I noticed you used my Reed Inn (D-16) encounter with Bagzaga Rag from the Pavis Encounters forum, slightly rewritten.

11 hours ago, soltakss said:

In my Glorantha, Agimori see Yelmalians as soft and weak with inferior pike formations.

Sure, some could join, but they would then be seen as soft and weak by fellow Agimori.

So here's a curly one... Do Agimori use their large shields the way Yelmalios do in Phalanx fighting, or do they hold their pike in both hands without a shield?

On 11/10/2022 at 9:54 AM, mfbrandi said:

...but then I don’t see time as a cosmic horror...

Chronophobia is actually about the most rational phobia when you seriously start to consider it.  I don't suffer from it, but I sorta think I should, if I were being totally honest.  I mean, time is literally an abstract concept with no absolute physics that is slowly destroying the universe and consuming everything that has meaning.  If someone said "Make me a C'thulhu deity that isn't actually a C'thulhu deity", Time would work too well.

On 11/4/2022 at 4:21 PM, Jeff said:

I view the White Bull more like this:

Do the Lunars have a prophecy about:

Sacred animals all.

On 11/8/2022 at 11:47 PM, Martin Dick said:

Didn't they get bored out of their mind on the many, many occasions when a sword skill was totally inappropriate for the situation?

Pandering GM made life easy for him. Y'see the thing about keywords is that they can be made to relate to anything with a little verbal chutzpah.  Plenty of sword skill and no ability to argue?  Make the argument a form of duel, with ideas of the cut and thrust of ideas.  Can't craft?  Well isn't a chisel just a form of blade?  Isn't a saw just another blade?  Can't I suggest that if this trade is a matter of life and death than I can augment with my death rune?

11 hours ago, Jose said:

What spell does he give to oslira? 

Fear (p95).

On 5/18/2020 at 12:41 PM, Imperial_Solaire said:

 

1. A outright TPK can be anti-climactic and can really ruin the mood and fun and leave a bad taste in the players mouth. 
2. If a player is absolutely on fire with their rolls it will make the encounter seem too easy
   1. I typically increase an NPCs opposing skill during social encounters if the Face at the time has been having fire rolls
   2. I will have the enemy land the hit that they wouldn't otherwise, create tension in the altercation
      1. I never have them roll enough damage to give a major injury or knock them out
3. On the flip-side, if they player is having a super rough time I will throw them a bone
   1. Maybe the regular success on a spot hidden or insight reveals information that was written for the Hard Success
   2. I will lower the opposing skill of an NPC so they have an easier chance of a success
   3. I will make a monster use an attack that holds the investigator instead of killing the investigator
      1. Or if they hit the investigator with an extreme success, itll be a hard success so they don't do as much damage
      2. I will have the damage be a bit lower than what was rolled

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.

On 11/4/2022 at 2:43 AM, Nick Brooke said:

My own take on the White Bull cult is more or less set out in Act 7 of Black Spear: it's an apocalyptic movement, led by an obscure spiritual entity that is definitely related to Storm Bull (somehow), whose Illuminated leader takes his fanatical horde of followers away from their traditional role defending Prax against Chaos to throw them into the meat-grinder of his senseless war against the Lunar Empire. Which eventually culminates, as we all know, with him betraying all the gods of Glorantha (the Storm Bull very much included) to Wakboth the Devil. But I'm sure everything is completely above-board and ticketty-boo, and there's absolutely no reason to question anybody's motives or doubt that this is an entirely good thing. (Nods, vigorously). Hail Harshax!

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.

18 hours ago, Nozbat said:

I spent two days researching and drawing a detailed plan of the Jagdschloss in Grunewald, Berlin for the latest episode of my campaign Nyarlathotep Rag... and the investigators were too scared to go in... fecking gobsh1tes

I'll recycle it for something else... 

I'm guessing it's happened to others? What's the worst

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

On 11/4/2022 at 10:47 PM, PhilHibbs said:

The rules indeed say "once per session per ability", but I'm not a fan of that. What if you are getting together once every few months and playing all day through Sunday morning and afternoon? I guess it's encouraging imagination and discouraging one-trick-pony characters where "that damn 🦆 is always using  for everything".

I guess if you're an all-day group then you just say "Tea break, new session, augments reset" as appropriate.

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.

On 6/3/2017 at 7:31 AM, Trifletraxor said:

Skill list:

• Survival

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

On 11/5/2022 at 3:55 AM, Rick Meints said:

I feel it needs stating again. All the Avalon Hill RQ3 titles mentioned in this thread are usually available on the secondary market at non-insane prices ($50-$75 on average) if you are attentive and patient. That's not as easy as just going to Chaosium's website to order them at your convenience, of course. 

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...

2 hours ago, Manunancy said:

I don't think there's many places with both copper and tin close by.

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.

1 hour ago, mfbrandi said:

I think one of the arms race theories of LBAC on Wikipedia mentioned mass-produced cast bronze weapons. My guess is that cast bronze is less brittle than cast iron (presumably, a cast iron sword would be suicide), but perhaps there is a metallurgist here who can squeak up.

IIRC — and as always with my off-the-top-of-the-head rambling, caveat emptor — reworking iron without completely melting it is one of the ways of getting the all-important small amount of carbon into it.

In retrospect one of the oddities of early RQ: unalloyed iron suppressed magic, but who would want to equip themselves with unalloyed iron weapons and armour, anyway?

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.    

On 10/31/2022 at 8:02 AM, mfbrandi said:

Now, I may have this wrong — in the long run, you won’t lose money by betting against my opinions — but I thought the switch to ‘iron’ (i.e. steel) in the Mediterranean and thereabouts was due to the difficulty of maintaining supplies of the ingredients for bronze, there being few dead gods to scavenge from. Sure, steel made better — lighter, stronger — weapons, but it took more than that to push everybody over the technological hump: in the end, people shifted to iron because they had to, not because it was better.

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.

On 10/27/2022 at 2:19 AM, MOB said:

"It was like finding an oasis in the middle of the desert." — El @Runebloggershares reminiscences about the fanzine Tales of the Reaching Moon, and how it helped sustain RuneQuest - Glorantha fandom in the late 1990s - early 2000s.

 

(And how various members of the Reaching Moon Megacorp that published it are now working at Chaosium today!)

 

https://elruneblog.blogspot.com/2022/10/gloranthan-fanzines-tales-of-reaching.html

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.

On 10/27/2022 at 11:46 PM, Barak Shathur said:

So I’m about to play an Iron Dwarf. Reading about Mostali in the Bestiary I see their preferred weapon is Warhammer, a weak weapon that, given most dwarves won’t even have damage bonus due to their small size, doesn’t benefit them whatsoever. 

You think that's bad? Apparently each iron Warhammer costs 40K!

On 10/27/2022 at 11:46 PM, Barak Shathur said:

 Why would an Elder Race that is so used to war, and has so many enemies, choose to handicap themselves in this way? Can someone explain?

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.  

On 10/27/2022 at 10:34 PM, EricW said:

I see post moon fall as more a post nuclear apocalypse world. I mean the gods no longer answer, magic no longer works, even the memory of magic grows dim, given that when chaos eats things the memory of what was eaten can disappear. Empires would be completely stricken, all their communication and battle magic would simply no longer work. Worse, people would be hungry, too hungry to bother with empires and world affairs. Instead of magicking up a bountiful harvest, people would have to learn from scratch how to grow food. And the first few harvests would be dismal, bugs would eat the food, crops would fail, and nobody would have any idea how to fix it.

No wonder it was called the age of illiteracy, anyone who got hold of a book would burn it for warmth. I mean its not like all those colourful descriptions of magic and divinity would be any use to anyone in the post moon fall world.

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

On 10/29/2022 at 7:50 AM, PhilHibbs said:

I'm sure that when HeroForge introduces duck heads and feet, someone will spot it and let us know.

Pfft.  Don't be Daffy. 😎

On 10/28/2022 at 3:19 AM, Baron Wulfraed said:

Burning magnesium and thermite.

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