Darius West

9 minutes ago, soltakss said:

I have run 2 RQ Campaigns without Argrath, although not for RQG.

All I need to do to exclude Argrath is to get the Adventurers to do what he does in forthcoming supplements, easy-peasy.

However, I am not running a campaign for a while, as I am doing a course which takes up too much time. When I do start, I am likely to run in, or around, Dorastor, and we'll see whether Argrath manages to muscle in on the Land of Doom.

Yeah, but you kind of have to squeeze them into doing that, and we already know what Argrath's trajectory is, so we know what theirs is likely to be.  It is far more interesting to play the characters who aren't the King imo.

39 minutes ago, scott-martin said:

In terms of the original post, the historical Argrath is pretty much hardwired into RQG at this stage and will only become more integral as the publishing continues. If your Argrath washes out then either a washout is going to be king ("last temptation" style, a viable approach with shadowy managers running the real show) or history will produce someone who casts an Argrath-shaped shadow to snap into that particular hole in the narrative..

And that being the case, why not have the "real thing" ?

30 minutes ago, Eff said:

 Like Ethilrist, as a figure himself he's pretty contemptible at the baseline. 

That is entirely a matter of opinion.  Frankly we don't have a lot of words out of Argrath's own mouth to explain his choices, but saving his people from an Chaos worshipping empire hell bent on destroying his people's way of life seems like adequate justification for his actions to me. 

On 12/24/2022 at 10:49 PM, DucksMustDie said:

Well, Argrath turned out to be a junkie, a drunk, a sex maniac (and lousy lover), therefore unfit to be prince. He failed to light the Flame (he had a 50/50 chance and failed miserably), so he went back to his drugs and booze. Another prince more worthy was found who relit the Flame. Has anyone else done this? 🙂 

RQG without Argrath normally isn't great.  It is a bit like playing Pendragon in Arthurian Britain without King Arthur, or X Men without Dr X.  Argrath is a useful patron and mentor character who can keep the party on track; abandon him at your peril.  Frankly most RQ characters are junkies (read "shamanism", which often involves hazia), drunks (hard drinking is a normal form of Gloranthan entertainment).  Now as for sex maniacs, so long as the Barbeester Gors aren't called in, there is no problem.  He sounds like a normal hard drinking adventurer with a high libido (and lack of stamina to match) and an interest in shamanism to me.  He's still a better leader than Temertain, and likely Kallyr too (how many people did she lead to their deaths in 1612?).  Also, remember King Bolthor from Cults of Terror?  You can't get less charismatic than that.  The only things that matter are (1) Does he have Sartar's bloodline? (2) How well does he fight ? (3) How are his tactical skills ? (4)  Is his cult status acceptable to lead?  Ultimately it is his tactical skills that will make him a leader or not, and frankly, flawed heroes are cooler anyhow.  Remember, it only took one mentor committing seppuku to turn a fellow much like you are describing from the "Fool of Owari" into the legendary Daimyo Oda Nobunaga.

On 12/21/2022 at 6:15 AM, jo77yroger said:

I just need your opinion on this:

Our group of players are all from the Ernaldori clan of the Colymar tribe. We are now clan leaders of a new clan based on former enslaved Dundealos and a new territory.
My question is: Can we belong in both clans ? Our parents, family are all in the Ernaldori clan. If not, do we have to remove our Ernaldori tattoos ?
Is it possible to have our new clan join Colymar even if the territory is not close to Colymar (Like Alaska belongs to the US 🙂) ?

Within Clan law/Lore clans periodically split off from a parent clan.  Sometimes it is amicable and sometimes it isn't (Normally it isn't).  Then there is the issue of leaving the clan through marriage, or outlawry, or choice.  You can't be a member of more than one clan at a time.

I would argue that if your characters have accepted that they are now Chiefs of their new Clan, they are no longer Ernladori, even if their kin are Ernaldori.  They have chosen to leave to lead these Dundealos folk as their Chiefs, and are now no longer Ernaldori, however this will not anger the Ernaldori ancestors.  It may anger the Dundealos ancestors however, and it is likely that the Dundealos ancestors will need to be summoned and have the situation explained to them, so they may adopt the new chiefs and form a new tribe combining the two sets of ancestors.  This may be a good opportunity to jettison thrall taking if either group practice it, as technically either the Ernaldori characters or the Dundealos might be classed as late arrivals like the "Nalda Bin etc", so no more thralls thanks.

In terms of their tattoos, there will likely have to be an accommodation met.  I suspect that first generation tattoos are cursory for a new clan, and only second generation tattoos are taken seriously.  There is likely some rich tradition that governs what happens in terms of tattoos changing, but it isn't covered anywhere.  I would imagine that youngsters getting tattoos for the first time will have a combination of the Dundealos tattoos and the Ernaldori tattoos best known to the tattooists.

Issues to do with the strength of loyalty passions are likely to be telling in the next few years.  

If there is religious significance to Trollball I wish there weren't.  Why does everything have to have religious significance?  Why can't anyone do something simply for the sake of entertainment in Glorantha?  Even the Gods know that religious fanaticism eventually hits a point of diminishing returns.

20 hours ago, Morien said:

Also, England is famous for its lack of rain, right, hence the need of irrigation ditches? *tongue firmly in cheek*

More seriously, agreed with the previous poster.

TBH you might actually need ditches to de-irrigate fields in Britain, channels to draw the water away without washing the crops away too.😆

More seriously, if your character was going to increase their land holding by cutting down wilderness, they would likely need to de-stump the new pastures, fence them in, and irrigate them.  Established land likely has most of that already.  One thing that might not be as common as irrigation ditches is good strong stone fences.  There are likely to be a good few rotting wooden ones that need replacing, and the same goes for cottages.  It's hard to hate someone who pays for a better place for you to live in if Hate Landlord is the main motivation here.

17 hours ago, Squaredeal Sten said:

IMHO the local naiad is not the result of a purpose to interact with humans.  The naiad exists because of the principle that everything that moves must have a spirit to enable it to do so.  The rivers originally flowed upward from the sea, and when they formed in the gods age humans may not even have been around.  As there were no human witnesses, we cannot account exactly for the formation of any body of water, but it must all proceed from the water rune and that rune's original owner among the gods.

Fair enough, but why take on a human-like form if that is the case?  Isn't a moving body of water infinitely more versatile?  It is so protean it can literally break into peices and reform, or create multiple appendages.  Most of the water spirits are serpents, not naiads, and I don't think that is an accident.  I don't think naiads predate the man rune.  How could they, except in a non-man-rune form?

17 hours ago, Rodney Dangerduck said:

I'd argue that an unintelligent creature like a horse doesn't have faith to lose.  Even if it did, the spell does not force the horse to run away.  The enemy rider should, in general, be fine.

I heartily disagree.  Fear strikes you like a Shade attack and can kill people.  Animals like horses have a fight or flight response, thus they have a "faith" in their ability to fight, and sometimes they will rear and plunge or trample an enemy.  They are far more likely to run from an enemy though, and that is what demoralize triggers.  Horses spook easily.

On 12/15/2022 at 2:15 AM, Squaredeal Sten said:

In your opinion, would every sizeable body of water have its own naiad?  Have its own water cult?

Yes.  At least one naiad per large body of water.  Maybe even a demigod.  I see naiads as being manifestations of a river's beauty, fertility and magic.  As to how they form, well we could hypothesize many things...  A reward from the water deity for faithful worship?  Spontaneously created by the deity to serve and proselytize with nearby humans so that the water deity will gain worship?  Too much fertility, spirit and man runes in the water?  Only the gods (or godlearners perhaps) really know.

7 hours ago, metcalph said:

I think Harpies are no more Beast People than Wind Children are.  IMO Harpies are Wind Children that have become corrupted by Chaos.

Works for me.

51 minutes ago, Godlearner said:

Yeah, but that is real life and our rule set is not a simulation of all things which occur in real life. Can't tell you how many times I been told that. 

Well I've never subscribed to that way of thinking.  Art imitates life imo.  In any case, demoralize works on animals in the rules last time I checked, only befuddle doesn't.

On 12/17/2022 at 8:20 AM, mfbrandi said:

Because the victors write the history, surely.

Actually while that is how the saying goes, records will demonstrate that the defeated are just as likely to write history as the victors, presuming they are still alive.

As to breaking the Compromise, it constitutes a police action imo.  As to what counts as a god, well, the gods only know, but it likely has to do with amassing a certain quantity of runes, but especially the infinity rune, as that is what links gods in to the infinite POW they enjoy (at a guess).

On 12/16/2022 at 6:31 PM, JRE said:

My own take is that the sovereignty of Dragon Pass actually belongs to the Inhuman King (and why it is Dragon Pass and not Dragons' Pass). Why is it the Inhuman King and not Queen, if dragonewts are functionally sexless, and we assume genderless unless deviating from the Path? Ingrained prejudice.

The Inhuman King is the only dragonewt who is not functionally sexless, and it lays literally all the eggs as if it were some sort of hive queen.  The IK should definitely be an IQ.    

22 hours ago, Eff said:

 The arrival of the Fire Elves is not in service of some messianic rescue, but will instead be the incorporation of flames and controlled burning into the Aldryami worldmind to transform Gata into Gaia. 

Any Aldryami can become a fire elf when doused with the correct accelerant.  They also become initiates of Brother Dog, as they all go "woof".

14 hours ago, AlHazred said:

 

• City of Lei Tabor (1980): capital city of the feudal Duchy of Lei Tabor, a semi-independent seat of power and religion. Using a mix of Gloranthan and non-Gloranthan cults, I never used this as it would have required too much work to integrate into my campaign. As "the last vestige of a once mighty empire that still dominates the area," you could use it in a part of the Holy Country that has started to fragment due to the disappearance of the Pharaoh.  It might also fit in Lunar Tarsh

I would have dumped this in Ralios myself.  Reworked the names to fit.

21 hours ago, Godlearner said:

Yeah, since they lost their INT stat in RQG that is the case. Not really sure if they should be subject to being Demoralized either.

Trust me, Demoralize is about fear and few things are more easily spooked than a horse.  Their answer to life's problems is to run away from them.  

16 hours ago, PhilHibbs said:

It'll end up somewhere. When my Trickster was beheaded, everything that he had ever swallowed came out the other end.

Well isn't that just BLOODY TYPICAL ! ! ! 🤬😉😆

4 hours ago, Bill the barbarian said:

Ah, but if it has a credit card (how else can it be charging?) it must be sentient, they don't give credit to just anybod... 

You just realized that a financial institution gave a credit card to a parrot with a Facebook profile huh Bill? 🤭

On 11/19/2021 at 10:08 PM, Oleksandr said:

So, I looked through several tables of battle sizes, and noticed that armies in it are razer.. big. I mean, really Big. This correspond to average army sizes as described in chronicles, but problem is, modern historical consensus is that this numbers are greatly exaggerated for added "epicness" (especially on enemy side 🤣). 

This matter is somewhat up for grabs.  The fact is, many of the numbers that are used are based on urban populations not the agricultural carrying capacity of the land.  People lived in rural areas, which were often pretty densely populated, as rural households liked to have plenty of children to work the fields for free.  Remember also that Pendragon also represents a multi generational period of enormous prosperity for ordinary folk whose populations grow large until the whole Grail problem destroys the fertility of the land.  This is mirrored by the fact that Arthur and Guinevere are childless.

In terms of logistics, also remember that the Khanate was able to put enormous numbers in the field by way of provisioning them by a moving herd that was basically a larder of meat on the hoof.  Recon considers places for the herd to feed and water as it rampages while also considering the disposition of the enemy.  In Britain, with its long coast and many waterways, boats become an obvious way to provision and perhaps even move armies.

On 12/16/2022 at 2:19 PM, Mark Mohrfield said:

Surely everyone remembers the illustration of the Praxian Kangaroo Tribe in Tales of the Reaching Moon issue 1. They must be giant kangaroos, as the tribesman is shown riding in a the kangaroo’s pouch.

They are all called Joey.

On 12/16/2022 at 7:30 AM, kalidor said:

I thought that earth temples had a lot of political independence. I mean, you don't mess with the Rex but you conduct your own temple business. 

The King can still have you exiled or killed.  You are there on the Tribe and Clan's sufferance.  You'd better show some loyalty and good will, doubly so if you are an outsider, as you will be the first suspect if there is any sabotage or subterfuge.  If you are an outsider with power, or even an insider with power, you will always have rivals who will plot to displace you.  The greater the loyalty you display the greater the freedom you will likely reap in the longer term.  Trust is always earned.

On 12/14/2022 at 10:14 PM, whitelaughter said:

How about you?

The Lhankor Mhy detect spells can be quite specific.  Why learn detect book when you can learn detect parchment or detect ink, and why learn either of them when you can learn detect script.  As for Detect Silver and Detect Gold, they can act as a good way of finding people who don't know your their enemy yet, as the silver or gold that moves is likely being carried.

18 hours ago, PhilHibbs said:

In case it gets lost in the rest of the post above...

Befuddle the charging horse!

Sorry, unintelligent beasts can't be befuddled last time I checked.

Oh, as to the One Ring, our Trickster ate it.  Swallow!  Is it destroyed?  *shrug*

On 6/28/2022 at 3:05 PM, GMKen said:

I noticed while going through the clan lists (which I’ve divvied up by their ‘allied’ citadels) that there are a number of clan names which bear some similarities to hsunchen tribes.

Given that Brother Dog and Foundchild are worshipped in both Prax and Balazar, and I don't think they are proper hsunchen. I would suggest that Waha may have even been raised in Balazar by Helpwoman, while a little godling refugee from the chaos wars raging over the Rockwoods in Generts Lands.  If the Balazarings are hsunchen, they would probably be Dog hsunchen, but dogs are domesticated, not wild, so they have no shapeshifting powers.  Ever hear of a chicken or sheep hsunchen?  I don't think so.  Domesticated animals lose the power to make humans want to be them, and instead become objectified creatures that human magic manipulates.

The fact that the Balazarings name themselves after local animals is likely due to the clan shamans forming some sort of pact with local spirit animals.  This is not the same as being Hsunchen, but means that the clan and the animal type won't attack each other and may help each other on occasion, much as it is when Sartarite clans call themselves things like "blue fox", or "muledeer".

That's my take on the matter, anyhow. YGWV.

My first character is Barry Leslie McKnockater an Australian Male psychiatric nurse from Queensland whose parents both became abusive alcoholics after returning from Desert Storm.  He and his siblings were not so much raised as dragged up, just so they could be kicked down again.  Both of Barry's older siblings eventually fled the coop, and Barry being the youngest was only saved by his teenage growth spurt.  It was a growth spurt that kept on giving, and Barry made the most of it by pumping iron like his life depended on it, because it did.  Barry could soon pass for someone many years his senior and looked utterly out of place in the tech school he attended.  Barry took up shearing for a while, illegally due to being underage, and eventually when his parents tried to beat him, he was easily able to wrestle them to submission and then he reasoned with them, eventually convincing them to go into rehab.  Barry was a regular visitor to the rehab center, and began helping the staff.  Given he could easily wrestle an obstreperous sheep, or anyone else for that matter, problem patients proved no problem for Barry in his volunteer role.  The director of the rehab center took a liking to Barry for his work ethic and his unpretentious and compassionate manner, and pulled some strings to find him a nursing scholarship so they could get him on staff.  Barry had some trouble with the more academic side of his studies but people intervened to coach him over his difficulties while he was volunteering for nightshift.   Eventually he was poached by a London hiring firm, and has been living in London for a year now.  Barry is what the Cockneys call a "Unit".  Despite being a huge and brutal looking fellow, he is very humane and personable, and has a strange serene look to him.  Barry is largely unflappable, and is very practical in a crisis.  He is also extremely decent and compassionate.  He is also very clean living.  Barry is not scared of having a drink, but avoids drinking to excess, as he doesn't want to go down the same path as his parents.  He is only 23 years old but looks about 37.

Advantages: Steadfast (His home life was so awful that most situations just don't register as a problem), Natural Toughness (same goes for beatings).

At a guess I think "Gor" relates to the Dark Earth rune and chthonic worship that incorporates human sacrifice.  The mysteries of blooding the soil as a source of fertility.

"How come the only girls who make passes at me all turn out to be serial killers?" - Oshkosh the Odorous.

On 11/17/2022 at 5:05 PM, Eff said:

Orlanth is as we have made him,

Actually he is as Greg made him, and the same goes for the other deities.  Barthes is dead to me.