Guide to Glorantha Group Read Week 2 errors

[David Scott]

This is a place where you can post any errors you spot in the Week 2 Guide to Glorantha Group Read. Please note that there will be a different thread each week to post errors.

This weeks page range is page 18 up to and including the end of the Orlanthi cultural section on page 38. Please note which Guide version you are using - KS, Chaosium or PDF. Please include the text to be corrected and the correction.

[Steve]

The region names on the culture distributions maps on pp19, 23, 27 and 31 are too small. On the print copy (KS), ok, it's small text, and with a magnifying glass you can see you're at the limits of the print resolution. Fair enough.

But on the PDF (3/11/16 version), you'd expect to be able to zoom in and read the text. It's too low resolution though. e.g. you wouldn't be able to read the first word of "Holy Country" on p19 if you didn't already know what it said. Zooming in and out is (you'd hope) one of the benefits of PDF copies.

Hopefully this can be fixed in an update with higher-res versions of these small maps.

Edited July 1, 2017 by Steve

[Rick Meints]

I totally agree that the text on the map on page 19 is very hard to read due to its small size.

One problem with creating the high resolution PDFs is that the file size gets very large. We had a number of complaints about over 500MB file sizes.

[David Scott]

1 hour ago, Rick Meints said:

I totally agree that the text on the map on page 19 is very hard to read due to its small size.

One problem with creating the high resolution PDFs is that the file size gets very large. We had a number of complaints about over 500MB file sizes.

One solution may be to add them to a separate Guide map that you can download with the Guide or to the AAA pdf and possibly the AAA reprint when it comes round. The problem is that the AAA is a separate product although it might be possible to declare the PDF as part of the Guide's bricks and mortar, and have the printed version as a separate product still, but with the new pdf.

[Byll]

The Ostrich Tribe seems to be omitted from the Independent Tribes of Prax on P27 and P28

[David Scott]

PDF Page 30

"Law is determined by the way of Waha, the culture hero who codified the life style of the Praxians aeons ago." should be 

"Law is determined by the way of Waha, the cultural hero who codified the lifestyle of the Praxians aeons ago. 

[David Scott]

On 01/07/2017 at 7:12 PM, Byll said:

The Ostrich Tribe seems to be omitted from the Independent Tribes of Prax on P27 and P28

It was not intended to be an in depth overview. It's qualified by saying,

Quote

Some of the more important independent tribes are briefly described below:

Also missing are the Unicorn Tribe and Newtlings...

[David Scott]

PDF Page 30

"Waha the Founder is the culture hero who determined the way of life appropriate for the surviving Praxians."

should be 

"Waha the Founder is the cultural hero who determined the way of life appropriate for the surviving Praxians. 

[Lysus]

A culture hero is a specific thing; I'm pretty sure that's an appropriate use of the term.

[David Scott]

14 minutes ago, Lysus said:

A culture hero is a specific thing; I'm pretty sure that's an appropriate use of the term.

you're correct. It seems a culture hero introduces culture, but is a cultural hero something different? Is a cultural hero a hero from that culture but not the culture hero?

[Akhôrahil]

Lysus scoped me. Waha is totally a culture hero.

[Oracle]

There appears a sidebar on p. 37, which repeats the Customs of Interest section from p.36. This seems to be an editing error. Or should the Customs of Interest section on p. 36 contain different information? (The respective section in the Player’s Book from the RuneQuest III box Glorantha: Genertela, Crucible of the Hero Wars, has a different content.)

[Steve]

The descriptions of the main art in these section all have various mismatches compared to the art itself. Here are my notes on this from the appropriate sections:

pp. 20-21 - the Rathori's shoes are described are "wide". Hmm, not in this picture they're not. They look regular width to me, and the same as the Uncoling standing next to him. The shoes' netting mentioned in the description is also missing.

pp. 24-25 - the bow and arrows mentioned in the description of the Walker are missing from the illustration as far as I can tell.

pp. 32-33 - the priestess on p.32 has an illusion rune on her left ankle. That's got to be a mistake, right? The fertility rune in her description on p.33 seems to be missing, and I guess should be here - maybe I missed it though.

pp.34-35 - the bodyguard's spear is missing; the Vingan isn't presenting the head in her left hand, she's already dumped it on the table; the air and death runes described as "visible" on the severed head are invisible to me; the noblewoman is described as wearing a necklace but that looks doesn't look like a necklace to me.

[jajagappa]

5 hours ago, Steve said:

The descriptions of the main art in these section all have various mismatches compared to the art itself.

That's actually expected (and not errors) as the text is the art direction vs. the finished product and was done deliberately.  It does make for some dichotomies and mismatches, but gives you some food for thought as you consider both.

Edited July 4, 2017 by jajagappa

[Akhôrahil]

The ground in the Doraddi picture is covered with grass.

[M Helsdon]

32 minutes ago, Akhôrahil said:

The ground in the Doraddi picture is covered with grass.

Probably similar to long-leafed African succulents such as sansevieria cylindrical (also known as the African Spear Plant)  or Sansevieria parva.

[Steve]

18 hours ago, jajagappa said:

That's actually expected (and not errors) as the text is the art direction vs. the finished product and was done deliberately.  It does make for some dichotomies and mismatches, but gives you some food for thought as you consider both.

That's not how it reads though, it comes across as if it's these are descriptions of the pictures. If it was labelled as "art direction notes" or similar, then it would be easier to forgive mismatches, as then the reader could understand what was intended. As it is, though, it just comes across as if the description is plain wrong, which is unfortunate.

[scott-martin]

My two clacks on the expansive art captions is that they're a good working compromise between (a) usability for vision-impaired fans who want an alternative text description of that big blank space in the layout and (b) a reasonable amount of extra detail and background "footnoting" the images for those who see the pictures. If both channels transmitted exactly the same information the picture would be redundant.

I wonder how many people would buy an annotated behind-the-scenes "Art of Glorantha" showing the process (assignment notes / "script," sketch, revision, production), talent interviews, rare unused / variant art pulled from various products that not every fan is going to own: the Guide, 13G, the Sourcebook, Prince of Sartar, etc. Maybe a glossy con fundraiser or something 

[jajagappa]

6 hours ago, Steve said:

That's not how it reads though, it comes across as if it's these are descriptions of the pictures. If it was labelled as "art direction notes" or similar, then it would be easier to forgive mismatches, as then the reader could understand what was intended.

Agree - a sidebar or entry note in the initial section regarding the art and descriptions (or a different label) would have been good.