Chivalry & Sorcery: The Quest For Medieval Realism

...and an alternative approach to role-play
Chivalry and Sorcery (C&S) is an older game system first published in 1977 (Red Book) by Fantasy Games Unlimited. A second edition appeared as a 3 volume box set in 1983. It changed the focus slightly by  removing the tabletop wargame rules for medieval battles using miniature figures which had been part of the "complete system" of the red Book. In 1997 a third edition of C&S was released with most of the references to the historical middle ages removed. This edition focused on fantasy tropes mostly drawn from the work of J.R.R. Tolkien. The fourth edition (The Rebirth) reinserted some of the medieval material from previous editions.

C&S has been a somewhat controversial game from the start. The first draft named Chevalier was created by Ed Simbalist and Wilf Backhaus as a more realistic version of TSR's White Box. The authors state in the first edition that they wondered what their characters were doing in between dungeon adventures and thus began their work on a more "realistic" system that reflected many aspects of the historical middle ages including feudalism, chivalry and the monotheistic church. This allowed them to follow the non-dungeon advancement of their characters. The first edition (Red Book pictured above) was published by Fantasy Games Unlimited in 1977 and was billed as the complete game system.
In C&S magick (always spelled with a "k") is present, but relies heavily on concepts drawn from historical sources - think Tarot cards, the Kabbalah, alchemy, astrology and witchcraft. The fantasy elements borrow heavily from J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth, and although hobbits, elves and dwarves are mentioned as possible player characters, they can seem downplayed in favor of a more realistic, historical approach to the game setting. I get the impression the authors may have had more interest in history than fantasy literature, which can explain the differences in emphasis between C&S and the Original Fantasy Role-Playing Game. In many ways the C&S first edition is a study in feudal European history in the form of a role-playing adventure game with some fantastical elements added, perhaps in order to market a "complete RPG system". Being a history buff and avid role-player (who also enjoys fantasy stories), C&S appeals to me in all its editions.
In keeping with a realistic approach to the middle ages, feudalism with its rigid social hierarchy and limited upward mobility is a central theme in the game and affects play in several ways. Players may take the role of a serf or peasant (rolling randomly can produce such), but this severely limits the PC's freedom and access to wealth. It is suggested by the authors that the GameMaster (a term possibly coined by them) start all characters as members of the knightly class who therefore have access to better weapon training as well as more personal freedom and the ability to form relationships with the more powerful nobility while rising in social rank. Traditional warrior knight, church clergy or adept dabbling in magick are all careers which the character may pursue and which cast PCs as members of the feudal society.
The authors of  C&S point out the limitations of the dungeon as a basis of play and encourage the game master to develop a world based on an historic model (they suggest a version of medieval France which they themselves use). Tournament, chivalry, courtly romance, fealty and the medieval Christian church provide PCs with reasons to adventure and can play a bigger part in the game than the traditional fantasy conflict of good verses evil (Law vs. Chaos), although that is certainly a part of the game as well. The Red Book uses an alignment system based on law and chaos scores along a numerical continuum (1-20) with the low end being lawful behavior respecting religion and social institutions.
The authors describe "places of mystery" where monsters and treasure may be found in the fantasy campaign. These are described as ruins, enchanted forests, faerie mounds and the like (fantasy "dungeons" are denigrated as impracticable fabrications). The "fantasy campaign" is presented as one way to play C&S, but not the only way. Suggested monsters, like magick, rely heavily on historic sources and the work of Professor Tolkien (with a nod to R.E. Howard and Fritz Leiber). This gives C&S a feel quite different from White Box. (Apparently, the game presented in White Box has more widespread appeal as evidenced by its success.) C&S is a niche product, but one with a devoted following as evidenced by the number of revised editions that have been published and its influence on later settings and games such as Harn/Harnmaster (and possibly RuneQuest which promotes a similar "immersion" within the game setting).

Over the years and editions there have been several sourcebooks and supplements for C&S. The first for Red Book, titled simply Sourcebook, adds the Forester as a player character type and contains a rather extensive article on wilderness adventures including several detailed random encounter tables. The Sourcebook also contains an extended discussion of magick and siege warfare.  Realism as a basis for the game's mechanics remains a central theme throughout C&S and the Sourcebook includes a resource article on medieval economies which takes an historic look at commerce and coinage and is useful information for many campaign settings of a fantasy nature. (Scarcity of coin and reliance on barter can give a milieu a realistic feel and knights and nobles require peasants to feed them.) The material in Sourcebook is interesting and useful well beyond C&S. It can inform any fantasy role -play experience.

The cover illustration on Sourcebook 2 (copyright 1981) suggests something about doors and locks and indeed inside are articles on doors and locks with several extensive tables on their construction and in-game statistics aimed to help the referee determine just how long it will take a stout fellow with a wood ax to cut through that dungeon door. Overkill, yes, in my opinion this is not something I care to go into detail about, but here it is in "official print". I do wonder how others have received such articles? With tongue in cheek? Maybe? Sourcebook 2 also includes more on the subject of magick, including a number of random tables to help determine just what spells an NPC magick user might know. An article or two on taking the miniatures rules to the strategic level, including siege warfare. There are also articles on weapon smiths and magic items.

The supplement Swords & Sorcerers adds popular Viking culture as a player character option along with the Mongols and Celts offering the C&S game master cultural material to broaden the scope of the setting and to explore role-playing outside feudal Europe. Each culture described has its own magick elements connected to historical tradition while remaining consistent with the way C&S generally approaches magick. Included are some cut-apart rune cards for use with the Viking wyrdsmith.

The Knights' Companion is a supplement for 3rd edition C&S that discusses feudalism, chivalry, courtly love and heraldry, all from an historical perspective. With much of it written by original C&S author Edward E. Simbalist, The Knights' Companion once again demonstrates the emphasis Mr. Simbalist places on roleplaying as a way to explore a setting soundly based on an historic societal model, in this case feudalism. From the beginning C&S has been about roleplay in a realistic feudal milieu where expectations of character behavior are based on birth and social class. A significant part of the challenge and enjoyment for roleplaying in a setting based on feudalism, or any other society vastly different from our own, is making decisions about your PC's behavior consistent with the game setting society. In other words, playing a knight in a way that seems consistent with our understanding of knighthood and feudalism. To that end, doing a little research into the history of European feudalism seems appropriate.
So what do I think of Chivalry & Sorcery? Although I have only played the game twice (2nd edition in the mid 1980s), I continue to collect the old volumes and they are frequently reread. I enjoy the idea of C&S (and role-playing in a realistic feudal milieu) immensely. The problem is that the system demands a devotion to history and a medieval mindset that is extremely alien to most Americans. In many ways C&S is a simulation study within a game. The King Arthur Pendragon and HarnMaster rules are similar in that the referee and players have to be willing to confine their play to be consistent and believable with regard to a perception of what the medieval European society was like (maybe with some Tolkienesque fantasy tropes thrown in).
As a student of the middle ages, I love the idea of gaming in this period. (The most success I have had with something similar is running Call of Cthulhu set during the crusades.) I don't mind solo gaming, but to get the most from a game like C&S it needs to be a group experience. (This isn't a dungeon delve, which can be done solo.) My favorite C&S edition is Red Book - 1st edition. It seems the original authors are more straightforward in what they are wanting the game to be and although the print is quite small, the material in the Red Book seems more complete with the miniatures game included. I can also hear the author's voice more clearly in the 1st edition text giving me a more personal connection which I enjoy. I never met either Mr. Simbalist or Mr. Backhaus, but I do appreciate their take on gaming and their contribution to the hobby.

The Game I Like

ODD Clones
The original White Box was published in 1974 and is aimed at wargamers as an audience. Shortly after publication word of this new game spread outside the wargames hobby and people who had never played a wargame became interested in the three Little Brown Books. The folks at TSR soon recognized that an opportunity existed for them to introduce their new game to folks outside the established hobby and in 1977 published the first Basic Set as a way to bring new players into adventure role-playing. The result was the 1977 Holmes Basic edition (edited by J. Eric Holmes) which is to this day among my favorite role-play volumes.
The Old School Renaissance (OSR) has given rise to many new clones, retro rule sets, simulacra and rules inspired by the Original Role-Playing Game (and older games in general). Delving Deeper (DD) is among my favorites for a number of reasons. First, it adheres fairly close to the original three Little Brown Books. The Thief Class is present, but is optional. DD retains the elf race as one alternating between the Fighting Man and Magic User class - just like I read it in those three LBBs. It uses a five "saving throw" classification system, three alignments and descending armor class (ascending is an option) - the mechanics for each are only slightly altered from the original. It also includes rules for jousting similar to those found in Chainmail. The names of some of the classic monsters are changed as DD uses the OGL and SRD. The author, Simon J. Bull, makes certain interpretations and adds his own comments, explanations and original content to the game, making it more beginner friendly perhaps than the original and an interesting alternative for an experienced White Box player.

Iron Falcon by Chris Gonnerman is another OSR retro-clone which adheres closely to the original three LBBs. Mr. Gonnerman also draws from Supplement I, Greyhawk (Iron Falcon - note the similarity) as many consider the three LBBs together with Supplement I to be a more complete game than the three LBBs by themselves. I disagree somewhat however as I am not a fan of the Thief class, variable hit dice for the classes, or variable weapon damage (the two work better together). The half-elf race seems an odd inclusion in the original Greyhawk as various sources have indicated Mr. Gygax, whose campaign was named Greyhawk, was opposed to half races. (The half-elf concept seems to have been borrowed from the work of J.R.R. Tolkien?)
Iron Falcon, Delving Deeper and the other OSR systems drawing heavily from the original TSR games add their own interpretive content. In the old days we might call it "house ruling". Their unique take on a well known original is what gives these publications value to me personally. I find there are many good ideas in these OSR "labors of love" and I frequently borrow from them for my own White Box games. They also serve the function of allowing an affordable option (many have free digital versions) for folks who are interested in the out-of-print games and also offer a vehicle for publishers of new game aid material (including adventure modules) without violating copyright.
Swords & Wizardry and the many variants that have been published using it as a basis are generally of interest to me as well. The one thing Matt Finch does with his Swords & Wizardry (S&W) game which I disagree with is his reliance on the single saving throw value. I rather prefer the original Saving Throw Matrix (which is included as an option in the "White Box" version of S&W) as it adds more variety to the character class and gives the referee more flexibility when calling for a saving throw. Multiple saving throw values are more character sheet data to keep track of and they vary only slightly between the classes, but the White Box character sheet is still a pretty simple affair. S&W has had an enormous impact on the hobby and serves as the basis for a large body of game aids, adventure modules and other OSR simulacra. (Its value to the hobby is well established.)

BasicRules

5e for Free
The document has been out since November of 2018. Not usually the first on the block to go looking for the next new thing, I am just now getting around to checking it out. Free is good. So here are my thoughts on the latest free download version of The Original Game from WizBros.
At 180 pages the 2018 edition is bigger than the combined B/X rule books. My old 2014 version of BasicRules numbers 110 pages, but the 2018 edition adds stats for several monsters which were not in the 2014 edition. I do have a DM BasicRules (also from 2014) that has 61 pages of monsters and DM advice on building combat encounters and magic items...basically the 2018 BasicRules edition combines (and updates) the content of the two 2014 documents.
The very excellent Starter Set box (I should probably devote a post just to the Starter Set sometime soon) unfortunately does not contain rules for chargen. What is contained amounts to one of the best FRPG introductory products I have seen to date, but is limited by its exclusive reliance on a selection of four pre-generated characters. The excellent adventure campaign booklet (64 pages) and starter rules (32 pages) together with the free to download BasicRules (and all the online content available on various forums, blogs and videos, all at no cost) constitutes a powerful combination that I can imagine sparking a lifetime of gaming, even if you buy nothing more.
Looking at the document's contents there are 3 pages devoted to Introduction.  There are 51 pages in Part 1: Creating a Character. Part 2: Playing the Game includes 21 pages subdivided into Using the Ability Scores (6 pages), Adventuring (5 pages) and Combat (9 pages). Part 3: The Rules of Magic contains 27 pages including 23 pages of spell descriptions. Part 4: Dungeon Master's Tools contains 54 pages of Monsters, 2 pages of DM advice on Building Combat Encounters and a page devoted to Magic Items. The document concludes with 5 pages of Appendices and a character sheet. The emphasis seems to be on character creation and combat encounters with virtually no advice on building a setting or how to run a game or campaign (but honestly there is a lot of free advice to be found on those subjects with a quick web search).
If playing the current game with an old school feel is the goal, BasicRules is the place to start. The classic selection of races and classes sets the ball rolling in the right direction. Modification to PC (im)mortality is probably in order to produce that deadly old school feel, however. A simple fix of requiring a number of days (d4 to d6 depending on quality of rest) to pass before characters gain the benefit of a long rest could go a long way toward achieving the goal of feeling "old school". Other "fixes" could include requiring spell casters to memorize their spells and linking experience to overcoming encounters (or directly to gold pcs.), but it's really about how the referee approaches the game. Old School play is dialogue driven. "Talk to me when I ask what does your character do. Don't look to the character sheet for an answer."
As a free download I like the 2018 BasicRules. The hobby now has a pretty complete starter set of current game rules that can support years of play. The limited races and classes that are included suits me fine as they are consistent with the old school choices and BasicRules is the document I would prefer to run 5e with. I also think the BasicRules probably works well for its intended marketing purpose as the document contains many references to the hardcover books (reminding me of Holmes Basic) where additional content and more detailed options can be found such as additional (exotic) races, classes, backgrounds, feats, and monsters. In a culture where "more is better" is a common motto, this free BasicRules should help sell the printed game books.

Children of the Olympian Gods

Greek Champions
Heracles is a hero-god and the son of Zeus. Perseus is also a son of Zeus (Zeus has had lots of affairs with mortal women). Achilles is the son of Thetis, a sea nymph, who dipped him in the river Styx as an infant, thus making him nearly invulnerable. Jason (of the Argonauts) is a grandson of the messenger god, Hermes. In at least one version of her backstory, Wonder Woman is formed from clay by her mother the Queen of the Amazons and has life breathed into her by four of the Olympian gods. Looking for a fresh take on the Champions superhero RPG, why not draw upon the mythological Greek heroes?
I recently acquired one of the cornerstone superhero systems and am finding it to my liking. Champions takes combat quite seriously and I rather enjoy that sort of approach if I am not going for fast and frantic White Box style combat. In fact combat and character generation (Champions 1e pretty much invented point buy chargen) take up the bulk of the Champions Complete book. The character point costs are based on how useful the abilities are in combat, so essentially, combat is the assumed standard of play. That is all-good by me, as I enjoy making the rest of the stuff up.
So the setting is an heroic version of ancient Greece before Herodotus starts writing things down...maybe even before Homer. The Olympian gods play their games with mortal human lives and monstrous creatures of legend still roam the land. (Champions Complete doesn't have a bestiary, but I feel confident I can make up some game monster stats after starting with human bandits.) Drawing on the rules for powers in Champions it seems likely that most any supernatural ability from myth and legend can be reproduced in Champions by applying the rules and a little imagination. Cyclops, yes, big and strong, with an inability to judge distances, a weakness for strong drink and a taste for human flesh. The cyclops can toss big rocks, but does so inaccurately (single eye).
Medusa will be fun. The Gorgon sisters have been described variously as a winged human with snakes on her head, the giant crawling snake hybrid seen in Clash of the Titans (1981), or even as the tree-like creature depicted in Perseus the Invincible (1963) sporting a single glowing eye that can turn men to stone (while a dramatic soundtrack plays).
Giant vultures that shoot lightning, hell hounds, animated statues, a metal bull, even sword wielding skeletons can make their appearance as threats for our mythical Greek superhero. The overlap with The Original Dungeon Role-Playing Game is intentional. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson include many classical Greek monsters in the original game. The more tactically complex combat system of Champions should make confronting even a single fantastic creature an epic game event.
Characters will be drawn from the Champions archetypes reinterpreted through a classical myth and legends lens to get the period feel. Game play will be action focused in the manner of comic book hero stories. Villains will be recurring and challenges will be legendary. I am thinking of starting the action at the heroic scale (around 200 CP characters).
The fickle and capricious nature of the Olympian gods should make the referee's job fun. Acting as the agent of one deity who is conspiring against another deity has all sorts of potential. Magical items may bestowed by one god only to arouse the jealousy of another. The fame of a hero's accomplishments may offend the collective gods who decide this mortal needs a lesson in humility (Odysseus!). In classical mythology there are hints at older, non Olympian gods who could present themselves as super villains. I am thinking there is a lot of grist for the Champions mill in this idea.

A Game from a Different Time & Place

The 1974 White Box
The 1970s were a very different time in many ways. Authors write what they know and are of course heavily influenced by the times they live in. I recently reread Roger Zelazny's Nine Princes In Amber and was very cognizant of the time warp I was experiencing. There were no disco balls (that I recall) in the book, but the text was full of other popular culture references from the 1970s. For one thing, the characters lit-up a cigarette on almost every page - that screams 1970s (and before) to me. Add side burns, bell bottom pants and polyester shirts to complete the picture.
This is the decade when Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson created White Box and in which I discovered their new game and fell in love with it. I had been a wargamer enjoying tabletop boardgames and historical miniatures battles for a number of years. I was also driving a yellow 1967 Dodge Dart and attending the local college. Sports, wargames, art, and reading history and science fiction fantasy stories were my passions. In high school I had discovered the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert E. Howard and H.P. Lovecraft. I had read Tolkien at an earlier age and in college had stumbled onto Fritz Leiber - Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. These and other authors are listed as influential works in Gary Gygax's Dungeon Master Guide, Appendix N.
The Little Brown Books were a hit with gamers and a new hobby, adventure games or role-playing as it came to be known, was born. Other designers had ideas too and soon there were a number of new games to choose from. TSR's original game continued to gain popularity and sales grew. Years passed, then decades, and new material was added to the original product, and finally new editions were released , all reflecting the changes over time in culture and popular taste. What we have available today is descended from the original game, but is also influenced by many sources not present in the original design of the 1970s.
We can not help but look at White Box through our modern eyes of today, but it is also helpful to be aware of its context at the time of its writing and introduction. Perhaps this is the historian in me, but I think this is an important point. I recently heard a hobby personality say something on YouTube to the effect that half of the sources listed in Appendix N were crap. This shocked me. I recognize that tastes differ and while I may enjoy a book, you may dislike it and vice versa. I have read more than half the titles and authors listed in Appendix N and while the quality of the writing varies as does the originality and creativeness of the content, I would not consider any of it "crap". It is all written better than I can do (which may indeed be crap). Much of it will not suit the modern sensibility and may seem archaic or even sexist and racist given modern standards (to be clear, I do not condone sexism or racism). Being archaic doesn't make the stories "crap", however. Not in my eyes. It may make the literature, especially the "pulp" sources "reader beware" - there may be things presented as acceptable behavior which will offend you.
White Box is heavily influenced by the games and fantastic fiction available up to the time of its writing. It is also written for wargamers by wargamers. Additionally it is a product of its time and place, the 1970s American Midwest. The design and writing reflects all of these and I choose to evaluate it with respect for the time and place it was written. As a result I think there is a very fine game in those Little Brown Books.

Champions

The Complete RPG
Superhero role-playing is a new sub-genre for me...or is it? In White Box a fighting man starts not much better than an average person, but progresses in power. A fighting man of 4th level experience is referred to as a "hero" and at 8th level as a "superhero". reflecting their increased ability and reputation. Starting with 3rd Edition certain PCs feel more "super" than merely heroic. Certainly in Pathfinder and 5e beginning characters have powers that place them well above the curve in comparison with White Box or 1e characters. They have more spells, more hit points and a better chance to slaughter monsters than starting characters in the older versions of the game. In effect, I may have been playing with "superheros" for quite some time.
Champions (first designed and released in 1981) is often credited as being the first point-buy character generation system. Everything about the Champions character is purchased using Character Points (CP) - stats, powers, even equipment. This is an attempt to ensure starting characters are roughly equivalent (balanced) in game effectiveness, especially with regard to combat which takes a central role in the game's mechanics. The powers and abilities in Champions (and the related Hero system) all focus on "effect" and rely on the players to add "color". In other words, one purchases a damage power and can flavor it as fire or lightning or whatever. In this way it is possible to create almost any character one can imagine, provided you have enough CP to spend.
So what kind of game does Champions support? Obviously the system is aimed at comic book superheros such as Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman and the Marvel Universe heroes. But those are not the comics I read growing up. I recall pouring over Hercules, Conan, Sgt. Rock and Weird War comics (and Thor because of his Norse connection). Champions purports to be usable for any comic superhero, Doctor Strange, Jonah Hex, Magnus Robot Fighter, and Conan the Barbarian.
I am thinking about the Haunted Tank, is that possible with Champions? I think the answer is, "yes". What about John Carter of Mars? Again, "yes".
So how much fun is Champions Complete to play? I don't know, I have not brought it to the table yet, but it does seem to cover superheros in all their ilk. Although Champions Complete appears able to handle just about any hero I might want to create, it has limits. Being a generic superhero game, there is no detailed setting, but it is implied that characters are human (or human-like), and live in a modern world much like our present, except for superpowers, of course. There are no monsters in Champions Complete, other than a few lines on creating villains, no bestiary, no alien races, no spirits, haunts or deities. All those things seem possible within the parameters of the rules (and many may exist in other Hero system books). Champions Complete is "complete" in the sense that it gives me everything needed to play, everything except a setting. I will have to do the world building for myself...and that is where much of the fun exists!

The Moral Imperative

A Princess Bride Story?
The party is charged with escorting a princess to her wedding on a neighboring planet, island or whatever. The point is that the party is trusted with the safety of a princess and the integrity of a treaty which is to be sealed with her hand in marriage. The trouble is that she secretly loves another. Thus we have the makings of a moral dilemma.
The bridal party is followed and attacked by "bandits" of an unusual nature. It turns out the bandits are led by her secret lover. Once this fact is discovered, the party will need to decide to let love take its course (and perhaps decide what "course" that entails), or to continue toward the destination where they may discover that a dastardly fate awaits the princess bride. Perhaps the groom is a monstrous vampire who eagerly awaits his latest ...er victim, and who will not take lightly to being stood up at the alter of state. The jilted vampire will dispatch his minions to fetch his wayward bride and the party may have to defend her once again. The vampire may even decide that a breach of bridal treaty is cause for war with her country. It could all get very complicated and promises to be great entertainment as the players debate their course of action.
Put simply, it is the job of the referee to set the stage, to present the players with an interesting challenge, one that will cause them to take sides in the struggle between good and evil. Often their deciding what action is good and what is evil is half the fun. Finding out where it all leads is why we play the game.
There are many ways to re-skin a situation. The McGuffin... er bride can be recast as a mermaid sent to secure peace between her people and some land lubber nation. The attack can come from pirates. The moral question can then involve assisting in the imprisonment of said mermaid or setting her free and suffering the consequences.
What if our crafty referee replaces the princess bride with a demon assassin in disguise. Our seeming "innocent" is now a harmful weapon aimed at the unsuspecting groom. The "bandits" that attack the escort party are now members of a secret society of "do-gooders" who wish to intercept and derail the attempt to deposit said demon into the bridal chamber. Our unsuspecting and powerful groom awaits his bride and will most likely take it poorly if his betrothed doesn't arrive, possibly taking the insult as a cause for going to war. What to do?
The moral question can come in a number of forms and may not involve a bride at all. Perhaps it is whether or not to raise a dead hero in time of need? The details are what makes the story unique, but the moral question makes it interesting.

Rethinking RuneQuest

RuneQuest: Standard Edition
In 1984 Avalon Hill published an updated version of Chaosium's popular RuneQuest RPG which became known as the third edition. Originally released in a deluxe version with five paper bound booklets and also in smaller player editions and game master editions which separated the game materials into smaller batches for some marketing reason I never understood, in 1986 Avalon Hill switched to the Standard Edition which contains the core rules, the magic booklet and some character sheets. The original setting, Greg Stafford's Glorantha, is not a part of the Standard Edition (and only appeared in its own booklet in the deluxe third edition).
A good friend recently gave me the Standard Edition copy pictured above and I have been thinking "outside the box" about RuneQuest as a result. My introduction to RuneQuest was through the 2nd edition rules in which Glorantha is an integral part. When the AH 3rd edition came out, I purchased the deluxe box and it included a booklet on Glorantha even though the included map and references were of a fantasy Europe setting and the rules purported to be usable with any setting. (world/setting is of great importance to me for establishing mood, tone and verisimilitude allowing for immersive play and a good fit between rules and setting is essential) RuneQuest remains for me closely associated with the world of Glorantha, although I ran (back in the late '80s) a brief campaign using the Vikings setting material published by AH for 3rd edition.
RQ Standard Edition is setting neutral in the sense that it does not include the Glorantha material, or any reference to fantasy Europe or any other setting. The magic book, which includes rules and spells for "spirit magic", "divine magic" and "sorcery", is really the only carry over from a Glorantha type setting and is the weakest part of the game if using the rules outside Glorantha. Fortunately magic is its own booklet. The core rules are all about character creation, skills and combat. RQ is a class-less, skill based system with fairly realistic (and therefore deadly) combat mechanics based on the original author's experience in the Society for Creative Anachronism.
RuneQuest sans Glorantha? I am wondering what that might look like? With decades more experience than I had in the 1980's, I am probably able to think more imaginatively about the possibilities the game RuneQuest presents divorced from the Glorantha setting. RuneQuest is a system built for a mythic world where the spirits interact with the living and the gods are an everyday part of the world, often expressing themselves through various magic runes which humans (and other creatures) may learn to access and control (hence the title of the game). The alternate setting of a fantasy dark age or medieval Europe suggested in the original AH presentation seems to miss the mark a bit. I think RQ works better for a bronze age mythical setting such as is found in the works of Homer or the epic of Gilgamesh (or the original setting of Glorantha). Hence, I am thinking about a "mythic" bronze age Scandinavian milieu where Odin (Wotan), Frey and Freya seem to interact on the lives of the characters as they struggle with the ljosalfar, trolls and giants. (I may post more on this later as my thoughts ripen).
I am somewhat amazed at the effect a previously unseen version of an old favorite has had on my thinking. Sometimes novel presentation and what is left out can greatly influence how we perceive even a familiar topic. The RuneQuest system in all its editions, remains a strong choice for role-playing, one that adapts well across settings and has formed the basis of Chaosium's Basic Role-Playing system which is at the core of several games including Call of Cthulhu, Stormbringer, ElfQuest and Ringworld. I am starting to wonder if I can adapt it for play in M.E.?

Conflict & Discovery

A New RPG Title?
Yes, I believe Conflict and Discovery describes the game-play of most early fantasy role-playing games and many current ones. The game we all play is about imaginary conflict and discovery, whether that is a melee with monsters or a social or legal conflict that resolves itself through the presentation of evidence supporting a position. The discovery can happen in many ways as our characters explore the world/setting and uncover new species, forgotten ruins, hidden secrets and clues to a mystery. Whether we are uncovering a plot against the establishment or filling our pockets with liberated treasure, it can all be thrilling adventure that whisks us away from our everyday lives and allows us for a moment to experience the joy of a triumph.
Conflict adds tension and excitement to the game. Conflict can be social or legal in nature. Some games such as The Burning Wheel offer specific mechanics to deal with changing an NPC's mind or successfully arguing a case in court. Conflict can be a source of challenge for players as they develop strategies to win the conflict. Winning feels good, even if it is expected, but especially if the challenge was difficult.
Discovery adds wonder to the game. Being pleasantly surprised is entertaining. Being unpleasantly surprised, while under no actual threat, can also be entertaining. Threatening a character is way different from threatening the player and this is an important distinction. People enjoy horror movies because it is all make believe. The audience is in no real danger, but our minds can suspend disbelief and we can be "scared" for the people on screen.
Adventure games which are set in our imagination serve much the same purpose as children playing at make believe. It is a way we can explore what might be, what could happen if this were true. We can learn things about the real world and discover things about ourselves, all while enjoying some entertainment. It is different from reading a book or watching a film because we have more control over where it takes us. And it exercises our imagination and expands our capacity for creative thinking.
"You need to believe in things which aren't true. How else can they become?"  - Terry Pratchett