JRE

I disagree a bit with the above. I consider magic is inherent in Glorantha, a consequence of being built with runes, platonic ideals and archetypes, rather than atoms, chemical bonds and the interplay of enthalpy and enthropy. Repeating myself, someone with high Death affinity makes swords that are sharper than his high Life neighbour. And a high skilled artisan may make something magical without using magic (though I consider that as unconscious mysticism, something usually linked with skill mastery). You can get more magic by going to more magical places, it is true but the middle world is not mundane, as shown by all the magic wonders still there. So for me, even if he also knows Dronar magic, Leonardo is also able to adjust the amount of air and earth in his pedalcopter, by simple skill, so it can escape the Earth's embrace. Is it magic? Yes. Is it magic according to the rulebook? No. It is something I also apply when rolling skills. In crafting you may require a special to do something well, special, and a critical or several to make something unique. He just criticals a lot those skill rolls, so nonmagical metal legs prosthesis can bend and move as desired by the Giant crab. Or je just adds a high Fire nozzle to the Flamethrowing turtle tank so the oil self ignites when it goes through. But it still needs that special mix of petrol ether and soap to work well.

As said above by lordabdul, low CHA gives a very good reason for the nasty side of Tusk Riders and stealing magic. It also makes Broo less well-rounded, but you can always add a chaos feature, +4d6 to CHA if you need a charismatic broo, or a magical powerhouse. Magisaurs used to be dumber the more POWerful they were, so it makes sense it is now CHA too. Once again it fits with their sad story. I confess I add magic because it fits the game, and do not count if it fits with CHA (as I usually do not note the CHA of NPCs). In one case that the players noticed something fishy I just added a tattoo matrix keyed to the NPC (as some players will easily mutilate a corpse and wear human tanned hide if they see a benefit on it).

That is a good basis for conflict and conflict is a good driver for adventure. However keep in mind that Command Priests affects all Rune masters in the caster's tribe, so if Greenstone is considered as Malani, the Malani king can severely curtail their magic use... However if thy are shared it is possible the Rex magic does not work. I would expect functionally independent Thanes (Aldermen?) in towns that are shared but do not belong to a specific tribe. I suppose being a Rune Master in such a town's temple has the benefit that probably the only Rex that can order you is a rightful Prince of Sartar.

I have always played that Uleria is compatible with everyone, and all are welcome (even Chaos, though most societies will frown on that, and many aspects of Chaos do not seem able to Love, though some certainly do). The opposite of Humakt, who cuts all ties, and fitting with their runes and role.

My own take is that the sovereignty of Dragon Pass actually belongs to the Inhuman King (and why it is Dragon Pass and not Dragons' Pass). Why is it the Inhuman King and not Queen, if dragonewts are functionally sexless, and we assume genderless unless deviating from the Path? Ingrained prejudice. After the EWF mess it was clear sovereignty was not good for the mystic well being of the IK, so it just chucked the kingship on Ironhoof, who is most definitely a he. Ironhoof did not want the job full time, despite momma and poppa being happy he had risen so high in the world, so rather than finding somebody else, preferently long lived or immortal, vested the sovereignty on the FHQ position, but being in this case archetypical male, she could not exercise it on her own, just bestow it, and share it once bestowed. The sovereignty seems to last while both are alive and more or less working together, so the FHQ is a key part and not a simple bestower of sovereignty. The process also means that the dragonewts, beast valley and the Grazers will tend to support whoever achieves it, with its own political benefits. I suspect the dwarves have some first age agreements that still bind them to support the KoDP.

I see it the other way around. Lokamaydon did not work, so they tried something new, and if succesful they could have transplanted that strategy of barbarian weakening to Charg, Talastar and even contemplate expansion in Ralios, besides weakening their own barbarians. More Empire against barbarians than Chaos against not-Chaos.

My own take is that they are not Brithini, but Belintar's benefit to God Forgot was that they would not age while behaving in caste approved ways, because he must have offered them some benefit, and interacting with the divine is not fitting. So all those long aged people remember Belintar washing to the coast, but no risk of anyone knowing the GL secret. Now that is breaking down after Belintar's death, and I am sure they are looking for alternative solutions. I have no problem with the variant God Forgot caste rules allowing Dronars literacy, or maybe he is not literate in the Western sense, as he does not write or read the Western speech, just drawings and his own self-developed language that only he can read after all, though many try. Translate does not work as it is a crafted symbolic system with a user pool of one. In my Glorantha high skill allows you to manifest minor magical effects, because magic is everywhere and this is not Earth. So Leonardo does not use deliberate magic to fly, but a pedalcopter that would not work in Earth can work in Glorantha, because the air runes on the hull balance out the love of the earth for the wood and metal, and even the pilot.

MGF requires that there are others, but probably not in whole tribe numbers. Some will be cursed, some will be blessed, and the myths behind decide each particular case. I would expect that many Hsunchen societies (unfortunately I have not yet got Brian's excellent looking supplement on Hsunchen) have people who trascend the limitations of transform spells through heroquests to adopt their "other shape", whether a weretiger or a tigerwere, functionally at will. Those were for me the model Nysalor used for the Telmori blessing, with the added functionality of bronze immunity while transformed. In the same way I am sure there are cautionary tales of those that prefer to skip some steps, do things the wrong way and end up transformed and cursed with intelligence loss, or insane rage, or unending hunger, or some other trait that means they have lost something in exchange. Do you want an American werewolf story and have the curse transmitted by bites? Just do it. Do you want nice ecowarriors hidden in the jungle, slowly learning the secrets of shapechanging? It works too. Greg Stafford and by extension Glorantha has always been expressed in my mind in Whitman's Song of Myself, 51. That applies perfectly in this case.

Breaking the fourth wall, I would say that Gor is a gendered add-on to indicate female deities which are outside their "traditional" mythical roles, mainly used by patriarchal societies. In my opinion Maran Gor does not have the Gor epithet in Esrolia, and I would expect they also snip it from Babs. Probably coming from the Gloranthan ur-patriarchs, the Yelmites, but widely spread during the Theyalan expansion. Now, etymology is never consistent in Glorantha, but I like the Tor-Gor link, and I am sure sometime in the first council days people argued whether Orlanth's proposed daughter-alternative female path should be called Vina Gor, Vin Tor, Vic Tor or Victoria, till the actual users settled on Vinga with a pseudo-romance A ending denoting a feminine noun. So for me it is an outsider's epithet, not how the cults or the deities refer to themselves. After all, our subjective view of Glorantha is mainly based on the views of Orlanthi young adults. predominantly male, even if some writers are doing a great job of presenting other points of view.

This is mechanistic, extrapolating the world from the rules, which is not recommended, but in this case I think it represents quite well the magic economy of RPs. To regain RPs at an associate you need a seasonal or high holy day, and I would only allow it either if the associate is in the CA temple, or CA is present as an associate in the other deity's temple. CA apparently does not have minor holy days, and I do not expect them to have enough full time initiates for such a luxury. Otherwise you could have Yelmites or Storm Bullers flocking at CA temples for the seasonal holy day, and I do not think that happens except in a few temples as they will be bored to tears by the typical CA ceremonies. A priestess at a Great CA temple may well recover 7x1D6+1 (associates) + a full RP renewal each season, but a priestess in a normal orlanthi clan (so CA is not the associate in either Orlanth's or Ernalda's Major Temples) running a minor temple will just get one replenishment a season. It may well be worth a short pilgrimage to a bigger temple for an extra 1d6+1 RP, but that is time coming out of the scarce 10% free time. Having CA as an associate in one of the temples would give an extra 1d6+1 RP per season. I expect a CA priestess tries to keep 3 RP for a critical Heal Body or Ressurrection, but it will be almost always used up before the next holy day for sure (just a bout of flu and they will all be gone casting Restore Health or summoning Healing Spirits), so the only other option is to go for an associate holy day in a nearby temple. If the dates, and the dice are friendly, it may be a matter of a few days. Or it may be weeks.

I would say, at least looking at the spells in the rulebook, that Fire is one of the favoured Elemental Runes in Sorcery, and I am sure it is means that many sorcerers will choose Fire. After all, it will be the highest rune affinity of many sorcerers anyway. Spells in the rulebook: Darkness: 2 Water: 7 (half dealing with ships) Earth: 2 Fire: 8 (one with Moon) Air: 3 Moon: 1 (And it has Fire as well). Remember that having Fire (to save some MPs in the Enhance INT spells you will be casting quite often) allows you to cast also Water and Earth spells. Earth is not so good right now, but Water is the other main sorcerous element, as presented in the Rulebook. Maybe it was not the intention of the writers, but this is what we are shown in the rules. I extended the Enhance stats, using the runic association, so besides Enhance INT a Fire Rune sorcerer can learn and cast (at extra cost) Enhance DEX and Enhance CON. Quite useful ones, Extra HP and the sweet spot when you get 21 DEX. We are currently using a house rule that allows you to use your own Elemental Runic affinity in place of a Technique (and acting as a maximum value for your spells). We proposed it to allow non-sorcerer castes to use some sorcery and even spontaneous sorcery use. Our sorcerer still has the Fire Technique because he got it before we proposed the rule, but is doing some magic with his Air affinity (as it is not one of his accesible elements). As I said above, all sorcerers with a minimum of munchkinness will have a strong Fire, so I would make that Runic association extend into the spells they learn.

If your game really goes with Irripi Ontor CSI, Red stormtroopers everywhere and Blue moon death squads hunting rebels in secret, go for it. It sounds fun but too stressful for me. My taste in movies and RPG has changed with the years.

I think there are two factors here, religious and social. I play that the normal Orlanthi response to killing a Lunar file outside a military campaign would be to tell everyone, declare yourselves outlaws, and hide or go away. You do it that way so the Lunars do not have an excuse to go after your clan or your family (though some harassing will be expected) and to show that it was not secret murder. That would allow you to keep a good status with Orlanth and keep social support, even if you will be outlawed to protect your clan and family. Strangers who do so in secret will be hunted by the local Orlanthi clans to make sure they are not the target of any Lunar retribution. Not doing so will bring heavy handed measures, such as crucifying the headman / chieftain, depending on the importance of the Lunars killed, and sending a bunch of people away as hostages or slaves. There will be differences between Tarshite troops, who understand the clan workings and probably will work with the locals to hunt the outlaws, and Heartland troops, that may more easily use terror tactics or Irripi Ontor Crime Scene Analysts, depending on the commanding officer. That is also a good excuse to send any promising youth to Furthest or Mirin Cross to receive a proper education... Then the game can continue as anti-lunar brigands officially outlawed (at least till the occupation is over) but helped in secret, but at risk of betrayal as the bounty gets higher, or exiles starting again where nobody knows you and what you did. Pavis is quite popular among Orlanthi, even if it is Lunar controlled, as information will arrive slowly and will be incomplete unless you did something very, very bad.

Although Metcalph's arguments are quite compelling, I still think that Isidilian is a diamonddwarf, rather than a True Mostali, but it is true that there is a True Quicksilver Mostali in Dwarf Run. Isidilian is the "face" in the arrangement, exactly for the same reasons he proposes. A True Mostali could not comprehend the modern world, while Isidilian is a shrewd politician that has weathered quite a few crisis and still manages to play an empire against the other. Many people meet him, but none understand him. Having access to a True Quicksilver Mostali that trusts him implicitly will be enough to preclude any Decamony reprisal for his own policies, as any hope of recreating more True Mostali will require its help. I would have the cannon cult as Isidilian's own creation, one he is inordinately proud, which is why it is relatively easy to secure their services. I suspect Ginkizzie and Flintnail have some similar arrangement, a worldly dwarf with access to a True Mostali.

We also know from some hints, such as Eslas the Tracker fate after the Cradle (from the Coders), that many of these lunarized nomads will betray the Empire and join the nomads, using their knowledge to hurt it deeply. Sheng probably was the first to open the trade routes, as he was overlord on both sides, and he used troops from one side against the other.

Turtle shell armor is associated with Hiia because he came from Kethaela, which means those armors are commonplace in the Mirrorsea coast. So if you want marines in Turtleshell armor I am sure they are common. I am quite unconvinced about the appropiateness of Wachaza as a martial deity, except possibly among the mermen. A cult that is only useful in battle and piracy does not really fit with Belintar's delicate balance of forces, and I doubt enough time has passed to import foreign martial deities, and even in that case I would expect more easily a growing Tolat cult from the trade with Teshnos / Melib than a cult associated with God Learners, Eastern pirates and predatory fishes. The Holy Country has the technology to support all kind of mechanical missiles, and crossbows behave better in most pre-boarding and even boarding actions than bows, and can be scaled up for additional punch / harpooning. However I expect the same weapons used as in the real world. Javelins and boarding pikes for the last five metres before boarding, and axes and other heavy cutting weapons as the favoured hand to hand weapon, to disable both the enemy personnel and their ship. And quite Earth cult appropiate. Even repulsing a boarding party will leave most ropes cut, oars and rudders broken and even damaged masts. Javelins / harpoons and boarding pikes are also useful against mermen and other sea creatures that may interfere with the ship.

I like the idea of shameful mostali secrets, using Grower Methods for clay mostali, nilmergs / gremlins and gobblers, as they are the most frequently encountered, so they should be made easily and accessible even for small enclaves (probably requiring just two compatible dwarves, a vat of the right size and some alchemical modifications). As they are so frequent, I would have Gobblers as another result of protonodule tampering, with the imprint of a particular substance during manufacture. I see the stone and metal creatures as precursors of Jolanti, possibly using animal spirits to imprint the molten metal or rock. Jolanti will be considered superior as the mind is also manufactured. I consider the Faceless Statue as an example of what True Tin Mostali could do, compared to the dwarves, and probably it was a relic of the Green Age, that later dwarves had lost the control protocols, but Pavis somehow discovered. Activated during Time, logical errors started to accummulate and it could not run indefinitely, but as a Green Age relic it was perfectly suited to beating Waha.

I do not worry too much. RQG is an imperfect simulation, and limited in space and scope. Complaining about the lack of the Law rune is like complaining about the incomplete sorcery rules. I am sure we will get both, probably at the same time. The question is how long it will take. Meanwhile I use Trade as your choice (that cannot be changed after character creation) of Harmony and Movement (Harmony with the central stroke moved sideways), and allow professional traders to use it as inspiration in trade related matters. Having a character who follows Issaries and Lhankhor Mhy means some difficulties around Stasis and Movement, so the main runic associations are Truth, Harmony (Trade) and as a concession to munchkinism Fire. We have not really given any thought to Law, despite being a sorcerer, as we see that as definitory of Western Monotheism, so I expect it will return once we get rules for it. Meanwhile all the nice Western illustrations are still valid, as are those Trade runes in my Glorantha.

You are right, that was not well expressed. My point was that it would not be the Lunar establishment who openly kill someone that is willing to work with them, and whose power base is mostly outside the city. Like becoming a Mayor of a French city during WWII. You may be opposed to the Nazis, but you are also working with them. I would expect more risk from hotheaded resistants than the Occupation forces.

There are a couple of threads about Urban shamans and everybody agrees that must be a thing, if our Earth is a good reference, as can be seen in the Far East, where highly urbanized societies kept shamans and ancestor worship till the present. Magic is real, so nobody is going to ignore the powerful impact of lots of people, and their ancestors, concentrated in a small space. That probably means there may be more shamans in Nochet than in Prax (population effect). Many cults that cannot get enough worshippers to sustain a temple will work as Spirit cults, which will appear to outsiders as Mystery cults or Secret societies, depending on how palatable the deity is to the Mothers. Probably that means also more traditional cults that are in disfavor, including post Samastina's ascension Lunar ones, as the Red Earth Alliance goes to ground. There are many services needed in a Gloranthan city that shamans are best suited to handle, so they will be there.

Apart from crimes of passion, I would expect most preplanned crimes consider the local magical abilities, usually Divination, and the possibility someone talks with the victim's spirit unless you bind the spirit first (a typical procedure for assassin shamans). Like in Stephen Brust's Dragaera series, I expect assassins use weapons new to them, and possibly taken from someone else to limit the information from Knowledge. It makes sense Black Fang is a shamanic cult, as binding the dead spirit limits interrogation and makes ressurrection impossible. Just wait one week and let it go (getting caught with the bound dead spirit will be quite incriminating). Otherwise Thief cults have access to Block Divination for important jobs. But in most cases disguise or a mask or scarf may be enough to confuse a lot of magic. If the initiate did not recognize his murderer, Divination cannot pinpoint him or her. Just remember not to use your favorite iron sword or any other easy to recognize item.

Trying to correct "deviations" almost destroyed the dwarves in the Second Age, and allowed the God Learners to loot many secrets from them. Now the Decamony is more tolerant, at least till other urgent problems are solved. As I said above, the neighbouring dwarves are all heretics as well, so a small enclave like Pavis is at little risk of Decamony retribution. It is likely they ignore what is happening there.

For such an iconic enemy they are quite one-dimensional. This is my own shallow take. I suspect Aram really created a cult of violent earth, and the Appease earth and the Tuskers come from it. However somewhere in the ages they mixed with trolls and became a darker cult, though they kept some Earth links as otherwise they would lose access to the Tuskers. To be in a band you need to be a member of the Bloody Tusk. Otherwise you are a slave or food. I would expect some exceptional individuals will also initiate in other cults, but I doubt they have much more than shrines to those deities. Despite being unpleasant, we have to accept they are hired by all Dragon Pass factions at one time or another, so each band may have some Maran Gor, Zorak Zoran and maybe Zong / Foundchild initiates. Humakt's limitations make it difficult that they can mix it with the Bloody Tusk. If there are enough Maran Gor cultists there could be also a Babeester Gor shrine. I consider they are neutral with the elves, and the elves prefer them as cohabitants than the continuous warfare with the trolls of past times. So as long as they appease the Earth often, they are tolerated in the woods, another reason why they have proved impossible to eradicate. We seldom see female Turk Riders, yet they must reproduce. Aram was male, but most Darkness and Earth deities are strongly female oriented. So I suppose there are hidden villages in the forest. If it is only the males who join the Bloody Tusk, then there could be a strong force of Maran Gor and Red Aldrya (their Aldrya variant) worship. Another explnation why they are safe in the forest. Add Xiola Umbar, possibly Xentha, and you may have a working mercenary society, though a quite bloody one. As mercenaries, they surely are open to trade and there are well known, safe ways to approach them. I suspect the actual negotiation will be with a canny female rather than the bloodthirsty band chiefs.

If you go into a spirit travel heroquest to Hell, it is possible you cannot take anything back with you. It is likely you need to go physically there to actually bring the water back. I see Harrek bringing barrels of the stuff back and making a killing selling small flasks all over Glorantha to finance the Wolf pirates. Making something ultra-rare into something only rare.

I am quite sure Yelmalio has dozens of myths, even if we mostly know one. I would make one, probably how he got his first spear from dad, how he got some death/iron into it and how he slew monster or deity X with it. Make X whatever clear enemy you want them to focus, though darkness is the default option. I would have the two options, full body HQ in the Godplane and also a mundane Heroquest. The mundane would require killing a proxy from the enemy, fought in very precise and mythical circumstances, as well as probably lots of lesser enemies first to properly anoint the weapon. Possibly iron / death metal could be the key in getting a death effect in a cult without death rune association, and why he uses an obvious iron pike rather than the traditional gold or gilded ones..