JonL

Secret Chaos is totally a thing, though. Ogres look like anybody else most of the time, for example.

Range is still limited to your immediate area, but if the local bureaucracy's been subverted by Karshti or something, things are going to get rough. I wonder how sensitive they are to less Chaos-rune-active social anathema stuff like secret murder, sexual assault, or kin slaying? Black Fang's runes are Death & Spirit, but secret murder is kind of their thing. Serial rapists can eventually turn into Broo. Can a sufficiently corrupt official eventually pick up Karshtid features? How far down such a road can someone go before they ping Uroxi-sense?

(The elephant story is a pretty good point of reference for understanding Little Suns as well, IMO. The trunk, tusk, leg, etc. are all the elephant, yet a trunk is not a tusk - despite both being long tapered structures at the front of the elephant's face.)

My take is that the different approaches are somewhat akin to the parable of the blind men describing the elephant. None of them are wrong about their experiences and observations, but neither are their understandings comprehensive - even if you take them all together. An Orlanth worshipper, a Pentan who treats with West King Wind, and a Zzaburi pondering a tome of allegorical tales and sorcerous formulae attributed to Worlath will approach and relate to their otherworldly subject very differently, and certain approaches might be better suited to different applications, but they are all valid - if incomplete.

You wouldn't want to copy & paste Chaosium's notice, as it's written from their perspective (our/us) in places. The last line should also perhaps go better up in the attribution section, but that doesn't invalidate it. They also muddied the waters a bit with those reservations of other game names, as last I checked there weren't any references to most of them in the SRD (there's no need/point to reserve something that was never presented in the first place), though that doesn't actually hurt anything in terms of actual usage either. What you would need to do is write or work with an attorney to write a notice that is orientated towards you and your work. You identify your own ownership, and how you would like to be attributed by anyone incorporating your rules. Acknowledge Chaosium and any other upstream licensors in the fashion they recommend in their own ORC notices. Enumerate any non-rules things you are either calling out as reserved or deliberately licensing on for others to use. And so on. This is of course just my understanding as a non-lawyer who happens to have been involved in small ways with both the QWSRD and ORC License development and formerly dealt with licensing compliance for a broadcaster. Sharing this perspective is not legal advice though. If the license and AXE aren't clear to you, consulting an attorney is a wise course of action. Perhaps even contact Azora Law. They wrote it, after all.

I've long found the minimum levels to be somewhat incoherent with the idea that ratings are measures of metafictional problem solving efficacy moreso than quantifying in-fiction capability. The mechanics work fine with either approach, but using one approach for some things and the other elsewhere can lead to some cognitive dissonance.

You don't need to reproduce the entire ORC license, but you do need a bit more than you have there. ORC compliance requires a few things, of which crediting your upstream licensors is only one. ORC License section III details the things you need to include: ORC Notice Attribution Reserved Material Expressly Designated Licensed Material (if you are licensing on anything that would normally be reserved) ORC License section III.e has a sample/template for you to use in making your own notice. You're not required to use that exact format, but those are the points you need to get across to recipients.

Ian announced at Dragonmeet: PDF in the next month or so, print Q2 of next year!

Hot on the heels of the ORC SRD release, a new 3rd party QuestWorlds game has appeared! Get Alliance on itch.io! https://roguecomet.itch.io/alliance

Good eye, thanks. Expect an update with the Library of Congress TX# included and a few other front-matter tweaks soon as well.

ORC-Licensed QWSRD has been pushed to Github: https://github.com/ChaosiumInc/QuestWorlds/blob/master/docs/QuestWorlds.pdf

In a game I ran we had an Asrelia subcult for gamblers and prospectors. I could certainly see Eurmal and Lanbril providing cheating magic, though by different means.

Oh, but Orlanth intervening within Time to strike down Zistor overlaps God Time there, much like the Battle of Castle Blue. It makes for an interesting contrast in the outcomes between Orlanth slaying the upstart deity in the former case, yet failing in the latter.

Further, I love that the word "Lanbril" appears exactly one time in the Guide; just enough to assert his ongoing existence, no more, no less. Sneaky bastard.

I also think that they obtain their magitech gadget secrets by heroquesting to the Fall of Zistorwal and impersonating the Mostali confiscating contraband items.

I like to imagine that the Lanbrili have their own variation on lots of other cults' myths where one of the side characters was actually Lanbril in disguise and sneakily stealing something while everyone's attention is on the main action. Infiltrating other cults rituals and quests also allows them to sneakily leverage other cults' and communities' magical resources for their own ends, though this is not without risks. What did "Ginna Jar" steal from the underworld while Orlanth & Yelm were posturing? Only the Lanbrili know.

Something that the HQ2/G books frequently struggle with is giving people enough fictional guidance to work out just where the line is between Devotee exclusive feats, Initiate-level magic, and "anyone can do it" augmenting with your rune (that may in fact also be doing folk/craft/common/spirit/battle magic in-fiction). Similarly, there is little guidance for what's considered normal for magnitude, duration, distance, etc. for magic at each tier, and what would require special rituals, supporters, sacrifices, etc. The Feats at least provide a bit of a ceiling for Initiate magic, but they can be a bit all over the place too. There were some more formal guidelines for such in HQ1, and one can of course look to RQ for some things, but neither are a great fit. If you're going to make worship empowering magic more prominent in play, put some more thought into where those tier transitions are going to fall in your game, and make sure that the players share that understanding.

A key thing about QuestWorlds is that you don't need to mechanize fictional rules or dynamics if you don't want to. Nameless Streets was a complete Urban Fantasy setting that had almost no game mechanics relating to the supernatural. Rather, it described magic, angels, vampires, etc. in mostly in-fiction contexts. GMs & Players were then expected to frame contests and outcomes informed by that fictional declaration of credibility. If one wishes to run a Glorantha game wherein participation in worship and/or sacrifice is necessary as preparation to embody your gods or heroes within Time and thereby perform more powerful magic, you just say that. If they haven't had a chance to do so since the last time they worked a major effect, it isn't credible for them to do another until they can replenish their connection to their god. I think the assumed posture of HQG is that PCs are presumably taking care of such business out-of-scene or in down-time between adventures, as it's not a game that centers resource-management generally. Nonetheless, you can decide that regular temple visits and cult participation are going to be more central to your particular story, and just follow the fiction accordingly.

Gere's @Graeme's list of HQ2/G sources from 2016: Note that this list doesn't drill-down to sub-cults. Here're all the Brown Book posts tagged with Cult Write Up

Note that Simon's reference doesn't go as far forward as the HQ2/G era works. Nonetheless, the earlier era is a much bigger job, and awesome that he did it. If you're open to fan works as well, search for The Brown Book of Zzabur. That blog has got a lot of great HQG style write ups for cults that Chaosium & Moon Design never got around to before their focus pivoted to RQ. Also, the Carpenters' Valley of Plenty on the JC has some sweet regional variations on Elmal, Redalda, and allied figures that are worth a look. Any other late HQ resources I'm missing?

I believe the latest Meints Index edition contains a master list of cults etc that cites where they're published. It has both RQ & HQ references, but it's probably your best bet.

Well, there is a Broo who is Ralzakark, yet also...

Argrath is useful to the extent that he supports your game. If Argrath is in the way of your game, cast him aside. It's all about the sort of game experience you're looking for. I have found Garrath Sharpsword as an NPC highly useful for PCs in Pavis who are wanting to transition from "Gangs of New York"-esque hustling to playing in the bigger game. If the Players are into the style of play where their PCs are the go-to problem solvers for a busy patron who-knows-things, then Garrath->White Bull->Prince Argrath is a useful progression. If the Players are more into their characters themselves setting the agenda for the big game, and crushing the jeweled thrones of the lozenge beneath their own sandaled feet, let Garrath drown defending the Cradle and leave them the key to an, "If you are reading this I am dead... ...YOU must be the Liberator now." message. (Personally, I like a hidden heir from the Puppeteer Troupe for Prince. 😉 )

Ponsonby bears the Sartar rune, after all.

When an upstart attains divinity within Time and continues mucking about rather than passing beyond like Sartar or Dormal, the Gods step in to put down the pretender. It is risky for the Gods to do so, as they not only are stepping outside the Compromise themselves, but also establish the upstart's presence in God Time by the very act of personally attacking them. If they fail to destroy the upstart, they have cemented their nascent divinity. Nysalor defeated Kyger-Litor at Night & Day. Sedenya prevailed at Castle Blue. Pavis overcame Waha's challenge. In contrast, Zistor was defeated. In contrast to being spiritually present through their worshippers, runic affiliations, and symbolic manifestations, the upstart gods I mention above were all walking around doing stuff personally and directly. In the case of Zistor, its giant robot form would go forth and assault cities that resisted the God Learners.