Akhôrahil

No, of course not (you don’t even need a lance for a good cavalry charge!) but we’re talking using the steed’s damage bonus on a lance charge here, and that supposedly requires a couched lance for full effect. Again, it’s weird that you don’t get any significant bonuses for mounted outside of the lance and mounted archery.

I think some have stirrups - High Llamas probably have them just for mounting purposes! I don’t think western cataphracts have them (but those horned saddles are pretty good instead).

At the kind of power and into the kind of resistance to be expected on a battlefield? Absolutely full charge on a destrier-size horse and slamming the lance into fairly unyielding targets, like armoured people (perhaps the shield first) or horses? I have certainly never seen reenactors come anywhere close to that level of violence. Which is probably for the best - it’s unlikely it can be done safely!

For a couched lance charge? Source on this? A high-backed saddle is widely considered a prerequisite.

Once again, note the difference between just any charge - you can charge people while wielding a saber, because you get some decent shock effect anyway - and specifically the couched lance charge, which is what would supposedly use the steed's damage bonus. The weird thing about mounted combat in RQ is that you get no bonus from just being on horseback in a fight (barring mounted archery, which is excellent), or from a charge outside of the lance effect. Once again, Pendragon does this a lot better.

And the saddle, of a type that no-one in Glorantha uses? And honestly, in most of Glorantha, the horses themselves are kinda unimpressive - certainly no medieval chargers.

There's a big difference between using a spear one-handed to stab from horseback, and delivering a fully powered charge with couched lance. It's the latter that requires a lot of support.

Agree. Glorantha doesn’t have the tech for a full-blown lance charge - that requires stirrups and a high-backed military saddle. Allowing half of the steed’s damage bonus might be a compromise. Also, just a Mounted bonus as In Pendragon goes a long way.

“La Petite Mort”, I believe that one summons a Humakti Duck?

That seems to be the theory - isolationism is good for you, while cosmopolitanism is bad (just look at the God Learners or the Lunar Empire). Who needs trade or cultural exchange? They have nothing that we want!

I have no problems with Yelmalio. Courtesy often goes hand in hand with patriarchy and thinking women weak and helpless. Now if he would only bathe now and then...

Yes, he really is. A powergamer the GM should have a serious talk with. (Someone noted in the Swedish Facebook group that Sir Ethilrist screams "PC" as well.)

It's more that he doesn't have a character arc, and that he's so awesome that he can do anything with very few setbacks. What is Argrath's internal life like? Does he ever doubt his life's mission? Does he have any personal conflicts? Does he care about a single other person in the entire universe (even Harrek cares about one other person!)? I don't get the impression that even Illumination actually changes him one bit - it just gives him a bigger magical toolbox (and perhaps even less regard for anyone else, including gods).

At least he died on the way, betrayed everyone who ever trusted him, and stuff like that!

In a way, I find Argrath's story a bit unsatisfying from a dramatic standpoint. He swears to destroy the Lunar Empire. And then he does.

The Lunar Way outside of the Empire can be pretty neat, though - Lunar Arrolia is one of the best places in Glorantha to live (well, apart from that Kingdom of War stuff).

If I ever ran the whole thing, I would be disappointed with my players if they never decided that enough is enough with regards to Argrath. Making peace with the Good Empire (especially if it's just the breakaway Provinces, the more acceptable part of the Empire) really should be the way to go. But Argrath is far too obsessed for that.

We can tell his position on empires at least - they're pretty much universally bad. So I don't think there's any doubt that he would be opposed to the Lunar empire, while likely being a lot more positive towards individual Lunars and their philosophy and religion. (There's this odd subcurrent in Glorantha that mixing up religions is bad, while getting isolated from your neighbors by a magical barrier is good for you and leads to a perfect society...)

Also when it comes to being bound to the land - the Sartarite cottar might have serious practical economic issues with leaving, but isn't legally forced to stay. This isn't serfdom by any means. I like this - it further makes it clear that the status of the cottar is as a client and non-landowner, not a serf. I'm less certain about this - if you can't maintain Free standard of living, I believe you're likely to slip into a Cottar state sooner or later. This is a status society, and if you can't display your status, things might go poorly for you next time there's a land use redistribution. Although perhaps there might be mitigating factors - everyone remembers how you held the line in That Battle, or you might be the only one crazy enough to run the Rotwood Stead and no-one is taking it away any day soon.

A part of that is that Stone - Mostal's brother - is dead, killed by elves during the Gods' War.

While Elmal is a hottie?

He's the god of the sun and the sun is hot? Unlike Yelmalio who is the god of the light of the Sun Dome, which isn't hot.

Good news for Seven Mothers cultists, who get an even higher multiplier! 😉

(deleted, got it!)

In my campaign, I ruled that it's actually impressively fertile in general (in the Frog River Gorge, at least), but that there's a lot of weeding required to get rid of the various chaos-tainted mutants that keep cropping up and have to be burned.