Austin

44 minutes ago, Bergguy said:

The Bahubali movie seems really rad.

I watched it (parts 1 and 2) for the first time last year, and I'm pretty sure it was my favorite movie I saw that year--including Avengers: Endgame and Detective Pikachu. Which may say something about my taste in movies, but besides the point. It's super-crazy over-the-top and the lead's a total Wind Lord of Orlanth.

23 minutes ago, Bill the barbarian said:

Dark Crystal for the look at alien critters with alien motivations

Good call, Bill. The TV show of it on Netflix is decent enough, too. Though not great for a movie night.

I'd say Terry Gilliam's film Time Bandits has the right sort of zany, and his Baron Munchausen is obviously an Earth heroquest. All of his work's got this sort of bizarre lunacy to it. Jabberwocky probably maps well to Glorantha, but for the life of me I couldn't say where or how...

I've seen Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon mentioned regularly on this topic. I don't know how Gloranthan it feels to me, personally, but I can see why it gets brought up. Solid martial arts action flick, and has a great dub. I saw it originally dubbed, and didn't realize it was for years and years.

Most Studio Ghibli films map well to Glorantha's style, with their weirdness and transition into magical realms. In particular, I think Princess Mononoke really gets the man & divine-world relationship Glorantha hinges on.

46 minutes ago, g33k said:

Does anyone know (from convention & other events) how common they actually are?

Pretty much everyone I know who plays 5E, and plays a spellcaster, uses them (including myself, though I haven't gotten to play my cleric in a while).

1 hour ago, Akhôrahil said:

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.) 

The whole lot of 'em are. Ever read Mularik's bio? IIRC he's literally got the OP banned RuneQuest Sight.

Is it intentional that Gloomwillow (p.111) has 32 POW, 32 Rune points, and re-usable access to Sever Spirit?

Also, Rhand column p110 "with DEX, Climb, or Jump roll" should be "with a DEX...", and I believe there is a multiplier missing.

5 minutes ago, Tindalos said:

Plus you can learn Tap Charisma to get back at anyone who calls you an uncharismatic bore.

*uncharismatic boar.

14 hours ago, HeirophantX said:

So I was nerding over Hittitology and Hurrian studies on the interwebz and thinking that it might be amusing to convert some actual Late-Bronze Age Collapse-period pantheons to a RQ cult, when it occurred to me to ask...

Has or is anyone doing their own homebrew Bronze-Age setting in one of the versions of RQ?

I have a stack of notes for an Iliad/Thucydides-inspired fantasy setting I was fiddling with prior to delving into Glorantha. Gimme a few years and I'm sure I could get it into readable shape...

More seriously, if you do those Hittite writeups, you should definitely post them! I'd love to see the Sun Goddess of Arinna in RQ style (for the life of me, I can't remember her actual name). I feel like she'd be quite different from Yelm.

Another option to check out if you're just looking for options & inspiration would be Thennla, for Mythras. I've been reading The Shores of Korantia lately, and it feels like an interestingly Hellenistic take on Gloranthan themes. Cults dominate cities, lots of colonizing and sea-trading, unified culture but not really a nation-state, etc. I think it's technically Iron Age, but it feels pretty Bronze Age to my subjectivity.

Related question: for undead with CHA but without POW, like vampires, how do you calculate their spirit combat damage in RQG? Just based on their CHA alone? I've wondered for awhile, but never remembered to ask while it felt relevant.

1 hour ago, Kloster said:

Bohemian Rhapsody

Itself, of course, a pale shadow of the Pelorian Rhapsody.

p.90-91 Jafoska should have 12 HP (+1 from SIZ). Disorder and Harmony add to over 100%. It's odd that she & Baran know Sleep, since it's a spell restricted to the Chalana Arroy cult. In the sub-header, Jafoska is "outcast" but Baran is "lapsed" (don't know whether or not that's intentional). Slow isn't included as one of Jafoska's spells (she has a matrix for it). Baran's spirit combat damage should be 1D6.

p91 Rhand column, missing comma after "Hide 40%"

p101 Rhand column Typical Wicked Duck, typo "Multimissle". Magic points don't match POW. SIZ+STR=17, so no damage bonus (instead of –1D4).

2 hours ago, Akhôrahil said:

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

So long as the world survives long enough for you to sacrifice all that POW...

2 hours ago, HeirophantX said:

I have had a fair volume of RQ3 AH material

I'm not super-familiar with the actual RQ3 material, but it'd help knowing what Gloranthan stuff you have access to from that era before giving advice. The best choice is to probably start with what you've already got.

As others have noted, Pavis/River of Cradles is a good setting, the heart of the 90's RQ3 "Renaissance." There's a lot of stuff there. If you're looking to add to your collection, I'm personally a big fan of the Gloranthan Classics edition Borderlands & Beyond. I don't know how well it will or won't mesh with RQ3's stuff.

I don't know much about RQ6/Mythras, but I don't think it ever had any significant material for Glorantha. Mongoose's rendition of Glorantha is broadly not followed, to my understanding. I suppose I'd tentatively suggest not worrying about a read-through of RQ6/Mythras/MRQ material, for Glorantha setting at least.

2 minutes ago, Ian Absentia said:

It is seldom necessary to lecture your players on the history of the Crimson Bat during the first few sessions of play, though.

On the other hand, shoving a picture of it in front of them and saying "THOSE ARE THE BAD GUYS! FEAR THEM! FLEE FOR YOUR LIVES!" is pretty effective. I may have done that.

(Image is actually from 13th Age Glorantha, not RuneQuest, but it's still one of my favorite Glorantha illustrations ever.)

1 hour ago, Shiningbrow said:

Any ideas? Either in general, or mechanics, or suggestions for what various cultures might have specific beliefs and superstitions about?

I agree, this is an area with potential for expansion or further detail. One of the things I'm currently messing around with is a sourcebook set in Esrolia, trying to describe a small city both in adventurous stuff, and in daily life as well. One of those topics, which unfortunately I haven't muddle around with much yet, is personal religion. Or perhaps "spirituality" might be closer to modern parlance. Basically, the prayers and rituals which are a part of daily life.

One I like a bit is that every inn or guesting-house has a guardian deity, embodied in a snake (using the Ernaldan Summon Household Guardian spell), to which visitors must sacrifice MP in order to stay there. If they break hospitality, the snake's enthralling gaze can overcome their POW immediately. It will also defend them, in addition to the permanent residents, if there's an intrusion.

I imagine farmers leave small bundles of seed after plowing a hide at each corner of the field, to propitiate the Seed-eaters. They're a type of minor spirit associated with Mallia in my Glorantha, which runs along the ground and eats up seeds (of course, much action attributed to them can just as easily be attributed to mundane birds or mice). Seed-eaters are typically drawn to a community when it's undergoing strife, but not enough to let Chaos into the world. Sort of a warning sign or omen.

I also imagine a common action would be to pour a libation from one's cup before or during a meal, as a small thank-you to the Earth for the meal.

Mechanically, I wouldn't in general worry about representing this. I'd focus on roleplay, and not what the gamemaster comes up with, but the players. "How do you say thanks to the Earth? How do you ward away disease?" Customs or Homeland Lore could work for particular skills, but I also think Worship (culture) or Worship (pantheon) could be an interesting way to mechanically represent general practices, if a skill roll was required.

I'd have to double-check, but I think Vasana's Saga in RQG describes her making hand signs to ward away evil, including disease, spirits, and sorcerers. Imaginatively, I can see the Harmony Rune being easy to draw in the air; stick out three fingers, and swipe upward, or downward. The Fertility Rune is also probably pretty easy to draw, but I wonder if one would have to be careful not to air-draw Infinity instead...

6 hours ago, Beoferret said:

What about hunting animals (whether avian or otherwise)?

I'd just use their Animal Lore skill, unless the player wants a unique/special skill to be working on training. Sometimes it's fun to have your own piece of bling.

Another option could be using their Beast Rune to see if it listens to their commands.

5 minutes ago, Ian Absentia said:

Reviewing the current poll numbers (albeit with limited sample size), one emerging trend is becoming clear.

Grognards ruin everything.

!i!

On the one hand, I don't think this poll (or its current result) is the consequence of Grognardy Most Foule. Even if I find it unsettlingly easy to imagine Bill cackling madly over a hektogram...

On the other hand, a preference for the classic setting in the poll doesn't surprise me in the slightest. My perception is that most of BRP Central's active community members are fans from before RQG's publication, and fewer are new to the system/setting.

28 minutes ago, Bill the barbarian said:

Would people be interested in a game set in turbulent 1613 with the lunars and rebels? Is everyone sick and tired of playing in the old and tried classic period and would prefer to move on?

Speaking as a newer GM, material in the 1625 era would be more useful for me. I do think it'd be fun to play a "classic" Sartar/Pavis campaign, but material set then would have limited use for me since my campaign's already in progress.

15 minutes ago, GAZZA said:

In previous versions of RQ this was not an open question: a priest cast Excommunicate on you, and bingo bango bongo you were no longer an initiate

Did they replace it with Ban, in RQG? Or was Ban also in previous editions? This is the first edition I've gamemastered, or read material of to a significant degree. Ban is basically an excommunication from a particular temple.

I don't know if we'll get leaving/transferring cult rules, but I'm expecting we'll get descriptions of the Spirits of Reprisal from the cults book. The cults are supposed to be in long-form, and all the long-form cults I've read from other old material have Spirits of Reprisal listed.

The adventurers are all members of an Uz kitchen crew. Their job is to go out into the surface world and acquire rare, tasty ingredients for the greatest show in Wonderhome: "Who's Eaten Last by Big Momma?" The classic game show where kitchen crews compete each season to come up with the tastiest treat, and be spared one more season's devouring by the Uzuz Big Momma's legendary appetite. The last crew standing gets the honor of being eaten last, before she returns to her decades-long naptime. (Well, we hope!)

Also just wanna note real quick that Aldryami do count as a salad and no I'm not accepting alternative opinions.

42 minutes ago, Brootse said:

How have you handled, or how would you handle this in your Glorantha?

Just sort-of off the cuff, I'd treat meat as anything that comes from the Herd Mother, and I'd treat veggies as unprocessed stuff from Flamal. I wouldn't count breads/baked grains, etc.

I bet that Praxian probably eats a lot of dairy products, just to be safe. 

14 minutes ago, lordabdul said:

"What's a vegetable?" is not a question you can ever answer in a strict fashion. You can start with the famous "tomatoes are actually fruits", where you need to differentiate between botanical classification and culinary classification.

When in doubt, I'd use a culinary sense of this--unless it's a taboo/caste restriction/geas acquired by a sorcerer, in which case I'd go with scientific. Basically just the general things we think about as veggies on the elementary school food pyramid.

4 hours ago, Shiningbrow said:

What's the significance of Lay Membership if the individual never actively does anything about it? Never goes to the rites, ignores the Holy days, never pays even a copper... And walks past the statue of the god with nary a sideways glance..

For me, I think it's important to keep in mind how much Gloranthan social life seems dominated by religious activity. But a lot of that activity might not be the sorts of things which we terrestrials automatically think of as "sacred."

I like trying to draw a comparison to Greek religion here. Can't remember particular sources, so I'm paraphrasing (but I think some of this is out of Hesiod?). There's a story about how humans begin the first sacrifices to the gods, which is very much in the same sort of tradition as the Coyote/Loki/Trickster stories. Humanity doesn't know what parts of sacrifice belong to the gods, and what parts humans get to keep. So Prometheus sacrifices a cow, and lays it out in two piles: the bones and entrails, covered in fat, and the meat. He then asks Zeus which the gods prefer, and Zeus chooses the fatty, enticing bones--which of course spawns "ha ha, I told you" and so on out of Prometheus. And the teller closes with something like "but of course Great and Powerful Zeus chose correctly because Zeus doesn't make mistakes, and he wanted humanity to have the meat."

So, occasions for sacrifice became occasions to party, to eat well and drink well. Plus, it's a lot easier to kill your favorite friendly cow for food when god's the one telling you to do it.

This ties into my Glorantha in that most community gatherings have a significant religious element. If you work the Zola Fel, or the Creek-Stream River, or the Whitefall River, you're a lay member of that river's cult because you're in (to a small degree) a sacred relationship with the god. Nearly everyone's a lay member of Orlanth and Ernalda, because everyone helps thresh grain at harvest time, and everyone gets together for a pint of beer after (or a mug of clearwine if you're wealthy).

If a Gloranthan goes out hunting, they say a prayer to Yinkin or Odayla to strike well, and if they kill a cow, they offer thanks to Uralda/Eiritha while butchering because they believe its spirit goes back to the Mother because it really does, but only if they say the right words while doing the Peaceful Cut.

And so on.

I don't think lay membership necessarily needs to be about "religion." I think it's more about the small ways in which the Gloranthan honors one, or many, deities.

I've wanted to play a clan-based game for a while. But the players are a bloodline of ogres, trying to avoid getting caught by their clan.

9 hours ago, Puckohue said:

Do you have a system for this or do you make it up as you go? How do you determine prices for trade goods? As an example, if they go to Boldhome with 50 ENC of salt, how would you determine the price of salt there?

I mostly make it up as I go, loosely based on the "Equipment & Wealth" chapter of the core rulebook. Trade goods are something I just recently introduced, because they were making some long trips and the merchant wanted to do trading in the process. I've been trying to fluctuate the prices a little each time I make up a new market sheet, based largely on a subjective "well, that makes sense-ish to me."

Like, I would imagine salt's more expensive near Boldhome because it's far from the sea, or any other obvious-to-me salt pans (like the Dead Place, potentially?).

I come up with other marketplace prices based loosely on what's going on in the world around. For example, right now the cost of weapons & armor has gone up a little, because Argrath declared that he's going to march on Lunars in the spring. Harmast's alchemical items are based on a basic cost of 50L/POT for ingredients--which I'm not entirely sure makes sense for the world's economy myself, but haven't yet mucked with. The adventurers don't often buy either healing potions or antidotes as a consequence, although they're certainly wealthy enough to.

For Crassus's shop, I try to think up what seems interesting. Sometimes its stuff I've seen in other games, sometimes it's a money pit--like a trickster's detached penis--and sometimes it's something I've made up myself. Which then they don't buy, and make me sad . Oh, and there's always that damn expensive purple rock, too.

1 minute ago, Nick Brooke said:

You don't get any serious duties other than just being a troll to stay in that cult, and most trolls have got that one sorted already. It comes naturally.

Yep, exactly.

I might also add: "Listen to your mother!"  But two whole rules? That's getting down in the weeds of it.

2 hours ago, GAZZA said:

Do we just dump the Kyger Litor status for an initiate of ZZ/Gorakikki/AA, and assume that it's covered by "communal worship"?

IMHO, with trolls the frequent initiation into Kyger Litor demonstrates a way in which Uz society differs from human society. Kyger Litor dominates their magical/religious worldview in a way which humanity's gods—even Orlanth and Ernalda—simply don't. It's not a big deal for a troll to be an initiate of KL and Gorakiki in the same way it's a big deal for a human to be an initiate of Issaries and Ernalda.

In addition, keep in mind that everyone's lay members of a bunch of gods, and it just doesn't generally get focused on. A good example is that, IIRC, you can't get passage on the Zola Fel in Pavis if you aren't a member of his cult. Giving the cult a few coins and praying to Zola Fel makes you a lay member for a season. Naturally a lot of these small-scale interactions won't get roleplayed out over the course of play, but tossing a few in for flavor, or reminding the players of all their adventurers' connections, can be useful.

On the topic of City Gods...

While I'm hoping we'll get more about City Gods in the forthcoming gods book, we do also have the write-up of Glamour in the Rough Guide, which is written by Jeff, as an exemplar. It notes that initiates only have to spend 5% of time and 1% of income on the cult. In general, I wouldn't count a city-cult against an adventurer's "two cults" rule of thumb.

58 minutes ago, g33k said:

I think a lot of Eurmali would be VERY happy to initiate into another Cult... or two...

The potential for disruption is huge!

Eh, only 1D3 to a random location. Plus, I don't think it's Eurmal who has the complaints, here... more like everybody else.