svensson

In reply to the OP: I see the Orlanthi, or perhaps more specifically Sartarite, economy as being more of Celtic/Gaulish one, where gift giving fuels the creation and dissemination of high quality /high prestige goods. A sword taken as booty given to you by the chief or prince is certainly a prize, but a cloak hand made for you by tribal queen at the specific request of the king is something you'd kill to protect! Sure, the sword has a matrix on it and that's nice, but the cloak is a visible symbol of your standing with the rulers of your area. You may not be a thane in royal household, but the King knows you and values your friendship enough to grant you something not only in limited supply [the royal household can produce only so many cloaks a year after all] but with a personal stamp on it. By this process alone, you could easily have 5 or 8 people employed cleaning, carding, spinning, and weaving the woolen fabric, and that doesn't take into account the dyes and embroidery. But some materials are expensive to get... even if you have that rarest of rares in your tula, a tin mine, it takes A LOT of manpower to wrest that metal out of the ground. And that's manpower taken away from feeding the clan. Then, of course, you have to smelt the tin to a pure enough alloy to make bronze, which takes MORE people. What I'm saying here is that gift-giving only goes so far as an economic driver. At some point you have to go to an exchange /cash economy in order to import necessary goods for your clan's craft operations. And the more crafters you have, the greater the need to import materials. After all, a clan would quickly deforest their entire tula if they relied solely on their own resources to supply firewood and charcoal [two VERY different things]. So I do see the need for cults like Gustbran and Issaries in an Orlanthi clan. Third Eye Blue is a secretive sorcery cult and just because Apple Lane had a pair of TEB smiths doesn't mean they're common. Most smiths in Orlanthi society would likely be Gustbrans. Ernalda is a perfectly good cult for men and women handicraft-crafters [potters, weavers, other on-the-steading make-as-needed crafts] but cults that rely on mathematics [masons, for example] are going to go looking for a deity that'll fit their needs. I'd imagine that Flintnail could very well expand out of Pavis after Argrath's victory.

That I've seen, Police Detective, Dilettante, Antiquarian, Military, and usually some criminal background. Comparatively few Authors, Doctors, Journalists, etc. But then, most of my players are veterans or military family members, so that gonna skew the demographic a bit.

Wow. Have we hit the big time? Are we famous enough to steal from? What was that Nirvana quote? "Hey guys, I think we're famous. Weird Al wants to do a parody of us..."

It's been a sad week for women that so many of us old geezers remember fondly. Tatjana Patiz, a German supermodel from the 80s and 90s passed away from [very sadly] breast cancer. Gina Lolabrigida, one of a generation of Mediterranean beauties [Gina, Sophia Loren, a couple Greek actresses that didn't get as much coverage], passed a well-lived life at age 95. Renee Geyer, a singer from Australia, passed away due to post operative infection. Lisa Marie Presley also passed. Don't get me wrong here... we're going to miss such legends as Jeff Beck a lot. But a lot of men have school boy crushes on actresses and singer that's not only biological, but indoctrinated behavior... Madison Avenue has encouraged us in this silliness [and that's exactly what it is -- assuming it does metastasize into obsession] since the time we started noticing girls and our voices started sounding funny.

I don't think so. The fact of the matter is that the market has been indoctrinated towards d20 /class-based systems. That's not good or bad, it's just a recognition of fact. RQ has always been second fiddle to EGG's monster but OTOH that can be seen as a good thing. Look at what popularity and market forces did to the Forgotten Realms... every time DnD had a new edition, the world got nuked to fit the new narrative. Glorantha has had no such dilution of the creator's vision. Greg's creation has been augmented, been changed slightly, but nothing like Ed Greenwood's milieu has been through.

There is some VERY interesting video on the 2500th anniversary of the Battle of Platea in Greece. Reenactors dressed out as hoplites recreating the battle. You might find that educational. *I* sure did. The second thing is that they could have specifically targeted the shields with aimed attacks with the intent of destroying them. That wouldn't work so well here on Earth, but with spells like Fireblade available, that becomes a valid tactic. It also serves to burn off the enemy's Magic Points as they desperately pump MP into Repair spells instead of Heal spells...

Well, if your players are interested more in the RP aspect they could also support Argrath's efforts that are 'off script' from the action in The Cradle. - Finding, vetting, and assembling adventurers to do the combat lifting - Negotiating with or organizing the assistance of the River Folk - Helping suppress Chaos along the route - Sabotaging Lunar and Sun County efforts. If you want them on the Cradle itself, then perhaps they're detailed to physically protect the Baby at all costs, as well as providing support for those involved in active fighting. Lots of RP possibilities dealing with the many disparate groups Argrath recruited and possible hostility between them.. the Trolls and Orlanthi are going to need a little smoothing over, for example. A situation like this might involve: - protecting Ernalda, Chalana Arroy and Xiola Umbar healers and getting the wounded the help the wounded need - keeping the Baby calm amidst all the ruckus - combat once the Cradle Protectors are driven below decks - smoothing over relations between groups that have to work together to survive. Those are few ideas that come to mind right off the top of my head. Something else to consider is that YOUR version of the The Cradle doesn't have to be 'canon'. Do what you think you need to entertain your table.

As for allowing augmentation for the contest with Bad Man and the acquisition of your fetch, it seems to me that only a HeroQuest would require more careful deliberation and preparation. By all means, DO the extra work and ritually prepare!

Welcome to Greg's Geriatric Grognards, Geoff!

So, I was a medieval reenactor for a long time in the era B.I. [Before Internet 😁]. Back then you had to do your own research with whatever sources you could find, gather, and borrow. My primary interest was the period before 1200, basically from the First Crusade on backwards. I'd read an account of Alcuin speaking of a battle on the Franconian March [the border with the Czech-Slovak region, which was still Pagan at the time] where several women donned armor as part of the markgraf's levy and were killed in a border skirmish. The bishop accompanying the force wrote to Charlemagne calling it another 'Massacre of the Innocents' and saying that women were needed to bear the next generation of warriors and therefore shouldn't be soldiers. But I read that reference almost 30 years ago and those notes are long since gone. It was in a book at the University of Washington but I no longer have access to the library there.

There WERE female war leaders and combatants in the Middle Ages. The historical record is absolutely clear on that point. There is speculation that there were even Christian Saxon female thegns to go along with the Norse/Dane shield maidens. That one is still be argued about, however, and I don't know of any conclusive proof of a any equivalent to a Christian woman knight. We also know from the writings of Alcuin of York that Carolingian women took part in combat... not merely protecting their village but as armored semi-professionals. That and modern sensibilities allow for female knights. Yes, the Christian ideal is the cult of Mary 'maiden, mother, matron, crone' archetype, but there's room for a 'Dame Aelgyfa' in the Round Table.

Well there is a 'Conan-ish' Legend [BRP variant] milieu set in Xoth, a very REH /ERB milieu. You can get those books on Mongoose's website as pdf only d/ls under the Legend heading.

They tried that already. There's a d20 version of Conan produced by Mongoose back in the day. The system is, well, d20. If you like it, then it's not altogether bad. It's a bit overpowered for my tastes personally, and I tend not to like 'ding! I leveled!' systems much anyway. But there was some solid milieu writing in it. It's kind of like MERP that way.

Yes, when you acquire a new passion, it begins at 60%. Whatever modifications begin there, in your Praxian's case, 'Loyalty [Clan] 40%' And welcome to the board!

First off @Mordante welcome to the board! I have to preface this by saying that I have experience with medieval combat [the SCA the largest medieval reenactment group in the world], so my view of combat is very much different than most game systems. Let me also note that the system for BRP /RQG was designed by people who'd been in the SCA in the early years of the group, so the differences are not all that much. 1. I simplify head protection. A heavy cloth cap/hat is 1 AP, a leather or fur cap is 2 AP, a nasal or skullcap open helm is 4 AP, a helm with cheek plates [the classic Roman legionary helm or the Sutton Hoo] is 6 AP and a full helm with neck protection [the classic hoplite helm, a barbute, or great helm] is 8 AP 2. I pay attention to facing. While I don't go full d20 'sneak attack damage' with it, I do pay attention to what is happening. If a combatant is fully engaged to their front and someone gets around behind them, it'll be MUCH harder for them to Dodge. This is a situational adjustment to their skill. 3. Also regarding facing, a shield may only block adjacent hit locations. You can't block your head, chest, and left leg with a small shield, for example. I ask the player if they're blocking 'high' or 'low'. The number of shielded locations depends on the size of the shield, just like in the rules. For example, Medium Shield blocks the shield arm and two other locations. If the character is blocking 'low' with a medium shield they block the shield arm, abdomen, and legs. If they block 'high' it's the shield arm, head and chest.

So, for those that don't know, fireworks are a thing during New Years. That's what my PTSD comment was aimed at. There's just nothing a person with violence-related PTSD loves more than random **BOOM** sounds all night. So as you might guess, there are some holidays that many of us just love. In the US, those are Independence Day and New Years, but my Canadian friends tell me they have similar problems around Canada Day so it's not too far fetched to think other countries have similar problems. And what makes it even MORE fun is that if you're out West like I am, there's also a slew of Indian tribes that start selling fireworks two weeks before the Goddamn holiday, so you can spend half a month spazzed out either anticipating the next random explosion or coping with the last one. This not only makes life hard for you, the PTSD patient, but also for your family. And here's my own personal gripe about that: I'm lucky enough to have a family that still loves me. THEY didn't sign up for John Wayne School for Maladjusted Youth. I did. So my family shouldn't have to put with me tripping out for six weeks out of every year. I do my best with it [therapy, meds, etc.], and I've learned to accept some symptoms of the disorder, but the random explosion thing is something none of us 'get used to'. It sets our paranoia off and we become pretty difficult to live with. And we're not that easy to live with to begin with. HOWEVER, COMMA, BUT I will happily give my neighbors a lot of credit where it's due. This particular NYE was pretty sedate when compared to others. Maybe the weather kept them inside. But they started their nonsense at 10pm and were done by 1am, and without ambulances being called this time. And nothing at all yesterday... there's usually a few left over for the day after the holiday. I'm starting to calm down a full three days earlier than normal.

What a year it's been, huh? It's easy to gripe and say that nothing but idiocy and cruelty reigned this year, but that's not entirely true. If people in the Ukraine and Syria can find something good about the year, then I certainly have nothing complain about. Like most years, this one has had good and bad in it. I hope the good outweighed the bad for you and yours. Happy New Year and stay safe. And for my PTSD brothers and sisters out there... well, I can't make it stop. I wish I could but that's not how it works, is it? When it gets bad, CALL SOMEBODY. Even a few minutes on a phone is better than bunkering up in your bedroom with the lights off. If you can spend the night with understanding friends, try and do that. You are NOT 'being a little bitch'. Asking for help on a tough night is part of recovery. May we all have a happier, healthier, better year in 2023.

Regarding tattooing, as I said, there are several ways to handle it. 1- You can have a 'marriage mark' tattoo that signifies marriage into a clan; 2- You can rule that tattoos have a magical component once applied and will change to reflect loyalties; 3- Some combination of both. 4- Not worry about it [that's a personal favorite] 😁 You're right that there are many different types of marriage in Heortling /Orlanthi culture. A Year Marriage would require no change insofar as tattoos or other symbols go. Everybody who needs to know is aware that the arrangement is temporary. But a permanent arrangement would require introducing the spouse to the clan wyter and 'adopting' them into the family. From a character sheet mechanics standpoint, it would do several things... Love Family applies to BOTH the family the spouse came from and the new family they have in the new clan. Loyalty Clan would have to be opened; any failure to show a minimal loyalty to the new clan could possibly be seen as an oath sworn in bad faith [a Very Bad Thing for Orlanthi cultures]. OTOH, it DOES make a good plot point. History is rife with women [mostly] who marry into a family /clan to destroy it from within. Roll your Illusion Rune, Margaret 😅

Not to be a downer, but Mythos figures are kind of a niche market, especially in this age of 3d printing and so on. That's not saying it can't or won't happen, but I don't see it as particularly likely.

Harrek killed his Hsunchen people's founding spirit-god, Rathor.

I don't know about outright worship, but I could see the Pelt of Rathor being a 'tribal wyter' for the Wolf Pirates. It's a valid question, what with how the Lunars treat Jar-Eel, but Sartarites don't worship Argrath directly, so we have examples that go both positive and negative. Other than that, I can see a [very] variety of magics used by the WP's. Every ship has to have someone who can use the Open Seas Sorcery spell for one thing, and everyone who chooses to join the pirates brings the beliefs/magics they had ashore with them. Then, of course, there will be a large slice Sea Pantheon worshipers... likely Magasta and especially Wachaza converts. And I can see Humakt having a significant influence with Gunda being the Sword.

We were just outside of Glamour when Illumination took effect....

Nothing too bad here in the PNW... rain, sleet, overnight ice. But folks in the Midwest, and one presumes Prairie Canada, got trucked. Holiday greetings to you and yours.

Yeah, that works in a sense.

Harpies, being creatures of Chaos, are no more 'Beast People' than Broo are, whereas Minotaurs, Manticores, and others are.