JRE

The real benefit is that a superhero has all the power focused in themselves, which is why they are so badass, but all the power is selfish. If you apotheosize, like Sartar did, you no longer can change and adapt, but you give people who worship you, or just know some of your secrets, the possibility to tap into that power and do wonderful things they could not do before. A superhero can do many things but only by personal action, and many of them are unmade or neutralized by other heroes. A new god changes their culture, from minor ones like Sartar to major ones like Sedenya.

The passage of time does not change habits and cultures as much as it does in our Earth because many of the reasons for conflict and hate are revisited frequently in the Godtime. I belong to a school that considers the Godtime is actually a yoke limiting change and new thought in Glorantha, so only those that are truely revolutionary can bring something new to Glorantha and usually will be sorely punished by the "Cosmos", represented by the mortlas still following the customs of the God War. It is even worse for the Elder Races because they are mostly closer to their deities, so change is even harder for them that it is for humans. So that something happened a thousand years ago or before Dawn, it is bound to be still remembered and even revisited all the time, making change very hard. That is what heroes end up doing, proposing or opposing change, as they are the ones that can do it or avoid it.

In this case the Humakti is a SIZ 7 duck that survived the duck hunt and that, despite being a killing machine, is not very intimidating. And he is bound to protect a LM/Issaries Historian that believes getting people to tell you stories is the best way to find the truth, and the next book he will be writing and selling. So antagonizing people in authority is to be avoided. The Humakti has a secondary purpose of earning respect for Ducks by his actions. So self defence and duels to first blood are ok, but he will only challenge someone to a serious fight when there is really no other option. Or his hated Lunars or Colymar. On the other hand we consider generally that casting any spell that requires a POW vs POW roll is impolite, unless accepted by the target or someone in authority. Unless there is nobody in authority and you can assume the authority. And that fits with his own honor criteria, so respect for authority and minimizing risk. Humakti may cut the family links, but you still need to be trusted and reliable, and always in control.

You are right, but honestly it is dull. I would expect the Lunars to call that Great Sister's regency, or the Time of the Satraps, or the Great Dart War, and not a Yelmite term for a bad or absent emperor. And it fits so well...

According to that reference, Phargentes name as emperor is Invictus, and I assume Kazkurturm is a bad solar emperor, to be referred with the name of the Empty Emperor. At first I assumed Kazkurturm was Sheng Seleris, but the text specifies that Sheng destroys (and surely devours) Invictus, while Renovus and Kazkuturm are between Argenteus and Invictus. Ralzakark comes after Sheng is out, so he is not in the list either. So that Kazkuturm is a bad but legitimate Solar Emperor, whose real name is not known, before Invictus/Phargentes give the empire a last flash of glory. QED.

We need to remember most PC are in the Fanatic/Extremely committed/Monomaniacal power acquisition category. Most people will not attend all holy day ceremonies, spend all free time developing new skills, learning new magics and obsessing about new magic items. They will slack all they can, never offer themselves volunteers, try to have minimal contact with powerful obsessed people like priests, shamans, sorcerors and PCs, and prefer if their interactions with the ruling powers are limited and very clear. They will prefer a bard in the local public house than traveling one day (even less a week) to see the Puppeteer Troupe. Hide their families when a troll caravan gets close, even if they will assemble in the militia if they are called, hoping those weaponthanes can solve the situation before the trolls reach the clan territory. I have them preferring to sacrifice POW to the clan or town wyter so the chieftain can bless their unborn child, than spending days or weeks at the temple learning the magic, the myth and the power. And when they party at the harvest festival, of course they are thankful, but they do it because all their friends and relatives are there, not because the aloof mother goddess will appreciate it. Because if you draw her attention, interesting things will happen to you. You do not want interesting things near. Interesting things is what sent so many people following Kallyr, and how many came back? It brought us the long winter, the Lunar raiders, the Telmori raiders and even the Lismelder. And now even the Grazers and some strange pirates are robbing our cattle.

No, I know. I just wanted to give you credit, as it makes a lot of sense, even if you were trying to fit together Greg's Lunar break up and Martin Laurie's simplified Moonson in a horrifying package. And I would consider a worst case scenario a theory on what are the boundary conditions. I do not remember if we have a name for the False Emperor. Could he be Simplicius Simplicissimus?

And yet, if he manages to last ten years and keep Dara Happa in the Empire, he needs to be acceptable to the Yelmites. That is why it makes sense to me, and why Phargentes had to wait till Argrath killed the Emperor to make his own bid.

In our game when we have a human heroquesting as Orlanth he has two arms most of the time, but he manifests arms as needed, so if armed with spear and shield, and suddenly wants to use lightning, he just manifests an arm with lightning. No need to drop anything. They still fight as humans, not as a multiarmed giant, as it is the human actually doing it.

I consider those geographical areas indicate where it is easier to contact them and get a response, usually passing to the other side in their Godtime dwelling. Orlanthi heroquesters have succeeded in reaching Orlanth's big longhouse both by reaching the storm of Kerofin and the big circling storm. And by visiting Orlanth's ring in the Sky Dome. A powerful deity can be reached from several places. A nymph like Kinope still resides in the Godtime but she can only be reached in her pool. Going bodily to the other side lets you control what you take with you, and get physical rewards, but it is also much more dangerous.

Game Balance, justified as a secondary effect of all the magical questing around the Curse of Kin which means that any magical influence that does not come from poor Korasting just doubles down the Curse. But they will be so nice value trolkin... I also consider the twins result is maximum litter, so probably six Enlo in one go. We know the trolls would exploit any magic that would give them a fertility edge. Which means Earth cults fertility is not really helpful. And we already have trolls adopting other cults different from Kyger Litor, they just stop being Uzko and become something else. If Earth could help, I am sure the OOO would have had his mother helping his people, even if they no longer were Uzko. In fact, that may explain how the Kethaela Argan Argar cult could field quite efficient Enlo spearmen armies. Because they are superior Enlo. Or maybe that is how you get the Kitori. Uz children blessed with Ernalda's magic...

I have always considered that to apotheosize you are joining the Compromise, as that is the only way to move out of Time's influence from within Time. You can still be changed or altered by mortal heroquesters, but like the internet, there will also remain echoes of what you were before being changed. Chaos is not normally part of the Compromise, but their prisoners. I assume Sedenya has a part (or several) that is in one side of the net, pulling, and others inside the net, trapped.

Let's use the examples we have in the literature for the baby example. Take humans, probably including babies, and transform them into animal human hybrids (EWF): Nonchaotic. Take Vrimak (bird Hsunchen?) human followers in the Godtime and get them to follow the Lords of Chaos (Malia, most likely, so probably to escape disease, but it could be Wakboth himself offering the power of flight if they subvert Vrimak's gifts, though that could have come later): Chaotic (Harpies). The case of Zistor would indicate that using a machine to do so will probably bring the anger of the Mostali upon you, but will not make it chaotic either. Chaos is both a personal choice and a contagious taint that can affect you against your will (surefire way, use Chaos runespells to make someone chaotic). That is what IMO makes it so terrible for the typical Gloranthan culture, as they should be separate effects but they cannot differentiate them. They even influence each other, showing the common source in Primal Chaos, as moral taint manifests physically, and physical taint often brings moral decay. This duality (that I actually think is a triumvirate, see below) manifests in the God Time as the conflict between Wakboth and Kajabor. From the Guide vol. 1, p. 119-120: I would add that there is a third Great god in the Chaos scheme, Pocharngo, which represents Chaotic change, rather than moral chaos or oblivion. But it did not care about conflict or primacy, so it is still with us, and what it touched remains chaotic. The three gods envision the effects we have been discussing: Physical taint, often involuntary, moral taint, tipically voluntary, and oblivion, that normally does not leave a taint, or anything else. Kajabor is part of time now, so it appears not to be active as Chaos within time.

Moral Relativism is baked in the Illumination system. Change your point of view and suddenly you can break the rules, which means the rules are relative. Illuminates are the ones that take the Red Pill, while the rest are trapped in the Godtime simulation protocol.

I had a thought that Bless Pregnancy works on trolls, but it always makes the pregnancy Enlo. Otherwise we would have plenty of Trolls switching to propitiatory Ernalda worship, or some Issaries making a killing with Spell Trade, while it seems a cop out just to make the spell not work.

I would prefer not, as that would mean all creatures that use sex for reproduction should be doing the same...

Most powerful Gloranthans agree with your implied assumption that it is not that great, which is why there are many more heroes than demigods, and most heroes that become deified or cult spirits do it when they are dead and no longer have free will anyway. One of the general principles in my view of Glorantha is that power decreases your freedom. The game itself reinforces it, by adding big limitations in time and money to Rune level characters, and taboos and limitations to Shamans. We expect similar limitations, increasing as you gain power. for sorcerers and mystics, though we do not have the details.

My own view is that Gloranthans have much more fun than the typical bronze age people, just because magic makes sure that survival is easier and crafting is usually better and takes less time. Just add some minor magics for cleaning clothes and anticonception to the healing and productivity improving magics we already know. They also travel much more, which means more varied foods, entertainment and cultural mixes. In most cultures there will be religious overtones on almost any action, because magic is everpresent, and most magic is framed within a religious perpective, but although for the Donandar troupe the spectacle is worship, for the spectators it is just fun and a way to forget other worries for a while. In the same way the harvest festival is first a party and second a religious celebration, except for the priests and deep initiates, who will do it the other way. I believe most people do not wish a deeper link with the divine, in the same way they do not wish a deeper link with the rulers. They prefer to keep those relationships to a few codified ones, and in between just work enough to live well, feed and clothe their families and slack, sing, dance, share stories and have fun as much as they can. It will be already a lot of work keeping up to date with your extended family to worry too much about the gods and the rulers. You do your part, they do their part and life goes on. But parties with big magic will be great, as even the poor will be welcome in the temple and share the mead of the gods and the meat of the sacred beasts, and it will really taste and feel like divine fare, once you are deep in the festival. The bad counterpart is that it is much more violent even than violent cultures in our world, as the extra time and riches, easy healing and mobility means there is much more interpersonal and intercommunity violence. Like most RPGs, at least those designed by men. Here at least they get some good benefits. And great sex. I am sure thay have more and more satisfactory sex than any Earth culture. Anticonception, sexual education and sex magic just makes that sure. And it is more fun to roleplay that way. Not really average, but the Griselda tales show a much down to earth view of adventurers than the current heroic sagas. But that is personal preference, and my games have more of that style than Beowulf.

I would agree that Tricksters are at a very low risk of developing moral chaos. That is their role, actually, a reminder that the social mores are relative, but not following them have actual consequences. The key point, as John points out, the society mores are linked to the metaphysical reality, as envisioned by that culture. So, unlike in Earth, your chaotic actions, both extrinsic (what I call above "physical") and intrinsic, acting in ways forbidden, will increase your Chaos affinity, as your actions can also increase your Storm affinity or your Death affinity, which is something anyone playing RQG should accept.

Not to kill Annstad, but to have Argrath kill the False Emperor, which will open the door for Phargentes to claim the throne. I agree with Nick Brooke's theory that the False Emperor is a rightful solar emperor, mainly because Dara Happa will be the main part of the Empire that does not secede. So he has to die before Phargentes can take the tests and reunify the Red Empire. Phargentes will need that the Emperor dies at Dwernapple.

That is true, but he could have gotten many Solar emperors without breaking up the LBQ. It would have been a perfect LBQ, after all, if he had chosen Karvanyar, though he would probably consider Argrath as the EWF reborn.

I do not allow the mixing of magics. So although I agree that there are temples of Chalana Arroy in Safelster that teach healing sorceries, they do not add heal to a Protective circle, because the magics just cannot interact. It is possible such a healer has some spirit magic as "first aid" magic without using rune magic, while reserving the sorcery for wide area or long range effects or long duration effects, which is what sorcery is good for. And they still use Spirit magic for what it is good for, fast, relatively efficient limited effects. They complement each other, but they are incompatible, as the principles are totally different. Magic from soulpower, magic loaned from an external source, and magic from the world, shaped by my own skill and knowledge.

It is you, the individual, who develop the Chaos affinity that we translate as a Chaos taint. Not public opinion. Except in what constitutes your education shaping your moral structure, your clan cannot make you chaotic, only you can. That is what I call Wakboth's influence, moral corruption, which requires you to have morals, and you deliberately break them. What your clan mates think is not the important part (although many have been killed as chaotic because their clan mates thought so, and I am sure a few survived by sacrificing their morals and becoming what they accused them of being). It is a personal change. Your soul is tainted, even if your body is not. So I actually disagree with your hidden content. Some chaotic magics, such as Chaos Gift or Curse of Thed can also corrupt you against your will. That would be physical corruption, as presented by Kajaboor or Pocharngo, which often can also bring the moral one, once you accept you are tainted and part of the legion of the damned. A few strong-willed individuals may start the hard path of purification, or the easier path of enlightenment. In that case it is your body which is tainted first, and that may later taint your soul. That is why I use the growth of the Chaos Rune affinity as a measure of taint. There are many ways to acquire the affinity, and it is not clear how high it has to be before others can notice or detect it. It is not clear we can put a definite number when you can be considered a Chaos monster. But I use a divided taint, body and soul taint, to separate the two main sources.

My own interpretation, as refined by the discussions here, is that Phargentes is a mostly succesul attempt to recreate Takenegi, by using aspects of two Inspirations (Hon-Eel and Jar-Eel, which is why Moirades was the chosen father) and several Masks of Moonson. He is probably the biggest success of the Eel-Ariash eugenic project, bigger even than Jar-Eel. To be the new Takenegi he had to purge also many of the "new" Egi, and that may well have taken him several years in the Moon, explaining the decade of the False Emperor. Argrath had to go for Sheng because he is the one that beat the first Takenegi, and because Argrath had tried already all his tricks and they all failed. Maybe if he had still had access to Harrek things could have been different, but Jar-Eel had taken him out of the game. Makes me wonder if Anstad was really so attractive, or if it was the right time to have the usurper leave the scene and Jar-Eel just let him die to allow her son free access to the throne. Motive and benefit. Think of the Kwisatz Haderach.

We play (and we have a Duck Humakti with Detect Truth, and a Lhankor Mhy / Issaries God Talker with Truespeak, so investigation is one of those things they just do) that it is evident when you cast rune magic, and it is openly visible in you unless your deity favors stealth. I already posted how we visualize spells. To use such magics without the approval of a local authority or the local law enforcement is dishonourable, though the LM does not care about honor. If there are no local authorities (a group of refugees, for instance) the PCs will first assume authority and then use magic. As indicated, their normal procedure is always to ask for a local authority's permission before using such magics, though, if they recognize their status, authorities seldom refuse, or they will seem suspicious as well. They run a first set of questions without any magic, with a local as a witness. Once they have their suspicions of untruth, they publically cast Detect Truth and ask the suspects to repeat their own statements, reinforced by the witness. If the suspect clams up, it is time for Truespeak and Mind Read, again asking for permission first. The Lhankorite once cast Truespeak in secret on a drunk target while remaining in hiding, but that is dishonourable for the Humakti and he was unaware of it. They end up using the spells mostly on those falsely accused as a way of proving their innocence, as usually the guilty parties avoid the obvious Truth hunters. It is also common for the LM to cast Truespeak on the Humakti, verified by a priest with Soul sight, to report what he has found using Detect Truth. Many people are reasonably suspicious of wandering strangers that claim to know the truth and accusing your people. It is quite different when people know you and trust you. If the local authority is also a suspect, or they could be an accomplice, then things become more interesting. The first task if trying to get some allies among people in power before challenging the authority. They could intimidate them, but a duck and a historian do not seem so impressive. Often it ends up with the Humakti issuing an open challenge for truth in a public meeting, casting the spell openly and challenging people to talk publicly or be labeled as liars. That often starts a combat encounter, specially if the Humakti is within five meters of the suspect, as only the Humakti knows when something is a lie.