Manimati

That is also why the Strength spirit magic spell is such an incredibly good investment for crushing weapons. I am adding a line for 2D6 dmg bonus to the initial post to make that point.

I would like to come back to the interpretation of the “Eolian roulette” with archers. The maths tell us that there is a 92% probability to be hit with at least one impale (more likely two). Looking at the same figures the other way means that there is 8% chance not to be hit by at least one impale. The odds are not great but not completely unreasonable, and this is the stuff of legends, songs and stories by the campfire (as well as reputation gain). It only means that for every hero sung in the legends, there are much more dead hero wanabes, which are mourned by friends and families. I would summarize it this way: There are two kinds of heroes, the lucky ones and the dead ones. Actually, in Glorantha, there is a third category: those whose ass is covered by a Chalana Arroy healer. The importance of having a good healer in a party cannot be understated! You can now add a checkmark, next to your illumination skill.

Idea to boost crushing damage weapons The above thread led me to fire my trusty excel to check whether crushing weapons specials were really in need of an upgrade. So, I calculated the average damage for several weapons with different damage bonuses: Weapon dagger sh-sword L-mace Br-Sword Btl-axe Hy mace 2HL spr sh-spear Dmg dice 1D4+2 1D6+1 1D6+2 1D8+1 1D8+2 1D8+2 1D10+1 Avg dmg 4.5 4.5 5.5 5.5 6.5 6.5 6.5 Avg special (0 bonus) 9 9 5.5 11 13 6.5 13 Avg special (1D4 bonus) 11.5 11.5 12 13.5 15.5 13 15.5 Avg special (1D6 bonus) 12.5 12.5 15 14.5 16.5 16 16.5 Avg special (2D6 bonus) 16 16 24.5 18 20 25.5 20 Analyzing the above table shows that specials with crushing weapons absolutely suck for no damage bonus. For 1D4 damage bonus, the light mace is slightly better than short sword or short spear. On the other hand, for heavier weapons, battle axe rules with 15.5 on average compared with 13.5 for broadsword and 13 for heavy mace. In the 1D6 damage bonus class, light mace is much better that short spear and short sword (15 vs 12.5 on average). For heavier weapons, battle axe is still better with 16.5 vs 16 for heavy mace and 14.5 for the broadsword. The table reveals that, based on average damage from special hits, the battle axe is really an uber-weapon, but that broadsword and heavy mace are pretty comparable. For lighter weapons, the light mace is consistently better than others, for non-zero damage bonus. So, if crushing weapons are in need of an upgrade, it must be rather subtle. A second look at the table shows that good armor (6 AP over all body) protects well from the average non-special damage. On the other hand, except for 0-damage-bonus crushing weapons, specials do enough damage on average to reduce an armored body location to zero HP. Also, a heavy shield can absorb the average special hit, as does a medium shield with good armor. The last column of the table shows the average damage for the 2-handed long spear. It has the same average damage as the battle axe. Of course, it is a two-handed weapon, but if you are a yelmalion that doesn’t prevent you from using a shield. This is one of the strength of the Yelmalio cult : it can give an uber weapon to many people (74% of 3D6 have strength greater or equal to 9) while keeping the benefit of a shield, while a high strength is needed to wield a battle axe one-handed (only 26% of 3D6 have strength greater or equal to 13), the others must use a lesser weapon or forfeit the protection of a shield. This explains why Jeff Richards claims that Yelmalio cultists don’t need strong combat-oriented rune magic in order to rule the battlefield. They can field masses of templars with uber-weapons and the protection of a shield, while other cults must choose between high damage and shield protection for the bulk of the fighters. On top of that, Yelmalio insists on Honor which helps maintain the phalanx formation, helping even more the military efficiency of templars. Now, if we focus on missile weapons, for projectile weapons (for which damage bonus don’t apply), crushing weapons suck. Slings are really terrible. On average, they don’t do enough damage do penetrate plate armor, and they can’t count on special hits to do so: they must count on critical hits! The only thing going for slings is that it is a S/MR weapon, which means that they can potentially fire up to three times par round (prepared, with high dexterity or with the help of the coordination or/and mobility spirit magic spells). Now, we can play the “Eolian roulette” (named after the thunder delta slingers) thought experiment, and one is standing for one round in front a squad of 5 slingers, which can each fire 3 times a round at 80% chance to hit (thus 4% chance of a critical). That’s a total of 15 shots per round! Asking worfram alpha for the answer: link to wolfram alpha yields 0.45=45% chance of at least one critical hit. Not bad! I, personally, would not take that chance. Of course, for archers, which can count on impale, the chances are even better (or worse depending on your point of view). On top of 45% chance of one or more criticals, there is a 92% chance of at least one impale. As we saw before, on average, one impale means that one body location is reduced to zero HP, even with good armor. The most probable number of impales is 2 and there are even non-negligible chances for 3, 4 and 5 impales. See for yourself: another link to wolfram alpha. This is no longer “Eolian roulette” but a death wish! That shows the power of massed archers: the cream of the French nobility was literally mowed by the Welsh archers at the battle of Azincourt (or Agincourt). How can one be protected from massed archers? A shield (the larger the better) and armor help, but there is one spirit magic spell that ruins an archer’s day: lightwall. From the wrong side, lightwall prevents aiming (-75% to hit as in full darkness), it even prevents targeting of spells, thus no Demoralize, no Befuddle, no Sever Spirit, no Thunderbolt, no Sun Spear! It is a MP intensive spell, but one casting can protect several people. This spirit magic spell is so good it deserves to be a rune spell, and it’s a special spell for Yelmalio! Another spirit spell that can reduce the time spent in the line of fire is Mobility. Conversely, for archers, Slow can buy extra rounds of fire. Well, doing statistics can give an almost God-Learner-like insight into the mechanics of RuneQuest. I hope that this didn’t ruin the magic of the game for you. I was surprised to see that, indeed, the Yelmalio cult has some mechanical advantage over other cults on the battlefield.

I am surprised that this has not come up yet : Greg Stafford used to define himself as “postmodern” (he did so in the one conversation I had with him in 1993). The definitions of illumination that we have been trying to come up with in this thread seem to apply very well to “postmodernity”/” postmodernism”. Postmodern/illuminated views don’t radically change one’s outlook on the world BUT lead one to realize that former limitations were self-imposed and can be overcome if needed.

In the RQG game that we are presently playing there is an Ernaldan entertainer(dancer)/leader, a Storm Bull bandit/meatgrinder (weilding twin battleaxes with high dmg bonus), a Yinkin herder/sniper who plays the flute to charm female herders (Krishna-style), a Yelmalio cavalry warrior/strategist and an Orlanth townsman/thief/rebel who’s almost trickster-like. This group works really well: the Ernaldan is doing most of the talking, enough healing, a small bit of reading and lore, the Yelmalion is managing combat situations and doing the planning, the Stormbull is grinding meat and providing a neat fixation point for the Yinkin "sniper" to compete with him on body count, and the Orlanthi is attempting the most dangerous, brave, and sometimes harebrained maneuvers. Everybody has some time in the spotlight, the characters interact constructively, and we have tons of fun. So far, they have managed not to get killed or maimed.

Mohenjo Daro, an Indian movie from 2016, shows a bronze age society, one of the songs is even showing a fertility ritual/heroquest. A little cheesy but not bad at all.

cane canaille ! canaille mean mischievous but it can also have sexual undertones. Works also for males: canard canaille

Is that the thing you're talking about? Yes indeed.

That is precisely how we felt when Greg "gregged" us when he introduced Elmal. Greg did explain how and why it happened in the RuneQuest-Con convention booklet of 1994 "The birth of Elmal or, why I screwed up your Glorantha". You might find solace/consolation reading it (if you can get it).The booklet also included other essays on that issue by Stephen Martin and David Hall. Since then "Yelmalio and Elmal" has been a bottomless source of discussions among Glorantha communities.

I tend to like 1618-1621. At this time one can feel that something huge is cooking, but (unless you've read King of Sartar) the direction of history is not yet set. After the Dragonrise, the dynamics of history is clear for all to see, although there are quite a few hiccups and hesitations from there to the dragons taking the moon down. We had a HQ1 campaign set in 1620-1622, in which a group of lunars got wind of a dragon sitting under the new Sartar Lunar temple, and managed to avert the disaster (they had to travel to Kralorala and meet the emperor there to get his blessing on the weapon used to take down the dragon : a pregnant unicorn horn (!!!) used to bind the great dark eater spirit !). In the end, the brown dragon did rise, but instead of eating all the Lunar army, it coiled around the the new Lunar temple and died, containing the moon field within only a few square miles. We called it the Dragonshiver (TM). YGWV, that's also why I like Glorantha.

As external observers, with god-learner like perspective, we do realize that they are the same myth, but how do the people in Glorantha feel about it ? My guess it that a Yelmalion convert coming from Elmal worship should be aware of it, as most Yelmalio priests (with >50 % cult lore). But the common Yelmalion (for example a freshly initiated Yelmalion born in Vanntar with the customary 15% Yelmalio cult lore) probably doesn't care. On the other hand, common Elmal worshippers in Runegate are probably more or less in deep denial on this issue, as are probably many Elmal priests and god-talkers.

Very true.

Thanks for the answers, I have a follow-up question : What does the Elmal temple in Runegate look like ? Does it look like the sun dome temple on P 285 of RQG or like the Elmal temples of King of Dragon Pass: or , which don't have a dome and are visibly horse oriented ? It is hard to tell from the Runegate map p 49 of the RQ Gamemaster Adventure book. The map and text p 61 of Sartar Companion describe a KoDP-like temple, but that was before the city had been destroyed by the Crimson Bat and subsequently rebuilt.

What happens when a yelmalion goes to an Elmal temple (for example that of Runegate) to worship ? Does he get the benefits from the worship ? (I think he does IF he is allowed to attend) How do the Elmal worshippers and priests react to his presence ? Is he welcomed coldly like a distant wayward cousin or is he prevented from accessing the site by local worshippers ? (I am not sure of that one) Conversely, what happens when an Elmal worshipper goes to a sun dome temple (in Sartar, in Prax or in Tarsh) ?

All I can tell is this quote from the HeroQuest and Glorantha Vault page on the Chaosium website: "Be warned! These books are not be considered to be canonical Gloranthan references and may differ from the views presented in the Guide to Glorantha. " One the other hand YGWV ! Canon is only important if you are planning to write an official supplement for Chaosium.

The now non-canon ILH2 "Under the red moon" supplement for HQ1 had a lunar goddess of dreams named "Merasedenya". It featured feats, spells and sprits (in ILH2 lunar magic was described as a kind of fusion between the spirit, theistic and sorcery types of magic), all related to dreams. ILH2 had many weird lunar gods (including one for the stay-at-home good husband) and also rules for lunar illumination (called "sevening").

I guess that his largest temple is in Wilmskirk...

Hi, I have found a recently published article on bronze age swordsmanship and the resulting damage to weapon. The paper uses an experimental approach which compares the damage to to replica weapons in simulated fights to damage observed on archeological weapons. It concludes on the way these weapons were likely used. The article also describes things like sword handgrip, and shows pictures of recreated swords and sword fights. I think it might enlighten us on the historical parallel of bronze age warfare for our Gloranthan interests. The article : https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10816-020-09451-0