Rune Quest

RuneQuest is (was) published by Avalon Hill, which was (is) owned by Hasbro, Inc.

Let There Be Light!

Submitted by Aluna

It was *very* early in our gaming careers, but we were really into it. We were playing beginner characters in Runequest and were exploring some caverns, looking to sort out a band of trollkin that had been terrorising the neighborhood (oooh we felt righteous!).

At one point, we decided to send our two scouts up ahead along a dark tunnel to investigate what was up there. We thought we were getting closer to the HQ's. We didn't want to alert any guards, so we cast a silence spell on the scouts. We also didn't want to alert them by carrying a lantern and letting them see the light. The obvious solution was to use a light spell, after all, it can be turned on and off at will, but the only character who could cast "light" was a huge fellow, Garth, whose dexterity was almost nil. If he went along that corridor, everyone in the entire dungeon was likely to hear!

We came up with what we thought was a brilliant plan! The light spell had to be cast *on* something, so why not have Garth cast it on something the scouts were taking with them? In fact, wouldn't it be good to cast it on the end of a finger!

So, off went Aya and Suma, with a point of glowing blue light emanating from Aya's finger tip. It was a long, twisting, dark tunnel, and they were glad for the light to help them. It was only when they saw a glimmer of torchlight coming from around a bend, that we all suddenly realised how stupid we'd been. The only person who can control a light spell is the caster of it. The caster was several hundred yards away, along a winding corridor... he had no idea that the scouts needed the light switched off, and NOW!

And who's stupid idea was it to cast it on a FINGER?!!! Still, as we (the players) all began to collapse in fits of laughter, Aya did the only thing possible... she stuck her finger in the herb pouch at her waist to cut off the glow of the light, while she and Suma moved gingerly ahead to find out what was up there. It didn't make "moving silently" particularly easy! But somehow (thanks to a few fortunate dice rolls) they managed to get the job done, before scurrying back to tell the others what they had seen . . .

Needless to say, we all spent rather more time thinking through the ramifications of any future "bright ideas"! But it still makes us laugh when remember that awful moment of dawning realisation!