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Showing content with the highest reputation on 04/24/2019 in all areas

  1. I was originally pushing for the tent to be fully illustrated and I even did a test, including this very event. (it ended up being too much work, so we focused on finishing the actual scene art instead.)
    6 points
  2. I think it helps to understand Shargash as the personification of fire in a slash and burn agricultural land. First comes Shargash the red, who burns away unwanted plants, purifying and fertilizing the land. The comes Shargash the Black. The land is blackened and covered in ash. It appears dead, but the secret of Shargash is that now is the time for planting. Drill holes in the Earth and plant your seed. Finally Shargash the Green springs to life, feeding his people. Shargash the Red is also handy in war, and certainly that's an honored and important role for him. But it's an extension of his primary role as the fire that purifies the land and claims it for the Alkothi. Shargash the Red burns away the weeds and scrub! Shargash the Red prepares the way for life and renewal! Shargash the Red is terrifying to outsiders, and that's as it should be. For they are the weeds and the Alkothi are the true crops that yield for the good of the Universe. All hail Shargash!
    5 points
  3. (I was wondering if the Changer was Yelmalio or Yonesh, but looking it up on the Glorantha wiki gave me a Pameltelan trickster god, also known as Running Nose.) I see a parallel between this and the GRoY's account of Mernita's rebellion against Dara Hapa pitting Sedenya the Changer against Antirius.
    3 points
  4. That's true, although it is interesting plants have the 3 dots in a triangle. I'll be back in 3 days with a giant post that uses runic symbolism to prove that plants don't exist.
    3 points
  5. The impression we get of Shargash from most of the available myths seem to be from a non-Alkothi viewpoint. Some seem to be from a more generic Pelorian/Dara Happan viewpoint (I'm leaning towards an "orthodox" noble Raibanthi or Yuthuppan perspective, but it might as well be a highly genericized Pelorian one, if such a thing exists), or a somewhat more distant Theyalan one (albeit under another name). He generally comes off as either a boisterous bully (Golden Age myths), or a raging, unstoppable, all-destroying bersker (Storm/Darkness Age myths). In either case, he is almost rage incarnate, and relies heavily on being restrained by the "innate justice"/authority of Yelm. We know from the Sourcebook that Shargash is explicitly associated with Tolat by the few scholars in Glorantha that understand such matters, and we know that Tolat is a much more nuanced deity, however, whether he appears in Pamaltela or coastal Genertela. Some people have suggested that Tolat's more amorous aspects have been separated to Shargash's son, the city/regional patron deity Alkor. I was just thinking about the difference between Greek views on Ares and the Roman views on Mars, and how that relation is quite interesting. There's a lot to go into there, of course, and I won't overanalyze stuff (neither were the sole war gods for their cultures of course, and they also have a separate origin - Mars started off as a Shepherd god, while Quirinius was the original Roman war deity, rendered quite obscure later on), but in short, they made me think of what seems to be a lack of an Alkothi perspective of their own founder deity, to whom their entire city is a temple. In short, the Greeks did not like Ares. They generally portrayed him as a boisterous, bullish brute, who was best appeased in peace time, and reluctantly released in war. Even Sparta, stereotypically the most militaristic of the Greek City states, would much, much rather worship Artemis and Apollo, Athena and many other deities before Ares. Ares was in many ways the personification of the forces of destruction, unrelenting, cruel, and horrible. Not someone you elevate to a major part of a state's cultic practices, but more like a WMD you break out when necessary. The Romans, on the contrary, seems to have delighted in Mars, dedicated plenty of things to him (temples, areas, months, days, etc.), and saw him as an ancestor (possibly in a metaphorical sense, I forget if Aeneas is supposed to have descended from him or not. I'm sure you will tell me). Mars started off as a shepherd god, a guardian of livestock from thieves, bandits and wild animals, and gradually become a general protector of boundaries (hence the name being etymologically related to "march", or border-land). As the Roman state expanded, bit by bit through war after ostensibly defensively-based war, Mars became a general war god. He was overall a good dude to have around. Now, I want to add here that I am not suggesting that the Alkothi view Shargash as the Romans did Mars. What I am rather saying is that I strongly suspect that they have a more nuanced and expanded view of not only Shargash's actions, functions, and qualities, but also his motivations. I have seen some fan-writings trying to expand on this (which I like), but I'm interested in hearing more here what people think. For one, I wonder how the Alkothi view the relation between Shargash and Yelm. Do they secretly hold him as high as Yelm, or do they play up the "filial piety" aspect of things, by emphasizing that the reason why Shargash destroyed the world after Yelm died was due to grief/rage, or possibly to prepare/purify the world for his father's return? Do they add other facets to Shargash beyond simply fighting itself? Is he a maker of citadels (he did make at least one giant magical wall), a judger of duels, a protector of his family, or a keeper of social order? Does he still dance and bang his drum as a spectacle beyond preparing for battle? Is he an agent of vengeance against the dishonorouble/injust/rebellious? In short - how does the ordinary people, as well as native nobles, that sleep, eat, defecate and love, marry and procreate inside of Alkoth's wall view their city's founding god? Or do they, as Sparta, simply not hold him to a special reverence above other, more immediately relevant deities like Oria, Alkoth or what have you, and the extreme emphasis on Shargash for the city is to some degree a foreign fixation?
    2 points
  6. I'd advise against the spike. The feathers or bristles on your helmet deliver a lot less shock than a solidly connected spike or horn. Ideally, cast it on the Storm Bull or Trickster in the party.
    2 points
  7. If we accept my theory that Shargash started as a slash-and-burn agriculture god, his first wife, the Rice Wife, would have been the goddess of dry rice. The rise of the River Wife is what forced Alkoth to adopt wet rice farming close to home, while still preferring dry rice farming in conquered lands. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upland_rice
    2 points
  8. Yes, that's problematic. But it also explains the expansionist nature of Alkoth. Ever since the treacherous Darjinni conspired with the Oslir to flood the Alkothi's original farmlands, they've had to conquer lands in Vanch and Darjin to secure enough fields to support their population. Someday the foul Marshland Curse will be lifted, but until then Shargash the Red's war abilities let them devour the territory around them, securing land where Shargash's true power, his agricultural magic, can hold sway. All hail Shargash!
    2 points
  9. Aeneas is the son of Prince Anchises (cousin to King Priam) and Aphrodite. Personally, I've always viewed Shargash as essentially the Solar equivalent of the Air pantheon's Urox/Storm Bull. The Dara Happans and Orlanthi respectively see Shargash and Urox as bullying brutes who've done a lot of terrible things for seemingly no good reason, but are also kind of a necessary evil because they've defeated enemies that no one else was able to. The Praxians don't change Storm Bull's essential nature when they venerate him as their chief god, though they certainly emphasize certain traits over others, and they also justify Storm Bull via his necessity, rather than trying to portray him as this misunderstood just protector. I always figured the Alkothi see Shargash in a similar way. Neither a Praxian nor an Alkothi would ever claim that their god is a nice or good god, but they both see their god as a necessary one who offers something worth following them for.
    2 points
  10. Riverine durulz settlements like Duck Point and Quackford will have quite a few subterranean passages (think Borderlands) of varying levels of secrecy and accessibility, exiting into local watercourses. These will be quite uncomfortable for those not duck-sized and will frequently be flooded, notably at their egress into The Stream or C-SR. Other wettish settlements with duck populations may also have their own scarcer and more rudimentary tunnels, of a similar character. Ducks are not great engineers, though—and too selfish to spend coin on Stability magic—so these can be rather dangerous affairs. Some of these may be secret smuggling tunnels and bandit lairs, in which case I suspect you'll see a few suspicious looking ducks waddling slowly along the streets, whistling as they desposit mud from their trousers, Great Escape-style...
    2 points
  11. Make an "Elasan" hero-cult specifically claiming blood relationship, if you need to. But honestly, I would allow any reasonably-Gloranthan group or relationship to be the source of an heirloom like that. For a comparable example -- in the Family History section of character generation, I don't require the "Parent" and "Grandparent" roles to be actual ancestors. A cousin? Sure. Great-Aunt? Absolutely. Part of the Gloranthan POV is close, "clannish" relations!!!
    2 points
  12. Well said. Encouraging and helping those new to RPGs and Chaosium games in particular is a good thing. Let's all get behind that and promote a positive and friendly forum for all, new and old.
    2 points
  13. Nothing forthcoming, and only silly comments on FB so I deleted the request there and... after working through the Guide, TFS, GRoY, a few other sources, I have about a page in total on all the smaller military traditions in Peloria, plus an analysis of which satrapies they reside in. Some suppositions made based on terrain. Unfortunately, I need another page as it throws all the pagination off. Saddened that Rinliddi especially is obviously a significant culture, but the available information is very slim. Addendum: a bit more material found (including something @jajagappa posted about Imther). Pagination resolved, but... I think will need another sketch.... Another collection of those redone so far. This shows about a third of the 'art' I've created so far.
    2 points
  14. As a late-comer to Glorantha(1), I have to say that the 2 most confusing or annoying parts of the product line are: Recommendations of out-of-print products. You can thankfully get the PDFs (and I'm super thankful for that, I hope more PDFs show up eventually) but I find that it's not as fun to flip through, and not as practical for "reference" type books. I understand that it's still better than "nope, there's nothing about Sartarite culture available right now" but I think it might be worth it to always add a disclaimer that only the PDF is available. And I don't mean to criticize specifically people who posted about Sartar books here, I appreciate the information and help, I'm just sharing how, at first, I would often feel a bit of disappointment tracing back some book reference to a PDF-only page (or worse). The tribal knowledge surrounding the convoluted publication history of both Runequest and Glorantha material. Sometimes there's material that has been re-published with minor edits, sometimes there's new material that invalidates older material, etc. I would absolutely LOVE to see a list of all the books ever made by the usual suspects (Chaosium, Issaries, Moon Design, Mongoose, etc) split in a handful of categories that help figure out what you're getting in terms of Gloranthan canon-ness ("currently canon", "compatible with current canon", "mostly compatible, see notes", "mostly incompatible"), dates covered (second age, third age, which dates, etc.). I understand that it's possibly a massive amount of work, though. The Glorantha Wiki actually helps a bit there sometimes. (1) I've been gaming for a couple decades and along the way collected a couple HeroQuest books to flip through casually, but I started looking at RQ and Glorantha "seriously" only recently thanks to the Chaosium revival.
    2 points
  15. Glorantha is the mythical world created by Greg Stafford that first made its appearance with White Bear and Red Moon boardgame and later grew to fame as the default setting for the original RuneQuest role-playing game system. The setting has been used for several board games, novels, comics and several different role-playing game systems. The following is a list of products for Glorantha still in regular sale, in electronic or dead tree form. The links point to PDF versions if available, as they are not broken when the dead trees are sold out. Older OOP collectors items have been excluded from this list. Links to fanzines, fan fiction, computer games, board games, merchandice and miniatures have been added at the end. The Guide, the Atlas & the Sourcebook (system-less) Guide to Glorantha Argan Argar Atlas The Glorantha Sourcebook RuneQuest RuneQuest - Rolepaying in Glorantha RuneQuest - Roleplaying in Glorantha - Quickstart Rules and Adventure RuneQuest - Glorantha Bestiary RuneQuest - GameMaster Screen Pack The Smoking Ruin & Other Stories The Pegasus Plateau & Other Stories The Red Book of Magic RuneQuest Classics RuneQuest - 2nd Edition RuneQuest - 1st Edition RuneQuest Companion - History, Stories and Play-Aids Gloranthan Classics Vol. I - Pavis & Big Rubble Gloranthan Classics Vol. II - Griffin Mountain Gloranthan Classics Vol. III - Cult Compendium Gloranthan Classics Vol. IV - Borderlands & Beyond Apple Lane Snakepipe Hollow Pavis - Threshold to Danger Big Rubble - The Deadly City RuneQuest Old School Resource Pack (Balastor's Barracks, Militia Cults of Prax Cults of Terror - Nine Dangerous Deities for RuneQuest Role-Playing Plunder - Book of Treasure Rune Masters Griffin Mountain - A Complete Wilderness Campaign for RuneQuest Borderlands - A Runequest Campaign in Seven Scenarios Trollpak - Troll Facts, Secrets, and Adventures for RuneQuest SoloQuest - Classic Collection Wyrm's Footnotes 1-14 HeroQuest Glorantha HeroQuest - Glorantha Sartar - Kingdom of Heroes Sartar Companion Pavis: Gateway to Adventure Wyrms Footnotes 15 The Coming Storm - The Red Cow Volume I The Eleven Lights - The Red Cow Volume II HeroQuest Dragon Pass - A Gazetter of Kerofinela Imperial Lunar Handbook Vol. 1 - The Lunar Empire Imperial Lunar Handbook Vol. II - Under The Red Moon Champions of the Reaching Moon Blood Over Gold - Trader Princes of Maniria Hero Wars Glorantha - Introduction to the Hero Wars Storm Tribe - The Cults of Sartar Thunder Rebels - Player's Book for Orlanthi Barbarians Anaxial's Roster Sartar Rising Vol. 1 - Barbarian Adventures Sartar Rising Vol. 2 - Orlanth is Dead 13th Age 13th Age Glorantha The Stafford Library (system-less) Vol. I - King of Sartar Vol. II - The Glorious ReAscent of Yelm Vol. III - The Fortunate Succession Vol. IV - Entekosiad Vol. VI - Revealed Mythologies Vol. VII - Arcane Lore: Heroquests & Heroquesting Vol. VIII - The Middle Sea Empire Vol. IX - History of the Heortling Peoples Vol. X - Esrolia: The Land of Ten Thousand Goddesses Vol. XI - The Book of Heortling Mythology Please post it in this thread if you find a Glorantha publication missing from this list! _________________________________________________________ Jonstown Compendium (Community Content available on DTRPG for RuneQuest and HeroQuest Glorantha) Fanzines, con compendiums, comics & fan fiction! Tradetalk [Fanzine] The Zin Letters [Fanzine] Rule One [Fanzine] The Path of the Damned [Comic] Prince of Sartar [Comic] The Widow's Tale Eurhol's Vale & Other Tales It's Not Easy Being Grim & Other Tales The Complete Griselda A Day at the Races - A Griselda Story Ogre Hunt - A Griselda Story No Way for a Lady to Behave - A Griselda Story Meet the Parents - A Griselda Story Forgotten Secrets of Glorantha Sharper Adventures for HeroQuest Glorantha Mother of Monsters Computer, mobile and board games King of Dragon Pass Khan of Khans Nomad Gods Six Ages Miniatures and merchandice Rapier Miniatures RedBubble MadKnight Note that to keep this thread focused on the product list, all but the latest posts will be deleted after they have been responded to.
    1 point
  16. I want Call of Cthulhu to grow and thrive and be a welcoming place for the influx of new players. I believe that means that experienced players have a responsibility to do a little bit of PR for the game, whether we like that or not. Many of you may feel inclined to ignore me. More power to you. But I’m posting this because I’m trying to actively grow this game and make sure that new players here get the help they need. There are simple steps we all can take that can help us maximize new players. Let’s start with what I consider to be a reasonably agreed upon fact in gaming: Most new players to any game usually go the official Boards/Forums of the company that produces it to seek out answers to questions and ideas. I think that begs the next question: How can we use this board as a vehicle to support and keep new players? I think there are two things that we need to keep pursuing. 1) Veterans of the game need to be active on this board. There is nothing inherently wrong with lurking. If you don’t feel comfortable posting, don’t post. But how might posting here help to affect the feel of this board? Responses on this board do not come rapidly. There are often very few responses to new topics. I don’t think that helps us welcome people to the game. “Most people are on Yog-Sothoth. New players should go there.” Yog-sothoth is a fine thing and I’m there too. But the truth is that most new players don’t know about Yog-Sothoth and are more likely to come here first when they have questions and need ideas. That means that veterans need to respond just as quickly here as there. There is nothing more disheartening to new or veteran players than to ask questions and be ignored. A new player that doesn’t find Yog-Sothoth and then doesn’t get an answer may not feel inclined to continue with the game. “You’re saying I should quit Yog-Sothoth?” No, I’m saying that we should be BOTH here and there! Right now, most of the community is there. The responses come quicker there. And I’m of the opinion that the presence here hurts our mission to attract new players. You can disagree and that’s fine. I just want us to do what’s best, not what passes for ok. 2) We need to gush a “your game is your game and that’s ok” attitude. Gamers that don’t curate the image of their game often find that their game doesn’t grow. We can control the attitude towards Keeper and player preference that exists on this Forum. Most people here do a great job of welcoming new people. One of the things we need to keep striving for is the recognition that different people have different playstyles no matter what game we are talking about. And that’s ok. There is no one “right” way to play Call of Cthulhu. And while I hear that message loud and clear from the Chaosium design team (it’s something I love about them), I think we can do even better to espouse “Your Game Will Vary” here. “How well does my post welcome different approaches to the game?” is a question we can all ask. And if it isn’t welcoming, it may not be encouraging people to stick around. You are entitled to your opinion. Your opinion also sets a tone. How can we be sure that tone makes new players stick around? Please consider ways that we can be part of a positive image for Call of Cthulhu.
    1 point
  17. Runeblogger takes a detailed look at M-SPACE: https://elruneblog.blogspot.com/2019/03/review-of-m-space-d100-roleplaying-in.html?m=1 As always, Runeblogger presents a thorough and balanced review.
    1 point
  18. In Search of the Troll Slayer is really good. You can find it at https://www.chaosium.com/in-search-of-the-trollslayer/
    1 point
  19. Simple question... which will have a long answer... P12 of RQG has a nice pic of religious significance. I suspect a lot of newbies (and probably a lot of oldies as well) won't get the full significance. I do get Yelm, Orlanth and I presume Ernalda in the centre pillar of what I presume is Kero Fin (or, The Spike...). The characters across the top are the holders of the various runes - p22 & 47). But, some are clearly not what I think... Would someone please care to enlighten us? (sort of like Prince of Sartar, with lots of people chiming in noticing all the little bits.. and sometimes arguing over the significance of a swirl somewhere... :p)
    1 point
  20. I was about to post this. Any city the Mostali helped build (including all of Sartar's largest cities and both old and new Pavis) would have access tunnels connecting it to the nearest Dwarf city so that the builders could "commute" back and forth. Mostali would also dig underground quarries to obtain construction materials and build a connected drainage system for the city and their tunnels. Many of these works could still be present. Demolition is time consuming and Mostali are busy people with other priorities. Much easier and more echo-gnomical to just to set some doublepluseffective traps than waste precious black powder to collapse the tunnels. Plus every tunnel is sacred! Every tunnel is great! If a tunnel is wasted, Mostal gets quite irate! And of course, those tunnels might come in handy some day. Functional World Machine! Mostali works could also intersect with, or later be caused to intersect with, lava tubes, natural caverns, troll digs, and Krashtkid tunnels. I once set an entire campaign in the maze of tunnels under Old Pavis and a recurring villain was the centuries old Dwarven construct still trying to maintain the tunnels and keep them pest free. Adventurers definitely qualify as pests. It would reset the traps they deactivated or triggered, clean up the corpses they left behind, and occasionally try to exterminate them when they got too annoying. EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE! YGMV but tunnels are fun!
    1 point
  21. There are several such laminated shields in the Iliad: seven layers is a popular number, but they were also faced with bronze... The most famous was the shield of Ajax, which was probably a tower or body shield as no specific shape is given for it: his shield probably weighed in at >10kg. Interestingly, tests using a lamination of seven layers of hide show it gives excellent protection. If I recall correctly, there are two construction methods given for the various seven-layer shields: a metal worker makes the facing first and stitches the layers of hide to it, whilst a leather worker laminates the leather first, then adds the facing.
    1 point
  22. Strange question on restrictions in a thread about examples for egregious munchkinnery, really. A munchkin with a pet sorcerer (or a Brithini Horali, which amounts to pretty much the same) would dual wield under divine Weapon Trance, with a solid small shield with "Attract Missiles" slung to his back (or a large one wielded by his wing man), "Preserve Item", "Neutralize Armor" and "Boon of Kargan Tor" on both melee weapons, "Preserve Item" on all layers and pieces of armor, and "Ward Against Weapons" on the body (and probably on the Air Elemental cloaking the munchkin, forcing a second resistance roll).
    1 point
  23. We did get a description of Shargash from the Alkothi view in Enclosure. While not official, it seems to have resulted from an Alkothi campaign by the "Seattle Farmer Collective". Personally, I see Shargash as the impossible combination of Alkor the Green, Lord of the Southern City and steadfast then tumbling southern Planetary Sun, and Shadzor, a three-eyed underworld demon who merged with the falling sun keeping Umath in a wrestler's hold. I am not exactly clear how Shadzor got attracted to the probably quite flayed body of Alkor, but somehow they joined, and began ripping strangled Umath into more pieces than could recombine. Those pieces that did re-combine may have resulted in the sons of Umath, or may have joined them half a continent away. This "son of Yelm" business sounds quite screwy to me. I find it a lot more likely that there were nine or more emanations of Aether, each sitting atop a ziggurat or natural elevation above their cities, and another one at the Celestial Court with a demigod representative/avatar in Raibanth. And one Harono (and possibly a few brothers/sons of his) in or around Esrolia, possibly including one Jagrekriand. Tolat being more sophisticated... not so sure about that. What do we have: Tolat as the war god of the no longer innocent Artmali. Tolat as the war god of the Zaranistangi on their journey east and north, finally to Melib and continental Teshnos (and then into Ralios and Slontos). Tolat as the husband god of his daughter-wives on Trowjang, the ancestors of whom probably fell out of the sky when that piece of sky went down. Vorthan as the Jonating war god of the crimson blade and cruel demeanor. Tolat as one of the twins in Malkioni theogony, with a temple at Hrelar Amali. Making me wonder about possible Vadeli connections for both Tolat and Annilla. Back to Shargash. The bit quoted by @Leingod makes me think of how his divorces might have cost the god of the city - the fertile Green God and the Rice goddess, the flayed Red God and the struggle (and eventual wedding) with the river (or its long-legged incarnation), and the charring when he ended that, pulled up the Shadzorings from Hell to destroy everything.
    1 point
  24. I guess that explains why in Six Ages Shargash seems to have a thing for "fertile" goddesses, having married and tossed aside a Rice Wife and a River Wife before trying to then get with Nyalda (Hyaloring Ernalda) to be his Green Wife: When you perform the Ritual in-game you can also deal with this station of the myth by summoning the Rice Wife instead, who threatens him with hunger.
    1 point
  25. Most cities would have sewers for rainwater, but no cloacas. Liquid human waste is likely to be collected in earthware, and "solid" waste is likely to be collected in buckets. There are various uses for this among dyers and tanners, and for making clay plyable (both as bricks and for pottery). Use as fertilizer might be left to animal waste. If you are thinking of the Vienna sewer in "The Third Man", that's in all likelihood a combined rainwater and waste water sewer, possibly even fed by some spring water. The water quality there may be little worse than the open rivers in industrialized or heavily populated parts of the world in the seventies or eighties. (I have an old handbook for engineers designing waste water treatment plans which has a formula for the self-cleansing power of a river before it reaches the next settlement...) Rainwater sewers needn't be underground - open or covered trenches in the roads for major water removal, possibly into cisterns if the city is located atop a rise (like e.g. Clearwine, Jonstown, Swenstown) rather than in a valley (Boldhome). Tunnels that lead external waterways below the city to feed the wells are possible if there are springs available near the city. There is one below Jerusalem. Hattusa appears to have had one, too. In Nochet, water from the Lyksos River is diverted into the city, supporting about three quarters of the population. The northeastern district appears to be situated on a slight rise that culminates in Orlanth's Hill (at least that's what I would infer from the Darkness Era map of Nochet which shows the era when Choralinthor Bay had been reduced to a fraction of its size, leaving the main deepwater approach to the city (Delver Vale) completely dry). The sewers of that part of Nochet actually are feeding the cisterns there, so they are anything like a cloaca (or so one would hope). It is not just possible but likely that road sewerage is treated transported separately from roof runoff, as it is practically impossible to keep beasts of burden or free-running husbandry from defecating on the streets, and clearing the streets of these droppings cannot be done during times of high traffic. Polluting waters with cloaca sewage probably is highly disrespectful to the entities of that body of water. There may be places that have regular shipping canals underground, if situated near rivers. Barges may be poled, or pulled along ropes or series of rings set into the tunnel walls. Loading and unloading such barges would happen in cellar grottos. Given the presence of sea trolls in the Choralinthor area, grates or locks before these entrances/exits are likely. A troll nightwatch herding a pack of sea trolls might even be hired to ensure that noone approaches this without paying off these guards. Water spirits can be used as an alarm system by the priesthood of the resident water entities. But then, wetway smugglers are likely to be cultists in good standing. Wherever you have canals leading into the city, smugglers may use the underside of their vessels to carry contraband in waterproof vessels past any inspections. Floating small containers down aqueducts feeding into the city is another possible way for the smugglers, but this requires control over the grates protecting these aqueducts from blockage. Dry tunnels beneath a city or fortress are different. Some species like trolls (or rather their trollkin and possibly specialized insect breeds whose maggots can dissolve certain types of rock for sustenance - we're talking darkness creatures, after all) or krarshtkids are known to leave undocumented tunnel systems. (The wise Krarshti assassin band will buy trollkin slaves to do their tunneling and reserve krarshtkids for deeper (possibly underwater) tunnels, or long distance approaches.) The city of Rome had underground quarries for the volcanic tuff that forms much of the base for that city of the seven hills. These, and the catacombs that served as underground cemetaries, make up another possible source for insufficiently overseen passages. Other cities (like e.g. Lüneburg) are situated atop salt deposits that may be mined from under the city, with occasional cases of collapsing tunnels and collapsing houses above. Some cities are built atop the remains of previous incarnations of those cities that may have been lost e.g. to dragonfire. In such cases, underground passages may have survived, and may have been integrated into trollkin or krarshtkid warrens. Dwarf tunnels beneath human cities are possible -- in case of Boldhome, a few are guaranteed. Their entrances may have been collapsed, however. Fairly irreversible to human sappers, but probably a lot less irreversible for rock dwarves. "Open" dwarf tunnels are bound to be trapped with a plethora of devices that can be deactivated temporarily only by providing the correct passage tokens and/or spells. All "dry" tunnel systems aren't, unless they have sewers themselves. Wading through ankle-deep mud may be common.
    1 point
  26. Grognardism isn’t all bad. Many of your fellow posters here are Runequest, Stormbringer, Pendragon and Cthulhu die-hards who kept the faith when not much was happening officially. They can not only help you with rules but give you good advice on how to create interesting monsters and NPCs, and how to write and run a good scenario. The cross-pollination of games is a good thing, too. There’s no reason your latest Mythos beastie shouldn’t be a Bronze Age Gloranthan holdout or that cult leader shouldn’t have cribbed a spell or two from Magic World.
    1 point
  27. I absolutely love this perspective (it integrates the Fire element nicely, and adds complexity and, as you said, exotic and endemic differences). However, Alkoth is surrounded by marshlands, if I recall correctly - and the slash-and-burn agriculture aspect seems also covered by deities like Veskarthan (who may not be Lodril exactly, but at least is identified with a version of him).
    1 point
  28. Thought everyone would like to know that Rick seems to like the idea. He sent me this email. So I guess we need to figure out how to coordinate our work so we do not over lap each other. Hello Kevin, Thank you for sending the NPC samples. I have cc'd David Scott on this reply, as he is one of our IT gurus. I'd like Chaosium to be the keeper of these stats, and have them on one of our websites. You are welcome to prepare more converted stats, and provide them to us. We will be providing these for free to the public once they are all done and we know how to store/distribute them. You and anyone else assisting with these conversions will be credited for your efforts. How does that sound? Regards, Rick Meints
    1 point
  29. OK, quick overview... From the beginning, "Runequest" has had a notion of the "Runes" as being fundamental magico-mythic "building blocks" of the reality of the world of Glorantha, but has been VERY light on mechanical implementation. The new edition of the game implements Rune mechanics in a very evocative way. It's a real step up, and finally lets the game live up to its name. (There are some mechanical similarities between "Runes" and "Passions" in that each can "Augment" actions that are relevant to the associated Rune or Passion. Runes additionally have ties to your Cult/Deity, to Rune Magic, to some personality traits, etc.). You begin play with Runes based on your character's culture of origin, the choices of the player, etc. You begin play with Passions based on the lifepath-style character generation. If your Grandmother was noted as a noble and faithful warrior of the King, you may begin with an "Honor" passion (i.e. to behave honorably); the idea is, you were raised on tales of her noble & honorable behavior, it was held up as the ideal to which all could aspire but YOU actually hew to those creeds: they are part of you. If your Father fell defending Whitewall and was utterly destroyed when even his soul was eaten by the Crimson Bat... you likely have the passion of "Fear Crimson Bat." Passions and Runes are rated on a 1-100 scale, like skills are. In order to activate them and get benefit, you d100 under the score -- "Hate Lunars?" Then on a roll of 1-75, in this next fight against them you fight "passionately" (with extra elan/flair/skill). If you're interested, the Quickstart is available as a free PDF: https://www.chaosium.com/runequest-quickstart-1/ (n.b. that page has spoilerific content for the GM only. If you hope to PLAY the included scenario, then maybe don't scroll down that page)
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  30. I think being inherently left handed is a sign of bad "luck" and draconic, but dual wielding doesn't make you left handed. I'm sure any warrior culture would have some dual wielders, and it would be a sign of advanced combat ability.
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  31. Please also check out the post made by @Ellie Akers in the RuneQuest forum. A lot of what she said is applicable here too:
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  32. As well as the Men-and-a-half there are also the Pygmies (now Impala and Wasp-Riders). In the Book of Heortling Mythology, there is mention of a Great Spirit Army under the leadership of Karjarkan who invades the Vingkoltings (p34, Map p74 and legend p75). This is during the Flood so the land is still fertile then. Identifying them as being from Pamaltela, roughly lines up with Greg's thinking (a low bar I grant you but still...) It gets worse. Even in the earliest writings about Prax (Nomad Gods 1st ed rulebook p65), there is mention of Storm Bull being an invader while the Tadashi are natives It just so happens that there is another known land of Beast-Riding Nomads - Umathela, home to Desero's Horde which menaced the Artmali Empire. Might the Sons of Storm Bull have been part of the invading Agi army alongside the Agimori, the Pygmies, the Zaranistangi and the Basmoli? I conjecture wildly, you decide!
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  33. Maybe there's a Beaver Spirit that makes this easier. Sounds very beaverish, at least.
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  34. It's a good sentiment, and I would welcome more traffic here. I'm not sure it's true that most new players to any game actually go looking for it online though. I think the percentage of players who discuss games online is but a fraction of the whole.
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  35. Oooh, that hadn't occurred to me! But it makes a lot of sense that the freezing would effect the physical earth before the spiritual earth. And that would explain why Oria passed the Earth Queen job on, if she can't do it anymore... And in gameplay terms at least, Nyalda is even further away from the physical Earth than Ernalda was in KODP--none of her blessings is a food/crop blessing, and only one is related to (human) fertility. Mostly she 's associated with bonds between people: marriage, the Cooperation blessing that helps people work together, harmony/relations boosts from the Hospitality blessing's feasts... To be Orlanthi about it, "No one can live alone." But I do wonder if the freezing of the Earth effects her, too... Anyway, I was curious about story tent variations, so I went poking around a few saves. It looks like it mostly varies depending on Famous Event and ancestral enemy. There were 7 horse generations in Nivorah, 10 since the exodus (not counting the current one), and who knows how many pre-horse Nivoran generations. Named generations are: Exodus Generation Generation of Enemies (Thengist, Goldtalon) Warring Chieftain generation (ends with Nameforgot's big defeat-) Far Travel Generation (“many inhuman foes beset us at this time”) The Madness Generation (emblems removed from the story tent to protect later generations from bad dreams) Healing Generation ("Erissa priestesses performed great deeds", presumably curing the madness that affected the previous generation) Fast Foals Generation (the clan splits five ways) Winter Generation (a time of extreme cold, so much that the Riders feared dying out) Rekindling Generation (“But then the chieftains of the Rekindling Generation went to the Gods War to brighten Elmal and warmth came back. Our chief for most of this time, <X>, gave more of himself than any other, leaving his heart in the sky hearth. The eldest among us remember those times, but soon we will only have these emblems to go by.” ) Honey Generation (your elders all remember this time--it sounds like a time of relative plenty after the rekindling). Valley Generation (current). First emblem is usually a Famous Event, but the Forces of Water enemy can go earlier: (I was wondering if the Changer was Yelmalio or Yonesh, but looking it up on the Glorantha wiki gave me a Pameltelan trickster god, also known as Running Nose.) (I am not sure why this doesn't refer to Kestor Brang.) It's interesting that some of the very early Famous Deeds mention female ancestors, despite how patriarchal the Dara Happans are. Then again, the Earth=female association seems pretty strong, going by how shocked your people are by Uldak being a male earth god. (If you don't have an event or enemy in this time period, you get a generic battle as your first emblem, with randomized details. My favorite variant was "the clash at Weeping Hill, where we fought the drunken bears and destroyed them all.") The Werris Mur event seems to take place a bit later: (I think that's my favorite of the famous events, as depicted here--it's a neat bit of foreshadowing for where the game ends up going!) (I already listed this one, but it's neat. And I think this is about where it goes in chronological order.) After Hyalor tames/heals Gamari, there's this: It's the same for both ways you can pick Ram ancestral enemies in clan creation--I was hoping that they'd be different, oh well. Although it's interesting in its own way--it makes it sound like the ancestors made a conscious decision to become the sworn enemies of the Rams in order to gain power against them. A couple of others sound like that too. Chaos comes in at the same time. Your minor god gets a mention during the exodus: The trolls might actually be before the minor gods bit, not sure. Like the Ram choice, it doesn't seem to vary. The last two Famous Events actually happen after Yenfar is mentioned, so well after the exodus: (Which ties back into the part in "Busenari Finds the Light" where the narration says everyone in Yelm's time drank mead instead of milk. I wonder if lactose tolerance is a divine gift in Glorantha, like so much else? Probably it is.) I know that the dwarves can recognize your ancestors as involved in this event; I wonder if the people of Genert's Garden can? (They do show up in the game: https://sixages.fandom.com/wiki/Agimori_Visit ) The elves and dwarves only appear as enemies during the Far Travel generation.
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  36. I'm not exactly certain how "egregious" this is, but according to Control (Entity) it can be used to control "mundane animals such as hawks, dogs, mammoths, shadowcats, etc." I'm inclined to think this would include "normal" dinosaurs, but not "original" ones which were once Dragonewts according to the Bestiary. This requires the Discorporation Rune spell, although the Control (Entity) spell notes that it's mostly shamans who can use it. Doing so's somewhat safe, though; animals don't have listed Spirit Combat scores (and there seems to me no plausible reason to give them POWx5 like spirits) and most of the cool big critters have 3D6 POW (average 10-11). Plus, according to the Rune spell you can travel up to 5km on one RP, so you should be able to take down the critter before it can find you and eat you. Having a mammoth, titanotheres, triceratops, or tyrannosaurus as a permanent pet via Spell Extension sounds extra dope. Just make sure to give it a hefty Countermagic so enemies won't dismiss the one-point Control spell and let it run rampant. So two levels of Spell Extension per pet, then. Seems a fair trade. Trickiest part will probably be finding the spirit which knows the requisite Control spell in the Spirit World. Even the non-dinosaur critters have some great choices. Discorporation Rune Spell is on p.326, and has a different description than the shaman's ability on p. 357. Control (Entity) is on p.258.
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  37. "To initiate to Ernalda, you must be or become a woman." Men's worship to Ernalda somewhat overlaps with their worship to Uleria.
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  38. " Only women may worship Ernalda. " I think you should rephrase that. Anybody can worship anything they like. Especially since it's a base truth that associated cults, as well as in general the entire pantheon, will also worship those deities connected. Being accepted into the cult as an initiate is something quite different.
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  39. There was mention of special sered breeds from Darjiin, used by a cavalry unit in that article on horses that was deconstructed later on. Otherwise, Darjiin is a bit contradictory - hilltop forests for a swamp-dwelling people? It does suggest some specialization to defend good positions. With Shadzoring Alkoth hating them, probably a survival trait.
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  40. My vegetable love should grow Vaster than empires, and more slow;
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  41. Purely my opinion: despite being given as hide, wicker or wood, as in terrestrial history, most shields are of composite construction, and the type given is actually the main component. For example, in our world, a hoplite shield often consisted of a thin sheet of stressed bronze backed with a thick core of wood a glued-on leather lining, and a bronze rim; sometimes reinforcing bronze plates were added to the inside. In RQ terms, is this a wood, hide or bronze shield? Probably a large wooden shield because the wood is the primary defensive component. It has a bronze surface, which you can either shine up to look really impressive, or have painted. Having a shield where the primary defensive component is bronze is a contentious topic in this world, where there are ongoing debates about whether Bronze Age bronze shields were purely decorative high status objects (they certainly were high status) or practical shields (as some display signs of battle damage and repair, some were used in combat). So the safest take would be that your wooden shield can have a thin bronze surface - it just isn't going to add to its hit points in game terms. Similarly, your hide or wicker shield might have nice looking bronze studs etc. but they aren't going to add anything to it in game terms.
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  42. My game has the hero cult of Independent Jones, a master scholar who traveled to exotic places to bring back knowledge and sacred artifacts. Followers of the hero cult gain extra hit points in locations, wear leather armor, and often train to use a bullwhip. However, they must take an oath to never keep artifacts for themselves, but instead donate them to the library.
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  43. So I've got my Death Rune up to 95% but that isn't enough! I'm so deadly that only 100% Death Rune will do! But I keep failing my increase roll between adventures because it only has a 5% chance of success! I know, here's what I will do. I'll try to use my Fertility as an augment, because I can do that as often as I like, unless I accidentally succeed and then I have to wait 'til the next session. Each attempt gives me a 5% chance of fumbling, which gives an immediate 1D10% loss in Fertility and corresponding gain in Death! Sure, it's a risk that I will pass before I fumble, and get a tick on Fertility, but that can only happen once per adventure. I have an evens chance of fumbling before I succeed in the next session.
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  44. I have added a file to the Downloads section detailing my understanding of how damage works. It is available at Effects of Damage I'm sure there are errors in it so please notify of any you find.
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  45. Well, whatever Wednesday that is I'm looking forward to hearing more. I definitely would love to have a weird science-fantasy setting to draw inspiration from for a future game.
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  46. I also think that every RQG supplement and scenario should be followed by a PDF indicating how to use it with HQG.
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  47. That's a fair criticism, RQG is not especially innovative. But then for the most part it doesn't need to be. There are a few areas (e.g. strike ranks) that haven't aged well, but the chassis of the game is sound. It's mostly tweaking that's required. The introduction of Runes and Passions is the greatest improvement IMHO. D&D 5E is also a missed opportunity - full of things that should no longer be there (e.g. prime stats, which aren't even used - modifiers are, so why not generate them directly?). WoTC also passed up the opportunity to solve many of D&D's shortcomings, particularly how lightweight combat is when that's supposed to be one of the three pillars of gameplay. There are similarities between 5E scenarios and Chaosium's old campaigns, but even for some of WoTC products they seem to be similarities in style rather than substance. We're currently playing through Tomb of Annihilation and it has plot holes that you could ride a T Rex through! Looking back at Borderlands or Griffin Mountain, they were rooted in a consistent and well thought-out fantasy world, and that depth and consistency mean that you can still pick those products up now and run them pretty much as they are. ToA is a couple of years old and already looks hackneyed.
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  48. My view insanity should if possible be worked into the game narrative, without getting too worried about strict definitions. For example if someone starts experiencing paranoia, don't tell them they are paranoid - instead, play the paranoia. All their senses should be warped by their illness. If they roll a spot hidden on one of their fellow party members, they should see some kind of hint that the person is a traitor - a scrap of coloured thread which suggests the other party member has had illicit contact with an adversary. "you suddenly remember that thread looks like the cloth of the jacket wicked henchman was wearing". If they try to denounce the other member, all good - but warn them other members of the party have been behaving strangely lately, perhaps more than one member of the party is under some kind of malign influence. It could be dangerous to speak openly - who to trust? If they become insanely obsessed with magic, tell them weaving Cthulhu magic doesn't seem to be upsetting them anymore. Tell them they have the impression their last insight somehow armoured them against further san loss. Don't make them roll san checks anymore. Naturally all their sanity is withering away behind the false calm of their obsession, but they don't need to know this. All sorts of wicked fun to be had.
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  49. The Esvularing are viewed by other Orlanthi as people who follow a strange school of thought and have strange traditions. They are not heretics (Theyalan polytheism doesn't really have the concept of heresy or orthodoxy since every temple tends to have a different subcult, a different associated god, etc - there's a awful lot of diversity there). Of course, they are clannish about their magic secrets - as are most other Orlanthi.
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  50. Joerg, let me introduce you to the absolute brilliance that is Tibetan religious art: Also I have a sneaking suspicion there's a chance I end up having to draw that guy, so we'll how that will turn out!
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