Runequest Classic now in print bundle on Chaosium!

If you're like me, you've been trying not to get involved in too many Kickstarters, and prefer to wait for an actual release copy to show up. Well, Chaosium has at last got Runequest Classic, the 2nd edition of the beloved game, up for sale now right here. At $29.95, which includes a GM Screen and mess of extra pages this is a steal, trust me!

I'm going to run this --SOON-- with Pergerron as the setting. Maybe I'll post some conversion details on the sundry and various Pergerron monsters posted to date....most of them are already in BRP or Legend format anyway!

This idea is an excercise of sorts: to see how adaptable RQ2 is to my own stuff (I did it back in the 80's, so I ought to be able to do so now, right?) and also to give me a chance to contrast and compare the RQ2 mechanics against Mythras.

Right now I can say that I am a bit shocked at how Gloranthafied the 2nd edition rules really were...I totally do not remember them this way (possible my greater time spent with RQ3 has clouded my memories of 2E). Still, easy enough to adapt to a relatively fluid, nonstandard setting like Pergerron. I'll probably need to borrow the BRP Creatures book (which is the reprint for BRP of the RQ3 monsters tome) to flesh out the missing monsters from RQ2 (I also totally did not remember that orcs, as an example, were missing from RQ2). I'll also have to drag Cthulhu: Dark Ages along, but I was already borrowing from that when I was using Magic World in Pergerron so nothing new there.

Runequest 2 getting a reprint with fixed errata

Look at it right here. Yeah, so this turns out to be a real thing (thanks Erik; weird work schedules haven't dulled your ability to get a cool scoop). I saw a post about this recently but breezed over it on the assumption it was some fan mockup. Nope.

Wow.

The idea that there will be a modern reprint of RQ2 to play with is actually the most interesting news I've heard in the Chaosium realm. For those of you not in the know, RQ2 was a very clean, concise and detailed look at the RQ mechanics, but it was also very tight in design. It assumed Glorantha as a setting, yes, but you could do what you wanted with it. RQ3 tried to make Mythic Europe the default, to good effect, but it also added some layers of complication to the rules as well.

I'd play RQ2 straight-up again (sans Glorantha...sorry, just not a Gloranthaphile). Will have to grab a copy or two once it's in the wild.

Check out the Ken Rolsten quote in the bottom back cover. Neat, considering I've always thought of the Elder Scrolls titles as the "Runequest of computer RPGs."


I am now really, really glad I sold my one RQ2 boxed set that I had held on to when I did; a reprint will (possibly) impact Ebay value on old copies since we all know most of us really want one to play with...right?

Also, it will be fun to contrast classic RQ2 with current RQ6. I admit, there's a lot of stuff I miss from the Old Days of RQ, such as the classic combat mechanics and weapon skills (attack/parry/dodge FTW) as well as a much riskier and deadlier limb-losing experience.

Auctions, Auctions, Auctions

Remember Mt. Zogon and Slice of Death? I Miss Dave's stuff, he was
THE BEST!!!!!!

I've had a low post count for a few days....missed both game groups....and since Wednesday last week have been deathly ill with something weird, flu-like and severely fever inducing. I finally turned around a bit on Saturday and here I am at 5 in the morning feeling weirdly okay and engaging in a bit of manic Ebay fun. If you're interested, check out my auctions here. A lot more are timed to start at 8:30 PM (MST) and will be real 7-day auctions. I'll probably post even more after some sleep.

While lying around near death I realized I had a lot of crap. A LOT of it. And a lot of stuff I knew I had bought because the store owner of location X was selling something for a song that I couldn't resist, knowing it was going for big bucks on Ebay. At last, after a lengthy absence, I realized it was time to do a bit more Ebay selling. Yay for iphone cameras.

A few notes about what I am getting rid of:

I have a lot of Traveller editions, but the one I will use to play is not the pristine Deluxe Traveller up for sale. Also, Interstellar Wars, which I have never read or used and never will, although it looks interesting.

I have a lot of Runequest stuff, but the Runequest I have fond nostalgia for is actually RQ3, the version that I really got in to; I only ran about 8 games in RQ2 (that I can recall).

I love Mutant Epoch, but after a couple years of collecting it I still can't muster up the requisite energy to plow through even one of the massive sourcebooks. My future post-apoc plans all revolve around Savage Worlds, Mutant Year Zero or Cypher System right now (emulating a hybridization of Fallout and Appleseed). Mutant Epoch is very cool but surprisingly demanding for an OSR-hybrid title. The books deserve a more dedicated soul's attention.

I'm ditching Shadowrun auction-style. I have finally accepted that liking the CRPGs does not mean I will like the paper and pencil version. Really it's the same issue I have with Mutant Epoch: too much content, not enough time left on the planet to figure it all out (damn you D&D 5E for taking up 90% of my gaming time.

I have some odd strays lying around....Planescape, for example. They've actually been waiting in a "send to Ebay" pile for ages. Also, stuff like Tomb of Abysthor (which is perfect condition, but I have the Frog God revision) and Red Hand of Doom (which is very popular as 3rd edition modules go, and somehow I found a pristine copy languishing on a back shelf in a local store, the owner of whom hasn't actually heard about the internet yet).

And then there's Blood & Smoke, which is a cool book but putting it on Ebay is my way of facing reality: I'm never gonna run it or really even properly finish reading it (I think I got 75% through before I was distracted) because I just don't grokk to the White Wolf/Onyx methodology on gaming, and my wife, who left the WoD and LARPing behind ages ago will never look back, so it might as well go to a home that can appreciate it properly.

More eventually!

UPDATE: I have 40 listings up now. Mutant Epoch went first....go figure! RQ2 went next. I have probably 2-3 more boxes of another 50-100 listings I'll eventually get up, including both old and new games, and a few more surprises.