Ian Absentia

c.f. the Hawai'ian leiomanō, which used shark's teeth instead of obsidian. Neither of which would be found in a run-of-the-mill Balazaring's possession. Monolithic generalisations of neolithic cultures aside (Griffin Mountain was notably light on cultural detail), I think I'd prefer a down-home campaign set in Balazar over Sartar. It's nice to have a "primitive" cultural region that hasn't been stamped HSUNCHEN by way of shorthand. !i!

Let's not discount construction from bone, horn, and ivory, either. There's a world of mayhem to be squeezed from the pre-metallurgic environment. Thanks to @Videopete for reminding me how much I enjoy the neolithic environment of Griffin Mountain (even though I always had difficulty wrapping my head around marrying the technological level to residence in the citadels). !i!

The klanth is a good one, but less exotically: Spears Axes Javelins Bow and Arrow Slings Nets and Lassos ...all made from wood, fiber, sinew, and/or stone, and potentially without damage or skill penalties in use. Some pretty sophisticated tools for hunting and warfare can be crafted without proper metallurgy. Durability is the primary issue at hand. Didn't the original RQ1 & 2 have relative hardnesses for the interaction of weapons and armor made from different materials? I don't recall it covering wood and stone, though. !i! [Edit: I'm pretty sure the rules for differing materials that I was thinking of were from Tunnels & Trolls.]

In my experience, that's pretty much been HQ/QW in a nutshell, and it's probably the reason why I've found it to be the best superhero RPG experience I've had.* !i! [*It also makes me lament that I dismissed Marvel Super Heroes out of hand when it first came out as "too simplistic".]

a) It's adorable how you refer to cities by airports. b) Glorantha has always been a grab-bag of '70s stoner humor. !I!

And I am. And with my copy of RQ6 here, how easy of a transition will it be to play Luther Arkwright? Pretty straight-forward, I imagine, yeah? No substantive changes to the mechanics to Mythras that aren't covered in the LA book? !i!

Are you suggesting that the Kingdom of Ignorance corresponds to SoCal? Because I'll contribute to that campaign fund. !i!

Well, now you're just being absurd.* Though you do raise an interesting point. Why does Mostal make stunties and giants. but no human-sized and -shaped gears for the Machine? !i!

For Aldrya, it'd just be cultivating another specialised plant. In this case, a closely-related phenotype of elf, perhaps with a relationship with mainstream elf society similar to the one that elfs have with dryads. By the way, I found that reference I was looking for -- Guide to Glorantha, Vol. 1, p. 61, sidebar: "This female Aldryami ... looks almost perfectly human - almost too human, bred and grown to easily interact with the nearby human tribes." Woo! Canon! Almost certainly! That's the way the Machine works. !i!

I was actually thinking that I was going down with a typical Sci-Fi trope. "On your planet, we have assumed forms your species can understand without fear..." The more I think about it, the more inclined I am to suggest that Aldrya and Mostal are up to the same game when it comes to player-character versions of the elf and dwarf species. !i!

NOT strictly mammalian. But point taken. Wait, no. Carry on. !i!

Yeah, well, then you takes whats you gets. Enjoy the ride! !i!

That's actually not what I meant. C.S. Lewis (and, by extension, Roger Zelazny) -- successively greater truths lie within, not externally. Players reveal them by playing the game, not by kibitzing purely fictitious, regularly conflicting, and often arbitrary literary sources. That's the stuff of fanzines and listservs. !i!

The "crazy" elf/dwarf/dragonewt ruling has proven pretty useful over the years because, well, that's how most players play them. Especially players new to Glorantha. (Curiously, Uz seem to work just fine for most newbies, though they usually don't want to play them.) But for seasoned players who've boned up on the Elder Races, I'd welcome characters with backstories that emphasise a reason for cooperation and mingling with human society, and generally behaving like a human without being an outcast or slouching into the "young Prince Hal" trope. Even a dragonewt may have an inscrutable reason for mimicking human behavior for several years before resuming more traditionally draconic pursuits. By that you mean boobs, yeah? I guess the Man Rune is pretty figurative in that regard. And maybe, as you suggest, it goes toward supporting my theory that spiritually active forests occasionally grow PC elves as interfaces with their human neighbors and cultivate them to human's behavioral and anatomical expectations. !i!

Yep. As it was when he stepped away in the '80s and '90s. YGMV, has become, out of necessity, YG(Absolutely Will)V. Enjoy the journey further up and further in. !I!

If... ... your intent is to perpetuate Kralorela as analogue to Asia in general and China in particular. And isn't that contrary to the recent effort to roll back the cultural shorthand of the '90s? Rather, the development of Glorantha in general will benefit from a more culturally diverse field of writers and developers. !I!

I'm digging about for a reference, but isn't there some (potentially non-canon) assertion that player-character Aldryami -- the ones who look and act essentially like humans -- may have been grown by a forest specifically as "ambassadors" to other Man Rune species? !i! [Edit: I may be conflating this with the rationale behind Mostali player-characters. However, sauce for the goose...]

Which introduces a very similar complaint about the treatment of Teshnos, which I understand is under some revision. It's been a little too on-the-nose, especially geographically. Oddly, the semi-analogue of Japan, Vormain, seems to duck much of the typical Orientalism. !i!

Plunder can get you there. Most tables are straight-up money in handfuls of Clacks, Lunars, and/or Wheels. You'll have to suss out Treasure Factors on your own, but a quick scan through the tables will give you a sense of relative amount of loot someone/thing might be able to carry on them as well. By the way, may favorite entry is from the Gems/Jewelry table: "Costume jewelry that serves as a deed." A deed to what? How do you find out? How do you collect? What do you mean Raus is squatting on the property I'm entitled to? !i!

It's old school RQ2, skews on the rich side of hauls, and some entries will need updating to current mechanics, but there's the Plunder PDF available right now. https://www.chaosium.com/plunder-pdf/ By and large, it's directly applicable. There are one or two of my favorite plot hooks in this book, vying for honorable mention in the ranks with 76 Patrons. !i!

Nay, Malkion is but the witness to the Invisible God, as was the ENGR to the MGMT. One being the agent, the other the event. !i!

My immediate thought was the MGMT. On a Moore-ian level, is this an expression of the creator of the fiction recognising the role of a co-author? Or, mystically, the One God recognising the multiple facets of itself and its witnesses/agents, being MGMT and ENGR, or Greg and Sandy. It's starting to sound awfully Mostali, frankly. !i!

The horoscopic determination alone in early C&S was...breathtaking! !i!

Yes and no. Yes, it originates from Chaosium's Nephilim, but is a broad revision of the sorcery system. Similar, but different. So, yeah, essentially. !i!

And intriguing randomised special items. As an aside, my very favorite game inspiration ever comes from the pages of Plunder. The Gems/Jewelry Table: "01 Costume jewelry that serves as a deed". Think on that for a bit. !i!