[RQ] What to buy for Chaosium RQ?

[Finarvyn]

I'm thinking about a 1E or 2E campaign and am looking at the Chaosium books.

I have a 1E core rulebook but none of the supplements, modules, or Glorantha resources. I'd like to go as "old school" as possible, naturally, so I'd like to find out which books are the best ones.

Any suggestions?

[ffilz]

You will definitely want Cults of Prax. You may also want Cults of Terror. The reprint book Cult Compendium would serve nicely in place of the individual cults books (and will give you several more cults to boot).

There may be a few minor rules bits you want to pick up from RQ2.

Beyond that, are modules and such.

Apple Lane is a really fun introductory module. Snake Pipe Hollow is also a nice module.

Troll Pack has a very nice map, some scenarios, and lots of detail on the different types of trolls and several additional troll cults (beyond what's in Cults of Prax).

Pavis, The Big Rubble, and Borderlands are big campaign modules if you're into that sort of thing, but certainly aren't necessary. Griffin Mountain is a also nice campaign supplement, though it's sort of separated from the rest of Glorantha.

You can find plenty of nicer maps online, though Troll Pack does have a nice map.

If you still want more modules, there are a few modules for Avalon Hill RQ (most though are re-hashes of the above modules).

For a minimalist Glorantha campaign, all you absolutely need to add is Cults of Prax.

Frank

[redpriest]

Griffin Mountain also ranks at the top, along with The Big Rubble. King of Sartar, while not actually a game book, nonetheless is a big help for the GM in the time-lines and what's, wherefores and goings-on with the Hero Wars in and around Dragon Pass.

[uncruliar]

I don't have much to add - Ffilz's post in particular is fairly exhaustive.

I would say Cults of Prax is essential. Without it you just don't have enough info on Gloranthan religion. Of course you could always make up your own pantheon but you would be missing out on what most RQ fans most loved about the game.

If you want a monster-slaying type campaign then Cults of Terror would be very useful to add depth to your chaos monsters. However Runequest also lends itself quite well to 'political' type campaigns where the main players could all come the religions in Cults of Prax. You could still use chaos monsters in places but wouldn't need them to be too detailed.

The setting specific supplements are great if you want to have the hard work done for you, or if you want more Gloranthan flavour to adapt to your own setting. There are large areas of the Dragon Pass / Prax area that have not really been detailed though and you might want to devlop one of these for your campaign.

I've been looking on ebay and RQ2 stuff seems fairly rare. Some of the new Mongoose material seems quite compatible as far as Gloranthan feel goes, it would need some work on rule adaptations though.

[greentongue]

May 19, 2010 22:12:06 GMT -6 redpriest said:

Griffin Mountain also ranks at the top, ...

It is also very nice for starting groups with plenty of room for expansion.
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[ffilz]

The one thing I don't like so much about Griffin Mountain is that it's an area that isn't going to have many Praxians. Their cults on Cults of Prax add so much color that it's a shame to let loose of them. Of course there are ways for Praxians to get there, and PCs from outside Balazar could certainly be Praxian.

Frank

[uncruliar]

In my old gaming group we used Griffim Mountain with PC's who originated in Sartar, Prax and Pavis. I can't remember now the rationale of how they ended up in Balazar. At the moment I'm playing a game on Yahoo groups where we are playing young Balazaring hunters.

[ffilz]

One other issue for Praxians in Balazar is getting temple training, which to me is an important part of the game. This factor weighs heavily to a Prax/Pavis based campaign as being one of the few places one would expect to be able to find temple training for every cult documented in Cults of Prax (and probably most of the cults from Cults of Terror).

Frank

[uncruliar]

You have some interesting points about temple training in Balazar. Of course if you have Balazaring characters then this isn't an issue. If you have Sartarite / Praxian characters then it might well be. However in my old campaigns I don't remember temple training being such a major part of the game. Some training does have to be done in temple but not all. Also I don't remember us having lots of money to throw at training, which is quite expensive. Also our Sartarite / Praxian characters spent a year or two (game time) in Balazar before returning home.

[ffilz]

Not lots of money actually makes the temple training more important with the selection of free and half-price training available from many cults.

Fortunately, if I recall, Orlanth is well represented in Balazar. It would be more an issue for the various Praxian cults. Praxians might also feel out of place as the only "X rider" around...

Frank