jajagappa

They are actually done using Powerpoint. Yes, Powerpoint! Probably not what you expected, but I've become reasonably adept at manipulating and modifying the shapes. 🙂 Plus, they convert nicely into pdf or jpg formats as well.

Worked for the Seven Mothers! A lot depends on the status of the Dead God within Time as well as its status outside Time. Consider Genert. Genert is a dead god. Within Time, there are parts of him all over the place: the Copper Sands, hyena skin, etc. Until he's appropriately reassembled within Time, you can't worship him. However, if you go to the Green Age, or the Golden Age, you can still meet and interact with Genert. You could likely go to his death and dismemberment and even gain some of Genert's blood or the like and return with it (or whatever it did for you). But attempts to worship him still fail. So, if you want to worship the dead god, you're going to need to find things of that deity that exist within Time so that you can effectively resurrect him. You can see a bit of this in the old Nomad Gods game where if you collect all the Parts of Tada, and bring them to Tada's High Tumulus where the dead god is buried, then you can resurrect that Dead God. Another example is in the Eleven Lights where you can restore/resurrect three dead gods and have them become part of Orlanth's Ring, and able to be worshiped again.

I think the proper sequence is: Extinguish Gbaji first, then eat Gbaji. No fire, no "claws" of iron fire.

Or more likely, they kill Harrek, only to find the next Sacred Time that Harrek has returned from Hell, and now has a new mission for the Wolf Pirates: hunt down the pcs.

One thing you'll observe with just that short list, is that you, as the First Priest of the shrine, need is a fair investment already in Rune points. 1 point (Sanctify), 1-4 points (Warding), 1-3 points (Summon Cult Spirit), and probably 1 point for Divination (as a key task in your first worship service). Minimally that's 4, but a 1 point Warding is not going to stop a determine Lunar magician and you may even want two Wardings (outer perimeter and the altar), and a weak wyter may not be enough to aid you against foes. More likely you'll want/need 8-12 Rune points to get a shrine up and going.

Only bits and pieces. A number of the Colymar clan tattoos are depicted in the RQG Adventures Book. And then the visual elements shown in artwork including through Prince of Sartar. Clearly there must be cult tattoos as well.

He was a co-author on the RQ2 Borderlands scenarios. He had also worked on a Gloranthan novel called the Road of Kings, an excerpt of which was published in Gloranthan Visions. That was to be a saga of Orlkarla the Black, last of the Maboder tribe, if I recall correctly.

You'll need to start by Sanctifying the grounds. Preferably on the site of some ancient, and relevant, myth. You'll need an idol, image, or the like of the deity to reside in during holy services. (RQG p.283) Foes will be attracted to the site, so you'll want to Ward the grounds. To keep it going, you'll need to Summon a Cult Spirit to become the wyter of the shrine. That will also help with the shrine's defense. You'll need to have a priest or god-talker lead regular Worship services there, at least once per season, where 75–225 lay members and initiates gather to participate in the services. (RQG p.284) Given the need for 75+ worshippers, this is obviously a community effort, but the results are: you can replenish Rune points, you can gain one special Rune magic spell, you connect with your deity, and you can the blessings/protections from the temple wyter.

In the Lunar province of Imther, it's all about cheese, meat, and cider. Imtherian cheeses are a famed export throughout the Lunar Empire, providing a great table addition to the Lunar wines. Speaking of wine and cider, there was discussion of those in this earlier thread: https://basicroleplaying.org/topic/9118-alcoholic-beverages-of-glorantha/ I outlined some of the Imtherian cheeses, and there was additional discussion on food and grain in this thread: https://basicroleplaying.org/topic/4318-gloranthan-food/

I would generally avoid these as they really took tangents into "micro" gods not reflected elsewhere, or how I can put popular modern movies into Glorantha (e.g. let's have an Indiana Jones-based Lunar hero band).

And a bit of my writeup on Foods of Nochet, greatest city in all Glorantha where, of course, you can find something from almost any culture (particularly if it's in a pie). One day, when the daughters were out playing, Esrola got tired and lay down for a while. Kena [“headrest” or “pillow”] is the hill in Nochet where she laid her head. “Grainland” [Esrolia] is where she napped. When she woke she said, “I dreamed that this was the land of grains.” Where she had lain was ever blessed with an abundance of grain. Agriculture is easy in the well-watered, fertile lands of Esrolia. With the aid of the earth goddesses and their virile husbands, Esrolia produces vast quantities of grain: some used locally but much brought to the great cities for storage, tribute, and trade. Esrola herself raised the fields of First Grasses. Her daughter Esra is here with her sheaves of barley and her husbands: Porridge, Baker, and Minlister the Brewer. So too is Usara with her oats, Fresala with the wheat, and Suchara who makes the rye. Later, Esrola shed tears as the Darkness grew and these became the hard corn and blood millet which could grow even without the Sun and allowed many to survive the Long Night. The God of Change setup the Great Wheel House near Nochet and showed everyone how to turn grain into flour. Later Harst gathered the Spare Grain and taught everyone how to make the first exchanges. Then Veskarthan carefully dried the grains with his breath and Asrelia sealed the grains in her jars. When the Darkness was strong, the Queens taught all to bring the grains and jars to the cities and share the grain to survive. "Porridge by morning, a pie for midday, bread and beer in the evening to wash all away” – so goes the common rhyme in Nochet that describes the daily food of the commoner. Yet Nochet is not just a city of grain. For pie-mad Nochet that notion fails to reflect the variety of fish pies, shellfish pies, meat pies, fruited pies, and other varieties of and variations on pies that can be found. Many pies now include an array of spices and herbs from afar ever since the Opening such as the Teshnos-inspired "hotpot" pie that reflects the blazing hot spices included that are all the rage among young noblemen. Most houses have their courtyard or neighborhood gardens yielding fruit, vegetables, roots, and herbs that supplement their diet. From orchard lands outside the city come cherries, guava, peaches, plums, currants, grapes, sea-grapes, and other fruits, as well as products from those such as various fruit wines. Many houses raise small flocks of geese and ducks or a small herd of swine. And from the great river and the bay come fish and shellfish which are variously eaten fresh or dried, pickled or in some cases pressed for oil. House Loma is particularly (or infamously) known for their tangy fish oil sauce called lomalalan or more colloquially “Loma sweat.” From the hilly lands come great flocks of sheep and herds of cattle, slaughtered, butchered, and sold or dried in the stockyards of Tendayvora. From further afield and across the seas come all manner of luxury foods to grace the meals of the Enfranchised Houses and wealthy merchants. And from the marshes south of the city and the Rightarm Islands comes the ever derided marsh cabbage, source of many negative slang expressions and said to be fit only for a Duck yet regularly found in everyone’s soups and stews in Seaseason.

Best sources for Lunars are: Glorantha Sourcebook (includes the whole history of the Lunar Empire, including summary of the Lunar deities), Pavis: Gateway to Adventure (HQG book which includes the Seven Mothers cult writeup and also gives you a sense of the Lunars occupying the distant Pavis outpost). You might also enjoy reading through Greg Stafford's Lives of Sedenya (aka Red Goddess) in the online Rule One fanzine starting here: Lives of Sedenya There will be more Lunar cult writeups coming with the RQG Gods of Glorantha text, but that is not yet available (and timeframe not yet announced). I ran an RQ3 campaign for years set in the Lunar Empire and always had a preference/interest in that material.

Bear in mind that your Humakti is favored by Death. He gets gifts (and geases) that almost no one else does - those go beyond just the build up of rune points (and these can go beyond the basic list) - and the Rune Lord can take as many gifts as they wish. His cult can work and give him IRON weapons and armor - he is a machine of death. He has the ability to Sense Assassins - an unusual skill that requires no use of magic or Rune points. He is the only god that provides a reusable Sever Spirit. Do not pity the Humakti. Pity those that fall beneath his blade and magics.

My second scenario was a bit more elaborate (and I had both continuing and new players for that). To open that one, I borrowed the Flashback technique used in SKoH: Flashback: Earthseason 1625Since the Great Winter 3+ years ago when mighty Orlanth, King of the Gods and Lord of Storms, and blessed Ernalda, his Queen and Mother of the Earth, were killed by Lunar magicians and imprisoned in Hell, you all have fought in the wars of liberation. Your efforts were rewarded. Ernalda was freed first, and her blessings returned to the lands (at least those who did not succumb to the temptations of the Lunar Empire). At the Battle of Pennel Ford in 1624, Orlanth was fully freed as well and the Lunar Empire suffered a major defeat. But the Lunar Empire is never far away and their forces are legion. Late last year, the Lunar Empire attempted a great ritual to complete their conquest of the kingdom of Sartar. It is said that their ritual would have completed a great Lunar temple that would bring the light of the Red Moon fully across the land of Dragon Pass and imprison Orlanth and Ernalda once again. Rumors are many about what happened and who participated, but a band loyal to Kallyr Starbrow, heir to the Kingdom of Sartar, took mythic paths to enter into the Lunar ritual. They summoned a Dragon to the ritual. Not some small dragon that some sages name Dream Dragons, but one of the ones that are called True Dragons. It is said by many that the dragon was unknown. The mouth was not small. The first bite swallowed the choreographer, most of the Lunar sorcerers, most of a regiment of hoplites, and a large portion of the onlookers. The dragon sank back underground as if the earth were water, and then rose again and swallowed the most powerful Lunar magicians who led the ceremony; another regiment and a half, and a smaller part of the panicked mob. A third bite got the last of the priests and a good part of the new buildings. With a fourth bite, it swallowed the part of the building which had held the sacred Moonstone. Then it turned over once, knocking down everyone for twenty miles around, and left above itself a crack in the earth which stretched for ten miles. In one moment, half the Empire’s military might was destroyed. Many of the Empire’s greatest leaders, including Appius Luxius, Tatius the Bright, and Enerian Scarlet, and even King Kangharl, leader of your Colymar tribe, were lost forever. That's what the rumors said. What you, and all in Dragon Pass saw, was the dragon rising up into the sky, revealing its impossible size – it was over 10 miles long! It flew up high into the Middle Air towards the Red Moon. You and others saw the great dragon fly north to obscure the Red Moon. It turned aside, though, and then the True Dragon spiraled around Dragon Pass, circled Mount Kero Fin and then returned to the huge crevice it had made where once stood the New Lunar Temple. You, and all those you were with, felt Fear. Fear that the True Dragons were awake again and active in the world. Across Dragon Pass, ancient draconic powers and associations quiescent since the Empire of Wyrms Friends fell centuries ago were awakened. To the north, with the cream of the Lunar Provincial Administration gone, many of the Lunar provinces have erupted in revolt. In light of these omens, changes have come to the clans of the Colymar tribe. Most noticeably Leika "Ballista", a hero who helped King Broyan of the Volsaxi to slay the dreaded Crimson Bat, has returned as Queen of the tribe after a 10 year exile. She prepares the tribe for great challenges as the Hero Wars begin. It is now 1626, not even a year after the Dragonrise, but already things long hidden stir and rise.

Yes, they are all set after the Dragonrise. IMO, yes, as it sets the scene that this is a world where monstrous and fantastic beasts exist, and not just in legend. But it's also not something you need to extensively elaborate on. My Broken Tower run started with this: "In the wake of the great event known collectively wherever you've travelled as the Dragonrise, you have returned home to your clan, the Ernaldori. Despite the wars of liberation, they have survived, but as with other clans you've encountered, all struggle to retain and restore wealth lost of the Lunar occupation. There are clans that have suffered far more though."

Exactly! 🙂

When I invoke a character's Flaw, I have them determine what ability they will oppose it with, and then have the player roll for each. Effectively the Flaw is the difficulty level they must overcome.

Yes, I do know. Those are mine. 🙂 They are based on Jeff's sketch which he posted some time back which was used as the 1618 starting point. I'd have thought with the Nochet maps out there, that my map style would be recognized by now! 😉

Same for me.

Yes, it is. My bad!

And they are more as well. Swallowing Gbaji is also the Death of Yelm/Yelm entering Wonderhome. Ripping of the Womb is also the rebirth of Yelm/Dawn. To deny either is to deny the Great Compromise, so they become very insidious events.

No, it's not explicit as to what happens in that time period in RQG. In my game, they continue to summon cult spirits as part of the teaching (though there are likely other activities to inscribe the focus, learn the gestures, etc.).

It was rare in my old RQ3 campaign since most of the PC's did not have much capability to prevent it. But now that they've got some Rune points, some skill in Spirit Combat, and an accessible Spirit Block, I'm quite happy to make spirits more prominent. 😈

Dream-wefts! (Check them out in the Quickstart p.33) Idrima does!!! If those pesky adventurers happen to thwart Idrima's sprul-pa, she just might decide to make their lives more difficult, particularly if they seem reluctant to join her cause. Hmm, Broken Tower... just might be an ancient ruin, and, oh, there's an ancient Earth goddess haunting it. And she wants people to sacrifice (cattle) to her! Oh! The adventurers don't want to go along and are stealing her offerings! Well, maybe if her dream-wefts possess them, they'll cooperate more... 😉 At least in my run through, Idrima didn't like people stealing her offerings.

Don't forget Insight(Human) - good sense of what others they encounter might do. Both Farsee and Detect Enemies can be useful. And his Spirit Combat is pretty effective. Of course, he also Hates Greydogs. Also very good Spirit Combat. Charisma, Inviolable, and Heal Body are all very useful (probably more so than worrying about an elemental). Very strong Earth and Fertility runes which can help inspire other actions. Decent Scan and Listen skills. Her Rune magic such as Fearless, Lightning, and Shield can all come in handy. Lance coupled with Bison charge can be very effective. Pick one shield to have with him. Nobody is going to carry two along, especially when on foot. You can always use the Quickstart version of Sorola which provides spirit magic (e.g. Detect spells) instead of sorcery. She's also decent with sword and adds in more knowledge skills. If you know they often don't take or miss options, then at least walk through the Runic (and Passion) inspirations and skill augments. My players made good use of these, and they can significantly help in particular situations.