Runequest Nights and oh the body parts flew,

Dwayne of Gamer's Closet came into town on vacation and we decided to do some gaming with Tim of Gothridge Manor. Being my usual self I suggested we try Runequest ... 2nd edition not II not Mongoose I. At first character generation went fairly quickly. Rather too quickly. My reaction was "That all there was?" There was a pair of lame 16 years old characters. I dug into the rules and found that you can get loans from three different guilds/cults/organizations. In addition there were prior experience rules that allowed to you age to 21.

So Loans were taken out and the characters shaped up much better. Tim plowed everything into his healing spell and wound up with a Healing 6. He bought a grain flail as it was one of the cheapest weapons in the book. I don't think he was supposed to use his thief and fighter funds to do this but hey it was a one night game. Dwayne rolled really well on his attributes and elected to do take shimmer, detect magic, and a really big ass pole axe.

So off they went to Apple Lane and were promptly ambushed by two goblins. I typically run a short combat before the game to give me and everyone else a feel for how it work. It was short. One goblin died with a smashed head and the other died nearly severed at the abdomen.

They went to the Tin Inn in Apple Lane where they were accosted by Gringle the proprietor of Gringle's Pawn Shop. After buying their character a meal and a drink he told them of his problem. Apparently an adventurer stole a magical crystal from a local goblin tribe and sold it to him. A couple of members of the tribe came into the shop and wanted it back. When they balked at the price (20,000 Lunars) they attacked and when beaten off by Little John his halfling bodyguard they threatened vengeance.

He received a vision of his pawnshop being attacked by the 8 goblins and it was defended by Tim and Dwayne characters. He has important rituals to perform tonight so needs to hire the two to defend his shop and the crystal. After some haggling they agreed on a price.

Now at this point some of you who are familiar with Apple Lane are going mmm what is Rob talking about. Sorry folks I just can't take Baboons tribesmen, and ducks, that seriously. So I waved my DM Pen and turned them into Goblins and Halflings. The stats remained the same.

So as Gringle and Little John went off to do their Ritual. Tim and Dwayne tried to setup some traps but only succeeded at the front door.

Then late at night the attack game. The goblins busted though the front door. Using the bars of the public area as a shield the Dwayne successfully mauls the goblins coming through the front. Every time that pole axe hit a body part or two flew off. Meanwhile more goblins tore through the roof and dropped into the whirling flail of Tim's Character. Alas the fight didn't go so well when Tim's Legs was crushed by a luckly mace hit and was attached only by a few shreds of meat. However Tim managed to pull himself together (literally) and with the aid of his Healing 6 ,and a miss by the goblin, reattached his leg and heal most of the damage.

Tim got the upper hand after that, the remaining goblins on the roof ran away, and he killed the two that were in the building. At this point Xarban's Gang busted through the back door. The two parties raced through the building to meet in the Temple. Dwayne stepped behind a doorway and Tim kept healing them.

However the bandit gang was more skilled than the baboons err goblins. Dwayne and Tim were pushed back taking minor hits here and there. The turning point game when they managed to sever the arm of Xarban a Beaked Dragonnewt, the gang's leader. In the gang's retreat, a crested dragonnewt went down with a crushed skull, and the centaur, Big Laugh, got cut off. As Xarban and Pinfeather escaped, Tim and Dwayne hacked down Big Laugh. First by severing an arm, then the killing blow by Dwayne in the hindquarters.

After sunrise Gringle was impressed and paid the party the agreed fee plus a bonus for the bandit gang. Dwayne was shrewd enough to have as part of the term the right to all the goblin's and bandit's equipment. So they sold that to Gringle for a tidy sum as well.

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My impression of Runequest 2nd edition is that like all older games it has some really fiddly bits. Don't get me wrong it was interesting and fun in many ways. With roughly the same stat range and probability range as GURPS it is a far bloodier game. Especially with the big ass pole axe.

The Magic System has some useful bits and has a different feel. I can't say I like it. But I can see how it work in terms of the Glorantha setting.

The importance of paying for training was very different than most games I am used too.

I am glad refereed this. After getting some current projects done I plan to do some work on what I call Majestic Quests a d20 version of Runequest % system. This session showed me some of the strengths and pitfalls of the original game.

I will say that first scenario for Apple Lane is rather lame. The raid on Gringle's Pawnshop has a lot of plot holes in it. But as an introduction to Glorantha, the cast of Baboons, Ducks, Dragonnewts, Centaurs, and Rune Lord or two certainly a good example of the setting.

Still don't really got a grip on how Strike Ranks and movement interact. I can see why BRP got away from it. Plus what do you defend with against missile attacks?