Nick Brooke

Is it related to MOB's MGF scenario The Getting of Wisdom? Possibly not, as that one's set in Nochet.

http://rpgreview.net/mob/thegettingofwisdom.htm

9 minutes ago, metcalph said:

Which implies that the High Khan of the Block does *not* have continued existence.  

Or that he or she isn't "wandering across the plains," Peter.

1 hour ago, soltakss said:

Go on, then! 😀

OK, I don't for one minute think you're suggesting that places where those things happen don't exist within 100 miles or so of a sacred mountain, so I have to wonder what you are suggesting.

Define "Temple." We'll take it from there.

7 hours ago, Akhôrahil said:

Isn't that after they left, though?

The question is whether, if disgusted Sable-riding Storm Bull cultists abandoned their tribal leadership and went off to do their own thing (which, as rowdy taboo-breakin' rules-ignorin' easy riders would be entirely their prerogative), would you still include them on the table of cults followed by the Sable Tribe? I think you're asking that Appendix to bear a lot of weight if you have a definitive answer either way. (And is the table for ALL Sable Riders, or just the ones you'd likely meet in Prax? Refer back to that earlier discussion we had -- at any given time, most Praxian Animal Nomads aren't actually in Prax, many clans only visit once in a lifetime, and why would the cult affiliations of Sables in the Wastes be affected in any way by recent events in Prax?)

My guess - there's a lot of Sable Rider Storm Bull worshippers in the White Bull Society, making up for the relative lack of Sable Rider Storm Bull worshippers on that antique random cult chart. You can't pass the Buck.

Purely for fun, I used to have some Sable Tribe worshippers of the Storm Buck who thought actually defiling the Plaines of Prax as a horse-riding Cattle Bastard a worse abomination than having hypothetical philosophical associations with a tamed and neutered form of something hardly recognisable as Chaos. Check out my ancient Storm Buck myth.

If I may follow up - I understand one of your RuneQuest groups recently accompanied Argrath on that doomed first invasion of Dragon Pass in the summer of 1625, which was thwarted by Lunar magic. Are there any details you can share (beyond what's in the Glorantha Sourcebook and RQG core) about the location and events of that battle? In particular, Argrath's White Bull army appears to have been magically outgunned by the Lunars - what did they use against him, how well did it work, and what lessons (if any) did he draw from this crushing defeat?

Hi, Jeff: there's been some confusion recently about the dates of the Second Battle of Moonbroth and Argrath's first (failed) invasion of Dragon Pass at the head of the Barbarian Horde. Going by RQG as written, or reading the Glorantha Sourcebook fairly uncritically, a lot of events seem to happen very close together in early 1625. But MOB has shared a detailed timeline placing the resurrection of Jaldon Toothmaker, the Second Battle of Moonbroth and the Siege of Pavis all in late 1624. What dates would you use in your own campaigns? And is there a reason the Second Battle of Moonbroth is missing from the adventurers' previous history tables?

Review roundup: my scenario The Duel at Dangerford currently has thirteen 5-star top ratings on DriveThruRPG! It was the #1 Hottest Community Content across all systems, settings and publishers for a week after release, and rose to 6th Bestselling Title on the world's largest RPG download store. I'll let the RuneQuest Glorantha fans speak for themselves:

“This is wonderful. The absolute love for the setting hits you straight in the mouth.”

-- Michael Kirkbride, Concept Artist & Writer for Morrowind, via Facebook, 26 March 2020

“It’s an idiosyncratic mishmash with a strong authorial voice* and I love it.

• especially footnotes.”

-- Dr Andrew Cowie (@dracowie), via Twitter, 16 April 2020

“The first scenario which really fullfils the ‘take one’s place in the Hero Wars’ promise of Classic RuneQuest… we got to take part in and influence a key turning point in the history of Sartar in true epic style, meeting famous characters and appearing in the Dragon Pass board game. A cast of thousands and never a dull moment… Read Nick’s asides and footnotes, explaining his ancient and pop-culture sources and inspirations, how he ran Chaosium published scenarios in the same epic idiom and, to cap it all, a genuine epic poem.”

-- Chris Gidlow (playtester), review on DriveThruRPG

“The level of quality of the Jonstown Compendium products is just astounding and this one does not disapoint… It is not ‘only’ a scenario, it is also a sourcebook as it gives background on the area and critical NPCs for the region and Hero Wars… A scenario where players get to get involved in something bigger than them, to be players of the change in Dragon Pass. Highly recommended.”

-- Cédric C., review on DriveThruRPG

“I totally agree with the previous comments about quality. They feel like they sit with the new RuneQuest releases. I loved reading this and preparing to play. Sometimes it is just nice to enjoy a product. It is well written with a great amount of background detail - and there is help too if you are new to RuneQuest and Glorantha or if you are just getting on a bit (like me) and have forgotten some of it.”

-- Darren P., review on DriveThruRPG

Link: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/307504/The-Duel-at-Dangerford?affiliate_id=392988

46 minutes ago, allenowen said:

Related to this, suppose you tried to use a Rune to augment an ability ,and you fumble your Rune roll. What penalty to you take to the ability augmented?

For example, I'm using Air to augment Broadsword, and I fumble the Air roll. What penalty to the Broadsword skill is applied? Do I take the -10% to the Broadsword skill, in addition to the -1d10% to the Rune?

-50% to Broadsword, -1D10% to your Air/Storm Rune rating, and Psychic Turmoil on top of that (which probably forces you to avoid feats of strength, violence, shouting and sword use for a while).

The effects of augmenting using an appropriate Rune as your inspiration are the same as for any other augment, pass or fail: RQG p.145.

11 hours ago, allenowen said:

I'm new to RuneQuest. What exactly is Chaos? Is it similar to Chaos in Warhammer?

The best explanation is in the Cults of Terror Cosmology, one of the foundational texts for understanding Glorantha. Fortunately, I have a link handy. Enjoy!

https://www.glorantha.com/docs/cot-cosmology/

3 minutes ago, Gene M. said:

"If fun or games are not your thing" reads like a bit of a jerk thing to say.... it seems a bit mean-spirited to me. . 

If that’s so, I’m sorry. Our book, like the freeform it supported, is above all meant to make certain aspects of Glorantha comprehensible, accessible, playable, memorable and enjoyable. These things are games, after all: we play them to amuse ourselves and our friends.

You’ll find a lot of dense internal referencing between different elements of the Rough Guide. Its playful, at times whimsical presentation shouldn’t detract from the fact that this material was written by masters of Gloranthan lore at the top of their game, constantly sparking off each others’ ideas: people capable of going toe to toe with Greg Stafford in debates about the Lunar Empire and occasionally even illuminating him.

5 minutes ago, Gene M. said:

It feels a bit like I've trespassed on someone else's property and should leave it to the people it belongs to. 

You are welcome! Pull up a comfy seat and join the happy buzz of conversation. The Lunar Way is all about making converts, after all. We are all Us.

4 hours ago, Sir_Godspeed said:

Koromandol is a reference to a folk hippie music album or something...

The “Coast of Coromandel” features in the nonsense verse of Edward Lear (specifically, The Courtship of the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bo), which - coincidentally, I assure you - my great-grandfather Leslie Brooke illustrated.

Older readers may remember the “creature whose initials are Y.B.B.” that haunts the fringes of the Kingdom of Ignorance in the Orange Box from the eighties (Glorantha: Genertela, Crucible of the Hero Wars).

4 hours ago, Gene M. said:

That's fine but I don't get the impression that we're going to see a serious Lunar sourcebook. Unless Jeff or someone can correct me?

All the main cults of the Lunar religion will get official writeups in the forthcoming Gods of Glorantha books (or whatever they end up being called) for RuneQuest. Chaosium would simply love to bring out a “serious” Lunar sourcebook. And Jeff Richard hasn’t said the Rough Guide to Glamour is 95% official - he’s said it’s 95% “how he sees it.” Which aren’t the same thing at all.

I linked to Andrew Logan Montgomery's review of our book up-thread, which could have warned you exactly what you were getting yourself into before the book went on sale. The cover has a picture of Elvis front and centre, and I made sure Jeff’s foreword was part of the public preview on DriveThruRPG:

“The Glamour presented here is illuminated with shifting beams of Moonlight. There might be a stray reflection from the pop culture of lost Cool Britannia here and there, bouncing off the glitter of a New Wave discotheque or off the chrome of Telly Savalas’ pate. But that is what happens when you explore the City of Dreams. We aren’t living in the real world here – we are in Glamour, where gods and goddesses walk with men, and where nightmares and fantasies are made flesh. “

If you saw that and still expected a “serious” sourcebook, I’m not sure what else I can say. We are proud of our work, it was literally 25 years in the making, and coming back to it this year has been a source of ceaseless delight for everyone involved in the project. We are happy to share the fruits of our labours with you. But if fun and games are not your thing, there’s still everything in the Guide to Glorantha, the Glorantha Sourcebook, the forthcoming Gods books, the deprecated HeroQuest handbooks, the wargames, the websites...  there’s plenty more Lunar stuff out there, if you want the foundations for your own take on the setting.

13 minutes ago, Shiningbrow said:

Do you think the snark was really necessary? 

I presume you want people to buy your book. Dumping shit on them for requesting what, these days, should be considered a fairly normal request doesn't seem to be the smart thing to do.

I didn’t do it for @Rodney Dangerduck. I did it for any customers with special accessibility needs who’d find PDF bookmarks useful. You may not be aware that the book is dedicated to a friend who died of Motor Neurone Disease. Rodney’s “request” was rude, and he apologised for the tone of it, but it brought to mind a valid consideration that we (amateur fan publishers producing our first book, please remember) had previously overlooked.

if that puts you off buying my book, I can’t help you.

.

By special agreement, the beautiful Mucha Blondie Glamour artwork by Antonia Doncheva from our new edition of A Rough Guide to Glamour is now available to purchase in a whole raft of formats -- including t-shirts, phone cases, posters & art prints -- from Chaosium Inc's RedBubble store. (Scroll down and click on "Available in +57 products" to see the whole range)

https://www.redbubble.com/i/art-print/The-Goddess-Glamour-from-The-Rough-Guide-to-Glamour-by-Chaosium/46847318.1G4ZT#&gid=1&pid=3

And just to clarify: this had to be "by special agreement" because nothing in the Jonstown Compendium Ts & Cs either allows or obliges Chaosium to use art from its products or sell related merchandise from their company store.

We commissioned this art, knowing Antonia would knock it out of the park, and then we assigned "second use" rights to Chaosium, so they could sell (and we could buy) these beautiful printed products via RedBubble.

By special agreement, the beautiful Mucha Blondie Glamour artwork by Antonia Doncheva from our new edition of A Rough Guide to Glamour is now available to purchase in a whole raft of formats -- including t-shirts, phone cases, posters & art prints -- from Chaosium Inc's RedBubble store. (Scroll down and click on "Available in +57 products" to see the whole range)

https://www.redbubble.com/i/art-print/The-Goddess-Glamour-from-The-Rough-Guide-to-Glamour-by-Chaosium/46847318.1G4ZT#&gid=1&pid=3

And just to clarify: this had to be "by special agreement" because nothing in the Jonstown Compendium Ts & Cs either allows or obliges Chaosium to use art from its products or sell related merchandise from their company store.

We commissioned this art, knowing Antonia would knock it out of the park, and then we assigned "second use" rights to Chaosium, so they could sell (and we could buy) these beautiful printed products via RedBubble.

36 minutes ago, coffeemancer said:

I am just flippant and full of "cruel GM" energy in my replies, I must admit.

I've seen some strangely counterproductive behaviours from other GMs at the RPG club I frequent, where they seemingly set out to drive players away from their favourite settings by punishing them for not knowing enough... it's a very seventies, "Dungeon Master vs. Players" mindset that I would have expected to have died out long ago. Which is why I replied.

38 minutes ago, coffeemancer said:

Will report back on how my players did, but it seems we wont get to play til next weekend

Good luck when you do, and I look forward to hearing what happened. If you want any helpful advice, please don't hesitate to reach out.

Following a helpful suggestion from @Joerg, I've added a Glamour Map Pack to the bundle, containing all the maps from the book in a higher-resolution, printable format. If you log in to DriveThruRPG, you'll find it alongside the Rough Guide in your Library.* 

*NB: this only works if you've bought the Rough Guide to Glamour.

Thanks, @Dragonsnail! Following a helpful suggestion from @Joerg, I've added a Glamour Map Pack to the bundle, containing all the maps from the book in a higher-resolution, printable format. If you log in to DriveThruRPG, you'll find it alongside the Rough Guide in your Library.* 

*NB: this only works if you've bought the Rough Guide to Glamour.

Briefly seriously: if you create barriers to your players' enjoyment of Glorantha, they won't enjoy playing in Glorantha so much. I try to collaborate with my players to make our Gloranthan games cool and exciting and interesting, and it pays dividends. Expecting them to know everything and put in all the effort while you smirk behind your GM screen is a heavy burden, especially if you're the most Gloranthaphile person at the table.

So if there's a scene where you think your players might have problems working out what to do, help them brainstorm through it. Think in terms of ritual magic, or coming up with verbal / somatic / material components, or how summoning looks in a cartoon series they enjoy, whatever model you understand best. They're doing something worship-like, they know the name of the god Humakt, he likes swords (so get yours out and wave it around), it's got something to do with a marked duelling-ground and issuing a challenge to your enemy: now improvise!

24 minutes ago, coffeemancer said:

aside from one of them playing Kodp my players dont know glorantha well.

so, gonna be kinda fun to see what they improvise...

You’re part of the “group of Glorantha fans,” you’re allowed to help them out!