soltakss

18 minutes ago, womble said:

4 hours ago, Jeff said:

Heroquesting will likely be about a third of the GM Sourcebook. 

Woohoo! Hurrah! Caloo! Calay!

Ditto.

We have been waiting for a full treatment of HeroQuesting for so long, I am pleased to see that it is coming.

4 hours ago, Jeff said:

Caladraland & Aurelion

Or Caladra & Aurelion, unless you are including a full writeup of Caladraland as well, which would be great

4 hours ago, Jeff said:

I am still debating about whether to add Horned Man, Triolina, Subere, Wachaza, and Voria to the list. 

I would like to see Horned Man, Subere, and Voria, but not so sure about Triolina and Wachaza, as they have limited use outside a Seas campaign.

11 minutes ago, Joerg said:

While it may be nitpicking, but I am not quite convinced that it was Gbaji who cursed Kyger Litor - that was Nysalor, the Bright One, all on his own, without any need for Chaos.

Oh, I agree.

Trolls, however, think that it is Gbaji, the Deceiver. Arkat was a Troll who fought and destroyed Gbaji the Deceiver, to avenge the wound caused to Korasting. Gbaji, the Deceiver, seemed weak and innocent, so the Dark Eater consumed him, but then he revealed his true nature and burned/ate his way out through Korasting.

We think of Gbaji and being Chaotic and Nysalor as being bright and good, with the Dark/Light side of Illumination. For trolls, however, they are one and the same, for they are but two masks for the same being. 

35 minutes ago, svensson said:

Monster Man? Don't know that one.

It was in the Lodril writeup in White Wolf magazine, I think. I liked the writeup, but some people didn't. 

Lodril Priests can sacrifice to Monster Man if the peasants are being oppressed. Once Monster Man is invoked, his POW builds up as more and more peasants join him/sacrifice to him, until he becomes a demigod who challenges the Lords of Dara Happa in a Peasant's Revolt. When he is no longer needed, he disappears.

23 minutes ago, svensson said:

Is there a difference between the Glorantha Sourcebook and the Guide to Glorantha two volume set? I glanced at the guide at my FLGS, but upon seeing the same artwork repeated I just assumed I had the information in the larger set.

The Gloranthan Sourcebook is for 13th Age Glorantha and is the introduction to Glorantha for that. For us old fogeys, it is mostly a rehash of previous material, with a fair amount of new stuff, but for people new to Glorantha it is far more useful and approachable than the Guide to Glorantha.

I'd recommend getting the Gloranthan Sourcebook first and then, if you like what you see and want to know more about Glorantha, get the Guide to Glorantha.

14 hours ago, RHW said:

No takers?

Soltak Stormspear

Cults: High Priest/Rune Lord of Orlanth Adventurous, Associate Priest of Storm Bull, Hunter, Issaries, Argan Argar, Humakt, Initiate Sister Cat, Illuminated

STR 16 CON 16 SIZ 16 INT 11 POW 14 DEX 22 CHA 21

RH Bastard Sword (1D10 + 2 + 1D4) SR 4 255%/40% (30) 
LH Bastard Sword (1D10 + 1 + 1D4) SR 4 135%/45% (25) 
RH Long Spear (1D8 + 1 + 1D4) SR 3 155%/80% 
LH Dagger (1D4 + 2) SR 6 95%/115% (30) 
RH Whip (1D4) SR 0 85% 
Medium Shield (1D6 + 1D4) SR 5 40%/195% 
Quarterstaff (1D8 + 1D4) SR 2 90%/95% 
Self Bow (1D6 + 1) 135% 
Thrown Rock (1D4) 100% 
Wind Hammer (4D6) 110% 

Skills: Defence 95%, Evaluate Treasure 100%, First Aid 75%, Treat Disease 35%, Treat Poison 65%, Disguise 50%, Map Making 90%, Hide Item 90%, Pick Locks 105%, Set/Disarm Traps 100%, Climbing 110%(+20%), Jumping 115%, Riding 95% (+10%), Swimming 100% (+10%), Rowing 80%, Peaceful Cut 105%, Carting 55%, Listen 210%, Spot Hidden Items 135%, Spot Trap 110%, Sense Chaos 110%, Improved Defence 105%, Improved Parry 30%, Hide in Cover 125%, Move Quietly 85%, Camouflage 60%, Oratory 70%, Bargaining 95%, Fly 35%

Languages (Speak/RW): Sartarite 105%/90%, Stormspeech 95%/90%, Darktongue 90%/90%, Tradetalk 90%/90%, Beastspeech 80%, Lunar 45%, Kersen 15%, Feline Speech 10%

Alchemy Skills: (Gained on a HeroQuest to rescue a healer Heroine) Healing Potion 20, POW Restoring Potion 15, Poison Gas Antidote 21, Scorpion Venom Antidote 21, Spider Venom Antidote 21, Wyvern Venom Antidote 21, Herbal Poison Antidote 21, Mineral Poison Antidote 21

Battle Magic: (Soltak) Countermagic 9, Demoralise, Disruption, (Stormpuss) Dispel Magic 9, Healing 6, (Spirit 1) Befuddle, Multimissile 4, Detect Spirit, (Spirit 2) Strength, Mobility Fanaticism 3, Speedart, Extinguish, Darkwall, (Spirit 4) Farsee, (Spirit 5) Detection Blank 9, (Spirit 6) Detect Life, Glue 5, (Spirit 7) Detect Magic, Detect Enemies, Firearrow, Vigour, Mindspeech, Xenohealing 3, (Not in Mind) Bladesharp 4, Repair, Coordination, Fireblade, Food Song, Ironhand 4, Lantern 2, Protection 4, Spirit Binding, Spirit Shield 4

Battle Magic Matrices: Shimmer 4, Befuddle, Protection 2, Detect Traps, Jumping 4, Bladesharp 4, Detect Undead, Detect Spirit, Spirit Shield 4, Dispel Magic 2, Repair

Rune Magic: (Soltak) Shield 8, Spell Teaching, Multispell I, Extension 1, Divination 5, Spirit Block 5, Mind Link, Summon Small Sylph, Telekinesis 2, Teleport, Guided Teleport 2, Heal Constitution, Analyse Magic, Lock, Create Market, Spell Trading, Berserker 2, Defend Against Chaos 4, Face Chaos 2, Summon Small Tumbler, Truesword 3, Catseye (One Use), (Stormpuss) Teleport, Telekinesis, Shield 2, (Traded Spells) Shield 8, Defend Against Chaos 2, Telekinesis

Rune Magic Matrices: Flawed Berserker, Truesword, Berserker, Boots 

Special Abilities:

Species Max:  INT 20, POW 23, DEX 23 
Immune to: Detect Gold, Detect Life, Reverse Chaos, Farsee, Detect Detection 
Immune to Chaos Features: Appears Extremely Dangerous, Absorbs 1 pt spells, Reflect up to 4 pt spells 
Take half damage from Fire, Cold, Lightning 
Move 9 
Rage of the Bull (1/season, doubles STR and CON, lasts for 2D3 rounds) 
Double Damage (1/day can specify that a weapon strike doubles penetrating damage, can specify after damage has been rolled) 
Heal Body (1/week can cast Heal Body on self) 
Double Attack (1/day can double attack chance against broo, lasts 15 minutes) 
Double Attack (1/day can double attack chance against scorpion men, lasts 15 minutes) 
Double Damage (1/day can specify that a weapon strike doubles penetrating damage, can specify after damage has been rolled, only works against broos) 
Double Damage (1/day can specify that a weapon strike doubles penetrating damage, can specify after damage has been rolled, only works against scorpionmen) 
Fly (Costs 1 MP per point of SIZ per melee round, allows the user to fly at Move 3 if he makes a Fly roll, user loses all hair, which can never grow back, his skin becomes slick to the touch and glows faintly) 

Magic Items:

Crystals: POW Storage Crystals Total 357, POW Enhancing Crystal 9, POW Enhancing Crystal 4, Flawed Healing Focussing Crystal 6 (Adds 1D4 to Healing), Bladepower Crystal (Allows user to exchange + 10% attack for + 1 damage and vice versa when casting Bladesharp, so Bladesharp 4 can be + 0/+60%, +1/+50%, ..., +6/+0%) 
Fireblade Box (Spirit casts Fireblade on a weapon touched to the box, Spirit POW 14, 12 POW Storage) 
Jewellery (Allows Soltak to interact with elemental creatures without CHA loss) - Lead Earring (Darkness), Aluminium Sharktooth Necklace (Water), Tin Nosering (Air/Storm) 
Aluminium Torc (When put on and POW 12 overcome and 2 POW lost, cannot be taken off, for 10 MPs allows the user to breathe water for 10 rounds) 
Gold Wand with Crystal (On command, glows as daylight, radius 15m) 
Spirit: (INT 6, POW 19) tied to Soltak, comes back even after death, can cast its own spells, acts as an ally or magic spirit (Knows Detect Spirit, Befuddle, Multimissile 4, spells cannot be changed) attuned to POW Enhancing Crystal 4 
Lightning Band (As Plunder, except does 3D6 Lightning damage 1/day, metal armour ineffective, no POW cost) 
Hauberk (Unknown metal, 0 ENC, 8 AP, immune to acid, can be worn while swimming at no penalty) 
Bastard Sword (0 ENC, Iron, +10% Attack/Parry, + 2 Damage, + 3 AP, immune to acid) 
Stormfist's Sword (Iron Bastard Sword, 1 ENC, cannot be damaged, returns to owner's side at dawn each day) 
Elasticated Ring (When put around a weapon, mends 10 AP/round, incompatible with Repair) 
Helmet Plume (4 MP / hour, plume acts as an umbrella) 
Storm Bull's Ear (Base Listen 90%, + 15% Sense Chaos, + 1 CHA) 
Storm Paul's Ear (+ 10% Listen. Sticks out and Looks Silly) 
1 Pair of Slave Bracelets 
Scabbard (For 1 MP, allows user to draw a bastard sword with 2 SR penalty not 5 SR) 
Sword Pendant (Allows wearer to cast Truesword 1/day) 
Quarterstaff (Permanent Crush 1/2 + 5 % Attack, + 1D2 damage) 
Riddle Book (Stormspeech, gives + 5 false INT when asking/answering  riddles) 
Small Bronze Horn (0 ENC, when played can be heard up to 25 miles away, at the same volume as nearby) 
Lightning Gauntlet (LH Tin Gauntlet, cannot be removed, POW 10 to attune, user loses 2 POW when attuned, allows user to cast low-power lightning bolts 2^N MPs do (N+1) D3 damage, so 1 MP does 1D3, 2 MP 2D3, 4 MP 3D3, 8 MP 4D3, 16 MP 5D3 and so on, 100% chance to hit, damage is done to location hit unless target fails CONx5 in which case it affects Total Hit Points. When lightning is cast, a loud thunderclap is heard. Lightning will set fire to dry, inflammable materials. If a lightning bolt or thunderbolt is cast at the wearer, he can catch the lightning bolt on DEXx3% and throw it back at DEXx5%, this is a reflex action and does not take an action. The gauntlet does not conduct electricity to the wearer) 
Wind Cloak (Cloak, made from woven shadow cat fur, runes of Storm, Mobility and Mastery on back, takes 1 POW loss to attune. Wearer is immune to any winds, if desired. Cloak billows as if affected by wind, but will not blow away. If the wearer is flying or on a sylph he can use full Defence) 
Storm Sword (Tin Bastard Sword, ENC 1, AP 25, matrix for Bladesharp 4, provides a Wind Blast 1/day STR 50 vs SIZ, success means target is knocked back (50 - SIZ)/5 metres. Casts Dispel Magic 8 with POW 15 at any Protective Chaos Magic it hits) 
Wind Hammer (Iron Throwing Hammer, bursts into flame when thrown, does 4D6 damage on normal hit, 4D6 + 1D8 + 2 on a crush (1/5 chance), 4D6 + 10 on impale (1/10 chance) and 4D6 on critical. Rune Lords start at 90% with Wind Hammer. If used by a Wind Lord, teleports back to hand on impact, match damage vs SIZ for target to fall over, cannot be magically enhanced) 
Gauntlet of Fearlessness (RH Gauntlet, made of unknown metal, 6 fingers on hand, long and curved fingernails, black, overcome 12 POW to attune, lose 3 POW. Wearer defends with species max characteristic when defending fear based spells or effects such as Demoralise, Fear, Fearshock, Terror, Panic, Fear Spirits, Hideous Chaos Features. Wearer defends Rage causing spells or effects at half chance, so Spells such as Fanaticism, Berserker need to overcome 1/2 POW to work, coming out of Fanaticism needs INTx2.5, coming out of Berserker needs INT /2%. Cannot be removed. If removed, hand is permanently skeletal - STR 3 grip, -90% to RH skills, must be mended with Repair not Heal)

Windfoot (Shadow Cat spirit, gained on a HeroQuest, always bound to Soltak, returns after death and can be rebound into a familiar, returns after Soltak has died. When bound into a Shadow Cat, grows wings that are useable after 1 season, can fly, knows Bladesharp 4, Detect Enemies, Detect Life, Detect Magic) 

Notes:

Soltak was born as a woman, Sabrina Spearsister, but was changed physically into a man on a HeroQuest. She asked Orlanth to change her back, but was refused. After this, Soltak has had a hatred of his new body and has sought to change it, so he has replaced his ears, eyes, penis (but that was cursed, so he changed it back as he didn't want to rape women), lost all his hair, gained a furry blue skin and casts no shadow. People think this is strange, but he just shrugs. What he wants is to return to his original female form, otherwise the body is as alien to him in a normal form as it is in its present form.

Soltak became Illuminated on a HeroQuest, having answered no riddles, and learned riddles on meeting Nysalor on the HeroPlane. He joined Humakt because he wanted Humakt's Iron Will to counter the freedom gained through Illumination. He joined Issaries because he gained a number of taverns on a mission. He joined Storm Bull to better kill chaos. He joined Hunter and Sister Cat (Yinkin) on HeroQuests. Among his many achievements, he gained partial control of Duck Pond and created a temple based around the Orlanth Hill there, he became a member of Stormfist's Honour Guard, Stormfist being an Orlanthi Hero who lives within a Stormcloud,  and left his shadow behind when he gained one of Stormfist's Swords.

Soltak has an abiding hatred of anything chaotic and almost killed himself when he became Illuminated, but decided that his honour was more powerful than the chance of becoming chaotic. He owns a number of taverns, butcher's shops, villas and farms, all gained on scenarios.

He is based in Duck Pond and has become the High Priest of a Temple there, deep within the Upland marsh, which he uses to harry the Lunars in Sartar.

Soltak has many other minor magic items and abilities that are to many to mention.

Congratulations

8 hours ago, womble said:

They'd also need a Heroquesting gift or something to be able to do that without the examiner noticing.

Or they could use the False Form (?) Cacodemon spell, or its equivalent.

21 minutes ago, svensson said:

I have no idea who Gerra is in Lunar mythology.

A dark goddess of sacrifice, suffering and rebirth, she has an inverted pyramid that goes into the Underworld. Relatively new, by which she has only been around for 20 or 30 years, so I don;t know much about her.

17 hours ago, Sir_Godspeed said:

That's how the Sourcebook presents it at least, but I suspect that's a chart of convencience. Ernalda is the Mother Goddess, borne from Asrelia, who in turn used to be the Mother Goddess back in the Green Age and was born from Gata, the primal Earth. However, if seen from areas outside of Kethaela/Kerofinela, every Land Goddess is seen as the Mother Goddess in the area in which she is the Land Goddess, if that makes sense. Frona is not just treated as some regional deity Fronela, she is as central and fundamental as Ernalda is in Kerofinela/Kethaela, imho.

Oh, absolutely. The Land Goddesses are very important in their own lands. Esrola is almost as important as Ernalda in Esrolia, for example.

However, the Six Goddesses have become important across Genertela and have eclipsed the Land Goddesses or the Crop Goddesses, to a large extent.

7 hours ago, Martin said:

Yeah I knew these enitities but they are second age ones rather than BEFORE Ernalda married Orlanth

Aurelion is the son of Esrola, or Gata, I can't remember, but I think it's Esrola. He is the Fertile Volcanic Earth from which all manner of plants can spring. 

I can't remember if Asrelia had any sons, but I am sure she did. Ty Kora Tek probably didn't, or, if she did, they'd be associated with the Underworld. Babeester Gor probably doesn't have children, but she might, she has changed from being a virgin goddess to one who has mates, in the same way that Maran Gor changed from having mates to not having mates, it is confusing.

For trolls from far away, they would have had a shock, as they would give birth to trollkin. After a while, they would HeroQuest to find out why and would find the answer, as they would be faced with Gbaji. Also, trolls who share the Curse of Kin are all part of Kyger Litor, so they all communicate with her. Mistress race Trolls everywhere are connected directly to Kyger Litor and would be able to find out.

I really don't think there are any trolls who suffer from the Curse of Kin and don't know what caused it, I really don't. After all, it happened over a thousand years ago and Arkat conquered a good portion of central and western Genertela, with trading links to other parts, for example the Kingdom of Ignorance and the Snow Trolls. Word gets about.

If some trolls had a different version of the Curse of Kin, it would involve some Light/Fire Being who burned Kyger Litor/Korasting. 

1 hour ago, Sumath said:

In the end, miniatures are just tactical markers - they don't have to be show pieces.

One of our RQ2 players made his own miniatures, as he found out how to make moulds and could fill them with lead alloys. They started off as blobs but ended up reasonably good. However, he swore by the dipping technique, whereby he dipped them all in one colour paint, then let them dry out, dipped the legs in another colour and the helmets in another colour and so on. He sometimes hand painted shields, in one colour, or painted a rune on at the end, but they were mostly dipped.

1 hour ago, Sumath said:

In the end, miniatures are just tactical markers - they don't have to be show pieces.

We have used numbered tiddlywink counters, monster figures from some old boardgame, unpainted lead miniatures,  painted lead miniatures and paper cutouts, all did the job quite nicely.

Storm Bull is forbidden everywhere in the Lunar Empire, except for Bilini, I believe. Orlanth is forbidden everywhere, but bandits and thieves would worship him. Urain is forbidden, as he is worse than Storm Bull in a very bad mood.

The Spolites have a lot of forbidden Darkness cults, but they have not been described.

Monster Man is a forbidden cult, as it is the Rising Rebellion of the peasants of Dara Happa. The Cult of the Invisible Spear is a Lodril subcult that peasants use to learn spear combat in secret.

Krarsht and Thanatar are very forbidden cults but have their place.

Thief cults are generally forbidden, as are assassin cults. However, the rulers may well call on their services when required.

12 hours ago, EpicureanDM said:

Again, that's valuable perspective. You're suggesting this as if it's a sensible option, but most modern audiences and GMs wouldn't think that the GM rolling 45 separate attacks while the players look on to be exciting play. But if RQG's written to assume that's a sensible tactic (or its proponents think that it is), then it helps me triangulate on what might need to be done to compensate.

Oh, it's dull as anything.

We used to have someone who did exactly this in RQ3 and his ally would cast 3 Multimissile 6 spells per round, so he'd roll 21 rolls. The GM would let him roll away and count the criticals or impales, as the real arrow can impale, while the rest of combat happened, rather than waiting for the roll/damage, in fact the GM would say "It has got 20 points of armour", or whatever, beforehand, just to avoid the chance of rolling maximum damage. The player concerned could not just roll d100 and record the result, no, he had to pick up the d100, blow on it, do a fake roll, stop, laugh, then roll it, EACH AND EVERY TIME.

12 hours ago, EpicureanDM said:

I have access to RQ3. What's the page reference there?

I am not sure about RQ3, but the reference is on p214 of RQG "Shooting at Moving Targets
Movement of a target directly toward or away from a missile weapon-using attacker has no effect on the probability of hitting it.
. A target moving at an angle from the archer reduces the archer’s chance of hitting by 1/2.
. A target specified to be evading as it moves reduces the archer’s probability by 1/2.
. An evading target may only move half their normal movement and may do nothing else but move and evade.
These effects are cumulative.".

12 hours ago, EpicureanDM said:

I have a question about the last bullet point. What does that fight look like for the first few rounds? Assuming neither side had a chance to prepare in advance, you write that the players are casting Bladesharp while the other side are casting offensive spirit magic, three or four times. Is that meant to suggest that combat could "start", but no one advances for the first two rounds while protective and buffing magic is cast? That would seem strange in the context of the game world. It would be like armies fighting with unloaded muskets. The signal to begin battle is given and they both sort of gesture to each other: "Wait, wait, hold on, let me get ready before we start trying to kill each other."

What normally happens is that two groups of people size each other up a bit, then decide to go into combat. Sometimes casting spells is done in the sizing up part, sometimes when combat starts, it is not unknown for the casting of spells to cause combat.

If the parties have Allied Spirits, then the allied spirits could cast spells in secret, so the people could go into combat tooled up. Otherwise, you typically cast 2 spells per round, if you have time, so you might take out a sword and shield (2 actions, 1 round), cast Bladesharp and Protection (2 actions, 1 round) then close to combat. Sometimes, you cast the spells while closing to combat. Sometimes, if you have an ambush situation, you can cast your spells and then attack an unprepared group of NPCs.

In a duel, you normally cast all spells before the duel starts.

12 hours ago, EpicureanDM said:

Are you assuming that the players are casting Bladesharp and/or Protection as they're rushing their opponents? You assume that there's a couple of rounds worth of distance to close before melee? In the meantime, the enemy's trying to stop the PCs with Befuddle or Disrupt? I know it's situational, but do you imagine that sometimes the party's facing opponents who can all cast Befuddle or Disrupt, and they all just unleash instead of shooting arrows?

Yes, that can happen. We have had situations where a party of NPCs have cast Befuddle and Demoralise and have all succeeded, which devastates the PCs. Tactics vary between "All cast spells at the big guy" to "cast spells at everyone and see if they overcome". If one side has numerical advantage and has attack spells, then they can cast multiple spells at one or more PCs as well as targeting everyone. A party with Allied Spirits can normally cast multiple spells at one or more PCs.

12 hours ago, EpicureanDM said:

I read this a lot, but no one cashes it out with numbers. What does it look like to be a "Rune level" opponent in RQG? I can look at CR in 5e (even if the system's not very helpful) and at least get a general sense about what constitutes a high AC or lots of hit points relative to other opponents. Can it be described abstractly but in relation to a group of PCs, e.g. a "Rune level" opponent has Rune points equal to the highest PC in the group plus four? 

RQG is slightly different to previous versions of RQ, as everyone who is an initiate gets a Rune Pool. In previous versions, Rune Priests had an advantage as they could use powerful reusable Runemagic spells. in RQG, everyone has access to reusable Runemagic, so the benefit is reduced. In previous versions of RQ, Rune Lords could increase their skills beyond 100%, but in RQG anyone can.

So, in RQG, being a Rune Level is not as important a benefit as in previous versions.

However, Rune Levels are Rune Lords or Rune Priests, maybe including Shamans as well. They get benefits that help in combat, so Rune Lords get access to Rune Metals, often Iron,  which tend to be better in combat. They also get access to Allied Spirits, which increases the spells they can cast. A Rune Level with an Allied Spirit who knows Healing or Heal Wound is at an advantage compared with an opponent who does not, as they can be healed when unconscious.

12 hours ago, EpicureanDM said:

If I asked you to give me a stat block for a "Rune level" opponent in RQG, what would it look like?

Have a look at Runemasters, they have some excellent examples of Rune Level characters for RQ2 that could be used for RQG very easily.

12 hours ago, EpicureanDM said:

How do they do this? If you were going to create stats for a Rune level opponent for your group of PCs, what would they be? Walk me through the way that the stats and rules would put the party in real danger.

Now, that is far too general a question.

A Rune Level NPC would have good equipment, good spells, an Allied Spirit and probably some kind of magic items, healing potions and Magic Point Storage. The variation is in the cults followed. So, a Rune Lord of Orlanth would be good with weapons, a Rune Lord of Humakt would be good with swords, a Rune Lord of Zorak Zoran would have clubs and might go Berserk, a Rune Lord of Krarcht would be sneaky, a Rune Lord of Cacodemon might be able to Vomit Acid over you and a Rune Lord of Thanatar might have access to spells from other cults.

Rune Lords have high skills and probably iron weapons. Rune Priests have access to specialised Runespells. Both have access to Allied Spirits and have large Rune Pools. Both probably have a lot of Spirit Magic spells. If they have high CHA, they might also have Bound Spirits, so can cast more spells. 

4 minutes ago, EpicureanDM said:

This looks like the sort of advice I'm looking for.

Thanks.

4 minutes ago, EpicureanDM said:

What's different in RQG that invalidates some of these tips?

I haven't gone through RQG in detail to see if these examples still hold up. It is close enough to RQ2 that they should work, but there might be cases where the rules have been subtly changed.

5 minutes ago, EpicureanDM said:

Some of this seems like they would work in RQG, like the idea of "spell barrages." That's a neat trick that I can demonstrate via NPCs to players. If it does still work in RQG, what's the mechanical explanation for that tactic? How would I execute it?

Everyone casts spells at the same Strike Rank at one opponent.

We played that Countermagic acted against the total points of spells that hit it, not against individual spells, so 5 Disrupts would blow down a Countermagic 3. With Multispell, you can do your own spell barrages.

7 minutes ago, EpicureanDM said:

By explaining this stuff in sufficient detail (how did it change from RQ2/3 to RQG?), new RQG GMs can get a veteran glimpse into how the rules all connect to each other. I read an old thread on these boards about the interactions between Axe/Sword Trance, Bladesharp, and combat skills over 100%. It contained experienced RQ2/3 GMs pointing out some very subtle differences in the spells and combat system in RQG. These discussions help new RQG GMs find the seams and pitfalls in the system so that they can be prepared at the table when problems arise.

The problem is that it would take a long time to go through every rule/spell in RQG and compare it with the equivalent in RQ2/RQ3. It could be done, but would take ages. I am not sure if it would be worth the effort, unfortunately. 

9 minutes ago, EpicureanDM said:

That's another good tip. What's your experience with this at the table? It feels very swingy to me.

It is very swingy, but can be effective. It works better with high-DEX PCs, as they can shoot at SR 1/6/11 or 2/7/12, also better if an Allied Spirit can cast Multimissile on the arrows, perhaps with a Multispell, so Multispell 2 allows you to cast 3 Multimissiles per round, Multispell 5 allows you to cast 6 per round, maybe on 2 archers.

16 minutes ago, EpicureanDM said:

If the only way the party's opponents can hurt them is via a critical, then a large group of archers (what ratio of opponents to PCs do veteran RQ GMs consider "large"?) feel like a nuisance (the GM rolls six or eight Attack rolls at 45% at 1d6+1 damage, which is a little dry and perhaps anticlimactic) until a critical suddenly drops a PC. But maybe that's the only way for rank-and-file archers to feel like a threat, so giving three archers Multimissile 3 is just how things are done in RQG? 

That is pretty much it. It works better with higher skills, so three archers at 100% would be better than three at 45%, as 3 archers firing 3 shots with Multimissile 4 on each get 45 chances to hit, at 100% that gives a goodly number of criticals on average.

25 minutes ago, EpicureanDM said:

OK. How often have you deployed opponents on trained war-animals in your game? Do you find them tricky to run compared to more standard RQ fights? What do you know now that you wished you'd know when you ran your first fight featuring mounted combatants?

Fairly often. Most of our PCs had Cavalry Horses and a number had warhorses. They get treated as another NPC and the PC normally rolls for them. basically, the PC gets another attack if they make a Ride roll, or if the Warhorse is intelligent. Our Yelornan Elf had a Unicorn with well over 100% Horn attack, it cast Ironhand, which increased Horn, Kick and Trample, more bang for your buck.

I'd use a Combat Tracker, or at least a Strike rank Tracker, for combats with multiple PCs/NPCs, including mounts.

28 minutes ago, EpicureanDM said:

There's good tidbits in here. Is the concept of "Natural Defense" found in RQG? If not, it's the sort of thing that only experience can teach (and share). 

Natural Defence is a concept used by my second RQ group. They would happily charge into combat against archers, assuming that there was a good chance of not being hit in a vital location.

29 minutes ago, EpicureanDM said:

Do you have a rules reference for "jinky" running?

It was in RQ2 and RQ3, so I assume it's in RQG. Basically, if you dodge around when running it makes it harder to hit.

30 minutes ago, EpicureanDM said:

You mention that charging archers in combat is a good idea, unless they're very skilled or are using magic. Does "very skilled" refer to them being able to shoot more in a round to incapacitate you before you get there? Are there other skills that you're thinking of? What sort of magic makes it a bad idea to charge archers? Are we just talking about magic that boosts their chances to attack and deal damage or do you have other spells in mind that would discourage charging them? Maybe Mobility or Leap?

An archer who is very skilled has a better chance of impaling and impales can easily take you down if you are not magicked up. 1D8+10 punches through all normal armour. An archer with a skill of 100% with Arrow Trance attacks at 200%, so Impales on 40 and criticals on 10, so using Multimissile gives a very good chance that you are going to be taken down.

Mobility or Jumping can be used to catch archers on the hop, especially if the PCs run as fast as they can. A lot of our NPC archers used Lightwall to screen themselves, especially if they were Yelmalian or Aldryami.

On 2/25/2019 at 9:26 PM, Akhôrahil said:

It didn't (at least if we trust the Monomyth).

It did if you are Dara Happan. They had a bunch of monks, I think, who spent the whole of God Time burning candles, and counting how many candles were finished. It allowed them to work out how many years passed for them. Personally, I think that time must have dragged so badly for them, unless they were really into candles.

On 2/25/2019 at 7:10 PM, Atgxtg said:

The thing I find so funny is that no one wants to have another 30 page debate about Stirrups in Glorantha have not problems with a longer thread about Swords in Genertela, where people debate even more details. Saddle minute isn't esoteric enough?

But Sword in Genertela has such pretty pictures ...

Agreed on all points.

On 2/25/2019 at 4:03 PM, Christoph Kohring said:

HW: RiG (2000): HQ0 (HW1)
HQ:RiG (2003): HQ1 (HW1.1)

Mythic Russia (HW1.2)

HQ:CR (2009): HQ2 (HW2)
HQ:G (2015): HQ2.1 (HW2.1)
HQ SRD & OGL (2020...): HQ2.2 (HW2.2)

You forgot Mythic Russia.

Genert.

He fathered daughters on his sister, daughters on his daughters and daughters on his granddaughters.

Earth Tribe Goddesses are generally split into two - Those Goddesses fathered by Genert and those in the Asrelia/Ty Kora Tek/Ernalda/Maran Gor/Voria/Babeester Gor line.

Have a look at Pirates of Legend as well. It is very good and would fit with both Renaissance and Blood Tide.

On 2/26/2019 at 5:36 PM, Djday45 said:

I am very curious to know about long term gms that use Glorantha as a setting, what their campaign was/is like? 

What system did you/ currently use?

where is it set?

what time period?

how long have you ran it?

how did you change the setting? Or did you keep to canon?

loads of questions are swirling in my mind as I prepare to take the plunge myself!

I've run three long-term Gloranthan Campaigns.

The first was a RQ2 Campaign, as a multi-GM campaign, with each GM setting things in his own area. I used Prax or Dorastor, another used Pavis, another used Sartar and another used The Acid Pits. It was a freewheeling RQ2 campaign that did not have a lot of coherence but was a lot of fun. It was no canon, as we didn't have all the supplements and bought them as we went along. It lasted around 4 years.

The second was a continuation of the first, with fewer players, me as the single GM and used RQ3 rather than RQ2. It was set in Dorastor and Balazae and got grossly powerful. Just as much fun as the first campaign, but was pseudo-canonical, by which I mean that I generally followed canon but had to make a lot of stuff up, as the material just wasn't there. The PCs ended up killing Argrath, as he was a rival to one of the PCs, sending Harrek to a Lunar hell, as they accidentally killed him then realised he was a friend of Argrath, one became a Thanatar Hero, another became a Mistress Race Troll, another became High King of Balazar and was adopted by the Red Emperor. It lasted around 5 years.

The Third used a hybrid of RQ3 and a lot of other stuff and followed member of a Pavic Street Gang, the Firemakers, who did a few things in Pavis, went to the Wastes, had parts of their body turned into copper, became penal mercenaries for the Lunars, became policemen in Sun County, became River Voices, brought back a whole host of deities (The original River Voices, Tada, Pavis, Sartar, Tarkalor and Genert. They brought back Orlanth from the dead, even though they specifically said they didn't want to on many occasions, they purged the Crimson Bat of Chaos, rescued a True Dragon from the Crimson Bat's stomach, put the Boat Planet into the Sky, led a Death Cradle down the River of Cradles, followed by the Cradle from the scenario, made one of the PCs into King Arkat, made another into the Queen of Prax and Tada's wife and made Mello Yello Sun County Ambassador to Monkey Ruins, King of Dragon Pass and Sun Dragon Emperor of Dara Happa, which is when the players decided they couldn't top that and brought the campaign to and end. It was semi-canonical, as I had to take things from King of Sartar and various other places, extend them and invent a lot of stuff to fit around it. It lasted around 13 years.

The Dark Eater consumed Gbaji, who tore himself out of Korasting's belly, damaging her Womb. This is the event that causes the Enlo Curse.

Even trolls who do not know about Gbaji, and they will be very few and far between, understand that someone damaged Korasting so much that it affected her fertility.

My personal opinion is that Arkat Kingtroll is a Hero to trolls everywhere, certainly all trolls in Genertela and probably those in Jrustela as well, so if they know about Arkat they know about Gbjaji and the Curse of Kin.

14 hours ago, Runeblogger said:

OK, thanks for clarifying this. I'll edit the review with this information.

My very general advice? Never edit a Review.

If you want to add some notes at the end, clarifying things, then fair enough, but your review is your initial impressions of the game.