David Scott

Seeing as this is just about creating player characters and you get to choose your runes, a 6' 4" pygmy is a great character. So how does this work in a game? there is a back door in Praxian culture for those who literally don't fit in. Pygmy tribes are going to have the problem of the occasional large child who will never be ride their tribal mounts. Likewise being small is a problem is a tribe with large herd beasts. They get adopted by another tribe usually by the mediation of the Paps, less normally left with an oasis group and then enslaved, unusually sold off or enslaved to another tribe / outsider. But this is going to be rare stuff, the stuff of stories. Another alternative is that they are adopted by the Unicorn tribe, who accept those that don't fit or follow praxian social norms. As an aside, I roll average dice for NPCs or just use average stats. The Adventurers section in RQG is just that - for creating adventurers, not everything that applies to Adventurers applies to NPCs.

The answer lies in real world shamanism and religion. Many cultures have a three world spirit world or at least acknowledge the existence of them even if they don’t access them. Shamanism has simplistically the Middle world, which is the spirit world of our world that overlays it. Confusingly it’s named the other way round in Glorantha where the real world is the middle world and the spirit world overlays that. Spirits of the middle world are nature spirits, those that don’t know they are dead (ghosts), and the spirit presence of all the things in the world. Then there is the upper world, a spirit world called so as the means of accessing it is up. Some real world cultures the upper world does actually contain the sky, sun, moon and planets, even space. But may be somewhere else entirely. The spirits of the upper world are often sources of knowledge and teachers. The lower world works the same way, is accessed by going down, but doesn’t have to be inside in the ground, but in some cultures is. The spirits of the lower world are a source of power. Now transpose that outline to some religions. Heaven, is by some equated to the upper world, the lower world is the underworld or hell. when you die in Glorantha your spirit/soul travels the path of the dead, ends up at the court of judgement and Daka Fal sends you to the right afterlife. Many assume that the courts of judgement are in the underworld, but I don’t think it’s ever been said where. There’s an explanation of this is the upcoming gods of Glorantha book. The dead are in their own god’s afterlife. Subjectively it may be called a heaven or hell. Trolls spirits will go to the appropriate underworld, some would call it Hell. The spirits of yelm cultists will go to the sky world, lunar dead to the spirit world or the moon. Normally you get to stay in your afterlife until you get reborn. It’s quite a straightforward structure if you are aware of earthly equivalents.

The NPC calculations for the prax book are currently Impala & Ostrich riders (primary rune Fire, secondary & tertiary is any) STR 3D6 = average is 10.5 so 10-11 (possibly + 1 if Air secondary) SIZ 2D6+6 = average is 13 then -2 = 11 (possibly + 1 if Darkness secondary) INT 2D6+6 = average is 13 then +2 = 15 Impala cultural weapons, Self or Composite bow (depending on STR), darts, shortsword (no requirements) Ostrich cultural weapons, 1 Handed spear (lance), War boomerang, shortsword (no requirements) Bolo riders (primary rune Earth, secondary & tertiary is any) STR 3D6 = average is 10.5 so 10-11 (possibly + 1 if Air secondary) SIZ 2D6+6 = average is 13 then -2 = 11 (possibly + 1 if Darkness secondary) CON 3D6 = average is 10.5 so 10-11 then +2 = 12-13 Bolo cultural weapons Bolas, darts, shortsword (no requirements) I cheated though and made a handy praxian calculator:

For reference we are using the same for Ostrich and Bolo folk in RQG.

Here's a quote from the upcoming Gods of Glorantha that neatly explains this: Daka Fal has both runes as he bridges this form gap. None from an adventurer point of view.

As it says in Sartar KoH, the basic guide to chaos is [does it] use or openly show Chaos features, runes, spirits, charms and spells. I would add, is it one of the races of chaos as well. That's very straight forward. Nearly all lunars will look, act and behave without out triggering this reaction. If you are a lunar and member of the Red Goddess's cult then you will likely openly show chaos runes on your attire, basically just as any other cult member does. You're not going to detect as chaos unless you've done something that uses chaos, However Storm Bulls will react to the presence of the chaos rune. Exactly. The pain of chaos is going give them a problem around the Red Goddess Temple. It's likely a few have attempted together in and died in the process, but it's likely to be one of the more heavily guarded buildings in New Pavis for a number of reasons.I suspect that the presence of Krasht gives them a bigger problem and more headaches. We know there are 20 initiates of the Red Goddess in Pavis, and at least a few of them will have a taint. Pavis GtA says I see this as a cycle: Storm Bulls gather at the temple for a hoy day, ritual gets out of hand, go on the rampage, get killed, expelled, jailed, temple shuts down for a long time, chaos eventually appears nearby, storm bulls reappears, temple reopens, chaos is dealt with, repeat. Look at what happened in Boldhome to the storm Bull temple there with Orgwaha. The camp at the Block is a holy place for the Storm Bulls and as such was protected from Lunars interference by the Armistice of Prax 1610-1625. The end of your scenario if it happened is - as they are looting the block, a horde of dragonsnails and their broo riders rises out of the marsh and kills them. The real end of the Lunar chaos in Pavis happens in 1625 at the end of the siege of Pavis. Storm Khan Orgwaha Blue Llama has much to payback and prove against the Lunars after the Boldhome setup. Argrath knows this and has him at his side, it's him and his followers that rid the city of it's chaos temple and followers. They burn the Red Goddess temple down and kill any one associated with. I think it's these Storm Bulls that cause the most damage and killing in the aftermath of the siege. Argrath allows it as it serves a greater purpose.

Pavis GTA, page 410 provides the guidelines for this: and then Sartar: KoH, page 177 I would suggest that only cultists whose god has the chaos rune actually detect chaotic. So the only real problem is the Red Goddess as she alone has the chaos rune. If she has a shrine in the Yara aranis temple then that's the trigger.

There is a whole chapter on the The Sky in the Guide to Glorantha. It opens with: I would assume that the darkness is similar to earth, so depends on a number of factors: Weather, landscape, moon phase, etc. Have a look at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lux for some examples. I'd like to think that the Gloranthan equivalent of Airglow is caused by air spirits in the middle air. It's possible to have starlight bright enough to cast your shadow in areas of our world with no light pollution and clear air. So it's likely that the other Gloranthan planets would do the same, such as those mentioned above. The darkest is likely to be in Shadows Dance, on a Black Moon, overcast with heavy cloud. Where as on a full moon in the northern wastes under a clear sky in the summer, it's likely to be brightest.

No Gringle's Pawn shop hasn't been converted, but the original RQ2 version is easily usable with RQG. The Rainbow Mounds is also being updated for future publication. If you want the original, there is the classic version is available in PDF: https://www.chaosium.com/apple-lane-pdf/ The new version moves the timeline forward with the original occupants: eg. Brightflower, daughter of Bulster the Brewer, was 13 in the original, she's now 34 and has taken over from her parents:

Stepping back from details and looking at the big picture, the population numbers of these tribes are more telling. These are based on the 1621 numbers in the Guide and reflect the effects of the Windstop, Moonbroth II and the siege of Pavis. Ignore the preciseness of the numbers and round. Focusing on just the Bolos and Ostrich folk, their numbers are small in comparison to the great tribes. At the Dawn they weren't with the Covenant at the Paps, where each of the now great tribes had roughly 20 families (a clan of 500)each, they were in their blasted ancestral grazings in the Wastes with only 7 families a piece (about 175 individuals each). In the following 1625 years their populations' are still tiny, they suffer a great deal of attrition from their way of life. They mainly survive as part of the Two-Legged Alliance, an ancient pact with each other and the Morokanth. Another focus of their "problems" is that they are not Eiritha's children, they were given to her care by Ernalda. She has little power in the Wastes and so they are always going to be minor tribes. So overall, for many reasons, the Ostrich and Bolo folk are always going to be the underdogs, tiny in numbers and suffering greatly as a result.

Yes, the PDF is already out! https://www.chaosium.com/runequest-gamemaster-screen-pack-pdf/ As is usual you get the PDF for free, as the cost is offset against the print copy. There is no date as yet for the print version, other than soon, IIRC it's gone to print. This is likely what you are looking for:

Sartar Kingdom of Heroes clearly names the Enjossi settlement as Spawn on the map on page 281, which makes a lot of sense (It's called SPAWN on Greg's original map). Further detail can be found in the adventure book of the GMs Screen Pack (GMSP) Adventure Book page 17, it says they live around the lake and that their wyter lives in the lake. Colymar Clans Map from the GMSP also shows the location of the Locaem village in Richberry Vale. It has the same relative positioning on Greg's map as Spawn, so it too is waterside. There's no name for it on Greg's maps.

I would also add to have a look at the pre-gens in the core book. They have a range of cults between them. It's refreshing to have new players. Ask as much as you like. Just make sure you say it's about RuneQuest Glorantha as quite a few members jump in quickly with info on previous versions of the rules, that are often not relevant or even wrong and so not helpful.

The I need healing box on page 150 covers this. A Little Healing Fast, this is where spirit magic has its niche. Heal 2 stops bleeding, heal 6 can reattach a maimed limb. Depending on the area that needs it you have either 5 or 10 mins to deal with the injury. This in my games is battlefield stuff, who do you pay to do this? no one, It's the players. If you've brought along an NPC healer, then it's standard healer pay of 80L/year, but I'd more likely use the 1L/day rate for a guard and double it. However: The next one for me is a non-starter. For example you couldn't use it on spirit bound into an item. This is where you get a shaman, priest, or other rune level in to do this kind of work. This an interesting one and for me would depend on who or what the target was. However it depends on what you mean by long lasting? A day long spell is intensity 9, a week is 12 and a season is 15 (the sorcerer in my game can cast seasonal magic). A dispel magic 9 or even 15 is going to be a hard one to find. Take it to your temple and get Dismiss Magic cast, it only has to overcome the Strength of the the spell not the total intensity. Repair is perhaps the only one I can see actually arising in a game. However I have at least 2 players with repair 1 which is enough cover most things. A skilled crafter can repair stuff with a craft roll, they are only 3-10 clacks per day. Other than the obvious problem of finding someone who knows the summon to match your control, this is one of the best adventure hooks I can imagine. Are you really going to do his in a game? I'm still not convinced that casting spirit magic costs anything. I feel that spirit magic use has many real world examples - the person going round to ask for a light for their cigarette - have you got a light? yes that will be the cost of a box of matches divided by the number of matches. you cut your finger, has anyone got a plaster, have you got some tape to fix this box. Most of this is 1 or 2 magic points that most will get back in an hour or so. Higher cost stuff that's stackable is not as common and so is the realm of specialists - heal 6 for example, most healers will have this at a minimum to eventually put into a matrix. Dispelling big magics is the realm of magical specialists and your temple is the first call for this.

I'm interested in what circumstances this would happen, bearing in mind that most spirit magic lasts 5 minutes or is instant. The basic cost of casting spirit magic is zero in my games, players cast spirit magic on each other all the time (Healing, Mobility, Strength, etc) and never charge each other. Most is cast on the fly. Enchantments are covered by the rules already mentioned as they require POW.

My current info for the prax book has bit on Day's Rest. The main source of water for the oasis is the Dundealos River which fades underground when entering Prax. Occasional flash floods do reach the oasis though. This results in the area around the oasis being suitable for cucurbits and it even supports 20-30 trees of varying types although most are palms whose fruit is good animal feed. The water of the oasis is open is a long crack in the ground that legend has it was gouged in the stone by Storm Bull's horns. This makes it unusual in that it offers unrestricted access to the water for herd as It's hard edges aren't damaged by their hooves. It has a single clan of Oasis Folk who raise cucurbits. Day's Rest is one of two main Holy sites for Waha (the other being the Paps) and as a result this causes much trouble in the area. It's a main route for caravans who must pay a toll to water here. In theory as a Waha holy site it is open to all the tribes, but control of it's resources is fought over mainly by the Pol-Joni Khans from the Pol-Joni Marches who wish to show their piety and the Morokanth whose ancestral lands are close at Biggle Stone, who just love cucurbits. Other khans often on Pilgrimage with their clan often take temporary control. To the south are the chaos zones of the Marsh, so most sensible traffic comes here rather than tourney altar as the Paps are a straight run. Morokanth guides are always available at the Paps for the route south and many other vie to take caravans up to Pavis and the Pavis road. The Oasis folk here have a high proportion of orlanthi ancestry and thrive due to the higher rainfall than average and the proximity of the Pol-joni who have their own Ernalda priestesses who pays attention to plants and people here, more so than the Paps does normally.

The player in my game who had a sorcerer demonstrated to me that sorcery was far from crap. If anything it demonstrated that he was going to be the most powerful magic user in the game. It was his primary magic and he had no spirit magic deliberately (as he wanted the most Free INT). I’d like to hear more feedback from those playing or GMing sorcerers in the game, as to how they play, rather than theoretical rules changes. But that’s just how I play RQG sorcery as written.

You seem to be going round in circles with common magic is common. As jeff quoted, priests teach spirit magic from their cult spirits, shaman teach it using shamanism. We dont have a complete overview of sorcery, so we can’t say for certain that sorcerers can’t get spirits to teach their magic. It’s clear that sorcery users can use spirit magic, it just interferes with their capacity to do so. We have spirit magic, rune magic and sorcery spells with spirit magic being the most common and basic. So what are you calling common magic? Why do you feel that sorcerers should be able to teach that form of magic without penalty? If the answer is because you just think they should then qualify it with, in my Glorantha. YGMV is perfectly okay, but I don’t think Jeff’s going to produce an individual set of rules for you.

Referring to the sorcery section of RQG, it says on page 384: Although spirit magic is now a function of CHA, it still affects Free INT as previous rules. Your other points are certainly valid though.

Firstly it's based on the structure already given in the Core Rules for travelling in the Spirit World . I used the finding a spirit section (page 375) and Extended discorporation (page 376) as he was wanting to meet the Twinstars. It's simple formula: What is the purpose of the journey to the spirit world? State if going extended Starting ritual (others cast helpful magic like Axis Mundi) discorporate - spend 5 mps Time 1D6 hours One Spirit Travel roll (may use to move into a new region) One planned Encounter (if needed) each hour, hostile spirit roll. Extension - spend 1 mp Time +1D6 hours One Spirit Travel roll (may use to move into a new region) One planned Encounter (if needed) each hour, hostile spirit roll. return Second make sure you've read the Spirit World chapter thoroughly and looked at the art. Thirdly look at the map and see what might be nearby in the Middle world that would be a fun add in to the spirit world Finally, read about some real world shamanic journeying and look at related art for inspiration. Be aware that in RW shamanism the spirit world of the real world is called the Middle World. In Glorantha, the real world of Glorantha is called the Middle World and the spirit world is called just that. In RW shamanism the Spirit World refers to all spirit worlds (like the Upper, Middle and Lower). In Glorantha it blurs the Upper and Lower with the Under and Sky worlds. These links are to shamanic practices that I consider not mixed in with other spiritual work (shamanism has become a catchall word for many practices that have little to do with it or are tenuous at least). Simple examples: https://www.shamanlinks.net/blog/shamanic-journey-examples/ Cave & Cosmos by Michael Harner: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B008IS24GY/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 Lots of Huitchol yarn paintings give a sense of the spirit world. This one could easily represent a map from prax through Dagori Inkarth to Sartar: This one is a map of the spirits bordering delicti's marsh https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huichol#/media/File:Arte_del_Pueblo_Huichol.jpg Also Dreamtime art, stuff like this is great inspiration for Glorantha spirit adventures: https://japingkaaboriginalart.com/aboriginal-dreamtime-stories-overview/

Yes, although some shaman have shamanic abilities to bring others along. The RQG core spirit rules have plenty of room for expansion. There’s room for more shamanic abilities and even culturally specific ones. The spirit world overlays the middle world. But it’s not one to one relationship and is variable Yes and no. The same applies to size. If it’s the same spirit region, no problem. Yes of course, you just have to get past the darkness spirits in Dagori Inkarth safely, and the troll shaman and the troll spirits. Or go over the mountains, first befriending the mountain spirits and the wind spirits. There are likely rituals to help you on your way known by some spirit societies. Some like the spirit path over the Stormwalk mountains, are straightforward, you just have to stand up next to the mountain and chop it down with the edge of your hand... just make sure you’ve done the preparation first. Don’t forget that when you finally arrive in Sartar, you don’t have your body. Unless he has his herd with him he doesn’t have the luxury of starting at home camp. He enters the spirit world of snakepipe hollow, not the Praxian plains. He’d better be very prepared for what’s there and don’t forget he leaves his body behind. Most spirits will be neutral, but with more chaos and disease spirits. I really wouldn’t want to meet the “hands” on the spirit plane. There are no hard and fast rules about the spirit plane, that’s one of its properties, it’s variable.

https://www.deviantart.com/152mm/art/Gods-War-Cwim-710537372

Although the credibility tests don't apply to magic in HQG, I still use them with the group I'm playing with to scale the magic. The main phrase is "overtly supernatural" and the opposite is "You cannot do anything overtly supernatural" which I call natural. I even vary it in scale and scope so it's not always constant and often magical effects pull people into the otherside or things out of it (depending on success or failure level). I don't define the limits before it happens, so the I know my Heler Hero can make rain and how much doesn't come into it until the framing and the results. With a contest framed with "I'm going to call the skies down and wash away the trolls" I'd say was a moderate difficulty, but I'd bump it up under a clear and cloudless sky. Often other player would chime in with the credibility level saying, but it's sunny.etc. On a marginal success, it would rain covering the trolls too, but it would be more of annoyance, maybe muddying the ground and forefeet, they would laugh. On a complete victory, the skies would darken fill with supernatural clouds, the rain would be torrential and a flash flood would wash the trolls away (if they didn't do something like call darkness spirits from this situation to freeze the rain). Within a few minutes the sky would clear, back to natural. So for size and range, most stuff I limit only to the players field of perception.