soltakss

I never assume that PCs or NPCs will survive. If an NPC is vital to a plot and the PCs kill the NPC then they will have a hard time working out the plot. However, this can spark a number of other plots. Sometimes my players ask whether they can take out an NPC as it might affect the plot. I always say "sure..."

One of our Vingans had Distracting Puppies as an ability in HeroQuest ...

Cellars also allow secret doors into tunnels, sewers and chaos temples.

Thanks - It would have been useful having the forum name alongside the password-restricted message ...

I do indeed. I have been watching the Black Sails TV series and must have confused the two, thanks.

I noticed a number of topics are in password-protected forums. As a matter of interest, what are these forums?

Your "spring full-grown the following generation" theory is probably right. Trollkin appeared straight after the Curse of Kin. Great Trolls appeared as soon as the HeroQuestors finished their pregnancies. Dark Trolls are a bit different, but they only appear after the trolls left Wonderhome. I would agree that trolls are not the product of evolution but of magical events. Dark Trolls are the result of leaving Wonderhome, Sea Trolls were caused by Pocharngo mutating trolls, Cave Trolls are also Pocharngo's work, I think, Trollkin are the result of the Curse of Kin and Great Trolls are the result of Cragspider's attempts to break the Curse of Kin. Hot Trolls are slightly different and might be the work of evolution, but I cannot remember if Lodril, or his mirror in Pamaltela, had a part to play. Midget Slashers are also troll-related but it isn't clear where they came from.

Pirates of Legend (Legend), Blood Tide (BRP) and Renaissance all have Black Powder weapons and can pretty much all work together.

Some broos shamans might beg to differ there.

That is a nice taboo - I could use that in our game. It is easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission ...

Didn't Waha's Trails and Ronance's Tracks both contain all kinds of nutritious and magical plants? Probably not all in clumps, but spread out thinly along the pathways.

In my Glorantha, the Syphon is a cursed river and nobody in their right mind would want to use it. Having said that, some people travel up from the Mirrorsea by boat and Storm Bullers from Esrolia would probably take that as a nice short cut to the Footprint.

Merrie England: Age of Chivalry split the Status skill into one for Social Standing, one for Wealth and one for Reputation, I think, although it has been a while since I wrote it. So, you could have a Poor Noble with a high Social Standing, low Wealth and whatever Reputation he had gained. It fitted in well with the BRP rules but added a little more flexibility.

Gorp Hug ...

No problem. The comments on my website were made a long while ago and are not particularly relevant now. They are there for the record and I am still against the general idea of the old fan policy, but that policy is no longer current. I don't mind people quoting me to make points, after all I post enough comments myself. However, I have always tried to be supportive of those companies publishing in the D100 family and don't really like to oppose them if at all possible. I am aware that my website is fan-based and could be closed down at any time, so don't want to take the risk that someone takes offense about something I said, so I try to be as careful as possible. It wasn't your fault and I haven't taken offence at you at all. Whilst I appreciate that people read my posts and my websites and find them useful/informative for some reason, I have never seen myself as anything more than a fanboy with a big mouth, so am always surprised/uncomfortable when people quote me or value my opinions. I just don't want people in power to come down on me like a ton of bricks for something I said ten years ago. That is the only thing that I have ever been asked to take down. There was some confusion regarding the copyright notice, which was for the text not the modified map. However, my policy is to take things down if asked, so down it went. The map was deemed to be breaching copyright, not the fan policy, they are different things. As I have signed up for a fan website license, I am bound by its terms and take things down if asked. Other people took down their websites due to the very old Issaries fan policy, as they didn't want to sign the license. You are one of the most civil posters on this forum, far more civil and patient that I am.

Early on in a campaign, I like to use coins. However, as the campaign goes on and the PCs become more wealthy, I handwave coinage and use wealth levels, when I can be bothered. My current group of PCs rarely ever buy things. I can't remember the last time they bought a Battle/Spirit/Common Magic spell and almost never need to buy equipment.

And thank you for doing that.

OK, if I said it then I must have thought it true at the time. However, it was 11 years ago and things have changed since then. Although I am honoured at being quoted for truth about all things Gloranthan, that statement was just my opinion on the fan policy at the time. I would be grateful if people didn't use my comments to score points or to support positions against Moon Design/Chaosium/Issaries/The Design Mechanism/Mongoose/Alephtar Games/D101 Games or any of the other great companies who are supporting D100-style games. My opinions are that of a glorified fanboy and nothing more. Treat them the same as you would someone in your gaming group or someone you meet at a games convention. You wouldn't quote a conversation you had with someone at your gaming table, so why quote me?

If you have a fan licence then nothing should be taken down. The fan licence is very simple, fair and easy to use. In the 20 years I have had a Gloranthan website, I have only been asked to take down one thing. I suppose that people who don't want to sign a fan licence would have to take everything down, in theory, but I haven't a clue as to how many people that has affected. In my opinion, if they don't want to sign then they can't complain too much about having to take material down.

Sure, whichever works best. One of the benefits that Arkat had was that he joined multiple cults and learned their HeroQuests, enabling him to realise that many of the HeroQuests had common factors/places/events, allowing him to jump from one HeroQuest to another. Different cults have different HeroQuests that can be used for the same sort of thing. Waha frees Herd beasts to make them part of the clan, Orlanth steals them as a raider. The end result is the same, the herd beasts belong to the raider. However, the herd beasts freed by Waha would belong to the clan in an entirely different way, they wouldn't want to escape, would obey the raider and so on. The herd beasts stolen by an Orlanthi using the Plundering of Aron would be chattel, belongings, not really part of the clan and not integrated with the raider. The clan that the herd beasts were stolen from might decide to raid the Orlanthi in revenge but not raid the Wahan because the Waha Quest legitimised the taking of the beasts.

A Zebra Rider, exiled from Pavis but who wants to wander. A Yelornan Unicorn Rider who wants to remain apart from the Yelorna Temple in Pavis and the Unicorn Tribe. An Oasis Folk farmer who has the sudden and inexplicable urge to adventure, even though he is patently unsuited.

Both of those fit my idea of Orlanthi, thanks.

Everyone's experience of HeroQuesting varies. The Waha Quest in Different Worlds works exactly in this way. The PCs perform a HeroQuest to rescue some herd beasts. They can use the HeroQuest to rescue herd beasts taken by another clan. Whoever said that HeroQuests are random events? HeroQuestors don't randomly stumble upon HeroQuests, in fact they normally set off on HeroQuests do achieve certain goals. The Magical Weapons HeroQuests of Orlanth generally involve stealing things. You could get a magical weapon out of the HeroQuest or you can steal a magic item owned by an NPC. The actual results depend on how the HeroQuest was done, what was invested in the HeroQuest and what happened on the HeroQuest. If you want to steal a wife from another tribe or need a magical weapon, there are other ways of doing this apart from HeroQuesting. However, HeroQuesting can be used, especially if there is a HeroQuest that your deity performed that can be used. Sure, there can be surprises. You might expect a couple of Sun Domer guards and actually get a Sun Lord with all his retinue. Instead of Zorak Zorani guards in Sazdorf you might get Humakti guards. You might expect a station where Orlanth meets Gore and Gash, but instead get ambushed by a group of Zorak Zorani led by a Death Lord enemy. Of course that can happen. However, PCs can set the HeroQuest up in such a way as to probably stack the odds in their favour. If Orlanth meets a troll, then get a friend of the PCs to play the troll on the HeroQuest. If Orlanth raids Yelm's Halls then get the guards drunk before the HeroQuest. HeroQuests are dangerous and different things can happen. One of the good things about HeroQuests, from a gaming point of view, is that the consequences of the HeroQuest can have a very big part to play in the campaign. Fallout of HeroQuests can drive scenarios for many sessions.

Such attacks happen all the time. An Orlanthi performing the Scarf of Mist HeroQuest might go into a nearby lake, find a water nymph and force her to become his wife/concubine. He is effectively carrying out an attack on the Water Tribe in the same way that Orlanth did. The fact that the water tribe is a family of nymphs doesn't matter. The same Orlanthi could perform the Sandals of Darkness HeroQuest against a troll clan and steal some magical sandals from the High Priestess. This mimics Orlanth stealing from Kyger Litor and substitutes the troll clan priestess for Kyger Litor. Another HeroQuestor could then use the Scarf of Mist HeroQuest to steal the first Orlanthi's wife away as he would be targeting her as a member of the Water Tribe. If I perform the Sandals of Darkness HeroQuest against the Sazdorf Clan High Priestess by sneaking into the Sazdorf Caverns and stealing her magical sandals then I am pretty sure that the participants are going to be Sazdorf Clan members. I have chosen the HeroQuest, the time, the place and the targets. However, if the guards turn out to be troll Humakti instead of Zorak Zorani then I might be surprised and might have to deal with them differently. If the guards include a visiting human Sword of Humakt then that would fit the Sazdorf Clan mythically but might cause my HeroQuest to fail as I don;t have anything useful against Humakti.

However, if you go on a GodTime HeroQuest to the Founding of Pavis then you can go to the mythic point, as the Founding of Pavis is a Mythic Event. Changes you make are only reflected in Glorantha after that point, so you couldn't change history, but you could change the nature of Pavis itself. That is what Gbaji did to the trolls - he HeroQuested in time but created a Mythic Event in GodTime. When trolls try to stop him, they travel to the Mythic Event in GodTime, or use that Mythic Event to overlay on normal time.