David Scott

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.

It's an interesting read, it's subtitle "A Collection of Speculative and Exploratory Texts about Glorantha" pretty much sums it up. It's not rules, but esoterica - if you are interested in the development of HeroQuesting in the world of Glorantha. Lots of parts of it are collect from other older works that are no easily found anymore, and it's not all Greg - I've always like Steve Marsh's Heroquest game Shattered Norns (https://adrr.com/hero/norns/index.htm) some of which is in here: $10 for 130 pages is pretty good value in my mind if you like Glorantha esoterica ( I've also got the previous version when it was just called Heroquests & Heroquesting). But if you only want Heroquesting for RQG, it won't help. Wait for Jeff's cool system.

YGMV Firstly, although this may not be true anymore, Greg said that Feminine cycles and Moon cycles; pregnancy and menstruation etc. are not connected to the Moon, except insofar as the Moon is perceived as female. also http://www.glorantha.com/docs/ernaldan-initiation-rites/ my favourite quote comes from the unpublished Harnmast Saga. Harmast meets Ernalda and they talk: Womens' magic is surely powerful. As for the mythical reason, I would suggest that it only came into being when the cycle of life and death came into being and is a part of that duality. Fertile and not, perhaps part of Ernalda's journey with Yelm to the underworld. I would certainly shy away from some of negative Earthly myths involving impurity, shame, etc. Would any women out there like to comment @Ellie?

You must be reading different version of RQG than I have. Page 381 I don't understand your sweeping dislike of a bare bones sorcery system that works perfectly well in play. I'd suggest some patience here. The same author of the HeroQuest sorcery rules wrote these ones. They share a common ancestry, he won't throw the baby out with the bath water. Basic sorcery plays easily in games. I've run it at cons now (using Sorala) and in club games. The sorcerer in our group managed quite well on the basics. But i'm sure he'd like more. Grimoires, by any other name: Inscribed spells are clearly a starting point for grimoire rules. Page 389

If you still have RQ3 Vikings, you should be able do it. There are a few new skills, but the book explains them. BRP doesn't use Strike Ranks, so just use Vikings. Have look at Pedro's character sheet, it should help. Pedro is here on BRP he might be able to offer some advice @PZiviani.

In our world coal is basically metamorphosed plant material, that happens over a long time. I'm not sure it would exist naturally in Glorantha, other than specialised fuel made from elves by dwarves. There is one mention of it that I can find, in GRoY - the Brass, Silver, and Coal Tablets. There is no mention of origin. Charcoal is likely the fuel of choice for smithing, we know that one of the 18 orlanthi professions is charcoal burner. However YGMV.

Tolat is Artmal's Uncle. Artmal's mother is Anehlla (a planet) and his father is Zrethus [sky] Senalfe (the blue of the sky). Anehlla's parents are Ehilm [Shamal, Yelm] and Nakala [tide and darkness]. So Tolat's mother is Nakala. This is according to the the Artmali (from a GTA document once available to Heroes by GS).

Aside from @Ali the Helering’s excellent answer, there are many other options. Westerners might say that Tolat’s action on Umath caused him to devolve. One of his devolved parts is called Orlanth. Also Death has been around longer than Humakt, it just wasn’t named or personified. It’s actions were shattering, devolution, breaking apart, bursting, etc. Humakt/Death is the same thing and was recognised when life became another important force. We don’t doubt that Umath was alive before Life was recognised.

Praxian and Orlanthi have always been intertwined, given that what was Tadaland (Prax) sits next to Dragon Pass. The influence of the Storm Mountains (GTG Map page 297) shows all of Prax is within Kero Fin's influence. The holy places of the Paring Stone, Onetree (Heortling Mythology page 75) at Tourney Altar are all important links. The Eiritha Hills are sacred as the holy site of the Cattle mother Eiritha (Uralda) and so it's no surprise that her son is the butcher. We've know since Cults of Prax that Prax was "invaded" in 35 by missionaries of the First Council, from then the Praxians were then part of the First council. They received land grants in Peloria after 230 as part of the Second council up to 365. For 330 years the Praxians and other peoples mixed. Theylan culture was much more important in Prax at this time, than what would become Praxian culture as we know it today. After the Battle of Night and Day most Praxians withdrew to Prax. It was at this time the the first migrations took place, with large numbers of nomads heading across the Zola Fel to the Wastes, this was when Waha became truly established, independently from Orlanth. However Orlanthi culture is still part of the Way of Waha, look at the Cult percentages in Cults of Prax, they are a little out of date, but there are still 13000 Orlanth and Vinga initiates amongst the tribes and 8000 of them are impala riders.