This is from social media, so I guess it’s OK to share it.
Update on the new RuneQuest
An update on the work on a new edition of RuneQuest. Thanks to the countless hours of playtesting, feedback, and revisions, we’ve realized that we need more time to keep developing a new edition. Consequently we're pushing back the estimated release date to 2027 at the earliest.
However, all that work has made clear to us that the existing RuneQuest rules can be presented in a far more concise and clear manner. The process has also helped us identify where the existing rules need to be clarified to make it easier for newcomers to learn the game mechanics and for us to make VTT adaptations.
So without further ado, what we are going to do is release a Revised RuneQuest core rule book. This will be significantly shorter than the existing RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha core rule book—about a third the size. Combat rules are cleaned up, and the rules are far clearer and better presented than in RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha. This book will include a Bestiary, and will focus on Sartar, Prax, and the Big Rubble.
In the meantime, we will continue to roll out new releases for the RQG line; stay tuned for some exciting announcements!
Finally some good news regarding this project. I got to play-test the now discarded nuRQ and found the rules to be only marginally less heavy but more rail-roady than RQG. Everybody at our table felt the same. Groans were heard during play!
ReplyDeleteRQG is a game for people who are already fans of the world and a heavy iteration of the BRP system, made by people who are already fans of the world and a heavy iteration of the BRP system. It's an insider's dream game -- even the core book's covers are for insiders. This is fine if you're trying to relaunch a product line around the then moribund Glorantha/RQ IP. But it’s not ideal if you're trying to grow said IP by attracting new (hopefully younger!) players. nuRQ is supposed to do that by being a light on its feet, adventure focused game in the world of Glorantha. Yet, we found the system to be needlessly heavy handed, which led to slow and momentum killing gameplay. No fun. No surprises. Rail-roady. And the version we played didn't have any of the Passions integrated yet (I don’t know if this was ever implemented), which would have probably made things even heavier and slower and RQG-ish. Now that they're (almost) starting over, I hope they end up with a game that clearly stands apart from RQG, to offer players a choice in how they want to play in/interact with the world of Glorantha: a detailed, heavy one (RQG), and an actually light on its feet, action oriented one (nyRQ). C’mon Chaosium!
And please, give us a great cover, not the uninspiring work in the progress we saw a few months ago. A call to adventure showing us what our characters might face or achieve in the game, using the entire page to wow us -- not a centrally placed, difficult to read duel. Open up! Think epic! It's Glorantha, for Pete's sake.