Darius West

Given the rules on RQG p234, how does one lose honor for ambushing? Ambush isn't specifically mentioned as something you lose honor for doing, and it is hardly cowardice for a small number of Orlanthi to ambush a larger number of Lunars. You can hardly call Lunars unarmed either, just because their weapons aren't drawn at the start of an ambush. Nor can the lunars in any way be called guests or call upon hospitality for protection. In short, there is no honor penalty within the rules as written that applies to ambushing from what I can tell. Care to elaborate Jeff? What haven't I understood?

To quote Gerald of Wales (A Norman Christian chronicler): "There is in a northern and remote part of Ulster, among the Kenelcunil, a certain tribe which is wont to install a king over itself by an excessively savage and abominable ritual. In the presence of all the people of this land in one place, a white mare is brought into their midst. Thereupon he who is to be elevated, not to a prince but to a beast, not to a king but to an outlaw, steps forward in beastly fashion and exhibits his bestiality. Right thereafter the mare is killed and boiled piecemeal in water, and in the same water a bath is prepared for him. He gets into the bath and eats of the flesh that is brought to him, with his people standing around and sharing it with him. He also imbibes the broth in which he is bathed, not from any vessel, nor with his hand, but only with his mouth. When this is done right according to such unrighteous ritual, his rule and sovereignty are consecrated." Yes, the bestiality part is EXACTLY what it sounds like. Never assume that we understand those higher mysteries, or that they didn't involve the "call of the flesh". Now this may have been Christian propaganda, but that's a lustful roll you don't want on your permanent record imo.😅

Look, you can do this, but I think you're pushing mud uphill. If you are going to run a Vampire scenario in CoC, why use Ravenloft at all? I mean, while it is great at bringing a Vampire aesthetic to D&D, the notion of retrofitting the same setting into CoC seems, well, an odd choice. Vampires are one of the creatures that Lovecraft didn't actually bother with much in his mythos, and ultimately CoC is about Lovecraft monsters. He does comver hematophages a little, but not with any depth. Lovecraft didn't want to rehash Stoker. Now to be fair, there are write-ups for Vampires for use in CoC, but Strahd is essentially a rip-off of Brahm Stoker's Dracula done for D&D, so why not do the whole Carpathian Transylvanian setting? I know it is pretty hackneyed, and IRL the woodlands of Transylvania are actually very beautiful and kind of cheery, and not the wolf-haunted misty wilderness you think you have signed on for. Nevertheless, Stoker has plenty of good lore and a great setting, if you opt for the 19th Century London arc of the story. In fact there is a CoC scenario pack called The Fungi from Yuggoth which includes a whole Transylvanian scenario without any vampires, that is passable. Regardless, there is a literal ton of vampire fiction out there to draw upon these days, just be careful not to sparkle too brightly in the sunlight. That being said, if I were going to translate Ravenloft (the specific D&D product) into CoC I would opt for a real world and possibly even contemporary setting. Consider a failing middle American city like Gary Indiana (already pretty horrific), and I would have the vampiric element actually using gate spells to enter Strahd's demi-plane, and quite possibly some sort of sick twist on things that would keep some of the characters alive, such as Strahd believing them to be reincarnations of his former lovers or favorite minions. That being said, it will be hard to make Strahd as stat-tough as he is in D&D unless you are very familiar with CoC.

At what point did your initial comment mention warrior cults specifically? Having read over your first comment, you may have thought you mentioned that you were talking about warrior cults, and it may have been clear in YOUR mind, but you didn't actually include any mention that the cults under discussion had to be war cults. I mean, no biggie, it's easy to forget things like that when jotting off ideas on a forum...

I believe what you are suggesting is what the Snakepipe Dancers of the Sartar Magical Union represent in the boardgame.

I assume you mean "worst" in terms of being able to wreak violence (from the way you are writing)? I mean Waha has it all over Issaries, Argan Argar and Pavis in terms of combat power. Also Waha has Shamans, and that's a big deal.

Wow, that write-up is ridiculously OP, less canon than cannon.

True Nick. And the more famous you become, the more type-cast you become too. This can be mitigated by trying to change your image, but that will only lead to being typecast as being mercurial. People like to label people, and Glorantha is in the bronze age.

What you are suggesting is essentially that your characters are going to have to fight a giant. As they say in Dark Souls "Prepare to die".

This is the first I've heard of it. I thought the normal way things were handled is that the crime against the Earth is reported to an Earth temple and the message passed on to the BBGs who go on a rampage from there.

Killing prisoners amounts to a -5% Honor penalty for "attacking an unarmed foe" (RQG p234). This may well be cumulative per prisoner killed. Obviously having them killed by torture should carry a higher honor penalty. So the question becomes, is handing your prisoners over to someone you know will likely mistreat or kill them going to invoke the same penalty? You know, like an axe-happy BBG who has never had any honor. Remember that a prisoner is in no way a guest and is not due any hospitality. I would also point out that it is extremely difficult for a resistance movement to keep any but the most valuable prisoners, given that they are normally hiding in an improvised fieldwork without proper jails or reliable supply. In times of war irl, just because an enemy surrenders doesn't mean the other side have to accept that surrender. In Glorantha, the normal way to surrender is to shout out how much your ransom is worth, but nobody is obliged to take you up on it. Anyone who takes that offer of ransom becomes responsible for the prisoner. Now this is where a guerilla operation like the Orlanthi may need to employ a ransom broker to act as a middle-man between themselves and the Lunars, but really, the risk to the resistance is just too high as they will need to visit the broker and then they can be followed back to their hideout. In effect, resistance movements are not in a position where they can afford to keep prisoners alive, even if they would like to.

I strongly suspect this was Roman propaganda. Children weren't so much sacrificed to Baal Hammon as returned to him if they died prematurely or miscarried from what I can tell; less of a sacrifice than a "return to sender". It is a very controversial area of archaeology and the matter is up for debate still.

There might have been, if Genert or Tada had lived.

For the record, they are literally synonyms, as are ambuscade, bushwhack, dry gulch, and trap, amongst others. I totally agree. So what happened at the Battle of the Queens when that party of Lunar assassins bushwhacked Kallyr and killed her then? We are in accord on this point icebrand. If Humakt hasn't specifically geased you not to ambush, you are completely allowed to try that tactic. The honor rules on RQG p234 don't include any mention of losing honor for surprise attacks. This would change if you broke hospitality to surprise attack a guest, obviously. The Red Wedding in GoT would be a major loss for the Frey family by Orlanthi standards, as an example.

A wonderful exegesis on French slang FDWC, many thanks.👍

Personal loyalties are a very moot point. Remember that the people who inhabit Boldhome may well come from various tribes and clans and be immigrants. As to the people in the city, well, is their loyalty to the City or directly to the King or Crown? Sartar is a kingdom, not a city state. Furthermore, you can assume that many districts of cities will have what amounts to ethnic Orlanthi tribal enclaves for the various tribes who contribute to making the city work. For example, there will be clans that run businesses dealing in their produce (beer, cloth, wool metal etc), and which own and rent local real estate to their clan members in the city, or other people. These will create odd little ghettos of clan and tribal loyalties, with their own feuds and politics. While you are unlikely to face the formal hospitality customs you might meet in tribal and clan areas, a city has its own cultural norms that will be alien to newcomers. People born and raised in an urban environments will be an oddity, as Bronze Age society is rural by a factor of 95%, especially in Sartar. While the cities represent an agglomeration of capital and production, they really exist to provide goods and services to the rural areas rather than the other way around as it is today. Cities represent a perpetual market and collection point of wealth, but one which is constantly being redistributed back to rural areas. Rural areas don't deal much in coins, while cities do, but for this reason, coins tend to stay in cities, and don't circulate into rural areas. Sick of being cheated, the tribes will set up the means for goods from their people are traded for at fair exchange in their enclaves, often to fill pre-existing contracts. As such, it is possible to have a passion for one's city, but more likely that an city dwelling character will be loyal to their Guild, their district Ring member, their gang, their King, etc. There is a lot more to be loyal to in a city, but loyalty to one's tribe or clan will mean a sort of ethnic enclave ghetto exists and that holds the character's loyalty.

I would draw people's attention to the most recent iterations of the Warhammer Fantasy rules, which is one of RQ's children in many ways imo. I played it at a con before Covid and was pleasantly surprised. It is intrinsically a percentile system, but the percentiles are also kept low. It introduces a system of ratios so that a higher skill has a distinct advantage over a lower one, and whoever hit last has an advantage, indicating that they have back-footed their opponent. I could see a situation where we could incorporate free reactions on non-special rolls of sufficient quality. For example if one character rolls under half their skill, but not a special or a crit, while the other character doesn't, the character who rolls well is able to incorporate a terrain based reaction maneuver. In flat bland territory this might be a shield push a kick or a head-butt, but in a forest it might involve using a branch in tension to spring at the opponent, or a push off slippery rocks, or dirt in the eyes etc.

I have played it that Elusu's nickname comes from the fact that she is fond of leaving little shits in places to prank people. I believe that the term "Crapule" which means "little shit" is a French term for a villainess. French Desperate WindChild, please confirm or refute this, if you would be so kind 😅.

I'm glad to see the origins of the Sartar Magical Union being approached this way Jeff. It makes a lot of sense, and I don't think I have heard it expressed this way before. Good stuff, very lore friendly.

Yeah, infiltration requires an illuminated trickster like Elusu the Little Shit imo. Illuminated tricksters can overcome their innate self-indulgence long enough to complete a mission. Swallow is the strangest assassination method, but exactly what a Lunar deserves, given their Bat abuse.

Yeah, np. So in terms of the Sartar-vs-Lunar problem, it seems to me that Sartar has been under occupation for 22-23 years as of the liberation. During that time it hasn't been a great source of its traditional weapons. That means that most weapons made in this period will likely have been for Lunar clients and made according to lunar methods and patterns for Lunar use. Now I imagine that Sartarites have captured plenty of that material, but much of their gear will be captured Lunar army surplus, somewhat reworked with refitted rune markings i.e. stripped off moon runes, added on air runes, etc. In terms of kopises, this will amount to reworked hilts and guards. No more bat motifs, more cat motifs.

This sounds interesting Monty, please consider starting a separate topic to let people know what you have done with the system.

It's a long walk from Lismelder to Tourney Altar for such a frivolous duel, and for what Indrodar? Your tribe is more famous for its beer and its inn than for your unsuccessful efforts at clearing the swamp of zombies. Does that irk you? Truth rune speaks truth, and you know it to be so. At least a fellow Humakti can appreciate your brave failure, let me buy you a drink for your sorrows.

If the PK pays for more land to be donated, they can likely cut the yearly expense to zero, but keep all the privileges if the protection of the land remain the PK's duty.

I think you mean buzz-killer, as a party killer can mean something quite different (TPK terminology). On the other hand, the notion that Humakti can't party completely ignores their gothic self destructiveness. While dueling is preferable within Humakt, it is possible to drink oneself "to Death". Compare that to little miss axe castration fetish in the corner and I know who I'd rather party with.