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Male Maran Gor worshipper?


Glyph

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Any advice on earth deities for male characters? One of my players wants to play an Esrolian warrior type earth follower, but the options for this seem limited. Maran Gor seems to be the only one, but even then he can't progress to Rune level.

I think it's an interesting choice but with limited potential, any suggestions for ways round this/2nd or alternate cults etc?

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13 minutes ago, Glyph said:

but even then he can't progress to Rune level

Of course, you could just play it that he only has to convince the examiners he's a girl.  Then it just becomes a roleplaying opportunity. 

Edited by Stephen L
That grammar thing
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Even if they can't be a Rune priest they can at least be a God-Talker. Less cult support and no allied spirit (usually, maybe your player could be an exception), but they get the rest of the benefits of priesthood. Unfortunately there's not many male earth gods in general, and even less martial ones (it's likely most of them followed Genert to his death). I seem to remember something about one of them being rediscovered in Sartar quite recently, a minor earth god devoted to chaos fighting, but I don't recall his name. Currently, I think your only other option is actually Aldrya. It's a bit of an odd choice, but non-aldryami can technically join and advance as far as any elf could, and she does provide some nice martial magic.

Edited by Richard S.
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18 minutes ago, Richard S. said:

a minor earth god devoted to chaos fighting, but I don't recall his name

There was Baroshi, a godling devoted to chaos fighting, in the original Snake Pipe hollow. Could that be a reference to him?

 

25 minutes ago, Stephen L said:

a roleplaying opportunity.

Though the original post was meant in jest, there are many roleplaying opportunities by which a male Earth warrior might achieve Rune Lord status.  Following in the footsteps of an obscure Male Earth Warrior (effectively a sub cult).  Finding such a godling as Baroshi, and worshipping him.

The player characters are heroes, I'm sure they'll find ways of breaking the rules (or rather making new ones).

 

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37 minutes ago, Stephen L said:

Finding such a godling as Baroshi, and worshipping him.

I would go with the Maran Gor route.  As their skills develop, the Maran Gor priestesses see an opportunity to find and resurrect a lost sub-cult.  They believe that such a Chaos fighter once existed, and that the temple may have been in Snakepipe Hollow....  But there are many caves there, much Chaos, etc.  Recent reports from Queen Leika of the Colymar, however, give hints that the right cave has been found.

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> Any advice on earth deities for male characters?

My Three Stars cult that includes Baroshi, Chaos-slayer!

Ever want to become a powerful warrior against chaos abominations while still maintaining personal hygiene and not scaring the villagers? Tired of the earth mothers making you plow the fields day in and day out? Well Baroshi and his stackable Impede Chaos is the cult for you!

EARTH RUNE MEN ARE PEOPLE TOO!

Edited by Whizbang
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An old fan supplement had the cult of Kanak Gor, I think, a cult of self-castrating eunuchs who voluntarily castrate themselves in religious ecstasy. They were earth warriors.

Simon Phipp - Caldmore Chameleon - Wallowing in my elitism since 1982. Many Systems, One Family. Just a fanboy. 

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12 hours ago, Glyph said:

Any advice on earth deities for male characters? One of my players wants to play an Esrolian warrior type earth follower, but the options for this seem limited. Maran Gor seems to be the only one, but even then he can't progress to Rune level.

I think it's an interesting choice but with limited potential, any suggestions for ways round this/2nd or alternate cults etc?

Lodril is a good choice for farmer folk with a strong revolution ethic.

OTOH, there's nothing whatsoever wrong with a male Maran Gor initiate... but good luck passing the examiners for Rune levels 😁

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12 hours ago, Glyph said:

Any advice on earth deities for male characters? One of my players wants to play an Esrolian warrior type earth follower, but the options for this seem limited. Maran Gor seems to be the only one, but even then he can't progress to Rune level.

For the mainstream cult of Maran Gor, that's true.  Greg did however write about Maran Devor, which was open to males and big on clubs.  It's kinda of in the box of No Longer Important Stuff but it could be resurrected as a Hero Cult.  

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18 hours ago, French Desperate WindChild said:

Nandan would be a solution

but that means the player has to choose:

the character is really a nandan and tells the truth

the character is not really a nandan and has to lie and act like a nandan

 

My own take is that Orlanthi are fairly gender essentialist; there's a spectrum to it, to be sure, as to what exactly being a nandan or vingan means to someone in particular, but on at least one level, it is commonly accepted that a "nandan" is anyone who is biologically male but assumes the societal role, duties, and behaviors Orlanthi society traditionally ascribes to women, which includes joining Earth cults (even Dark Earth cults) and taking part in rites that Orlanthi men are otherwise excluded from.

On that level, the very act of becoming an initiate of Maran Gor would be enough to be considered nandan. And if you had a high enough Earth Rune to successfully initiate (and remember that initiation here is a magical and transformative experience, it's not really something you can just "fake" unless you're a filthy Illuminate), and enough dedication and ambition that the possibility of attaining Rune levels was a real concern for you... Well, by pretty much everyone's definition in-universe, you're clearly a nandan.

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2 hours ago, Leingod said:

it's not really something you can just "fake" unless you're a filthy Illuminate

firstly, if they were filthy, then it would indicate their higher connection to Earth.

Secondly, since there are many Illuminates in the urban populations of the Lunar Empire, that many (the majority?) bathe regularly, so at least up north there, filthy illuminates will be few and far between. Given the cosmopolitan urbanised atmosphere of Notchet, I'd say the same for there as well. So not many filthy Illuminates joining Maran Gor...

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Thanks everyone, I really like the Baroshi idea - a chaos fighter earth god would be a perfect fit!

Any thoughts what the cult might look like for spells/skills associated cults etc? Impede Chaos, Shield, Enchant Copper and Enchant Iron spring to mind..

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3 hours ago, Glyph said:

Any thoughts what the cult might look like for spells/skills associated cults etc? Impede Chaos, Shield, Enchant Copper and Enchant Iron spring to mind..

Possibly Face Chaos (although I'd probably only provide either that or Impede Chaos, but not both).

Possibly True Axe.  (The Eleven Lights Book, in which Baroshi could be brought back as one of the Three New Stars, suggested an Ability, Burn Chaos Thing.  Potentially vary True Axe to only apply to Chaos.)

Either Shield or Earthshield.

Agree with Enchant Copper, but probably not Enchant Iron.

 

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On 4/15/2021 at 7:29 PM, Glyph said:

Any advice on earth deities for male characters? One of my players wants to play an Esrolian warrior type earth follower, but the options for this seem limited. Maran Gor seems to be the only one, but even then he can't progress to Rune level.

I think it's an interesting choice but with limited potential, any suggestions for ways round this/2nd or alternate cults etc?

Maran Gor. Chop his own essentials off, they will accept him then as a rune level, or die laughing.

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On 4/16/2021 at 4:29 AM, Glyph said:

Any advice on earth deities for male characters? One of my players wants to play an Esrolian warrior type earth follower, but the options for this seem limited. Maran Gor seems to be the only one, but even then he can't progress to Rune level.

 

12 hours ago, Orlanthatemyhamster said:

Maran Gor. Chop his own essentials off, they will accept him then as a rune level, or die laughing.

Yes, self-castration is the go, a bit like the Cult of Attis in what is now Turkey.  For added authenticity, you can even follow the practice whereby the newly created eunuch must throw their "junk" through the doorway of a house, obliging the family within to pay for their care and healing or be cursed by the goddess.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Coming up with a self-castration ritual/ceremony for the character could result in a pretty intense session! Something like: the player has to make some sort of will roll or roll vs their Earth or Death Rune (in any case with a significant penalty) in order to go through with un-manning themselves. To improve their chances, the character can to undertake a several days long period of ascetic worship, denying themselves food, etc. (i.e., make a worship roll as an augment - and a CON roll to stay coherent) and then take some inebriants or perform a final dance to help distance themselves from their body (thus giving them a further bonus to their final roll.) Then comes the moment of truth; the player makes the final dice roll for the ritual and ... a) they fail and just can't go through with it (leading to their rejection for Rune status and expulsion from the cult, but with reasonably intact genitals), b) they crit fail and manage to mangle themselves, but don't actually complete the self-castration (PC takes damage, they're expelled from Maran Gor's embrace, and they gain Reputation), c) they succeed (and take some damage, have a long-recovery, etc.), or d) critical success - they remove their junk with a fluid motion, beatific smile, etc. (gain Reputation, Rune rank, and maybe some token of Maran Gor's approval/acceptance.)

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1 hour ago, Beoferret said:

Coming up with a self-castration ritual/ceremony for the character could result in a pretty intense session! Something like: the player has to make some sort of will roll or roll vs their Earth or Death Rune (in any case with a significant penalty) in order to go through with un-manning themselves. To improve their chances, the character can to undertake a several days long period of ascetic worship, denying themselves food, etc. (i.e., make a worship roll as an augment - and a CON roll to stay coherent) and then take some inebriants or perform a final dance to help distance themselves from their body (thus giving them a further bonus to their final roll.) Then comes the moment of truth; the player makes the final dice roll for the ritual and ... a) they fail and just can't go through with it (leading to their rejection for Rune status and expulsion from the cult, but with reasonably intact genitals), b) they crit fail and manage to mangle themselves, but don't actually complete the self-castration (PC takes damage, they're expelled from Maran Gor's embrace, and they gain Reputation), c) they succeed (and take some damage, have a long-recovery, etc.), or d) critical success - they remove their junk with a fluid motion, beatific smile, etc. (gain Reputation, Rune rank, and maybe some token of Maran Gor's approval/acceptance.)

Do any cults without Chaos have such stark failure rates as "thrown out of cult for failing to self-dedickenate?"

I know the Galli in Classical Antiquity had festivals where autodephallestrations happened, and those who did it were revered. Perhaps you're condemned to base initiate status until you can actually succeed on a Feast Day of the goddess, when groups of let's call them galli come together (everywhere we find them historically, they are always together, in every place in the world, why not in Glorantha) to help each other.

Every additional gallus should give a bonus to each other.

Also, why wouldn't you just get a change sex blessing? Or is this the prerequisite for that from Maran Gor?

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