Darius West

Yeah, the Enclosure version of Shargash didn't include the whole Shargash/Tolat/Red Planet issue, but it was a more entertaining read, and in many ways grounded Alkoth and its role in Dara Happa more clearly within the literature. I personally like and enjoy regional granularity in cults. I am not interested in the fact that Shargash and Tolat are the same god, I am interested in how the cult of Alkoth differs from the cult of the Amazons. Clearly they should have different associated cults, variance in the mythology, and differing forms of worship and standards of admission. Yes there will be similarities, but they are in essence quite different cults, in the same way Japanese Hidden Christianity was massively different to the Roman Catholicism that began it. For this reason I really enjoyed the Enclosure version of Shargash, and was a bit underwhelmed by the RQ:GoG version by comparison.

Yep. My bad. Thx. Corrected in text.

Yeah, fair enough. On the issue of the Trickster flaw, I never liked it. It is silly and arbitrary but in the wrong way. Having GMed a few tricksters now, and even played a couple, a well played trickster really doesn't need this. They make their own fun by coming up with hairbrained schemes that work in the short term, until people get wise to them, then they blow up in the trickster's face. Trickster's cannot "build"; nothing they do leads to stability, and any structure or organization they interact with can only be worse for it, unless they anticipate and accept the need for disorder to keep from becoming stale. That is why the Yelm Pantheon hates Tricksters, but the Orlanthi accept them, but on a leash.

Sar- from Shar-. Given Shargash, it checks out. Gain +1% Speak God Tongue.

Actually, the Issaries cult has Eurmal listed as an associated deity who gives Issaries worshippers the rune spell Clever Tongue. Besides, any trickster worth a poo sandwich knows to hang around on the edge of the Market spell if they are up to no good. How do they know where the edge is? The carved poles! Der! 😆

Shargash did have Crush in the previous write-up in The Enclosure. Not so in RQ:GoG. It's removal is a bit of a shame. I enjoyed the whole "Gilgamesh on PCP" aesthetic that a berserk sun worshipper with a spear and a club invoked.

The fact is, if your character happens to be in Far Point prior to 1625, and even during 1625, the Yelmalio versus Elmal fight is still being played out according to KoS. Harvar Ironfist has been seeking to forcibly convert the tribes of Far Point to the worship of Yelmalio. When the worship of Orlanth was outlawed, many Far Pointers chose to worship Elmal and "defend their steads". Obviously this didn't please the Lunar Occupiers, and the next step in control and assimilation of the area was to enforce the worship of the new god (I do hope Chaosium is not following this example 😜). Of course Ironfist is vigorously opposed by the intransigent tribe of heroes, the Tovtari, but at great cost to the tribe. The boggy uplands that hang above Snakepipe Hollow have always been dangerous, and the Tovtari have a home ground advantage there, so it has been hard going for Lunar and Yelmalio punitive expeditions to make headway. Steads have been burned (well, smoked, it's all too waterlogged from the Sky River storm to actually burn), moss covered sheep stolen, and families put to flight by the religious persecution, which is really shorthand for broader political persecution in the service of Empire. The Tovtari never bent the knee. The Tovtari know that the Hero Wars started with them in 1602 when the Household of Death failed at the Temple of the Reaching Moon, and Far Point became occupied. For the Tovtari, there is no compromise; Elmal is not Yelmalio. They will never bend their knee to Yelm, or Dara Happan tyranny, because they are the Hero Tribe who hold the line between the chaos of Snakepipe Hollow and the rest of Sartar.

Here's one for the ages... There are a whole group of broos who have no chaos taint, at large in the world, but most people never twig to the fact. They are called satyrs.

Surely broos who lack the chaos taint are just satyrs? *chuckle* Imma gonna post that on "your dumbest theories" now 😄.

It reminds me of a pilot friend from back in the 1980s who had to plot his courses on a half dozen flight maps that were invariably spread out in a similar fashion. I love the random color schemes and especially that snippet of the Far Point map that joins Tarsh to Dagori Inkarth. It is great that they are all more-or-less to scale.

My take is this... Mythology is life for everyone in Glorantha. For them, mythology is their science, and they know it is true because it produces reliable outcomes, because of magic. As a result, everybody grows up steeped in myths, and this is a good part of their education. They don't have TV, so of an evening, after they have eaten and discussed the events of the day and made plans for tomorrow, the people of Glorantha will likely tell a few myths while gathered around the hearth. Now when guests come over, they will be encouraged to tell the myths they know that you don't know. Of particular interest will be having a sage come over, as then you can ask some really knotty mythological questions that vex you. So if you don't understand who invented the Lightbringer's Quest, then the sage will explain who Harmast Barefoot was, and why, politically, he needed to perform the Lightbringer's quest to you as an audience, with the intention of explaining the situation clearly to you. Similarly if you don't like meldeks and godlearners, but don't understand what they are, there will be people in your acquaintance who know and will explain it to you. Mythology thus becomes a process of lifetime learning/indoctrination. Even heroes will not know all the myths and their permutations, despite having a lawyerly understanding of the ins and outs of the mythological relationships that make the world of Glorantha. Mostly people will specialize in the lore of their particular cult. Yes, I sympathize Bill. Let's call this player's behavior what it is; metagaming. I can also understand the temptation to metagame. It unfortunately shows a certain lack of maturity as a RPGer imo. The only fix I can offer is one I used to muzzle a similar problem. As a GM faced with similar problems I ruled that characters could only have such privileged knowledge if they made a skill roll for an appropriate mythological lore. This was back in RQ3 when knowledge skills weren't subject to experience rolls, but required sitting down with books or a teacher for hours on end. This took the edge off the metagaming abuses quite well, while allowing new characters to develop their skills and learn new things that their character knew that they as players didn't know. It was also pretty funny having my meta-gamer character sitting there in utter frustration, chafing at the bit to blurt out what he knew, but unable to because he had muffed the roll. I had to remind him to bite his tongue and play his character from a position of ignorance, and enjoy that opportunity. Ultimately he realized the absurdity of his situation and played up his character's ignorance for laughs, and enjoyed it, so I tacitly rewarded his behavior by allowing his ignorance to open up an opportunity that acting from position of knowledge would not have offered. I did enjoy the schadenfreude of watching him squirm though.

Based on what I have read about Prax, and various nomad cultures, oases in the Wasteland are not necessarily neutral ground. Particular clans of Praxian tribes will control them by force. As a charity/courtesy, and to keep the peace, they may (but are not obliged to) offer other groups access to water. This is an act of good will, and a means of minimizing conflict when the environment is being enough of an enemy for everyone. Similar protection and even hospitality will also be offered when chaos is on the move and the tribes need to band together against it. Against type, it can be argued that Storm Bull is actually a unifying and pacifying force among the Praxians, capable of bringing warring parties to their senses. Think about that for a moment 😄. The Neutral Ground idea likely applies primarily to markets, which will be available to anyone who can cross the territory controlled by the Praxian clan. In terms of formal greetings, there are ritual challenges that other Praxians can face to gain entry to an oasis, but they won't be given these courtesies if their clan is challenging the present occupiers for control of the oasis.

Source?

He gave of his tears... (Cheaper than magic points).

All lies... 😉

How about, the damage it rolls gets added to the roll for hit location?

It is perfectly possible to see Eurmal as the model of right action if you don't know you are looking at Eurmal. Charisma, Lie, and illusions spells are like that. Also remember than many gurus are rascals who get you to do the wrong thing to educate you as to why the right path is important, and to teach you to have courage in the face of making mistakes.

Surprise adds +3 to any action the surprised defender wants to perform in the round they are surprised (p193-194). Heaven forfend they have to choose between preparing a weapon OR a shield. Also, they won't have spells cast. Attacking an unaware/defenseless opponent also gets a +40% bonus (p223). Page 224 also indicated that there is a penalty for darkness, hence a GM may see fit to invoke a penalty to defend against someone who is constantly moving to flank when engaging a single character. Remember that in RQ, having your spells cast before combat is an extreme advantage, and doubled if the enemy has nothing prepared. A surprised character will have no spells cast, and likely no weapons drawn. It is possible they won't have a helmet on, and may not even be wearing armor, as armor is uncomfortable to wear when you apparently don't need it. In terms of invisibility, arguably the total darkness rules could apply (-75% to attack and parry, p224) for the round in which surprise is initiated. Remember that invisibility drops in the instant when the attack lands. It is also possible to invoke the aimed blow rules to attack at the end of the round at half skill to guarantee where the hit will land (p197) on SR 12, pretty much insuring that no other action can be taken by their enemy that round. In terms of extra damage, RQ is not D&D, and you don't get rogue backstab damage. The reason a surprise attack does more damage is that it is delivered with more ease and skill, and so is more likely to achieve a critical or special result (pages 204-206). Note, that as written, one's best defense against a surprise attack is to be able to dodge effectively, as this requires no preparation. Of course if you are in a military formation and you dodge, you have broken your position in that formation.

I don't think Eurmal is a master of Dragon magic. He is a dabbler in many things. Eurmal learned what it would take to learn to speak Auld Wyrmish and learn Dragon Magic (ghastly operations). He didn't much like the sound of that but was curious about what it would do to someone else, so he tricked them into it. Of course Dragons and Dragonewts think that everyone else were just dragonewts who strayed from the Draconic path so far they forgot who they truly are; even Eurmal. Of course we all know the dragonewts are wrong and crazy, don't we? The mere fact that dragonewts seem to behave like tricksters is just a coincidence.

Anyone who is interested in running or playing in CoC Berlin: The Wicked City, would likely benefit from watching the German production of Babylon Berlin which is available on Netflix, to get some added visual flavor for the setting.

Actually I suspect for most Chalana Arroys, it is about trying to get their daily routine on the ward finished without anyone dying, or messing up so badly they have to pull extra duties. Perhaps, longer term, they think about qualifying for priesthood. Chalana Arroys aren't Jains, and they aren't saints. Sure, they don't fight, but that doesn't restrict them from all the other harm they can potentially have a hand in. For example, I played a CA who ran an organized crime syndicate out of Horn Gate running hazia, slaves, prostitution, loan sharking, fixed gambling, stand-over, and even murder for hire (though she never got her hands dirty with any of it, generally pulling the strings through money and dirty politics). She ultimately became Chief priestess of Horn Gate's Chalana Arroys and ran them as her personal fief, putting the Cult back in cult of Chalana Arroy. You can talk about high minded ideals, but that only applies to 1% of 1% of 1% of the Chalana Arroy Cult.

Yes, what most people fail to grasp is that the Eel family surreptitiously feed the portion of their many servants and slaves who displease them to the hidden ogre population of the Empire in secret cacodemon orgies. As any of the folk belonging to their extended holdings can be referred to as an Eel, as they are effectively allied to the Eel faction (like it or not), a surfeit of Eels can often be subtext for chaotic cannibalism.

Good advice unless you meet the real Arkat.

Actually Lovecraft utterly eschewed many of his former beliefs and shifted from extreme conservatism to being a New Deal Social Democrat late in his life, decrying the emergence of fascism as the greatest threat to the American way of life. Better late than never. Idk that he ever actually properly eschewed racism, but he did marry a Jewish girl, for what that's worth. Yes, he was an asshole vis race, but the Depression made him grow up a bit politically, before cancer got him. Identifying monsters is definitely mythos skill. Normally a skill like intrigue would be good for avoiding mythos machinations, but CoC doesn't have one, so it is all about actual roleplaying and the decisions you make.

Well, on review, they are likely pretty good with a few exceptions. For example, +5% Occult seems okay for the Golden Bough softcover, but for reading the full 26 volume magnum opus is likely worth +20% Anthropology and +15% Occult. Frankly I don't think the Malleus Maleficarum is worth +3% occult. It is more +10% Christian sexual neurosis, and perhaps +1% Occult. Isis Unveiled gets pretty weird and batty, and some of the ideas of the pre-human races might even be worth +1% Mythos. I also feel that the Witch Cult in Western Europe hasn't been properly treated in CoC. I mean, if you have been to Dunwich or Arkham then you might find that text more valuable than +1% occult.