I quite like the idea of INT rolls. And losing the bonus automatically in the event of e.g. damage being incurred.

I don't have the RQG rules in front of me, but I don't remember there being a time limit upon the use of Meditate (i.e. between the end of meditation and the casting of a spell). Presumably, you can meditate, then wait until the right moment (within reason) to cast the spell, without losing the bonus? The adventurer is preparing their mind or mentally rehearsing the casting, so as long as it is the next spell they cast, and they do not need to concentrate intensely on anything else in the meantime, then I would assume that the casting can be deferred for a while.

That makes sense. I can imagine skills like Sing and Intimidate being developed through communal practice and demeanour rather than through formal instruction. Speak Other Language could be picked up colloquially (if it's the lingua franca in the temple) or through language lessons.

38 minutes ago, seneschal said:

What do you sheath it in?

The guts of the nearest Broo.

On ‎6‎/‎2‎/‎2019 at 2:58 PM, AndreJarosch said:

Maybe it would be a good idea to edit the "Queens Heir" back to it´s gloranthan roots and publish it in a glorantha fiction line?

The only problem is that it's the first of an unfinished trilogy, and the second part is a) not Gloranthan and b) not so good. Queen's Heir has a reasonable amount of character development and dialogue to balance the action sequences. It feels believable and is written adequately. The second novel is written largely in a reported speech style (I did this, then I did this, then she said that and this happened), with very little dialogue and has much flimsier characterisation as a result.

The main character becomes a monotonously successful killing machine, with only superficial exploration of his thoughts or feelings. It also drops the Bronze Age setting part way through (for a full-on medieval jousting tournament), before picking it back up again at the end, albeit with anachronisms (a chainmail coif and hauberk - made out of bronze, perhaps?) thrown in.

My advice: read the first book and then imagine a better sequel yourself.

If the dogged pursuit of realism was an objective, and if we were rolling up average members of the species, and if it didn't close down options for female characters, then sexual dimorphism might be worth modelling in chargen. But since none of these things are desirable then I'm decidedly in the 'why bother?' camp. No offence, but I can't see how this is going to be in the spirit of a game that goes out of its way to provide an egalitarian chargen experience.

1 hour ago, jajagappa said:

He was a co-author on the RQ2 Borderlands scenarios.

And there's his name, first on the list under Additional Materials. Evidently, my Perception modifier is not what it should be.

It's available on Kindle. I hadn't realised he'd written for Chaosium, but that explains a lot.

Has anyone read Queen's Heir by John Boyle?

It is billed as 'A fantasy set amongst the Hittites at the end of the Bronze Age', but it's essentially a novel set in Glorantha, with Hittites for Sartarites, Tarhunt for Orlanth, Warrunk for Humakt etc.

Everything mirrors Glorantha, whether it be the landscape (e.g. they travel through a wasteland which includes facsimiles of Pavis, the Block, the Dead Place etc), the people (Darklings are Uz, Lupaku are Telmori, Silmurth seems to be a young Argrath), the magic (spell matrices, Wardings, Power, divine magic, spirits and healing spells all work in a Gloranthan manner), the cities (Nochet is Byzantium with matrilineal royal succession), the temples (Earth temples are partially built underground and protected by giant snake-beings) and even the mythological history (beginning of time, the 'Draconic Empire' instead of the EWF). 

It reads a lot like someone's RuneQuest campaign (plenty of side quests off the main storyline), and spends a bit of time fleshing out Humakti Warrunki training, examinations and temple politics. Worth a read - don't be put off by the lack of proofreading in the first couple of chapters (typos, missing words) as it gets better. 

The main character, Joren, is a something of a Mary Sue, but it's quite good fun figuring out where you are in Glorantha at any particular moment in the text... It's part of a series called the Children of Khetar, and I'm reading the second volume at the moment, which is unfortunately much less Gloranthan and less engaging for it.

5 minutes ago, Joerg said:

Giving unfiltered examples of Cypriotic glazings, Mesopotamian or Anatolian frescoes and Roman statuary copying classical Greek or Pontic statuary doesn't help much, either.

Did I say that you have to buy these books? A simple image search with google (and probably other search engines of your choice) delivers samples of the artwork:

A link to Jan Pospisil's art from the Guide, the sourcebook and HQG. (Warning - might contain nipples, so you have to type in your age. I wonder what happens if you type in less than three months...)

https://www.deviantart.com/merlkir/art/HQG-Esroli-and-Pelorian-Influence-564421715

Also check out the gallery on the right side.

http://www.portablecity.net/character-designs-heroquest-glorantha/

A collection of character designs for the Red Cow books, from the artist's portfolio. Exactly the images I was talking about.

 

Sorry, but pointing to Osprey Trojan War pictures, or stultified/bowdlerized childrens books renditions thereof, is mis-information.

These samples are reasonably available in the artists portfolios, with meaningful search terms for anyone sufficiently literate to find a website. Look at the sources produced for canonical Gloranthan products, not some dubious pictures of Cu Chullain or Agamemnon, or the Hermann bronze statue in Teutoburger Wald. Or some Hollywood attempt at depicting period equipment. (Bollywood however might have some useful imagery. Just turn down the sound...)

Why argue against Osprey pictures, when lordabdul's post didn't even mention them? And citing specific pieces of archaeology that you don't believe would appear in Glorantha is also by the by. 

It's great that you've now provided some more examples of artists work though. 

35 minutes ago, Joerg said:

Seriously, parallels aren't. Sample Sartarites are shown in various Glorantha publications, most recently (and most canonically) the RQG rules, the Red Cow books "The Coming Storm" and "Eleven Lights" for HeroQuest Glorantha (which also has typical sketches of Heortlings), and in the Guide to Glorantha. Plus we have the illustrations of Vasana and her companions. Is that sufficient pictorial material, or do you have to refer to half a dozen osprey books which all give details that are irrelevant or misleading when applied to Sartarites and their neighbors?

This isn't very helpful as a response to someone who is relatively new to RuneQuest and Glorantha - referring them to a bunch of HQ products they don't own, and the GtG which is for seasoned Gloranthaphiles rather than newbies.

36 minutes ago, Joerg said:

Urnfield and Hallstatt people did X, that means Orlanthi do that, too. The Myceneans did Y, that means the Orlanthi do that, too. So we get Micky Mouse hat-wearing proto-hoplites on penteconters in the highlands of Dragon Pass?

This is precisely what lordabdul appears to be trying to avoid by asking for a few notes on this forum.

37 minutes ago, Joerg said:

I hate the Greek Bronze Age references, and references to the Heroic Age when everybody was the son or grandson of at least one deity.

Feel free to hate away, but perhaps not as a response to someone new to the game who is making a reasonable request about something they are interested in?

9 minutes ago, lordabdul said:

The reason I'm mentioning all this is because I remember seeing some convention panel video where @Jeff and @Jason Durall mention that with RQG they wanted to finally advance the setting past the Lunar occupation, which has now lasted longer in the real world than in the official timeline

They also said that the GM Sourcebook (or whatever it ends up being called) will include an overview of the Hero Wars campaign so you can see what is coming. But you're right, if you diverge from the background history and have Argrath killed off early, then it might require more work from you to adjust future scenarios that get released. Then again, if you are making big changes to the background history that kind of implies you're writing a lot of your own content anyway, so presumably it won't matter to your campaign?

But any Chaosium RQG releases that you don't end up using for your current campaign (because they're perhaps incompatible) you can always use for your next one. 

1 hour ago, Joerg said:

The cult of Pavis certainly required literacy as a sorcery-using group.

This is why I think written records would be more widespread in Glorantha than in RW Bronze Age societies. The prevalence of magic, and not just sorcery either.

Learning and teaching magic takes time, which implies there is a lot involved in memorising it. In addition, a magical world like Glorantha is subject to major catastrophic events, such as the Great Winter, Dragonrise, Dragonkill etc which wipe out large swathes of people, in addition to the various magically assisted battles that take place.

The combination of these two factors - the particularity and precision of spirit magic and sorcery, and sudden drops in population - would further encourage, if not necessitate, the recording of magical practices and techniques and the storage of these records in libraries.

That's not to say that your average shaman writes down anything, I doubt many would. But plenty of Gloranthans, especially the ruling class and priesthood, would want to ensure the continuity and diversity of magical knowledge within their society and would probably not trust solely to the spoken word for this. In the same way, many ancient societies in the RW recorded their knowledge of astronomy or mathematics in stone or on tablets. Once discovered, such knowledge becomes a communal treasure and needs to be safeguarded.

2 hours ago, soltakss said:

Really don't play the bronze Age setting card.

Glorantha isn't really a Bronze Age setting. At least, we have never played it that way.

YGMV. I think it's a major strength of the new version of RuneQuest and marks it out from almost every other fantasy RPG. 

Reading the RQG book has inspired me to start reading up on Bronze Age societies (and also RW myths that I haven't read for years or had never read).

Well, hey, it worked on me anyway, I'm out of here. 😃

10 minutes ago, Bill the barbarian said:

Okay, I am getting extremely tired of coming to 

Do spells have a visual component (when they don't obviously have one)?

only to find we are not talking about spells, we are talking about 

Blah, Blah Blah, charisma, Blah, Blah Blah charisma. 

Could we possibly let this thread go back to its original poster and his original topic "Spells" and perhaps create a new thread about "charisma"... so those of us who never want to read another word on this topic as long as they game can avoid the thread For the sake of all the gods. please!

That large, bold text... Is that where you cast Charisma in order to convince everyone?

3 minutes ago, Runeblogger said:

I've recently read somewhere that they are going to probably change the title of the book into Campaign Guide, as it may contain an index year-per-year of the events of the Dragon Pass Campaign.

Thanks, @Runeblogger I'd forgotten Jeff mentioned that in the Heinz Con video. And since that doesn't seem to fit under any of the existing headings (maybe 'Glorantha' or 'Time'?) that may mean another section heading!

42 minutes ago, Tigerwomble said:

As an aside.

For my RQ game , I have produced a set of battlemap counters.

These are essentially small, very simple colour illustrations, 25mm x 25mm. (larger for bigger creatures)

Print them. Mount them on card and cut them out.

I thought I might put a couple of sheets (A4 high res) up for people to use if they wish.

Where's the best place?

There's a Downloads section at the top of the page, you can submit a file there.

As a Form Rune, Man implies the ability for dextrous manipulation (opposable thumbs and all that), which is handy for thieving and the picking of locks. 

When you say it's their main Rune, do you mean it has the highest %? This would mean a low Beast Rune %, so your character would be less bestial, more refined, mannered (and perhaps fastidious or stand-offish) than most Gloranthans: "There goes fussy Ulvik, with his hair braided just so, and not a spot of mud on his kilt".

Whether they are more 'civilised' would depend on more than just their Man Rune though, as I'd say that is also about their learning, temperament and morality. The Harmony Rune would cover their gregariousness, ability to compromise, co-operate etc, which are also arguably measures of how civilised they are. Their elemental Runes will determine their temperament and behaviour which are also pertinent.

According to El Runeblogger's website, the section headings are as follows:

1. Introduction, 2. Glorantha, 3. Adventurers, 4. Cults and Gods, 5. Runes and Magic, 6. The environment, 7. Guilds and associations, 8. Goods and services, 9. Time, 10. Combat (personal, skirmishes, mass, naval, sieges, etc.), 11. Directing the game (all kinds of basic and advanced tips), 12. Adventure Design (create campaigns, adventures, encounters, etc.), 13. Heroquesting, 14. Travel, 15. Encounters, 16. Treasures and Rewards, 17. Conversions (more details on how to transfer data from RQ2/3, HeroQuest and other games to RuneQuest Glorantha)

I have no idea how accurate this is, or where he got the info from.

If they're coming from a Middle Earth campaign they will probably need convincing upon the Bronze Age setting too, so send them links to a couple of videos:

Hector v Achilles: Troy

Children of the Hydra: Jason & the Argonauts

Oldies but goldies!

Best bet is to do a session with pre-gens and run them through the Broken Tower - this throws them straight into a small part of the world, whilst giving them clear objectives - get the cattle back and bring the murderers to justice. Don't give them any more background than you need to run the scenario, just enough for them to appreciate the clan rivalry and the importance of the herd to the community. The scenario provides lots of opportunities to gradually introduce the rules (skill checks, experience, combat, magic) and aspects of the world (clans, shamanism, spirit world, Dragon Pass, cults) organically.

If they enjoy themselves, THEN do a session zero and roll up characters with them, and you can then run them through the GM Screen scenarios. If your players aren't convinced then taking them through hours of chargen is not a good idea until they've tried the game (and Glorantha) on for size.

The other thing to bear in mind is that in Bronze Age societies, cattle = treasure/prestige. The Tain Bo Cualinge is all about wanting to capture prize bulls from another tribe. There are cattle raids in the Mahabharata, and Hermes stole cows from Apollo. The sacrifice of cattle is a way of appeasing the gods - the Greeks would slaughter them by the hecatomb in propitiation.

So in many respects farmers/herders are custodians of their clan's physical wealth and spiritual capital. Which is probably why three of the RQG scenarios published to date involve protecting or finding cattle or herders - Broken Tower, Cattle Raid, Dragon of the Thunder Hills (kind of). If players come to understand how important cattle are to their clan they'll be less likely to look down on the idea of playing a farmer or herder.

Other occupations seed adventures too - perhaps a fisher catches more in his nets than he bargained for, or is invited to compete in an interclan spear tournament that becomes a hotbed of political skulduggery, or is asked by a shaman to catch an exotic river-creature seen in dreams. Similarly, a hunter will always be the first person summoned to assist in tracking bandits, following the trail of a murderer or figuring out what kind of monsters attacked a massacred caravan.

Relevant to this very question, there's a great BBC documentary covering the discovery of a Bronze Age village at Must Farm in the Cambridgeshire fens. As the archaeologists excavated the site they found evidence that the occupants raised cattle, grew crops, owned scythes, made their own high quality textiles, and traded for goods from the Mediterranean. So they were herders, farmers, weavers, traders.

But they also owned a lot of swords and spears, and had built a stockade around their village. Very few people in a Bronze Age society would be full-time warriors - they would be expected to defend themselves and their community when called upon, and take part in raids on other settlements. The village featured in the BBC documentary was ultimately destroyed by fire. It was possibly torched by rivals, but it's also likely that those who did so were not full-time warriors either, but perhaps fishermen, herders, farmers who wanted to consolidate their territory. Violence was always an option.

RQG chargen reflects this, and I think that whilst it can be tempting to just roll up a warrior or noble with great martial skills, a party of humble farmers, herders, hunters etc is a) more colourful and interesting (why are they adventuring, why have they been chosen by their community/clan ring?), and b) allows for more of a character arc as they each become renowned for something other than their occupation (it also gives the GM some room to plan some 'low-level' style encounters before the adventurers build up their combat skills).

But RQG chargen allows quite a bit of flexibility in your initial starting skills too, so if you want a farmer who is both an Ernalda initiate and deadly with a sword from the outset, you can have one. It's largely up to your GM as to what opportunities there are to use your occupational non-combat skills in-game, but you can also use them for augments and they will be important in determining your annual income.