Prepping for the Ides of March

So, Sunday is almost upon us, and I'm prepping big time for my annual Ides of March gaming day.  This year, we're playing an inaugural game of RuneQuest.  My fellow players have played plenty of Call of Cthulhu over the years, but that's the only foray into the Basic Roleplaying System we've tried.  RuneQuest and its classless, skill-based take on fantasy roleplaying is something we're looking forward to after trying to wrap our heads around the broken prestige classes of 3.5 Edition and the uber-powerful-to-start-but-slow-to-develop classes of 4th edition D&D.

In prep for Sunday's game, I have RuneQuest Deluxe (core rules + companion + monsters), Gamesmaster's handbook, the Rune of Chaos adventure, and even a DM's screen.  (ooo - accessory)  Probably the most loot I've bought for a game I've never played, so I hope the players enjoy it.  Learning the rules system hasn't been hard - it's very similar to Cthulhu - but I have been working to make sure I have the highly precise combat system down.  Josh and I even played an encounter last Sunday just to try out some of the options.  Now I'm working on absorbing as much of the campaign setting as possible to make for a memorable and integrated first session.

Tangentially, I've been playing lots of Elder Scrolls Oblivion, and the more I play it, the more I see how similar its rules system, skill-based progression, fairly even handed use of fantasy-races as player types, magic available to all characters, and even some of the setting are to RuneQuest.  Maybe I'm just seeing other games through that filter, right now, but I'm intrigued as to how this sort of skill based progression works very well in a social gaming atmosphere, as well as in a single-player video game.  Less of the "waiting around to level" stuff that mired down Neverwinter Nights and other video games I'd played heavily.

Wish me luck.  If anybody's played some RQ and has recommendations on how to expedite combat, encounters, handle the fantasy world of Glorantha or anything of the like, please feel free to comment.  Thanks!  I'll post a recap - hopefully with some photos - after the game itself.