All about Broos

[Lordabdul]

So I'm thinking about various interesting ways to get broos involved in a RQG/HQG adventure aside for the usual "Chaos monster at the end of the book", and I'm having trouble figuring out a whole bunch of things about how they fit in Glorantha.

1. Basic motivations: Broos are mostly worshippers of Mallia and Thed, and it looks like they really just want to (1) multiply, (2) spread disease, (3) fuck Chaos-haters up. Is there anything else they want in life?
2. Associations with humans: apparently the Lunar Empire was notorious for having some occasional "agreements" with Broos during the occupation of Dragon Pass.
   1. What was the gist of the agreement? Just "we don't kill you if you only kill or infect Sartarites/Tarshites"?
   2. They could apparently be rarely seen in Lunar market towns trading stuff. What could they have been trading?
3. Impregnation: in order to multiply ("Broo Imperative #1"), they need to impregnate big enough animals.
   1. I think they mostly go with cattle-like animals (wild or domesticated) because they're just easier to, ahem, "work on" than, say, bears and wolves and humans?
   2. Are there enough wild deer/cows/etc. available for this in heavily settled areas like Dragon Pass? Or is there not, and that's why they have to go through the trouble of taking from human herds?
   3. The Bestiary and Cult Compendium aren't clear if they would more often capture the animal for the gestation period (~2.5 seasons), or more often just leave the impregnated animal to roam freely. I would assume the former? (it requires them to stay put for a longer time, or drag their pregnant herd around, but it greatly increases the survival of the larvae I think)
   4. Do humans bother "curing" impregnated animals? Or do they just kill the animal? (I don't imagine anybody would want to drink milk from a goat who had a Broo larvae in it, no matter what the local healer says!)
   5. Can you actually tell that an animal is impregnated, before it's too late? Would Broos just stealth-fuck the herd at night, and leave the people to figure it out later? Even if that's only a 5% success rate, it might be easy enough to be the Broos' favourite method?
   6. Would Broos actually seek particular animals to impregnate in order to get specific features? Like, is selective breeding a thing with Broos? Would impregnating a human lead to a Broo that could almost "pass" as a human, which could be very valuable?
4. Disease spreading: ("Broo Imperative #2"):
   1. Broos are basically just murder-hobo-types that roam the land, fuck shit up, and cast disease inducing spells to as many things/people as possible?
   2. They're still supposed to be intelligent creatures, though. How elaborate could they get to infect more people... like, infecting fields or water supplies? Can you replace or corrupt a minor river spirit with a disease spirit for instance? Can you think of other evil plans?
   3. Unlike impregnation, I assume people would try and heal animals that got a disease from a Broo raid?

Thanks!

Edited November 17, 2019 by lordabdul

[Bill the barbarian]

8 minutes ago, lordabdul said:

Basic motivations: Broos are mostly worshippers of Mallia and Thed, and it looks like they really just want to (1) multiply, (2) spread disease, (3) fuck Chaos-haters up. Is there anything else they want in life?

Their are rumours of an illuminated broo who simply wishes to illuminate others (though kidnapping and....)  

Yes I could know who and where (or would should I chose to look, but way too any sources to look though so let’s leave it as a rumour) It still answers lordabdul’s call for other motives...

...but If anyone else does decide to make the effortt and name the individual may I recommend spoilers...

10 minutes ago, lordabdul said:

Associations with humans: apparently the Lunar Empire was notorious for having some occasional "agreements" with Broos during the occupation of Dragon Pass.

Mercenary units were made of broos and other chaos scum. so the motive here would be financial.Just a couple of suggestions 

PS and to be truly whacky one could have a broo healer?

Cheers

[Qizilbashwoman]

Well, they have the motivations of any sentient being in their condition. They aren't spirits, driven by weird desires. They are, fundamentally, just Chaos-infested hsunchen. They do terrible things and need to be murderised, but their motives aren't inscrutable. They are fairly miserable, they squabble over power, and so forth. We have seen a few Broo stricken with the misery of their life end up purifying themselves of Chaos, even (I've mentioned one priest of Zola Fel a few times), usually in the course of attempting suicide.

I think their plans can be pretty complicated. There was a neat scenario someone wrote for Prax about a broo shaman running a heroquest and using his minions to throw the Oasis Folk off his scent called "Belly of the Beast" by Andrew Larsen.

6 minutes ago, Bill the barbarian said:

PS and to be truly whacky one could have a broo healer?

there are indeed Chalana Arroy broo women

Edited November 17, 2019 by Qizilbashwoman

[Bill the barbarian]

9 minutes ago, Qizilbashwoman said:

there are indeed Chalana Arroy broo women

I did not know that

 

I think I may have just been barbarian-splained....

[Qizilbashwoman]

1 minute ago, Bill the barbarian said:

I did not know that

 

I think I may have just been barbarian-splained....

yeah i learned this implausible fact myself because the Unicorn Ralzakark built them a sanctuary. He gots the heals in his empire. Female broo are rare enough...

[Bill the barbarian]

4 minutes ago, Qizilbashwoman said:

yeah i learned this implausible fact myself because the Unicorn Ralzakark built them a sanctuary. He gots the heals in his empire. Female broo are rare enough...

No I mean you are splainin' this to me when I do already know it. I am sorry, I should mention that I have been playing RQ for 34 years now... Ergo I am thinnin’ that y’all might be barbarian-splainin’ this to me.

Edited November 17, 2019 by Bill the barbarian

[Qizilbashwoman]

9 minutes ago, Bill the barbarian said:

barbarian-splainin’ this to me.

i was confused because this suggests I am the barbarian in the equation, and I am not up to snuff with barbarising.

[Atgxtg]

I know the Wild Healer of the Rockwood Mountains Is a Broo Chalana Arroy healer, but I never read anything that states gender or that there was more than one such being. What book or article does  the group of female healers come from, it looks interesting. Do they all go by the title of Wild Healer of the Rockwood Mountains, or is is passed down, or is that just  one Broo and the rest known by other names?

Solitary good Broo are interesting, but a community of good Broo is a revelation. It hints that maybe Broo might somehow be healed of their association with disease and chaos.

[EricW]

Broos aren't just carriers of infection, they are an infection. They hate the world for imposing rules on them, embracing chaos features is an act of defiance against the rules. They destroy and despoil. Yet they choose to remain a part of the world - they could all leap into the chaos voids their Thed shamen create with vile rituals, but mostly they choose to remain a part of the world they hate.

But hey, they're chaos monsters - their belief system does not have to make sense.

Edited November 17, 2019 by EricW

[Sumath]

5 hours ago, lordabdul said:

Basic motivations: Broos are mostly worshippers of Mallia and Thed, and it looks like they really just want to (1) multiply, (2) spread disease, (3) fuck Chaos-haters up. Is there anything else they want in life?

I'd say their main motivation is their nihilistic hatred of order and life, in so far as most living creatures represent highly ordered and harmonious forms of existence, something that Broo instinctively detest. Even the Broo desire to reproduce reflects this, since it results in a chaos monstrosity that will be similarly opposed to other forms of life.

The Thed Rune spell Chaos Spawn fits perfectly with Broo mentality, creating a howling void into which they sacrifice living creatures, and summoning a Chaos monster to aid them in whatever destruction they are undertaking.

Causing disease is another expression, since disease is a corruption of life and a breakdown of the order that allows life to continue.

Disease, rape, murder, desecration, infection, vandalism, sacrificing to Chaos gods, and undermining foes of Chaos are all expressions of their visceral hatred of humans and the Elder Races. 

Broo society is simplistic and based around gang mentality, with the most formidable Broo becoming the leader. But they will temporarily participate in more complex hierarchies if it will help them achieve long-term goals. The existence of Broo in the wilds and upon the periphery of human societies means they must be capable of long-term strategies, so I don't think they are always necessarily impulsive.

Therefore, I see Broo as being capable of anything that fits with their nihilistic perspective, and this will include forming temporary partnerships with other Chaos creatures, such as harpies, scorpionmen or ogres, that seek to pervert life or nature, or end it entirely. In other words, they will suffer just enough civilised behaviour to destroy civilisation.

But then there is the fact that Broo are also living creatures, so they will also foster self-hatred and hatred of other Broo and Chaos creatures. It is simply a matter of them hating non-Chaos creatures even more. So, I don't think they would capture animals they have impregnated - Broo would not much care whether an individual offspring survived or not, they would just seek to create as many abominations as they could.

Likewise, I can't see them selective breeding, because a) this would represent an aspiration for a type of ordered life, and b) the chances of Chaos features occurring could render this futile anyway.

[David Scott]

6 hours ago, lordabdul said:

Associations with humans: apparently the Lunar Empire was notorious for having some occasional "agreements" with Broos during the occupation of Dragon Pass.

1. What was the gist of the agreement? Just "we don't kill you if you only kill or infect Sartarites/Tarshites"?
2. They could apparently be rarely seen in Lunar market towns trading stuff. What could they have been trading?

Side-stepping the Lunar Empire here, the Praxians use occasionally use Broo mercenaries. The Nomad Gods board game covers this (rulebook here) page 57 details this:

Quote

Alliance with them has its drawbacks since their social and political practices are as bizarre and repulsive as their private affairs.

An example of this was at the Battle of Moonbroth I in 1610 where "a contingent of broos" fought alongside the Praxians against the Lunar/Sable axis, "broos, and Berserkers were crushed by the hoplites after their mounted allies were driven from the field". GtG page 446.

There are 10k broos in Prax and the Wastes making them a force to be reckoned with. It would seem that allying with them would only be possible if there was no Storm Bull involvement.

[David Scott]

6 hours ago, lordabdul said:

I'm having trouble figuring out a whole bunch of things about how they fit in Glorantha.

Have you looked at their section in the Guide under less elder races starting page 106? It covers a lot of your questions.

The major reference is in Borderlands, Referee's Handbook pages 23-25, Classic edition available here, although Borderlands & Beyond has the same text.

Others include the broo encounter section of Pavis GTA and if you've access to Tales of the Reaching Moon 8, the Chaos special, it has some excellent articles on Broo Society and some nice broo pictures (including the legendary priapic broo).

 

[Bill the barbarian]

15 minutes ago, David Scott said:

Pavis GTA

Ah, good ol’ Pavis: Grand Theft Antelope lives again!

[Joerg]

2 hours ago, David Scott said:

An example of this was at the Battle of Moonbroth I in 1610 where "a contingent of broos" fought alongside the Praxians against the Lunar/Sable axis, "broos, and Berserkers were crushed by the hoplites after their mounted allies were driven from the field". GtG page 446.

There are 10k broos in Prax and the Wastes making them a force to be reckoned with. It would seem that allying with them would only be possible if there was no Storm Bull involvement.

In that case the berserkers at Moonbroth 1 must have been Basmoli and not Bullies.

One way to ally broos is to drive them before you at lance point and harry them into enemy lines.

9 hours ago, Qizilbashwoman said:

there are indeed Chalana Arroy broo women

Huh? There are Chalana Arroy broo healers among Ralzakark's castrati followers, alongside with the Humakti. All illuminated. The CA ones probably aren't worshipers of Malia, although treating disease probably is extremely low on their agenda.

 

9 hours ago, lordabdul said:

The Bestiary and Cult Compendium aren't clear if they would more often capture the animal for the gestation period (~2.5 seasons), or more often just leave the impregnated animal to roam freely. I would assume the former? (it requires them to stay put for a longer time, or drag their pregnant herd around, but it greatly increases the survival of the larvae I think)

Wild broos are those that hatch from herds either kept by adult broos or under observation by adults. All other broo births are feral broo births, which apparently are the norm unless a broo leader thinks he will reap the fruits from breeding a new generation of followers.

Survival of the larvae isn't much of an issue.  Feral broos are well adapted as apex predators, even shortly after hatching.

Broos are anything but caring parents.

 

The rules for "Cure Chaos Wound" suggest that the spell is used to kill broo larvae.  Whether it is used for an entire herd or whether that herd is written off as a total loss and burned may be a matter of spell economy and value of the infected beasts, I suppose.

9 hours ago, lordabdul said:

Can you actually tell that an animal is impregnated, before it's too late? Would Broos just stealth-fuck the herd at night, and leave the people to figure it out later? Even if that's only a 5% success rate, it might be easy enough to be the Broos' favourite method?

I think that the infected beasts might show some symptoms of unease, but that the broo larva takes some time before becoming an actual tumor that may be visible from outside. If they infected a beast supposed to become pregnant, the impregnation might be mistaken as in--species. Impregnated male beasts will raise eyebrows sooner or later.

Impregnating someone's livestock is done for the fun of it. The infected beasts are doomed unless some Healer interferes, and there may or may not be new feral broos, or possibly ones that the orogenitors might civilize as followers (until they get too old and weak to survive in broo society). Causing damage is the main pleasure here, apart from possible enjoyment of the act.

Hosts for a broo larva don't need to be much larger than a good-sized goat or sheep or herding alynx. Miniature breeds probably get eaten or randomly killed and defiled rather than impregnated. Larger herd beasts may provide some advantage, but body size is not directly inherited from the host, and a ripe broo larva will fit into the guts of a sheep or goat just fine. They do some growing in the first weeks of their lives outside of the hosts.

 

The text in borderlands is a bit unclear when it states (Borderlands and Beyond p.39)

Quote

 Each birth gives rise to a single larval broo, capable of movement at  birth,  and  already  possessing  teeth.  Every  such mating, unless the target animal is already pregnant, will  invariably  produce  such  offspring.

Does this mean that pregnant females are immune to broo larvae, or that the larva will fail to hatch if it has in-species siblings?

[scott-martin]

15 minutes ago, Joerg said:

There are Chalana Arroy broo healers among Ralzakark's castrati followers, alongside with the Humakti.

Yeah, "woman" and "female" have different connotations in the homosocial unicorn empire. And since even male CA can be called "sisters" or "white ladies" with no misgender it gets especially complicated with his illuminated healers. As the Book of Drastic Resolutions says, "the brothers of wakboth are women, the aspirants to chaos are men." 

[Ian Absentia]

4 hours ago, David Scott said:

An example of this was at the Battle of Moonbroth I in 1610 where "a contingent of broos" fought alongside the Praxians against the Lunar/Sable axis, "broos, and Berserkers were crushed by the hoplites after their mounted allies were driven from the field". GtG page 446.

"Alongside" may be a generous interpretation of being employed against the same opponent, possibly/probably on a different front.  It's probably fair to assume that there was no unit coordination, and thus the "crushed by hoplites" endgame.  Also, no need to speculate the identity of the "Berserkers," because I can't imagine either Basmoli or Storm Bulls were thrilled to learn that broos were fighting on their side, if they were even aware of it at the time.  Still, enemy of my enemy and all that.  If the Praxians had won the war in 1610 they doubtless would have returned to oppressing and exterminating each other in due course.

The bigger question is -- and this is directly pertinent to the original post -- how did anyone aside from the likes of Ralzakark gather together a contingent of broos large enough and cohesive enough to constitute a "unit" on the board of Nomad Gods?  And how did anyone parley with them to orgnise against the Lunars/Sables?  Or did the broos simply see an ongoing fight and decide that it was the right time to prioritise and focus their aggression against an enemy that the Praxian tribes had put on their heels?

!i!

Edited November 17, 2019 by Ian Absentia

[Joerg]

25 minutes ago, Ian Absentia said:

The bigger question is -- and this is directly pertinent to the original post -- how did anyone aside from the likes of Ralzakark gather together a contingent of broos large enough and cohesive enough to constitute a "unit" on the board of Nomad Gods?  And how did anyone parley with them to orgnise against the Lunars/Sables?  Or did the broos simply see an ongoing fight and decide that it was the right time to prioritise and focus their aggression against an enemy that the Praxian tribes had put on their heels?

That's an effect of Nomad Gods. When the nomads make ready for war, you may encounter a regiment-sized force of broos at an oasis. In case of feral broo, getting them to fight for you is a matter of providing them with food and threat to get them to move into the direction you want. In case of wild/civilized broos, a broo leader may have done the work of organizing the critters.

Allying with Chaos would reduce the morale of the allied forces - in NG the result of the D6 would be reduced by 1, a significant effect. On the other hand, the broos were quite effective shock troops, and not allying with them upon discovering them could mean you lose the forces that discovered them.

[Bill the barbarian]

10 minutes ago, Joerg said:

Allying with Chaos would reduce the morale of the allied forces - in NG the result of the D6 would be reduced by 1, a significant effect. On the other hand, the broos were quite effective shock troops, and not allying with them upon discovering them could mean you lose the forces that discovered them.

Broos as a wild force of nature, akin to a wildfire. Love it!

[Akhôrahil]

11 minutes ago, Bill the barbarian said:

Broos as a wild force of nature, akin to a wildfire. Love it!

They are literally called Chaos Floods in Dorastor.

[Bill the barbarian]

3 minutes ago, Akhôrahil said:

They are literally called Chaos Floods in Dorastor.

Without looking it up I seem to recall the Dinacoli Tribe members near Snakepipe Hollow having chaos floods as well though I think they consist of more than Broos.

[soltakss]

13 hours ago, lordabdul said:

Basic motivations: Broos are mostly worshippers of Mallia and Thed, and it looks like they really just want to (1) multiply, (2) spread disease, (3) fuck Chaos-haters up. Is there anything else they want in life?

Making more Broo, bringing pain to the world, killing things, spreading disease, befouling nice areas, spoiling wells, that kind of thing.

If Broo find feral Broo, i.e. those born without nearby Broo to guide them, then they normally adopt the ferals and bring them up as educated Broo.

Don't forget that some people become Broo by various means, for example taking on more Chaos features had a chance of transformation into a Broo. Such Broo might have their own, previous, agenda, which wouldn't be Broo-like. Of course, they'd probably want the above as well.

Ralzakark's Castrati Broo have a different agenda as well, to Serve Ralzakark and Bring Honour to Humakt.

13 hours ago, lordabdul said:

Associations with humans: apparently the Lunar Empire was notorious for having some occasional "agreements" with Broos during the occupation of Dragon Pass.

1. What was the gist of the agreement? Just "we don't kill you if you only kill or infect Sartarites/Tarshites"?
2. They could apparently be rarely seen in Lunar market towns trading stuff. What could they have been trading?

The Lunars accept Chaos as part of their official doctrine and beliefs, so they accept Broo. Obviously, they don't want Broo kiling things and spreading disease, except when it suits the Lunars.

Some Lunars are also Priests of Primal Chaos and have an affinity with Broo. They use them as shock troops, as assassins, to destabilise society and so on. The Broo are willing pawns, as they get to rape and murder without being chased by the authorities.

Lunars have some control over Snakepipe Hollow and the Footprint, as they cause Chaos Eruptions from them as distractions in the Hero Wars.

As has been mentioned, Praxians sometimes hire Broo mercenaries.

13 hours ago, lordabdul said:

Impregnation: in order to multiply ("Broo Imperative #1"), they need to impregnate big enough animals.

1. I think they mostly go with cattle-like animals (wild or domesticated) because they're just easier to, ahem, "work on" than, say, bears and wolves and humans?

There are examples of exotic Broo, for example Bison Broo, Rhino Broo and even an Allosaurus Broo, or was it a Triceratops Broo, I forget. 

13 hours ago, lordabdul said:

Are there enough wild deer/cows/etc. available for this in heavily settled areas like Dragon Pass? Or is there not, and that's why they have to go through the trouble of taking from human herds?

In my Glorantha, Broo normally keep small flocks of goats, to provide breeding stock. They also mate with any flocks or herds they encounter in their travels. Praxian Herd Beasts are good prey, as they are normally in large herds, so are easier to sneak up on and attack.

13 hours ago, lordabdul said:

The Bestiary and Cult Compendium aren't clear if they would more often capture the animal for the gestation period (~2.5 seasons), or more often just leave the impregnated animal to roam freely. I would assume the former? (it requires them to stay put for a longer time, or drag their pregnant herd around, but it greatly increases the survival of the larvae I think)

Oh, they normally leave the animals to take care of themselves, as Broo-Birth is more frightening when it apparently spontaneously happens in a herd or flock. They often come back around birthing time to see if they can collect and adopt the young Broo.

13 hours ago, lordabdul said:

Do humans bother "curing" impregnated animals? Or do they just kill the animal? (I don't imagine anybody would want to drink milk from a goat who had a Broo larvae in it, no matter what the local healer says!)

There is a Cure Broo Birth spell, from Hero Wars, available to a subcult of Chalana Arroy, so that is a possibility. Cure Chaos Wound also cures Broo-Birth, by killing the Broo larva.

I would say that farmers would either cure the afflicted animal or kill it. nobody wants to see their animals torn apart from the iside by a baby Broo eating its way out of their body.

13 hours ago, lordabdul said:

Can you actually tell that an animal is impregnated, before it's too late? Would Broos just stealth-fuck the herd at night, and leave the people to figure it out later? Even if that's only a 5% success rate, it might be easy enough to be the Broos' favourite method?

Sense Chaos normally works, as could a good Animal Lore, if the beast is distressed. They'd have to know what to look for, though. Praxians would probably know the signs, as Broo are fairly commonplace, not sure about Dragon pass, though, except around Chaos Nests.

They definitely stealth-fuck and leave, coming back again later. It's a common terror tactic that Broo use. Talk about job satisfaction.

13 hours ago, lordabdul said:

Would Broos actually seek particular animals to impregnate in order to get specific features? Like, is selective breeding a thing with Broos? Would impregnating a human lead to a Broo that could almost "pass" as a human, which could be very valuable?

Sometimes they do this.

Ralzakark has tried to get a Pure-Born Broo, by controlling the mating of Broo with certain animals. He is aware of some prophecies, I think, according to Dorastor or Lords of Terror, so is trying to breed certain Broo for that. 

Broo can also do this on HeroQuests, go to find a magical beast, mate with it and collect the offspring.

For some reason, Broo mating with humans produce animal-headed Broo, often reverting to goat-like Broo. I suppose they could mate with Herd Men , as they are Beasts and could produce a Herd Man Broo that looks human. Certainly a herd Man Broo who mates with Herd Men or Humans could produce more human looking Broo. I'm not sure if they could pass for Human though, as Broo tend to be quite set in their ways.

13 hours ago, lordabdul said:

Disease spreading: ("Broo Imperative #2"):

1. Broos are basically just murder-hobo-types that roam the land, fuck shit up, and cast disease inducing spells to as many things/people as possible?

Yes, exactly that.

13 hours ago, lordabdul said:

They're still supposed to be intelligent creatures, though. How elaborate could they get to infect more people... like, infecting fields or water supplies? Can you replace or corrupt a minor river spirit with a disease spirit for instance? Can you think of other evil plans?

Yes, that happens, Muriah does this in some of the Praxian scenarios, for example. She's a Human Malia Priestess, but commands a clan of Broo.

I have had them infecting wells, polluting streams, mass-mating with a whole herd of beasts, but calming them with magic and casting Forget on them afterwards, so they don't know about it. I have also had them capture intelligent NPCs, mate with them in their sleep and release them all healed up, so they didn't know about it, only to explode in a Broo-Birth later on. all this takes some planning and access to specialised magic, though, so probably aren't for normal Broo.

13 hours ago, lordabdul said:

Unlike impregnation, I assume people would try and heal animals that got a disease from a Broo raid?

Yes, absolutely, animals are expensive and should be cured, if possible.

12 hours ago, Qizilbashwoman said:

We have seen a few Broo stricken with the misery of their life end up purifying themselves of Chaos, even (I've mentioned one priest of Zola Fel a few times), usually in the course of attempting suicide.

Part of my Cleansed One HeroQuest involves talking with someone infected by Chaos and trying to persuade them to go on the Cleansed One HeroQuest themselves.

There is a group of Praxians that can heal Chaos-afflicted beings, possibly the Three Bean circus, but I forget.

12 hours ago, Atgxtg said:

I know the Wild Healer of the Rockwood Mountains Is a Broo Chalana Arroy healer, but I never read anything that states gender or that there was more than one such being. What book or article does  the group of female healers come from, it looks interesting. Do they all go by the title of Wild Healer of the Rockwood Mountains, or is is passed down, or is that just  one Broo and the rest known by other names?

The Wild Healer of the Rockwoods is a Chalana Arroy Broo who is not Illuminated, as far as I know. It is a special case.

However, Ralzakark has some Chalana Arroy Broo who are dedicated Healers and help his Humakti Regiment. They might be female, as Thed does not allow female Broo to worship her, so they need to find another cult.

7 hours ago, EricW said:

Broos aren't just carriers of infection, they are an infection. They hate the world for imposing rules on them, embracing chaos features is an act of defiance against the rules. They destroy and despoil. Yet they choose to remain a part of the world - they could all leap into the chaos voids their Thed shamen create with vile rituals, but mostly they choose to remain a part of the world they hate.

But hey, they're chaos monsters - their belief system does not have to make sense.

Oh, it makes sense. They feel pain and misery and want everyone else to feel the same pain and misery. They follow the Raped Goddess and the Mad God, every act of mating honours both their Father and Mother Deities, an act of worship each and every time. 

3 hours ago, Joerg said:

In that case the berserkers at Moonbroth 1 must have been Basmoli and not Bullies.

Not necessarily. Storm Bullers are not stupid and will happily let Chaos Monsters on their side fight Chaos Monsters on the opposing side, as Chaos killing Chaos is always a good thing. They might think about mopping up afterwards. but the Waha Khans normally keep them in check.

3 hours ago, Joerg said:

If they infected a beast supposed to become pregnant, the impregnation might be mistaken as in--species. Impregnated male beasts will raise eyebrows sooner or later.

Especially if the infected beast is male.

3 hours ago, Joerg said:

Does this mean that pregnant females are immune to broo larvae, or that the larva will fail to hatch if it has in-species siblings?

I think it means that a Broo Mating will produce one Broo offspring. I just assume the Broo larva eats any other before birth. It probably eat any unborn foetus as well.

1 hour ago, Ian Absentia said:

The bigger question is -- and this is directly pertinent to the original post -- how did anyone aside from the likes of Ralzakark gather together a contingent of broos large enough and cohesive enough to constitute a "unit" on the board of Nomad Gods?  And how did anyone parley with them to orgnise against the Lunars/Sables?  Or did the broos simply see an ongoing fight and decide that it was the right time to prioritise and focus their aggression against an enemy that the Praxian tribes had put on their heels?

The Broo of the Wastes are quite organised, I think, so many Clans can get together and provide a military unit. They are bought in the same way as anyone else. Someone comes to their representatives, makes an offer and they are told to expect a Broo army at a certain place and time. I am not sure if the Broo Warriors are paid, or whether they serve out of the joy of killing and spreading terror.

Edited November 17, 2019 by soltakss

[Bill the barbarian]

4 minutes ago, soltakss said:

There are examples of exotic Broo, for example Bison Broo, Rhino Broo and even an Allosaurus Broo, or was it a Triceratops Broo, I forget. 

 

Stegosaurus?

[Lordabdul]

6 hours ago, Sumath said:

this will include forming temporary partnerships with other Chaos creatures, such as harpies, scorpionmen or ogres, that seek to pervert life or nature, or end it entirely. In other words, they will suffer just enough civilised behaviour to destroy civilisation.

I don't really see the Broos as having much of a problem with allying with other Chaos creatures. They might hate everything and everyone, but Scorpionmen for example belong to a friendly cult, and they benefit from helping each other with disease control spells and warrior troops. Plus, re-reading the Bagog chapter in Cults Compendium, I realized there's such a thing as a Scorpion-Broo, which is terrifying (every time I pick up CC, I find some cool nugget... I'm really looking forward to GaGoG!).

5 hours ago, David Scott said:

GtG page 446.

Ah thanks I had missed that, having only looked in the 1st volume. I'm still having trouble putting together the "Broos as agents of pure Chaos" and "Broos as volatile-but possible-to-bargain with faction". I guess there are just different Broos with different pack leaders.

5 hours ago, David Scott said:

Have you looked at their section in the Guide under less elder races starting page 106? It covers a lot of your questions.

Yep I did, but it just made me ask more questions. For instance:

• That's where they say Broos prefer to impregnate herd animals because wild carnivorous animals are trickier to get hold on. But doing it on herd animals would likely trigger human retaliation, so in in the end is sounds like fighting a bear might actually be less trouble...
• ...unless, like I said, "stealth fucking a herd" is a viable option. GtG mentions that they do that, and that "many weeks later the surviving animals give birth en masse, producing dozen or even hundreds of slimy infant broos". That surely is a totally horrifying sight for any sane herder, but it does make me wonder how come nobody noticed that the pregnant sheep/goats/etc didn't look right at all. That's why I was wondering if it was hard to tell between a normal pregnancy and a Broo pregnancy...
  • If it is, then surely not many Broo larvae would make it, as the animal gets slaughtered half-way through the gestation period.
  • If it isn't, then I assume herders would more or less frequently (based on spell economy) call the local shaman/priest to check any pregnant animals for Chaotic influence. Surely, if a farmer realizes that a dozen of his cows got pregnant at the same time, that raises a big red flag. The flag is blindingly bright if the male animals are pregnant!

So that raises questions about the viability of impregnating herd animals, and I can't think (so far) of any other explanation besides "Broo pregnancy is virtually invisible until the last couple days or hours". Maybe the larvae grows inside the animal (i.e. there's no visible "belly bump"), taking over some of the animals organs or bones or something, and has only a minimal observable effect on the animal's appearance and behaviour. Basically a parasitic relationship where the larve replaces something as opposed to grafting onto something (my all time favourite such parasite is the infamous Cymothoa exigua, a parasite that eats and replaces a fish's tongue, and then just takes its cut from everything the fish is eating... the fish apparently lives the rest of its life as usual).

This is not purely to have fun with gross parasitic systems, but also, mainly, to figure out what would be the common precautions that Dragon Pass farmers would take, how it generally affects daily clan life.

5 hours ago, David Scott said:

Others include the broo encounter section of Pavis GTA and if you've access to Tales of the Reaching Moon 8, the Chaos special, it has some excellent articles on Broo Society

Thanks, I'll check that out!

2 hours ago, Joerg said:

Survival of the larvae isn't much of an issue.  Feral broos are well adapted as apex predators, even shortly after hatching.

I'm not worried about the survival of the larvae after it hatches. Sure, it slithers its way out to the woods and then it's probably fine. I'm wondering about its survival rate while it's still gestating.

2 hours ago, Joerg said:

possibly ones that the orogenitors might civilize as followers

Ooooh wait... are you talking about a farmer who knows that a couple of his cows have Broo larvae in them, but decides to let them hatch and then adopts the larvae and tries to turn the resulting Broos into, errr, pets? MY GOD, JOERG.

2 hours ago, Joerg said:

Does this mean that pregnant females are immune to broo larvae, or that the larva will fail to hatch if it has in-species siblings?

The way I understood it was that if the host animal isn't pregnant, the Broo larvae has a 100% chance of hatching (if undisturbed), but that if the host animal is pregnant, it's more of a 50/50% chance or whatever odds you want.

1 minute ago, Joerg said:

In case of feral broo, getting them to fight for you is a matter of providing them with food and threat to get them to move into the direction you want. In case of wild/civilized broos, a broo leader may have done the work of organizing the critters.

So for Wild Broos, they might fight for you in exchange of some Mallia/Thed sacred object you happen to own, for example...

[Bill the barbarian]

10 minutes ago, soltakss said:

13 hours ago, lordabdul said:

The Bestiary and Cult Compendium aren't clear if they would more often capture the animal for the gestation period (~2.5 seasons), or more often just leave the impregnated animal to roam freely. I would assume the former? (it requires them to stay put for a longer time, or drag their pregnant herd around, but it greatly increases the survival of the larvae I think)

 

Borderlands says leaves ‘em out to Darwin themselves up by their bootstraps (maybe not in those terms),

Edited November 17, 2019 by Bill the barbarian

[Lordabdul]

6 minutes ago, soltakss said:

Ralzakark's Castrati Broo have a different agenda as well, to Serve Ralzakark and Bring Honour to Humakt.

Where can I find info on Ralzakark and his Broos?

8 minutes ago, soltakss said:

and even an Allosaurus Broo, or was it a Triceratops Broo, I forget. 

Allosaurus, yeah. Unconfirmed sightings, though, according to GtG.

11 minutes ago, soltakss said:

Broo can also do this on HeroQuests, go to find a magical beast, mate with it and collect the offspring.

That's a super interesting idea, thanks.

12 minutes ago, soltakss said:

For some reason, Broo mating with humans produce animal-headed Broo, often reverting to goat-like Broo.

What's the reference for this? Or is that in your Glorantha?