Paid a bod yn dwp

Thanks Mankcam & M Helsdon. I feel much more comfortable with this idea of the orlanthi depictions influenced by Thracian/Dacian & Mycenaean. That's much more like the idea i appreciated in RQ2, and a big reason why it was such an appealing setting. 

Glad it seems to be going in a really good direction once again. I shall bare in mind the info on the orlanthi buildings resembling the shape of the square earth rune, and courtyard. 

With that in mind I'll almost certainly revisit the pavis and big rubble book I have stored away, and out of curiosity I'm sure I'll be getting my hands on Sartar kingdom of heroes , Sartar companion, and the very intriguing Coming Storm. It sounds very promising...not to mention the new Runequest. 

2 hours ago, Steve said:

Do you have Sartar: Kingdom of Heroes and the Sartar Companion? Lots of stuff including diagrams of those towns. Even though the books are designed for HQ, since that's a narrative system they have very little rules stuff in them, so are usable with any game system, e.g. RQ.

No I haven't got those. Do they have illustrations of typical orlanthi settlements,or are they just plans? They sound like the best reference yet for Sartar. Presumably they are more thorough in background then previous Runequest stuff?

Thanks guys that's helpful. These are the sorts of details that need to be well illustrated to make it really accessible. It's a rich detailed background, but not everyone has easy access to Bronze Age references at this level of variety and detail. Holding out high hopes for the new Runequest to bring us a level of quality and authenticity in its illustration of Glorantha. The illustration of the sable rider in the designer notes  gives me hope.

thanks again 

2 hours ago, Joerg said:

Boldhome: a hodgepodge of different influences.

 

 

Thanks. That's  a lot of info.

Boldholm seems quite different compared to the other settlements in Sartar, with its scale and echoes  of Minas Tirith.

it makes sense that settlements in Sartar would be fortified with walls, and/ or similar to hill forts. 

4 minutes ago, Steve said:

Doh! Sorry, of course you did, I'm an idiot.

That's a *lot* more work compared to a relatively simple reprint of scanned RQ3 material, though.

Yes you're right that would be more work, and probably better for effort to spent developing new material for the new Runequest 

Following on from the questions about heortling steads,what are the best sources for visualising the cities and towns in Sartar, like Boldholm and jonstown? 

11 minutes ago, Steve said:

Straight reprints (implying no changes, other than perhaps typos corrected) were what was promised by the RuneQuest Classic Kickstarter, and which is well under way. So I'd be amazed if anything changed from that.

I meant the Runequest 3 material, which wasn't included in the classic Kickstarter. 

17 hours ago, Rick Meints said:

That said, we are reprinting all of the Gloranthan RQ2 products as part of the RuneQuest Classic series, and then we are very likely to do likewise with RQ3.

 

Will the reprints of the RQ3 line be conversions for the new Runequest Glorantha? I'm thinking of the Runequest Glorantha Renaissance material from RQ3.

It seems that having 2 "classic lines" could confuse the product line for Runequest, particulary when you are about to bring out the new Ultimate edition RQ Glorantha 

1 hour ago, Mankcam said:

I really like having the Gloranthan Classics collected in hardcover compendiums, they are so much better in my  bookcase. RQ Classic Edition will sit nicely alongside hem.

I hope the Pavis & Big Rubble book is available in printed form again, as I have the others in my collection but not that one ( I have all of them as PDFs).

I would like to see a volume devoted to the Uz, which could reprint RQ2 Trollpak and perhaps add the RQ3 Troll Scenarios

Could well be wrong, but weren't the RQ3 troll scenarios both originally part of troll pak rq2 anyway? 

Classic format but with some new Art for the covers?

edit: What extra stuff do you get with classic format? Is it a substantial difference?

With the RQ2 line being reprinted after the successful Kickstarter, how does that affect the Gloranthan Classic reprints? Is there even a need now? 

13 minutes ago, M Helsdon said:

I don't know regarding their re-release, but they mostly predate the Guide to Glorantha when the move towards more accurate pictorial representations picked up speed. The HeroQuest: Glorantha includes a great deal of accurate art, as will The Coming Storm volume 1. The latter is HeroQuest, not RuneQuest, but present a great deal of systemless background material as well as a wealth of accurate picture references.

Great info thanks. The Coming Storm 1 sounds intriguing. Does Kindom of Sartar , and Sartar Companion remain a key reference for Dragon Pass despite some illustrations not quite hitting the mark? Will they be revised in terms of written content, or is it considered in keeping with the Guide to Glorantha?

10 hours ago, Iskallor said:

A sensible explanation. 

And whats the official version of the Mudshark? 

12 hours ago, Mankcam said:

Yeah for the ancient feel of Glorantha I'ld suggest the RQ2 Gloranthan Classics compendiums (Pavis & Big Rubble, Cult Compedium, Griffin Mountain, Borderlands & Beyond). For RQ3 there is Sun Country, River Of Cradles, Strangers In Prax, and Dorastor. Most other RQ3 stuff wasn't Gloranthan, or didn't portray the setting accurately. Even some of the artwork in Sun Country was a little too medieval at times, but mainly it got it right. 

HeroQuest supplements have a wealth of information which is easily ported across, so I would recommend Sartar Kingdom Of Heroes and the Sartar Companion. Pavis Gateway To Adventure is also very good, but much of the info contained has been presented in the above titles.

I did not have the RQ3 Apple Lane, but it sounded wrong on many levels, especially the front cover.

My scrappy old copy of Apple Lane from the RQ2 box has been used many times. If I was to run it again I would definitely transpose the trappings and changes from HQ Return To Apple Lane, presenting Orlanthi based upon pictures of Thracians and Dacians. Other than that, Apple Lane is still a great little starter sandbox I reckon.

Yes I remember a few illustrations in Sun County not quite hitting the "ancient" mark correctly, but the cover certainly did wonders for the ancient feel. As a kid I found the 3rd ed Apple lane very confusing with mixed messages about its "ancient" credentials. Glad to see Apple lane revisitited.

I'm liking the image of Orlanthi based on Thracians and Dacians, much more like it, and not too viking. Hope the new Runequest presents us with some great images to bring these Gloranthan cultures to life. I've seen one very good image of the Sable Rider. 

I'm tempted to buy Sartar Kingdom of Heroes and the Sartar Companion, but I'm hesitant, as I wonder whether there will be a new Runequest version of these released? 

13 minutes ago, M Helsdon said:

There are definitely guilds in modern Glorantha - see page 11 of the Sartar Companion which refers to the Guilder coin and the merchant guild of Jonstown. On these pages the merchant guild (mostly Issaries-based), Redsmiths Guild are mentioned, as well as the guilds of butchers, carpenters, leatherworkers, masons, weavers, and porters are all mentioned, as well as the Free Sages (Lhankor Mhy) who oversee the trades of scribes, alchemists, booksellers, parchment and ink makers. Similarly, Sartar: KoH makes mention of guilds of glass and leather guilds, and Pavis: GtA mentions Guild Elders, Guild Masters, Journeymen and their numbers (25 Elders, 120 Masters, 200 Journeymen, 50 guild wage-earners/junior apprentices). In addition to the Redsmith and Leather guilds, a jewelers guild, a merchants guild, a minstrels guild, riverman guild, stonemason's guild, weaponmasters guild are also mentioned.

Interesting. looking at the changes in Apple lane revisited, mention of the guilds has been removed -The Horse Masters Guild and Weapon Masters Guild. I had put this down to the word "guild" having too strong an association with medieval guilds rather then an ancient concept.  But perhaps they're removal is more to do with Apples Lane's remoteness from Urban centres, with guilds being largely an Urban phenomenon?

5 hours ago, M Helsdon said:

There's a Return to Apple Lane in the HQ Sartar Companion. Whilst not based in RQ, it contains a great deal of background information, set around 1621? Drolan Swordsharp is still there, the thane of Apple Lane.

You can download it here:

http://www.glorantha.com/docs/return-to-apple-lane/

Thanks, thats exactly what i was looking for.

A quick comparison and I see a few minor but sensible changes:

• The Sheriff (or Sheruff), has become a Thane, in keeping with the Glorantha setting.
• The weapon masters guild hall has been removed completely.
• The "housemasters guild" changed to the humbler "Stables"

I guess "guild" has too many medieval connotations, not suitable to the ancient setting of Glorantha.

Overall Apple lane remains largerly the same, but without those few medieval associations. I can see how it works in the Gloranthan context now much more clearly. I can also see what a red hearing the 3rd edition cover was, with the medieval plate armoured Donald duck ( Quack John),  as well as the wording  "Save the Hamlet from Scurrilous Scoundrels", which sounds like it could have come from the pages of Robin Hood.

3 hours ago, Iskallor said:

http://www.glorantha.com/forums/topic/mudsharks/

Thanks for this. That seems like a good fit for a Mudshark. Is that the original intended explanation, or just a sensible interpretation of what a Mudshark could be?

On 30 January 2016 at 5:57 AM, Jeff said:

I will be including some canonical maps/plans/layouts of a common Heortling/Kethaelan stead in a 2016 publication. They are NOT what folk generally assume.

The most typical Heortling stead is built in a square shape (an Earth Rune). It consists of several buildings built around a central courtyard/garden. The buildings typically include a barn, an entry hall, a place for guests and storage, a "guard room" (usually includes a shrine to the guardian deities), an outer hearth, and a inner hearth (which has the shrines to ancestors and to the personal deities), There are usually smaller huts for tenant farmers and other dependents who aren't part of the close family. Building materials depends on the local area and varies from wood, stone and timber, fired clay, adobe, etc.

These sorts of farmsteads can be found throughout Sartar, Heortland, Esrolia, Maniria, and even the Vendref communities in the Grazelands. 

Recently returned to Glorantha and its possibilities after a long spell away. I very much like the clarifications of Glorantha as an ancient setting. RQ3 was very confused imo, with a medieval West, which actually put me off Glorantha as a setting. Glad to read that this has been corrected. 

Apple lane was quite confusing for me with Runequest 3rd edition, with the image of donald duck in full plate medieval armour! In light of these clarifications of Orlanthi culture how are we to interpret Apple lane now? For instance would there still be a "Sheriff"? Is there revised material that would help me visualise Apple Lane more inline with current thinking on Orlanthi culture? As a mostly RQ3 person where would be best to look? future publications? 

On 24 November 2015 at 11:41 AM, MOB said:

If it's RQ2 you're playing, I heartily endorse Borderlands for a beginning campaign! The sequential nature of the adventures also make it an easy experience for a GM new to RQ. From there, the less structured adventures on offer in Pavis & Big Rubble could follow on (though save the very high-powered Cradle for much later!)

"River of Cradles" is RQ3, but its not very hard to switch between the two editions. The Troubled Waters scenario is like Borderlands, actually a set of linked adventures, and also excellent for beginning characters. As noted above, River of Cradles, Sun County, Shadows on the Borderlands and Strangers in Prax all then flow very nicely.

@MOB I remember River of Cradles and Troubled waters scenario fondly, and of course the excellent Sun County. I also remember River of Cradles missing an explanation for what "Mudsharks" were supposed to be.

In the spirit of the Runequest Glorantha revival, could we finally have an official description for the Mudshark? What exactly are they? I remember fudging it and playing it as a crocodile, but was always somewhat confused by the description of the sounds they made -  "whuffing" and then "barking".  Be great to finally have an official Chaosium errata for the Mudshark.

Flavoursome I like it.

Whilst the cults define player characters in RQ by adding flavour, will we also have "flavoursome" Gloranthan backgrounds for player characters to choose from, similar to RQ3 backgrounds, but much less generic?