The Best Sources on Lunar culture and adventures

[Sean_RDP]

So I saw the announcement by Chaosium today talking about submissions and such and thought "I'd love to write an adventure / campaign that was from Lunar perspective." I realize that is not the norm and default pov RQ has traditionally gone for and maybe that is why it has always intrigued me. So where would be the best books / sites / places to go to really understand the nuances of the Lunar mindset and history and paradigm? Even if I just end up running a Lunar campaign with the new RQG.  Thanks in advance.

[Richard S.]

Probably the only complete lunar books we have on the lunars are the ones made for HQ1, and available for 5 bucks a piece in pdf from chaosium.

[metcalph]

The best Lunar resources are:

• Pavis: Gateway to Adventure (Seven Mothers writeup)
• HeroQuest: Glorantha: (Lunar Magic)
• Guide to Glorantha: (Lunar Empire and Red Moon map)
• Glorantha Sourcebook (to be published this year)

For deep wisdom there is:

• The Fortunate Succession (Stafford Library)
• The Entekosiad (Stafford Library)

The HQ1 supplements (Imperial Lunar Handbook - 1 and Under the Red Moon) are no longer canonical and may cause problems if you use a detail from them when writing a scenario for Chaosium to look at.

[Joerg]

An inside view of the core Lunar culture is really hard to find. The Paulis Longvale story in Cults of Terror might be the closest to a Lunar cultist's perspective we get. MOB's Jaxarte stories are lots of color, but more spoof than deep background. The new bit on Fazzur's story in King of Sartar is already somewhat distant from what it feels like to be part of the Lunar religion, but will grant some insight.

Under the Red Moon has lots of ideas, but like Peter @metcalph I wouldn't take those ideas as set in canon. Excellent story potential, but probably to be filed under YGWV.

One problem with the Lunar Empire is that you have to deal with many cultures at once. You will find Dara Happan bureaucrats practically wherever you go, alongside with Lunar officials. Non-Lunar Carmanians may be rarer, but Lunar Carmanians will still be able to follow old Carmanian cults, too, like Countess Yolanela, whose dedication to Teelo Norri sits side to side with her involvement in the old Spolite religion.

[Oracle]

2 hours ago, Joerg said:

...

One problem with the Lunar Empire is that you have to deal with many cultures at once. You will find Dara Happan bureaucrats practically wherever you go, alongside with Lunar officials. Non-Lunar Carmanians may be rarer, but Lunar Carmanians will still be able to follow old Carmanian cults, too, like Countess Yolanela, whose dedication to Teelo Norri sits side to side with her involvement in the old Spolite religion.

What about the description of Peloria (including Carmania and Dara Happa) in Glorantha - Introduction to the Hero Wars (which is still available as a PDF similar to the lunar books for HQ1)? Are these descriptions still useful? Or do they have to taken as out of canon too? They may be overruled by the Guide to Glorantha, but I was under the impression, that these descriptions are more detailed as in the Guide (which may be a wrong impression).

Edited May 5, 2017 by Oracle

[Darius West]

There is a lot of scope for running a Lunar Campaign.  Depending on how and where you choose, but sadly there is a dearth of provincial info on many parts of the Lunar Empire. The other thing is, that as is mentioned in the comments above, in many ways the Lunar Way is a comparatively new tradition which remains merely a veneer on much older regional cultures.  The thing about new religions in Glorantha is that early adopters generally receive most of the benefits.  In many ways the fall of Whitewall represents the apex of the Lunar Empire, and its all downhill from there.

Running a military campaign is the easy fallback, and I seem to recall a supplement that dealt with a Lunar Excursion into Exiles Tarsh that came out in the late 1990s.  I can't remember what it was called.

I personally would be more interested in running a city campaign, with elements of the picaresque and of romatic comedy, lots of factions all vying for influence, and the riotous tumble of color and action one might expect from "Bollywood meets Felini's Satyricon".  Here you can "illuminate" the characters through encounters that they can interpret through the lens of their mythology, grasping the benefits and deficits of each philosophy and social class they come into contact with.  By being subject to the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune", they ultimately come to their proper place and their answer within the Lunar system.  The benefit of an outrageously operatic romantic farce is that it provides a reason for characters to get to know each other, and each has a skill they can bring to the fore in a comparatively low threat initial environment.  Plenty of room for a Dara Happan Bureaucrat to rub shoulders with a farmer and a thief under such circumstances.

 

[Steve]

There's quite a lot of Lunar stuff in Tales of the Reaching Moon, isn't there? Perhaps someone who is more familiar with the best articles might be able to pick something out?

There's the Lunar Coders in Strangers in Prax (RQ3) too.

 

 

[Steve]

Oh, and even though it might not be canon, there's The Widow's Tale (fiction) by Penelope Love, where one of the main characters is a Lunar and you get plenty of the story from his perspective.

 

[Jon Hunter]

26 minutes ago, Steve said:

There's quite a lot of Lunar stuff in Tales of the Reaching Moon, isn't there? Perhaps someone who is more familiar with the best articles might be able to pick something out?

There's the Lunar Coders in Strangers in Prax (RQ3) too.

 

 

Lots of that stuff is no longer available.

I'm running two 'provincal Lunars in Balazar' campaigns at the moment and i've read all the sources mentioned, but as a whole i wing it.

They are down and dirty political campaign rather than an esoteric spiritual campaign so its easier to do. 

But Headlines about lunar culture i've picked up;

• Its not one culture its many
• Traditional culture underpins a lunar veneer 
• The complexity of lunar politics suits the word Byzantine down to the ground 
• The nature of lunar cycles is both a strength and a weakness
• Lunars like to convert, to talk, to perusade, illumintae and negotiate so leads to a more roleplaying that combat orientated games
• Lunars as 'good guys' is fun
• Lunar on Lunar action is fun

Edited May 5, 2017 by Jon Hunter

[jajagappa]

8 hours ago, metcalph said:

The best Lunar resources are:

• Pavis: Gateway to Adventure (Seven Mothers writeup)
• HeroQuest: Glorantha: (Lunar Magic)
• Guide to Glorantha: (Lunar Empire and Red Moon map)
• Glorantha Sourcebook (to be published this year)

For deep wisdom there is:

• The Fortunate Succession (Stafford Library)
• The Entekosiad (Stafford Library)

The HQ1 supplements (Imperial Lunar Handbook - 1 and Under the Red Moon) are no longer canonical

I agree with Peter's note.  Do not draw on the HQ1 supplements - if you are writing content, you will need to follow the canonical sources.

Greg's Lives of Sedenya published in Rule One magazine would also be relevant: http://ruleonemagazine.com/Iss5/Myth_LifeSedenya.php

Another article by Greg in Rule One magazine on the The Great Temple of Rufdayen, Raibanth: http://ruleonemagazine.com/Iss6/Myth_GreatTemple.php

There's a few other bits and pieces scattered around that can be relevant such as the Lunar Way chapter in Prince of Sartar: http://www.princeofsartar.com/comic/chapter-2-the-lunar-way/

 

[Steve]

If you can get hold of it, the History of the Lunar Empire by Greg, from Heroes magazine (issues v1 no1, 2, 5 and 6), could be useful. 

[M Helsdon]

8 minutes ago, Steve said:

If you can get hold of it, the History of the Lunar Empire by Greg, from Heroes magazine (issues v1 no1, 2, 5 and 6), could be useful. 

There will be an expanded and updated version in the Glorantha Source Book.

[Steve]

15 minutes ago, M Helsdon said:

There will be an expanded and updated version in the Glorantha Source Book.

Excellent! I didn't know that, thanks. Really looking forward to the sourcebook coming out, I had a very quick flick through of a draft at Dragonmeet last year and thought it looked fab.

 

[g33k]

22 minutes ago, Steve said:

... Really looking forward to the sourcebook coming out, I had a very quick flick through of a draft at Dragonmeet last year and thought it looked fab.

!       !

...

if you were wondering about that ominous, ichorous dripping sound you suddenly heard... no, it's not a Cthulhoid crossover into Glorantha.  That's me enviously drooling.

[jajagappa]

1 hour ago, M Helsdon said:

There will be an expanded and updated version in the Glorantha Source Book.

And it also includes a section on the Gods of the Lunar Way.

[TRose]

 If you can finder a copy of it "Srangers in Prax" has the Lunar coders, a very powerful elite trouble shooter team  for the Lunar Empire.

 You could look at the background of the Coders to get an Idea of how to play Lunars.

[Brian McReynolds]

18 hours ago, Darius West said:

 

Running a military campaign is the easy fallback, and I seem to recall a supplement that dealt with a Lunar Excursion into Exiles Tarsh that came out in the late 1990s.  I can't remember what it was called.

 

 

If I recall correctly, wasn't it called 'Tarsh War'?

[Sean_RDP]

Thanks everyone. I appreciate folks commenting and sharing their thoughts.

[Jeff]

On 5/5/2017 at 4:44 AM, metcalph said:

The best Lunar resources are:

• Pavis: Gateway to Adventure (Seven Mothers writeup)
• HeroQuest: Glorantha: (Lunar Magic)
• Guide to Glorantha: (Lunar Empire and Red Moon map)
• Glorantha Sourcebook (to be published this year)

For deep wisdom there is:

• The Fortunate Succession (Stafford Library)
• The Entekosiad (Stafford Library)

The HQ1 supplements (Imperial Lunar Handbook - 1 and Under the Red Moon) are no longer canonical and may cause problems if you use a detail from them when writing a scenario for Chaosium to look at.

The Glorantha Sourcebook contains the updated, expanded, and annotated Redline History of the Lunar Empire, and together with the Guide is THE resource for the Lunar Empire.