Joerg

To be fair, I cannot picture either Philip or Alexander as fighting in the front rank of a phalanx. Making the best use of the improved Macedonian phalanx (as opposed to the older Spartan/Athenian versions) was what made Macedonia enter the Greek squabbling as a superpower. The Thessalians probably were their equals when it came to horsemanship and horse warriors.

More importantly, there may be situations where plundering a settlement or farm may require Praxians to dismount and enter buildings or caves. But then, I have yet to see a rpg that penalizes weapon use when dismounted, except for lance charges and similar. But then there has to be a reason why there would be this kind of pole arm at all. Long wooden poles are a rather precious commodity in Prax, so you wouldn't waste one for a weapon you can only use dismounted. By this logic, the Llama folk must be able to use this weapon from the saddle, and the most logical way I can see is in the polo club style.

Interesting idea and concept. If I had players bringing this up to me as a narrator, I would be quite hesitant to go through with this. From the description so far, the dead king doesn't seem to be an Odaylan, only the character who performs the quest is. Keeping the soul of the dead chieftain from making its appearance before Daka Fal, and converting him to the Odaylan religion while between dead and Dead, would be extremely difficult if I had to narrate this. Which is not necessarily a bad thing because at least the delaying action could be some other character's quest. This "awakening from the long sleep" is a feat (and thereby related heroquest) earned by an Odaylan (and possibly his companions/followers on that quest) for himself. I don't see it as a transferable ability. Taking a corpse on a heroquest as an active participant is a rather radical re-interpretation of Weekend at Bernie's, and fooling the entire Otherworld to this extent takes at least one Trickster hero. Possibly more than one - what could go wrong with that? An Ernaldan or Aldryan "not dead but sleeping" variation would be as likely to succeed, and probably fail in the King having no previous personal commitment to these cults. The Lightbringers' Quest is the cookie-cutter resurrection quest. If you want to make your life harder, you could use the Red Goddess Quest, which had Rufelza overcoming Yanafal`s acceptance of Death and even returning Teelo Norri as a separate identity from Teelo Estara. Odayla is a bit of a mystery cult, where the hunter experience the Great Bear Hunt in both roles of hunter and prey (and IMO the outcome is far from guaranteed, it should be possible that the hunter ends up in fur and on four paws for the rest of his existence). Maybe the dead king might be cast in the role of the bear, although that would result in the Odaylan giving up much of his humanity in this quest when returning the dead king to humanity, or possibly even his previous existence. This would of course be a story worth telling, but I wonder whether there are players wishing to inflict this on their characters.

Ok. Given an unknown amount of centuries to wander there, why not. At least I got the Cimbric peninsula right. My main exposure to Howard was through Cormac McArt, which fit my Vikings in Gaelic islands campaign vibe at the time the Offutt-edited series came out in Germany very well, also the Offutt follow-ups. I remember having read a few Conan stories by Jordan and Anderson, and being underwhelmed. I liked Offutt's contributions to Thieves world, and the main criterion to know where Howard ended and where Offutt began was in the length of the stories. A Howard story would be good for one to three evenings of role-playing games. The racism in Howard's universe was pretty much in keeping with other fantasy or reinterpretation of myths from the 1920ies and 30ies. Having inherited a small library of books printed in Germany between 1934 and 1942, I had learned early on to read that stuff with somewhat heightened awareness of icky ideology.

The rpg would have to pick up ideas from the series, as the original (one and only) movie had rather few immortals, and apart from Kurgan and Connery's metallurgist, hardly in any speaking role. Both the movie and the TV series make it an urban fantasy setting with mainly immortals as the only supernatural ones, and lots of flashbacks to all manner of historical events where they met each other before. Easier than building up the characters and their connections chronologically.

I doubt that Howard's Cimmerians were in any way related to the western Silk Road tribe of that name. Looking at his geography, I see a closer link between Cimmerians and Kimbri. The Cimbric peninsula (which I happen to inhabit) has been the link between the southlands and Thule for living memory. Conan's world lacks a bit of water to the east of Cimmeria, but the general positioning in relation to Aquitaine or however Howard misspelled that land (Aquilonia?) fits. Making these guys dark-haired might be a nod to his idea of pre-migration peoples with dark complexions, like his picts. At least a quarter of the Vingkotlings (and as a result also the Heortlings) were in part Hyalorings - Beren and Ulanin the riders. According to some myths, Beren and Redaylde's marriage opened the gates for Vingkot's other daughters to find men outside of the normal Orlanthi spectrum. Orgovale chose Ulanin, securing another Horse Folk husband, while the other sisters got Goralf Brown, Porscriptor the Cannibal and Kastwall Five - neither of these sounds even remotely standard Orlanthi. Given some of the less savory Hirenmador emperors of Jenarong "dynasty" Dara Happa (Dagguneri "Eats Women"), Porscriptor might have been one of the chariot people of Saird.

Glue would be able to join your pants with the saddle. You need an equally powerful Dispel Magic to get out of the saddle e.g. when your horse buys a crippling hit on one of the limbs, though. IMO Praxian Beast Riders avoid fighting on foot. They'll probably let themselves be taxied out of the conflict and return on another mount of theirs, unless it holds their allied spirit. A single person on foot is dead meat in a combat between Praxians. I think that taxiing unseated comrades out of the thick of combat and remounting them to join the fracas is a fairly standard activity. Not that any Praxian will be willing to admit being unseated without the mount below him being disabled beyond what a simple Heal spell can fix in the field. It is true that High Llama riders spend quite a bit time out of the saddle to pick up low-growing foliage for their originally tree-browsing mounts, or have slaves (or possibly trained herd men) perform this task. They do so standing next to their mount, however, and are likely to be back in the saddle at the first suspicious noise. Besides, for cutting off foliage they probably wouldn't use a dagger ax either, leaving that lashed to their saddle. A dagger ax on foot will probably work best against Sable riders. Bison riders and High Llama riders have a range advantage when mounted, and Impala and Zebra riders have a range advantage from mounted archery (as do some Sable clans). But I think a dagger ax rotated like a polo club is the ideal weapon for a High Llama rider to wreak havoc with impala riders crowding them, peppering them with arrows. I wouldn't protest against demanding a combat round preparation to be able to attack with a one-handed dagger ax while mounted, though, getting that thing up to speed in rotating arcs.

No such thing exists in Glorantha, as far as I know, but there are shock cavalry who may use couched lances and some other form of "avoid being lifted from your steed" contraption on a bison and for some of the heavier horses. One advantage of the couched lance was that it could be fit with a funnel which acted a bit like a second buckler shield for the right arm, but that same contraption made it harder to release the lance when stuck in an immobile carcass while your steeds still pushes forward. Overhand lances can be used in a wider arc than the couched lance, which is limited to the right of the horse, and it could be used in the fashion of a melee weapon when there was no charge advantage, still retaining the range advantage. Assuming that the imagery of Alexander's companion cavalry - said to be the first shock cavalry in ancient warfare - is correct, we see riders holding a xyston - basically a lance with another spear point as the butt, making it balanced if gripped in the middle - wielded with one arm, no stirrups in sight, nor any chair-like saddle contraption. Their targets were among the elite of the Persian army, so quite well armed, although the pursuit of the chariot of Dareios has become iconic, too. Assuming that the Thessalian rider depicted in the frieze, using his secondary weapon, is about 1.65 m tall, his horse is pony sized. Your thesis that it takes stirrups to make shock cavalry clearly isn't tenable. Between Alexander's guys, Caesar's Germanic horse auxiliary and the early Thracian cataphracts and Frankish Clibanarii, we have sufficient counter-examples from Europe alone. The successors spread this through Asia and Africa, too. Does a set of stirrups improve the seat? Yes. Does it increase the force a lance can exert before the rider has to let it go? Maybe. Not by that much, even if you put SIZ20 STR20 lancers on top of the bison. The lance arm would have to lift 60-100 ENC for an unhorsed rider or foot soldier, and twice more that added to the resistance if the rider still somehow retains connection to his mount. This would result in broken arms, unless the lance has a breaking point protecting the arm of the wielder, or the wielder lets go, sacrificing most of his extra hold on the lance. Let's assume the wielder lets go. A couched lance may be caught between the arm and the body of the attacker if the horse loses speed ramming into some obstacle (like set spears, shields, or simply a mass of human meat). But then there is a good probability that one main purpose of the lance was not to penetrate the front rank soldiers of the spear-and-shield wall, but to push them and their shields aside or into the rear ranks, and then skewering a person in the next rank. The Germanic hog formation used heavy infantry or cavalry to bash into a shield wall, creating a wedge which would then roll up both sides of the enemy, with the survivors of the first elite impact mopping up the rear of the formation from within according to what I read on this subject. Fine against other Germanic formations or Gauls, less successful against post-Marian legions. I am on the record stating that 4th and 5th century heavy cavalry in the Roman Empires probably is a good parallel for Malkioni men-of-all (when they still were called "knights") for at least the last quarter century. I guess that their heavier cavalry might use couched lances and some sort of "don't let me glide off horseback" contraption, whereas the non-noble sergeants of the Horse brotherhood possibly wields lighter lances used in short thrusts from horseback, avoiding the bad impales which tend to disarm them (force them to switch to their secondary sidearm). I am fine with Sartarite cavalry and Heortland cavalry using overarm lances, possibly sparkling with lightning. Bison charges should be at maximum impact. Unlike a horse, a bison will charge with lowered horns, exposing a very massive block of muscle which even when pierced deeply will shield any vitals below. The bison lancer probably gets to lean forward automatically in this stance, and might find his heels against the saddle belts or even purpose-made protrusions, giving not just the shoulder but the length of the body as flexible muscular spring force to dampen the impact of lance-holding rider to the steed. An attacking horse is more likely to rise and trample with the fore-hooves than to lower the head, making the seating more precarious (again, look at that Thessalian rider on the frieze). Not the way to get maximum traction in the saddle, even with stirrups. This appears to be a situation made for an overhand attack on an opponent without the charge bonus, anyway. That said, a horse can easily rear up, turn on the hind hand and leap to the back, which sounds like a good plan to disengage once your initial shock has dissipated. The lighter the rider is armored, the better this maneuver can work. (Basically, this is a "feat" my niece told me her Holstein gelding used to escape a paddock occupied with horses it didn't like, easily clearing the 1.6 meter high fence. Enough to avoid slipping on downed foes from the initial rush. For the record, I don't think that an overhead spear should fully benefit from the beast's damage bonus. The suggestion to tick it up one level makes enough sense. As for RQ3 combat rules, those were written to allow mediaeval combat, too. Plate over Chain required a horse's damage bonus to penetrate, but then the bonus wasn't reserved for the rider, but also given to the couched spear or pike. But chainmail has disappeared in RQG as the standard metal armor. On the related debate on the use of the blade axe by High Llama riders, I see this as an analogon to the polo club - one-handed use from the saddle. The High Llama variant probably is a bit lighter than the infantry-man version. If your couched lance is 2.5 meters above ground, you don't receive much of a damage bonus from the charge, so using a rotating pick from the saddle offers fearsome impact that might be manageable with just one hand.

On the other hand, most horses will shy away from a tightly packed mass of humans or human-sized obstacles. Even well-trained jump horses will shy from obstacles, and it takes a lot of force of personality and trust to take a horse across or through something it cannot quite fathom. There is a reason why the Grazers are also called Pony Breeders - they breed fast, but not too large horses. Destriers, not chargers. The Galana breed typical among the hill tribes or the sered breeds of Peloria aren't any bigger. (A bison charge is a whole lot more powerful than most horse charges, with the steeds possessing natural ramming gear.) The situation was similar in Asia and Europe. The typical continental European horse was the Iceland pony, and the breed was brought to that island just before a massive horse plague eliminated the breed from the continent. The Berber horses of al-Andalus then spread across the continent (possibly bearing that disease), and by the time of Otto the Great chargers had been introduced, and proved the decisive advantage against the Magyar at the Lechfeld. (I think this is proven by skeletal finds of horses. I need to check with my niece, who has done some ancestry research on Holsteiner horses, which are similar to charger stock. We discussed the weird proportions of the beasts in 17th century copper etchings and whether the artists would have been very much aware of the proportions of the horses they saw, so we agreed to look at reports on skeletal remains to verify either option. While still in school, she earns her horse money through pencil drawings of horses etc., so she is quite up to date with artistic conventions.) Domestic bovine stock north of the Alps was rather runty, too - the Romans brought normal-sized cattle stock with their conquest, which then also spread into the neighboring Barbaricum. Further north, the smaller cattle persisted at least until the Viking Age. I assume that bringing the Aurochs back will have a similar effect on the domestic stock of cattle in Dragon Pass, giving this a mythical note, available through the Red Cow heroquest in The Coming Storm (or was it Eleven Lights?). My personal experience is limited to a 16-wide multi-ton wall of beef in the shape of curious heifers following me down a slippery slope at maybe half that speed, and me being the only man-sized obstacle on the way. Even so, turning around and facing that wall of meat did bring it to a sliding stop. For some reason, in Dragon Pass a stampeding herd passing through the stack would only disrupt a regular unit. I didn't disagree with the math - which fails to take into account the impact area, btw. - but to the argument that you need this amount of impact (not energy) to cause a fatal wound to someone standing in a shield wall. My point was that the excess energy of a couched lance left after skewering the front rank person is unlikely to cause another casualty. Let's assume that the overhand approach offers half the penetration. That is the difference between being stopped by the rear rib cage and plate armor of the target or piercing that, too. So what's the gain? One result is a kill, the other is an overkill with less than 2% likelihood to cause another casualty. You get the knockback result in either case, your lance is stuck for good or broken, and you are surrounded by half a dozen possibly shaken but still hostile folk with sharp implements taking you and your steed down if you didn't veer off after impact. And I have the suspicion that it is easier to abandon an overarm lance than a couched lance without impaling yourself or your comrades in the next rank on its butt. Regardless of stirrups or high backed saddles or other devices. I think they should get the horse db, but no extra bonus from charging, or vice versa. The clibanarii included Franks employed in the Western empire. Few Parthians in that region, although there were huns. The point is that this Germanic cavalry was able to provide shock troops without stirrups. And that's why I think that the couched lance is overkill without any purpose in a battle. Heavy cavalry head on head encounters have different rules, and the attacker is welcome to get the defender's horse's DB.

I don't think so. There is no point in ramming the lance through the back armor too unless you can reliably kebab the enemy, otherwise you need exactly enough punch to pierce whichever front armor you face and half the person. A pilum would barely penetrate a shield, but gives a good estimate at the penetration required for that. It might have a similar effect on armor. An overhand lance has more mass - if pushed forward from speed, quite a bit more than in normal single hand use. On the minus side, the lance held by the approaching rider has somewhat less speed than a thrown javelin. The Late Roman Clibanarii started with overhead lances, but were shock troops nonetheless. Caesar's Germanic horse auxilia wasn't a skirmishing unit, either. When facing the fyrd, it isn't required.

To my knowledge, it has the Saxons as invaders interacting with native Romano-British forces, so this is Hengist and Horsa territory, possibly allowing to play the Bretwaldas up to and including Edwin of Deira. My list starts after that, in a time where we have British chroniclers rather than continental Latin monks active in Britain, when the Anglo-Saxons have taken on the mantle of the defenders of Britain rather than the conquerors.

I wonder why nobody considers Anglo-Saxon Britain as a setting, whether the conflicts around Christianisation between Penda and the Northumbrian brothers Oswald and Oswiu, the Viking plague, Alfred of Wessex, Athelstane, or the time of Aethelred Illeraed (the Unready) and Godwin. Any of these would have enough tension to make a good setting for heroic fantasy. Anything Mediaeval will of course require a roleplaying treatment of Christianity and the powers of the church that can stand against the fantasy forces of magic, whether natural, pagan or demonic, which will result in a type of Christian magic system. King Arthur Pendragon simply gave a piety bonus as part of the rules frame, without any further explanation or need for magical rules, but a RQ treatment won't get away with that. Having all of them at the height of their power in the same setting would be interesting, too... Something like the Rifts approach to non-contemporary and not quite compatible fantasy version of historical realms with at least an interior adherence to the historical facts might create something else in the fringes where influences overlap. These historical realms might even work as a sort of hero-planes to the actual gaming environments.

Greg Stafford revealed years ago that Fritz Leiber (who was at that time an old man with a drink-related health problem) had originally licensed the property to Chaosium, but then had signed something that allowed TSR to produce their City of Lhankmar supplement for AD&D (which I regard as one of the best for that system, and a fair if hopelessly D20-indoctrinated treatment of the stetting). Chaosium chose not to contest that breach of contract legally because it would have been Leiber, a revered figure of Fantasy fandom, who would have had to bear the consequences. Fritz Leiber can no longer be affected by any legal persecution, but what are the chances that the (signed and documented) license for Chaosium might be used nowadays?

While the fact about the anti-dragon aerial defense domes is undisputable, I wonder when these were devised and added. By 640 the draconic mysticism movement was about 65 years old, in all likelihood not yet enough for the draconic mystics out in the woods to develop an aerial threat through wyrms or manifest dragonewt wings like e.g. Balarzak Leatherwing, whose 824 expedition to Dorastor shows that such folk existed. Aerial defense against Orlanthi flyers may have made sense from the beginning, and the anti-dragon runes may have been a later addition. This could be a little clearer. "When draconic Orlanthi were accepted into the ruling ring of Orlanthland, traditionalist Orlanthi rose in open rebellion in many places, and the Cult of Yelmalio aided these traditionalist Orlanthi and spearheaded ..." This conflict would have started about 650, when Obduran proved that it was possible to worship both Orlanth and proceed on the draconic path. At first, the traditionalist were in firm control over all the resources but the weird communes in the outback, but when clans and cities saw the opportunity to access the draconic powers as allies, traditionalists who rejected this got moved out of power, resented that, and began attacking the rings that had "disowned" them. There may have been genuine religious concern mixed into this. The ruling ring of Orlanthland was one of priests, not heroes/rune lords/kings, possibly from urban temples with more hierarchy than common in rural regions. The dragon mystics had become a military force to be reckoned with for quite a while by this time, as proven by the existence of the Domanand anti-dragon runes. That military force may have allowed them to demand a presence in the cities. I don't expect their influence on the rural clans to be able to force them to accept teachers inside the clans, or to undo verdicts of exile against converts from these clans, until Obduran showed the way to remain active in worship to Orlanth while studying draconic ways. This revelation of the Draconic Sun needs to have come as something eagerly accepted by at least part of the surviving priesthood. Sun Domer resistance trwas unknown when Isgangdrang crushed the last Traditionalist uprising in 775. It would be interesting to get an insight to the internal dynamics of the Sun Domes during that era. Was it something like Belvani's presence at the Praxian Sun Dome in reverse, with the hierarchical discipline overriding traditionalist tendencies? The Sun Domers had experienced quite a lot of "No, your cold sun god really is X" moments by now. Had this become little more than the re-dedication of regimental standards after one of these deities had failed them and a glossy new one promised a better future? And a reversal of this 150 years later: These battles presumably were fought by Sun Domers following the Draconic Sun. Did the demise of the Dragon Sun emperor of Dara Happa weaken their magics? Did the Golden Wyrm stand-in used by the Golden Dragon society afterwards catch up this? "In the liberated regions, the soldier-cult purged itself of all draconic influence." The Praxian Sun Dome appears to have retained its draconic influences till 1042 the draconic mediators and all the draconic alterations of traditional cults ceased to function, and the priesthoods of the draconized deities had to face a non-draconized Otherworld all of a sudden. Gold Edge and Vanntar would have remained under the Dragon Dream for as long as it lasted, too. Does this crucification appear in any official source? The 1042 mass utuma eliminated all humans privy to higher draconic insights, up to and including a mastery of Old Wyrmish beyond a certain level. I wouldn't doubt that this affected parts of the priesthood even in Saird, but on the other hand, a lot of the priesthood of the draconized versions of deities were not awakened to draconic wisdom any more than your average Etyries merchant will be illuminated. These folk were left to find out that their draconized rotes failed to produce results, and that their most draconized herds, crops, and even buildings failed after the Dragon's Dream had been lifted from the land. The people in the core lands of the EWF had been relying most heavily on these effects produced by the Dream, and while they struggled with the implications of the absence of that magical support, Pelorian raiders came in hordes and plundered the lands. Including those of the sun dome temples which just had lost their dragon sun substitution and those of their leadership most attuned to that.

The units on the gameboard were phalanxes, whether with pike or whether with long spear wasn't exactly specified. The description of the templars always included horsemen and archers in those rules, and that's where I drew my observations on tribal Yelmalians from.

I don't think that referring to Belintar in terms of the current body is encouraged - his presence might actually have been so overwhelming that the details of his physical origin were overlooked. He was the God-King after all. And then there is the assertion (possibly even provable) of the continued existence of the winner in that magical version of the Holy Country. It would be wrong to address someone patently not being that person in this way. That said, names and identities of previous winners would of course be interesting, as would the competition for the post in the Tournament, and the circumstances leading to the death or decline of the previious body. I sincerely doubt that such a list exists, yet, and for gaming purposes, keeping it vague might be more useful than nailing down every fact, however much the scholar would love to see just that. An idea to make such a list gameable: there might be some weird quest to assemble the former owners of Belintar's previous bodies in an attempt to bring the God King back. In that case, at least a selection of these, and how they established themselves in that spiral screw Other Side, might be gameable.

As in "priestess of Ernalda". To my best knowledge there is no single Reverend Grandmother lording over all of Esrolia, each will only lord over her House and dependent houses. The Reverend Grandmothers of the Enfranchised Houses form some kind of "senate" which needs to come up with unanimous votes. Being the Reverend Grandmother of the House of the ruling Queen of Esrolia comes close to this position, however. Bruvala demonstrated this powerfully by switching daughters for the Queen of Nochet position when they went against her dictate.

The Praxian Sun Dome militiamen and farmers probably are quite typical for sedentary, non-riding Yelmalians, despite the foreign influences of the Teshnans and the nomad overlordship. The huge number of Praxian Yelmalians excel as mounted archers. I would have preferred it if the Pavis Survivors would have been portrayed as followers of Golden Bow rather than the Little Sun/the Sun Dome, instead. The Vanntar temple at least has cavalry, although it doesn't come as a mercenary unit. The Tarsh temples appear to be very integrated with the normal population, less mercenary but quite a bit like standing garrison. I said my pieces about tribal Sartarite Yelmalians years ago. Little if any of this hoplite stuff. Horse riders and skirmishers, experts with all manner of spears - thrown, cocked from horseback, etc. Not that horse-crazy as those who remained Elmali, upholding the Hyalor traditions that had merged with the Vingkotlings and been prominent with the Heortlings. The concept of the Sun Dome is a mystery to everyone who hasn't visited the early Golden Age, when people were feathered as much as fair-haired. Lorion's rise brought the sheen of the primal sky back, and hid the Sun Dome, and Xentha covered even that. The Sun Dome is a weird mystery, a promise with not that much base in everyday life, but an immortal quality. That immortal quality might be the main difference between Elemal and Yelmalio. Elmal is the last Heat of the sun. Yelmalio is the beyond heat.

Not sure such a language existed. After all, not even the different Hsunchen languages are related, at least not between different families of beasts. I doubt that Telmori and Basmoli languages have much in common, despite their common ancestor Fralar. Damali and Pralori, and possibly other antler-bearers, might have some basic shared language, as may the various Rathori of Rathorela, but neither would have much if anything in common with the language of the other group. That's why the God of the Silver Feet was so important for the White Bear Empire. I tend to agree. Puppeteer shows may very well be initiated by the Theyalan/Trade Talk equivalent of "Willkommen! Bienvenu! Welcome!" of Cabaret fame. Address the locals, the intelligentsia and the travelers in as many words.

Possibly some weird anti-analogue to Swordspeech, a language with a multiply redundant vocabulary like the Mayan script is multiply redundant for its syllable values, with the option to use gestures, grimaces or dance figures in mid-sentence. The unspoken parts probably can condense to a very concise dialect used to coordinate complex illusions etc. during shows.

That was a letter too much: Every comic function can be fulfilled by the Trickster. And every cosmic dysfunction. There are a few things that the Trickster is good at. Eurmal Friend of Man, the Firethief. Orlantio, the upstart poking at the weaknesses of the stagnant rules of the cosmos until the Emperor fell apart. And sometimes the Trickster's evil can be necessary, like the transformation of Earthmaker. But most of the time, the Trickster is as functional and welcome as the Boggles. Donandar can and will be a distraction, too, but only rarely in a bad way.

IMO Donandar as an occupational cult should be short, practical, have two runes (and share only one with Issaries). But there is also the option of a mystery cult, the human dream, less solid than the draconic dream, but full of ideas, what-ifs and alternative views. Not just the lies and deception that are embodied by Eurmal. I think that this is a cosmic function hardly fulfilled by the Trickster. One with even fewer followers than the trickster, although there will be devotees among the way more mundane performers of the Puppeteers. Your average performer has nothing to do with belieavable illusions. The Orlanthi skald should be obsessed with Truth rather than Illusion. But the Puppeteers can take their audience into participation in an altered or even other world. Nightmares may take form, and dissipate again. And at times, performers and observers may be taken to the Other Side, when Illusion fuses with mythical reality. These are the deep secrets of Donandar. Few initiates or priests, hordes of lay members willing to experience their almost real alternatives. And at times, Imagination may strike at real threats, saving or taking lives. You probably won't recognize them as such, wearing the guise of entertainers or stage hands, or completely different appearances. That's how it should be. Our perception of this aspect of Donandar is shrouded by illusion. There is way more power there than it should. Maybe the cult is that big. Maybe there are illusionary cultists upholding this. Maybe it has its very own Other Side where all these Illusions go when they stop manifesting in this world.

Spot on, yes.

There aren't many native sorcery traditions from Dragon Pass known to us. Lhankor Mhy's Torvald alchemy is about the only human one from Dragon Pass proper, unless Isidilian had human followers gifted with dwarf maintenance sorcery already before the Dragonkill. There are centers providing sorcery just outside of Dragon Pass - Arkat's Hold has the House of Black Arkat, there is Nochet with its Aeolian annex (who aren't shunned any more than the cult of Orlanth) and "God Learner" riots at its (Lhankor Mhy) university, and possibly a few Waertagi teachers at the Debaldan academy, there are the Brithini, Ingareens and/or Esvulari in southern Heortland and God Forgot, and there is the City of 10,000 Magicians in Aggar which may have a connection to the presence of Akgarbash of Laurmal a little further north. I don't know where Pavis learned his sorcery, but possibly from the dwarves supporting the project that produced him Delecti's use of the inverse Sky River Titan myth to imprison Rihalya sounds very much like something out of the Umathelan or Slontan universities for RuneQuest-Sight heroquesting, and so does his visit at the Zorak Zoran myth. The creation myths for the inner Pamaltelan humanoids (Hoolar, Jelmre, Pelmre, Agitori) sound very Green Age to me. There is no indication when and how the Fiwan started to share the habitat of the Doraddi of the Veldt, and I regard their myth to be a coastal one, possibly from Laskal. We have the Bomonoi of the farthest south of the continent, and weird giants in the Fense mountains in modern days, without a myth about their origins. There is no mention of the Rascullu for earlier ages, and them being grouped with the Hsunchen makes their treatment different from that of the Green Age races of the Grotarons or Hoolar. But then, who could have witnessed them? The Agimori were still way down south, taking their first drinks in a flame-parched land, and the Fiwan didn't pay much notice. The Greenwood of Jolar expanded only later.

Playing RQ with the Strike Rank/tact concept of Ringworld isn't very far from that. In this discussion, I tend to side with Paolo who has the benefit of having published rules systems and having received playtest feedback. There are tons of things a warrior with a five meter pole surrounded by enemies might do, including a swashbuckling planting it so it could veer in the planned direction, climbing up and engage rear line foes with a jumped grappling attack from above.