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From: wbpesch@ihuxp.UUCP (Walt Pesch)
Newsgroups: net.games.frp
Subject: Re: Runequest & other Chaosium games
Message-ID: <636@ihuxp.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 16-Feb-84 13:47:00 EST
Article-I.D.: ihuxp.636
Posted: Thu Feb 16 13:47:00 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 17-Feb-84 03:28:10 EST
References: <4907@umcp-cs.UUCP>, <171@tymix.UUCP> <825@qubix.UUCP> <1201@pur-phy.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL
Lines: 33

Since Runequest has come up, I suppose that I will comment.  My
personal feelings are that I do NOT like this game at all.  As a frp
player that was weaned on D&D (that is not AD&D) about five years ago,
spent a significant amount of his life in the dorms at college playing
wargames and role-playing, I find Runequest boring in comparision to
other role-playing.

Let me explain.  In my opinion, RQ is fantasy.  It is not Heroic
Fantacy.  It is the day-to-day living for a while and then dying of an
average character.  The magic system, until you get Rune level magic
is just sooooo dull.  Gods have to help the thief, for a starting
one might have some of his rolls up to a 50-50 chance of succeeding.
But for a thief, who is trying to disarm a trap, and who will have it
spring on him with the poison needle, etc., these are lousy chances of
survival.  A true thief is unplayable.  A mage is unplayable of any
sort because it is not worth it in terms of the magic attainable.  The
magic items themselves are so rare and so normal that they fit in with
the rest of this boring game.

I'll give the rebuttal now before I get hit with the editorial.  The
pro-RQ will say:  "But that's the beauty of the game in being an
undeclard multi-class".  To that I say horse-pucky.  Every character
in the game is a fighter, with a few embellishments.  (Why do they
call it battle magic...because all it is is an aid to a fighter.)  

For me, give me the spell-caster or the thief...you can keep the
fighter.



                                          Walt Pesch
                                      AT&T Technologies
                                     ihnp4!ihuxp!wbpesch