Oracle

10 hours ago, soltakss said:

...

Oh, absolutely.

If the clan chieftain wants to send someone on a dangerous mission, he's not going to send his Thanes, as they are far too important. Instead, he'll send Adventurers, as they'll do almost as good a job and who cares whether they get killed or not?

 

Ah, I see, Adventurers are the Redshirts of Glorantha ... 😉

8 hours ago, Shiningbrow said:

I haven't yet gotten around to reading Harrek's story, but what I want to know is - can all of that be justified? Or, are all of those stats just made up because - why not?

I notice that your Harrek has a Protection 12... and usually also a Countermagic 12 - which RAW, you can't have... So, is there a reason for this rule breakage? Or, is it another "why not?"

4 hours ago, Shiningbrow said:

Last paragraph of Countermagic, p259... "This spell is incompatible with Protection, Shimmer, and Spirit Screen."

Last paragraph of Protection, p263... "This spell is incompatible with Countermagic, Shimmer, and Spirit Screen."

Maybe I'm wrong, but doesn't incompatible just mean, that it is not possible to cast both spells at the same time? I do not see, that you cannot learn both of them ...

Also see

2 minutes ago, Aprewett said:

So I could go with the idea that even with a player defeat, I can still rule it’s a victory but just not the sort of outcome the players may have had at the start. Maybe some important gear is damaged in the melee etc. Need to come up with interesting complications.

I wouldn't call it a victory, as the players do not get the prize, which was the ultimate goal of the contest. But yes, the defeat may not as deadly as it could be (depends on the Most Game Fun objective used by the player group).

I think this 'long and storied history' is one of the main reasons, why Chaosium these days is so reluctant in announcing official release dates for new products - which looking at the last releases makes a lot of sense, because now you know, if they say a release is coming, then it is really avaiable in a relatively short time frame ...

1) I would say the length is including blade and hilt, i.e. overall (but I may be wrong here ...)

2) that's still a Broadsword. Or why do you think there should be a different name?

While we are talking about the PDF section of the Gamemaster Screen Pack:

Similar to the hard copy this section contains several map PDFs, especially

and

My question is about the South Peloria maps. Similar to the Dragon Pass maps there seem to be two versions of the South Peloria maps with different sizes. For the Dragon Pass maps the one with the smaller size is the map drawn by Darya Makarava, the other one is the more artistically map by  Olivier Sanfilippo. So my expectation was, that the same is true for the two South Peloria maps. But in fact both links provide the same map - the map drawn by Darya Makarava (albeit in different compression - which is the reason for the different sizes).

So the question here is: Is this, what was planned. Or was something different planned. I have never seen a South Peloria map in the same style as the Dragon Pass map by Olivier Sanfilippo, so my expectation was wishful thinking probably, but anyway these two links providing the same map is at least at bit confusing. So inquiring mind wants to know, if something is wrong here or not.

Not sure, if this question should go to @Jason Durall, @Rick Meints or @Dustin O'Chaosium ...

13 hours ago, boradicus said:

Oooo... I had friends who had a campaign in the world of Harn.... is Harnmaster related to that???

Definitely yes. Although you could use Harn with any RPG system, Harnmaster was the system, which used Harn as its defined game world.

48 minutes ago, gochie said:

There are inconsistencies throughout several books about enchanted iron vs unenchanted iron. 

The NPCs in the gm pack, for example, mention the chance of failure for spells, yet have 9 armor plate. 

Not sure, what you mean. For any NPC in the Gamemaster Adventures book, which has iron armor, it is explicitly stated, that the iron is enchanted. And according to the rules on p.121 of the same book, this means, the iron does not affect spells. This looks consistent for me ...

3 hours ago, lordabdul said:

As a late-comer to Glorantha(1), I have to say that the 2 most confusing or annoying parts of the product line are:

• Recommendations of out-of-print products. You can thankfully get the PDFs (and I'm super thankful for that, I hope more PDFs show up eventually) but I find that it's not as fun to flip through, and not as practical for "reference" type books. I understand that it's still better than "nope, there's nothing about Sartarite culture available right now" but I think it might be worth it to always add a disclaimer that only the PDF is available. And I don't mean to criticize specifically people who posted about Sartar books here, I appreciate the information and help, I'm just sharing how, at first, I would often feel a bit of disappointment tracing back some book reference to a PDF-only page (or worse).
• The tribal knowledge surrounding the convoluted publication history of both Runequest and Glorantha material. Sometimes there's material that has been re-published with minor edits, sometimes there's new material that invalidates older material, etc. I would absolutely LOVE to see a list of all the books ever made by the usual suspects (Chaosium, Issaries, Moon Design, Mongoose, etc) split in a handful of categories that help figure out what you're getting in terms of Gloranthan canon-ness ("currently canon", "compatible with current canon", "mostly compatible, see notes", "mostly incompatible"), dates covered (second age, third age, which dates, etc.). I understand that it's possibly a massive amount of work, though. The Glorantha Wiki actually helps a bit there sometimes.

 

(1) I've been gaming for a couple decades and along the way collected a couple HeroQuest books to flip through casually, but I started looking at RQ and Glorantha "seriously" only recently thanks to the Chaosium revival.

I can understand your issue absolutely. Are you are aware of this thread:

As far as I can say all publications listed here are available at least in PDF format (except the computer games obviously 🙂). The list gives no clear hint, if a publication is available in hard copy format too, but maybe we can convince @Trifletraxor (who maintains this page) to add this information.

You can check on the Chaosium web site always, but for a start going through the publications from above page:

• the system-less books at the top are all available in printed as well as in PDF format
• the RuneQuest books are all available in printed as well as in PDF format
• the four Glorantha Classic books (listed under RuneQuest Classic):
  • Griffin Mountain and Pavis & Big Rubble are out of print and therefore available in PDF format only
  • Borderlands & Beyond and The Cult Compandium are still available in printed format as well as in PDF format
• RuneQuest Classics
  • RuneQuest - 2nd Edition and The RuneQuest Old School Resource Pack are available in printed format as well as in PDF format
  • all other publications are available in PDF format only currently, but there were plans to make them available in printed format too, but no idea, when (and if at all) this will happen ...
• HeroQuest Glorantha
  • the Sartar books and the Pavis book are out of print currently and therefore available in PDF format only
  • Wyrms Footnotes 15 is available in PDF format only, but could be order as Print On Demand via Lulu
  • all other entries from this group are available in print as well as in PDF format
• HeroQuest: all listed publications are out of print and mostly not canonical anymore. Nonetheless are the PDF version available in the HeroQuest and Glorantha Vault
• HeroWars: all listed publications are out of print and mostly not canonical anymore. Nonetheless are the PDF version available in the HeroQuest and Glorantha Vault
• The Stafford Library: all publications are available only in PDF format (except for King of Sartar, which is available in printed format also). But all publications can be ordered ss Print On Demand via Lulu
• 13th Age Glorantha: available in print as well as in PDF format.

I hope this helps (and that I've got everything right here ... 😉)

😉

12 hours ago, Bill the barbarian said:

Not sure about that, but should you own a copy of Chaosium's coolest non-glorananthan product you would definitely qualify as not only a grognard but also a winner of a shiny new no-prize (yay!).

Lucky me two 😉

1 hour ago, boradicus said:

Can you have a string of breakout skills?  For example:  Melee is the skill, and under that would be the breakout for swordsmanship, and under that would be the breakout for rapier.

No, I don't think so (at least that's how I understand the rules). But in your example Melee would be a too generic skill (at least from my perspective), so you would have Swordmanship as a skill and Rapier as a breakout.

1 hour ago, boradicus said:

...

What are breakouts in HeroQuest, and how do they work?  Are general skill levels (the ability to abstract from specialized skills) increased when breakouts are added?

Nope. Breakouts are generally based on and relative to the base skill. Let's say you have a skill Warrior at 18, and you add a breakout Shortsword, then this Breakout skill starts with +1, e.g. Shortsword +1 (i.e. Shortsword 19). If you raise your base skill, then this raise includes the Breakout skill, e.g. Warrior becomes Warrior 19, and Shortsword +1 then means Shortsword 20. But you can also train your Breakout skill independently from the base skill, e.g. you still have Warrior 18, but you raise Shortsword to Shortsword +2 (i.e. Shortsword 20).

As you may guess raising a Breakout skill is cheaper then raising a base skill.

8 hours ago, Richard S. said:

Draconic Lore is a skill in core RQG iirc.

That's correct. It's on p.179.

Also Dwarf Lore and Elf Lore is covered by Elder Race Lore in RQG (again p. 179)

Quote

Elder Race Lore (05)
This skill quantifies knowledge of an Elder Race (including lesser Elder Races), their society, traditions, religion, history,
and notable individuals.

The lore of each Elder Race must be learned separately: such as Aldryami Lore, Mostali Lore, Troll Lore, and even Beast Men Lore.

Aldryami Lore = Elf Lore
Mostali Lore = Dwarf Lore

And as far as I know @Ian Cooper is still the line editor for HeroQuest as well as very dedicated to that line. He may not have the man power to concur with the RuneQuest products, but did he have before? If you look at how long it took to get the Red Cow books published, you can see, that the manpower available was always small. But what a great product did they publish at the end! So, yes Chaosium is concentrating on RuneQuest (which is a smart move on different levels), but HeroQuest gets still its support (I think at least). And you have to keep in mind, that HeroQuest Glorantha was a child of Moon Design Publications, whereas RuneQuest is one of Chaosium's main products. Yes, same people, but different strategic objectives.

And yes, as long as it is Glorantha, it is fine for me ...

9 hours ago, Richard S. said:

The way I read what Ellie said was to keep it RQG focused if you're answering a question by a new person. I doubt they want to totally restrict is from using old material, though I can say from experience that when I was a new player it was rather distressing to have people answering my questions by referencing/referring to books I didn't have and probably didn't have a chance of getting.

That's my view too. Threads in this forum have a strong tendency to get sidetracked by a special point with regard to the original question. And these sidetracks dive down into a level of details, which is absolutely confusing for a RQG/Glorantha newcomer - and sometimes use up more room in the thread that the original topic. I have often the impression, that moving this kind of discussions into a new thread would more helpful. That would make it more visible, you could easier find it later, and it would not disturb the discussion in the original thread.

So from my point of view, Ellie's request is not about avoiding certain topics or a certain level of detail but about staying focussed to the original question and becoming more structured in the way related topics or detailed sub-discussions are handled.

7 hours ago, EpicureanDM said:

I would put this differently:

"But you have to take them with a grain of salt only regarding the cultural template used for illustrations."

As originally written ("especially"), it sounds like there are lots of places where the reader should be wary, but I don't usually see people suggesting that the cultural and social information in the books has changed sufficiently that Glorantha newcomers should watch out. So stay sharp when describing the clothes and architecture, but I don't consider those to be important to most RQG stories in play.

Agreed. This makes the point clearer.

The Battle of Dangerford episode, p.168, right column, bottom:

Quote

SITUATION
A Tarshite army of five thousand men, commanded by Fazzur Wideread, begins marching on Godsday (Full Half Moon) of Harmony Week of Fire Season from Alda-Chur, reaching Herongreen Fort on Waterday (Dying Moon) of Death Week. ...

But the sidebar at p.169 says:

Quote

FAZZUR IN WINTER
This episode takes place in Dark Season. ...

And on p.162, right column, second last paragraph:

Quote

DARK SEASON

...

Kallyr Starbrow petitions the tribes to provide troops for the fight. She is only moderately successful, and an outnumbered, ragtag army marches to meet the Tarshites. They clash at Dangerford, and the rebels take the day through sheer inspiration.

So it seems the usage of Fire Season on p.168 is wrong.

7 hours ago, klecser said:

What about the Sartar Companion?

For the last week I've been thinking about getting the Glorantha Sourcebook, but I'm now wondering if the two Sartar books are more relevant for "day-to-day" game execution.

6 hours ago, EpicureanDM said:

Also very good. It provides lots of detail on towns in the region that you can use as a foundation for your game. It also contains adventures, which are helpful as examples of what RuneQuest thinks PCs should be doing. It also contains great cult write-ups for gods that you'll find in RQG like Babeester Gor and Eurmal. I particularly like it because it details Kolat's cult, which is the best cult for an Orlanthi looking to become a shaman. 

If you're going to actually play RQG, I'd recommend both Sartar books before the Glorantha Sourcebook. If you're going to buy a third book, though, then by all means pick up the Sourcebook. It's a very good book, but it's not directly useful in play.

Agreed, Sartar: Kingdom of Heroes as well as the Sartar Companion are really good resources regarding Orlanthi/Sartarite culture and adventures based in that area. But you have to take them with a grain of salt especially regarding the cultural template used for illustrations, which has experienced a major change between these books and more recent Glorantha publications. This has been discussed in another thread already:

Regarding this the Glorantha Sourcebook is the better choice, but otherwise the Sartar books are just great.

2 hours ago, soltakss said:

Surely you mean "Oh dear, the top part of the book jacket for the Gamemaster Screen Pack must have been damaged in transit, can I have another one?" 🙄

I wish I could, but the books were packaged so securely, that every try going into that direction would have been an obvious lie ...

10 hours ago, PhilHibbs said:

Ok here's my next list:

N/A
Random
Average
Excluding blanks
1/MR
Right Hind Leg
Left Hind Leg
Hindquarters
Forequarters
Right Foreleg
Left Foreleg

For all of the above, please can I have short, abbreviated versions for use in tight spaces, e.g. I use "ForeQ" for "Forequarters", "RForeL" for Right Foreleg", and "Excl blank" for "Excluding blanks".

That will conclude the core mechanics. After that it's professions, species, cults, cultures, languages, family background choices, and miscellaneous instructions text. Rather than keeping on posting here, I'd like to give someone direct access to my spreadsheet so they can read and enter them directly. @Joerg, @Oracle, do either of you have a Google Drive account? Alternative to Google is to just download or copy the list into other software and email me the results.

@PhilHibbs: I've sent you a forum PM with my translation proposals.

8 minutes ago, Grievous said:

... All in all, I would love to see an updated Sartar book, with appproriate art and the canon smoothed out (maybe some changes to nomenclature relating to the Orlanthi would also be incorporated). I know it kinda feels like treading water, but I do think that it would ultimately serve the current and esp. next generation of Glorantha's explorers very well.

Absolutely. While I have no issue to use a changed view now for cities like Clearwine, Swenstown or Boldhome I'm a bit lost with respect to smaller settlement like Old Man Village. Although the new Apple Lane map gives some hints, it's still not clear to me (mainly because my Bronze Age knowledge is near to not existing 🙂). I do not expect a new Sartar book, but my hope is that illustrations in upcoming scenario books will give some more insight.

Sartar:Kingdom of Heroes and the Sartar Companion use a lot of AngloSaxon/Northern Europe/Celtic influenced illustrations. Since 2012 (when these books were published) the cultural template the Orlanthi in Sartar has changed to a more mediterranean setting. This leads to these obvious changes. So with respect to the illustration Sartar:Kingdom of Heroes and the Sartar Companion are not correct anymore. But the text in these books is still canon!

At least that's my current understanding.

55 minutes ago, drablak said:

I'm talking about the map in the core rule book page 105 in particular.

Colouring in the second printing is different, but for me it's hard to describe, what's the difference. And if it's better readable or not depends probably on your eyes ...

But what helps a lot is, that the full Dragon Pass map from pp.134/135 is part of the Gamemaster Screen Pack in a much bigger size. In this version all names are clearly readable.