davecake

An initiate of a god should not be a humanist who doesn't think their god has moral authority. If you aren't an initiate of a god. you don't need to be an Illuminate to think you have more moral authority than that god. Though believing your moral views trump natural law is still pretty wild.

I'm still quite convinced that it is a mistake. The issue with giants etc becoming effectively unkillable without ridiculous luck (just about anything is possible with enough critical of course) shouldn't really be an issue - stories may be stories about heroes who had ridiculous luck anyway, or who used any of a range of methods to kill them anyway (Poison, magic that attacks them directly like Sever Spirit or Multispelled Disrupt or Sun Spears, a critical becomes more likely with spells like <weapon> Trance, there are plenty of ways to kill a giant that aren't just individual characters humans attacking with melee weapons, and I can only recall a singleGloranthan story about a hero killing a giant through use of normal arms alone (and that was the story of Scala, who explicitly had ridiculous luck and knew it, and critical impaled the giant in the abdomen with a mounted rhino charge, which would kill a giant in any system*) - generally speaking stories about fighting giants are about using cleverness and tactics, or powerful magic, not just taking them on in straight melee as if they were a normal combatant. But if they did, a character who uses a weapon directly is still more than capable of injuring one, if they have access to magic - for example a Sword of Hunakt with a great sword, Truesword, Strength for a D6 damage bonus and Bladesharp 6, does an average of 2x(2D8) + 6 + 1D6, for average of 27.5. With a special that raises to 3x (2D8) + 6 +1D6 =36.5, for a critical that raises to max special damage, so (4 x 16) + 2D8 +6 +1D6 = 82.5. I don't consider this an extreme or contrived example - I've had a PC capable of doing this in more than one game, its pretty much by the book Sword tactics for this kind of fight, and I haven't added anything unusual like Damage Boosting, Lunar Magic, or even any of the Humakti damage enhancing sword geases (which would make it much easier). If you are taking them on with weapons directly, it's really hit points per location that is relevant. In RQ3, using the SIZ/CON average roll and scaling CON and SIZ, even an enormous 16m giant has 39 hit points and 21 armour points in the leg. So they can easily take them to damage exceeding double Hit Points in the leg with a single critical, incapacitating them. 2-3 specials will take the leg out, causing them to fall, and even a standard hit will still do damage, enough that 7-8 normal hits will cause them to fall (so if they are being attacked by a party, probably a couple of rounds worth of attacks. Similar damage level can be delivered by a Babeester Gor Axe Lady, a ZZ Death Lord, etc. Of course not every cult does as well, but if we really wanted to do the calculations for Praxian lance charges, mass archery barrages, etc, and also look at the statistical spread of higher and lower attacks etc we might get quite a bit different, but not drastically so - giants are generally deferrable by a powerful magically boosted PC group. Compare the RQG equivalent. The 16m Giant has a CON 0f 16, and their SIZ is a little lower for 8x3D6 +18, for an average of 103 giving them 16+22 hit point= 38 hit point, which I think gives them around 13 hit points in the leg. And I think with STR and SIZ of each average 102, Damage bonus is around 11D6, and so their armour points are 17. That means our theoretical sword, with his 27.6 points of damage on an average hit, needs to do only mildly above average on his damage roll to take our giant to negative hit points in the leg, causing it to fall, on a normal hit. Two normal hits will absolutely do it. A single special hit will take out a location easily, taking it to about -6. A single critical sever a leg, and probably killing outright on general hit points. So a giant that doesn't parry a critical hit dies in a single shot. That seems a bit too easy to me - a party of 2-3 heavy hitters should be able to take a giant down in a round or two just on normal hits. I am doubtful that either you or Greg did something like that calculation, but please, if you did and thought 'wow, giants are so hard to kill, lets make it easier, so an adventuring group with a couple of rune lords can take down the biggest giant in a couple of rounds', just say. The point of looking at it in this details, though, is more than just showing that high powered characters really deal a lot of damage. It isn't really about their hit points, but about their armour points. RQ3 increased both, but only made an explicit general rule for the latter. Giants, and a few other variable SIZ things like Cliff Toads, are a rare example where the escalation of APs is explicit. In both cases it's what makes the different to the giant not easily going down to a reasonable number of normal hits and requiring damage boosting magic. RQ3 didn't just up the hit points, it generally upped armour points over RQ2. And personally I find that increased hit points isn't that big a problem. It is normally HP per location that matters, and it's usually not that huge. And for most combat, more minor wounds and less single hit takedowns on a powerful large opponent is good - it makes them a target that can take on a party and not fall to a single hit, have more disabling and less 'instant defeat' results, and generally make the combat more interesting. Armour Points which can make a special or critical required, are much more of a problem for a game, as they make it much more luck dependent. I'd also argue that this is why it is was good to remove Armouring Enchantment from the game, but not necessarily Strengthening Enchantment. Regardless, there is an issue, pointed to in the start of this post, with inconsistent implementation. In RQ2, things generally had a narrow range of CON, leading directly to a narrow range of HP. In RQ3, it was much more likely for large, dangerous, things to have a very high CON roughly matching their SIZ. RQG does not stick consistently to either way. If it is important that a giant has low hit points to be killable, why are dinosaurs so tough? A Brontosaurus has many more HP, because its CON is more than double, but a significantly lower SIZ. An allosaurus half the SIZ, about the same HP. Etc. Anyway, this took way too long, but I think the 'giants must be killable by heroes' idea has been debunked. * a mounted rhino charge critical impale does 22 for max impale damage with a 1d10+1 mounted lance, plus an average of 4D6 damage bonus for 38. OK, so it is possible that if Scala has an average rhino and hasn't boosted its damage in any way (probably neither is likely, as he is a Rune Lord/Priest of Waha, and his rhino is probably his allied spirit) and rolls average damage, it will still have a point or two in the abdomen if it is a 16m giant in RQ3. The story just says it is 'very large' giant. It also wouldn't instantly die in RQ3, just go unconscious and bleed out.

Absolutely. It is only the insight that their own fanaticism justifies even overcoming their cult rules restrictions that requires Illumination. A fanatic may justify their actions as they will, and may do them even if it breaks their gods rules if they are sufficiently fanatic, accepting that there is a cost to their actions and that they accept some punishment to do what must be done. An Illuminated fanatic actually believes their beliefs are more correct than their god, and their moral judgement greater than that of god, an astonishingly solipsistic viewpoint. Of course, you can see the 'Light side' Arkati POV as just a different spin on such Illuminated fanatic solipsism if you wish (though of course, you can also see it as different because it is justified, as they do, which is ambiguous when it comes to the morality of mass murder etc). This is intended, and a bug not a feature in the game presentation of Illumination.

While I don't want to get back to the old Essences vs Spirits days, I do generally feel that most spirits (or other beings) are unable to cast sorcery while disembodied. So a sorcerer ghost needs to possess someone to cast sorcery.

Beyond Nightmares is specifically outside the Empire, so probably not in Twice Blessed. All the others are as good a guess as we have. Its also worth noting that here and elsewhere they refer to the Mad Sultanates plural, but only Tork, the first (and probably largest), has its location documented as far as I know. The escape that devastated Tarsh and killed the king around 1448 may not have been from Tork, but elsewhere? One may have been somewhere in the Arrolian reaches before the Syndics Ban? Any other suggestions? I recently learned that at least three of these other Mad Sultanates were created by mistake, but at least twice deliberately, probably by Lunar Magicians experimenting with the phenomenon. So to the list of 'intriguing Lunar Chaos sites not located on a map' we can add any other Mad Sultanates. I suspect Sultans are optional (at least when created - they might turn up through mythic resonance or something). The first Mad Sultanate contains (and seemingly concentrates) Lunar magic, but was not created by it - Jannisor likely used ancient Earth magic AFAIK to bind it.

I’ve also got material on Eastern Enlightenment on the JC, it’s in the first of our East Isles books, and includes some martial arts stuff. More based on the East Isles material in Revealed Mythologies, does not touch on Kralorela (but does include Vormain, and mention of Nysalor and the Lunars. I’ve tried to keep it as closely compatible with the material in The Lunar Way (it was written quite a while, but I have the 2018 draft material and fairly little changed with respect to Illumination). Trying to make a framework compatible with the official rules was a fairly big priority for me.

I’ve found this chain of scenarios to be excellent, and fits very well with the Sandheart campaign. My players are weirdly fond of Erhehta, no matter how much he abuses them for not being shamans. It doesn’t take much to get the players involved. I think in my game all it took was Alebeer saying “there are some Bison riders camped nearby, go and see if there is some way to make friends with them or something, always good to have nomads who aren’t inclined to raid, will you?” And each adventure led naturally to the next, and by now several have Straw Weaver wives (and they have not yet dealt with the Lifethief, and I haven’t run the Temple of Twins yet). I liked enough that I have purchased the hardback of Sacred Earth, Sacred Waters (at Chaosium Con Australia), even though I owned all the scenarios within in PDF already. Am I your favourite person, @Diana Probst? I just wish I’d known more about the Straw Weavers earlier, especially Jalla. The only thing about combining the two sets of scenarios is the Mad Prax scenario from Sandheart is set a few years earlier (explicitly it’s about the events of 1621), so if you want to run that ignore a few comments in Sacred Earth Sacred Waters that set it in the standard timeline of 1626, but it’s easy changes to make. I’m planning my Sandheart and Straw Weavers game to probably finish with that scenario, but you could rearrange it a little. (If I do continue it after that, I’ll make it no longer about them being militia, and fall back on MOBs post-Cradle material and improvising from the wealth of Prax material, now they have history and connections, maybe change some characters - and maybe have to write some future campaign material involving the Straw Weavers and friends myself). That’s a way off though - they are only at most 2/3rds of the way through, I still have the climax of Tradition, Godskin, and Mad Prax to go. Of course, the Straw Weavers material is great and stands on its own as well, and even once you’ve run the adventures makes a great resource for any Prax based campaign, it’s the only material that deals with a Praxian clan in this detail I’m aware of, and the encounters are also excellent. And the Dead Place material in The Lifethief is reusable (and inspiring) for future visits. Maybe something in the Winter Ruins? And/or I may try to create something based on my series of in-jokes about Dead Place bearing a great resemblance to the Black Rock Desert where Burning Man is held. My PCs really had their butts kicked by the Lifethief (the broos were a pushover, the Lifethief itself brutal), gave up trying to defeat it themselves, and the game has been very enjoyably derailed by their efforts to work out a solution. They researched in Pavis, which led to revenge efforts by the remnants of the Dolphin gang smugglers from No Country for Cold Men. They tried hard to track down the Unicorn Rider who created it to learn more, which led to them visiting the Yelorna temple in the Rubble, and tangling with agents of the Rat who kidnapped some Yelornans (and hearing about old Yelmalio relics in the old Yelmalio temple in the Rubble, for future investigation). And they are still searching for a solution. I think I will lead them towards having the shamans contact the Father of Indepents, so they can use his magic to lead them and allies into the Dead Place safely and destroy the Lifethief with a big methodical effort (maybe summon Oakfed too and burn it?). The lack of direction on how to defeat it properly was initially a bit frustrating, but has proved to be quite inspiring for a fun game - I’d say it would have been great to get a bit more information, especially about its creation (what was it that meant a Unicorn woman, about whom we have little info except her name and that one deed, accidentally created a major Chaos threat?), but not providing a set solution has proven a lot more interesting. I’d be interested to hear others solutions to the Lifethief.

If it doesn’t make it into the Shaman book with the other hsunchen cults as Nick suggests, fear not, I did a pretty thorough look at the Sofali, including a Sofala cult write up (with those spells) for our East Isles books.

Just as the ancient Solar texts don’t really talk about Chaos much, because they sort of care more about Darkness and Storm barbarians and immorality and just see the Chaos monsters more as a consequence of the loss of the Emperor rather than the root cause, so the East Isles treat Chaos as just one type of antigod, and potentially not even the worst kind (Avanapdur, a great Illusion antigod, is there great Darkness big bad). But there clearly are many beings that seem very Chaotic present. It is also important to understand that a lot of East Isles myth is intended somewhat metaphorically.

I think the idea that Illuminates routinely are able to gain gifts and then simply ignore the accompanying geases, so getting some cool superpowers for free, was a terrible one, and responsible for much of the idea of Illumination as overpowered. And it’s just one somewhat dubious interpretation of the original rules. Further, I think it was probably done as a spur of the moment thing to enable cheesy Dorastan sword broo encounters without much thought as to the lasting consequences. I’m going to be running it instead as Illuminates may break their geases with no consequences other than being unable to use the accompanying gifts (probably temporarily until they can do some meditation or cleansing ritual to regain use of it, but possibly until they go through the whole ritual process of gaining them again. This would still be a notable advantage (normally breaking a geas would merit expulsion from the cult, plus the weapon breaking curse of Humakt, so just (temporarily?) losing access to the Gift is a big advantage - especially if you do it at a crucial moment to succeed at a HeroQuest etc. and I’d at least make them have to risk an Illumination role every time they broke the geas. In any case, nothing in the existing rules says that every Illumination school grants those powers, or grants a perfectly reliable version, and it is even said that these are relatively rare powers, so it is easy to justify not giving these powers to PCs if you think they are unbalancing, or just cheesy and grossly meta-gamy (as I do), and keeping them just as a special ace up the sleeve for cheesy Dorastan sword broo and such. Though of course, anyone observing an initiate of Humakt with Gifts and no geases would be suspicious (“no, I merely got lucky rolling 01 on the geas table a dozen times in a row, says new Sword ‘Riddling Rob’”). I do think this very easy attainment of Illumination is a big change to Lunar power, though, even without those completely free gifts. At a basic level, before we get to the fancy stuff like Red Goddess’s Lunar Magic (which as you point out, really isn’t that difficult), you get Opposing Runes. And the Seven Mothers has Life and Death magic, so Truesword and Heal Body are right there. Eventually both Sever Spirit and Resurrect (both are (single Use). A lot more available potentially from other cults - Death magic from Jakaleel and Hwarin Dalthippa, Yara Aranis, even Ikadz Life magic from Deezola and Hon Eel. And it’s interesting that while there are no obvious Lunar deities to provide Disorder and Illusion magic to complement the Truth Magic of Irripi Ontor, and the Harmony magic of Deezola Etyries and Danfive - but actually Annilla provides both! Of course there is no obvious Stasis magic as a counterpart to Etyries Movement magic, but that’s not surprising as there is virtually no Stasis magic at all - I think literally one spell unconnected to Mostar! Though spinning on the spot seems a nice unification of the Movement and Stasis runes. While immunity to Spirits of Reprisal is irrelevant to most Lunars (as most Lunar cults have none), the power to ignore cult rules would seem to allow joining multiple Lunar cults and ignoring the awkward parts like multiple tithes and multiple time requirements, and there are suggestions in some places this is done routinely (especially in the upper echelons of the Lunar College of Magic). Even if you say that most cults might object to this, the mundane benefits of initiation into the Red Emperor cult suggests that the Imperial elite servants of the Red Emperor are absolutely expected to. Of course they must be Loyal to the Red Emperor, but it is a virtual guarantee they can overcome their own passions including that. And joining multiple cults includes things like becoming both an Irripi Ontor sorcerer and a shaman of Jakaleel, plus Lunar Magic of course, and becoming an astonishingly versatile magician. Plus access to all elementals and except Storm, including a couple unique to Lunar powers. All hail the Reaching Moon! I favour something like the Second option, as I really like more granularity as well. I think the moment of Illumination should be the beginning of your mystic journey, not take you direct the end. Though I also the of making that mystic journey more about experiences than rolls - adventures dealing with other Powers, questioning other principles etc. I guess the general need to get an experience roll on a Rune with a low value will take care of?

Illumination is an experience. A profound one, that changes the worldview and interactions with the world of the one who experiences it, generally permanently. In this respect, it has something in common with shamanic awakening, divine initiation, or sorcerous mastery - it opens the one who experiences it to new magical abilities and a new way of experiencing the world, and there are some immediate consequences but it is also the beginning of a long process of learning more ways to use it, and potentially opening up further possibilities. It is also as unlike those other experiences as they are unlike each other, maybe more so. It is subtler, more inward focussed, harder to explain and communicate. Its direct magical effects are few, and mostly internal, but its real significance is how it interacts with other forms of magic (and given we know about it mostly in the divine magic dominated areas of Central Genertela, we care about, and know about, it’s potential interactions with divine magic the most). Though we know other more distinct magic is possible - Red Goddess magic requires Illumination but has aspects of spirit magic, sorcery, and rune Magic (in that it requires initiation). There are basically four big changes to the understanding of Illumination as presented in The Lunar Way that distinguish how it was presented in RuneQuest 2 (Cults of Terror) and to a lesser extent RuneQuest 3 (Dorastor Land of Doom, with some extra notes in Lords of Terror), though actually they were all introduced in HeroQuest Glorantha. First, it has gradually been described as having a broader range of applicability. In RQ2 it was known to Rashoran, Nysalor, Arkat, and the Red Goddess, with Arkat and the Red Goddess having learnt it via Nysalor (and Rashoran being a deity in the God Time, of no known direct relevance to mortals). In RQ3 it was broader - known in Peloria, but also in Kralorela, Ralios, Jrustela and Vralos. The mysterious Near Ones or Friends of Pamaltela are mentioned for the first time. Many of these are clearly offshoots of one of the prior entities, but not all are, at least obviously, we might even be skirting on The God Learners Secret (or at least, A God Learners Secret) with the mention of Jrustela. The mention of Kralorela might just be a reference to Rashoran as allegedly Eastern, but more likely that this is the first inkling of draconian thought (clearly linked with mysticism in Cults of Terror) as having fundamental links to Illumination. By the Guide to Glorantha both Illumination and draconic consciousness are clearly identified as forms of mysticism, and in HeroQuest Glorantha it is made clear that Illumination, EWF draconic consciousness, Kralorela draconic mysticism, Vithelan mysticism, the Cult of Silence, some God Learners (the Middle Sea Empire strongly suggests the Malkioneranists), are all game mechanically the same, and also considered the same by “many Gloranthan scholars’. So we can assume that eg the Order of Day, or Arkati Wizards, recognise that Kralorelan draconic mysticism, and the EWF as descended from it, and that the rules for the most part are the same. Second the practical abilities of Illumination are separated and not all gained automatically. In Cults of Terror, there was a list of six benefits of Illumination, all were gained immediately on Illumination, and all were 100% reliable. The cumulative chance of Illumination is conceived of as an Illumination skill, or of any relevance once Illumination is attained. RQ3, in Dorastor Land of Doom, says that may have different powers (though saying the majority of Illuminants have all powers but the ability to Illuminate others), or powers of differing reliability (they might be automatic, or might need a successful Illumination skill roll (which is likely to be low, as no means of teaching it are available other Riddles), and mentions that the powers are ‘in order of most to least common’. It also mentions that some Illuminates may have entirely different powers, without giving any hint as to what they might be. In HeroQuest Glorantha, this is scaled back significantly - in stead of ‘most Illuminates possess powers I-V’ it becomes ‘most Illuminates possess one or more of powers I-V’. So we have a version where Illumination grants you potentially only a few powers, and they may be learned in ways that require a skill roll, or ways that are automatic (though the default seems to be a skill roll is required). For the most part this seems to be intrinsic to an Illumination school, but Illuminates may not even recognise they have an ability until they try to use (which they may never have a reason to do). This makes it clear that the different schools of Illumination do have real, significant game differences, it leaves open to what extent an Illuminate may gain abilities beyond those known to their school, and how. I’m inclined to say that they can learn abilities known to other schools, but it is very rare, as Schools of Illumination are already very rate. But we know there are rare individuals with knowledge of more than one form (including Argrath, who is known to have studied both draconic and Arkati forms). It seems a thing that Player Characters might do. Third is expanding the list of standard powers. It’s arguable that the list of powers changing is just a rules construct - that the changes are in response to different things (especially Runic connections) being explicitly represented in the rules, rather than a change in how we understand Illumination Six powers are listed in Cults of Terror. HeroQuestGlorantha adds one - the ability to combine Incompatible Runes (though this ability is fairly rare). It also generalises from the ability to learn Nysalor Riddles to the ability to Illuminate Others, noting that it varies by teacher. RuneQuest Glorantha adds the ability to overcome Runes and Passions, allowing Illuminates to act against their core personality traits and motivations, and makes this ability, and the ability to combine Opposing Runes, the most common abilities of Illuminates after the Secret Knowledge (which has never had game rules). Fourth is teaching and relevant skills. Illumination is attained by rolling a successful Illumination roll at Sacred Time. In RQ2 the Illumination roll was simply the number of Nysalor Riddles answered. In RQ3 this was clarified to be treated as a special skill - like other magical skills it had a 0% chance, until a circumstance gained the first 1%, unlike other skills it did not even get characteristic (Magic) bonus, and cannot be changed by experience or training, so despite being treated as a skill it is effectively the same chance as in RQ2 (though as a skill, it’s implicit that it might be improved by circumstances). This is somewhat muddled by stating that other teaching methods exist, and that the methods of learning to tech these other methods might include study or long meditation, but not what those methods are (presumably not standard experience or training, but other methods of teaching, such as individual tuition plus long meditation). So Illumination is likely to be low and slowly gained for schools such as Kralorelan or East Isles schools, and especially anyone not actively seeking Illumination, though potentially a Lunar Nysalor enthusiast might have the opportunity to meet teachers knowledgeable in potentially dozens of Nysalor Riddles in a relatively short time. The Nysalor Illumination presented in The Lunar Way changes this dramatically. Once the initial Illumination skill is obtained (which can be done by answering a single Riddle, but also by many other means, including a Madness spell), the skill begins at Magic bonus plus Moon Rune/5. A base skill of ~20% would not be surprising for a typical Lunar initiate. So even if nothing else is changed after that point, and the character is not actively seeking Illumination, it typically t might lead to Illumination with a handful of years. In previous versions of the rules, a character who had only experienced a Riddle or two could likely go their entire life without Illumination, with just 2% a year, but this is very unlikely with a 20%, or even 10%, chance - this is a dramatic change to the game world. And if a character is actively seeking Illumination, they will find it not too hard to find - first, it may be learned and trained like any other skill. The chance for Illumination may be Augmented with a Meditation roll or Moon Rune. And it can be further increased, though at some real risk, by spells such as Madness, Mind Blast, or the mysterious Ray of Piercing Truth (we literally know nothing else about this spell, and it may be an editing error). And of course, Lunar schools of Illumination can be expected not only to teach Illumination, and Meditation, but in addition to expose the student to multiple Riddles. This change, that Illumination should no longer be considered a rare attainment even within the Empire, but instead should be considered routinely attainable by any Lunar citizen who desires it, is a big change. And it makes Illumination much more common even to others - an East Isles or Kralorelan mystic student, once they have been accepted by a teacher and been exposed to mystic, might expect their significantly increased base chance and the opportunity for increases through training and Meditation to make the attainment of Illumination a practical expectation, rather than something very rare. This is slightly off put by the idea that they are likely to start with a lower number of usable abilities (for an involuntary Illuminate, likely only the first three, maybe not even all of those), but it is a dramatic difference for Lunar characters especially.

Historical changes to the Illumination rules, summarised. Illumination is an experience. A profound one, that changes the worldview and interactions with the world of the one who experiences it, generally permanently. In this respect, it has something in common with shamanic awakening, divine initiation, or sorcerous mastery - it opens the one who experiences it to new magical abilities and a new way of experiencing the world, and there are some immediate consequences but it is also the beginning of a long process of learning more ways to use it, and potentially opening up further possibilities. It is also as unlike those other experiences as they are unlike each other, maybe more so. It is subtler, more inward focussed, harder to explain and communicate. Its direct magical effects are few, and mostly internal, but it’s real significance is how it interacts with other forms of magic (and given we know about it mostly in the divine magic dominated areas of Central Genertela, we care about, and know about, it’s potential interactions with divine magic the most). Though we know other more distinct magic is possible - Red Goddess magic requires Illumination but has aspects of spirit magic, sorcery, and rune Magic (in that it requires initiation). There are basically four big changes to the understanding of Illumination as presented in The Lunar Way that distinguish how it was presented in RuneQuest 2 (Cults of Terror) and to a lesser extent RuneQuest 3 (Dorastor Land of Doom, with some extra notes in Lords of Terror), though actually they were all introduced in HeroQuest Glorantha. First, it has gradually been described as having a broader range of applicability. In RQ2 it was known to Rashoran, Nysalor, Arkat, and the Red Goddess, with Arkat and the Red Goddess having learnt it via Nysalor (and Rashoran being a deity in the God Time, of no known direct relevance to mortals). In RQ3 it was broader - known in Peloria, but also in Kralorela, Ralios, Jrustela and Vralos. The mysterious Near Ones or Friends of Pamaltela are mentioned for the first time. Many of these are clearly offshoots of one of the prior entities, but not all are, at least obviously, we might even be skirting on The God Learners Secret (or at least, A God Learners Secret) with the mention of Jrustela. The mention of Kralorela might just be a reference to Rashoran as allegedly Eastern, but more likely that this is the first inkling of draconian thought (clearly linked with mysticism in Cults of Terror) as having fundamental links to Illumination. By the Guide to Glorantha both Illumination and draconic consciousness are clearly identified as forms of mysticism, and in HeroQuest Glorantha it is made clear that Illumination, EWF draconic consciousness, Kralorela draconic mysticism, Vithelan mysticism, the Cult of Silence, some God Learners (the Middle Sea Empire strongly suggests the Malkioneranists), are all game mechanically the same, and also considered the same by “many Gloranthan scholars’. So we can assume that eg the Order of Day, or Arkati Wizards, recognise that Kralorelan draconic mysticism, and the EWF as descended from it, and that the rules for the most part are the same. Second the practical abilities of Illumination are separated and not all gained automatically. In Cults of Terror, there was a list of six benefits of Illumination, all were gained immediately on Illumination, and all were 100% reliable. The cumulative chance of Illumination is conceived of as an Illumination skill, or of any relevance once Illumination is attained. RQ3, in Dorastor Land of Doom, says that may have different powers (though saying the majority of Illuminants have all powers but the ability to Illuminate others), or powers of differing reliability (they might be automatic, or might need a successful Illumination skill roll (which is likely to be low, as no means of teaching it are available other Riddles), and mentions that the powers are ‘in order of most to least common’. It also mentions that some Illuminates may have entirely different powers, without giving any hint as to what they might be. In HeroQuest Glorantha, this is scaled back significantly - in stead of ‘most Illuminates possess powers I-V’ it becomes ‘most Illuminates possess one or more of powers I-V’. So we have a version where Illumination grants you potentially only a few powers, and they may be learned in ways that require a skill roll, or ways that are automatic (though the default seems to be a skill roll is required). For the most part this seems to be intrinsic to an Illumination school, but Illuminates may not even recognise they have an ability until they try to use (which they may never have a reason to do). This makes it clear that the different schools of Illumination do have real, significant game differences, it leaves open to what extent an Illuminate may gain abilities beyond those known to their school, and how. I’m inclined to say that they can learn abilities known to other schools, but it is very rare, as Schools of Illumination are already very rate. But we know there are rare 8ndividuals with knowledge of more than one form (including Argrath, who is known to have studied both draconic and Arkati forms). It seems a thing that Player Characters might do. Third is expanding the list of standard powers. It’s arguable that the list of powers changing is just a rules construct - that the changes are in response to different things (especially Runic connections) being explicitly represented in the rules, rather than a change in how we understand Illumination Six powers are listed in Cults of Terror. HeroQuestGlorantha adds one - the ability to combine Incompatible Runes (though this ability is fairly rare). It also generalises from the ability to learn Nysalor Riddles to the ability to Illuminate Others, noting that it varies by teacher. RuneQuest Glorantha adds the ability to overcome Runes and Passions, allowing Illuminates to act against their core personality traits and motivations, and makes this ability, and the ability to combine Opposing Runes, the most common abilities of Illuminates after the Secret Knowledge (which has never had game rules). Fourth is teaching and relevant skills. Illumination is attained by rolling a successful Illumination roll at Sacred Time. In RQ2 the Illumination roll was simply the number of Nysalor Riddles answered. In RQ3 this was clarified to be treated as a special skill - like other magical skills it had a 0% chance, until a circumstance gained the first 1%, unlike other skills it did not even get characteristic (Magic) bonus, and cannot be changed by experience or training, so despite being treated as a skill it is effectively the same chance as in RQ2 (though as a skill, it’s implicit that it might be improved by circumstances). This is somewhat muddled by stating that other teaching methods exist, and that the methods of learning to tech these other methods might include study or long meditation, but not what those methods are (presumably not standard experience or training, but other methods of teaching, such as individual tuition plus long meditation). So Illumination is likely to be low and slowly gained for schools such as Kralorelan or East Isles schools, and especially anyone not actively seeking Illumination, though potentially a Lunar Nysalor enthusiast might have the opportunity to meet teachers knowledgeable in potentially dozens of Nysalor Riddles in a relatively short time. The Nysalor Illumination presented in The Lunar Way changes this dramatically. Once the initial Illumination skill is obtained (which can be done by answering a single Riddle, but also by many other means, including a Madness spell), the skill begins at Magic bonus plus Moon Rune/5. A base skill of ~20% would not be surprising for a typical Lunar initiate. So even if nothing else is changed after that point, and the character is not actively seeking Illumination, it typically t might lead to Illumination with a handful of years. In previous versions of the rules, a character who had only experienced a Riddle or two could likely go their entire life without Illumination, with just 2% a year, but this is very unlikely with a 20%, or even 10%, chance - this is a dramatic change to the game world. And if a character is actively seeking Illumination, they will find it not too hard to find - first, it may be lea4ned and trained like any other skill. The chance for Illumination may be Augmented with a Meditation roll or Moon Rune. And it can be further increased, though at some real risk, by spells such as Madness, Mind Blast, or the mysterious Ray of Piercing Truth (we literally know nothing else about this spell, and it may be an editing error). And of course, Lunar schools of Illumination can be expected not only to teach Illumination, and Meditation, but in addition to expose the student to multiple Riddles. This change, that Illumination should no longer be considered a rare attainment even within the Empire, but instead should be considered routinely attainable by any Lunar citizen who desires it, is a big change. And it makes Illumination much more common even to others - an East Isles or Kralorelan mystic student, once they have been accepted by a teacher and been exposed to mystic, might expect their significantly increased base chance and the opportunity for increases through training and Meditation to make the attainment of Illumination a practical expectation, rather than something very rare. This is slightly off put by the idea that they are likely to start with a lower number of usable abilities (for an involuntary Illuminate, likely only the first three, maybe not even all of those), but it is a dramatic difference for Lunar characters especially.

Letting tusk riders get access to Aldryami rune points via Appease Earth sacrifices would combine the two nicely IMO.

I've never noticed it to be so in a Gloranthan context. It is the quail, the quail deity is a goddess (the flat part is the eagle, and there are male eagle gods). No, she is explicitly a spider and has myths that involve spinning webs. Yes. And it is a different relationship to the one Yara Aranis has - YA is connected to the Lunar way as daughter of the Emperor. They both express the power of the Red Goddess in some ways, but both have their own separate history involving other powers. Yes, which is why I'm not particularly keen on the spider imagery. Why do you feel 'Yara Aranea' should be regarded as a squishable non-human monster?

Two schools of Illumination can of course disagree about mortal things like morality, and so come into conflict, as Arkat and Nysalor do to the point of vicious total war, and disagree about practical, pragmatic things like the best teaching methods, though this rarely comes to overt conflict unless it becomes linked with said moral concerns. But I don't think they can really disagree about the nature of Illumination, only how to reach it. If there is a difference between your unity with the All and another unity with the All, then at least one of them isn't unity with the All. And so on. Yes. Though remember not all Illuminates have this power at all. I think this is extrapolation that isn't correct. I think if you are a Nysaloran who heroquests a lot and 'pushes too far' you will attract a hero quest nemesis - possibly a version of yourself, though, or similar strange mystic opposition, in addition to normal hero quest opposition. I think if you are a dragon mystic who heroquests a lot and 'pushes too far', you will attract a hero quest nemesis too - thought the EWF mystics, compared to the Bright Empire, and more likely to advise you that this is a bad idea. There are practical differences, reflecting the individuals history of how they approach Illumination and their practices and so on. This is reflected in not all individuals having access to all the Illumination powers, and developing different 'post Illumination' powers (Dragon magic, Red Goddess Magic). But really, it's just a matter of your mortal understanding of what is possible. As they get more advanced in their understanding of Illumination, the differences become smaller.

Though the Runic Scientologists would make an excellent God Learner (or wannabe GL) variant sect.

The likely previous owner is Annilla. But she is also probably the someone who knows, and she very rarely tells.

True (and actually what is observed - Illumination is a 0% skill until you experience something that opens you to Illumination). But once you experience a Riddle (or are opened to Illumination in other ways), it is no longer 0% and Magic bonus applies.

I think it's quite forgivable, and probably some Gloranthans feel the same way, I'm just not sure it is correct. I object to Yara Aranis being given the Spiderlimbs spell (rather than Sprout Limbs, as she was in the preview) mostly because she is always consistently described as having six arms and two legs - not 4 arms and 4 legs. Even 4 arms and 2 legs is better (her worshipppers get only a portion of her mightiness is fine). And of course she is the demon daughter of Gorgorma It seems more a physical expression of her symbolic power, and grasping/reaching nature, in typical Hindu style, to me. But then, its not shared by other gods, who normally have the normal number of arms, That is spider in a couple of european languages that also get the word etymologically from Aranea in Latin. Aranea, though a direct Latin word, is definitely associated with Spiders in Glorantha - obviously it is the name of the Spider Goddess, and also the pseudo-Latin name for spiders given in the Gloranthan Bestiary, from which, if I was really going to get into the classic fannish extrapolation mode, I would say that the known name of the spider goddess is given in Western, and most of her actual worshippers probably call her something else, possibly not pronounceable by humans, because they speak either Darktongue or whatever spiders speak. I generally take the Latin/psuedo-Latin taxonomy as indicating taxonomy is in Western, in a sort of hand wavy way - obviously actual Gloranthan taxonomy should have very little to do with our biological taxonomy or Latin, horses being birds and all. But my point is really that the name Aranis likely just coincidentally shares a couple of syllables with Aranea, and probably has nothing to do with spiders. Yara Aranis likely means something like strength or power or light of the one that turns? Extrapolating a lot because obviously I do not know Sanskrit, I don't think Yara is a word in Sanskrit as such, and while I do have a dictionary of Sanskrit terms from Indian philosophy it only gives me the firestick again. I do feel the firestick symbolism is very explicitly deep Lunar symbolism for Greg, so when we find a link to it, it is worth taking seriously, and to me is much richer and more appropriate than her just being a spider goddess, with whom she doesn't seem to share much except the number (if not type) of limbs. Note that the firestick symbolism is explicitly linked, through the reference to Hagu as the Quail/firestick of Glorantha, to myths involving Natha and Gerra, and other Spolite myths of the ancient Lunar goddesses - which link it with Gorgorma, the mother of Yara Aranis. And myths of the darkness and Death being the source of life and power, the necessity of human sacrifice, etc.

If the Stinking Forest is important, consider the Cult of the Bloody Tusk already includes both appeasing the Earth with bloody sacrifices, and Troll friendly Darkness magic. Do we even need a separate cult for him? The prospect of an elf in the Bloody Tusk is already scary enough. If we want a special ability for him, let him gain magic directly from the Appease Earth sacrifices of flesh to the Earth. His meat eating is an expression of the same principle as Appease Earth in a more physical, mundane way.

Also known as the Quail, the active part of the Pillar (the fire board is the eagle - cf Entekosiad pg 78), and symbolic of the role of Illuminated consciousness in the Pillar - which had become inactive after the death of Nysalor, and Yelm abandoning the work of higher consciousness, but restored by the Red Goddess (cf. Fortunate Succession, page 72). Hagu, now known as Natha's Well, where Vakare Addi was Illuminated and life rekindled in the Darkness, is known as Glorantha's Quail. So the firestick is at the heart of the Lunar mysteries. I think we might be onto something.

Not only is the section on Lunar Cyclec Rune Magic and the Lunar Timetable unnecessarily repeated in almost every cult in the book, but it is wrong every time but one! As it states that sorcery is unaffected by the Lunar cycle, while the Sorcery description on page 82 states that Sorcery with the Moon Rune is affected by the Lunar Cycle

The Jakaleel spell Summon Ghost should be called Summon Dead, as Ghosts are explicitly spirits of the dead that have been bound to an area. The essentially identical Ty Kora Ted spell is called Summon Dead. It is unclear whether the spirit summoned by the spell is effected by Command Ghost. (both here, and in the Ty Fora Tea write description)

Irrippi Onto - The sentence 'They may never marry an initiate, Priest or Lord of an elemental cult, but they may marry Sky- or Moon- worshippers.' is ambiguous and confusing, as Sky and Moon are both elemental runes. Does it mean 'may never marry worshippers of elements other than Sky or Moon, may never marry worshippers of other elemental deities unless they also worship the Sky or Moon? Ie if a potential spouse worships both Fire or Sky and also another element, either as part of the same cult (for example, Hon-Eel, who has both the Earth and Moon runes) or two, which rules applies? Also, are Fire and Sky considered the same Rune for purposest of this rule? (eg do the Lowfires, who seem to be Fire but have no association with the sky other than ancestral, count as Sky deities?

Irrippi Onto - the Example text for the spell Commune With (Planet) says that in addition to augmenting the Rune score, the spell also grants the same bonus to spells that use that Rune (or Runes). This is not stated in the spell description, and increasing the Rune would not normally change the casting chance. Is the Example correct, even though this is not mentioned in the text? And does this apply to the very similar Discern (Constellation) spell as well? And do these two spells stack if applicable? And are they both effective if their 'subject' is in the Underworld? That the two more or less identical have two different Techniques (Command vs Summon) is just confusing and somewhat arbitrary, so it seems like one or the other should be an error.