GMKen

I just put RBoM on pre-order at my FLGS here in East Texas (Geek World in Tyler for those interested). I shop local not only because they offer a discount on special orders, but also to support jobs in my community. And to encourage them to stock Runequest stuff for others, especially since they have a big CoC selection. Plus I like looking through the miniatures to see if there is anything that could be Glorantha appropriate. Good ducks are ferociously difficult to find. Don’t really do PDFs as I don’t trust the impermanence of electrons. I’ve got too many old dead hard drives in a box with good stuff on them that’s basically inaccessible. Give me the solid feel of dead elves on a bookshelf any day.

No! Don’t wimp out! Rather than seeing it as setting the bar too high, consider it instead as an opportunity to set a different bar. Don’t try to recreate what has been done, create something new with that as inspiration, as artists have done throughout history. In my own efforts I’m taking a consciously old school RQ2 approach, feeling more like the kinds of adventures you’d find in an early 80s fanzine than the modern lush dramatic soap operas with extensive portions of narrative to read to the players. The art is going to be tough, and I’m starting to feel around locally for artists that might have the style for which I’m looking. The maps are going to be tough, but there are resources out there. The layout is going to be tough, but nothing I can’t learn to handle. Glorantha has all kinds of adventures tucked here and there across the landscape, both big and small. GMs need access to as many of all kinds as they can get.

Thanks for the heads up. I have thought about using automatic generators for the NPCs, but want to hand-roll things for the moment. It just feels more personal. Plus I haven’t figured out which Stat Block format to use. I’m thinking more Fangs or Foes than, say, Pegasus Plateau. Plus, is it RQ2 format? Reminds me of an old article in White Dwarf with a short program for the Apple for character generation. A whopping 18K in size at a time when most PCs topped out at 16K memory. Sigh, good times... I do agree with Eddy - the more adventures the better. And yeah, there are many initiation rituals out there to choose from. I’m structuring mine more as a weeklong Boy Scout Jamboree where they are exercising various skills appropriate to the Balazaring lifestyle, learning clan and tribe lore around the campfire, maybe a visit to the spirit plane in the sweat lodge, that sort of thing. So, lots of skill experience rolls. I have thought about posting a couple in the Upload section for feedback, but haven’t gotten that far along yet. Have to be careful about what I give away...

Both Borderlands and Griffin Mountain are good choices, and Apple Lane is a classic. My preference is for Griffin Mountain, as its sandbox nature gives you a lot of freedom for undirected adventuring and just going out to explore to see what you come across. Borderlands is a bit more directed - a specific series of scenarios leading to a specific end (and a way to transition from Borderlands into Griffin Mountain). So a lot of the choice depends on your own personal style of GMing.

Hmm, I may have bitten off more than I can readily chew... I’ve noted in prior threads that I am seriously considering putting together a publication for the Jonstown Compendium set in Balazar/Elder Wilds. Since I’ve got the day off I thought I’d sit down and figure out exactly what I’ve got so far. Table of Contents Adventures 1) Tomb of the Unknown Warrior (1st Age crypt crawl) 2) Kenmak’s Aerie (Wings of Trilus) 3) The Naiad’s Pool (rescue the Naiad from chaos) 4) Tusken Raiders (slaver raid) 5) Elf Sea Excursions -Terrak’s Villa (abandoned pleasure palace on island) -Seeking a Seed (boat tree seed in sunken elf boat) -Concrete Canoe (Dwarven boathouse) -Water Wyrm Hunt -A Case of the Crabs (fishing village menaced) 6) Just Another Initiation Ritual (just another initiation ritual) 7) Le Pacte des Broos (Lunars and chaos up to no good, as usual...) 8 ) One of Our Shepherds Is Missing (2nd Age Troll warbase) 9) Den of the Cave Bear (ornery bear making trouble) Heroquest Djonni & the Golden Appleseed Balazaring Booty (a/k/a Plunder) Terrain Encounters (for hex crawling) NPCs Eugene Dypknurd - Lhankor Mhy in over his head Lancelot Goodthrust - Lunar chad Penelope Peach Pureheart - damsel perpetually in distress Right now I’m in the long slog of hand-rolling the NPCs. Lots and lots of NPCs, and monsters. But it is kind of fun. And pondering what kind of art to include. I do know what I want the cover to look like, and already have my first piece of art in hand. This is probably going to take a wee bit longer than I expected, though...

No, I distinctly remember a magazine article. I’ll have to do some digging...

The Griffin Mountain PoD lists 20 clans and the citadels with which they are associated. It doesn’t tie them to particular clan hearths, but at least does provide some geographical localization based on citadel ties. It also notes the inter-clan rivalries. IIRC, this was taken from an old Different Worlds or White Dwarf article from way back in the day.

I’m not sure about bringing Gorakiki into this, as the elves and trolls in the Elder Wilds have a pretty rough history of basically continual genocide for quite a while now. Besides, I shudder to even consider the concept of a fertility ritual with an Uz Gorakiki Rune Priestess. I just...I don’t think I can go there. I’ll stick with the Oread for the time being, even if it does mean that I’m being speciesist or something. Probably body shaming too... I wonder how they do it in Apple Lane?

And so it turns out that there’s not much on Shanassee either. While frustrating, this is good as it gives me room to craft the the story. The general gist, then, is that an NPC Djonni Pomsemeur was a Balazaring mercenary for a while and did some traveling. He had a short stay in Apple Lane where he enjoyed the apple cider and Uleria temple. Perhaps a bit too much, but he’s convinced that Uleria spoke to him in an incidered vision and said “If you love apples so much, find Shanassee’s first and make your own golden apples of the Sun”. That’s probably not what the priestess said, but that’s what he heard. This links to the fact that Shanassee is the son of Uleria. So Djonni is set on a quest to find a golden Appleseed. Divinations at the Yelmalio temple in Dykene reveal only that Shanassee was first revealed to the sky at Treetop Mountains. I’m trying to find other ways to link in Sun elements, but this seems like a good start. Also not sure how to reveal the Treetop Mountains are beyond the eldritch Er’oring Wilds. Long hex crawl over several sessions. Lots of skill use and combat opportunities. Make some barbarian troll enemies, try to make some elf friends as they will be important because...where Shanassee first rooted himself is “sterile”, in the sense that they find only pollen. God pollen, sure, but just pollen. It’s where Shanassee first, umm, played with his power before discovering girls. It wasn’t till he hooked up with Aldrya that his fertility was truly unleashed. This makes the elves critical for the planting ceremony’s success. Long hex crawl back to Dykene through pissed off troll hordes, some random chaos, as well as some dwarves not happy that the elves are once again mucking around with the world machine, stupid growers. Assuming they make it back to Dykene, Djonni and the adventurers must now figure out how to turn the god pollen into a golden Appleseed. Then plant it and begin the grove of Apple trees and their golden, delicious fruit. Miscellaneous points: The Yelmalio shrine in Dykene wants ten barrels of cider per year as tribute for their help A temple to Uleria is established in the woods south of Dykene The local Oread is the one that fulfills the pollen potential and her lands become the growing area for the orchards A magical Golden Apple is gifted to Djonni’s home clan, who will be the quite prosperous overseers of the Apple farms. Characters are given portions of this area for their help in the quest. They also have a chance to invest in the Apple trade: cider, tarts, butter, sauce, and much more. So I think overall it’s shaping up into a nice little hero quest driven by dice-rolling but with narrative opportunities and the ability to basically write the story of how Djonni’s golden cider became the drink of choice in Balazar. [Until a Lunar venture capital firm moved in...something about silver apples of the moon...]

The full description is: ”Treetop Mountains: It is the peak where Shanassee was first planted, before he walked down slope and resettled himself and began his forest uncounted ages before.” So I’m thinking that the Great Tree of Eston would be a subsequent manifestation. Besides, the location, at the confluence of the Dwerrow and Bilini Rivers, would only be a couple of days from any of the citadels, and for it to be a Quest it has to be a great journey fraught with peril. Which a hex crawl up through the Troll Hills and Er’oring Wilds would definitely be.

Right! My first thought was that it might be something from Griffin Island that got dropped into the PoD, but no, there it is in my original edition copy. Now I’m thinking it might be something that Mr. Stafford was considering during the fusion of the Griffin Mountain materials into Glorantha (Shanassee doesn’t sound very Gateway), but then got lost in the forest of details and it just kinda stayed there as a Point of Interest without any further development. When I was looking at the AAA the Sky King Mountains were my first thought, but I think I would want to keep it on the original hex map, so probably tucked back behind the Er’oring Wilds. Plus that would introduce lots of elf/troll friction that would have consequences later in the quest during the return. I would just hope the players don’t stumble onto Vivamort’s Castle in the Er’oring Wilds. I wonder if I have that old Ravenloft module around anywhere...

Over in the Runequest forum in the Heroquesting thread I suggested that one could always make up one’s own hero quests to challenge players. I use a Johnny Appleseed type scenario as an example, but now realize that it might be even more doable than I first thought. In Griffin Mountain, in the section describing Points of Interest in the Elder Wilds, there is a note of the Treetop Mountains, where Shanassee was first planted. Looking over all the maps I don’t see a location cited (though hey, there’s Vivamort’s Castle!). Looking at AAA I don’t see anything either. Actually, the Treetop Mountains aren’t even mentioned in the Griffin Mountain index. Delved into the Well of Daliath, walked through the Glorantha Wiki, searched the BRP forums, but don’t find anything. So Question: Is there a formal location for the Treetop Mountains in the Gloranthaverse, or can I continue winging it? ‘Cause boy it sure does strike me as a good first station for the Balazaring Appleseeed quest.

Imther? None of those chaos apples, thank you very much. Probably taste like Broo crotch drippings. And why is it that Lunars think that everything red belongs to them? What if we’re looking for, say, Golden Apples of the Sun? (which was, now that I think about it, a hero quest story) Probably have to go talk to Yelm about those, but rumor has it they’re golden delicious. Or maybe Granny Smiths. Hearth Mother might be able to point us in the right direction for those. Probably too tart for cider, though. From a Balazaring perspective, I’ve always thought that the movie Alpha offers a fine example of how Foundchild quested to bring Brother Dog back to the clan during the dark times to help the clan prosper. And if those Saird mongrels can’t handle the muy macho Balazaring fighting and hunting dogs, that’s on them. Lesser dogs should feel intimidated. Otherwise why would Lunars come in and steal Balazarings as slaves if not to train their dogs for them? Just remember, though, Balazarings actually speak with their dogs, their brothers. They’re not just dog whisperers, they’re talented and gifted dog whisperers.

Meh, just make up your own. I’ve got an NPC, Djonni Pomsemeur, who wants to bring apples to Balazar to create new trade opportunities. Given that Balazar is generally agriculture-poor, he’s going to need to undertake a quest to find the source of apples and bring them back to Balazar. So... Find source of apples. Some dangerous travel required. Get blessings of source of apples. Promises and POW will be required. Bring seeds back to Balazar. Obstacles to overcome; trolls, dwarves and others opposed to goal to get through. Get blessings of local Oread Fertility ritual (humunna humunna, Uleria fun uh huh) Golden Apple for the clan. Improved standing with local Aldryami. And Apple cider. Better than that Elkoi beer, I tell ya!

I seem to recall something about blue-moon stones which have control of water levels (I.e. tides). Let’s see, my Balazaring Booty Notes (for the book of scenarios I’m putting together for Jonstown Compendium) just mention that pieces of the Blue Moon fell into the Elf Sea, lost ever since (monsters there). Imbued with power to control tides. Doesn’t note where the idea comes from, but I know I got the idea from a reference which noted that pieces of the Blue Moon which fell into water and spent a long time there gained power over water. But which scroll...?

For young juvenile fiction I would suggest “The Weirdstone of Brisingamen” by Alan Garner. Two youths are chased across the countryside by what could effectively be trollkin, as one is unknowingly in possession of a powerful magical object. The sequel, “The Moon of Gomrath”, is good also. While the author does have other good books, such as Elidor or The Owl Service, the first two are solid kids adventure tales. Colin getting stuck during the cave crawl haunts me to this day.

Don’t forget there was a whole thread on movies over at:

In Balazar, the dwarves gather up a group of hunters periodically to, hold on, hunt for particular game over the next two weeks. In return, they get a bronze dagger OR two bronze spearheads OR eight bronze arrowheads. The king of Dykene trades leather goods, meats and furs. The trader Joh Mith trades Mostali-related goods back to them. According to the Griffin Mountain PoD.

The map for the Balazar region features an isometric line representing a terrain elevation of 1500 meters, or just shy of a mile up. Is this relative to the Elf Sea? The reason I ask is that if you look at the outcrop with Elder’s Rock, it is as close as 16 km to the Elf Sea. Thinking in Texas terms, I’m trying to picture Denver where Houston is right next to the Gulf of Mexico and it’s messing with my sense of perspective. Tall buttes? Really, really steep terrain? Is there any kind of canon on this?

And it’s already at Copper. Congrats! Got my PoD copy of Griffin Mountain and I must say I like the updates. They do help to flesh out what is already the best fantasy RPG sandbox supplement ever (IMHO). Some of the stuff from Griffin Island threw me for a minute (people of Nidik wha?), and what is it with the cellars of inns? (q.v. Highwall Inn) Coupled with other goodies like the Glorantha Bestiary and I’m getting all kinds of new scenario ideas. For example, I never knew that Tusk Riders ranged far north of the Elf Sea, but there it is on p. 15. So now I’ve got a new bad guy to use. Probably came through the Wyrm’s High Pass, so raiding clan hearths in High Wood for sentients to use in their unsavory cultural practices (slaves, sacrifices & savories). Hmm, never noticed that big giant treeless hill in the middle of High Wood. Why treeless? I’m in Texas, so maybe something like Enchanted Rock down near Fredericksburg. Or maybe it’s the skull of an original giant. Also didn’t know that High Wood is a Brown Elf enclave (G.B. p. 12). Which is weird given that it is mostly coniferous, something more typically associated with Green Elves, which are distributed to the west and north. Whilst the adventurers are visiting Dykene, a runner from Summerford rushes into the megaron, exhausted and out of breath. (They did just run a marathon) The Old Tree clan hearth was raided by Tusk Riders, and many Balazarings were taken captive. They need help! The king swiftly dispatches some flying scouts to recon the area, and Sylvanthi Brighteyes starts rounding up a posse (including the adventurers) to try to intercept them before they get to Wyrm’s High Pass and escape to the south. The race is on!

My local game store finally got in the Glorantha Bestiary I had ordered way back when and I’ve been looking for some good water beasties. I do like the Giant Snapping Turtle and the Giant Eels (Monsterstop, what’s that?). But the entry on Elasmosauri leaves me a bit confused. Most (but not all) of the other dinosaurs get bad-dragonewt backgrounds, but not the elasmosauri, who seem to be confined to just the Elf Sea. Which just serves to deepen the mystery of their origin and why they chased the elves out of the Elf Sea. Having considered the bathymetry of the Elf Sea, My Glorantha is going to go with a relatively shallow lake, no more than 30-40 meters deep out towards the middle. This would make the various islands (G.M. p. 207 in the PoD) easier to explain, and make shipwrecks on the bottom accessible to diving expeditions. My Glorantha is also going to have a magic dwarven canoe hidden in a boathouse on the Elf Sea (James Bond-y secret lair kind of thing) that they used to hunt down elf boats mucking around with the World Machine. (From the rumours table in G.M., #50) Given that it will be made of pumice, and given the nature of pumice, I do have to wonder if the reason it floats is because of the thousands if not millions of tiny air spirits trapped in the stone. What a horrific thought. Myth can be cruel sometimes... And did I read correctly the rumour that there is an update of Griffin Mountain being prepped for RQG? The only thing that would make me happier right now would be a Book of Doom PoD PDQ.

I tend to think of Balazar as the more “Native American” culture spot. Stone spears, arrows and throwing axes. Strong hunting culture. Deerskin clothes. Pair bonded with dogs, not riding animals. That sort of thing.

I would just go with the go-to bad guys, the Lunars, hiring a bunch of locals to do some diving at a wreck they’ve divined. They’re looking for a living boat seed. Why? Who knows, consarned Lunars and their confounded mucking around with other folks’ magic without knowing the consequences. Buncha idjits. The elves might have gotten wind of a lunar expedition to find a living boat seed and decide they’re going to retrieve it first. Since there are apparently no blue elves in one of the biggest inland bodies of water in Genertela (though no Great Lake, not even close), the elves hire a bunch of locals to do the grunt work. The boat itself is remarkably intact on the lake floor, having been grown not built. A large tear in the side offers access to the hold, while openings on the deck offer access to the lower front and rear of the boat. Make a perception roll... weird question: could darksense act as a kind of sonar underwater?

The Elf Sea would be easier to freeze were it not so deep... I may be having a YGMV moment, because now I’m having flashbacks to an old TV show with IIRC Lloyd Bridges as a diver in the Florida Keys having adventures and exploring wrecks. Wrecks with sharks that jump scare you as they swim out of the dark hold. Wrecks with treasures. Hold on...Sea Hunt. In Gloranthan tech terms that means Frog Masks for your scuba equipment. Each only lasts an hour, so you want a bunch of them. Aluminum armor protects you. A trident for poking the beasties in the nose. I’m kind of liking the idea of the adventurers being hired to find an old Aldryami wreck and salvage something from it. Which leads me to the question of what kind of stuff the elves would be carting around the Elf Sea. The lack of Murthdroi does kind of bug me, though. Maybe there’s a small remnant struggling to survive against the onslaught of monsters.

Speaking of there being a chance of the mysterious adventures noted in the front of Sea Cave, would there also maybe perhaps be a chance of the RQG Coloring Book being made available via PoD?