Richard S.

Hm. If you had an Elmali, a Yelmalion, a Kargzanti, and an Antirian all together, what would they think of each other? I'd imagine the Yelmalion would either try to convince them they really worshiped Yelmalio or just be quietly assured of it himself, but how would the others feel about worshippers of the other forms of Lightfore?

Even if it's not really canon, Elmal Guards the Stead has got me thinking. We know that, for a little bit, probably directly after the dawn before they had met the Pelorians, Elmal was the primary sun god of the Heortlings. Perhaps back then he had some disease fighting powers similar to Yelm's, won from the foes he fought while guarding the stead, and after Yelm was encountered and identified as the sun those powers were gradually forgotten and the myth changed to emphasize Elmal as Loyal Thane. I'm tempted to give a "secret" association between Yelm and Elmal that grants Fight Disease, perhaps requiring some unorthodox questing through that myth. Not sure if I'd allow the same opportunity to Yelmalions though.

Viva la Ehilm, all your suns are the same! I'll God Learner who and what I please you ignorant barbarians!

Technically speaking Yelmalio is no more legitimate a name than Elmal or Antirius or Kargzant. They're all just different approaches towards the same thing: Lightfore.

Where are you reading that it's a condition? AFAIK it's always been interpreted as a heatless subelement of sky/fire.

R20 might work, but honestly if it was me I'd try and avoid maps altogether. I ran RQ for years without a single map irl, though we did modify the system a little too be looser and more friendly towards theatre of the mind. I'll see if I can find my notes again.

After being up in the mountains, I think I understand why Y/Elmal/io was worshiped more for light than heat. Even with the sun out it can be pretty cold up there, Yelm 's heat doesn't make a huge difference. The light is pretty useful for not falling off stuff though.

I think Elmal Guards the Stead is supposed to be a story about his loyalty and purity, not a story about fighting disease. Perhaps that's what it was at one time, and the first three does certainly seem like diseases, but in the current era I feel it makes more sense that it is told to emphasize his steadfastness, especially since all the disease fighting is the domain of Chalana. Maybe Elmal, back when he was the primary sun of the Orlanthi, had disease fighting powers, but as his and Yelmalio's cults began to associate and Yelm was revealed as the sun he lost those. Teller of Lies may have also been added into the myth to emphasize that the story was now about loyalty and light, not disease fighting.

Why is it unspoken that it was flaming? There's nothing in there to suggest that the spear represented fire powers. Everything Elmal uses is called out for its light and brightness, there's nothing about heat. Yelmalio uses a spear too, but you don't see him burning things with it.

Okay, so I just read the myth as presented in the BoHM, and there are only two mentions of burning. The first one is when Elmal throws Eater of Skin into the sky, where it burns up. The second one is when he burns up Maker of Bad Growth's remains with his brightness. Neither of these require him to have fire: in the first one the burning is done by the sky, and in the second it could easily be assumed that Maker of Bad Growth has some darkness connection and therefore was destroyed by sheer light.

Ah, my mistake.

This leads into another question: are KoDP and 6A even considered canon? I know many of us use and reference the myths given in them, such as this one, but I don't believe I've ever seen an official statement as to whether those myths are even canon.

Dragonewts who stray too far from the path can be reborn as dinosaurs, usually by being overcome with a single emotion (or power rune perhaps?) that determines the type of dino they become. This has been an established part of canon. These "new" dinosaurs can breed with others of their species, but are intelligent and carnivorous despite what their species norm is. Any children will be normal dinosaurs, however.

Finally, some useful magic!

Discord definitely would work (I may already be building a server for a potential PbP of mine), but I wouldn't like to try it on Google docs - there's too much of a risk of players editing things they shouldn't.

Er...

Would be nice if that was in the core rules.

Let's be honest, Y/Elmal/io debates are this board's Dart Wars. They hone our skills (in terms of lore and debate) while also keeping us busy enough that we can't challenge the mods' power 😋

Yeah, I really wish RQG had upped the Humakti insistence on severing ties, maybe even bringing back the requirement from HQG that you had to cut all family ties to initiate (in RQ terms that'd probably mean removing the Love (Family) passion). Without family support (and for the really dedicated, maybe even clan and tribe support), Humakti are at a disadvantage in a lot of situations. And yeah, the RP aspects of runes and cults should be emphasized a shit ton, too many people, especially new players I've encountered, just look at the cults as lists of spells, skills, and requirements.

One important thing is that Yelmalio is not solely a god of war. Sure, his cult is famed for their mercenaries, but he is also a patron of farmers, and through his association with Ernalda he can grant Bless Crops, something that no other war god can. Especially for those in areas with a high troll presence, I have no trouble understanding how his cult can be so prominent despite its apparent magical weakness. And in those areas with a hostile Darkness presence, I feel he could easily become the dominant god. Also, light magic can be pretty effective in combat, moreso than most give it credit I think. You ever tried wrapping a Lightwall around someone's head? Or centering a Light on their nose? A blind man can quickly become a dead man. Sunbright gives Shimmer 2 (I know it's only -10% but it's still something), and a commanded hawk can be a valuable ally. I do think Yelmalio should get something more to help him in combat though. Personally I may end up giving him Shield. Sureshot and True Spear would be appropriate too I think, though I wonder if maybe the reason he's bereft of so many spells it would make sense for him to have is because Orlanth stole his weapons. Y'know, that's probably it.

(Maybe this is a little late but it's still appropriate methinks)

Ooh I'd be down for an RQC PbF game. I may not be a complete newcomer but I haven't given any of the modules a terribly thorough read. Oh, and PbP means pretty much the same thing as PbF nowadays. Responding to the OP, I don't know of any ongoing ones, but it could be fun to start one yourself. The biggest problem I could see with using RQG is combat; with as involved of a system as it is, fights could last for days! Especially if your players aren't consistently online. I'd suggest cutting out some parts of combat, maybe even subbing in something simpler like Pendragon's system. I know there's several successful PbPs using HQG, but one with RQG would be awesome.

Alright. So I went and actually had a look at the Discorporation rules and based off of them what your player is trying to do is not supported by the spell. "It allows the caster to temporarily detach their spirit from their body and reunite them at will, or after 15 minutes, whichever comes first. The body remains comatose until the spirit returns. When the time limit is reached, the spirit “snaps back” to the body immediately." So after 15 minutes the character would return to their original body.

Well sure he can possess the dino, I'd even let him cast spells, but there's far more serious questions than that. A Shaman is a hugely important social role, imagine if your pastor (or other important figure) went away for a week and came back as a dinosaur! How will his cult and culture react? How will his god react especially? If he's a Daka Fal or Waha shaman, giving up his Man connection could be tantamount to heresy.

Honestly I just want to know how you went from presenting Elmal as a major god of the pantheon in S:KoH to replacing him nearly entirely with Yelmalio, both socially and magically.