soltakss

On 6/17/2019 at 8:40 AM, Imryn said:

No, we did that! What we didn't have was geases being broken by things completely outside the players control (i.e. they were unconscious at the time)

I've put spoilers around this, as it involves breaking a celibacy geas, but not by choice.

On 6/18/2019 at 10:21 AM, Julian Lord said:

On 6/18/2019 at 3:27 AM, Sir_Godspeed said:

I think it's more than that. The cities and other landmarks just seem too large compared to the terrain inbetween. If we're to take this at face value, then a significant portion of the actual physical terrain of Esrolia would be densely built urban construction, which just seems unfeasible. Either Nochet is TITANIC, or the Shadow Plateau is kinda small - in extent, not elevation.

As I said, I see it more as a stylized representation, but my impression of the scale of Esrolia might be incorrect.

No, you're spot on -- the scale of the illustrated geography is completely fake.

Not to mention the ill-use of perspective ...

Everyone's a critic. I just thought "What a lovely picture".

On 6/17/2019 at 8:18 PM, Bill the barbarian said:

Can someone tell me how to link a thread across forums in a quote like this?

It's still magic, innit?

On 6/18/2019 at 7:00 PM, PhilHibbs said:

Yes, I've committed all the boardgamegeek URLs for RuneQuest magazine articles to memory. It's the only way. If only there were some kind of engine that allowed things to be searched for, then I wouldn't have to.

Phil is a Hero of Lhankor Mhy - He even has the beard to prove it.

Don't forget that Hostile isn't Enemy.

Hostile Cults are rivals, they might dislike each other and might even fight each other, but two members of Hostile cults might band together to fight a member of a common Enemy cult.

I see Hostile as Dislike and Enemy as Hate.

On 6/19/2019 at 10:09 PM, EricW said:

I suspect defeating Delecti would be as difficult as getting rid of Ralzakark or the Red Emperor. 

I don't think that Delecti is that powerful, to be honest.

On 6/19/2019 at 10:09 PM, EricW said:

Delecti has withstood centuries of attacks by Humakt heroes and others. His swamp was created very rapidly using god learner like skills to twist local myths. His swamp was designed to protect Delecti from multiple dragons.

Was it? I thought it protected him from the True Golden Horde, at least that's how I always saw it. Delecti was a friend of the EWF and a supporter of the Dragons. That's why he was able to survive the Dragonkill.

On 6/19/2019 at 10:09 PM, EricW said:

Is your PC someone who could take on a horde of dragons and survive? Delecti did.

Well, technically the True Golden Horde killed him in their rampage, I think, but I could be wrong.

Delecti's strengths are:

• He is surrounded by a chaos-infested swamp full of nasty creatures
• He commands an ever-replenishing army of zombies and skeletons
• He has a number of Vampires who are loyal to him 
• Even if killed, he can just migrate to another nearby corpse, so is really difficult to pin down

I am sure that his supporters would gladly sacrifice themselves so that Delecti could animate one of their corpses and escape.

On 6/17/2019 at 11:57 PM, Beoferret said:

I've been considering drawing up an RQG adventure/string of adventures that would involve trying to rollback the Upland Marsh, if only by a few inches. Do you all even think that this is even theoretically possible (if sticking to current Glorantha canon)? 

It is certainly possible. The Upland Marsh is, after all, just a marsh and marshes have been drained many times.

On 6/17/2019 at 11:57 PM, Beoferret said:

In my newbie RQG GM vision, this effort would entail trying to kill a black thorn tree (or several) and then destroying the magic rods that Delecti's servants had buried in the ground to act as markers of a marsh's new borders. All as part of an effort to begin a reclamation of parts of the marsh. Or, perhaps, the PCs are hired/convinced to try this, in order (unbeknownst to them) to draw Delecti's attention to the adventurers and away from some group making an attempt to infiltrate deep into the marsh for something.

That is probably a textbook way of defeating a portion of the Upland Marsh. The trouble is, everyone thinks of that as a way to defeat the Upland Marsh. Delecti also knows it's a good way to defeat the Upland Marsh, so he is ready for it and send hordes of zombies to guard against that kind of thing. He even sends Vampires and Mummies if necessary. 

Using the PCs as cannon-fodder distractions is a good idea, as the plan can fail without them, leaving them to pick up the pieces.

I think there is a constant to-ing and fro-ing over the Upland marsh, with the rods being removed and broken, freeing up a section of the Upland Marsh, then the Pale Sisters return and replace the rods, making the land marshy again. I also think that the rods create a Marsh Nymph who guards that portion of the Marsh, with dryad-like powers, certainly the ability to control any undead created in her section of the Upland Marsh. 

On 6/18/2019 at 10:34 PM, Beoferret said:

Any thoughts on what and how strong Delecti's response would be? I'm imagining that taking on one or a couple of trees and/or uprooting a few boundary rods would lead to several dancers in the dark eventually showing up (along with a contingent of zombies and skeletons) to reestablish their preferred boundary. But at what point (if ever) does Delecti decide to cut his losses for a few yards of land? And at what point do adventurers provoke retaliation against entire communities near where they're operating? 

He would send zombies to stop anyone trying this, also sending Mummies and Vampires. Use the Dancers in the Dark if you want, nothing wrong with sexy female vampires in an Upland Marsh scenario. I don't think he'd come himself, as he doesn't really care that much about the outskirts of the Upland Marsh, unless you did a HeroQuest replicating the True Golden Horde who killed him in the first place.

Delecti would definitely retaliate against the nearby communities, in a particularly nasty way. He'd probably turn one tenth of the people and get them to kill their own kin. 

Eventually, the Pale Ladies would return and turn the land back into Marsh again, unless someone really powerful could stop them.

2 hours ago, Shiningbrow said:

I love your artwork, and it amazes me... !!! I wish I could draw that well!

You think that, I think that, almost everyone on this thread thinks that. The only person who doesn't think that is Martin Helsdon.

On 6/19/2019 at 2:53 PM, styopa said:

Personally, I'd say that a QUICKER way to get people into the 'vibe' would be to simply watch Hercules or Xena.  They're streaming pretty much everywhere and while kitschy they're decent shows and hew to the bronze age motif at least as closely as RQG does.

Definitely agree with that. They are as accurately Bronze Age as RuneQuest is and almost as much fun.

19 hours ago, DreadDomain said:

I never read the Illiadand that short blurb is very informational. It makes it less likely that I will ever read it (so many good books to read) but still gives a context around the whole thing.

I read the Iliad as a teenager and it was great, full of combat and stuff. When I started playing RQ, I thought that it was just like the Iliad. I've still got the Book Club version that I read as a kid. If you like RQ then I think you'd like the Iliad.

1 hour ago, Shiningbrow said:

Haven't people from Argan Argar gone to their wonderful wife and asked her for a few Bless Pregnancy spells, or Reproduce? Sure, won't cure the entire curse, but should certainly be enough for each individual pregnancy/mating.

You'd get some really good Value Trollkin that way.

16 hours ago, thom said:

I started playing RuneQuest in 1979 and through the 80s, so that probably explains why I feel this way. I remember reading one of the authors saying he hated the whole concept of "zero to hero", which is why they developed RQG the way they did. Which is why I''m wondering if it's worth it for me to try and run the new system, vs. modifying RQ classic with some of the new ideas. Has anyone else had this dilemma? If so, how did you work through it?

In RQ2 days, we always started off with a Zero to hero approach, as previous experience wasn't great. I haven't looked into the options for RQG, but presume the same can be done,l you just don't go through a lot of your previous experience.

15 hours ago, Gannd said:

I'm new to RuneQuest but the combat in RQG is deadly that even as newer characters it isn't like they are very vulnerable and I have a feeling that as characters gain experience combat will remain deadly. To me the zero to hero means that players don't start out as too invincible and they don't in RQG. I'm not sure if I answered your question.

Yes and no. If you face similar-strength and similarly skilled opponents, it isn't that much of a problem. Sure, you could get a lucky critical or special, but at lower skill levels it doesn't happen that often. You get a lot of misses in combat, though, which might not be that satisfying, but we didn't mind.

If you provide the party with healing potions and so on, then combat becomes less deadly.

I remember playing a First Level Magic User in D&D back when it was AD&D, he had 2 Hit Points and if you sneezed on him he went down. RQG is nowhere near that bad.

6 hours ago, MOB said:

16 hours ago, soltakss said:

Excellent news!

When is the Gloranthan equivalent coming out?

Lining up the final details now. Later this month we hope.

Wahay! Even more excellent news! Thanks!

12 hours ago, Bill the barbarian said:

14 hours ago, Shiningbrow said:

Your Glorantha is different to mine, because I have the deity supplying a bit of their power for a Rune spell, and so there's no way they'd mix and match their powers or energy , with the possible exception of associated deities (as, being in the same pantheon, they already share some of those energies)

  soltakss plays differently than many of us, I bet he is the reason for the expression YGMV...

Our RQ2 group had Orlanthi, Humakti, Yelmalians, a Yelornan, Storm Bulls, Zorak Zorani, an Aranea Troll and odds and sods. When we used Spell Trading, we would trade for spells, sometimes the Issaries cultists would trade traded spells, so it became almost impossible to work out which point of Shield came from which cult. The PCs sometimes used Mindlink to get access to each other's spells, so a Humakti could use his own Shield 2 and an Orlanthi's Shield 2 to make Shield 4. They decided very early on, before I joined the group, that, mostly, a spell was a spell was a spell, no matter the origin. The only differences that I can remember were Divine Intervention and Divination, as they had to be specific to the cult, so you couldn't use Divine Intervention 4 from Humakt with Divine Intervention 3 from Orlanth, or stack Divination from different cults. In RQ3 terms, Sanctify would be another case that makes an area sanctified to a particular cult.

Don't forget that, in RQ2, Runemagic just went off, without a roll. It wasn't connected with a Rune or a Skill, so you didn't have questions about casting Humakti Runemagic with an Orlanth skill or Rune.

Taking this approach also means that Thatanari and Vivamorti spell-stealing magic just works, without having to worry about where the spell comes from. It also means that Truestone works, otherwise you'd have to think "OK, this Truestone came from an Orlanthi, so only Orlanthi can use it" or "I need to go to an Orlanth temple to replenish the Shield 3 spell, but I am a Lunar". If you treat it as a spell is a spell is a spell, it doesn't matter where the spell originated.

The same with Spell matrices, if a Chalana Arroy cultist makes a Heal Body Matrix, does that mean that only Chalana Arroy cultists can use it? I don;t think that is the case. Does it need to be replenished at a Chalara Arroy Temple/Shrine? Possible, but I'd say that any Lightbringer temple would have a Chalana Arroy shrine so would work. Could another cult replenish a Chalana Arroy matrix if they granted Heal Body? I'd probably say yes, as a spell is a spell is a spell.

Alkoth would probably have Rune Lords, being pretty martial.

On 6/10/2019 at 6:38 PM, Jeff said:

And if Game Mistress didn't sound like something from the BDSM scene, I'd use the phrase in English.

Whereas Games Mistress sounds like a female PE (Physical Education) Teacher from the 60s and 70s.

On 6/9/2019 at 8:08 PM, two_fishes said:

I'm playing a Humakti character. Her backstory is that she became a Humakti initiate after her family and clan were almost entirely murdered by her treacherous sister, who had become an initiate of Thanatar. Now my character has killed her sister, and may soon kill her sister's master, successfully avenging her family and clan. This seems like a moment for profound change for the character, and maybe a place for her to start over. Might she leave the service of Humakt? Or are the Humakti always in it to the death?

Sounds like Vinga would have been a better choice, same avenging mission but can retire afterwards.

There is nothing to stop her from still worshipping Humakt but retiring and putting up her sword. She can still go to worship ceremonies and so on. 

On 6/12/2019 at 8:18 AM, Crel said:

So, Spell Trading.

We used to play that you could offer the other participant the cost of the traded spell if they cast your spell immediately, thus freeing up your spell and keeping the traded spell.

On 6/12/2019 at 9:11 AM, PhilHibbs said:

I'm not convinced that Extension from one source can be mixed with a rune spell from another.

We always played that a spell is a spell is a spell, regardless of the source. So, Orlanthi Extension worked on Humakti Truesword and Shield 1 from Orlanth and Shield 2 on Humakt stacked to Shield 3. 

On 6/10/2019 at 11:29 AM, MOB said:

The MISKATONIC REPOSITORY is going from strength-to-strength!

Excellent news!

When is the Gloranthan equivalent coming out?

On 6/11/2019 at 4:33 AM, Joerg said:

 

Quote

Does each herd have a protector-spirit?  Is it like a wyter?  Or are they all faces of the Mother for that species of Herd-Beast?  Or ... ?

That's another border situation, especially with the Nomad Gods/Great Spirits situation in Prax. 

The Protectresses in Prax are responsible for the sum of all herds of one type (e.g. bison) rather than individual herds. Is there such an entity for the Uncoling reindeer or the Pralori deer? Orr herds of beasts without any (surviving) human relation?

For me, the Protectresses are responsible for all the herds of a particular Nation. However, each individual herd would, I think, have a wyter, or Protectoress spirit. It might be small, for a couple of animals, or larger, for a herd with thousands of animals, but would essentially perform the same task. The POW and magical ability of the two would be vastly different, a wyter of a tiny herd might just be able to warn them of danger and that's about it, whereas a larger one might provide magic to the herdsmen.

One of the things about becoming a Hero or a Deity is that you basically lose your Free Will, as you become more and more tied into the Compromise.

If we had a Free Will rune then Deities would lose it as they became more powerful, which is an odd idea.

What is Free Will?

Umath would say that it is Rebellion and tied to the Storm Rune, for he used Free Will to break Yelm's chains.

Mostal would say that it is Rebellion and would be tied to the Chaos rune, for Rebellion breaks the World Machine.

Yelm would say that it is Illusion, for anyone using Free Will is fooling themselves.

Mastakos would say that it is the ability to change things and is tied to the Movement Rune.

3 hours ago, Imryn said:

Humakt is the only death god in the lightbringer pantheon - he is "The God of Death" for those who worship any of the Lightbringers pantheon.

Storm Bull (Urox) is a god of death and is in the Lightbringer pantheon.

3 hours ago, Imryn said:

@Jeff I gotta ask. What were you guys thinking when you decided to limit the power of divination by NERFING THE GODS! You must have realised that it would spill over into every other interaction between the world and the gods. Surely there was a better way to limit the power of divination?

I don't think the gods have been nerfed. Divination and geases have worked in essentially the same way for 30 years. I remember having conversations about "Well, how does Orlanth know that? It was a secret and I was the only person who knew and I didn't tell him."

3 hours ago, Imryn said:

Right off the top of my head I can think of one: The Gods exist outside time and have no concept of how to exist in a linear fashion. Any vision granted by divination has no indication of when it is happen(ing / ed) and sequences will be disjointed and may jump from the past, to the future, to the present at complete random.

Not the future. Gloranthan deities explicitly don'y know the future and can't tell anyone what the future is going to be.

2 hours ago, Shiningbrow said:

We've been over this earlier in the thread... but, being knocked unconscious and tied to a horse shouldn't be a breach of geas... and, Humakt should certainly not know about it as it happens, when the Humakti themselves isn't (and isn't in a position to do anything about it)

Yes and no. If I played a Humakti with a geas "Never ride a horse" and I was knocked out, put on a horse and taken somewhere, then technically I have broken a geas. For the forseeable future, I will have lost the gift associated with the geas. However, I should be able to go to a Humakt Temple, perform a ceremony, make a sacrifice and everything should be OK again. If I woke up on the horse, grabbed the reins and rode off to escape, then I would have broken the geas properly and would lose the gift permanently, or might have to HeroQuest to get it back again.

2 hours ago, Imryn said:

Why do worshippers of gods who don't get geases have to swear oaths and donate POW?

I think that you are confusing several things.

Some cults have Cult Requirements. So, someone might have "Never use Silver" as a cult requirement, Thanatar might have this. If a cultists uses silver then they have broken a cult requirement or cult rule. This puts a mark against them that some people will be able to see. If they continue to break the rules, they might be spoken to by a Rune Level, have dreams of an angry deity or be visited by a cult spirit of retribution and possibly kicked out of the cult for repeated violations.

Some cults have geases, which are sacred promises made by the PC to the deity ro behave in a certain way. If you break a geas you lose the Gift related to the geas. If you break lots of geases, you may well become apostate and end up with the cult spirit of retribution and may end up being thrown out of the cult. Really bad Humakti cannot use swords, for their swords shatter if they pick them up, for example.

Some cults have the Oath spell, which is a magical contract between two people, which causes the death of one of the participants if they break the Oath. Breaking the oath triggers the spell, as the spell isn't part of the knowledge of the deity, it is a magical contract with terms and conditions. 

So, an oath to join a cult isn't the same as an oath to take a geas or an Oath Runespell.

2 hours ago, Imryn said:

So why are gods limited to only knowing what their worshippers tell them?

Partly as a game construct, I think. If I asked Orlanth where the Staff of Yamsur was, how would Orlanth know the answer? You might say "Because it's surrounded by air and Orlanth is the god of air", but what if it is hidden in a lead chest at the bottom of the sea? Orlanth wouldn't know the answer.

I play that gods know what happens within their realm. So, orlanth would have an idea of what happens in the sir, perhaps not in any great detail, but he'd know enough.

4 hours ago, Imryn said:

There will only be one "god of truth" in the pantheon. There may be others who honour and respect truth, but only one paramount god of truth. If there were more than one god of anything, there would be conflict between the gods which would be reflected amongst their followers. Comparing who worships Lhankor Mhy and who worships Humakt I think Lhankor Mhy would have no worshippers left by now.

The Yelmic Pantheon has several gods of truth/knowledge, for example.

It's like saying that every pantheon only has one healing deity or only one war deity, clearly not the case.

7 hours ago, Jeff said:

I don't think that the secrets of Illumination are needed for players and gamemasters to understand geases. Let's deal with that when you have an Illuminated player character.

A lot of us already do.

Not all PCs are rolled up RQG ones, many are converted RQ2/3 PCs who are already Illuminated.

On 6/13/2019 at 8:32 AM, Imryn said:

Sorry, you are both wrong. Humakt is the god of death and war - he just happens to be pretty keen about truth as well but doesn't have a portfolio for that (just had a marvel moment: "you are not the god of hammers")

Styx is the Goddess of Oaths, the Garrote of the Gods. Compared to her, Humakt's Oaths are just hard promises.