Gannd Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 Hi all, I am following a long from the New GM Month activity. I downloaded the quick start rules and I was told on FB that this forum is a good place to post. I had a couple questions if that's okay to ask: Are there any Glorantha novels? I love the iPad games and those are what got me interested in playing the table top game. The QS rules don't really have a lot of history to them. My other question is when playing the game how long does the adventure take? I'm trying to book my friends and I want to let them know how long we should be playing for Thank you! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard S. Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 (edited) On novels, the only one I know of that's most like a traditional novel is "the Complete Griselda", though there's loads of fanmade short stories and myths that you can find with a quick search. There's also the Stafford Library which is a collection of in-world reference materials and myths by Greg Stafford. I personally would love more proper novels set in Glorantha, but alas Chaosium doesn't seem to be interested in that at the moment. Adventures vary depending on the group, but should only take two or three sessions at most. You may want to block off an extra "session zero" for you and your friends to design characters and make sure you understand the rules and stuff too, speaking from experience. But anyways, welcome to the tribe!, Edited January 17, 2019 by Richard S. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jajagappa Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 19 minutes ago, Gannd said: Hi all, I am following a long from the New GM Month activity. I downloaded the quick start rules and I was told on FB that this forum is a good place to post. I had a couple questions if that's okay to ask: Are there any Glorantha novels? I love the iPad games and those are what got me interested in playing the table top game. The QS rules don't really have a lot of history to them. My other question is when playing the game how long does the adventure take? I'm trying to book my friends and I want to let them know how long we should be playing for Thank you! Welcome! And yes this is a good place to post and ask questions! 🙂 There have been a couple Gloranthan novels but those are currently out of print. However, you may find the following of interest: King of Sartar: https://www.chaosium.com/king-of-sartar-ebook/ - this is an in-world "reference" which includes a mix of story, history, and other stuff. The Glorantha Sourcebook: https://www.chaosium.com/the-glorantha-sourcebook-pdf/ - is a background reference with a lot of content and the gods, world history and the like Playing time for an adventure varies. Some can be a session ranging from 3-6 hours (the Quickstart falls into the timeframe). Also the 3 scenarios in the GM Screen Pack. Other scenarios can span multiple sessions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g33k Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 18 minutes ago, Gannd said: Hi all, I am following a long from the New GM Month activity. I downloaded the quick start rules and I was told on FB that this forum is a good place to post. I had a couple questions if that's okay to ask: Are there any Glorantha novels? I love the iPad games and those are what got me interested in playing the table top game. The QS rules don't really have a lot of history to them. My other question is when playing the game how long does the adventure take? I'm trying to book my friends and I want to let them know how long we should be playing for Thank you! Hello, and welcome! Possibly the most-accessible bit is the "Prince of Sartar" webcomic. Look for the "Griselda" stories for traditional fiction. Also, our own "Baelor" (the user here) runs -- and writes stories of -- his "Brightwater Company" & campaign (on d-infinty.net), which are loads of fun! I know there are other fictionalized campaigns floating 'round, too. You might want to look at the new "Glorantha Sourcebook" -- it has no game-mechanics, but lots of lore! For really, REALLY deep lore -- like, in-character Gloranthan "scholars" writing about other parts of Glorantha -- look for the "Stafford Library" on Chaosium.com. As to "How Long" the Broken Tower takes... that depends, frankly! I've seen claims of finishing in under 3 hours, and taking over 8 hours. I believe it's "designed" for a 4-hour run, but I've never managed it that fast. Quote C'es ne pas un .sig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jajagappa Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 7 minutes ago, Richard S. said: though there's loads of fanmade short stories and myths that you can find with a quick search. Forgot about those. Lots of fan-made stories (not necessarily canonical, and many outdated) here: https://oliverbernuetz.neocities.org/mything/Mything links.pdf and https://oliverbernuetz.neocities.org/stories.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jps Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 Welcome onboard About your second question: it depends. If you run the adventure as written it can be done in a single session (one evening). But if you introduce the PCs to their environment, let them interact with each other, with the town's people, with major NPCs, if they are chatty with Carthalo (the hermit) and, on a more general ground, if they don't rush the scenario, that could take an extra session. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7Tigers Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 Quote Possibly the most-accessible bit is the "Prince of Sartar" webcomic. http://www.princeofsartar.com/new-reader/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Darvall Posted January 18, 2019 Share Posted January 18, 2019 "The Widow's Tale" by Penelope Love. Probably OoP but worth a look on ebay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runeblogger Posted January 18, 2019 Share Posted January 18, 2019 (edited) Eurho'ls Vale is another novel set in Glorantha. It is basically the prequel of The Widow's Tale, but it includes 2 other tales. Eurhol's Vale is still available at tradetalk.com (clic on Sales at the bottom) for 8€, but The Widow's Tale is sadly sold out. Try eBay, though. You can read a review here. I think it's pretty epic, so it's worth trying to find it. The complete Griselda is available at Chaosium.com. It's a series of short stories about a Vingan initiate in the city of New Pavis, in Prax. Edited January 18, 2019 by Runeblogger 1 Quote Read my Runeblog about RuneQuest and Glorantha at: http://elruneblog.blogspot.com.es/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Scott Posted January 18, 2019 Share Posted January 18, 2019 On 1/17/2019 at 1:23 AM, Gannd said: My other question is when playing the game how long does the adventure take? I'm trying to book my friends and I want to let them know how long we should be playing for Welcome, great to have knew people on board. I played in the Quickstart and with an experienced GM and players it took about 2-3 hours. So I would say an afternoon. Depending on what happens it might take longer or shorter. It's going to be longer for you as you've got to get your head's around the rules. I would also suggest that you have a go at running some combat on your own first, Just one character versus another or against on of the denizens of the game. Combat is the time eater in RQG. As has already been mention the Complete Griselda is still available, but also some short stories in the the form of "Chapbooks" https://www.chaosium.com/search.php?search_query=griselda&Search= https://www.chaosium.com/a-day-at-the-races/ The Sables are holding races, and everyone in Loud Lilina's and elsewhere is anxious to get inside information to help with bets. But will Olaf the Storyteller and his friends be able to work out what is going on, let alone make any money? And more important, will Avidius Tiro, whom Griselda once helped to con (see the story Serious Money) get away with bringing pressure to bear on her to get secret information from her Sable friends? This KRAKEN Chapbook contains a rarely published Griselda story by Oliver Dickinson. The stories about the heroine Griselda take place in Glorantha and are set in and around the city of Pavis and the Big Rubble. 26 pages. is a nice one. Oliver Dickinson tells a good story. Good luck with your game. Quote ----- Search the Glorantha Resource Site: https://wellofdaliath.chaosium.com. Search the Glorantha mailing list archives: https://glorantha.steff.in/digests/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atgxtg Posted January 18, 2019 Share Posted January 18, 2019 On 1/16/2019 at 8:23 PM, Gannd said: My other question is when playing the game how long does the adventure take? I'm trying to book my friends and I want to let them know how long we should be playing for Hi, The answer to that question varies a lot based upon your group, familiarity with the game, and style of play. I fleshes this out a bit, but my beast suggestion is in the last paragraph, if you want to skip to the "good stuff". If your group can make quick decisions and act swiftly, then you can go through adventures in less time. If, your group takes time to come to a decision, and are slow to set things into motion, then it can take a lot longer to go through the same adventure. This could literally double or triple the time it takes to go through an adventure! Likewise a group that is familiar with the game system and setting will tend to play faster, since they can better judge most situations, and estimate how tactics will work out. This will overlap the first point, as the more familiar the group is the faster they will be able to figure some things out and come to a conclusion. If the group isn't familiar with the game system and setting, then it will take them more time to understand how things work and what some things mean. It willl also take them that much longer to figure out how to rate their characters in relation to other characters, especially the opposition in an adventure, longer to figure out what tactics to use and the importance of superior numbers, and other things. On top of that, the GM will have to stop and explain more things to the players, stuff like modifiers to rolls, character options, magic, healing, parrying, all that can slow down the pace of the game, but is vital to the players understanding. If your group is new to the game, expect things to take longer , especially at first. Don't be surprised if it takes your group longer to do things that most of the times you see here, as many of the people here have been playing a version of this game for decades, and so their groups are very familiar with the rules. You style of play, and your styling of GMing also play a factor. Some GMs will play though every day of travel and such, and that will take time. Others will just gloss over minor things and just right to the important stuff, and that speeds the game along. Some GMs are sticklers for things like what equipment the characters are carrying, others will let the players "have things like rope, despite not doing so while they were in a town or city. Others will force the players to actually go back and get the stuff if they forgot to do so in the first place. Just how much of a stickler the GM is for details, how much time he needs to look up stuff, how much time the players "waste" chatting, eating, catching up on the latest sports scores, texturing, emailing, and doing other non-game related stuff all affects the pace of the game. Ultimately, just how long it should take you to go through an adventure has little to do with what it expected. I've had groups zip through an adventure in half the suggested time, and other groups take forever to get through the same adventure. It's more about what pace the GM and players enjoy playing at. If everything is having fun and things are exciting, then that's the right speed to be playing at, and it doesn't matter if you go through an adventure in two hours or twenty two. If you get the feeling that things are dragging, and the players are getting bored or frustrated, or a struck for what to do, then the GM needs to trying to pick up the pace a little. If the players are being rushed, and are making mistakes because they are being overwhelmed by the speed of events, then slow down. But any suggested time for a pre-written adventure is just that "suggested.". Quote Chaos stalks my world, but she's a big girl and can take of herself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
womble Posted January 18, 2019 Share Posted January 18, 2019 (edited) As a concrete example of how long it can take (and it's an example I'm fine with), my players have taken three sessions over one fight which didn't even happen because their preparations and 'bluff' (though it wasn't actually much of a bluff [Edit: by which I mean they would probably have creamed their opponents; they just needed to convince the opposition of that truth, which isn't too hard with a CHA 48 orator...) worked... A bunch of other stuff got done: they started to get to know the Apple Lane denizens, and to get their heads round some of their characters' abilities. But what 'reads' in the book, to me as a RPGer of o so many years, as a one session mosh has, because of deviation, a smidge of hesitation and some small repetition (because we only play fortnightly, a recap is often valuable), taken 3 sessions. But we all enjoyed them, as far as I can tell, and that's the important thing. Something to bear in mind when you're running this kind of game: which of your players are "goal oriented" and which are "process oriented". I'm fortunate in having three "process oriented" players who have fun with the 'journey'. If you have a mix of those, with those who tend to get more fun out of the 'destination', you have some work to do to keep them all happy. If you have process-oriented players, you can dwell on the minutiae, and 'skipping to the interesting bit' might jar their experience; if you have goal-oriented players, you need to keep things moving to get some sort of goal 'done' most sessions, or they'll lose interest. Edited January 18, 2019 by womble 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Darvall Posted January 19, 2019 Share Posted January 19, 2019 14 hours ago, Runeblogger said: Eurhol's Vale is still available Happy dance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crel Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 Chiming in with many voices... As someone who recently was new-ish to Glorantha Lore, I'd recommend the Glorantha Sourcebook most highly. It's interesting, has lots of pretty pictures, and is pretty readable. I read King of Sartar before it and found it disappointingly sparce. It does its job--mimicking Earth mythology remnants--but that job wasn't what I was hoping for. I wanted the Iliad and instead it's got myth summaries. As far as I know, there's nothing quite like the Dragonlance or Drizzt books for Glorantha. Would be great if there was. Griselda exists, as others have said. I can't speak on it myself, haven't read it (yet). I feel like playing the Quickstart with pregen characters is your best starting point. Otherwise, definitely set aside a session for character creation alone. There's tons of options to process. Even as someone experienced with other editions of RQ/BRP, and with players familiar with the premises, it took us a session to make characters. Quote Jonstown Compendium author. Find my publications here. Disclaimer: affiliate link. Social Media: Facebook Patreon Twitter Website Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jajagappa Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 8 hours ago, Crel said: Griselda exists, as others have said. I can't speak on it myself, haven't read it (yet). Griselda is fun. Reminds me a bit of the old Thieves World anthology stories, though with only a single voice/perspective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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