Psullie

'magic and handwavin' is how Gloranthan buildings don't fall down. In our world domes, arches, cantilevers etc all work because of gravity and physics which are Gold Learner heresies in Glorantha. Just how does gravity work when the world is a floating cube in an infinite sea with a great big dome over head, the Moon sits within the atmosphere and the sun does actually go around the world? While it's great to try and get a handle on what's likely to be anachronistic the truth is that Glorantha is an alien world and not Earth's past, it is bound by its own of, and often contradictory, rules based on magic and myth, not physics.

where is this from, or is this your own

just for you...

that's them

I'd like to applaud Chasoium for it's treatment of gender and nudity in recent publications, I imagine as a publisher of what may often be perceived as children's books they must thread carefully. Nudity and sexuality have been depicted with maturity and in a manner consistent with the themes and setting of a mythic fantasy world without falling in to the pitfalls of common tropes. While Glorantha in not Earth, and it's moires not Earth bound it exists in our world full of prejudice and genuine sensitivities. Many of us here would remember the MADD days that saw demons and devils redacted from RPG's and would rather not see those days again. If giving the Windlord a tea towel as a concession gets more kids playing RPGs then great, and then hopefully experience how sexuality can be expressed in a heathy way.

looks great, I like the 'and friends' nod to the the first edition

nice old school feel

minimal work needed all though you may want spend some time for RQG assigning Runes to key NPC's. Some of the derived stats may work out different but wouldn't make a big impact on actual play.

this is what happens when you rely on spell checker, that should have read 'carvel built' relating to the planking not caravel...

longships were clinker built which is lighter and adds stability while increasing freeboard. The crew could pick up their longship to cross sand bars if necessary. in Glorantha the Loskalm longships are clinker built and the favoured transport of Harrek, I'm guessing that Kathelan ships are caravel built as these are easier and cheaper to build.

the Antikythera wreck, built c. 200BCE, was close to 50m long, while the average was 20m, 35-40m was not uncommon

these ships ranged in size from 15 - 40 meters long and 3 - 7 m wide. They would have had a crew of 12 - 20 speed was dependant on the wind, but 5-6 knots would be fair, they could not sail close to the wind so actual time to get form a - b would vary dramatically as for cargo you could use the a simple (but inaccurate) Builders Measure of Tonnage = Length * Beam * Depth / 100 so a 40m (130') * 7m (23') * 5m (16') = 47,840/100 = 478.4 tonnes

this image give a bit more detail... I'm not sure Dormal brought any technological advancements, he is the Sailor not the Shipbuilder. I assumed that Dormal found a ritual loophole that enabled him to sidestep the Closing. The reappearance of the Boat Planet ultimately lifted the curse.

As there is a large Holy Country trade enclave in Dosakayo on Melib Island there would be frequent sea voyages and as that journey is 700 miles or so some captains may stop off at Corflu. As Joerg points out it would more than likely be a grain ship: link and link. Galleys are expensive and don't do well in open seas so these would reserved for VIP's

I don't have the book but from what I understand the initial focus is on central Genertela, other regions may be detailed in future publications all going well. Always a good idea to give player characters common ground, more so in RQ:G where diversity can easily lead to disruptive play, this after all is a recurring theme in the mythology,

For me all the great games were the ones where the rules encouraged play that reflected it's own universe. Call of Cthulhu for instance, while BRP at it's core and just enough nuace to make it work. WEG's Star Wars, R Talsorian's Castle Falkenstien and GDW's Traveller were in my opinion all landmark games for the mechanics capturing the spirit. D&D today holds little resemblance to it's earlier editions, one could argue that it has become a polymorph RPG that reflects the trend. However it was always vanilla, a great staple and east to get into. Every time I D&D is mentioned on TV I smile, because of it's success other games like RuneQuest will continue. One last though, RQ's first great innovation was thinking differently about RPG's. Glorantha, as rich sand box to play in was the second. Little has changed in that regard in 50 years (compared to D&D) the core is still very much the same which is great. This new renaissance for Glorantha materials and RQ is great, the new Sourcebook is fabulous so perhaps developing our favourite lozenge as a system free world is the next innovation. Let's place nostalgia aside and look to making these new products something bloggers will refer to in 2055, what do you see as the what makes RQ/Glorantha work today?

Purity is Fire/Sky so what not an Earth/Fire mix. This could then place her as perhaps make her Ernalda's half-sister by a uniting between Asrelia and Veskarthan. Diamonds, being a pure form of Earth could be her domain. I somehow imagine that the Demiverge would have a thing for diamonds.

that was one of the many strands that served as the backdrop to the scenario... as said earlier Maniria could well do with some canon materials

I'd imagine Thelos would be a main station for many, transferring to river barge for onward journeys. However I think that few caravans make the complete journey, instead trading at key stations along the route and returning thereby remaining in familiar territory. I ran a game recently which saw significant trade heading south of Highwater to Handra via barge, then by ship to Nochet. Much faster and avoids all those trader princes. With the Opening and Handra's rise in prominence (it must be connected to markets in order to thrive as it has) I'd imagine that this would replace the old Manirian Road.

Apologies Dave, I was dipping in and out of the thread and missed your reference. I agree, Pendragon from the outset establishes the framework and player expectation so make integrating battles easier. Glorantha is the setting, and RuneQuest is just one of the ways to interact with it. Perhaps we shouldn't expect an RPG to handle (and handle well) mass battles beyond an abstract way. I'm sure there are other systems that would better suit such play

Funny that no-one has mentioned Pendragon yet which set out, among many things, to bridge gulf between RPG and war-game. I've run many a very successful Pendragon game where the PC's participated in mass battles. It can be easily done if the GM establishes goals that represent the level of impact the PC can achieve. For the common soldier staying alive is often the case (in Pendragon surviving the initial clash of heavy cavalry was considered glorious), for the other PCs just outline what they could hope to do and then how that would ultimately effect the whole battle. As a GM build the expectations into the narrative, so the player understand what's at stake. Watch any war movie and you can see how this works, even if you know the outcome of the battle, you root for the characters personal battles. I only mention Pendragon as Battle is listed as Knowledge Skill on RQG and curious if it'll get much treatment. I see Gloranthan battles as an arms race taken to extremes; I send in my giant bat, I see your bat and raise you a god, is see your god and raise you two dragons etc. Makes for epic tales but less than epic games. Also the level of commitment is commensurate with the benefits of victor or the cost of failure. There are many minor conflicts were the actions are well within human influence and just a little divine support (like the shining Yelm examples above).

attractive character sheets are a great way to introduce the game to new players and help set the tone for casual players. I think the colour sheets look great and would use them for pick up games and the like. I've long since given up using character sheets for campaign play as I find serious players will each have their own style and preference. The B&W would make great work sheets though for the initial stages of character building.

For me this is heading towards creating artefacts which the rules do not cover. As mention above a hero quest would be the best way forward as long the magic required is in tune with the myth in question. The last time mortals began making 'magic items' did not go so well for those involved...

Bronze (from the classical era) is a very loose term to describe a wide range of copper alloys made with a host of additives. Some were deliberate concoctions for special purposes (hardness, brightness, etc.) others were accidental simply based on what raw materials were at hand and recycled. Perhaps Gloranthan bronze is equally diverse and that famous mines like Volsaxiland and Enneserach are just particularly good quality seams. Unless well provisioned, smiths made what the did form what was available, which is probably why different regions become known for quality of a particular product (bronze for a plow has different requirements than bronze for tableware). Even the chieftain's grave at Ciumeşti, which gives us the earliest Earth examples of chainmail (iron) contained bronze greaves. So I'd imagine that in Glorantha, where 'bronze' is far more readily available than iron, it gets coopted into all manner of uses, even those where iron would be better suited.

I was previously under the impression that the tides were only influenced by the Blue Moon who has an erratic pattern, hence unpredictable tides. But (and I can't remember the reference so perhaps I'm mistaken) that the Red Moon does exert some influence... I didn't say the Red Moon caused the 7 day week, only that it follows it. Perhaps its a subtle concession to Orlanth's power over the Goddess. Guide to Glorantha, Page 648: "Over the course of a week, the Red Moon slowly turns through her cycle of phases. One face of the moon is bright red, the other is black. As the cycle progresses the red face wanes, replaced by darkness creeping around it. The darkness grows to cover half the moon, then three quarters, until the last crescent of red moonlight disappears. The names of the Lunar phases are: Black Moon, Crescent-Coming, Empty Half, Full Moon, Full Half, Crescent-Going and Dying Moon. When the moon is dark (the Dying and Black phases), it can be seen only faintly by observers within the Glowline; it is no longer visible outside. It remains dark for two days, after which the red light creeps in again and waxes to full. An entire lunar cycle takes seven days and nights."