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Darius West

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Posts posted by Darius West

  1. On 12/18/2023 at 6:02 AM, Tatterdemalion Fox said:

    This is, I suppose, another way to collapse the uncomfortable waveform: to double down on She Deserved It, to introduce more punitive sexual humiliation through violence into the myth cycle (at the hooves of Storm Bull, a player-available deity, rather than by the god who saw the secret of sex-is-power at the bottom of the pit), to embrace the myth of How Uz Make Drums, and to implicitly approve of it all. Perhaps this is a variant from Saird, which has had some cultural cross-pollination with Dara Happa up the river, which understands well how the weakness of women facilitated the existence of evil.

    On the contrary, Orlanth could have had Thed slain for her attempted sexual deception.  Instead he showed her mercy, and instead sought to educate her in why sex thru deception is not nice, by using his trickster aspect to come up with an educational counter plot.

    Remember also that as a beast goddess, Thed is likely promised to wed to Stormbull,  like many other livestock Beast Goddesses (Uralda, Nevala etc), but she covets Orlanth, and hopes to get a powerful child by him via deception.  Instead goats become rejected among the Orlanthi for good reason.

    It isn't Orlanth who does the wrong thing.  It is Thed.  And then it is Stormbull.  Stormbull could have realized Thed's distress and stopped, but Stormbull is a god of animal passions, and just as he doesn't stop when he goes berserk, he didn't stop.  The price Stormbull pays is high.  He sees chaos destroy pretty much everything he cares about.  He himself has to face down the Devil.  This is the revenge of Thed, mother of the Devil (but who is the father? Ragnaglar?  Or Stormbull?). Ultimately it is Glorantha herself who sends the Block to save Stormbull, so Glorantha herself chooses Stormbull over Thed's side.

    Ultimately we must admit that all of Thed's choices are evil.  She shouldn't have sought to seduce Orlanth.  She should have understood her acts were wrong and understood the lesson when she realized that her attempt at sexual deception had won her another case of sexual deception.  Play stupid games, win stupid prizes (and they don't come more stupid than The Bull).  Thed shouldn't have teamed up with Ragnaglar (the mad pervert god) and Mallia (the STD goddess) to destroy the world.  Thed always does the wrong thing and makes the worst choice.  I mean, you know a tree by its fruit, and her fruits are Wakboth, and the broos.   Thed is not "women".  Thed is a pervert who wanted only power from day 1. 

  2. On 3/22/2024 at 4:31 AM, Tatterdemalion Fox said:

    To prioritize this myth, Thed-Rapes-Orlanth, over what is written elsewhere is a deliberate choice. I am not interested in the reasons for the choice, and shall not openly speculate. But I am interested in the consequences.

    No.  Thed TRIES to rape Orlanth.

    On 3/22/2024 at 4:31 AM, Tatterdemalion Fox said:

     Our hero-god, our man-god, the thunderer he, our ancestor he, Orlanth he, finds himself trapped between his laws as king and the needs of his people, and his attempt at a solution fails, and the victim becomes a victimizer; a seed of evil grows from that failure, in more ways than one.

    So Orlanth should have just exposed Thed's deception and had her executed for trying to rape him?  His real crime then was being merciful and instead trying to teach her why sex thru deception was wrong, as it didn't seem she understood.

    On 3/22/2024 at 4:31 AM, Tatterdemalion Fox said:

    To incorporate them is a deliberate choice: one of nostalgia, or because you feel that it adds to your Glorantha, or because of the rush of gnosis.

    How many Thed stories are there?  Not so many.  I would suggest it is due to a lack of material in print.  I mean, I could make up legends all day, but I prefer to rely on printed material for sources where it exists.  It has nothing to do with nostalgia.  I will even look at HQ material, even though it is largely discarded now.

    On 3/22/2024 at 4:31 AM, Tatterdemalion Fox said:

    and the victim becomes a victimizer

     Does he though? The abuser was Urox, not Orlanth.  Urox could have sensed Thed's distress and decided not to, but he didn't.

    On 3/22/2024 at 4:31 AM, Tatterdemalion Fox said:

    Thed-Rapes-Orlanth flattens this into a binary. As you yourself say: Thed is not a victim. She is an evil bitch, a scheming whore, and for attempting to rape someone, her punishment was to be raped in turn. 

    That wasn't just a punishment, it was a moral object lesson in why sex by deception is wrong, specifically so Thed could see the error of her ways and repent rather than die.  Orlanth was not the victimizer, he was an educator, and a trickster. 

  3. On 12/28/2023 at 4:10 AM, jajagappa said:

    Even today we channel it through 3-4 years of high school sport teams, or 4 years of college, so 2 years hardly seems exceptional.

    I must strenuously disagree.  At no stage during high school are youngsters utterly separated from their parents unless they are being sent to a boarding school or military academy.

  4. On 3/20/2024 at 2:24 PM, pachristian said:

    Help, please. I remember seeing the name and information about the priestess of Eiritha at Zebra Fort in Pavis in some supplement or another. But for the life of me, I can't find it again.

    Does anyone know where that information is found?

    I had a good long look and came up blank.  I can't even find a write-up of Zebra Fort.  Do you perhaps mean the Raid On Yelorna scenario in The Big Rubble?  If not I think you have that post-Hero Quest sickness called the "Mandela Effect" by some.  If that proves to be the case, please understand that you are in the wrong reality and need to return home asap.   I've been stuck here for years and it only seems to get worse.

    • Like 1
  5. 17 hours ago, Tatterdemalion Fox said:

    This, for example. Oh, it certainly has value as story that is told about Thed, but it is one that tells us much more about the person who falls over himself to say that Thed deserved everything she got for being an evil scheming whore. To willingly trap yourself inside this story, just because once it was written down in a place that is lost to us now, is unworthy of us.

    In what way is the world a better place because of the Unholy Trio?  Thed tried to use disguise and subterfuge to obtain sex from Orlanth, and that is sexual assault.  That is a sexual attack on Ernalda's main husband.  Not all of us buy into the illuminated nonsense that up is down, purple is orange, evil is good, and Thed is a victim.  You know a tree by its fruit, and there are exactly 2 broos who deserve to live, and I'm not entirely sure about 1 of them.

  6. On 3/20/2024 at 12:12 AM, svensson said:

    On the one hand, it could ease relations with Praxian tribes. On the other, there are good 'Stafford reasons' why they don't.

    Derik Pol-Joni the founder of the Pol-Joni's parents were murdered by Sable Riders.  He created the Pol-Joni because the Animal Nomads were raiding into Dragon Pass with Jaldon too often.  It was Sartar himself who brokered peace and amity between the Pol-Joni and the Praxians.  The Pol-Joni and the Sartarites now likely worship Eiritha as the cattle mother instead of Uralda as one of many results.  The Pol-Joni are not going to stop riding horses just because of Praxian disapproval.  Did riding Zebras save the city of Pavis from Praxian aggression?  No.  It actually encouraged it, because it is perfectly fine to raid another Praxian tribe.

    • Like 1
  7. On 3/20/2024 at 12:12 AM, svensson said:

    Given that the Pol Joni are 'invaders' in Prax and are considered the 'clan of outlaws', do they ever ride zebras?

    On the one hand, it could ease relations with Praxian tribes. On the other, there are good 'Stafford reasons' why they don't.

    Yes.

  8. 4 hours ago, Malin said:

    Very true that! I just look forward to seeing her wrestling with these facts, an illuminated Babeester Gor can get very interesting at times. She might come to the conclusion that she needs to hear Thed's side of the story first and not rely on the word of the violators... which will be an interesting heroquest, to say the least.

    Yeah yeah, Thed's not to blame.  She didn't want to be Ragnaglar's girlfriend.  She didn't want to unleash Chaos and destroy countless lives.  She's just a victim in all this.  Chop her head off Erannina Chan, we all know she tried to sexually assault Orlanth.

  9. On 3/6/2024 at 1:03 AM, PhilHibbs said:

    To me, the bigger problem is how do you run an adventuring campaign with a shaman-priest of Waha in the party, like Vishi Dunn becomes in the Vasana story.

    In the story, it is glossed over. He continues to be a wandering adventurer. That's what most people are going to want to do. But there is no guidance on how to do this, all the rules in the book basically say you can't do it - they don't explicitly say this, but the most obvious interpretation is that it basically is end of adventuring career in the traditional sense. It's clearly a mistaken interpretation, but is a common initial assumption.

    I have no problem, I can deal with this. I've dealt with it before in previous editions of the game, we can come up with our own mental gymnastics in our group to work around these problems because we're experienced RuneQuest players.

    A lot of players are not, and are going to see these obligations as an impasse. This question is an example of this rules-versus-intent problem, the questioner asks how to cope with a 90% income tithe, and the official answer is "he gives 90% of his income to himself".

    I disagree Phil.

    Every religious official, whether Shaman, Priest, God Speaker or Rune Lord is supported by a community.   One's position as a religious authority is appointed and ordained by that community, and you work for them.  In return you get gear, magic powers and political power.

    In the case of Waha Shaman-Khans, they serve their Clan.  They will be the obvious choice as a replacement for any other Khan presently acting as the Clan's leader, but they can also serve as a subordinate.  You have an over-Khan and an under-Khan.  Typically the under-khan is the "understudy" and gets the dangerous missions.  The under-khan is also expected to be working their way into positions of influence with the warrior societies, and is likely to be given responsibility over raiding parties and potentially over the clan warband on occasion.  The over-khan's job is to rule.  The over-khan makes and enforces the rules, and keeps the clan coherent and successful.  Generally it is the over-khan who leads the clan warband.  Ultimately a successful under-khan may win enough followers within the whole tribe, as well as their clan, to get enough followers together to form a clan of their own.  A good under-khan doesn't try to poach followers from their own clan to any great degree however. 

    Within an Orlanthi clan, there is potentially more room for more Rune level people, as they have larger resources to draw upon.  The difference being that Orlanthi clans have Weaponthanes, and many of them will be Rune Lords, paid for and owning land provided for by the Clan.

    In terms of tithes, one get to keep magical items, or one's clan gets first rights to purchase them, with the redeemed sum often being counted against one's owing tithe debts.  One's tithe falls due in the day after high holy day, if one cannot pay it weekly. 

    Having transitioned to Rune Level, the character is now important.  They have a whole clan supporting them financially with land and labor.  They may be required to go heroquesting on the clan's behalf.  Their adventures will now be directed by the interests of more people than just their own.  This is not to suggest that they won't be adventuring anymore, but that the stakes will be higher than their personal survival alone.  They are a public property.   This is what being a tier 1 hero is like.

    • Like 3
  10. On 3/17/2024 at 9:09 AM, MoreTimeThanSense said:

    So, one of my players asked me the above question and it got me wondering if there's any official word/artwork either way?

    IMG I'd probably say yes, but just the head, but I could see them just going ham and dying everything. What about your Glorantha?

    Yes, but only on their heads.  Some of them wear red wigs.  They make for some very funny looking zombies when they get sent to Delecti.

    • Like 1
  11. Just now, Malin said:

    This discussion really made me wonder what the Babeester Gor cultist in my campaign would ever make of Thed, and whether it could ever be technically proven that she had been "of the earth."

    It doesn't matter because Thed foresook her loyalty to the Earth and sinned against it monstrously.  Thed is a traitor to the earth, and deserves a traitor's fate, says BBG.

  12. On 9/22/2018 at 5:17 PM, Joerg said:

    I never sat down to do the math, but here's something to think about:

    Look at the number of attacks the opposition can land in a given time, and the number of attacks the party can land in that time.

    If designing an ambush, that means that the ambushers get free attacks, as spells or missiles, until the party can react with their arsenal.

    I wouldn't bother with a detailed damage analysis, but with damage ranges - there are attacks that can only do attrition damage (such as Disrupt, thrown rocks), attacks that can take out a location without destroying it, and killer attacks that will destroy a location and take out a combatant permanently or until a major healing effort has been done. Damage bonus of the attack does a lot to make an attack more dangerous.

     

    How likely is an attack to cause damage?

    Can it be avoided?

    Spells are resisted with POW vs POW rolls, and possibly shielded by Countermagic effects (Countermagic, Shield, Berserk, Warding, sorcerous Neutralize).

    Physical attacks (both melee and missile) are reduced by armor. This may vary the three categories (attrition, location damage, location destroyed).

    Parries add the armor points of the parrying weapon, often negating the damage or reducing it to mere attrition.

    Try and estimate the effect of the initial attacks on the party. Ideally, there should be enough attrition damage to cause tension, and taking out one or two locations requires them to direct some activity to healing, reducing their attacks/situation changer options.

    Exposing the party to lots of attrition damage increases the likelihood of damaged locations, aka tactically meaningful damage. That's fine, but may lead to TPK.

     

    Estimating the "bling factor" of parried melee attacks is hard. In the 50% parry ability range, damage will result reliably. In the 75% parry ability range, you will see only occasional damage. In the 95% parry range, damage will be the exception.

    Multiple parries will quickly lower the parry range, which is why numbers count so much.

    Remote attacks that cannot be parried (missiles, element damage, breath attacks) only deal with whatever protection the party has against such attacks.

    Additional attacks by spirits may take their own form of attrition, but result in the equivalent of a location destruction damage.

     

    It is all about staging the conflict.

    With big bad monsters, you might start their side of the combat with location destruction damage on one or several party members. Are you sure that's how you want to start the fight? For each "man" down in the party, another party member will have to do support, reducing the counterattack twice. Depending on the number of sidekicks and auxiliary NPCs, it will also leave the players of affected characters out of the action, or pushed into thankless jobs like rolling for the party mooks rather than furthering one's character's heroics.

    Inclusion of such damage should only be on the table if the players decide to accept the combat. Exploring a cave with freshs (dream) dragon prints means that they decided to accept this risk, and there are numerous similar situations where the players have seen the danger signs and choose to press on regardless (possibly because of bad alternatives, but that's another staging issue). Challenging Great Trolls, Cave Trolls or lesser giants means that they accept the risk.

     

    If the combat goes into a direction that threatens your scenario: Cheat. Within reason.

    Your players may have memorized the creature statistics, but thankfully those offer ranges of values rather than fixed values. Whatever numbers you have written down, you may adjust them slightly. Make use of low levels of Protection rather than indentifiable armor anyway, and adjust those levels upward or downward as your "Pass Fail Cycle" needs require. Give the opposition a supporting magician in hiding/out of attack range to avoid exposing that cheat, possibly an allied spirit.

    You find out that your cave troll will TPK the already bruised party? He may have some bruises himself, suffer from poisoning or disease.

    The opposition gets overwhelmed like nothing? You're in control of the setting. Have the party encounter another wave, ideally not identical, but drawing from the same resources. Or let reinforcements arrive. Or let one exceptional duck/trollkin (or hidden ally of the duck/trollkin) use that Earthpower rune spell to revive its colleagues. Or have the (undocumented and unplanned) elemental of the opposition arrive belatedly from within its element.

    Provide some other form of weakness of the enemy, and drop hints (or outright signposts) to the players to exploit that weakness. In a cthulhuid situation, it is reasonable to have at least some of the opposition suffer from bouts of insanity, and dealing with Lunars or drug-crazed zealots offers the same excuse for opponents being befuddled or demoralized even without conscious player activity. This is a reminder that the opposition aren't mere mechanical monsters but that they will have their own pitiful life stories and weaknesses.

     

    Most importantly, think about the morale of the opposition, and the point where they start to retreat, flee, surrender, and why and how they would do so.

    Interrupting a (usually chaotic) combat for negotiations will take a few melee rounds. Train your players in the application of disengagement (in case of doubt, frustrate them with opposition that will disengage whenever they can...) so that this option will be in their repertoire.

    Depending on the situation, either side may have no interest in negotiations, or in letting anybody escape.

     

    Enter the hostage situation, and the seriousness in putting the threat to action. I once faced quite a shocked reaction when playing a hardened veteran killer who did slice the throat of one of the hostages at a failure to follow through the conditions that had been put out in the room, not so much from the opposition characters as from my fellow players and the GM. (Not clear whether that extended to their characters, some of which were as cold-blooded by concept.) At that point, the escalation had already been at personal feud level, and the opposition (including the hostage) thought to call a bluff when my character wasn't bluffing.

    Unfortunately, that was an opportunity for roleplaying spoiled by a debate about roleplaying ethics - which was a good thing to have, but it stopped the flow of the story. Interestingly enough, the morality of players of the type whose characters would initiate needless slaughter by shooting first was offended.

    (That scene happened long before Game of Thrones had even been printed...)

     

    Spells causing systemic failure like Sleep and Befuddle should be treated like "take out location", Demoralize like attrition.

    Warding can be a killer if used to protect positions of snipers, as a Warding 3 will take out locations.

     

    You'll be familiar with the tactics of the party if playing with your own group, but in a convention game, even with pre-rolled characters, you'll be in for big surprises. (But then, so will they.)

    On the other hand, you are in control of the opposition's initial tactic and of their fall-back tactics.

    When preparing the encounter, take a look at the theme of your scenario, and make sure that somehow the kind of opposition you want them to encounter is there. Adjust the number and/or state of health of the opposition. The giant is caught treating a leg wound. If they are outside of the ability of the party, have the party encounter the opposition while fighting off another, independent threat - that pair of tusk riders needs to finish off the wolverine before it can charge your novice party, so make good use of that "ally" to avoid the charge.

     

    In other words, if you want broos, use broos. When dealing with Chaos, Chaos Features can increase or decrease the danger levels. Broo parentage can do a lot to adjust the threat.

     

    Sometimes the opposition attacks only to expose the party to disease, poison, or some curse, and then disengages.

    Joerg wrote this so we  don't have to.  Thanks Joerg.

    That being said, I think shields are massively important, and needed to be mentioned in more detail.

    A nice big 16 point shield is the difference between life and death in many cases.  Even if you are only wearing cuirboulli, a parry with such a shield will stop 19 points.  A broadsword does 4.5+1 +2.5(DB) on average.  Add another 5.5 for a slash for a total of 13.5 damage, plus perhaps 4 points of bladesharp if you are lucky for 17.5.  On average that shield will stop a special hit from an average weapon.  It really matters.

    • Like 2
  13. On 3/19/2024 at 5:38 AM, Rodney Dangerduck said:

    Why only Lunars?  Is Argrath's side without any blemishes?

    Sartarites have known the bitter taste of defeat and occupation for a generation or more.  They know that if they lose, the next occupation will be worse.  Their liberty was hard won, and remains more personally and tangibly under imminent threat than that of the average Lunar citizen who pays their taxes, shuts up, loves Big Takanegi, and tries to addle their brain with illumination Newspeak.  Command "blemishes" are irrelevant to a people fighting for their freedom and survival.

  14. 1 hour ago, D said:

    when i was looking at which cave system to start with, i looked briefly at the Dyskund Caves map and decided that it was way to hard to do. Don't worry about the criticism, it was helpful, the section of cave I've just done looks better for having a rough floor.

    I don't know how you'd do the "squeeze through tight spaces" mechanic that make Dyskund so immersive but problematic.  

    • Like 1
  15. On 3/13/2024 at 10:41 AM, Erol of Backford said:

    I can't stop smiling while typing this: A Larnsting shrine in the Toe-Hole for illuminated Lightbringers with guardian spirits whole will create enchantments and attack chaotics. Oakfed's purifying fire, Larnsting's blood crystals.

    Larnsting Magic is not aggressive.  Sartar was a Larnsting, and he never drew a weapon or slew anybody.  No.  Far worse.  He CHANGED them.  And no, he didn't change them from alive to dead.  I get the impression that he might have had a geas against such things.  For example, he changed King Brangbane and his remaining followers into ghouls.  Now imagine if as a scorpion person you enter an area and your nippers change into fluffy bunnies on the ends of your arms, and your tail turns into a great big hibiscus flower?

    • Like 2
    • Haha 2
  16. On 3/4/2024 at 3:46 AM, D said:

    floor wise, I've made the entrance level as it's the most travelled section. I've done the mushroom cave as if it's got a coating of mud from when there's heavy rain and the stream and water cavern overflow. I'll look at making the rest a bit more uneven.

    Stalactite wise, the description of the caves say they are dry, except where noted, which I think means there won't be any stalactites, but if I'm wrong, they should be easy to add.

    LOL, fair enough.  I haven't run Rainbow Mounds since 1997.  I think I was thinking more of the Dyskund Caves from the Black Broo of Dyskund scenario, which is still a bit of a gold standard for spelunking realism imo.  I retract any criticism.

    I am enjoying watching how your work develops D.  Have you ever thought of developing a Praxian mod for Mount and Blade (hint hint 🥺)?

     

    • Like 1
  17. On 2/28/2024 at 7:04 AM, D said:

    Time to resurrect this thread.

    I'm reworking my Rainbow mounds build to make the caves look more realistic. I've filmed it differently, using multiple cameras instead of 1st person.

    As usual any constructive criticism is welcome.

    I am very impressed with the way the torchlight falls on the surfaces.  I think you have worked hard to give the cave an eerie feeling, and the use of the torchlight works in that way.  While I know we are only seeing the mouth of the cave system, I am concerned that the floor is too level for a cave.  IRL caves are next to never flat, except when sand or soil has settled somewhere due to water, or perhaps when something odd is happening with limestone deposits, which normally form stalactites or stalagmites, but I'm sure you know this already.  I appreciate how much work you've done, I really do.  This must have taken many hours.  Please persist with it D.

    • Like 1
  18. Just now, mfbrandi said:

    I guess it is tricky being a lunar vegan. Keep well away from the maize tortillas.

    It's okay as a Vegan to eat humans if they consent.  Animals can't talk so they can't consent you see.

    Remember this news story from 2003? Link  This is fine for a Lunar Vegan.

    • Haha 1
  19. On 2/27/2024 at 10:25 PM, mfbrandi said:

    I like this.

    • The ogres eat people.
       
    • Waha’s people eat “beasts”
      but claim it is OK because they magically unpersoned them
      with a totally fair and above-board lottery.

    Was this written by a Lunar Vegan? 🤣

  20. On 2/24/2024 at 1:09 AM, EricW said:

    Arkat was a superhero who underwent apotheosis, so he did walk the mundane plane, then he left. Then he returned in a confusing way, the multiple Arkats. Or maybe Argrath is his true avatar. 

    Maybe they're all avatars of Arkat. Perhaps apotheosis is something which superheroes who want to uphold the integrity of Glorantha have to do, to prevent the return of the gods war. 

    The interesting thing for me is the avatar suggestion hints at higher Waha powers which can be accessed. Waha did some pretty impressive things for a minor deity, he cleansed Prax of the lingering presence of Wakboth after Storm Bull crushed the devil under the block. But few of these feats are reflected in the rather sparse collection of rune magics Waha worshippers seem to access. So Avatars of Waha might have access to some interesting anti-chaos powers, and heroic abilities to change the courses of waterways and other interesting feats, which could be pretty useful in a desert. 

    Hmm, I doubt Arkat was born a superhero.  I think he was just good at rolling his ups, especially after his skills went over 100%. 😆

    As for your point about Waha doing a great deal but only having very limited rune magic to show for it, I heartily agree.  I give Waha Khans the ability to tie special knots that can control hostile elementals, called The Knots That Catch.

     

    • Haha 1
  21. On 8/24/2019 at 3:26 PM, Jeff said:

    Greg once told tell me that to keep the goddess Glorantha alive and eternally youthful, he needed to be an Arkati Trickster Shaman. Now that that duty has fallen to me, I've donned my coyote mask and taken on the role. It is fitting that I've decided to revisit Greg's heroquest to discover Elmal, only this time to reject that god in favour of restoring the god he had supplanted - Yelmalio.

    Good decision.  About time too.  Elmal never went away, and is specifically attacked by Yelmalio in a hero quest as sunny boy lite wanted to steal some of Elmal's fire powers.  Elmal is a Thunder Brother too.  They are more than just Orlanth subcults.

    • Like 2
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