Some of you might have heard about the Glyphmaster (working title) D100 retro-clone being written at the moment. The idea has been kicking around since Mongoose released the first edition of their RuneQuest rules (MRQ1) under the OGL, and it led to the creation of the Gringle's Pawnshop forums. Glyphmaster itself was spawned by the re-release in PDF format of the Gloranthan Classics by Moon Design, which basically re-created all the classic RQ2 supplements - but the only way to get the rules was to get a second-hand copy from eBay or the like. So, we thought, hey ... retro-clone time!

I'd say the first draft is about 50% there (more if you only consider the text and not the layout, editing and art). For a more detailed appraisal, check out the Glyphmaster forum in Gringle's Pawnshop.

Color me confused.

I love the name Glyphmaster, but I am unsure why its needed. Why aren't the RQ2 supplements easy to use with BRP or MRQ?

They're usable, but only with some modification. Big Gold Book BRP is primarily based on Stormbringer 5 and MRQ2 is different in many small ways.

Mainly, though, it's needed because it's a fun project.

As the manuscript nears completion, the question of layout rears its head. Bearing in mind that this is a PDF-only product, what should it be?

1: A4-ish, portrait, two-column is the standard for print books, and fine if you print your PDFs. The shorter line length is easier to read, and you have the option of single-column tables or spreading them across the whole page if need be.

2: If you read PDFs on your desktop or laptop or tablet-thingy, a landscape screen-sized format might be better. You can still have two columns, or even three, or one.

3: For reading on mobile devices, a smaller, single-column page is best (for a PDF). You can just size it to fit your screen and keep scrolling down. This won't look as good on a bigger screen, though, and you'd probably want to print it @ A5.

From feedback so far, single-column is the preferred option. The jury is still out, though.

... Aaaand it's done! Please head over to the BRP Central downloads area and have a gander (had to get the duck joke out of the way). As well as an SRD this is intended to be a playtest draft for AEON, so please let me have your feedback no matter what it is. Gushing praise also accepted!

http://basicroleplaying.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=433  

Thanks for making this. What's the difference between this and OpenQuest?

What does '+4' mean on the tables? I took it as 'for every 4 above the maximum number in the column to the left, add the percentage below', but I wasn't sure.

Under 'Hit Points' it says 'bot' instead of 'both'.

It doesn't seem to tell you how many Hit Points you start with.

Under 'Strike Rank' it has 'combination factors' instead of 'combination of factors'.

Are you meant to total all the numbers to get your strike rank? Does 'POW Points used' mean you can sacrifice POW to increase your strike rank? If so, is it per round or per combat?

In 'Other Abilities' it has the modifiers, but not the original percentage. In 'Experience', should '-1' be '01-05'?

Thanks for the exceedingly swift feedback! PM sent with detailed answers.

Regarding the +4 and -1 and similar, found at either end of the Abilities tables, these make the tables open ended. +4, for example, means you add the modifier in the +4 column for every additional 4 points of that characteristic. If you wanted to extend the tables forever they might read, for example, 21-24, 25-28, 29-32, etc.

Hit points are equal to CON, modified by SIZ and POW.

POW SR applies only to spell casting.

Other Abilities are modifiers added to all skills in that ability. The Skills section is further into the document.

If anyone wants to send me their comments by writing them directly into the document (highlighted or in a different colour so I can find them), just PM me and I'll give you the email address.