Super Thunder Bros.

Thanks for in the input folks. I think going forward my shortlist is Princeros Tovtaros Tres Bachad Maybe the Dinacoli? The Vantaros will be clear rivals and enemies from day one. I'm using some Apple lane material, so at a clan level will be reskinning the Varmandi or Hiording. With that in mind, anyone see any parallels between any of the tribes on my shortlist and the Colymar? Just to make the process easier

Oh I'd love to hear more!

Hughes’ content is great. His take on the Tovtaros may be a bit too “backwoods” for my liking

Greetings all! After much deliberation (and alot of great help from the community) I’ve decided to run my first RQ:G game up in the Far Place. Set around 1615, Ironfist and his lackeys look like ideal overarching villains, with lots of factions mingled in. My party will also benefit greatly from nearby locations: Snakepipe for my Uroxi, Skyfall Lake for the Helering, Woods of the dead for the Humakti, Ivory Plinth for the Tusk Rider hating Gori. Even the Hidden Valley for the Barntar initiate! With that said I’m gathering as much info on the area as I can, I’ve acquired WF’s #15 and am awaiting some of the Zin letters. I’m also taking bits from Apple Lane and Renekot’s Hope for NPCs etc. What I’m wondering is can anyone suggest an interesting tribe for my players to be members of? Either the Alone or Alda-Chur confederations would be appropriate. I’m more interesting in the party interacting with the cities than being stuck in the hills. Only other consideration is a few characters have beef with Sun Worshippers through family history, so the Yelmalio dominated tribes are probably out. Happy to hear any suggestions, as I’m sure there may be a fun idea staring me right in the face!

Oh my mistake. I thought you meant give everyone Orlanths/Ernalda’s skill packages due to being lay members

Thanks @Akhôrahil I’m going to leave things on the Wyter front for now as it probably complicates things. Just to check, post adulthood initiation, you’d award them all of the Orlantha/Ernalda cult skill bonuses? Would you then award the skill bonuses associated with their individual cults after that initiation too?

I'm kicking off an upcoming campaign with some coming of age intitiaions taken from Six Seasons in Sartar. I have someone leaning into Barbeester Gor for her cult, and although there's nothing wrong with the Ernaldan rite, but I came across the following: Amazing write up by @Wrestlepig I must say, I simply have to use it. The character seeks revenge against a Tusk Rider who killed her mother and bound her spirit as a slave, there's my opposed figure! As I'm very much a beginner at running the game wanted to ask if anyone had any mechanical input to pad this out. What Rune, passion or skill checks make the most sense? I could certainly make use of some of Rites of Passage from Six Seasons NB. Anyone have any suggestions for Helering adulthood rites? Run them through both Male and Female? Something new?

Ah thank you @David Scott this is exactly what I was looking for! Someone has suggested to me that clan dynamics would completely change the character of the town, and to an extent I see that. But I don’t think adding a clan ring would do any harm. I’m also considering when it comes time to enter adulthood, the characters families take them to clan homelands for initiations and rites. Oh and looking at Nick Brooke’s manifesto, separating the town into 3 families/groups should certainly create dynamics too

I recently picked up Pegasus Plateau & Other Stories and want to use the settlement of Renekot’s Hope as a starting location for my party but also where they grew up. As I want to run some initiations, festivals, marriages etc any advice for adding some clan dynamics to the settlement?

@radmonger Ah interesting, thank you for breaking down your house rules. Do you run any kind of ritual/vision/Heroquest for cult confirmation?

Just for info Six seasons in Sartar has the players adult initiation take the form of initiating into the community and it’s Wyter, granting Rune points and spells

Hi tribe! So in two weeks I’m kicking off my first RQ:G game. It’ll be a clan based game using the initiations and episodes from six seasons in sartar and some of chaosiums adventures, but transplanted to Lunar Tarsh. Players will start as young Lay members of their cults as well as lay members of Ernalda as she is a central figure in this clan. First sessions will be adulthood initiations, cult initiations will be played out further down the line. What I’m wondering is what to do about skills. SSIS suggests characters should start as lay members of Ernalda/Orlanth thus gaining those passions and cult skills? (Do Lay members start with cult skills?) Then going on to initiate into the clan Wyter and community through the adulthood ritual. So I could just go with that, create a clan Wyter etc. This would grant Rune Magic etc (To emphasise the start of their journey I’m starting them off with just 1 Rune point and 2 spirit points) How’s all that sound? Instead of a Wyter I could just have them all initiate into Ernalda, useful spells there and one less cult to worry about but I also want to emphasise community. To add I may grant each a single skill bonus from their chosen cults.

Cheers for the suggestion all, going forward I’m hoping to speak to my players and offer them the following: Keep the characters they’ve made and play young members of a clan. Said clan will be in Doraster or the Zola Fel, ruled over by relatively benevolent Lunars. Descended from criminals and exiles the clan are freely allowed to practice their cults. Things will get interesting when the Emperor orders a change of rulership in the area, meaning changes to worship and the rare local resources or Tweak the characters and play a Lunar focused game, an assassins war and political manoeuvring. Full on Dune

@soltakss Ooh thank you for the rundown. So the basic vibe is a lot of Chaos remnants and the danger that brings. So I'm getting the vibe that it's home to exiles and new starters. Is it more of a colonization, taming a frontier vibe, or a place for criminals/a backwater to be exiled or feel to? (I only ask as I'm already running a D&D game that's all about reclaiming lost ruins in the wilderness) Seems interesting though, it looks like Doraster and the Zola Fel are in the running for me

Gotta say this is the first time I’ve heard if Doraster, looking into it now but could you give me the basic rundown?

@EricW Thank you! Exploring cults is certainly a big draw for me. The characters are beginning to get fleshed out so this is more of me unsure where to set things geographically/thematically and how to start.

Truestone added to my research list! As for Raus I could put someone more aligned in his position, but I'm intrigued. Trying to think why some cousins who lost two parents to the Crimson Bat would be working alongside an (exiled) Lunar?

Yes I think I'm gonna have some kind of very important resource in the clan's homelands, that will instantly make some Dune parallels. The question I suppose is where? I will look into Moon rock, thank you for the suggestion! Playing as Lunar's would be appropriate but looking at the party won't work. I'm wondering if there's any way I can get this angle with an anti Lunar party. Something with Duke Raus? Esrolian Houses? Maybe a clan forced to fight like the Romans used Germanic auxiliaries? Yes I pushed the timeline back to keep Lunars about

I think this is a great way to start them off: they're young members of a clan; they need to prove themselves to they're community; just got to make sure this doesn't turn into MMO style "go here, kill that" etc

@scott-martin Oh visions are definitely something I should use! Will be making notes on this Despite wanting to explore a lot of the land I don't want to start them off wandering, contradiction I know. I'm hoping to start them off embedded in they're community? Aged 16-20 I think we have between them

Oh wow so many reply already! I'll give everything a ready a reply but thank you already folks 🙏

So I’m gearing up to run my first RQ:G game and the amount of choice has left me second guessing what direction to go in. I’m not too bothered about canon or dates, and am more of the kind to create my own adventures rather than pre written. YGMV and all that, players will inevitably change the world and I don’t mind changing things for them. I thought a clan game may be a good shout, possibly young members to learn about the world (though that’s got me second guessing too), so instructed my players along those lines. I have: a teenage Stormbull herder, Issaries diplomat, Orlanth Thunderous farmer (all 3 are cousins, family history means they’re pretty anti-Lunar) and a loner Heler hermit of sorts. So I just don’t know where to go from here? I have ideas about the game being about plains and riding animals but nothing seems to fit, and am willing to drop that if it doesn’t go anywhere. I do want to explore an Egyptian/Indian vibe with this game so am drawn towards Holy Country and it’s cities (Esrolia and Heortland) I also wanna explore Lunar occupation, Beast valley and chaos remnants. The residents of Prax appeal to me the most: Baboons, the block, Morokanth and their herdmen, half giants, the Dark Sun-post-apocalyptic atmosphere. I thought Pavis had simply too much going on lorewise and factions however but I could be wrong. So to boil it down what I love about Glorantha: the real bronze age weirdness with bizarre cities, the multiple apocalypses, spiritual metaphysics and community-centered adventures where you deal with the troubles related to being people who live in a place so saturated with magic that random things just can't help but keep happening. But what does this look like as a campaign? Looking at my group can anyone give me any steer? Much appreciated Note: usually when I’m stumped for ideas I turn to something like Frank Herbert’s Dune for inspiration . Could this be an option here? Anyway I can use the Atreides and they’re tale as a skeleton for some clan adventures? Lunar game would be ideal I know but I don’t have that option

Oh this is gold I gotta say! I will run with this, thank you so much One thing I was wondering, reading about Jonstown I really like how the cities are presented with citizens etc And I really want to emphasise the urban nature of the Orlanthi With this in mind would not-Bartertown work better as a town under a tribe or a Jonstown style city with feuding tribes?

Ooh good stuff in your post thank you! Just to check, here are you talking about a tribe's city or a confederation city like Jonstown?

So reading through King of Sartar I now have a rough idea of Orlanthi Clans vs Tribes and tribal confederations. I'm putting together a custom clan and had a few queries: 1 - In terms of clans and tribes what kind of settlements would serve as enters of power? Forts an villages for a clan's Chieftain and a town for a Tribal King? (Are cities only for tribal confederations?) 2 - Are Orlanthi clans likely to just feud or descend into all out war? Is that more of a tribe vs tribe situation? 3 - I want my clans local trade town to be something like a wild west or a Mad Max Bartertown situation. Think The Warriors style groups feuding and fighting to be in charge of the settlement, large underground space for each of the factions. It's a place of trade and whoever's in charge get's the profits. All out war is bad for business but gang wars between groups do pop up (May even throw in a Thunderdome!) Would this work better as clans within a tribe feuding over a settlement or differing tribes in a loose and tense confederation?