From: akuma@netcom.com (Steven E Barnes)
Subject: Re: RQ: Rune Masters and Metals
Date: Tue, 08 Sep 92 05:53:32 GMT
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest) 

In article <9225211.1999@mulga.cs.mu.OZ.AU>, tsl@cs.mu.OZ.AU (Tim Leask) writes:
> Rune Metals and in particular iron are not as awesome as I feel they
> should be in RQ3. Back in the old days of RQ2 Iron Wielding Rune Masters
> were a quantum step above ordinary mortals. In RQ3 the power of Rune Masters
> has waned cosiderably, partly because of the watered down rules for iron
> and partly because of the disapperance of the list of Rune Master
> benefits.
> Iron in RQ3 is pathetic, a mere shadow of it's former self in RQ2. 
> Iron in RQ2 was extremely durable and light and was clearly superior
> to the other Rune Metals. This is clearly not the case in RQ3.

I'm not sure what you are talking about.  In both old and new rules,
iron armor is +50% armor points.  The only difference I could find
is that fractions are now rounded down (5 point iron chain now protects 
for 8 points, not 9).  

> The problem is further exacerbated by the introduction of armouring and
> strengthing enchantments in RQ3. I certainly wouldn't pay 700L per ENC
> for raw iron for a weapon or armour. I rather spend the POW and money on
> enchantments on a bronze weapon.

Armoring enchantments are one of the more serious holes in RQ III.
Rather than changing iron, armor enchantments should be eliminated,
or changed to something like: first enchantment costs 1 point, second
costs +2, third +3, etc.  (or make it exponential: 1, 2, 4, 8...)

The alternative is to have family heirlooms which have been enchanted
by each owner for the last 1000 years.  (can you say 1000+ defense?)

> To restore iron to it's proper place with regard to the other Rune Metals
> and it's 700L price tag I suggest the following changes.
> 
> Unnechanted Iron (Raw Iron) is simply as described in Elder Secrets.
> 
> Enchanted Iron has twice the Armour Points of it's equivalent ENC in bronze.
> e.g. Iron Chainmail gives 14 pt protection for an ENC of 20.

Give those poor trolls and Yemalians a break!  There should be some 
reason for using metals other than iron.  The current rules already
make iron the armor of choice for races other than trolls or elves.

Also, now that iron is so massively great, how do you hurt people
wearing it? (besides huge monsters and critical hits)

[ stuff deleted]

> 
> The other mods I use to beef up Rune Lords are taken directly from
> RQ2.
> Rune Lords have their POW supported by their God. Thus Rune Lords
> always defend against spirits and spells at their full POW regardless
> of their magic point total.

Well, everybody I know still uses RQ II in some form, so I have
no problem here.

> If a Rune Lord has an unmodified attack skill over 100% then the portion
> over 100% subtracts from the defense skill of his opponent.
> This does not apply to non Rune-Lords with skills in excess of 100%
> nor should magical bonuses be included. If the skill drops below 100%
> for any reason this subtraction no longer applies.

I think the reason this rule was dropped was because it added
an extra step to combat calculations.  This was probably one
of the reasons why defense skill was also eliminated.  A better
solution is what we do:  use the dodge rules for parries; that
is, a special attack bypasses a normal parry, a critical attack
bypasses a special parry, etc.  This gives adequate benefit for
attacks greater than 100%.

-steve