Joerg

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...

One of the joys or rewards of Glorantha is to look at some source or two and suddenly a couple of connections or possibiliies click into place, giving you the excitement of discovery and new ideas to follow, and then to be able to share and discuss these with the Glorantha Tribe. Building a cross-document index sounds strangely familiar.

Ernalda is as much the active component in the Making of the Storm Tribe as is Orlanth, and can use the same myth to assert authority over an unruly and diverse bunch of subjects. There are exclusively Earth myths about Orendana the Earth Queen, too, the queen who gets wooed for her command over sovereignty. One way to re-enact this is to become the object of a marriage contest, and then assert her dominant or at the very least equal partner in that marriage. Elmal has the myth how Orlanth going away entrusts the tribe to Elmal.

The sorcerers do recognize the existence of the tangible gods when they summon and manipulate them with their magic. They just don't worship them (as superior beings, ancestor worship can be very much a thing). The Brithini trace their descent from goddesses, and their founder and ancestor Malkion is both an individual born to a union of deities and an emanation of the One Mind. With this self-image, their ancestors and their kin (the gods) are like nothing more than more primal versions of themselves. The Malkioni blame a vast number of mistakes of the Gods War onto those deities, their kin who in their view chose self-aggrandizement over the logical perspective. (For some unclear reason, the Brithini don't include Zzabur in that array of self-aggrandizing powerful magicians. The no longer immortal Malkioni do point out at least a number of mistakes of Zzabur.)

I don't think that how recent the event was is relevant for its imprint on the Hero Planes (i.e. Godtime). The first quests against the Curse of Kin started during the Gbaji Wars, and 200 years later, the multiple birth trollkin were a sufficiently important part of the troll forces during the reactions to the Tax Slaughter that a trollkin lieutenant who had experienced care by Chalana Arroy priestesses led a mutiny which crippled the troll forces that had assembled to enforce Arkat's Command. Forgotten myths still are there on the hero plane unless their very actors have been erased from the fabric of the universe. It is possible to stumble into such myths, especially if they belong to the same archetype of myths that you used to enter the Hero Planes with. What has changed with forgotten myths is not the myth itself, but its expression onto the middle world. The return of a moon brought back all manner of largely forgotten or differently interpreted myths about moon goddesses. There probably was quite a bit of forehead-slapping in the manner of "so that's what this story was talking about" as the reality of the re-incarnating moon goddess was coming to the awareness of the Gloranthans. If you apply these considerations to the questing of the Seven Mothers and Teelo Estara, much of this applies. The Red Goddess quest that preceded her return to the First Battle of Chaos was extra hard. had extra-unforeseen consequences, and was admittedly awesome. (Her riding the Star Bear would have been quite awesome, too...)

Now, I think that you can. Every major event causes a Node on the God Plane and this allows HeroQuestors to travel to that Node. The Gbaji/Arkat Smackdown, Dragonkill, Battle of Night and Day, First Battle of Chaos, red Goddess at Castle Blue, The Dragonewt Dream, Wounding of Korasting and many more are events powerful enough and mythical enough to have created a God Plane Node. That's probably a continuum where there is a border what goes and what doesn't. IMO the final fight in the City of Miracles did collapse the altenate reality of the Bright Empire, but I don't think it was a moment that created a Godtime location. If it was, then the 1042 mass utuma that ended the EWF or the sinking of Seshnela by the Luatha would be within range, too, and if that, then why not the destruction of Akez Loradak and the death of Ezkankekko, and if that, why not Sartar becoming King of Dragon Pass, etc. ad absurdum. We have proof that questing related to Korasting's wound has happened, but it isn't quite clear whether the questers tried to intercede as the Black Eater, or whether they did an Underworld quest to heal Korasting. The Battle of Night and Day was a breach of the Compromise, a slip-over from Time to Godtime, and the formation of the Black Eater and its interaction with Nysalor probably was Godtime rather than Time. (Palangio did the breach, see History of the Heortling Peoples.) First Battle of Chaos: not necessarily a breach of the Compromise. Neither Teelo Estara nor the Bat were new to the world. Arkat had skinned it, giving it its distinct coloration. Castle Blue was a place not of the mundane world, and the presence of Alakoring makes it clear that it happened in Godtime, as Alakoring had been shot dead (and not resurrected) about 300 years earlier. The Dragonewt Dream probably was a superposition of Godtime or otherwise dragon reality over the mundane world, and as such already visitable if you just know where to go. The Dragonkill did not see a breach of the Compromise, either. Neither did the Dragonrise of 1625.

That's horses. A common mistake among the sunny-boys...

That's very helpful, thanks. No second ransom for you, then, and you used this one up. Vasana has left her ransom deposit with Harmast's cult, which makes a lot of sense since ransoming captives of war is a time honored function of the Issaries cult, and one reason they will receive some form of free passage even from Wolf Pirates and the like. In the end, it is her employer who bails her out. In the case of a less well connected Orlanthi, the clan chief or perhaps the tribal king, otherwise a superior in the temple will be named as an influential go-to to redeem the ransom offer. IOUs aka favors are a big part of Orlanthi transactions.

On the other hand, a troll would see garnished fowl...