Revised RuneQuest

Revised RuneQuest is not the same as NuRQ. The latter is Jeffʼs ongoing effort to lure D&D and Pathfinder players to play RuneQuest, whilst the former is a proposed streamlined presentation of the RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha core rules (deemed too long or too complex by people who apparently are literacy-challenged).

Anyway, there was a panel about Revised RuneQuest (lets call it ReRQ from now on) at Chaosium Con UK; Nick Brooke live-posted about it. Here is a summarised version, with my comments:

Revised RuneQuest

Goals: reduce page count, edit rules for clarity, remove barriers to entry for new players, and maintain full compatibility with all RQG products. It is a “polish pass”, not a new game.

Overhauled character generation: 

- reduce time to create;

- remove barriers to entry;

- maintain rich, diverse options;

- introduce non-human adventurers in the core book;

- reduce the total number of cults in the core book.

Five cultures, including humans, ducks, minotaurs and baboons. [Minotaurs? Is that for power gamers? I canʼt possibly remember a time when Minotaurs were mentioned as adventurers in Dragon Pass]

Nine cults: Issaries, Lanbril, Yelmalio, Babeester Gor, Orlanth, Ernalda, Humakt, Storm Bull, Chalana Arroy. [Lanbril... thatʼs an ultra-minor cult; again this reeks of ‘let them  play D&D-style thieves’. OTOH Chalana Arroy is a good choice; Iʼve had good experiences with the Chalana Arroy pregen, both as a player and as a GM] 

New, clearer spell templates (consistent presentation of information). [Good]

What isn’t changing?

The current RQG book is not going away. This is RQG. It’s the same game, fully compatible with the 2018 release. It is a re-presentation of the rules, not a new edition.

What won’t be in the new book?

Phalanx combat; family history (because many new fans bounced off it); sorcery; shamanism. [This is a shame. Greg was an actual shaman! Shamanism is what sets RQ apart from vanilla fantasy TTRPGs. I agree the current rules are poorly written, but all we need is a good edit.] There are simply too many things for somebody who is brand new to RQG to take in. The rules for these things aren’t being changed at all; they just won’t be in the revised core slimmed-down rulebook, so new players won’t hear about them (yet).

Does this mean the Starter Set is obsolete?

No, it's the same game.

Does this mean the old RQG Core Rulebook is obsolete?

No, it's the same game. RQG (2018) is still widely available in print and digital formats, please buy as many copies as you need.

Does this mean stuff cut from the old Core Rulebook will be changed?
(Are we getting new Shamanism, Sorcery, Phalanx rules etc?)

No, you can still use all those, as it's the same game. But new players won't be overwhelmed by options in the revised core rules.

What's next for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha?

Goals: Playable Content: “show, don’t tell”. Let players discover Glorantha through play.

The Apple Lane Campaign: This reworks and expands on material from the GM Screen Pack Adventures Book.

Welcome to Glorantha: Collected scenarios, each highlighting a different, unique aspect of Glorantha. Compatible with the RQ Starter Set (that’s all you need to play them). One of the scenarios will be a mundane world heroquest. The book will show off different things that you can do with the game and setting. It’s designed for new players, like the Call of Cthulhu Starter Set. [Excellent, we need introductory scenarios. But we also need fully-fledged campaigns in the style of the old boxed sets]

Return to Snakepipe Hollow: A new adventure in the same dungeon set after the Dragonrise. This is not a reprint. It’s a whole new campaign dungeon; the denizens have changed since the Dragonrise.

On the Royal Road: A collection of encounters, with full NPCs incl. deep backgrounds, adventure hooks, etc. Use them any way you like in your own campaigns.

Cults of RuneQuest: Gods of Darkness: Including troll adventurer creation [at last] and everything else you expect from the Cults of RuneQuest series. After that, there may be a handful more books (2-3?) to complete the Cults of RuneQuest series. ❌ There are no current plans to publish a "Cult of the Invisible God" book. [Drat it]