is a better point of entry both for absolute beginners (who'd appreciate the more detailed explanations presented) and for experienced Glorantha fans (due to the useful setting supplement it provides), this Quickstart is a nice instant rundown of the new RuneQuest edition. Full review: https://refereeingandreflection.wordp...
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August 12, 2019read for work
October 11, 2021
October 2020: Ah, RuneQuest: the the graduate-level role playing game. Your rules are Byzantine, your worlds so complex. Still: it's me, not you. I am just too old for this. Stay in touch, though.
October 2021: Gave it another read through in anticipation of the Runequest Starter Set. It's a cool game. I think what throws me is how not The Forgotten Realms: Campaign Set it is: set in a fantasy Bronze Age, using strike-ranks, Rune magic, and hit locations (all based in Chaosium's excellent BRP system)...it's very different. Cool, though.
RPG books fill me with bibliophilia. It's like Dragon Sickness for poor Thorin: I. Just. Want.
October 2021: Gave it another read through in anticipation of the Runequest Starter Set. It's a cool game. I think what throws me is how not The Forgotten Realms: Campaign Set it is: set in a fantasy Bronze Age, using strike-ranks, Rune magic, and hit locations (all based in Chaosium's excellent BRP system)...it's very different. Cool, though.
RPG books fill me with bibliophilia. It's like Dragon Sickness for poor Thorin: I. Just. Want.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews