jajagappa

If they've passed the adulthood initiation, they are no longer "kids" - they are full adults. And in my opinion, yes, the community teaches them some basic spirit magic over those years - i.e. one point/spell per year, which is why our 21 year-old adventurers have 5 points of spirit magic.

Exactly! 🙂 Yes, I had spotted that, but I figured that if your focus is Dragon Pass, you might blip over the world map even though the place is close by.

Depending on the strength of its light, it might be able to counter the normal cyclical effects of the moon on Lunar Rune magic.

Conquest does not necessarily change cultural or tribal conditions. One simply needs to look at our own large empires (Assyrian, Persian, Alexandrian) to see that. But there is cultural exchange, and while "way of life" in the hills is better described as "Orlanthi" and in the river valleys as "Pelorian" there will be blended cultures. That's what I developed for Imther as seen in Edge of Empire - it is very much a blend of Solar (Sun Dome), Orlanthi, and Lunar. As the Lunar and Solar cults books become available, and set alongside the Redline History of the Lunar Empire, there is a lot of opportunity to flesh out and enrich all of Peloria (which I've always found more fascinating and rich than Dragon Pass).

There's Samastina's second pair of twins for a couple examples (born Sacred Time 1624).

Just thinking how if the white text box wasn't there in the bottom left of the Dragon Pass map, you could see Nochet, note the source materials there, and people could see how close the city is to Dragon Pass....

Why? It is just celestial lore. Having worked with Greg on creating Erindamus, I don't think there is anything in that short text to suggest that Buserian is or isn't LM.

Earth - depends on what they are climbing, but if a hillside, they are able to focus on the rock, the soil, and find the right grips. Harmony - because they are able to draw upon focused, harmonious thoughts undistracted by the disorder of the world around. But also keep in mind that I ran HQG for a lot of years, so I'm very used to having players use Runes in creative ways. And usually I find that interesting, but some are too much of a stretch and would not be applicable.

I have no issue augmenting if the Rune seems appropriate. For climbing, I'd accept at least Air, Earth, Water, Movement, and Harmony.

Looks great! As always, lots of excellent detail. @Nick Brooke one minor note: you picked up the original cover illustration for Nochet: Queen of Cities rather than the updated/final one.

Wasn't that birthdate noted as incorrect subsequently?

I'd start from the Hieronymus Bosch painting Garden of Earthly Delights and find odd little cast-off figures. Three-headed birds, unicorn sea-horses, flying fish, etc.

Definitely possible to create a major street map - will look to putting one together in the new year.

I'd actually take the opposite approach. Demons are a big part of eastern mythos in general which seems distinct from the trolls. I'd probably draw upon the demons of Tibetan mythology for inspiration, but think of them as creatures of Hell, not of Night.

Glad to hear you're enjoying it! The companion Nochet: Adventurer's Guide is intended to get players quickly grounded there as well with relevant character creation (a quick version currently, but a more extended family background will be added fairly soon), occupation, cults, and short overviews (without all the details). Let me know if you have any questions!

It was my belief or understanding that all three citadel plans came from ancient Greek sites, but I don't recall which.

Even today we channel it through 3-4 years of high school sport teams, or 4 years of college, so 2 years hardly seems exceptional. What it gives the clan/tribe is a source of scouts/fighters who can patrol the margins and boundaries of their lands - directing them outwards rather than challenging the leadership of the community until they've matured further.

Wow! 🤯

Generally the human background/family history will not be applicable (until after they make their break with elf society and start their life among humans). I think you've got to work through some basics that are relevant. 1) Are they a Forest Elf or a Grove Elf? (By Forest, I mean a big one like Arstola or parts of the Elder Wilds. By Grove, something like Tarndisi's Grove that is largely isolated from a Great Tree.) 2)Why did they leave the Forest or Grove? If they are a Forest Elf, they might have been sent as an emissary to be among the humans, reporting back every so often - the eyes and ears of the Forest in the world beyond watching for threats. If a Grove Elf, there are more existential threats - they might be the sole survivor of a wildfire (whether started by humans, trolls, or lightning), have suffered from timbering or a trollkin or beetle infestation, or last survivor of the Great Winter, etc. 3) Determine their reaction to whatever caused their departure. Do they Fear (the Swarm)? Fear (Lightning)? Hate (trollkin)? etc. Don't think this needs to be an absolute. Forest elves don't necessarily hate Darkness - deep forests are VERY dark, and they might have a friendship with dark elves or shadow spirits, etc. As for heirlooms - if they are an emissary, they'll have received some gift to aid their task. If they are a Grove survivor, then the elf parents may have perished, and they take up the heirloom.

This stretch of Prax is much like the lands below the Rockies in Wyoming or Colorado. It is not wasteland, and herds can live along here - in fact, it's some of the best grasslands of Prax. Why did homesteaders leave the eastern US to settle in Colorado, Wyoming, or Montana? They weren't the poor and impoverished, and they had other options. This is a place where you could say the winds of Orlanth blow free without constraint by old, tradition-bound cults.

That is typically a Rune Priest requirement. And in Lanbril's case, that is also explicitly noted as different.

Chaosium's queue, not mine. Then go to Loskalm. A key point of the Aeolians though is that they are NOT Men-of-All, and they aren't caste mobile. The PC Farmers might become Warriors, but they will never become Wizard-priests or Nobles. (And if they do, that pretty much means the end of their culture.) I can assure you there are no Saints! 🙂 That's really a function of Fertility magic, is it not? And since Ernalda is one of the emanations of the Invisible God, and available to worship by nobles (as their ancestor!) and the commoners, I suspect there is a lot of invocation of her magic. Given that the commoners choose their noble ruler (out of the available nobles), and that the wizard-priests provide additional blessings (i.e. sorcery) from the Invisible God in exchange for the worship by the commoners, why do you think there is a need to leave? This is far more secure than some tribal king asserting their right to rule by might/force of arms. Plus it has had the blessing of the God-king for 3 centuries, so why would you think this is an oppressive state? Why do you think it is different in Orlanthi lands/among the Heortlings? Do you think it is that simple to just become a noble? Do you think the Orlanthi do not have noble families/clans that rule, and other clans that don't? Just look at the Colymar - they have been dominated by the Ernaldori clan as leaders of the Earth cult since their formation, and the leadership of that tribe vacillates between noble families among the Ernaldori, the Taraling, and occasionally the old Orlmarthi. Yes, you can rise to become a Rune Lord, maybe a Thane, but it's not going to be an easy road for one starting as a farmer.

You're asking about the Master Thief, in which case it is as stated and CHA 18 is not a requirement. Passing the CHA x5% test is though, as are the skill masteries. Note that with the Lanbril Rune Priest, the requirement is CHA 15+ (not 18).

Safe??? 🤣 Indeed. The questions then are 1) whether they even survived the ordeal (and I do think it should be thought of in that manner), and 2) if they did, did their mind/spirit/body come out intact? The Mad God is one of those paths. The Trickster (in whatever form - mad, bad, clown, poor idiot,...) is another. And IMO the future shaman is yet another, already starting on the road to the Spirit Plane.

Good example! Of course, the initiation into Humakt severs one from their kin, so that works well. And I'm sure a Trickster doesn't care, and might be delighted to "initiate" one into their ranks as a child with whatever consequences to the clan.