jajagappa

I use it to make a straight roll, bumped up or down depending on where they are, for just this purpose. I would allow it as an augment for a Communication roll, although success might come with a price, and failure might not (e.g. if the Issaries trader doesn't know you, he might not jack up the price of the sword you wish to buy, but if you're a known companion of Queen Leika, well then... he may have a "great" deal for you!).

Imarja does not provide any direct/immediate benefit in this manner - as the divine feminine principle, she represents a distant, mystic path. Uralda the Cow Mother is most likely for cattle. Nevala the sheep mother for sheep. Trading the meat would be the province of Issaries/Garzeen.

I don't think we should equate the Grandmothers' coming to power in Esrolia with an understanding of Imarja. The creation of the Other House seems to be a rejection of the mystic by Ernalda and the other goddesses and an assertion of their own power. That the Grandmothers incorporated or transposed stories of Imarja for their own use without delving into its mystical side seems likely.

I agree with this view.

If we follow the material in the Esrolia book, then likely they must visit the House of Shape, the House of Form and the House of Appearance. "Some of the people did not understand any of this." - however, if they succumb to the temptations of life, then they accept the reality of the Other House instead and clearly fail to understand the deeper mysteries.

I finally got my copies (as part of the final 5%) on the 22nd. Seemed like a number of others in the US were in similar state.

I, on the other hand, would not. If you got both, you simply get the broader benefit.

An alternative is that you simply belong to a guild/clan/cult that has a particular specialty (if you want to go that far). Or you could just use the Alchemy skill and augment by a relevant lore skill (Mineral Lore, Plant Lore, Animal Lore, Scorpionman Lore, or whatever).

Choose a species from the RQ Bestiary. They are now your foe/enemy. As @Joerg noted in regards to "elf, …", although given green elves are different species than brown elves or dark trolls from great trolls, you may need to choose one (or perhaps apply the blessing to all species of that kind). Similarly with broo, scorpionmen, krarshtkids, etc. or specific monsters such as griffins, sky bulls, giant turtles, etc. Undead (revenants, skeletons, zombies) can obviously come from differing species. You could make a case that a blessing against a dark troll works fine on an undead dark troll - it's the right species, just not a living one. Or you could decide to apply the blessing to that type of undead or all undead. Since gift #10 is doing double damage to any foe, I wouldn't worry too much about the finer points here.

Certainly most Orlanthi and Praxians are adorned with runes in tattoos and in clothing.

I'd probably treat similar to sorcerous spells. You have the Alchemy skill, and then you have Alchemical tomes (or songs, etc.) that provide a specific "technique" or perhaps "recipe" is better in this case. That could simply be handled at the level that poisons are presented: scorpion venom, wyvern venom, spider venom, herbal poison, mineral poison. I would add in other potions though that affect/create passions or similar effects: love potions, madness potions, fear potions, etc. Whether you need a book or not depends on how detailed you want to make it.

No. I think this goes against the text "Only one augment may be attempted per ability" and the spirit of the rule. But what you can do is get Runic inspiration, say by the Fire rune, and apply that augment to your Scan skill to find your target and then to your Bow skill to try to bring down your target. As Rune or Passion inspiration can carry through an action or event (potentially lasting a whole day), these can drive multiple relevant actions through that time period.

And also be careful with foes with multiple attacks, or multiple foes for each PC. Scorpionmen stings, for example, coming after their base attack where the PC has reduced parry chance can be particularly lethal.

But there is danger in that. Lack of wardings and defenses against hostile spirits and demons, etc. As you note well, the Lunar garrison commander may not have the strength to interfere with an in-process Orlanthi ceremony. But block off the sacred space, destroy its wardings, etc. Force the renegade Orlanthi priest to create a sanctified ground elsewhere where the priest is unsure of what hostile denizens might come to the ritual - hostile beings that may well be able to disrupt and attack the ritual.

Mine has arrived as well.

Correct. You can augment a given skill with any other skill/Rune/Passion you deem appropriate, and that augmenting ability can vary. There is no stacking of augments. And you may have a lingering augment based on a Rune or Passion that effectively prevents you from augmenting a skill with something else unless you can overcome the inspiration you initially invoked.

For the 10 years I ran my RQ3 campaign, I always had Lunar characters - but then my campaign was based primarily in Imther, a good Lunar province at the time. But there were "good" Lunars and "bad" Lunars, as one might expect.

Yes. This is nicely summarized in the new GM screen. You get an Experience check with a successful augment roll (whether of skill, rune, or passion). RQG p.145 "Failure: The adventurer subtracts –20% from the ability to be used for the action being attempted." Yes. And there's further negative effects when trying to subsequently use that Rune or Passion until you can spend time meditating on the Rune or in the case of the Passion that the situation has passed. Yes, it's -20% on the roll for the Rune (plus subsequent attempts to use the Rune), or -10% on the roll for the Passion (plus all subsequent rolls associated with the situation). Similar for fumbles, but even more extreme. Yes.

RQG p.271 notes "With the priests’ invocations on holy days, real spirits, gods, and demons enter within the sacred precincts." And there are strong reasons why you want Wardings around your sacred areas in your temples - not just to stop thieves. For similarly worshipping clans, no. But Grazeland or Praxian raiders will be happy to strike during an Orlanthi ceremony - and may well be drawn to it (e.g. by the Summons of Evil spell). My take is that the Lunars do try to enforce their "no worship of Orlanth". Getting rid of the priests, or destroying sacred regalia, of course, is likely easier than disrupting a ceremony, especially when the Lunar magic is only at 1/2 strength. But if you can weaken the worship effort, strike at early points before initiates can draw fully on their magic, or at critical junctures in the rituals (as Jar-eel did when Kallyr attempted the Short Lightbringers Quest), etc. then you could achieve some success that weakens the clan in the coming season or year.

Maybe those map versions will go on sale once all the Glorantha Sourcebooks and maps from the Kickstarter are delivered.

Alchemy is now a skill as noted on p.175. For a given potion you need sufficient raw materials. Then you need a successful skill roll (and allowing for whatever you/GM think is sufficient time for execution of that skill). If you want to go to the level of identifying the raw materials and 'recipe' to produce substance X, you can do so, but it's no more needed than identifying the raw materials and steps required to sculpt a new statue of Orlanth.

Yes, partly that, and partly MGF, but I've found a lot of people over the years who seem paralyzed by the idea of taking some small bit and expanding on it and creating something new. Sort of an "if it doesn't say I can do this, then I'm not sure I'm allowed to do this."

Many gods like cows? Worship ceremonies attract foes. Demons, evil and hostile spirits, broos, enemy clans, … If you've used up all your MP's, you don't have anything left to protect and guard the ceremony.

The Harald Motto: Don't be afraid to create or add to Glorantha. If you want or need a new myth, a new spell, a new cult, a new clan or city, add it. It's your game - your personal touches will add to and enrich it for your players.

Probably something the Varmandi did - they always feud with the Malani, particularly the Orleving. No Law Rune currently in RQG. Could be Harmony rune or Stasis rune. Most of the Family Background entries don't have Rune additions. Passions, yes; Reputation or Wealth, yes; skills, occasionally; runes, rare. Doesn't mean there couldn't be Rune additions, but I'm not sure what would necessarily produce a change in Runes that would carry down. If you do include, I'd likely go with +5% at most as this affects the PC's personality in ways they may not want.