jajagappa

The quests through Hell and the dream world in Sandman are great sources to mine for ideas (and wonderful imagery of demons!).

Or those of us who don't have websites, but happy to pitch in ideas here. My current campaign started with this premise: Queen Leika has returned and is looking to restore the strength of her tribe the Colymar. Ostensibly she has hitched herself to Prince Kallyr of Sartar as the Liberator, but in the past Sacred Time, things went horribly wrong. Prince Kallyr's rituals led to disaster, her closest companions slain, chaos unleashed, and dire omens seen across the land in every tribe's Sacred Time rituals. Queen Leika now fears Kallyr's days are numbered and she needs insight into the future. Once upon a time, the clan's founder Colymar sought out a vision of the future and performed a great ritual atop Colymar's Lookout to divine what his clan should do. Now Queen Leika calls upon the adventurers to aid her in this critical task - to follow the path of Colymar and find a new vision.

That's really the core question. The world around is as much or little color as you wish to add. You can start with something very basic: a Dragon has Arisen. This is not just a dragon the size of a house, this is a True Dragon, a creature that is 10 or more miles long! It devoured in one bite, the entire temple of the Red Goddess and the army and magicians of the Lunar Empire that have suppressed your land for a generation. It circled the entire land, and dire omens were seen by your priests, priestesses, or shaman. Omens that point to the Hero Wars. This is the time to act - your clan is free! But already the other clans, many of whom collaborated with the evil Lunar Empire, are making moves, including against you and your clan. And what of all the refugees? Folk who have fled the wars and now seek to find a home among you? And then there's all the things the dragon has awoken, strange draconic things and monstrous chaos that all thought long buried, lost, or gone forever... There are any number of short arcs from there - just a matter of finding what story appeals to your players. The hated Greydogs have stolen your cattle, cattle needed for upcoming rituals (lead into the Broken Tower scenario). Or Queen Leika has returned, the traitorous King Kangharl devoured in the Dragonrise, but she needs loyal allies, and needs Apple Lane secured (lead into the RQ Adventures book scenarios). Or the rise of the True Dragon has indeed stirred up draconic forces in your lands - there's a lesser dragon, a dream dragon so to speak, that is attacking steads (lead into the last scenario of the RQ Adventures book). And what are the dragonewts doing? Everyone knows they do strange and vile things - they kill and eat babies, mutilate cattle, disrupt sacred rituals - and they have been spotted in your clan lands (lead into your own arc).

PAY-vis for me.

At least in my Glorantha, the clan lawspeakers and scribes will be on the lookout for precocious youths with an inclination towards literacy and knowledge. They will send these folk on to the LM temples: Jonstown, Boldhome, Derensev, the great temple at Nochet, etc. Why? It's an "offering" from the clan/tribe to the temple - one that encourages the LM temple to pray for the clan/tribe during Sacred Time, and to answer questions otherwise. Those youths who don't have the aptitude might well be sent back to the clan before initiation. Those who do have aptitude will stay, be initiated, get to effective levels of lawspeaking and scribal work, and some of those will be sent back to the clans, too, though probably as a result of more offerings from the clan.

Shardik was a very intense book, but a lot that can be drawn upon there. It's sequel Maia, if I recall correctly, also had a lot of relevant imagery.

I found Susan Cooper's Dark is Rising sequence to be particularly inspiring. The Lost Land section of the final volume Silver on the Tree is a particularly good quest example, but the Dark is Rising and Greenwitch are also rich in ideas for a village under siege and ritual practices. Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere has some good scenes for Underworld related quests; Stardust is a whole quest; and The Ocean at the End of the Lane has a great example of things that can come back from a quest to the other side.

Start by removing the worshippers. Keep the priests away. This is much of the tactic used by the Lunar Empire in Sartar. Worship of a deity like Orlanth was banned. Those who tried were taken prisoner and sent off to work as slaves (or killed). Over a number of seasons this will begin eroding the temple defenses. Then apply powerful ritual magics. This might require multiple seasons and include heroquests to defeat the targeted deity. We don't really have specifics in RQG for these type of magics yet. A good example is in the old Cradle scenario (in RQ Classic Pavis book) where the Lunars created a powerful magic "chain" that went through the passing cradle and nullified its magical defenses.

Yes, I'm sure they will to some extent. The general campaign arc (equivalent to the Great Pendragon Campaign) will get highlighted and will advance through the Hero Wars. You can surmise much of this already with King of Sartar, White Bear/Red Moon, and the bits at the end of the Guide, though. Dragon Pass and southern Peloria will be battlegrounds between the forces of Argrath and those of the Lunar Empire. This should come as more regions are fleshed out. Right now it's just getting the game out, getting some scenarios out for people to use and work with, but until those are available some of the existing texts (SKoH or Coming Storm for Sartar; Cults of Prax for Prax; the Guide for most other regions) are the best places to start. Much of the designer notes for the GtG art are encapsulated in the descriptions. It's just one picture per region or Elder Race, but does provide some flavor. I agree it would be useful and interesting to see the art instructions for RQG pictures. That said, where you are looking to understand specific pictures, you should be able to just ask here and get some reasonable ideas. Or realize that many pieces will work just fine in some other areas/regions with a little bit of adjustment. As the only book that covers most regions outside Dragon Pass, the Lunar Empire, or Prax, it's likely all we can do at this point. I'd just note that the Guide does not need to be thought of as for "seasoned Gloranthaphiles" only. I'd not dump it on my players or expect players to have read any of it, but for a GM or anyone interested in exploring the world, it's a nice work to browse in, dip the toes in, etc. Yes, agree that a brief guide to the art of RQG would be interesting. Some of it clearly ties to Vasana's Saga, but this is a good example where it doesn't. My interpretation of the piece: this is a God-talker or Storm Voice of Orlanth in ritual garb. Why? The Movement and Air Runes on his outfit - these are Orlanth's runes. He's in a meditative or ritual pose, possibly praying to the Storm God and that is manifesting as some small amount of cloud over his hands. (Given the 2-page spread, it can just as easily connect with the Meditation skill as Spirit Combat or Spirit Dance). He might be casting Cloud Call. Or he might be casting Wind Words (given the line of clouds to either ear). I would say Sartarite - nothing to explicitly connect him to another culture (but could equally be at home in northern Ralios, Aggar or Talastar, parts of Imther, etc.). He's not garbed for war, so unlike the cover picture, I don't see this as a Wind Lord. There is nothing wrong with doing so. I too would find it interesting.

Yes, those are the two areas I'd likely target. Possibly could do something around Jrustela (discovering hints at a fearful dwarven plot) or sunken Seshnela too. But it is like a whole different world.

And still have not been fully captured in the larger sets of myths.

1) Lunar/Pelorian: I was always partial to the Lunar/Pelorian culture and its mix of underlying cultures. My original setting was Imther (Edge of Empire) and ran there for many years. The Redline History in the Glorantha Sourcebook provides a lot of material to work with. 2) Vormaino: with their odd distinct deities, their isolation (about to break), and proximity to the East Isles, I always thought it would be fun to develop a game here. I had sketched out the ideas for a starting campaign, but have never found the time to run. 3) Maslo: yes, I put together background to try an HQG campaign there some time ago. Odd little part of the world - felt it would be fun mix of seafaring, dealing with elves and mermen, and of course the Mother of Monsters. 4) Ludoch!: if I was doing a non-human culture, this is the one I'd be interested in exploring. 5) Orlanthi/Esrolian: current campaigns all centered in this area, though Orlanthi were never really my favorite. 6) Praxian: probably the most distinctive, but I've never been as interested in the nomadic cultures. But always liked the Pavis setting. 7) Kralorela: if it can break out of the pseudo-Chinese mold and into something distinctive, this could become quite interesting. 8)Western: never grabbed my attention in the way other cultures did. Hopefully it has a chance to develop in new and interesting ways.

Agree. For "Tarshite" - the base I pronounce like "harsh", the ending like "bite". When combined it tends towards "TARSH-ite" For "Sartarite" - both "sar" and "tar" pronounced like tar/bar/car and with equal weight, so "SAR-TAR-ite"

Sounds like something personally created - I've never run across.

It added a lot to the world view: the first writeup of the Holy Country, lots of odd mythic and weird bits in the Jonstown Compendium, and the first piece of Gloranthan fiction!

If a Heler initiate casting, then I'd make fairly predictable. Might make it one sheep for each 10 or 20% in cloud cover per point. If a Eurmali casting, then more random, maybe 1D6-1 sheep per point. He's not always successful!

For background on the Colymar, and some thoughts on how they first came to Sartar, I drew on the Colymar texts in King of Sartar and Sartar: Kingdom of Heroes. For the area around Whitewall where they originated, I used History of the Heortling People, and some myths related to Garan Low-star from Heortling Mythology. For some additional place related info, I used the old Dragon Pass Gazeteer (HW/HQ1 era supplement). All except the last are available on the Chaosium site, and the last you can get pdf on DriveThruRPG. Also drew on a bit of background for the Battle of Auroch Hills from the Orlanth is Dead (HW/HQ1) supplement and HeroQuest Glorantha. The former on DriveThruRPG and the latter direct from Chaosium. Don't think I went back to anything earlier. And, yes, some home-grown added in, particularly the Vision of the Colymar itself.

I'm guessing it was about 6 hours, possibly as much as 8 - that's going back 30 years ago though. As we only played once a month, we had long sessions usually starting at noon and finishing around 10pm typically. My face-to-face game ran for 10 years always centered on Imther (Greenbrass got transported there) though did have a trek across Balazar and the Elder Wilds to reach Gonn Orta's castle and return, and the Amber Fort sessions were set along the Elf Sea.

Spell lasts until the Mistress Race troll eats her mating partner.

Think that was the first adventure I ever ran years ago, and aside from Griffin Mountain sandbox settings, probably the only published adventure I ever ran until adapting the Harvest Bride for HQG and then the Broken Tower quickstart. Probably finished it in 6+ hours. My face-to-face game sessions back in RQ3 days were typically around 10 hours (including time for a dinner), though I think the battle with the monstrous dragonsnail went about 13 hours in one sitting.

If you want it to be! I'd probably make a Heler Rune magic. But one day while Heler's sheep were browsing the Stormwalk Mountains, Heler heard Orlanth's call to battle. Heler didn't want to bring the sheep to battle (fearing they'd by slaughtered), so looked for someone to tend the sheep while he was away. Only Eurmal was around. Eurmal was sleepy, or naturally reluctant, or didn't want to be bothered, and only agreed if Heler taught him the song to call the sheep since he didn't want to have to get up to gather them if they strayed. Heler gave in, and taught Eurmal the song. But Heler didn't trust Eurmal, so made the song as ethereal as the sheep, and it's easily forgotten. However, since then some Eurmali manage to find the song and use the magic still.

Given the rarity of Mistress Race trolls in the surface world at all, I think the logical place to look for them is in the Underworld where they undoubtedly are sent by the troll mothers to hunt demons, capture spirits, fight the daily invasion of the Underworld by Yelm, and many other hellish tasks.

Sounds cool! Illusions are challenging to create (except for the ones that only you can see via Hallucinate). There are other options though. Sheep are commonly associated with Heler the Rain God and clouds (many types are thought of as herds to sheep). Instead of creating Illusions, it could be a Storm-related Rune magic to Summon Cloud Sheep (must be cast when some % of the sky is cloud covered, or perhaps the size of the flock varies based on the % cloud cover). The Cloud Sheep are as ethereal as fog, but can move, make noise, and help hide you from foes. Vulnerable to Solar magics to clear away clouds (and perhaps powerful winds that blow them away). p.s. such storm/cloud magic would also fit well with ducks.

My Play-by-Post RQG game has been running just shy two years now starting with the Broken Tower. It's hard to define as sessions, but after the Broken Tower, I ran a story arc nominally called "Colymar's Vision" where the adventurers were sent by Queen Leika to Colymar's Lookout to gain a new vision for the tribe after Prince Kallyr's disastrous LBQ and the subsequent bad omens. They had to travel to Garanstone first and then follow Colymar's path to the Lookout. After encounters enroute, an attack by bandits at Blacktree Shrine, a suggestion by the Raven to see Dekko, a venture into Dekko's Crevice where they gambled with Dekko and won a sleeping Earth priestess, a trek to Garanstone where they discovered a group of Yelmalions and Grazers calling down a star daimon and had to help fight off a scorpionman attack, and gaining passage across the waters at Centaur Cross, they finally reached Colymar's Lookout and magically fought for control of the vision with several other groups (including the Yelmalion-Grazer alliance, scorpionmen, and some folk from a distant elf woods). The return saw them stop at the battlefield at Auroch Hills to try to recover the Justice Spear of the Colymar. Now into another story arc nominally called "Into the Hero Wars". They aided Queen Leika at the Battle of the Queens where Prince Kallyr fell. Queen Leika had a battlefield vision where she saw they she needed to gain the Ivory Horn of the Storm. She has sent them off to find it. They've not made it too far yet, just to the ruins of the Lunar slave farm near Old Man Village where they are investigating the former rooms of the Lunar witch Oheha and trying to figure out who beheaded the river spirit Nymie.

It's a good point! And since I started the in-joke with the reference to the Cannon Cult of the dwarves, I'll take the blame for that.