Shiningbrow

Totally! It doesn't make sense to me! "You raped someone - I'm going to take your dick"... fine! (Although, not... as per below) "You killed your second cousin by marriage - I'm going to take your dick"... odd. "You didn't fulfil your oath to kill the next troll you saw - I'm going to take your dick"... very odd! As for the rape - in Orlanthi culture, rape is supposed to be seen as a Chaotic act, and thus would be extremely rare*. How it's seen in other cultures - don't know. However, breaking an oath (eg, marriage oath. to tell the truth, etc) should be seen as bad - but not Chaotic, and thus there should be far more those things happening in Orlanthi society... and, not just by men! Kinslaying we would generally expect to be male dominated (as they make up the majority of warriors who go a-slaying in the world... and would accidentally (or on purpose) kill their kin (especially with the way tribal and clan marriages are often made - which would also be an oath-breakage). However, I can see a wife killing a husband too. (and, of course, women can rape as well... They can also be just as likely to desecrate and loot an Earth temple too...) Thus, that hand to penis ratio is probably very under-statted. Unless Babs is extremely biased in her selection of who to kill... (* I should have noted that in my previous post... given that most/all Earth temples have BG guardians, and there are a LOT of Earth temples, that would surmise a LOT of reasons for women to join BG.... I'd suggest that rape is the least likely in Orlanth society, and kin-slaying (distant relatives) and oath-breaking being far more common).

My 2c worth... I have a problem with this type of mentality (and the general portrayal of BGs anyway). Firstly, directly in reference to the above - generally, a person will feel a personal connection with the deity (and it's ideals) when they choose what cult to go into - not a more ephemeral sense of aligning with some principles. That is, one joins Barntar because one works the earth, not because of the general, well though out principle of farming. One joins Lhankor Mhy because of their involvement in the collection (and use) of knowledge - not because they have considered it a good idea for a society to have. Similarly, one doesn't join Babeester Gor because they think that it's a role that a society needs. They do so because of personal experiences have lead them to that path (there will be exceptions... but even female mercenaries are unlikely to simply join BG purely because it's a Death cult). Given this, and given that our adventurers are starting at around 22 years old, with a few years of initiation (and RPs and spirit magic) under their belts, I would think it unlikely that there would be many BGs who are actually quite young who have never personally had a reason to join - either personally been the victim of rape or other significant oath-breaking (or temple desecration), or some close person has been. One chooses to join BG to hunt down kinslayers, mostly because one's kin has been slayed by kin. And, while certainly possible to have happened within the first 16-18 years of life, and thus going on to join the warrior occupation, I think it's much more likely that a woman would have been a potter, weaver, farmer, etc. before joining. It may have been that a local shrine was desecrated that a woman has felt the need to join BG to ensure all Earth shrines are protected. She may have been married to an adulterer, and feels spurned. She may be a mother (or sister) to a brother (or sister, or uncle, aunt, etc etc) who was killed under the "peace" of parley (such as between clans). None of the above should in any way suggest that a Babs Gori should become celibate, nor to want to have kids. Nor that they need to be constantly psychopathically homicidal. (constantly suspicious ot the point of being paranoid - sure!) But it'd suggest that they're just as likely to have close, loving relationships with those they know and trust - their near and dear. Vinga, OTOH, I see as the girl who wants to get out and be a warrior - a real life-long (at that stage of her life) devotee. For that matter, if a girl's family is massacred in a raid or war, I'd suggest that Vinga be the goddess of choice to follow. Babs is about the protection of the Earth, killing kin-slayers and oath breakers and rapists... not just general warfare and its consequences. So, such a background (family killed in war/raids) doesn't fit in my mind for a BG - the ideals aren't aligned. So, going back to my original point.... having occupations other than Warrior actually makes far more sense for a BGori.

You do need to be an initiate of a Death cult for that to work...

@Runeblogger & @jajagappa thank you thank you thank you!!!!! And, yes, even though I know I won't be able to get my hands on it for quite a while, I'm still going to purchase myself a dead elf version! (Im)patiently awaiting its release....

Thank you! Somehow I missed it when it came out. Enjoying it now 🙂

Or... Meteorologists, who study the wind and how weather is formed, barometric pressure, cloud formation, storms, typhoons and cyclones... Air Rune stuff. And the geologist, who understands the rocks and soils and how they got there... for the Earth Rune. And all manner of government, and politics for the Chaos Rune... Understanding how things work and fit together isn't the same as getting really excited about it.

Mentioning what? 😁😁😁

I just watched it for the first time last night. Surely Maui's moving tattoo(s) is his Allied Spirit???

Very interesting... Any ideas if this will fit the GaGoG? Or Notchet book, especially relating to character creation? Especially the Blue or Black, as it sounds like they'd have and use much more than Torvalds Fragments... And, of course, skills required for advancement (rather than generic, specific Lores).

Q: does the Painters and Artists guild have wyter walls?

Here's a question*... Can you only add more HPs while on the Hero (or other) Plane? Or at any time and place? (Yes, I'm fully aware any answer would be guessing/wishful thinking) I'm in 2 minds. Firstly, if it's part of *your* soul, you should be able to put points in any time. Given that Jeff offered these choices *after* the HQ, that would fit. However, the point** is to empower your presence on the Hero Plane, so mythically logically, you should have to be there to do that... Also, it would have been good for Jeff to have introduced other non-spell-like benefits (other than the Exp checks, which I presume were HQ specific, not just rest of season... Especially the POW gain rolls. (*You can tell me the grammar and punctuation. ** I'll take that pun!))

And, I just remembered, Hyalor...

Are they just factions? Or sub-cults? Any more specific information on them? Currently, all I've read is - we wear different colours and have an attitude about sorcery.

That's rite... 🤣🤣🤣

Do we have any examples of Hero Cults across different deities to make any sort of comparison? (Other than Arkat?? (who's a very special case))

Or perhaps it'll work more like One-Use spells - you'd lose the HPs, as you'd lose the RPs for the 1-use?? Anyway... conjecture!

👍

So, in another thread (starting a cult), it was suggested that the PC could ask the sages about the god they were interested in. I think it's also been suggested to ask the sages about information relating to Heroquests (and, thus, myths). So... Does Lhankor Mhy have access to all Cult Lore skills? Shouldn't they actually be secrets? If a Lhankoring joins another cult, wouldn't they be obliged to pass along the secrets to the library? (Presumably, incurring the wrath of the first God)

Not if the priests of the cult know the tires, rituals, formulae of the cult secrets. We readily accept that there's a huge difference between being accepted as an an initiate, and actually undergoing the initiation rites. Same with the Rune Masters. And every rite is a type of Heroquest. (And it's possible to enter a HQ accidentally). Unless you've done the rites, you get nothing... For me, I'd think the player should probably** have to roll a Devotion critical to get the notice of the deity (augmented with Worship - although I can see that Worship should involve cult secrets... No sacrificing cows to vegan gods!). The deity can then do what they want. (** excluding other magical means...)

Unless you're a Lhankor-ing 🤮

The titles of Priest, Rune Lord and God Talker are mortal politics that Gods would know almost nothing about (because, you know, they're stuck in the God's Plane). The only specific bits that would separate the average mortal would be the amount of RPs accumulated (ie, strengthen connection to the god), possibly their POW and/or CHA, and probably Runic Association. ven cult skills don't really matter to the gods... it's all "convince the examiners", not "convince the deity". ETA: It should also be noted that the gods are basically happy to work with whoever bothers to give them attention. The Elmal/Yelmalio division is a case in point, as are the Aeolian worshippers of Orlanth (clearly showing that the ban on sorcery is purely local and political, and not from the god himself!)

I just watched the episode, and one thing I found confusing (in the context of what I thought it would actually be) is that Jeff seemed to be offering up abilities for individual POW sacrifice - unlike with Rune Points, where you sacrifice your POW to be able to use on any spell you have selected. Eg, Garan spent 6 POW on his Hero Soul, and it was basically said that he would have 3 uses of a certain spell (at 2 HPs each)... rather than giving up 6 POW to have - Spell A, Spell B, etc... Kulbrick did something similar - spent 4HP to get only 1 spell... Very much like earlier RQ, and I hope this changes...

Does Prince Philip have a Hero Soul? (there's a tribe in Vanuatu where he's worshipped). Does Trump have a Hero Soul? (There was(?) a guy in India who worshipped him...) And what do they get in return?

Somehow I've only just recalled - Gods and Fighting Men, a book of Irish mythology, with very epic Heroes with amazing powers (which I presume were part of RQs inspiration... Mile-Long javelin throws, Salmon Leaps in the middle of battle). Another, less flashy, would be The Mabinogion - early mythology/history of Briton (including the Welsh version of the court of King Arthur - sword and all).

Ummm, most a-historical Chinese movies.... Hero with Jet Li, Mulan (any version), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon The whole warriors / heroes fighting with various magics... One huge army verses an invading one, which can be defeated by a single person... demons & spirits...