French Desperate WindChild Posted March 10, 2021 Share Posted March 10, 2021 what I propose here is not mandatory for me, and I consider that the publications we already wishes are really more important than this idea. chaman, priest and sorcerer are three activities/titles that are mainly dedicated to their community but chaman priest and sorcerer are three activities/titles that pc could wish to obtain. And there could be an issue. How to play this kind of character when they have to "stay home" by nature. Of course the point is not about campain focused on one community life, more for pc who are adventurers. In the same way how to understand this or this magic system when the system is aligned for community actors and not adventurers (Am I pointing sorcery debates ? nooooo... hum... but seriously that could be the case for other paths too) So I would propose an canon publication topic explaining: - what is a (chaman / priest /sorcerer) in a community, what they do daily, what are their powers (from the community, no the spells, we already have), etc... - what is a wandering (chaman / priest / sorcerer) -> aka adventurer pc or npc - what are the benefits ? what people expect from them ? what do they lose in comparison of an established (chaman / priest / sorcerer) in term of magical power, legitimity, social interaction ?, What they gain in addition of their freedom ? Maybe it is anticipated and we would see it in god and goddess, western supplement, etc... And I would applaude chaosium for that, but if not... well keep the idea somewhere in the asrelia cave of your brain ! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psullie Posted March 10, 2021 Share Posted March 10, 2021 For me the major appeal of RuneQuest is the way it firmly integrates community and social responsibility. But moving fantasy RPG's away from the murder hobo trope is a huge challenge and I fear will always be a niche market. Priests etc. get huge advantages at the cost of social obligations. This reminds me of the old AD&D Paladin, a powerful fighter/priest restrained by a moral code - but the number of times I've seen players 'forget' their code in pursuit of treasure made me question the Character Class. I think that Rune Point economics has great potential to guide the obligations of powerful characters. I'd like to see some mechanics of justifying a characters expenditure and/or yearly spends - priests are expected to spend their divine power aiding the community that pays their salaries, what would happen if your village needed help but you spent all your RP adventuring? What we also need are strong scenarios that play heavily into community life. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godlearner Posted March 10, 2021 Share Posted March 10, 2021 If we stick to the basic tenet of shaman / priest /sorcerer donating 50 - 90% of their time and money then we should not be seeing these characters adventuring, except in unusual circumstance. But as this is a Role Playing Game character are always built with unusual circumstance in mind, otherwise there would be no need to adventure. That is why when I see people say that certain builds are not suitable as PC, I just shrug and move on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dissolv Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 10 hours ago, Godlearner said: If we stick to the basic tenet of shaman / priest /sorcerer donating 50 - 90% of their time and money then we should not be seeing these characters adventuring, except in unusual circumstance If by adventuring, you mean "doing my own thing for my own fortune and glory", then yes. But a hallmark of a lot of Glorantha adventures has been that your characters are propelled by clan, cult, and kin into sort of "adventures of duty". In many ways this is where the world shines -- the players are often embroiled in feuds, wars, and troubles not of their own making. There is a world outside the mad lust for bigger numbers on the character sheet, and the players frequently feel motivated by things other than gold and experience points. In the Hero Wars time frame those shamans, priests, and sorcerers are the leaders of their social groups, and the most likely the last best hope for those groups to survive the storm. In this sort of world, all manner of adventures may be had, just trying to keep the NPCs that your players have come to know and love (or hate) alive. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godlearner Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 Quote If by adventuring, you mean "doing my own thing for my own fortune and glory", then yes. But a hallmark of a lot of Glorantha adventures has been that your characters are propelled by clan, cult, and kin into sort of "adventures of duty". Tomato -tomAto. Whatever excuse you want go with. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squaredeal Sten Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 15 hours ago, Psullie said: ;;;;;;- priests are expected to spend their divine power aiding the community that pays their salaries, what would happen if your village needed help but you spent all your RP adventuring? The priest should sacrifice to earn more rune points. However I agree with your next line, " What we also need are strong scenarios that play heavily into community life." For most cults the priest's adventures should be community oriented, because the priest owes 90% of his or her time to the cult and presumably the community. That does not necessarily mean the priest stays close to home, though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davecake Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 I generally just assume this means those that have to spend 90% of their time devoted to their cult etc means the cult is now their employer, and the cult status their profession The adventures they go on will be motivated not by personal wealth, but for the good of the cult. This may change the sort of adventures they go on - or it might not change things that much. If your PC was an Orlanthi rebel making a living by raiding or farming before, and going on some adventures to help Orlanth and fight the Lunars in their free time, before, then after they become a priest/Wind Lord they get to do that stuff full time and not worry about income. As a priest or lord, of course a lot of their cash goes straight to the cult. But they are also one of the people who decides what the cult does with that money. Of course they can't just buy themselves indulgences with it, but they can try to convince the other cult leaders that it is good to build a shrine/equip an expedition/invest in cult equipment or magic. It changes the game, and makes it less about self-empowerment, but it also embeds the character in the community more, and means they need to think a bit more about why they are doing the things they do. Less murder-hobos, more murder-middle-management! Well, except for cults like Storm Bull where wandering around looking for things to kill IS considered cult service. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davecake Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 Basically, if you really want to keep doing adventures for personal gain, try to fit it into 10% of your time. That can still be enough for an adventure a season if you plan it. But if your adventures are not at least mostly related to the goals of your cult or tribe as well as your own, something might be wrong - and maybe you should not have sought that higher office. But mostly, what do those statuses mean? A Wind Lord of Orlanth needs to fight the enemies of Orlanth, fight Chaos when he hears of it (and can ask other Lightbringers to help him), fights Darkness if it bothers the Earth temple - sounds plenty of adventures to me. A Sword of Humakt must face enemies of Humakt in battle, slay undead, maybe lead his regiment or temple forces in battle - sound plenty of adventures to me. A Storm Bull Khan must seek out Chaos and destroy it - sounds adventurous to me. A tribal shaman of Waha or a shaman of Daka Fall must investigate magical threats to his tribe/family - sounds plenty of adventures to me. And so on. Plus, the cult can always give the character some big adventurous responsibility, and say that that counts as cult service - yes, the prophecies say that it is important you find the long lost temple of the Bee Maiden, and free the spirit of the hero trapped there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godlearner Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 47 minutes ago, davecake said: Basically, if you really want to keep doing adventures for personal gain, try to fit it into 10% of your time. That can still be enough for an adventure a season if you plan it. But if your adventures are not at least mostly related to the goals of your cult or tribe as well as your own, something might be wrong - and maybe you should not have sought that higher office. But mostly, what do those statuses mean? A Wind Lord of Orlanth needs to fight the enemies of Orlanth, fight Chaos when he hears of it (and can ask other Lightbringers to help him), fights Darkness if it bothers the Earth temple - sounds plenty of adventures to me. A Sword of Humakt must face enemies of Humakt in battle, slay undead, maybe lead his regiment or temple forces in battle - sound plenty of adventures to me. A Storm Bull Khan must seek out Chaos and destroy it - sounds adventurous to me. A tribal shaman of Waha or a shaman of Daka Fall must investigate magical threats to his tribe/family - sounds plenty of adventures to me. And so on. Plus, the cult can always give the character some big adventurous responsibility, and say that that counts as cult service - yes, the prophecies say that it is important you find the long lost temple of the Bee Maiden, and free the spirit of the hero trapped there. Of course it also means that the rest of the party need to be made up of closely aligned/associated cult members. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davecake Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 3 minutes ago, Godlearner said: Of course it also means that the rest of the party need to be made up of closely aligned/associated cult members. Or relatively free agents with their own reasons for coming along, or part of the same community, etc. But yes, this is why parties that are either part of the same community (usually a Heortling clan in current games) or are in associated cults (like all Lightbringers/associates of Orlanth or Ernalda) work well, and make for an easy campaign frame. But making some other sort of campaign frame that makes them all part of an appropriate community can also work (for example, everyone is part of the same regiment or mercenary band). Some campaign frames may work for a while and then require you to develop reasons to stay together as the campaign goes on - eg you are all travelling together in the same merchant caravan/boat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godlearner Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 Quote Or relatively free agents with their own reasons for coming along, or part of the same community, etc. Some groups do well with that ... and then there are groups I play with LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squaredeal Sten Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 5 hours ago, davecake said: . Less murder-hobos, more murder-middle-management! Great summary! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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