GerallKahla

Not much to add here; previous posters are dead-on! Glorantha is a world that's just alien enough to draw you in without being completely incomprehensible. I'll agree with Shaira when she advises "Don't get overwhelmed." It's a huge setting with layers of history to choose from. You could do far, far worse than picking up the Borderlands reprint from Moon Design and getting started there. It's 3rd Age, it's broad and deep (both being hard to get from a single gaming purchase in the modern market), and genuinely fun to explore. Hope you have fun with it - let us know how things go.

I'll agree with Nick - If it's appropriate, surely. I tend to use hit locations only for special/exceptional hits, though. So, I'm voting yes.

Using TalMeta's epically uber-cool, hyper-amazing GreyQuest write ups, I ran a sitting or three in the March of Sterich on Greyhawk. (This is no mere hyperbole - It's exceptional hyperbole! Thanks, Tal!) There were mind flayers involved. Cloakers. Otyughs. Aberrations galore, in fact. That was the point of the story arc. "Where the heck did these tentacled beasts come from?" Anyway... We started by measuring levels of "fear effects", and laid the SAN of a given character down next to it like a ruler... Each 20% of the character's SAN was a different "level" of effect. Ergo, there were 5 effects from "Normal" thru "Shattered". For example, Thuggert the Half-Orc has a POW of 10. His SAN is therefore 50. Thuggert's SAN-meter broke down like this: Normal / 50 - 41 Edgy / 40 - 31 Scared / 30 - 21 Paranoid / 20 - 11 Shattered / 10 - 1 If you ever landed at 0, your character was unplayable afterwards... SAN damage happened using the (admittedly light) rating's I'd cooked up for the creatures, and the illithid had psychic powers to drop you into a given level immediately. As for becoming inured to the horror, the actual SAN rolls provided that. A special on the roll (using RQ3 for these games, mind you) granted the character 1 point of SAN "armor" against that particular foe. A critical gave you 2 for that particular horror, or 1 vs anything. It worked out well, and provided a real use for spells which changed the mind-set of their targets. "Hardened" characters with intricate bands of resistance around their minds developed. Thuggert became particularly used to mopping up the Otyughs, for example... When the "cleric" and "wizard" types began resorting to writing detailed journals about the specifics of the invasion, I admonished my players for thinking this was a Call of Cthulhu game (because they all flatly refused to play it at the time). To use the vernacular of the Web, I LOL'd. Now that I think of it, this is actually where the idea came from for a derivative of BRP I've cooked up. But that's another story... I think you *can* use SAN for high-fantasy and have it feel right. I was watching one of the Lord of the Rings movies the other day and saw the Council of Elrond scene uncut. When Gandalf began using Black Speech to get the attention of those in attendance, I could easily envision using a SAN system to reflect that. Watch that extended scene again and look at the face of the actor who played Legolas... That elf lost SAN, I'm sure of it!

"Fluff" being setting information, the BRP book (because it's generic) doesn't put a lot of spin on where the magical power comes from. That's pretty dependent on the setting. In Call of Cthulhu, spells were like Spirit Magic in RQ's 2nd edition except they had other setting-specific requirements (like SAN and / or POW costs) in addition to Magic Points. Spells in BRP are skill-based (as mentioned before). So, if you have Incinerate Peasant 80%, you have to succeed at that skill roll in addition to any other requirements mentioned in the spell's description before the farmer working your land becomes a blazing symbol of your displeasure... The spell-system in the BRP book is called "Sorcery" to distinguish it from "Psychic Powers" and "Super Powers". I hope this helps --

C'mon! It's time for a roving tribe of gamers to get out there and ride convoy on that truck! It's like a Mad Max scenario - gotta keep that truck moving and remove any obstacles that get in it's way. Shotguns and Stick-Shifts!!

Hey there Hound of Tindalos! Welcome, MandaClaire! Good to see some Call of Cthulhu Keepers/players here on the forums! I'm having fun with the BRP rules doing lots of different things. Are you enjoying your Vikings game, MandaClaire? Also, Hound, you might search the forums for "Dune" - I think there are people already working on a setting fan-document for this... -pax-

I always thought the "temporary reality" implementation of this rule was one of the coolest metaphysics around... An illusory floor concealing a gorgon? There's a spiteful, vendictive GM! I'll happily add that to my bag of tricks. :thumb: The other way I've seen illusions handled was that it presented only a single, targetted character with false images. They were, indeed, false images. It was worked in the gamescience that any time the target wanted to do something that would break the illusion, the caster had to make a POW vs. POW against the target again. Success for the caster meant that she anticipated the interaction and could manipulate the illusion to accomodate the target. Success for the target meant that she encountered enough discrepancy that the illusion was seen through. Note that this does NOT dispel the visions! It does, however, provide the target with enough cues that things are not what they seem. In this scheme, the illusionist only got a single check on POW for the initial casting. Also, she had to do this in a convincing manner so that the target didn't suddenly see a pink elephant where noone else did... I always meant to ask that particular GM to write those rules down. He doesn't live near me anymore, and I've lost contact. Clark, you out there dude?!? Hope this helps - -pax-

I never got a copy of Gods of Law to clash violently with my Gods of Chaos, and I regret it deeply. While the typesetting and layout of GoC was a little strange, the content is first-rate. I wonder if the writers of these excellent supplements are working with Mongoose on something to support that game?

Puck - thanks so much for the write up about your Glyphs! Very much looking forward to this system / setting. I'll need to go over this closely - too much going on at work today to idly read the brp.com forums... -pax-

Yes, I have the PDF of Ashes to Ashes... It's public-domain-19th-to-early-20th-century-art helps give the setting a . . . strange feel. The writing is engaging without being too flowery. The "map of the world" isn't terribly big, which will cause some to complain and give others great ideas for how to expand The World. Layout is double-column and clear. The heading font isn't my favorite, but is easy to read and not tiring to look at. (I'm a stickler for fonts!) The *content* documents a very harsh world, overrun by demons, paranoia running rampant, and all resources in short supply. Magicians are (to say it lightly) shunned by society; religion is drawing in on the reins on the commoners for their own good. Then, there's the demons' agendas. Looking over the stat-blocks for NPCs, the Allegiance option is being used to inform the GM what motivates them, as well as detailed write-ups on their position within the setting. (Note that typed "motivates them" - they are referred to as "Allegiance Tendencies"...) It also appears that hit locations are NOT used. I'm only about 50 pages into this 180-page PDF, and am enjoying it entirely! Well done to the author! Thanks for sharing this very bleak world.

Welcome to the forums - been playing BRP long?

I've wanted full PDFs of some of these older settings for a while now. Thanks, Chaosium! Now, to re-arrange my budget to accomodate the purchases...

Reading through my copy now - quite nice! It's definitely got a "mood" to it. Not enough settings evoke a mood like this nowadays. Thanks for writing this!

Sunwolfe, I hereby vow to keep an extra pair of percentile dice at the table just for you! Should you find yourself near the southern border of TX, US and LA, US give me a call. We'll play and shake the pillars of heaven. I'm still laughing - the nuns are wondering what's going on back here... Regards --

Not used often enough to be obscure, not used little enough to still be on the tongues of most English-speakers. Naming things is terribly important - it can take some real effort to find the "right" name. Glad the word suits your purpose! It's a good word, too... I'll have to get back up to speed on reading the wiki about The Green. -pax-

I would like to see a Talislanta thread - Thanks!

Have you considered using the word "Glyph" to describe this character-based magic system? That might focus things a little differently, and provide an alternate description than "rune".

Blast!! I'm at work, and the cyber-nuns have Chaosium in their blacklist for the firewall... I'll get a copy tonight from home for sure! (Yes, cyber-nuns. I write software for a Catholic healthcare system. Cyber-nuns. You wouldn't believe...) Thanks for describing some of the differences, Shaira! My scenario submissions can be fleshed out with the full-on rules now. -pax-

Again, be safe and come home soon - Thanks for sharing your BRP experience with us! Looking forward to more --

Welcome, tedankhamen - How's the weather over there? Have you heard of the Japanese International Gaming Group? The JIGG is on yahoo groups under gaming, and it's a bunch of non-Japanese all over that particular nation who are looking for gamers... I heard about them on the Godzilla Gaming Podcast, from people on the ground in J-land. You should look 'em up - odds are good, you'll find someone interested in doing some gaming in your area. Howdy and welcome - Congrats on the gamer-spouse! If only my Lovely Wife enjoyed the hobby... Ah well! You could do far, far worse than spend some time reading GURPS sourcebooks for background information! SJG does some of the best researched gaming books outside of Osprey I've seen. The fact that all their units are seconds, dollars, feet, and lbs makes converting to and from relatively simple, too. Here's to your next time at the table; enjoy your game!

There are areas where gamers are sparse and groups somewhat more . . . static. I had a Gaming Dark Age from around 1992 - 1999 due to a lack of gamers. My current, multi-GM group is the absolute best thing I've found for this hobby of mine since the pencil. I treasure their flexibility and willingness to give new settings and systems a try. We who have found "multi-systems groups" seem to be privileged. :focus: I'll have to say; D&D4e's release will (as the 800-lbs gorrilla dances onto the stage) cause attention to focus on it, certainly. That's what Hasbro's pouring the time and money into - the media push. Does Chaosium have a "International Play Call of Cthulhu Day" like WotC's primary game does? If it does, their media push hasn't gotten the concept into my head. (And if they do have something analagous, let me know! I write for an ink-and-paper gaming newsletter who's range covers about a third of TX, US!) So, what we're dealing with here are a) kids who are new to the hobby and trying this out due to the media exposure, experienced gamers who are loyal to the D&D letters following their latest edition, and c) grognards trying out the system to find it's merits and incorporate them into their own Grand Unified Gaming System. A) we can show BRP to and potentially score converts. we can do the same as well. C) would be interested, I think, in many of the facets of the BRP core rulebook for their utility. (Allegances, as one example. Hit locations for another...) Competition will be tough while the media-frenzy is raging, but I think it will slow down a bit. We'll see if all those previously mentioned A's and B's will still feel the love when all of D&D4e goes to online-only distribution. They might even learn The Grognard's Lesson; Once they publish a book and you own it, they can't take the system out of your head. Hasbro will also have to respond to their fanbase's desires or loose them anyway. The push to online-only content removes the physical printing and distribution parts from the process of getting new for-pay content to the consumer. WotC is wise to attempt this to try and save that money. However, if the fanbase sours to the idea later and demands more treeware, they'll have to do something differently. Yes, WotC is aiming for "the biggest demographic" with their changes - they do not focus on the long-time fan or any specific niche gamer with their releases. It's that nebulous, fickle section of the market that'll determine if D&D4e will succeed. In the meantime, we can show gamers the BRP releases and get them thinking of their hobby in different ways. They are nebulous and fickle after all. The target is constantly moving, but that's the way it's always been in this business... Should be an interesting ride.

Wow - at this word count, I'm thinking of hammering out a few and having my group help me playtest against the proofs... Very interesting!

Iain M. Bank's Culture books are very inspiring. Fritz Leiber's Lhankmar books defined the swords-and-sorcery genre for me as a young lad... I'll post more as I think of them.

I believe that this will certainly help with the long-term viability of the setting. A parody piece will sell a monograph; an homage can sell future supplements as you address the different parts that people miss from years gone by. With this re-organization/re-envisioning, you can neatly place a BRP derivative into the line of fire for people dissatisfied with the oncoming changes to D&D. Excellent planning! This does, however, raise a couple of questions in my mind: - How comprehensive will this initial release be? - Are there tropes you're leaving out of the manuscript in hopes that there will be supplemental material to fill it? (Adventures / cultures living in underground catacombs, underwater fantasy setting, etc) - Is this book going to be set on a concrete world unto itself? You could do a lot worse (from a marketing perspective) than setting a new world spinning... Thanks for this book! I'll buy it for sure, and I'm thinking about how to push the concept further (or at least explore the niches it's progenitors did).

Very much looking forward to seeing this! Thanks for the update --