Arcadiagt5

Something that’s come up a couple of times for me now when running The Grey Crane and also Crimson Petals is multiple adventurers engaging the same spirit in spirit combat at the same time.

This led to what initially looked like quite tough opponents more or less vanishing with little effort or risk. Especially given that in a tie per RQG p368 both parties do spirit combat damage to the other, but if you have 5 adventurers all getting ties on the same spirit, that spirit's magic points will melt away like a sandcastle in the rain. 

Also, in the case of Crimson Petals, I awarded the POW boost to the only one of the adventurers to win the matchup with the disease spirit, even though one of the ties did more actual damage. What are people’s thoughts on managing rewards when multiple adventurers do damage in one round that cumulatively defeats the spirit? 

17 minutes ago, lordabdul said:

If I'm reading the table p311 correctly, Seven Mothers (of which Etyries is part of) and Issaries are "Neutral" to each other.

Which is closer than Hostile but still not Associated for the purposes of Rune Point replenishment. 😀

9 minutes ago, metcalph said:

Etyries is an associate to the Seven Mothers, not one of them.

We really need to see Gods and Goddesses of Glorantha sooner rather than later. 😀

On 9/13/2020 at 10:17 AM, BrentS said:

 

Unfortunately I work shifts week on, week off, so also work every second Thursday evening 🙁 . All my gaming is fortnightly. I guess it would only work if my involvement was half time, which would depend on your game and story requirements. That's a big ask so if that doesn't fit, no problem at all. Maybe I could be a silent Discord observer or even an occasional NPC if that works.

 

Thanks for that. I think the shift work is probably a deal breaker as adventures usually run multiple sessions so having you be there for only half of each adventure would be awkward.

I’m not familiar with the named cult but it appears to be a hostile cult to Issaries? I would say that replenishment of Rune Points by that cult is not allowed going by RQG RAW p315-316.

In essence rune points can be replenished on a cult's holy days, or on the holy days of an associated cult. 

The holy days of a hostile cult would not qualify, and the sorts of ceremonies that allow replenishment would only be conducted on those days. 

Hi @BrentS it does look like we will have room for another player, and will shifting to Thursday nights. Does that work for you? 

4 hours ago, BrentS said:

Hi.

I'm a bit late to this thread and may not fit with your regular play schedule, as I work every second Monday evening. I am, however, in Sydney, am very familiar with Runequest and Glorantha and know my way around the Roll20 RQG character sheet. If there's a spot and my schedule would fit with your I'd love to play.

Brent.

Hi Brent, we're still working a few things out. Let me talk to the other players and we'll get back to you. 

34 minutes ago, David Scott said:

This the danger of stereotyping, where individuals in RPGs are two dimensional without any other visage, or just a bland archetype. It like saying accountants are unemotional number obsessives with no personality - watch the film, the Accountant. Fortunately most storytelling always likes to develop these people into real personalities with a back story, strength's and weakness, and motivations.

Babester Gor in RQG sums up how they work:

Most of the time they are temple guardians, but if you do something bad against the temple you are in trouble. They are the earth temple police.

That's mostly how I see them too. It's just that a lot of the discussion above felt disconnected from this view to me.

24 minutes ago, Jeff said:

Although I am sure everyone knows this, Storm Tribe is not particularly canonical or even influential on the RuneQuest line. It was not a source for the Cults Book (in fact, I deliberately did not even look at it, preferring to rely directly on Greg's notes and our discussions), and I do not encourage it as a reference for those writing for us.

You can do with it as you want, but I want to be clear that it is not a foundation for any new published material going forward.

Good to know. In view of the above discussions, this probably explains/supports the more nuanced view of a Babeester Gor as part of the social order of the Earth pantheon.

4 hours ago, Dirk Le Daring said:

Looks like I have discord sorted. Let me know when/if/how to set up and get the ruffles smoothed. (I have never used discord)

 

Excellent. If you private message me your discord ID, I'll invite you to the server. @Nano_Ranger and I can then set up a time to start going through character creation on Roll20, with Discord as the voice chat. 

I have to admit that I'm still seeing a disconnect between “Babeester Gor are raving fanatic vengeance hounds all the time” and “Babeester Gor are the standing, and permanent, guard units for all Earth temples & protectors of the Earth priestesses”. 

1 hour ago, Rodney Dangerduck said:

I know this got three likes, and YGMV, but this is, IMO, way overly lenient. 

The geas isn't "no non-cult weapons that the player never planed to ever use anyway". 

The geas isn't "no non-cult weapons except useful ones the player is skilled with".

As modified, the net effect of the geas is near zero.  Has it ever significantly affected the character in your games?

If you don't want to pick up a nasty geas, limit the number of those awesome gifts you choose to take.

Yes and no. The character is light cavalry and lost the use of Lance (which had received a substantial boost during the Occupation step). 

I still don’t see an issue with this specific weapon (as opposed to all missile weapons) being adopted by a local variant of the cult. The counter issue is that the RQG RAW says “Other Weapon (pick type), not “Other Cult Weapon (pick type)” in the Humakt section of character creation.

That’s a skill being taught to initiates. If it’s supposed to be restricted, RAW should say so.

I am perhaps being overly sensitive on this aspect but I've had issues with relying on wider Gloranthan lore that not all players have access to, and that some see as “flavour text” rather than rules per se, when making in game rulings.

To bring this back on topic with Babeester Gor: as per RAW her initiates are protectors of Earth temples everywhere, and seekers of vengeance (or justice, depending on how you look at it) for kinslayers and oathbreakers. And there’s no mention of celibacy or marriage bans (where Maran Gor DOES).

So, and acknowledging that this will change somewhat with the cults book, that puts Babeester Gor initiates firmly within the social order, not outside it. They're an active part of maintaining it in fact. 

1 hour ago, Dirk Le Daring said:

I would be interested, though I have not played in decades, do not know Roll20 (I do have an account), and have enjoyed the White Bull campaign... I have no webcam, let me know what I need besides beer, and I'll see what I can do, but do not pin hopes on me. ( I do like the idea of finally getting to play, if I can). How soon do you plan to start  ? (time to get and set up a cam if needed) Also character generation could be an issue, unless I get help..... Feel free to dismiss this at a glance though.

EDIT: OOPS, underway, ok, I could join, but do not know if I would be of use in time. Up to you....

 

Hi Dirk, webcam not needed but a decent audio setup via Discord is. We've had technical difficulties with video on Roll20 for this game and have settled on voice only in Discord. Maps, character sheets, dice rolls, etc are in Roll20. 

I would walk you through character generation, and of the other players at least @Nano_Ranger would help out. We would certainly discuss what role you wanted to play in the party, and how that can be fitted into the story.

40 minutes ago, Monty Lovering said:

It's good in the upcoming cults book the requirement is simply no marriage. The ones in Storm Tribe would be unhealthy, to say the very least.

 

Agreed, and certainly not something that meshes well with (as per RQG RAW) all Earth Temples having a contingent of Babeester Gor guards, and a shrine to Babeester Gor within them. That speaks of a cult much more integrated into Gloranthan society generally. 

Hence my take on them as the defenders of the social order represented by the Earth Temples. Primarily that’s the defence of the temples themselves, secondarily it’s enforcing oaths and respecting your kin. 

16 minutes ago, g33k said:

Another option is to make it a regional variation... or even a personal quirk of a particular priest/ess who's in charge of a temple...

I've already had to do that so no big deal. RAW allows Humakt initiates to pick “Other Weapon (pick type) + 10%”, and a character in one game used that for Composite Bow but then picked up a “no non-cult weapons” geas. Since she learned it as part of Initiation I ruled that Composite Bow is a cult weapon for her home Humakt Temple in Alone. It probably isn’t recognised as such anywhere else, but it is there. YGWV indeed. 😀

26 minutes ago, Jeff said:

Here's what will be appearing in the Cults Book:

REQUIREMENTS TO BELONG

Initiates of Babeester Gor have all normal requirements and restrictions and receive all the usual benefits. Initiates are sworn to slay despoilers of the earth whenever met, and aid Axe Maidens in whatever is required. Initiates may not marry and must give any offspring to their local Earth Temple.

Good to know, thanks. The interesting thing here is that the Cults book will change what’s in RQG RAW. This is something I've kind of being expecting but I may wind up having to make local exceptions of the YGWV variety if I've already made a call that the book later contradicts. 

11 minutes ago, Loïc said:

In Storm Tribe, p 203 :

OK, Storm Tribe is a HeroWars book, but then it's still Glorantha and one of Greg Stafford's essential books (IMHO). And Rykemasters' link is an extract from Storm Tribe. ☺️

That’s a fair point but one bone of contention in my current campaign, and one that I've been trying to avoid since, is reliance on lore that isn’t obviously available to all players. Where possible I'll rely on RAW for that reason. YGWV for me now needs to include “all players have equal access to the underlying lore”, which is why I responded based solely on the RQG text which doesn’t mention those aspects. 

I'm currently running a Colymar based campaign that’s advanced to Earth Season 1626 on Roll20. Some slots for additional players have opened up, please reply if you’re interested. 

The game runs on Monday Thursday nights from 6:30PM to about 9PM AET. 

EDIT: Changed game night to reflect a recent change, and we're still looking for one more player. 

FWIW* my take on it is that because RQG RAW explicitly mentions celibacy for Maran Gor but not for Babeester Gor that there's no such requirement for Babeester Gor. 

I read Babeester Gor as being more of the Earth Goddess concerned with the maintenance of the proper order of society. Hence her role protecting Earth Temples as the centre of that order, as well as hunting down kinslayers and oathbreakers that break that order. 

Similarly children, and expanding/protecting kin groups generally, is part of that proper order (see also: Love (Family) & Loyalty (Clan)) so that is a natural fit for Babeester Gor initiates and rune lords. 

I'm also not sure that Babeester Gor has priestesses. I've generally interpreted the cults sections as listing the Rune Master types that are applicable to each cult, and not all of them have the full set.

* Not much. 😂

Running two Colymar campaigns that have moved on from there to Smoking Ruin and/or Pegasus Plateau with some JC stuff as well.

Both running online via Roll20 ATM, which in one case is likely to be a permanent feature since I'm in Canberra and my players are in Perth.

On 8/25/2020 at 9:26 AM, Akhôrahil said:

As long as you run scenarios where fighting is mostly optional, high lethality levels are fine - they know what they’re getting into when they decide on a violent solution. Or if they didn’t before taking a few deaths, they do now.

The Rattling Wind is a bit nasty both because they have no idea what they’re getting into in the initial encounter, and because it’s hella dangerous. It might not be the best intro. I used Cattle Raid. (Cattle Raid had a neat spot where the players realized that even if they won, killing just a couple of the opponents meant more wergild than the total worth of the cows.)

Cattle Raid is fun. I had one group win the cows back via single combat of champions to first blood, and another that simply ransomed them back. 

1 minute ago, Crel said:

My suggestion, for starters, is just ignore the Sorcery chapter. It's explicitly incomplete, and makes life easier if you're just starting out with the game to avoid it. If you've got a player who gets attracted to it, let them do the work of learning the system.

THIS. Seriously just say no to sorcery, I've been running the game for over a year now and I still don't understand it. 

The rest of @Crel's response is a solid guide which I also cheerfully endorse. 👍

The first step in casting spirit magic is a POWx5 roll. If this succeeds, then the magic points for the spell are expended, including any additional magic points committed to overcome resistance such as Countermagic.

The POW vs POW resistance roll takes place after that. 

23 hours ago, davecake said:

Ah, no, the Swords of Ibiros really were just mass produced permanent Bladesharp 3, and also notoriously blasphemous God Learner magic from the infamous Clanking City. So probably not an easy or sensible thing for PCs to recreate.

I have the preview of the Gods book. Yes, Gustbran has access to enchant spells as an initiate, though fairly normal ones. More powerful magic weapons would be matrices for spells, or have a spirit bound into them, I think. 

 

 

Good to know about the Swords of Ibiros, even if I'm not familiar with that part of the lore (or the Clanking City). So the Rapier found in Urvantan's Tower is probably one of those. I presume that whilst making them is generally forbidden, using one that you, ah, found tends to be rather less so. 

The Gustbran write up sounds fairly close to what I put together as a home brew, although does it include Enchant (Iron) at the Rune Master level? 

For various reasons we've adopted fairly strict interpretations of declarations of intent but have deferred death to the end of the next round to guarantee a chance at a reaction.

On 7/29/2020 at 7:05 PM, davecake said:

Waves at John

Crel misses out the most important bit - the ritual itself. You go into combat with a Fireblade on the weapon (or any heat sufficient to temper the blade and keep it up through the whole ritual, but Fireblade is by far the easiest for most people), then attack an intelligent enemy and sacrifice the POW (or at least, complete the ritual). If the attack fails, the ritual isn’t completed correctly (no POW loss), if the attacks hits but the enemy survives the ritual fails and the POW is lost, if the blow hits and the enemy dies, the ritual is a success - POW lost and weapon is enchanted when wielded by the wielder. +1  damage, +5% to hit and parry, and +2HP (+3 if it was iron). 
It’s supposed to be unconnected to any god, so castable by just about anyone. I really like it, it’s a fun but not overpowering bump for PCs and the ritual is both fun to play out and evocative, with its human sacrifice/temper by quenching in blood themes. 
no idea how it would be adapted to RQG. 

Waves at Dave

Yes, I picked up Borderlands & Beyond which has the ritual in it and it seemed interesting. I could use it straight up in RQG (and may do) but  my main reason for asking was if there was a way for a PC to replicate this:

On 7/29/2020 at 7:15 PM, metcalph said:

I think the Iron Rapier in Urvantntarn's Tower could possible have been made by Ibiros (of the Machine City fame) as they were always said to have bladesharp 3 back in the original Different Worlds 24 article.

I don't know that part of the lore, alas. 

I have a new player who has opted to play a crafter, & for whom I've done a homebrew Cult of Gustbran with access to Enchantment Spells as an Initiate (which from what I've read elsewhere seems to be the special thing for Gustbran). 

So I was looking at that offhand reference to "Swords of Sharpness" in RQG and wondering what it referred to.

17 hours ago, Crel said:

"Swords of Sharpness" are one of the items in Chaosium's RuneQuest Classic publication Plunder. It's available on its own in PDF, or the magic items section (the main reason to buy it, IMO) is also included, with some bonus content, in the Glorantha Classics series publication Borderlands & Beyond.

I presume some alterations will be needed to the Swords of Sharpness entry due to general changes between RQC and RQG in how Rune magic/POW sacrifice operates, but I'd imagine the basic mechanics are the same. Off the top of my head, I think it basically boils down to sacrificing one POW, doing a ritual, and the sword deals +1 damage and has +5% to hit. I remember that the magic works only for the person who did the ritual.

Excellent, thanks for your response and I’ll check that out later.