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Darius West

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Everything posted by Darius West

  1. 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.
  2. All we need now is a "Mount and Blade" compatible Prax mod, or equivalent and we could walk around in it.
  3. Something that we haven't discussed before afaik is the fact that during the First and Second Ages, Waha took a physical body in Prax. We are also told that the "Greatest Khan" in Prax at any time is imbued with a portion of Waha's power. Is this the same thing? Or was Pavis and the Faceless Statue's defeat of Waha in the Second Age the defeat of Waha as an actual incarnate superhero? That tale specifically mentions Waha being hamstrung by the Faceless Statue and cured by Pavis, which is hard to do without a physical body to attack It is certainly possible for Waha to be incarnate, given that He is the direct ancestor of many Praxians, and hence can be summoned to possess them via Daka Fal rituals. It can be argued that Waha is a comparatively minor deity, no more powerful than Harrek, Jar-Eel, Androgeus, or Belintar, and thus can become incarnate without affecting the Great Compromise, given that he was potentially alive and incarnate at the Dawning like Androgeus. I am interested in other people's opinions on this.
  4. How does it compare with Bergen in Norway. There is a joke in Bergen that an American was in town and he had been there a while and asked a boy "Hey kid ! When does it stop raining here?" To which the kid replied "I don't know mister, I'm only 12."
  5. Well in Glorantha we might somewhat see the Malkioni treating deities in the fashion of a dumb mana resource, especially in the Second Age. The Godlearners even substantially rewrote some deities because they were crap. Remember, having worshippers, even bad ones, seems to be a net benefit to deities. And for their part, deities seem to be in a sort of Before Time stasis field (see Orlanth and Ernalda being dug up at Whitewall by the Lunars), and their ability to interact with the world is very limited. When you think about it, deities and worshippers are symbiotic to the point where it isn't clear who is parasitizing whom. 🙂
  6. I've been watching 30 Coins with subs. Fun show. I would call it "C'tholic" in flavor.
  7. In the case of Sartarites, it is important also to factor in the value of veterancy. The fact is, that everyone of fighting age in 1626 has lived through Lunar occupation, the Long Winter, the Dragonrise, and quite possibly one or more pitched battles too. Many Sartarites have been living rough as adventurers or something else. Of course the Lunars have this too, but their armies are larger, and there are fewer chances for combat as a result. The number of near-heroes and self funded Rune Lords and Rune Priests is going to make a difference, and not just in the Sartar Magical Union imo. It is all very much like the Praxian thing about being driven into the Wastes to grow stronger.
  8. Hi Ali, I get your point, and I understand that it is referencing the Early Christians. I personally LOVE late roman and "dark ages" history. I also agree that this was part of why the Christians were accused of Atheism. So were Jews in the same period. This was also due to their lack of depiction of their deities. As you say however, the fact that they wouldn't worship at the Emperor Shrines was a big religious and political no-no in the Roman Era. Of course what really upset the Romans was early Christian masochistic seeking after martyrdom. That blew their tiny Roman minds. As to the actual point... Ali, buddy, what if we DO cynically seek to obtain the blessing?😅 That is what I meant by Spiritual Materialism.😬 We literally only worship the deity because of the material benefits that worship provides. This is the PNG model. 🤣
  9. Sick of getting your magical high from Befuddle? Try new Seven Mothers' Mind Blast ! Longer lasting, and more profound, Mind Blast is for those folks who have answered life's riddle. Initiate at your nearest Temple of the Reaching Moon and try Mind Blast today ! The name says it all, baby !
  10. I agree and would have thought tat was obvious. Lets face it, if you are moving, so is the target effectively. I am curious about how much the accuracy falls off, and whether it maintains or even improves range and force of impact if supported by a running horse underneath the atlatl user. I am thinking about the possibility of a small Praxian warrior society that uses atlatls with javelins, and gets a minor charge boost to DB. (shrug)
  11. I wonder how an atlatl performs when used from the saddle?
  12. So let's take a nice long look at the Seven Mothers Spell list: Resurrection: Who doesn't like being brought back from the dead? This is a huge benefit, especially given that the spell is reusable just like Chalana Arroy's version. Regrow Limb: Lost limbs are a big deal for anyone without Healing 6, and if you are running low on MP, you can still find yourself without a limb on a bad day. Another huge draw card. Truesword: This isn't super useful to most ordinary people, but you can cast it on a dagger if you are jumped by a mugger in a dark alley in Mirin's Cross. It might save your life. It is definitely more of a draw for anyone in the military, assuming they use scimitars not spears. Summon Lune: Lunes aren't great elementals. They are about as useful as shades. On the other hand, they can fight for you while you run for the hills. Some utility. Summon Small Elementals: If you like elemental summoning, the Seven Mothers has everything but Sylphs, and sylphs are no great loss. Gnomes are great for ploughing fields. Madness: A completely worthless spell. It basically duplicates the effects of a single successful attack by a Lune. Not even a valid desperation move. Mind Blast: Most people think Mind Blast is an attack spell. They're wrong. Mind Blast is a foretaste of what Illumination feels like when you first realize it. It is also a wonderful way to unwind after a hard day at work. It hits harder than liquor or hazia, and is totally recreational. Oh, and you can use it to whammy annoying barbarians; they won't know what hit them.
  13. I see where you are coming from Ali by I must disagree. Try looking at Papua New Guinea. PNG has a totally pragmatic view of their deities. The mindset is "Deities are supposed to do this thing for us reliably, and if they fail to deliver we offer them extra to make them pay attention, if that fails we punish them in the hopes they will pay attention, then if that fails we sell them on to another tribe". Many if not all tribal cultures have an entirely similar view. There is no idea that "I have to worship deity X because they are the patron of my profession, even if he never does anything to help us". In a world where gods are real and deliver magic on demand, Spiritual Materialism is THE way deities are measured and the market place is crowded. Heck, even Constantine at the Milvian Bridge decided to give another deity a go to see if they worked.
  14. Perhaps they are bi-serial ?
  15. As a hint for a new GM, you can run ANY C'thulhu scenario as a solo adventure if you want. There are a few things you will need to do and remember. 1. Remember that the Player is the main character, and insure that you don't compromise their agency i.e. their ability to act. 2. Be prepared for any player to go off-script. Familiarize yourself with the era and the setting. Don't be afraid to improvise. In one game I ran, my players kept going to the hardware store, and eventually became friends with the owner, Howard J. Kleinberg, who was a wealth of info about how to make and mend things, and even had every back edition of Popular Mechanics. Howard eventually became a valuable ally against the Mythos, but never quite went Evil Dead Ash. 3. Lone characters are not the problem. You can add support NPCs to the story with skills the player character lacks. I generally have a stable of them for players to meet, recruit, and even adopt as their own new characters if necessary. Need extra muscle? Perhaps one of their highschool friends is now a burly longshoreman in need of extra money, and who always has the player character's back? Lacking library use? Perhaps they need to swallow their pride and chat with their old flame Phylis Watts who runs the legal library at the local courthouse, but knows all the libraries in the area and can arrange inter-library loans if she feels so inclined. 3(a). Having friendly NPCs is beneficial for a CoC game. It stops murder hoboism, as players stand to lose their valuable contacts if they behave too badly. It also reminds the characters who they are actually fighting the mythos for. They have people they care about. If and when the mythos ever threatens those people, there is ample room for outrage and horror, especially the horror of self-recrimination. 4. Remember that Lone Protagonists were the norm in Lovecraft stories. Being a solo player isn't a bad thing. It is often surprising how much a lone character can achieve. 5. Every Keeper needs to seriously address how lethal they want their game to be. I would argue that less lethality can help the continuity of a game. Sometimes the foreshadowing of the monster is more horrific than the monster itself. 6. Sit down with the player beforehand and discuss your expectations, and listen to and accommodate theirs. I call this "the briefing". You will need to address the lethality issue, and discuss that their character may need to recruit NPCs, as well as any other things you think are relevant. If they are wimps, you may need to discuss what sort of horror themes they can't cope with. 6(a) not a hint, but an anecdote related to point 6. I had a friend and player who was a hardcore horror fan. No amount of body horror or vile themes was too much. He was all "Bring it on, I'll pour the sauce !". Then one day his character was in a sewer in a pair of big rubber fisherman's waders, and he fumbled a climb roll and fell in, rising with "someone else's 'log' in the front of his waders." I had no idea he was a fecaphobe( he never mentioned it during "the briefing") and he literally threw up in his mouth and fled to the toilet. Afterwards I immediately addressed the issue and toned down the poop for him, after he made a SAN check IRL. He was good humored about it, but still cringes at the word "immersive", after some of the jokes other mean players made. 🤣
  16. What a novel choice of system. What attracted you to using En Garde Grumbold? I'm seriously curious. I personally like to mix up systems if you want game mechanics that highlight certain aspects of a situation.
  17. Enemies of Ernalda, huh? I'm not a fan of Ernalda. As they say, "She belongs to the streets". More husbands that Tza Tza Gabor. 😆
  18. I hope you didn't just out yourself as a psychopath 😂. That sounds like a paraphrased line from American Psycho.🤣 All left handers are secretly serial killers ? Who knew ? 🤣
  19. *Grins* I like it ! Perhaps being a crested dragonewt is like waking up as an amnesiac on LSD ? I do like your DN rune tweak, probably more than the Pink Floyd rune 😀 I suppse the only other thing I'd add is that DNs are left handed, sugestng right brain dominance, and humans who want to enter the Dragon path need to get their tongues split, and have their brains split as well. People who have had this done to them have had some strange things happen, like their left hand interfering with things it apparently didn't like, independently of their left brain consciousness. If nothing else, it did help neuroscience determine that consciousness seems to be in the left hemisphere.
  20. I like this take, and the rune you made, but what I was getting at was perhaps unclear the way I expressed it, so let me fix that... The rune also represents the dragonewt separate reality where their dragon bodies grow inside dreams. They don't like using dragon magic, as this causes their dragon bodies to prematurely and temporarily materialize, and they must then regrow the spent part. Non-dragon pathers cannot interact with dragonewt separate reality, but can get a taste of it by visiting the confusing extra-dimensional reality of dragonewt cities that are built using dragonewt eggs as part of the construction materials, which cause the effect. This effect is a bit like the architecture one experiences in dreams. We might also view he dragonewt rune as a negation of the law rune without being chaotic or disordered. Law crossed out. But I prefer to see law (triangle) as the consciousness sitting above this larger deeper principle.
  21. The thing about breathing is that the air goes in and is then exhaled. Tapping...? Not so much. More of a one way trip.
  22. I believe it is written that the Inhuman King (lol) lays dragonewt eggs pretty much continuously after breeding with a dragon, not lesser dragonewts as they are expressedly asexual. I also recall reading the city of Dragons Eye incorporates the eggshells into the buildings, which is part of why the city has a dreamlike extradimensionality to it. IMO Dragon eggs tap into a dragonewt specific dimension that other creatures can't interact with as they are not on the dragon path. It is in this strange (likely dreaming) space that dragonewts develop their bodies-to-be. It is for this reason that dragonewts don't like using dragon magic, as they have to draw their body parts from this realm, ultimately meaning they now have to regrow them, potentially over lifetimes. This is reflected in the dragonewt rune which represents something akin to Jung's description of the relationship of consciousness and the unconscious to an iceberg, with the smaller consciouness sitting above the huge unconscious, which again serves as an analogy for Dragonewts and their relationship to dreams, consciousness, the unconscious, and their mysticism, which permeates all other mystical traditions. It's just my opinion, but this explanation seems to best account for and draw together the various different threads discussed about dragonewts in multiple official publications.
  23. The way I see it, symbols are the basic components. Myth gives the basic symbolic components a formative structure. Ritual further organizes that structure in relationship to other wider meanings. The HQ is still a ritual after a fashion, but it HQ transcends the limits of the page, in a way that ritual doesn't transcend the limits of the temple.
  24. I wonder how wasp whiskey compares to baiju? Baiju is sorghum wine. It tastes disgusting. So bad in fact that it is advised to use sugar to sweeten it, begging the question of "why not just ferment the sugar if you have it? Rum tastes so much better than that cr@p".
  25. The forthcoming GMs Guide to Glorantha will have actual rules for Hero Quests (or so we have been promised). In regards to which plane the Hero Quest happens on, the answer is both. The organization behind planning the hero quest has to gather a great number of ritually prepared objects, and do a lot of praying prior, to set up the ritual. It can take the better part of a season or even a year. Many resources are put into a hero quest, and the magic is supposed to propel the quester "like a surfer on a wave". In some ways a hero quest is like multiple castings of the Summons of Evil ritual, as a certain series of antagonists will be drawn to encounter the quester. I think saying that people bounce onto the Hero plane is something of a description, but it may not evoke quite what is happening. The quester and their antagonists imo are actually meeting slightly outside of Time. These are timeless battles of ancient archetypes we call gods, re-enacted to awaken the dormant power of these encounters and drag them back into the world. As an analogy that may or may not be helpful, symbols are the words, myth is the syntax, ritual is the sentence, hero questing is the speaking aloud of the sentence.
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