Akhôrahil

It’s Ralzakark With The Scorpion Arm that he’s fighting, and we have a lot less evidence that he leaves Dorastor. And then of course it’s the whole thing where D:LoD is explicit that Oddi hands out Final Death to Ralzakark long before we get to the Monster Empire, so the entire thing is muddled.

A related question would be just how Dorastor could be rid of Chaos. Its origins is Arkat’s curse, altered through unknown means (Fertility returned, but is now Chaotic). That it could involve the rebirth of Dorasta, or something related to her offspring, might make sense, but it’s hard to tell when we can’t even tell quite what makes Dorastor a Chaotic in the first place. A returned Arkat lifting the curse would also seem feasible, although it’s possible it’s too late for that.

The wolf-bear is a mysterious entity as described in Dorastor: Land of Doom - the son of Dorasta and the prophesied cleanser of chaos. But what is it? 1) In Siberian mythology, a "wolf-bear" is a wolverine, which is also considered a channel to the spirit world. The myth could be taken just this literally. 2) Not only does Harrek the Berserker combine the aspects of wolf (Wolf Pirates) and bear (obviously), we also see him fighting Ralzakark (along with Argrath) on the Glorantha box cover (unclear when - anyone have an idea?). Under this interpretation, we shouldn't take the notion that he's Dorasta's son and sleeping within the Cleft of Dorasta literally . 3) This thread suggest the intersection of Zolan Zubar (as Cave Bear god) and the Telmori. Wild speculation welcome - it's not as though we have a lot to work with, here!

I think it's a bit more of a stretch because they (supposedly) don't have an utterly inhuman psychology.

Do you think this is actual caprice and fickleness, instead of this just how humans interpret principled adherence to a system of thought they don't understand? I'm not sure either way.

For RQ, do you think Draconic Illumination should use different rules than Rashoranic Illumination? That is, are they significantly different things, or merely two paths to the same outcome? To me, Draconic Illumination seems more "serious" and "deep" than the quick hack that is Rashoranic Illumination (I strongly doubt Draconic illuminates go around breaking cult rules willy-nilly).

I like it a lot - it's not good for when you sit down and read the text, but it tells you what terms are important, and it's fantastic for finding things on the page later.

The first rule of the Cult of Arkat is: you do not talk about the Cult of Arkat?

What about "high king"? Just a king but higher, or does it denote something specific?

I think it might be able to get a surprise round in some cases (not against shamans, though), but I read your post as indicating that they cannot be attacked and are either invisible or already inside a victim? That's not the case according to the rulebook. They are an immaterial, visible form that you can hit for effect.

p. 366: "If a spirit wishes to attack a corporeal being, the spirit makes itself visible in the Middle World the melee round prior to its first attack."

The Sable Storm Bull riders had to go somewhere after they rejected the tribes. The Block makes as much sense as anything!

Surely spirits can also fight spirits?

Isn't that after they left, though?

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There's definitely a tension in the game between Daka Fal as worship of actually Daka Fal, and Daka Fal as an umbrella term for Ancestor Worship.

However, they are also an action economy at the same time, not just an initiative system (your Dex SR is crucial for whether you can fire two spells or missiles in a round). I think this is why SRs sometimes feel a bit strange - they are doing double duties for related but non-identical concepts.

I want them impressed, not scared. 🙂

Early on in the Dev process, I got the impression (possibly incorrect) that Rune Point regain would be pretty slow (like yearly or twice yearly) for initiates (making faster regain for Rune levels more important), but it turned out to seasonal or better (when counting Associated Cults, cults with weekly holy days, and so on). What was the design process here? It matters a lot whether you can empty your rune point pool in each scenario (assuming seasonal adventuring) rather than having to spread it over the year.

Yes, you're right, sorry - confused it with how you damage Telmori and the like (where you do inflict for instance the amount of Bladesharp). (Isn't it a little odd that these two systems are almost, but not quite, identical?)

In many ways, yes - it's two different ways of doing their own thing to Michael Moorcock's concept of Chaos in the Eternal Champion books. Glorantha even explicitly has that "Chaos is in fact necessary, too, or Order stagnates" (it's just that we usually don't talk about The Chaosium because it's so abstract).

It's explicit that this works. I personally don't like it it - or rather, it's great that it works on ghosts for Humakti, but it means anyone with a little magic can cut spirits.

If this was fixed future metaplot, then it would make what happens to the setting feel less relevant, yes. Saving a kingdom does become a lot less relevant. It does not necessarily mean that what happens to characters becomes less interesting. On the other hand, it also depends on how much nihilism comes baked into things. in CoC, the whole point is that you're fighting a delaying action against the end of the world, but even there, it at least can be delayed, and your actions are specifically related to the delaying!

If the entire country was geographically lost rather than merely the current government falling, and for reasons most likely completely unrelated to anything you do in play, then yes. I had the same experience playing in Moria in Lord of the Rings Online - we know for a fact that the expedition there that you're so vigorously supporting will in fact fail. I mean sure, as long as it's just about your characters' livelihood and personal enrichment (and possibly even personal development), as it seems the new Pavis book will focus on, then it's no problem - if by some miracle you're alive in 25 years, you can just relocate. But it does make it less important what happens to the place if it's doomed already (and it's not like you're playing out a tragedy either). "Yay, we actually restored Genert!" *blubblubblub* "Damnit!" Of course, if it's something that could actually be fought off (which it honestly should be in Glorantha - flooding can be fought by going and beating up the Sea gods, as we all know) rather than a matter of fluid dynamics, and not locked into future history, then we're good once more.

It kinda does make it harder to care about a Prax/Pavis game, knowing that little to nothing will matter in 25 years.