Shiningbrow

13 hours ago, JonL said:

 

Go over here and read what Chris Chinn (aka Bankuei) has to say about this sort of thing, he even calls out the Guide specifically.

Now look back and read The Blood Monsoon, which he wrote before frustration with the stereotypes etc. soured him on Glorantha altogether.

Ummm... I'm going to the same page with both links... 

2 hours ago, Akhôrahil said:

That's such an ugly word. We prefer "enhanced worship procedures".

"Complete bodily involvement acts of dedication"

7 hours ago, davecake said:

And one obvious difference between Kralorela and China is in the nature of the Emperors. Chinese Emperors were political dynasties competing through intrigue and war. Kralorelan Emperors are immortal gods replaced only through massive magical crisis. I think Tibetan rule by successive avatars of Avalokitesvara comes a bit closer than Chinese Emperors, but really it is a situation unique to Glorantha. The Emperors may not really rule Kralorela, but rather be supported by the state for religious and magical reasons. 

However, it does mimic the "Mandate from Heaven" idea that's been around for a while... You are right in the mundane and historical sense, but the myth is still basically the same.

9 hours ago, Sir_Godspeed said:

No one seems to have these same stereotype-neuroses about Sub-Saharan African cultures in Glorantha

Actually not true... It just may not have been voiced. I'm sure if a thread was started, you'd hear a few gripes (mine included... But I honestly don't know much about the actual cultures to comment intelligently. Sure, that's never stopped me before, but... :p)

12 hours ago, JonL said:

Which brings me around to this: If we don't get some Asian/Asian-descended writers involved, we're going to keep screwing Kralorela up , no matter how well intentioned or well researched the attempt.

I have to vehemently disagree with this statement! 

It presumes that unless one has the blood and ancestry, one cannot understand history, myths, culture, etc. This has been time and again shown to be false... Just as it is not true that everyone of a particular people (culture, ethnicity, etc) always knows everything about said culture etc. This is easily demonstrable... Ask anyone, anything!

What we really need is someone well-versed in the history, myths, tales, etc.

41 minutes ago, Jerry said:

Eurmal’s Golden Mead

A small amphora with a wax seal, with a horn cup tied to it with a piece of rope. 

Cults

This section lists the relation of the item (and its possessor) with various cults. 

·       Associated: Eurmal. 

·       Friendly: Chalana Arroy, Issaries, Lhankhor Mhy, Orlanth. 

 

Knowledge

Automatic, Few.

History

Eurmal has never been one to refuse a drink and he also appreciates a good story.  He also loves the idea of tricking his worshippers into focusing their attention on something for an entire month.

Procedure

The secret of making this mead is limited to High Priests of Eurmal that also know the Glamour spell.  The priest must establish a beehive and raise the bees to be a productive colony. They must personally gather the honey, then ferment it for a month, whilst casting Glamour on the fermenting brew every day.  Needless to say, most High Priests of Eurmal can’t be bothered so although not particularly difficult to create, it is relatively rare.

Powers

This mead is normally found in an amphora with an attached cup.  Each cup full is one dose and the amphora contains 1D4 doses.  Drinking anything less than an entire dose has no effect, other than tasting pleasant.  Anyone that drinks an entire dose of the mead must make a CONx5% check.  If the check is successful, they gain the following benefits for 20 minutes: +25% to all Knowledge skill checks and +50% to all Communication skill checks.  Every 20 minutes thereafter for the next hour, they must make another CON check, but reducing the multiple by 1% each time (CONx4% after the first 20 minutes, CONx3% after 40 minutes etc.).  After an hour, their system has managed to tolerate that particular dose of the mead.  If they fail the CON check, they lose the benefits and are then very inebriated for 15 - 1/2 CON hours (-50% to all Communication, Knowledge skills, Manipulation and Weapon skills).  The benefits do not stack if more than one dose is drunk but the skill penalties and duration of those penalties do.

Value

1,000L.

What if you special or crit the rolls?

20 hours ago, metcalph said:

IMMANENT SWORD

A sword, usually bronze, crafted in the Fronelan style that seems more real.  

Cults:

Associated: Hrestoli

Knowledge: Few, Automatic

History:

The prove the superiority of their philosophy in a disputation with the God Learners, the Lords of Loskalm ordered that these swords be made.  Supposedly they are not made from wordly metals but summoned into existence from the Pure Forms that exist in the Mind of the Hidden Mover.  The God Learners simply pointed out that the blades were all different, raising disturbing questions about the nature of the Hidden Mover.  In the resulting battle, the God Learners captured many, divined the secrets of their making and made a few more items of a similar kind to spite the original makers.  The swords have since become s status weapon in Fronela and Carmania from whence some have appeared in Dragon Pass.  One was reportedly seen in the hands of a Sword Broo in Dorastor.

Procedure:

These blades can be summoned into being while the caste is in mental unity with the Invisible God.  Reportedly the spell is Summon Bronze although that may be a malicious legend invented by the God Learners and kept alive by people who know the secret of its making.

Powers:

The sword exists in a state of timelessness which extends to any magic cast upon it.  Up to ten points (per ENC of object) of any sorcery spell can be maintained indefinitely.  The sword resists the grossness of rune and spirit magics and will not maintain those.  The sword confers no protection to any spells it maintains so they can be dismissed normally.  

Value:  

The sword is worth 1500 L to anyone who knows its powers and make use of them.

Nice.

But I just thought I'd point out that your arbitrary "10 points of sorcery per Enc" means that the most likely spell to.be cast on it is stuck in a limbo... Boon of Kargan Tor gets damage increases at 1, 4, 8, and 12...  10 wastes 2 points.

Just an observation!!

Harrek's Silky-Lacey Underwear

(an extension from the Lie spell thread...)

There are a number of these matching sets of fashionable (and incredibly comfortable) combinations of silk and lace knickers and negligee in existence, all owned by Harrek (and, partly, Gunda). They come in different colours and designs, but the same size - Harrek's. (Gunda has her own sets, of course!)

Cults

N/A

Knowledge

Secret - only Harrek and Gunda know of these (oh, and now Argrath - see below).  Gunda has, of course, sworn an oath to keep the secret. The Wolf Pirates on Harrek's personal ship suspect (know), but the "They're all Gunda's girly things" in reference to the clothes line hasn't convinced most of them, given the size difference between the two of them... and Harrek's mood swings on washing day.

If someone were to find out about this secret, and Harrek found out about that - you'd be dead! (part of the reason for all the travels and raids along the coasts...).

History

Gunda and Harrek found a deep kinship in their love of designing - and wearing - women's undergarments. It's what's kept them so close together all these years. It's t he other reason the Wolf Pirates have raided up and down the coasts - to look for better quality fabrics and materials, as well as designs (that's why they hang around the Land of 10,000 Goddesses the most!) Over the years, Harrek and Gunda have tried on different styles, and even designed a few of their own. Harrek has now found a combination he likes best (but still tries a couple of new ones now and then...).

Procedure

Ask Harrek... if you dare!

Powers

Unknown. Harrek has never actually been out and about without his silk and lace undergarments, and so no-one truly knows if his formidible powers come from within, or from the garments themselves... The White Bear isn't about to tell anyone.

These garments have, though, unwittingly become the inspiration for the SMU - Sartar Magical Union.

One day, Gunda couldn't keep it a secret any longer (hence her nickname!), and told Argrath... just as Harrek walked in.

Harrek: What did I just hear you two talking about?

Argrath and Gunda (together): No, no... nothing. Nothing at all...

H: I thought I heard something about..... silk???

A:No, no....
G: Nope, nothing like that...
A&G (together):
A: Shamans....
G: Sorcery...

A: yeah... shamans... and and and sorcerers... together..... yah, shamans and sorcerers together.... working together....

H: didn't you say "different laces"?

A: Whaaaa??? Noooo.... that was, ah... Races! Yeah, Races... damn my pronunciation... that trip to Kralorela must have washed off on me.... ha ha...

(H: thinking to himself - "Odd, I thought the L/R shift only happened on middle and final positions, not initial...)

A: so, yeah... ah, races... you know, trolls, elves, baboons, etc etc...

H: And this "putting them on together is a great magical union"? I heard you Gunda!

G: Yes! Absolutely.. ummm..... they work... ummm... welll.... together...... Argrath?

A: Yes, a Great.. ummm Magical Union... of, ummm... trolls, and baboons, and everyone...with different magics... yes.... shamans.. and sorcerers...  coming together....

H: Hmmm... Jar-eel would like the look of that, I suppose!

A & G: <Cough> yes, yes... the *magical* union... yes. She would!

H: So, when are you going to do it?

A: WHaaaaa...???? Oh, ummmm... soon, real soon.....
(thinks to himself: Oh crap... now I'm going to have to make this happen, or I'll never hear the end of it!)

G: <phew>....

Not the brightest is old Harrek.

Value

To Harrek, and arm and a leg (literally... yours, of course, not his. If he's in a good mood, he'll even give you the chance to select which side - he's fair like that!)

1 hour ago, albinoboo said:

Easy to solve, just ask Harrek yourself.

I did that. He said no, but the look on Gunda's face makes me think he was lying! (He probably has the spell as well!)

I'm pretty sure that their mutual love of lingerie design is what forged the tight bonds between Harrek and Gunda in the first place... that feel of sheer silk and soft lace would drive anyone berserk if you have to go back to ... hession!

(Edit - Harrek comes from the Rathori, an area famous for their... 'lumberjacks'. Just sayin'...)

16 minutes ago, Joerg said:

On the whole, what is the thought about entire regions given over to a high degree of growing cash crops (such as wine, tea, kafl leaf, cotton, indigo, woad, or mulberry trees for silk production)? As a rule, Gloranthan agriculture is mostly just self-sufficient, able to feed a nearby city in addition to the local population. With such dedicated agricultural production the amount of people not growing food rises.

Tea harvest and processing is a fairly work-intensive process, and with three harvests a year and weeding and removal of sick or unwanted growth in between harvest times the people operating tea plantations have little time for anything but some subsistence gardening on the side, too little to feed themselves.(That goes for the munkey-trainers of Zon An, too).

Don't the magics of Glorantha change all of that?

The Bull's Nose (aka, The Bull Knows)

Description:

There are two types - the personal and the community. The personal is usually a pendant of a bull's head worn around the neck, although can be done in other ways as commissioned. The Community version is usually similar to warding sticks/poles with bull's heads atop, looking out.

Cults

Associated: Stormbull

Enemy: All Chaos cults, but in particular Cacodemon, as it frustrates their attempts to infiltrate local communities.

Friendly: All Lightbringer and Praxian cults. Also popular with other Chaos-hating cults (eg, Uz).

Hostile: Lunars

Knowledge

Automatic; Famous (?maybe only Common.. depends where you live!)

HIstory

Sadricka the Wise was a Lhankor Mhy God-Talker in Sartar, who had a brother, Embullio (the not so wise), who was a Khan of Stormbull. Sadricka, loving the peace and quiet of study and reading, was constantly annoyed his brother's near-endless rants against impending Chaos and Embullio flying off on tantrums at the merest hint of something that could be considered Chaotic...or when farmers and herders ran into the house crying about the latest illness or woe caused by some Chaos thing... and usually wasn't! Too many times, Sadricka had to go with his brother to discover the real reason for something happening that wasn't really Chaotic. So, he convinced his brother to come up with a sure-fire way to help others around the stead to detect the forcers of Chaos without him personally being there. So, he helped him devise these Bull's Nose pendants, and later, the warding posts.

Procedure

Both require a Storm Khan with Sense Chaos at mastery level. A simple pendant needs to be made out of a Rune Metal (yeah, virtually anything!), and a Divine Intervention is cast, asking the Bull to bless the pendant, costing just 1 POW. The warding posts are similar, but also require sufficient Rune Points for the equivalent sized Warding, and a ritual must be done on the site where they will be planted.

Power

Acts as a permanent Detect Chaos spell - detects Chaos automatically  at a range up to 50m. For the Warding Posts, they activate when something Chaotic crosses the boundary. The pendant starts to radiate a feeling of sickness in the wearer, while the warding posts do the same for the legal owner of the land the posts are planted in (or the tenant, if the owner so wishes) - no matter how far away the owner is. The owner knows  exactly which property has the Chaos on it if they have more than one. The owner (and tenant, if required) must be present during the setup ritual.

Some have suggested that they also have the power to keep Stormbull cultists away, but some contradict this, as Stormbull Priests don't always trust those wily Chaotic beasts, and hence check up on their wards regularly. It's certainly had the power to stop farmers complaining ... as often. (Turns out, Sadricka wasn't as wise as he hoped.... )

Value

These are not-surprisingly cheap, as Stormbull takes a very active stance against Chaos, so make these readily available. Most go for about 50L. However, Thanes, chieftans and bar owners would be willing to pay more just to keep the Stormbullies out of their bar/steads.

8 hours ago, Qizilbashwoman said:

It's this weird monolithic place with really terrible Western fake Chinese names. The rest of Glorantha just does its own thing but Kralorela refuses to just ... be Gloranthan and has terrible faux-Chinese names. It's really offputting and also ignores literally all of the rest of East and Southeast Asia for some kind of imaginary China that isn't even ACTUAL China.

Let's get some Sumer in the mix, let's throw in some actual historical fun with the Dongson culture and the Zhou rebellion against the Shang and the kingdom of Dali. Maybe also some aggressive counter-culture from the Blood Sun weirdos by southern groups who disagree with the narrative and give an existential threat.We got weird anti-Solar pantheon pushing in from the Naughty North against the teachings of draconic enlightenment. Maybe there are slaves and they don't wanna be slaves? We already have the poison cult ladies.

Let's also stick to names like Kralor rather than "suan chow", it's beyond grating in 2019 and into pretty much racist.

Agreed (although not sure about "racist". However, given the cure climate here, I'm sure Weibo would have a field day, and Globally Times would lap it up into a frenzy).

8 hours ago, g33k said:

I too would love to see Kralorela with much broader influences... including non-Asian influences!

I mean...
We can see Mongol and N.American influences (among others) in Prax.  We can see Norse and Vedic influences (among others) in Sartar.  BOTH have a healthy dose of Gloranthan Wierdness without much RW antecedent...

I hope for no less from a more-realized Kralorela!

 

Absolutely agree! 

With the main protagonists and antagonists, there are arguments about who it represents more...

Kralorela is wholesale and indisputablely some variant of an imagined China. 

If it's for a specific person, I'd be considering their personal Runic Affinity/ies, and possibly cult interests, rather than merely generic.

4 hours ago, albinoboo said:

Harrek's hobby is to design woman's underwear.

Are you sure that's a lie?

6 hours ago, boztakang said:

Uzuz MIGHT be able to digest all that they consume, but I doubt it - they are still man-rune beings, and barring a significant mythological reason not to, will still produce waste.

Uzko certainly do - their digestion is quite impressive compared to humans, but not nearly perfect. I suspect that your average troll would produce roughly the same quantity of waste as a human, while eating roughly three times as much, given the chance.  

[possible TMI WARNING: you might not really want to know this part]
In most clans, an Uzkos "leavings" are consumed by their trollkin. "Visit the pens" is a common euphemism. Better quality trollkin obviously prefer to augment their diet with pretty much anything else they can get their hands on, but lower-status worker and food types may find themselves entirely coprophagous. Eventually, after several cycles through the weakest of the food trollkin, what you have left over is basically just sand. 

As a consequence, Trolls can support large populations in quite tight quarters without the plumbing or other sanitary infrastructure that humans would need. Before the curse of kin, it is likely that a communities weakest and most desperate uzko would take the role, but modern Uzko don't care to speculate too closely on the subject.

 

So, if food trollkin are only eating...

And the trolls are eating the food trollkin......

That means.........    

1 hour ago, Crel said:

Why waste my POW crystal--which can hold anything!--instead of the low, low cost of one POW?

Good points both directions though.

Hmmm.... Yeah, fair call! 

I suppose if the Restore Health is working, it'd be worth it!

2 hours ago, Crel said:

So I know we keep coming back to the POW-draining disease spirits cheese, buuuutt...

It just occured to me that in the Bestiary they have only POW, no INT or CHA. So that means a Binding Enchantment for one only costs one POW, right? Makes it just that much more efficient.

I don't think that was brought up before?

Also means Mallia Shamans have some serious economic advantage when it comes to the "how many spirits can I get together at once" game.

Honestly, why bind when you can just put them in a low POW storage crystal? I'm not going to waste my perfectly good POW just for that! I'm waaaayyyy too much of a munchkin!

Very important question!!

"We set an ambush... I wait until one of the troll/kins goes into the bushes to crap, then silently kill him".

6 hours later... "Oh come on!!!!!!! One of you...!!!"

(*yes, I know Uz wouldn't care about where they do it.... especially in the woods!)

Firstly, apologies for the resurrection (who knew threads had HQ/Shamanic abilities???), but in talking about the GaGoG, I was linked to here...

On 1/13/2019 at 10:21 PM, Jeff said:

For the purposes of RuneQuest, Elmal can (and will) be treated as a local variant of Yelmalio. Same thing with the elf variant of Yelmalio and the Pentan variant of Yelmalio. A worshiper of Elmal can go to a Sun Dome Temple and contact his god (i.e., replenish his Rune Points). A worshiper of Yelmalio can go to the temple at Runegate and contact his god (i.e. replenish his Rune Points). To make things more confusing, Elmal is often a title of Yelmalio, and Yelmalio is often a title of Elmal. The Elmal variant says Yelm is the father of Elmal, but sometimes calls the Sun Disk Elmal and sometimes calls the Sun Disk Yelm. The Yelmalio cult does the same. <As an aside, the Yelm cult never calls the Sun Disk Elmal or Yelmalio and can draw much more substantive powers from the Fiery Sun than any of the Yelmalio variants (who only get Sunspear through the Yelm cult).>

So - what's to stop an Elmali from getting the Sunspear spell if the gods are actually the same?

They could be going to the Yelmalian temple (out of curiosity?? To replenish RPs), having a chat with the local priest who tries to convert them, and being told of the awesome powers that Yelmalio/Elmal has, and you should have a try...

I'd see this situation of not having the spell more as "I didn't know I could get it" rather than "It's absolutely not available". If we take the getting of Rune Spells to be a mini-HQ, then all it should take would be to know of it, and then performing it. The Elmali could then return home and tell everyone that - yes, the gods are still different, but somehow we've forgotten that he still has that power (ie, Sunspear). I'd presume that the gifts/geases are a similar deal... we didn't know we could get them! The lack of Fireblade and Ignite in Yelmalio's cult is purely cultural (or could be argued as 'aspects').

Similarly, I can't see why an Orlanth Adventurous can't get the same spells as Orlanth Thunderous...if the god is actually the same.... (I can live with "isn't usually available, because we don't know those myths").

My perspective on this whole debate is fairly pragmatic... if Elmal was killed or trapped, would Yelmalians (and others involved in this argument) also lose all their powers? What happened to the other Air deities when Orlanth was 'killed' by the Lunars?

Lastly, when will someone realise that Monrogh was Lied to by a Trickster?

13 minutes ago, Joerg said:

So where do I get to direct the adventurers to deal with you?

You enter the room quietly. 

Unfortunately, you've been seen. As you peer into the gloom, you see - and hear - a huge barbarian charging towards you. He roars as he throws at you...

A really bad pun! 

Roll to dodge.

Ps... What's the definitively correct spelling for the goddess of disease?

Cool! So, Kolat is now getting his own entry!?! 

Will Elmal get a nice subsection?

Last question (for this post 😛 ) - how many pages for each entry?  (On average)

15 minutes ago, Tindalos said:

It's noted these are magic books and scrolls, so I think the difference there is based around some inbuilt power of the writing itself.

Improving your skills through non-magical texts is already in the rules for Between Adventures (page 417 -- Research.)

That would be fine... Except...

18 hours ago, Jeff said:

Studying the palace records: A season spent studying the records of the local palace or temple 

Doesn't suggest anything magical. Unless, such book magic is *extremely* common to the point of being mundane... So mundanethat simple records automatically become magical (as they're being updated too!)

I know this is only intended as a sneak preview, but...

What's then the significant difference between a book and a teacher? I note that reading the palace archives gives a flat 5% increase to *two* skills... Whereas a teacher would give only 1D6-1 to one skill. 

9 hours ago, Ochoa said:

PS. Phone spell check recognizes heortling as a word now.