Mark \"Tipop\" Williams wrote:
> The thing I disliked about 1st and 2nd edition AD&D (and to a lesser
> extent, 3rd edition) was how complex the rules were. The games I like best
> are those with simpler, more versatile rules. Runequest uses the Chaosium
> system... the same system used by Call of Cthulhu, Stormbringer (aka Elric),
> Elf Quest, and a couple of other RPGs that I can't recall at the moment. I
> would *much* rather the Chaosium system become the de facto standard in the
> industry than D20.
Hmm. I'd claim that D20 is actually significantly simpler than RuneQuest. At
least for the player.
Roll a D20. Add the number on your character sheet. Meet or exceed
the specified difficulty. If its a 19 or 20 it may be a critical.Thats
about all there is to the system in play. Character creation and
advancement can be as simple or complicated as you want to make
it (a character that remains single classed and focussed on a few
skills advances in a VERY simple fashion).
Contrast that with (all taken from my memory of RuneQuest 3).
Look at you skill. If it is over 100% determine whether (and how) to
split the skill. Roll a %dice. In order to see if it is a critical see if
it is less than 5% (IMS) of what you needed to hit. In order to see
if it is special, see if it is less than 20% of what you needed to hit.
Remember to make a check if you successfully used the skill.
If it was a to hit roll and you hit, roll another d20 to find out where
you hit. Subtract the armour value for that location. Now determine
if that limb was crippled.
Things like Attacks of Opportunity complicate tactical play. But they
can trivially be dropped (as was done for Star Wars) if they're not
to your taste.
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