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JRE

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JRE last won the day on August 7 2023

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About JRE

  • Birthday 10/04/1966

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  • RPG Biography
    Old Daily/Glorantha digest member, roleplayer since 1981, CoC since 84, RQ since 86, on and off. Some RPG books, translations and articles in the 90s.
  • Current games
    D&D 5e, WFRP 4, Shadowrun, some hybrid RQ version in 2nd Age Glorantha, converting to RQ: G.
  • Location
    Spain
  • Blurb
    Now that we have the money to buy games, we do not have the time.

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  1. I assume Humakti temples hold frequent duels. Otherwise, how can the temple know who is better suited to be a Sword? Initiates duel initiates, Swords duel Swords to see who will become High Sword. With Gloranthan healing magic and probably agreements not to use powerful rune magic (except in grudge duels to the death), it is hard to kill someone outright, and Swords have divine intervention available. So Humakti holy days are like big game days or troll ball days.
  2. Not really gladiatorial, but most Malkioni areas which are not at war, and a few that are at war, will have tournaments of all kinds, which depending on the rules work more or less as gladiatorial entertainments. It also makes all those idle soldiers in peacetime useful to keep the peasants happy they are not the ones being hit. We already know about Kustria's Great Tournament, and that implies that Seshnela used to be big on tournaments as well. In the same way as the Lunar gladiators, the Castle Coast is practically shouting for frequent tournaments between castles or open to all-comers. Ralians also will be keen on them, if only due to the Kustrian example. I assume stylized tournaments are used in Loskalm for advancement, but I do not spend too much time thinking about Fronela. Carmania is a good candidate, but there I play the subvert expectations card and play as they lacking egalitarian individual tournaments, but set up melees between rival cults or nobles, and hazars massacring animals or upstart rebels in a similar way to what happens in the Heartlands I am playing that the current Rokari church is not so keen on tournaments, but the nobles will not let them take away their fun. I have separate events for soldiers and nobles, but some events do allow General melee style fights where a soldier may face a noble, which is not a problem as long as it is not their noble, as that prepares them for war. Most tournaments are not to the death, and wizards will be around to heal most serious wounds, but misfortune and a few deliberate accidents will still happen. In many orlanthi lands, Humakti duels will be considered as entertainment as well.
  3. Although the myths usually say that the Unholy Trio brought forth the Devil (which can mean Wakboth, Kajabor or some other Chaos), it does not make sense, as that is also an outsider, not a mix of Chaos and Gloranthan existence. So I propose what they did bring about is a hole, or a bridge, depending on how you like your metaphors, and the Devil was the first one across. So calling it Storm Bull's or Orlanth nephew, even if accurate according to some myths, will not bring you any laughs or friends in Glorantha. If there is another thing the Greater Darkness shows is that, except for those beings devoured by Kajabor/Chaos, most events can be reversed, as long as enough mythical base remains. So you can be on Chaos side briefly, and then be opposed to it. You can die, and then you can get out from Hell. You can be alive and dead, friend and enemy, chaos destroyer and chaos hanger-on, usually at the same time. Maybe Rashorana helped them weather this, but just those experiences, taken simultaneously, are what allows the worshippers to become illuminated, believing several impossible things at the same time. Because I propose that saying a deity is illuminated before the Great Compromise is meaningless, as the deity is unchangeable now, and it is unknowable how it really was back then. What it means, in my opinion, is that following that deity's god path is quite likely to bring you illumination, if you follow it closely enough. And that is before Nysalor found a shortcut and the possibility to become illuminated without following a difficult god path., and even without recourse to the divine. Orlanth shows little doubt and little change, so his worshippers probably are quite resistant to spontaneous illumination. Others however are much more susceptible, and those are the gods traditionally considered as illuminated, because devout worshippers can become illuminated. It is likely that the Red Goddess mundane life is intended as a highway to illumination, but as usual such shortcuts bring risks.
  4. Almost all gods died, which is why the last stand of the gods is in hell, and not in the surface. And even then we have a clear divide between the god of Chaos and all the others. I would say there are a few true chaos gods (Kajabor, Wakboth, Krarsht, Primal Chaos), and many more "corrupted gods", those that did not come from outside but sided with it, such as Thed, Malia, Ragnaglar, Vivamort, ... Even other gods may have been corrupted in the godtime and redeemed, which may explain some weirdnesses such as Humakt's flexibility and illumination.
  5. I play that Giants do not need to eat per se, but they need to eat to move and specially to move fast, so getting Gonn Orta, and probably his retinue, to come to help you requires a feast to feed (and water) them, so they can actually come. Being Argrath, I would expect a full convoy, where all is expected to be eaten, including the draft animals, the carts, some specially delicious rocks, the drivers, and other delicacies that would be inedible to others. Organized by the White Bull Society but bringing goods from all the East and Pent.
  6. JRE

    Munchkin Learners

    In my interpretation, and I only talked with Greg a couple of times in the 90s, rather than powergamers in general, they represent the people that confuse the map with the territory, so they believe that because they have a rulebook everything is explained and fixed, and anything with stats can be killed or controlled. His Glorantha, so by definition I suppose Chaosium's Glorantha is much more than the RQ rules. But they also fill nicely the age of empires and how the west is much weaker now than it was after Arkat, because the rulebook was true for a while, and then, though a good aproximation, it is not. I am a god learner wannabe, as I prefer RQ to the "anti-godlearnerism" HW and HQ, but now we are once again with an official Chaosium RQ book, and we ask for even more detailed maps, and still take them for the whole territory.
  7. Taking things one step forward, what if Third Age Arkat, which Argrath is a part of, has decided just that, after the horrors of the Monster Empire (and other catastrophes all over the place), the only way to break the cycle and stop Chaos being an existential menace is to break the Godtime, which means breaking all gods present at the casting of the net. Therefore the ending of King of Sartar. Because as long as Chaos is part of the compromise, even if unwilling, it will always be there as a menace, it is its role. The only way to make integration possible is to break the shackles that make roles unchangeable. Arkat/Argrath complete Sedenya's mission, and she becomes the White Moon.
  8. I am quite late to this, but I think it is an interesting point, considering how many PCs have fought and probably will in the future. We know Argrath is Giant-friend and that is based on his succesful efforts with the cradle, which included sailing down to hell on it. For me, the reason the Giants send their kids to hell is that there are not enough Giants in the mundane world, and those that remain have forgotten too much. So they go to hell to learn from the dead giants there. Even dead, they are beings on a divine scale, so once she makes it to hell, the kid is mostly safe, unlike normal mortals. However Argrath managed to be recognized as the midwife and that will be good for him later. So I would play it that unless you go all the way to hell and meet the teachers, you will not be recognized as a giant-friend, just a mortal mercenary or Lunar enemy. Argrath may remember you, however, and that may allow some Giant contact to be developed later, but the tolerance will be built on Argrath's. As for the Giant child, I expect her history lies beyond the Third Age, though her friends can visit her, and possibly get a "shortcut out of hell" through the giants. I do think Gonn Orta expects her to bring Genert's fertility back, but he may be wrong, or she may do even more. Something to work for, when the Godtime is broken and what happened in the past does not determine the future, and she can break new ground.
  9. My interpretation of Arkat the deceiver is different. No Arkati would worship Gbaji. But many sects will have enemy Arkati sects, and those obviously follow Arkat the deceiver. In most of Safelster Arkat the Destroyer sects, also known as Arkat Kingtroll, are classed as such, except in Naskorion. Many sects will be willing to use Chaos or chaos related magic if the benefit is large enough. It is part of the willing to do anything to win position. The limit, for me, is in the Hero Plane, where they will refuse to aid Chaos in any way. But in the mundane world, it does not matter as much. Most (if not all) of the claimed Boristi sightings or Chaos Monk atrocities are actually Arkati plots and deniable terror attacks. So I do not see Arkat the deceiver as one of the Arkats, but any gathering of different Arkati sects will have several labeled as deceivers.
  10. Like Joerg I have been trawling old 90s material and some new ideas to develop a new version of Kustria and the Tower of Xud. But my time is quite limited and I am traveling a lot, so it goes very slowly. Certainly not enough to even think of joining the JC writer’s circle.
  11. If they are doing the same quest from opposing sides, then MGF requires they become the opponents. Both Arkati and Lunars are experts in this oppositional questing to sabotage other people questing. IMG most opposition are Godtime echoes, but if you can arrange to be cast in an opposition role in a close point in time and space, you can become the opposition, and depending on your power levels, wreck the other people quest. See Jar-Eel and Kallyr’s LBQ. If you are cast in similar roles, you cannot act directly, but you could reinforce each other, so if others succeed they may soften the impact of any failure, or they may make some stages easier. That is what happens in the Sacred Time, you have so many groups carrying out the same myths that it is easy to succeed, and even if you fail, you might continue. You may have been unable to steal the cloud sheep, but your kinswoman did and she brings you some so you can continue with the shearing. Conversely, that may weaken your success a bit as you may need to share it with the other questers… If both fail in the same station, and it feels right, you may have both groups join and become a single group, and try again, if the test would allow a new attempt, even if they lost some critical roles, by replacing them.
  12. I assume Delecti is used at leaving damaged bodies behind and occupying fairly intact ones afterwards, so unless the loss is ritually significant I would not have him affected by the theft after he switches bodies. Delecti’s stolen toe could be a powerful Death/Undeath talisman for an Eurmali, however, and Delecti could be missing some magic until the Eurmali uses it up.
  13. We had a similar problem with fast firing projectiles and Sleep. We agreed the protection applied at the end of the turn, when you could see if the spell had worked and all actions announced before the spell were finished. None has attacked a protected target, even by accident. The consequence of being blacklisted by CA is too dire to contemplate.
  14. I would say that unless the Hero was a Daka Fal worshipper, they had other priorities besides their family. As well, depending on how they apotheosized, they may well be fixed in the Hero plane and not available anywhere else. Finally, IMG, a true Hero, having achieved control of the Mastery Rune, cannot be compelled by magics such as Daka Fal’s. So a Hero may return to give an omen or even advice to their descendants, but they cannot be compelled, except by the one they used as the path to herodom. So Orlanth can command or bring forth Alakoring Dragonbreaker, but Daka Fal cannot, because he avoided his judgement, being taken to Orlanth’s longhouse upon his death. You could start an Alakoring Hero cult if you can contact him, but I would limit it to Orlanthi even if you use a shaman to contact him. He was so tightly wound with Orlanth, some of his feats have become Orlanth’s, that he is subsumed into Orlanth.
  15. Need. The missing word is need. They are helpful, but Doraddi, because this is Doraddi specific, can manage without them.
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