Jeff

One of the best sessions I have had in years was exactly that - the players negotiating a treaty between Prince Argrath and Queen Samastina. Fantastic fun for everyone.

I am locking this thread down. It went off the rails a long time ago.

I've found that adding +100% in combat is not as effective as +20% in a social setting. And I've had plenty of players just say, "screw using a skill - I just want to use raw CHA to get my way," and handle it like a STR v. SIZ contest or a STR v. STR contest..

In my own games? I use the material I feel is useful for the game. Sometimes I forget to include cool stuff that I even planned to use, I sometimes cut things out because it won't work for what this group is having fun doing, and let the players create their own twists and have their own new discoveries.They often change events, replace other characters, whatever. I don't use the HW-era Issaries material, and I don't use the Mongoose material. If I don't know the details of a city, village or tribe or whatever - I make it up on the spot.

Cash, Morricone - dealing with the material world: Bowie, Velvet Underground - dealing with the otherworld.

Going back to something I posted back in May 2019, the last time this came up: As for Charisma making it easier to persuade others, yep that is exactly what it does. You might hate Yanioth, but damn when she puts on her goddess aspect, she is so damn impressive that it is really hard to not follow her. She's not cheating, any more than Baranthos is cheating when he uses that 100% Orate skill of his. You know Baranthos is about to make one of his barnraising speeches the moment you hear that hackneyed opening, "Seven summers past, the wild queen, Hendira, dreaming her dreams of ruin on your lovely Kingdom, sailed her hopes into the harbour of Nochet...." But despite knowing his oratorical techniques, even you find it a persuasive speech.

Check out page 35 of the revised and abridged edition.

Who says that Argrath killed the Red Goddess? If you think that is the case, I'd suggest rereading KoS.

Yes. The Praxians reclaim the Grantlands not because they are Lunars, but because they are farmers where there should not be farmers. Most are simply driven off their land.

Yep. There are some jokes that need to be retired for extreme old-age.

You realise that joke is now over 30 years old. There hasn't been an official writeup of Kyger Litor since 1988. Might as well complain about skinny ties.

The basic story of the Grantlands is that once the Lunar army is no longer able to protect it from nomads, it isn't protected any more from nomads. What that means differs depending on your campaign. But in one way or another the colony is destroyed. I don't think that means that the nomads slaughtered every settler - rather I suspect most settlers were forced to flee somewhere else. New Pavis, Sun County, Corfu, Horngate, Moonbroth, wherever.

Of course I find the Sturm und Drang over the Grantlands kind of funny, and save my tears for what is happening in the Redlands and Oraya.

More precisely, I wanted to work with Jonathan again. He's great to work with, does great work, and knows Glorantha. So we talked about what he wanted to do and made it happen.

Jonathan was one of the playtesters for RQG.

And what bureaucracy there is is far more primitive and personal than that Weber was describing in Economy and Society (which is a great book). Bureaucracy is largely that of scribes, who serve the household of rulers and carry out their wishes. That's what most Lhankor Mhy and Irrippi Ontor initiates do by the way. They record harvest collection for temples and rulers, distribution of food, payments from ruling households, correspondence with distant rulers, and so on. They are important because of whom they serve - the Orlanth Rex of a Sartarite tribe is not going to follow the directives of a Lhankor Mhy scribe, she gives orders to LM not the reverse. But she might follow the Prince of Sartar's written directions that are presented (and probably even written) by said scribe.

Here are some ancient texts, purporting to provide the history of the Artmali and the Sword of Yeetai. I think they are First Age texts with some Second Age revisions and edits. Use them with caution: The Artmali After the War between the Gods, the daughter of Ehilm [Shamal, Yelm] and Nakala [tide and darkness] paced her way through the skies in the footsteps of her father, giving light to the earth during the night. She shone white [blue] and was considered beautiful among the goddesses, and her name was Anehlla. In the sky she was impregnated by Zrethus [sky] Senalfe, and from the fertilization was born a son whose name was Artmal. And Artmal was blue of color, like his father, and he lived upon the body of his mother just as the earth-gods lived upon Gata. One day while looking upon the surface world Artmal spied a beautiful woman, Cathora by name, the daughter of the king of the Fralari nation. So Artmal flew to the earth, and there took the Princess Cathora for his own, returning to Anehlla with her as his wife. There they had children, and these children numbered seven when the War with Chaos began, and of those seven two were Artmal’s grandchildren. During the War with Chaos Artmal led his sons boldly against the Evil Gods, he leading them in the fatal attack on Bredjeg who fought in the sky for Chaos, and in the attack saved the life of his uncle, Tolat the Red. As a reward for this, Artmal received the sword of Tolat, named Klestor, which was forged by the Promalti smiths at the dawn of the world. And after the end of the war, Artmal and his family returned to Anehlla to live, there building the city which is still visible as a dark spot. And the people thrived and grew on Anehlla. But in time they were too many for the goddess to support, and she sent the race to earth, they landing in a thick blue mist which protected their descent. Artmal and the Elders remained behind, but to protect the race the Founder gave to his grandson Yeetai the child of Klestor, the sword Hes-Tur. The Sword of Yeetai The sword Hes-tur (warrior-wizard) is the child of the sword of Artmal, that red-metaled weapon forged by the Promalti smiths under the earth and given to Tolat, who in turn gave it to Artmal for services performed by the Artmali during the war against Gbaji. The lesser red sword, as Hes-tur was often known, was born to Artmal’s sword, Klestor, at the time of the descent of the Artmali to the Surface World from their original home on the body of Anehlla. Artmal gave the newly born weapon to Yeetai, first Emperor of the Artmali, as a sign and keeper of his sovereignty. Upon the sword was placed the powerful spell naming any Artmal who possessed it as rightful Emperor and ruler of the whole race. The sword passed along the heredity lines of the Emperors of the Artmali, whose seat was originally in Pamaltela, retaining the name of its original owner, Yeetai. In the times between the death of Gbaji the Chaos Power and the Closing, the influences of the surface world corrupted the Artmali, causing them to connive with the greater kingdoms of the world in a quest to make themselves the most powerful. The connivings grew more and more intense until finally the settlements of Pamaltela, including the capital city of Rew’melod (Place of Landing), fell under the conquerors, causing most of the survivors to go into hiding where they eventually grew and became the Wandering Tribes of Pamaltela. It was at this time that Anehlla began facing away from the Surface World for some of the time. Some of the settlers in Pamaltela managed to remain there, isolated on the coastal islands of little importance. Others still managed to flee in the swift ships of the Blue-people to their lesser overseas possessions, the most important of which was Melib Isle, an island named after its first govenor-chieftan and situated south of Teshnos in Eastern Genertela. The Sword of Yeetai was carried by one of the survivors to Melib, but soon the island fell to the Seshnegi Empire who sought both the strategic island and the magic sword of Power. In flight again the Artmali landed on the major landmass of Genertela, there becoming the Wandering Tribes of the Northern Continent. At this time the sword was lost by the Artmali, and a prophecy was made that whenever it again came to the Artmali it would be in the place of their new home, at which time Anehlla would shine forever full on the surface world. The sword first was among the barbarians of Teshnos who, due to misunderstanding and lack of knowledge, lost it again to the Vrimaki of the Eastern Mountains, and the Vrimaki held it in hiding with other weapons and implements of power for their friends, the Mostali, who would reveal when and to whom these things could be given out. The sword of Yeetai was finally stolen by the Hykimi in their incessant raids on their ancestral enemies the Vrimaki. Like the barbarians of Teshnos, the Dragon-people didn’t use the full capacities of the weapon. It was easily stolen in a surprise raid by one of the Wandering Tribes who had heard of its existence. This tribe settled where the weapon had been captured, growing stronger by the year until no enemy could dislodge them. But Anehlla still went through her phases. It was in the hands of the Regent of the Sword Vealii during the Opening and it contributed greatly to the defense of that portion of the world in the raids of the Slontonian pirates. It remained with Vealii for some years, but was stolen by a foreigner named Aamor in a manner which didn’t allow the Artmali retaliate, for Anehlla had given her protection to Aamor, although the man didn’t realize it. He became a powerful chieftain among the barbarian tribes of Teshnos, unifying many of them into a single nation stronger than any of that land since the death of Jeald Artmalson. But even though Aamor wielded the sword with more skill than any non-Artmali ever had, he was still unable to protect his land or people from the invading and settling Nagi from the island of Arrest. He therefore led his peoples in a mass migration across the continent to his home of Ralios. In Ralios Aamor and his people, the Teshni, became involved in a struggle between the Jonati, Tamali, and Artmali. A series of events eventually led to a peaceful settlement over the issues involved, and Aamor peacefully gave the sword to the Artmali involved. It was at this time that Anehlla looked with favor upon her chosen people, continuing to shine in her full phase while in the sky. Thus the Artmali gained a new home, drawing together the Wandering Tribes of Genertela and forming a unified People, led by their Chosen Emperor.

Oui.

As I have said many many times, canon only matters if you are: 1. writing for Chaosium, 2. want to do an entirely canonical campaign (which is neither required or expected), or 3. want to discuss the setting directly with Chaosium's writers. Otherwise, use what you want, discard what you don't want, etc. If you want to talk with me or Jason or other writers about specific details, we are likely going to stick to canon - if that isn't what you want to talk about, we'll probably not participate.

I am not going to do that. Art is well advanced and as far as I am concerned that is a key part of the book. We've moved past the point I am interested in circulating the manuscript outside of a core circle (plus those who bought previous manuscripts at GenCon). The book should be out in PDF form early next year. But I will show off a WIP picture: Jeff

As I've said, the Hero Wars are not Total War as that concept is understood in the Modern Age. It has plenty of pauses, truces, and even shared ceremonies. Ethilrist knows personally Argrath, the Red Emperor, and Harrek. And that is despite getting killed by Harrek. These are heroes - they fight their battles personally. They confront the gods, and the powers of the cosmos personally - and so can your characters. Get your head out of 20th or 21th century warfare and think Alexander, the Pandavas and Kauravas, Achilles and Hector, Cú Chulainn, and Thutmose III.

As an aside, by 1625, Joh Smith has entrusted his caravan operation in Balazar to his children, and he and his wife now dominate the Issaries temple in Jonstown. He's even a member of the City Ring.

The Hero Wars are not "total war" in the way that concept is normally understood. They are a war of Heroes, which has cosmic ramifications in a similar way that the Kurukshetra War did. And many of those ramifications were not planned or expected.

Any proper Sun Dome Temple.

I have always been fine with the jump to 1D6 to 2D6 etc.