Ian Absentia

This was a remarkably pleasant and informative discussion. Thanks to David and James! I was expecting a little more frankness about what happens when "their fan base changes," but I understand the need to stay positive and tactful. !i!

This is more or less what I did when creating my RQG character. As mentioned in another thread, he was a character that went through chargen in several different Gloranthan gaming systems for different reasons, and most recently for HQ1 in the 1621 era. I was able to adapt the family history tables (which are optional -- see the inset on p.29) and make some of the parental generation history my character's own. It works fine. When I joined the campaign, my character was 5 years older than the other players', but it really worked in context as a wayward child returning to Sartar from Prax as an adult. Don't worry about growing Passions. In my opinion, a raft of 6 or more Passions running in excess of 80% is baka. Focused is better. Also, note that random rolls on the family history tables is optional, too. See also, p.29, paragraph 1, in bold. Feel free to make characters that make sense. And enjoy Borderlands and environs. It's amazing! !i!

There are some serious epistemological discussions to be had on this topic, including the implication of a de facto Celestial Bureaucracy charged with application, review, and stamped approval. But clearly in a thread of their own. In the meantime, consider me a newly-minted convert to the Red Goddess. All Things In-Time. !i!

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Interpretations have varied. But if innovation and free will are precluded by the Cosmic Compromise, I'm throwing in with the Red Goddess in a way that I've never done before. Let the Dogs Herd! !i!

Are all mundane events in Glorantha now manifestations of myth? !i!

Three trades and five draft picks, man! They're thinking of the future, not 2014. But, on balance, he and his wife just opened a new self-branded fashion boutique here in town, so... !i!

Did the family estate of Thomas Hobbes take the author to task over the title? !i!

The pithy little imp on my left shoulder suggests: It's an imaginary world -- make one up. The cherub on my right counters: Isn't that essentially what Darius was driving at? I'll confess to having abandoned the generational course corrections to Gloranthan lore. It's like a tide that ebbs and flows and ebbs again, but the beach is still here. If something hasn't already been defined, do we really want it to be? !i!

Even in the real world, the fact that dogs can be bred and trained to aid in herding has by no means made their use as herd dogs ubiquitous. Whether it's cultural preference, cultural blind spot, divine writ, or unseen hand of environmental economics, availability doesn't determine utility. But, yes, I'm giving you this one. This is just baka. !i!

Dude, seriously. 😑 !i!

So...more of a Monster Hunter vibe than a Lost World one? What species are the Natives? !i! [NB: Typo of "compromising" under Aarwan's Organization. Also, compare "comprising" vs "composed of" -- think of "comprising" as a circle around a set of things; "composed of" is the set of things inside the circle.]

I may have scored something of a Gloranthan hat trick with my RQG character. He started out as background fluff for a RQ2 character, the kid brother back home who might turn up as a follower. He was later statted up as an exercise in character creation as the game transitioned into RQ3, slightly more mature and as a possible backup if my primary character was lost in play, but he saw a little action as the GM's NPC in the role of a young Sartar exile turned to banditry. Years later, I aged him further for use as the primary NPC antagonist in a HQ adventure I was running, by this point the leader of a notorious bandit gang on the lower Zola Fel after having been outlawed from Sartar years earlier. When creating a character for a RQG campaign where the GM informed me that we needed an up-and-coming potential thane, I dipped back into this well and had him return from Prax to bring his coming-of-age cycle full circle, the war having wrung a lot of the youthful rebellion out of him and turned him into a responsible leader. The only iterations I was missing were RQ1 and Hero Wars. !i!

Oof...that's where the rubber of taxonomy really starts to touch the runway. In general, I'd assume that "elves", united under the lineage of Aldrya, would view each other spiritual equals, and the taboo would hold across forest types. They might extend the taboo to other sentient and motile plant types (Murthdryami and Vorolani, as suggested above). I think the moment another plant can consciously and eloquently make its case to not be eaten, an Aldryami begins pumping the brakes. !i!

Right! I knew I hadn't come up with that one on my own. Thanks. I don't reckon an elf gets to intone the Foodsong ritual over the corpse of anther elf, though. !i!

As I've stated elsewhere (the Your Dumbest Idea thread? The How Does Your Glorantha Differ thread?), I'm smitten with the Bosmer of the Elder Scrolls series, who are strict carnivores. I don't doubt that the developers were influenced by the Aldryami (as so many other elements of Tamriel are). Back to Glorantha, though, would an Aldryami eat another one? I'd tend to think not. Certainly not an elf eating another elf. But a runner, maybe? We humans eat monkeys with little or no moral consequences. However, they'd eat other plants, and probably perform some sort of ritual akin to the Peaceful Cut if there's a higher order of conscious spirit involved. And many plants offer edible parts that regenerate, which are likely part of a compact of mutual aid. As @jajagappapoints out above, it's our mysterious friends, the Black Elves, who complete the cycle at the basest level (quite literally), in the digestion of all dead things -- Plant, Man, Beast, even Earth after a fashion. And in my book they get permission carte blanche in that regard. !i!

I'm pretty sure that I channelled some public domain there, so please, feel free. 🙂 I pulled the Runic associations of Hsunchen totems off the cuff -- I'd enjoy seeing someone put more thought into them. !i!

Leaning into the phrase "...each culture may have its own symbols..." here, does the symbolic gift even need to be specific to and consistent within a given culture? I know that we're exploring the "typical" possibilities, though, so I'd suggest taking a page from the Runic affinities. Just as Runes are commonly associated with certain elements, objects, and actions, so are Great animal spirits. The drum is the cross-cultural call-to-center, the spiritual heartbeat, so any shaman of any culture might receive a drum. A tradition following an animal spirit that parallels Movement or Air (e.g. Pralori, Uncoling, Qa Ying) might receive a flute; one similar with Earth or Fire (e.g., Rathori or Hsa) might receive a bullroarer; one tied to death (the Telmori?) might get a necklace of bones or teeth. !i!

Harrek is on my side? That's news to me. No honor among thieves and all that. Frankly, as an enterprising pirate, if I'm not already part of Harrek's crew, I'm going to scurry under a rock when I see him coming, then crawl out and get back to business after he's gone. !i!

If I were an enterprising pirate -- and I'm not suggesting that I am -- these are exactly the sorts of places in which I'd figure out a way to set up base, for the very reasons you suggest. !i!

Call of Cthulhu (pre-7th editions) has long been my go-to game for cross-genre roleplaying. And even when sticking to horror themes, I've found that it has a conveniently useful sliding scale when it comes to mind-blasting weirdness and supernatural lethality -- it's really just a matter of how much you leave out, or what branch of the Mythos you concentrate on. Early published adventures even included encounters with werewolves and mummies that weren't consistent with Lovecraftian sensibilities. If CoC can do "pulp" and the Dreamlands, it can probably do your favorite horror stories. !i! [Edit: The only reason I excepted CoC 7e is because, while I own it, I haven't played it. I'm sure it would still fit that sweet spot I described above.]

"Fanwank"? Yeah, that's Nick being a community ambassador. !i!

Typical Pragmatist. !i!

It is pointless, unwise, and frankly unfair, to speculate publicly on Chaosium's intent. Fire at will on VeVe's seemingly contradictory statements, though. And apply the hairy eyeball to any equivocal business-speak. !i!

My boxed copies of KAP 1st ed and Ringworld (only ed) were purchased ages ago from some poor fellow's water damage sale, so all I've ever been able to do with them is enjoy and play them. !i!