Darius West

1. Call of C'thulhu has historically been a game with a very high character turnover. They go up against the mythos and they die. Players need to understand that the joy of C'thulhu is not so much in the victory (which should be bitterly hard won), but in roleplaying a hideous death or a descent into madness. 2. In the unlikely event that a character rolls well or uses their intelligence to think their way through a situation cleverly in a way you hadn't thought of, their success should be their reward for doing so. Call of C'thulhu seldom permits this to happen, and stealing it for the sake of dragging out an encounter is selfish imo. 3. Death and failure is supposed to be part of the game too. Let the dice tell the story, that's what they're for. In fact, I would strongly recommend being a Gentleman Keeper and rolling the dice in front of the players so they can see you aren't fudging rolls. If you roll an 01 and the character dies, bad luck, today was the day. The same goes for when you roll a 00 and we discover C'thulhu tripped over like a putz.

Well that's one perspective, but given that the Lunars invaded Prax and tried to enslave all the Founders of the tribes, and the Lunars unequivocally worship chaos, clearly the Stormbulls of Prax are destroying the chaos that threatens them the most by following Argrath. To call Argrath's war senseless is to ignore the price conquered people pay. They never want to be conquered again, and who can blame them? As for Argrath betraying the gods to Wakboth, hmmm, I think Wakboth is still safely under the Block thanks, last anyone checked. It was Kajabor who is Entropy that the gods banded against to turn him into Time, but Time is still Entropy, so what were the gods saving anyone from? Time is cosmic horror all on its own. Now, given the Lunars previously "killed" Orlanth and Ernalda at Whitewall, can we be certain that Argrath's involvement in that HQ was the total destruction you suggest? Or will the world "get better" like it did after the Long Winter? I'm betting the latter. Argrath was saving the gods from the stagnant death they had elected to accept in order to be "Power Slaves" a la Iron Maiden imo.

Just kidnap someone they care about and have them held there if it is Pulp C'thulhu. Serve the fecking chicken-hearted gobsh1tes right!

The first time I played HQ we ran into this problem. We had a Humakti who literally used only sword skill and a passion augment. I don't think he ever spent even a point on anything else.

I have a general level of great good will to Americans. I have met a great many Americans in my time, and they came from a great many places in the USA, from a diverse selection of backgrounds, and held a great many opinions that often dramatically differed from each other. What I can say however is that they were all kindly and good humored folk, who were hospitable and well-meaning. It concerns me that Americans don't tend to like each other or treat each other nearly well enough. It worries the hell out of me that many of you live in fear of your fellow Americans, when it's only a miniscule proportion who are actually dangerous. So, let me remind you that the only people who can destroy America is Americans. Don't do it. Try to find consensus with other people like folks did before the internet. So, please, be kind to each other and try to see the other person's perspective, not just assume your side has all the answers, because nobody does. I hope you have an honest, fair and safe election.

Arguably every skill derives from the Survival skill. Who wants to argue with Charles Darwin? 😎🙈🙉🙊

Good suggestion Soltakss. If you are looking for indigenous Praxian Lodril worshippers, look no further than the Agimori. While many worship the Praxian hunter deity Foundchild, and the women worship Helpwoman, they have a strong Lodril tradition as well, with secrets that go back Before Time, when they were an elite force sent north by Pamalt to fight chaos. I imagine that the Agimori may well be periodic allies of Sun County, with perhaps a few of their number going over to the Yelmalios every generation, because they like the pretty golden armor.

Well, scorpionmen obviously. They aren't called the Jab Hills for nothing. You might also find some grazing Sky Bulls come down to water themselves. You might well find parties of Stormbulls out of Barbarian Town headed for the Stone Woods to fight chaos. Back in the day, Refuge was actually a Gloranthan version of Sanctuary from the Thieves World Anthology. As the Thieves World supplement has some good maps, it might be worth consideration and tinkering to make it a better fit with contemporary Glorantha. If there are elves about, you might consider a few trolls who want to eat them too, but not so many.

Having sat through interminable sanity blasting hours of female relatives watching movie adaptations of Jane Austen, I am inclined to believe that a wayward tentacle or two and some occult homicides would certainly liven the stories up a bit. Why couldn't I have been watching: Modesty and Monstrosity. Tentacles and Temerity. Fishmansfield Park. Possession. (This actually has a 1981 movie starring Sam Neil and Isabel Adjani. 5/5 stars btw. It is a must see! A pity it was a modern adaptation) Ghoulhunger Abbey. Something Ghastly happened to Emma. It is a hidden truth universally censored, that a Great Old One come lately into possession of a material form, must be in need of human sacrifice. - Abdul Al Hazred

These items have been known to show up at RPG Convention auctions from time-to-time.

Hmm... Alchemical coatings to stop corrosives eating your gear might be in order... if possible...

If we are talking about the real world, then the place where the most copper and tin are located in the Mekong River. Lo and behold, this is where we find the oldest bronze objects, and they are ancient bronze drums afaik.

My father is a chemist with a background in metallurgy and has schooled me on the properties of various metals. Yeah, cast iron swords are a no go. As to the unalloyed metal issue. what we call iron and bronze in RQ are not those metals as we know them. Bronze is Hu Metal, and Iron is Ur Metal.

The fact is, nobody really knows what caused the Bronze Age Collapse. There are plenty of theories. I like to view the Invasion of the Sea Peoples as the Earth equivalent of the Wolf Pirates attacking into the Holy Country. As to what caused the change-over from Bronze to Iron/Steel, ultimately steel holds an edge better, and can be reworked without being completely melted, unlike Bronze. It was the Hittites on Earth who are credited with the widescale introduction of blast furnaces and iron working. In Glorantha it is the Mostali, and some Westerners who serve as the main sources for iron.

I loved these magazines so much! They kept Gloarantha going for me, and broke fresh ground almost every edition. I felt that if a work of such quality could still be produced that RQ would return some day. So I waited and waited, and my hair went grey, but I kept the faith, and now look! RQG is a reality, but I am now an ancient grognard.

You think that's bad? Apparently each iron Warhammer costs 40K! Dwarves are a craft-heavy race. They make things, hence weapons that are similar to tools likely come with a hefty racial bonus to skill or some-such. I imagine they may well have war adzes, war drills, war-awls, war spanners and so forth as well.

So a bit like the collapse of Civilization that happened at the end of the Bronze Age?

Pfft. Don't be Daffy. 😎

Yes, like that only magical. I wonder if Mostali might know about your terrifying alchemical wonders however?

He's a pregen in the Starter Pack I believe, but not in the RQG rules.

It is more of a matter of slaves lacking the means to record and research these things. Propaganda and brainwashing is extremely effective. More cultish than cult. If you don't believe me, ask friendly Mr. Hypnotoad.

Yes, they're called Runes. Everything is made on them. The God Learners knew about their abilities to form bonds and specific densities etc. That knowledge was lost when the Gods destroyed the Rune Quest Sight.

I like seeing Kesten Blackblade. I will generally pick him or Vishi Dun when I play the RQ starting characters at tournaments. It would be a fine thing if there were go-to models of all the RQ starting characters available on Heroforge. Then you can start in on the military units of the Hero Wars (hehe nudge nudge).

When running RQ3 I envisaged Invisible Orlanth as a far more recent eventuality. There were always regional ties to the Orlanth Pantheon due to Castle Blue, but since the Lunar victory at the Battle of Castle Blue, that power has diminished. Instead of referencing ancient ties to the indigenous religion of Carmania, Invisible Orlanth started as a slave cult. Conquered Orlanthi, sold as slaves, were maintaining their worship in secret. This was also being done with the covert connivance of their Noble Carmanian owners, as Orlanthi terrorists could be of immense value in Dart Competitions. In turn, subjected to a very alien Carmanian worldview, and in order to keep an emergent secret slave army under control, a new hybrid Orlanth/Idovanus cult emerged, pointing out that "you can see through air, ergo, it is invisible, ergo Orlanth is invisible for He is air, ergo Orlanth=Idovanus/Makan." It is a rudimentary theology at best, but fit for slaves whose only contact with its "mysteries" will likely be receiving some sorcery spells being cast upon them. This also became the training ground for another Orlanthi mystery however... the Orlanth Murderous subcult of teleporting assassins. MGDV. Later in the Hero Wars, the Orlanthi diaspora in Carmania have been exploited for their martial prowess and become part of a Mamluk-style slave cavalry employed by the ever treacherous Carmanian nobles, and become cataphracts armed with spears of lightning, after the fashion of the emergent Aeolian Knights who are the "Shock Cavalry" of their society. I still see little need to gild the lily with a huge exegesis on how Invisible Orlanth has "always been a thing" in Carmania. It seems incredibly "tacked on", and I am still inclined to treat it like a diaspora slave cult, similar to Voodoo or Early Christianity, that may yet awaken some sleeping local powers of Orlanth long dormant in the region. It just seems like a better fit to me. Invisible Orlanthi slaves would benefit from "Rightness" caste magic, and would become a tool of intrigue for their masters. After all, at the end of the day, they're still killing Lunars right?

I suspect that Argrath and the Sartar Magical Union will change people's perspective on sorcery. It's only bad when the enemy is doing it to you. When your sorcerers are doing it to the enemy... not so bad.