Darius West

It is likely every Clan maintains a Master Hunter, and it is possible that they may have openings for more than one, given that the upkeep isn't exactly high. Master Hunters tend to produce more for their society than they cost to maintain. It isn't like warrior cults who essentially go on patrols or sit around drinking mead in the chief's hall until their clan gets into a fight and they are needed. In a hunter/gatherer culture the Master Hunter will either be training people, which is a production multiplier effect, or they will be out catching game reliably, which is directly contributing to the lifeblood of their economy. Of course, why bother being a Master Hunter when you can move to a civilized area and sell your skills as a trainer for an absolute fortune?

You'd think that, but you need to recall that the Great Hunt and what takes place after it are as close to a festival that a neolithic hunter society every enjoy. It is a time of full bellies, songs, trade, marriage, and beer made from wild grains. Why? Because this is when the migratory herds come, and for a month or so everyone gets to eat their fill. In a society where calories are the main form of wealth, this is the happiest time of the year. As to the non-hunting jobs being boring or not fun, that I'm afraid is just poverty of imagination Bill. For example, beating the brush to scare game out can quickly turn into an "oh no" moment, when you startle an allosaurus you thought was a fallen tree trunk, or similar but less outright life threatening predator encounters. Now say you are given the unpleasant job of hauling meat to the main cave from the latest killing/butchery site? Ample opportunities for encounters from scavengers, bullies, predators etc. Next, let's consider what happens to the people doing the support jobs. Say you spend all day tanning. Guess what? Now you have a pile of hides that represent your share of the work done that you are able to trade. You are "cashed up" with furs and the travelling merchants are in town with beads and trinkets you can trade for. Those merchants will likely have jobs they want done for extra credit, and perhaps so does your tribe. Then, there are all the tribal politics that will play out during this time. Who is marrying whom? Who will become the shaman's new apprentice? Will X make rune status this year? Y wants to break off and create a new clan in that valley. One of the clan children is Missing 411 and experienced trackers are needed, etc. The Great Hunt is a major religious event, and major gatherings mean that all social stakes are raised for the period.

I agree with you metcalph. I think that the problem here is the lack of clarity about how Mysticism works. We have a very limited and unsatisfactory version of it delineated in the illumination write-up, wherein it is represented as a cruel parody of Zen Buddhism. This ignores the rich mystical traditions of countless societies IRL, some of them which would be considered shamanistic, while others would be theistic, and others would be considered sorcery. Clearly there are and should be overlaps between sorcery, theism and shamanism, from the friction of these cultures and their encounters, but apparently this doesn't extend to mysticism, as there are no rules for mysticism, except for the rump of the dead Nysalor cult and its pseudo-resurrection by the Lunars. Frankly, the way it is written up, "Joy" sounds like nothing more than what a theist society would call "initiation", except into the worship of the Invisible God (What rune spells does he supply?). Clearly it has to be more than that, AND if the invisible god is the ultimate power of reason for Glorantha, then this should be a very different mystical revelation... Rather than the nihilistic view of Nysalor's illumination, which undoes reason, society, and existence, potentially the Invisible God as the reason that guides the world should provide an affirmation of all such things and their correct place in the scheme of things; an intricate abstraction of the interrelationships between all things and how they connect. After all, the core mechanics of mysticism are about correct argument and the refutation of false points of view if the Stafford Library is to be considered our major source.

I played it only once. Terrible system. We split the difference. We played cyberpunk, but where you could get "cosplay mods" that biomodded you to look like an elf. Then the police got modded to look like orcs and treated the elves like the gang problem they had become. The fact is, on a hunt there are numerous jobs to be performed. They will need beaters to chase game, people to manage the alynxes or dogs, porters to carry the kills, tanners to prepare the hides, cooks who can preserve the meat, and this surplus of food and hides will produce a trade opportunity. Plenty of opportunities for non-hunters to get involved. The Great Hunt can be performed in a number of ways. It can be the work of an individual hunter, or it can be a yearly migratory game animal scenario. The former is for rune levels, the latter for initiates and the tribe as a whole ims.

I must disagree. Most cultures maintain strict and important hospitality rules that definitely exist to insure that guests are treated fairly and well, and that extends to traders, whatever their allegiance, unless they are established enemies. To be seen to be acting in bad faith towards visitors may be acceptable if your cults don't like each other, but in fact this is actually going to be counter-productive as all they will do is raise their prices to cover the extra money you charge them. Plus it is extremely counterproductive to make your market less attractive to people who have travelled a long way with exotic goods, as they will likely simply take their business elsewhere and you have only succeeded in damaging your own bottom line. Obviously this doesn't apply to Guilds, who seek to create monopolies, but even they live on the good will of the people they sell to, and while they won't tolerate foreign competition on objects they make, they will never interfere with foreign traders who bring goods that make their city wealthier without jeopardizing their specific monopoly. Dickering over the clacks it takes to set up a market stand is undignified. The real money is made in reliable and favorable trade relationships, and that is what trade temples will be interested in. You don't even want to cut into the returns your peasant with a sack of vegetables will make or she might stop making the trip and then that's one less source of vegetables you can buy.

Agreed without reservation.

The correct term I believe is "Bowdlerized". You must learn to love Big Brother. The fact is that Maran Gor does both. She needs blood to ensure a good harvest AND to not earthquake you. Of course, if you cultivate her priestesses, you may gain the ability to call on her immensely destructive earthquakes during times of war. Yes, she needs to be feared and placated with human sacrifice, but he is a goddess of immense destructive power. What's Hon-Eel's excuse?

Actually, RQG is really good. Unlike previous RQs it is a lot more bronze age in its inspiration, and incorporates enough new mechanics on top of the old RQ2/RQ3 foundations to make it well worth the purchase imo. It has cults that we know and a couple that are new including Odayla the Sky Bear, Engizi, and Sun Horse Yelm (Yu-Kargzant). It has new and improved Shamanism rules, which are great. The sorcery rules are similar to RQ3 but not the same. Overall, Runes play a much larger part in the game, and they are invoked in similar ways to Passions. It also includes some economic and downtime rules. While elements of character creation draw heavily on RQ2, there is a lot more detail there, and it has a family history section that draws on similar elements of Pendragon, but in a Gloranthan setting (sans glory too obviously). The other important factor is that the game world has now progressed to 1625 and the history of Glorantha has reached the point where the Hero Wars are actually "on", not just prophecied. Finally, the illustrations are very good, and the maps are excellent; beautiful even. As an old time RQer, I heartily recommend it to old school skeptics like yourself. I definitely feel I got my money's worth. Yes there is redundant info that you might find elsewhere, but this is a loving update with plenty of fresh stuff.

I am assuming the setting is straight-up Pulp C'thulhu? If so, what about Serpent Folk? Go full David Icke 😄

Mello Yello.

It is a reasonable question Sten, but it is also a bit like asking "How long is a piece of string?". In some places there will be no fee, and in others where space is at a premium it can be very expensive. Note that in the Biturian Varosh example, he is in the tiny Lunar (shit-hole swamp) settlement of Corflu, and he is dealing with an obnoxious Etyries merchant who is likely trying to gouge poor old Viturian because he follows the Lightbringers, not the Lunar pantheon. Most people would likely pay for a lot at the Corflu market with phlegm, but this is Biturian's first time, and it coincides with a period when Corlfu is being developed as the Lunar Empire's "great port city" by Sor-Eel the Short (a nice enough crook, all told) in one of the greatest scams in the history of the Empire. Does Biturian pay more than a Spare Grain Laymember with a sack of carrots? Yes, but it is called his cult tithe. He doesn't pay more for a spot in the market. That is set at a fixed rate, as it is not a tax. A high priest of Issaries will not want to charge people, and will instead be able to run his temple expenses entirely by understanding his local market and buying cheap/selling dear. No merchant likes taxes, and they will be reluctant to try to enforce such, as it will lead to merchants not displaying their full wares, or avoiding the market altogether. Markets are divided into plots of a roughly equal size. If you have a lot of goods to sell you may need to buy the use of multiple plots. Some plots may actually be permanent booths with walls, a roof, and a rear section for storing goods. Plots on the main thoroughfare through the market will cost more. The market itself will likely also be divided into specific sections, with odorous goods (fish, livestock) being confined to being downwind, for example. It is worth noting that in Medieval Europe different settlements had a differing frequency of markets and fairs that were controlled by a royal system of charter. Villages could have a seasonal fair, while towns would have a specific market once a week, but some permanent shops, while cities had open markets every day. This system was introduced so that fairs didn't clash with existing market days at towns and so forth. While Glorantha obviously isn't medieval Europe, there is an inherrent logic to the system, where village fairs cause farmers to sell produce that will feed into town economies, that in turn will feed into city economies, and then satellite cities will feed into the economies of major cities. The value of a daily rent for a plot will have more to do with the opportunity cost of its daily use, i.e. we can either run a market stall here or develop the land into a workshop/home/tavern etc. that will make more money. Try this as a rule of thumb... Hamlet/Smallish Settlement/Village... Free with permission. Perhaps 1 clack for a plot. Town or Oasis... 1 clack per plot minimum. Possible weekly discount. You might still be able to get a free plot if you know a friendly local shop owner who will let you park on their land i.e. under their window on the outskirts of the official market. Small City... plots cost different rates. You can still get a plot for a clack, but some plots will cost even 5L per day on the main thoroughfare. There may even be different markets in different parts of the town. Medium city. These come in 2 flavors, the growing and the declining city. Growing medium cities tend to be lean and hungry. Laws are enforced, and corruption leads to riots. Declining cities are the opposite. They are likely sleepy places or were once larger, but are now becoming less important. The real money has moved on, and the remaining folk are like scavengers squabbling over the carcass. Corruption is rife. Large City/Metropolis. You can literally buy anything you want, but the mark-ups are excruciating, and the same goes for market plots. You can likely still get a 1 clack plot, but it will be next to the toilets on the outskirts of the fish market. That being said, the price of a plot will largely vary according to its amenity. Ever good Issaries priest knows that it isn't the plot that costs, it is the rent of trestle tables. and awnings that they really gouge you on.

I hate to admit it, but this is a perfectly fair complaint. The time and money a GM needs to invest to really get a working understanding of Glorantha's innards is a bit prohibitive. On the other hand, you can rest assured that a fix is on the way. I attended a Con in easier pre-COVID times where I was reliably informed by Chaosium staffers that a "GM's Guide to Glorantha" is on its way. That being said, it isn't here yet.

Yes I am well aware of these. I have even been to Fotevikens living museum in Norway. They are still huts imo. I just can't call a dwelling without a chimney a house.

Looks like a hut to me. A big hut, to be fair, but a hut nonetheless.

It isn't as if you can see the ghost however.

What do you call a house without a chimney? A hut. I believe most Orlanthi houses have hearths, and a hearth requires a chimney. Yes, that seems fair. On the other hand, relying on the tenant to maintain the property is going to prove wobbly in a court.

Shoggoths have an ability to slurp themselves into various bizarre contortions that can even mimic a human or animal. Mi-Go can potentially use surgery far beyond human ken to change their bodies. Serpent People normally have spells they use to disguise themselves as people. In pervious editions of CoC, werewolves were a thing. Of course that is only if you want to slavishly adhere to the rules as written. If you need a shapeshifter, write one up and find a slot for it within the mythos as you understand it. For example, in my last CoC campaign, the Mi-Go were similar to the aliens from John Carpenter's "The Thing", being able to genetically hijack bodies if they needed to, and their normal "flying crab" bodies were just a convenient form they used for flying around prospecting at night on Earth. Seriously, feel free to borrow from folklore. If you want a skin-walker, just insert one, and retrofit it to the mythos as consistently as you can. If you want further help with mythos details for your shapechanger, feel free to message me about it.

Straight up, land ownership is a fraught issue within an Orlanthi clan and can erupt into a feud inside the clan or even outside the clan if handled poorly. Characters belong to a clan's bloodline, and as such may be owed a portion of land as part of an inheritance. If not, they can petition the Clan Ring for the right to clear and settle land within the Clan's territory, assuming that land is even available. Clan warriors (Weaponthanes) may well not own homes of their own, and will live in the Chief's hall and at the Clan's expense instead. The supposition in building a house is that you intend to work the land. Help in establishing a house will thus be much more forthcoming if the character is getting married, as the expectation is that the new couple will soon be raising a family and contributing to the survival of the clan. Women are far more tied to the land than men in Orlanthi society. This is not to say that you can't potentially barter livestock, coin, or other goods for land ownership, but it is wise to do so with full public scrutiny so if you feel cheated by receiving infertile land, you can rain public censure on the person who cheated you. The settling of land means claiming it from the wilderness. This involves hard labor, tools, and quite possibly an ox cart or two for hauling away rocks and felled trees for timber. and will take months, depending on how wild the land is. Of course timber is a key component in building a house, but it will need to be cut into planks to be useful. Of course it is also possible to build in stone, but that is more expensive. it costs 60L per year to hire a Carpenter, and 100L per year to hire a Mason, unless the character has skills in excess of 50%. You will likely want to hire a mason for a portion of they year if you plan to have access to the modern convenience of a working chimney. I would estimate that a decent sized wooden house with a stone chimney should cost about 200L or 10 head of cattle, using locally sourced materials and nothing fancy. This doesn't include other important buildings like barns or wells or fences, just the basic unfurnished house.

I look forwards to having a look at this. 🙂

Good point, I had not read the Second Sight description closely enough or recently enough to remember that. On the other hand, harkening back to my original point, it does reinforce the lack of availability of means for ordinary Gloranthans to interact with spirits even more. Now they are limited to Visibility spells and perhaps Detect Spirit (barely, but as a cheap option of "where spirits are" as opposed to actually seeing them), and Pierce Veil if they are using sorcery. As to your apotheosis point, I agree. I am sure that apotheosis does nothing to lessen anyone's atheism, it just becomes the next rung over herodom. You'd be like "oh, now I can grant a specific Rune Spell to deluded sycophants who hero worship me; hilarious!"

I must disagree. Not everyone in an Orlanthi setting worships Daka Fal or Grandfather mortal. Not everyone is a shaman. Your average Orlanthi farmer worships Orlanth or Barntar and cannot do as you suggest. Few if any Gloranthans hero quest, save perhaps the comparatively minor quest of their initiation into adulthood. When it comes to the afterlife, they cannot do as you suggest, and they must take the words of their priest or shaman as to the veracity of such things. Few if any people are rich enough to pay for a ritual that would allow them such a journey, and it would likely take a good portion of the tribe's resources to allow such activities so it would require some sort of official permission from the clan ring. Yes, there are cult spirits, but the number of people with access to Second Sight is quite low, as it is not a common cult magic at all within the Lightbringer Pantheon. Unfortunately I think your perspective might be biased to a HQ perspective of how Orlanthi society operates, and that is fine and good for heroic individuals, but your rank and file Orlanthi are not anywhere near that level of ability until perhaps halfway through Argrath's reign, when even teenagers from Sartar are hardened warriors due to the constant pressures of the Hero Wars to find warm bodies to plough into the next round of battles.

Gloranthan atheists will gravitate towards sorcery, I'm sure, and that has ever been an academic pursuit.

Without question that was like a HeroQuest. But we cannot generalize that everyone who consented to being a human sacrifice in Norse society had the same motives. Suicidal depression, for example, may have been a factor in the choice for some. Consider that most of them would simply have their throats cut on a stone altar, or were cast into wells or bogs, and were not hanged like Odin. Thralls were the ones hanged for Odin, not Jarls as far as I am aware in the literature. This is odd however as Thralls belong to Thor, not Odin, but then, worshippers of Odin, as jarls, were owners of thralls.

As you have suggested, the best match for a Praxian rhino is likely the white rhino which is an obligate grazer that favors short grasses. While they prefer short grasses, and fresh growth, they can likely get the calories they need from dry grasses by eating more of them, they just don't seem to favor it as much, is the inference. I would expect that starting grass fires is a pretty standard raiding practice in Prax, as a grass fire bearing down on an oasis with a prevailing wind can serve as well as a mounted charge for breaking an enemy. As to deliberate use of fire to stimulate grass regrowth in Prax, you'd think that Oakfed or Mahome would mention it, but they don't. Perhaps suggest a new Prax-specific spell to MOB for inclusion in RQ: Gods of Glorantha to add to the Lowfires (p204-207)?

Here is some rhino porn so you can answer that question for yourself. 😉