Ian Absentia

14 hours ago, Joerg said:

Fox and Coyote are typical Trickster beasts.

I joked up-thread about Rowsby Woof, a character in folk stories from Watership Down, but a Fool rather than a Trickster.  Apparently that's what you get for being domesticated.  Wile E. Coyote suffers a similar indignity for resorting to The Man's technology.

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1 hour ago, French Desperate WindChild said:

Then, what is the difference between Pent and Prax (except temperature). I imagined Pent was like the picture, and by difference Prax more arid ? Or maybe the pictures are for Prax in Sea Season ?

At the risk of falling into the old real-world equivalencies, I've envisioned Pent as looking like the Mongolian or Russian steppe, or perhaps even the central prairie of North America.  Wide expanses of low, rolling terrain, low hills and tall grasses, rimmed in the distance by tall mountains.

With LOTS of room for variation.  As for seasonal differences between Prax and Pent, the verdant green is definitely a telltale of Sea Season.  Come Fire Season grasses will have turned brown and you'll see a preponderance of dull, grey-green in the "evergreen" plants that survive all seasons, like in the first photo of the Columbia Ridge/Vulture Country I posted above.

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Looking at the photos that both Jeff and I posted, the real take-away is that no matter what you call it, there's green to be found in Prax.  It's relative, though, and you need to know where to look.  Which is what being a member of the Praxian cults is all about.  Not just a religious cult to ally with a god or spirit who'll magically do the work for you, but a cultural framework that has taught you how to live.  Waha and Eiritha & Co. may not be the optimal cult choices in terms of game mechanics, but in Prax they provide where outsider cults see nothing but "desert" and wasteland.

I don't doubt that the nomads have a wealth of idiomatic terms for microclimates and ecosystems that "chaparral" and "steppe" and "desert" only scratch the surface.  Names and traditions for spirits that hold sway in a given place and explain how to live there or grant passage.  Names that are lost on most residents of Pavis, and certainly lost on their Sartarite neighbors or Lunar interlopers.

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I've shared this before, but my vision of the Zola Fel and environs is the inland shrub-steppe of the Columbia River Basin.  Look!  The rise to Vulture Country!

And, look-- the Zola Fel!  Maybe even Weis Cut.

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Isn't Rowsby Woof a hero/demigod among the rabbit hsunchen peoples?

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4 hours ago, Jeff said:

Remember that much of Prax IS coastal. It borders the Rozgali Sea. Even the Rockwood Mountains are only about 450 km from the ocean. 

I reckon that, as in a world operating on science and not divine influence, Prax is composed of a sequence and patchwork of climate-driven ecosystems.  Chaparral where marine air precipitates moisture on highlands and hills, shrub-steppe as it becomes increasingly arid inland, steppe and desert as it grades into the Wastes.  And, to be fair, there's a wide variety of generic or colloquial terms describing local specifics (plains, grassland, veldt, savannah) that could be employed in describing one part of Prax or another.  The Zola Fel, due to either magic or physics, is a greenbelt for obvious reasons.

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4 minutes ago, g33k said:

Prax is a bit mixed.  There's some rocky/sandy areas, some outright deserts; but there's plenty of chaparral, too.
It couldn't support the herds it does, if there were not.

Steppe or shrub-steppe.  Chaparral suggests marine moisture precipitating on mountain slopes.  Looks dry, but it's decidedly lush in comparison with steppe or desert.

Because why not discuss the ecosystems of Prax?

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9 hours ago, DreadDomain said:

Ian Absentia would be SIZ 15 with a build somewhere between lithe and medium.

The RQG Bestiary p.9 also has an extended list giving weight and height for humanoids up to SIZ 32. As usual, each +8 SIZ roughly doubles weight. It also gives a corresponding height. On this chart, if we rate Ian Absentia on weight, he would be SIZ 14 but on height, he would be SIZ 16.

Guilty as charged!  And I'd neglected the Mythras tables, which are quite good.  One of the things that emerges from these discussions is the realisation that BRP-adjacent SIZ scales best with that 3d6 range, then gets increasingly wonky as you approach either the very large or the very small.

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Oh, duh-doi.  RQG, p.52.  Adventurer Sizes.  Which might suggest that I'm closer to SIZ 15.

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On 8/17/2023 at 5:45 AM, Gwyndolin said:

I know that Size as a characteristic is meant to be somewhat abstract but I was wondering if there is a resource that anyone uses to give context to size other than the object list in the brp.

So far it looks like you've gotten the usual references to weight and mass, which mean little in the context of the question: "I'm 6 feet tall - what SIZ am I?"  I seem to recall something somewhere for BRP-derived games that addressed SIZ as, you know, relative size, and not as a scientific quantity, but I can't think of where now.

Attached is a scan from White Dwarf #14 ('cause I'm old!), which will be sure to court controversy.  Though intended for D&D1e, it's height and weight tables for humanoids on a 3d6 scale.  I feel it's a little forgiving on the distal ends of the normal curve (I've personally know people much shorter and much taller than suggested), but it's a couple of tables that formed a foundation in my mind for several decades, and an interesting springboard for conversation.  I welcome the inevitable refutation!

On a personal note, I'm 6'2" and 185 lbs, and I somehow know that I'm SIZ 14, which might even be generous.  I honestly do not recall how I arrived at that number.

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WD14_H-W.pdf

2 hours ago, Raleel said:

they are highly compatible, as in both d100 roll under systems. Mythras is derived from BRP/Runequest, and was actually Runequest 6. A few skill changes, a few nuances like base skill percentages vs basing them off of stats, specials and criticals being slightly different. Mythras has Special Effects.

There are some scaling differences as well, but as an abstraction of something resembling reality, they don't really matter that much.  However, when mixing and matching weapon/armor effects and creature abilities between the two, you'll sometimes find yourself saying "Oh, that was much more/less deadly than I expected."

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2 hours ago, scott-martin said:

I'll see your Stephen Strange and raise you a Tony Stark:

...who are, of course, flip-sides of exactly the same character.  One Science, the other Magic.  All the same prestidigitation.  Slight differences in wardrobes and facial hair.

The holographic UI invokes the mandalas and magically inscribed sacred spaces that are, in fact, "shadows" of transdimensional spaces where they intersect with ours, er, Glorantha's.

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1 hour ago, soltakss said:

To play in Glorantha you do not need to know the setting.

The best way, I think, is to experience the world through play, and let the GM guide you through the world. That way, you know what you know and don't need to bog yourself down with unimportant information from other places in Glorantha.

Quoted for emphasis.

I realise that things have changed over the years, but particularly in Pavis, feel free to engage in more conventional RPG activities at first (whatever that means) and drop in Gloranthan details little by little.  Hostile natives on zoo animals, the occasional dwarf or troll, talking tapirs herding man-beasts like a scene from Planet of the Apes.  And, of course, tension with the Lunar occupiers/settlers (at least until the ethnic cleansing commences).  Pavis is a great starting point to allow gradual course correction toward a more "realistic" Glorantha.

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On 8/10/2023 at 4:19 AM, smiorgan said:

One of the characters in my game is the Duke's older daughter (Jezra's sister)...

The less prominent older sister no one talks about because crazy Jezra hogs all the attention and gets abducted by bandits (or was it baboons that time?) and (possibly) eaten by hyenas?

Yes, I love the Raus family, and Jezra especially.  She has been, to me as a GM, the exquisite intersection of Princess Jehnna from Conan the Destroyer and Jen Yu from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.  I hope her sister has an easier time of it.

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1 hour ago, smiorgan said:

...but why the special hate?

It was especially bad, even for the Dark Ages.  I've described my ire here before.

I'm almost sure that I've been much harsher elsewhere.  They took money for that thing.

But back to the topic at hand...

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4 hours ago, smiorgan said:

Yes the pirate book (Blood Tide) has a sort of feat system. It's out of print and the pdf is not available anymore. However you can probably find print copies on sale online.

I express hatred for no Chaosium title other than Blood Tide.  Do not encourage its exchange by paying money for it.  It's stunt rules were workable, though.

I endorse the recommendations for Classic Fantasy, though.

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Going a little off-script, I've had my best success in introducing one or two new players to Glorantha through loosely adapting classic fairytales.  Young people learning the rules of the real world, but subbing in details from Glorantha.  My favorite for a single player has been "The Herd Boy's Dilemma" which is really just Jack and the Beanstalk/The Hobyahs; for two players, a variation on Hansel and Gretel/Red Riding Hood works well.  Both feature peripheral introductions to Gloranthan cultures and customs; deep dives into the specifics have not gone over well.  The surprise that monsters can talk and may even have rights alone may be worth the price of admission.  The Woodsman-in-the-Wings, ready to save the PCs if things go too wrong, is usually a member of an exotic cult or military order who serves as a springboard for local-yokels to leave home and see the world.

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[Note: It occurred to me that the scenarios I described above were used pre-RQG, when starting characters were far less competent.  However, for an introductory adventure, perhaps more focused characters would be less daunting to new players.  A couple of specialty skills/abilities, no laundry lists of background details.]

I happen to have a small fistful of broos right here, if you're interested, though I don't recall the manufacturer.

(Actually, I just found a sprue of extra broo heads, and it reads Ral Partha, not Citadel.)

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3 hours ago, JanPospisil said:

Metal foil over wooden/bone plaques might also work?

When I was doing some metal embossing years ago, we'd make impressions in light metal sheets (usually copper) then fill the back sides with a mixture of wood glue and sawdust for strength.  There were a variety of chemical treatments we'd use for different finishes, too, but spray paint may be simplest.

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2 hours ago, StevenGEmsley said:

Does anyone have any experience of Aquelarre? I seem to recall it's BRP based?

The mechanics of Aquelarre are recognisably similar, but vary somewhat in scale.  Most importantly, though, the game features an abundance of information on the summoning of angelic, diabolic, and demonic powers, and there are rules for possession, both voluntary and involuntary.  You should be able to adapt what you find to BRP with some effort.

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1 hour ago, Mugen said:

@Old Man Henersonan average fighter with a broadsword deals 1d8+1d2 damage in Mythras, versus 1d8+1+1d4 in BRP.

But it's hard to compare when Mythras characters don't have general Hit Points.

And hard to compare where a Mythras Special Effect may affect the results of a combat exchange in a way that differs from simple Hit Point attrition.  In Mythras there are more explicit ways to win a fight than simply reducing an opponent's HPs to zero.

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1 hour ago, Atgxtg said:

No I haven't, but I have read the rules.

Please read them again.  Then play them before commenting on them, especially before making recommendations about them.  Because you were mistaken to one degree or another on most every point you tried to make.

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2 hours ago, Atgxtg said:

To me it doesn't add any layers, in fact it removed them, since everything just gets reduced to a dice poll vs a target number and hit points, and all the rest is just trappings. 

Welcome to the world of RPGs, where you choose the trappings of your abstractions to suit your taste.  In another game, it'd be arbitrarily different systems to model physical combat preferentially versus any other encounter.  Which is clearly what some people want when they complain that a given system makes physical combat indistinguishable from any other conflict.

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8 minutes ago, g33k said:

So I too would (very much!) welcome more effort in the BRP direction.

Then perhaps the general BRP forum would be an appropriate place to discuss it?  For all the talk of letting people like what they like (for which I was reasonably taken to task), there's a noticeable effort to take the wind out of M-Space.

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44 minutes ago, Atgxtg said:

So it comes down to how much abstraction. I think that using dice pools can lead to too much abstraction and turn everything into a simple number crunch.

Granted, and agreed.  Though, as you point out, the degree of abstraction is largely a matter of taste.  And, as I alluded, the most recent release of The Comae Engine features some innovations (i.e., Lenses, which affect Extended Conflicts at a level of narrative mechanics).  Other, perhaps more conventional adaptations may be in the wings.

51 minutes ago, Atgxtg said:

I didn't say he should abandon M-SPACE or the Myhras system...

And I wasn't necessarily referring to the author.  Going back to the OP, I agree with the suggestion of digging deeper into manageable body of published work for M-Space for exactly what it brings to the table.  BRP has done nothing new in the 7 years since.

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