Jump to content

Oracle

Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    672

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    1

 Content Type 

Posts posted by Oracle

    The Fate of the Sable Tribe

    in Glorantha

    Posted

    The notion, that the Second Battle at Moonbroth happened in 1625 is supported by the Glorantha Sourcebook, it seems:

    Quote

    In Prax, Argrath White Bull and Jaldon Toothmaker
    raised a huge nomad army and, after brushing aside the
    Lunar army at Moonbroth, marched upon the city of Pavis.

    (Glorantha Sourcebook, p.39, beginning of second paragraph

    This description appears at the begin of the Dragonrise section after mentioning, that Tatius spent the Sacred Time before 1625 in secret ceremonies.

    And the Dragonrise section starts after the listing of the events in 1624, which end with the assassination of Temertain in the winter of 1624.

    So although not explicitly mentioned, I would read this in a way, which places the Second Battle at Moonbroth at the beginning of 1625 (i.e. Sea Season).

     

    Swords of Central Genertela

    in Glorantha

    Posted

    2 hours ago, Sir_Godspeed said:

    Incidentally, Sorbs (aka Wends) are a West-Slavic ethnic group that lives/used to live in the border regions between Germany and Poland. 

    No relation, I'd guess. :P

    Yes, they are, and they still do (south of Berlin around the Spreewald area) ...

    And yes, no relation :)

    • Like 1

    Jaxarte's Journals

    in Glorantha

    Posted · Edited by Oracle

    While trying to deepen my understanding of the Sun County I detected this forum thread:

    which contains in one of the last comments a list of links to @MOB's very helpful site containing *a lot* of additional information about the Sun County.

    As I'm always interested in stories colouring the environment (i.e. all kind of Gloranthan fiction), I like the entries regarding Jaxarte's Journal, but sadly the entry regarding 'Jaxarte and the Bison Khan' is a dead link.

    The same is true with respect to 'The Son of Light Awakens'.

    Any chance, that the contents of these pages could be made available again?

    Does illumination turn you to a "monster"?

    in Glorantha

    Posted

    I do not think, that Illumination is the Übermensch. The Übermensch is a possible way, that the Illuminated could choose to go. Another way could be the way of Ghandi or Mother Theresa. It's up to the Illuminated. It's his decision. But this decision has been made without being still influenced by social or cultural experiences or rules. The Illuminated can see beyond these restrictions.

    • Thanks 2

    I started a new QuestWorlds campaign in germany

    in QuestWorlds

    Posted

    6 hours ago, Chiarina said:

    "Allright, o.k., you win!"

    I thought about it thoroughly, checked my dates and then registered for Eternal Con 2020.

    I already got a provisional reply. Apparently there will be a bed for me.

    Let´s see, what is possible, if I´m roleplaying in english.

    If it doesn´t work at all, I´ll play trollball and watch the rhine gorge.

    Thank you for the kick up my backside.

    I'm pretty sure, there will be opportunities to roleplay in German too ... 🙂

    Runequest PbP?

    in RuneQuest

    Posted · Edited by Oracle

    On 1/25/2020 at 3:15 AM, jajagappa said:

    ...

    Overall point is that RQG combat can be done in PbF. Don't have the expectation that it will be done in a day (nor will anything else). Do have the expectation that it's an equally rich and rewarding experience.  It has a pace to it (just a very different from a tabletop or online game) that can work well for a group that doesn't have lots of time available or that has very far-flung participants. @Oracle can speak to his experience from player perspective.

    In fact I did not yet participate in a real excessive combat situation in @jajagappa Runequest thread on RPGGEEK, especially not in the one mentioned above, but I do not see too many issues here. As already mentioned you use the dice tool several times at once for getting the weapon or spell dice roll result and the hit location and then you wait for the counter rolls of the GM and his interpretation of the results. Yes, it will take longer than in a real life game, but that's the case with everything else too. So you're combat will run in very slow motion, but this has its merits too. It's like your daily cliffhanger ... uuhh, what will happen now? Do I hit the enemy, and will he go down or not? For me, that raises the tension.

    But I know, these days, where you can see a whole season of a TV show, people are not really trained in this kind of patience ... 😉
    Do you remember the Star Trek season finale of TNG, when Picard was assimilated by the Borg?

    Quote

    Picard (via communication channel from the Borg cube): "You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile."

    Riker (on the Enterprise): "... Fire!"

    End of Season. Continued half a year later ...
    These days the kids wouldn't be able to endure that ...

    But back to the OP.
    From my perspective, combat is not more difficult than using other skills in a PbF game. You just have to use the dice tool more often in one step, but otherwise no difference. I do not see, that you have to do more copy and paste than for other skills.

    But I may be the wrong one to ask. I've always preferred tag using text formatters like TeX over WYSIWYG text editors ...

     

    • Like 1

    Magic in Glorantha

    in Glorantha

    Posted · Edited by Oracle

    2 hours ago, jajagappa said:

    I think the more obvious question is: do you want more RuneQuest products or do you want a comic?

    Yes, I think too, this is a matter of available resources (i.e. man-power and time), not a matter of money or payment. I'm pretty sure, Jeff as well as Kalin would be happy to continue Prince of Sartar - if there wouldn't be so many other tasks to be fullfilled and not enough time to do it ...

    Magic in Glorantha

    in Glorantha

    Posted · Edited by Oracle

    2 hours ago, Richard S. said:

    Yeah that's from HQG, it's a fun panel. One of the most anime moments in Glorantha I've seen 😛

    Screenshot_20200115-101550.jpg

    This page describes the effects at the end of the Battle of Iceland a.k.a. the Battle of the Auroch Hills, when Orlanth is freed at least partly, the Great Winter is broken and Orlanthi Rune Magic becomes possible again after a long time ...

    And yes, that is a great illustration. And as it is from Kalin Kadiev I'm still hoping that at some time the Prince of Sartar comic will reach this point, so that we can see this page in full color ...

    (Yeah, an old man may still have dreams ... 😉)

    • Like 2
    • Thanks 3

    What is the proportion of Initiates among a population?

    in Glorantha

    Posted

    37 minutes ago, Corvantir said:

    I am still doubtful about that and genuinely don't know from where this assumption is coming, I have always considered initiation to adulthood as different from initiation to a god, even among Theyalans. It seems that the more I read about Glorantha, the less I know.

    I've seen it the same way always. Using examples from Christianity 'cult' (which I know best 😉) :

    • Confirmation/Communion ritual (or even Baptism) is your initiation into adulthood. You are now allowed to participate in cult related ceremonies (like the Eucharist ceremony), but you are not yet introduced into the deeper secrets of your religion/cult. This is the equivalent of being a lay member of that cult. You are allowed now to use magic (ok, that's beyond the real world example, but anyway ...)
    • you become a member of a monastery, or of a religious order, or you start visiting a seminary for being trained to become a priest means, that you will be initiated into the deeper secrets of your religion/cult. This is the equivalent of being an Initiate of that cult. You are now much more capable in using theistic magic.
    • Like 2

    Sorcery as presented in The Smoking Ruins

    in RuneQuest

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Joerg said:

    ...

    Clarity of the Logical Mind is Dispel plus Illusion. Why couldn't it be Summon plus Truth?

    ...

    Because Summon plus Truth is just about Knowing the Truth, but not about Letting the Truth Emerge from a given set of obscure or ambiguous facts by removing all things, which may obscure the truth (i.e. Illusions)?

    • Like 2
    • Thanks 1

    Smoking Ruin - tribal edit thread

    in RuneQuest

    Posted · Edited by Oracle

    2 hours ago, Joerg said:

    p.87

    ...

    The boxed text also has "Violence is always an alternative" in the second repetition, rather than "Violence is always an option". Please amend this to option, as this is a catch-phrase, and the point of it is that Orlanth doesn't even consider alternatives until getting repeat demonstrations.

     

    But that's exactly how the How Peace Was Made myth is displayed (printed) in King of Sartar (regardless which edition you use) ...

    So either this has been misquoted from the beginning or there is some meaning in this wording ...

    Women in Glorantha

    in Glorantha

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Jane said:

    Yes. It reminds me of a "joke" (too potentially true to be really funny) about Afghanistan. Under theocracy rule, women were forced to walk behind their husbands. After they'd been freed, it was noticed that they still walked behind their husbands. Asked why, they said "Land mines".

    This is a quite good example for the wisdom of women.

    And it's fun, how coincidences happen sometimes ... currently I'm doing a very deep dive into King of Sartar and just now I've come to the myth How Peace Was Made, which is another good example for women's wisdom, as this tells (beside other things) the story about the two main rules in Orlanthi society:

    "Violence is always an option."

    "There is always another way."

    And this was part of Glorantha from the beginning ...

    What is the proportion of Initiates among a population?

    in Glorantha

    Posted

    58 minutes ago, Tindalos said:

    Except the fact they officiate kind of means they are leaders. That's where the term comes from. They're the ones who manage the sacrifices.

    To try and describe how I'm seeing things.

    1. People who don't take part in worship ceremonies.
    2. People who take part in worship ceremonies.
    3. People who take part in worship ceremonies and are worshippers of that god outside of those ceremonies.
    4. People who devote themselves to the cult, lead sacrifices, and know the secrets of their god.
    5. People who manage shrines, teach magic to others, and enchant ritual objects.
    6. People who embody the god in all they do, and aren't expected to support themselves in ways other than being that bridge between the divine and mortal.

    I think we're all understood on 1, 2, 5 and 6 (outsiders, lay members, and god talkers and rune priests/lords)

    It becomes a problem with 3 and 4. The rules would have 3 as a Lay Member, and 4 as an Initiate, but how people seem to expect it is 3 is an initiate and 4 is a God Talker?

     

    My view would be:

    • 2 and 3 are initiated into the cult in the sense of initiated into adulthood, i.e. they are already dedicated to a certain cult (that's why they take part in worship ceremonies and worship that god outside of those ceremonies). In normal cases they would only receive access to cult related spirit magic.
    • 4 is, what describes an Initiate (with capital I). These people are initiated (see!) into the secrets of their god, i.e. they are able to receive and use Rune Magic.
    • Like 1

    A year by any other name

    in Glorantha

    Posted

    In fact there is more. At the end of the introduction to Argrath's Saga there is a section with the title Scrawls (p.12, latest version of King of Sartar), which says:

    Quote

    The northern manuscript (PEC#25234) also has a crudely written scrawl at its start, and an
    addition by yet a different hand at its finish. Both of those are given here, too, even though
    they are not really part of any Argrath’s Saga version.

    In fact, that these scrawls are given in the text is only true for the PDF version, but not for the printed version.

    The second one is the one cited above already. It's at the end of p.28.

    The first one is at the end of p.12 and reads:

    Quote

    Listen! This is the Saga of Argrath,
    Lord of the Seven Directions,
    High King of the World,
    who was the son of a “stickpicker.”

     

×
×
  • Create New...