Art in the Cults Book

[d(sqrt(-1))]

Anyone want to explain it then? I know the song slightly and read the lyrics - what's the context here?

[Rick Meints]

19 hours ago, LuxuriousRhino said:

Does anyone know when this title, Cults of Glorantha, is scheduled to be released? 

The next announcement we will make related to the timing for this title is when the book has gone to layout.

The writing and editing are done and the remaining art has been commissioned and is being completed.

[jajagappa]

On 5/5/2021 at 3:41 AM, d(sqrt(-1)) said:

Anyone want to explain it then? I know the song slightly and read the lyrics - what's the context here?

Pretty straightforward:  Grandfather and Grandmother Mortal heading off into the night/tunnel of love, "because the night belongs to Love". 

Man Rune, go forth and multiply!

[d(sqrt(-1))]

19 hours ago, jajagappa said:

Pretty straightforward:  Grandfather and Grandmother Mortal heading off into the night/tunnel of love, "because the night belongs to Love". 

Man Rune, go forth and multiply!

Ok - I must admit I thought there was more to it than that...(although I didn't know who the couple were)

[jajagappa]

Latest addition posted on FB:  the Red Goddess!

[French Desperate WindChild]

I am afraid about the three very uncommon runes: W I P 😛

 

[jajagappa]

5 hours ago, French Desperate WindChild said:

I am afraid about the three very uncommon runes: W I P 😛

 

Clearly the Mastery rune, followed by the spark of life emerging from the candle of the world, and last the axe of endings, once again indicating how the Red Goddess balances Life and Death in the Cosmic Order.

[Thoror]

On 5/5/2021 at 5:33 PM, Rick Meints said:

The next announcement we will make related to the timing for this title is when the book has gone to layout.

The writing and editing are done and the remaining art has been commissioned and is being completed.

Oh man, I can't wait anymore. I have been waiting for years already! (surely the Gamemaster's Guide and the Sartar Campaign will be awesome too, but this, this is the one I really want. I think of it as the most important Glorantha book ever after the Guide, the Sourcebook and King of Sartar).

[AndreJarosch]

I skimmed this topic, but couldn´t find the answer to my question...

We are shown a lot of GREAT artwork of the upcoming Gods of Glorantha book(s), but do these pictures show us how the gods REALLY look like, or do these pictures show us how they look very likely if they are met on a heroquest, or does these pictures show us how the most pious worshipper looks like when he emulates his god?

[Sir_Godspeed]

8 minutes ago, AndreJarosch said:

I skimmed this topic, but couldn´t find the answer to my question...

We are shown a lot of GREAT artwork of the upcoming Gods of Glorantha book(s), but do these pictures show us how the gods REALLY look like, or do these pictures show us how they look very likely if they are met on a heroquest, or does these pictures show us how the most pious worshipper looks like when he emulates his god?

Is it possible to separate those?

[AndreJarosch]

10 minutes ago, Sir_Godspeed said:

Is it possible to separate those?

In most situations you can´t, thats true. 

For me it is the question: When do i show these pictures to my players and in which context?

Do i show them the picture with "And this is like you and mostly everyone in your culture imagines Goddess  XYZ to look like."

Or do i show them the picture when they encounter Goddess XYZ on a Heroquest: "This is what you actually see."

Or do they encounter a dedicated worshipper to Goddess XYZ and i show them the picture: "This is how this devotee of Goddess XYZ who emulates his deity as perfectly as noone else you encountered before looks like."

Edited May 23, 2021 by AndreJarosch

[Sir_Godspeed]

2 hours ago, AndreJarosch said:

Do i show them the picture with "And this is like you and mostly everyone in your culture imagines Goddess  XYZ to look like."

Or do i show them the picture when they encounter Goddess XYZ on a Heroquest: "This is what you actually see."

I'm pretty sure these would basically be identical. The gods appear as the worshippers imagine they will. The gods have no "true" form, as such.

[AndreJarosch]

1 hour ago, Sir_Godspeed said:

I'm pretty sure these would basically be identical. The gods appear as the worshippers imagine they will. The gods have no "true" form, as such.

But that would mean that you could never encounter a goddess and think:
"Oh, she is skinnier than i thought."
"Oh, she has one pair of arms more as i imagined her."
"Oh, she has THAT skin colour?, I never thought of that."

You should be able to see/experience in a heroquest more than you had in your imagination beforehand, IMHO.
 

[jajagappa]

4 hours ago, AndreJarosch said:

For me it is the question: When do i show these pictures to my players and in which context?

So far we've seen two types of pictures: those depicting the pantheons (e.g. the Monomyth) done by Agathe, and those depicting individuals deities done by Loic.

I believe the former have been noted as in-world images, artwork that you might see in Boldhome or Nochet.

And the latter would be as how you might see the deity during your ceremonies or in the Gods World.

However, we know that deities can have multiple appearances (e.g. Yelm can be the Emperor upon his throne, the Maggot-liege in Hell, or Brightface, or the Golden Youth, etc.).  All of those are correct, so I'd reply "yes" to any of your questions knowing that the next time they encounter the deity, they see something similar or different.  (Here we see the finely balanced Red Goddess in the midst of her graceful dance.  Now we see the six-limbed Red Goddess who is half alive and half dead finely balanced while wielding her weapons, bestowing her blessings, and casting her curses - e.g. the image of her from the Gods War game.  Both are correct.)

[AndreJarosch]

1 minute ago, jajagappa said:

So far we've seen two types of pictures: those depicting the pantheons (e.g. the Monomyth) done by Agathe, and those depicting individuals deities done by Loic.

I believe the former have been noted as in-world images, artwork that you might see in Boldhome or Nochet.

And the latter would be as how you might see the deity during your ceremonies or in the Gods World.

However, we know that deities can have multiple appearances (e.g. Yelm can be the Emperor upon his throne, the Maggot-liege in Hell, or Brightface, or the Golden Youth, etc.).  All of those are correct, so I'd reply "yes" to any of your questions knowing that the next time they encounter the deity, they see something similar or different.  (Here we see the finely balanced Red Goddess in the midst of her graceful dance.  Now we see the six-limbed Red Goddess who is half alive and half dead finely balanced while wielding her weapons, bestowing her blessings, and casting her curses - e.g. the image of her from the Gods War game.  Both are correct.)

Let me rephrase my original question: 
The artwork in the book(s) is GREAT, and i love that i as a GM can enjoy all these illustrations, but what was the intended purpuse of these illustrations on the gaming table?
What was the intention of the art direction?
Show the Goddess real appearance?
Show the Goddess as a heroquester might encounter her?
Show a devotee of her cult that almost maganges to emulate her in appearance?

[Sir_Godspeed]

2 hours ago, AndreJarosch said:

But that would mean that you could never encounter a goddess and think:
"Oh, she is skinnier than i thought."
"Oh, she has one pair of arms more as i imagined her."
"Oh, she has THAT skin colour?, I never thought of that."

You should be able to see/experience in a heroquest more than you had in your imagination beforehand, IMHO.
 

MORE makes a lot of sense, sure, but I think it's misleading to portray it as TRUER, if that makes sense.

[Rick Meints]

5 hours ago, AndreJarosch said:

But that would mean that you could never encounter a goddess and think:
"Oh, she is skinnier than i thought."
"Oh, she has one pair of arms more as i imagined her."
"Oh, she has THAT skin colour?, I never thought of that."

I don't know about your characters, but if one of my characters ever encountered an actual deity they would be stunned silent with awe/fear/emotion. I don't think I'd be saying that their shoes didn't match the rest of their outfit, or that I thought tattoo X would have been smaller.

[Bill the barbarian]

2 minutes ago, Rick Meints said:

I don't know about your characters, but if one of my characters ever encountered an actual deity they would be stunned silent with awe/fear/emotion. I don't think I'd be saying that their shoes didn't match the rest of their outfit, or that I thought tattoo X would have been smaller.

Unless you worship Cult Kardashian!

Edited May 23, 2021 by Bill the barbarian

[AndreJarosch]

21 minutes ago, Rick Meints said:

I don't know about your characters, but if one of my characters ever encountered an actual deity they would be stunned silent with awe/fear/emotion. I don't think I'd be saying that their shoes didn't match the rest of their outfit, or that I thought tattoo X would have been smaller.

That is why i wrote THINK:
"But that would mean that you could never encounter a goddess and think:"
 

[soltakss]

5 hours ago, AndreJarosch said:

But that would mean that you could never encounter a goddess and think:
"Oh, she is skinnier than i thought."
"Oh, she has one pair of arms more as i imagined her."
"Oh, she has THAT skin colour?, I never thought of that."

You should be able to see/experience in a heroquest more than you had in your imagination beforehand, IMHO.

Most of the time, when HeroQuesting, you meet other HeroQuestors playing the parts of the Deities, so they look like Cosplayers of varying ability.

[Mameluco]

On 5/22/2021 at 12:50 AM, jajagappa said:

Latest addition posted on FB:  the Red Goddess!

She's sporting Moon (duh!), Death and Fertility runes! I thought those runes are asssocciated to the Seven Mothers not  Herself. Now I'm intrigued...

[Nick Brooke]

They did her makeup, duh.

Her Chaos Rune tattoo is somewhere you infidels don't get to see it.

[Jeff]

5 hours ago, Nick Brooke said:

They did her makeup, duh.

Her Chaos Rune tattoo is somewhere you infidels don't get to see it.

or maybe the WIP Is a dead giveaway that this is a work in progress. 

Seriously, sometimes people make me regret giving out drafts of material.

[Rodney Dangerduck]

On 5/23/2021 at 12:47 PM, Rick Meints said:

I don't know about your characters, but if one of my characters ever encountered an actual deity they would be stunned silent with awe/fear/emotion. I don't think I'd be saying that their shoes didn't match the rest of their outfit, or that I thought tattoo X would have been smaller.

Would vary for me.  Few of my characters are fanatic Toadies, most are devout and respectful, and some are smartasses.  Our campaigns emphasize that the Gods need **Heroes**, not doe-eyed puppies.  I get zero impression that Argrath is a devoted self effacing servant of Orlanth.

With apologies to Braveheart:  "Him?  He can't be --William Wallace-- Orlanth!  I am prettier than this god"

[Thoror]

On 5/22/2021 at 7:24 PM, Thoror said:

Oh man, I can't wait anymore. I have been waiting for years already! (surely the Gamemaster's Guide and the Sartar Campaign will be awesome too, but this, this is the one I really want. I think of it as the most important Glorantha book ever after the Guide, the Sourcebook and King of Sartar).

That being said, if there's still some proofreading to do... I think I'm pretty good at it, so you can always send me the text; I'd do it for free (the text would be its own payment).

(... Hey, there is no harm in trying, is there? 😉)