Jeff

Why would that be troubling to say that the God Learners included several heroes who explored the Hero Plane?

No, I don't think he is.

Most of those listed are not superheroes. I'd have a very short list - Arkat Errinoru Yanafal Tarnils Harrek Jar-eel Androgeus And that's probably about it. The Only Old One, Belintar, Godunya, etc. are not superheroes.

Again, very unlikely that in Nochet you are likely to have a "thieves cult" that specializes in using sorcery. You might have individual sorcerers that are willing to work with thieves - in fact I am pretty sure of that. Just like you have lawyers and accountants who work with criminals. But even Jimmy McGill learned his lawyering skills from outside of the crime organizations he worked with.

Yelmgatha was definitely not a superhero.

As Peter points out, there are some 2000 members of Lanbril cult criminal rings. That's burglary, fences, protection rackets, other rackets, smuggling, extortion, and general corruption. That's about one in 33 adults, so a pretty significant percentage of the population is directly involved in that activities.

The Only Old One had little direct role in the governing of Nochet in the Second Age. There were dark trolls with trollkin spearmen of the Argan Argar cult, but they were essentially mercenaries made available for the benefit of the ruling queen.

Crime rings and families are likely going worship glorified spirits like Lanbril or Black Fang, aspects of the Trickster like the Thief or Murderer, strange remnants of once broader cults (e.g., Worlath the Thief, Humct the Killer - which might just be Eurmal in disguise!) or even vile entities like Krarsht. Sorcery requires years of research and work, and I doubt is going to be particularly useful for any crime ring (although individual sorcerers might certainly useful!).

I figured you making a very reasonable observation that there are many people on this forum (and on other forums - let's face it that is just part of social media) that are fond of making unsupported speculation on whatever strikes their fancy!

Just because some people do it here a lot doesn't make it any less annoying or irritating. If people want to creatively engage with the setting and let their fancy and imagination run wild with Glorantha, go for it. That's gaming and creation and imagination in action. But people - please don't do the same when speculating what I personally am working on or complaining that I am not working on something. That's my job. I value the ability to directly interact with people on this forum, but that is the sort of thing that makes me think about not interacting at all here.

I don't get it - why speculate on stuff if you have no basis?

Ask any troll who the ruler of Dagori Inkarth is and they will say it is the Goddess of Dagori Inkarth - Kyger Litor. This is HER place. The Elder Kin serve the Goddess of Dagori Inkarth, and we of course obey them.

Heroquest framework is in the Gamemasters Sourcebook. It is some 40 to 50 pages of material, new rules, abilities, etc. with a sample quest ("Orlanth and Aroka"). Hero Wars campaign book - already done at the Pendragon campaign book level, but want to get this to Boy King level of detail before it goes out. Can't go out before Cults, Sartar, and GM Sourcebook. Other settings - Lunar Empire is a bigger priority. Have a Lunar Tarsh book already in development. I noodle a lot about the West, but don't yet have the right vehicle for it (or writers that I think get it). But who knows? But honestly, unless you are working with me on projects, you really have no idea what I am working on or what I am planning. I actually find that sort of speculation somewhere between irritating and downright annoying.

I expect the final heroquesting materials will sell far more copies than a scenario book.

I would utterly disagree that Glorantha is a problem child. We are doing a bunch of big projects that are culminations of Greg's vision - not low-hanging fruit but the hard stuff that Greg never quite figured out how to do. The Cults Book has been nearly as big an undertaking as the Guide to Glorantha - maybe actually bigger.

The Cults Book is a big bottle-neck, as it requires Sim, Jason, Matt, and myself to push through. It is HUGE - we are talking Masks level of bigness, with far more moving pieces. That's basically the whole RQ-related team. At the same time, Jason and I are pushing through the Dragon Pass book, the Sartar Player's Guide, and a few other projects. What that means is once that goes through the process, a LOT will come out. Now doing a collection of scenarios is much easier to produce than any of those books I mentioned, BUT those books move the entire line forward much more than a collection of scenarios would.

Not at all. The main issue is that RQ books are more complex to put together and the Cults Book is the largest and most complex thing we have laid out since the Guide to Glorantha. Weapons and Equipment took six months to get printed and shipped - that's just how international logistics are nowadays.

A lot of Sandy's Gloranthan theories don't really work. And Lore Auctions are totally unreliable, having done many myself.

Kallyr as the Crippled Queen after the failed LBQ is a theme we've been playing around with for quite a while. In Sea Season 1626, Sartar is a haunted land - everyone is nervous and there are ghosts. To quote the feedback from someone wiser than me, "this is like coming into Camelot at the very end, with a crippled king on the throne and the land is sick. If the players are around her, someone needs to figure out how to get her motivated enough to get back out there. She has one scene left . . . let her go out reminiscent of her past glory and everything she could have been if the rolls had gone just a little differently."

Now those numbers go up of course. By around 150 ST (shortly before the Second Council is formed), the human population has grown to 75,000, while the dwarf numbers have likely stayed more or less the same (16,000). Troll numbers have increased a bit but not nearly as quickly as the human population (maybe 24,000). So although the Unity Council was more than 70% Elder Race, the Second Council was majority human.

I think it is more a matter of numbers. The total population of the Unity Council at the Dawn was a little over 50,000 mortals. Of those, about 13,000 were humans. Another way of putting it is the entire human population of the Unity Council at the Dawn was comparable to the Colymar Tribe.

It is perfectly appropriate to only provide those stats that show what you are able to interact with in rules terms. In the Short LBQ, that"s going to be what Jar-eel is able to manifest physically in the ceremony. Remember that in WBRM terms her combat factor is (20!!) and her magical factor is Invulnerable to attacks from the Spirit Plane. That"s terrifying. When fully present, she is able to destroy regiments. Remember, a single superhero is the equal of a small army and superheroes are invulnerable to most forms of magic. In MY RUNEQUEST games, anyone going up against Jar-eel, Harrek, Androgeus, a True Dragon, etc., in direct physical combat is going to get probably maimed or killed. The best case scenario is to just last a few rounds without getting maimed or killed (with a really great roll, maybe draw some blood - but that carries its own dangers!). Maybe the point is to delay things a round or two, but unless they have carefully quested to find or create weaknesses (which should be a major theme of the campaign), they aren"t going to beat them in combat or spell casting.

Icebrand - "Cheating" is a very loaded word. I don't know if English is a second language, but your approach is consistently aggressively argumentative. After talking with other moderators, I'm giving you a time-out.

What do you mean by diversity Dan? I see plenty of Holy Country influences on our Sartar stuff, some Pelorian influences, and even the occasional Prax bit (more in use of Praxian beasts, leather, and hide - the Praxians don't have much architectural influence on folk in Dragon Pass!).

The Spike ascended to the zenith of the Sky Dome so yes, it would have been some 6000 km high and was visible anywhere, at least if you were trained to see it.