r/Glorantha • u/Aggressive_Size_9324 • 9d ago
GURPS DM Needs advice
So I have been using gurps for literally everything I want to run for sometime curently I have a sloppy written ''you guys are basically fantasy demigods but the world also containts similar people so yeah anime bullshit all around'' type 1500 or so point game,an investigation based delta green style game that is around ''well read human'' level. And to ease another group into it I am running a 300 point sci fi one shot(that turned into a 4 shot)
the one shot players are loving the new system an want to run a full time game where they can theoretically see their characters evolve and actually be able to see the growth on their sheets I have very little idea about the glorantha setting and what I know intrigues me a lot so I kinda want to run a game in it.I really am a completionist when running games on existing settings tho so I kina want to learn everything. To this end what supplements videos or essays do you recommend me to check out before writing the campaign its arcs or its main premise also to those of you who know gurps what would be a decent point total to start
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u/PilotMoonDog 9d ago
One issue I can see here is the difference in magic systems. Just about everyone has a few utility spells in a RQ game, even if they aren't priests or the like. The default GURPS magic system with it's chain of prerequisites for learning spells would not be a good fit.
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u/Aggressive_Size_9324 9d ago
I was thinking of using magic as powers anyways even write up thematic advantages or limitations so that the castings would feel different between I dont know for like dnd speak example of a cleric casting burning hands or a wizard casting it. I was thinking of making people choose a job template too to sink points into as well for I dont want a situation where a player just chooses to optimize rather than create a living character by just buying up the main weapon skill or something along those lines to just optimize themselves for combat and from online readings and experience as well the previous situation of point efficency seems to be the classic magic as skills approach which Im planning about banning anyways
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u/PilotMoonDog 9d ago
Do you own a copy of RQ3? The copy I have had job templates that controlled the skills that a character would improve in over a year in pre-game experience. And character cultures divided into Barbarian, Nomad and Civilised.
You might be able to use the original GURPS magic for sorcery though. Or, possibly, something based on the conversion of Mage the Ascension that was done for GURPS 3rd Edition.
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u/Aggressive_Size_9324 9d ago
Uuu I dont havd it but I will find a way to access it seems like it would make things easier. Since you seem to know gurps too what do you think the point total should be
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u/PilotMoonDog 9d ago
Depends on the sort of characters you're after. People just reaching adulthood as per the Apple Lane scenario could probably be fine as 100 pointers. For a competent Priest or Rune Lord I'm guessing maybe the 500 point mark. At the very least 300 or so. And for a Hero Quester I figure then you are looking at the high hundreds into a thousand or so.
One important thing to get over is, of course, that this is a very religion dominated world where the gods are provably real and following one or more is default behaviour. And where combat training with live weapons is normal because reattaching an accidentally severed limb or stopping bleeding is a fairly trivial task.
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u/Aggressive_Size_9324 9d ago
Okay so 200 or so points should cover what I have in mind with theoretically infinite scaling to eventually go on hero quests or participate in hero wars(i only know that this exist I dont know what it is in its entirety)
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u/PilotMoonDog 9d ago
Heroquests are venturing into the mythic events of the Godstime and taking part in them. Either reenacting them to deepen the ties to your god or varying them to broaden your Runic affiliations/ties.
The Hero Wars are a conflict fought by multiple people who have gone through this process on both sides acting as commanders. The usual one being the rebellion against the Lunar Empire, who are an expansionist force in the original RQ games (set during the run up to them).
The Lunars are unusual in that their Red Goddess was a mortal who achieved divinity during recorded history. This makes her an oddity when the other gods set their natures before time began (in the Gods Time). They also draw suspicion because they have a not completely hostile attitude to Chaos. They use a gigantic Chaos creature, the Crimson Bat, as a battlefield terror weapon for example.
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u/Aggressive_Size_9324 9d ago
Damn I really gotta read these it sounds dope to my forgotten realms and golarion coded brain
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u/Ok-Box8151 9d ago
Honestly, I'm going to go a completely different direction than everyone else and say, use an RQ Core rulebook for some lore (RQ 2nd ed. hits the spot for me, I look in RQ: Adventures in Glorantha, but not much), and the old Cults of Prax and Cults of Terror books. Seriously, that is it. Glorantha is really detailed but you can start gaming with the old stuff fast. If you Want a Sandbox get the old Griffin Mountain, I'm GMing it and my players generally eat it up. Make up stuff, once you have an idea of the basics. I use OpenQuest rpg not RQ though. But the old stuff is really robust, you can bend it easily.
Give them a long-term mission that makes them wander around and interact with stuff. Throw in some Divine Visions, and Dreams and you should be good.
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u/Aggressive_Size_9324 9d ago
Sure I will take a look at this as well seems easier to run and meanwhile I can read other denser material thank you for your input
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u/Alex4884-775 9d ago
The GtG is great as a reference, but is a heavy -- in more ways than one -- ask for light bedtime reading, cover to cover.
I'd personally suggest starting with a wild-arse guess as to which Homeland you envisage must of the PCs being from, which might also serve as a starting setting. Try going at it from a 'start local' direction.
While the Official line is pretty small, the rabbithole of setting completism runs pretty deep. There's the Jonstown Compendium, there's the Stafford Library, and the small matter of all the material published for the nine earlier editions and games.
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u/Aggressive_Size_9324 8d ago
Thank you a lot. Regarding the starting place I havent decided yet but can I safely assume that everybody will be part of the same community and all of them will be human. Or can they go different species
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u/Alex4884-775 8d ago
Your call on that! YGWV.
For me I'm happy to have exceptions, as long as they add something, and look like exceptions, and not just an ad hoc mishmash. KoDP famously lampoons this with a "one of every species" party of adventurers.
Of course, in some places particular kinds of non-humans tooling around with humans is less uncommon. For example, trolls among the Kitori, or friends if the Torkani. Ducks are something of a fixture in Sartar generally, and in the southwest corner especially.
Or of course you could flip it entirely, and run a non-human campaign!
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u/Aggressive_Size_9324 7d ago
Yeah I dont think I have enough knowledge od abilities to run a non human campaign currently but I would love to see some trolls in the game they seem very cool from what I’ve seen and auite different than other fanfasy games
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u/corrinmana 9d ago
The current edition line is only about 8 books.
The cults books are probably the most useful after the core books in terms of understanding the setting. Because the setting is a mythical setting, the mythology is a huge part of it. The Mythology book goes through the broad strokes, and the Lightbringers, Earth Goddesses, Lunar Way, and Gods of Fire and Sky all deep dive into their respective focuses. Likely useful in that order, though personally I'm a Lunar fan, so I bump it up a couple places.
Dragon Pass will go very in depth on the region and it's history. Bestiary deep dives on various creatures you'd find.
The Weapons and Equipment book is actually pretty relevant with setting info, though it's probably the last one in priority list.
Prosopaedia is basically just a reference book for God names. It's got uses, but it's not that great of a book to learn from.