Darius West

On 12/27/2023 at 3:54 AM, Bohemond said:

That raises an interesting question. Many real world belief systems include the idea that divine beings occasionally visit incognito to test hospitality (Judaism, early Christianity, Greek and Norse paganism are the ones I can think of off the top of my head). But Gloranthan deities can't do this anymore--it would violate the Compromise. So do Gloranthans actually have the idea of 'the god disguised as a stranger'? 

That is a really good point.  You're right.  On reflection, I don't think they would. 

At best they may have a "Before Time" story within their Grey Age mythology about the Gods coming to visit, but at best the current situation would only include a servant of the deity coming to visit and report back.  While the Divine Stranger may have been a motivation for hospitality in Earth mythologies, it really doesn't fit the Gloranthan paradigm.  Well spotted Bohemond.

The cover looks great.  I am eager to read the contents come March.

2 hours ago, Bohemond said:

It helps to keep in mind that granting hospitality is doing the guest a favor, and it creates a status imbalance in which the host is of higher status than the guest.

By helping the guest, you bring honor to yourself and your people, but you also honor the gods in the form of "the stranger at the hearth", which gods who test mortals often arrive as.

It never occurred to me before this moment that when we couldn't find my Great Uncle's grave number, my whole family had literally lost the plot. (True story btw).

On 12/9/2023 at 3:22 AM, Oldskolgmr said:

(P.S. I do love Greg Stafford's writings, but KOS is his one work that I find almost impenetrable.)

This response surprised me Oldskolgmr, but I'm not going to dismiss your opinion at all.  Instead I am going to explain why I like KoS, and how I read it and even enjoy it ( I really enjoyed it btw).

I have a background in history, so I quickly cottoned on to the fact that GS was presenting us not with the story of Argrath, but with Primary Source Documents and such sources as might be considered relevant if we were going to the original documents, having obtained reliable and deep translations of them.  They are not going to tell us what to think, they are telling us what people at the time thought about Argrath, and what supporting evidence from the time exists to explain what he did and how he lived.

Think of it a bit like investigating the life and times of Alaric the First, King of the Visigoths.  We have a few Roman sources, but there are few if any quotes from Alaric's own mouth, only accounts of his life and activities, largely written by Romans, culminating with his sack of Rome in 410AD.  So how do we reconstruct Alaric from these sources?  What can we learn?  Well, in combination with other literature from the period, we can begin to put together a picture of the man, but we aren't being spoon-fed, we're doing history. 

That is the KoS experience for me. It is also filled with a variety of little facts and insights into Glorantha that clarify things that are only mentioned in passing elsewhere.  I think the document makes a really interesting jumping off point for writing a Glorantha version of Pendragon's "The Boy King" Campaign.

So when we are reading KoS, we are scholars in the distant future looking at documents gathered during the reign of King Harshax (Belintar?), who is trying to reconstruct lost history after the death of Literacy (Lhankor Mhy bit the dust during the failed Arachne Solara's Web ritual).  These fragments from hundreds of years past are all but a state secret, and in an age where literacy is barely re-emerging, this knowledge has immense importance.  It feels like we are in a freeform Glorantha RPG just reading it, to me.  Then again, I can stomach the Silmarillion, so perhaps I am just a mutant grognard with weird esoteric tastes ?🤔

Now I can put a Face to the Name when we say Mark Smylie.  Thanks for that.  Mark's art has done so much to bring RQ and Glorantha to life.  However much we write about a place, these images convey so much, and Mark's setting specific and lore focused pictures have made RQG and other products so beautiful to look at, while remaining consistent with Glorantha.  RQ hasn't always had such great artists (*coughDobysky cough cough), and Mark is a blessing who has done the game proud.  I'm so glad you got the award Mark, and please keep up the great work; your contributions are deeply appreciated. 👍

On 12/18/2023 at 2:37 PM, pachristian said:

I run a game set in Pavis. The game is set in the 'classic' period of 1615-1621+. The characters have been adventuring together for several years. One player character, Dr. Rhonic, is very active in the cult of Pavis, and is likely to become Champion of Pavis soon. He is regarded as the leader of the team, and the team is known as "Rhonic's Rangers". After a recent adventure, the team was awarded a banner with a spirit. This banner now houses the team's Wyter. 

The story behind the banner is that it was the unit standard of a Pavic peltast unit during the Arrowsmith Dynasty. The standard was recovered from the rubble by adventurers, the spirit restored, and the banner awarded to the Rangers.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thank you in advance!

I have a couple of suggestions:

Generally I favor either a Zebra Stripe as the back pattern, and/or a crenelated wall pattern, over yellow sand to mark the defensive  of Pavis.

The main action could be:

(a) a stylized crossbow with an obsidian tipped quarrel (Showing God Learner and Draconic origins).

(b) a faceless jolanti pitching a boulder like a rock (the faceless statue)

(c) a stylized large fist scattering Praxians off their mounts

(d) A dwarf presenting a human with a crossbow.

(e) three yellow fletched arrows entwined by a Water Serpent.  (we are Kuschile Archers associated with the Pavic Earth cult)

(f) a flying wyrm hurling a lightning bolt

(g) a trident (we are fishermen)

(h) a smiling mouth with golden teeth, except the front ones are missing. (We hate Jaldon)

Having the whole thing surmounted by a blue water dragon head a la Svenson's dragon head banner could look good and would represent the Zola Fel, whose fisherfolk were likely where the peltasts were drawn from.

23 hours ago, Akhôrahil said:

There was a practical experiment to reproduce Egyptian mummification, and their conclusion was that when it comes to working with skin, bronze sucks and obsidian rules. Even today, when you want a super fine edge in an experiment, crackin* glass in certain ways is very useful.

Again, agreed.  I heard apparently MIT (afaik) created a machine that drops glass coke bottles to shatter and produce a single micron edge that lands in a painted circle nearby every time.  They are used as scalpels for microsurgery.

On the other hand, the Lunars have their whole "drive you crazy" line of magic like Lunes and Mindblast.  I have heard that they regard having these effects cast on them as a great aid to developing their Illumination, and only barbarians consider them attack spells.  

On 12/21/2023 at 2:54 AM, Scornado said:

If the senior Rune Priest of a temple dies unexpectedly, what happens to the temple wyter?  Does it hang around for 7 days (during which the priest could be resurrected) and the new senior priest consequently has some time to "adopt" it?  (What happens if it is adopted and then the priest is resurrected?)

A wyter is a spirit of a group.  It doesn't specifically "belong" to the High Priest, it is just that the High Priest is presently the person (or one of many persons) with access to it.  When the High Priest dies, the wyter waits around for another group member to contact it.  The wyter is only likely to dissipate when the group dissipates.  Wyters are pretty much in all respects the same as egregores

That's my 2 cents on the matter.

On 12/17/2023 at 10:12 PM, Scotty said:

The easiest way to look at this, is does the spell act as armor, absorbing damage? If so, it's ignored, if not, it's not. As usual specific spells may overrule this.

• Shield - ignored by crits
• Protection - ignored by crits
• Ward Against weapons - does not act as armor, unaffected by crits
• Dampen Damage - does not act as armor, unaffected by crits
• Stabilize Iron - special effect, armor is unaffected by criticals.

Note that even if the armor still effects, the maximum special damage will very likely overwhelm it.

As always, GMs are free to run the game as wish and ignore the rules.

I have no dog in this fight.

This approach makes sense to me.

I like the fact that Sorcery has found ways of countering criticals but Divine magic hasn't.  A sorcerer, especially a godlearner, would see their friend be killed by a crit, and set about trying to understand the principles involved so they could create a work-around.  Gods care about their worshippers, but are essentially trapped in the past, and so cannot solve modern problems the way a sorcerer can.  It makes sorcery more relevant.

On 12/22/2023 at 7:19 AM, Akhôrahil said:

Better, even, for copper.

Enchant Stone would be super useful for some cultures!

I totally agree.  Actually you can get flint/obsidian/ natural glass heads to 1 micron edges, which you can't do with metals.  If it was possible to enchant such material to increase its durability, natural glass could potentially outperform the metals as edged weapons. Even better, anyone can potentially use stone tools without penalty, so you could have everyone spending 1 POW to have a reusable super-sharp flint spear at their disposal.

On 12/18/2023 at 3:25 PM, g33k said:

Illuminates, I think, are less susceptible to madness.

Well, remember that Illuminates seem to have no problem with accepting contradictions.  War is Peace.  Freedom is Slavery.  Wealth is Poverty.  All this is mirrored in the Lunar state, and all you need to do is love Moonson and do as you are told.  So arguably they cannot go insane, as that moonboat has sailed.

While we are on the topic, has anyone ever run a scenario in Winter Ruins?  Is there any "official documentation" about it ?  I think I heard vampires hang out there from somewhere?  I find that difficult to imagine given how cruel it would be to their already taxed magic points.

1 hour ago, jajagappa said:

Always. If you're not ready for adulthood, you're certainly not ready to enter the mysteries of a cult (nor will you have the knowledge and clan markings to protect you when the bad spirits or demons come into the ceremonies).

There is always an exception to a rule.  I have an example of one.  A boy playing hide and seek stumbles into sacred Death Ground, and as a result unknowingly becomes a Deadeye, i.e. someone who can (unwillingly and uncontrollably) kill with a glance.  He basically has unlimited access to Sever Spirit that activates against any living thing he can see.  When I ran this childhood scenario, at first a trickster arrived tried to "steal death" from him to solve the problem and gain the Strike Rune Spell.  The trickster failed, and so he had to be initiated into Humakt while blindfolded in order to gain control over the power.

On 12/18/2023 at 5:53 PM, g33k said:

By my reading, these are mostly very Cult-specific.

The Boys in the Pits story isn't particularly cult specific.  I think you get a few to choose from.   That of course raises other problems however, namely,

(a) what about other lesser deities like Yinkin, Heler, Elmal etc. 

And

(b) do you do your adulthood initiation before your cult initiation.  I would say unequivocally you need to be an adult BEFORE you can initiate into a cult, UNLESS there is a major reason why you need to initiate early.

7 hours ago, Liberator said:

Can you fine folks point me to some reference material for Alleister Crowley?  My players have decided it would be fantastic to entangle themselves with him.

We just finished the first part of Tatters of the King and they have some time before we begin the 'British Gods' portion of the campaign.  

I can do wikipedia stuff but am curious if there is any published CoC material featuring him.

What year are you set in? 1927?

Just a question guys.  Are these initiations into specific cults or tribal initiations into adulthood?

I have generally based Orlanthi male initiations on the model of the time when the Strange Uncles took Orlanth, Humakt, Storm Bull and Ragnaglar and put them in different pits, ostensibly to kill them, but allegedly in order to test their powers.  It is found in KoS.  I believe there is also an Orlanthi  initiation ritual based on the I Fought We Won Battle.  It might be interesting to develop what other pantheons use for their adulthood initiations.

While not official, the https://glorantha.fandom.com/wiki/Buserian site lists Buserian having the following Rune magic:

Divine Magic: All Common, Starbeam, Transcribe, Find Hidden, Translate, Analyze Magic.

Associated Cults: Yelm (Cloud Clear), Polaris (Shield)

I personally gave Buserian a Stellar Oracle power that allowed followers in general terms what to prepare for in the coming year, and a True Scripture spell that removed falsehoods from anything they had recorded and replace it with the truth.

1 hour ago, David Scott said:

Father of Independents:

The current main reference is in Tales of the Reaching Moon #15, until the spirit cults are published in the Cults of RuneQuest Series.

There's also: Prosospaedia 38, and Earth Goddesses 79

 

Yes, I have read that TORM many times, and I just never remember reading the Father of Independents.  It isn't a particularly good or memorable name to be fair.  

On 12/10/2023 at 5:58 AM, Tatterdemalion Fox said:

I’d love feedback, sure, but since this is a forum, I’d also love to hear how you’ve handled Thed in your games. Was I wrong about her limited applications? Has she contributed to memorable stories at your table? Have you remixed her in different ways?

Joerg is correct from my readings on Thed.  She was not an Earth Deity at all, and certainly not an Earth Witch; she was an Animal Goddess like Eiritha.  She was also a nasty character who sought to seduce Orlanth and have sex with him by deception, which is rape, and as a result was served up to Storm Bull who prolapsed her.  Instead she chose Ragnaglar as her consort.  Ragnaglar, of course, had been driven mad in the Sex Pits during his initiation, failing it, where the other sons of Umath had succeeded.  This pair also met up with Malia to become the Unholy Trio, and having murdered Rashoran after hearing his message went and polluted the Font of the Primal Plasma, creating the Chaosium of today.

Thed should be a broken remnant of her former self.  This is because Kyger Litor killed and skinned her, turning Thed's skin into a drum.  This is also why Thed has a spirit rune, as she no longer has a body, and she is just a malignant spirit.  Of course Daka Fal likes Thed, despite her chaotic associations, as she is an ancestor deity like Kygr Litor.

I think the most memorable use of Thed was during my Tovtari Campaign.  The characters had built a palisade and then built a stead in it, some few miles north of Ironspike.  About a year later, their investment in time, livestock and money was put to the test when they were forced to defend their stead against a chaos horde of hundreds of Broos risen up from Snakepipe Hollow.  The Broo force was mainly heading to Ironspike but a good number of them stayed to attack the stead.  Their banners featured the skin of a wild goat with the withered uterus somehow still attached, and they bleated Thed's name in a repetitious chant.  Everything was going well, and the characters had repelled a couple of attacks of leaping Broos attacking towards the gate when the chanting stopped and the field went silent.  Then, without warning, a shrill cry went up in Chaos Speech and three of the palings on the palisade Cracked as per the Thed rune spell and the Broos rushed the breach.  It was a desperate fight where an improvised shield wall had to repel the onslaught.  It was a hard enough fight that the Chalana Arroy seriously considered violating her vows and slaying injured broos.  As it is, she needed all her RP to resurrect the fallen Orlanthi, and the party Humakti lost an arm before the horde were driven off and slain.  

15 hours ago, jajagappa said:

The Father of Independents. You can find him in Nomad Gods. My guess is that he, and a number of other small Spirit Cults, will appear eventually in the Horned Man/Hsunchen/Spirit Cult book in the Cults series.

Thanks for the reply, I don't presently own Nomad Gods.  Was the Father of Independents filling the role of Divine Ferryman previous to Jeset the Ferryman perhaps?  I wonder if we will get a proper cult write-up for him in a Prax book?

13 hours ago, French Desperate WindChild said:

if the shaman is in the mundane world (the 'not fetch' part), the allied spirit in the mundane world (animal) will see the mundane  shaman body

if the shaman is visiting the spirit world (the 'no fetch' part), that means the fetch can be seen in the mundane world, so our allied spirit in animal, will see the fetch.

Of course if our allied spirit is for any reason disembodied (is it possible ? can a ghost be an allied spirit) I would say it see the opposite (the part being in the spirit world in all case)

Can the Allied Spirit and the Fetch interact with each other.  Given their spiritual proximity to the same Waha Shaman Khan, do they have to interact via the S/K or can they do so independently?  The issue of POW and Spell sharing comes to mind.

Ahh Horse Collars, another fine God Learner technological development, like the stirrup. 😎

According to the new Cults of RQ: Lighbringers on page 75, the Cult of Buserian is the same as Lhankor Mhy.  Apparently they aren't separate deities anymore.  The only difference is that Buserian is associated with the Yelm Pantheon, not the Lightbringers. Go figure.  I had always personally imagined them as being really quite different, with Buserian worshippers being deeply interested in filing systems and astronomy.

That means your LM Yelmalio can be a Buserian worshipper afaik.