It is important for players to have a good understanding of the rules of Runequest. If you know what your character can do in the context of what your foes and other characters are doing, then not only do you enjoy the game more, but you can make plans and strategies that improve your chance of survival. The best example of this was perhaps when Kulbrast fought the troll who was charging down the hill. He was able to time the casting of his lightwall spell, and combine it with the Set Spear vs. Charge combat option to hit the troll as it came through the lightwall. This turned the entire combat, because up until then, the trolls held the advantage. After that the party was on the attack.
These are a summary of the rules used in our game for determining what your character can do in a round and how long it takes to do so…
1) The Melee Round. This represents an abstract period of time of about 10 seconds. This is broken down into 10 Strike Ranks, but these should not be thought of as ten increments of one second, despite the apparent ease of this. Strike ranks are there to show the ORDER in which things happen, not the when. Thus if you attack on S/R 6 and your foe on S/R 7, that’s not the sixth second of every melee round compared to the seventh, it’s simply that you are faster than them.
2) All activity in a melee round is governed by your DEX S/R. This will probably be 1 or 2. This represents the speed of thought and the speed at which you can translate thought into action or reaction. DEX S/R will be added to every major action that you attempt. Thus Melee S/R is a combination of DEX S/R signifying your speed of thought and action, plus your SIZ S/R, signifying your reach, and your Weapon S/R, which signifies your weapon’s reach. It is important to note that in Runequest it is DEX S/R which gives you the edge with an apparently fast weapon. A long, heavy weapon will attack first because it can reach farther. Unless you can close with a longer weapon, which is impossible as long as your foe can retreat, your swift dagger is going to lose out.
3) Missile S/R is slightly different. If your weapon is loaded/raised at the beginning of a melee round, then it may be fired/thrown on DEX S/R. If you do absolutely nothing else, then you can reload in 3 strike ranks (if the weapon allows it) and fire again after your DEX S/R, which is the time it takes to aim. Thus, with a DEX S/R of 2 you can fire a composite bow on strike rank 2 (+3 to reload +DEX S/R to aim) and 7, as long as that’s all you do.
4) In combat, strike ranks cannot be carried over from round to round. For example your weapon attack goes on strike rank 6 of Round 1. That does not mean that if you do nothing else your next attack goes on strike rank 2 of Round 2 (i.e. you used the remaining four strike ranks of round 1 to attack). You have four strike ranks left, which could be used, but next round you start again. However, a missile weapon (or a melee weapon for that matter) may be prepared for the next round (3 strike ranks, remember?). To put it another way, melee rounds are self contained, and strike ranks are not a rolling record of activity. However...
5) Magic is an exception. Strike ranks used for spellcasting can carry over from round to round. Spirit Magic goes off on DEX S/R + number of points in the spell, so if you start casting at the beginning of Round 1, your protection 4 spell goes off at DEX S/R + 4. If this is strike rank 6, for example, you have four strike ranks left in which you may do anything you want, including attack if you’re quick enough. Multiple spells may be cast. This means, and I’ve never thought of this before, that if you stand there and do nothing else, you could conceivably (with a DEX S/R of 2) cast three disruption spells in a round, going off on S/R 3, 6 and 9 on Round 1; 2, 5 and 8 on Round 2; and (get this) 1, 4, 7 and 10 on round 3. If that doesn't get you a POW tick, what will?
6) The rules state that you can carry out one action with one weapon in a melee round. Thus you can attack with the spear in your right hand and parry with the shield in your left hand. Either your attack or parry can be substituted with a dodge. Two handed weapons are an exception to this rule. Two weapon users like Orstanor can attack with either weapon or both if parries are foregone. Characters with over 100% attack or parry with a melee weapon may split the score in two and attack or parry an extra opponent (not two attacks/parries against the same opponent). In this case, the attack occurs at weapon strike rank +3. For example, your sword attack is 120%. You are fighting two opponents, and may attack one at strike rank 5 (DEX S/R 2 + SIZ S/R 2 +Weapon S/R 1) and the other at strike rank 8. Each attack would be made at 60%. If the same character has a parry of 80%, he could parry either enemy’s attack at 80%. If his parry was 100%, he could parry both their attacks at 50% each.
7) Steve allows the double attack/double parry. That is to say that if you forego your parry, you can attack twice, one on melee strike rank, then again three strike ranks later. Stuart doesn't allow this because he believes that multiple attacks should belong to characters with two weapons and those with skills over 100%. It's just a matter of personal taste, however.