The "Fate Rune"

[kalidor]

Hi, i am starting a new campaign in prax and i want to use a "fate rune" for a cult. what kind of powers can you get from that rune in the new RQ?

[Richard S.]

I would say fate would help with divination and the like, though it could also possibly affect your dice rolls.

[kalidor]

1 hour ago, Richard S. said:

I would say fate would help with divination and the like, though it could also possibly affect your dice rolls.

well, in glorantha you cant guess the future, the gods are alien to the concept of Time. The rune is like Harmony rune(  three parallel lines) and communication rune (two parallels and one crossed), Fate (three crossed  lines). So i think is more about "links". 

[Jeff]

The Fate Rune is not used as a player character Rune in the new RQ.

[Mankcam]

I thought perhaps various aspects of The Trickster may have the Fate Rune? In the old RQ3 Gods of Glorantha it never clarified the Trickster Runes due to different aspects having different Runes. I presumed that the Disorder Rune may be common among them, but also considered that the Fate Rune may also possibly show up. It seems like that was probably an incorrect assumption 

BTW is the Fate Rune used by the Masters in Casino Town in God Forgot? Not that they would be PCs however 

Edited February 9, 2017 by Mankcam

[soltakss]

On 2/8/2017 at 3:30 PM, Jeff said:

The Fate Rune is not used as a player character Rune in the new RQ.

As a GM, I would say "not recommended" rather than "not used". I absolutely hate the idea of some games designer (no offence meant, of course) dictating what players can and can't do with their PCs.

Examples in the past have been "Cannot play chaotic characters", "Cannot play Rune Masters" / "Should retire once you become a Rune Master" or "Cannot have two elemental runes".

Instead, I prefer the "Normally don't, but does in this case because ..." idea.

[Roko Joko]

That would be like saying "the APP attribute is not recommended" rather than "the APP attribute is not used" when APP is not on the character sheet and not in the rules.

[jajagappa]

On 2/8/2017 at 3:35 AM, kalidor said:

i want to use a "fate rune" for a cult. what kind of powers can you get from that rune in the new RQ?

As Jeff noted, it does not sound like you'll see anything specific in the new RQ.

In Classic RQ, it noted "A very few cults use this as an expression of the way of the world."  Over the years, I think that has amounted to Aranea, mother of spiders; Arachne Solara, weaver of the Great Compromise (and generally considered beyond worship).

As a GM, I think you have to ask "what am I trying to do or achieve with this?" and "what does Fate represent for my campaign?"

Fate suggests either: a destiny that you (i.e. your players) cannot avoid; or a destiny, place, or thing that they are tied to; or perhaps an attunity with the world that they are aware of and cannot escape from.

I'd probably follow the last route.  Maybe they always know when the Moonbroth geyser erupts, or get headaches when the Red Moon is full, or are haunted by an ancestral spirit that wants to be put to rest (but cannot tell the player where she is).  Various possibilities - not necessarily a 'power' per se, but something that creates roleplaying opportunity.

One more thought:  if you take the idea that Fate is a destiny they cannot avoid, the consequence is that they 'receive' something like a geas, except that it is not something they have a choice in.  If they are fated to Never be Magically Healed, then no magical healing will have any effect upon them.  Or if they are fated to Never Eat the Meat of Birds, then no matter how much they try, bird meat won't go down (they'll spit it out as if the most nauseating thing they've tried to eat). 

Edited February 9, 2017 by jajagappa
additional thought

[styopa]

17 hours ago, Roko Joko said:

That would be like saying "the APP attribute is not recommended" rather than "the APP attribute is not used" when APP is not on the character sheet and not in the rules.

And yet, campaigns could clearly use CHA as APP, if they chose and the game would run perfectly well. Or they could even add an APP statistic if they felt it that important.

 

[Darius West]

On 2/9/2017 at 9:26 PM, Mankcam said:

BTW is the Fate Rune used by the Masters in Casino Town in God Forgot? Not that they would be PCs however 

Isn't that the Luck rune?  Both are possible.

Optionally Piir is affected by the Fate rune, from memory she's the odd dust bringing ancestor spirit mentioned in Elder Secrets that gives the poor fool who is her descendant great power but gradually chokes them with dust (possibly from a transcendental hourglass?)

18 hours ago, jajagappa said:

One more thought:  if you take the idea that Fate is a destiny they cannot avoid, the consequence is that they 'receive' something like a geas, except that it is not something they have a choice in.  If they are fated to Never be Magically Healed, then no magical healing will have any effect upon them.  Or if they are fated to Never Eat the Meat of Birds, then no matter how much they try, bird meat won't go down (they'll spit it out as if the most nauseating thing they've tried to eat). 

In Celtic mythology geasa (plural) were inflicted on a person by Druids who wanted to restrict their power with a death prophecy.  The deal being that you were "fated" to break one or all of your geasa at some stage resulting in your death.  That would make a pretty nasty curse spell.  

 

[MJ Sadique]

from http://www.glorantha.com/docs/glorantha-core-rune-font/  X : Fate Rune, K : Luck Rune.

In Glorantha, Luck Rune (K) is said to be only displayed in Holy Country by the Masters of Luck and Death. Playing oriental, This rune look like a Torii (Japanese's sanctuary Spiritual Gate) to me; I choose to use the Luck rune to explain the power of Ki (Land of Ninja) but always let it unusable or at least unexplainable by any others culture.

The Fate Rune (X) is more the power of a hero to change the world and himself (his own destiny, his own path) as it's used as Hero Point since Herowars. For RuneQuest, it's a bit too much big power for a classic game. But if you want to change the world and change your path, you'll have to understand this rune a bit !

Fate and Luck Runes are "not recommended" rather than "not used" for Runequest as soltakss said. But kalidor, if you want to create a cult with such rune, you could give it the same feats like Humakt or Yelmalio cults : You take a geas and gain some free Runic power our abilities; the spells and abilities will depend on the other rune of your cult.

Edited February 10, 2017 by MJ Sadique
some ohoohohrrible grammar

[kalidor]

On 8/2/2017 at 4:30 PM, Jeff said:

The Fate Rune is not used as a player character Rune in the new RQ.

What about Artmal and daliath cults? i think both have the fate rune in guide of glorantha.

[David Scott]

Yes both have the Fate Rune in the Guide, Artmal is part of the Pamalt pantheon and Daliath is part of the Sea Pantheon, both are beyond the scope of the new RQ books. That's not to say these pantheons won't be covered in future supplements. 

[David Scott]

On 08/02/2017 at 3:30 PM, Jeff said:

The Fate Rune is not used as a player character Rune in the new RQ.

It's also not not used in HeroQuest Glorantha, although the Luck rune can be. It has aspects of Fate to it.

[Runeblogger]

On 2/8/2017 at 4:30 PM, Jeff said:

The Fate Rune is not used as a player character Rune in the new RQ.

But the Resurrection spell has the Fate rune...  😵

[jajagappa]

31 minutes ago, Runeblogger said:

But the Resurrection spell has the Fate rune...  😵

Apparently it's the Fate of this thread to be Resurrected!

[jajagappa]

42 minutes ago, Runeblogger said:

But the Resurrection spell has the Fate rune...  😵

Yes, I see the RQG core book does have that.  It's been corrected in RBoM to the Fertility Rune.  Since one Rune uses the upper case X, and the other the lower case X, in the RQ font, I suspect a simple shift key typo.

[Whizbang]

We are stuck because our campaign has brought back a light with a Fate rune. So our Yelmalian has it but no one else in the world does. 😕

[Beoferret]

This conversation brings a question to mind: what is the role of Fate, as a concept, in Gloranthan societies? Do Orlanthi and/or Praxians have a sense of wyrd?

[Eff]

7 hours ago, Beoferret said:

This conversation brings a question to mind: what is the role of Fate, as a concept, in Gloranthan societies? Do Orlanthi and/or Praxians have a sense of wyrd?

Most sources treat Fate as something which when it manifests in material or social contexts is something of a means of justifying the order of the world when that order seems stratified. So we might well say that Fate in this context is understood as a subtle and abstract force, and one that competes with others, rather than sitting above then all. There's not really a sense of wyrd or aphorisms about the gods obeying the Norns or fearing the Fates, in published materials. 

So with that being said, who welcomes corrupt material Fate into their lives and inner worlds? Stickpickers? Slaves? Weeders and Mudders, up in the Oslira valley? Or, on the other end of things, the extremely rich and powerful? Gold-Gotti, Esrolian Grandmothers of Enfranchised Houses? Probably not the Princes of Sartar despite their fabulous wealth. These questions don't have any firm answers.