Media inspirations

[TrippyHippy]

So, I've made a commitment towards running a Runequest: Glorantha campaign next year - aiming to last the entire year. It is basically going to act as a replacement for a previous D&D campaign slot, partially because D&D is going through a hiatus right now between editions*. Also, frankly, because I want to do something a bit different and with some sort of ongoing depth (ie not just a series of one shots). Runequest: Glorantha has been on the radar for some time, and I'm already seasoned with playing Classic Runequest a bit, an aborted Pendragon Campaign (everybody died!) and plenty of Call of Cthulhu and other BRP-based games. I already have the RQ:G core rules. 

Anyway, it may need a bit of selling to my group and the best way I normally can start that is pointing them in the direction of media sources they can get inspired by. Movies and TV shows are best as they are casual and non-committal entertainments. I'm already aware of 300 being a good start ("THIS IS SARTAR!!!!"), but what else? Some books and novellas, as well as non-fiction books are also useful. Suggested music inspirations - soundtracks, etc, but also thematic rock bands that could be sourced too?

There may be a formal list of these things provided somewhere, but I haven't found them - so any source would be good. 

Also, with the specific Cults - which seems to be the best avenue into grasping the setting for players - could somebody give me a simple list of the main ones and associate them with some easy handle of the core concept based on pop culture or real-world facsimile? So, for example, what is the Orlanth cult like, in a nutshell?  And so on. 

Any help appreciated! 

* They aren't calling it a new edition, but if they are redoing all the core books with revised rules, so I'm not sure what else you'd call it. Anyway, our group can take a break while the game can sort out what it wants to be. We'll play Runequest in meantime! 

Edited November 9, 2023 by TrippyHippy

[brionl]

If you want maximum cheese factor, how about the old Ray Harryhausen movies, Jason and the Argonauts & Clash of the Titans.

Slightly less cheesy, Xena Warrior Princess and/or Hercules.

[Richard S.]

1 hour ago, TrippyHippy said:

Also, with the specific Cults - which seems to be the best avenue into grasping the setting for players - could somebody give me a simple list of the main ones and associate them with some easy handle of the core concept based on pop culture or real-world facsimile? So, for example, what is the Orlanth cult like, in a nutshell?  And so on. 

You can kind of equate cults to classes, in terms of flavor at least. These might be good for your group if they're familiar with D&D:

Orlanth - Fighter. Not just because he likes combat (which he does), but because his cult is kind of the measuring stick for everything else, and possible the most common. I'll note that really he's more of an "everyman" god, but Orlanthi in play will probably fill the fighter role easiest.

Issaries - Bard. A bit of a looser comparison, since Issaries doesn't particularly care for music or entertainment (unless you're running it as a business maybe), but Issaries initiates are great "faces" and can talk their way into or out of just about anything.

Lhankor Mhy - Wizard. Both because they're adventuring scholarly types, and because they practice the closest thing to proper wizard magic in the setting, sorcery. Also beards.

Chalana Arroy - Cleric. They're a little tricky to play because of the whole nonviolence thing, but they're a great option for a party healer so long as the rest of the party can defend them and doesn't act needlessly cruel towards their enemies.

Eurmal - Rogue. Chaotic neutral little shits, all of them.

Ernalda - Druid. Also a good party healer, plus earthy nature powers. You need to be/become a woman to advance very far though.

Humakt - Paladin. Oath-bound, honorable, undead-slaying warriors with terrifying but costly powers.

Storm Bull - Barbarian. Unrestrained, brutal, chaos-slaying warriors who are just generally kinda scary.

Some of this was based on this: https://wellofdaliath.chaosium.com/essential-cults-for-adventuring/

[mfbrandi]

45 minutes ago, TrippyHippy said:

Some books and novellas, as well as non-fiction books are also useful … There may be a formal list of these things provided somewhere

There is some “Appendix N” stuff in RQ2 Classic and HeroQuest Glorantha, but I guess they are superseded by this:

• The Well of Daliath: Gloranthan Readings

So, with the official reading list out of the way:

• From Nick Brooke (his Gloranthan Manifesto is free), you can take P G Wodehouse, Asterix, and Star Wars.
• Although Arthurian, I would say as a film to capture the weird religion aspect of Glorantha, you couldn’t go wrong with Éric Rohmer’s Perceval le Gallois. Genius!
• If you are a fan of Griselda, then Joanna Russ’s Alyx stories. She has finally made it into the Library of America — and not before time.
• For the anthropological feel, Ursula Le Guin’s Always Coming Home — it is huge, but it can be dipped into — and maybe some Michael Bishop.
• For “shamanism actually works”, Rachel Pollack’s Unquenchable Fire.
• Nnedi Okorafor’s YA Akata books.
• Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities and Cosmicomics. (Calvino may even have made it into some version of the official list.)
• Tanith Lee — esp. her Flat Earth stories.
• Suzy McKee Charnas’s Holdfast Chronicles.
• I am currently reading Geraldine Pinch’s Egyptian Mythology: a Guide to the Gods, Goddesses, and Traditions of Ancient Egypt, and it is setting all kinds of Gloranthan bells ringing for me. “Oh, so Orlanth is kinda like Seth!”

If some of these suggestions seem a little eccentric, remember that Borges is on the official Chaosium list. (Also, I am a little eccentric.)

[Shiningbrow]

Troy! Or any of those movies about the Trojan War.

Check this thread:

 

 

(oh, you already did...)

Edited November 10, 2023 by Shiningbrow

[radmonger]

I would recommend the Last Kingdom and Winter King TV series, or the novels they are based on.  They really show how to tell a story around and largely about battles, without becoming a wargame. They have the Runequest feel of combat being a deadly thing where skill matters, but numbers matter more. The technology level is a bit higher than Glorantha , but it's still clearly pre-medieval.

 

 

[Steve]

The Prince Of Sartar webcomic.

[mfbrandi]

20 hours ago, mfbrandi said:

the weird religion aspect of Glorantha

12 hours ago, Shiningbrow said:

the Trojan War

S P Somtow (Somtow Sucharitkul for those with long memories) stood the Trojan War on its head in The Shattered Horse. Depending on your particular kinks, it may put you off Helen and/or earth priestesses.

Easier than The Golden Bough: Mary Renault’s Theseus books, The King Must Die & The Bull from the Sea. She also tackled Alexander the Great.

And then, again, off at a tangent:

• Shorter than the Mahabharata: R K Narayan’s Gods, Demons, and Others. Good for super-powered ascetics.
• Hallucinated Glorantha: Amos Tutuola’s My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, or Dick’s The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, or … ?

Edited November 10, 2023 by mfbrandi
then —> than

[Akhôrahil]

Moana (yes, the Disney movie - it's unbelievably Gloranthan!)

Age of Bronze

Artesia

Barbaren

The Northman

Princess Mononoke

Bahubaali

The Spine of Night

Edited November 10, 2023 by Akhôrahil

[Malin]

Oh I second Baahubali, that's the most bonkers hero wars glorantha movie I've ever seen. Same director as RRR.

 

Edited November 10, 2023 by Malin

[mfbrandi]

3 hours ago, Malin said:

I second Bahubali, that's the most bonkers hero wars glorantha movie I've ever seen.

• Bahubali … is said to have meditated motionless for a 12 years in a standing posture … during this time, climbing plants grew around his legs. After his 12 year of meditation, Bahubali is said to have attained omniscience — Wikipedia

Possibly — only possibly! — the Jain story is a case of inversion of the Gloranthan trope: Bahubali has the fight first, doesn’t kill his brother, and then achieves “illumination” (moksha) at the end … as does his spared brother–enemy. In Glorantha, you get illuminated first, pick fights, and kill everybody … for some reason. Is this unfair? 😉

[AndreJarosch]

Movies: 
Bahubali (as mentioned above)
Vaiana 
Princess Mononoke 

Novel: 
Queen´s Heir by John E. Boyle... written for Glorantha, then convertet to Hittites
 

[Beoferret]

Movies:

Clash of the Titans - Harryhausen version

Jason and the Argonauts

Conan the Barbarian (1982) - aspects of it at least. 

Princess Mononoke - especially for the fight with the boar god and for the forest spirits

 

As for the cults:

Orlanth - the tempestuous storm god, who was an excitable young man of dubious morality who (after causing lots of trouble) turned into a semi-responsible grown-up - general cult for badass adventuring (fighter or rogue), being a storm worshiping priest (cleric), or a responsible leader (fighter)

Humakt - dour, serious, and honorable - what if a samurai actually adhered to a rigid bushido code (one that included a duty to fight undead)? - paladin or fighter-type characters

Storm Bull - your (often) meth-addled, biker-type barbarian - a real troublemaker who nonetheless stands on the side of the "good guys" when push comes to shove. Great versus chaos.

Issaries - for the "faceman" of your party and the player who loves characters who enjoy getting rich, haggling over prices at the general store, negotiating treaties/deals, etc.

Donander - for the those who love playing bards.

Lhankor Mhy - the smarty-pants scholar guy - either an overly curious or stuffy wizard-type or an Indiana Jones (rogue?) fighting scholar

Ernalda - earth goddess and a very important cult socially - great for clerics (healers, etc.) and socially-oriented PCs (female). Lots of roleplaying.

Odayla or Foundchild - for those who want to play ranger-type characters - the difference is mainly one of character attitude (Surly loner who's into bears of the ursine kind? Go with Odayla. General hunter/woodsman who braves the wilds on behalf of others? Foundchild.)

Yinkin - cat god with all that entails - rangers or rogues.

Babeester Gor - the enforcer on the Gloranthan field hockey team, who looks out for the girls at the keg party (and beats the crap out of the guy who has a hard time taking no for an answer) - fighter or barbarian-type character (female only)

Eurmal - the trickster, non-conformist, rebel god - for players who enjoy playing rogues, especially ones who are chaos monkeys (but not Chaos monkeys)

 

 

[mfbrandi]

5 hours ago, Beoferret said:

Eurmal … chaos monkeys (but not Chaos monkeys)

The Eurmali party line — according to the less-than-trustworthy clown who lives in my head:

• All reality is temporary
  so reality is just a thin skin of illusion
  — the veil of Maya
  — stretched over the Void
   
  • Reality is permanent illusion
    but no illusion is permanent
    so nothing is real
    — there is only the Void
     
    • Push any button to collect word salad
      I’m sorry, I did not recognise that input
      — Void!
      — Void!
      — Void!

It is no wonder that some tricksters present as mentally ill — catatonic or in manic denial — but beware the ones who appear sane and anyone assuring you, “Trickster riddles and Nysalor riddles are quite, quite different.”

I wonder which Gloranthan scripts — if any — distinguish between upper and lower case.

[Tindalos]

The Obsidian and Blood novels by Aliette de Bodard. 

It's a series about the High Priest of Mictlantecuhtli, and is effectively a supernatural detective mystery series. With blood sacrifice. 

Its approach to religion, magic, and the divine realms help make it incredibly appropriate for Gloranthan inspiration. Especially for underworld cults. 

[Nick Brooke]

On 11/9/2023 at 11:24 PM, mfbrandi said:

So, with the official reading list out of the way:

• From Nick Brooke (his Gloranthan Manifesto is free), you can take P G Wodehouse, Asterix, and Star Wars.

While I do give examples in my Manifesto of how you could profitably borrow themes from Wodehouse, Asterix and Star Wars in your RuneQuest games, I am not for one moment suggesting that Wodehouse, Asterix and Star Wars are normal sources of inspiration for running games in Glorantha. (Only one of them is.) Any more than Oliver Dickinson would suggest that Damon Runyan's On Broadway is necessary background reading for a Pavis campaign. (That said, a character from Guys and Dolls does turn up in Citizens of the Lunar Empire). The incongruity is part of the point: seek inspiration widely. Otherwise you'll never get to mash up Apocalypse Now with TS Eliot and the Sex Pistols.

You've been pretty well covered above. Get a proper Gloranthan feel from Mary Renault, Milorad Pavic's Dictionary of the Khazars, Ray Harryhausen sword-and-sandal movies, Life of Brian, Xena, Baahubali, just about anything with Greeks or Romans and barbarians (John James' superb novels, the opening scenes of Gladiator, Spartacus or classic BBC I Clavdivs on the telly), just about anything featuring the Trojan War, or neolithic (Michelle Paver's Chronicles of Ancient Darkness), or Celtic/Germanic (often hiding in the interstices of YA fiction or Arthurian retellings, but see also Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain) or Ancient Near Eastern (Silverberg's Gilgamesh)...

[TrippyHippy]

Hmmm...Asterix comics might be a clever little source to use....

[AndreJarosch]

8 minutes ago, TrippyHippy said:

Hmmm...Asterix comics might be a clever little source to use....

I can see the newest one as a Tarshite Seven Mothers ambassador coming to Apple Lane (or Clearwine). 🙂

[Nick Brooke]

11 minutes ago, TrippyHippy said:

Hmmm...Asterix comics might be a clever little source to use....

Manifesto, p.50.

[radmonger]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thieves'_World is a very RQ and somewhat Gloranthan fantasy anthology. Chaosium published a boxed set describing the novels setting, the city of Sancturay.

As I understand it, the Esrolian city of Refuge was, once upon a time, a stand-in for Sanctuary. However, that this is not currently true, presumably for the obvious reason that Chaosium do not want any part of official canon Glorantha to be based on a way out of print box set based on someone else's IP.

[brionl]

Oh, good one. Barnes & Noble has 2 5-book omnibus ebooks of the Thieves' World series for a pretty good price, if you have a Nook, or the Nook reader app.

As I recall, it started out pretty good and focused, but the later books veered off into the usual each author wants to do their own thing of many shared world series. Multiverse shenanigans were a part of it very early though so Sanctuary persons showing up in Dragon Pass wouldn't be out of line.

[Oldskolgmr]

In order of accessibility (and least time investment) to most:

Children's books of Norse and Greek mythology by D'Aulaires,

The Prince of Sartar webcomic,

Princess Mononoke,

Robert Silverberg's Gilgamesh, 

The Mahabharata, the BBC version on Youtube. Parts one and two (part three is still perplexing to me). 

 

Edited November 17, 2023 by Oldskolgmr

[soltakss]

Try looking at these threads, there are others here and on Facebook: