Stephen L

(Too) Obviously, a necklace of dragon’s teeth, good for a few CHA, (is that penalty, for lack of originality). Which turn to skeletal warriors when planted in the earth. Oh, that's been done. Dragon horns for a helmet. They’d make cow horns look so lame! If we’re on jewellery, what are the implications for bride gifts. This stuff is made of dreams… that’s only good for 50 years or so… But those years... and nothing’s for ever… Hmm.. maybe stick with diamonds. Dragon claw/teeth klanth. Would dragon teeth arrow heads be proof against creatures invulnerable to mundane weapons? I’d probably say no, but would the players find out by practical experiment (heh, heh). A dragon ivory keyboard. As an aside, I’ve a 1890’s piano, and the touch of the keys is beautiful, *so* much nicer than bone or plastic from later pianos. (On rereading that looks like I’m endorsing the Ivory trade, I’m not, it’s not worth killing an elephant, but perhaps we should be recycling this stuff because its irreplaceable. Or would that still be creating a market? I think I might have gone off topic! If I say +5% play skill, would that put it back on track?) Dragon gut strings? Imagine the music! The very stuff that dreams are made on… Tendons? They’re lots of real world uses. Unbreakable rope? Even better, thread that never breaks. How’d that look on the marketing blurb, buttons guaranteed *never* to come off! Well, not for 50 years. The elastic properties of particular sinews were also used in composite recurved bows favoured by the steppe nomads of Eurasia, and Native Americans (I just shamelessly cribbed that from Wikipedia). How does Dragon meat taste? Like chicken? Or “the stuff that dreams are made on” (oh I’ve already used that). Also, if it’s made of dream, does it go off? Everlasting rations! (Dragon yesterday, Dragon today, and blimey, if it don't look like Dragon again tomorrow.) And suddenly, in 50 years’ time, suddenly feeling *ravenous*, and no matter how much you eat, you’re still hungry. Enough ideas to chew over?

Having joyfully toddled up to the loft (my collection of old stuff isn't bad), I have found, to my horror, my Tales of the Reaching Moon collection is less complete than I thought. Inexplicably, I am missing issues 19 and 20! I vaguely remember on another thread someone mooting the possibility of making electronic copies of TotRM available. Any news? Hopefully, Stephen L

Well that's one sale made. Thanks.

I want to get S:KoH for a number of reasons, but have held off as I can only get PDF, and self printing is a pain (especially at a big page count). I wondered if people had any experience of getting something like that printed off professionally, as the places I've found on the web are prohibitively expensive for one copy?

Thanks all, That should be enough material to get my fangs into! The Well of Daliath seems to be quite a useful tool as well! Stephen.

My adventurers are shortly going to venture into the Upland marshes, and I wonder if there's any resources that I could try to get my hands on that would help with adventure ideas. They're going to be sent into the marshes in search of a tome of dragon lore (well dinosaur really...). Incidentally, the person pointing them in the direction of the marsh will be Forang Farosh, from Tink, so if there's any material out there I could pinch for him, I'd be similarly grateful. Thanks muchly, in advance. Stephen.

Golly, gosh, now I'm really excited. You've got to share, my Glorantha lore is *so* incomplete without knowing Argrath's shoe size. Just posted on another topic. But not in my Glorantha… I have the mobility rune tied to a concept of freedom, at least in Heortling eyes, and so I have slavery offensive to them.

Welcome aboard (from a newbie not much more experienced here than you!) I’ve found people here very knowledgeable, helpful and generous. But above all patient… Which isn’t the stereotype for such forums. Back to the question in hand... In my Glorantha, I have the mobility rune tied to a concept of freedom, at least in Heortling eyes, and so I have slavery offensive to them. To deprive someone of their freedom in very serious (a form of death even), so it’s extreme - RuneQuest in Glorantha has that: Slavery is not practiced by the Heortlings except for prisoners of war. Also: Vasanas Saga, Fire Season 1626 At Pimper’ Block slave market: I found the place distasteful, and although my own cult does not prohibit the practice of slavery, it does disapprove. An honourable warrior takes her defeated foes hostage and ransoms them back to their kin or cult in exchange for their ransom, but does not treat them as chattel property. To snatch a child into thraldom would be something extreme. People do commit atrocities... To take them for ransom, would be another matter, but you’d still expect a violent response. Also, it’s possible that it’s a raid gone wrong, sheep rustling, and the stupid shepherd lad(ess), being of fanatic/foolhardy (possibly not too bright if your adventurers are like mine) stock , decides to attack rather than run off to get help… Now the raiders are stuck with a prisoner, a flock of sheep, and a need to get out as quickly as they can before the alarm is raised. The perpetrators get home, and what they’re going to do? Returning the kid with an apology note might be losing face. Perhaps it’s the last straw and they’re kicked out of the clan as being demented idiots, and too much of a liability, and hole themselves up (with prisoner) in the wilds in a bandit layer. The party turn up at rival clan, all war painted up, when said clan think the kid is even now being returned. That might be interesting to roleplay… especially after a messy fight. "Oh, you mean the abduction, nothing to do with you?... Sorry about that warband back there... Lead by the chief's son?... I think we can find most of the bits, you know how it gets with truesword... Anybody got a heal 6?"

reaction against Lunar atrocities personal grudges against Lunar rule (or rulers) hatred of Lunar taxes love of the land that’s been home for the past 20 years love/personal debts to Orlanthi individuals/groups I could see those motivating someone who isn’t ready to give up their gods. I’ve an innkeeper NPC (well brewer with an open house), who’s secretly an old Lunar soldier. In his basement (open for clandestine Seven Mothers worship) there’s a child he’s rescued, who’s gone mad having seen the bat eat her family and home. Seeing that broke the soldier, deserting and taking the child, tending her, but he’s got to keep her hidden otherwise her mad ramblings would give them both away. What are the player’s going to do, because they happen to be a bunch of fully passioned up Lunar haters, and there’s an lynch mob out for Lunars and Lunar sympathisers right now burning the inn… I’d hope it’s possible to play Lunars/Seven Mothers in Sartar after the liberation, because there may well be a lot of them! Wulfsland, was settled by Lunar outlaws, farmers from the Lunar Heartlands, veterans of the Lunar Army, under Duke Jomes (anyone know what’s happened to him?), and the new tribe Enstalos, formed taking the lands of the extinct Dundealos, when the best lands were given to Lunar settlers from Tarsh and Aggar. There are historical examples of liberations being followed by mass ethnic cleansing (on one end of the scale) or else of a relatively smooth transition between elites (on the other). Which is it in Sartar? Don't really know, I'm having both and a lot in-between, but I’m more driven by roleplaying potential than a desire to be correct to "Glorantha Historiography". But then in my Glorantha, it’s a heroic age, so what drives the show is a relatively small bunch of people. For me, it’s what Leika/Kallyr/Argrath (and soon the players) thinks should happen to the Lunars that’s going to drive things. And their viewpoints are easy for me (the GM) to manipulate, whilst still (hopefully) maintaining believability. Life will be tough for a Seven Mothers worshiper. How are they going to worship? In my campaign they’ll be clandestine secret cults, driven underground by paranoia, and retributions. There’s opportunity as well – a hero quest to set up a subcult of Seven Mothers, loyal to Sartar. That could be pivotal in a campaign majoring on the Tarsh civil wars, especially with Sartar involvement in said wars.

Thanks, that all looks very useful stuff. I had noticed that, it seemed to corollate with my King of Sartar, with enough leeway/contradictions to allow rearranging and making stuff up. I was mainly concerned about there being timelines that I didn't know about, since I'd prefer to know what I'm breaking than doing it out of ignorance! What my King of Sartar is out of date. Where's the weeping emoji! I got it when it first came out. KoS, that is, I've never yet used an emoji, being quite old school and preferring exclamation marks and such. Not that I disapprove of their use. Or shall I stop digging. Good to know. The timelines in the RQG rules book are excellent (as is everything else, having returned from ages away from roleplaying, I'm deliriously happy with the direction RQ has taken). Also good to know that Glorantha Sourcebook is good for this, as it's pretty much next on my buy list. My problem is that there is *so* much good stuff for adventures: the players have rolled up characters with such interesting pasts that just playing those out is a campaign or more. And also they've got *so* many hooks for people and things in the Colymar setting, and, I suspect, the Smoking Ruin (on my to buy list). Plus I had one or two campaign ideas of my own. I'm not sure how I'll be squeezing in the major Hero War events!

A quick look at Nick Brookes alternate timeline in Duel at Dangerford, makes me realise I don’t know the Canon timeline as well as I thought. Whilst I *should* follow Nick Brookes approach, that the Canon is there to inspire and help campaign planning, but what works for a series (or arc) of fun adventures should be paramount, I’d probably worry... I assumed that Dragon Rise is 1625, Earth Season, Harmony week, Clayday (is that from King of Sartar?). My assumption is that Kallyr and Leika, already in Sartar fermenting rebellion, fight/walk into Boldhome and Clearwine to reclaim their thrones. They’ve no reason to wait for the Lunar garrisons to recover, entrench, appoint new leaders, reinforcements, so it would be in the days following Dragon Rise? Similarly, King Pharandros of Tarsh would react as soon as possible. I’d *guess* he has standing troops, and/or that bronze age armies are very quick to muster (though Earth Season isn’t good timing for any troops raised from mustering farmers, *if* they’re significant element), so I’d have the gates to Alda-Chur open to him a week or so after? Similarly, in a rush, not wanting to allow Kallyr to fortify her position, he’d go straight on, to be stopped at Dangerford perhaps some weeks after Dragon Rise? Both questions, because I'm just making stuff up, and I don’t really know what I’m talking about. Then I’m assuming Kallyr’s 1625 sacred time ritual isn’t good, a summons of evil going horribly wrong, leaving her badly wounded. Then, the next battle is the battle of Queens, which I have down for Fire Season 1626. Then Argrath arrives liberating Alda-Chur in Sea Season 1627 (presumably being crowned Prince after, but that’s somewhat far off for my campaign still, so I’m a bit vague). I’m guessing, from Duel at Dangerford (or the preview at least; it’s on the wish list), there’s a timeline for these events in some HeroQuest resource, which details these events? Any pointers? I’m an RQii/iii then straight to RQ in Glorantha, so beyond those, my library’s quite sparse (though I really must re-read King of Sartar). As an aside, why do I always spell Argrath’s name Agrath, and then have to go back to add in the first r. Am I just plain wrong, or remembering an ancient spelling? Thanks, Stephen.

Hopefully not completely off topic, but, I've a group of new roleplayers just starting up on a RuneQuest Glorantha campaign. They are quite young, and I'm looking around for resources to show them what the various weapons and armour look like. There's a few pictures dotted around the rules book, but my lot have rolled up an odd assortment. One's a duck who's seemingly robbed random bits armour off various battlefield corpses. (BTW, I'm amazed at the vividness of the characters you get, I'm very impressed with RQinG). I wondered if buying the "Armies of Dragon Pass" is the best place to start...

From the map, the most direct Esrolia / Lunar Tarsh trade route is Direct from Notchet to Rich post, without detouring up the Creek Stream and Beast Valley. (Smoking Ruin does seem enticingly placed for some such route, I'm just going to have to buy that when it's out in paper). Though perhaps a navigable Creek-Stream might make the detour worth it, though there are marshes round Styx Gtotto, how dangerous are those? However, back to the Colymar... Just measuring up the distances (it’s taken me this long to get a ruler, real life, huh). The road from Wilmskirk to Quackford, might be Royal, but it’s still 50km, in not very much the right direction. That’s a full day’s travel, even by horse. Then from Quackford to Clearwine that’s another 30km, but at best that’s a trade path. That path doesn’t appear in full dragon pass map that’s bundled with the GM’s screen pack, which may (or may not) indicate that it’s not major. That’s 2 days' travel by horse. From Clearwine to Wilmskirk is 26km, as a crow flies. Perhaps the terrain is rough enough to make a direct route unappealing (along the side of Seven Falls – there are rapids there after all, which might indicate it’s not easy going), but even swinging north, by Farvine and the northern end of Kjartan’s lake, to follow Chorm’s river is still 40km. That there’re paths to Farvine and also down Chorm’s river might mean the hills there are not too hard going. If there were a decent road, that would be a day’s travel all in all. So, I’m leaning towards the Colymar being very isolationist, otherwise the roads would be there. I love the idea the Colymar have pacts with the wildlands, and preserve the Colymar wilds, I’m stealing that. And Sora primarily focus for being the GoldenTongue for Leika, that’s an aspect I missed and like very much. But, I still see her brain ticking away, opening the markets for Colymar goods, maybe Clear Wine in Wilmskirk, and beyond to Boldhome, but, given her background her vision probably is a market back in Esrolia (rafts of wine barrels down the Creek-Stream). And, probably the problem isn't really the roads. The lack of roads indicates a mind set, and it's the opposition that her sacrilegious ideas that's the source for the adventures... Thanks again, Stephen

I had wondered about getting the Smoking ruins scenario - there did seem an obvious tie in with the direction the campaign might take. But thanks again all, it's been very helpful turning some ill-considered inklings into some ideas on a far more solid basis. Stephen.

Many thanks both. All very useful stuff. The Issaries point of view is fairly new to our roleplaying milieu, so this really help getting the ideas going. Amusingly we've just started with the kids at roleplaying, something we haven't done for years - and their approach is somewhat more nuanced than ours ever was... The very first thing was we tried the Broken Tower Quick Start to see how they took to it, and, as it got to the climax, there was a little voice saying, "don't hit the stone woman mummy, let find out what it wants." As mummy holds back on her swing, pretending she was just getting ready... Stephen.

Apologies, if I failed my search and started a new topic unnecessarily, but… Looking at the map for the Colymar lands has given me an inkling for a campaign, and I’d like to see if it makes sense or is it all ill-considered madness. The major trade routes in the area seem to be from Jonstown to Runegate, across the wilds to Tarsh (dangerous and controlled by Dragonewt friendly Rungate trade cartel). Also, Wilmskirk to Duckpoint and then South to Esrolia or West to Grazelands (dangerous and controlled by Druluz Undead hating cartels). And Clearwine seems awfully isolated from any of these. There isn’t even an obvious trade path to Runegate, and the routes to Boldhome or Wilmskirk are tortuous. Very curious. Of course, it could all be an oversight, that the oldest continuous major human settlement in Dragon Pass having no easy trade routes, that would be madness. Except that I seem to remember that the king of the Colymar refused Sartar’s idea of a city in Colymar lands. So perhaps some sort of mythic isolation. And there being no road between Runegate and Clearwine, can only mean that the Taraling clans in the north have little truck with Ernaldoring clans in the south (and vice versa), maybe a mythic divide between the Colymar tribes. And the campaign hook: what is Sora Goodseller doing in this trade backwater? The main driver of this rambling post, is that the Player Characters have a quite strong affinity with Sora out of any of the NPCs in Clearwine, so I'm trying to understand her, and I'm struggling! Maybe she has a plan to break Clearwine’s mythic isolation. A trade route to Wilmskirk – perhaps a sleeping giant in the hills who’s been wounded, so he can’t move (poisoned barb in the foot), and the party are hired to help her wake and cure him, making passage across the hills possible again? Wharves on the stream by Clearwine for trade southwards? I don’t know how navigable the stream would be. Possibly not, as it’s probably called the stream for a reason, and would Sartar’s bridge at Quackford be passable. But a water theme would be good for a party with a Duck in it's roll call. But a road north up Nymie Vale to Runegate (safer than the Lismelder route close to Upland Marsh) and breaking into the Runegate/Dragonnewt trade cartel, Sora would definitely need the adventurers help in that. Though going to Apple Lane would open up a quick route between Duckford and Jonstown, maybe that's better. Does it hold water, or have I misunderstood the trade routes for this part of Dragon pass? Are their pointers to said routes? Does all trade between the Lunar Empire and Esrolia go through the Grazelands, or is Tarsh, Dragonewt Wilds, Runegate, Quackford a viable route? How dangerous is the Lismelder route between Quackford and Runegate? Would opening up Colymar route impact on some aspect of the Colymar I’ve not considered – perhaps the secrets of the Clearwine Earth Temple or Tarndisis grove jealously guarded? Most importantly, what are Sora Goodseller's motivations? If she's just interested in opening up Colymar produce to Esrolia, then Clearwine to Duckpoint is an adequate trade route. Thanks for any help. Stephen.