Jump to content

How Have Your Gloranthas Varied?


Richard S.

Recommended Posts

7 minutes ago, Minlister said:

Also, all the winners of the Waha compact eat the losers on a regular basis, so why not the Morokanths? 

In my Glorantha, the losers were cursed with sapience and having to eat their kin...

  • Like 4

Telling how it is excessive verbis

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fair enough! But on this one, I prefer the harder version, it is the "how you Glorantha varies" thread, I am not pressing to a general conversion to my taste (if I dare)!

EDIT: I realized that maybe I was not clear, I have man-eater Morokanths, even outside of religious duties, but on the whole they are omnivirous obviously

Edited by Minlister
Link to comment
Share on other sites

* Babeester Gori are not psychotic man-hating lesbians. Some of them may be, but many are simply warriors. 

* Foundchild is a shamanistic cult, just like Waha and Eiritha. Its survival skills are secondary to Waha and Eiritha's, but still very important for surviving in the wastes. Similarly, Helpwoman is somewhat more prominent as well. 

* Praxian men's names don't all use 'Waha'. 

* Morokanths are omnivores. Praxian society views them as people but not humans, while gern are human but not people.  

* Kallyr Starbrow might manage to become Prince of Sartar--still haven't had to make up my mind about that. 

* Sartarites recognize three sexes: male, female, and Helerite. Sexless, intersex and hermaphrodite people freak them out and seem Chaotic. Helerites are sex-fluid, but not genderfluid (they present as either male or female as feels right to them, but abide by the male/female dichotomy). 

* Dara Happa is misogynistic, but not quite as oppressive toward women. Yelornans are a thing, although most Dara Happens dislike them.

* Sartarite cities are mostly hill forts, not Minoan/Mycenaean citadels.

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, Bohemond said:

* Babeester Gori are not psychotic man-hating lesbians.

BGees are canonically none of the sort, they are avengers of kinslaying and guards of Earth priestesses and temples as well as warriors against enemies like Lunars and Chaos (i.e. of anti-Orlanthis). Babeester the Gor myth resonates with the story of Sekhmet, who was let loose to kill and her bloodlust got so bad they had to invent beer to make her dead drunk so she'd stop.

"Initiates (commonly known as Axe Sisters) must never love, make love, have sex, become pregnant, or even fake affection with anything but their goddess." - Sartar Companion

not lesbians, just Death Rune.

Edited by Qizilbashwoman
  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/28/2020 at 12:48 PM, Qizilbashwoman said:

BGees are canonically none of the sort, they are avengers of kinslaying and guards of Earth priestesses and temples as well as warriors against enemies like Lunars and Chaos (i.e. of anti-Orlanthis). Babeester the Gor myth resonates with the story of Sekhmet, who was let loose to kill and her bloodlust got so bad they had to invent beer to make her dead drunk so she'd stop.

"Initiates (commonly known as Axe Sisters) must never love, make love, have sex, become pregnant, or even fake affection with anything but their goddess." - Sartar Companion

not lesbians, just Death Rune.

The cult write-up in Sartar Companion describes BGs as "seek[ing] murderous vengeance...hard, cold, and dangerous women intent upon the sacred duty of revenge" who "must never love, make love...or even fake affection with anything but their goddess" and who are "cut off from society". In my opinion that's unplayable as a PC, and it feels very much like a misogynist stereotype of feminine anger. I had to re-write the cult write-up to make it less extreme. 

 

Edited by Bohemond
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/27/2020 at 3:07 AM, Joerg said:

In my Glorantha, the losers were cursed with sapience and having to eat their kin...

I've got it both ways

Some think the "winners" are the ones who eat directly of the sustenance of Eiritha.  Goddess-food, directly from Her.

The losers protect and serve the winners.  And the losers are pretty weak, and pretty slow, so they get carried when the tribe moves, or when someone needs to move fast.

And as you say... they have to eat the flesh of their kin.

I mean... the tribe survives, but...   <gags>   GROSS.

 

Others have a more conventional, humanocentric view of things.

 

C'es ne pas un .sig

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Bohemond said:

* Babeester Gori are not psychotic man-hating lesbians ...

I have a hard, HARD time not equating that view of BG as being founded in pretty deep misogyny.

They aren't fecund Ernalda breeders, or enjoyable Ulerian lovers, but tasked with protecting female sacred spaces, and revenge upon those who violate those spaces or people, so... of COURSE that's a "psychotic, man-hating" thing ... WTF??!?

 

Yes, they have room to fit in the violence and the rage, in the context of their sacred duties; but that's not what's central or definitional.  It's allowed, not required.  But a lot of men can be very VERY uncomfortable with women who hold that degree of anger... who act on that degree of anger.

That's OK.  It's not comfortable; neither is it comfortable when a man does so.

 

2 hours ago, Bohemond said:

The cult write-up in Sartar Companion describes BGs as "seek[ing] murderous vengeance...hard, cold, and dangerous women intent upon the sacred duty off revenge" who "must never love, make love...or even fake affection with anything but their goddess" and who are "cut off from society". In my opinion that's unplayable as a PC, and it feels very much like a misogynist stereotype of feminine anger. I had to re-write the cult write-up to make it less extreme. 

Vingan -- the temporary converts -- are entirely about that murderous vengeance.

Humakti are equally "cut off from society" (and it's equally problematic as a PC concept; but the same solutions can work for Babs as Humie).

But I do see where you're coming from, the sense that there's some misogynist stereotyping going on.

  • Like 1

C'es ne pas un .sig

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I take almost all Glorantha as it is but I ignore many of the weirdest things (like Orlanthi flying kites) that appeared in Hero Wars and HeroQuest 1.

Among the main differences, My Glorantha does not have anthropomorfic ducks. My Durulz were river folks of the Dara Happa Valley that have been cursed by Yelm because they supported the "wrong" side during the Gods War. Some claim that they were birds and that they lost their avian status because of the curse, the same point towards the link of the Durulz with the Beast Rune (which is the case in My Glorantha That Varies). My Durulz are rather small and stunted, as if they were permanently submitting to something. Their skin is pale and they have bulging eyes with big pupils, all are too sensible to the sunlight. Cursed, they drifted towards the south, hunted from place to place until they reached the confluence of The Creek and The River. There they found their Wyter, a minor companion of Orlanth that had the ability to change into a duck. They took the name of their Wyter, Durulz, and settled the area. Their settlements were later swamped by the Upland Marsh when Delecti raised the marsh to protect himself from the Dragons. It is said the Durulz were spared because of their link with the Beast Rune.

In My Glorantha That Varies, Elmal and Yelmalio are two aspects of the same God, neither is the subcult of the other and they both have their own cult. Monrogh was seduced by the other aspect of Elmal and embrassed it.

Edited by Corvantir
Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, Corvantir said:

In My Glorantha That Varies, Elmal and Yelmalio are two aspects of the same God, neither is the subcult of the other and they both have their own cult. Monrogh was seduced by the other aspect of Elmal and ermbrassed it.

When I do something in 1625 I will have a Elmal resurgency as a plot strand. Having vanquished the Lunars it seems right that the foreign apostasiation of Elmal, Yelmalio, be in opposition to an ascendent Lightbringer pantheon incorporating Elmal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, Qizilbashwoman said:

"Initiates (commonly known as Axe Sisters) must never love, make love, have sex, become pregnant, or even fake affection with anything but their goddess." - Sartar Companion

And yet

"Her husbands or lovers vary, and there are some ghildren (sic) as well." Wyrm's Footnotes 9

And works well with Jane's myth of Humakt and the Earth Tribe (which is now part of my variant canon; /makes desperate lunge for topic relevance.)

 

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Rob Darvall said:

And yet

"Her husbands or lovers vary, and there are some ghildren (sic) as well." Wyrm's Footnotes 9

And works well with Jane's myth of Humakt and the Earth Tribe (which is now part of my variant canon; /makes desperate lunge for topic relevance.)

the actions of the god are not necessarily relevant to the actions of Her worshippers? I 100% do not understand your point here.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  Nice stuff in this thread!

On 2/23/2020 at 7:10 PM, Ian Absentia said:

As My Glorantha Has Varied:

Heh, I'm not sure that even half of your points are actually "variations" :D:D  I mean yeah, Sartarites are reckless troublemakers who can't agree on much, Lunars aren't that bad, most of the metaplot's "big NPCs" are terrible people at best, etc.

I'm curious why you made the Agimori not come from Pamaltela?

On 2/24/2020 at 6:32 PM, Monty Lovering said:

Gods are just powerful beings that were as mortal as the mortal races before they became powerful. They need POW sacrificed to them by believers to provide the magics that their worshipers expect. If their worship wanes so does their power. Some gods are worshipped in quite differents ways in different places. The gods are indifferent to the details, but worshipers of the same entity under a different name can go as far as regarding each other as apostates and enemies. The myths may just be myths as distinct from  actual events. 

I have been thinking about things along those lines too (i.e. the relationship between Gods' powers and prominence, and the amount of worship they receive), as it's a common trope in fantasy settings. I haven't reached many conclusions yet -- for me the key is to figure out what are the mechanics behind the Windstop. AFAICT the published books only handwave it as "the Lunars did some very complicated magics, and the last requirement was to make Whitewall fall". I'd like my "variation" on the topic to neatly tie in to that.

On 2/24/2020 at 6:32 PM, Monty Lovering said:

4/ Heortlanders regard Sartarites as rustic and uncouth. They speak unaccented English (I’m English)  Sartarites think Heortlanders are effete and soft and speak with a Scottish accent. Esrolian is English with a French accent. Praxian is Hungarian but with a simple letter substitution to make it sound totally different and has clicks in it. Lunars speak Dutch.

Heh, funny I do Esrolian with a French accent too. But then again, everything I do has a French accent because I'm French :)

But seriously though, I do increase my French accent for Esorlians, to make them sound a bit more fancy and cultured. I use a (very badly performed) Scottish accent only for the northern parts of Sartar like the Far Place and Alda-Chur. As such, to be consistent, I would use a Scottish accent also for anybody speaking Tarshite. After that, I just run out of accents I can do, so everybody else has my normal voice :)

I'm super curious about what other GMs use for accents though... please share!

On 2/24/2020 at 6:32 PM, Monty Lovering said:

5/ I’m still more enamoured with a Lunar-occupied Dragon Pass and lower ability starting characters than a post-Lunar defeat and higher ability RQG style characters.

Me too, and I play during the occupation. But that's probably because it's my first time playing in Glorantha, so I don't have the "fatigue" that some old gamers might have, who would understandably want to move it along and try something else.

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1

Ludovic aka Lordabdul -- read and listen to  The God Learners , the Gloranthan podcast, newsletter, & blog !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, lordabdul said:

I have been thinking about things along those lines too (i.e. the relationship between Gods' powers and prominence, and the amount of worship they receive), as it's a common trope in fantasy settings.

Heh, funny I do Esrolian with a French accent too. But then again, everything I do has a French accent because I'm French :)

Me too, and I play during the occupation. But that's probably because it's my first time playing in Glorantha, so I don't have the "fatigue" that some old gamers might have, who would understandably want to move it along and try something else.


Oh, I realise it's a trope, e.g. Small Gods by Terry Pratchett. But I likes it. I want religions and followers to be fallible and god's largely disinterested and capricious. I want ambitheism to be a valid life choice - obviously you can't go around being an atheist as everyone in Glorantha knows gods exist, but just not being that bothered by the fact they exist whilst cognisent of the dangers of pissing them off.

"everything I do has a French accent because I'm French" is the best laugh I've had all day. I'm actually thinking that Russian accents are better for Lunars. Hard to make Dutch accents menacing unless you go full-blown Afrikaans and then it becomes comically overblown.

And yeah, my enjoyment of Lunar occupied Dragon Pass was curtailed by leaving school. Now jhbdijhbaijh years later I want to play the stuff I never got around to, and I'm less than enamoured of powered-up characters and Heroquesting. To video-gamey for me.

Am thinking of running a Roll20 game soon, and then a IRL one in the summer when the GM in the group I play Pathfinder with takes a break from Going so he can play a character.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

34 minutes ago, Monty Lovering said:

Am thinking of running a Roll20 game soon

Make sure to advertise it here in case you're looking for players... some of us might be interested!

34 minutes ago, Monty Lovering said:

I'm actually thinking that Russian accents are better for Lunars.

I realized that I had thought of Russian accents, but I figured I would reserve those for things like Fronela, where they have big furry coats and big furry hats. Especially the Rasputin-looking Zzaburi sorcerers.

Edited by lordabdul
  • Like 1

Ludovic aka Lordabdul -- read and listen to  The God Learners , the Gloranthan podcast, newsletter, & blog !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Monty Lovering said:

When I do something in 1625 I will have a Elmal resurgency as a plot strand. Having vanquished the Lunars it seems right that the foreign apostasiation of Elmal, Yelmalio, be in opposition to an ascendent Lightbringer pantheon incorporating Elmal.

This is pretty much how I'm running it.

Sun County remains firmly Yelmalion but many of the Priests of Yelmalio in the cities were Lunar collaborators who have been run out of town

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, lordabdul said:

I'm super curious about what other GMs use for accents though... please share!

I never did any during my face-to-face campaign days. 

But in my current PbF game, Ducks have a definite lisp. And Ravens always have a lot of interjected croaking sounds.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, lordabdul said:

Make sure to advertise it here in case you're looking for players... some of us might be interested!

I realized that I had thought of Russian accents, but I figured I would reserve those for things like Fronela, where they have big furry coats and big furry hats. Especially the Rasputin-looking Zzaburi sorcerers.

Good idea, I will advertise here.

Reason I go for Russian is I play with a German so using it as the stock baddy accent won't really work that well!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, jajagappa said:

I never did any during my face-to-face campaign days. 

But in my current PbF game, Ducks have a definite lisp. And Ravens always have a lot of interjected croaking sounds.

Love the lisping ducks idea!

10 hours ago, JustAnotherVingan said:

I'm not good at accents and not sure who would suit my limited repertoire.

Geordie trolls and (South Wales) Valleys elves perhaps?

I refuse to do Scottish dwarves though, too cliched.

Dwarves are Welsh IMG. Trolls speak like the trolls in Terry Pratchett books, as exemplified in this troll explaining the definition of the troll word for forbidding "lit'rally der time when you see dem little pebbles an' you jus' know there's gonna be a great big landslide on toppa you and it already too late to run", but not in any particular accent that would render if offensive. Elves speak posh English "Oh I am so sorry to disturb you, but you seem to have taken an axe to a cousin of mine and I am going to have to kill you". Dragonewts, just stick your tongue out when you speak...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

In the shared Glorantha of Beer with Teeth :-

Ducks do indeed lisp.

Trolls talk in 1920's gangster ergot (We is Uz, this is DagoryInkearth and we is the boyz gunna make you gory)

The Dwarf of Dwarf Hold at least speaks in a thick Yorkshire accent (And what's tat to do with price o' fish in Pavis?)

Elves dont talk much at all but when they do it's like sunshine through the trees....which doesnt sound like anything and is confusing.

Bad Tradetalk sounds like Zomerzettt

Bad language skills result in conversations about Mushrooms. ("What did he say?" "Something, something, Mushrooms?"

Dragonewts alternately hiss and click and speak Received English in between. With occasional science terminology, 

  • Like 2
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...