Part 3: Rune And Rune: The Adventure Roleplaying Game
by Gwynhala

In Part 1, the Atlas crew shared their enthusiasm for Rune and described what makes an Atlas Games title something special to role-play. In Part 2, we took a sneak peek at the rules, based loosely on Ars Magica, that author Robin D. Laws is developing for the Rune RPG. This time around we'll focus on the collaboration between Atlas Games and Human Head Studios, and what that means in terms of what to expect in the Rune RPG.

[Part One | Part Two | Part Three]

The Rune RPG was conceived when Human Head Studios approached Atlas Games to create a role-playing game based on Rune. Human Head Studios Business Development Manager Tim Gerritsen wanted to create a wider universe that the Heads could use in future Rune titles: I've long been an RPG fan and have wanted to do a Rune RPG since we first decided to do it. I went to GenCon of 1999 with the express purpose of finding someone to do the RPG version of the game....I saw it as a great way to springboard our efforts to franchise Rune. I saw the RPG as a way to flesh out the world, and the game story and to expand upon it. The PC game really only gives you a glimpse into the Rune universe.

I didn't want to go to the big companies who would just slap it out the door with little thought or care. Really, I was looking for a relationship that we could cultivate to help develop the universe. Rightly or wrongly, I reasoned that a smaller publisher, with a good reputation, would do a better job with the game, and do their best to ensure that the title wasn't just some quick knock off to get into the market with poor production values....I knew Atlas would be a great choice to do the game.

Human Head approached us about it. They were interested in doing a role-playing game to support the computer game. A lot of the Human Head guys are long-time role-playing fans, and they thought we'd be a good company to do it, so they showed off what they we're doing with the computer game, and we were intrigued, so we eventually worked out a deal....then we got with Robin Laws - he had some very innovative ideas on how to approach the Rune game, and it got more and more exciting.

We worked with them closely. We went to Madison for meetings, to see their project in development, I went there several times, and we had the designer, Robin Laws, flown in and so for months we've been keep abreast on the basic background of what the game is about and seeing the demonstrations of it running and so forth. Robin has worked closely to get the backstory on the various creatures and background information, which in fact has evolved and changed as the computer game has. Robin has been keeping current to where the computer game has gone.

I think the entire point of licensed-based pen-paper RPGs is to give fans of a certain movie, comic, novel, cartoon, etc. the ability to effectively be in that given setting. You not only have to be absolutely accurate to the property in question - which can be extremely difficult in itself - you have to expand the world to give each player the full picture of what life in that world truly is like, all while still keeping with the property's often-times meticulously created mythos. It's this delicate balance of expansion of the setting and faithfulness to the property where licensed RPG rise or fall. It's what made West End Games' Star Wars (most of the time) so good. And it's why Call of Cthulhu is one of the best RPGs and has the best adventures and scenarios ever made. So, basically, every aspect of the [ed: Rune] computer game will be re-created faithfully, and much more.

It does keep a lot of the flavor of the computer game; for example, you can take your opponent's arms and bash other people with them, after they've been de-limbed and whatnot. So we do try and keep the original flavor. Also, we're using a lot of the concept art from the video game, so you should be able to see some of your favorite characters in the game as well.... Robin's got it all charted out for all the Rune Powers and its really staying close to the computer game.

It has been fantastic working with them. The ideas they have are terrific, and we gave them only one marching order - make it great! We have final authority over content, but we are a pretty hands off licensor....Robin is doing some amazing things as well, so we are looking forward to the public reaction to the game.

John had this view about mixing role-playing and the computer game: They're really kind of separate, I think that major crossover between them is that playing the RPG will give you a bigger sense of the world of Rune, and I think that subjectively that will make it more fun to play the computer game, just like when it's fun to play a roleplaying game that's set in familiar movies or novels. Or indeed it's fun to play the computer game when you have a sense of the large imaginary world behind it.

At this point, it's basically you're people like Ragnar. The more complicated races and things aren't being incorporated into the main game, as I understand it, but I can see things like that coming out in future expansions....The Rune game will be something that stands completely on its own, and even if we don't do a lot of support material, there will a lot for Rune players to get out of the dozens of Ars Magica supplements that exist that will be adaptable to Rune....I think people will find Ars Magica is easy to take materials from to Rune.

Originally [ed: Rune] was conceptualized to be compatible with Ars Magica, so Ars players could use the Rune combat system to help with some of problems AM has.

The Viking, by Lloyd Audun

There's been some discussion on Rune fan forums about live-action Viking role-players or re-enactors. People really do this, in the same way that you might see a joust at a medieval fair. I asked John what he thought about using the Rune RPG rules for live-action role-playing: No....We do not encourage people to go out in real life and attack each other with axes, although praying to Odin is fine if that floats your boat. So there you have it, kiddies - do not try the Viking routine on the streets or parks of your hometown. If you want LARP, use some storytelling rules and pretend you're a blood-sucking creature of the night, or a flesh-rending werewolf, or something... anything... but not an axe-wielding Viking.

Atlas' price estimate for Rune: The Adventure Roleplaying Game is comparable to other Atlas titles, and about what you'd pay for any hardcover RPG supplement, or for a typical softcover RPG core rules set. "Our main goal in publishing is to make enough money to stay in business to publish more stuff," quips John. The rules we reviewed are part of a Rune Preview Kit that will be available soon on the Atlas Games web site. The version we saw was in Adobe Acrobat Reader (PDF) format. Those of you who love surprises, take note: the Rune Preview Kit includes some spoilers about Rune, and for this reason Human Head Studios and Atlas Games have agreed not to release it until after Rune is available in stores (around October 30, 2000).