JRE

The Krarsht cult, as presented in cults of Terror, has nothing to do with the Great Maw herself. It is just a human construct, using the magic power that Krarsht gives away freely, intended mainly for her kids but hijacked by selfish humans. That is why one of the most alien deities gets one of the more organized and widespread cults. Devourer is the shadow of both Grower and Maker, and it shows they are not really (more like two sides of the same force, Creation) opposed because they share a common enemy, wishing to unmake both, so it will be undone too at the end. However True Dragons are, at their core, an equilibrium between all three, although expressed in the duality Creation and Destruction. Their long periods of inactivity and their philosophical efforts may make mortals forget how intrinsic Destruction / Devouring is for a True Dragon. But does the Great Maw exist and plot separately, or is it just the Great Maw of a cosmic Dragon, balancing Creation with Destruction, and any intention or long term plans is just a projection from worshippers that ignore they just worship part of a Dragon, just doing what comes naturally. In the same way a Dragon dreams are still Dragons, a Maw dreams are all small mouths.

My own interpretation is that Heal Body works while you are missing Hit points, that is, the wound is still fresh. If you have healed with lower magic or naturally, then Heal Body does not work to recover the limb, and it is necessary to use a more specialized magic. To go even further, I consider Heal Body uses your own self image as template. So if you have a stump from an old wound, someone cuts off the rest of your arm, and you get Heal body cast on you, you regenerate up to the stump, but not more, as your body self image includes the mutilated limb. That opens the dilemma. Should I use Heal Wound or Spirit magic Heal, so I cannot die, but seal the limb loss in? Or should I wait till someone with Heal Body casts it on me, but focing me not to heal before the opportunity comes? Will there be a Heal body available before I start healing naturally? The body self image magical effect is also why once set in, healing does not erase tattoos or scarification, or you lose magical prosthesis such as magic organs, enchanted ivory eyes or animated iron arms. A regrown limb, however, will lack all of those markings or make you lose the magical aid.

The ships required for overseas trading are quite different from the coastal coursers, so I expect the coastal trade continues. The main difference for me is that with the large population shift to Nochet rather than alternaticg clockwise and counterclockwise trade around the bay, now they are all going to Nochet, and then returning with exotic goods, so the bay is in two halves, mostly Rhigos-Nochet and back, and Karse --Nochet and back. Their relationship with the Manirian road and the Sartar route I think keeps the two of them still going strong, though not at the same level as Nochet. You cannot lose an overseas trade you never had. But yes, the new trade direction and the loss of the fish roads has probably crippled the other local trade centers in the Holy Country, but that is some of the people who have flocked to Nochet in the last thirty years.

From the top of my head, both mostali and the Inhuman King were part of the First Council. And both the EWF, non-draconic orlanthi and mostali were on the same side in the Machine Wars. We know the mostali backstabbed the orlanthi at the end, but we do not know how they dealt with the EWF.

I would propose than an intelligent dino could still become a dragon, though I consider it can no longer become a dragonewt. It has lost its egg. But if humans can become dragons, Magisaurs can too, though that will be walking a razor's edge between losing their mind and awakening their soul. But the ones you hear about are the failures. The succesful ones have withdrawn from the world and are slowly forging their own path. Though they can get caught in the world for high enough stakes. Or a good story.

I fully agree, and I am a pdf only buyer since I started buying RPGs again fifteen years ago. Electronic copies, even if people do not want to acknowledge it, are too easy to copy and share, so if you want to keep your paper sales, you need to limit them at least till the hardcopy is available. The longer the waiting period, the more people will think they do not need a physical copy. There is always a hardcore purchasing base, but it is small.

Many Earth religions propose the annihilation of the self, from subsumption in the Godhead to achieving Nirvana, so in itself it is not unusual. Many ancient Greeks preferred Oblivion to becoming a shadow in Hades hall. If you assume a continuous wheel of reincarnating suffering through Ompalam, the Wool Cloaks are looking more attractive in each turn of the wheel. So no real benefit except being free (I suppose when you die, as you are not free right now). An end in itself.

The obvious consequence of the above is that what turned Kargan Tor Separation rune into Humakt's Death Rune, including its new role as opposite of Life is Chaos, that made the effects mostly permanent. Fortunately he is illuminated, so others do not notice the chaos in the sword.

I made the clarification, for PCs, as that is usually my main interest as GM, and because in most combat encounters the combat specialists will be outnumberered, though in a few "boss" encounters it will be the PCs who outnumber the opposition. What I meant is high skilled against less skilled, or the advantage of numbers. In similar skill levels what the rules do is increase the advantage of the more skilled. In my example, 3 75% skill fighters against a weapon master with 120% skill. Even with heavy armor, 6AP, 1d8+1+1d4 means a 20% potential disable with any unparried hit. In RQ3, the master can do 1 parry at 120 or two parries at 60%. In RQ: G he can parry at 100 (against 55), 100 (against 75) and 80 (against 75) He could attack twice but unless they have a big bladesharp it is not interesting, so one attack at 100 vs a parry at 55, compared to RQ3 one attack at 120 against a parry at 75. We assume parries are good enough to parry the whole damage of a special and most of a critical, though that may not be true with spears. The difference for the single fighter is huge, specially as with a parry without big damage boosting, a special will not take you out of the fight. So the key thing, and I agree with Dave, is those unparried attacks. In RQ3 the master had one parry, or two mid level parries. RQ2 was worse as most people did not go over 100%. Now a master has 2-3+ good parries per round. Numbers are no longer the big menace they used to be. And PCs are less at risk because they can parry or dodge more. Our Humakti started at 100 sword because character creation did not allow a higher skill, but reached quickly 120%. Even the historian with his 80% rapier usually manages two succesful parries per round, when normally he had just one. If the master has 140 skill, then in RQ:G the three should be thinking of running away, while it would have been a small difference compared to the afvantage of numbers in RQ3. Of course, if in your game the players usually outnumber their enemies, or they frequently face off against weapon masters then it will be different. But I play with two PCs (and one "only" has 80% rapier) and usually one hired guard, and the Humakti has been so far the most skilled combatant on both sides, except in fights they could avoid. I am not against it, it allows more heroic play and smaller parties, taking several enemies at the same time which used to be suicidal in previous editions. But it is not realistic, as killing someone with CON 8 (roughly one third of the population) when punching them in the face 6% of the time (skill 50%, so special or critical 10% of the time, and all criticals and half the specials kill). You still need 12 damage to kill outright someone with 10-12 HP, which is not possible with unenhanced fists. It was 10 in RQ3, and that was possible with Martial Arts, but without it, even the CON 8 weakling was safe. Which goes back to the importance of parries, as if the punched guy is allowed to parry, the RQ:G death rate is cut in half.

In most cases I consider the magical economy requires all the Runepoints of a particular temple, as if the needs are higher, they will bring on more priests, and if they have an excess, the priests will be moved to where they are needed. This is an equilibrium situation, so it is likely you may have an excess or defect, if the situation is not the normal one. That means any special adventurer needs will be extraordinary and Rune magic will not be routinely available. As for donation gifts, I would play anything that helps to heal, such as herbs and medicines, or that help any other works of the temple, such as food and furniture for an orphanage, instruction in allowed spells and skills. I always play that they appreciate the symbology of having a proud rune level of other cult cleaning up the hospital and attending the sick, as thir free time is so scarce, so I count that kind of efforts double. Generally no services, as many of those have a death toll associated. No meat, no war booty. I still think they would be better off with a merchant.

I will use rules to extrapolate world circumstances. So this is all YGWV. Chalana Arroy is very interesting because the cult gives different spells to different associates, which for me represents what their shrines in the associate temples typically teach. In your case what is interesting is that they teach Regrow Limb to Issaries, so it will not be hard to find a Merchant that can regrow limbs for coin, and I would go as far as saying that as Regrow Limb is not usually applied to people in danger of immediate death (or actually dead, like Ressurrection), most of the Regrown Limbs will be agreements for cash or services with an Issaries priest. For Chalana Arroy the best option is just before holy days, as priests will be using up any magic left in non-critical recipients. On the other hand, it will be almost impossible to get a White Lady to use Regrow Limb normally, as they will be keeping the magic for potential life threatening cases, specially if you are a known killer. Of course if you are the clan's champion or a ring member you will usually get your regrown limb automatically just before the seasonal holy day, or during the Sacred Time as part of your position. The high holy day is a week during the Sacred Time, so I would allow two recovery rolls then, which means most non-urgent healings will be performed during that week, as part of the Sacred Time celebrations. Otherwise you will have five seasonal holy days and the holy days of associates. That means that actual recovery will depend on how many associate cults are in town, but minimum two and possibly four, so an extra 4D6+4 Rune points per season. There are no minor holy days listed, though I would allow them in great temples that are pilgrimage centers, Wilddays every week. That means that Firedays at the Great Hospital in Nochet are the days when all non urgent patients have an opportunity to receive spells. I play most NPC priests with 10 rune points, initiates living at the temple with 5, and high priestesses with 16 (CHA). Normal wear and tear of people in their community will require all of that magic, so the variable amount is actually what they can get from associates, so in most cases 2D6+2 points per season, and a bit easier during Sacred Time, between the two full recoveries, which is when you will get most of the non-Issaries regrown limbs. In most towns the best option would be Fireday in Fertility week, as they may have recovered magic at Ernalda's seasonal holy day, and have to spend them (always assuming full recovery) before the Wildday. As for exchange, I would use quarter the ransom value as a guide, decreased if well liked by the community and maybe even waived if they have made a service (in advance) to the White Lady. Issaries will start similar but can be negotiated in many different ways, including the possibility to spell trade for it.

In my opinion RQ:G is less deadly for PCs or any high skilled combatant. You only need one skill when earlier you needed two, attack and parry. Conflating attack and parry is what IMO is killing shields, as they require double the skill investment. And it is much better to have a very high skill than several high ones. You can make multiple dodges or parries while decreasing your enemies to hit chances, and that is the best way to minimize risk. In the other versions barring very powerful magic, three skilled opponents would always beat a weapon master with the same equipment, because you could not reasonably defend against three foes. Now you can, and they will have a penalty to their to hit number and to their parry, so combat will be also much shorter. RQ has always had very deadly brawling. Crush is the big difference in RQ:G, although in RQ3 you had martial arts that doubled your damage, so your maximum damage was 6+DB. You forgot the potential parry, however. If you parry your arm, and any armor, will block first the damamge, so you may end up KO with a disabled arm, but that is better than dead. Many referees would allow a bracer, vambrace or gloves that do not count as armor to add some AP too.

Long metaphysics that nobody in Glorantha really believes. After creation there were sequential events, as progressively more thing existed than there were before. But none had self-awareness, so there are no tales and little information. Then the first self aware observers appeared, and that brought tales and deliberate conflict. The conflict escalated, those self aware awakened others, and founded three paths. You could coerce the powers into doing what you wanted, you could make a deal with the powers, which required making them self-aware first, or you could search for power inside yourself. It is not clear if they found the dragons or the action created the dragons, but the dragons are. At this point change was not irreversible, so you could always return to a previous state, if it was more to your liking. That did not set well with the disfavored, because it meant that the powerful would always be more powerful, and even a temporary victory would be unmade. So they searched for and found irreversible change. Now things could really change. And of course they changed for the worse. At a certain point there was so little unchanged that the Spike exploded or collapsed and the world turned to pieces. The few remaining survivors faced with annihilation of everything, bound the power of irreversible change into a power named Time, and put what remained of their power outside of it, outside Glorantha, where reversible change was still possible, within the constraints of power and awareness of what had already taken place. What was an unexpected effect is that creatures within Time could actually implement irreversible change in the Godplane. But it was a natural consequence of allowing the Godplane to affect the mundane world of Time. If it could affect the mundane, the mundane could affect it. Initially changes were involuntary. conflating gods, making up new myths and then inserting them into the Godplane, weakening an enemy by weakening their magic. But soon the changes were voluntary, making up new gods, erasing others. The Godplane defended itself, as each irreversible change once again weakened reality and risked a second collapse. But the presence of Time strengthened also the world, as it was harder and harder to apply widespread change. And what could be changed was becoming more codified. Magic that used to be just what you could imagine, now was subject to precedent and hardened into natural laws. The world of Time was becoming rigid, harder to change from outside. The Hero Wars plays this conflict, between change and the unchanging, between a wild imaginative magic and a rigid set of rules, between the remnants of the previous age of magic and the new age of matter. In this interpretation, there was Time after the Unity Battle / the Compromise, even if the Dawn was still far away, but it was still finding its place. So there was some scope to reverse changes you did not like. It was a period of learning the new rules of the world and of rebuilding the world. The Sacred Time is mostly pumping up magic into the Godplane to keep it running.

Deities tend to resemble their worshippers, though in Glorantha worshippers will also tend to resemble ther deities. In the old Gods of Glorantha it was indicated that human worshippers of Zorak Zoran depict him as a human, trolls depict him as a troll, and I am sure his potential Morokanth worshippers will depict him as a morokanth. Xiola Umbar is peculiar in that her typical representation is a jar, and probably is never depicted as her worshippers, though as their worshippers are the downtrodden, maybe they do not want to present her as themselves or their oppressors. My own take is that after Aram-ya-Udram died / apotheosized, rather than an Earth cult that controlled a darkness demon, the cult evolved, at least in part, during the EWF, though I do not think there is a causal link, to a Darkness cult that controls Earth beasts. I also believe that the Dragonkill War finished the change, as the remaining human Aramites were obliterated, and only the non-human ones survived. So the Earth controlling darkness faction disappeared at the end of the Second Age, and now only the darkness faction remains. I have always considered them more half boar than half troll, myself, though tusks and an elongated muzzle are shared by both. No Darksense, no curse of kin, no eat everything (though we could argue a boar can eat almost anything organic).

The Sourcebook has the Only Old One calling the first Unity Council two hundred years before the Dawn, with Aram-ya-Udram as the storm representative, to prepare and unify Kethaela and Dragon Pass. Meanwhile the Dara Happans have the following years, counting from Yelm's enthronement. The Lesser Darkness started in 100,000... 110,179 YS – The World is destroyed. 110,666 YS – Planet Rise 111,000 YS – The Dawn. Conflating both, the Silver age lasted many generations, though Time is still a flexible concept in this period.

Changing Topic to well trod paths. Ralzakark practises Daka Fali heroic ressurrection, which means you return in the body of one of your descendants, which is easier when you are a broo. As he has gotten used to the unicorn imagery, and to give an impression of continuity, he always tries to have some captive unicorns. Sometimes the return is not perfect, specially as he has been increasing in power lately, so one body, even a specially prepared broo unicorn, cannot hold all that power, so he returns in several bodies, using Arkat's trick. This growing power could be linked to the Lunar support of Rashorana / Nysalor, but I think it is more likely due to the growing power of the returning Arkats, and it bleeds off into their shadow, including similar aspects. As such, Ralzakark the Red Emperor would be the shadow equivalent of Arkat the Emperor, which would hint what is the aspect of Arkat developing in Dragon Pass. Right now, for my own work in Ralios, I will assume the Empire of Peace cannot return to Ralios, and the land cannot be unified, because the keystone aspect is busy becoming a storm emperor in Dragon Pass. Taking it further, other aspects of Nysalor are already present in the Red Emperor, and in the three kingdom Talar, so the Arkat / Nysalor round two becomes just a small part of the whole fight for the middle air / strain the limits of the compromise / redefine the place of Chaos in the world that is actually the cover for the actual aim of allowing the gods and the whole god time magical extraction apparatus fall apart / perform a sacred Utuma and leave Glorantha for good, finally enlightened. Genocidal humanism under a draconic mask for the win. And at the end, Chaos will no longer be an existential menace to Glorantha, just a part of it, one given to wide variations and tendency for extremes, but nevertheless part of the world, as the old war that the gods refused to finish because it meant they were beaten, has finally ended. And Peace between Chaos and what is not Chaos arrived. That is what the Fourth Age really represents, for me.

Daka Fal, as Grandfather (also Grandmother, in certain cultures) Mortal, is the ancestor of all* humans. So he is the ur-ancestor, the end point in the ascendancy chain. So they are the only sure common ancestor we have, which is why the cult is named for him. I also consider you may have adoption and dispossession from the family, so it is not only a matter of blood, but ritual and belonging. *In Glorantha all is a loaded term, as you are bound to find someone who is different from the "all". Such as the hsunchen that are actually animals that took human shape, though they have mixed enough with the original humans that most will still have Daka Fal as their ancestor, so they can access their magic.

There are a few mentions in the Guide, both as Grey Age and Silver Age, though with limited detail, as the time between the unity battle and the Dawn. Generations of heroes (such as Heort, who codified what means to be an orlanthi in central Genertela) lived and died during this period. Some detail, as specific to Dragon Pass and the Holy Country, appear in the Glorantha Sourcebook, including our old friend Aram the Soul of Udram. I quote: Some people quantify it as several centuries.

This is of course my own take, as the bestiary specifies that Full Priests that become heroes will be reborn as dragons, but I see dragonewts as a progression that actually has nothing to do with actual dragonhood, as the difference between a Full priest and a dragon is much larger than the one between a crested dragonewt and a full priest. The progression shows that the dragonewt is both improving in dragon magic and also in self-control, and gaining power through it, but that is like a human becoming more powerful by emulating a god time archetype. It is not a change in nature. Only when they make the mental change from body bound in time, to mind outside of time will they become a dragon. From limited power to unlimited, the infinity rune. Full priests probably are getting closer to this transition, so that is why most of those that switch are at that point. Taken further, that means that most of the Dragons that took action at the Dragonkill, are dragons that became dragons after the event, which is why, despite their supposed aloofness, the destruction of the nests would create a paradox, so they did not act sentimentally to protect their descendants, but that the nests survival was required for their own dragon nature, and the dragons were just the instruments of fate in guaranteeing the end result. A dragon fragment fixed in time, whether it is a dragonewt instructor or a fragment of a dragon soul, cannot communicate what it is to be out of time, so to manifest the powers inside time you need to use magic in the way humans always do, by sacrificing power, either permanently or temporarily. So unless you manage to become a dragon, the magic powers will be manifested through permanent POW (learning new abilities), geasa or shamanic abilities (exchanging freedom of action for abilities) or temporary effects through MP expenditure. Different schools will offer draconic abilities in different ways, but I would like to think that those that follow them are no closer than anyone else to becoming a dragon, though they may well be able to communicate with one, or even get one to wake up and do what comes naturally...

First of all, I suppose the Spirit Guardian is actually a guardian spirit, as described in the bestiary, and not a spirit affected by the Spirit Guardian spell, as that means a shaman is looking from the spirit's perception and the spirit has access to all the shaman's spells and MPs. A discorporate shaman could be there shortly to help the spirit, making the encounter much more complex. So, if it is a spirit used as a guardian, if I have a Daka Fali in the group, my first decision is whether the spirit should be considered as a ghost, and subject to Free Ghost, or not. The rules say that ancestral spirits behave like ghosts, but it is not clear if that is enough to make Ghost spells work on them. Assuming they do not have the spell, or you consider a bound spirit of the death somehow is not considered a ghost (possibly because it is there voluntarily, and not compelled or bound), then I agree that unless it is also an ancestor of the Daka Fali, Command Cult Spirit should not work, as Daka Fali magic is focused on ancestors, and that requires both recognize that link. I would not use tradition with Daka Fali, it should be family, or at least ancestry what separates one group from another. Of course the further back you go to find a powerful ancestor, more people will have them as an ancestor as well, which opens the MGF possibility that such a guardian may be their ancestor and be willing to discuss conditions.

There is another factor in chariot warfare, and it is mount quality. If you only have small horses or onagers, you may have a better shock effect (not by physical shock, but morale and maneuver) by using chariots rather than cavalry. That would also explain some of the homeric charioteering if you have the chariots just to give mobility to leaders, rather than a fighting platform. Like the horses sometimes used by the vikings to move faster, even if they would dismount before battle. In Glorantha a traditional wind lord would be ridden around in a chariot, but once battle is joined would probaby just jump down where needed, or jump up and fly. I assume Mastakos may have some smoother ride magic, but it is usually ignored compared to the nifty teleports.

I would love to, but your works are heavy, and require an investment of time. It would feel wrong to write a review after just browsing. Mine will come probably next week, if I can spend some evenings reading.

In my experience (fluent in three languages, struggling in a couple more) people underestimate their ability to communicate by speech, and overestimate their understanding in listening and reading. So usually one number is good to have some communication. I consider the 25% is for unmodified humans. Modified humans may go higher, depending on how advanced they are in the dragon path. But humans tend to confuse the map (the language) with the territory. You do not need Auld Wyrmish to use Dragon magic, but it helps. At the same time, it misleads you, as magic learnt from language is not draconic. As you codify the magic, you lose sight of the true objective, which is harmonically growing the dragon soul. The human will usually believe they have learnt some spell or technique, when they actually could naturally use all of them, if they were at the right soul development stage. But the Dragonewt progression is failed, and that is why there are still so many dragonewts around, because the progression itself is a lie. Dragons trascend time, so if you are to be a dragon, you are always a Dragon. No defined path, no gradual improvement. You are, and what you have to do is discover what you can do. That is also why most of the EWF failed, because they were following a failed model.

This is all IMG, as I doubt there is a canon decision on sorcery affecting special materials. Mostal could form/set adamant, as that is how I suppose he shaped the Spike, but I doubt anyone else can do it, except as an extremely hard hero ability, accesible only to perfect Mostali, as they are the only ones to have the mental patterns to become Mostal the Spike builder. What I assume is that the Dwarves have some rare adamant tools, which are the only things that can cut truestone. As they have been losing their precious adamant tools to other people, they are extremely protective of what is left, which means artillery and pike and shot recovery regiments, not just a few Gorgers.. A few adamant pieces are around, but unless you wish to work truestone or as an unbreakable chisel, they are not so useful to mortals. We had a player with a shard that he used as a dagger. We played that it had infinite AP and always caused at least 1 HP to opponent's weapons, but it was not very sharp and no magic could affect it, so except as a parrying dagger it was not very useful. It was good againt extreme magical barriers, such as RQ3 sorcerers, as it also ignored defensive magics. But there is not so much you can do with 1D3+1+1D6 against armored people. specially when anyone that recognizes it will do whatever is needed to get it, and your other dagger is doing somewhere around 1D4+18+1D6 with +20% to hit. Against a naked cultist with shield 12 it was great, however. Something similar with god's blood. I doubt the Mostali have magics for it, as it was not a planned building material, but I would expect brithini and vadeli to have developed such magics. But you will need to affect the whole piece to form / set it, so useless against huge pieces, unless you get loaned one of Zzabur's god landscaping spell matrixes. I also would have the Aeolian lightning lances as a variant blessing, probably with a bit less damage vs intensity, but with the bonus of ignoring metal armor, unless grounded (only dwarves ground their armor).

It is page 617 of the Guide, though in my pdf it is harder to read than the AAA map. The river below the Rapang name in both maps.