Lord High Munchkin

Since my players are based in Fonrit - you can tell what I'm interested in....

I trust there will be RQG stats and conversion notes?

Mind you the saddle developed out of the 'horse-pad' (which I'm sure was strapped on to the beast). It's just that it didn't have the internal/under structure that gave better control and support.

8 hours ago, Joerg said:

Mostali should really be unable to cure leather, but then what can they use for their bellows and protective gear?

They could use woven mineral fibre? Possibly treated with tars or, I suppose, magic.

5 hours ago, Jenx said:

It's not - the Troll's tattoos are not symmetrical, and their placement is consistent between the two images.

He's playing the flute left-handed though.

It's just dawned on me that the Orlanthi troll must be left-handed (draconic influence creeping in?)... as is the broo, but that might be just chaotic weirdness.

On 2018-02-18 at 8:38 AM, David Scott said:

Ignoring history and looking at what we know exists, bronze mail does seem to exist - just not in the form we'd expect. It seems that it was used as decorative edging on iron mail. The material was a bronze alloy called Latten and it looks like gold - hence it's decorative role.

Mail shirt at the Wallace collection in London

http://wallacelive.wallacecollection.org/eMuseumPlus?service=direct/1/ResultLightboxView/result.t1.collection_lightbox.$TspTitleImageLink.link&sp=10&sp=Scollection&sp=SfieldValue&sp=0&sp=1&sp=2&sp=Slightbox_3x4&sp=0&sp=Sdetail&sp=0&sp=F&sp=T&sp=2

Mail standard at the Wallace collection in London

http://wallacelive.wallacecollection.org/eMuseumPlus?service=direct/1/ResultLightboxView/result.t2.collection_lightbox.$TspTitleLink.link&sp=10&sp=Scollection&sp=SfieldValue&sp=0&sp=2&sp=2&sp=Slightbox_3x4&sp=0&sp=Sdetail&sp=0&sp=F&sp=T&sp=3

both have it as the edging.

The consensus seems to be that the reason that bronze mail wasn't made is that it was more difficult to work with as it was brittle and that iron was much more plentiful. Why use an inferior material. I realise that Gloranthan bronze to only analogous to real bronze so there must be another reason - 

Have you ever watched someone making mail? We've a guy at our group who links mail while gaming (much like those who knit while gaming). He's buys wire (it's not iron but a softer alloy) so he's not doing the drawing process through plates or hammering it down. He wraps it round a core to get the tiny diameter required, then snips it in to rings. Then he uses pliers to bend open the ring, attaches it to the appropriate place (it's 1 to 4 mail) then bends the ring closed. It's really time consuming. This isn't even the riveted kind (I've no idea how long that would take) or the ring to scale kind (quicker as there is a scale disc in the mix).

Just the needle nosed pliers would be the magic bit. The harder the metal the more strength required. I'm wondering who would be able to make the tools required to do this in bronze age Glorantha and who would have the time! This is clearly dwarven magic!

BTW if you like swords and armour, and are visiting London - most people miss the Wallace Collection in the heart of the West end as they believe it's just paintings, cookery and fancy room with furniture. It has an excellent arms and armour collection spread through 5 galleries.

https://www.wallacecollection.org

Hmmm, latten is more correctly filed under the term "brass" - although it is all on a spectrum, as metals used were not totally pure.

23 minutes ago, hkokko said:

Maslo Agimori - what would they dress like. Are they dressing similarly to Fonritan's overall in GoG or something else. 

Looking at the GtG page 603, they seem to be dressed as Mayans (sadly with European physical features).

There's the second one too.

Looking at the close-up of the top of the engine, it seems it could be conceivably covered in horizontal bands, or rolls, of leather stuffed with something like wet grass or sheepskins. Closely looking at the panel there is definitely a step-rise in the bas-relief from the small mound the spike is on to the engine top.

As to the possibility of a dome, a wickerwork frame could also be very quickly made and covered - any shape could thus be fashioned quite fast by even moderately skilled workers (and most people would know how to make, at the least, simple woven fences).

Is the sums mentioned in the tables annual pay or one of the three instalments? There is no time scale mentioned.

Yes, the arms are way too big.

If one checks the illustration on GtG page 92 the troll's wrist should be roughly at the level of the groin when the arm is extended.

I first played RuneQuest (1 - I think) whist desperately avoiding a school sports day in 1979. What I liked was the lack of levels, openness of skills and the range of character races (I played a scorpionman as we had no clue as to Gloranthan setting intricacies - scorpionmen were just "cool").

Later I got sucked into all the detail and sophistication of the setting; the politics and religious framework being a big draw.

Sadly I never liked ducks.

I am very interested in this topic - I certainly prefer Fonrit and Umathela as gaming locales. If an alternative PC creation background could be built up that would be mighty useful.

16 hours ago, hkokko said:

Our History in Dragon Pass - My Time: In 1619 at Holy Country member of my family (me or my sibling or my cousin) was famous for depravities when Ditali raided Esrolia

....On the following round need to look at some of the syntax - there seem to be some missing words here and there. 

 

Oh, I don't know... that seems pretty spot on (if transposed) too for Afadjann.

5 hours ago, g33k said:

Yeah, that's often the way flexible stuff drapes -- particularly given the wide stance taken!

No, the actual cuirass - not the baltea hanging from it.

... And the front bottom edge of her cuirass is remarkably flat (almost concave).

On 1/20/2017 at 10:38 PM, Atgxtg said:

If you want some unofficial stats I could update the RQ2 Gateway Bestiary Hippo stats  to RQ3/BRP standards. It's mostly adjusting SIZ, STR, and CON to fit the new scale, giving the Hippo a fixed INT, and then working out the derived stats based on the new attribute scores. 

That would be kind - I have 'Gateway Bestiary' with me somewhere, but later versions would be handy.

Thanks all!

I shall return to my 'Gateway Bestiary' then.

Apart from 'Gateway Bestiary', are there any statistics for hippos?

If there are, could some kind person point me towards them?

There are quite a few Hellenistic novels extant (I even have a collected "best of").

19 hours ago, davecake said:

And how can Nysalor and Arkat both be wrong? Surely if Nysalor/Sedenya is going to destroy the world, then it is important to do everything you can to oppose them, even if you adopt some methods you might find unpatable, right? 

Ah... Riddle #39.

13 hours ago, styopa said:

It DID make it obvious that maces and such were the smart move against many heavy armors....but too many rules to get there.

Well, that's how it went in real life Late middle Ages as maces and hammers increasingly got used against heavy full plate (with heavy chopping and spiky pole-arms too).

Ompalam - so much fun!

Endless twisty power pyramids, conniving scum-bags, and out-and-out intrigue.

4 hours ago, jajagappa said:

Now that I like! 

Hmm, seems like that has to work into a good mythic story.  Perhaps they were a gift to Ernalda when she went to Yelm sent by Genert (or similar).  She set them to their task of carving the Garden walls so that the stone walls reflected the beauty of the life within.  Of course, the Storm gods (and others) eventually broke the walls after Yelm fell, but there are still some gargoyles who know, or remember, or perhaps quest for such skill.  Or perhaps there are Earth priestesses, particularly in Esrolia, who know the myth and know how to quest to the Garden, with a lifeless statue in hand, and imbue the statue with the powers of a living gargoyle.  Of course, they are then set to work carving great works in places like Ezel or the Necropolis or the Sacred City within Nochet.

It's from an old 'Tales of the Reaching Moon' article about sculpture in Glorantha. It's a fun read.

Don't forget Gargoyle-carving!

Actually I can see that art would be a very popular form of status and prestige marking - as well as simply making life more pleasant. It certainly was in the Ancient real world where large sums were spent on statues of the famous (usually sportsmen), politicians, and of the rich generally.

Painting was equally popular (if not even more so), although a lot less has survived and come down to us; static frescos are the most robust of paintings and endure the most.

Many buildings were painted with landscapes, still lives, historical scenes, figures, and even portraits. Additionally, there are literally thousands of portraits that have survived from Fayum in Egypt of deceased individuals that were incorporated into "mummy" wrappings. Likely there were also vast numbers of painted banners, screens and wall hangings etc. that failed to survive due to their relative fragility and local climate.

So, although the average person wouldn't see as many images as we do on a daily basis, they would encounter quite a large number on occasions. People like colour and art provides it in spades.