Rodney Dangerduck

Especially since many of the "standard Sartarite campaign" characters might want to interact with events in Tarsh by 1628 or so. e.g., my Vinga worshipping PC has actually been in close contact with both Fazzur (Duel at Dangerford) and his son. (A dalliance in Pavis) Others might want to trade, explore, spy, or raid. Lots of scenario options.

OTOH, learning several of those spirit magic spells requires weeks from both the recent convert and a trainer. Without some special mass spirit magic learning rules, there's little chance that a whole clan of widows could learn that battle magic in a reasonable amount of time. In a way, it's actually easier to just sacrifice a few points of POW to get several good combat rune spells. However, I agree with your overall approach. Train up their shield and 1H weapon skills, teach Bladesharp, (maybe Mobility) and get the widows to either learn Protection or Earth Shield (which Ernalda has, awesome) Out of interest, what 1 point Vingan rune spell should the widows learn? Shield is never bad, but my (full time) Vingan warrior would highly recommend Leap.

Are you arguing that cult restrictions based on sex or gender can be basically ignored, especially by PCs? Since they have agency, and also magic or gender flexibility? I'm not against this concept, and of course YGMV, but I'm not sure that it is the designers' intent. Otherwise, I think they'd write "Only women can join", or, for Waha, "Must be a male tribal member", in a more flexible or inclusive manner.

Why does everybody assume that kinslayers, oathbreakers and violators of Earth temples will be overwhelmingly male? This is Glorantha. Rape, the classic evil real world violation of women, is extremely rare in Glorantha - it's not even mentioned in the Babs Gor cult description. This is a very good thing. Common enemies of Ernalda, at least in scenarios, are darkness / trolls, and Mallia. Trolls are matriarchal. Mallia is female. As for rape: Who is the god of broos? A goddess, Thed.

There's a proper term for neutered men. And it isn't "woman". Maybe I'm being overly literal, but, IMO, they don't qualify by RAW.

A nandan is a "male (body) in a female role". Is Babs Gor a "female role"? I personally think not - Babs Gor strikes me as extremely vingan: a female body taking up a very stereotypical male role of violence and protection. YMMV. Therefore, I go with the "physically female" requirement for Babs Gor. For the record, I'm very uncomfortable with the stereotypical "female role" / "male role" terminology. Everybody should take a human role.

Well, sure... This is why a truly wise Yinkin Priest never gives a command.

True! Here's more: How do Yanafali shave? Can they use a straight blade there? Are there Lunar Army Knives? Still red of course, with a Death Rune, but the whole mechanism is curved?

Maybe "no straight swords"? Cause a lance or spear has (arguably) a straight blade.

That is how I would play it. However, RQG has a very confusing line "Odayla is often worshiped as a subcult of the Orlanth cult" that frankly, has implications that I can't compute.

By this interpretation, nobody of any significance will ever change cults and sides. Too huge a penalty. Unless they use the cheat of illumination. This may be mythically correct, but boring. And still possibly wrong, since Annstad is on "both sides".

Someday I'll write up that Goth Yelmalian hit, "Fireday I'm in Love".

Don't you think that's too limiting? Hunters use whatever works for them (and possibly their friends) to take down their prey. There are many options other than those three.

True. I think we ruled that it was a kitten and it grew a bit with time. And yes, its not an ally, but still very useful and powerful.

Roll a 12. And maybe push the limits a bit, though it does explicitly mention "such as a cat". At least, that's what our group did. Incorrect?

At least we agree that the so called hunting cults are missing a lot of hunting skills. Maybe add Scan and Survival too.

Thanks! This is actually a wonderful concept should I ever roll up a hunter character. They'd likely be merely "o.k." at hunting and melee, but versatile and fun. Made this whole argument worthwhile.

Other than Track, Odayla and Yinkin offer no bonuses to initial hunting skills. Their Scan and Survival will be no better than an Orlanthi hunter. I agree that they should have a significant advantage, but they don't - only a small one. Huh? First, I'm a PC, so I probably have 3 RP. Second, I will go to the weekly Orlanth minor holy day and recover 3.5 rune points. Or one of the many associate cult seasonal holy days. An Orlanthi (with GM permission to travel, so YGMV) can recover many dozens of rune points per season.

I said "could be". There's a herd of deer, spooking them towards you, or towards your friends in ambush, or maybe over a cliff, is a classic move. One big benefit of Orlanth is that, with all those associated cults and minor holy days, recovering rune points is fast.

Try reading my post. Darkwalk and Windwarp are very useful to hunters. Wind Words to listen if game are in a certain area. Leap and Flight could be useful. Flight is especially useful in rugged mountain terrain. Even a 1 point lightning, to spook the game towards you, could be useful.

1) Darkwalk. 2) Spells to change the wind direction so game can't catch your scent, and you can listen for it 3) Flight or Leap to catch fleeing game. That's without even thinking.

Except - Odayla is a bear, and Yinkin was usually a cat... First, I agree with a lot of what you say, including Move Silently and missile fire. Where I differ is the "Odalya is a Bear, Yinkin is a Cat" therefore they have to be like that. I've played in hundreds (thousands?) of RQ games, including many of the standard scenarios. In various adventures, it has been important to be able to fight, to shoot, to run away, to heal, to negotiate, to know obscure facts, to deal with spirits, to fight trolls, to fight chaos, etc. (Obviously, choosing cultish archetypes here...) I have never ever found it important to be a bear or a cat. If that is the real purpose of the cults, they are a pointless waste of time for PCs.

I agree that hanging back and shooting is a valid and effective combat tactic. And that a Yinkin or Odaylan should be good at this. However, I don't see where those cults actually give players much of a bonus to doing that. That is my complaint. No initial bonuses to Hide or Missile. And not much in spells. O.k., Odayla does offer speedart, though I question it's usefulness since it halves your rate of fire. I don't see why a Humakti or Babs can't be just as good an archer, should they choose to do so. And an Orlanthi possibly better. While there's no way a Yinkin could be anyway close to them as a fighter. That's the "unfairness". What am I missing?

I noticed that everybody is a Rune Priest, not a Rune Lord (or god-talker). Nothing wrong with that (though see questions below), but is there any particular reason for that in your campaign? Questions Does Odayla even have Rune Priests? Their cult writeup describes Bear Walkers (Rune Lords) but has no entry for Priest or God Talker Does Yinkin have Rune Lords? Their cult writeup describes god-talkers and priests, but not rune lords. Obviously, YGMV, and PCs are "special", and can break these rules. But, in general, how thoroughly should we parse and strictly follow the cult writeups in RQG?

That's for the Squirrel subcult, Rockyla.