Squaredeal Sten

I suspect that the original Lance rule was based on two states: Charging vs not charging.  And differences in charge speed are ignored as miniscule.  It's not the speed of the Lance, it's the muscle behind the Lance.

And I think similarly, with the bow or atlatl any differences in the shooter's speed (or the target's speed)  are miniscule compared with the speed the launcher  gives to the projectile.

That's my take on it.

8 hours ago, Darius West said:

I agree and would have thought tat was obvious. Lets face it, if you are moving, so is the target effectively. 

I am curious about how much the accuracy falls off, and whether it maintains or even improves range and force of impact if supported by a running horse underneath the atlatl user.  I am thinking about the possibility of a small Praxian warrior society that uses atlatls with javelins, and gets a minor charge boost to DB. (shrug)

Based on the RQG ratings of men as speed 8 maximum  and horses as speed 12, I think such a boost would be very very minor.  After all bow shooters get no boost at all for their mounts.  I am inclined to think it is not worth adding co.plexity to the rules. Do you ache to calculate the cosine of the angle between the vector of movement of the mount and the vector of the shot, and multiply by the square of the difference in speeds times some factor?

2 hours ago, Sir_Godspeed said:

Not really, there will always be people who'll need to stay behind to care for....  

Lastly, I presume some potentially-armed adults need to stay behind just to guard the stead. At least attempt to prevent counter-raids, or keep watch, and so 

There's also food. A mustered militia can hunt and forage, but they'll ........An area will quickly become drained of edible stuff, so some food will always have to be transported, ..

The stay'behihd- for-security percentage does not affect the size of the force, it is merely a choice about where they are deployed. 

It does imply a defensive advantage: If you are defending your own homes you will deploy 100% of the force there, while as invaders invade they will probably leave someone home, and will also garrison invaded territory behind themselves.

Supply trains are a very different issue:  Re. a wagon train full of food, read Van Creveld's book Supplying War.  It makes a convincing argument that in the Real World. away from ocean transport, no army lived off of its supply lines and supply train  for more than a few days, until after railroads were invented.  They lived by foraging, or starved.  Yes areas became eaten out, and that kept armies on the move and was what besieged cities counted on.  Dealing with it and planning to campaign through areas where sufficient food remained was a vital part of generalship. 

So what was in their wagons?  Yes, Food for men and much more food for  the  animals, but they couldn't carry enough for more than a few days.  Tents and cooking gear.  And arrows, lots of arrows, crossbow bolts, etc..  Incidentally for us Mostali lovers, matchlock muskets meant that in unsecure areas. the early modern armies of the 1500s and 1600s had a constant consumption of match cord which is not something you could forage for.

So far this thread makes ne wonder how the Sartarite militia works.  From all I have read until recently, it appeared to be:

All free and semi free adult males who are not too old to keep up physically. Plus any adult women who choose To be in the field (especially Vinga and Babester Gor cultists). 

The only difference for the half free is they have  light weapons and no armor, so deploy in open order as skirmishers.

Chiefs' bodyguards / "martial thanes"  will turn out when the militia turns out, because the chief leads the militia,  so although they may be spoken of as a more elite group, they will be part of the total military strength.

If that were accurate then the militia would be the same percentage of. all adult populations, except as they may have more elderly or fewer males survived the last war, or more females participate.

So is that not the current understanding?  If not then how am I wrong?

1 hour ago, Broadsmile said:

 I learned that the Cult of the Seven Mothers is ....

But what am I regular  Antipu antipus (Joe Schmoe) going to do with mindblast, madness, reflect and regrow limb.  

Regrow Limb is pretty good to have in a world where the stevedpres haul bales by hand instead of with an electric crane, similarly with a lot of heavy work.  Lots of crushed limbs. 

 But the real benefits are (1) that you learn about the Lunar Way.  (2) You are in with the new power structure, so are upwardly mobile.

On January 13th here  on page 3 of the current thread,

Jeff said (my emphasis) :

" You guys do whatever you want. But the author of the cookbook has confirmed that there are no potatoes in any of the recipes. And there are no references to potatoes in any of the Chaosium books in the last decade. So make of it what you will.   "

So he gave potato permission.  OGMV.   Instead of arguing more, let's take "yes' for an answer.  Proceed to write up the potato adventure(s).

And now on a just-made-relevant topic, what is the status of that cookbook?  Can it be canon before it is published ?  After it is published it can inspire lunches at ChaosiumCon.

Potatoes were there in 1615 ST, gone in 1625.

Perhaps the potato was eliminated. or at least made less productive, by an anti Lunar Heroquest.  Perhaps in retaliation for the Windstop. 

Not very strategic, as it did not exactly shake the foundations of the Lunar Empire, but who are we to say that all heroquests must have big strategic game changing results? Not everyone is as insightful as Kallyr or Jar-Eel.

But we know that just as Orlanth and Ernalda were brought back, so can the potato be brought back both in myth  and Gloranthan reality.  

Lunars should Heroquest now!  

Do you really want fries with that?   Enough to enter the Hero Plane?

4 minutes ago, Malin said:

Not really? Yes, Gloranthan myths are clearly inspired by real-world ones, but I was talking about the fact that no Gloranthan potato myth was created in the past (unlike for Maize). However, if my players ever do the potato heroquest I have half boiling in my head and bring potatoes to the land, I will certainly draw inspiration from the real deal!

Who knows what myths they might encounter if they explore far lands?  Pamaltela, perhaos?

9 minutes ago, Malin said:

I was talking of a Gloranthan potato myth! I am sure there are tons of Peruvian ones...

But whether there is a RW myth is relevant. since there is clearly a link from Bronze Age RW Middle Eastern myth to the dominant Gloranthan myths and cults.

Anyway, see this:  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axomamma#:~:text=Incas not only grew and,gods during a special ceremony.

And feeding the Maize with the blood of human sacrifices seems to me to be a tip of the hat to certain Middle American practises.

On 12/4/2023 at 12:19 AM, Malin said:

......

And I think the reason why potatoes are a point of contention (at least for me) is that they are a core staple crop that yet somehow has not left any greater mythic trace .....

I don't think it's a question of "american continent foods," Maize is here, but it also has massive mythical underpinnings so it becomes obvious how important a part it is of Lunar culture. It's not a question of being so entrenched that it can't be removed by "purists," it's a matter of actually fitting into the setting just because it is so entrenched ......

tldr: Glorantha cultures are the old fertile crescent grain-based cultures lacking any potato myths.

Is there really no Peruvian potato myth?   

Take Nick's advice.  The Storytelling Collective's course worked for me.  It is a combination of advice and practical exercise, which is the best way to train.

Their first piece of advice is to have a scope of work you can complete in a reasonable time. And " complete" mea ns not only writing out the adventure. but doing acknowledgements, tables, layout, art, etc.. So for your first product you don't want to try to match the length of the Nochet or Furthest  books.  

You wrote about your own "sketchy notes."  That is a good start if the adventure was good.  Now your task is to explain to somebody else how to run that adventure.  This will involve expanding those notes and writing down the stuff that was only in your head.  You can do it.

6 hours ago, Cassius said:

Could we add to this list brandys, liquors and other fruit alcohols, made from apples (like Calvados), pears, plums, etc.? Do distillation techniques exist in this part of the world? At first glance, it seems a Mostali thing.

Jeff recently posted in a thread on food and drink, that distilled alcoholic beverages such as brandy exist but are rare and in small quantities, treated as a medicine and not a common drink.  

IiRC, Distilling in the RW may have been used first for perfumes.  We do know  Glorantha has perfume.  Anyway, alchemists can do it according to widespread opinion, see the (not canon)  Book of Doom from JC.

It is canon that Clearwine is turned into ice wine in winter.  I think that is in the GM screen pack adventure book, which is misleadingly named , it is a lot more than the screen.

Note that a copper tube coil for distilling alcohol will poison you if it is not tinned inside.  This is a piece of family lore.  Anyway. such stills appear to be a post Iron Age invention, so are more recent than most of the Iron Age items in Glorantha,'s Bronze Age.  Like muskets, they may be used by the Mostali.

3 hours ago, SDLeary said:

 

And what about cider and perry if they exist?

SDLeary

Cider clearly exists.  See the Imther book.  Also, see Apple Lane and even the RQG rulebook price list.

14 hours ago, Jeff said:

German white wine is very good. Their red wine not so much.

But the climate of the Peloria plains is far more like Wisconsin than it is like Baden. And although I know folk in Wisconsin that tout the 800 acres of grapes grown in the state, it is not exactly all that good. ....

I prefer white wines most of the time. Therefore my bias.  

Anyway. an eventual Lunar Heartlsnds book should include base prices for various goods that are often different from prices in Sartar.  I'm just getting my request in early. 🙂

On 1/18/2024 at 1:25 PM, Sir_Godspeed said:

Jeff has previously mentioned here that Peloria is beer country, while Kethaela is a wine region. This annoyed some who have long imagined the haughty Dara Happans sipping red while the Sartarites toast in ale, but it DOES make sense when you let it sink in. .......

On the other hand wine is likely a high status drink in Peloria, and grape vines will very likely grow there despite the colder climate: After all in the RW they grow in Germany and German wine is very good.  Also, wine can be imported to the heartlands from convenient  places in the empire like Imther, using a short land haul to reach the long river routes. 

In other words if you are a Lunar noble you can afford it. 

Indeed  Clearwine is harder to get in Glamour after the Dragonrise, but the trade is still done.  The empire does not have the structure to stop this trade which fills Argrath's treasury and so pays his army.

What do you imagine Caladraland cuisine is like?

I note some relevant facts: Caladraland is mostly jungle.  Their agriculture is mostly slash and burn, and they do not plow.  It is very productive, due to Caladra and Aurelion's magic.  Their dominant grain seems to be wheat, If I read the small map in the Grain Goddesses section of the Earth Goddesses book correctly.

They are adjacent to Esrolia but much different in lifestyle, religion, and politics.

I am not sure what the RW inspiration for Caladraland is, if any, but it does not seem to match the Amazon jungle ( which is not volcanic) and while the vulcanism and slash and burn agriculture might match ancient  Nicaragua, the dominant grain is definitely not maize.

I do imagine that wine grapes do well there because Vinvale, volcanic soil, and all that.  Jungle often means fruit from the trees.  

I might imagine squash and beans grow well there, because those crops originated without the plow.

There is no indication of olive trees, so if they fry food it is probably done with animal fat.  

What do you imagine Caladraland cuisine is like?

I note some relevant facts: Caladraland is mostly jungle.  Their agriculture is mostly slash and burn, and they do not plow.  It is very productive, due to Caladra and Aurelion's magic.  Their dominant grain seems to be wheat, If I read the small map in the Grain Goddesses section of the Earth Goddesses book correctly.

They are adjacent to Esrolia but much different in lifestyle, religion, and politics.

I am not sure what the RW inspiration for Caladraland is, if any, but it does not seem to match the Amazon jungle ( which is not volcanic) and while the vulcanism and slash and burn agriculture might match ancient  Nicaragua, the dominant grain is definitely not maize.

I do imagine that wine grapes do well there because Vinvale, volcanic soil, and all that.  Jungle often means fruit from the trees.  

I might imagine squash and beans grow well there, because those crops originated without the plow.

There is no indication of olive trees, so if they fry food it is probably done with animal fat.  

56 minutes ago, Malin said:

Does this mean Peloria is IPA country? Do I have to picture Lunars as beer snobs, with so many varieties of beer, not just with hops, but with all the bitter herbs used in the days before hops became widespread? I mean with the current microbrewery culture I can 100% see them getting into that as much as ever the wine snob...

Absolutely, that is clearly implied.  

I have been reading The Earth Goddesses / The Grain Goddesses section. pages 87-95.

I see that "every land area has its own Grain Goddess".  Should I interpret this as meaning that

(1) the worship of each is restricted to her own geographic area, and

(2) therefore the 10% bonus to Bless Crops for Barley (whose Grain Goddess is Pelora) is not available outside Peloria.

(3) and there will be no shrines to Pelora in Earth temples outside Peloria.

It would seem to follow that beer is cheaper and more plentiful in Peloria than in Sartar.  I mesn real beer. not wheat beer. 

(Note that to me,  this does not imply a big long distance trade in beer from Peloria because transporting liquids is hard.)   

A subsidiary question: Do hops exist in Glorantha?

6 hours ago, Shiningbrow said:

Given that the entire melee round is an abstract of all the attacks, parries, feints, dodges, etc etc... including closing distance and then retreating - I don't see a problem with it. There's no "D&D you have complete control of this 5' square - unless you move" type of thing.

But given that abstraction, how does one get in the way? The enemy can also maneuver, and with no zone of control or grid, how does "in the way " work?

Obviously the GM can house rule  it, but why ask us all about a GM unique house rule?

On 1/16/2024 at 7:22 AM, Jose Luis said:

...

2) If the stats of the shaman as POW and CHAR are temporarily increased by a spell, does this affect the spell limits or spirit control limits, ....

Yes that is the way I read it too.I It will take careful planning and extending the duration of the spell to get much benefit.

About the "getting in tbe middle" question: unless there is a gap to get into I don't know hiw you can do that in melee in this or any other game. ? maybe Grspple?  But the second Adventurer can double team the enemy, which usually means a win; and yes the first Adventurer can disengage under that rule.

It appears that yucca is related to agave.  A useful plant family.  So do Praxians make tequila?  IMHO better than fermenting bags of milk.

43 minutes ago, Erol of Backford said:

...... If no potatoes what do we have in Prax as for root vegtibles?

Yucca root!  Remember Prax is modeled on the U.S. Southwest.

If you don't like that you will have to eat turnips, parsnips, radishes.

On 1/15/2024 at 4:28 PM, Erol of Backford said:

 

...the starchy tuberous root of a tropical tree, used as food in tropical countries but requiring careful preparation to remove traces of cyanide from the flesh... so Black Fang members would use it along with puffer fish?

The washed. cooked pulp is edible. and the cyanide is a valuable by- product when re- concentrated.  It's a win-win situation for us snackers and Black Fang Brothers.  There is an overlap between the two groups.