Beoferret

Not having thought deeply about the matter, I'd allow the development of understanding of the spoken word (even if the PC couldn't read or write) well beyond 25% (while obviously keeping the 25% cap for speaking.) My understanding is that spoken fluency in Auld Wyrmish requires one to have a tongue like a Dragonewt's; thus the cap on speaking the language is due to the morphology of the human/troll/etc. tongue. Of course, there's ways around that for someone who really wants to speak Auld Wyrmish like a proper Dragonewt: heroquesting and/or acquiring one of those special knives/scalpels that folks used to split their tongues during the Empire of the Wyrms Friends. Side question: could the Aldryami grow an individual who had a tongue shaped properly for speaking Auld Wyrmish fluently?

Holy crap, how did I miss your post?! You answered most (if not all) the questions I posed. Sorry for wasting everyone's time!

Out of curiosity: a) What was supposed to be in the GM's Guide? b) How much of that's been covered now in other official, published material? c) What does everyone want in a GM's Guide that isn't already in currently published, official material? (Aside from basic heroquesting rules 😁)

The way I've explained the difference between Babeester Gor followers and Vingans is: a) Vingans are like tomboys - they're girls/women who tend to hang out with the guys and do stereotypically "boy" things (get dirty, run around in the woods, rough and tumble play, etc.), while b) Babs followers are like the girls/women who stick with other girls/women, but are the ones who are willing to physically stand up to any harassment or just willing to be directly confrontational. So, it's about a combination of biological/physical sex and attitude. I think a Nandan (effeminate male who takes on typically female roles) could serve a Babeester Gorite, but I'd personally never allow a Nandan to become an actual initiate of Babs without some sort of sex changing magic (at which point, they're no longer Nandan in my opinion.)

Inspiration! A Rune spell (let's call it Hold Ground) that provides: a) a bonus to resist knockback effects, and b) a bonus to parrying (and parrying only) attempts. Give it an Rune point cost and a magic point cost, with each magic point spent equaling a person benefiting from the spell. Maybe have it provide some sort of other bonus to forming a phalanx. Anyhow, there's another way that a Yelmalian can provide some utility to an adventuring party, while staying true to their soldierly roots.

Quick two cents. I honestly like both Waha and Yelmalio. How to make them a little more gameable though, while maintaining their distinctiveness. Part of the answers is through special skills, which we have with Yelmalio (pike/2H spear and shield training). And, as everyone's arguing about already, there's Rune spells. What I'd consider: for Waha - add Command (Herdbeast), maybe with it tied to each tribe's particular animal - e.g., bison riders get Command (Bison), etc. No, it's not immediately useful for a dungeon delve, but it's got utility for any player who's imaginative (and whose character ends up in a situation where said beasts are around.) for Yelmalio - Like others have already noted, Morale seems like a good match. The ritual could be enacted for the Yelmalian's adventuring party before, say, marching into Snakepipe Hollow. Question though: how would it stack with other combat buffs, like Bladesharp or True Sword? Even if it didn't stack - and so wasn't always useful for other combat-oriented PC's - it'd still be good for hirelings. Also, what about a similar, but new, group-focused defensive spell? "Group Shield" - 3 Rune points + magic points; provides one point of magical armor for caster and one other person per magic point spent; all targets of spell must stay within 160 meters of the caster. (Come to think of it, this might be a cool effect for a Sun Domer magic standard.) All three spell suggestions retain the strong link with cult and culture and so maintain cult distinctiveness. None threaten to overshadow other characters. At least in my opinion.

Any chance that we'll get everyone playing through The Rainbow Mounds?

I like the idea I posted in another thread of encouraging players to consider using the Two Weapon Fighting rules if their characters are using a shield, including allowing a knockback attempt at SR 12 after a character's regular attack. Easy way to add a little dynamism and get past the attack-parry-attack-parry-etc treadmill. Perhaps also allow an "all-out attack" type option too: forgo your normal parry to get 1.5X your melee skill. More specifically to parries: maybe allow a grappling parry, whereby the defender (if successful) is able to grab on to (and possibly immobilize) the attacker's weapon arm. The Disarm maneuver that HrestIronBorne notes above, and which is included in the Starter Set rules, is a great idea. I'd even add a slight adjustment which said a special success, that nonetheless did not lead to a disarm, still acts as a "beat," whereby the attacker ends up with a penalty to their next strike (maybe -20% to skill and/or +1 SR) due to their weapon being knocked to the side and them having to recover a little. The same idea could be applied to a knockback attempt: special success leads to a target taking +1 or +2 SR to their next round despite not actually being knocked down or back.

Bill the Oracular Optimist! 😁

Ludo, thanks for continuing to put this out. And since you've mentioned Lindybeige a few times: did you know that he was a RQer at one point? He talks about how he really liked RQ in one (or more?) of his videos on D&D (and its failings.) He also did a stop-motion short, when he was a wee lad, called "Prax Warrior" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UHWNZ4y-2I . Might be interesting to reach out to him for a Godlearners interview.

A couple more very specific ideas: 1) Allow knife/dagger attacks after a PC or adversary has successfully grappled an opponent. And limit the defenses that can be used against such an attack; only dodging (perhaps at half %) and parrying with unarmed melee skills. 2) Allow targeting of hit locations at the regular SR of an attack, rather than only at SR 12. 3) Working off the Two Weapon Use rules again, allow PCs to attempt a knockback attack on SR 12 after they've made their regular attack; but only if they don't parry and if they have enough SR.

A more specific idea: let PCs use the Two Weapon Use rules, if they're using a shield and 1-H weapon combo. A shield bash/smack should be made at full skill value, since the character (or adversary) has already trained with it in their off-hand.

Tips for exciting combat? Run opponents as if they have some idea of what they're doing. Make use of basic, yet lethal tactics - e.g., trollkin attack the PCs with slings and then run off, hopefully leading the party into a dark troll ambush. Have individual opponents who constantly maneuver to protect their backs and/or to keep members of the party between them and any PC with missile weapons. Opponents who make use of terrain (like Icebrand notes) for their own protection, to impede PCs, or even as a weapon itself - e.g., shieldrushing a PC off a cliff or onto sharp rocks, etc.. In other words, opponents who want to win + some GM imagination. * Playing the "Anvil of Crom" for mood music probably won't hurt either. (And you don't have to change existing RQ mechanics to do it!)

Are we almost there yet? Are we almost there yet? Are we almost there yet? More seriously, a wild conjecture: that soon after May is done, we will see a couple of hoped for RQ releases. Why after May? 'Cuz (according to this blog post: https://www.chaosium.com/blogcovid19-shipping-and-fulfilment-update-30-april-2022/ ), Great Cthulhu has decided that May is his time.

I was just thinking about this issue last night! It is very strange that MP sacrifice is so effective, since it doesn't encourage as much engagement with the world. Maybe Bren's suggestion is the way to go (house rules wise) or one could shift the value of MPs spent during worship ceremonies from 1 MP = 10% augment to 1 MP = 5% (or even 1-2%) augment to worship skill. Does anyone remember what Jeff required from his players in the White Bull campaign videos that have been posted?

I've wondered about this too, especially in regards to facing chaos. I think you can argue that yes (as previous posters have noted) PCs won't have any real problems dealing with the effects of violence per se. Glorantha's a pretty violent place, after all. But to my mind, dealing with chaos and even some forms of magic should be intensely stressful and potentially damaging to mental health; it'd have to be proportionate to threat of course, with encountering one broo as stressful as encountering one ghoul in CoC. Chaos is supposed to be scary and a little mind warping, isn't it? The Storm Bull ability to fight chaos without flinching and the spell Face Chaos are both supposed to be special and unique. Adding some basic SAN/mental stress rules (not necessarily ported over from CoC) would go a long way towards making that true. How to do it though....

Thanks for the links, folks. The ways the two groups went through the adventure were very, very different. The kicker is that after reading Diana's experience and watching the stream session and spending several hours reading through the adventure a second time, as well as taking notes and brainstorming ideas ... my players decided to leave Jonstown before the fires started (Mago especially wanted to "leave this shithole town.") But they're on to Clearwine, while escorting a small caravan of goods to Apple Lane on behalf of Joh Mith. Rainbow Mounds, here we come! As a quick aside, what we did end up doing before they set out for Clearwine was: 1) Mago met a few other Uroxi and ended up paying to use the rent-a-shrine for a worship ceremony on Orlanth's seasonal holy day. Owner of rent-a-shrine was "encouraged" (not by Mago) to offer the assembled berserks a deal. A piece of krarshtkid (taken as a trophy in previous adventure) was burned in sacrifice. Biker frat party ensues (with the sounds of an angry bull echoing in Mago's head, when he recouped rune points)! Mago's player is channeling Amos Burton (mostly), from The Expanse, when considering how to play the character. The rest of the session, Mago drank and fornicated his way through Jonstown. Meanwhile .... 2) Yanioth and Aranda were asked if they would like to assist with the adulthood initiation of twin girls who had come into menarche on the same day. Yanioth assisted in awakening the first girl's fertility (rolling a critical vs. the Fertility rune) and possibly set her on the path to Ernalda's priesthood. Aranda got to give the first girl Esrolian advice on dealing with men and was later drawn into a scene that revealed the second twin was possibly on the path to Babs Gor. Aranda tested the second twin using Death rune (and swinging axe)-enhanced intimidation. The girl took one step back, but then quickly moved forward to face her down. At the end of the initiation, Aranda gave the girl one of her axes and a recommendation to travel to Esrolia to study the Babeester Gor way and an offer to stay with Aranda's family. *I wasn't sure if this initiation scene was going to be too much for the players (too much setting, too much railroading, too much nudity), but Yanioth and Aranda's players (both women under the age of 30) loved it. Aranda's player even said later that she'd love to eventually take the second twin under her wing; acting as a mentor/adoptive mother, since she figured Aranda would never have her own bio-kids. 3) Vishi was asked to help deal with the spirit of a jealous husband. The guy had left his wife in Jonstown to join Kallyr for a year or so - abandoning her with three kids - and then died during the liberation of Jonstown. Widow married a neighbor who had been helping her during husband's absence and now hubby's spirit was pissed. Vishi tried to appeal to him to accept things for his family's sake, then threatened to bind him into a shoe, but eventually had to defeat him in spirit combat and drive him off. While all this happened in a poor, 2nd floor apartment, Cousin Monkey entertained the kids outside (including climbing up the side of a building with a five year old boy on his back.) 4) Yanioth and Aranda got their rune points back at a worship ceremony during Ernalda's seasonal holy day (Dark Season). They've made some connections. Overall good times.

Hi all! I ran "A Rough Landing" for a couple of friends about a month ago and we're finally about ready to meet up again for the next installment of the Starter Set adventures, "A Fire in the Darkness." The party consists of pre-gens Yanioth, Vishi Dunn, Aranda of Nochet, and Mago the Fierce. I planned on starting things off with some quick Glorantha-showcasing side activities (e.g., worship ceremonies to recover rune points, Yanioth being asked to help with a young girl's initiation into adulthood, etc.), while setting the stage for AFitD by letting them now about a sudden spate of fires (getting them ready to finally deal with one, maybe after leaving an interview with a potential quest giver.) So...... for anyone who's either GM'd or played this adventure, do any of you have any suggestions and advice for running things smooth, yet engaging way? Did you run into any particular problems or pitfalls in making the adventure work? I've already tagged this thread as "contains spoilers," so spoil away!

To add to what Jeff posted above: Chorus, pipes, musical notation, and a discussion of reconstructing ancient music. For something more akin to an individual village bard, maybe something like this would be more appropriate (just ignore the Germanic trappings, if desired):

As everyone above has mentioned, in Glorantha ghosts are not undead. But, I think it's worth remembering that many people coming to RQ will be coming with the assumption that ghosts are a form of undead. That's a concept that informs another, very influential rpg (do we need to name it?) as well as many fantasy/horror stories. It also (I think) informs many people's understanding of folk stories, etc. - at least to the extent that said people have a concept of "undead."

Like Karlak say, to make a shortsword more attractive utilize some sort of close combat status. This'll make daggers way more attractive too. Maybe knives/daggers and shortswords attack at full skill % in close combat (0.5 meter?), while broadswords are used at half skill % (if usable at all). I don't know anything about Dragonquest, but GURPS combat rules provide for this kind of thing (weapon reach, that is) and could be easily ported over to RQG, since weapon length is already a part of the game, influencing weapon SR. With light armor: cost, encumbrance, and desire to be stealthy should all be valid reasons for choosing to wear lighter armor. And not just for the rogue/sneaky-types either. A light warrior (peltast/velite/skirmisher-type of character) will probably want high dodge and maneuverability, both of which could be impinged upon by wearing a heavy cuirass. But that would require using the encumbrance rules! Also, maybe in a chase situation, provide those in heavier armor a disadvantage of some sort - e.g., maybe a CON check to avoid getting winded and losing move points, etc. Or double the SR cost of movement for folks in heavier armor. Potentially simple changes that make picking armor a real choice. *as an aside: in terms of armor, I've considered introducing pectorales (aka, "heart guards," small plates covering the center of the chest) that'd a) provide metal armor damage resistance, but only part of the time, and b) still count as light armor, for purposes of stealth, etc. Maybe say that armor protects against chest strikes on a 1-3 or 1-4 on a d6. It's easier to make this work in GURPS, where you can deliberately target vitals with impaling/pointy weapons (strikes which a pectorale automatically provides protection against.)

Aha! Thanks, David!

Agreed. Especially to get into some of the questions surrounding game mechanics and why RQG didn't follow some of the 7thed Call of Cthulhu rules changes. (I can think of a couple off the top of my head, but it'd be cool to hear from El Jeff himself.

Fun Youtube video with Mike Loades. He makes an argument that at least some shields made with light/relatively light materials could have been pretty strong due to their shape (while demonstrating the use of a Mycenaean figure-of-eight shield.)

A wicker shield should definitely have lower HP than a wooden one (but maybe have less encumbrance?) I suppose it might be best to look at the provided stats for shields as guidelines, rather than outright rules. On another note, if a hoplon is classified as large, shouldn't there be an extra-large size shield that fills in for the scutum/Mycenaean figure-8 shield/larger Assyrian-style shields that clearly provided protection for the entire torso and legs (or head, if one wanted to show one's ankles)?