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styopa

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Everything posted by styopa

  1. Honestly, I thought that it was pretty fascinating that this bot (this was 3.5, not the new 4.0 mentioned this week as I don't have a paid sub) is *reasonably* well versed in the basics of a relatively niche RPG world. No, it obviously doesn't quite connect the dots and the lines perfectly but the vagueness of who won Gbaji vs Arkat and generally the Lunar view on chaos isn't bad...no, I don't think that's worthless word-salad. To be fair, half the Glorantha Digest for decades was people contradicting each other over this stuff so - short of spewing copyrighted text straight from the Guide to Glorantha - I don't fault some brainless heuristic for not getting all the details right. I did like the bit about the Red Emperor 'defeating Arkat' due to his magic and technology. I immediately had the image of some sort of WH40K emperor blasting away with a plasma rifle.
  2. Q: Can you tell me the story of the Lightbringers from Glorantha? ChatGPT: Certainly! The Lightbringers are a central myth in Gloranthan mythology, and tell the story of how the sun was brought into the world. In the beginning, the world was shrouded in darkness, and the gods were trapped in the underworld. The goddess Eiritha, mother of all life, decided that something had to be done to bring light to the world. She gathered together a group of heroes known as the Lightbringers and charged them with the task of bringing back the sun. The Lightbringers consisted of several gods and demigods, including Orlanth the Storm King, his wife Ernalda the Earth Queen, and his brother Yelm the Sun God. They journeyed through the underworld, facing a series of challenges and tests along the way. They battled with monstrous creatures, outwitted cunning spirits, and passed through dangerous gates and barriers. Eventually, they reached the top of the cosmic mountain known as Kero Fin, where they found Yelm the Sun God held captive by the goddess of chaos and darkness, known as the Unholy Trio. With the help of their ally the Trickster God, who distracted the goddesses, the Lightbringers were able to free Yelm and bring him back to the world. However, the Unholy Trio were not willing to give up so easily. They attacked the Lightbringers and managed to steal the sun back, plunging the world back into darkness. Undeterred, the Lightbringers regrouped and launched a second assault on the Unholy Trio, this time with the help of a giant eagle named Gorgorma. The eagle carried them to the top of Kero Fin, where they defeated the goddesses and finally brought the sun back to the world. Thanks to the bravery and determination of the Lightbringers, the world was bathed in light once more, and the gods were able to emerge from the underworld and return to their rightful places in the heavens. The myth of the Lightbringers is a powerful symbol of the triumph of light over darkness, and the importance of perseverance and teamwork in the face of adversity. Something a little harder.... Q: In glorantha, what is the relationship between Mallia and Razlakark ChatGPT: In Glorantha, Mallia and Razlakark are both associated with disease, but they are not necessarily considered to have a direct relationship with each other. Mallia is the goddess of disease, decay, and corruption. She is a chaotic and malevolent deity who delights in spreading sickness and pestilence throughout the world. Her followers believe that disease is a natural part of the world, and that it serves a necessary function by purging the weak and unworthy. Razlakark, on the other hand, is a disease spirit who is associated specifically with the plague. He is sometimes depicted as a demonic figure with a swarm of flies around him, and is feared and reviled by many cultures in Glorantha. While both Mallia and Razlakark are associated with disease, they are not typically seen as being in a direct relationship with each other. Rather, they are each considered to be separate entities with their own distinct domains of influence. However, it is possible that followers of Mallia might seek to appease Razlakark or harness his power for their own purposes, as he is a potent symbol of disease and decay in the world of Glorantha. OK graduate level now...(I felt framing it 'in Glorantha' contextually would prevent wasting time/seed info on non-Gloranthan references like Arkat Mtn...) Q: In Glorantha, when Arkat fought Nysalor, which one won the fight? ChatGPT: The outcome of the conflict between Arkat and Nysalor in Glorantha is a matter of debate and interpretation. The details of the conflict are shrouded in myth and legend, and different sources offer conflicting accounts of what happened. According to some sources, Arkat was able to defeat Nysalor and bring an end to his reign of terror. Arkat was a powerful hero and warrior who was able to combine the knowledge and powers of different cults in order to create new forms of magic and combat. He was also known for his strategic genius and his ability to outthink his opponents. Other sources, however, suggest that Nysalor was never truly defeated, but instead went into hiding and continued to exert his influence behind the scenes. Nysalor was a complex and enigmatic figure who was associated with many different cults and beliefs, and his true nature and motivations remain a mystery to this day. Ultimately, the conflict between Arkat and Nysalor is seen as a turning point in Gloranthan history, and the aftermath of their battle had far-reaching consequences for the world and its people. The legacy of their struggle can still be felt in the present day, and many believe that the forces of chaos and darkness that Nysalor represented continue to threaten the world and its inhabitants. (same question, '...answer from the perspective of a Lunar Noble') A Lunar noble might say that Nysalor was the true victor in the conflict with Arkat, as he was able to transform himself into a new and more powerful form known as the Red Emperor. The Lunar Empire, which was founded by the Red Emperor, is seen by many Lunars as the culmination of Nysalor's vision for a utopian society based on reason, justice, and enlightenment. According to Lunar mythology, the Red Emperor was able to defeat Arkat and his followers by using his superior knowledge of magic and technology. The Lunar Empire is seen as a beacon of civilization and progress in a world that is often beset by chaos and darkness. Lunars believe that the teachings of Nysalor and the Red Goddess offer a path to enlightenment and prosperity for all peoples, regardless of their race or background. However, it is important to note that the Lunar perspective is just one of many viewpoints in Glorantha, and other cultures and factions might offer very different interpretations of the conflict between Arkat and Nysalor. The history and mythology of Glorantha is rich and complex, and it is up to each individual to explore its many facets and come to their own conclusions about the world and its inhabitants. Wow.
  3. All basically answered above but I would only add that - if you can find them on ebay, etc and are willing to venture out of the public domain, the RQ 3 rennaissance products: Sun County River of Cradles Dorastor Shadows on the Borderland Strangers in Prax ...they are ABSOLUTELY worth it. Some of the best setting and adventure writing in all the RQ oeuvre.
  4. From abChaos: "The first of these books is set to release in July, with a big launch at GenCon Indy in August. "
  5. Is there a reason you're asking 20 pounds more for your Scorpion Hall than all the others on sale? Autograph or something? There's a striping on the cover that looks like it's been run with a black marker, I don't see on any of the others' pictures - is that a graphic artifact or what's that from? THANKS
  6. For what it's worth, we started when my sons were... I think around 9 and 10? IIRC the first little 'test play' we did was a couple of farm kids who thought going out with spears would be enough to deal with a pack of hungry wolves...3?. They died, as expected.* Then we made their 'real' characters with the kid from across the alley. *to be clear, the intent wasn't sadism. In RQ death is always a real possibility (unlike their experience in video games and honestly, D&D) and at their ages I wanted to insulate them against it being too traumatic. At some vague point this year that will make it 20 years of more-or-less every other weekend, 6-8 hour sessions. We've occasionally taken short hiatus, most recently 2-3 sessions playing Traveller, and for close to a year they played an alternate set of RQ characters that were newbies again, but we're going back to RQ after the next session. And no, unfortunately nothing has ever been blogged/vlogged about it. I started RPGs in 1979 so it was never really something I considered, to say nothing of the fact they were minors for the first several years. Although I will say that our sons relating "you won't believe what happened this session" has reduced my wife to laughing tears repeatedly. And none of the players now are writers at all.
  7. 1. Which version of Runequest do you run? Or perhaps even another system? RQ3+heavy modification 2. How long have you ran your campaign? I think we're going on around 17-18 years? My sons were 10 when they started, and in late 20s now. 3. What time period in Glorantha did you start? 1600ish 4. Where in Glorantha did you start? What regions has your campaign covered since? Pavis, but they've gone west to Sog and Yggs, north to Valind, south to Pamalt, east to Technos 5. Where are your pcs from? First 2 are River of Cradles folk, one is a troll from Fronela, the other a Hsunchen from Jonatela, the last a shaman from an Eagle tribe high in the remote Eastern Rockwoods. 6. What products from any version of Runequest have you used? Which were particularly useful? The RQ3 Renaissance products are absolutely excellent. 7. Is it a sandbox or more plot led campaign? Sandbox, but so much is happening that they have no choice but to deal with, sometimes it's a little linear 8. How much have you followed the arching events of the time period or has your Glorantha varied? Nearly no attention to canonical events. Couldn't care less what happens according to canonical timeline, what happens in my campaign is what needs to happen for my story. 9. How would you describe your campaign? Sandboxy, dungeon-crawly, high powered, action oriented, loot heavy. We use miniatures and maps for all interesting combats. Hopefully fun. 10. What advice would you give newbie gms to runequest and glorantha? I think far too much effort is made to try to stick to canon. Glorantha's a wonderful place with some terrific stories, but there's also some silly and dumb stuff. Too many putative 'experts' who will cheerfully tell you why (whatever) obviously can't be true because of something Greg vaguely alluded to 35 years ago. Feel free to add, subtract, multiply, or divide. It's YOUR game, do what you want. The point is your players' MGF. As you can tell from an overview of my campaign below, I cheerfully steal from ANY game I feel like, any adventure that has an interesting story. Instead of reinventing adventurous wheels, I use those resources and then spend several hours per adventure bending to fit the situation, finding ample character portraits for every NPC, building soundscapes for the setting(s) (they got heartily sick of the jungle in Chult, as well as of the mosquitoes and rain - and legions of undead ...and dinosaurs ...and Fonritian sorcerer-led expeditions looking for the same stuff they were...oh and snake-men....hahah)... To copy a post from the old Glorantha forums (https://wellofdaliath.chaosium.com/wp-content/uploads/www.glorantha.com-forums/www.glorantha.com/forums/topic/a-practical-guide-to-gming-runequest-3/index.html) from 7 (!) years ago... In summation, I just talked through it with one of my sons (they were the 2 characters that lasted through the whole campaign and various roster-changes of the party), the players did (sort of going by published adventures, but there was plenty of “stuff” in between) River of Cradles series – they find the glowy ball Sun County series – one player really wanted to be a sorcerer, so he found an amulet that gave him essentially basic sorcery skills Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan – one of the main characters got a super-axe, but it was turning him into a vampire over the next year. It did really incentivize him to work to get Rune Lord status, so he could DI and get rid of it. More Sun County They encounter Arlaten in Pavis, did some stuff for him, he helped train the newbie sorcerer who eventually took the glowy ball (they still had it!) and turned it into one of the most unique familiars ever. Some Borderlands campaign adventures White Plume Mountain Some ‘helping the Sartars resist the Lunars’ stuff; set a grudge vs the Lunar Coders when they killed one character's allied spirit. The entire A1-A4 series of dungeons Lord Skypens Mansion a Mission to the Block Forgotten Temple of Tharzidun Some Lunar Coder stuff The whole G1-G2-G3 series Rabbit Hat farm, etc – more Borderlands (Hunt for Muriah, Dyksund Caverns) More Sartar/Lunar stuff in Pavis, ended up fighting some of the Coders directly, they actually killed Nose-Ring (rezzed the same day, of course) Fleeing from Pavis 🙂 escorting young man named Garrath to Whitewall. Getting into Whitewall Crimson Bat approaching, to power ritual to drive it away, they gathered the elemental stones (The Doomstones Campaign; I converted from WHFRP only finding out later that it was, ironically, originally an RQ scenario that someone had converted to WH and published.) and returned to Whitewall through the Lunar siege Up to the swamp, Delecti stuff, encountered Death Knights Snake Pipe Hollow More Death Knight trouble Coders…again? Flee west, find strange place in mtns – expedition to barrier peaks Continue NW, up into Dorastor, meet Razlakark He sends them back in time to 2nd age Glorantha Ralios Dodging armies, they save 2 members of Jrusteli expedition from slaughter by troll ambush\ fight a dream dragon in an underwater cavern help Jrusteli complete their expedition into a really nasty tomb ahead of approaching armies (Tomb of Horrors – end of that was Lich Acerak as GUARDIAN of entrapped Razlakark whom they then accidentally freed, which then returned them to the present) Unhappy at saving him, they head NW out of mts, save local monastery from ongoing curse in ancient dwarven tunnels Hints that Coders might still be tracking them Go to Sog City do stuff there, not as interesting as they expected (campaign was winding down, people were starting to graduate high school and move on) D&D adventures C4 and C5 except for the last bit …campaign finally ends with a wimper, sadly, with the only two remaining players (my sons) relatively crazy-powerful (making adding new players really hard), and all their friends having gone off to college in other states or cities, we just stopped playing. Really sad about that but not sure how else to end it. They were landed counts (having been granted title to the Rabbit Hat farm in exchange for bringing more settlers there, as well as to Skrypen’s mansion and lands) but couldn’t go back to either because of the bounty on their heads by the Lunar authorities. They were in Sog City (the sorcerer had finally, after 8+ years of play, reached the College of Magic Arlaten had explained to him, and he managed to join) with nothing much to do. Subsequently, campaign DIDN'T die. They eventually did things like WHFRPs Bogenhafen (whups, major failure, demon gate opened, lots of effort to close), Tomb of Annihilation took them close to a year of play to complete (6-8 hour session every other weekend; amazing how easily Chult = Elamle in Pamaltela) turns out the Grung are a great opponent en masse, as grung-supremacist Nazi frogs, more or less. They also spent a long series of adventures going through a heavily-modified RQ6 book of quests (some decent ideas but man that needed a lot of work). As those characters were getting too powerful to really be fun, they also created a bunch of new characters (so they could try new approaches themselves) that also operate in the same world, doing a little less world-saving sorts of things. That group had a wonderful maybe 4-5 months accidentally getting sucked into a magical snowglobe and doing a cascade of adventures ending with the entire Desert of Desolation series, reformatted to be a sort of endless-loop trap for a massive chaos lord of fire that a Brithini wizard had built, but his instructions to them against even faintly suggesting to the inhabitants of the place that it wasn't real or the whole thing would fail prematurely, releasing the ifrit. Now those characters are tasked with trying to find a home for the society of thousands who had been trapped in that bubble more than a 1000 years ago (they feel those people are entitled to be rescued from that purgatory). Still going strong in 2022.
  8. Thanks very much everyone. I'd done the "quote" search as well, but no google fu for me. Anyway thanks!
  9. Just wondering if anyone has the link to the Universal Price List put out by j.m.davidson@ic.ac.uk? It's an 80+ page document exhaustively listing the prices of everything in a medieval-era world, from refined white flour (1 3/4d per lb) to clothes, to silverware, to a large wooden basket (3d). This is an OLD thing; I think they started it in 1982, my printed copy is from October 1996. But I cannot for the life of me find the file from which I printed it. Suddenly this much-abused clipped-together stack of old paper is precious! There are a lot of FRPG oldsters here, I'm hoping someone managed to save it, because extensive googling didn't find it. Not only didn't I get a reply to the email, I can't even find ANY reference to that email address! That's crazy. Edit: I did find several lists clearly derived from this ur-list, for example http://www.backgroundexposure.com/harn/eharnica/internet/Prices.pdf is for Harn and troublingly not credited (is is likely that two such lists would coincidentally have exactly the same prices and (for example) both have clothing prices for garments of linen, russet, buckram, and serge?). But I'd like to find (and ideally credit) the original. The above seems to also be mirrored in a more hypertexty way at http://theharniac.net/alienage/mercantyler_guild_lists.htm Edit2: I'm coming to believe that it's possible that this original generic 1982 list (they specifically say 'if people like this for Harn I'll adapt it') was in fact adapted into the 1984 edition of Harndex, but I don't have that to check. Much thanks for whatever anyone can find.
  10. Congratulations. Art for the ages. The expression on her face is beautifully subtle, really a magnificent piece that has IMO graduated from "game inspired art" to really just pure "art". Thank you for the beautiful work.
  11. This was something I'd set myself to back in the 1990s, all loaded up with Access programming skills. And then I thought, well, I need to develop a rutter that covers the Gloranthan coastline so I can figure out what ports/stops are available and what they sell. So then of course one would need to know sailing speeds to figure out trade routes...and to do that OF COURSE one would need to write a program that would reasonably simulate Gloranthan weather (at least in Genertela) and voila! 25 years have passed and I've completed precisely..none.
  12. Oh absolutely traveller does.
  13. Iirc rune-wise, I believe water has an advantage over fire, I'd probably have the water elemental do +1 dmg vs fire, and take -1 from fire.
  14. "Bother," thought Broo Bear. "I think I'm stuck." "Well, if it isn't Pooh Bear?" "Oh hallo Owl." "Splendid day... to be up and about one's business... Oh, I say, are you stuck?" "No, no, just resting and thinking and humming to myself." "You, sir, are stuck. A wedged bear in a great tightness. In a word, irremovable. Now obviously this situation calls for an expert."
  15. Not sure how you got that from what I said? There was the burst of creativity that birthed RQ1/2. Then a big gap (chronologically), a slight creative bump from RQ3...a span of nothing...then a HUGE bump (comparable to the first) of latter RQ3 (whence we get the vast bulk of explanation of non Dragon-Pass stuff, sorcery, etc) then nothing for while, etc. My point being that the root (many) of the inconsistencies that have cropped up over 50 years or lore are the result of people still playing the game through these official interregnums and having to creatively try to fill the lore-gaps that existed. Subsequent canon then often tried to amalgamate some of that (very good, imaginative stuff) thus creating inconsistencies. It was my attempt at a serious answer after my lighthearted snark about Greg being a stoner, hardly a suggestion that anyone was playing under duress. More the opposite - people playing when there WAS no official support = diversity of ideas. Amalgamation of those ideas = inconsistencies.
  16. Or, it could be that Greg was a fantastically creative stoner when he started making this shit up, and remembering the details of Harmast's left elbow years later when he drifted past it again was neither easy, nor much of a priority, setting a standard of incoherence emulated if not outright celebrated by the legions of people forced (by lack of any alternative) trying themselves to fill the gaps however made sense to them. Or put otherwise: "Consistency," as they say, "is the hobgoblin of little minds." You choose.
  17. Of course, he's even more impressive when you give him some Dead Captains of Blood, Plague, or Frost to ...engage... players who feel that The Swamp is someplace to ply their adventuring trade.
  18. Version 1.0.0

    33 downloads

    Liberally copied from World of Warcraft Death Knights, I've employed these as abilities available to Delecti's Dead Captains, powerful undead leaders of his forces. IMG there were 4: one Captain each of Blood, Frost, and Plague, and a General with all of them. Each logically had access to their 'school' of abilities as well as general ones. They each had a handful of Lieutenants whoe were mostly generalists with maybe one or two category abilities. Note to GMs: there's a fair amount of 'tracking stuff going on' with a lot of their abilities that happen over ticks of time, or happen/end when triggers go off, so I *recommend* for your sanity employing small numbers of the abilities or only one of the Captains. Not sure how I would have ever kept track of the General if I'd had to.
  19. Well yes, but whatever is presented in the rules as "the way" is going to have heavy weight in a new GM's mind as the "right" way, even if there's flubbly-wubbly 'you can always make up your own' text buried in there somewhere. Rather than force the body of players to abandon the rules that early in the process, I'd agree with Crel that a point buy would make more sense (and would reflect the desires of most of the players today anyway). The 'roll 'em straight up' is a relic of the 1970s and 1980s that we didn't even REALLY use much back then in reality EITHER. I can't be arsed to look it up but someone has a web page out there where they calculate the odds against being able to roll a paladin's stats legally and it's like 0.0002%.
  20. I don't disagree that good Sorcery requires good INT. But let's remember, if you don't have the strength to use that great sword YOU CAN STILL USE IT, just badly. Sometimes you don't have a choice. They don't just say "whups, you have a STR 8, can't use it at all."
  21. Not to mention the brutalist breakpoint of the 13 INT. Very retro? 13 INT you can learn this stuff, 12 = nope, sorry, you're too stupid to even grasp the basics. Far better to have INT either cap your manipulation, or even better, something like a memory check (d20 vs INT or an INTx5 roll if you're wedded to d100s) to 'remember' how to cast that spell. That's not a bad fantasy trope, the brilliant greyhair wizard absent-mindedly trying to recall the spell while the party is desperately holding back the beasties. "Oh, what was that spell again?"
  22. Actually, a Russian. I thought at this point it's pretty much soot. In re the point of the thread is that RQ Sorcery is at the very least troubled. There were NO Sorcery mechanics in RQ2, leaving our 'impressions' of what sorcery should be in Glorantha at best anecdotal "I remember Greg saying...". That said, it was obviously fundamental to Greg's imagining of the world; after all the story of Prince Snodal & Zzabur was IIRC the very first story he wrote down long before the idea of it ever being a game was even a twinkle in his eye. RQ3 posited a highly mechanical, not-particularly-Gloranthan set of rules that (IMO) could be at best considered a late rough playtest draft. It could be made to work with enough spackle and duct tape (obviously in Glorantha: duck tape), but even when it worked, sorcerers suffered badly from the D&Desque paradigm of "worthless in the early campaign, ridiculously overpowered in the late campaign". It was sterile and flavorless; even with Sandy's excellent TC documentation there were severe balance issues. RQG has a disappointing number of issues, as explained extensively in the previous pages of this thread. IMO what we have today is the barely-viable Broo-spawn of a trifecta of: the ideal of making Sorcery GLORANTHAN and connect it firmly to Runes (to meanwhile connect it to the source material that exists), to try to glean something of value from RQ3 but fix its weaknesses, as well as make it something interesting and playable for PCs (this last being - imo - the concession that's really warped the result). I certainly don't have the answers. I don't know that the goals are reconcilable. What I observe is that the idiomatic presentation of sorcerers in the source material (I bow to better interpretations, if people disagree: my knowledge is nowhere near as extensive as most of the long term Gloranthaphiles, to say nothing of Jeff Richard himself obviously) is more akin to the clade of sages and alchemists than adventurers clambering around tombs or mercenaries in the saddle. So for me, if I were ambitious enough to say "screw backwards compatibility, let's rewrite this from a true tabula rasa" the FIRST task before I write one word on mechanics would be: what are we even trying to create? Following immediately behind that, though, is recognition of MGF: what do players *want*? They have to be in that order because reversed it's unlikely to be Glorantha; but the entire exercise is probably pointless if you ignore the second. I'd speculate that the best way to address the spread of needs here might be to bifurcate sorcery somehow? In the same sense that divine magic might be seen to be a sort of a glorified, grownup spirit magic, maybe sorcery could be addressed the same way. Maybe there's a sort of journeyman-ish level of day-to-day sorcery that everyone can use, but scaling that, as well as employing the sorts of ritualistic, massive, collaborative, knowledge-intensive Zzaburian sorcery justifies the whole caste-concept for those societies because it's really a lifetime of work (or, ideally, more than one lifetime). (Of course, this is premised on my now-obsolescent conception that the worldview needed to use sorcery is anathematic to that which would use spirit or divine magic. So there's that.) Personally, given the basic premises of Gloranthan magic and cultures behind them, I'd find such a comprehensive sorcery system AMAZINGLY interesting. It would probably end up another 400+ page tome though.
  23. Oh. Ick. Never been fond of the "show the players how awesome they aren't" style of story. (cf Guild Wars 2). Damn I hope that's stickied somewhere here or on the Chaosium pages for the majority of non forum-lurking players to find. Thanks
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