Rob Darvall

For a long standing (approx 48000 years) costal version of this check out the Brewarina Fish Traps.

But Yelmalian pike formations are demonstrably NOT substandard mediocre warriors. Why is it so? What about Yelmalio makes his followers such good soldiers? He's clearly a great god for plucky underdogs but why brilliant pike formations? What was the neccessity for Yelmalians above all others? I get that crap individual magic may have forced increased discipline as a survival mechanism, but what made Yelmalio special in this respect?

Yep. We did that. Our Yelmalian is an excellent nightwatchman and scout. What he is not is a phalangite. Because the Yelmalio mythology does not support that beyond 2 handed spear gifts. In fact our 2 handed spear specialist is our Wind Lord (a status he achieved through the sacred time process). Equally our Waha worshipper is restoring his clan, as the process and mythology indicate. Far from being about power my questions are all about process. Not just the mechanical process but also the Gloranthan ones. How does the god of tenacious underdogs and light-in-the-darkness empower the Sun Dome regiments? If it's his tenacity (my preference) what rules mechanisms transfer that from him to his worshippers? As I've mentioned before, I chase this detail because the gods define Glorantha.

So is this in any way dependent on their God? Or is it a skill any culture could learn?

Who are rare and largely confined to Prax, intruding little on the interests of generals who'd hire pike regiments. The Sun Dome regiments have changed the course of history. What about them makes this possible? What is their source of power? I'm perfectly happy for Yelmalian PCs to "tink" in battle. As individuals they have other contributions (cf nightwatch). But *how do they fit this role we've been told they play in Glorantha*? What causes the stats we see on the WBRM counter? Unlike the Men-and-a-Half the answer to this question has a bearing on the Herowars.

For me it's not about combat, or min-maxing, or adapting my game. It's that the cults and occupations identified don't fit the roles we're told they fill in the world. We get a combat orientation because one of those roles IS the premier phalangite god. I really don't care if Yelmalio gets there through a mechanism to pass on his indomitable spirit to his followers, or gifts and gaesa, or plain old rune magic. Just so long as there's a clear path to his filling his social role that's not better filled by another god. Frex his light powers (Catseye, Sunbright etc) slot him beautifully into a god of the nightwatch (mythically apt too). But that's NOT "premier pike god". The path from his myths to his role-as-written is not clear. This is harped on largely because the gods and their myths are the definition of Glorantha. All the other bits that don't fit mechanically pale in comparison.

At your table (and mine tbh). BUT Yelmalio in the core book does not do what is advertised. He's clearly NOT the premier god for the best phalangites in Glorantha. That they worship him doesn't matter to their battle prowess. The cult does not make in-world sense for this role. As a cult of hardscrabble farmers routinely oppressed by their nomad neighbours they're eminently suitable. As oppressed underdogs who produce the very infrequent hero; great. But as the premier, eminently hirable, pike force on the lozenge? I don't see this as an emergent property of the cult as presented atm. Hunters as an occupation suffer a similar problem. There are too many occupations that provide better hunting skills. And before it is said, yes I change it to suit. But I'm a grognard who's been using the system for decades. Not someone first approaching Glorantha through RQG.

My hunter chatacter failed to use Peaceful Cut on an enemy he'd killed using hunting skills. The GM/god geased him to live in town for a year as penance.

The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth examines the fallout very well.

My son has suggested a skill in large shield that protects the right side of anyone fighting to their left. So you could parry blows for another PC.

A number of the PCs now owe the CA PC significant sums. She's VERY mercenary.

The first 2 differentiate between chaos & not-chaos by ritual and godhead. IMG the BG can eat the rapists' livers (vit. D poisoning not being a concern in Glorantha) in the temple ritual after she's been purified and consecrated* to undertake their elimination. If she does it as a private act there's a chance (and IMG a very high chance) that she'll attract the attention of Cacodemon. It's still horrific, and the table's reaction demonstrated its power, but it's held from being chaotic by the rituals and the god. In play terms this stops horrific acts from becoming casual parts of the game. Casual cannibalism frex results in either a cacodemon attack or the PC going ogre. Either way the player is likely to lose their character. All my Waha players try to perform the Peaceful Cut over fallen enemies. It also makes the cults more immanent in play, not just RP fast chargers. IMG eliminating souls is chaotic. I know of nothing (and stand to be corrected) that does this which is not chaotic. * I must note that the consecration involved a long and complex make up session involving my BG player and her Ernaldan accomplice.

An introduction to gang turf issues. They walk down the wrong street... I used the gangs as opponents, allies, employers, and minions. Gang signs were everywhere. Along with Praxian "graffiti" defining a second layer of overlapping territories.

I use a similar approach because it puts a logical, in-game time pressure on the party. They try to avoid having to use Sanctify and so are pushing to get back to the Temple before the holy day. The Scribe (our now 9 nearly 10 yo player) being the only literate character is charged with keeping the calendar. This helps keep the player engaged with a character who is less hack-and-slay than he might otherwise prefer. Which goes to my favoured reason for restricting rune point renewal, it engages the players with the world. This is true of D&D too. Actions are planned around rests.

I have found numerous articles about RW shamanic practice on Academia.

Add to all of these various rebel or resistance groups. RW historically these have had to subsist through criminal activity beyond their stated fight.

I use a modified version of the Bushido rules.

Cheaper too. 6MP that restore overnight vs full on resurrection costs.

No different to: is your oponent using a rapier or a messer? You parry as is appropriate to the weapon you face. Yes Bladesharp will cut you if you fuck up. The mechanism is there in the rules. And it works well. If you're making natural weapon parries against a blade you're increasing your chances of getting hurt. Yes. This is so in the real world too. But a natural weapon parry is still better than no parry at all {especially in a world where the arm can be reattached but putting a head back on costs a year's wages}; and those who are good at them use them as part of their fighting system.

This IS his sword parry. One of them at least. Most "parries" are a matter of attacking in such a way as to negate your opponent's blows. Mechanically it has to be the next sword attack, the one that got through. More pertinently to the question, using a bare or gloved hand to parry an attack is both reasonable and proven in use. This includes grabbing the blade, slapping the flat, and grappling either hilts or one or both arms. Mechanically the natural weapon either gets a lucky slap (most beasts) in, or it is aimed to disrupt the attack and can be trained (and historically was) as part of a fighting system.

Though I occasionally get to fence with a longsword (2 handed) bloke for whom my attacks are often an invitation to grab either my hilt or forearm and batter my face with his pommel. He achieves this without being hit & it comes directly from a fechtbuch. The last point meaning that it was used as part of a fighting system, not a seperate art.

"HeroQuests generally fall into one or more categories— Explorations, Raids, Re-Enactments, Magic Roads, Riddling/Wagering Contests and GodQuests" ( Secrets of Heroquesting p6). "Innovative HeroQuestors can turn a Re-Enactment HeroQuest into an Exploration HeroQuest by deviating from the HeroQuest at certain critical moments, thusturning a well-established route into an unexplored one," (Ibid p7) and this is how you account for the power differences. Ritualised Short-form Re-Enactments are the safest. They are the initiation rituals etc (though as the Sex Pit demonstrates they are still dangerous, but so is fighting lions). Exploratory or Experimental (as others have called it) is the most dangerous. So send your party on the appropriate journey. Especially as you can scale up by throwing in antagonists and new paths as needed. This too is in Secrets. As are many ways of scaling a heroquest so that it: Allows a very skilled person like Kallyr Starbrow to fail at it (along with many other people that fail at doing the LBQ). [Is] not too dangerous that people can use them for coming of age HeroQuests where massive casualties aren't expected or wanted. The two are not equivalent events, as Secrets points out on many occasions. As to Harmast, he gets the support of Hendrik in 414; 8 years before his first LBQ. He is already a storied and magically imbued man then. He's a LOOONG way from what seems implied by "a former simple farmer". It's very former. So much as to be irelevant by 422. That and he's the decendant of Rastaluf Vanak Spear. So not so simple originally either. Particularly as claiming his birthright has Hendrik initially sending a man to kill him (Hendrik and Harmast in History of the Heortling Peoples. Stafford, G. 2007 pp. 38-40). So absent a cannonical (pace Andrew Logan Montgomery 🙂 ) set of rules we can adopt, exploit, and whinge about Secrets is a valuble document for many.

IMO Broo are people. Tragic, dangerous people afflicted with gods who are genuinely insane. They are also the moral exemplar of excess. Their evils are an excess of the things others consider virtues. Narratively (when they're not being a terrifying faceless horde that any sane party runs from) they warn of the route passions may take you. As for being "creatures of chaos", so too are Thanatari priests. I use them because my viceral reaction on first reading the Thanatar write-up was "this is chaos I could really get into". That's a little disturbing, as it is meant to be. If broo (Thanatar Priests etc) are not people then their narrative purpose is less. Less even than Jackson's retelling of Tolkien's orcs. They cease to be an end point of disconnection from the world, a track ONLY people can take, and become just another mookfest. Smarter Dragonsnails. This:

Also from a long time ago as part of my Amad campaign. The Odaylans have an intricate & intimate relationship with the Lady of the Wild. As both mother & lover of their God as well as figure of both life (prey) & death to the cult she is bound intrinsicly into their world. She appears most often to hunters & although this is wonderful it is also terrible & always exacts a price from the mortal. As mother /protector/ hunter of all wild creatures she both provides the hunters' prey & preys apon them. The act of hunting brings a mortal into her domain more surely than any other. Unlike the various domestic activities, herding, berrying etc, hunting is always part spirit quest & so hunters attract more of her attention. The various rituals involved with hunting are as often as not aimed at Velhara with her son interceding on the part of the hunters. Velhara is not hostile to hunters any more than to any other carnivore but neither is she any more protective. Just as she demands things of wolves, alynx, badgers & jumping mice so she demands things of hunters. Her demands are never outside the capability of the species. Dying is within this definition & they may be outside the ability of an individual.There are always compensations, even for death. Any meeting with Velhara is a mystical event, although Velharan mystics have low life expectancies. Share of Blood Meal Velhara actively takes her portion of the blood by drinking it with the hunter. In return she allows the hunter to connect with the soul of any quarry in such a way that its location is always obvious. This gives the hunter a fear of fire. Such a person can be near it but won't use it. Jackal's Portion Velhara merely watches the butchering occasionally darting in to grab a bone or piece of meat. The hunter so blessed will never startle an animal; becoming becomes so much part of the wild as to be ignored. Beds, however, have become unbearable places to sleep. Wolf' Portion Velhara takes all the guts & the hunter becomes impervious to all but the coldest weather (-5°c & below) & all normal insects ignore him. The hunter then finds normal clothing, ie shirt & trews, unbearable if the temperature climbs above 0°c hence they generally get about in kilts. Bear's Portion Velhara takes the whole kill. In return she gifts the hunter with the bear's ability to slay. Any strike the hunter makes against natural prey (ie in season) is lethal. As the hunter can kill using the simplest of weapons metal is eschewed even to the point of use as ornament or armour. NB this ability can only be used on such animals as are in season,it can be used on humans from the start of Harmony / Earth to the end of Harmony / Storm as this is Man season. Yinkin's Meal The hunter shares the kill with Velhara. Both eat the prey raw on site staying til it is finished. This imbues the hunter with the stamina to run down any prey. Thus this is what they do shunning all missile weapons. Stag's Portion Sex. Regardless of the gender any sex with Velhara results in a child wrapped in leaves & hair appearing at the hunter's stead 2-3 seasons later. This child will either be a great hunter or a wild priest of Velhara. In addition the hunter concieves a great longing for the Lady of the Wild which outshines all mortals. This can be broken by moving to another land. The fornication brings out or heightens the hunter's dominance. The hunter will lead any group of which they are a part. This may result in challenges from other dominant individuals & ends when the hunter is decicively beaten. Gargath lottery Velhara hunts the mortal through the forest. Any escape tunes the hunter to flight. Such a person is uncatchable in the wilderness. All ambushes are detected & enemies noticed on aproach through an attunement to the nature of both animal behaviour & that of wild spirits. Subsequently pursuing an animal with an alynx is too uncomfortable to be done. Twinson's Fate The hunter is sacrificed on the Wild Altar. This confirms the old pact that ended the tearing claw*. Any hunters related to the sacrifice are blessed with a 15% better chance of success Deed of blood The hunter sacrifices a specific creature to Velhara & bathes in its blood. This permanently removes the hunter's scent but heated water always acts as an uncomfortable reminder of the ritual. Thus the hunter chooses to bathe in rivers or rainfall. Deed of Nurture The hunter is bound to succour a particular creature. Often this demands the raising the young of a species This act gives the hunter an unerring sense of direction but prolonged nurture of a wild creature makes the hunter antisocial. So much so that human society is avoided; often for weeks at a time. Bewilder The hunter must cause some ploughed land to return to wilderness. This imposes a connection to the local flora enabling the hunter to feel changes in the local forest making it easier to locate the best food sources & hence the best prey. Loss of this connection, as when the hunter is inside a house, is uncomfortable at first rising to unbearable the longer the lack of contact is maintained. It's also a great source of conflict within a clan and so....story hooks. Taboo The hunter can judge the success of the hunt, the weather, coming battle, lawsuit, or other matters from the behaviour of a single species. Only one matter can be judged per species but the hunter will not harm the messenger species. * This is an artifact of the work of John Hughes and Michael Raaterova. With thanks for many years of mythologising.

From a good while back (when Elmal was still a cult) His uncle feeling lazy, Odayla went to hunt on his own. He hadn't much luck as there was little game stirring, a fact which annoyed him but did not alarm as it should. So he went on, muttering over the lack of game peering about for something to hunt. Then he saw Rigtania's daughters, a Telaara on all fours sniffing along his tracks keenly watched by two Mralaarae who bent at times to strop their tusks on tree trunks. 'This' he thought 'is not to the good.' Quietly he broke track slinking into the undergrowth, only to come face to beak with a Gathaara that cawed for her sisters who came crashing through the bracken. Odayla bolted & the Telaara howled behind him. From early morn to Elmal high he fled them but they hunted as the spawn of Telmor do, one taking the place of the other to run down their victim & ever he heard the crow call of the Gathaara urgingher sisters to the kill. He took to the water hoping to baffle the wolf-nose & he heard the pursuit fade. Panting he lay in the creek where it trickled over the dam & the beaver waddled past stopping only to slap its tail. Odayla followed, over the dam, into the pool, & last into the lodge. He did not go unnoticed. A weight settled on the lodge. A voice croaked without. Something began tearing at the roof. Odayla slid down the slip back into the pool following the beaver under the surface til he could go no longer. He breached between two cranes that flared their wings & darted their beaks at him but he had no time for birds, for thrashing through the shallows, snouts black with the mud of the dam, were the Mralaarae. The cranes turned to this new threat, wings spread & beaks closed. This display gave the wild ones pause, enough for Odayla to dash for the storm blaze on the tree upslope of him. On the track to his father's stead he felt himself safe, but his nieces' hate would not be stayed. A black cock started from cover, calling as it flew. From the ferns behind it rose the growling form of the Telaara & he ran again. From the height of the day til dusk he ran. Chivied from Oak, to Willow, to Elder, across lawn & through brake. If he paused he heard thegrunts & snuffles of the Mralaarae. In desperation he scrambled up an Oak, startling the squirrel in its branches. Inspired by its flight he followed through the canopy til he found a large crook in which he curled & looked back along his leafy trail. He could see the Mralaarae, heads hideous when wed to such lissome bodies, shinning swiftly up the tree he clomb. Below him the Telaara looked up. Scent or hearing it didn't matter she knew he was there. Even as she got her forearms over the second branch Odayla was off. Dropping to the ground he stumbled off. Heedless of what was in front he hurtled through the gathering dark stopping only when he bounced off a large, rank, hairy body. The bear was as shocked as he & reared back bellowing at this being that so affronted it. Odayla scooted through its legs as the Telaara, nose down & ignoring all but the scent, crashed into the hapless bear. She yelped as a swipe opened five scores on her buttocks but Odayla was not there to see, he was making good time for the secret trail. The secret trail was held to be known only to Orlanth & his house. It was made for stead access in direst emergency, but the wild ones were there when Orlanth first came & had watched in wonder & in anger as the god carved their world to make his own. On the secret trail he jogged along hoping to be home before full night. It was the scolding of the wrens that had him look at the brambles ahead. The flicker of movement in their depth had him off the path & running before the Gathaara croaked her first call. Into the gloaming he fled, hounded by his terrible kin. As he fled he came into the open downs, nearer but still far from home. As he sped panting across their slopes the hares feeding there fled him. They too ran frantic but would leap prodigiously to the side & then remain still. Cresting the hill Odayla made like the hare. A huge leap left & then lie still. The wild women broke the skyline, four human silhouettes until the profiles showed. Then confusion. The scent trail was lost & no figure ran through the gloom ahead. But these were no beasts to slacken if one sense failed. Casting in increasing circles the four were bound to find him. An uproar started him from his hide. The Gathaara had stumbled apon a badger & being of its kind it latched on & was not loosing its hold. Odayla ran. Twice warned he did not relax even as he could smell the hearth fires. An eerie piping had him frozen, staring into the dark. A pair of wood duck rose from their night nest & into the trees. One shadow, two, three detach from the larger shade. All upright but the heads look wrong. Odayla goes to his belly & slithers off into the grass. Creeping, crawling, listening for he cannot see, Odayla inches his way to the stead gate. It, of course, is closed but hammering & yowling get the guards attention & that of others. Four shapes fling themselves at him but the gate is open & Elmal comes forth. The wild ones flee & Odayla has a boast Eurmal envies.