Darius West

I suspect that you can retro-engineer any Western Genre RPG into a US Civil War RPG without much effort btw.

The single series of Firefly is recommended viewing.

In most games this sort of behavior is called an "exploit", which is performed by "power gamers", and yes, they specifically exploit the rules to turn their children into superheroes. In Glorantha they were called the God Learners, and they are likely going to make a philosophical resurgence during the Hero Wars given that their secrets are now known again.

Elmal is Orlanth's Loyal Thane. Elmal never fought Orlanth on the Hill of Gold and as such he never lost his Fire Powers. Yelmalio by comparison is an invented cult put forwards by the hero and Yelmalio spirit of retribution known as Monrogh quite recently in Gloranthan History that syncretizes elements of worship of the "little sun" from around central Genertela. The Lunars saw political advantage in using the Yelmalio cult to undermine the cordial relations between Elmali and Orlanthi ("divide et impera" and all that). Frankly Monrogh's syncretism smacks of Godlearnerism. These are similar but notably different deities of the little sun who have different myths and different names. They should have similar magic, but they are fundamentally not the same deity. This is not Call of C'thulhu "Masks of Yelmalio", even if there is some indication that one of the masks of Yelmalio might in fact be Thanatar. For example, the So-called Yelmalios of New Pavis actually worship Tharkantus, the Ostrich folk worship the little sun as (only source) Khim the Rider, while the Balazarings call the little sun Balazar after their ancestor King. Really only the Sun Valley worship "Yelmalio" as the little sun, and later Harvar Ironfist becomes the fanatical Yelmalio oppressor of Far Point, but he converted at Sun Valley imsmc. It is very likely that after the Hero Wars, there will be a large backlash against the Yelmalio cult for their treachery, and a resurgence of support for Elmal the Loyal Thane.

You might consider trying to use RQG's shamanic combat rules and ideas of the Spirit Realm in place of the Astral Plane perhaps? It doesn't hurt to understand the history and intellectual pedigree of what the Astral Plane is really all about either.

I understand your position, but I personally think that the world Before Time went through changes that the Solar Tempora world is never likely to. Also, frankly, Hero Questing should be the realm of Rune level characters at the very least, not initiates imo. I LIKE the idea that people are scared away from Hero Questing. Biturian Varosh in Cults of Prax, for example, is deathly afraid of anything to do with HQing, to the point he'd willingly trade away truestone to avoid a hero quest, despite being a penny pinching merchant. I think Biturian's is the proper attitude, and the one which should prevail based on the lore. If HQing was easy, everyone would do it, and I don't think there is anything to support the "everyone HQs all the time" attitude. HQs should pose a serious threat to an experienced character imo, and outright kill initiates 90% of the time if they attempt them as they are just not ritually powerful enough.

I think that there is a danger of making what qualifies as Heroquesting too mundane. I mean, if we follow the advice of the HQ rules we can invent "Orlanth goes to buy milk" myth, and send our children off on it every couple of days. There also needs to be a separation between HQing and what happens at Sacred Time in every village in Glorantha. Those are passion plays. A passion play with lethal consequences can be a HQ, but the most powerful and least ambivalent HQs are those that take place on the Hero Plane.

I think I need to question this Jeff. Many of the Thunder Brothers are named, and have their own subcults/hero cults and rune powers. They include: Hedkoranth, Helamakt, Elmal, Mastakos, Vinga, Finovan, Rigsdal, Destor, Vanganth, Vingkot, Yavor, Tatouth, Siwend, Starkval, and probably others too. These are named entities. I agree that they are like Maruts, but they are also cults in their own rights, and it is likely that every Orlanthi clan can name at least one Thunder Brother as an ancestor, and know the secrets of their cult. The Summon Large Elemental thing is a product of the WBRM board game, but there is more to these figures now. They are listed in multiple publications.

I can't see why people would prefer a plane to a ship of some description. Remember that Lindberg only flew the Atlantic back in 1927, and flight is still very dangerous.

Be honest now, do you work for Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro, Mr. THC or are you just high?

There are so many Thunder Brothers, they require their own write-up in my estimation. I seriously want to know what rune spells Finovan, Rigsdal, Barntar, Elmal and all the others get, and how they fit into Orlanthi societies. They are more than just adjuncts to Orlanth imo.

No, not always. Not by a long chalk. It benefits the winner to keep the city they have taken in working condition if they have surrendered, and it will mean the locals will feel less hostility towards the invaders, and in the longer term be faster to properly subjugate. A real genius commander knows these things. There are times when looting is impossible to stop, but it is never desirable, especially as it makes your troops rich, and rich troops may well simply desert.

I wonder if we will get a book dedicated to all the Thunder Brothers eventually?

Sacking cities that surrender is very poor tactics. Any commander worth more than spit won't allow it as it will deter any further opportunistic surrenders in the future. Argrath also needs to replenish and grow his army. You can't do that if everybody hates you. Argrath is a military genius, not an irrational maniac.

RQG is not hard to GM. Just remember YGWV. You don't have to go hardcore canon mode. Screw your courage to the sticking point and just do it ! 👍

Lol, Jeff is having a FLEX on WotC, huh? 😉😂👍

"Everything takes 4 hours" - George Castanza, "Seinfeld".

Now that is a different beast entirely. I like Golarion, and I can see how BRP's flexibility could make that work.

While this might appeal to an audience who are system snobs who only play D&D and its variants, it has zero appeal to me. Please don't misunderstand me. If I am going to play D&D I personally prefer Paizo's Pathfinder as it allows for more depth in characters than D&D5, not that I don't see certain advantages in how 5th Ed trimmed a lot of "exploit fat" (then added it back on in other areas). Personally, it concerns me that RQ and Glorantha don't run to a Character Class System at all. Magic is intrinsic to all characters in Glorantha, and no version of D&D seems able to adequately address that. I can see how percentile skills could rudely translate to levels, but Character Class Systems don't work with the setting. I mean, EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER in RQ is basically a cleric, because they have initiated into a Cult at some level. Then at 10th level they become paladins (rune lords)? Should Gloranthan Cults become classes in their own right? Then you have the issue of thieves. In RQ there are a couple of thief deities, but thieves simply aren't as prevalent as in D&D. I am genuinely curious to understand how these issues are being addressed/resolved in the forthcoming publication.

So what about the River anomalies which break with the structure you have discussed here Joerg? Such as... Praxian Serpents, that seemingly appear and vanish overnight, having no obvious headwater? Or rivers that flow the wrong way? Aren't some rivers birthed from Mostali settlements outflow pipes? What does that mean mythologically?

Are you some sort of Ogre apologist then? 😂

If you can't identify the critter, it is probably some sort of broo.

A leika story...

I think Crispy Duck in Pancake rolls is a dish first eaten among the Maranaba folk of Tarsh to fatten their womenfolk up, that is now only popular among the Grazelanders. Eating sentient folk is a chaotic act, regardless of how much contempt you hold ducks in.