Jeff

Maybe start here: This has already had over 2000 views, and I am always happy to record more material giving out specific advice or answering questions.

So although there is a GM book in the works to cover this (or the many posts on this on other social media, examples of play on YouTube, etc), you'd rather wait to have a second and larger Bestiary made? I for one don't think more species would help with that. A big book of encounters might be far more helpful, with a range of different types of encounters, from Rubble Runners to Rune Lord and Entourage.

I’m not sure how we got from asking why there aren’t more monsters in the Bestiary to here, but let’s go back to the original point of the thread. From my perspective there aren’t too few or too many critters in the bestiary. I am curious what value is gained by having more?

RuneQuest is not marketed as a generic fantasy roleplaying game system by us - RuneQuest is our game set in Glorantha. Basic Roleplaying, on the other hand, is precisely that. It is the engine that underlies RuneQuest, Call of Cthulhu, and Pendragon. And we are doing quite a bit more with Basic Roleplaying.

So far the Bestiary covers most of the non-human entities player characters are likely going to have meaningful interactions with if they are adventuring in Genertela (where probably 99% of all RQ campaigns take place). From my point of view, the main thing that it is missing are sea creatures (the only triolini presented are the ludoch) and creatures from beyond Genertela. Those will have to wait. Now there are few new monsters that appear in new books - Duckbears, various Beast Peoples, and so on. Maybe eventually they will get collected into a new edition of the Bestiary.

Monastery This complex of artificial caves dates to the Empire of the Wyrms Friends. It is believed that draconic mystics resided here. It is considered the “male” counterpart to the Nunnery because of the prominent male figures depicted in the stonework. In the Third Age, these caves often serve as shelters for herders or bandits. Nunnery This complex of artificial caves dates to the Empire of the Wyrms Friends. It is believed that draconic mystics resided here. It is considered the “female” counterpart to the Monastery because of the prominent female figures depicted in the stonework. It has been home to the Sisters of Mercy since the Second Age. It also serves as a minor temple to Chalana Arroy. Old Saint’s Road This route starts at the Monastery, winds through the hills to the Nunnery, and then through Battle Valley and on to Jarolar Keep. The remnants of this First or Second Age road can be seen in the hills, but little more than stones remain in Battle Valley. It gets its names from the broken statues of long-forgotten holy people that litter the route between the Nunnery and the Monastery. The Red Vireo Clan of the Culbrea Tribe herds their cattle and sheep in the hills east of the road.

Love it! For me the Arkat story winds through Glorantha. It is a funhouse mirror show where certainties fail once you move further, and truth requires great sacrifices to find. It is a cautionary tale about the dangers inherent in spiritual exploration, and the abuses that so-often accompany the "enlightened". And we should not forget that in the end, Arkat finds peace and balance - but we need to remain with him for the entirety of the ride.

Yeah, Storm Bull, Babeester Gor, Trickster, and Humakt are all roles where the otherwise socially unacceptable can find a useful and accepted place in Orlanthi society. CA and Uleria are roles where those who might otherwise not be able to survive in Orlanthi society can find a place where they are revered and supported.

Every hero at a certain point likely gets tied into the Arkat story. Everyone has stories of him. He's acknowledged, feared, and admired - even by those he betrayed. But few devote themselves to him outside of Ralios and the trolls of Guhan.

Argrath is Arkat. I mean that literally. Greg had a character named Argrat in his old stories, who fought a great war against Gbaji that shook Glorantha to its foundations and changed the world. That character became Argrath in White Bear and Red Moon. A few years later, he recycled an edited version of the Argrat stories for Cults of Terror, where he became Arkat. Argrath is not a member of the Arkat cult - he is the same hero. Mularik is not an Orlanthi. He's a Stygian heretic from a long line of Arkat cultists and a Wolf Pirate. He becomes Argrath's teacher on the three-year circumnavigation of the Homeward Ocean and one of his early boon companions. He knows his stuff. Ethilrist is not Arkati.

And now give those "death squads" over a dozen centuries of having a socio-religious role where they have repeatedly proven their value over and over again. The Storm Bull cultists are mad and dangerous, but they are holy when it comes to fighting Chaos. As Scott points out they are basically a mirror-image of Chalana Arroy in Orlanthi society. Besides, the Storm Bull cultists are murderous without needing the justification of fighting Chaos - if they want to do an unjustified killing, they are known to just do it. Everyone knows the Storm Bull cultists are dangerous, mad, and violent - they are tolerated because they fight Chaos without compromise.

Also remember that after the Gbaji Wars, Arkat gave rule of Dragon Pass and Peloria to his friends - the trolls. He then settled in Fornoar, at the time part of Ralios. There he remained, surrounded by his companions, his wives, and his beloved children - the trolls. He gave nearby Guhan to his First Hundred as a stronghold. Arkat was no longer trollish, but he was feared and his shadow darkened the lands. For seventy-five years he remained in Ralios, and a curious empire formed around him. He taught those that came to sit around him, and enforced a strict moral code for his followers. As the trolls say, once Arkat became a troll there was no perfidy or betrayal in him. His true self brought the balance of living peace.

In general the Orlanthi give the Storm Bulls great leeway because they have proven their capacity regarding fighting Chaos both mythologically and historically. (Zorak Zoran gets similar leeway in troll society.) The Orlanthi all acknowledge that Arkat was powerful and that he destroyed Gbaji. But unlike Storm Bull, he is treacherous. Arkat betrayed the Orlanthi to the trolls. When victorious over Gbaji, he turned over rule of Dragon Pass not to the Heortling kings but to the trolls.

It is perhaps worth pointing out that the Arkat cult largely has to exist as a secret society in most human societies. Arkat is acknowledged by the Orlanth as the King of Battles (among other things), and as the most powerful hero of all time. But he betrayed humanity to the trolls, embraced Zorak Zoran, and so on.

Several thoughts: 1. There are those who say in the end Arkat became a monster to destroy Gbaji. Some say that means he became a Mistress Race Troll who joined the cult of Zorak Zoran (which is generally known to be true), others claim that means he became a Chaos monster (which is generally claimed to be false). What is certain is that Arkat emerged from Dorastor and established a peaceful empire in Ralios. 2. The Orlanthi trust the Storm Bull cultists as the experts on sniffing out Chaos. That being said, something obviously Chaotic is treated as Chaotic. Even if the Storm Bulls are confused that it doesn't seem Chaotic. Everyone knows that Gbaji is the deceiver, after all. 3. The human Arkat cult has ways of sniffing out Illuminates, and unless those Illuminates are Arkati, the Arkati usually try to kill them if possible.

Unlikely.

Not all deities have power to lend, even to their initiates.

Yes. In fact shamanism is the main source of magic for broo - both Thed and Mallia have shaman-priests.

Here's the original royal genealogy that Greg and I put together.

Re potato, I suggest you check the Guide to Glorantha. I think you will find that we do not have potatoes. YGWV, but in Chaosium publications that is something that gets cut out in editing.

Correct. Heler is worshiped by most Orlanth cultists as Rain, the loyal follower ever at Orlanth Thunderous' beck and call. That's pretty much all he is - the source of the Rain spell. However, even they know him as a once-mighty Water god, brother to Magasta, Triolina, and Nelat. As an independent god, Heler is the father of King Undine, source of water elementals and nymphs, and an ancestor of the triolini. As Lorion, he is the Celestial River, the source of the water that falls from the sky. These connections can only be explored by Heler's dedicated worshipers. This is a very small cult in Dragon Pass, but it does exist.

In my experience they did little except to create over-specialised classes and were a barrier for many players and GMs.

I posted this last year on FB but it seems relevant here. Elder Races in Dragon Pass Although Dragon Pass is dominated by humans, about one in five intelligent beings there are non-human. The dragonewts are a very ancient species, descended from the great immortal Dragons of the pass. They appear in several different shapes. Dragonewts are most assuredly intelligent and civilized, although their cities are grotesque and strange to humans, and their language almost musical but impossible to speak. Their sprawling city called Dragon’s Eye is the plains below Kero Fin. Five other smaller cities are scattered throughout Dragon Pass, connected by magical roads. and beaked dragonewts riding atop demi-birds are a familiar sight in those areas. Nonetheless, the dragonewts largely disdain contact with humans except at a few designated places such as Trade Think Market or the Trade Site. Almost half of all nonhumans in Dragon Pass are trolls, whose ancient queendom of Dagori Inkarth is between the Indigo Mountains and the Rockwoods. Dagori Inkarth is part of Shadows Dance and centered on the Castle of Lead where Kyger Litor, goddess of darkness and ancestress of all trolls, lives. Ruling these lands is Kyger Litor herself, although she is rarely seen by any but her most powerful worshipers. Mistress race trolls are thought to rule deep within the darkness, although they are rarely seen. The trolls are well suited to the land, and they worship the shadows that lurk about. Smaller troll communities can be found around the edges of Dragon Pass such as Skyfall Lake, inhabited by a troll tribe loyal to the demigoddess Cragspider. In the southeast, the Troll Woods straddle Dragon Pass and the Holy Country. They share part of their tribe with humans and are much talked about by both trolls and humans who distrust them thereby. To the south of Dragon Pass is the Shadow Plateau, center of the ancient Shadowlands Queendom. Beastmen predominate in southern Dragon Pass, especially Beast Valley. The origin of the various Beastmen are many and colorful. What they all had in common was a half-humanity, often overpowered by the animal-half of the creature’s makeup. The predominant race are centuars, but they also include minotaurs, satyrs, manticores, tiger-men, bird women, bugheads, and many different shapeshifters. Dwarfs are rarely seen above ground, but there is rumored to be a vast network of tunnels linking their strongholds. Beneath the Dwarf Mine is a vast city of dwarfs. Dwarfs were allies of King Sartar and built Boldhome and the road from Jonstown to Wilmskirk. Sartar’s heir Saronil stole secrets from the dwarfs and taught his followers the art of stonemasonry; as a result, the dwarfs ended their alliance with Sartar. The dwarfs now aid anyone who can pay their incredibly steep demands. A far larger dwarf city is Greatway. This beautiful dwarf city is carved on the slope of the Rockwood Mountains, and an extensive city honeycombs the interior. Greatway is one of the centers of dwarf civilization in Glorantha, but rarely interacts with Dragon Pass. During the Inhuman Occupation, brown elf habitation in Dragon Pass spread rapidly, covering much of what was later the Bush Range, Grazelands, and Beast Valley. Large parts of the forest were destroyed in the trollkin wars, even when the elves were not engaged directly in the war. The elves dissipated their strength further by contending against the fires of Oakfed, from nearby Prax. Sometime before 1200, the elves and trolls met in the Battle of Cloaks and Fireclouds, resulting in the death of many Aldryami nobility. The elves who survived fled back to the Stinking Forest or the Holy Country. Unattended, the vast forest which once crossed Dragon Pass began its decline. By the Hero Wars period, there only a few brown elf strongholds in Dragon Pass. Green elves dominate the northern fringes of the Stinking Forest, the Dryad Woods, and other redwood groves. There are several isolated dryads who sadly sing out to their lost elf companions, but rarely get a reply. The Tusk Riders are a degenerate remnant of the Empire of the Wyrms Friends. They were corrupted by breeding with the trolls; eventually they were destroyed by the dragonewts. Some managed to flee into the Stinking Forest where they lived among the trolls, consorting in practices both evil and corrupt. Their steeds are great battle-pigs, as large as bison, well-suited to crossing forests and hills without trouble. Giants are known to inhabit the Rockwood Mountains and often come down to wreak havoc in the nearby lowlands. They are almost always destructive. Some villages place spikes and other defensive measures to discourage giants from stomping on their homes. A smaller number claim kinship with other mountain ranges and can be found in the higher elevations. There are Wind Children eyries in the high mountains. The Wind Children are Orlanth-worshipers and are traditionally friendly with the Sartar Dynasty, although they usually ignore the lowland farmers and herders. During the Lunar Occupation, they hid in their mountain fastnesses, but now have begun to reengage with the newly liberated principality. Bands of baboons are relatively common in Dragon Pass. They are semi-nomadic, and rarely have permanent settlements. They are notorious for ignoring human conventions or rules unless they are forced to. There are a small number of gorilla bands in the mountain forests. Less troublesome are the bachelor newtlings that have settled in riparian areas. They are generally shy and fearful, and are sometimes used as slaves by the dragonewts, which they do not seem to mind.

That was my first question!

Some spirit cults are established by shamans but end up being maintained by priests, or even by a senior initiate. Others are formed by a shaman and die with that shaman. There's a tremendous amount of flexibility with them. Examples of spirit cults include: Oakfed, Six Sisters, Black Fang, Elk Woman, Lightning Boy, Thunderbird, Gustbran, Green Bow, Stone Heart, and many many more.