My Ronance cult

[kalidor]

Ronance in my new campaign in Glorantha:

 

First I am going to explain why i think Ronance's cult should be Issariess rune and Earth rune:

 

a) Ronance was a God of fertility in Genert's Garden but when Genert was destroyed and the Garden blasted to pieces, Tada's Loincloth was lost and so were the fertility powers of Ronance. When Waha reknitted those pieces of the Garden he could find, the land was not the same. Genert was gone and Ernalda couldn't come back. Ronance keeps little fertility powers of his own thanks to his earth rune link but that does not makes him a Fertility God as in God Time. My explanation is that in God Time he was not the SOURCE but only the "administrator-channeller" of Higher Powers (Ernalda-Genert), a seneschal of sorts. With the Source gone there are not fertility powers, only those innate to him ( bless seeds, but not bless crops, and little more). He never had in my opinion the Life Rune.

 

Also, he was a God of fertility but not a Movement God even if he has some movility powers, so i think is more apropiate to him the Issariess rune which is a mix of Change and Harmony related with travels and pathways. The Issariess rune is also the exchange and communication rune, not only physical but also magical.

 

c) Is my thought that through the Issariess rune he used the fertility power given to him according to Genert's rules and distributed them and the same rune gave to him his limited movement powers. As a son of Ernalda and as an Earth god he has access to the earth rune for minor fertility powers and command of serpent guardians and spirits.

 

Thoughts?

[Noita]

I think he would have only one rune myself. He's a minor god/spirit. I'd go just movement.

[g33k]

12 hours ago, kalidor said:

Ronance in my new campaign in Glorantha:

...

Thoughts?

Not *MY* version... but then, YGWV; so yours is right!  

[soltakss]

On 5/2/2017 at 5:43 PM, kalidor said:

Ronance in my new campaign in Glorantha:

First I am going to explain why i think Ronance's cult should be Issariess rune and Earth rune:

In the olden days, heroes and minor deities had One Rune, medium deities had Two Runes and Greater Deities had Three Runes.

I think Ronance should have Two runes, Movement and Fertility, Movement because he is a chariot god and travels Genert's Garden, Fertility because the earth between his tracks grows special and magical plants. I don't see his as a trading god, to be honest.

However, in your campaigns, Ronance sounds fine.

[kalidor]

On 2017-5-6 at 6:15 PM, soltakss said:

In the olden days, heroes and minor deities had One Rune, medium deities had Two Runes and Greater Deities had Three Runes.

I think Ronance should have Two runes, Movement and Fertility, Movement because he is a chariot god and travels Genert's Garden, Fertility because the earth between his tracks grows special and magical plants. I don't see his as a trading god, to be honest.

However, in your campaigns, Ronance sounds fine.

Hi, we know that the Issaries rune is more than simple  "Trade", is also "exchange" and "communication". A minor god as Ronance doesn't show the full powers of the runes he is associated with, but only some aspects. I think we usually, myself included, make the mistake to think that because a god has a rune he  can use every aspect of it. I don't think that is the case, maybe i am wrong. 

I also think that those "Roads" we all have read about Ronance, could be used as real roads in Gods Age but that its real purpose was more esoteric and mystic. After what happened to the Garden in Darkness i think that those "roads" were likely "Ley lines" of geomantic power. Those Ley lines were the conduits used by the magical life force of the earth to keep everything bounded and alive. Ronance thru his use of the Issaries rune was the Keeper of the Conduits. Where the Ley lines intersected   a "Node" was created, a place where life and magic was particularly strong creating a reservoir of sorts, and maybe that is the reason for oasis existence and survival. That will  explain why Ronance has not an easy existence in the wastelands but for Ronance's Well, which has strong mythical ties with him. When Genert was destroyed by chaos and the Garden was blasted to pieces, Ronances network was shattered. Waha reknitted those pieces he could in his Wahas Net Quest, but it was not enough (not offense Waha, you did a great job) the lay lines were not restored, they were dislodged, unconnected because what we have in the Wastelands is a Patchwork Land of different pieces that were reknitted by Waha. If Ronance were a "Motion Rune acces God" even a minor one, going outside Paps would not be such a great problem for him. And the survival of those Lay Nodes as oasis is the main reason because we can use the spell "Pathway" that give us the direction to the nearest oasis but not actual distance because those Nodes are not in the same place they used to be and the network is shattered.

That is the explanation that I have for the minor travel powers of Ronance (Chariot included), his lost fertility powers and his role in Generts Garden. Issaries rune is a mix of Motion and Harmony and in those minor aspects i think is the rune that suits Ronance perfectly well and explain why He can only keep some strength in the Paps and Ronances Well as the Guide says. And also would explain why Ernalda is so weak there.

In my Campaign Ronance is key to the partial healing of the wastelands, the heroes will have to retrace and remap  those "roads" that still exist and reconnect the fragments using the oasis as departure points. They will have to bring the network "online"  even before anything else. Later they will have to quest to bring back that daughter of Genert Scott wrote about in other commentary, and bargain with Asrelia to get access to soil spirits. Finally they will have to enact a Ritual of the Net to bind everything in the earth together and bring Ernalda with the support of Eirithia. That is only the "Earth part". The heroes will be true gods in the earth pantheon at the end.

 

[kalidor]

Ok, these are the spells in RQ for Ronance once his cult is restored and the runes to activate those powers. I dont have the new rules but i will go for the Issaries rune instead of Motion rune i simply put both because i dont know how the new rules work. There will be others of course but my heroes will need to heroquest to get them.

Pathway: (Issaries rune or Motion rune) We already know how this works

Bless Seeds: 1 Point, Stackable, Ritual (Earth rune). Ronance bless a number of seeds to cover an area equal to the Bless Crops spell, those seeds are put to "sleep" and will not rot while they are inside a sacred and sealed jar. Once they are spreaded on the ground (you dont need to plough it) they will grow as if they were under the effect of a sunripen spell. BUT you still need a fertile soil.

Expedition: 1 Point, Stackable, 12 hrs (Issaries rune or Motion rune). A number of mounts and its riders equal to 10% of your Motion rune have their daily movement (not combat) tripled.

Celebration: 1 Point, Stackable, 24 hrs (Issaries, Harmony or Earth rune) Ritual. For every point, a number of people equal to 10% of your harmony/issaries/earth will be affected (voluntary, not even resistance roll will be necessary). During the celebration even the poorest wine (even only water) and meal will taste delicious, the music, jokes and conversations fully enjoyable. Everyone will have a great time. You can remove yourself at the moment of your choosing.

Edited May 9, 2017 by kalidor

[David Scott]

1 hour ago, kalidor said:

Hi, we know that the Issaries rune is more than simple  "Trade", is also "exchange" and "communication". A minor god as Ronance doesn't show the full powers of the runes he is associated with, but only some aspects. I think we usually, myself included, make the mistake to think that because a god has a rune he  can use every aspect of it. I don't think that is the case, maybe i am wrong. 

Only the "Owner"of a rune can use its  full scope. Eg only Ernalda has access to all the powers of the Earth. Everyone else has access to only a subset of it. Have a look at HeroQuest cult writeup. This is very much evident there.

[kalidor]

57 minutes ago, David Scott said:

Only the "Owner"of a rune can use its  full scope. Eg only Ernalda has access to all the powers of the Earth. Everyone else has access to only a subset of it. Have a look at HeroQuest cult writeup. This is very much evident there.

You are right of course. I was trying to explain that if your cult has the Issaries rune, that, does not make you a Trade god automatically. I try hard to call it Issaries rune or Exchange rune  instead of Trade rune to avoid years of God Learning mind-conditioning  

[David Scott]

13 minutes ago, kalidor said:

I try hard to call it Issaries rune or Exchange rune  instead of Trade rune to avoid years of God Learning mind-conditioning

it's actually called the Trade rune in HeroQuest Glorantha and in RQG it's represented by Harmony and Change (Issaries' runes)

[Richard S.]

14 hours ago, David Scott said:

it's actually called the Trade rune in HeroQuest Glorantha and in RQG it's represented by Harmony and Change (Issaries' runes)

So does this mean that the conditions and forms other than man and beast will not be represented on the character sheet? If this is true, then I'm guessing that runes like the Eternal Battle rune will be represented by combinations of elements, powers, Man & Beast? If so, then does Eternal Battle translate to Beast+Death (though I think Disorder  works better because of berserk powers), and Pain/Shargash to Death+Disorder? This also raises the question of what happens to gods with the Law rune, are they changed to stasis (a la RQ2 Lhankor Mhy)? And for those with Mastery, well, what the heck happens to Orlanth and Yelm? Do they get the Man rune instead (because of their power over mortals)? Two-rune format (which could lead to some confusing perceived power-level differences (you mean that Orlanth has less power than his wife? (not that it actually means a difference in raw power, but it could be confusing for newbies)))?

[David Scott]

On 10/05/2017 at 3:32 AM, Richard S. said:

So does this mean that the conditions and forms other than man and beast will not be represented on the character sheet?

For humans currently yes.

On 10/05/2017 at 3:32 AM, Richard S. said:

I'm guessing that runes like the Eternal Battle rune will be represented by combinations of elements, powers, Man & Beast?

Storm Bull's Runes are Air, Death, Beast (as RQ2).

On 10/05/2017 at 3:32 AM, Richard S. said:

Pain/Shargash to Death+Disorder?

Shargash's cult isn't in RQG, perhaps a future supplement.

On 10/05/2017 at 3:32 AM, Richard S. said:

This also raises the question of what happens to gods with the Law rune, are they changed to stasis (a la RQ2 Lhankor Mhy)?

Lhankor Mhy has the Truth & Law rune. You don't need the rune to do sorcery, you just need to learn the Skills in RuneQuest (Sorcery is something you know). In HeroQuest Glorantha you don't need the rune either, however it will helps in both rules sets.

On 10/05/2017 at 3:32 AM, Richard S. said:

And for those with Mastery, well, what the heck happens to Orlanth and Yelm? Do they get the Man rune instead (because of their power over mortals)? 

Orlanth is still Air, Movement & Mastery.

Yelm the Sun Horse among the Pure Horse People is Fire, Death, Fertility (as RQ3)

Ernalda is Earth, Fertility, Harmony.

On 10/05/2017 at 3:32 AM, Richard S. said:

Two-rune format (which could lead to some confusing perceived power-level differences (you mean that Orlanth has less power than his wife? (not that it actually means a difference in raw power, but it could be confusing for newbies)))?

There isn't really a two rune thing. Number of runes is not always a measure of a God's power or range of abilities. 

[Richard S.]

Thanks @David Scott, but I wonder how characters can use the mastery rune if it's not even on the character sheet.

[David Scott]

1 hour ago, Richard S. said:

I wonder how characters can use the mastery rune if it's not even on the character sheet.

Simply put, not the all runes can be used by adventurers. Orlanth's rune's provide a very simple example of this. The Air and Movement runes define his two major subcults - Thunderer and Adventurer. Mastery however is the Rex cult, only the tribal leaders get to join that. The Orlanth Rex subcult isn't described in RQG, perhaps a future supplement (but the rune magic is described for completeness. Even then the Rex Rune Magic is Storm based, not Mastery.

[kalidor]

8 hours ago, David Scott said:

Simply put, not the all runes can be used by adventurers. Orlanth's rune's provide a very simple example of this. The Air and Movement runes define his two major subcults - Thunderer and Adventurer. Mastery however is the Rex cult, only the tribal leaders get to join that. The Orlanth Rex subcult isn't described in RQG, perhaps a future supplement (but the rune magic is described for completeness. Even then the Rex Rune Magic is Storm based, not Mastery.

But Conditions Runes are important in Glorantha, so the GMs will have to "complete" the "sets". That is what I am going to do. For example, one of my players want to do the "I fought We won" heroquest and if He is victorious I will give him the Star Heart (Mastery rune at PER+CHAR) as an ability. If he resist the Face he will get a mystic ability  and use of the Contrachaos spell power.

[David Scott]

52 minutes ago, kalidor said:

so the GMs will have to "complete" the "sets". That is what I am going to do.

As with all previous versions of RQ and BRP, you can mod the system if you want to suit your game style. There will be no shortage of people wanting to do that.

[soltakss]

14 hours ago, David Scott said:

Simply put, not the all runes can be used by adventurers. Orlanth's rune's provide a very simple example of this. The Air and Movement runes define his two major subcults - Thunderer and Adventurer. Mastery however is the Rex cult, only the tribal leaders get to join that. The Orlanth Rex subcult isn't described in RQG, perhaps a future supplement (but the rune magic is described for completeness. Even then the Rex Rune Magic is Storm based, not Mastery.

Where is the Don't Like button? 

[David Scott]

4 hours ago, soltakss said:

Where is the Don't Like button?

I'd wait and see how it all fits together. This is a book for new players as well. It's simply not going to go deep into everything gloranthan. That's what supplements do.

[soltakss]

20 hours ago, David Scott said:

I'd wait and see how it all fits together. This is a book for new players as well. It's simply not going to go deep into everything gloranthan. That's what supplements do.

I always wait and buy all the supplements.

[Darius West]

On 5/9/2017 at 9:28 PM, kalidor said:

You are right of course. I was trying to explain that if your cult has the Issaries rune, that, does not make you a Trade god automatically. I try hard to call it Issaries rune or Exchange rune  instead of Trade rune to avoid years of God Learning mind-conditioning  

Don't knock God Learner mind conditioning, on closer inspection, the God Learners were right about nearly everything and in their wake everyone is merely playing catch-up.  God Learners were the only humans who seriously managed to take the superpowered incestuous frozen weirdoes who run everything (deities) to task.  Who put those glorified anthropomorphic stasis runes in charge of everything anyhow?  The current stoush between a bumbling Storm yokel and a sleazy Moon diva would have been put in its proper perspective back in the Second Age.  It isn't as if Zistor had a chaos rune, quite the contrary, he was a brand new Law deity who was destroyed by the acceptance of Chaos (Kajaboor) that we call Time and the Great Compromise.  Yes, basically the system is corrupt, and all your deities are at worst secret chaos worshippers and at best secret chaos appeasers