Joerg

All of these are interactions with elemental Darkness, as far as I am concerned, registered as the equivalents of those senses. Now to get a dark troll into a magnetic resonance scanner to verify that...

The influence of the Shadowlords extended all the way to the border of Alkoth/horse warlord dominated Dara Happa in the Dawn Age, which means that there can very well be Kitori-related Dark Orlanthi that survived north of the Death Line, and returned to the Pass in the wake of Arim. Many of those will have suffered from the Tax Slaughter that ended Arkat's Command. Some may have switched sides, taking troll-slaying magics as their darkness heritage.

That was the plan. And let's consider for a short while that the Red Emperor might have survived to the end of that decade. (Spoiler: he won't. Jar-eel's son Phargentes fails to achieve ten years in office, too.) Argrath had allied Delecti, once again, and all the incinerated units became an unstoppable chain of zombies stacked several times over, and the advance of the teams was stopped long enough for Cragspider to take exception against any more powerful fire magic in the pass than hers or the dragons'. But really, shouldn't this be posted in the Egregious Munchkinnery thread?

The same has to be said for an Orlanthi to join the ranks of the thanes of his clan. Leika's Crown Test was exactly performed as a magical proof that her kingship was better than Blackmoor's (or whatever happened to that bit of lore from Greg's campaign with the revised king list in the Adventure Book of the GM screen package). There have been contestants for the hand of the Feathered Horse Queen from Esrolia in several cases. None of these would have been a king in his own right (unless he also had qualified as a Kalops sacrificial king). True. You have to be of a sufficiently noble lineage. Your mother on the other hand does not (looking at Denesia here, but also applies to a number of Lunar heroines whose descendants gain Yelmic descent from the Red Emperor). With the rise of Lunar imperial nobility, there are candidates to nobility who might lack that yelmic initiation, or who may have to undergo a hasty initiation upon taking on a Yelmic overseer appointment relying on their Red Emperor descent. My "tribal king" comment really pointed towards the Orlanthi practice, but you are right, it applies to horse nomads, too. Indeed, the Pentans will argue that the sedentary Dara Happans are cut off from the full power of Yelm, as they lack any number of horseman qualifications. The Arrowsmith dynasty of EWF-era Pavis might be exemplary for non-imperial Yelmic rulership.

I would say that the spirit does animate the effigy - flailing at its attackers if affixed to the ritual ground. As the spirit is trapped inside the effigy, I don't think it is discorporate. Hence, it shouldn't be able to engage in Spirit Combat. Spells would be cast. I don't think that the spirit dies upon destruction of the effigy's hit points, but it is banished again.

Shadow crops up in Troll Cults, and probably already in RQ2 Trollpak (there probably in Book of Uz). Argan Argar and Xentha have it, IIRC, and archetypically Moorgarki/Qualyorni has it. Ice has been/become deprecated. It was presented as a hybrid of Darkness/Cold and Water (and totally failing to describe Styx). Opening all manner of cans of worms, a step in the wrong direction, never picked up again.

Ouch, and no, please stop putting your finger into this wound. Fire has two subrunes: Light (without heat), and Heat (without light). Darkness has two subrunes: Cold (without shadow) and Shadow (without cold).

Depending on the level of seidr and galdr or divine/otherworldly interventions you are willing to include in your Viking setting, the Orlanthi archetypes will offer good ideas for Viking characters. The Futhark does have magical meanings that can replace the Gloranthan runes, but that may take a couple of pages to give short descriptions of how the runes are expressed and what their influences can be. The RQ3 campaign should be usable without any adaptations. Ignore the stat blocks except as rough guidelines. The Orkneys or the Hebrides might be a good place to have a campaign outside of the classical Viking areas. The Danelaw and especially Jorvik aren't that far, offering numerous other opportunities besides the ones in the campaign. Depending on how much you are married to the maps of northern Europe and surrounding lands, you can use the material on a re-arranged map with more magical places in between. That's how I ran the stuff under RQ3.

If you want to do something space-opera like with HeroQuest, you ought to buy the pdf "Men of the Sea" (written for HQ1). Much that is said about Gloranthan sailing is eminently sensible for a setting where people move about on space vessels. The concept of the ports of call is brilliant for spaceports, too. Even if the spaceport is the open landing area behind the main barn.

My (entirely made up beyond stuff I know that was used for the place) version of Karse has reed wetlands on the Marzeel (former Creek-Stream River) mouth opposite of (new) Karse, where Newtlings have lived since before Time, and that place has become a haven of exile for many of the Sartarite ducks as a consequence of the Duck Hunt of 1613/14. Their newtling hosts are on good terms with the Pelaskites of Karse and the Heortland coast, and they have graciously allowed the refugees to set up a permanent town on floating reed isles. Two, actually, one official trade place where boats from across the river visit, and a hidden one. Both are in respectful distance of local newtling breeding ponds. The Marzeel estuary ducks practice gardening on floating artificial islands, and hunt for all manner of wiggly life forms which they put into their infamous soup. Instead of Upland Marsh zombies they are on the lookout for sea trolls, boat trolls and some of the more dangerous beasts that inhabit the Choralinthor Bay and its littoral zone. The coast off Nochet has a number of marshy islands which aren't officially claimed as habitation areas. While some of the local fisherfolk will doubtlessly use the canals between them for trapping and other forms of fishing, these places make good refuges for amphibious life forms like ducks or newtlings, both of which probably will be encountered there. Without protection by either the House of Sartar or the beast folk of Beast Valley, the duck exiles may have formed something like quasi-tribes. I haven't speculated about durulz marriage arrangements yet (has anybody, other than "they're somewhat like Orlanthi"?), and I have no idea about the role of their clans in this regard. It is possible that they would have arranged something like triaties once their exile became a somewhat permanent diaspora, at least if they too practice some form of exogamy.

Dark is an elemental building block of Glorantha and a lot more than just an absence of Light. It can be tangible, it is a sensory medium (for Darksense, which is not sound). Just taking away light means that you reduce sight, but a troll wouldn't immediately benefit in terms of Darksense. Same thing. Less dark means less cooling, less shading, less tangible Darksense, less fear. Rather than melt it? Himile's Cold is a spreading cold. Yes, it targets Warmth (and vice versa), pushing the other aside. Tapping weakens such a characteristic. Tapping weakens the world, taking the reality out of those targets. This wasn't a problem when Creation still was an ongoing process - on the contrary, it was a stabilizing influence then when an excess of Creation would cause troubles. Since the beginning of entropic Time, Tapping hastens along that eventual doom of the world. There is no real way of reverting Tapping. The Mostali have magics to imbue matter with energy rather than to extract it, but that is far more demanding than Tapping. You don't see the Orlanthi unleash Chaos on their foes (other than denying the Crimson Bat its food) to eliminate them forever. Dragons, yes, but that's different. Hating something may be enough to kill, maim, plunder the target of that sentiment, but does hate warrant total annihilation? Aren't your overcome foes supposed to serve you in your afterlife in some way? Then annihilating them only hurts yourself. Tapping Chaos? The Boristi had this idea, and keep practicing it. Sounds too good to be true, and from the rumors about sorcerers' basements in Borin, probably is. Extermination of opposites will open the way for bad things to creep in. The Loskalmi experiment may have resulted in the Kingdom of War.

Again, magic. Dude, Glorantha!

The Emperor of Dara Happa has to undergo the Ten (or even eleven) Tests as his crown test, with each test giving access to one of the imperial accoutrements. We have no info whether a similar sort of rite exists for lower positions, or whether appointment by the lawful emperor covers this coming into authority. Patrilineal descent is a prerequisite, but that is similar to saying that tribal membership is a prerequisite for becoming a tribal king.

Ok, we have ways to maximize Bless Pregnancy. But the initial question still remains: when do you roll the stats for the baby? How do you know which stats to enhance if you have a limited pool of rune points? And what stats do the children have in their infancy and youth? Also looking out for magical children like Salinarg's who formed the Household of Death. Has anybody considered an ill-intentioned use of "Bless Pregnancy" with just the minimal blessing on a pregnant political rival aiming for giving birth to the next great queen?

Harrek did so during the High Holy Day rites when the God manifests. When you participate as an initiate, you cross over to Godtime, where interaction with the god is very possible. The Lunars went for the holy statue that embodies Orlanth in the Whitewall Great Temple to Orlanth, summoned the deity in order to send him to Hell. Probably manifested Hell around the statue. Holy props contain a measure of the deity. The statue in the Great Temple probably had a very deep measure of the deity.

Summon, Combine, Fertility, Stasis would be my first idea. Or perhaps Man rather than Stasis. Dispel, Separate and Death sounds more like the sorcerous variant of Resurrection. If some living component is involved (How the West Was One had a rare type of oysters), a Tap might be involved.

So if I want to use Extension 3 with the 3 point Shield spell my Yelmalian traded for, I have to trade for 3 points of Shield with 3 points of Extension? Another conundrum: if the mother is pregnant with twins (thanks to a Reproduce leading to this pregnancy), do the additional points affect only one child, disribtuted between the children, or are both children equally affected by the full amount of the extra points?

Now that the kickstarter is being delivered, will we get a Gods War forum alongside Khan of Khans?

The description of Bless Pregnancy allows the mother to use up her (Ernalda) rune pool of up to ten points beyond the first two points to enhance certain stats, though not above species maximum. Leaving the stat modifiers of elemental runes aside, are these blessings shots in the dark? (And in extended rules where Mindlink exists, can a number of Ernalda initiates pool their rune points to ensure a perfect baby no matter how the dice may fall?) Can a mother initiated to several cults use spell trading to transform her rune point pool from a different source to Ernalda's Bless Pregnancy? It is safe to assign three points to any stat, as the rolled stats cannot exceed 18, and even if the child rolls for maximum adult stats throughout, none of these points would be wasted. But then there is the question when you roll the stats for your (heroic) baby, and how does infancy modify these downward? SIZ is the obvious case, but STR, DEX, CON are different when you are a fragile rug rat in diapers, or a three year old toddler. Sure, Herakles strangled those two serpents sent by Hera - presumably to establish his herodom while also testing it. (Makes you wonder how many other bastards of Zeus were lost to snake bites or strangulation.) When and how would you apply the results of Bless Pregnancy? Do you roll the future stats when the child is little more than a blastocyst in its mother's womb?

Caladraland probably has something like an electoral monarchy, similar to the USA. The early description in the Holy Country article in RuneQuest Companion called the office the President (ignore pained cries of certain posters here). Kingship for life is unusual in Theyalan cultures. There are lineages wih Vingkotling inheritance that don't have any case of retirement other than death or apotheosis, like the princes of Sartar or the kings of Tarsh (whose early Illaro dynasty had a lethal term of office). Tribal kings are an elected position that can be challenged.

Poor Harrek, suffering the same problem as Hengall the Second Son: he doesn't fit into buildings any more when wearing the bear skin. Also unable to enjoy female company as they suffer some of the Lois Lane penalties for sex with Superman. I would make Harrek's stats way more dependent on his mood. The addendum "the Berserk" should be meaningful. With the bear active, SIZ is whatever it needs to be. With the bear dormant/on the Other Side, he should be able to handle glass, people, metal armor or similar delicate stuff without having to concentrate not to crush it between his fingers.

In the Arlaten description? The visual effects might be different, but I think that the Arlaten description owed a lot more to the RQ3 rules than to Glorantha. It was the perhaps somewhat desperate attempt to make those two components fit, with predictably weird consequences.

HQG uses Mastery for certain types of feats, less so than Thunder Rebels, and ties these uses to Orlanth Rex. In RQG, leadership is expressed through the CHArisma stat rather than through a rune ability. I think that the Mastery rune could be some form of quest reward. Tribal and confederation kings usually are required to prove their mettle in such a quest, so that's where I would give it to them in RQG. Clan chiefs don't quite have these royal attributes. The list of attributes under Mastery in HQG reads similar to those for Truth when looking at Humakt or Yelmalio. Orlanth's (and already Umath's) honor, hospitality and a number of other cultural traits really was an expression of Storm, as I don't see Umath as anything but Storm. Harmony and Disorder in equal measure, likewise Conflict and Fertility. Sure, Mobility over Stasis, though I can't really vouch for Truth over Illusion. Is it required as a separate ability? For kingship, there is the Orlanthi institution of the Crown Test. Spelled Orendara rather than Orendana, in Esrolia: Land of 10,000 Goddesses, p.24. Basically it is spreading the word of "There is always another way". I'll repeat, The Making of the Storm Tribe is ideally a husband and wife quest. The second of the paragraphs I quoted is obviously an Esrolian interpretation and not a Heortling one. (Heortling Mythology uses the spelling Orendana for one of the names of Ernalda, but doesn't give a myth.) When setting up business, Yelmalians don't form tribes, but temple regiments. As tribal kings, they can do a Crown Test just like any other prospective or elected king. For the original Crown Test myth, check Vingkot and his victory that created Grizzley Peak. The Runegate Triaty is the only Elmali-dominated tribe that may have been so from the beginning. While the Princeros have a high proportion of Yelmalions, I don't think they have a tradition of predominantly Yelmalian kings. It just happens that Harvar Ironfist is one. I think that all tribes were formed by Orlanthi questers. The election of a heroic king could end up with a cultist of just about any cult. One of my more successful tribes in King of Dragon Pass thrived under its wise Storm Bull king (who wasn't clan chief for half of the time.. proof of wisdom). The formation of a tribe is a rather rare event, except for the wave of tribal formation in the wake of the Colymar transformation in Quiviniland, and possibly a similar wave on the Tarshite side of the Pass. The Lismelder, Cinsina and the Enstalos are the more recent tribes that formed in Sartar, each under special circumstances. IMO The Making of the Storm Tribe is a myth for the formation of a tribe, and its repeat performances can help to stabilize tribal cohesion. It doesn't necessarily make the king a better king, but it makes the tribe less troublesome to hold together. Neither did sponsoring and questing for the formation of the tribe automatically make your candidate for kingship the first king in the long game of King of Dragon Pass. Quite often the resources of the clan were quite stretched after recruiting enough local clans into your tribe with generous gifts.

The absence of anything more obvious makes the need for the mastery rune to rule a tribe rather weak, actually. The mastery as per the Orlanth Rex cult is mainly connected to the spell/feat "Command Priests", which is in turn a reaction to the all-too-powerful Council of Orlanthland that abandoned the post of the High King. Instead the most powerful cult leaders took the lead. Thoughts like that appear to have been behind the formation of the Council of Orlanthland. Alakoring's Rex cult was introduced to return tribal kingship. The Making of the Storm Tribe quest is one about diplomacy rather than mastery, in my opinion. There is no Ernaldan version of this - it is a quest of the couple. In King of Dragon Pass, the Ernaldan tribal queen (that became Queen of Dragon Pass) performed it.

Maybe this is covered by the celibacy vows? After all, consorting with females can result in birthing pains...