Joerg

Ghosts are hunky dory with the Humakti, and they even have a rite to create a Ghost from one of their deceased fellows. I can only conclude that ghosts don't count as undead. Mechanic-wise, only creatures lacking the POW stat are undead in RQ terms. That does include un-corporeal entities like Wraiths, but not standard ghosts. Ghoul spirits are tricky in this regard, though.

I wouldn't think so. It isn't Eiritha or the Earth cults that provides the peaceful cut, but Waha, the related but strictly separate, male principle who does the killing. Mine does vary. The common source for Spirit Magic next to the cults would be Serdodrosa, the Earth Witch, the shamanistic approach to the element, rather than a disant transcendant one. Are there hundreds? Or are those just different applications of known effects? Coordination is very much a catch-all manipulation enhancement. The problem with work songs is their lack of duration, which is why I would feel way more comfortable to have your workday self-blessing as some kind of common sorcery rather than short boost spirit magic. And it is the slayer cults, not the birther cults. Giving the butchery to an axe woman would be acceptable, but not giving it to any of the birthing cults. The slayer is different from the prey, but the ritual makes him bridge that difference and act as a conduct to release that spirit into its afterlife, to be reborn.

So the worst of two worlds - rejection of mystic insight, and then a form of restructuring society based on that in terms of knowledge rather than experience. What could possibly go wrong? That's what ideologies like the Hyperborean Aryans stem from. You have to be a designated heiress (or at least a prime candidate for that) and a somewhat public figure to pull off the stuff Samastina does against the wishes of her Grandmother, unless she has been manipulated to appear to rebel against her Grandmother's policy while in fact furthering it just as planned (at least as a plan B). But once you are a social layer or two remote from the heiresses, the autocratic Grandmothers don't respect individual freedom much, especially if you are male. That said, how common are slaves in Nochet? Does every major house have a stable full of those, or are they much rarer? How easily will indenture land you in a work gang far away from home?

Valastos of the Seven Pens and the changes they inflicted to the Gods Plane: tragic hubris. But the sentiment was that the Monomyth was more correct than we think nowadays. (Although the intermediate Four Worlds model has been recognized as too far on the opposite swing of the pendulum.) There had always been at least one other sun god around, Ehilm (as in "tested by Ehilm's Flame"), who interestingly fills the role of the sun god of the Ralian elves and horse folk quite nicely. And we know about lost Yamsur and his son Hyalor, from Genert's Garden. Think of it: Yamsur perished at Earthfall, which postdates the killing of Yelm significantly. When did we first learn about Daysenarus? The Uz Lore history offers just Palangio and no elf god name. Nope. King of Sartar came first, in 1992, and we were all a little miffed that the follow-up book wasn't about the Red Goddess but about weird names of sun and planetary gods nobody had ever heard from, and the book ending in the Dawn Age. The Fortunate Succession did almost deliver, but that just left us with more gaps in the history and development of the Heartlands, and only fragments of Carmanian history. Which is still very much the case. That was when Harald Smith aka @jajagappa almost single-handedly saved the day with his presentation of the Khelmal myths... I wouldn't say that no actual play resulted from this, although I'll admit that Hero Wars ILH1 didn't invite much actual play. The Alkoth material (in Enclosure) which resulted from the two Dara Happan books was the first Heartlands material that saw actual play. The rift between gamers and geeks (who named themselves scholars) may be exaggerated, as most "scholars" do provide the occasional ready to play stuff. The amount of discussion that makes pure gamers yawn probably is quite high, but then nobody is forced to read that. I have revisited the Malkioni sources that were put out for both MRQ and for HeroQuest 1, which gave us the full treatment of churches, saints and other such terminology, and I wonder how to rephrase those sources in a way that corresponds to the terminology used in the Guide. Neither HQ1, MRQ or Ttrotsky's Book of Glorious Joy have the terminology of the west as used in the Guide, nor the details aligned with the Guide.

The setting has produced several spin-offs which would be nice to game in, too - not just the science-fantasy setting of the stranded spaceship, but also two (contemporary, sort of shared setting) "near" SF spin-offs with a very interesting human culture and quite inhuman psionic aliens, and a number of other fantasy cultures of these elves, trolls, and fairies. I think the first two omnibus books of the series (half of the original series) were covered by the rules, with e.g. a modification of the wood-shaping ability to work on dead wood, too. The rules cover everything that is specific to that early setting. The supplement Sea-elves is probably where Chaosium and WARP parted ways. The later spin-offs had sea-elves quite unrelated to the rpg supplement. Between the original rules and the BGB and possibly one set of rules for spaceships, you ought to have everything but gazetteers and game data for the aliens to start with.

In RQ3 I wrote down the unmodified values on the sheet, and substracted the bonus when it came to experience rolls.

Sure, although with suitable distance holders, especially such more vulnerable openings along the carapace could be shielded. The same could be said for just about any mount. In the middle of the battle, I somehow think that getting your 12 foot tall praying mantis taken out for lack of armor is a tad inconvenient for your tactical role. But then, the legs are a known weakness, and don't take well to barding, making Protection the easier proposal.

Yes, there are some (quite sinister) human Zorak Zorani berserkers. One of the recruiters in Prince of Sartar belongs to that cult: http://www.princeofsartar.com/comic/68-recruiting/ The gentleman in the second panel with the tattooed red eye on his forehead who emanates Darkness is such a specimen. Yes, a rather mindless zombie without much (if anything) of the previous personality.

The Lunar Empire isn't exactly matriarchal - most of its noble houses of Lunar background derive their status from descent from the Red Emperor., and tracing the lineage by male descent where possible. The Takenegi dynasty isn't the first Dara Happan dynasty to have been founded by a woman - there is the Denesiod dynasty wherein Denesia wooed Raiba(mus), city god of Raibanth and a son or grandson of Yelm, so that her son would be within the four generations from an emperor to be eligible for the (then empty) post. The Dara Happan empire wasn't exactly conquered, but liberated from oppressive, as patriarchal bull shah rule. Takenegi became co-ruler of the Dara Happan liberator Yelmgatha, whose dynasty failed to hold on to the title of Emperor (although two or three tried during upheavals which made a success look feasible, but the only ruler of the Empire to really dispose of the Red Emperor for a while was Sheng Seleris).

I would suggest a helmet or cap made of thin sky metal...

The Kralori dragon emperors or the Inhuman Kings appear to manage that apparent contradiction, but then they have progressed a lot further than say Ingolf or Isgangdrang, or any of the Grandmothers. I hold my judgement on Teelo Estara and Takenegi.

Those three houses look quite similar to the early stage in Ingolf's draconic path where the three Otherworlds of the sorcerous, divine and (deep) spirit world are the object of exploration as much as meditation that need to be left behind on the journey onward, mastered in some way, or at least throwing off the mastery these may have had over the candidate for the higher truths. I still get the feeling that the practicality of the Grandmothers' deeds in the history of Esrolia more often indicates the lack of insight and the triumph of temptation. The flip side of the path to liberation is the "failed mystic", the temptation accepted rather than the ultimate goal. The Third Council of the EWF or Sheng Seleris are such examples on a similar "government" level.

While Vingkot came to place his royal stead just below Kero Fin, I don't think that he was the source of the shadow-cat peculiarity of the Heortlings. In a way, Vingkot is like Heracles - the perfect candidate, but not beloved by the queen of gods, whose own sons receive the lesser roles. Vingkot may very well have seen a series of tests put to him by Ernalda - even big events like the Plundering of Aron or some of the non-chaos invasions mentioned in Anaxial's Roster may have been problems posed to him by the Earth, even after he succeeded in obtaining the daughters of Tada for his twin wives. Illaro's kingship ib Tarsh with the seven-year-cycle of crisis might have been modeled after such an experience. The King had to renew his pledge to the land the hard way, or give way to a son of the land. It is slightly ironic that Hon-eel broke those cycles when she placed her son Phoronestes on that throne. Vingkot himself has a Sairdite background through his mother's folk, the On Jorri, which gives him one foot in dog territory. He may have had to prove extra effort to his grandmother by granting his uncle special protection. It may have been a pledge he had to make for himself and his descendants in the Bad Dogs incident (which may or may not have been crafted by Ernalda).

Like Lunars, they are problematic because of their Chaos affliction, but you could have a character with blood ties to the House of Sartar. You'll need to have a way to split from the party on Wilddays, but other than that one day in the week, the character would be fine. He or she could even have lived in Boldhome for most of their life, making them better accustomed to urban environment and even court protocol than those rural Orlanthi yokels.

Telmori are basically humans when in human form, wolves when in wolf form and possibly some horrifying in-between on Wilddays, although I would make them slightly monstrous berserker wolves rather than wolflike humanoids in that stage. On Wilddays, they are immune to all weapon damage but magical weapons or silver (but, like Grendel, will take damage from falling, or wrestling). There used to be two sources of Telmori in Sartar - the cursed tribe of shapeshifters on the upper Creek, with a line of chieftains descended from Ostling Four-Wolf and Onelisin (granddaughter of Sartar the Founder), and a contingent of bodyguards to the Prince of Sartar in Boldhome led by such descendants, and probably including more of them in the ranks. One of those was the wife of Prince Salinarg and mother of the children who formed the Household of Death against the Lunar Invasion of 1602. Depending on when you play, there has been/is going to be a conflict between Argrath of Pavis and the tribal Telmori, with the majority of the Telmori killed, and their pelts (from the Wildday wolf form) kept as a magical garment to allow transformation. No extermination will be complete, but survivors may end up as lone wolf avengers rather than as pack wolves.

Having just watched a video on the feasibility of casting an obsidian sword, you need a material that will cool down a 2000°F melt (aka moderate red glow, from the color I'd estimate about 1000°C, definitely a lot less than my diploma thesis efforts to melt lanthanum silicate at 1300°C). That's beyond the ability of bronze, or any other unenchanted non-iron metals of Glorantha except maybe dragonbone, although silver might be a sufficiently good heat conductor, and enchantment might help further. Its ability to hurt magic creatures might aid here, too. The truncated volcanic pillar of the Shadow Plateau could be basaltic or acidic (obsidian) - the only obsidian we know for sure was the Obsidian Palace Veskarthan grew/built out of it after being chained. The shape of the volcanoes around Kethaela suggests colder lava, more like Aetna and less like Hawaii. Still, enchanted silver remains by best guess for Argan Argan's use of chain. Iron would work - after all the Only Old One did prove that iron didn't hurt his Kitori nature - but wasn't Gemborg somehow allied with Caladraland?

Read the page on coins in Glorantha, in the Guide (p.12), where it is stated that coins (and by extension, jewelry) usually are made from alloys rather than purified unenchanted rune metals, without such dampening effect.

Looking at the gender stereotypes in Orlanthi society, actually a lot more so than the volatile and emotional males. But: Malkionism is at its heart a deeply patriarchalic religion and culture. We get all those male founders and their sons, and wives taken from elsewhere. The earliest Kingdom of Logic female mentioned in Menena, the only daughter of Malkion the Prophet. Being an immortal people without significant attrition, the necessity of having birthers was not a priority. But then, the most powerful Malkioni men were polygamous - possibly serial monogamists, but then "until death may part you" doesn't sit well with immortals. Still, the offspring of the original men of the West turned out to be about 50% male and 50% female in the following generations. I suppose some knowledge or skill is involved, but aren't these practices about what you transcend rather than what you know? As in "sorcery is something you know, theist magic is something you are, animist magic is something you have." But that really puts the Malkioni caste system to the test. Membership in a Caste? Something you are, not something you know or have learned - or how did infant Malkioni learn to grow the right hue of skin? Membership in one of the six tribes of ancient Danmalastan? Identity through birth, not intellectual choice. The gift of parentage. But wait, aren't all of these sons of a single father? And in case of Talar, Zzabur and Horal also sharing the same mother? So maybe it was some form of formative magic during conception and pregnancy which created the caste prospensities and characteristics. All dwarves are bearded, which will easily lead other beard fetishists to assume male sex. Elder Secrets does suggest that body part mortars and pistils and some onerous grinding activity are involved in the making of new clay dwarf modules, but that works with a hermaphroditic race, too. In fact it would be more efficient. There could be a sorcery based on spinning threads and weaving textiles or baskets, or of shaping clay. These are the products of knowledge and skill rather than just expressions of motherhood/womanhood. Tada was a builder and shaper, too, not related to Fire, but otherwise hardly different from the painter heroes/deities in Wendaria. His (and Genert's) death did remove much of the male aspect of Earth, at least for the northern part of Glorantha, and possibly also some potential for having earth sorcery. That said, I did suggest chthonian henotheists for Estali in Safelster, but more in a "Wife of God('s Prophet)" context. Maybe grandmother or great-grandmother, too, through Aerlit.

elf, dwarf, troll, human, duck (there may be reasons...) - basically any species you have a hate passion for. Double damage against humans would be common in Beast Valley after the 1613 duck hunts. Chaos Creatures might be too broad, but broo, ogre, krarshtkid would work. I guess Cwim as a species of one would work, too, so sure, take Crimson Bat, and do 32-fold damage to its head. Split your attack, and keep going until your magic runs out. One of its cultists can undo all that work with a single Heal Body even if you manage to outpace its regeneration. The good news is, your player's character can do it all over again and again since it will be called back, so it is not a wasted one-time gift. Provided he survives the first melee round after he manages to sting the critter, inviting its lick attack. But ok, Humakti are quite good as guided weapons. Take a bunch of them with the same gifts, and drop them on the bat, and hope they aren't swept off before striking. This might force the mighty Bat to use Divine Intervention or some similar "but only player characters get to do this" ability. TPK with bragging rights "we brought the Crimson Bat to death's door." Or alternatively "we rules-lawyered the Bat to death." Just give the participating Humakti "never participate in an ambush" and "ride no animals" as some of their geases. Specific and unusual gifts may come with related geases, after all.

Sure. Double weapon damage again for Truesword, add damage bonus and magical damage for Bladesharp and Kargan Tor's Blessing before applying the gift doublings. In case of double damage to Aldryami or Uz gifts, double again for using an iron weapon, probably before adding the magical damage. Striking a giant troll to the head with an iron weapon with Truesword, Bladesharp, Kargan Tor's Blessing would cause 16 times the weapon damage rolled twice, 16 times the damage bonus, and eight times the magical bonus. Feel free to roll the damage if the head has more than 50 hit points or if the adamantium-helmeted troll manages to parry with a great maul of enchanted lead, otherwise consider the location to be history.

Where does this phrase "foe species" come from? And where exactly are we told that Humakt hates Chaos except where it creates undeath? Orlanthi culture hates Chaos, which applies to Humakti from that culture, too, but that's about the extent of Humakt's hate. There is no specific reason why Humakt would hate Thed, Cacodemon or Primal Chaos, and Krarsht assassins may offend his sense of honor but in the end only spread death. Thanatari heads, Bagogi rebirth rites and Vivamorti half-death are both chaotic and undead, which may cause the impression that Humakt hates them for being chaotic. Wakboth created Vivamort's state of Undeath and has thereby earned Humakt's (futile) enmity, and Ragnaglar returned as a living dead entity. There are non-chaotic undead, and Humakt hates those, e.g. ZZ zombies.

Quite often in such world-changing heroquests there are a few other groups questing for a similar goal and also achieving that outcome - how many parties were involved with the Sunstop? Are we sure that it is the choice of the Red Cow questers, or is their choice also influenced by what some other questers do? Who else would have done something to affect Orlanth's Ring (or however they call that formation in their part of the world)?

apropos trolls: Do uz insect riders use barding, or is the natural armor value of chitin good enough for them?

Sure. But the underbellies of sheep may just... I mean, Beast Folk...

They might wear specific barding? (ducks)