svensson

Something else I think should probably be said in this thread... **After the players have been duly warned, it is perfectly OK to follow through with your veiled threats** We're not playing Kingdom Hearts here. This is Call of freaking Cthulhu. In CoC there is no 'win', there is 'stave off the inevitable darkness for one more day'. If you wanted a happy ending, you should be playing My Little Pony. The first SAN check when Detective Gunhappy Browning realizes that the cultist just took a 12 gauge slug to the chest, giggled and kept coming at him should be 2/1d10. You know, just to let the PC's know you're serious... That isn't to say that you should be out there trying to kill characters, but if you play all the way through Mountains of Madness or Horror on the Orient Express and nobody died or isn't in a permanent catatonic state then you're doin' it wrong.

When Kublai Khakhan sent emissaries to Japan to require their submission to the Mongol /Chinese Yuan dynasty, the Hojo Shogun sent the emissaries back to China in several boxes each. This, of course, led to two Mongol attempts to invade Japan. Yeah, bro was mad....

Plato or Herodotus [I forget which] claimed that Amazons removed their left breast so that it didn't interfere with archery. [And yes, I have a whole slew of, um..., slightly inappropriate things to say about the man who thought THAT nonsense up]

Again, I think we're back to the role the character is playing in the conflict. A diplomatic emissary is not supposed to be slain for having the unmitigated gall to deliver bad news. It has been known to happen on occasion, which is usually responded to by the harshest punishments available.... In an RQ Orthanthi sense, a clan chief who murdered an Issaries herald and was later caught by the offended party could expect to be slain out of hand at the very least. A worse fate would be to be impaled on a scorn post and have his soul imprisoned in the post for all time. And if you don't think a Heortling clan would get that petty, you're not reading the same sources I am. But a character of any cult who was caught spying, well, that's a different matter. Only membership in Chalana Arroy would save them from some very dire consequences. And if you think that Heortlings are brutal, consider what would happen to you if you were caught by Lunar Empire for these offenses! Consider the fate of Hofstaring Tree-Leaper and other rebels who had their souls trapped or fed to the Bat!

I wholly agree with that. Non-combatant status entirely depends on acting like a non-combatant. But certain generally understood symbols of a cultist's role help everyone understand their intent. Since several cults have more than one role they play in society, it's fitting that they have openly visible symbols of which role they're undertaking. That's why I suggested that healers, no matter what cult they belong to, are recognized by being unarmed and wearing a white sash, or the different symbols for an Issaries worshiper's different tasks.

IMGU, I've always said that all magic has a visible component unless there is a strong Illusion Rune component or is otherwise mentioned in the spell text [Wind Words for example]. With Spirit Magic, it's low key but directly proportionate to the number of MP spent. When a normal person casts Bladesharp 1 on an axe, you might see the spell fetish glow for a second. When a Shaman pumps 6 MP into a Disrupt spell, you're gonna see a lot more... maybe a brief halo about his head and a sense of air displacement as the spell attacks its target [like an arrow passing by you without the arrow]. And Rune magic ALWAYS generates a light show, unless the aforementioned Illusion Rune is in play.

I searched for two hours on various keywords and this same item was the only 'boob plate' cuirass I could find. Given its uniqueness, I'm almost willing to relegate it to 'parade armor'. Several cuirasses from the Alexandrian successors era have been labeled as 'parade armors', especially in Seleucid Persia [gold leaf over very thin bronze], so there is some likelihood of that this is the case. But I might be wrong. I'm not a trained archeologist and I freely admit that I have my biases on the subject.

In another thread we got to talking about Ernalda priestesses acting as healers in open battle and asked 'are they inviolate [not the spell] when doing so'. This brings up insignia for the role a given cultist is acting upon... Ernalda and Uleria priestesses wearing a white sash and going unarmed when acting as Healers for example. So it would seem to me that a given Issaries cultist would have simple, easy to identify insignia for the role they're occupying in a given situation... trader, emissary [delivering messages or being a negotiator], and herald [being a neutral observer or party or a diplomat]. My simple solution would look like this: Quarterstaff when acting as a trader [the walking stick] A baton when acting as an emissary [the tally stick or rune stick of messages] And bare handed and unarmed when acting as a herald.

Us? Wander off track with a segue to the digression of the interruption? US? PERISH the thought! 😁

Well, let's not ignore Indian, Thai, Chinese and Japanese historical sculpture. There are some magnificent works in those styles. No, they're not what we are used to as Western educated viewers, but that makes them no less impressive. The effort and craftsmanship of Angkor Wat alone matches or exceeds anything produced west of the Urals.

I have this vision of knuckleheads running around in 'erection armor' now. Thanks for that.....

OK, I thinks we need to clarify the discussion here between cult roles and battlefield roles. If said Ernaldan Priestess is summoning Earth elementals, casting combat buffs [Earth Shield, Shield, Protection, whatever], and so forth, then she is considered a combatant and takes all the risks thereof. If the Ernaldan is clearly unarmed, has taken no part in the combat, and is Healing only, then she has the social protections of a healer. This does not protect her from accidents or the 'slings and arrows of outrageous fortune' [pun entirely intended], but none may seek to harm her. In open battle Sartar /Heortling Ernaldans and Chalana Arroy do not cast Inviolate, as battle is a recognized and natural part of life. As for Esrolians in that situation, that's a matter of discussion. YGMV.

Well in the midst of a shield wall scrum, that is 'in the immediate battle area', you pays your money you takes your chances. And those Healers that move up to heal the active combatants are well aware of the danger involved. In a rulebook sense, if they fall victim to another warrior's Fumble Table results, well, that's just how that shadow cat hunts. As to the question 'is it alright to specifically target a Healer who just cast Heal Body on the clan champion who required three men to put down', my inclination is to say 'no'. After all, your Healers are helping you too. But that could very well be a 'your Gloranthan mile may vary' kind of judgement.

A muscle cuirass is decorative but properly does what a cuirass is designed to do. Boob plate does not. All boob plate does is isolate a two nerve clusters and invite their pummeling. And you know, I don't why the Hell I never thought of this before but boob plate is about as much sense in an actual fight as an 'erection codpiece' 🤣🤣😁😁

Well, here's the thing... Glorantha doesn't have the nudity taboos that Earth's Western cultures do. There's literally nothing that prevents anyone gettin' naked, smearing Woad or Rhino Fat on themselves and having at it. And there is very few things quite as terrifying to a Gloranthan warrior as having some screaming lunatic split your shield in half... especially if that warrior just took your best shot right in the belly and all you did was 'scratch his paint' 🤣😁 And if a Glorantha products artist decided to portray that in a female warrior, I'd be fine with it. But the anatomically correct but tactically dumb armor could go the way of the dodo bird without me complaining much.

I agree with you to an extent. I think it comes down to the personal conduct of the Ernaldan in question. Is she in the back healing the wounded and unarmed, possibly clearly marked as a healer [white robes, whatever else have you]? Then she's probably alright. But if she's up front 'healing in the scrum' so to speak, then it's very likely that she'll be getting some unwanted attention.

I moved the question of Heralds in Warfare over to the Glorantha forum as it seemed more of a cultural milieu question than an RQ rules one.

Moving a specific question from the RQ forum over here because it's more 'Gloranthan cultural' than RQ rules. Question for the Collective Brain Jar: Are Issaries heralds considered inviolate in Gloranthan warfare? Obviously some opponents wouldn't observe such niceties, such as broo, tusk riders, trolls, etc, but do 'civilized' opponents observe the neutrality of the herald? Understand, I'm not speaking of an Issaries trader here, but specifically in the Issaries the Messenger /Herald /Neutral Party role. I can legitimately imagine two clans going at it with two unarmed Heralds standing on top a hill nearby mutually observing the battle or exchanging messages for their principals.

And Trolls, and Tusk Riders. Hence my statement about 'civilized' opponents.

There's plenty of anecdotal information about magical duels and 'heroquest warfare', so no, I don't think there's any prohibition against targeting priestesses in open war. Obviously, there are limits to this. Violating a temple is a Very Bad Idea. And no civilized opponent would target a CA /Teelo Norri healer in the midst of their duties. Neutral heralds who observe the battle but remain unarmed and apart from the fray are probably inviolate as well. I know of no specific mention of the non-combatant status of an Issaries worshiper in the Herald role, but it seems reasonable and likely. None of this prevents these people from being hurt in battle, however. Battles are chaotic by their nature and once battle is joined all kinds of things happen. If a healer gets hit and slain by a stray missile, that's part of the risk they take. But specifically looking for the medic is the kind of thing that'll get you outlawed very quickly. Even in a decadent society like the Lunar Empire, the willful slaying of a healer is the kind of thing that only a few people could get a way with without severe consequences. I think the litmus test is twofold: - Is the priest/ess unarmed and declaring themselves a non-combatant? - Is the priest/ess measurably contributing to the battle in a 'direct damage' way? By this I mean that, with the specific exception of Healing, is the cultist armed and acting in a military manner... Offensive and defensive magics count, as do summonings and acting as a 'POW battery' like some magicians in the Lunar Battle Mages.

With your summoner, that really depends on how much Protection and Shield she has up vs. how much Speedart /Firearrow /Multimissile you archer put into it. Like a lot of combat in RQ, it's a POW vs. POW contest as much as it's a mundane one.

Groups I've played in abstracted battles using several criteria: - Average aggregate AP of each force vs. Average aggregate weapon damage. - Battle skill rolls for mundane tactical advantages [terrain selection, maneuvers, etc.] - Aggregate POW vs. Aggregate POW for magical advantage. - Crazy PC ideas that just might work - Apply a rough percentage of casualties - Then set up a PC combat based on the casualty percentage.

First off, thanks for the compliment [that you rarely disagree with me]. OK, my comments about women's armor construction are completely separate of any HEMA /SCA safety requirements or armor regulations. They're based on the premise of 'what is armor designed to do'. Armor is designed, first and foremost, to protect the wearer from strikes from the four basic attack modes [bash, hack, slice, and stab]. In a Bronze Age context, you're absolutely right: there was also a certain intimidation factor involved. Crests, 'fierce face' masks, etc. decorated helmets in order to show social rank and intimidate opponents. However, much of this decoration still didn't descend to the torso area. Embossing or casting of a breastplate showed rank, but there was little to no projections to catch blows. Let's be blunt here. There is little physical archeological evidence of women professional warriors, although there is a large body of lore, anecdotes and legends about them. There is no denying that women warriors existed in Earth's history. I'm simply saying that their armor was similar to men's, with suitable modification for their bosom. To put it plainly, there wouldn't have been plate cuirasses that isolated each breast. It's simply less effective as a piece of armor. There is almost no archeological evidence for 'boob plate'. It's a fantasy artist's contrivance to announce to the audience, 'look, it's a girl', and it's one that we can encourage artists to do away with.

That's pretty much what I was getting at. Ernalda is voluptuous, she is Fertility, the Living Earth. Babeester Gor is buffed out, threatening, angry. She cares nothing for beauty or arousal because that is not her remit. She is the Warrior Earth, Protectress, and Vengeance Seeker Maran Gor is fat, but it is not a decadent fat... her body fat shakes like the angry Earth she represents. You could almost say that Maran Gor is the angriest spirit of reprisal of all. And while the Husband Protector Gods are not depicted like the historical Frey or Apollo in their fertility aspects [male organ erect], neither is Ernalda portrayed 'openly displayed' either. As for the comparison to DnD, any discussion of a fantasy game includes the big dog in the room. Whether we as RQ /Glorantha fans like it or not, whether we can argue against it, Dungeons and Dragons is the industry standard by which all other FRPGs [and role playing games generally no matter the genre] are judged. I mean, in real life there other standards of beauty than the one posed by Victoria's Secret and the Western fashion industry. Some of them are quite beautiful. But at the end of the day, the body type on the runway in Milan or in the pages of a Victoria's Secret catalogue is still the one we judge all others by.

THANK YOU! I really have been looking for that.