Squaredeal Sten

The trireme tour video shows details I had not known before. So, turn in 2.5 times its length. I wonder whether that was just with the rudder, or with the inside oarsmen backing water?

They seem to get acceptable speed, a slow walk, from just four sweeps.

I always thought that enlightenmrnt in RQ was the player character awakening into the player. " It's just a game, so I'll do what I want."

That's very interesting. I didn't know about those reproduction ships. And a good point about low freeboard and bad sea states. How good was the tub's " almost as good" tacking? How close to the wind, and what was windward speed vs. down wind speed?

I undoubtedly exaggerated the "copy". There are certain mechanics I would use, others that are not compatible with Runequest. And text is copywritable, general ideas are not. For exsmple RQ does not need B&P's card draw, which would be an awkward mix with RQ's turns and melee rounds and GM moderation. The simplicity of the sailing rules is what I was thinking of, but that needs to be modified for Bronze Age rigs: I doubt that ancient 50 oared galleys ever tried to tack (and being drawn up on beaches at night, they had much shallower keels or no keels, so much less grip on the water) , but they would row better and might wear. Turn radius can be handled differently: I would relate it to ship length and not use a gauge.

What would you want and expect in a oceanic supplement to Runequest in Glorantha? Another thread recently discussed sailor skills and occupations. And went on from there.. https://basicroleplaying.org/topic/16238-no-sailor-profession/ There is definitely room for one or more oceanic supplements. Especially since the Eastern Isles books are in Jonstown Compendium - and they may, with expansion, fill all the functions of an oceanic supplement. More reasons: Choralinthor Bay is a good candidate for oceanic adventures on the fringes of the current core area. And on the current timeline the Wolf Pirates are significant actors. And wouldn't any good Issaries dream of trade with Pamaltela? I would copy or modify the ship handling rules from Blood and Plunder. Modifications are indicated for lack of several thousand years of sailing tech. But B&P has simplicity and captures the essence of sailing. Naval combat: Ramming and boarding have been covered in other games, boardgames. Again, most of that is also in Blood and Plunder, and it works. Ram rules for actual rams and not just collisions are not, but that is easy to add. Shooting and melee can be handled by the current RQiG rules. Beings: We can begin with certain water beings which are in the Bestiary: Naiads and water elementals. Blue elves, Bestiary page 23. Trioilini, Ludoch, page 66. Piscoi remain to be detailed. Sea monsters are definitely needed. What conventional sea monsters can you list? What else? The Wolf Pirates need to be detailed, though there is Wolf Pirate info out there, some in Guide to Glorantha. Jeff's thread here https://basicroleplaying.org/topic/13027-wolf-pirates/#comment-202513 is handy, but still not enough to roll up a wolf pirate character. We await the Gods book for detail on the cult of Dormal, and probably on other oceanic cults. So there is already a lot of oceanic stuff out there, but having it in a single reference would be very convenient.

Been thinking about that There is definitely room for one or more oceanic supplements. Especially since the Eastern Isles books are in Jonstown Compendium. And Choralinthor Bay is a good candidate for adventures on the fringes of the current core area. And on the current timeline the Wolf Pirates are significant actors. And wouldn't any good Issaries dream of trade with Pamaltela? I would copy or modify the ship handling rules from Blood and Plunder. Mods are indicated for lack of several thousand years of sailing tech. Naval combat; Ramming and boarding have been covered in other games, boardgames. Again, most of that is in Blood and Plunder. Ram rules for actual rams and not just colliisions are not but that is easy to add. Sea monsters are definitely needed. I thought mermen were in the Bestiary. Let me check that....We can begin with certain water beings which are in the Bestiary: Naiads and water elementals. This needs its own thread. I will make one.

I like the propitistory worship. Will work it in.. Will PM you about Marzeel. I have no background on Diros or Kogad, am interested. This is on the Bacofi side, though I have a reference to the Kitori side and intend to have Uz boats on the lake.

In your opinion, would every sizeable body of water have its own naiad? Have its own water cult? I ask because I am working on an adventure at Zatarn Lake. I'm considering what cult a godtalker in a fishing village there, might belong to. I get the impression that Oslir just belongs to Oslir, Zola Fel just belongs to Zola Fel, etc.. The lake is a necessary part of the story but the godtallker is, so far, incidental. Nevertheless because the lake is said to periodically produce monsters, the fishermen would want some magical protection.

I recall a rule of thumb somewhere in RQG, to the effect that interspecies CHA effects are at -10. I cant reference that. Perhaps Tusk Riders' effective CHA could be set at +10 for relations with other Tusk Riders. On the other hand Tusk Rides don't really need CHA boost for magic, because with Bloody Tusk rune magic they can bind spirits into body parts. Sort of like Thanatari but different. But a Tusk Rider PC?? That's real dedication to playing the bad guys. Too many gratuitous torture sessions for my taste.

What type of game? That makes a difference. A strategic to operational level board game? The Holy Country campaigns of and against the Lunars, on both sides of Chloralinthor Bay. Why? It is both well known among Gloranthaphiles, there is enough Chaisium and fan material to flesh it out, and also does not duplicate the previous Sartar centered material. An individual to clan level electronic game like KODP? Prax for sure. There is a lot of game potential in nomadism. The mechanics would be different from KODP, movement and map location would mean something. And the place is well known enough to get plenty of players.

On the other hand if tbe Healer has the sense to attend associated cult worship, and has a good Worship skill, there are many opportunities to regain rune points. Ernalda has minor services weekly. So IMHO your CA should only be tapped out in case of war - well maybe a big raid -or plague, or when on an adventure away from friendly settled areas. Or. Of course. bad dice luck.

If the creation of the Palace of Black glass has any RW analog, it would be a remnant volcanic core such as this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Shiprock.snodgrass3.jpg But not solid - instead with corridors, rooms, windows. Lodril was forced to make them.... maybe lava tubes? Maybe at that point the divine separated from the mundane? As for the tarpit that is not a volcanic thing. Other tarpits are part of petroleum bearing sedimerntary formations. So it's magic. I would think that the depth of the tar is undefined except by the GM, within reason. If it were only a couple of feet deep the Uz would have dug it out. So the plateau would not be a truncated volcano. Instead it would be crustal rock with faults through which the volcano or volcanoes (magma) rose. .

Please delete. I'm having keyboard trouble tonight.

But what qualifies night as a hell?

I don't know who originated the Gloranthan Styx. But the question would seem to be: How much does the Gloranthan underworld match Greek, Roman, or Italian Renaissance underworlds? Note that they don't match each other in detail. For example the Greek version is said to have five rivers.

Pity them! You can only imagine what it was Iike here in San Antonio Texas in Feb 2021. (Snow and sub zero temperatures, the electric and gas service collapsed.) The last big snow had been in 1985.

The literature indicates multiple hells. Think of "a Lunar hell" which one Saratarite tribal king was sent to. It's not clear to me whether this is a hell made by the Red Goddess, or discovered by, or simply one favorite among many possibilities, which is favored for Lunar use. So instead of hell changing, perhaps there is just variety enough to cover all your fears and most of your dislikes.

IMHO a group of players knowledgeable of Glorantha is likely to include someone who will suggest getting a shaman, or a divination, or a Summon Ancestor, or other magical investigation tools. These are legitimate paths in a Gloranthan murder mystery and you ought to anticipate them to stay consistent with the background. If you have a shaman in the party it's a chance to do shaman stuff, the player will be disappointed if that path is closed off. AND. you could do a neat spirit world scene. If you don't want it solved too quickly then you can take Scotty's suggestion that the spirit is traumatized and speaks unclearly, in oracular fashion. But also anticipate that your players may miss other clues, and the magical path may actually be your last chance to bring the adventure to a successful conclusion. A resurrection should be the players' last choice: the magic should come at a high price, as French Desperate Windchild has pointed out, it may not work, and you can place the mutilation obstacle and/ or the "used all my rune points" obstacle.

That is a very good game mechanics question. The RQiG book doesn't give specific rules for humsn sacrifice. But there is a partial example in Griffin Mountain. It's RQ2 material but - p.191 of the Classics version shows an example but that is done at an established holy spot. not a random place that needs sanctifying. Doing a human sacrifice at this place casts a rune spell - but it's not Sanctify - using a fraction of the victim's POW. The next step of the ceremony rewards the priest's sac of (what might be either POW or RP in RQiG) with a return based on victims' PoW. What do I make of this? What is relevant to the current question is that the sacrifice does NOT power a Sanctify. So although the example needs an update to RQiG for clarity, it appears to me to indicate that (1) you can't power your Sanctify with the sacrifice, but instead the priest needs to start the magical sequence. (2) the rewards come to the priest on the back end. Whether it is the location or the ceremony that makes that return possible is not clear. But I think it is primarily the location because if it's not then why journey to this out of the way spot? (Except of course that this makes the adventure's plot work.) Yet the text does indicate a ceremony is necessary, so you can't just knife someone and run off and get a magical benefit. Pending an authoritative answer from Chaosium, Our Gloranthas May Vary.

That is a genius move! You have a great career ahead of you as a Thanatari! And thanks for pointing that spell out, as it is new and was not in the old Cult Compendium. I have learned something. I do note that spells gained by Consume Mind may still be limited by the caster's CHA. So for maximum versatility in magic plus magic points, Create Head may still also be desirable. On the other hand RQiG consolidates the old RQ2 [Cult Compendium page 300] Create Head spells into one [RBOM page 300] , essentially the old Create Major Head spell, which requires a week long ceremony (same as the old Create major head, but now you can't do the Minor head quickie, and you always need a cult holy day.) This change may result in slowing the pursuit of knowledge by the Doomed One. So some strategic judgment may be necessary.

I have given an example of a Heartlands Thanatari skimming prisoners. Will it really change everything if I name a Heartlands source of prisoners? While rebels may be found anywhere, their fates are all similar. Don't challenge Moonson!

Raus might. Indeed have such friends on the Lunar side. But Sartarite Rudolf son of Adolf, no, unlikely. And if he was marked off given to the bat cult then what? His friends can't be any more annoyed by the Thanatari fate than by the bat annihilation. He was an unlucky rebel, no ransom, too bad.

Perhaps the symbolism relates to Xiola Umbar's generosity. To an Uz giving food would be the most attractive act of generosity, thus the food pot. The other Uz gods do not seem to especially embody that virtue. Of course the healing aspect counts too, perhaps more for us humans than for the Uz.

Here is a grim scenario seed counter to that. Feel free to use it in your game: A Thanatar cultist achieves a job taking charge of prisoner of war slaves and moving them to Peloria. This is a perfectly respectable Lunar government position achieved through good connections. Or maybe a contractor position which goes to the lowest bidder, and this is why he bids low. Lunar logistics may vary in your Glorantha. He or she skims off the magically powerful ones. There is always a little shrinkage in a coffle. Maybe some escape, yes that's what he writes down. Maybe some were rebels sentenced to be crucified or fed to the Crimson Bat, and he just reports that this was done. Who audits that? Maybe they died of natural causes or disease or wounds suffered when they were captured. Maybe he reports that one was disobedient and was flogged to death, it's necessary in enslaving people, maintains discipline you know. As long as 90% arrive in Peloria, or he can attribute 80% arriving to bad luck, who will inquire deeply into this? His chest of heads may get heavier as the trip north goes on. What's that? Just some souvenirs.