Mankcam

Yes this is the unfortunate result of having a popular setting being around for such a long time with differing artistic interpretations throughout earlier publications. From RQ2 my initial view of the people of Dragon Pass was that they must of been possibly along the lines of the classical cultures of Ancient Greece. This was due to the Hellenic influenced warriors depicted in the RQ2 rule book, and the fact that the Pavis Box set was very much an ancient (possibly near-eastern flavoured) setting which had a city populated by descendants of Dragon Pass colonists. Then when I saw the illustration of the Orlanthi warrior in the RQ3 Glorantha Box it depicted a warrior which could be viewed as Viking, Celtic, Gallic, Baltic, Dacian, almost anything from northern European background. This was still very much open to interpretation. However once RQ3 brought out the Dorasor book it showed an Orlanthi village that appeared much more early Anglo Saxon flavoured than Mediterrean. Although they were colonists, they felt very different from my initial RQ2 view of these people. When once RQ3 finished up, there was a few fanzines that filled the gap and many of them depicted Orlanthi along the lines of Vikings, Saxons, and Celts. I remember that movies like Braveheart and Rob Roy were popular, and this may have had some impact of the Celtic emphasis at that time. Then the artwork in the Issaries Inc publications (Hero Wars, Hero Quest 1) very much reinforced this view of Celtic and Viking influences on Orlanthi. So it's quite logical that many people still use those cultures are reference points. I really like the idea that Thracians, Dacians, and Myceaneans are suggested as current reference points, and the fact that these are only starting points to develop a unique culture. I totally agree that people should not be too prescriptive telling others how their setting should be, and the authors and artists should feel free to develop a consistent culture, and I really like the current direction it is all going in. Really great stuff. However it is easy to see why some people find it difficult to suddenly envision a different culture to what previous editions presented differently.

Yeah I love the detail that Glorantha goes into. As discussed previously, I have plugged the authors brains a few times for visual references and cultural analogies (not for cultural 'clones'). In regards to Orlanthi, Jeff has previously steered clear of Norse and UK Celtic archetypes, pointing towards the La Tene period, Halstatt Kelts, Thracians, Dacians, and Mycenaeans. These are certainly the kind of images I will show my players, along with pictures from the Moon Design/Chaosium resources. However, my players have grown up in Australia, and none have doctorates in Ancient History (myself included). For a quick visual in their heads, I'll probably just say 'Picture the Orlanthi culture as a vague cross between The Vikings and The Mycenaeans!'. Such a hand wave notion may work equally well in the USA, although this may possibly be too broad perhaps if done the UK or Europe. Obviously it all depends upon the gaming troupe, and their knowledge of ancient cultures. However if my players want to think of the Orlanthi as 'inland Vikings living in Mycenaean towns', then that's a start. Near enough is good enough, at least initially, as the players notions will be in the ball park just based upon those common preconceptions. Yes I am aware that Vikings are Dark Ages not Bronze Age. However they were considered to be 'barbarians' in the minds of the Franks and Saxon Christians, and the visuals from the current television series work well as a quick reference if the players cannot visualise more Dacian or Thracian influences. Although any images I show them won't be of Vikings, it will be more along the lines of what Jeff has suggested. Anything else I can add as I go along. If I have done my job right, by the end of the session the players will understand that the Orlanthi are very much neither Norse nor Mycenaean, Agrath is is not a version of Ragnar or Achilles, however these are two broad cultural reference points to start from and somehow join the dots to create something very unique. At the end of the day, good visualisation assists narration, ultimately prompting good improvisation; the very essence of our roleplaying hobby.

Lawrence Whittaker did a book for MRQ called 'Land Of Samurai' (reprinted as 'Samurai Of Legend') which had a simple Honour system that was quite effective. It just expressed the notion of Honour as a percentile. It was based more on the BRP Status system than the BRP Allegiance system. It didn't seem necessary to have an opposing trait like Dishonour - the more Honour your character accrued was indicative that your character was less likely to be perceived as being dishonourable. Honour (called 'On') was used in place of Credit Rating or Status rolls, and it also provided a small bonus to all social rolls. Besides these game mechanic benefits, the importance of Honour as a commodity was primarily due to the emphasis that was placed on it within the setting. The notion of how many coins or loot your character accrued was much more secondary to the measure of how much Honour your character had. Using it as the 'measuring stick' for success within the setting was very important to giving it a real sense of value. It was accrued by honourable deeds, and was a fragile commodity, as it could be easily lost by failure to save face or by acting dishonourably. Sometimes the motivation of the scenario would be to prevent Honour loss. I thought it was a good system, and I was actually going to convert it for a Mythic Greece game I was tinkering with, calling it 'Glory' instead, and allow it to provide a bonus to social and combat skills. It could easily be converted to other settings as well, such as a 'Chivalry' system for feudal Knights, or a 'Renown' system for Vikings etc. I think the MRQ/Legend 'Pirates' book may have done something similar with the concept of 'Reputation'. In any case, the deeds would need to be tweaked slightly for each concept and setting, but the general notion would be similar. Basically any game that the focus isn't on dungeon-crawling & loot-accrual could have a 'Status' system in place as the measuring stick for the character. I think you could easily model it on a bunch of virtues and such, or use the BRP Allegiance system. However if you want a less complex approach, then replacing Status is the way to go. Then it is up to the GM to drive home how important the trait is within the setting.

I run a Pulp Cthulhu game, we are doing the Masks of Nylarthotep campaign, but playing it more like Indiana Jones. Presently we use Call of Cthulhu 6E and replace Power Points as 'Pulp Points' - essentially 1pt per skill re-rolls. If the players are willing to dish out more 'Pulp Points' than you could allow cool stuff like enhancing chances of doing stuff, and reduce the cost of Pulp Point use depending upon particular character narrative traits. Then make Pulp Points recharge at the same rate as Hit Points, although liberally hand out regains in accordance to characters playing up their personality concepts. It works well for us. Call of Cthulhu has so much background for the 1920s that it is the best for Pulp Era games in my opinion. You can easily 'pulp' it up a notch, depending on how you present the story line. From what I have seen of the Cthulhu 7E pdf it looks like it may be easier to do this then with 6E, given it already has the concepts of Luck and Pushing Rolls built into the system, although in a low-pulp manner. My gut instinct says to get the Call of Cthulhu 7E books and have a good look at that, then wait for the Pulp Cthulhu companion volume to be published, as that will obviously be designed to tweak it further in the direction of high pulp fare. In the meantime, if you have the BRP book then perhaps just use Power Points as I described above and you should be able to see things get very pulpy.

Yeah you can say that again, it's a great looking update. Thanks Newt!

Yeah as long as its not a repeat of some of the art we saw in MRQ2, as lot of that was cheesy, and some of it was occasionally gratuitous. I'm happy to say that I think the art direction is going to be much more acceptable

Those first pics are great in my opinion, as I love seeing how the ordinary people and daily life of different cultural backgrounds are depicted. I would be very happy if much of the RQ book was done like this. However there also needs to be some really great full colour spreads that evoke adventure and classic sword n sorcery flavour.

Given how stringent Australian Customs are, I guess it may take up to a month just to ensure that they confirm Moon Design isn't a cover company for a cocaine racket or something like that. They are probably reading my books at present heh heh

Woohoo!!! I should have my kickstarter books this soon! This is a great day to be Australian, your country salutes you MOB heh heh

Yep I'm certainly agreeable with many of these ideas

Mythras is a perfect fit. The RQ6 rule book is a great toolkit for these kind of settings, and the game mechanic elements such as increased focus on hit locations, combat effects and such really heighten the already very tactile flavour of BRP combat scenes. If Mythras specialises in various pseudo-historic ancient and dark ages settings then it has a niche in the market. There are a lot of fantasy settings out there, but few RPGs are doing Mythic Earth at present. This is a great opportunity for Mythras to make a name for itself and be the 'go-to' system for anyone wanting to run a fantasy earth setting. It would also make sense if DM were able to get MRQ2 Vikings ported over to Mythras as well, especially given the popularity of Vikings at present due to the current television series. The trick would be having three or four lines and then following these up with various resource books and scenarios. A lot of work for primarily two writers however, and I'm just happy I'll have a Mythras version of ROME to sit next to my Mythic Britain book.

Yeah, Officeworks shops over here have been doing that to some extent

This is great news Loz I can vouch that Pete's BRP ROME is a brilliant resource, perhaps the best in rpg history on the subject of the Roman Republic, it is very detailed and full of content. I can see that it will take minimal changes to port the actual mechanics from BRP BGB to RQ6/Mythras. I can do it myself, but to have it re-released as a new product makes alot of sense, as it really keeps the 'Mythic' theme going for product identity with RQ6/Mythras. I'll probably use the upcoming RQ for Glorantha, as it really sounds like the Gloranthan elements will be intrinsic in the system. However I'll be keeping with Mythras for my non-Gloranthan settings, and I have really enjoyed every product you guys have brought out. I am only starting to digest Mythic Britain now, but it is obvious that it has been a labour of love and I am so grateful it has been done so well. If the production standard for Mythic Rome is the same as Mythic Britain then I am definitely buying the new Mythras version even if I have the earlier BRP version. I am really looking forward this release

For fantasy settings (or pseudo-historic ancient through to late medieval) I prefer coinage (or trade goods) recorded as in the old school games. It makes it feel more meaniful, and helps get an idea of the value of things such as getting a sword forged. The trick is not to hand out too much loot all the time, or it decreases its value in a setting - many old school games were guilty of this, and D&D remains at fault even in its current edition. If I was porting any coinage loot from a D&D scenario, I would recommend about a fifth of what the typical D&D scenario prescribes. Bartering should also play a big role in these settings, especially outside of the urban centres. For more recent era settings I would find this approach too clunky, and assign everything a wealth level, then request for a Credit Rating roll, +/- 10% per level different to their Status. That approach works best for major purposes. For smaller purchases I may just ask for Credit Ratings rolls if the wealth level is beyond their status, or alternatively hand wave everything, using Credit Rating as an indicator or guide as to whether something is acquired or not. Seems to work fine

I always wanted a copy of this, cheers Rick!

Wow!. Yes you are both correct - I have always assumed that Elkoi had been inspired by Tiryns, but after checking the map the layout of Elkoi is almost exactly the same as Tiryns. No wonder I felt the cities of Balazar have 'Mycenaean flavour!'

I think you are spot on with Harrapan influences playing a big role in Darra Happan architecture. A quick online search brings up some great images that I can really see working for Darra Happa. In regards to the flavour of Darra Happan culture, I should of clarified that I am vaguely referencing the Assyrian Empire, and the Achaemenid Empire. I think during the reigns of Cyrus and Darius provide some useful reference points, primarily in clothing styles and fashions. However I blend cultures together quite a bit when I try to portray a fantasy culture, and I tend to envision Darra Happan armour often looking Hellenic; I suppose it is because of all the Solar Pantheon hoplite illustrations I have seen over the years. Same goes for Lunar Imperials; I tend to view them as Achaemenids wearing Roman armour (late Republic and early Empire era), although this also varies widely across various garrisons depending upon their cultural origins. Well my own background has a strong English line on one side, and a predominantly Polish line on the other. However there are many others in the mix, such as Irish, Scottish, German, Norwegian, and Danish. It's all been bled together over various generations living in Australia. I have an interest with many of the backgrounds discussed, but I must admit that until the advent of the internet my knowledge was limited to many mainsteam preconceptions that are common among non-europeans. I can see that this may have the potential to cause some irritation, as I certainly feel the same way when people indicate preconceptions about my own country being a nation populated purely by sports fanatics and rudimentary yokels. In future will try to clarify myself better before I actually type, in order to express my notions a bit more clearly and avoid confusion all round. Well, Tiryns actually, but yeah...Elkoi Yep, you taught me something good here :-)

Pol Joni Horse Barbarian may work, otherwise a Sun Domer would be my additional choice for a Prax/River Of Cradles game.

Yes, I also use references of Halstatt and La Tene period for Theylans. The ancient cultures that Jeff has said are good reference points are Halstatt, Dacian, Thracian, and Mycenaean. Fuse elements of all these cultures together to get a sense of who the Orlanthi are, particularly in the Dragon Pass/Holy Country region. Oppida are a very good reference point, especially for villages and small towns. Most of the ones I have seen in pictures are fortified with timber palisades, although I suspect brick walls was also used at times. This is how I view rural Sartarite villages, except the houses are square (earth rune shaped). Looks like a mix of masonry and timber in the design. I'm using this one for a Manirian village, as the G2G indicates that their villages are primarily timber based: However I feel the more urbanised settlements would better organised with stone villas and such, more in keeping with the Mycenaean citadels rather than large oppida. Something like this: Or perhaps this: Possibly a little too vanilla-Mycenaean in some ways, although they do remind me of the citadels of Balazar, which I think were initially Theylan in origin. (PS: I haven't worked out how to multi-quote yet, so sorry about the multiple separate posts)

My reference of 'Ancient Thraco-Dacian-Mycenaeans' is meant to describe a fusion of vague cultural traits from those backgrounds, all thrown in together in an attempt to portray a culture unique to Glorantha. Any references of 'Anglo-Saxon-Norse-Celtic' influences is likewise. Just very broad brush strokes in order to portray a sense of a culture. I could have described Darra Happans as 'Persian-Assyrian-Hellenic' or Lunar Imperials as 'Persian-Assyrian-Roman', just to conjure up a sense of an ancient world style and culture. In much the same way people may describe Tolkien's Rohirrim as 'Vikings on Horses'; just a reference.point. I suppose I envision Thracians more along the lines of how they are portrayed in the time of Spartacus. As far as Anglo-Saxon, in my mind I think I am referencing pre-christian Saxons, Dark Ages Vikings, that kind of thing. I'm not sure if I have offended any ethnic sensibilities here by speaking with broad brushstrokes, and that certainly was not my intention. Please excuse my ignorance if this is the case. I find mixing real world influences together helps get a sense of a culture in a fantasy setting.

Yes, you are very right. Dark Ages Scandinavians have long been stereotyped based upon their Viking raiding parties, often excluding other facets of their the rich cultural background. I think that this may be starting to change however

.

wow !!!

These images are a bit more 'barbaric' than how I currently view the Esrolians, Sartarites, Tarshites, and New Pavisites. However it is very much along the lines of how I envision the more rudimentary Orlanthi folk, such as the Dorastor settlers, or the Ditali, Solanthi, and Nimistori of Maniria. There is certainly room for variation whether they have an emphasis on Thraco-Dacian-Mycenaean elements, or whether they have heavy Anglo-Saxon influences. I guess the factors that bind them are that they are all descendants of the people of The Dawn Age whose culture has a heavy emphasis on Heroic ideology, and who predominantly worship the Storm and Earth pantheons.

River of Heaven is just what the BRP Family needed, and I love the clean OQ build it uses. Quite a good setting