UNDERCULTURE

I am role-player. There. I admit it!

And to make things worse, I’m the a terrible kind of role-player: I am an old school role-player. Specifically, I love 2nd Edition Runequest. Which is why, on the old site, we had an entire section of Runequest-specific pages and sections. I took too long to maintain and was, frankly, just too much trouble. But Underculture just wouldn’t be right without a little Runequest, so here’s the best of the old stuff. Enjoy it.

RUNEQUEST HOUSE RULES
I’ve been playing Runequest for a fair number of years (about 12 actually) and, over those many sessions, the rules have slowly been manipulated and refined, as we find out what works and what doesn’t. Out of this trial and error, there has emerged a set of Runequest 3rd Edition house rules for our games. They are presented here below for your delectation. Also, because Andre insists on having some rules written out, I have included a couple of clarifications of the official rules. And, please, please, if anyone has any comments, additions or arguments, please email me!

Snap Aimed Shots
I’ve always had a problem with aimed shots since the location that one hits, at the end of the day, is still random. Surely the location hit would be a factor of the attacker’s skill. Also, it doesn’t make sense to me that an attacker must wait until the end of the turn. When I’m in a fist fight I swing for the face at the same speed as I would swing anywhere else. Hence the reason why I’ve altered the Aimed (Called) shots rule for Runequest slightly. It is called the Snap Aimed Shot. It doesn’t replace the existing aimed shots, which deal with careful, slow, aimed attacks. Rather, this represents in-the-middle-of-battle attempts to hit an opponent in a specific location. The mechanics opperate thus: If an attacker wishes to hit a specific location he/she will hit 3SR later, instead of on SR 10. In order to hit, the character then names his penalty in -10s (such as -20, -30, etc.). This penalty to hit allows the attacker to move the hit location, as randomly rolled, by 1 point per -10.

Example: Trey wishes to hit an attacking zombie in the head. He opts to make a called shot, and attacks on SR9 (instead of SR6 because there’s a 3SR penatly), and opts to take a -90 penatly to his roll, which allows him to alter the location hit (the D20 roll) by up to 9 points one way or the other (up or down)

Reduction of Armor Points
Armor points of armor is reduced by 1 AP whenever damage dealt to the location exceeds the armor’s current AP. This is very similar to the way weapons get damaged, and it does entitle people to break armor as well as damage armor location. Please note that this entitles adventurers to damage armor directly (as per the attacks to damage and break weapons). This rule gives a reason to include Repair spells and blacksmiths in your role-playing world.

Example: Muraag is fighting a Lunar warrior. Muraag is wearing some plate armor (8AP). The warrior swings at Muraag, hitting him squarely in the chest for 11 points of damage. Muraag fails to parry and ends up taking 3 HP of damage (11 damage - 8 AP). Furthermore, because the armor value of the armor was exceeded, it is now reduced to 7 AP.

Special and critical bite attacks
Special and Critical bite attacks immobilize a location. It didn’t make much sense to us: that an animal can bite but will always let go, regardless of the attack. The way that we rule it is that the location is treated as immobilized (reduced to 0 HP) and combat is thereafter treated as a wrestling combat. This has the advantage of making biters (such as wolves) substantially more dangerous.

Example: Olaf finds himself fending off a wolf. On SR 5 Olaf swings at the wolf and misses. The wolf lunges in retaliation on SR 7 and hits with a special success on the left leg! Olaf did not get a chance to parry because he was moving that turn. The wolf’s damage is not very impressive, rolling a 4. This won’t get through Olaf’s 12 AP but, because the hit is a special, Olaf’s leg is now considered immobilized. He drops to the ground and can only follow the wrestling rules to fight his way out.

Using two-handed weapons one-handed
Any two-handed weapon may be used one-handed provided the character meets double the strength and dexterity requirements, as well as have a size equal to or greater than the strength requirement.

Example: Chaarg, a monstrous Troll (STR 30, DEX 30 and SIZ 28) wishes to wield a a two-handed sword (requirement: STR 13 and DEX 14) one handed. He meets all of the basic requirements and is, therefore, able to swing the weappon one-handed.

Regaining Consciousness
Often, a creature or adventurer will fall unconscious due to HP loss to a specific location and, unfortunately, the rules for regaining consciousness are murky at best. To clarify: a character, unconscious due to HP exceeding a double HP location on a limb will regain consciousness the moment the HP are less than double Hit Location. For the head, chest and abdomen, the character must be healed to positive HP before he/she will regain consciousness. Do bear in mind that this cannot happen to limbs that have been cleanly severed (double total location HP in one strike).

Example: Turkish receives 8 points of damage to a leg that only has 3 HP. It is reduced to -3HP and he is asked to roll his CON X1 to be be Heroic or lose consciousness. He fails his roll and drops to the ground. Muragg rushes over and casts a 1-point Heal spell on Turkish, which raises him up to -2HP on the leg. This means that Turkish is able to regain consciousness and act next turn.

Drawing two weapons simultaneously
Traditionally, it requires 3 SR to draw a weapon, which means that a character wishing to draw two weapons would require 6 SR (drawing sword and then shield). This drawing a weapon at a time does not seem entirely logical, we have ruled that if the character is able to perform a DEX X 3 roll, they are able to draw both weapons in 4 SR. If they fail, they must take the full 6 SR to draw their weapons. A fumble means that one or both weapons are dropped.

Example: Trey wishes to draw both of his broadswords simultaneously before charging into combat. Normally, this would take him 6 SR to perform. He elects to draw them both simultaneously and rolls his DEX X 3. He succeeds and is able to draw his weapons together.

Regeneration and Impales
How does a creature regenerate after it has been impaled? Does the flesh regenerate around the weapon? Does the weapon get automatically removed? This has always been a difficult call to make but, at the end, the following has been decided: due to the regenerative properties of the creature, it is unlikely an impaling weapon will remain in the flesh for ever as, over time, this will be healed. Therefore, when the regenerating amount is equal to, or greater than the damage inflicted that round, the impaling weapon is removed/absorbed/rejected.

Example: A large cave Troll which regenerates 3 hit points per location per turn is hit by an impale in the leg. In this case it happens to be an arrow. Each round the impaling weapon damages his location (1d8+1) until a round in which he receives 3 or less points of damage. At that point, it is ruled that his body has dealt with the foreign object.

Preparing missiles
Generally it takes 3 SR to draw and prepare a missile weapon, such as an arrow. It has been ruled that, if the arrows are prepared in advance (such as being planted in the ground, or handed out by an assistant), this can be reduced to 2 SR.

Example: Larna is expecting a fierce assault but she is ready. She has planted 6 arrows in front of her in the ground, for easy reach. When the firing starts, she’ll be able to fire on SR 3 and 8 each round (DEX SRM 2 + 1 to fire the bow, 2 SR to reload and 3 SR again to fire, and again 2 SR to reload) instead of SR 3 and 9 for the first round and only SR 5 the following round.

Commanding of Spirits
The players are quite fond of having Magic Spirits bound into items. They generally command them to cast spells while they busy themselves with other things. This, we have ruled, takes a 1 SR.

Example: Muraag is about to engage in combat. He is trapped in a dead end and has no choice but to fight his way out. He wishes to personally cast True Spear on his naginata, as well as get his allied spirit to cast protection 4 on himself, and his bound spirit to cast Countermagic 2 as well. His round goes as follows: On SR 1, he commands his allied spirit who will finish cast Protection 4 on SR 5. On SR 2 his orders his bound spirit which will conclude Countermagic 2 on SR 4. After that he will cast True spear which will conclude on SR 4 (2 SR for commanding the two spirits, 1 DEX SRM, 1 SR for the Divine spell).

Curing diseases
The Runequest rules are not particularly clear when dealing with curing diseases. We have decided to work on the following system for the ‘Treat Disease’ skill detailed in “Gods of Glorantha”: When a character suffers a disease, he is entitled to a single ‘Treat Disease’ attempt during his affected time period (once per day for severe, or once per week for mild). If the roll succeeds, the character is entitled to another CONx5 roll. If this succeeds, the character’s disease is lessened by a degree of severity (from serious to mild, etc.). The character is then entitled to another ‘Treat Disease’ roll during the next time period. If the roll fails, the disease is incurable. If the roll fumbles, the disease moves up a grade of severity (from severe to terminal, for example).

Example: Malinck discovers that Turkish is critically ill with Brain Fever (1 INT point every hour). Malinck may make one attempt at curing disease during the next hour. Which he succeeds, meaning that, although Turkish will still lose a point of intelligence during the next hour, he will only make a check a day later, as the disease has now moved up to Severe. At that point Malinck can make another attempt to further reduce the disease’s severity.

Food Requirements
It is always difficult to judge how much a character eats, and when to apply rules for starvation and exposure. The rule of thumb that we are currently using is that a person needs 1kg of food per 10SIZ points or portion thereof.

For example: Daakon, a SIZ 32 Troll needs to pack 4kg of food per day to be considered nourished. He decides not to pack for too long (he wants to remain reasonably limber), debating that he can always snack on the other characters if he gets too hungry.

Prepared missile weapons
An adventurer, with a loaded and aimed (as per the aiming rules) missile weapon, performing no other action, and stating a condition upon which they fire, may ignore their DEX SR missile modifier.

Example: Three guards with crossbowscorner Trey in an alleyway. They spend the previous round aiming their weapons at Trey (the crossbows are already loaded). During the Intentions part of the round, they state that if Trey makes any attempt to run they will fire. Their DEX SRM is 2, which means that, normally, they’d fire of SR 3. Trey with a DEX SRM 2, would, normally, be able to run a full 3 meters before they could fire (or even further if it was required that they see him moving before they act). But, because their weapons are ready, they have aimed (spent the previous round aiming, giving them a 10%to their chance to hit) and are doing no other action this turn, they can fire of SR 1. Trey decides to make a break for it and starts to move on SR 2 (1 SR of movement, 1 DEX SRM), the guards fire on SR 1.

Divine Spells
Any adventurer or creature can only cast one Divine spell per round.

Example: Muraag, seeing Turkish and Trey fall at his feet in a ferocious Trollish assault. During the following turn, hehas to chose which of the two characters he will cast Heal Body on because he can only cast one suchDivine Spell a turn. He then remembers that his Allied Spirit has Mindlink and is able to cast his spells. During the following turn, both Muraag and his Elfbow, Sprout, cast a Heal Body. They will have to wait the following turn to cast any other Divine Spells.

Spell Casting
In addition to requiring a material component, a Fetish, all Runequest spell casting requires one free hand and the ability to speak. Ritual magic, quite obviously, requires more substantial equipment and material, as well as the caster to be free of all hindrances, and all limbs free.

Example: Trey is under attack by some trollkins. He is currently holding a broadsword and a shield. He wishes to cast Strength 3. He must then drop one of his weapons. He decides to drop his sword (1 SR), cast his Strength 3 spell (5 SR - 2 DEX SRM + 3 for the spell) and pick up his sword again (3 SR). In all, this action has taken 9 SR. He doesn’t have even enough time left to start moving.

Divine Intervention
Divine Intervention is not merely calling upon an adventurer’s deity for help. It involves much supplicating, fervent prayer and a call for assistance. It is not something that can be performed casually in the middle of combat. As such, a call for Divine Intervention requires a full round (10 SR) of inactivity to be affective.

Example: Olaf sees the last of his traveling companions fall to the undead legion. He realizes that he is next. During the Intentions phase, he states that he will be calling for Divine Intervention. From SR 1 to SR 10 he calls to Valind for assistance. During that round, the undead approach and attack, he doesn’t dodge or parry, screaming fervent prayers, as he can do nothing else while calling for Divine Intervention. During book-keeping phase, he rolls above his POW. Next round he has no choice but to run.

Fatigue and Actions
I always liked the D20 Star Wars Vitality/Wound system, and I’d been looking for a way of incorporating that into Runequest. And the system is as follows: a character is able to spend Fatigue Points to make a physical skill check (In other words, this does not apply to Read/Write or Orate for example). The expenditure of Fatigue Points must be stated BEFORE the roll. This represents his body’s physical effort and excertion to perform the activity. Of course, this comes to the fore in combat.

Example: A broo stirkes at Basilius. Basilius wishes to parry and avoid having his head smashed in. He has a 45% of parrying with his shield and worries that this isn’t good enough. He states that he will spend 10 Fatigue Points, bringing his skill to 55. He rolls a 53 and succeeds with his parry.

Attacking against Fatigue
Taken in conjunction with the rule above, regarding Fatigue points as substitute Hit Points, it is now possible for the characters to attack the target’s Fatigue Points. In this case, the hits are designed to tire out and confuse an opponent in a combination of stunning and bruising blows, almost like a boxer. This attack must be declared before rolling to hit.

Example: Muraag wishes to capture an opponent unharmed (probably to scalp alive later). He decides to hit against his Fatigue Points. He lashes out and hits, rolling 18 points of damage. The opponent’s armour takes 3 off that, which means that the opponent loses 15 Fatigue Points.

DOWNLOADS

One of the most problematic elements of playing with outdated systems, such as Runequest, is that material is very difficult to come by. Luckily, I love creating customized products and working with the raw stuff of the game, namely a little inventiveness and a lot of work. I will be updating the contents of this page as time goes on. In the meantime, look through this stuff and do with it what you will. Also, please do bear in mind that this stuff is supplied ‘as is’. I am not making any promises of any sorts for the contents of these downloads. You are accessing them at your own risk. If this, in any way, compromises any trademark or copyright agreement, please inform me and I will take this stuff down. If you have any suggestions, contact me.

I have put together the coolest little Excel package. It is a weather generator for Runequest. It works as a calendar, working out hours of daylight, cloud cover, precipitation wind strength and wind direction. I also works out random encounters. It is awkward and not very ellegant at all but it’s a start. I have zipped the file because it is quite large. Enjoy it.

I just discovered this on my other PC. I thought it had been lost. It’s an Excel workbook filled to the brim with role-playing character sheets. It as a sheet for D&D, AD&D, Mage, Vampire, etc. It’s currently set for my printer but I’m sure with a little tweaking, you might be able to make use of it. This stuff is pretty outdated and, as usual, this stuff is supplied ‘as is’ with no promises or expectations about the content. Do with it what you will (at your own risk, under your own responsibility, etc.).