Gallowglass

11 minutes ago, Squaredeal Sten said:

What type of game?  That makes a difference.

I was thinking roleplaying game, but a KoDP style experience would be neat. I secretly hope David Dunham will one day release a “Glorantha game maker” engine where we could make our own games, kinda like with Twine.

If you could set a game in Glorantha in any time period, even before time begins, where would you set it and why? As an example, King of Dragon Pass is set during the resettling of Dragon Pass (1300's I believe). It's an overwhelming thing to contemplate, but over the years I've fixated on a few ideas- 

1. Peloria during the coming of the Red Goddess (the Zero Wane) - I think it would be really interesting to play members of her growing cult as they take on the Carmanians. Players could participate in all the big battles, and go on missions for the Goddess and the 7 Mothers. At the climax of the campaign, they can join her on the Red Moon as immortals! 
2. Prax/the Wastelands during the period of exile - By "period of exile" I mean after Pavis defeats the Praxians and Waha at the Too Tall Battle, and the animal nomads are driven into the Wastelands. This could be a multi-generational campaign about eventually returning to Prax with Jaldon to retake it. The PC's could help Jaldon in his quests, or one of them could even be Jaldon!
3. Syranthir's March - This would be about the founding of Carmania, the war against the Spolites, etc. I forget when this happens but I think it's when the God Learners take over Loskalm, so... 700's I think? The PC's could be members of Syranthir's 10,000, and help fight the Darkness and create a new kingdom. 

Your list seems good to me. It’s a lot of options but I kind of enjoy it for that, plus Maniria is a very complex place! I would actually have Alatan and Khorst be represented in their own category, separate from Ramalia. I also agree with Brian that the “Fallen Mraloti” could be their own category. 

I would think that Lodril’s more destructive rune spells would be restricted to priests in Peloria. Or maybe the number of initiates is much lower. 

8 hours ago, Goldennose said:

There are plans to have fully descriped Sironomandidi in Vol 4, a sandbox setting together with the already published materials.

That’s a great idea actually. I was rereading the East Isles chapter from the Guide and Sironomandidi struck me as having lots of potential. You’ve basically got a mega dungeon cave system with its own towns, ancient secrets, elder races, etc.

Coincidentally the Thousand Thousand Isles folks are also releasing a book about cave societies. For those who don’t know them, they are a group of creators from Southeast Asia (mostly Malaysia I think?) who make system neutral setting material inspired by their homeland’s mythology and history. It’s meant to be used with OSR D&D type rules, but you could easily insert their stuff into Glorantha. Here’s a link to their Instagram in case anyone wants to check out the stellar artwork. 
https://instagram.com/wearecentaurgames?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

On their IG they even have a picture of a boar-man, inspired by the local babirusa wild pig. I think this is how I’m going to imagine your Mralotaurs from now on!

Both books were excellent! I especially liked the Mysticism and Martial Arts rules in the first book. They integrate well with the existing rules, which already have 3 magic systems and a ton of options! Congrats to @davecake for that! I made a couple of characters just for fun and they turned out roughly as powerful as a player character from Dragon Pass, but not too powerful!

I am wondering if you plan on including any of the following in future books- 

1. More example schools of martial arts and mysticism? With more austerities? I don't mind coming up with more options myself, but it's always nice to give players a solid writeup that they can look at. 
2. Writeups for any of the following cults: Hensarava, Enevar, Kabalt, Thella, Prosendara? They come up a lot in the mythology, and seem like some of the more prominent Parloth in the East Isles. I think some of them have writeups in other places, but I'm very curious to see your take on them (especially Dream Magic!). 

Someday I'd love to see homeland writeups for other parts of the East Isles, like Mokato and Hanfarador, but that seems like it's outside the scope of your project. 

I also had a question about the final adventure in book 2, spoilers follow-

I hope to try running these adventures for some players, although I don't know when. Keep up the great work!

Just now, Erol of Backford said:

I was thinking if you are fully submerged when you shoot/throw/launch a weapon, unless its got some sort of Dwarfish energy or miniature undine it's be hindered by water?

The Hawaiian sling is designed to shoot underwater, although not very far. I think it has a range of around 30 feet? There's videos of people hunting fish with one. I think the real-life Hawaiian sling is a fairly modern invention which uses a rubber string. But maybe it's possible to make one using a sinew bow string or something. 

You could also use buoyancy to attack from range by dropping stuff from above, or using some kind of float to attack from below. I'm thinking nets, but in theory you could also do this with harpoons or maybe knives.  

The main issues underwater are drag and buoyancy, which tend to slow everything down. Magic would be the best way to attack from a distance. 

Also, for general inspiration on underwater fantasy settings (magic, equipment, etc) you could check out Cerulean Seas for the Pathfinder rpg. There’s also a new underwater setting coming out for old school essentials.

On the subject of ranged weapons, you could use something like a Hawaiian sling or a pole spear- 

My character is from Caladraland, although he mostly grew up in Porthomeka. From what I gather, in the homeland Lodril (Veskarthan) is treated as a war god of sorts, wild and dangerous compared to his children Caladra and Aurelion.
 

I asked the question originally because I wondered if there were any canonical shrines or temples to Lodril in Sartar. I don’t know if our campaign is going to stay in Sartar, but if it does I feel like an interesting character arc might be finding a way to start a Veskarthan temple in Sartar. If Yelmalio can exist alongside the Orlanthi, I don’t see why his dumb uncle couldn’t. He’s a fighter of Chaos, at least in the Holy Country. He has powers beyond what Yelmalio or the Oakfed spirit cult would offer. There’s also the potential for a political alliance with Caladraland if the  Veskarthan cult was allowed to flourish in Sartar.

2 hours ago, mfbrandi said:

Are there many Gloranthan cults who are actively against reproduction (of people)?

I think the Mostali would prefer that people are just made by hand, like a really nice vase.

4 hours ago, Jeff said:

a fat red-faced drunken fool whose phallus drags on the ground

That’s fairly close to my character concept, although he only claims it’s that big.

I'm about to start playing a Lodrili PC in an upcoming game. He's from Caladraland, but the game will take place in Sartar, at least initially. I've been meaning to ask about Lodril (Veskarthen's) cult presence in Sartar. I vaguely remember Jeff posting something about Lodril having a few worshipers in Sartar, and maybe a shrine or temple in Boldhome. I also know that Quivin mountain is a son of Lodril (and maybe an inactive volcano?). Anything else important I'm missing? 

On 7/4/2022 at 2:35 AM, triciab79 said:

What kind of bear is Jonat?  I need to do an illustration and I’m struggling to find what sort of bear he is. Also, would he wear armor or just naked bear with a crown and a sword? 

He was most likely from the Irgari, or Brown Bear Rathori. But he was also descended from Redel, and I'm not sure what kind of specific bear he represents, if any. There's a lot of bear gods in Glorantha!

As the title questions says. I would imagine it's similar to Lhankor Mhy, but with more Moon-y stuff? I might be including an Irippi Ontor character in a scenario I'm working on. 

I have wondered this as well. I can’t think of any examples other than the Siwafu from Maslo, who can turn into swarms of army ants. But in the Guide they are stated as “not true Fiwan” or Hsunchen.
 

Also, the Wasp Riders worship Isalla, and I’m pretty sure that her spells allow them to transform into giant wasps, so that also puts them into the shapeshifter category. 
 

Edit: just noticed you were asking about trolls specifically, whoops. But at least my two examples are arguably non-human.

As much as RQ sorcery gives me a headache, I love how well it supports the fiction that a bunch of guys with spreadsheets were able to take over half the world.

5 minutes ago, Garrik said:

Oh, this boils down to the loss of Greg.

I wish I could press “Like” and “Sad Face” at the same time 😭

4 minutes ago, Garrik said:

Outside of Loskalm, Fronela is one of the least developed regions of Genertela, and in this sense the GtG essentially goes back to the Genertela: Crucible of the Hero Wars box. Which is about 40 years old by now. The sagas of Snodal and Harrek are older still.

Fronela is one of the places where Greg's old stories collide with his newer vision of Glorantha, and that makes it all the more interesting. But also kind of muddled and confusing. 

7 minutes ago, JRE said:

RQ: G, for me has an aspect that does not appear in the essay, that I would call "The tiranny of the setting", or "The one true Glorantha", typical of games where the very rich setting creates its own set of constraints. It can be played as Traditional, but if the GM tries to adhere to the setting, that reduces her agency, with the benefit of better compatibility with other players and with future supplements. Other games also have this problem, and the degree of adherence to the "Canon" can be used to challenge the GMs authority, something unusual within a traditional game. 

 

I get where you're coming from here, I struggle with this as well. I mean, I've never had my players challenge my adherence to Gloranthan canon, but I've never played with true Gloranthaphiles before. I could see it happening!

I think adherence to canon and setting lore is actually a feature of "trad," but more of a flaw than anything else, because it limits everyone's agency. That being said, I still enjoy most of Glorantha's canon because it's usually more interesting than anything I could come up with. 

25 minutes ago, Garrik said:

And on the meta-level, do we want to pursue an inclusive or exclusive explanation. Do we want a rich and intertwined explanation where many things are true simultaneously or there is constant change? Or do we want single all-encompassing reasons and a status quo for century or two.

I mean, we're just making stuff up here, I don't think there is an official explanation for any of this. It seems like Tastolar was once part of the Greenwood taiga forest, but now it's not. It also seems like there have never been any real settlements in the region, except for the Third Eye Blue People, and the ruins in Oral-Ta. So where did all that forest go? Trolls eat trees, especially hungry Snow Trolls, so if I had to come up with a story, I'd go with "prolonged Elder Race conflict, with Hsunchen caught in the crossfire." 

14 minutes ago, dumuzid said:

I think the reason for the apparent end of the aggressive colonization that characterized Fronelan Malkioni in the First Age is that down in Hell, Varganthar and Talor agreed to put a stop to it.

I like this idea because it gives a mythological solution to Loskalm's destruction in the Hero Wars. The bits and pieces we get in the Guide seem to imply that Loskalm is doomed, but maybe by following in Talor's footsteps and finding a way to make peace with their neighbors, they can survive in some form. 

18 minutes ago, dumuzid said:

The story, as presented in the Guide, leaves some very intriguing questions unanswered

I agree, Fronela in the First Age is interesting, and massively confusing

20 minutes ago, dumuzid said:

what happened while Talor was dead, and immediately after he returned, that allowed him to rally together the disparate Fronelan factions for a united struggle in Dorastor?

This is definitely one of the more confounding pieces, because whatever happened all occurred within one year (450). Harmast and Talor return to Fronela from Hrelar Amali (I think?), fought the Battle of Giants in Oranor, gathered allies from across the region, marched to Dorastor, and helped defeat Gbaji. 450 was one hell of a year. 

23 minutes ago, Garrik said:

So is it a bit too much to try to define RQ, a game publication, along these parameters?

Sure, but I'm doing it anyway because it amuses me🥴. In all seriousness though, I think every game encourages a blend of play-styles, and the kind you have at your table depends a lot on you and your players as well.  

For me, Runequest is all about immersing your players in Glorantha, and exploring the parts of it that are not clearly defined in the books. So this is a "traditional" goal for my  gameplay as a GM. I actually think RQG currently does a better job of this than Heroquest did, because everything is so carefully defined and simulated (especially the magic). So even though I lean more rules-lite and narrative-driven in my preferences, Runequest makes Glorantha more real for me. 

Another question I found interesting: should we consider RQG to be an OSR game? The person who wrote the article would probably say no, and I would agree. On the one hand, it is based very closely on rules from the dawn of roleplaying games. But I feel like many of the features of recent OSR games are not there: rules-lite, emphasis on sandbox gameplay, embraces randomness.

(I know “OSR” is hard to pin down, these are just the things I associate with the scene.)

HOWEVER, there are definitely things about Glorantha that would be appealing to the OSR crowd. It’s kind of zany and psychedelic, and in the past Chaosium has produced some classic sandbox-style settings, like Pavis/Big Rubble and Griffin Mountain. Maybe once the new P/BR set comes out, that will attract more people.

30 minutes ago, Garrik said:

My Q 1 might actually help to answer the Q 2. If the Greenwood "hole" is not about a receding Aldryami forest, but about a political power vacuum, it might not be as drastic a mythical phenomenon after all.

Then I guess the question is, was Tastolar always more thinly forested, even at the Dawn? Because it clearly is on the hex maps.