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I started a new QuestWorlds campaign in germany


Chiarina

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After 10 months of learning the HeroQuest rules, becoming acquainted to Glorantha (at least rudimentary), studying the "coming storm / eleven lights" campaign (and the two Sartar sourcebooks), writing players-wanted, getting refusals, getting expressions of interest turning into refusals, convincing players on cons and running three demonstration rounds I finally reached my goal. Yesterday six players finished their characters and we had kind of a prequel afterwards. For the most part we´re experienced roleplayer, but completely new to HeroQuest and Glorantha. We had a very fine evening - and some questions. Maybe I´ll ask some of them in this thread. For the present a novice from germany sends kind regards to the more experienced like-minded gamers.

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It sounds as though you were very persistent. Glad to welcome you aboard.

If you have any questions, please ask. We are a friendly bunch and you should get quick answers.

Simon Phipp - Caldmore Chameleon - Wallowing in my elitism since 1982. Many Systems, One Family. Just a fanboy. 

www.soltakss.com/index.html

Jonstown Compendium author. Find my contributions here

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4 hours ago, Chiarina said:

After 10 months of learning the HeroQuest rules, becoming acquainted to Glorantha (at least rudimentary), studying the "coming storm / eleven lights" campaign (and the two Sartar sourcebooks), writing players-wanted, getting refusals, getting expressions of interest turning into refusals, convincing players on cons and running three demonstration rounds I finally reached my goal. Yesterday six players finished their characters and we had kind of a prequel afterwards. For the most part we´re experienced roleplayer, but completely new to HeroQuest and Glorantha. We had a very fine evening - and some questions. Maybe I´ll ask some of them in this thread. For the present a novice from germany sends kind regards to the more experienced like-minded gamers.

Congratulations. Glad to have you aboard.

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Thank you for your hearty welcome. Perhaps you´re interested in some words about my "persistence":

I only had one singular Glorantha experience with RuneQuest 35 years ago and was fascinated by the setting, but afterwards there were no RuneQuest gamers around me. So for a long time I played other systems (but never forgot Glorantha).

For 5 or 6 years I gradually changed the kind of systems I was playing. Now I prefer narrative systems, ruleslight systems and even complete freeform gaming. I noticed that there is a new edition of RuneQuest on the market, but was not up to play such a rules heavyweight. A little later a friend showed me HeroQuest. A narrativist System for Glorantha? I was interested, but the system alone wasn´t enough to get me.

Still later I read a review of "The coming storm" and "The eleven light". It was a very well written review of a very well written publication and made me want to run it. That was my trigger.

Some things I already really love: My gamers can throw their dice, but I´m able to run a game without considering the stats of nonplayercharacters, for example. I´m much more able to concentrate on colourful descriptions and listen to my players if I don´t have to consider stats.

I´m no encyclopedist. I like Glorantha, but if there is something happening in my game that is not canon, I´m not too miserable. (I like the YGWV motto).

It is not easy to find gamers for HeroQuest in germany, but - yes - if there is a game I want to experience badly, I can be persistent.

The preparation for the campaign wasn´t easy, too. I realized, that it is not enough to know something about Glorantha. My gamers should know something about it, too. Narrowly I hit the balance between uttering too much and too little information. That was difficult for me.

I think we overcame the biggest obstacles. And that´s not all. Most of my gamers turend out to be unusually active. Three of them are researching Glorantha on their own and tell the others of their discoveries. Many emails were written in which the characters and the setting were discussed, a question log is arranged, one player even wants to write a synopsis of the characters. I was surprised and felt a little bit of the start-up spirit I experienced in the 80ies.

Our prequel was short (end of 1617, we played the funeral of Jordarn the Clash) but atmospheric, some illustrious personalities held funeral orations and in a second scene the characters saved a little girl of 4 years from falling down the cliff of red cow fort (some of the litter the people throw down the cliff got stuck in bushes growing off the rocks - without a sense for the danger the girl climbed at half height and searched for grave goods because she wanted to give the deceased something for his afterlife).

Now I´m looking forward to our next session in two weeks.

-

Maybe here a first question:

Is there a publication beside the rulesbook with explanations to further runes? Two of my gamers are interested in the fate rune and the bear rune (Odaylas rune), but I have no information.

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The bear or Hunter rune is a fairly specialized non-core rune which concerns (you might have guessed it) bears and hunting, and magic which somehow fits this theme.

The Fate rune is part of the core rune set, but is not really suitable for player characters. There are few deities which have this rune - Arachne Solara is named as its owner and doesn't really have direct worshipers, at least among humans. (The Wild Temple rites are dedicated to her.) There is no standard deity which grants magic tied to the Fate rune, it is more a rune for cosmic insight than for derived magics. One possible use might be prophecy.

Telling how it is excessive verbis

 

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3 hours ago, Chiarina said:

Is there a publication beside the rulesbook with explanations to further runes? Two of my gamers are interested in the fate rune and the bear rune (Odaylas rune), but I have no information.

The best place to go for the bear rune is the cult writeup of Odayla in Sartar Companion.  If you don't have, the pdf is available on the Chaosium site (though the hardcopy is out-of-print). 

Regarding the Fate rune, as Joerg noted there aren't many deities that have this. Ty Kora Tek, who keeps the dead souls in the Caves of Silence, is another.  The RQG notes on the Fate rune state: "Very few cults use this as an expression of the way of the world. Instead, it is used by downtrodden cultures that have no other explanation for their status, and conversely by those at the top, to justify their own positions."

That said, what does your player think they could do with the Fate rune? A way to divine what might happen? A way to enforce "fate" over "luck" or chance? A way to force the dead to go to their resting place? 

Another deity who might have the Fate rune is Jajagappa, a deity from the region of Saird (north of Dragon Pass) who is the armed psychopomp of the Underworld, in which role he carries a net (i.e. a manifestation of Fate) and is accompanied by a pack made from lost souls he has caught.  He has the ability to go and fight the souls of the powerful dead, and drag even great magicians to Death. His net is crowded with less powerful souls.   He also appears in the mundane world in response to certain portents as a pack of demonic dogs led by a grim and fearsome specter in the robes of a king, jet-black as the rest: The Wild Hunt. 

Likely Ty Kora Tek or Jajagappa are the easiest approaches to the Fate rune. They know the rituals to prepare corpses, can send ghosts and other lost souls on to Hell, and help keep the separation between the worlds of Life and Death.

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3 hours ago, Chiarina said:

Thank you for your hearty welcome. Perhaps you´re interested in some words about my "persistence":

 

Wow, I felt a real affinity of your first 8 paragraphs. A look over my posts (if you  can get through my attempts at humour) will show that I have felt and said the same kind of things. It is not a parallel, there are many differences in your story and mine; for instance, I did get in a few more games (many more) before my long game drought, than yourself, I like rules heavy games but narrative is fine (loved white wolf games and while I am not heavy on canon (canon lite?) I can do either.

So affinity, how? The desire for a simpler time as GM to be able to focus on what the characters are telling me rather than focusing on the rules. That I understand.

Nothing wrong with the rest of the post, it is just kinda cool to see your thoughts reflected back at you, so that is why I separate out the beginning. It’s even better when you see the similarities and then the differences just melt away. The love of the Red Cow series, I get that. Ian is becoming a new Gloranthan hero to me (Sorry, no pressure Ian, the work you have done is marvellous, though). 

Moving on through the post....

Love what you call drama as well, the little girl not only set a good tone for what a hero is but allowed you to expose Gloranthan fact in a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down kind of way. No need to give the characters a page of dry cult burial facts when a story from a child and what she sees as important and the importance she places on that to the point of attempting her own quest for burial goods and why... .as a side note will illustrate it well. I understand why your players want to give back as much.

Carry on, but feel free to share your tales with us as well, please.

Cheers

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... remember, with a TARDIS, one is never late for breakfast!

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Thank you for your answers. I read some interesting things about Odayla and the bear rune.

Here is another question. Is there any rule about the targets of magic? As an Odayla initiate you may use your rune for things bears are able to. You´ll become a little more like a bear. But is it possible to use it on another character? Make someone other than yourself like a bear? I´m unsure.

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3 hours ago, Chiarina said:

Thank you for your answers. I read some interesting things about Odayla and the bear rune.

Here is another question. Is there any rule about the targets of magic? As an Odayla initiate you may use your rune for things bears are able to. You´ll become a little more like a bear. But is it possible to use it on another character? Make someone other than yourself like a bear? I´m unsure.

Good question!

As a general rule, theist magic is "Something you are", but at least in RQ there are lots of theist rune spells that can be cast on others just like on yourself. In HeroQuest, I would reserve this blessing of others to rune level characters (Godtalkers or higher) unless it is obvious stuff like healing.

In RQG Odayla basically gets the same rune spells I would expect a Rathori bear Hsunchen to have - no spear or bow magic, no mountain-toppling feat (as in the Plundering of Aron, alongside Hedkoranth).

Telling how it is excessive verbis

 

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On 9/15/2019 at 1:50 PM, Chiarina said:

Maybe I´ll ask some of them in this thread. For the present a novice from germany sends kind regards to the more experienced like-minded gamers.

If you are going to Essen Spiel come and drop by the Chaosium stand I'm happy to talk HeroQuest Glorantha. 

-----

Search the Glorantha Resource Site: https://wellofdaliath.chaosium.com. Search the Glorantha mailing list archives: https://glorantha.steff.in/digests/

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7 hours ago, Chiarina said:

Here is another question. Is there any rule about the targets of magic? As an Odayla initiate you may use your rune for things bears are able to. You´ll become a little more like a bear. But is it possible to use it on another character? Make someone other than yourself like a bear? I´m unsure.

Yes, of course as long as there is a good story element for it. If the player wants their Hero to be the recipient of Bear Magic, that's great. I would roll to see if it happens and depending on the degree of success or failure give them a Benefit of victory or consequence of defeat.

For example if the group need to climb a rock face the Bear Hero could say I use my Bearmagic to give you bear claws. If they succeed they get a Benefit of victory eg Bear Claws +3, that lasts until a roll on it fails as usual. If they had a high beast rune, I'd let them cement it to that later (1hp/per claw point or just 1hp if they used it well in the story)

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Search the Glorantha Resource Site: https://wellofdaliath.chaosium.com. Search the Glorantha mailing list archives: https://glorantha.steff.in/digests/

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thank you for your answers... even though the answers about my question on the target of magic sound a little bit divers for me.

We had a second session that went well. My players turned out to be from the narrative variety... I´m happy about it.

David, thank you for your friendly invitation, but I don´t think that I´m driving to the "Spiel" in Essen this year.

@ Zit: Our group is located in Frankfurt am Main. Are you from germany, too?

Maybe one more question: Do you include every test into the pass/fail-cycle? ...or only the most important tests? ...or only the all-dominant test at the end of an act? Is there a rule of thumb?

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11 hours ago, Chiarina said:

Do you include every test into the pass/fail-cycle?

I do not explicitly follow the pass/fail cycle, but like dramatic action at the center of a session and its conclusion, so those tend to be tough, extended contests (aka memorable). 

I don't have a rule-of-thumb.  It's more assessing whether a given challenge seems like it should be difficult or not. But if there's been a string of failures, I may go down to a moderate level of difficulty. 

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18 hours ago, Chiarina said:

Our group is located in Frankfurt am Main. Are you from germany, too?

That's very handy - every year in Bacharrach just down the Rhine, there is a convention in which Glorantha games are run - ETERNAL CON. I know it's not hard to get to as I always fly into Frankfurt. I was there this year running HeroQuest Glorantha. Sadly not there next year due to a con clash, but others maybe...

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Search the Glorantha Resource Site: https://wellofdaliath.chaosium.com. Search the Glorantha mailing list archives: https://glorantha.steff.in/digests/

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2 minutes ago, Chiarina said:

I already know of the ETERNAL CON and was tempted to attend.

So far I didn´t have the guts to come because my english could be better.

Maybe in 2 years I´ll be more courageous.

Don't worry about your English, it's better than my German. There're enough dual language speakers that it's not a problem.

-----

Search the Glorantha Resource Site: https://wellofdaliath.chaosium.com. Search the Glorantha mailing list archives: https://glorantha.steff.in/digests/

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  • 3 months later...

Meanwhile we finished the first adventure ("The Missing") with the following outcome: The heroes attacked the lunar guardians at the gravehill. They didn´t kill anyone, but the Lunars could identify two of them. This two characters are living in hiding now. The Clan had to pay a moderate amount of 10 cows for compensation. The heroes could soothe the anger of Wandle, the water of the Heortcreek is drinkable again, the children under the sway of the nymph are free, but two characters acted cautious (and cowardly?) when they observed the clash between Rostakus Twice-Outlawed and Renedala, the sister of Farnantyr. Broddi Strongkin is content with them, but their standing in the Clan of the Red Cow is not the best at the moment.

At the moment the heroes prepare to participate in Jorstak´s raid to prevent the worst.

I have two other players concerning themselves with the rules (one of them is mikyra). They are very helpful and we nearly are out of the woods by now. The many NPC´s are still a challenge for us, but slowly we get accustomed to them.

The group is engaged and I´m happy with the game. Next goal: Speaking more In-Character.

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On 10/4/2019 at 1:44 AM, Chiarina said:

@ Zit: Our group is located in Frankfurt am Main. Are you from germany, too?

Sorry for this late answer. I'm living in Germany, but in the Bonn area (BTW, if somebody lives there as well, I stay open to play from time to time).

 

On 10/4/2019 at 8:07 PM, David Scott said:

That's very handy - every year in Bacharrach just down the Rhine, there is a convention in which Glorantha games are run - ETERNAL CON. I know it's not hard to get to as I always fly into Frankfurt. I was there this year running HeroQuest Glorantha. Sadly not there next year due to a con clash, but others maybe...

That's a very nice convention, I advise you to go. I just wished there could be a single-day fee for those living nearby and who cannot (or don't want) to stay the whole 3 days.

Wind on the Steppes, role playing among the steppe Nomads. The  running campaign and the blog

 

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"Allright, o.k., you win!"

I thought about it thoroughly, checked my dates and then registered for Eternal Con 2020.

I already got a provisional reply. Apparently there will be a bed for me.

Let´s see, what is possible, if I´m roleplaying in english.

If it doesn´t work at all, I´ll play trollball and watch the rhine gorge.

Thank you for the kick up my backside.

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6 hours ago, Chiarina said:

"Allright, o.k., you win!"

I thought about it thoroughly, checked my dates and then registered for Eternal Con 2020.

I already got a provisional reply. Apparently there will be a bed for me.

Let´s see, what is possible, if I´m roleplaying in english.

If it doesn´t work at all, I´ll play trollball and watch the rhine gorge.

Thank you for the kick up my backside.

I'm pretty sure, there will be opportunities to roleplay in German too ... 🙂

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