Jeff

Greg and I both disliked weapon snakes. So we dropped them all.

Our RQ games at GenCon were all full up. Todd Gardiner is doing a fantastic job working with conventions and game stores to support RuneQuest play. That being said, I would LOVE a LFG thread here. The more the merrier.

We have no interest in doing a 5e Gloranthan game. Let D&D be D&D. Let us be us.

I emphasise that this is a RuneQuest forum to encourage you to think what that means in terms of the RQ rules. Otherwise move this over to the general Glorantha forum.

Mike is a fantastic CoC line editor and is doing a brilliant job. But CoC and RQ are very different lines and what works for one line does not always (or even usually) work for the other. Jason Durall is doing an amazing job on the RQG line and you don't have long to wait for the next few products.

This is a RuneQuest forum, so no that is not correct. One of Kallyr's followers might be a Mastakos initiate who has Guided Teleport to a location in the Sky World. Although the only associate of Kallyr I know who can travel from the Mundane World to a specific place in the Sky World is Kallyr herself.

It is a lot easier to put together a Cthulhu supplement at this point in the line than it is for RuneQuest.

There is an archetype in Glorantha of the Light God who descends to the world to shine through the Greater Darkness and greets the Dawn. He is not the distant Light, too pure for the world, but one that suffers through pollution and strife, and yet remains bright. This archetype has many names - at the Dawn, he was called Kargzant or Antirius in Peloria, Elmal in Dragon Pass. He is known to the elves as well. They were all held to be separate gods until Nysalor revealed that they were all the same - the Little Sun or the Cold Sun. Which is Yelm-alio (little Yelm). In the late Third Age, most of the Yelmalio temples recognise each other, even if there is no over-arching organization to the cult. The last to do so was the Elmal cult in Sartar, which had the Revelation of the Many Suns around 1560 or so. Now even the Light Temple of Sartar is recognised as one of the grandest of the Sun Dome Temple of Yelmalio.

There are no blank lands. See the Guide.

Throughout all Glorantha, the Rebirth ceremonies of Sacred Time are of the utmost importance. During the two-week long ceremony, all god-worshiping people act out their sacred myths of death and rebirth. Every cult, every culture, every species has an important role to play in preserving the cosmos. Across the whole world. everyone summons their gods and spirits, and the physical plane trembles with their presence. Even the cynicism of the God Learners never tainted these critically important rites. Ever since the first Dawn, people have gathered regularly at the end of the year so that the cosmos can be reborn. They celebrate the good and the bad, the living and the dead, the actions of the gods and the heroes so that everyone contributes to the rebirth of the world once again. This is the time of celebration, of ceremony, and of difficulty and of sacrifice. The fourteen days of Sacred Time are set outside of Time. Normal activity ceases.Extraordinary activity supersedes everyday desires. The realms of mortal and gods merge, and through the consecrated actions of mortals the world is renewed and reborn. The holy actions of mortals rejuvenate the gods. On the first day, a sacred area is delineated, a circle within which the worlds come together and become one. For the next three days, all of the deities known - even enemies - are called in to witness and help, and to receive honor and sacrifice. Animals appropriate to the gods are sacrificed and their blood is sprinkled on the people and their homes, upon their tools of work and of war, to bring power to them; then the rest is poured into sacred pits to feed the goddesses and gods of the dead, and the ancestors who are there so that they too may come out for the celebrations and dance and pray. Finally on the end of the third day, the followers of Humakt cut themselves and offer their own blood to the God of War and Death, and then most of them afterwards go and take up positions of defense, to watch for any enemies who may try to slip into the rites to foul them. They strengthen the perimeter and cut it off from the outside world, and afterwards any participant who crosses outside that line will see and feel the difference between the ordinary world and the sacred world. On the fourth day, the Seven Lightbringers are honored. These seven are the saviors of the world. All seven deities all come together and are worshipped. At the height of the ceremony, the seven depart on the Lightbringers Quest in a tearful and dreadful ceremony. It is a day of mourning and fear. The Seven Lightbringers participate in secret and dangerous rites until they return a week later. On the fifth day the worshippers must call upon other gods and spirits – even some normally hostile - to help them survive. The sixth day is dedicated to Issaries, the god of communication who bears the power of the sacrifices and worship to the other world to the gods. On the seventh day, everyone except the seven involved in the Lightbringers Quest gathers together. The boldest re-enact the battle of I Fight We Won, and face the armies of Chaos alone, but together they defeat the Devil. Everyone is tested by these rituals, and this is the most dangerous part of the ceremony. Real Chaos creatures are faced, and it is not unknown for people to be killed during the rites. The next day, Chalana Arroy is worshiped without violence or animal sacrifice. Those injured the previous day are healed and those killed are revived. On the eleventh day, the Lightbringers must return from the Underworld with Ernalda. It is a day of great joy and celebration. The gods and goddesses awaken to join the celebration and share in a great feast in celebration of the Lightbringers. Time begins, Chaos recedes, and the world is healed. The next two days are dedicated to the reunion of the gods and goddesses of Life, when the bodies of the world are reinhabited by their immortal parts. The celebrations are relaxed, save for those who are devoted to the deities who act during them. Most people visit the rites for at least a short while, but also go to visit their friends and give small gifts and share food and drink. The last day is sacred to Lhankor Mhy, the sage and seer, and during the night the dedicated worshippers meet in secret, then on the next day they look to the sun and prophecy for the community, and for whomever beings to them a gift appropriate to their station. Then, as night approaches, the community is led by the united priests and priestesses in a dance and many songs, to close the sacred time, and bring the world back to normalcy. When the sun sets, the rites are officially over. The Humakti guarding the perimeter cut down the barrier, and the power of fourteen days of celebration, worship, fear and love are released to the world. The next day is the Spring Equinox, the first day of the Sea Season, when the life of the world can be seen everywhere.

In what will be the published description of Elmal, that subcult receives no more Fire magic than Yelmalio. Less even, as it doesn't have Yelm as an associated cult.

Worse was when I was asked play a dark elf sorceress. As long as the focus was roleplaying, or magic to help in the (unimportant for rules mechanics) social situations, I was fine. But in combat, I had no idea what to do as spells seemed to modifier other things which modified other things. and I just ended up asking other players, "Ok, what should I do?".

The last time I am going to say this - Kralorela is not the real Bronze Age China any more than Dragon Pass is the real Mycenaean Greece. It is the China of our myths - the Serica of Pliny and Ptolemy. That being said, big influences for me were Mark Lewis' "The Early Chinese Empires", Sawyer's "Ancient Chinese Warfare", Visually you can't go wrong with Watson's "Art of China to AD 900". and Li Feng's "Early China". And If I recall I had been reading Dalton's "Taming of Demons" and I'd be lying if I said that wasn't an influence. But at the end of the day, Kralorela is Glorantha (albeit pulled through those lenses, rather than through the Mahabharata, the sagas, and the Iliad) and not ancient China. Any more than Dara Happa is Babylonia or Assyria.

Vormain is very much Sandy's creation and Kralorela is Greg's. Keep in mind, Kralorela is not China - it is the mythic China that worked itself into Greg's imagination.

Oh definitely! To be honest I still need someone to hold my hand anytime I play a d20 system. Whenever I am a player, the action stops completely as I ask questions like "what am I able to do again?"

Barntar falls into Orlanth. He is usually worshiped as subculture of Orlanth and Ernalda, and only occasionally independently.

For what it is worth, long before I was in charge of the revival of RuneQuest, I found RQ's combat system extremely simple once you get used to it. At worst you need to look up the Fumble Table from time to time.

That's me badly cutting and pasting this from my notes. Swap one of the Storm Bull entires with Other Lunar cults (Etyries, Irrippi Ontor, Hon-eel, Hwarin Dalthippa, etc.).

These are places where tough outlaws, crazed Storm Bulls, and wanna-be heroes might settle. An Aggari Wind Lord who killed a Seven Mothers Rune Lord, a band of Bullmen, etc. It is not a place for the faint-hearted! Yes. A solid history of the Hero Wars is in the RQ Campaign book. In 1625, there are rebellions throughout the Lunar Provinces and the main Lunar army is locked in a life and death struggle with the Pentans. The Lunar Empire has barely any resources for places like Dragon Pass and none at all for places like Talastar. The pro-Lunar factions suddenly find themselves on their own.

Here's a rough cult breakdown: Cult % Orlanth 25 Ernalda 20 Grain Goddess 10 Maran Gor 1 Babeester Gor 1 Chalana Arroy 2 Eurmal 1 Issaries 2 Lhankor Mhy 1 Storm Bull 5 Humakt 2 Seven Mothers 10 Erinflarth 2 Storm Bull 5 Yelmalio 6 Lodril 2 Other 5 100

In this case, that is not the case. .

If you read the Guide it is pretty clear that the "eternal Kralorela" as it is claimed, probably dates to the downfall of Sheng Seleris at the latest, or the ascension of Godunya at the earliest. And there are plenty of hints of what the Emperor is actually expected to do.

The Heortlings of Dragon Pass look to Esrolia for their material culture, and Esrolians and Heortlings largely look the same. The Talastar look to lowland Peloria for their luxury goods. It is frankly hard for an outsider to distinguish a Talastari from a Sylillan from a Dara-nite or Henjarlite. That being said, the Talastari have brown or reddish hair, and olive skin. Men and women grow their hair long and men wear beards. Rich men often affect long and oiled beards, which are frequently curled with tongs to create hanging curls. Men commonly wear a fringed wool skirt and cloak. The wealthy wear a tunic over the wool skirt. When possible, clothes are brightly coloured and patterned. 1/5th or 1/10th. I'd need to look at it more carefully. Same as always. You need a guardian spirit - but gaining that is part of the ritual to call the new clan into existence. They are an Orlanth Rex people and their tribal politics are far more tumultuous than those in Sartar. The King of the Bilini is the Orlanth Rex of the various Bilini groups; however, those that refuse to acknowledge a new Rex have more options, such as Oxhead, forming their own rival group, etc. Proclaiming yourself King of Talastar means you have gotten several other tribes or confederations or cities to acknowledge you as the highest Rex. The king resides in the Hold and that is where the main tribal assemblies take place. Regardless of who is king, there are crafters, labourers, traders and whatever who reside there. They probably largely govern their own activities by kinship, cult, or guild - when there are disputes they go to the king. That's the normal Orlanthi way.

The clan is a new settlement. It needs to grow rapidly, have children, etc. It is comparable to the clans that formed during the Settlement of Dragon Pass. That's a hat-tip to the old Forty Acres and a Mule. A plow and ox and a hide of land is what I expect new settlers get. I suspect those sorts of names are pretty common everywhere. Your proper name might be Vargast son of Vanganth of the Orlmarth, but everyone knows you as one of the Varani (descendents of Old Maran) or as Vargast Old Man (because of your village), or Vargast etc. That's clan by clan. Most clans are exogenous, but this is a new clan, where the fictional kinship is obviously more fictional. The communities in Sartar are several centuries old. The Risklands are a few years old. I think too much is made of Heortling/non-Heortling on these forums. Especially when you are talking about the end of the Third Age. These distinctions were stark in the First Age, blurred in the Second Age (for example were the eastern Dragon Pass Orlanthi even Heortlings in the later Second Age?), and become completely muddled in the Third. Top of the World is the Great Mountain. Massive and high, it and Queen's Peak loom above Talastar like Nanda Devu and Mount Everest. It is the home of Orlanth, raised by Mortal (like the Spike). I didn't put Talastar in the Cult Distribution chart for the Cults book, but clearly I should have. Erinflarth is a bigger deal, the Grain Goddesses are more important, Storm Bull is more important than Humakt and his cult is closely associated with Orlanth. Heler is only an accoutrement of Orlanth. Tarumath is long gone. As pertinent in Third Age Talastar as Akhen was to the Ptolemies. Yelmalio is well known in Talastar. His Sun Domes dominate their environs. Yelmalio and Orlanth are their usual "frenemy" selves. I'll try to answer the rest of the questions later.

I think the cover is great (and I have a lot to say about art at Chaosium) - at the end of the day remember, this is a cover for a commercial product and we have many different audiences with many different sets of expectations. What doesn't work for one audience can work brilliantly for another. I mean heck, I had one dude on social media complaining about the "low quality art" in the new RuneQuest stuff.