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Jon Hunter

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Posts posted by Jon Hunter

  1. 1 hour ago, Paid a bod yn dwp said:

    For me Jeffs clarifications make sense. I always found the sudden change from areas like Esrolia to the pseudo northern european image rather jarring.

    Looking at Dorastar again, the Talastari orlanthi feel more tribal and wilder now, in contrast to the more civilised Sartar clans. Theres more contrast to distinguish them, which I feel makes sense. 

    I like variation and its got me looking wider for inspiration, I have now taken my anglo blinkers off when looking at celtic comparison so looking to dacian, thracian, pre-celt, celt Iberian as well as Gaulish and Briton.  I know the orlanthi are not celts but its added diversity to where I steal inspiration from. I'm still also very willing to dip into vikings and saxons for cultural ideas.

    • Like 2
  2. 1 hour ago, Jeff said:

    The only piece of "canon" that contradicts this is Sartar Kingdom of Heroes' reference to log longhouses. Which I already amended in the Guide to state that:

    "most Orlanthi reside in sturdy, all-purpose wood, stone, or half-timbered houses (called a "hall" or a "longhouse") appropriate for the weather and resources in the region. A typical stead includes a couple of longhouses, each housing one or more nuclear families and often their livestock; villages typically have more. Other buildings include sheds for animals, hay, and other storage, workshops, and other outbuildings." Given that said description covers everything from Esrolia to Fronela, it hardly seems to restrict me.

    So just to restate: most steads in Sartar and Heortland consist of a group of buildings arranged in an Earth Rune formation around a courtyard. They typically have stone foundations, and then are build of wood, stone, or half-timber, depending on the local resources. 

    Jeff,

    I think the issue here is part of a wider one, you seem to wish the Satarites to have a more Mediterranean feel than many have been used to in much of the the body of Gloranthan material to date. 

    Others (myself included) are very happy with the psuedo northern European cultural feel that many associate with Satar and the Orlanthi, and feel a Mediterranean feel in Satar just doesn't work as well for them.  Hill and Mountain bound worshipers of Gods of Storm and Rain wont look and act like a bunch of Cretans if you ask me, and behavior,dress and architecture that suits the climate would be in order.

    Looking at what comes from the real world, (apart from roman villas) courtyards didn't make it northern European climates until the mid medieval period and then in a different form.

    Now obviously you are in a position to drive your vision through, but may I suggest a certain amount of flexibility which allows people to interpret as they see fit. There can be an Esrolian style, a longhouse style and a roundhouse( stolen from celt iberians). Variations in both designs will exist due to materials, wealth and topography. So why not culture and preference too?

    • Like 1
  3. 57 minutes ago, Joerg said:

    In Nochet, you have to make the differentiation. It will be a rare redsmith who doesn't belong to the cult of Gustbran the Bonesmith, but in Nochet you define your allegiance by the guildhouse/temple which you frequent.

    In Wilmskirk, you will find Wilms as the patron of the guilds. They may have started separately, but as likely they may have split off an initial city guild-of-all-trades when trade caught up and forming a specialized group became valid, or when providers and consumers in the guild found out that their interests diverged (like e.g. dyers and weavers, who are both textile oriented trades, but may have come head to head about the agreed-upon prices).

    I think you got the point I was trying to make.

    Size of city will determine the number, diversity and strength of guilds.

    Also I think current politics, travel networks, religion, culture and will determine guild cooperation across cities, but agree with Jeff that the norm will be isolated city guids. 

  4. Should guilds of the ancient world be organised round trades, or important tradesmen?

    As in i belong to the guild of Arras the Redsmith, rather than I belong to the redsmiths guild.

  5. On 3/6/2016 at 11:00 PM, Joerg said:

    Pavis has its own native specialty of the masons, due to Ginkizzie and his kin. Old Pavis catered to a range of magicians, so the survival of some specialized alchemy makes some sense, too, and probably one or two other crafts that wouldn't do in the same guild as their secrets are too different.

    For New Pavis Dorasar brought a range of specialists from Sartar and probably Nochet, which may have resulted in filial chapterhouses rather than a fully fleshed guild, but still keep the customs and special knowledge of the mother guilds.

    I think I need to do some back tracking on pavis, id forgot what its population was.

    With some back of fag packet maths  population 4000.

    % of city population being supported by craftsmen at 20%, with each craftsmen having 3 depends gives us about 200 craftsmen in the city.

    That does give room for 3 or 4 big guilds and 6 or 7 minor ones.

    What I think I was pushing back against was large towns and small cities with populations of 500 - 2000, with a wide range of large guilds.

    • Like 1
  6. What would it take to form a guild?  i'd guess a few things

    • At least 3 or 4 practitioners of that trade in the community.
    • The freedom to organise
    • A clear advantage or need for organising
    • The need for professional services due to amateur skills not being qualified- ie weavers being a cottage industry in Orlanthi communities that most hearths will do themselves, means it unlikely to become a guild.

    There would also be mobile brotherhoods or guilds for certain trades which require imported tradesmen to the best examples would be masons, builders and mercenaries.

    I would also see smaller cities having limited of guilds and cross trade guilds.

  7. I am a big fan of griffin mountain and there are lots of extra bits here www.backtobalazar.com.

    Its really down to your style of running a game, if you want a easy sandbox griffin mountain is great.

    If you want something easier to manage but on rails id recommend borderlands, opening up to Pavis and the rubble later.

  8. imho the guilds as represented in RQ2 were far to medi evil in nature for Glorantha.

    Also most places in Glorantha are not urbanised enough to be able to support more than one or two guilds.

    Guilds could exist and be significant in Esroila, Karolea and the Lunar Empire.

    With cities such Pavis with its small population a wide range of guilds is not really feasible.

  9. I am liking the idea of different communities in a culture having different recipes they are famous for within the area, this may be due to game or crop type, tradition, knowledge of spices or even magic.

    So Clan 1 make great bread with cheese.

    Clan 2 have magic apple trees, which tasty produce apples and cider that gets you drunk but doesn't give you a hangover

    Clan 3 has a secret spice which means that there dried meat tastes like sweet fire. 

    Clan 4 have great hunters and lots of warrens so make the best rabbit pie you have ever tasted.

    Not important for gameplay but adds color variation and stops every clan being a food copy of the other, and is an excuse for trade and interaction which can lead to plot. ( stealing the magic cider being a great starting level character plot)

    • Like 3
  10. I also think there will be a lot of local variations too, food will be also be seasonal.

    However earth magic will mean the food will be more abundant and of a higher quality than in our World.

    Due to limited preservatives salting, drying and magic will be very common

    • Like 1
  11. Its a nice model, but like all models its prone to deviation due to a number of factors;

    Such as

    • Level of conflict in the society
    • Nature of magic in the society
    • The season of history
    • The whim of the Gods

    And for these reasons in dragon pass as the hero wars start I think they are very conservative 

  12. Yes women fighters are in Orlnathi tradition there also a specific cult for them which is vinga, she used to be seen as a daughter Orlanth, know i think she is more often seen as an aspect of Orlnath. 

    The best stuff I have read on the sexuality of the Orlanthi is in King of Dragon Pass, but to my memory I cant remember specifics regarding homosexuality.

    My instinct would be that Glorantha is more liberal the RW history.

  13. Sometimes you just get strange images in your head, i think I saw them similar to medeivil italian city states, and there wa s p[icture once of a man with a rapier similar to thieves world and the image stuck :)

  14. Things I think that made Pavis stand out were

    • The numerous supplements that created the feel for Prax
    • The artwork
    • The desert setting
    • The cosmopolitan nature made it a melting pot for different ideas and there were not the restrictions that a Balazar, Colymore or Praxian campaign would have.
    • The Griselda stuff

     

    • Like 1
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