Nick Underwood

The RBM mentions, "The Lunar magical skill of Amplify permits one additional meteor to fall for every 3 points used." 

Where be this Lunar Magic of which they speak? Do any RQG publications have the write up, or is this old material waiting to be republished? If the latter, what earlier publications do I need? 

Many thanks

On 8/31/2021 at 8:30 PM, Akhôrahil said:

I'd sure like to see the "knife" that came in at 4.5kg...

Tada!!

The mass included the instrumentation measuring the force. Although why that varies so much, I was too lazy to look.

http://68.57.235.185/Murdercube/files/Exotic Weapons/Knives, Swords/Biomechanics of knife stab attacks.pdf

On 8/31/2021 at 6:10 PM, David Scott said:

Chapter 7 has some relevant info, although the whole paper is interesting: Lethal Threshold: The Evolutionary Implications of Middle Pleistocene Wooden Spears

Thanks David. I spent a fun morning browsing this instead of working. Some great experimental archaeology ("The participant reported that he was trained to use a bayonet right-handed regardless of handedness." Eat that Lindybeige!) But the evolutionary implications... not so impressive. (Quite surprised you can get away with that at PhD level.)

I lost the section, but I'm sure I saw reports of penetration *increasing* with throwing range - which seems to defy the laws of physics. I can only imagine that increased range permits an increase in angle of release for the throw which is closer to optimal for our biomechanics. Seems Runquest was right and I've been wrong--damage should not be reduced at longer ranges. (At least with heavier thrown weapons)

More bad news... "there are significant physiological differences between humans and chimpanzees, in particular those of a bipedal stance and a derived hand morphology which would restrict chimpanzees from performing certain tool tasks in hunting scenarios, such as forceful two-handed thrusting or throwing spears from a distance." There goes my Yelmalio baboon damage bonus...

On 8/29/2021 at 2:03 PM, Akhôrahil said:

Short spear 2H, 1d8+1. Long spear, 1d10+2. Pike, 2d6+1. Similar with 1H Short Spear and Lance.

There is no logic to the increased damage due to length when stabbing with spears (unless you concoct a strange scenario). 

There is a some logic however to the idea that longer weapons are better battlefield weapons because of increased reach. 

So I assume the increased damage for longer weapons is to make them better weapons overall (especially in formation) within a combat system that doesn't adequately represent reach advantage. (Including SR rules.) 

I assumed Berevanos returns as an angry ghost to fulfill the cosmic imperative that players have to work to get a stash of dragon-slaying loot. 

And that Gina gets to banish a ghost to the underworld, using a spell designed to prevent a ghost from returning from the underworld, because... Well because Ty Kora Tek is a bit of a crap goddess for gameplay.

All MGF and nicely handled I thought.

Very much enjoying the White Bull Campaign. Not having played for years, it's as close as I get to Glorantha made real. 

Loved the way Jeff upped the ante again at the Queen's Tomb throwing in the Lunar Invasion of Sartar. But perhaps the dragon, the goddess and the invasion was too much excitement. The players were discussing the invasion while a goddess and ancient Queen of the invaded lands is sitting right next to them doing her knitting... 

14 hours ago, PhilHibbs said:

If a cell is filled in with a value such as "1-3", e.g. for the number of Rune Points that can be used to cast a spell, then this becomes a date such as 1/3/2021 if it is copied across to a newer version of the sheet. (Actually, in my case it was always a date but the format was set to d-m so I never noticed!)

If you enter "1-3" in a cell, the value is converted to an int for the date. (If you c&p values only you will get the int.) You can stop the conversion to an int by entering "'1-3" with a single quote before the text to display. (The initial single quote does not display.) And should then be able to c&p as a text string.

(In Excel you can also set the cell format to text (not general) before entering the "1-3" but I've found it unpredictable. Don't know if that works for Google sheets.)

10? There's a 10?!

I'm still using 1.9.5... Let me see what Excel goodness have I been missing...

Thanks Phil, I love the generator. 

6 hours ago, Scotty said:

On 12/17/2020 at 7:47 PM, Nick Underwood said:

Boy is my life dull. 

Fortunately:

Ah the joys of living vicariously! Thanks Scotty.

1 hour ago, Scotty said:

I'm sure many people on this forum have encountered human hair fires and singed dogs.

Boy is my life dull. 

On 8/19/2020 at 9:35 PM, MJ Sadique said:

(Should use this in a scenario ... I'm sometimes very proud of my own impro ^^)

I have to admit, that was pretty damn awesome! 

On 8/17/2020 at 1:54 AM, Eff said:

Well, I was referring obliquely to being a polyamorous transgender lesbian.

Bloody hell, @Eff. And there I was thinking that being an illuminated Uroxi worshipper of Primal Chaos must be complicated...! 

What a great thread this is. And it's great that whether we embrace or flee freedom from social constraints, conflicting views can find confirmation and validation in Gloranthan myth. Surely that is a hallmark of great myths - the old stuff. 

For the record: a chaotic Stormbull illuminate strikes me as a perfectly valid life choice. Glorantha is our world to explore, experience, and understand the myriad possibilities. In-world dogmas might forbid it. But those dogmas too are there for us to explore, accept or reject. 

Eff's personal story reminded me of the answer to the munchkin Illuminate vs genuine Illuminate. From the Prince of Sartar: "They only wanted Freedom. You wanted Liberation."

On 8/9/2020 at 12:34 PM, Darius West said:

On 8/6/2020 at 10:40 AM, Nick Underwood said:

Isn't God Learnerism kind of a joke on munchkins gaming the rules?

Yes is definitely is a joke of that sort... But do you seriously think that Illumination isn't also Munchkins gaming the rules?

Not at all. Illumination can be gamed by munchkins, but that doesn't make it the authors' intention. I suspect (without the slightest evidence) that Illumination was intended by the authors to offer more opportunity for role-playing. It can be monotonous playing your third living embodiment of Orlanth... 

On 8/9/2020 at 12:34 PM, Darius West said:

Consider... You transcend cultural determinism, rejecting the implicit cultural limits you have been taught to accept, and are now spiritually immune to the repercussions of breaking them.  This leads to moral relativism, supported by casuistry, that forsakes all limits in the pursuit of power. 

That's bleak. We have to choose between adopting the inculcated values of our culture and becoming megalomaniac narcissists? I reject both those options and so might my characters. I suspect you do too.

14 hours ago, jajagappa said:

Every initiate into adulthood (at least those following the rites of Heort) experiences this to some degree.  And it is likely repeated in every community during Sacred Time.

I love the treatment this gets in Six Seasons. During initiation you get to play out your own mini IFWW as part of re-enacting Heort's journey (now a journey into manhood). Really, it's some of the best scenario content I've read. 

(Shame about the Harry Potter dragon...) 

55 minutes ago, John Biles said:

This is why the less murdery Illuminates tend to come up with some crazy plan that they think advances the Greater Good, like turning half of Genertla into a dragon.

Agreed. If fundamentalism is the absence of doubt, then it's the fundamentalist certainty of illumination that can be seen as it's greatest threat. The moral detachment can be seen as just one aspect of this. 

Is this actually failed illumination? An inability to situate one's own enlightened perspective as still only one part of the cosmic unity?

(Heavy handed irony: how can faith exist without doubt?) 

6 hours ago, dumuzid said:

How does Illumination change this character on a moral and interpersonal level? 

It sounds to me like you have it cracked. Your character is in a bit of existentialist funk: the world is meaningless, how do I behave in a meaningless world?

But your pc doesn't seem to find the world totally meaningless - they seem to be profoundly moved by the ultimate connectedness of things on a cosmic scale (Arachne Solara) and a very local scale (pity, community, the modern word  would be "empathy") 

Freed from constraint, perhaps your pc evolves a philosophy where suffering is the only reality and they are drawn into conflict with authorities because reducing suffering becomes their principal motivation. Perhaps they are drawn to Xiola Umbar (however that's spelled) due to the darkness, harmony and compassion. 

One thing illumination would seem to do: by revealing the true nature of reality and desire to the illuminated, it seems hard to maintain the full plethora of a competing culturally determined motivations: be a good wife, warrior, clan member, worshipper... The Illuminated need to find their own meaning in the world and to follow it with a ruthless mono mania. 

The irony here is that by replacing culturally defined values with personally defined values they are exacerbating the fragmentation of the original cosmic unity, leading to deeper and deeper relativism. (But that, and its real world equivalents, is a whole other topic.) 

Important question - if you do follow Xiola Umbar and cast Group Defense with 50 stacked trollkin then run at a phalanx of lunars, (these are specially trained stacked trollkin, of course) can you augment with your Compassion? 

On 8/5/2020 at 8:28 AM, Darius West said:

On 8/3/2020 at 10:48 AM, Nick Underwood said:

And role-playing is, of course, the act of  peeking *inside* a cultural perspective for a bit - an act of Illumination that I don't think was lost on the authors.

I think that might be more God Learning than Illumination, potaytoe potaatoe

Isn't God Learnerism kind of a joke on munchkins gaming the rules?

My intended point is that role-players inhabit the lives of their characters, adopt their motivations, and see the world from the character's perspective. This transcendence of one's own cultural determinism *IS* illumination! Role-playing is a sacred path to enlightment for the players!

(Well kind of... Let's not get carried away. I'm just talking about levels of metanarrative, but I suspect Greg thought something like that - and why not?) 

And if that is the case, then no. God Learnerism would be failed transcendence because, by holding on to its original motivation (power) it fails to wholly identify with the other culture. 

On 8/3/2020 at 9:50 PM, Nevermet said:

On 8/1/2020 at 1:01 PM, Nick Underwood said:

An attempt to save Glorantha from the post-modern pessimism of it's creators?

I would double down on (a version of) postmodernism, and look for hope in the local.  How does the community associated with the PCs struggle to survive the everything

It's a great theme for gaming and there is something quietly heroic there. 

Actually isn't it a little like I Fought We Won? I should go read more because (from what little I know) it sounds like a rare Gloranthan event where the little things win out over great cosmic forces... 

Now there's grounds for optimism! 

On 7/25/2020 at 7:22 AM, davecake said:

Or to put it another way, Illumination is an experience of oneness with the universe.

Yes. It's helpful you restated the self-identity with the universe. 

@Eff had it covered, but the philosophical issue is that Glorantha accepts (personifies, mythologises) cultural relativism. Illumination can be seen as a way out of that relativism by adopting some vantage point beyond the competing world views (is not subject to their limitations) but includes all those world views (as objects of understanding) as differentiated parts of itself (so as not to obliterate their differences from each other and itself).

So you get the Many is the One and the ultimate (but not proximate) Unity of the cosmos that can only be understood by an elite that achieve a special perspective. You get similar themes from the Upanishads to Hegel, the Marxist-Leninist Party, to current Intersubjectivity. Surely many more. 

The details can be fun for fluff. The phases of the Moon - differentiated oneness. The Void - undifferentiated oneness. What is the eye that sees itself? 

On 7/23/2020 at 8:43 PM, Eff said:

The broad point is that Illumination allows you to peek outside of your cultural perspective for a bit and understand truths that are normally veiled. 

And role-playing is, of course, the act of  peeking *inside* a cultural perspective for a bit - an act of Illumination that I don't think was lost on the authors.

2 hours ago, jongjom said:

Ironic emancipation based on in- and real-world conscious and sub-conscious human action. And yes, very much something to get excited about. 

I like in the in-world/real-world dimension which Glorantha is so good at. (Does anyone else think HeroQuesting is a bunch of characters getting a table for a role-playing session?) 

2 hours ago, jongjom said:

The optimistic answer to prevent this is to conclude King of Sartar 's last sentence an Age early.

Good answer. Full of that in-world / real-world ambiguity and well worth quoting in context:

"As  mentioned  above,  the  next  expected  appearance of  the  Devil  is  in  2277.  That  is  only 77  years  away  from us  now, and with  a margin  for error, possibly within  our lifetimes. What will  we  do,  if  it  is  true,  when  our children are adults  and we  have  done  nothing to  prepare them, and theirs after? ...  So I encourage  each person to turn to that  inner  dragon, and cut  it  out  with  the  broken sword, if  need  be, and arm each other for the return."

12 minutes ago, dumuzid said:

When you look at the state of the world now, I reckon the Devil probably, finally wins at the end of the 4th age.

There's the optimism we were looking for! 

12 minutes ago, dumuzid said:

For the Glorantha in which my group's game takes place the player characters have created a seat for the Unity struggle to begin again in earnest: a citadel founded on Earth and Darkness like the Only Old One's Palace of Black Glass, harmonizing the other elements around that foundation.  That community's influence has helped Leika Black Spear of the Colymar ascend as the Prince of Sartar.

Yes!! Kindling the flames of renewal from the pieces already in place. I like this. I like too the links with OOO whose empire was perhaps the least destructive and vainglorious that Glorantha has seen. (And Leika defo has some dark OOO secrets and affiliations... ) 

But mostly I like that you have created a space (and a place) for Unity. A space from which the blinkered cultural relativism Glorantha can be examined and challenged by it's inhabitants - and for them to overthrow pessimistic fatalism of the authors! 

20 minutes ago, Martin Dick said:

they wondered about a positive end and this is what I wrote for a happy ending.

I take it back. Give me tragedy over farce.

(It is a pretty good farce though!) 

1 hour ago, jongjom said:

The Third Age is also another step on the way to emancipation of mortal humans and other species.

Is that ironic emancipation? (Like Jar-Eel's (or Lincoln's!)) What kind of emancipation is on offer? And is anyone consciously fighting for it? 

And ultimately... does it perhaps look too much like our world for us to get excited about it? 

1 hour ago, jongjom said:

But the optimistic outlook would be the realisation that humans may need more than just themselves to defeat the Devil in the Fourth Age.

So a compromise with the Gods - a kind of constitutional theocracy - or a flipping of the master-slave relationship where the God's work man desires? 

These are genuine questions. Like Jenh I'm troubled by Glorantha's pessimism (while relishing it's tragedy). Ultimately - we may want other options than: "Do you want to play the taliban or the evil empire they are fighting? It really doesn't matter which. It will all go wrong whatever...."

An attempt to save Glorantha from the post-modern pessimism of it's creators?

On 7/18/2020 at 5:08 PM, David Scott said:

I've taught real world shamanism for over twenty years now, worked with many different shaman, including Greg Stafford. I also wrote the spirit magic section of HeroQuest Glorantha. RuneQuest Glorantha's spirit world and shamanism draws on that and Greg's concepts of the spirit world. Much of this is based on how Greg worked with the spirits and their world.

Excellent!! There always seems to he exactly the person on this forum you wish you could bump into in a quiet bar with a whole evening of nothing to do...

@David Scott I've been wondering how to make more of Gloranthan shamanism. The Gloranthan religions cults are rich with meaning and philosophical concepts that make them fascinating to explore and can give players and GMs a hugely rewarding sense of wonder. Gloranthan shamanism, by contrast, can often feel a little rules bound  - like we have been given the grammer, but only glimpses of the poetry.  I suspect it's just harder to encapsulate and hasn't been given the necessary space in print. 

But, how do you do it? How do you invite players to experience a little of the spiritual questing of shamanism. How do you make events meaningful for modern players? I guess this is also the question of what does (Gloranthan) shamanism teach, and how do you approach that in gameplay. 

Actually, I don't suppose that has a simple answer at all... If you could just point to any useful materials, that would be much appreciated! Is HQ the place to start?

Edit... 

Oh... Maybe you had already answered my question... 

"Have a look at SHAMANISM, Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy by Mircea Eliade. Chapter 2 & 4 covers most shamanic initiatory forms with examples."