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Jeff's FB notes on Heroquesting


jajagappa

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On 7/27/2020 at 1:58 PM, jajagappa said:

 

One of the late TotRM issues (18? 20?) also included travel along a magic road to reach IIRC Stormwalk Mountain.  A somewhat different path used, but I think the same basic principle with particular steps along the way. 

 

It was in 'Tales of the Reaching Moon' #18 (The Sartar issue). The 'Magic road' was detailed in the article/scenario - The Stormwalk Path, by Carl Pates.

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On 7/29/2020 at 12:42 PM, lordabdul said:

Is it even about summoning opponents that are heroquesting right now too, or does the cosmos have a bit of wiggle room, picking from people who were heroquesting a few days in the past or the future, because heroquesting in the God Time means that time gets all fuzzy anyway?

(Am I overthinking this? Yes, probably, but I'm the GM so it's my role to cover all the bases -- the world needs to be consistent and believable, and you never know what kind of crazy idea or theory the players will spin up)

Just my take on it, which means little, but -  Even if you consider that a lot of heroquesting activity takes place during Sacred Time, so there is a definite season for this sport, the odds still seem small.

Considering

-the relatively small population of Glorantha (millions, not billions of intelligent entities),

-and the small fraction of that who are both adults and likely to ever heroquest (basically rune levels, maybe 0.1% to 1%  of the population - but have we ever even got a straight answer about the proportion of initiates in the population?),

- and the extreme un-likelihood that most of these do so more than a couple of times in their lives, while many will never do do -  

I estimate that in a given year's Sacred Time  200-1000 individuals are going to have a leading part in a heroquest. And they will be distributed over all localities on two continents, all races, all cults, and all possible quests.  Your estimate will vary from mine.  I may page through Guide to Glorantha and sharpen up my total world population estimate.

My horseback estimate is that the chance of any particular opponent just happening to heroquest when you do seems pretty small.  Maybe YOU are heroquesting for the 2nd time this Sacred Time, but I expect that Gorzak the Uz Zorak Zoran rune lord who swings his mace left handed, and has a scar over his right eye and is missing the last joint of his right little finger, who you encountered last time on the hero plane, is not doing it at all this year, let alone Other World heroquesting..   

The chances of some troll heroquesting are naturally much better.  So if the matching spec is "troll heroquester" and not "Gorzak" then that is easier to fulfill.

I would expect that the only way to make these events coincide is that you are right, time means little in the God Time and what's a few days or a week or even a year?  Maybe you are encountering a troll who lived 100 years ago in the mundane world. 

I might also suspect that the incidents of repeatedly encountering the same individual are either reported widely and remembered  because they are exceptional anecdotes, or there is indeed some mystical bond that causes two heroquesters - and their choices to heroquest - to synchronize.  In which case we kiss free will goodbye and all odds are irrelevant, and we all get to transition from logic to mysticism or illumination. 

 

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6 minutes ago, Squaredeal Sten said:

and the small fraction of that who are both adults and likely to ever heroquest (basically rune levels, maybe 0.1% to 1%  of the population - but have we ever even got a straight answer about the proportion of initiates in the population?),

Depends on which kind of Heroquest it is. Pretty much every worship ceremony can be considered a heroquest of sorts, especially for the initiates, and during a this-world heroquest for the benefit of a community you may have the entire group be pulled in as supporters/other characters somehow, intentionally or not. If you play KoDP (non-canon but hits the mark on a lot of things still) you may heroquest about 1-2 times a year outside of sacred time, and the entire clan will be involved in some way.

On the proportion of initiates, I believe the only number we've gotten is that about 70-80% of Orlanthi are initiates, which is noted to be abnormally high (sometimes said to be a result of them being a "heroic culture"). I'd expect on average you'd have 30-40% of a population to be initiated in places like Peloria, maybe up to 50% in some places.

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1 hour ago, Squaredeal Sten said:

Just my take on it, which means little, but

It's a forum, on the internet... we all share our takes and somehow value them since we keep coming back :)   So thanks for sharing, it is indeed useful!

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My horseback estimate

Wait, what, how exactly are you doing your estimates?! That sounds pretty bad-ass.

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the chance of any particular opponent just happening to heroquest when you do seems pretty small.  Maybe YOU are heroquesting for the 2nd time this Sacred Time, but I expect that Gorzak the Uz Zorak Zoran rune lord who swings his mace left handed, and has a scar over his right eye and is missing the last joint of his right little finger, who you encountered last time on the hero plane, is not doing it at all this year, let alone Other World heroquesting..   

The chances of some troll heroquesting are naturally much better.  So if the matching spec is "troll heroquester" and not "Gorzak" then that is easier to fulfill.

Yes, that last sentence is what I understand is happening. One reason Heroquests are dangerous is because they're unpredictable, and one reason they're unpredictable is because you get "matched" with random people. So yes: if you are re-enacting some myth where Zorak Zoran is supposed to attack you, you will end up against some random troll somewhere/somewhen heroquesting as Zorak Zoran. But if there's none available, you might get matched with something else that "fits". Maybe instead you'll go against some other warrior or berserker figure, like Humakt or Storm Bull (i.e. some random person somewhere heroquesting as them, in a myth that's somewhat compatible). Or maybe instead you'll go against some other Darkness figure. Etc.

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I might also suspect that the incidents of repeatedly encountering the same individual are either reported widely and remembered  because they are exceptional anecdotes, or there is indeed some mystical bond that causes two heroquesters - and their choices to heroquest - to synchronize.  In which case we kiss free will goodbye and all odds are irrelevant, and we all get to transition from logic to mysticism or illumination.

Well if two persons keep running into each other at the local cafe because they realize they have similar shifts and tastes, that's not quite a reason to throw your hands at the cosmos and declare free will a fallacy. At worst, it's a premise for a lame romantic comedy. And given how everyone heroquests at the same time most of the time (Sacred Time), that vastly increases the odds of getting the same people again.

Actually, I think the whole reason behind Sacred Time is that whoever is in charge of the cosmos (Arachne Solara?) figured that it's a lot easier to play  "connect the dots" if all the dots are playing at the same time. Conversely, it makes heroquests during Sacred Time easier because the cosmos is more receptive to your trying to go beyond the veil, and these quests end up being most consistent (and therefore easier) because all the participants and connections tend to be the same year after year. So Sacred Time is the cosmos' incentive for people to make its job easier.... in comparison, heroquests at more "random" times (like when a tribe suddenly needs something from the God Time) are bound to be super weird and unpredictable.

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

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2 hours ago, Richard S. said:

Depends on which kind of Heroquest it is. Pretty much every worship ceremony can be considered a heroquest of sorts, .....

Yes, if we use that definition of heroquest then things change a lot.  But I had understood that the average worship ceremony on the average minor holy day is a pretty low risk event in which the average initiate does not expect to fight for his or her life. 

I do await the projected publication of official RQG heroquest material.  I'd like to see a model for this idea of a range of heroquest difficulty to match all adventurers.  It does seem to me that the initiate attending the usual worship need not expect to get a tremendous divine reward other than the replenishment of rune points. 

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13 hours ago, Squaredeal Sten said:

I had understood that the average worship ceremony on the average minor holy day is a pretty low risk event in which the average initiate does not expect to fight for his or her life.

That is likely correct for something on a weekly basis.  It's short(er) duration.  You gather at the temple, the priest or god-talker invokes the gods and the sanctity of the ground, offerings are collected (e.g. votive statues are placed), and prayers to the deity are made (sacrificing MP's).  Then the priest tells one of the sacred stories (rather than fully engaging it through re-enactment).  Perhaps spirits of reprisal are called upon as reminders of duty to the gods.  And services conclude.  It's still feasible that something more eventful happens - someone is seized by a vision, a spirit ally appears and calls for help, etc.

The major holy days will differ:  longer duration (typically a day, which may or may not include the night before as that is part of the "day"), invocations that call forth the Godtime (and separate initiates from laity) within the sacred ground, re-enactment of ritual stories/myths, etc.  All of this "connects" the temple and worship ceremony into the broader "web" of the Godtime.  

13 hours ago, Squaredeal Sten said:

It does seem to me that the initiate attending the usual worship need not expect to get a tremendous divine reward other than the replenishment of rune points. 

I think this misses the immanence of deity - that understanding that the deity is present (though constrained and separate from the mortal) in the mundane world as well as the divine. Orlanth's breath blows through, Ernalda's fertility is right beneath you, etc.  Even regaining rune points is likely a feeling that the deity has entered you, personally, and that you are once again whole and one with your god.  

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8 hours ago, jajagappa said:

The major holy days will differ:  longer duration (typically a day, which may or may not include the night before as that is part of the "day"), invocations that call forth the Godtime (and separate initiates from laity) within the sacred ground, re-enactment of ritual stories/myths, etc.  All of this "connects" the temple and worship ceremony into the broader "web" of the Godtime.  

I think this misses the immanence of deity - that understanding that the deity is present (though constrained and separate from the mortal) in the mundane world as well as the divine. Orlanth's breath blows through, Ernalda's fertility is right beneath you, etc.  Even regaining rune points is likely a feeling that the deity has entered you, personally, and that you are once again whole and one with your god.  

Good point about the immanence of Gloranthan deities.  This is something the GM would do well to briefly describe, to add flavor and background.  It seems much better than "y'all get yer rune points refilled.".  Check your Oratory, jajagappa!

And I can see that there is room for someone to publish a "Temple Events" supplement that includes descriptions of these, differentiating in similar poetic terms  between the four levels of weekly service, the seasonal holy day at which the initiates expect to gain rune points and maybe a POW roll,  describing the events of Sacred time, and a heroquest (which might be included in the Sacred time sequence or not.).  Maybe other levels if you think of them: For instance someone casts Sanctify on the road, I would consider that a different level of worship ceremony deserving a 5th description.

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On 8/8/2020 at 7:50 PM, lordabdul said:

Wait, what, how exactly are you doing your estimates?! That sounds pretty bad-ass.

 

Not bad-ass at all, I did it for work many times and got paid for it.

But how did I do it this time?  Note that when I put a pencil to it my numbers did change, but not by an order of magnitude.  And i estimate in round numbers, so as not to give a false impression of exactness.

I started by going to Guide to Glorantha and adding up the population figures for the eight human cultures (they total 53,095,000)and the four major elder Races (they total 13.766,000).  Merfolk and the lesser elder races are not enumerated but they ought not to be more numerous than those who are enumerated.  So total enumerated = 66,861,000.  And those  intelligent entities are about 4:1 human. 

Next I needed an estimate of what percentage of that population is going to be heroquesting.  Exclude children.  Exclude lay members.  Here's one big assumption: Heroquesters, at least those in leading roles of other-world heroquests, are either rune level or suicidal.  

  I recalled, but can't now reference, a statement that about 15% of the (adult?) are initiates, and that the percentage is higher in Sartar.  Then a second big assumption:  10% of the initiates are rune level.  That's probably generous: In your games all the players are initiates but how many are rune level?  On the other hand published material will show several rune levels in a town or small city of 500-2000 population, and why assume those who are named are all there are?  There is room to differ on this estimate.  But my own estimate is 1/3 children in the population, which leaves about 44 million adults, of whom about 6 million are initiates.   At most.  World wide total, in all cults, all species.

Then how many heroquests will the average rune level do in a lifetime?  I understand they are rare.  Many don't do any in a lifetime.  Characters are spoken of if they have completed one or two.  They get reputation for  it.  I concluded that many rune levels never heroquest and the average do one.  Folks who have heroquested five or ten times are rare, perhaps because the pot that goes to the well too often gets broken. 

And how many years of heroquesting do you get in a lifetime?  Look at RQG on aging, people start losing capability at age 40: The annual chance of losing about 1 or 2 characteristic points in any year past 40 is about half.   Figure adulthood at 16, initiation at 20-21, and level at age 25 -30 is faster than I would expect.  So 10-15 years in your rune level prime, then you begin to slow down and it's best to leave the heroquesting to  younger folks.  Life expectancy once you are adult may only be to age 50.  Glorantha is a violent world and many adults don't make it to 50.  The population age pyramid will be a pyramid, fewer ages 30-40 than ages 16-30.  Maybe 1/4 of the adults are ages 30+,  but not age 50+. 

So - 6 million initiates on the Gloranthan lozenge, about 1/4 of whom are in the prime heroquesting years = 1.5 million.  Of these about 150,000 are rune level.

150,000 rune levels doing 1 heroquest in an active rune level lifetime of maybe 15 years, means 1/15th = 10,000 heroquesters per year.  They tend to do to this in parties so the count in leading roles is lower.  Let's say (assumption) 1/4 th or 2,500 heroquesters a year in leading roles.  Of whom 4/5ths are human so 500 are non human.  Spread out over two continents and some islands.

That's my horseback estimate.  And yes there are at least three major points of uncertainty. 

Edited by Squaredeal Sten
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  • 2 weeks later...

Jeff's latest addition (8/20) to the Facebook RuneQuest page on this topic:

MAGICAL ROADS
The Mountain Peaks

From each Mountain Peak, a heroquester can leap from one mountain to the next or the previous. From any mountain, one can also leap to Kero Fin. From specific mountains it is also to leap elsewhere in the Hero Plane.
1. Doktados Mountain. Highest of the Skyreach Mountains. From here one can leap to Ernaldela.
2. Arrowmound Mountain. In the Skyreach Mountains, overlooking the Green Dragon Vale. From here one can go to the Great Barrier.
3. Soren Mountain. In the Western Rockwoods overlooking Aggar. From here one can go to the Great Barrier and to the Top of the World.
4. Bear Mountain. In the Autumn mountains between Aggar and Sylila. From here one can go to the Great Forest and to Thunder Peak and the gates of Dorastor.
5. Lyran Mountain. In the Hydra Mountains overlooking Tarsh and Holay. From here one can leap to the Blue Dragon River and the Endless Sea.
6. Stormwalk Peak. In the Storm Mountains. From here one can go to Ragnaglar's Ruin, to Ernaldela, and to Tada's Land.

7. Quivin Mountain. In the heart of Sartar. From here one can leap to the Engizi River and to Skyfall and to Stormwalk Mountain.
8. Kero Fin - from here one can enter the Home of the Gods or leap to the Solar City. One can also leap to any of the magical mountains.

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A few more of Jeff's notes from the FB thread:

"These "roads" link places that co-exist in the Gods World and Mundane World."

"So on a magic road, those on the road (who need to enter it as part of a magical ritual - usually a vertical heroquest) skip between the mundane world and the Hero Plane, resulting in potentially much faster travel."

@scott-martin"This is a "foundational technology" for most heroquest people worth exploring but Orlanth has a natural edge here. You shift "laterally" onto the road, bypassing the mundane territory. Some roads may actually exit very close to the entry so the time savings is trivial. The point is not moving in between, "teleporting." People experienced with this kind of environment can interfere with the trip."  Jeff: "YES!"

"Of course the Lunars know some of the same Magic Roads."

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  • 6 months later...

What do magic roads look like,  both from an internal quester and from an external perspective?

Can they be seen my the naked eye or only visible magically? can the transits of questers  be seen  by flickering lights and strange feelings?

What it is like to travle of such  a road...is it a glistening path, a tube?> a passage way a webstrand linking holy nodes?

can you step off the road at any pint or only ay "way stations" or is  it point to point?

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2 hours ago, Martin said:

What do magic roads look like,  both from an internal quester and from an external perspective?

On the road, I see it as just an exaggerated, almost cartoonish experience. Imagine you just stepped into a Muppets set or a really good stage production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Yellow Brick Road is clearly a heroquest.

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Can they be seen my the naked eye or only visible magically? can the transits of questers  be seen  by flickering lights and strange feelings?

Sometimes, I think Dragonewt roads are like the latter. You can sense people using them as distant ghostly echoes or something like that. Others, you might see giant figures striding through the clouds, strange reflections in lakes, shadows among the trees. In many cases you just see the people in the world.

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What it is like to travle of such  a road...is it a glistening path, a tube?> a passage way a webstrand linking holy nodes?

More Dark Crystal / Labyrinth / Krull than Tron. Some might look like the Bifrost in Marvel movies, but not most.

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can you step off the road at any pint or only ay "way stations" or is  it point to point?

Only at traditional exit points, I think. Leaving in a creative manner might work but can be dangerous if you don't know what you are doing. Like leaving the Bifrost in Thor: Ragnarok and ending up on Sakkar.

Edited by PhilHibbs
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3 hours ago, Martin said:

What do magic roads look like,  both from an internal quester and from an external perspective?

It depends on the Magic Road.

Travelling on the back of Orlanth's Ram as it jumps between mountain tops looks very different to calling down a rainbow and walking the Rainbow Bridge, for example.

In any case, as a HeroQuestor you will see the Magic Roads as being overlaid on the Mundane Plane, so you would see it as a magical thing, with whatever that entails.

3 hours ago, Martin said:

Can they be seen my the naked eye or only visible magically? can the transits of questers  be seen  by flickering lights and strange feelings?

Probably not by the naked eye, I would think, unless you have magical vision.

3 hours ago, Martin said:

What it is like to travle of such  a road...is it a glistening path, a tube?> a passage way a webstrand linking holy nodes?

It depends on the Magic Road, some might be magical paths, some might be weird wormholes linking chaos portals and so on.

I am working on one at the moment that is a journey through a mile-tall library.

3 hours ago, Martin said:

can you step off the road at any pint or only ay "way stations" or is  it point to point?

Normally point to point, although I can see HeroQuestors trying to jump off at way stations, although that is harder.

 

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4 hours ago, Martin said:

What do magic roads look like,  both from an internal quester and from an external perspective?

Can they be seen my the naked eye or only visible magically? can the transits of questers  be seen  by flickering lights and strange feelings?

What it is like to travle of such  a road...is it a glistening path, a tube?> a passage way a webstrand linking holy nodes?

can you step off the road at any pint or only ay "way stations" or is  it point to point?

It depends on the magic road.  Examples that I use:

Belintar's Magic Roads - externally look like shimmering rainbows on sunny days, or long arching mists on cloudy days.  Internally, look like great bridges arching over to the City of Wonders of psychedelic hues where the landscape around may have something of a late 60s/early 70s psychedelic trip to it.  Stepping off may put you in the air far above the Mirrorsea.  No real way stations on this one in my mind, but perhaps there are Cloud realms that float by?

Tarpit Trail - one of the "dark trails" that link the troll lands.  Internally by night, it is part of a vast shadowland.  By day, it shrinks to small ribbons of shadow and you need to find the pockets of deep shadow to avoid getting burned away.  Externally, by night, it's just part of the shadows, and you may have a sense of other shadows moving along it.  Externally, by day, if you make your Track roll, you may find a line of shadow hiding in the grasses, connecting to other shadows.  Maybe you catch some vague shadow movement out the corner of your eye.  You can step off, and into the world of Nightmare (probably part of the Spirit Plane).

I've also had magic roads that start in the gut of a Trickster (after being Swallowed) and lead from point-to-point.  The places enroute may vary, but are definitely part of the Otherworld and not visible in the mundane world.  Might pass through the Plains of the Forgotten to or into the Fog of Ignorance and then to the Ivory Tower of Lhankor Mhy.  Admittance there is into the Endless Stacks, which lead into one of the mundane Temples of Knowledge.

Other magic roads may pass through or connect spots in the Spirit Plane.  Going down a Rabbit Hole or into Dekko Crevice are examples of those.  Whether visible externally or not, I hadn't considered, but probably only in the "way stations" where you might "get out".  These are probably shrines, ruins, etc. and maybe they are like haunted houses with eerie lights, weird sounds, etc.  I think that parts of Tarndisi's Grove are like this and connect to the Nightwood where the spirits of the lost roam forever.

"a glistening path" - have one of those in one of my games right now.  A Silver Way that only appears through certain magical invocations and links a number of hills together.  (Inspired by a scene from Alan Garner's Moon of Gomrath)  Externally largely invisible.  Internally like a long silvery pathway (marked by a form of Trackgrass - see HQ1, IIRC) surrounded by mists, illusions, and parts of the spirit world.  Not advised to get off except at the way points.

Edited by jajagappa
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19 minutes ago, jajagappa said:

I've also had magic roads that start in the gut of a Trickster (after being Swallowed) and lead from point-to-point.

I remember discussing options for a Cradle-based freeform, and one of the ways to get onto the Cradle would be to get swallowed by a Trickster and emerge from the Horn of Plenty. I guess that would have been a Magic Road.

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I tend to compare magic roads to warp drive physics - the magic (or heroquest) creates a local realm about you of limited extent to the sides, and of limited contact to most of the land to the sides. It may take note of landmarks in a sort of topological order, acknowledging that the path goes past them.

The dragonewt plinths are both such landmarks and tools to uphold the magical road. They are brimming with magic, a magic easily tapped into, even by accident, which then would cause fluctuations of the magical road. Some such fluctuations are normal, but it is quite possible to interfere with traffic along those roads when occupying the space of such a plinth.

The magical bridges (of Belintar, Godunya, or the top level of the Daughter's Road) may have such nodes, too, but they are a lot less leaky and probably a lot more thirsty when it comes to magical energies fluctuating through.

The route from Cliffhome to the skybull pasture on Stormwalk Mountain takes a quester out of the mundane world, and offers few if any chances to drop out on the way. If you lose your way, you might be lost in the hero planes, in a "lost in space" or "jumpdrive mishap" sense. It should be hard to go to Stormwalk without at least interacting with a skybull in a taming attempt, although a failure to tame and some high-powered evasion may do the trick. (On the other hand, who will say no to a flying steed?) Anybody who makes his departure at Cliffhome should be impossible to stop until at Stormwalk - which was the reason why Redbird and his companions took that route in 1613.

There are a few heroquest paths from Dragon Pass into Ralios, like Mastakos seven steps west which are some sort of seven miles boot effect, or possibly slow teleports, or the Plundering of Aron, which requires some combat, and exerts a strong force to complete the quest (or have the quest supporters suffer from beast failure). A few extra individuals might be able to hitch a ride and jump off at some conflict or other while the rest of the questers makes sure that no such loss of beasts is incurred.

Telling how it is excessive verbis

 

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22 minutes ago, Joerg said:

Anybody who makes his departure at Cliffhome should be impossible to stop until at Stormwalk - which was the reason why Redbird and his companions took that route in 1613.

It's my personal belief that there are one or two break points or leak points in this route at present - at Whitewall and/or in the Footprint.  I think part of the Siege of Whitewall should have included sealing or breaking the magic road to block Broyan's escape path.  While we do know that Broyan escaped (to Stormwalk), I suspect this was far more dangerous than anticipated, and that the Lunars would have added more traps subsequently to keep Broyan from being aided by others.  I also think Queen Gagix would during her own heroquests have added her own traps in the Footprint.  So instead of a straightforward magical road, you get thrown into dangers at each place which might be represented by gaps in the road or traverses across some sort of no-man's-land "terrain" in the Gods War.

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2 hours ago, jajagappa said:

It's my personal belief that there are one or two break points or leak points in this route at present - at Whitewall and/or in the Footprint.  I think part of the Siege of Whitewall should have included sealing or breaking the magic road to block Broyan's escape path.  While we do know that Broyan escaped (to Stormwalk), I suspect this was far more dangerous than anticipated, and that the Lunars would have added more traps subsequently to keep Broyan from being aided by others.  I also think Queen Gagix would during her own heroquests have added her own traps in the Footprint.  So instead of a straightforward magical road, you get thrown into dangers at each place which might be represented by gaps in the road or traverses across some sort of no-man's-land "terrain" in the Gods War.

I'll buy the Footprint, as it is all about hobbling the god of movement, but I don't think that Whitewall was already on the Storm Age map when Gorangi Vak captured his sky bull. (And Cragspider would not yet have established herself at Conquest Peak, either - getting past her is not part of that heroquest, but a heroic endeavour of its own.)

Frankly I am not quite clear why starting at Cliffhome is a thing for this quest. Cliffhome and Stormwalk aren't even  on the same hex meridian (aka ley line). But then, maybe there is an intermediat step where the questers switch ley lanes?

Broyan was a heir of Hendrik, and might have been able to use his magical routes. (Although leadership during a siege and never sleeping twice in the same place - apparently a common Larnsti practice - don't go well with one another.)

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Telling how it is excessive verbis

 

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On 8/8/2020 at 6:45 PM, Squaredeal Sten said:

My horseback estimate is that the chance of any particular opponent just happening to heroquest when you do seems pretty small.

But before history there was no Time, so there is no reason why your opponents in the Godtime should have to be questing at the exact same time as you. Maybe they started their quest a generation earlier.

This aspect of Glorantha breaks my brain so it might be completely off base.

 

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There are auspicious times for magic and heroquesting used by most questers to "get to the other side" across a "weakened barrier", to use HQ1 terminology. Rites all over the place reinforce the cyclical meaning of dates, and provide sets of people commemorating and reenacting certain episodes of Godtime. This does provide a pool of people to draw into a quest without having to reach out across generations.

You cannot prevent Harmast from succeeding on either of his Lightbringers' quests, but that doesn't mean that you must lose against him. Especially heroquests have the concept of losing forward. 

 

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Telling how it is excessive verbis

 

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On 8/9/2020 at 12:45 AM, Squaredeal Sten said:

My horseback estimate is that the chance of any particular opponent just happening to heroquest when you do seems pretty small.

As Pratchett put it, "million-to-one chances happen nine times out of ten".

This is how the Summons of Evil works. You do the ritual, and your enemy turns up. They must have set off several days ago to get here, but you did the ritual yesterday, and here they are today. It's not time travel. It's calling on mythic resonance to do its thing.

Likewise, you plan a surprise raid on your enemy, you turn up, and there they are waiting for you. Did someone tip them off? Are they spying on you? Did they time travel? No, they did the Summons of Evil last night, and therefore they were pretty confident that an enemy would turn up right afterwards.

The universe likes coincidences, and it only takes a gentle shove for it to provide you with one.

It doesn't always happen. Surprise raids often do work, so don't be tempted to always foil your players' hard laid plans and use this as an excuse to be a jerk GM. And there may be counterintelligence methods to prevent such interference. I'm sure the Lunars are looking into this, a way to circumvent Orlanth's annoyingly useful Summons of Evil. "Hey, we aren't evil, how come we keep getting suckered into it?"

7 hours ago, Whizbang said:

But before history there was no Time, so there is no reason why your opponents in the Godtime should have to be questing at the exact same time as you. Maybe they started their quest a generation earlier.

This aspect of Glorantha breaks my brain so it might be completely off base.

No, I think it is often the same enemies, your contemporaries.

It's supposed to break our modern brains that are locked into the mundane world.

Edited by PhilHibbs
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On 8/20/2020 at 10:42 PM, jajagappa said:

Jeff's latest addition (8/20) to the Facebook RuneQuest page on this topic:

MAGICAL ROADS
The Mountain Peaks

One of the PCs in my 13th Age Glorantha campaign has a “Mountain Runner” Background, so I’m going to start using these very soon. 

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