RuneQuest Starter Set: Played It Review of a Mythic World of Magic and Conflict
A detailed designer diary is a good place to gain additional insight: RuneQuest Design Diary. My thanks to Michael O’Brien of Chaosium for sending me a review copy. This review is going to look at the box and contents itself and how both work from a GM’s point of view. Followed by details on how running the included adventure went.
What You Get
The box itself is sturdy cardboard and slightly oversized to fit the dice in the top. It is stuffed with high-quality content. While I like miniatures/pawns and battle maps I appreciate the fact that this starter set doesn’t have them and so can include even more rules and setting info including maps. Even though the inside of the box lids are plain cardboard, there are other fun features. The backs of the four books form a giant map. The poster maps are large and double sided and the dice look great. Plus there are 14 pre-generated characters which is the largest number I’ve seen in one product before.As a GM here is what I have to get started. In Book 3: SoloQuest I played Vasan, daughter of Farnan a warrior of Sartarite. My father’s body and soul were devoured by the Crimson Bat, an evil monster of the oppressive Lunar Empire and I am pissed about it.
I’m part of an Sartarite army about to fight an army from the Lunar Empire. My first roll ever in RuneQuest is a Scan skill (50%). I roll a 44% and pass! If I survive the upcoming battle I get to roll to try to improve my Scan skill.
The gods of my people include Orlanth, the Storm Lord, who skips along the river chanting our champions names and Humakt, the God of Death, sitting beside every warrior as they prepare to fight. I wield a lance and ride a bison into battle as part of the cavalry. I am also skilled in the bow.
As I wait for the fog to lift and the battle to start, I am faced with many options: talk to my leader, tend to my bison mount, pay my respects to my ancestors and the gods, and more. I make my Worship (Orlanth) roll and increase the Battle Result Total by +5. This increase will help swing the outcome of the upcoming battle in our favor. Detailed combat follows (pointing me to Book 1: Rules) with many of my character’s actions determining the outcome of the battle. And the decisions are not all easy. To help my leader fight in one on one battle thereby hurting her honor but maybe keeping her alive? Do I engage in one on one honorable combat or run down my foe, driven by orders to get somewhere quickly?
Playing one character is all well and good, but I wonder if I can run five PCs with differing backstories through an adventure. I read about the world first in Book 2. The starter set has the excellent idea of setting a campaign in Dragon Pass and having players create PCs from that area. Just human to start it looks like is the best option. That will make it easier on the GM.
The Adventures
Next up, I want to see how the adventures help. The rules and the world books are each a slice of the larger RuneQuest rules and a glimpse of one part of the immense world of Glorantha. And Book 4 contains the adventures themselves.I ran the first adventure, which involves the PCs breaking up some rioting trolls and then being asked to travel to farms and rescue four farm families. I liked that the PCs stopped the trolls without resorting to combat and that decision had positive repercussions. I also enjoyed the battle at the farms and the final boss monster.
Glorantha came across as both a world filled with strange creatures and powerful magic as well as one of human beings just trying to survive and live a good life. This combination really shone through and I liked this approach. The world was not gritty and dirty and lived in, but it still seemed real with the scars of war and the loss of life juxtaposed against mythical monsters and works of magic.
The Rules
The rules for RuneQuest also tie directly into the world of Glorantha. Rune affinity helped PCs succeed at tasks, Passions tried to sway them into making different decisions, and the PC who Feared Dragons was given constant grief about his fear. I did miss not getting to see any ducks however. I had heard that they are most often encountered in Sartar.I also like the rules. Strike ranks in place of initiative really worked well. Parrying and weapons and shields taking damage made battles come alive and seem visceral and realistic. But spells were flying as well, which tied the magical directly into every bit of combat. A great mix of deadly danger and high magic. I played combat theater of the mind and that worked just fine, even with five PCs and several monsters.
I like Sartar and Dragon Pass. The location is a great place for a RuneQuest campaign. The solo adventure can continue to be useful later because I can hand it to a player new to RuneQuest and they can also play through it to learn the setting and rules.
Should You Get It?
This starter set is outstanding. The main RuneQuest rulebook doesn’t really have a section to show GMs how to run a campaign. This starter set accomplishes that goal and provides ongoing tools GMs can continue to use. I recommend it highly to anyneo who enjoys fantasy RPGs and wants to try a long-lived unique setting and well tested rules.ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7prrWqKmlnF6kv6h706GpnpmUqHyzwc2eqK6do6l6tMDAq6ueql2osrV5z6WYsp2UYra1edGeraKdp2K8p3nAZqSyrJiesG7DzqujnWWfm3qurcaimmaZnpl6pLvNn6Oim6Rjg3mAlGxoaA%3D%3D