g33k

I've got the Guide, I just haven't read the whole thing; in particular, I obviously need to read / re-read all of the material on Prax & the Wastelands. (and then, as noted in my Q's to David about the apparent 50:1 Wastes:Prax population ratio, decide if I need to YGWV the hell out of this)

Is it the case that -- for all "Praxian" Nomad Tribes, whatever Beast they herd -- the majority of the Tribe-members (and Herds) spend most of their time outside of Prax, in the "Wastes" to the east of the Zola Fel valley? Vulture Country & beyond... Hmmm. I see those "What my Father Told Me" quotes. Hmmm. === Is this NEW canon??? Elsethread, @David Scott said (a couple of years ago): (https://basicroleplaying.org/topic/7595-pavis-county-prax-and-the-zola-fel-1622-1627/?do=findComment&comment=106133) === I had always envisioned that region -- the Wastelands beyond Vulture Country -- as where outlaws and exiles were forced... and of course the losers of particularly-sharp conflicts. Maybe even a whole Tribe, if they badly lost to a rival Tribe! I had pictured most of the Sables coming to Prax after Moonbroth I, joining in on the whole "victorious swagger-around, lording it over all the other Tribes" vibe... likely exiling their particular rivals&foes (individuals, clans, even an entire Tribe or two!) to the Wastes, yes. === I'm not sure I believe in a vision of the ultra-hostile Wastelands supporting the majority of the Tribes, full-time. Those two WmFTM quotes, above, suggest (on average, & presuming most tribes are similar to Bison&Sable in this) a visit one year out of 50ish (ten hands, +/-1) -- and don't suggest a full year of residence, but a short visit... a season or two? -- but let's take 1 in 50. That's 2% Praxian, 98% Wastelands. REALLY? I mean, I know the Wastes are "bigger" than Prax. But not fifty-fold bigger! And certainly, they don't support comparable numbers of foraging Beasts! === @David Scott -- I know you've got some solid work in on the Tribes' size & composition. Are your numbers for the Praxian elements specifically? Are there fifty-fold more Nomads off in the Wastes? Or are your numbers for the entirety of the Tribes, and only 1/50th of the numbers you cite will be visiting Prax at any given time? Or...? TYVM! (edit: I just spotted an "A is to B as..." simile, and developed a vile and unworthy suspicion about one or more of the authors, my fellow-fans... I think one of the early Voices writers suffered a brainfart, and conflated Wastes:Prax with Prax:Paps. It is the Paps that is the Holy Place, only rarely visited. There's a similar "an order of magnitude better" -- the Wastes are deadly, Prax is hard, the Paps are easy. I think someone writing the Voices pieces just ooops'ed on this, maybe propagating the error downstream (or just copypasta) thereafter.)

But it's a rather primitive POV. "I know what I've seen; I trust information that comes from those I trust." Praxians really don't grasp the scope and the depth of the Lunar Empire, the resources that could march into Prax -=IF=- the Emperor deemed Moonbroth a critical issue. That stuff will be no part of their calculus of pragmatic side-switching. The issue I was pointing to was the Praxian Sables looking at the Lunars, and looking at Argrath (who was already gathering some Sables to his White Bull Society), and figuring out where their own advantage lay. I was responding to the suggestion that Argrath would have looked like a bad bet. They could SEE Argrath. They could SEE the alliances of the White Bull Society. Could they consider the broad sweep of Sedenya's "if we defeat her on the Wane, she'll just be back (even stronger) on the Wax" cyclic habits&history? Could they look at the vast might of the Imperial Legions, the incredible potency of the Crater Makers, the dire threat of the Bat, etc etc etc? I think -- from the Praxian POV -- Argrath is a reasonable bet. Clearly a large portion (40%) of the Sables thought so, too! An equally large portion thought the Lunars were a better bet. And a smaller portion said "looks like a coin-toss, and the winners kill the losers; I don't want to bet my life on a 50/50 toss," and cleared out.

Yes. Or rather, "yes, but..." I tend to see that as mostly changing interpretations, and mostly specific-to-the-heroquestors, specific-to-a-clan, specific-to-a-cult, etc. Occasionally coming back with specific rewards (expected or otherwise). But sweeping historical changes? But changes that alter widely-known reality? Exceedingly rare. When a ZZ runelord goes back to the Hill of Gold, and has an abject failure, it doesn't strip fire-powers away from Zorak Zoran himself; it doesn't even strip fire magic away from other ZZ cultists! The specific runelord may have problems, may need to further quest or atone, etc; but that's about it. Not even if the High Priest of all Zorak Zorani fails -- on the ZZ High Holy Day! -- does it impact the fire-powers of ZZ himself! There's a little bit of weaponized HQ'ing -- all the way back to the Troll Raid on the Earth Ceremony in Travels of Biturian Varosh -- but I think mostly they follow that pattern: short term (a season, a year) blessings & advantages gained or lost; curses inflicted or averted.

I like the specificity here, @soltakss! If I may be so bold, however... this might be better placed in the more-official Q&A thread. This thread is a lot more "discussion-y" and we all feel free to chime in with various opinions & such. I just wrote such a discussion-y opinion-piece ... and then didn't post it, as I realized I was in Chaosium's Q&A thread!

The barbarian is feeding you the Official Line there, @Dethstrok9, retail distribution, everything on the up&up. Don't worry, man, I can hook ya up with a freebie! Mind, you'll owe me a favor...

Hmmm. OK, tyvm! I am kind of liking the Lunar version, frankly... as you say, "the Lunars understood what they were doing." But it's the kind of fine detail I like -- as a gamer, as a lover of Prax -- to help differentiate them from being a same-y "just another Beast Rider" Tribe.

I'd tend to see those more as schisms of the 7 core phratries. There's this myth/history division in the Real World that's MUCH less clear in Glorantha. Heroquesting and God-Time quests let our PCs visit & even JOIN those foundational "myths" -- their historicity verified, something essentially unavailable in the RW. So when I look at the Lunar Sables, and see 7 Daughters with mythic linkage to the 7 moon-phases, I "YEP!" that, lean in hard, and don't see the point of wanting/having other coequal (foundational) Phratries ... But schisms? Maybe led by the grand-daughters of the Sable Protectress, great grand-daughters, sisters-in-law, cousins, other lineages (without clear descent from the Protectress) risen to prominence, etc? Oh yeah. Bring it on, ALL of it! Rivalries, betrayals, competing claims to be "the one true Waxing Moon Phratry" ... all that good stuff!

Moon Rune didn't begin with Sedenya. Moonbroth was a lunar site long before the Empire visited. You appear to be giving the average Praxian a players-eye view of entire sourcebooks. Praxians just don't have that perspective (except for Argrath himself). I think the White Bull looks pretty telling, to many Praxians!

I'm pretty sure Chaosium has already addressed this... I don't believe straight copy/paste is allowed. BOGL asserts only a few elements of the BGB are Proprietary Content (and thus off limits even as subject-matter (e.g. the CoC-origin SAN mechanics, among others)) but the rest is still (c) for the specific words used, the specific expression. You need to go through some motions to make it your own, even if it's mechanically identical. I Am Not A Lawyer / etc.

I'll toss in Astraltabletop alongside Roll20. Astral seems to be working (at least a little bit) with Chaosium... They got some official-ish CoC content up, at least! Also, their paid/premium service is free(!) through end-of-April/2020 (because covid, I think). I don't think any of the VTT services have any official RQ (or HQ/13G) Glorantha content, alas... tho I see @Marc points to an official-ish(?) RQ character-sheet on Roll20? Then there is Goin' Olde Schoole -- DIY'ing your own patchwork of tools/methods/channels for video/voice, textchat, game-logs, dice-roller app's, shared documents (maps, sheets, etc).

IIRC, about 2/5 each went Lunar vs Argrath (and I don't recall the other 1/5th). I presume some of that was entire clans; some were by-warband; some were small family units, some individuals (n.b. any time it was "small family units" or "individuals," those would be exceptions from what was otherwise "entire clans." But I'm not sure ANY sort of "switching loyalty" is uncharacteristic in Prax. The different Tribes have been feuding and sparring since time immemorial; sometimes allying with outsiders to the detriment of other clans, sometimes uniting with other clans to raid outsiders, etc -- ALL the permutations of politics, feuds, wars, etc.

Sometimes one moves (in games where these sorts of things are being tracked) with a tactical sensibility. More than once, as a PC, I have opted in some systems to move enough to lose my combat-action -- but not a full-move! -- such that I moved right up to the edge of my foe's move-range, such that THEY could not get a move-and-attack on me on their turn. Then I planned NEXT turn, to get in my move-and-attack. Characters with superior mobility can often pull these tricks; characters with inferior mobility usually cannot.

The gods themselves -- very immanent in their lives, their cultures! -- have important geneologies. Foundational heroes have god-ancestry. Most of our modern perspectives are askew in Gloranthat... or vice versa.

There may be a completely un-idealistic component to it, too: Argrath comes into Sartar with a great big honkin' army from Prax, with his White Bull society. If Sartar unifies behind him, then they get all the unified Sartar that Leika could possibly field, PLUS that Praxian army (with all that Sweet Stormbull violence!) and Yummy exotic White Bull magic. So the traditionalists, and those who hew to the ideals of lineage, get to chant "Sartar! Sartar! Sartar!" And the realpolitik crew get to look at their suddenly-MUCH-bigger-army, shrug and say "I'll chant whatever you want, as long as these guys stay here to fight the Lunar Scum!"

@Richard S., meet @Crel. @Crel, meet @Richard S. I hope you have a very productive association! 😇

The core of BRP is a simpler mechanic than Legend, with its Combat maneuvers, Action Points, etc. If you want a leaner game-engine, the advantage goes to BRP. As others have noted, the new BRP-OGL is a VERY abbreviated game; some even call it "incomplete." You may find you need to build-out your mechanics some... If you'd rather use pre-made rules for EVERYTHING (and just slap your own setting into the rules), advantage goes to Legend. If you feel that either Chaosium or Mongoose (and either BRP or Legend) has more "cachet," more "street cred," then advantage goes whichever way your feelz go. Did any of this help?

In case folks don't know, there's a "Children's mini-campaign" book coming to Jonstown Compendium shortly... "Valley of Plenty" for HQ. Planned, AIUI, to be the 1st of 3. This one deals with pre-Initiate "children" (who are adults in the 2nd & 3rd books). https://basicroleplaying.org/topic/11674-valley-of-plenty/ https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10158319516349083&set=gm.1315713451960088&type=1&theater

Sartar: "Will nobody rid me of this meddleso-" Everybody: "Oooo! Me! Me! Pick Me!!!"

Not my own 1st priority, but good to know. For other fans' reference -- are you open to folks reaching out to you to collaborate on this project?

Mlle. Elder-Sign, above, isn't SUMMONING something; that's a Ward-Against sign! I think she's trying to keep something from bursting out of her chest...

I like the idea of "open sourcing" (via the fans) some "genre packs" of extended rules ... Is anybody actually working on this? Is there any effort (besides this topic/thread right here) to coordinate such a project?

1. Reposition for NEXT round, so you can act (instead of move); or act optimally (i.e. change ranges for ranged weapons, etc). 2. Reposition DEFENSIVELY -- you know the Big Bad is about to lay his Smackdown(tm) on you, but you can move first... so you move out of melee range, forcing him to move if he wants to Smack(tm) you. 3. Move into cover, or otherwise alter sight-lines (yours/theirs). Also, you seem to have conflated two separate things: Unengaged movement (up to 30 m) with only parry/dodge as available combat actions Partial move (6-15m), with penalized (1/2 DEX Rank) action; this is NOT limited to parry/dodge! (n.b. this is without having checked the rules, just based on what you've quoted here)

I will recommend -- if you have players who will be running your game -- that you run some each of the Quickstart/Intro products, as-is RAW, no hybridizing. Talk to them about the stuff they wanted, want more of; or less of. It will give you a sense of which to use as the core chassis, what to bolt onto that. When I introduced my group to the Mythras/RQ6 engine, they bounced hard off of the Combat Effects... even the crunchmeister player who likes tactical & strategic options, the guy I was certain would love them.

I'm gonna be a Danny Downer here, & call Bad Science on BL3. It seems to emphasize the sci-fi-ish elements there, but more fantastical "science fantasy." Lumping all impact weapons as "kinetic" is simply incorrect. They miss explosive/concussive damage entirely? It's worth noting that real-world armors vs weapons have (and had) distinct differences. Chain's supremacy was overset by the narrow piercing blades. There was a bit of an arms-race to full plate. The few heavy melee weapons that were effective vs late/final stage plate armor were mostly superceded by guns; swords went back to light, quick, duelist weapons. (Yes, I abbreviate & shortcut to a degree that likely induces rage among some experts; the point remains valid that specific weapons & specific armors were often developed in response to one another, and were much more (or much less) effective depending on what they faced) Today, a simple knife (or any other blade) remains startlingly effective vs. Kevlar "bullet proof" vests -- not to mention guns loaded with hard ammo's designed to penetrate modern body-armor; and of course some of the heavier guns (e.g. .50cal sniper rifles) will punch right through the armor, the target, the armor at the exit site, and go on as a dangerous round for hundreds of meters further... Note that the softer, lead rounds are generally MORE dangerous than the AP rounds, vs unarmored targets, deforming/tumbling/etc. AP ammo gets a higher proportion of clean entry/exit "flesh wounds" (which obviously are just as dangerous if they take an artery.or.major organ!) Going back to the sci-fi -- "radiation" is usually a slow effect. A really severe exposure may cause some tingling... The real risk is if microparticles get on (or in!) you; by some metrics, plutonium is the most-poisonous (LD50 dose) substance known, because a MUCH smaller dose will (eventually) kill you (causing aggressively metastatic cancer almost 100% of the time... But months/years later). Gas or liquids might cause "corrosion," but would be protected-against differently. Etc... Annnnd ... full-circling 'round to RPGs again, I have seen RPGs that address different weapons' penetration vs different armors, but never played any where that feature was smooth at the table; instead it tended IME to turn combat into a rulebook-reference slog. Getting a computer-game to handle all those differences is one of the things they do well. I imagine some VTTs could be programmed to offer like functionality...