Darius West

It makes you wonder what the headgear originally meant. There are so many possibilities.

Yes, because everything in and about GSA is just "awful". The very notion that someone could take a formative period in Gloranthan history when there were empires able to reach, trade with and even conquer all the distant parts of Glorantha is just an "awful" idea. Personally I think it is brave that anyone was prepared to actually write up such a dauntingly large concept. If it isn't all gold, so what? Also, it provides great ideas for 3rd age ruins and treasures. If it breaches canon it does so only occasionally, and on points that can be glossed over. Nothing GS hasn't done in the past. If you want bad supplements, look at Griffin Island and the Lost City of Eldarad (Pavis Lite, just one calorie, not Pavis enough).

Well they are a mix of Orlanthi and Pelorian cultures living tooth and jowl. They also steal a lot. There are a reasonable number of Mostali in the area too in the Jord Mts and Noalastor. The Hill of Gold is there which should demonstrate the tensions between the Orlanthi and Yelmalios pretty well, and New Lolon (which is a major Yelmalio settlement since the Dawn). Odds on that the Hero Balazar came from there. Of course Ithmer also has a good proportion of Yelmalios. There is a tribe called the Blue Deer. The local dynasty is the Bison Kings who have been there since the battle of Argentium Thri'ile in the Second Age when the EWF used them as mercenaries and trashed the local horse riders.

Looking over Griffin Mountain's History of Balazar (pages 6-7) it actually supports the GSA entry, with the small addition of the name of the 8th Century who returned with the booty being Hargaard Silverfist and no mention of the Greatway Mostali. Personally I think the idea of the region having occasional old ruins from the EWF is a good idea. The EWF definitely had a substantial influence on the region prior to the rebellion.

I had a nice optional rule for this. Modify your hit location roll by +/-1 for every 10% penalty you are willing to accrue to your parry or dodge, as you are leaving yourself open by choosing location.

As a technique the half sword is shortened, reducing speed, providing extra leverage and the use of the point, so, worsen the strike rank, bump the DB up one notch and make the weapon have an impale chance rather than a cutting effect.

Oh dear. I broke canon. So what? I like Mongoose's Second Ages stuff. Isn't it up to individual GMs to decide? YGMV?

To paraphrase from Glorantha: The Second Age: Core Rule Book (page89) and the same entry on the Glorantha The Second Age sourcebook on page 101. The rugged borderlands of Votankiland serve as a battleground for members of the Elder Races. For centuries a human tribe called Votanki have prospered by playing the Elder Races off against each other. In the 8th century their king made himself a vassal of the EWF, returning from Dragon Pass with carts laden with weapons and silver. They secured the allegiance of the Elves by promising them support against the trolls. Later EWF priests came to the region demanding more energy from worship. This caused the Aldryami to rebel. Subsequently the Alrdyami raid into Votankiland frequently, and the Votanki mount reprisals. Both sides employ adventurers and mercenaries to fight on their behalf and do their dirty work. South of Votankiland the Mostali Openhandist heresy of Greatway have had to withdraw from their fight with the trolls to face attacks from their own kind. Though the Dwarven atrefacts are not readily compatible with EWF mysticism, a dialogue continues, and the Nidan Decamony feels threatened. The Nidan attack of 852 fails, but the Greatway expect them to try again. Adventurers with news of the Nidan Decamony can expect generous rewards.

"Of course there is no record of Teshnan influence. There is no Teshnan influence on Yelmalio. There is no such thing as "Somash", and Yelmalios have always had a prohibition about wearing women's clothing. ALWAYS! I mean, it is just unseemly for a man to smoke hazia and gad about in drag. Now perhaps some of our hoplites don't wear pants to battle, but pants are not essential, armor is! As to those remarks about our sarissa's being overcompensation are simply obscene, and untrue ! All this talk about cross dressing and rampant buggery in the ranks is the propaganda of Yelmalio's enemies and detractors, and it HAS TO STOP. Yes the propaganda has to stop! Yes! Wait... what? Yes! Yes the buggery has to stop too Goldbreath! No there is no buggery and that is why it has to stop Yello! Hush! You are putting words in my mouth. I heard that remark Sonny Brightness, you are on report ! Now who has the big mouth? You'll be laughing out the other side... I heard that too ! Who said that ? Own up ! No? Right ! I've had enough! The back three files will have to beat me after parade!" - Count Solanthos Ironspike (a famous address to the hoplites on some difficult issues for the cult).

There has been some very funny adaptations of C'thulhu out there. Even Lovecraft wrote Herbert West Reanimator as a comedy. Charles Stross and the Laundry series are a lot of fun for example and already have a C'thulhu supplement I believe. What about Jason Pargin aka David Wong's "John Dies at the End"? Also " This Book is Full of Spiders: Seriously Dude, don't touch it", and "John and Dave and the Temple of X'al'naa'thuthuthu". The first book already has a movie, and "This Book is full of Spiders" may well get one too. (a) Is everyone well aware of this little gem? (b) Are there any other comedic C'thulhu things out there really worth the time that we should be aware of?

The Painted Wall is the broken Praxian version of the Yelm Pantheon's "God's Wall", and existed in God Time as a record of the deities and their order before Chaos broke the world and created the Wastes. It is located on a long cliff on the edge of Vulture Country on the edge of the Zola Fel River near Eiskolli. There are a few "pot wells" located under rocks in the area, "known to those who know", and in good seasons, the grazing here is decent, but it is generally not a place to bring a large herd. Visitors will find frescoes depicting dead deities there, like Genert, Splendid Yamsur, and Tada, as well the living gods of Prax, including the invaders, and other local spirits like Lightning Boy and Ronance of the hidden traditions, and even spaces where some deities who have ceased to be, have... ceased to be. This is a dangerous place, because it is a powerful place. Only fully initiated shamans can make a mark on the wall, and it costs them permanent POW to do so as this is stone that remembers and hoards memories. Leaving even a hand print here will mean that the spirits will come to you, and shamans can reach you, and it costs 1POW per 10 POW you have, or fraction thereof. Yes, you become a part of the pantheon, a minor part, a junior Daka Fal ancestor, by doing so. Powerful Shamans and heroes will leave their marks here too, and they have more to offer any prospective shaman looking for spirit friends and patrons. Jaldon Toothmaker is definitely depicted here, for example, as are famous Khans like Bimabwe Bigger-Than-Life, and even Pavis and Flintnail are here. On the other hand, if you depict an entity on the wall, even yourself, it takes its place in the pantheon, and the picture becomes a way for other shamans to call upon it too. It should be noted that when grazing in the area is often very bad and when there is no-one to defend the wall, tricksters and chaos have also made their mark, and some of the entities are bad medicine indeed. For example Muriah has been seen in the region, as have the Cannibal Cult and the Basmoli. This is effectively a place of pilgrimage for local shamans, and at any time there will be a few scattered around, either camped with their clan or camped on their own in a hidden hollow or cave in the wall, such as "Tada's Toes", and "Hoof of the Storm Bull". This is not a place for junior shamans to come, for there are a great many spirits who congregate in the area hoping for and enticing others to worship them or even embody them. This is a noisy "spirit marketplace" where the young shaman can easily become lost or worse, and for those with spirit sight it is as abuzz with activity as New Pavis at the height of the pre-Sacred Time sales period. This creates a lot of "spirit noise" and a wise shaman will have the means to set up a protected zone and cordon out what they don't want. It is also a place where shamans are sometimes spontaneously initiated from out of ordinary passers by who accidentally interact with initiator spirits or "Bad Ones". Those who become possessed will sicken with a disease or run mad, most likely to die if not saved by a shaman, but those who survive the attack without possession on their own will become shamans in their own right. It is also important to know that shamans often deal in poisons that help them gain the spirit sight for extended periods, and a good number of plants in the area have been grown there for this purpose, so careful what you eat, or your bones will join those bleaching on the plains of the wastes.

Hi, yes, the brief was DIY Common Magic Baelor, so no Rune Magic, just "little" spells. I love the fact that you included the stats. In terms of Agony, I think that it is a disruption spell with a pain effect, so increase the MP required to cast it, and have it only affect 1 location, and rather than agony call it pain, and have it incapacitate the victim if they fail a CON x4 roll As to the ogre spell, I am sorry to raise this, but I think you are treading on some toes with that one. If you recall, there is a certain cult IRL that is all about raisin the dead, that has a spell called "transubstantiation" which involved turning human meat into bread. In short I think it might be Divine Magic rather than common (or Sorcery). Reload seems like a regimental spell. For the record, I think Fireblade and Firearrow from RQ2 &3 are OP, and should just give an extra 1d6 damage over base weapon damage, not 3d6 flat. That is a Glorantha Second Age improvement I like. Roko Joko: Spells in order= Foodsong, Placate (Sister Water, Guy in the Pool), Cheese Culture, Resist Disease, Detect Cattle, Detect Pig, Peaceful Cut, Placate (Woodland Entities), Placate (Ancestors, Ghosts), Luck, Luck, Xemelan Healing. This does raise the issue of the need for spells to placate local entities. I think the placate spell would take about 4MP, would identify who the gift is for, and would cause the entity to be non-hostile to the caster and their party, and probably wander off for a while. As to Luck, it is a simple spell that reduces your fumble chance to 00 rolls only for 1MP. Evilroddy. Good spells. I am thinking that Dreamscape is more of a ritual than Common Magic though. As for your Limited Invisibility, it is a good spell, but probably needs a different name, like Cause Distraction. It is a damn good idea though, as Invisibility is OP the way it is written up.

I love Black Friday. It is the one day a year when you are entitled to trample children in the service of Mammon.

Glorantha definitely doesn't need time travel. It benefits from time being a mystery and makes prophecy a truly weird and mysterious gift.

I actually like the Fighting Style idea, as it represents how long a character has been training and learning to fight, not with one weapon but a suite of weapons. The idea that a Cataphract will have a package of weapons that they are familiar with, that are very different to the acrobatics and weapons of a Wu Xia, or a Greek Hoplite appeals to me. I definitely like Fulk's idea of primary, secondary and tertiary focus though, as units and individuals definitely pay different amounts of attention to the weapons. There are some issues however... Quandry 1. Picking up a weapon that the character has not been trained in means that, if it is similar to a weapon within one of their fighting styles, the character may be able to use it at a penalty, or, if it is utterly unfamiliar, (e.g. Enkidu the wild man from picks up his first nunchuks) they may start with that weapon at their base skill (Str + Dex). But suddenly the character may be gaining a new weapon skill that is outside any of their existing styles, and they are very likely to improve it next time they roll ups. So now they have a new weapon skill that is outside any of their established styles. It becomes a single weapon style all on its lonesome. It can't integrate into other weapon styles easily, unless the character is given the opportunity to study a broader style that incorporates it. So what do we do with these "orphaned" weapon skills? I think there should be a game mechanic for integrating new weapons into existing styles. Quandry 2. There are no game mechanics for producing a totally new fighting style from scratch. While any GM worth their salt can cobble one together in minutes, some sort of formal recognition of how to do it seems reasonable. Quandry 3. Miles the Wanderer knows a style that focuses on mace combat and incorporates the CST of "knockout blow". He also knows a fighting style for darkened rooms involving daggers, and unarmed combat that incorporates the combat style trait of "blind fighting". If he has his mace drawn, he cannot sense the fact that there is a person in the dark ahead of him with "blind fighting", and if he uses his bare hands and stealth, he cannot deliver a "knockout blow". So Miles the Wanderer creeps up without his mace drawn, then draws it quietly to deliver the blow, and misses at point blank from behind because it is too dark and he can have blind fighting or knockout blow but not both, because different style weapons are involved. Quandry 4. Oshkosh the Odorous has a Praxian Combat Style with a Beast-Back Lancing CST at 70%, and a Big Rubble Adventurer Combat style that incorporates the Daredevil CST, also at 70%. Now currently, he cannot integrate these two styles, even though functionally within the game system, this would be the optimal time to do so. Lets say however that he were to do so. Does the new style incorporate both Combat Style Traits, or does it lose one, or does it have a new Combat Style Trait altogether? What if both styles used 2 weapons in common, i.e. the Praxian Style uses Lance, Javelin, Spear, Shield and Axe, while the adventurer style uses Greatsword, Broadsword, Spear, Shield and Axe? Quandry 5. Where do Combat Style Traits come from? How are they assigned to combat styles? If your character is a devoted weapon master who knows multiple styles and their traits at mastery, how are they taught? What is their origin? Are they integral to certain weapons perhaps? How many Combat Style Traits can a Combat Style have? The rules suggest there can be many, but simultaneously seem to not want that. Quandry 6. How many CST can be used simultaneously? For example, if Doug the Axe knows 3 different styles that all use great axe, but one has the Daredevil CST learned fighting on bridges in the Big Rubble, the next has the Shield Splitter CST from time spent in the Kulbrea Fyrd and the third has Formation Fighting CST learned with Sir Holburn's Axe brothers, can Doug use all three CST at the same time in the right circumstances? The rules say no, in fact the rules say that Doug should avoid being able to learn more that one Combat Style that incorporates Great Axe. Quandry 7. Do characters have access to the CST regardless of their skill in a style? Should they? If Doug the Axe knows Kulbrea Fyrd Great Axe at 75%, Axe Brother Style at 50% and Big Rubble Great Axe at 40% what happens? Does it sound like I am being too critical of the Combat Style system and CSTs ? I hope not, I like the idea a lot. I actually really want to improve and develop what I consider to be a good idea, but I think it needs a degree of clarification on certain points rather than leaving it all up to the GM and, more importantly, the players, to puzzle over.

Exogamous extra-clan marriages are safer than marrying in-clan for Orlanthi. It is possible within an group of 1000 to have a stable population and avoid inbreeding, and even populations down to 400 if closely monitored. Orlanthi would probably have to consult their ancestor spirits or the Lhankor Mhy genealogists, and you just know they are going to gossip. It makes promiscuity somewhat difficult. As for forbidding marriage to foreigners, I am sure that such prohibitions are lifted once the foreigners in question prove their intentions towards the clan are honorable and that they aren't secret chaos cultists. I believe Orlanthi hospitality is quite good at allowing people gradual clan integration, and there is always another way.

We are all familiar with Rune Quest in its various manifestations. We all know what basic/spirit/common magic is. Now here is the question. Is there a spell not otherwise covered within the rules that you think should be there? We all know the sort of cantrip-like magic we are talking about, so nothing OP. To get the ball rolling, here is a favorite of mine: Dry Touch. Active 2pt Cast on moist or damp subjects, this spell causes excess water to be liberated as a short burst of steam, rendering them increasingly dry with each casting. This spell is valuable for drying one's clothes or gear after immersion in water, especially vulnerable gear such as bowstrings, fletching, etc. It is also useful for preserving herbs, protecting wet books and scrolls from further damage, stopping the shrinkage of woolen garments, causing glues and resins to set faster, and seasoning timber with roughly 20 repeated castings. It might even be used to dry simple clay objects in the absence of a kiln with repeated castings. Casting against a live creature is also possible, requiring a successful POW vs POW contest, and inflicting 2hp damage if successful, but limited by the range of touch. The damage can be healed normally but in place of a bandage, drinkable fluid is required.

LOL, I thought the Hrestoli were supposed to be idealists? Clearly they have little grasp of the vicissitudes of family law. They effectively treat a child as a mother's property, extinguishing the value of fatherhood without regard to the fitness of the mother? Some men like fatherhood and are well suited to parenthood, while some women are notably unsuited to it. Even if this solution works 70% of the time, there would still be 30% screw up; hardly ideal. There is no regard for the opinion of the child, and apparently the men have no interest in the future of their offspring. Stalin himself would be envious that a state could utterly extinguish human emotion so effectively, destroying filial and paternal ties as though they never existed, apparently without mind control, and yet be seen as Utopian.

C'mon, that's easy... the tough ones, the stealthy ones, the cunning ones. Those with good hiding places. Those who had friends hidden in high places. Those small enough to be overlooked, oh, and those introduced covertly later. I read that Lord Death on a Horse is a head hunter. (Spit) Thanatari or just a hateful version of a Humakti ? Perhaps he will build a citadel covered with the ivory from the teeth of his enemies? It is so deliciously decadent and wasteful of sentient life. Pyramids of Skulls are so passe.

I don't disagree with anything you wrote except this bit above. Firstly there aren't many Humakti in Loskalm, except working for the Kingdom of War, and Lhankori aren't plentiful at all. I also don't recall there being plentiful detection of enemy spells in the Sorcery Grimoires, especially not in the Hrestoli ones. Sometimes a crime, such as the theft of something the victim has forgotten even existed, goes undetected, unreported and utterly unremarked upon, and that is a perfect crime.

This is a well developed site with plenty to pick over. It is interesting that you opted for a White Wolf system game over the more traditional systems. How has that worked out?

I have always hoped Chaosium would produce a supplement for the Plateau of Leng. The C'thulhu Tibet suplement got me excited, but little Leng indeed. If Children of Fear has the party going to Leng I will be very excited. As it is Children of Fear sounds very promising. Central Asia in the 1920s is a bad and wild place.

The virtues of intelligence or wisdom are seldom properly applied to matters of the heart. Provided the woman kills by a different method each time e.g. once by a surfeit of eels, once by a surfeit of sex, twice in battle, once of old age, once of disease, once by snake bite etc. you can get through a lot of husbands without arousing too much suspicion, especially if you noisily lament your misfortune, tearfully and often. In fact in a time of war, the whole process gets easier, so you might want to be passionately pro-military and let the Kingdom of War do your work for you.

Sure, I started the topic, but I think it would be a mistake to keep going here. I would happily adjourn it to either the HQ or RQ parts of the forum at your pleasure gentlefolk.

(1) Inevitably some criminals get caught. It's an occupational hazard. (2) The main trick of being a successful criminal is NOT leaving evidence. (3) But breaking the rules inevitably gets you more faster. If you chew your way through enough husbands, accruing property along the way you can become a major landholder and even become a candidate for Queen. (4) The sexes have a history of being blind to each other's faults. Plenty of people have found themselves in bad marriages until it was too late. Sorcery seems to have a certain lack of spells that are good for detecting intrigue and deception. (5) Clearly you have no concept of feeding a man a delicious high cholesterol diet then having him die "in bed" of a sex related coronary with a beautiful wife. Is it murder or a surfeit of affection? Many men would actively seek such a partner, I fear, even some who should know better. (6) By which I assume you mean the Platonic model of the "Philosopher King" ? (7) So who in fact owns these things? If there is a king and nobles, surely they draw an income from the things they administer. Even within the Church and Buddhism you find things held "in trust" by "folk without property" actually being a legal fiction at best, and these "religious princes" being extraordinarily corrupt, including priests with children who inherit their religious titles. The Loskalmi however require their children to know the duties of each caste before they rise to the next one, but a good education early in life can give a noble child an immense head start. Perhaps such rule bending dynasties can be regarded as another type of villain to discuss? (8) No, the wife is not the magistrate, but she will surely nag her husband to properly provide for her and their children, and that is how the criminal ball gets rolling (down hill), because nagging is the most effective method for getting your own way. A woman who is closely and intimately aware of her husband's business often gleans information that she can use to criminal "family advantage". She also has privy information that she can use to potentially parley into position for herself when she bumps the old coot off. Read some True Crime Lit; it is quite hair curling what women get up to; better than fiction, and much worse. (9) A single bad girl can be a terribly disruptive force, now imagine there are a few of them working together for mutual advancement, covering for each other, either through misguided loyalty, or perhaps some sort of pact, or even a longstanding lesbian relationship or two? Lenin always maintained he only needed 8 loyal men to change the world. Hitler used a similar notion of a core group of 8 people. What may start as harmless girlish pranks and petty intrigues may develop an altogether more horrible and criminal complexion with the right application of blackmail and coercion. You will never catch these sweet little serpents, and heaven help you if you do, because their plot to destroy you socially, legally and physically will already be coming to fruition well in advance of the discovery. It is often quite surprising how prescient female criminals have been (10) You make the mistake of thinking that the absence of a patriarchy would make a difference to the motivation of the femme fatale, or that women only behave in an anti-social fashion as a reaction to being dis-empowered by social institutions. You may be versed in feminist discourse, but you are no criminologist, and this assumption is actually pretty sexist on analysis, as it pre-supposes that women don't commit crimes without a reaction to an underlying social prejudice guiding their actions. I had a good friend, now sadly deceased, a dear little old lady who was an ex-detective and criminologist who took me under her wing and disabused me of such notions in fascinating and blood curdling detail some years ago. A social system may be benign, but ultimately, for some people, it is never benign enough for their liking unless they are in control. Gender politics has nothing to do with it; neither the will to power nor the instinct to do evil things for personal gain is limited to one gender or another. Worse still, all too frequently a man will "nobly" take the fall for the woman who emotionally manipulated him into committing crimes, in order to protect her. Very chivalric, but ultimately an empty and self destructive gesture of affection. Such suckers are abandoned for "greener pastures" very quickly, as just another stepping stone on the path. Just because a society is very just and fair, doesn't mean that everyone in it will be benign. A disturbing truth is that often the people who are best at catching sociopaths are other sociopaths. Certainly the best people at catching feminine wickedness are other women.