All Activity

Every PC in 13th Age Glorantha has a good chance of doing a Heroic Return, and the chance gets better at champion tier & epic tier. So far I haven’t needed to use these rules, because killing PCs in a 13th Age game is really hard, even with a Triple Strength fight!

The Famished Crimson Bat is a Quintuple-strength 15th level Spoiler [Chaos Beast] in 13th Age Glorantha. I’d have to do the battle building math by hand, but it’s not insurmountable to a larger party of 10th level PCs. It’s accompanied by Bat Lords & Bat Priests (10th level) & Vicious Chaos Lice (9th level), to help make the fight varied & interesting.

A Brithini anti-vaxxer would boldly assert that Zzabur made up the story of the plague to try to bind them in caste rules to being immortal and thus immune, but that they did their own research, contacted the Vadeli, bought gorp, and smeared it on their body to protect themselves from the 'vita'rays' comng from Nysalor's shiny forehead which would make them get old and die if they didn't do this.

Your premise seems to be that the shaman is an utterly-independent free agent, without obligations or oaths. I would presume, instead, that they were trained by a shaman who was serving a particular tribe or community, and only trained apprentices with a similar outlook; and if they were in any doubt, I expect there'd be some Geasa / Taboo's to enforce a minimum degree of such service.

Big Rats Large Rat About the size of a cat, but quite vicious. Especially to cats. 1st level mook [beast] Initiative: +4 (Average) Infected bite +5 vs. AC—4 ongoing damage Nastier Specials Squealing pack attack: This creature gains a +1 attack bonus per other dire rat engaged with the target it’s attacking. AC 15 PD 15 HP 6 (mook) MD 10 Mook: Kill one dire rat mook for every 6 damage you deal to the mob. Dire Rat About the size of a mid-sized dog. 2nd Level Wrecker [beast] Initiative: +5 (Average) Infected bite +7 vs. AC—4 and 4 ongoing damage Roll for one Dire Feature: 1. Thick Fur—Add +2 to the dire animal’s AC, and add +1 to its PD. 2. Vicious Lice—Whenever an enemy hits the dire animal with a melee attack, deal damage equal to twice the animal’s level to that attacker. 3. Carnage—The dire animal’s attacks that miss deal damage equal to its level. When staggered, its missed attacks deal damage equal to double its level. 4 Poison—It now inflicts 7 ongoing poison damage instead of 4. 5. Dire regeneration—When the escalation die is even, this animal heals 6 damage. 6. Fury—While staggered, the Dire Rat gains a +2 attack bonus and deals +4 damage, but at the end of each of its turns it takes 2d6 damage. Nastier Special: Create Opening: When the Dire Rat hits someone, any ally has +2 to hit them until an ally hits them. AC 18 PD 16 HP 36 MD 12 Chaos Dire Rat About the size of a mid-sized dog. 2nd Level Wrecker [beast] Initiative: +5 (Average) Infected bite +7 vs. AC—4 and 4 ongoing damage Roll for one Dire Feature: 1. Thick Fur—Add +2 to the dire animal’s AC, and add +1 to its PD. 2. Vicious Lice—Whenever an enemy hits the dire animal with a melee attack, deal damage equal to twice the animal’s level to that attacker. 3. Carnage—The dire animal’s attacks that miss deal damage equal to its level. When staggered, its missed attacks deal damage equal to double its level. 4 Poison—It now inflicts 7 ongoing poison damage instead of 4. 5. Dire regeneration—When the escalation die is even, this animal heals 6 damage. 6. Fury—While staggered, the Dire Rat gains a +2 attack bonus and deals +4 damage, but at the end of each of its turns it takes 2d6 damage. Roll for one Minor Chaotic Feature Linked Rat: A second Chaos Dire Rat shares the same tail; they move on the same initiative tick and you have to drop both to 0 to make either pass out. They will attack two different foes unless only one is in range. Nastier Special: Create Opening: When the Dire Rat hits someone, any ally has +2 to hit them until an ally hits them. AC 18 PD 16 HP 36 MD 12 Large Dire Rat About the size of a cow 3rd Level Large Wrecker [beast] Initiative: +6 (Average) Infected bite +8 vs. AC—11 and 10 ongoing damage. Add 5 damage if the target is dazed. Rat Rush: The rat moves, then attacks, all in a standard action: +8 vs PD, 15 damage and dazed (save ends) Roll for one Dire Feature: 1. Thick Fur—Add +2 to the dire animal’s AC, and add +1 to its PD. 2. Vicious Lice—Whenever an enemy hits the dire animal with a melee attack, deal damage equal to twice the animal’s level to that attacker. 3. Carnage—The dire animal’s attacks that miss deal damage equal to its level. When staggered, its missed attacks deal damage equal to double its level. 4 Poison—It now inflicts 15 ongoing poison damage instead of 10 ongoing damage. 5. Dire regeneration—When the escalation die is even, this animal heals 9 damage. 6. Fury—While staggered, the Dire Rat gains a +2 attack bonus and deals +4 damage, but at the end of each of its turns it takes 2d6 damage. Nastier Special: Create Opening: When the Dire Rat hits someone, any ally has +2 to hit them until an ally hits them. AC 19 PD 17 HP 90 MD 13

Wakboth isn't needed, as the world got by fine without him; indeed, from the moment he arrived, things were getting worse. The world also got by without the Red Moon for most of its existence. They're both disposable. I think it's logical to assume that the Realm of Zin is located in Dragon Pass, in Argath's kingdom, as I doubt anyone in Peloria would ever worship him. King of Sartar almost entirely ignores the Elder Races and eastern Genertla and western Genertla.

Quietly over the last few days without any fanfare, Nochet: Queen of Cities has joined a very prestigious group of JC works: the 600 Club (601+ sales)! Very pleased and honored to get to that next step on the ladder! And many thanks to all who have purchased it as either pdf or POD so far! Hope all are enjoying it. 🙂

We were very fortunate Long drive but do-able for occasional weekends

Damage Modifier Table (p20) : table row 7 57-72 looks like it should instead be +3D6 Opposed Skill Rolls Using the Resistance Table "Actions involving two opposing skills can be resolved using the resistance table. Divide the attacking and defending skill ratings by 5 (rounding normally) and resolve it as a single roll contest on the resistance table." I can find nowhere in the spec where it defines what normal rounding is. All other uses of "rounding" are followed by "up" or "down". I'm left to guess maybe you mean the grade school method of round to the nearest integer, ties away from zero, but it is the only place I can find that in the document. Personally, I find the espoused method to calculate opposed skill rolls to be error prone (as in, noisy). We could have skill levels 4% apart that round to the same value and skill levels 1% apart that can round to different values. To avoid introducing this quantization noise, you want to instead subtract skills first to preserve these small differences, then round. In Ian-land (where I get to make all the rules) I would just subtract the unmodified skills, and then divide the difference by 5, rounding to the nearest integer, then go use the table which would solve this problem -- though of course the table isn't set up for that. I'd also refactor the table to consume a similar subtraction (of characteristics, this time) and then have a 1-D table rather than a 2-D table because there sure is a lot of redundant information in that table that makes it harder to index. I'm not sure what the best fix is in the more difficult universe where other people get to make the rules as there is prior art to consider and people can become confused by polarity of negative numbers. I might start though with defining rounding in the Introduction:Terms, Introduction:Dice or at the start of the System chapter, along with how to calculate the result of rounding up, rounding down and rounding normally with words like "the nearest integer greater than or equal to the infinitely precise value" or "the nearest integer to the infinitely precise value; for cases that lie half way between two integers, use the one farther from zero." For examples of scholarly math-nerd language about rounding modes for computation, you can look up IEEE-754-2008, chapter 4. I

Since Issaries has Spell Trading, I think it would make sense to give Lanbril Spell Stealing (obviously at some difficulty).

The Traveller in Black explores this. The traveller grants wishes, but every wish binds the world and stills its magic. The final story, people in a world largely bereft of magic conspire for selfish reasons to bring back the ancient gods, and undo the peace and freedom from arbitrary horror the traveller has created for them. Author John Brunner has largely been forgotten today but he wrote some amazing stories, like my other favourite Times Without Number, which starts in 1988 London, England, which is part of the Spanish Empire.

Why settle for the lesser evil?

I'm glad that Shadowlands Games is starting to release CoC material in English. I've been waiting for this for a long time. From what I've seen on their website, their Spanish releases look both great and interesting. I'm also glad that it is modern, as we don't see that very often from Chaosium lately. I would have preferred something non-US centric, but I take what we get.

This video clip portrays a Syblline Oracle. There is some poor CGI in it and overall I tend to ignore the dialogue altogether. However the clothing and backdrop of the oracle herself has a REALLY strong 'Esrolian' or Lunar vibe that I think many will appreciate. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBmStz8os30

I think it does - that would explain the severe cost.

Contrast Kajabor, who in his consequence is identical to Wakboth, but dissolves the world because he must, i.e. is natural evil. Our ideas of moral evil are the mask we make this Devil wear. By recognizing its agency and personality, we allow the possibility of challenging it in ourselves and in others. In acknowledging that we mortals have the power to worsen our lives of suffering and dissatisfaction, we acknowledge that we also have the power to refuse it or fight it. That is Wakboth's contribution to Time. He was spun into eternity because we will always be fighting him to preserve the universe, wherever compromise fails.

I read the Johnstown adventure with an npc Shaman with Pow 19 and fetch 16. A combined power of 35. (Stone and bone 2 Praxian adventure). That shaman can overcome all Runelords resisting his spells easily. Befuddled and Demoralised any runelord should run away. If they know the way. 🙂

well my interpretation would be that night appeared after Yelm died, with Xentha appearing around then(thought day didn't exist then). in a more general sense, I think the great compromise-dawn myths represent the origin of cyclical phenomena in glorantha(days,seasons,ages) and as such I dodn't think the sun dissapeared from the sky in any way before the greater darkness. I know there's some stuff in the entekosiad, but i haven't read that.

Then Hawk says, "what is that smell?" and Bird says, "you smelt it, you dealt it"

Perhaps rock–paper–scissors is not quite the right model. Thunderbird shoves Sunhawk down Raven’s gullet. Raven vomits up — or shits out — Sunhawk, largely unhurt. A rather queasy Thunderbird picks up a dazed Sunhawk in his beak … and LOOP. I guess this casts Orlanth as Wakboth, breaker of toys. Yelm is cosmos and the eternal victim. The ambidextrous Raven (or Spider or …) is the end of all things and the origin of the world. (Utuma variation: Yelm is well-ordered stuff; Orlankboth is the same stuff, now messed up and due to be tossed; Orlankboth dismembers its sorry self and throws the bits into the Void for recycling into the next cosmos.)

To Hawk, Fire is external (or free). Raven has introjected it (no fennel in the underworld). If we allow Thunderbird lightning, too, then we may have an intermediate state: Fire manifesting, or becoming free, or being used? I dunno either. Seems a bit backwards, except possibly in the context of thunder as liberator/illuminator of sun/fire. Henceforth, humans would keep that meat for themselves and burn the bones wrapped in fat as an offering to the gods. This angered Zeus, who hid fire from humans in retribution. In this version of the myth, the use of fire was already known to humans, but withdrawn by Zeus. Prometheus stole fire back from Zeus in a fennel stalk and restored it to humanity — Wikipedia: Prometheus Trickster is bound (and cast out of polite/sane society) to prevent the spread of the story that although Orlanth did indeed steal the sun from people, it was Trickster that brought it back. Raven = lightbringer is a reminder of the truth?

The identification of "Maggotliege" and other dead suns with the incumbent yelm was not logically necessary and happened later. The real story is practically overdetermined if not overcomplicated. Thinking through the horn-headed rune shows me new things about the devil's two or three moms and the person who drops out of that calculus is the murdered vegetable arroin. EDIT: These may well be the same story.

The binary elemental system (Light / Dark) always felt like it came from somewhere outside the seasonal cycle. Maybe the hordes brought it with them from the other end of the Genertan empire along with other things they carried. Maybe this created significant distortion in existing systems, forcing a season into the calendar for example or pushing "storm" and "troll" (and dragon) symbolism together. God Learner versus Dragon is only the historical backdrop for Mao Tzen's cosmic gesture. The outcome of that gesture remains unclear. It's the story of our lives. Chalana Arroy had a mountain too. Her other face is Mallia, pharmakon queen with spikey crown.

Let's get silly. Augment our fourths. Thunder is invisible. It's a sound or a force. Hawk defeats raven, because light makes darkness go away. Bird defeats hawk, because thunder has no substance for light to touch, and air lets light pass through. Raven defeats bird, because darkness hides where the sound is coming from. Inquiry- asking questions- contemplation- defeats arbitrariness by replacing arbitrariness with a chain of connections. A meaning. But contemplation is defeated by this other consciousness, submersion, where the meaning is underneath the connections and running through them. And then arbitrariness defeats submersion by rejecting the connections altogether. Wheels turn as a cart crosses over a bridge. In retrospect, the "London Underground" rune very clearly points the way to why the dragonewt rune looks the way it does, and power becomes an interesting statement in that geometry too. My only question is- where did the broken-horned rune come from? Who added that to the mix?

Perhaps those intriguing Dark and Light Dragons (aka Dark Mountain and Light Mountain) off to the NE in the Golden Age? Tholm's Path does lead from there after all, and who knows what climbs up or down the Dragon's Ladder.