Nick Brooke

Updated on 17 July with Brian Duguid's The Children of Hykim. This book (written by the co-founder of Tales of the Reaching Moon magazine) is a magisterial examination of the many Hsunchen beast-totem tribes of Genertela. After a thirty-page overview of general Hsunchen traits, the main body of the book sets out unusual features of twenty-one tribes, covering their myths, way of life, magic and totem animal statistics. A dozen pages at the back provide guidelines for creating Hsunchen adventurers and scenario/campaign suggestions. Thirty pages of vigorously footnoted and cross-referenced appendices show the depth of the author’s obsession and research. The book’s human-created artwork brings the setting to life, while every tribe is illustrated with AI-generated, somewhat psychedelic god-beast imagery. This book is creative, original, respectful of its sources (which are drawn from all ages of Gloranthan publication, but especially the Guide to Glorantha and Armies & Enemies of Dragon Pass), but never afraid to argue for its own vision, and tell the reader why. Highly recommended. $16.99 for 159 pages. In other news, Martin Helsdon's The Armies & Enemies of Dragon Pass is now a Platinum best-seller, with over 1,000 copies sold!

Updated on 16 July with Paul Baker's short scenario A Brazen Visage. Originally written as a Call of Cthulhu investigation, adventurers follow strange goings-on in the Arfritha Vale as an ancient evil awakens. While this could be played after the Red Deer Saga, it's a standalone scenario, and would be easy to relocate. Note that this scenario’s pages are half the size of most Jonstown Compendium publications (it’s formatted as A5, circa 6”x8”, not US Letter 8.5”x11”). $6.00 for 50 A5 pages.

Still writing other scenarios, thanks for asking. You can pick up the Gold best-sellers “The Duel at Dangerford” and “Black Spear” from the Jonstown Compendium, and I hope to have ”Crimson King” finished this year. (It’s the convention scenario I ran at Chaosium Con, fleshed out and arted up)

Guys, apart from a few abstruse points of dogma (e.g. the whole resurrection thing), a Yanafali can be a good Humakti. You’re making mountains out of molehills.

Correct. Those weapons come from RuneQuest, which uses Melee Rounds not Combat Rounds, and the abbreviation wasn't changed (in error). So 1/4MR means 1/4CR, i.e. one shot every four combat rounds. If someone's maintaining the errata, that's the answer. Note that these weapons still need to reload over multiple combat rounds even if you aren't using the optional Strike Rank rules.

In my cult writeup in Tales #17, only Yanafali who have been resurrected suffer the attentions of Swordbreaker. YGWV.

Updated again on 10 July, inc. refreshed medals and reviews. Quick apology: I didn't catch a couple of the latest print-on-demand releases, but that's because they've been coming out so fast! If you ever want to see all the print-on-demand titles available from the Miskatonic Repository, use the Format filter at top left and select Print, or follow this link: Miskatonic Repository in Print. You've probably heard it already, but Viral went viral, getting a Gold best-seller medal (over 500 copies sold) just three months after release: that's a record for English language titles on the Miskatonic Repository. (A Korean title holds the overall record, of course: 11 days for World of Snow and Rain (눈과 비로 만든 세계), which just went Platinum (over 1,000 sold)). If you already bought Viral, you'll find some expanded bonus content added, including an extended prologue and optional alternate ending. Just log in and visit your Library or the product page to collect it.

(shrug) Can't help you there.

Last option is correct. Only the Carmanian Magi are pure enough to worship Idovanus.

Here's what I wrote 24 years ago: NICK BROOKE'S SUGGESTED SPIRIT CULT RULES (1998, for RQ3) 1) First Catch Your Spirit... Shamans need to have the 1-POW Rune spell Summon <spirit> before they can organise Spirit Cult worship. Any friendly spirit will teach this to a Shaman it encounters: spirits can be met by chance while wandering the spirit plane, contacted deliberately by going to places that are known to be holy to them, or summoned by holding a summoning ritual to attract their attention (in an appropriate location, appropriately garbed, with appropriate ritual objects, offerings and sacrifices). Chance encounters are left to the GM. Holy places can be assigned depending on campaign needs; el pendejo's recent list of the spirit-cult holy places in Prax (quoted below) gives a fair idea of frequency. Summoning spirits here are easy, though full ceremony is usually employed (better safe than sorry!). For summonings, a Summon skill roll is needed (modified by Ceremony attempts measured in hours): on a failure, the Shaman loses one POW and does not gain the Rune spell; on a success, the Rune spell is learned and the spirit appears for the Shaman. The difficulty of the Summon roll is modified by the GM, as the base Summon % only applies under ideal circumstances: good location, props, and knowledge. Summon <spirit> is a reusable one-point Rune spell available to all shamans. It is automatically regained one season after its last use, whether or not that Summoning ended in a worship service (successful or otherwise). This is why Spirit Cult worship normally occurs every season. A Shaman may sacrifice for more than one use of the spell: this is entirely acceptable, and allows more frequent summoning and worship of the spirit in question. Some divine or divine/shamanic cults encourage worship of certain spirit cults, and may maintain ritual knowledge, apparatus or sites that makes this easier and more readily available to their practitioners. In a sense, a sub-cult shrine is a permanent, institutionalised "Spirit Cult", with its own occasional devotees, attracting a fragment of the worship given by Initiates of the main cult to their deity. But that's enough God Learning metaphysical speculation for today! 2) Then Worship It... A Summoned spirit should be worshipped. To be a member of a Spirit Cult congregation costs 1 POW, sacrificed in a manner analogous to Initiation. This should be noted on the character sheet, as it is normally permanent (someone who once worshipped Sun Hawk in their youth can still do so in old age, if the spirit can be found). At the worship ceremony, worshippers sacrifice all but one of their MP to the spirit. Roll 1D100: if the number rolled is less than or equal to the number of worshippers, the worship was successful. If you attend a worship service but are not a worshipper (you're present, but have not given POW to the spirit), the Shaman and/or Spirit may detect you and feel unkind towards you: a POWx3% roll is probably appropriate (they are detecting your "uninvolved" POW, so having a high POW works against you), whether you are "hanging out" in the congregation, hiding behind a nearby rock, or whatever. Commonly, simpler and/or more malicious spirits assume such persons are intended as sacrifices, and don't ask twice before tucking in! Spirit Cult worship does not require a "Worship" Rune spell. The Shaman's ability to summon the spirit is equivalent to this. Shamans who have sacrificed for the relevant Summon spell do not need to sacrifice 1 POW to participate in Spirit Cult worship: they already have a "link" of sorts to the spirit, understanding its nature well enough to direct Magic Points to it (compare with Initiation). 3) Then Get Its Magic... Spirit Cult worshippers who have participated in successful worship can sacrifice for the spirit's Rune spell(s). Shamans who know the relevant Summon ritual can gain these Rune spells "reusably": they are regained every time a successful worship service is held with the Shaman participating or leading worship. "Ordinary" worshippers regain the use of their Rune spells as per normal one-use magic (i.e. if you follow my One-Use Rune Magic guidelines, they are regained annually following a successful worship service; if not, they are one-shot spells, gone for good once cast). 4) And Keep It Happy... Some spirits will require certain actions, attitudes or taboos from their followers. Most can't afford to be so picky, or their "cult requirements" are pathetically trivial (e.g. "always butcher frogs"). Some can be scary, though: be creative! A follower who breaks his taboos cannot successfully participate in the next worship service (i.e. his participation counts for nothing, he is not a % in the Shaman's roll, he cannot gain or regain Rune magics). A Shaman who breaks his taboos has the replenishment of his Summon spell delayed for another season, and may have to explain this to his congregation. Successful spirit cult worship is normally carried out seasonally: this is magically efficient, keeps the spirit happy, and tops up cultists' Rune spells on a regular basis. Spirits can afford to be forgiving, though -- their sense of time is different to ours -- and will not bear lethal grudges if "neglected" for a while. Most are pathetically grateful for whatever worship they can attract, and see no point in driving away their semi-faithful worshippers. Major religions consider most spirit cults beneath their notice. Most spirit cults are glad of any worship they can attract. It is unusual for a mainstream cult to bear a special animus towards a spirit cult (how did it survive?), or for a spirit cult to have unduly onerous membership requirements (how did it survive?). Clearly there are general exceptions -- a Yelm priest is unlikely to sympathise with shamanic worship in any case, even less with shamanic worship of Darkness spirits. And the mutual antagonism between the Three Feathered Rivals is famed throughout Prax: pity the Shaman who maintains good relations with more than one of these quarrelsome birds! 5) And Trust The GM! Spirit Cults are ideal for GMs wanting to spring surprises on their players. As opponents, they are sources of weird, one-off Rune spells for otherwise "normal" opponents. If followed by the players, the ad-hoccery inherent in Spirit Cult worship invites new and interesting scenarios, heroquests, and challenges. Spirits have interests, needs, requirements, and objectives, just as much as player characters do: a spirit cult with powerful and capable followers will encourage the spirit to widen its horizons, expecting more and more from its "faithful" devotees.

Spirit Cults don't really get fleshed out much: a paragraph describing the spirit and maybe one new Rune spell, that's usually yer lot. They are informal, pulled together ad hoc by shamans; they don't have cult ranks -- lay, initiate, Rune level -- and any membership requirements are most likely an odd taboo or ritual requirement rather than a way of life. The details in RQG pages 377-9 are all you really need to know: the rest is most likely to be scenario or setting material. I have RQG versions of two Newtling spirit cults in Black Spear, and commend to you my old article on Spirit Cults in RQ3, which shows how pick-up-and-put-downable I think they ought to be: the ur-source, Nomad Gods, shows us that Praxian clans can turn on a dime to start following a new spirit cult overnight, if their khan or shaman think it'll help them out this season.

My answer: of course it’s possible, but it’s a scenario, not a routine procedure. Work out how you want the players to convince (or overpower) the cult spirit: make it a fun game experience, not a case of “I cast a common Rune spell to squeeze the sacred emanation of divinity into my pet rock.” Remember that cult spirits include spirits of divine retribution, and can marshal their temple defences; remember that the temple is literally on the other side (for some purposes), and anyone who isn’t perfectly comporting to that temple’s ritual practices (state of purity, Runic affiliation, Cult Lore, etc.) is ripe for smiting and re-education.

Don’t ask Jeff that, you’ll hate his answer. (Wanders off, muttering)

(Temertain voice: "Ahem.")

Updated on 4 July with Neil Gibson & Drew Baker's DuckPac Book 1: Lore, Legends & Myths. The first volume in a projected four-book set that sets out to reconsider and indeed redeem the accursed race from being relegated to cartoonish comic relief or shunned entirely. Art is consistently good and production values are high, with Mark Baldwin’s anatomical diagrams and tragic eviscerations on a par with anything from Trollpak. Well worth a look, as a serious attempt to ground the flightless. $5.99 for 51 pages (PDF); it's already a Copper best-seller! Also updated the Print on Demand News to note The Red Deer Saga, collecting Paul Baker's Namoldin Clan tales White Stone Ruin, Elgar's Blade and A Sword Turned Inward into a huge hardcover tome. $27.98 for 334 pages (B&W hardcover).

I'm just the layout guy: the Sandheart books are by @Incendiary Pig (Jonathan Webb) with @MOB (Michael O'Brien). Happy to accept praise for Black Spear, although half of it should go to my brilliant artist Mike O'Connor.

Ahem. If you take a fisherman to THAT CAVE in Black Spear Act IV, you have my absolute blessing to make all their occupation skills completely useless under the circs. (Which involve being nibbled by deadly piranhas)

I can’t help thinking that if the core rulebook gave you a Sailor profession, the next “strange omission” you’d highlight would be that there aren’t any ship rules, or naval combat rules, or sea monsters / mermen in the Bestiary, or a wide range of Sea cults… and so it goes. (Unless you want to play a sailor who sticks to dry land, of course. Let us know)

El Runeblogger mentions that it's hard to obtain RQ3's rules for ships and seafaring. They're essentially the same as the rules in BRP Magic World, which can be yours for just $2.99 (original price: $24.42).

At the risk of being tedious, John Hughes based it on Planxty's version of Only Our Rivers Run Free. Here it is in the Gloranthan Songbook: Glorantha Songbook Continuum 2012 v1.00.pdf

As previously plugged, the short article about Orlanth worship under the Lunar occupation from my first Manifesto (p.40f) is well worth a read, if you want to get your head around the principles behind what gets banned. It’s all pretty obvious stuff, when you think about it: stop large bodies of armed warriors congregating across clan and tribal boundaries and getting high on the idea of righteous rebellion.

No worries. I’ve known that song since 1992, because John let David & Kevin use it in “Home of the Bold.” The point I think Ian is missing is that the Lunars don’t have a “list of banned songs,” which you can try to wiggle around by leaving out the dodgy verses, or special pleading to the magistrates about whether the version you were singing is on the list. If you’re engaging in public pro-rebel activities, the local brute squad will always bring down the hammer. It’s what occupying regimes do. There’s nothing special about Cold Wind Over Sartar, it’s just one of many rebel songs that’s banned, for all too obvious reasons. Rites are banned; ritual garb is banned; pro-rebel speeches are banned; pro-rebel songs are banned. Suck it up, Sartarites.

On that page, John Hughes tells you everything we know about Cold Wind Over Sartar. “Lunar rulings” and “penalties” seem to be missing the point: the “rule” is that if you sing rebel songs when the occupying regime can get its hands on you, you’re likely to be beaten up, arrested and fined (or worse). The exception that proves the rule is if you can arrange mass public defiance (like the Marseillaise scene from Casablanca). That’s why the Lunars crack down on displays of rebel sentiment, whether it’s Wind Lords wandering around in full regalia and blue paint, or plonkers with kitharas singing tedious tribal laments for coppers.

The excellent Six Seasons in Sartar campaign by Andrew Logan Montgomery includes a girls' Ernaldan initiation heroquest with Golden Age elements. (See especially the section "Ernalda in the House of Abundance," pages 40-42). This is written from a Sartarite female perspective. Most heroquests include "elements of the god-time," but that doesn't mean they will provide actionable architectural details, it's always more "ambience" and "feel." For example, at the end of the boys' Orlanthi initiation, they arrive at Orlanth's Hall: "It looks like the hall of their own chieftain, but far, far larger and more grand." If studying a particular detail of their Godtime environment really matters to an adventurer, they could be destined to become a great artist, or architect, or visionary. (Or a lunatic: we get plenty of those, too). If writing it all down in detail really matters to them, they'll likely end up with something that reads like a description of the Heavenly City of Jerusalem, or the construction details for Solomon's Temple or the Tower of Babel: gibberish, numbers, materials, relationships, but no strong sense of what it's like to be there, or what it all means. It's rather a materialist way to experience mythological truths, and one which Greg Stafford would have found lacking. The Golden Age is perfection, order, stasis, light, obedience, submission. Nothing is permitted to be out of place; nothing wants to be out of place; everything is exactly where it ought to be, for ever, and accepts that this is right. There is no death or violence: "war" is sport, an athletic display; court rituals are perfectly choreographed, without blemish; everything ugly stays out of sight, as well it should. Mortals should feel small and insignificant, overawed by their environment. You can only make change in the Golden Age by intruding as an unwelcome disruptor, like Umath or Orlanth: and look what happened to them.

As an alternative, you could certainly post "just the new bits" -- your best guess at Julan's Passions and Runes, as per RQG. But we don't want to see regurgitated, ever-so-slightly tweaked Chaosium statblocks on these forums ("delete Fatigue Points and missile hit locations; for APP read CHA throughout"), or indeed in community content.