RuneQuest Daily, Wed, 15 Dec 1993, part 1
RQ Daily Discussion List
This is the RuneQuest Daily Bulletin, a mailing list on
the subjects of Avalon Hill's RPG and Greg Stafford's
world of Glorantha. It is sent out once per day in digest
format.
More details on the RuneQuest Daily and Digest can be found
after the last message in this digest.
---------------------
From: JAR...@RMCS.CRANFIELD.AC.UK
Subject: YINKIN
Message-ID: <9312141100.AA27038@Sun.COM>
Date: 14 Dec 93 09:39:00 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2633
Ref: Who is Yinkin
Yinkin is the god of shadow cats.
He is the son of Kero Fin and Hykim.
He is thus Orlanth's half brother.
In the myths they hung out together alot,
once when they were playing Orlanth blew Yinkin out of the cave mouth,
and Yinkin started to fall towards the rocks below. Typically Orlanth
set out to fix the trouble he had caused an flew down to save Yinkin.
I think that the cave was near the top of Kero Fin and thus has wombic
connotations.
Later on the LBQ Orlanth found Yinkin flayed in Hell (I bet that really
pissed him off)! Anyway O and Y's friendship (especially during their
youth) is the reason why Orlanthi have Shadow Cats as familiars and why
they regard it as very bad form to harm shadow cats. Thus you will see
Orlanthi being needlessly cruel to dogs (they chase cats don't they)
and even eat them if they are starving, but cats are treated as members
of the family (you wouldn't eat your brother would you?).
-----
Lewis
-----
---------------------
From: STE...@ARC.UG.EDS.COM (Steve Gilham Entropy requires no maintenance)
Subject: Re: _Glorantha: The World_
Message-ID: <01H6GBSNH...@UG.EDS.COM>
Date: 13 Dec 93 19:13:31 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2634
In X-RQ-ID: 2628, ca...@panix.com (Carl Fink) advises
>Get _Glorantha: The World_ from Avalon Hill.
Is this something new that has suddenly been sprung upon us? I
don't recall having heard any mentions or rumours.
---------------------
From: wat...@computing-science.aberdeen.ac.uk (Colin Watson)
Subject: elementals
Message-ID: <9312141516.AA05578@condor>
Date: 14 Dec 93 15:16:54 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2635
____________
Jeff Okamoto wrote:
>I don't know that elementals willingly/willfully manifest on the mundane
>plane until/unless they are summoned by another entity.
My only argument with this is that it kinda relegates elementals to pure
game-mechanics. If they only manifest through summoning then they'd
hardly ever spend any time "in their element" (in fact, most elementals
would never manifest at all).
I like to think that elementals have some "natural" association with their
respective elements. It seems to me that their natural home is where the
elements are prevalent ie. on the mundane plane, not the spirit plane.
There are two ways that I see elementals manifesting "naturally" (take your
pick):
1/ They are born. Just as various fertility gods cause bunnies, babies et al
to "manifest"; the gods of darkness cause shades to manifest; the air gods
cause sylphs to manifest.
A spirit is united with substance and a creature forms. This is
easier for elementals than for other creatures because of the essential
simplicity of their structure.
2/ Using Paul Reilly's & Nils Hammer's model of the spirit plane (from
12 October) we view the spirit plane as a fibre bundle wherein elementals
naturally tend to follow the paths of their element. Shade spirits tend to
follow strands of darkness; sylphs tend to follow paths of airyness etc.
Sooner or later they blunder into places where these fibres intersect with
the mundane plane and, badaboom!, they form a physical body.
Such appearances occur more through luck than good judgement 'cos (most)
elementals are dumb. Probability would suggest that they'd tend to occur
where the fibres are "thickest" ie. where the element is most prevalent.
If you're really unlucky then a small salamander might spontaneously pop
out in your campfire; but because it's not under control it probably won't
do much except burn, so you probably won't even notice that it's there.
I guess animists might say there's a salamander in *every* fire.
I'd still say that elementals can only be summoned when they're on the spirit
plane tho. (Maybe if you go to an element-rich area you can "call" a local
elemental from the mundane plane eg. summoning sylphs from a windy mountain
top ? I dunno.)
___
CW.
---------------------
From: J.Di...@vme.glasgow.ac.uk
Subject: Umath, Yinkin
Message-ID: <14_Dec_93_15:35:17_A...@UK.AC.GLA.VME>
Date: 14 Dec 93 15:35:17 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2636
re: shillada / Umath, Yinkin
* See King of Sartar for info on these.
To get a copy, just give the ISBN number to any reputable book shop
and they should be able to Tele-order a copy. They *only* need the
number and the distributer's computer will take care of the rest.
Unfortunetly, I don't have my copy with me. Someone post the ISBN
will ya..
Umath - Primal Air/Storm. Worshipped by Shaman. I imagine Umath's
shaman to be a specialised (and unruly) bunch. Quite different from
your average Sartarian Shaman.
Yinkin - God of shadow cats. Orlanth is *very* fond of him. Would
teach sneaking about and Shimmer. It would be nice to know which
day is Holy for Yinkin and a lot of the minor Orlanthi deities as
I am sure they have rather nice celebrations on these days. Orlanthi
children acting out the ancient minor-hero quest/game Yinking where
the Yinkin's hide and Orlanth seeks.. etc.
This reminds me of a load of Sartarian Nursery rhymes I wrote many
moons ago... I wish I could remeber where I put them. Hmm!
I can only remember the puniest one:-
Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock!
The devil is rising from under the block
Kleng! Kleng! Kleng! Kleng!
Urox is beating him back down again..
hmm..
The tail is told of Morty Bold, Adventuring one day
He met the fairest maiden, a'standing in his way
:
The moral of this story is both positive and brief,
Never trust a maiden who has sharply pointed teeth.
I wish I could remember the middle!
Anyway.. Anyone fancy a go at a Sartarian Nursery Rhyme?
Cheers, Sam. x
---------------------
From: j...@ukc.ac.uk
Subject: Re: Slarges, Lunars, and Puppy-dog tails
Message-ID: <9312141536.AA22286@Sun.COM>
Date: 14 Dec 93 14:44:07 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2637
According to Carl Fink:
> Get _Glorantha: The World_ from Avalon Hill. Folks, if nobody
>buys this stuff, AH won't have any motivation to publish more.
Probably true, and I'm intensely glad that rich people like you
have got the money to splash out on every overpriced product that
AH brings out. As for the rest of us poor buggers who want to
participate in our favourite hobby, we'll have to continue to beg,
borrow and steal info wherever we can get it.
BTW, I'm sure evryone else knows the answer to this question, but
I don't, and I'm curious. Why does AH not Chaosium publish RQ?
(yes, I know they've been doing it for years, but I've never
found out why!).
James.
---------------------
From: eco...@cabell.vcu.edu (Kirsten K. Niemann)
Subject: Sorry to use the Digest for this...
Message-ID: <931214183...@cabell.vcu.edu>
Date: 14 Dec 93 18:34:15 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2638
My apologies for puting semi-personal stuff on the Digest, but I
haven't got any other way.
Sandy Petersen,
Could you please send me E-mail with a valid email address? I could
not send a message to you via the idcube address appearing in your
digest contributions.
Many thanks,
MIke Dawson
eco...@cabell.vcu.edu
or (slower)
sog...@aol.com
---------------------
From: ca...@panix.com (Carl Fink)
Subject: Stuff
Message-ID: <1993121420...@panix.com>
Date: 14 Dec 93 10:13:52 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2639
shil...@gatwick.sgp.slb.com writes:
>Can anyone tell me anything about the cults of Umath and Yinkin.
>Umath I know is Primal Air - so I envisage him as a cult run by
>Shamen Priests, with Divine such as Command Slyph - sort of a
>primative Orlanth. Yinkin is a feline deity, possibly goddess of
>Shadow cats and therefore also part of the Storm pantheon.
>Could anyone add to this, or at least give me references to check
>out ?
You are completely correct about Umath, except that I wouldn't
call the shamans "priests" -- they're just shamans engaging in
spirit worship as per GOG to contact Umath.
Yinkin is male -- a son of Mount Kerofin, who is also Orlanth's
mother. His children are the shadow cats of the Rockwood
Mountains. Because of this familial connection, shadow cats
("alynxes") are often awakened to serve as the allied spirits of
Storm Voices.
--Carl
---------------------
From: ddu...@radiomail.net (David Dunham , via RadioMail)
Subject: Passion Spirits; Yinkin
Message-ID: <1993121420...@radiomail.net>
Date: 14 Dec 93 20:42:58 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2640
>From: pmic...@aol.com
>Since not even _Dorastor_ expanded
>on the types of passion spirits, I decided to come up with a few new types
>myself. Here are my suggestions for new types of passion spirits.
Seems reasonable. In my PenDragon Pass game, there are spirits for each of
the traits. Someone once got possessed by a Meekness Spirit, and had an
effective Modest of 25.
>From: shil...@gatwick.sgp.slb.com
>Yinkin is a feline deity, possibly goddess of Shadow cats and therefore also
>part of the Storm pantheon.
Yinkin is Orlanth's brother (Kero Fin is their mother); he's the god of
Alynxes. "Yinkin is sometimes Orlanth's secret perception in a story, which
leads him to success."
---------------------
From: LO...@marketing.wharton.upenn.edu (Loren Miller)
Subject: RQ/Tekumel or Elric!/Tekumel ?
Message-ID: <931214223...@noc4.dccs.upenn.edu>
Date: 14 Dec 93 21:32:43 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2641
Fellow RuneQuestioners,
In thinking about running RQ on Tekumel I've come to the
preliminary conclusion that Elric! would actually work a
lot better. Before I go to the effort of making a
conversion, anybody care to convince me otherwise?
The reasons why I prefer Elric! for this are:
1. Elric! sorcery system is closer to Tekumel than RQ
sorcery is (IMO). This is *the* major reason I'm leaning
towards Elric!.
2. Elric! combat system is speedier and rewards
roleplaying in combat more than RQ combat system does.
With military emphasis in Tekumel this is a *good* thing
(IMO).
3. Elric! is set in an early renaissance time period, as
is Tekumel, while RQ works best in ancient period (IMO).
Anybody care to argue about this choice?
Or... maybe Sandy would like to explain how he decided
on the rules he came up with for RQ/Tekumel.
--
+++++++++++++++++++++++23
Loren Miller LO...@wmkt.wharton.upenn.edu
Into the flood again, same old trip it was back when
---------------------
From: san...@idcube.idsoftware.com (Sandy Petersen)
Subject: re: RQ Dailiy
Message-ID: <931214223...@idcube.idsoftware.com>
Date: 14 Dec 93 10:35:32 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2642
Peter Michaels lists some new passion spirits:
ANGER: I like it. I had a similar spirit in my campaign, that I
called a Berserker spirit. Mine basically made the user subject to
the Fanaticism spell at all times, but he wasn't required to attack
anyone.
GREED: This is the kind of spirit that I, as a GM, only ever dare
inflict on a good roleplayer.
CONFUSION: a fine spirit. I assume the player can fail an INTx5 roll
to act normally in any given round.
LAZINESS: you should call this a Sloth spirit. Only halving the
fatigue points doesn't sound like much. Especially since the end
result is that the player's skills are reduced (just as with the Pain
spirit). Perhaps some other result could be produced, such as a
tendency to fall asleep. (Like sleeping sickness.)
Ignorance: seems okay to me. It brings out the possibility of other
Skill-Category-Specific spirits. One obvious one is an Antimagic
spirit, that would reduce all a characters Magic Skills and
spell-casting chances by its POW.
Carl Fink made many good remarks about Glorantha:
>[the Vadeli are] like the Brithini except that their Noble class was
>exterminated, and without their restraint the Wizard and other
>classes are even less bound by morals than the Brithini.
This is not inaccurate, except that the Brithini regard it as a great
blessing that the Vadeli Noble class is gone. Also there is no Vadeli
Wizard class -- all three classes can (could) cast spells.
---------------------
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RQ Daily Discussion List
This is the RuneQuest Daily Bulletin, a mailing list on
the subjects of Avalon Hill's RPG and Greg Stafford's
world of Glorantha. It is sent out once per day in digest
format.
More details on the RuneQuest Daily and Digest can be found
after the last message in this digest.
---------------------
From: john...@heart.enet.dec.com (Groove Requiem..)
Subject: re: Glorantha the world
Message-ID: <931215092...@vbormc.vbo.dec.com>
Date: 15 Dec 93 09:27:41 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2643
>STE...@ARC.UG.EDS.COM (X-RQ-ID: 2634) and j...@ukc.ac.uk (X-RQ-ID: 2637)
>ask about Glorantha the World.
'World of Glorantha' was I think the original name of the
'Glorantha: Genertela' box, before they removed all the info on Pamaltela.
Its been out since 1988 so I'm sure even you (James) could have scraped
together 15 pounds in that time ;-). I thought it (along with GOG and Elder
Secrets) were the 'must have' supplements for background info on Glorantha.
Ie life outside Prax. Its definately my favourite supplement, for sheer volume
of info at the very least.
As for why Chaosium sold the publishing rights, a magazine of the time
(Imagine?) decided it was temporary insanity after a Cthulhu game...
njd
---------------------
From: JAR...@RMCS.CRANFIELD.AC.UK
Subject: Glorantha the World and AH Prices
Message-ID: <9312151237.AA07184@Sun.COM>
Date: 15 Dec 93 09:33:00 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2644
Ref: 2637 (James) and lots of others.
1) Glorantha the World --- There are only two general products published by
AH which look at the whole of Glorantha as a world. The first is the fairly
slim booklet included in the RQ Deluxe box and the second is the Glorantha
Genertela Boxed supplement.
2) AH prices are too steep. OK yes I would have to agree but:
************************** TOP SECRET ***************************
Don't tell them that I told you this, or the lads will be round.
Here is a little dodge which I have successfully used in the past to help
my players who were not keen on spending loads-a-dosh to buy various RQ
products. What would you say to being able to buy The Gods of Glorantha Book
and the Troll Gods Book at only 6 dollars each! Well you can (plus P&P)!
If you can get hold of an AH catalog you will find that they sell spares for
just about all their games (space counters, spare maps (2 dollars?), spare
rule books). SPARE RULE BOOKS! Yes, because AH is primarily a board game
manufacturer this is their stance. Thus you can buy all the books from the
boxed sets individually (they cost 6 dollars each when I did it a couple of
years ago). Obviously if you buy the whole boxed set as bits it works out
more expensive, but if you only want to buy the Troll Gods Book and not the
box it came in it is a real snip, GoG Book is also a snip (I have 2 now), but
there you miss out of the Prospedia of Gods which is occassionally useful
(still you could buy both for $12 which is less than the total cost for GoG).
So, I hope that I have helped all the poor RQ players out there, and also
those not so poor ones who want to save a bit of dosh. I recommend using
a credit card with your order as this is easier and cuts down on the overheads
associated with changing currencies.
If this saves you dosh and you want to thank me you can do so by buying me
a drink at Convulsion next July (what do you mean you are not going, everyone
who is anyone is going and we are 80% full!).
-----
Lewis
-----
---------------------
From: bra...@caldonia.nlm.nih.gov (Brandon Brylawski)
Subject: Re: RuneQuest Daily, Tue, 14 Dec 1993, part 1
Message-ID: <931215153...@caldonia.nlm.nih.gov>
Date: 15 Dec 93 15:32:24 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2645
shillada@gatwick write :
>Can anyone tell me anything about the cults of Umath and Yinkin.
>Umath I know is Primal Air - so I envisage him as a cult run by Shamen Priests,
>with Divine such as Command Slyph - sort of a primative Orlanth.
Umath is Primal Air, the original air God. In comparison to Orlanth, who
represents the power of Storm used to smite enemies and bring rain to make
the crops grow, Umath represents uncontrollable, destructive Storm - Storm
before it learned Mastery (Remember, two of his sons are Valind and Ragnaglar) .
To my understanding, Umath is no longer worshipped,
at least not in Dragon Pass. Even in the far north, where a few at the foot
of the glacier worship Valind, nobody knows even where Umatch is to be found.
In Phil Davis's campaign, I found him (on the hero plain) only with the
assistance of an item from each of his sons. I suspect Umath has no ties
to Glorantha at all, except as the father of his sons.
Brandon
---------------------
From: T.S.B...@open.ac.uk (T.S.Baguley Thom Baguley)
Subject: Sloth
Message-ID: <9312151628.AA00983@Sun.COM>
Date: 15 Dec 93 16:27:41 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2646
>From: pmic...@aol.com
>Lazyness: A lazyness spirit appears as an amorphous blob which hangs in
>space. Inside the blob, two half-closed eyes, which slowly blink
>occasionally, peer dully out. The blob consists of very slowly moving shades
>of black and grey.
> If posessed by a lazyness spirit, a person acts as if their maximum fatigue
>points are halved.
I agree with Sandy that Sloth is a better name. I'm not sure fatigue is a good
mechanic for it, though (most people don't use the fatigue roles as written).
How about a motivation roll to perform any strenous activity (INT or POW times
4 ??). People with Sloth would try not to fight (too tiring), expend MP (too
draining) and so on. They would prefer to use stealth (hide etc.) and would try
and avoid hard labour (perhaps by figuring out clever schemes or by using fast
talk and or oratory to persuade others).
Thom
---------------------
From: san...@idcube.idsoftware.com (Sandy Petersen)
Subject: re: RQ Daily
Message-ID: <931215171...@idcube.idsoftware.com>
Date: 15 Dec 93 05:19:36 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2647
An Interesting Note:
Annilla, A.K.A. the Blue Moon, is the goddess of assassins and secret
societies, tides and secret powers. Her specialty spirit magic spell
is Invisibility (remember from RQ I?), and her specialty Rune magics
are Concealment and Vision (also from RQ I). She can also summon up
blue Lunes which operate a bit different from regular Lunes.
Carl Fink said:
>> Get _Glorantha: The World_ from Avalon Hill. Folks, if nobody
>>buys this stuff, AH won't have any motivation to publish more.
James K. answers:
>Probably true, and I'm intensely glad that rich people like you
>have got the money to splash out on every overpriced product that
>AH brings out.
*mount soapbox*
Vote with your pocketbooks, by all means, but despite my lack of
royalties from RQ, I encourage folks to purchase at least the good RQ
supplements. Failing to do so will NOT make prices drop! Quite the
contrary. It's like the old software pirate excuse, "Games are too
expensive." I know guys who simply xerox their gamemaster's copies of
GoG to save $$$. This hurts us all.
*dismount soapbox*
Loren Miller says:
>maybe Sandy would like to explain how he decided on the rules he
>came up with for RQ/Tekumel.
1) I completely altered the RQ magic system for RQ/Tekumel. There is
no spirit magic, no divine magic, no sorcery. Only Tekumel-style
magic, which I used to try to get the lethal flavor of Tekumel as
much as possible, while still using the ease of RQ rules such as d100
rolls, resistances, etc. It took several months to get the stuff
hammered out, along with converting all the Tekumel spells to my new
magic format.
Because of the enormous amount of toil expended on this project, I'd
like to publish it in the RQ Daily, but I feel diffident about it,
because it's actually aimed at Tekumel fans, not Glorantha fans. If I
get a huge chorus of requests for publication, I'll release it, but
not otherwise.
2) Loren feels that the Elric combat system rewards roleplaying in
combat more than RQ. This is manifestly a matter of personal choice,
but I do happen to disagree. I feel that the greatly wider range of
choices in combat in RQ enhance rather than diminish roleplaying. I
will admit, however, that when running RQ with non-RQers, I drop out
hunks of the RQ rules to make things simpler.
As an aside, I have always felt one of the great strengths of RQ was
the modularity of the combat system. You can dump hit locations,
critical hits, even parries, all while still keeping the basic flavor
of the game. For non-RQers, I generally drop hit locations and all
the little optional rules (like attacking weapons to damage them,
knockback, etc.) I keep crits and fumbles, because they're easy
enough to figure out and everyone loves looking up results on the
fumble table.
3) Loren feels that Tekumel is set in an early Renaissance time
period. I'm not sure how he determined this, since I've always felt
that Tekumel resembled Mogul India or the Aztecs at the peak of their
power. He also feels that RQ is best for an ancient period, which I
also feel is strange. It seems to me that the RQ rules (possibly
aside from magic) work fine for any age up until the Civil War
periodl. Guns can easily be added to the rules.
Bottom line: Elric! rules will probably work just fine for Tekumel.
Almost any rules will work better than the lame stuff published with
Tekumel -- it's heartbreaking to me to see such a great background
world saddled with such terrible rules.
---------------------
From: eure...@aol.com
Subject: King of Sartar
Message-ID: <931215160...@aol.com>
Date: 15 Dec 93 21:02:55 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2648
I purchased my copy of King of Sartar directly from Chaosium (or was it
special order via the local game store from Chaosium?). Nevertheless, I have
not ever seen it at the usual mainstream bookstores. Chicago may be
similarly undistributed.
RQ Daily Discussion List
This is the RuneQuest Daily Bulletin, a mailing list on
the subjects of Avalon Hill's RPG and Greg Stafford's
world of Glorantha. It is sent out once per day in digest
format.
More details on the RuneQuest Daily and Digest can be found
after the last message in this digest.
---------------------
From: bo...@marin.unit.no
Subject: Lightbringers' Quest
Message-ID: <931216092...@mkws2.marina.unit.no>
Date: 16 Dec 93 11:24:30 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2649
I have been playing RQ for almost 10 years now and, I am
currently playing a Wind Lord (RQ II version :). I was thinking
about running a LBQ, in our party, there are many people who are
also interested in it. So the GM offered me to think about it,
and to think about my opinion on Orlanth and which aspect I would
like to orient my character. I have started doing so, and I would
like to hear other reflections about the subject. So if any of you
have planned a LBQ (player or GM) let me know about it, I would
be deeply grateful for some help...
Derkyn
---------------------
From: ro...@aol.com
Subject: Sandy's Tekumel Mechanics
Message-ID: <931216042...@aol.com>
Date: 16 Dec 93 09:26:56 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2650
Subject: Sandy's Tekumel Mechanics
Consider me a strong tenor in what I hope turns into a huge chorus of
requests that you publish your RQumel mechanics.
--Rob Heinsoo
---------------------
From: ro...@aol.com
Subject: Oasis Folk (of Gor!)
Message-ID: <931216042...@aol.com>
Date: 16 Dec 93 09:27:27 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2651
Subject: Oasis Folk (of Gor!)
Well, I dunno about these Oasis Folk slaves, Sandy. I understand their
useful functions. But it looks like such a bad deal for the poor sods that I
don't see them having much reason to go on living. Seems like they'd need
some form of Secret Life (of Walter Moonbroth?) to keep them going, some
religious validation of their miserable lives. I may have time to write a
proper comment when I'm back with my computer three days from now; in the
meantime I'll just pop out a few possible or trivial heresies:
1. In a very sick Glorantha (the kind Grant Morrison would run) the Oasis
Folk are actually part and parcel of dear old dead Genert. Little-known
secret: skin an Oasis Folk and you've got another piece of parchment for the
Desert Trackers to kill themselves with. ..... Hmm, have to think about
that one to raise it above the level of hopelessly sick and stupid.
or
2. Oasis Folk are Three Bean Circus members in training. Learnin'
non-violent effectiveness the hard way. Very hard way ("Love the
nomads...you must love the nomads...").
or
3. The Oasis Folks' BIG secret is that they are actually descended from the
humans who lost their bet to the Morocanth.... they could either be a small
group of rebels who succeeded in covering their tracks by making a deal with
a Praxian goddess to mind the oases until some turning point I haven't
specified yet (I mean, think about it, they've GOT to be millenialists)....
or they could be somewhat more blackguardish types, who managed to switch
members of other tribes into their place in the Morocanth herds....
OK, more when I'm back in town. I'm happy to have finally noticed this
list's existence. Overjoyed, actually!
Bonus rumor: The Three Beans of the Three Bean Circus are chocolate, coffee,
and hazia... smoke enough and you'll think it's a bean....
--Rob Heinsoo
---------------------
From: ni...@ppvku.ericsson.se (Nils Weinander)
Subject: Sandy P's RQ/Tekumel + other
Message-ID: <931216100...@ppvku.ericsson.se>
Date: 16 Dec 93 12:07:36 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2652
In message <931215171...@idcube.idsoftware.com> Sandy writes:
>Because of the enormous amount of toil expended on this project, I'd
>like to publish it in the RQ Daily, but I feel diffident about it,
>because it's actually aimed at Tekumel fans, not Glorantha fans. If I
>get a huge chorus of requests for publication, I'll release it, but
>not otherwise.
If people don't think it's suitable for the RQ Daily perhaps a special Digest
issue can be dedicated to this Tekumel material. I have not played in Tekumel
but I would sure like to see the stuff.
Now a thought on an issue debated earlier: Storm Bull weapon use. CoP says that
Storm Bulls break taboos freely, thus I think an SB wouldn't care a damn about
tribal weapons but use whatever suit them (big and destructive most likely).
Nils W
---------------------
From: heis...@eemeli.enet.dec.com (DC/PTG)
Subject: Adam's Collection ?
Message-ID: <931216120...@enet-gw.pa.dec.com>
Date: 16 Dec 93 12:10:14 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2653
Anybody knows where I can find the Adam's Collection? I need pages 320-379
and I'd prefer the postscript format.
What other RPG groups exist in Internet ?
-Antti
---------------------
From: ma...@engrg.uwo.ca (Mark Gagnon)
Subject: Tekumel/RQ Rules
Message-ID: <Pine.3.05.9312160...@prism.engrg.uwo.ca>
Date: 16 Dec 93 04:15:14 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2654
> From: san...@idcube.idsoftware.com (Sandy Petersen)
> Date: 15 Dec 93 05:19:36 GMT
> X-RQ-ID: 2647
> Loren Miller says:
>
> >maybe Sandy would like to explain how he decided on the rules he
> >came up with for RQ/Tekumel.
>
> 1) I completely altered the RQ magic system for RQ/Tekumel. There is
> no spirit magic, no divine magic, no sorcery. Only Tekumel-style
> magic, which I used to try to get the lethal flavor of Tekumel as
> much as possible, while still using the ease of RQ rules such as d100
> rolls, resistances, etc. It took several months to get the stuff
> hammered out, along with converting all the Tekumel spells to my new
> magic format.
>
> Because of the enormous amount of toil expended on this project, I'd
> like to publish it in the RQ Daily, but I feel diffident about it,
> because it's actually aimed at Tekumel fans, not Glorantha fans. If I
> get a huge chorus of requests for publication, I'll release it, but
> not otherwise.
Sandy: I, for one, am interested in seeing these rules; I've been
collecting various bits over the past 5 or so years, and it's sad
to say that you're right: excellent game world, lamentable mechanics.
Please do publish these rules, or perhaps post theme to GRASS (hi, Loren).
Any way, that's my vote... ;->
Mark Gagnon (ma...@prism.engrg.uwo.ca) University of Western Ontario
=====================================================================
Ignus aurum probat, miseria fortes viros
Fire tests gold; adversity strong men
---------------------
From: tim...@timbee.rnd.symix.com (Tim Beecher)
Subject: Subject: Heroquesting - Unepected Changes
Message-ID: <9312151451.AA14710@timbee.rnd.symix.com.symix>
Date: 15 Dec 93 14:51:30 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2655
Heroquesting Question:
This is related to the troll heroquest that was mentioned earlier .
There was an incident in a campaign I was in where one of the characters had
angered other characters by abandoning them in a foreign land where only he
spoke the language so he could train for heroquesting . The heroquest was
climbing into the sky while the ladder was defended from various enemies .
Needless to say , there was going to be one more wave of enemies than was
expected . What would this have done to the heroquest ? I don't believe our
group would have fit the description of any of the groups attacking (Humakt ,
Wachaza(?), and some Orlanthi Types ) . What
happens when something unrelated to the heroquest intrudes ?
---------------------
From: JAR...@RMCS.CRANFIELD.AC.UK
Subject: Yinkin & RQ Tekumel
Message-ID: <9312161451.AA10492@Sun.COM>
Date: 16 Dec 93 13:29:00 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2656
Ref: Yinkin
Another Yinkin Story
Once Storm Bull bullied Yinkin (who came crying? to Orlanth).
Orlanth then subdued Storm Bull with only a lariat (lasso) and a sharp stick.
This is the mythological basis for the Mastery of the Storm heroquest;
where Orlanthi prove their dominance over Storm Bull berserkers and if
successful against the giant horned herder at the top of Storm Walk mountain
they gain the power to Calm Storm Bull Berserkers. The alternative version
of this quest involves stealing a Sky Bull from his herd to serve as a steed.
I once ran a nice little version on this with two PCs one a Wind Lord and
the other a Storm Kahn Minotaur! They were both friends so there was very
little chance of either getting seriously hurt (bar an unfortunate critical
or other nasty). However they both wanted to re-enact their Gods' actions
and if possible gain some benefits (although rewards for mini-quests are
obviously less than for the full blown quest).
The rules:
Orlanthi may only use a sharp stick (treat as spear - 1 damage), a lasso or
a whip (not mentioned in mythology but in the spirit of the quest). They may
wear any armour as this is not mentioned.
Storm Bull may only use natural weapons and a horned helmet (head but for
d6 damage), also they may only wear leather or cuirboulli armour (no metal).
Generally this quest has the odds stacked on the side of the Orlanthi if
both are human. However, when one participant is a VERY large minotaur
(and bright too -- INT 11!) the odds are not so certain.
Generally the way the quest went was that the minotaur roll played a very
effective (but non-violent) bullying session on the Wind Lords shadow cat
familiar on the Storm Bull High Holy Day. Later the Wind Lord prepared
himself and initiated the quest on the Orlanth High Holy Day. He was
specially prepared as the Pavis underground temple has a special lasso
made of braided steel which is used if the SB is very strong (but not a
troll!).
When the to characters met on the hero plane the SB was still bullying the
cat and inventing new and even nastier torments. After lengthy ritual
challenges (and the cat beating a fast retreat) the two set at each other.
At first everything seemed to go the minotaur's way with the Orlanthi
desparately dodging the horns and trying to lasso it. He was too afraid
to prod it with the stick in case he wounded it and made it go berserk!
The minotaur knocked the Orlanthi down a few times and only his shield
spells and armour kept him alive (the MPs were being used very fast with
healing etc.) Quite soon the minotaur got a special hit and went berserk
anyway, despite the Orlanthi's refusal to goad him. Just then the Orlanthi
got lucky and lassoed the beast (he was not very good with a lasso as you
can imagine). Still it looked as if all he had done was grab the tiger by
the tail... However, intelligence won over mindless brute strength and the
Orlanthi released a HUGE sylph which grabbed him and the rope and soared up
into the air with the minotaur dangling on the end of the rope with both
of his arms pinned to his sides, being slowly crushed by his own weight.
The minotaur tried to break the lasso several times (STR 40 or 50 I forget)
but eventually he ran out of fatigue and slumped unconcious. Thus the
Orlanthi won, but it was a close run thing.
Rewards:
The Orlanthi gained the ability to calm SBs on a POW * 2 roll (as
Chalana Arroy can), it would have been POW % in the normal human v. human
version of the quest but I thought that this one was tougher!
The Minotaur (who had roleplayed really well) was allowed an
increased chance to stop his berserk rage (POW * 2 I think) as he had
learned that brute force is not always the solution and mindless violence
does not always win!
The only creature who I have not thought of a reward for is the
shadow cat (I would appreciate comments and ideas), but it just may be that
that is one of the prices an alynx pays for becoming a familiar.
If the SB had won the reward would have been something like berserk
at will once per day!
Ref: 2647 (RQ Tekumel - Sandy Petersen)
Tek Yes, I love the world but I have been completely wiped out by
the rule system. I would love to see your RQ Tekumel rules.
-----
Lewis
-----
---------------------
From: gkc...@udcf.gla.ac.uk (S.Phillips)
Subject: Hi from Sam with new Account
Message-ID: <12513.199...@rockall.cent.gla.ac.uk>
Date: 16 Dec 93 16:18:57 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2657
(Sorry for non RQ note)
I have a new E-mail account:-
mail either
S.Phi...@gla.ac.uk
or
gkc...@udcf.gla.ac.uk
I know have access to ftp. Could someone mail me as to where to RQ archive
is (are). Thanks!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Happy Sacred Time
Cheers,
Sam. x
---------------------
From: henkl@yelm (Henk Langeveld - Sun Nederland)
Subject: Re: sandy's terqumel
Message-ID: <931216163...@yelm.Holland.Sun.COM>
Date: 16 Dec 93 18:37:38 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2658
I've already suggested to Sandy that he sends
the RQ Tekumel rules to the Digest submission
address. I will then incorporate them in a
special issue.
I'll try to coordinate this with the managers
of the Tekumel mailing list, so we could
make a combined publication.
Note that this still falls under the charters
of the Daily and Digest: *Both* RuneQuest and
Glorantha.
--
Henk | Henk.La...@Sun.COM - Disclaimer: I don't speak for Sun.
oK[] | My first law of computing: "NEVER make assumptions"
---------------------
From: san...@idcube.idsoftware.com (Sandy Petersen)
Subject: re: RQ Dailiy
Message-ID: <931216163...@idcube.idsoftware.com>
Date: 16 Dec 93 04:30:52 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2659
A personal correspondent asked about Sog's Ruins (in Prax). Here goes
a tiny bit of background stuff:
Sog was a minor water deity, a grandson of King Undine. Sog is also
parent of the three Father Undines who spanwed the nine Giant
Undines. Really, he's no more than a really big undine, but the God
Learners picked him out of the mass and used their techniques to make
Sog into one of their most important sea gods. There are little
peninsulas and places all along Genertela's southern coast named
after Sog (I believe there's a Sog City in Kethaela). After the God
Learners imploded, Sog sank back to his rightful position -- that of
being just another name on the ocean pantheon's genealogy.
Sog's Ruins was a God Learner port (then named just plain Sog) during
the Second Age. Today, Sog's Ruins is fairly far inland. It is not
known whether the God Learners had cleared a channel to it, or
whether the sea came further inland in those days.
Anyway, it holds Second Age artifacts and evil curses, along with
lots of sea-type spirits. It's kind of like a little bitty Pavis, so
far as treasure goes. The monsters include things like intelligent
patches of quicksand that pursue you and undines made out of acid.
Though these might sound plenty mean, they're not everywhere at once,
and Sog's Ruins aren't any more dangerous than any other ancient heap
in Glorantha (for what that's worth). Shamans sometimes try to
contact water entities there, with what they claim is much greater
success than most places in Prax.
At least one guy (not me) claims that the evil water being inside the
Puzzle Canal of Pavis was originally from Sog's Ruins.
Brandon Brylawski says:
>Umath represents uncontrollable, destructive Storm - Storm
>before it learned Mastery (Remember, two of his sons are Valind and
>Ragnaglar).
Not to mention Vadrus and Storm Bull, and other crude, brutish gods
such as Humakt. Technically, Valind is not Umath's son, but his
grandson (another grandson is Gagarth). Ragnaglar's relationships are
unclear, but he is probably not one of Umath's sons (though he's
almost certainly a descendant), which are traditionally five in
number: Umbrol, Vadrus, Storm Bull, Humakt, and Orlanth. Of course,
in Orlanthi kinspeak, just like in ancient Hebrew, "son of" can be
used to mean "descendant of".
>To my understanding, Umath is no longer worshipped,
>at least not in Dragon Pass.
Technically, this is true. Umath isn't really accessible nowadays,
any more than is Gata. In general, ancient primal deities are hard to
get to in modern Glorantha. Look at Subere and Magasta -- of cosmic
importance, but with hardly any active cult.
Although Umath doesn't boast a cult, among the Orlanthi
storm-oriented shamans (a common type) are usually considered Umath
shamans. After all, they spend all their time with sylphs and other
such raw air entities, Umbroli, etc. Some of the mightiest of these
shamans claim to have met and talked to Umath, but they probably used
something akin to Brandon's technique (an item from each of his sons
-- note that the Vadrus item might be hard to come by).
re: The Sloth spirit
What if the Sloth spirit caused you to fall asleep at inconvenient
moments, as per narcolepsy? Perhaps each time you did anything
strenuous (at the GM's decision), you'd have to roll 1d100. If you
rolled equal to or less than the spirit's POW, you fall asleep for a
half-hour or so. That would be plenty inconvenient, and would force
the player to try to "avoid hard labor" as Thom Baguley put it
(though he did spell "Labor" in the evil British manner).
re: RQ/Tekumel
I have decided to post my RQ Tekumel stuff in both the RQ Digest and
the Tekumel Digest, if I can ever figure out how to access the latter
(please don't e-mail me and tell me it's at
tekumel...@boombox.micro.umn.edu because I know that much -- but
I can't get my mail to go through). Don't worry, I'm sure I'll figure
it out in the next few days. In the meantime, I'll start formating
the stuff for the RQ Digest.
---------------------
From: ECZ...@MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU (Anthony Ragan)
Subject: Off topic, Sandy's Tekumel
Message-ID: <9312161730.AA08097@Sun.COM>
Date: 16 Dec 93 17:29:00 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2660
Hi all,
Sorry that this is off-topic but, since Loren and Sandy mentioned it.......
Yes!! I want to see those Tekumel sorcery rules you devised. Please
publish them here or in a distributed mailing.
--Anthony (hoping he's of a large chorus of yeas)
ecz...@mvs.oac.ucla.edu -OR- Iris...@aol.com
Rune Chia Pet of Ernalda
---------------------
From: j...@zycor.lgc.com (johnjmedway)
Subject: RQ-FAQ
Message-ID: <931216173...@hp0.zycor.lgc.com>
Date: 16 Dec 93 17:34:57 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2661
It has been pointed out that there are a few notable omissions from the
"RQ-FAQ" document which I post irregularly to rec.games.frp.misc.
In particular, all of the items I have listed are American or English,
providing no information to people interested in the French, German,
Finnish, et al, sources for RuneQuest or Gloranthan info. (I'll use the
old and lame - "I'm an American, and am totally ignorant of anything else."
excuse here).
Would some kind soul(s) pass info about other magazines to me. I'll add
them to the next FAQ posting (probably January, after I get back to town).
BTW: Current subject areas of the FAQ:
>> The RuneQuest Daily:
>> RQ4 Playtest Discussion:
>> Archive: (Shannon's archive on soda)
>> Tales of the Reaching Moon
>> RuneQuest-Con:
>> Convulsion:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
| john_...@zycor.lgc.com | Landmark Graphics Corp | 512.292.2325 |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------
From: 10027...@CompuServe.COM (Nick Brooke)
Subject: RQ-Tekumel
Message-ID: <931216190755_100...@CompuServe.COM>
Date: 16 Dec 93 19:07:55 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2662
___________
Sandy said:
> Almost any rules will work better than the lame stuff published with
> Tekumel -- it's heartbreaking to me to see such a great background
> world saddled with such terrible rules.
Who (on reading them) wouldn't agree?
Though I also find Tekumel less user-friendly than the Gloranthan releases
of the eighties: having things like "What Dad Said" and "What the Vicar
Said" makes a real difference when you're approaching an alien culture.
Which is my excuse for never running a game there, despite intense and
often oppressive peer-pressure to do so. If the rules burden were removed,
I'd be strongly tempted (and strongly urged, I imagine) to give it a go.
> Because of the enormous amount of toil expended on this project, I'd
> like to publish it in the RQ Daily, but I feel diffident about it,
> because it's actually aimed at Tekumel fans, not Glorantha fans. If I
> get a huge chorus of requests for publication, I'll release it, but
> not otherwise.
I for one would absolutely, unconditionally *love* to see it. If demand is
poor, perhaps Henk could fix a limited-distribution Digest for it (as with
Joerg's latterday hexmaps)?
Sorry to have been so quiet on the Daily of late. Can I chip in with two
things on recent topics dear to my heart?
1) When looking at Carmanian religion, think of the Persians.
2) The Vadeli eat babies to stay immortal. Lovely people, really.
====
Nick
====
---------------------
From: carl...@wdni.com (Carlson, Pam)
Subject: RE: Nature of Chaos; Non-Gloranthan Chaos
Message-ID: <2D10...@itlab.wtc.weyer.com>
Date: 16 Dec 93 18:50:00 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2663
Paul Reilly wrote a nice article on the nature of chaos in Glorantha. He
even included an Arkati view of the importance of Darkness in defending
against chaos, which for me (who often plays solar types) was quite
eye-opening!
So far I've run RQ only in non-Gloranthan settings. As a biologist and all
around science-nut, my worlds tend to operate with more physical consistency
and less myth than Glorantha. I like to interpret chaos as a sort of wild
genetic mutatory force; when intelligent beings begin to manipulate chaos,
(spirits, gods, sorcerers, priests), new species or organisms can be created
rather quickly -- in generations rather than in eons.
Organisms fall into chaos categories of varying levels, based largely on how
they reproduce. Mild, usually acceptable forms like centaurs always
"breed true", moderate forms like ogres and shapeshifters have highly
variable offspring, and these phenotypes often skip generations and show up
unexpectedly. Very chaotic forms like broo and scorpionfolk have a
tremendous amount of variability (and a lot of dead offspring). Anything
more chaotic than these is modelled on the Hymenoptera (bees, hornets): most
are sterile and serve a reproducing queen somewhere.
Chaos tends to be quite aimless by itself. It becomes a menace only when it
is controlled by intelligent beings looking for a cheap army. Intelligent
chaotic creatures sometimes attempt to take settled regions for plunder or
hunting. They also like to capture humans and other "ordered" organisms to
provide their queens with new genetic material. Thus, while chaos is not
out to destroy the world, it is still an effective villain.
I would be interested to hear of other interpretations of chaos used in
non-Gloranthan worlds.
RQ Daily Discussion List
---------------------
From: henkl@yelm (Henk Langeveld - Sun Nederland)
Subject: Re: RQ-Tekumel
Message-ID: <931216195...@yelm.Holland.Sun.COM>
Date: 16 Dec 93 21:57:42 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2664
Nick Brooke:
>I for one would absolutely, unconditionally *love* to see it. If demand is
>poor, perhaps Henk could fix a limited-distribution Digest for it (as with
>Joerg's latterday hexmaps)?
I could do that, although no-one actually requested to be
excluded from that digest issue. I hereby ask all of you:
If you don't want to receive Sandy's RQ tekumel rules, speak
now, or hold your peace forever...
--
Henk | Henk.La...@Sun.COM - Disclaimer: I don't speak for Sun.
oK[] | My first law of computing: "NEVER make assumptions"
---------------------
From: pa...@phyast.pitt.edu (Paul Reilly)
Subject: Lunars and Chaos
Message-ID: <931216211...@minerva.phyast.pitt.edu>
Date: 16 Dec 93 21:11:28 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2665
Paul Reilly here.
In our campaigns there are respectable Lunar philosophers who
promulgate views such as these :
Chaos is the lack of structore that surrounds
Glorantha (and is more or less in contact with it at every point - this
is not just a physical surrounding). Many other schools (e.g., various
Western schools) would agree. Chaos is not evil in itself - on the contrary
it is the combination of Chaos and Order which gives rise to the vital
world as we know it. The trouble comes when Chaos invades the central world.
Many things which would not be considered Chaotic if encountered in Deep Hell
or the Outer World (or even the Upper World*) would be unnatural in the
central world. Such, for example, is the Crimson Bat. Sufficiently far out
from the Center it would become a natural thing. Once the Lunar boundaries
have reached that far, then this guardian of our borders will resume its
role as a natural being. Until then it is a painful necessity - but at least
its destructive powers are harnessed to protect the innocent people of the
Heartland. And its chaos is controlled and mitigated by the Goddess - who
knows what depredation it wreaked in the Underworld ere its power was harnessed
by the Goddess?
* An example of this was a small enamel-work portrait brought back to the
Tripolis by a heroquester who went to the Upper World. It was "Chaotically
Beautiful" - i.e., it was more beautiful than allowed by the laws of nature
in the central world. Don't worry though, a Storm Bull destroyed it...
----
When Chaos invades Glorantha it breaks down the structure that is
there. This is like a rip in the fabric of the world, often a spreading
rip. The world soul (Glorantha or Arachne SOlara?) reacts against this,
'cloaking' the chaos in a Gloranthan form. Instead of Reality rushing away
wholesale into the howling Void we have a chaos creature or thing. The krjalki
thus formed is like a patch placed over the rip to keep it from spreading.
The 'fabric of reality' is stretched and distorted around the patch - thus
natural laws can be suspended giving rise to so-called 'chaos features'.
However, Reality is still leaking away through it - the hole is only patched,
not truly closed off. This creates a pressure in the krjalki which impels it
to destroy Order. It is a slower version of the chaos hole.
Nysalor brought us the gift of truly closing off such leakage. Through
Illumination, chaotic entities can fully close off the Chaos Hole within
them and be fully integrated into Gloranthan reality. By the effects of
Illumination we may see that a true repair has been effected. No longer does
the creature need to destroy all around him - thus we know that no further
leakage of Order is occurring. Also, the Uroxi can no longer sense the
fabric of the World leaking away through the former krjalk. Some (See
Lhankor Mhy references) would attribute this to a deception on the part of the
Nysalori. Should we believe that Urox, who defeated the Supreme Incarnation
of Evil, can be so easily deceived? It is easier to posit that the damage
has been truly repaired and that the reason Uroxi do not experience their
famous "chaos headaches" in the vicinity of an Illuminated former krjalk is
that the chaos is simply no longer there. True, the 'fabric of reality' may
still be stretched around the creature, but the rip has been rewoven into the
Great Web and no further 'leakage' is occurring.
Here we see the superiority of the Lunar Way. While others kill krjalki and
leave their infected spirits untended in Hell (perhaps to be reincarnated
later), we, through Illumination, may cure the damage once and for all. It
is the continual sapping of the world's spirit and order through the agency
of Chaos that has led to the destructive Cycles of Wakboth that ever
diminish the world. The world is not what it was in the First Age, or
even the Second. Only through the Lunar Way can the destructive Cycles be
halted and the world healed. Other ways appear to be stopgap measures at
best, doomed to ultimate failure.
---------------------
From: gsta...@aol.com
Subject: RQ/Tekumel
Message-ID: <931216164...@aol.com>
Date: 16 Dec 93 21:44:34 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2666
I do not wish to receive these rules.
thanx.
- g
---------------------
From: mcar...@fit.qut.edu.au (Mr Robert McArthur)
Subject: Blue trolls - whoops, I mean Moon ;-)
Message-ID: <1993121700...@fitmail.fit.qut.edu.au>
Date: 17 Dec 93 15:01:19 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2667
Sandy confides
> An Interesting Note:
> Annilla, A.K.A. the Blue Moon, is the goddess of assassins and secret
> societies, tides and secret powers. Her specialty spirit magic spell
> is Invisibility (remember from RQ I?), and her specialty Rune magics
> are Concealment and Vision (also from RQ I). She can also summon up
> blue Lunes which operate a bit different from regular Lunes.
Ok, I'll bite: how to blue lunes differ from regular lunes? I have sort of
imagined that regular lunes were black, not red. Is this less-than-right?
Robert
---------------------
From: ca...@panix.com (Carl Fink)
Subject: Re: RQ-Tekumel
Message-ID: <1993121703...@panix.com>
Date: 16 Dec 93 17:13:52 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2668
Henk.La...@holland.sun.com (Henk Langeveld - Sun Nederland) writes:
H>If you don't want to receive Sandy's RQ tekumel rules, speak
>now, or hold your peace forever...
I'm not actually all that interested (I'm suffering from
rules-overdose) but it isn't that big of a deal to not read a message.
People receiving the Daily via a per-hour service a/r/e f/o/o/l/s/ would
be more worried.
--Carl
RQ Daily Discussion List
This is the RuneQuest Daily Bulletin, a mailing list on
the subjects of Avalon Hill's RPG and Greg Stafford's
world of Glorantha. It is sent out once per day in digest
format.
More details on the RuneQuest Daily and Digest can be found
after the last message in this digest.
---------------------
From: ANDE...@howdy.Princeton.EDU
Subject: Re: * list subscription request
Message-ID: <1A2D6...@howdy.princeton.edu>
Date: 16 Dec 93 21:11:23 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2669
Could you please post the following on the list:
RIDE WANTED for two people to RuneQuest-Con from Princeton, New
Jersey Area. Leave Friday, return Sunday. Can help pay for gas and
tolls. Please contact Paul or Janet Anderson at (609) 497-0414
(except between December 24 and December 27, 1993) or Janet Anderson
at ande...@howdy.princeton.edu (except between December 23, 1993 and
January 2, 1994).
Thank you.
Janet Anderson
---------------------
From: j...@sartar.toppoint.de (Joerg Baumgartner)
Subject: Emotion Spirits, Tekumel
Message-ID: <H.ea.29jhsvSwX&g...@sartar.toppoint.de>
Date: 17 Dec 93 09:04:55 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2670
Just two short remarks:
Free INT 2 (out of print now) had an article with several emotion
spirits (in German language, as usual). I still have the text on disk,
though. Anyone interested?
Sandy: I am interested in RQ-Tekumel. Please post your material!
Now back to work on Free INT 7.
--
-- Joerg Baumgartner j...@sartar.toppoint.de
---------------------
From: pears...@bt-web.bt.co.uk (pearse_w_r)
Subject: Tekumel Mailing List / Sog Ruins
Message-ID: <9312171009.AA21908@Sun.COM>
Date: 17 Dec 93 10:09:27 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2671
Sandy P asked about the Tekumel mailing list, to post the RQ/Tekumel
rules (Yes, I want to see them too - as complete as possible, with
full spell descriptions if possible).
Something is wrong with most of the published addresses for this list.
I've sometimes got through.
1. Try using wings rather than boombox. Or...
2. The last mailing I had came from teku...@wings.micro.umn.edu. I have
sometimes sent mail here, which has appeared in the digest.
However this digest is appearing only infrequently, and submissions seem to
vanish sent to it. Does anyone know what the problem is?
> A personal correspondent asked about Sog's Ruins...
Thanks for the info.
Roger Pearse
---------------------
From: mche...@ubilab.ubs.ch (Matthew Cheyney)
Subject: Re: RuneQuest Daily, Thu, 16 Dec 1993, part 1
Message-ID: <931217111...@ubilab.ubs.ch>
Date: 17 Dec 93 13:15:51 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2672
hi all. Browsing through the RQ daily, I saw an offer by Sandy Petersen
to (post/(mail to the RQ list)) his RQ/Tekumel coversion notes, if people
were sufficently interested. I, for one, would love to see this, as I am
contemplating runnign an RM/my magic system/Tekumel game, and would like
to see as much Tekumel info as possible. So, if anybody with the system
(Herr Peterson, maby) reads this, and has a handy copy, I would really appreciate
it if they would post it to rec.games.frp.misc, or email it to me.
Thag you very buch.
-Matt
mche...@dartmouth.edu
@coos.dartmouth.edu
@everest.cs.dartmouth.edu
@northstar.dartmouth.edu
and in my swiss secret identity,
@ubilab.ubs.ch
zh...@zh014.ubs·ubs.ch
-Coming soon to a kill file near you.
---------------------
From: bra...@caldonia.nlm.nih.gov (Brandon Brylawski)
Subject: Re: RuneQuest Daily, Fri, 17 Dec 1993, part 1
Message-ID: <931217144...@caldonia.nlm.nih.gov>
Date: 17 Dec 93 14:42:02 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2673
Sandy Petersen writes:
>Brandon Brylawski says:
>>Umath represents uncontrollable, destructive Storm - Storm
>>before it learned Mastery (Remember, two of his sons are Valind and
>>Ragnaglar
>
>Not to mention Vadrus and Storm Bull, and other crude, brutish gods
>such as Humakt. Technically, Valind is not Umath's son, but his
>grandson (another grandson is Gagarth). Ragnaglar's relationships are
>unclear, but he is probably not one of Umath's sons (though he's
>almost certainly a descendant), which are traditionally five in
>number: Umbrol, Vadrus, Storm Bull, Humakt, and Orlanth. Of course,
>in Orlanthi kinspeak, just like in ancient Hebrew, "son of" can be
>used to mean "descendant of".
I bow to your knowledge in this instance. What happened to Kolat?
>Although Umath doesn't boast a cult, among the Orlanthi
>storm-oriented shamans (a common type) are usually considered Umath
>shamans. After all, they spend all their time with sylphs and other
>such raw air entities, Umbroli, etc. Some of the mightiest of these
>shamans claim to have met and talked to Umath, but they probably used
>something akin to Brandon's technique (an item from each of his sons
>-- note that the Vadrus item might be hard to come by).
When I did the herowalk to reach Umath, I couldn't find anything for Vadrus,
so I amassed the following, which worked:
Orlanth : myself (as an initiate) and a storm dagger of Orlanth which never
missed its target, teleporting through obstacles if necessary;
Humakt : a Death rune which could transform into a dagger, sword, or greatsword;
Kolat : a dagger which was a real weapon : on the Hero plane it appeared as a
fan.
I don't remember the Storm Bull item;
Gagarth : a thunderbolt arrow, left behind by the Wild Hunt.
Valind : the herowalk began at the foot of Valind's glacier!
Brandon
---------------------
From: ng...@rz.uni-kiel.d400.de
Subject: "SOG AND HEROQUESTING
Message-ID: <5482*_S=ngl28_OU=rz_PRMD=uni-kiel_ADMD=d400_C=de_@MHS>
Date: 17 Dec 93 18:35:08 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2674
Tim Beecher in X-RQ-ID: 2655
>Needless to say , there was going to be one more wave of enemies than was
>expected . What would this have done to the heroquest ? I don't believe our
>group would have fit the description of any of the groups attacking (Humakt ,
>Wachaza(?), and some Orlanthi Types ) . What
>happens when something unrelated to the heroquest intrudes ?
Though I'm no Godtime expert, from what I have read about hqs to intrude
into a heroquest, you either have to participate with the quester, or
you'll participate as one of the mythical participants within the myth.
So, if the companions of this character wanted to give him a hard time,
best way to do so is set out with him and, at some point, force him to
leave the myth's path.
Or you might enter in the role of an originally passive participant, like
Flesh Man watching Humakt slay Grandfather Mortal. Now you can enter the
"what if" game: what if Flesh Man dissuaded Grandfather Mortal to accept
the new power? (Would the character participating as Grandfather Mortal
lose the ability to die? Would the Humakt participant lose some amount of
his death powers? Would the Eurmali lose his assassin aspects which stem
from this incident?)
In your case, the guys holding the ladder could start climbing it
themselves, making the first climber's life very hard, or they could assume
the role of some onlooker and then change the myth.
So, what happens if the lay members attending to a temple-walk heroquest
suddenly start throwing tomatoes at the performers? Or how to seriously
discredit a religious society with their deity, out of the Advanced
Trickster's manual.
---------------------
Lewis Jardine in X-RQ-ID: 2656
> The only creature who I have not thought of a reward for is the
>shadow cat (I would appreciate comments and ideas), but it just may be that
>that is one of the prices an alynx pays for becoming a familiar.
Well, had the cat actually done something to get rid off the tormentor, it
might have earned increased toughness of some form. Just making it away -
hmm, maybe some award for mobility?
> If the SB had won the reward would have been something like berserk
>at will once per day!
Such as the Vikings: Gods without Godar section? These abilities seem
appropriate for minor heroquest rewards, although the spirit combat ought
to be played out a bit more dramatic.
---------------------
Sandy Petersen in X-RQ-ID: 2659
>A personal correspondent asked about Sog's Ruins (in Prax). Here goes
>a tiny bit of background stuff:
>Sog was a minor water deity, a grandson of King Undine. Sog is also
>parent of the three Father Undines who spanwed the nine Giant
>Undines. Really, he's no more than a really big undine, but the God
>Learners picked him out of the mass and used their techniques to make
>Sog into one of their most important sea gods. There are little
>peninsulas and places all along Genertela's southern coast named
>after Sog (I believe there's a Sog City in Kethaela). After the God
>Learners imploded, Sog sank back to his rightful position -- that of
>being just another name on the ocean pantheon's genealogy.
From what the Sea issue of TotRM said about Sog in "What the Merpriestess
says" I understood that Sog was a favorite deity of the Waertagi, hence its
use for all the dragon-cityship ports and drydocks. Did the God Learners
conquer this spirit after Tanien's victory? They did conquer the ports, for
sure.
But then in 945 or so, less than 8 years before the Closing, the Waertagi
released Sog (or his father Tidal Wave?) on Jrustela and sank most of it.
I'd expect Sog to be the Waertagi's favorite weapon against landlubbers,
and to see his hour again quite soon in Nolos and Pasos.
Which part of Kethaela had this Sog City? I recall that Nochet originated as
Waertagi port. Maybe they have a Sog quarter, close to the harbour?
Also Kethaela: Does anyone have a clue where I can find the human-
frequented temple of Black Arkat? I somehow thought it would be in the
Kitori lands, them being darkness worshipers, somewhere between Whitewall
and Jansholm.
>Not to mention Vadrus and Storm Bull, and other crude, brutish gods
>such as Humakt. Technically, Valind is not Umath's son, but his
>grandson (another grandson is Gagarth). Ragnaglar's relationships are
>unclear, but he is probably not one of Umath's sons (though he's
>almost certainly a descendant), which are traditionally five in
>number: Umbrol, Vadrus, Storm Bull, Humakt, and Orlanth. Of course,
>in Orlanthi kinspeak, just like in ancient Hebrew, "son of" can be
>used to mean "descendant of".
Also in some versions of Ragnaglar myths he is called cousin, not brother,
by Urox, Orlanth, and some sons of the Bull. Given Vadrus' bad reputation,
there is a likely candidate to have sired Ragnaglar. On whom, by the way?
>Some of the mightiest of these
>shamans claim to have met and talked to Umath, but they probably used
>something akin to Brandon's technique (an item from each of his sons
>-- note that the Vadrus item might be hard to come by).
Why? Just use the same technique recursively: one item form Gagarth, one
from Molanni, one from Gagarth - would be fun if Ragnaglar was included
among the offspring of Vadrus: his only son was the devil, who is dead,
too, but his sons or parts exist: Thanatar, Cacodemon, the Devil's Hand,
...
Which is probably why even the God Learners refrained from doing so.
Joerg Baumgartner
ng...@rz.uni-kiel.d400.de
---------------------
From: 10027...@CompuServe.COM (Nick Brooke)
Subject: Soggy Ragnaglar
Message-ID: <931217171753_10...@CompuServe.COM>
Date: 17 Dec 93 17:17:54 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2675
____________
Sandy wrote:
> Ragnaglar's relationships are unclear, but he is probably not one
> of Umath's sons (though he's almost certainly a descendant), which
> are traditionally five in number: Umbrol, Vadrus, Storm Bull, Humakt,
> and Orlanth.
On the other hand, Ragnaglar is also described as Storm Bull's *brother*,
while considerable doubt exists as to whether Umbrol (or Kolat) are real
deities and not aggregate personifications (or *really big* elementals)
created for God Learner genealogies. It becomes very tempting to identify
Ragnaglar with Vadrus, the god of plunder and concommitant rape, who was
"destroyed by Chaos in the Great Darkness" -- which makes the latter into a
face-saving euphemism for the Orlanthi.
But: if Umbrol/Kolat (per WF12) and Humakt (per RQDs passim) weren't
originally Orlanth's brothers... who were the original five? This is
getting *very* tricky!
Sog's Cities: I had previously assumed that this connection was through the
Waertagi rather than the Jrusteli, given the immense age and undoubted
Waertagi connections of Sog City (the famous one) in Fronela. It seems
unlikely the Jrusteli would 'adopt' a friend and helper of the Waertagi,
their mortal foes; Sog's current debilitated state is equally well
explained if his worship came from the (missing, presumed extinct) Waertagi
rather than the (missing, presumed extinct) God Learners.
Besides, the Jrusteli never had ships so big that they *needed* controlled
tidal waves to carry them into drydock...
Yours, labouring for the common good,
^
====
Nick
====
---------------------
From: ng...@rz.uni-kiel.d400.de
Subject: "CHAOS ON MY WORLD (WAY TOO LONG)
Message-ID: <5495*_S=ngl28_OU=rz_PRMD=uni-kiel_ADMD=d400_C=de_@MHS>
Date: 17 Dec 93 19:52:43 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2676
Carlson, Pam in X-RQ-ID: 2663
>I would be interested to hear of other interpretations of chaos used in
>non-Gloranthan worlds.
Well, on my campaign world (listen in, Mark, I didn't send you this stuff
yet) Chaos entered the world via a cosmic catastrophe.
Be warned, I digress a lot.
The world is a quite ordinary planet in the fantastically enlarged
biosphere of a no less fantastic solar system, which evolved along certain
natural laws, also called Runes. (That's why most intelligent life forms
tend to be humanoid, call it Man Rune, or call it parallel evolution.)
The planet exists on the mundane plane as well as on the spiritual planes -
Hero, God, and Spririt Planes. The Spirit Plane is the primary life-force
continuum, the God Plane was originally the plane of the powers (Runes),
and the Hero Planes were the discharge area between all of them. They are
somewhat extradimaensional, but tied in certain coordinates to the mundane
plane.
When life had evolved that was capable of spiritual activity, the various
forms of genius loci began to manifest themselves and form the Elder races.
so from darkness sprang the trolls, from half light the (Tolkienesque)
Elves, from plants the dryami (a compromise of Ents and Vronkali, Mreli and
Embyli), etc. Plus the dragons who had reached semi-intelligence, and fed
on flesh as well as life force. Nota bene: Only spirits and shamanism so
far, no gods, no embodied powers apart the draconic ones.
Life developed harmoniously on this planet and its neighbour, one orbit
further out, when a stellar body of unknown matter intruded into the system
and collided with the outer planet of the life zone. Both fragmented, and
parts of the fragments formed an asteroid belt on the neighbouring orbit,
other parts became a meteorite swarm which irregularly crosses the system.
The moment the two stars collided, the Great Ones (sorry, couldn't
translate it more originally) awoke, and began to conquer the world. Their
only real resistance were the primitive dragons, whom they conquered in the
end, as they did with the Elder Races. They, too, fed on life force as
well. Later philosophers said they were made from the essence of the runes,
when the two planets crashed and released their energies. The first thing
they saw was the collision of the planets (runic powers move faster than
light :-).
In Glorantha terms these beings were illuminated, they understood chaos
(the matter of the foreign planet) and law (the natural Laws aka Runes).
This gave them the edge over the other races which were only budding this
time. They also did everything unnatural to creation which is blamed on the
combined efforts of EWF and God Learners, such as modifying their draconic
slaves from dinosaurian life forms into six-legged (actually winged) riding
and combat beasts of mediocre intelligence - say about human.
The enslaved dragons succeeded to lay the foundation of the Great Ones by
having their immature but yet untainted youth lay disfunctional eggs, from
which hatched - you guess it - dragonewts. These went through their cycles,
until the first of them reached the state of true dragons.
Around this time, the Younger Races aka humanoids had eveloped and the
first waves of them - the giants, dwarf, and ogres - had made contact with
the great ones, or had cunningly avoided it. The (RQ2ish) dwarfs had been
made into machine-worshiping monsters like the Mostali, e.g., the giants
had avoided the Great Ones attention by sticking to the outskirts, and the
ogres had committed themselves to copy the Great Ones.
In one respect the Younger Races resembled the Great Ones - they were
immune to the effect that iron has on the Elder Races. To get servants with
this immunity against the anti-magic (anti-life force) effect of iron, the
Great Ones had experimented withtheir servant races, inducing well known
effects like the Trollkin Curse, the creation of regenerating Cave Trolls,
the abominational crossbreeding of Elves and Trolls into a race called for
lack of a better term "orcs", transmuting some elves (creatures of light,
if only half light aka Moon, remember) weakness against iron into a
weakness against light and creating the duergar from RQ Vikings. All this
magic has to do with the perversion of life force, chaos, and is the reason
why I called the Great Ones Illuminates. All this is very much along the
lines of chaos description Pam gave.
Then the Rebellion finally broke out. The slave races had secretly
developed deities and divine magic, while the Great Ones' attention was
focussed on the Hero Planes. The humans, last coming and most numarous of
the humanoid Younger races, migrated into the lands of origin of the Great
Ones, and although lots of them were simply added into the slave pool, they
overthrew the Great Ones' ecology. When they found leaders in the Elder
Races, the dragonewts, and those giants who had mastered elemental powers of
cold, fire, storm, earth or waves (I used the norse giant races, with Aesir
=Storm Giants, Jotuns=earth or mountain giants, etc), the Gods war broke
out, and the Great Ones, caught at unawares, suffered as greatly as they
delt out. It was the belated, but furious and berserking entry of the
giants and their followers which broke the Great Ones.
The Great Ones were expelled to the Hero Planes, and the Gods were shut out
of the world as well, but with similar powers like the Gloranthan Compromise
allows. As one last revenge, say some, while others say that this event had
to come anyway and that the dragonewts had planned to use this as their
final weapon, the fragments of the chaotic planet hit the world. Apart from
wiping out one of three continents with the impact, melting off all the
inland ice of this continent, apart from the seismic and climatic
catastrophes following, lots of splinters of manifest chaos rained down on
the world. Where they hit, they polluted, mutated, etc. - whatever you know
from pure chaos. Luckily, there came also fragments of the outer planet,
mostly from the metallic core, which could cancel out the worst chaos
effects.
For Gloranthans, think of Truestone (I call it Star Steel) and Anti-Truestone.
BTW, Star Steel was the only matter which could really harm the great Ones,
which is why they deflected earlyer showers of meteorites, after getting
enough for weaponry, and after discovering that by refining iron ore they
could achieve a similar, if weaker, effect which was more controllable:
Alloy Steel.
In this world, chaos is the all mutating or corrupting force, often draining
life force in the process, thus definable as evil, too. All things draining
life force are regarded as evil, and all things corrupting the natural laws
aka Runes (not strictly mundane physics etc) are regarded as chaotic.
Thus extra tentacles or other standard chaotic features are clearly
chaotic, naked chaos. Often they are hostile and rather often also destructive
to life force, thus they are evil.
Then there is the illuminated, or controlled chaos. Most magic is one of its
aspects, in fact all magic not voluntarily exchanging life force between
different planes. Spirit magic was before the chaos, and is NOT chaotic,
nor is the mastery of the primal powers per se. All other magic can be
argued to be chaotic or evil, but most of it canbe argued as natural, too -
with the exception of certain demonist and necromantic techniques.
The controlled chaos is the source of great powers. The dragons acquired it
from their masters, or stole it from them, and are as illuminated as were
the Great Ones. The Dragonewts are, too, and the draconic (Kralori or EWF
style) worshipers as well. Only the primitive draconic forms, some of which
survived the Great Ones' experiments and the Darkness following the God
Wars, do not possess these powers. They're quite harmless, really :-).
The necromantic practices use certain predator spirits which devour life
force and force them into deceased bodies with only stray sparks of life
force in them. there they feed on other stray life force from their
surroundings, weakening life and reality. This makes them chaotic
(anti-law), but of the masked/illuminated variety. (This is my
interpretaion of what Ghoul Spirits are, and a way to produce rotting
Zombies without enchanting permanent POW away).
Demonic techniques use the intrusion of raw chaos into the spirit world.
The corrupted entities which can be summoned through these routes are the
classical demons of Elric! or Stormbringer fame. There are regions in the
Spirit Plane so corrupted by raw chaos that (formerly) mortal spirits ore
beings can become chaotic beings. Naturally some perverse religions
developed around these techniques, and the ogres were the foremost to adopt
these.
The Broos are such a race of chaos demons released permanently on the
mundane world. There are spirit broos, too, as nice and friendly as their
material brethren. The ogres fetched or created them, it is said.
Hmm. Sorry, this is not how chaos functions, but how it works. I hope it is
of interest, though.
Joerg Baumgartner
ng...@rz.uni-kiel.d400.de
---------------------
From: t...@cix.compulink.co.uk (Tarry Higgins)
Subject: Re: RQ-Tekumel
Message-ID: <memo....@cix.compulink.co.uk>
Date: 17 Dec 93 19:20:15 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2677
In-Reply-To: <931216195...@yelm.Holland.Sun.COM>
I personally would love to recieve it
Regards
Tarry A Higgins
t...@cix.compulink.co.uk
Compuserve ID; 71662,270
RQ Daily Discussion List
---------------------
From: san...@idcube.idsoftware.com (Sandy Petersen)
Subject: re: RQ Dailiy
Message-ID: <931217194...@idcube.idsoftware.com>
Date: 17 Dec 93 07:42:54 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2678
re: Oasis Folk
Rob Heinsoo says:
>I dunno about these Oasis Folk slaves. It looks like such a bad deal
>for the poor sods that I don't see them having much reason to go on
>living. Seems like they'd need some form of Secret Life to keep them
>going, some religious validation of their miserable lives.
The advantages to the Oasis Folk is that it always polarizes
player-characters and gives them something to ponder. They're pretty
much trapped. They can't fight the nomads, who are more numerous,
more magical, better-led, better-equipped, and better-skilled in
combat. Where would they go if they left the oasis? Another oasis?
Pent? Sartar? They may well have some inner secret that lets them
keep going. On the other hand, they aren't that badly off compared to
some folks -- they're rarely killed or tortured by their masters and
they generally have plenty of food. They're in the position of an
antebellum slave in the American South, who really couldn't rebel
either. I picture the Oasis Folk as having a lot less spirit than an
antebellum slave, tho (who proved plenty belligerent as soon as they
were given a chance to actually fight for their freedom). I figure
since Genert's death, the backbone's gone out of them. Perhaps if
Genert reformed or was replaced, they could do something. Maybe even
Tada could turn the tide.
In any case, the Oasis Folk secrets that you suggest (I especially
like the idea of their being ex-herd men, who have switched members
of other tribes into their place) wouldn't change the way they're
perceived or treated by the nomads.
Tim Beecher sez:
>The heroquest was ... going to [have] one more wave of enemies than
>expected . What would this have done to the heroquest ? I don't
>believe our group would have fit the description of any of the
>groups attacking (Humakt , Wachaza(?), and some Orlanthi Types ) .
You didn't say who your enemies were and who your PCs were. Glorantha
is so full of a web of connections, it's almost impossible NOT to
find some way to fit almost anyone into some heroquest niche (witness
the case in CoP, where a Yelmalion considers an Issaries merchant an
adequate substitute for a storm god).
I would suggest including your PC enemies into one of the waves,
rather than adding an extra waves. The PCs could either replace a
wave entirely, or they could be considered "allies" of the other
attackers.
In heroquests, I always strive to give the personal touch. For
example, if you're on a quest where one station is an encounter with
chaos, the player may expect to encounter a gorp or some similar
thing. But when instead he meets that Lunar Priest that he caused
trouble for last year, the heroquest suddenly takes on a lot more
meaning, both if he wins or loses.
In general, I go for the dramatically appropriate in preference to
the mythologically appropriate. Once a player on a quest needed to
dicker with a Pamalt chieftain. When he got to the chieftain's hut,
the chief's Spear (normally an insignificant bodyguard -- stationed
at the hut to make it hard to bully the chieftain into acquiescence)
proved to be an Orlanthi Wind Lord that had a grudge against the
player. As the player strove to bargain, the Wind Lord kept
whispering into the chieftain's ear, poisoning his mind.
>What happens when something unrelated to the heroquest intrudes ?
This normally can't happen. If your players have no possible way they
can fit into the heroquest, then when they get to the heroquest site,
they'll be at the wrong time or something, and not be involved. Their
best hope is to try to twist the heroquest into a more appropriate
adventure in which they CAN be involved, or to start a second
heroquest, in which their enemy can unwittingly take the part of
victim.
For example, I know of a band of players who wanted to sail the Sky
River on a quest, so they got into a boat to sail off the edge of the
world, planning to land in the river, go through the sky, and
eventually come out at Skyfall Lake. But one of the players, an
Orlanthi, had plans of his own. He made sure that exactly six other
players were present besides himself, and that they brought a healer,
a wise man, a drunken thief, and a translator, plus two other guys.
Once they were on the river sailing along, the quest started to go
wrong. Suddenly the other players realized that the Orlanthi had
organized an impromptu Lightbringers' Quest and that they were going,
not to the Sky River, but to Hell. But it was too late. He'd set up
the mythological paraphernalia and they were trapped.
re: Orlanth vs. Storm Bull quest.
The full quest includes defeating all Orlanth's brothers as potential
rivals to the kingship, thus proving your might as an Orlanth Rex.
Thus, you must beat Vadrus in combat (usually Gagarth raiders stand
in), enslave a huge sylph (Umbrol), etc.
Robert MacArthur inquires:
>how do blue lunes differ from regular lunes? I have sort of
>imagined that regular lunes were black, not red. Is this
>less-than-right?
I've always played Lunes as red in color. I expect they're dimmer
when the moon is less than full.
Re: blue lunes. You're not gonna like this. I no longer remember. It
might be in my big pile o' stuff to be unveiled someday, but all I
recall is that they're different. Sorry. Same hit points n' stuff,
though. But they aren't affected by the moon phase. You can only
summon them if you have Blue Moon rocks (nyuk, nyuk, nyuk) or if you
cast your spell while the Blue Streak is visible. So the problem
isn't likely to come up.
---------------------
From: sta...@MIT.EDU
Subject: Chaos and Illumination
Message-ID: <931217202...@al-burro.MIT.EDU>
Date: 17 Dec 93 20:20:38 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2679
Greetings!
I'm confused! I first ran across Illumination in Cults of Terror.
Illuminated folks are accepted amongst some groups such as Lunars and somewhere
I remember reading that the Aldrami accepted them as well.
Is illumination truly a way of integrating Chaos into the natural
order of Glorantha or is it just some "cheaty" Chaos trick? I've never been
able to resolve this question. But, then again, that Gbaji/Nysalor was never
one to inspire trust! ;-)
Thank you in advance!
In service,
Rich Staats
---------------------
From: ddu...@radiomail.net (David Dunham , via RadioMail)
Subject: Sog's Ruins
Message-ID: <1993121800...@radiomail.net>
Date: 18 Dec 93 00:33:47 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2680
Sandy wrote about Sog's Ruins.
In my campaign, the city was founded by the Waertagi, now the vast ruins of
a once-thriving port. Not having a good map of that part of the world, I
assumed it was in marshy land, and some of the old shrines have fallen
underwater.
The players found lots of old Sea Pantheon temples, as well as mosquitoes,
leeches, frogs, and other nasties.
In Eyrbyggja Saga, there's an Icelander named Thorbjorn Kjalki. First time
I read it, I thought there was an "r" in the nickname...
---------------------
From: t...@scumby.clipper.ingr.com (Tom Granvold)
Subject: Unsubscribe request
Message-ID: <1993121800...@scumby.clipper.ingr.com>
Date: 18 Dec 93 00:44:37 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2681
Henk,
Please unsubscribe me from the RuneQuest mailling list and the RQ IV
mailling list. I'm changing jobs and will be without an email account for
a short while. I'll resubscribe once I know my new email address.
Thanks,
Tom Granvold
---------------------
From: ca...@panix.com (Carl Fink)
Subject: Ragnaglar
Message-ID: <1993121801...@panix.com>
Date: 17 Dec 93 15:35:18 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2682
Sandy the Great and Powerful writes:
>...Ragnaglar's relationships are
>unclear, but he is probably not one of Umath's sons (though he's
>almost certainly a descendant), which are traditionally five in
>number: Umbrol, Vadrus, Storm Bull, Humakt, and Orlanth. Of course,
>in Orlanthi kinspeak, just like in ancient Hebrew, "son of" can be
>used to mean "descendant of".
Ragnaglar is also referred to as the Brother of Storm Bull, and one of
the stories in King of Sartar definitely makes him Orlanth's and
Humakt's and the rest's brother, although he is not named as I recall.
RQ Daily Discussion List
This is the RuneQuest Daily Bulletin, a mailing list on
the subjects of Avalon Hill's RPG and Greg Stafford's
world of Glorantha. It is sent out once per day in digest
format.
More details on the RuneQuest Daily and Digest can be found
after the last message in this digest.
---------------------
From: ak...@netcom.com (Steven E Barnes)
Subject: Blue Lunes
Message-ID: <1993121811...@mail.netcom.com>
Date: 17 Dec 93 19:02:53 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2683
These are described in Troll Gods (cults book), page 11.
They are called Selenes, and their power is to automatically
drain 1 magic point per round from those engulfed by it.
-steve
And they are invisible too...
---------------------
From: san...@idcube.idsoftware.com (Sandy Petersen)
Subject: re: RQ Dailyi
Message-ID: <931218164...@idcube.idsoftware.com>
Date: 18 Dec 93 04:49:11 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2684
I said:
>[Umath's sons] are traditionally five in number: Umbrol, Vadrus,
>Storm Bull, Humakt, and Orlanth.
Brandon Brylawski points out:
>I bow to your knowledge in this instance. What happened to Kolat?
Oops. I meant Kolat, not Umbrol. Mea maxima culpa. Umbrol is a
descendent of Kolat. (That "son of" stuff is a real pain.)
You said you used a Gagarth and Valind item to contact Umath on a
heroquest. It makes sense that one of Vadrus's descendents would do
the trick, if you needed something from each of Umath's kids.
Joerg Baumgartner says:
>I understood that Sog was a favorite deity of the Waertagi.
Nick Brooke comments on this, too. I surrender. Sog is Waertagi, not
God Learner. But the origin of the god and the name of the ruins are
still the same. And it was still a God Learner port. So there.
>But then in 945 or so, less than 8 years before the Closing, the
>Waertagi released Sog (or his father Tidal Wave?) on Jrustela and
>sank most of it.
Or more probably Sog's uncle, Island Gulper. No?
>Which part of Kethaela had this Sog City?
I think it was in the Seaward arm, in the "ocean" section of
Kethaela.
Nick Brooke says: (re: statements that Ragnaglar is not an actual son
of Umath)
>On the other hand, Ragnaglar is also described as Storm Bull's
>*brother*.
There are lots of peoples in the world in which the sons of your
father's brother are also your brothers. Arachne Solara only knows
what the kinship routines of the Theyalans were like before the Dawn.
Because the nice neat five-fold nature of Umath's sons, I prefer
Ragnaglar as a nephew or cousin to Storm Bull. Perhaps the
relationship is unclear because of muddled kinship relations. Maybe
Ragnaglar is the son of Storm Bull's mother, fathered by Vadrus? That
would make him both a nephew and a brother. I'll have to think how it
could be further muddled into being a cousin as well.
Rich Staats says:
>Is illumination truly a way of integrating Chaos into the natural
>order of Glorantha or is it just some "cheaty" Chaos trick?
Only Lunar propagandists who actually believe that they are lying say
that Illumination "cleanses" chaos (they do this in an attempt to
fool Storm Bulls). Most all philosophers, Lunar included, agree that
Illumination is a facet of Chaos, though possibly benign. That
"possibly benign" is, of course what the Hero Wars are being fought
over.
RQ Daily Discussion List
This is the RuneQuest Daily Bulletin, a mailing list on
the subjects of Avalon Hill's RPG and Greg Stafford's
world of Glorantha. It is sent out once per day in digest
format.
More details on the RuneQuest Daily and Digest can be found
after the last message in this digest.
---------------------
From: ak...@netcom.com (Steven E Barnes)
Subject: Rule Lawyer, and proud of it
Message-ID: <1993122009...@mail.netcom.com>
Date: 19 Dec 93 17:33:59 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2685
> NEW MONSTER: THE DRONE
> This tedious creature likes to lurk in the deeper recesses of the
>Internet. It worships a chaos deity called Rules and obeys the following
>general principle: However much stuff of actual worth there is on the RQ
>Daily, there is 10 times as much waffle about Rules to plough through.
>[etc...]
I write about rules, because that's what I'm good at. In anycase,
I prefer to read discussions about the nature of Time and heroquesting,
than say, another unofficial, huge cult writeup for some minor diety.
But I consider the flaws of RQ3 to be due to a *lack* of rules lawyers,
not a product of their pernicious influence. My gaming group and I spent
a couple hours driving mack trucks thru the RQ3 rules, on first reading...
But I do agree that current RQ products show an unfair Orlanthi bias.
Lets have equal time for Lunars!
-steve
---------------------
From: Beatric...@bcu.unil.ch (Beatrice Kamber)
Subject: Campaign background written by Martin CRIM
Message-ID: <931220090...@cisun2000.unil.ch>
Date: 20 Dec 93 11:13:04 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2686
Hello,
I would like to receive all the campaign background
written by Martin Crim and some others on PRAX.
Is it possible?
I thank you very much for your answer.
B. Kamber
---------------------
From: 10027...@CompuServe.COM (Nick Brooke)
Subject: Curses! Foiled Again!
Message-ID: <931220214213_10...@CompuServe.COM>
Date: 20 Dec 93 21:42:14 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2688
I'm obviously losing touch: only scored 76/88 on Paul Honigmann's Yelmic
Quiz. If anyone wants to embarass me at RQ-Con, ask for my top tips for a
Yelmalion dinner-party menu...
Looks like Gaumata can keep his job for a while yet. I'm off to stare
penitently at the sun (should be safe for a few hours yet: Australia's
starting to get in the way).
On the Yara Aranis cavalry/infantry question: maybe she's the patron of
"combined arms" dragoon tactics -- dismounted cavalry / mounted infantry.
We know these are a Lunar speciality, and it's easy to see how they'd be
useful against the Pent nomads: mobility to get them where they're needed,
and stability to withstand whatever the enemy can throw against them.
====
Nick
====
---------------------
From: henkl@yelm (Henk Langeveld - Sun Nederland)
Subject: Greg Stafford: Yara Aranis
Message-ID: <931221012...@yelm.Holland.Sun.COM>
Date: 21 Dec 93 03:24:55 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2689
From Greg Stafford, in reply to Paul Honigman:
Please pass on my congratulations and encouragement to the guy who wrote the
Yara Aranis stuff. Most of it was quite Right On. I thought that I had
published the fact that Yara Aranis' special power against the nomads is that
she can Scare Horses. Her mother was the Eater of Horses of the Praxian
pantheon, made pregnant by the Red Emperor.
Also, his Yelmalio was great. I enjoyed reading it. The material is in no
way compromised by KoS. It could be a "Right Thinking" test.
Nuf now.
- g
RQ Daily Discussion List
This is the RuneQuest Daily Bulletin, a mailing list on
the subjects of Avalon Hill's RPG and Greg Stafford's
world of Glorantha. It is sent out once per day in digest
format.
More details on the RuneQuest Daily and Digest can be found
after the last message in this digest.
---------------------
From: drc...@sales.stern.nyu.edu (David Cheng)
Subject: RuneQuest-Con Bulletin #5
Message-ID: <CMM.0.90.2.756...@sales.stern.nyu.edu>
Date: 21 Dec 93 15:18:47 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2690
RuneQuest-Con Bulletin #5 (Monday, Dec 20, 1993)
========================= ======================
Just another little update... if you're even around to read it:
ROOM RESERVATIONS AT THE COLUMBIA INN
If you have not made them yet, please be aware the discount con rate of
$57 expires THIS FRIDAY, DEC 24th. If you're staying at the hotel,
please reserve those rooms now!!! The number is (800) 638-2817,
or (410) 730-3900.
HOME OF THE BOLD CHARACTER PACKS IN THE MAIL
Yes, can you believe it? After excruciating delays, the packs are all
done up and ready to go out in today's mail. A future bulletin will
list the names, and the top of the wait list.
CONTINUED GM/VOLUNTEER NEGLECT
I still feel guilty about not getting to this yet. Trust me: you have
no idea how much work it is to put together 80 HotB packs. My 22 hours
this past weekend was only a drop in the bucket! GM's will be contacted
very very soon. If you haven't volunteered yet, but would like to, feel
free to contact me.
THE CRIMSON BAT SPEAKS
Anyone who has contacted us for info, or subscribes to _Tales of the
Reaching Moon_, ought to have received their Crimson Bat Bulletin
by now. It repeats most of the stuff from the Internet bulletins
#1-4, and adds a little bit. If you want one, email me with your
address.
TEKUMEL MAIL BLITZ
About 275 fliers went out to Tekumel fans who are either on Andrew
Lorince's or James Roach's lists. This "Tekumel at RQ-Con" flier
was also included in the Crimson Bat Bulletin. Let's hope it
pays off!
IT'S STILL NOT TOO LATE
... to register for RuneQuest-Con. We've got ~150 now, and still rising
bit by bit. Shall we start a pool on how many walk-ons we'll get?
I say few, but others disagree...
Happy Holidays!
* David Cheng
drc...@sales.stern.nyu.edu
(212) 472-7752 (until midnite)
(518) 456-7039 (until 10:30 pm EST, Dec 22 - 27)
313 East 85th Street, Apt 2C
New York, NY 10028
---------------------
From: eo...@raesp-farn.mod.uk (Geoff Gunner)
Subject: Summonings of Dryads
Message-ID: <931221182...@raesp-farn.mod.uk>
Date: 21 Dec 93 18:22:26 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2691
Hi folks, Geoff here.
It's that time of life again, when one must strive for higher things. Yup,
time to rewrite the sorcery rules (Thank you, David Cake, may the angels bless
your cotton socks always). So upon examining the current summoning rules
something not quite right struck me. Dryads are included as valid things to
summon. Now, strike me down with a beansprout if I'm wrong, but I've never
considered RQ Dryads as otherworldly, residing on the spirit plane.
Any views on the matter ?
And I've got to add my whine (thanks, Sandy) on rules. I like better rules.
I'm all for rules which make my life easier and the game more fun to play.
If I didn't care about rules I'd play D&D(tm) (of which I still have the
1976ish issue with the blue cover with a dragon on the front - heady nostalgia,
here). I for one don't give two hoots about Pamaltea, or similar stuff -
I'll never use it. I do get grief from the little amount of rules included in
the digest, but c'est la vie. So the comment about rules lawyers was a bit
unfair. (and I don't whine, do I ? I don't think I whine ... bleat bleat)
And on the same whinging note, IMHO RQ3 is a damn improvement over RQ2 (and I
love that system dearly). Yes, there are things wrong, but they aren't BIG
ones (except, of course, for the Sorcery ;-) ). Yet what I've seen of RQ4 is
throwing out vast chunks of improvements. Does anyone have any idea what is
the motivation behind this ? (Of course, one Geoff's improvements are anothers
intolerable rules, but ...)
As a wise man once paraphrased, 'I would gladly sell my wife and children to
help Chaosium'.
Merry Christmas to all, anyway. Watch out for mysterious strangers dressed in
red who'll mess with your sanity.
Geoff. (and did you spot the hidden pun?)
---------------------
From: j...@sartar.toppoint.de (Joerg Baumgartner)
Subject: An overview over the articles in Free INT
Message-ID: <H.ea.YtZPS6MD&a...@sartar.toppoint.de>
Date: 21 Dec 93 22:47:30 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2692
Since I receive various requests for information, I'll post this list
here.
Free INT is the club magazine of the Deutsche RuneQuest-Gesellschaft
e.V. (German RQ-society) and is sent out to its members. Additional
info on Free INT and RQ-society available through me.
Back issues are available from #3 on from
Ingo Tschinke
Schevemoorer Landstrasse 33
28325 Bremen
Germany
Price 4.80 DM per issue plus shipment.
Issue 7 (Vikings, also on Glorantha) is worked on right now.
Free INT 1
An Overview over RuneQuest Glorantha publications
Lutz Reimers
Milch
(Milk)
Bjoern Janssen
Humourous Glorantha scenario
Volksmagie
(Folk Magic)
Sandy Petersen
Transl. from TotRM 6
Free INT 2
Convulsions
p.4
Lutz Reimers
What happened on Convulsions '92
Neue Gefuehlsgeister
(New Emotion Spirits)
p.5
Markus Weiand
Nine emotion spirits
RuneQuest ohne Glorantha
(RuneQuest without Glorantha)
p.7
Lutz Reimers
An overview over all the non-Gloranthan RuneQuest-publications
Adari - Stadt der Gesetzlosen
(Adari - City of Outlaws)
p.10
Oliver Dickinson
Transl. from TotRM 3
Im Osten nichts Neues
(Nothing New from the East)
p.16
Helge Reuter
Scenario in Sartar
Review: Sun County
p.27
Ingo Tschinke
Jaxarte Whyded's Reisetagebuecher
(Jaxarte Whyded's Gazetteer)
p.30
Michael O'Brien
Transl. from TotRM 3
Der Gebrauch fremder Waffen
(Use of unlearned weapons)
p.38
Volker Wagner
Rules article
Free INT 3
Bruus
(Broos)
p.8
Ingo Tschinke
Everything about Thed's Spawn
Scenario: Raetsel der Vergangenheit
(Riddle from the Past)
p.14
Broos in Sartar
Nachrichten aus der Provinz
(News from the Province)
p.23
Ingo Tschinke
A letter from occupied Sartar retelling the views of a Sartarite
Humakti prisoner
Map of the Sartarite tribes
p.30
Walter Moore
From TotRM 6
Jaxartes Reisetagebuecher Teil 2
(Jaxarte's Gazetter Part 2: Raus Domain)
p.31
Michael O'Brien
Transl. from TotRM 5
Review: King of Sartar
p.36
Ingo Tschinke
Ausdauer
(Fatigue)
p. 38
Lutz Reimers
Rules article
Free INT 4
Angstlust
(The Joy of Fear)
p.4
Steffen Schuette
Article on why people deal with horror
Interview mit Sandy Peterson
(Interview with Sandy Peterson)
p.10
Transl. from TotRM 9
Von der Natur des Horrors
(The Nature of Horror)
p.12
Sandy Petersen
Die Cthulhu-Regeln
(The Cthulhu rules)
p.13
Lutz Reimers
Review of Cthulhu 5th edition
Der große N'labh M'nala Nkonde
(The great N'labh M'nala Nkonde)
p.16
Dave Barnato
Cthulhu-Scenario set in Cornwall
(Due to a major typesetting error errata in Free INT 5, p.38)
Okkulte Buecher
(Occult Books)
p.28
Dave Barnato
Expanding the library of chtulhoid literature
Review: River of Cradles
p.30
Ingo Tschinke
RuneQuest-diskussionen per E-Mail
(RuneQuest diskussions via E-Mail)
32
Joerg Baumgartner
A presentation of the activities on RuneQuest-Digest and -Daily
Rollenspielmaterial aus dem Computer
p.33
Stefan Aust
Presentation and review: The Chaosium Digest
Reviews: Aegyptenbox (a German language supplement on Egypt), Im
Zeichen des Stiers ("The sign of the Bull", a German language Cthulhu
scenario set in Egypt)
Free INT 5
Goetter, Kulte, Religionen
(Gods, Cults, Religions)
p.4
Ingo Tschinke
How initiates ought to behave on Glorantha
Die Kulte Yelms
(The Cults of Yelm)
p.10
Greg Stafford and Sandy Petersen
Transl. from White Wolf 17
Zauberei in RuneQuest - muß das sein?
(Sorcery in RuneQuest - do we need it?)
p.17
Dave Barnato
Start for a controverse discussion, in Free INT 6
Abenteuer: Die Kammer der 6 Winde
(Scenario: The Chamber of Six Winds)
p.18
Joerg Baumgartner
A RQ-scenario set on the shore of Heortland
Ein Besuch beim Schamanen
(Visiting the Shaman
p.30
Andreas Pittelkow
Short story retelling the events of a large scenario on German
RuneQuest Con '93 from the view of one of the opponents
Goettliche Magie
(Divine Magic)
p.32
Joerg Baumgartner
Rules article, plus a bit "game philosophy"
Der Rote Imperator
(The Red Emperor)
p.34
Greg Stafford
Transl. from TotRM 8
Review: Shadows on the Borderlands
p.36
Ingo Tschinke
Review: Glorantha - die Goetter (German ed. GoG)
p.38
Volker Wagner
Free INT 6
Runische Zauberei
(Runic Sorcery)
p.4
Paul Reilly
Rules article
Diskussion: Zauberei in RuneQuest
(Discussion: Sorcery in RuneQuest)
p.9
Reactions on the article by Dave Barnato
Interview mit Sandy Petersen
Interview with Sandy Petersen
p.13
Sven Kosel and Lutz Reimers
Sandy's visit in Germany Summer '93
Rolemasterzauber für RuneQuest
(Rolemaster Magic for RuneQuest)
p.15
Helge Reuter
Rules article
Die Kunst zu überleben
(The Art of Staying Alive)
16
Mark Morrison und Michael O'Brien
Transl. of an older version appeared elsewhere
Abenteuer: Die Streitaxt des Ganari
(Scenario: Ganari's Axe)
p.18
Christian Einspoon
Abenteuer: Die Entführung
(Scenario: The Kidnapping)
p.23
Lutz Reimers
A follow-up scenario for Apple Lane
Fantasy-Genres im Rollenspiel
(Fantasy-Genres in Roleplaying)
p.25
Helge Reuter
Rezension: Dorastor
p. 30
Joerg Baumgartner
Rezension: Elric!
p.31
Stefan Aust
Mentoren
(Patrons)
p.34
Shannon Appel
Elric!-article presenting the first of three NPCs to hire the PCs
Reviews: Cthulhu-Supplements
p.36
Guido Plata
(Return to Dunwich, Kingsport - City in the Mists, Escape from
Innsmouth)
--
-- Joerg Baumgartner j...@sartar.toppoint.de
---------------------
From: san...@idcube.idsoftware.com (Sandy Petersen)
Subject: re: RQ Daily
Message-ID: <931221231...@idcube.idsoftware.com>
Date: 21 Dec 93 11:12:10 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2693
Joerg Baumgartner remarks (in a personal missive):
>Working on an article about vikings plundering a slavic port (for
>Free INT 7) we encountered the problem that even if the player
>characters form one group of plunderers, the mass combat between the
>rest of the vikings and the citizens would eed to be resolvd
>somehow. I remembered that you had an article titled "Warhamster"
>for Tales of the Reaching Moon if not yet submitted, then at least
>thought out, so I ask you how one could sensibly handle such a
>situation and still keep roleplaying the primary activity for both
>GM and players.
As we all know, there are four main types of campaign styles:
Powergaming, Wargaming, Storytelling, and Roleplaying (most campaigns
actually being mixtures of these styles). As I see it, the problem
can be resolved four ways.
POWERGAMING: Only fight out the PC's combat. If they win, their side
won.
WARGAMING: Use your favorite set of miniatures rules to resolve the
battle, using one of the military units to represent the PCs.
"Warhamster" is really no more than an attempt to have a "RuneQuesty"
style to a miniatures wargame.
STORYTELLING: The GM decides in advance which side is going to win.
Then he gives the PCs a running commentary, and inflicts damage or
other results to them as the battle progresses.
ROLEPLAYING: Determine how the battle is going to progress (either
playing it out concurrently with miniatures rules, rolling randomly
as you progress, or just deciding what will happen). Have the PCs
fight out their part of the battle. As the battle progresses,
continually present the PCs with new decisions and new opponents
based upon what's going on elsewhere. Eventually they'll decide to
flee in terror or exult in their side's victory. They might have to
do something heroic at some point to ensure their participation in
the victory (or their escape in case of defeat).
I don't see any of these four techniques as being superior to any
other. I would use the technique that my group and current emotional
state led me towards.
RQ Daily Discussion List
This is the RuneQuest Daily Bulletin, a mailing list on
the subjects of Avalon Hill's RPG and Greg Stafford's
world of Glorantha. It is sent out once per day in digest
format.
Note:
During holiday season, the Daily will only appear
on Monday and Thursday (i.e: Dec 23, 27, and 30).
Normal distribution should resume on Jan 3, 1994.
More details on the RuneQuest Daily and Digest can be found
after the last message in this digest.
---------------------
From: wat...@computing-science.aberdeen.ac.uk (Colin Watson)
Subject: Dryads; Rules
Message-ID: <9312221116.AA09940@condor>
Date: 22 Dec 93 11:16:56 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2694
____________
Geoff Gunner pondered:
>Dryads are included as valid things to
>summon. Now, strike me down with a beansprout if I'm wrong, but I've never
>considered RQ Dryads as otherworldly, residing on the spirit plane.
I think Dryads are somewhat in the same kettle as elementals in that the
spirit plane is not their natural place, but when they "die" their spirits
end up there. I guess they have to be summoned into a new tree/grove
or whatever just as elementals have to be summoned into their appropriate
element.
>And I've got to add my whine (thanks, Sandy) on rules. I like better rules.
>I'm all for rules which make my life easier and the game more fun to play.
<-:
But we also have to cater for those prefer minimal rules.
Hence I've come up with this:
____________________________________
MINIMALIST RUNEQUEST (FOR GLORANTHA)
Flip a coin.
A/ If it turns up Heads then the Lunars win and the world is ultimately
consumed by the Chaos from whence it was spawned.
B/ If it turns up Tails then the Lunars lose (but the world is still
ultimately consumed by the Chaos from whence it was spawned).
That's it.
Simple enough for ya?
Fancy another game?
An element of roleplay can be introduced by taking turns to describe the
events which lead up to the conclusion.
You might want to sully the game by adding a few more rules.
Heretics among you might even like to try converting it for your own
non-Gloranthan campaign-world, but I don't envy you the hard work involved.
:->
Merry christmas all.
Back in a coupla weeks.
___
CW.
---------------------
From: T.S.B...@open.ac.uk (T.S.Baguley Thom Baguley)
Subject: Hell
Message-ID: <9312221627.AA11338@Sun.COM>
Date: 21 Dec 93 12:02:08 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2695
>Subject: Curses! Foiled Again!
>I'm obviously losing touch: only scored 76/88 on Paul Honigmann's Yelmic
>Quiz. If anyone wants to embarass me at RQ-Con, ask for my top tips for a
>Yelmalion dinner-party menu...
>Looks like Gaumata can keep his job for a while yet. I'm off to stare
>penitently at the sun (should be safe for a few hours yet: Australia's
>starting to get in the way).
No Nick ... that's hell down there where Yelm's gone ;-).
Thom
---------------------
From: san...@idcube.idsoftware.com (Sandy Petersen)
Subject: re: RQ Daily
Message-ID: <931222163...@idcube.idsoftware.com>
Date: 22 Dec 93 04:34:19 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2696
Seems like everyone's gone for the holidays.
Geoff Gunner (one of the hardy who has remained) mentions
>Dryads are included as valid things to summon. Now, strike me down
>with a beansprout if I'm wrong, but I've never considered RQ Dryads
>as otherworldly, residing on the spirit plane.
This is entirely my fault. I always felt that the traditional RQ II
Dryad was crassly materialistic, and I preferred the "woodland
spirit" concept of the critter. In writing up the creatures for RQ
III, I classified then as Nymphs, and put them in the same category
with Naiads and Hags. I believe that Dryads should be able to merge
with their personal tree, frex.
The Summoning of Dryads can be done two ways, IMO. If you do the
ceremony near the Dryads' grove, she'll be forced to emerge from her
tree. If you do the ceremony far away from any grove, you'll get what
amounts to the ghost of a Dryad, who has lost her grove and is now a
resident of the spirit plane. No doubt you could offer to plant a new
grove for her or something to get her to help you out.
>Yet what I've seen of RQ4 is throwing out vast chunks of
>improvements.
Hmm. This makes me even more eager to see RQ4 and make my comments.
RQ Daily Discussion List
This is the RuneQuest Daily Bulletin, a mailing list on
the subjects of Avalon Hill's RPG and Greg Stafford's
world of Glorantha. It is sent out once per day in digest
format.
Note:
During holiday season, the Daily will only appear
on Monday and Thursday (i.e: Dec 23, 27, and 30).
Normal distribution should resume on Jan 3, 1994.
More details on the RuneQuest Daily and Digest can be found
after the last message in this digest.
---------------------
From: lo...@wmkt.wharton.upenn.edu (Loren Miller)
Subject: State of the game, RQ4
Message-ID: <loren.137...@wmkt.wharton.upenn.edu>
Date: 23 Dec 93 19:33:24 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2697
Sandy writes in reply to Geoff Gunnar:
>>Yet what I've seen of RQ4 is throwing out vast chunks of
>>improvements.
>Hmm. This makes me even more eager to see RQ4 and make my comments.
I think the initial drafts of RQ4 were too complete. That is, there were rules
for everything, and combat especially took enormous amounts of work to play
through. I'm much happier with the way that Oliver and crew seemed to be
leaning with the latest draft, perhaps because my own comments were taken
fairly seriously. Note that I haven't seen the latest draft, but am basing my
opinion on Oliver's and Carl's comments on the RQ-playtest mailing list back
when the discussion was extremely active.
My hope is that RQ4 will include rules that bring it up-to-date so it can be
used as a freeform game, or as a table-top game but without dice rolling, and
any other way that people use the latest generation of games. If RQ4 can do
that then I think RQ has a chance to be a cutting edge roleplaying game once
again. It would only need an aggressive release schedule to be a market leader
too.
--
+++++++++++++++++++++++23
Loren Miller LO...@wmkt.wharton.upenn.edu
Into the flood again, same old trip it was back when
---------------------
From: ddu...@radiomail.net (David Dunham , via RadioMail)
Subject: Yara Aranis
Message-ID: <1993122307...@radiomail.net>
Date: 23 Dec 93 07:48:03 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2698
To: Paul Honigmann (no email contact, and I have no idea how to contact
Mark Buckley either)
I enjoyed the Yara Aranis stuff; if it's possible to email you about it,
I'd like to. In any case, I'd like to see more. (I recently annoyed some
Grazers with her, and since my campaign is mostly Grazers [makes it very
hard to run all those published Yelmalio or Orlanth scenarios!], more
annoyance is better.)
David Dunham * Software Designer * Pensee Corporation
Voice/Fax: 206 783 7404 * AppleLink: DDUNHAM * Internet: ddu...@radiomail.net
"I say we should listen to the customers and give them what they want."
"What they want is better products for free." --Scott Adams
---------------------
From: ro...@aol.com
Subject: Literary Influences on Glorantha
Message-ID: <931223171...@aol.com>
Date: 23 Dec 93 22:19:44 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2699
Folks on this mailing list have been saying interesting things like "Think of
Carmania as the Persian Empire." Since I couldn't even remember where
Carmania was, I've been rereading the Genertela books along with whatever
else looks cross-referenceable.
The Maniria chapter is full of whimsies like Leonardo the Scientist and
Richard the Tiger-Hearted. And there's another subtler joke I should have
noticed earlier: the Lunar Empire looks a lot like the Roman Empire, and I
think I know who inspired their tiny neighbors in Ormsgone Valley: "In this
place, inhabited by a huge Red Dragon, live several small tribes which have
resisted Tarsh for centuries. Though small and obscure, their freedom has
become legendary." Sounds like Asterix and Obelix's village of indomitable
Gauls to me!
Cool. I needed some angle for a short story idea for the Argrath collection.
Maybe that nasty red bat will try to roost on the hill above Ormsgone
Valley, and stuffy old Argrath will be upstaged by the local menhir
deliveryman and his pint-sized friend.
Cheers,
Rob Heinsoo
---------------------
From: stor...@cix.compulink.co.uk (Tim Westlake)
Subject: Cult write-up for Yanafal Tarnils?
Message-ID: <memo....@cix.compulink.co.uk>
Date: 24 Dec 93 02:58:00 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2700
Does anyone have a write-up of the Yanafal Tarnils Cult? In fact does
anyone have write-ups of any of the cults for the 7 mothers gods! Packs
such as River of Craddles happily talk about lots of key characters
(especially on Pavis) who are Rune level in these cults and I cant find
any more details! I have looked on Soda but the cult section only has 3
cults. Either direct email or uploads to Soda would be appreciated.
Merry Christmas
Timbo
---------------------
From: ca...@panix.com (Carl Fink)
Subject: Vast chunks?
Message-ID: <1993122405...@panix.com>
Date: 23 Dec 93 19:06:21 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2701
Sandy the Great and Powerful writes:
R>Geoff Gunner (one of the hardy who has remained) mentions
---------------------
From: san...@idcube.idsoftware.com (Sandy Petersen)
Subject: Merry Christmas
Message-ID: <931224160...@idcube.idsoftware.com>
Date: 24 Dec 93 04:03:32 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2702
re: Minimalist rules
Though I've always used almost all the RQ rules, I nonetheless see as
one of RQ's great strengths that it is modular. If you don't like hit
locations, they can be easily dropped -- just have armor and hit
points. If you don't care for fatigue, ignore it (like almost
everyone does anyway). Ditto for sorcery, or divine magic, or even
spirit magic. I even know of a campaign where they ignored parrying
-- just rolled to hit. Combat was quick and bloody, and SRs
exceedingly important, but the game was recognizably RQ.
I have no arguments with anyone wanting to drop RQ rules. The rules
are designed so they can BE dropped, IMO. Ditto for adding rules, of
course, though some rules additions are so piddly even I revolt at
them.
Happy Sacred Time to all! And Christmas, too!
Sandy
RQ Daily Discussion List
This is the RuneQuest Daily Bulletin, a mailing list on
the subjects of Avalon Hill's RPG and Greg Stafford's
world of Glorantha. It is sent out once per day in digest
format.
Note:
During holiday season, the Daily will only appear
on Monday and Thursday (i.e: Dec 23, 27, and 30).
Normal distribution should resume on Jan 3, 1994.
More details on the RuneQuest Daily and Digest can be found
after the last message in this digest.
---------------------
From: j...@cs.tut.fi (Laajam{ki Jorma)
Subject: RuneQuest Daily, Mon, 27 Dec 1993, part 1
Message-ID: <1993122713...@hakki.cs.tut.fi>
Date: 27 Dec 93 17:16:35 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2703
I need information about HeroQuesting.
Mail me Please j...@cs.tut.fi
---------------------
From: oka...@hpcc90.corp.hp.com (Jeff Okamoto)
Subject: Re: RuneQuest Daily, Mon, 27 Dec 1993, part 1
Message-ID: <931228001...@hpcc90.corp.hp.com>
Date: 28 Dec 93 00:18:52 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2704
> From: stor...@cix.compulink.co.uk (Tim Westlake)
> Subject: Cult write-up for Yanafal Tarnils?
>
> In fact does anyone have write-ups of any of the cults for the 7 mothers gods!
The old book Cults of Prax has a small write-up of the Seven Mothers.
I don't know if this information has been reprinted or rewritten.
Jeff
---------------------
From: fkie...@aol.com
Subject: RQ IV????, RQ-Con, New Releases, Mass Confusion
Message-ID: <931227125...@aol.com>
Date: 27 Dec 93 17:54:01 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2705
Greetings All:
Alpha:
Is there any way to obtain a draft copy of RQ IV? (If you want to avoid
discussion on this list of something that may be obvious to all but me,
please feel free to e-mail.) I would be interested in seeing this, even if it
is never destined to see the light of day through Avalon Hill.
Beta:
Unfortunately, I have other committments (as silly as it sounds, I have to
work and will also be cooking a "Sherlock Holmes Birthday Dinner") the
weekend of RQ-Con. If anybody can pick up spare handouts and such like,
please do so. Also, maybe folks that attend can post recollections and
reflections on the digest for those of us who also stand and wait. Maybe next
year, although it kills me to miss this (just the stuff being auctioned would
be worth it, let alone the talks by the Great Luminaries).
Delta:
Anybody know what the next Avalon Hill release will be? Cults of D? Glorantha
overvew? RQ IV (ha!)
Gamma:
Can anybody tell me how to access archives of the Digest? I have them back to
January 1993, then lost contact in July, July and part of August of 1993.
America Online claims that they are going to be giving us beter Internet
access (and 9600 baud capability) "real soon now". So, I hope I will be able
to access stored stuff and delve even deeper into these arcane items...
Not to get too far of the subject, but is there an active Tekumel/Empire of
the Petal Throne/Swords and Glory mailing list? I've tried a few addresses
that have been mentioned on this digest in the past, with no luck at all.
Thanks.
Happy holidays to all. May your lives be less confusing than mine have been
for the past several months...
Fred Kiesche
(FKie...@aol.com)
---------------------
From: nh...@andrew.cmu.edu (Nils Hammer)
Subject: Illumination
Message-ID: <wh8Ab3i00...@andrew.cmu.edu>
Date: 28 Dec 93 14:05:23 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2706
I feel that the comment about "everyone knows" that Nysalor Illumination is
fundamentally related to chaos shouldn't go without challenge. I agree that the
propaganda broadsheet distributed by lunars, claiming that illumination "cures"
chaos is questionable, if not silly. That was part of the struggle
between cultures
in Glorantha, not a game master proclamation.
One of the best things about RQ is the variety of cultures, and the ambiguity
about who is in the right in any given situation. This leads to better
role-play
and potential excitement. If we say that Illumination is deeply disturbing to
traditional cult-based gloranthans, of course that makes sense. To attempt to
philosophize about the fundamentals of Illumination, I would say that the state
of Illumination is a step away from reality, whether for good or bad.
Now, for opinions about who is really what in secret, I suggest that anyone who
has read thoroughly "knows" somewhere in the dark parts of their heart that
ARKAT is actually Gbaji in disguise. How many guys came out of that fight
anyway?
Nils K. Hammer
nh...@andrew.cmu.edu
---------------------
From: john....@anu.edu.au (John P Hughes)
Subject: Trollball at RQCON
Message-ID: <931229005...@cscgpo.anu.edu.au>
Date: 29 Dec 93 16:55:59 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2707
LIVE ACTION TROLLBALL AT RQ CON, AND OTHER SEASONAL SILLINESS
Howdy folks,
I've been receiving some e-mail about the up and coming live-action
trollball at RQ Con. Remember, its a rolesport - silly chants
and uzish manners are just as important as scoring goals.
To help you prepare (and in the spirit of the season), I'd like to
present Bhagwhan's Broobashers team chant, sung(?) to the tune of the twelve
days of Christmas.
On the first day of trollball, the giant referee, kicked a berserk
zorak zorani.
On the second day of trollball, the giant referee, kicked two scrawny
Enlo, and a berserk zorak zorani.
And on... the entire song is
twelve Sons of Karg,
'leven 'Umber Mindlinks,
ten giant maggots
nine Spi-der Masters
eight jars of POWZIE,
seven trollkin burgers,
six Homboboboms...
I Fought We Won...
Four Gor-a-ki-ki
three Uzko blockers
two scrawny Enlo
and a berserk Zorak Zorani.
Each player takes a line. If they forget, they substitute something like
"I can't remember", "Pansy Cha-os Elves", "Blunt Wea-pons only", or the
immortal "Blad-ger, My Axe".
In trollball, it is a matter of honour that each team has a ritual chant, as
well as play chants and threats. Team mascots are also important, but
since they are eaten by the winning team, this does not translate well into
live action rolesport.
Back to the serious discussion...
Can anyone help me with MOB's new phone number?
Nysalor.
John Hughes "The essence of character role-playing
john....@anu.edu.au is sincerity. Once you can fake that
Archaeology & Anthropology you're home and hose."
Australian National University.
---------------------
From: "PTD::PTDCS2::MAILER...@ptdcs2.intel.com"@PTD.intel.com
Subject: Returned mail: Cannot send message for 3 days
Message-ID: <931229104...@PTD.intel.com>
Date: 29 Dec 93 10:43:20 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2708
[This message looks unsuitable for forwarding.
The list maintainer has been warned.]
---------------------
From: tiph...@aol.com
Subject: Plot Idea
Message-ID: <931229135...@aol.com>
Date: 29 Dec 93 18:56:33 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2709
I have been reading the daily for a while now and would like to congratulate
everybody on wonderful input. I have seen a ton of cult write-ups and RQ
marketing stratagies but no sample plots or other seeds for plot creativity.
Hopefully, to get the ball rolling, here is one of my better ideas.
This plot line primarily involves three cults (choose your own) and can span
from one to many sessions. This is a vague idea that can be changed to fit
many circumstances and places. For the example I have chose the cults of
Orlanth, Strom Bull (SB), and some Lunar Trickster. It is important that two
of the cults be allied with the other being enemy. The setting is in some
Orlanth held town in Dragon Pass, with at least one of the characters being
SB (or pick your own cult) and none being Orlanth.
This is what the characters see...
The SB cultist is contacted by one of his informants, contacts, or even
captures a chaos creature (agent). From this individual, the SB cultist
learns of a small caravan sent by the loacl Orlanth temple with weapons,
food, and other supplies as payment to a Broo mercenary unit. The caravan is
on it's way and close to it's rendezvous. Inflamed by the chaos sympathizing
Orlanth templey, and the proximity of the payment, the SB and other
associated characters rush out to destroy the caravan. The rush through
miles of harsh landscape (use harsh terrain rules) find the caravan, and
destroy it.
What they DIDN'T know:
The caravan is actually taking supplies to a beleaguered Orlanth troop in a
fort, to help them defend against a Lunar attack. It is important that the
characters rush to destroy the caravan without consulting anyone at the SB
Temple or the Orlanth Temple, so they need to be convinced of the urgency of
the matter. The informant, or person they captured is actually a Lunar
Trisckster cultist and working for the Lunar Empire. (S)he heard of the
supplies and had no way to destroy it him(her)self, so (s)he cooked up this
story to convince the PC's to do it.
The result:
-Upon returning to town, the SB temple summons the characters and says that a
group of SB imposters attacked an Orlanth caravan going to support a needy
fort. The temple assigns the characters (as well as some other SB cultists)
to find these imposter and kill them, to appease the leaders of the Orlanth
temple and keep the peace.
-The Orlanth temple is looking for the people who destroyed the caravan.
(Maybe someone survived the attack on the caravan and can finger the PC's?)
-The Lunar attack will succed on the fort, imperiling the town. Perhaps the
characters are assigned to hassle the lunar attack force or join a force that
is going to retake the fort.
-The Lunar Trickster threatens to reveal the PC's to blackmail the characters
into doing things. Or, (s)he may just hide because the PC's will probably
want to kill him/her
To make it all work:
-The informant/contact must be believable. (S)he could even be a 'captured'
(planted) enemy who "revealed" the plot.
-The PC's need to beleive the Caravan is bad and must be destroyed.
-They must hurry and destroy it before it reaches the enemy.
-They can't have any contact with the Temples before leaving.
-They must be able to attack/destroy the caravan without talking to the
drivers and learning the truth.
-At no point should it feel suspicious.
As one can see this little plot can put the characters in quite a sticky
situation without any place to turn. Once the caravan is destroyed is when
all the fun really begins, because everybody wants to kill them How do they
extricate themselves from such a mess? It's is quite different every time I
play it. Try to dissuade the characters from simply running away and instead
to find some clever way to solve the problem.
RQ Daily Discussion List
This is the RuneQuest Daily Bulletin, a mailing list on
the subjects of Avalon Hill's RPG and Greg Stafford's
world of Glorantha. It is sent out once per day in digest
format.
Note:
During holiday season, the Daily will only appear
on Monday and Thursday (i.e: Dec 23, 27, and 30).
Normal distribution should resume on Jan 3, 1994.
More details on the RuneQuest Daily and Digest can be found
after the last message in this digest.
---------------------
From: carl...@wdni.com (Carlson, Pam)
Subject: RE: Divine Magic and Sacrifice
Message-ID: <2CFD...@itlab.wtc.weyer.com>
Date: 1 Dec 93 22:13:00 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2710
>Subject: Receiving Divine Magic from "human sacrifice"
>I'm curious if anyone has considered the implications of sacrifice:
I have read nothing indicating that chaotic and evil deities would grant
divine magic through the sacrifice
>of a non-worshipper's life (and POW). Any comments on this idea?
Why would only chaotic or evil deities accept human sacrifice? Some native
Meso-Americans practiced it, and I've never heard them described as "evil".
I've also read somewhere that some native North Americans considered it an
honor to slay a respected enemy if he was captured. (This may not be true -
I'm at the mercy of popular fiction on this one. Does anyone else know
more?)
One thing I've always admired about RQ is it's "greyness" - none of this
alignment drivel, or ultimate good vs ultimate evil. In fact, Morokanth
use humans as food animals, so it seems a small step to the occasional
slaying of a captured enemy for a mystical purpose; maybe releasing a useful
point or two of POW in game terms. Does anything in Gloranthan mythology
preclude this?
Pam
/ Probably the only person in the Western World who watched "Star Wars"
and wondered about the billions of reasonably happy people who must be
living in the Empire./
---------------------
From: carl...@wdni.com (Carlson, Pam)
Subject: RE: Antirius
Message-ID: <2CFD...@itlab.wtc.weyer.com>
Date: 1 Dec 93 21:22:00 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2711
From: 10027...@CompuServe.COM (Nick Brooke)
>From the Horse's mouth: "Antirius" is NOT just the Dara Happan name for
Yelmalio. Most of the Antirian mythology is utterly unrecognisable as
Yelmalion, and rightly so.
Is there any more info on this cult? What is the mythology? Is it printed
anywhere?
Pam
---------------------
From: henkl@yelm (Henk Langeveld - Sun Nederland)
Subject: Re: Heroquesting?
Message-ID: <931230134...@yelm.Holland.Sun.COM>
Date: 30 Dec 93 15:47:44 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2712
In rec.games.frp.misc you write:
>My first letter went to wrong place,
>so i'm asking again.
>I have read some articles about heroquesting,
>some from books (for example, elder secrets),
>but there`s not that info i like to have,
>only pure rules and such.
>So, would somebody tell me something more
>correct about heroquesting,to this this
>newsgroup or direct to me.
Several people have created their own rules
for heroquesting. I don't think that any
rules would capture the spirit of the game.
Think of it as a game within a game, where
the characters roleplay their gods' and
cult heroes' lives.
Beware, though, as the game is not without
risk...
--
Henk | Henk.La...@Sun.COM - Disclaimer: I don't speak for Sun.
oK[] | My first law of computing: "NEVER make assumptions"
---------------------
From: oka...@hpcc101.corp.hp.com (Jeff Okamoto)
Subject: Re: RuneQuest Daily, Thu, 30 Dec 1993, part 1
Message-ID: <931230163...@hpcc101.corp.hp.com>
Date: 30 Dec 93 16:31:52 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2713
> From: nh...@andrew.cmu.edu (Nils Hammer)
> Subject: Illumination
>
> I suggest that anyone who has read thoroughly "knows" somewhere in the dark
> parts of their heart that ARKAT is actually Gbaji in disguise.
Although this will sound Lunarish, I see Arkat and Gbaji as two sides of the
same concept. By itself, Illumination is not "evil": it is a new way of
viewing the Universe, and also provides some special abilities (evading
spirits of retribution). What an Illuminated being chooses to do with that
ability makes that being "good" or "evil". If they choose the "Dark Side"
and become amoral, then they are Gbaji. If they choose the "Light Side"
and protect, then they are Arkat.
It is unfortunate that Gbaji the Deceiver's effects were much more obvious
and devastating than Arkat's more subtle efforts (he's the first HeroQuest
environmentalist). Thus Illumination has come to mean Chaos.
Jeff
---------------------
From: pa...@phyast.pitt.edu (Paul Reilly)
Subject: Re: RuneQuest Daily, Thu, 23 Dec 1993, part 1
Message-ID: <931230214...@minerva.phyast.pitt.edu>
Date: 30 Dec 93 21:48:28 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2714
Lots of stuff... I (Paul) will have to reply piecemeal to a lot of this
when I get time.
Sandy on Dryads: Good job, the 'woodland spirit' was one of the
improvements in feel in the transition to RQ3. We play that
a grove can have a nascent Dryad that has not yet manifested but can be
'summoned' into existence. And of course your ghost example is a good one.
Oops, have a ride home which is leaving now. Will get back on the weekend
(I hope.)
- Paul
---------------------
From: san...@idcube.idsoftware.com (Sandy Petersen)
Subject: re: RQ Digest
Message-ID: <931230215...@idcube.idsoftware.com>
Date: 30 Dec 93 09:51:49 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2715
Tim Westlake begs:
> Does anyone have writeups of any of the cults of the 7 mothers?
Yes. There are at least sketchy writeups of all of them.
DANFIVE XARON: a cult of repentence and toil. A person accused of a
crime (or any person, for that matter) can escape punishment if he
makes it to this cult in time. Anyone is accepted, but the
requirements are extremely harsh, and punishments are both punitive
and swift. It's not really a battle cult, but sometimes the
militarily-skilled members of it are required to perform suicide
missions in wartime. Not a PC cult, really.
DEEZOLA: she is a healing/earth goddess type. Among other powers, she
has the preventative Heal spell mentioned in an earlier RQ Digest.
She also is the wielder of the reusable Resurrect that is available
to the Lunars; they and Chalana Arroy are the only deities with a
reusable Resurrect.
IRRIPPI ONTOR: his cult bears the same relationship to Lhankor Mhy
that Etyries bears to Issaries. A few shared spells, a few different
spells, the same basic cult outlook. They are similar enough that in
some places the two cults share temples (frex, the Pavis Lhankor Mhy
temple has an Irrippi Ontor contingent).
JAKALEEL THE WITCH: a darkness goddess with secretive and sinister
powers. Not common. Encourages sorcery.
SHE WHO WAITS: little is known of her. She probably has no cult, but
who knows? She might be a Lunar secret waiting to be sprung.
TEELO NORRI: she has a very vestigial cult, with mostly lay members.
Her few priestesses run the Lunar welfare system.
YANAFAL TARNILS: a cult very similar to Humakt, except without a
reusable Sever Spirit. Has geases, too, but many are different from
Humakt's. Follow many of Humakt's strictures, like fighting fair
duels, and other honorable stuff. Cult priests are called Scimitars.
Nils Hammer points out:
>I feel that the comment about "everyone knows" that Nysalor
>Illumination is fundamentally related to chaos shouldn't go without
>challenge. One of the best things about RQ is the variety of
>cultures, and the ambiguity about who is in the right
Well by golly, I'm challenging your statement. Sort of. I submit that
all major cultures and important philosophies in Glorantha that know
about Illumination believe that it is connected to chaos, from the
Lunars on down to the most barbaric Orlanthi. This doesn't mean
there's not hot debate about it. Frex, philosophers from three
important cultures might reason as follows:
ORLANTHI: Chaos is bad. Illumination is chaos. Ergo,
Illumination is bad.
LUNARS: There is no bad. Chaos is just a force like any
other, the most dangerous force to work with, but still just a force.
Illumination lets you see the true meaning of reality and its
relationship to chaos, and is therefore good.
KRALORI: Chaos is bad. However, Illumination, though OF
chaos, enables the evil within chaos to be neutralized and
dissipated. Hence, it is the secret goodness within the evil of
Chaos. (Of course, if we had no chaos, we wouldn't need
illumination.)
These statements aren't meant to be authoritative in any way,
they're just off the top of my head.
John Hughes mentions:
> ... the immortal "Blad-ger, My Axe."
Apparently I'll never live that down.
---------------------
From: ca...@panix.com (Carl Fink)
Subject: AH releases
Message-ID: <1993123110...@panix2.panix.com>
Date: 31 Dec 93 00:08:13 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2716
fkie...@aol.com writes:
R>Anybody know what the next Avalon Hill release will be? Cults of D? Glorantha
>overvew? RQ IV (ha!)
A "Glorantha overview" has already been released. I think the next
release will be _Strangers in Prax_.
---------------------
From: j...@zycor.lgc.com (johnjmedway)
Subject: Yara Aranis and the Lunar cause
Message-ID: <940102182...@hp0.zycor.lgc.com>
Date: 2 Jan 94 18:26:06 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2717
>> Date: Mon, 20 Dec 93 00:10:33 +0100
>> Subject: Volume 10, no 5: Paul Honigmann update (includes quiz)
>>
>> ...
>> LUNAR CULT OF YARA ARANIS
>> ...
>> I suggest that YA is much more involved with horses than the other two
>> war cults of the Empire. (Come to think of it, I always think of the Lunars as
>> being like the Romans, who were mainly infantry.) Horses are neccessary for
>> maneuverability on the plains of Pent, and mobility is a neccessary element
>> of strategy against the Pentans. This is a bit of a contradiction within the
>> cult, as one of Yara's titles is Horse Eater, but so what.
Perhaps they have adopted Sables? Maybe they also specialize in some form
of mobility/transportation spells to offset the Pentans mobility.
>> However, the cult has been very successful against the Pentans, so it must
>> have some key advantage(s). I imagine the main one is metal armour. However,
>> too much will restrict maneuverability so it's only usually on torso and head.
>> Similarly, tempered scimitars will be a far superior weapon to wooden spears
>> and crude axes, etc in the Pentan armoury.
Lances and bows of the Pentans would provide a great advantage, unless the Y.A.
use them as well. If the Pentans don't use shields, though, they would really
take it on the chin from other cavalry, especially medium cavalry.
>> YARA'S BREATH (Throw Horse, etc): Spirit magic, 2 points
>> This spell acts a bit like a Demoralise on a horse. The user must succeed
>> in a POW vs POW roll against the horse. Success means the horse becomes uneasy
>> and the rider must make a Ride roll each round to control it. The origin of
With the Pentans rather high riding abilities, this isn't worth 2MP. If it
reduced the rider's chance of success, ( maybe with stacked MP ) then it would
be more worthwhile.
>> TWOSWORD (Doubledge, Yara's Talons etc) - variable:
>> This is like Bladesharp, but it works on two scimitars simultaneously.
>> ...
Kinda neat idea, but I want to make sure I got this straight:
2mp = TwoSword-1 = Both swords at better attack +5% ( bladesharp ) and +1 damage
4mp = TwoSword-2 = Both swords at better attack +10% ( bladesharp ) and +2 damage
...
What about more than two swords, such as after the caster uses Arm of the Godess
to grow another one ( or two, or ... )?
>> I've been toying with a full write-up of the Cult of YA recently. Anyone
>> want to see an unofficial Cult description?
Sure!
>> MYTHOLOGICAL ENGINEERING AND THE WHITE MOON
>> ...
>> Wars are being fought. You can see why the Yelm pantheon is friendly with the
>> Lunars - if Orlanth is tamed, the Golden Age will return. Contrariwise, most
>> other gods revel in the freedom and power they have out of Yelm's control: so
Also the Lunars may well have messed with the Dara Happan Yelmites
mythology, hence their acceptance of the Lunars.
>> crypto-capitalist Storm cultist oppression.
Hopefully future publications will help out the Lunar cause. Poor sods,
bad press from day one, and it's only gotten worse.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
| john_...@zycor.lgc.com | Landmark Graphics Corp | 512.292.2325 |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------
From: malco...@aol.com
Subject: Manirian Map Index
Message-ID: <940102174...@aol.com>
Date: 2 Jan 94 22:44:39 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2718
As I was reading my copy of A Rough Guide to Boldhome in
preparation for Runequest-Con, I became a little frustrated
with the "Getting There" section. It describes two routes
from the Lunar Empire to Boldhome, and in the text it names a
number of obscure but interesting sounding place names. I
immediately checked the maps provided, but I couldn't find
all of the place names. I then went to my RQ materials, and
while looking through a number of maps I eventually found all
the place names. I discovered in this search that I have 17
different maps of the Maniria/Dragon Pass/Sartar region! And
almost all of these maps list some unique features not found
on other maps.
So I created a project for myself. I listed the place names
from each map, and arranged them in alphabetical order. After
the names, I listed the map[s] in which that name occurred.
Now when I come across a Manirian place name in some
Gloranthan text I can just check my handy Manirian Map Index
and find which maps if any that place appears on.
If anyone is interested in seeing this I can post it to the digest.
It contains a whopping 466 names!
---------------------
X-RQ-ID: out.going/rq-daily/Extro
RQ Daily Discussion List
This is the RuneQuest Daily Bulletin, a mailing list on
the subjects of Avalon Hill's RPG and Greg Stafford's
world of Glorantha. It is sent out once per day in digest
format.
More details on the RuneQuest Daily and Digest can be found
after the last message in this digest.
---------------------
From: Paul....@mettav.royle.org
Subject: From: Tom Zunder [commentary + bbs plug] (fwd by HL)
Message-ID: <UUCP.757570514@mettav>
Date: 2 Jan 94 17:21:24 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2719
This mail was forwarded by my wonderful sysop from the wonderful Tavern BBS!
Tom Zunder here. I've been moving all around the UK, changing jobs, moving
kids schools, buying houses, selling houses, living in rented houses, and NOT
been playing RuneQuest!
I've been disconnected from all newsgroups, echoes, mailing lists, etc,
BUT I've still accumulated this one. I shall indulge myself in a little
random commentary.
Sandy said much on Pamaltela;
Love the Pamaltela stuff, like to hear Praxian stuff. I liked the
marriage patterns. I guess a book on mythic Africa would come in handy
here?
*************************************
Nick sez;
>I'm still a closet believer in rolling 1D10 for DI for almost anyone who's
>in God's good books, including all Rune Priests and Lords..... etc.
I feel that a good DI alternative would be the ELAN system that was in
Stormbringer but got dropped in Elric!.
One has a DI % which goes up by 1% per annum for an initiate, 10% per
annum for a RuneLord, and possibly 1-10% for acolytes/priests/favored
initiates. On a successful DI you lose a % off your DI % equal to the
die roll.
If you wanted to avoid mechanics you can say that all cult members get
1% per annum, but that other cultists can % for doing cultic acts. So a
Yelmalio might get a few% for a quest against Zorak Zoran, a Thanatari
might get a few% for garrotting a Lhankor Mhy.
Priests would obviously get % for pastoral duties, RuneLords for
military service.
It's a bit experience point like, but it could be a good mechanism for
encouraging culturally accurate role-playing amongst some players.
****************
Mr Petersen (Sir) sed;
>I feel that Glorantha is probably the most accepting of females of any
>roleplaying world made. Look at the various pantheons and arrays in
>GoG.
I agree with you, but was surprised at how little you played up the
possibilities for female roles. The Earth pantheon seems female and
dominant in many places, Esrolia and Tarsh foe example. The Lunar
religion allows a vast array of roles for women. Orlanthi culture is so
Californian as to be a caricature, and the only problem that I could
have with some of Glorantha is that it can lack rigidly patriarchies.
Of course with Yelm, and a medieval Christian analog for Malkioni, that
can no longer be a problem!
I like to think of many Gloranthan cultures in transition from
matriarchies to patriarchies. Although I fight shy from the final
analysis, since I think that we cannot presume that Glorantha is Earth.
After all, what would an Esrolian, Tarsh, Troll, Lunar alliance do to
the patriarchial world of Darra Happa and Sartar?
************************
Colin Watson wonders:
>I wonder what a God tied to both the Law *and* Chaos runes would be
>like?
Sandy replies:
>Hmm. How about Ompalam? Technically, he's not chaotic, but neither is
>Malia. Or how about Urrquong, guardian of the gate of Chaos?
I think Ompalam is not only not chaotic but strikes me as potentially
very lawfu l. I think he is incorrectly classified, unless his slavery
is based on deception. I cannot see an overt reason to make him
chaotic. Again, unless his cult is actually evil or corrupting, it
could be regarded as a decent and upright institution.
I would like to know more of Ompalam.
**************************
Chaos and Cthulhu
As a seperate note, I'd like to ask Sandy how much of Cthulhu or the
Dreamlands has crept into his RuneQuest Glorantha gaming? Obviously CoC
stuff makes good chaos things, as it does in Stormbringer/Elric! but
what other cross fertilisation has gone on in your games.
Game style for example. Do you run CoC style games but in Glorantha?
""The Lhankor Mhy sage Drusilla Unknowable Horror Hunter was today
found impaled on a chaotic spear of coral in the Tarsh Square of
Nochet. Eldritch runes and a strange smell of sulphur were dismissed as
inconsequential by the Babeestor Gor Mistress of the Maran Gor Quarter
Militia.
"This was obviously a fishing accident.." she stated.""
************************
Sandy sez (is this like Simon says?);
"The game rule reason for it is that not only is it tough to become a
Rune Lord, but once you're one, you generally get crappier magic than
priests or acolytes. The DI makes up for this. I always play with this
rule. It's also a way to distinguish between important cults and weeny
cults (like Krarsht)."
I noticed and liked the way that cultic power varies, that one can join
an odd cult and it may be weaker. It reflects the power of the cosmos,
not game balance (spit!).
*************************
Nick sez of the Malkioni remnants in Nochet;
"I use them like the early Christians in Rome ('round about Nero's
time): good for rioting against or persecuting, and with oodles of
secret converts and recognition-signs."
I used my version of Third Eye Blue similarly and also had a emigre
community of Esrolian patriarchalists exiled to Sun County. They were
accepted as fellow followers of male power, but were then persecuted to
hell by the Yelmalions.
****************************
"All this Pharoah/Pharaoh thing is silly. I really wish all concerned
would get a spell checker. There is no excuse for the continued
misspellings. "
Pharoah? Oh yer mean the Faroe? Him an the Oanly Ole Un? I dunno, what
with him and Earnelda priestesses and the Marron Gor lot, a furmer
likes mee ain't gott too much tyme fer speling. Nat to tok of mee od
axxent...
There is a good reason for mispellings and that is to recreate the feel
of a world with no rules on spelling, no spell checkers and widely
divergent languages and accents. We need more Gloranthan source
material which is actually mispelt and wrong. I say, more multiple
spellings and confusion please!
*****************************
Medway sed of Vinga;
"That got shot down when I mentioned the possibility of a connection a
while back. Apparently the view was that she was an Adventurer, not an
Avenger, though I believe Nick suggested that the cult may have
originated in a defend-the-homestead form, rather than adventuring
form."
I think KoS implies an Avenger role for Vinga. Widows dying their hair
et al.
****************************
Sandy sez;
"re: Yelmalio troublesome geases The main Darkness cult in the Lunar
Empire is the Blue Moon, which Yelmalio cultists holding the
appropriate geas would no doubt cause trouble with."
But Yelmalio is fortunately a southern Pelorian cult on the fringe of
the Empire in which its members tend to keep themselves to themselves
or hire as mercenaries. The Blue Moon trolls are at the top North West,
and are a secretive troll society that keeps itself to itself. No real
problem I would have said.
Any Lunar would make sure they kept them apart. Also if we acept that
cults are different in different places, Lunar yelmalio cults may view
the Blue Moon as a Light cult? (Blue Light) Or Yelmalions in the Empire
may tend to not receive that geas?
As I've suggested, hardly a problem.
*************************
Nick sez;
"no evidence that "the Lunar formation is LESS flexible compared to the
Dara Happan or Sun Domer formations", "
I'm not a DP player so I don't use that as my benchmark but I have no
problem with a Lunar tactical flaw caused by mythical logic which
causes a military probem. The Sun Domers may well be more flexible
troops, that's why they have a good reputation as mercenaries. Since
cultures traditionally do many things for illogical reasons, let's go
with 7x7 for Lunar units. 10 for older Darra Happan units, 8 for
Yelmalio. The Yelmalio forces may be (as a military society) have a
much more tactical than mythical view of this.
**********************************
Womyn
I like this spelling a lot for a fantasy world. I also think a Female
TOTRM would be fun, Londra of Londros where are you? I think we should
institute more female characters in RQ products. Vega was a bit odd in
Sun County, but valiant. What we need are appropriate female heroes.
And, let us not forget, Glorantha is where Griselda lives!
**********************************
Having just sat and read oodles of Daily I realise how much we try to
rationalise and understand Glorantha, to relate it to Earth archetypes
and images. This isn't wrong but it is flawed. Glorantha is a mythic
world and in mythic worlds things behave very oddly. Light bends,
mountains are both huge and small, one can jump from a mountain to a
moon which is also the floor of a crater in another land. A planet can
fly across the moon, but it might be a dragon, and the dragon may have
risen from beyond the horizon or been a range of hills. The Block may
be huge and seen for miles, or it may be said to be so. Glorantha isn't
rational and as such we can have fun trying to understand it, but as
such we are just God Learners struggling to eventual disappointment.
With such happy and fun thoughts I leave you to ponder on rewriting all
those odd Orlanthi cults that exist in the Empire into their Pelorian
forms and to ponder on the 101 names that those gods/archetypes must be
known by. After all is Orlantius Orlanth, or do we just think he might
be?
*********************************************WONDERFUL NEWS!*********
If you are a modem using UK based role-player then you'll be delighted
to hear that the Tavern BBS on 081 445 6514 is now holding a rpg file
section, as well as receiving the NeST role-playing echo and intending
to get FANTASY.281, a well known FIDO echo with rpg. In addition the
Tavern carries REC.GAMES.FRP.MISC as a freely available message base.
The Tavern offers Internet access for fido style points for #5.00 a quarter.
I persuaded Paul Baker, the sysop of Tavern, to clear out his system
and add an rpg area. Could all of you with rpg files, programs or text,
help me by ringing up and uploading to the system.
For those of us who are dialup in the UK this could be an excellent
storage site for rpg material which normally is only Internet available
or from the US.
Tom
**************************************
Bye!
---------------------
From: san...@idcube.idsoftware.com (Sandy Petersen)
Subject: re: RQ Daily
Message-ID: <940103175...@idcube.idsoftware.com>
Date: 3 Jan 94 05:51:21 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2720
Pam Carlson notes:
>Why would only chaotic or evil deities accept human sacrifice? Some
>native Meso-Americans practiced it, and I've never heard them
>described as "evil".
I have. It's hard to defend human sacrifice as practiced by the
Aztecs. They were engaged in a gradually-accelerating cycle of ever
more sacrifice, ever more "flower wars" to obtain sacrifices, etc. If
the Spanish hadn't come, the Aztec theocracy would probably have
self-destructed anyway, I feel. (This is not to be construed as a
defense of the Spanish occupation of Meso-American, which I believe
to be an atrocity even beyond the Aztec dominion.) Many of the plains
indians practiced human sacrifice to the Morning Star, and even used
the dime novel tradition of primarily killing young maidens (captured
from enemies). Most native americans practiced gruesome torture in
one manner or another. Of course, so did the Europeans. And Chinese.
In fact, the first nation to officially denounce judicial torture was
the U.S.A., as nearly as I can make out, though a number of European
states had pretty much abandoned it by the latter part of the 18th
century.
This is a bit off the point, of course. Back to Glorantha.
I'm sure that a number of deities (not considered "evil") have
special sacrifice rituals, but I also believe that these rituals are
regarded by many of their followers as a sort of "dark" side. Look at
the Earth cults. Maran Gor probably hosts a human sacrifice every
holy day, but she's not "evil". I suspect that such sacrifices are
rare for Ernalda, not because the earth doesn't demand sacrifice, but
because Maran Gor is the officiator at them. At Earth high holy days,
I expect all six major earth deities are present and all participate
in everyone's rituals. Except maybe the Voria priestesses get locked
in the closet or something during the bloodiest parts of Babeester
Gor's rites.
>One thing I've always admired about RQ is it's "greyness".
Strenuously agree with this one. I'm currently writing a short
scenario for TSR (at their request), and I find it appallingly
difficult to assign alignments to the characters. Is the obsessed
madman who maintains a facade of loyalty to his cruel master Lawful
Evil? Or what?
>Morokanth use humans as food animals.
I've read articles by Morokanth-sympathizers who claim that the
Morokanth only eat "herd men" and regard it as murder to eat a "real
man". IMO, any aversion the Morokanth might have towards eating
humans is minimal. It's obvious that the only difference between a
herd man and a "real man" is a Rune spell: why waste the spell?
>Probably the only person in the Western World who watched "Star
>Wars" and wondered about the billions of reasonably happy people who
>must be living in the Empire
Now, Pam. The same holds true for life under the Ming Dynasty, the
Nazi occupation, and Emperor Caligula. Almost any structured society
permits the existence of a fairly normal life within its confines,
unless it is so destructive that it self-destructs (like the Tai-Peng
rebels, Timur-i-leng, or the late-period Aztecs).
Jeff Okamoto writes:
>By itself, Illumination is not "evil".
I'd like to hereby denounce Jeff Okamoto in front of the entire RQ
Daily. He's clearly Illuminated himself, and thus is no proper judge
of whether it is a good or bad influence. I can only point out that I
know for a fact that in playing RQ, he frequently, without coercion
of any kind, runs sorcerers.
YARA ARANIS:
There's been a lot of discussion on how Yara Aranis is effective
against the horse nomads. Paul Honigmann suggests that horses are a
necessary element of strategy against the Pent nomads. John Medway
suggests that they ride Sables, or use some other mobility magic.
I have no idea what they do, but I'm as willing to speculate as
anyone. I'd like to suggest that historically the best defense
against cavalry was highly-trained infantry, ideally heavily armed
with pikes. There has been some discussion in the RQ Daily about just
how the Lunar troops are armed. What if the Yara Aranis troops are
the guys that have lengthy pikes in columns or phalanxes, and the
other Dara Happan troops are more along the classic greek model --
shorter spears, held overhand.
Another possibility is that Yara Aranis teaches the Lunars how to
build palisades and effective forts in Pent. It's unlikely that the
Pent nomads have very effective siege techniques, aside from trying
to burn down wooden walls or attacking with shaman spirits. If Yara
Aranis is able to provide protection against at least the more
"horsey" spirits the nomads can send, and has spells to break up the
nomad horse advantage, this might be enough for her to be an
effective war goddess.
I bet she teaches the infantry to carry crossbows. They'll be plenty
good against the typical horse-archar tactic of riding up, firing one
volley, then galloping off -- you'll be able to reload your crossbows
in between attacks. Of course, the special Pent bow magic, like
Pureshot (Golden Bow), Sureshot (Golden Bow and Hunter), Firearrow,
etc. may make their arrows as effective as your puny medium
crossbows, but what the heck.
>> the cult has been very successful against the Pentans, so it must
>> have some key advantage(s). I imagine the main one is metal
>> armour.
I don't see any reason the Pentans can't have metal armor. The
Mongols, Hsiung-nu, and Uighurs all had it. Note that the nomads have
managed to defeat the Lunars in open battles despite Yara's actual
presence, so she's far from a panacea.
>If the Pentans don't use shields, though, they would really
>take it on the chin from other cavalry,
Give me a break. I can't imagine a warlike cattle-herding people that
would NOT have excellent shields. Even Pacific Islanders had shields.
>>TWOSWORD: like bladesharp, but works on two swords simultaneously.
I don't see how this proves particularly helpful vs. horse nomads.
It's almost a non-sequitur of a spell. It would be better for a cult
like the Hellswords, or Jar-Eel's followers.
MAGIC ECOLOGY OF YARA ARANIS
Despite the fact that I know little of the cult except what is
published and available to everyone, I DO know what Yara Aranis' two
unique Rune spells happen to be: one is TERRIFY HORSE; 1-point
reusable, temporal, nonstackable, cannot be resisted (but can be
dispelled). The other is some kind of anti-archery spell, the exact
nature of which escapes me. Break Bowstring? Ignore Arrow? I don't
know. It was written down once, but it's in storage, and I can't
remember. In any case, no doubt the RQ Daily can come up with a
better spell than we had then. I hereby throw it out to you guys.
What's the anti-archery spell of YA?
Now, picture the Pent nomads (I dislike the barbarism "Pentan")
following the classic dichotomy of nomad peoples; units of lancers
plus groups of mounted archers. This was part of the Mongols'
principle of success; bring up the lancers so that the enemy will
bunch up for defence, then hit 'em with volleys of arrows. If the foe
disperses to limit arrow hits, have the lancers charge into the
thinly-spread crowd. It's a sort of Catch-22. Of course, the Pentans
are probably not as advanced militarily as the Mongols, but they
probably have at least figured out this simple trick.
So, a defending group of Lunar infantry (probably backed up with some
cavalry), has to worry about lancers and archers. Terrify Horse is an
excellent defence against a mounted charge -- even if only one guy in
ten in the defending group can cast it, you've just turned 10% of an
attacking mass into tons of panicked flesh freaking out, trying to
break away, running crosswise through the other horses, knocking them
over, screaming, lowering morale, etc. It's certain to gravely impede
any charge, if it doesn't break it up entirely. If you have cavalry
of your own to quickly take advantage of the disorganized state of
the enemy, you can really trash them.
Now, when the horse archers come in close, you zap'em with the
anti-archery spell. Whatever it is, it should be able to protect most
of a defending group from the archers for at least a volley or two.
If the archers have to linger longer than that to affect the
infantry, they'll be vulnerable to returning crossbow fire (or
whatever the infantry are equipped with), or (once more) a
counter-charge with medium cavalry could cause them grief.
I believe that YARA ARANIS is an example of a common phenomenon in
Glorantha -- a highly useful cult that isn't particularly good for
adventurers. Terrify Horse won't do you that much good if you're a
group of six guys suddenly charged by another group of six guys.
Sure, one of the enemy horses will veer off until he manages to cast
Dispel Magic, but it's not that big a deal. And if you manage to stop
one of them from using missiles on you with an anti-bow spell, he'll
just draw his sword and lay into you. These specialized spells are
great for wartime, but only so-so for adventuring.
Thus, you end up with an interesting cult that kicks butt and
conquers land, yet which the PCs can frequently beat in hand-to-hand
combat. A classic case of Gloranthan Magic Ecology.
---------------------
From: j...@zycor.lgc.com (johnjmedway)
Subject: "protect" ? !
Message-ID: <940103191...@hp0.zycor.lgc.com>
Date: 3 Jan 94 19:10:14 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2721
From: oka...@hpcc101.corp.hp.com (Jeff Okamoto)
X-RQ-ID: 2713
>>
>> Although this will sound Lunarish, I see Arkat and Gbaji as two sides of the
>> same concept. By itself, Illumination is not "evil": it is a new way of
>> ...
>> ability makes that being "good" or "evil". If they choose the "Dark Side"
>> and become amoral, then they are Gbaji. If they choose the "Light Side"
>> and protect, then they are Arkat.
You call what that yahoo did "protect"ing? PROTECTing??????
He made one of the bigger messes so far when he destroyed the wonderous
creations of Nysalor. History leads credence to the suppostitions that
it was Gbaji who walked away from that final battle. Arkat had become
Gbaji to destroy Nysalor.
From: san...@idcube.idsoftware.com (Sandy Petersen)
X-RQ-ID: 2715
>>
>> DANFIVE XARON: a cult of repentence and toil. A person accused of a
>> ...
>> missions in wartime. Not a PC cult, really.
Um, I have two of them among the PCs in my current game.
There are plenty of losers among PCs as well as NPCs.
From: ca...@panix.com (Carl Fink)
X-RQ-ID: 2716
>>
>> A "Glorantha overview" has already been released. I think the next
>> release will be _Strangers in Prax_.
"Glorantha overview" == ?
You mean the old box, here. Right?
From: malco...@aol.com
X-RQ-ID: 2718
>>
>>
>> If anyone is interested in seeing this I can post it to the digest.
>> It contains a whopping 466 names!
Please. Or if others don't want it, please send a copy to me. (address below)
RQ Daily Discussion List
---------------------
From: pa...@phyast.pitt.edu (Paul Reilly)
Subject: Re: RuneQuest Daily, Mon, 03 Jan 1994, part 1
Message-ID: <940103210...@minerva.phyast.pitt.edu>
Date: 3 Jan 94 21:00:53 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2722
Paul Reilly here. We've played a lot of Lunar characters, and were forced
to flesh out the cults of the various Seven Mothers. It's interesting to
compare what we came up with to the info from the house campaign now
generously provided by Sandy Petersen:
>DANFIVE XARON: a cult of repentence and toil. A person accused of a
Very much the same, but in our campaign we took off on his role as
"Night Watchman" (from Cults of Prax) and the cult acts as a special guardian
cult for the Empire, providing the backbone of both police services and
Lunar Intelligence (including Spoken Word agents loyal directly to the Emperor
and much of the military intelligence establishment.) Think about it - they
recruit thieves and assasins and recondition them. Some of their best agents
are captured criminals.
The cult inculcates in its members the belief that only through the
promulgation of the Lunar Way can Glorantha be saved from ultimate destruction,
and that the end justifies the means. Thus _any_ action to protect the
Empire and the Way can be justified, no matter how morally repugnant it might
seem.
Their conditioning leaves them fanatically loyal, and some of the cult's
special magic insures this. Xaroni are recrutied for their skills and
sorcerors may become Xaroni.
>DEEZOLA: she is a healing/earth goddess type. Among other powers, she
We have a similar Deezola, but as goddess of Poets and Nobles she also
provides magic like Inspire Followers (like Morale, but must succeed with
a Poetry skill to work.) We guessed that she was shamanic (as priestess of
Arachne SOlara, a shamanic deity) and gave her a spell for Laying On of Hands,
to allow Deezolans to spirit combat disease spirits without leaving their
body. If they fail to drive out or capture the disease spirit they can
themselves be infected. We didn't give her any of the Cure Disease spells.
>IRRIPPI ONTOR: his cult bears the same relationship to Lhankor Mhy
Again, very similar, including the shared temples. Irripi Ontor's magic
is somewhat weaker (less access to Common spells, for example) but the
cult is better organized, with less factionalism than the Lhankor Mhy
temples, and generally accomplishes more. Well funded in some areas.
>JAKALEEL THE WITCH: a darkness goddess with secretive and sinister
We were forced to develop her more. As Spindle Hag we gave her the ability
to weave magics, and her powers are the source of some of the Red Goddess
magic. She is goddess of the Dark Moon and her powers are at full strength
then and ebb under the full moon. (But are at full strength within the
Glowline). Jakaleeli make potions. More later if people are interested.
>YANAFAL TARNILS: a cult very similar to Humakt, except without a
We also call the Rune levels in this cult Scimitars, an obvious choice.
Very popular in Carmania.
--------------`
Replying to John Medway:
In our campaign Yara Arani ride sables or other mounts - she has
area effect anti-horse magics. But the cult does keep horses - for sacrifice.
White Moon
- This deserves a whole article in itself. The White Moon is the Moon of Sanity
and promises healing to the mentally disturbed. Thus, the mad who are aware
of their condition (most of them, actually) and desire healing tend to
join the White Moon movement in hopes of getting it. However, her powers are
not yet manifest and they remain wacko. This gives the cult a bit of a
reputation...
---------------------
From: ddu...@radiomail.net (David Dunham)
Subject: Re: Map index
Message-ID: <1994010323...@radiomail.net>
Date: 3 Jan 94 23:45:19 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2723
>From: malco...@aol.com
>Subject: Manirian Map Index
Interesting project! I'll bet the obscure names come from Greg's very
detailed map. The one I've been trying to get someone to publish. It's the
same size and scale as the hex map in Dragon Pass, but has names of most of
the small towns and the inns, and more geographic detail.
---------------------
From: gho...@smashland.nelsonville.oh.us (Guy Hoyle)
Subject: WANTED: TOTRM
Message-ID: <9c8FFc...@smashland.nelsonville.oh.us>
Date: 1 Jan 94 01:32:43 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2724
I can't seem to find any copies of TALES OF THE REACHING MOON #1 thru #8
aywhere! Since I can't make it to RQ-CON, I was wondering if some kind
soul would help me.
If you see anyone with ANY back issues at the CON, please give them my
addess, which is:
GUY HOYLE
4231 RAWLINS
DALLAS, TX 75219
I am willing to negotiate for prices, and will pay for shipping (of
course).
Issaries bless you for your help!
Guy Hoyle
aka Mulborth
---------------------
From: gho...@smashland.nelsonville.oh.us (Guy Hoyle)
Subject: SODA
Message-ID: <y1VkFc...@smashland.nelsonville.oh.us>
Date: 3 Jan 94 14:15:45 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2725
Would someone please tell me how to access the Soda.Berkeley area? I've
heard that they have a quantity of RQ uploads, and I'd like to download
some, but I've never known how to get to it. Please reply either here on
the Daily or at my Internet address.
Thanks!
Guy Hoyle
(gho...@smashland.nelsonville.oh.us)
---------------------
From: ca...@panix.com (Carl Fink)
Subject: Oh, yeah?
Message-ID: <1994010403...@panix2.panix.com>
Date: 3 Jan 94 17:02:08 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2726
carl...@wdni.com (Carlson, Pam) writes:
R>Why would only chaotic or evil deities accept human sacrifice? Some native
>Meso-Americans practiced it, and I've never heard them described as "evil".
You aren't looking in the right place. The Conquistadors and their
priests surely thought of them as evil, and in fact called them demons.
This is one of the few issues I agree with Cortez on.
R>One thing I've always admired about RQ is it's "greyness" - none of this
>alignment drivel, or ultimate good vs ultimate evil. In fact, Morokanth
>use humans as food animals, so it seems a small step to the occasional
>slaying of a captured enemy for a mystical purpose; maybe releasing a useful
>point or two of POW in game terms. Does anything in Gloranthan mythology
>preclude this?
Nope. In fact, it's definitely done -- see _Cults of Prax_ for a
Yelmalion version, and the _Prosopaedia_ for several examples of trolls
doing it. It just isn't in the rules anywhere.
---------------------
X-RQ-ID: Extro
RQ Daily Discussion List
This is the RuneQuest Daily Bulletin, a mailing list on
the subjects of Avalon Hill's RPG and Greg Stafford's
world of Glorantha. It is sent out once per day in digest
format.
More details on the RuneQuest Daily and Digest can be found
after the last message in this digest.
---------------------
From: al...@tcrystal.gla.ac.uk (Allan Henderson)
Subject: Manirian Map index
Message-ID: <7389.94...@sushi.tcrystal.glasgow.ac.uk>
Date: 4 Jan 94 15:00:20 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2727
Hi,
> malco...@aol.com
> If anyone is interested in seeing my handy Manirian Map Index I can post
> it to the digest. It contains a whopping 466 names!
You bet I want to see this, checking place names on a number of maps is a real
drag. Perhaps someone should produce a composite map showing the lot for TOTRM.
> As I was reading my copy of A Rough Guide to Boldhome in preparation for
> Runequest-Con.
Sob, weep wail I can't get to the con but if there are any spares left over
after the con I would love to buy one.
Cheers,
Allan Henderson
---------------------
From: dyb...@explorer.clark.net (Michael E. Colton)
Subject: Cancellation
Message-ID: <Pine.3.89.9401042001.A15059-0100000@explorer>
Date: 4 Jan 94 15:07:45 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2728
Please cancell my "subscription to RuneQuest Daily
Thank You
+-------------------------+------------------------+
| Michael E. Colton | dyb...@clark.net |
+-------------------------+------------------------+
| Yet another Ghost in the machine . . . |
+--------------------------------------------------+
---------------------
From: sull...@mlc.lib.mi.us (Mark Sullivan -- Michigan Library Consortium)
Subject: Comments on RQ-Daily Jan 3 and Yara Aranis
Message-ID: <Pine.3.05.9401042...@hostserver.merit.edu>
Date: 4 Jan 94 16:55:37 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2729
Pam Carlson recently writes about Divine Magic and Sacrifice
in X-RQ-ID: 2710 -
> Why would only chaotic or evil deities accept human sacrifice?
> Some native Meso-Americans practiced it, and I've never heard
> them described as "evil".
Depends on who you read. In his book Cannibals and Kings, Marvin Harris
quotes from Bernal Diaz's The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico 1517-1521
(as well as other sources). The descriptions sound evil to me. The
Spanish definitely took the view that the Aztec were evil (and the Aztec's
neighbors weren't too keen on the sacrifices either). Now I'll grant you
that the Spanish are not an unbiased source, but who is? How many of the
chaotic religions in Glorantha describe themselves as evil? It seems like
most of these cultures describe evil as something done by those
not-of-our-group or those no-longer-part-of-our-group.
> I've also read somewhere that some native North Americans
> considered it an honor to slay a respected enemy if he was
> captured.
Sounds a lot like the Cannibal Cult in Prax.
> (This may not be true - I'm at the mercy of popular fiction on
> this one. Does anyone else know more?)
I've read similar things, but it is not my area of expertise.
And for the practice in Glorantha of sacrifice see -
the Cannibal Cult, the Cult of the Bloody Tusk, or Yelmalio (see
Cults of Prax p51 Tale of Biturian Varosh).
----
Re: Manirian map index
Malcolm mentions in X-RQ-ID: 2718
> If anyone is interested in seeing this I can post it to the
> digest.
I am interested!
----
Re: the Cult of Yara Aranis
Thanks Paul for the interesting cult write up!
Re: Nick Brooke's suggestions on Dragoons -
I really liked this idea. A dragoon style cadre of skilled warriors
backing up polearm equipped local milita seems a reasonable way for the
Redlands farmers to copy with the Pentan nomads. It provides a mobile
means of moving the necessary professionals to stiffen the milita without
making the Y.A.s just clones of their opponents. It works for me.
====
Mark
RQ Daily Discussion List
This is the RuneQuest Daily Bulletin, a mailing list on
the subjects of Avalon Hill's RPG and Greg Stafford's
world of Glorantha. It is sent out once per day in digest
format.
More details on the RuneQuest Daily and Digest can be found
after the last message in this digest.
---------------------
From: malco...@aol.com
Subject: Manirian Map Index
Message-ID: <940105220...@aol.com>
Date: 6 Jan 94 03:09:25 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2741
Since a number of folks expressed interest in the index here it is. I hope it
proves to be of some use.
I have listed below all the maps I used in the index. Each map has been
assigned a number.
In the alphabetical listing of place names the number(s) of the map(s) on
which that name
appears follows the name on the right. Name variants follow each place name
in parenthesis.
THE MAPS
Sartar and Environs 1
RuneQuest II
A Portion of Sartar 2
Apple Lane/Snakepipe Hollow
The Apple Lane Region 3
Apple Lane
Snakepipe Hollow 4
Snakepipe Hollow
Maniria: Major Regions 5
Glorantha: Genertela, Crucible of the Hero Wars
Maniria: Detail 6
Glorantha: Genertela, Crucible of the Hero Wars
Dragon Pass and Northern Kethaela 7
Glorantha: Genertela, Crucible of the Hero Wars
The Region around the Grey Dog Inn 8
Tales of the Reaching Moon
Sartar Tribes Map 9
Tales of the Reaching Moon
View of Boldhome and Vicintiy from the East 10
A Rough Guide to Boldhome
Dragon Pass 11
A Rough Guide to Boldhome
****There were a number of names on this map in the Holy Country I could not
make out.
Kethaela or the Holy Country 12
King of Sartar
Sartar and Tarsh 13
King of Sartar
Argath's Lands 14
King of Sartar
Dagori Inkarth 15
Trollpak
****For this map I have noted only those names on the left side of the map.
Dragon Pass Boardgame Map 16
Dragon Pass
Geo's Inns Map 17
Tales of the Reaching Moon
THE PLACES
Aeborn's Mark 8
Aggar 14
Alborn's Stead 8
Aldachur 1, 2, 4, 7, 9, 13, 15, 16
Alebard's Tower 9
Alone 1, 2, 9, 13, 15, 16
Alter to Cacodemon 4
Amadhall 15
Amad Trail 15
Amad Tribal Lands 9
Amber Fields 8
Apple Lane 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 13, 15, 16, 17
Aranwyth Tribal Lands 9
Aristola Forest 6
Arkats Hold 1
Arrowmound Mountain 13
Assembly Rocks 15
Auroch Hills 8
Axe Hall 11
Backford 11
Bachad Tribal Lands 9
Bagnot 1, 2, 11, 13, 16, 17
Bagtrap's Pass 15
Balazar 14
Balkoth Tribal Lands 9
Balmyr Tribal Lands 9, 10
Bar 8
Bastis 6
Battle Ridge 15
Battle Valley 15
Beast Valley 1, 2, 7, 11, 13, 16
The Better Place 15
Big 8
Big Elm Valley 8
Bird Site 10
Black Alter 3
Black Dragon 16
Black Dragon Mountains 15
Black Eel River 14, 15
Black Horse County 7, 13, 16
Blackorm Mountain 13
Blackwell 1
Blue Boar Fort 9, 15
Bocofi Tribal Lands 9
Boldhome 1, 2, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16
Bon Lake 15
Boranni River 15
Borni's Landing 16
Brambleberry Hills 10, 15
Broken Ring 8
Brontosauros Valley 15
Brown Dragon 16
Building Wall 11
Bullflood River 12
Bush Range 2, 13, 16
Caldraland 6, 11, 12, 14
Caroman 9
Castle of Lead(Shadow Plateau)6
Castle of Lead(Dagori Inkarth)14
Centaur Cross 12, 13
Chalk Man Hill 13
Chaos Woods 1
Cherry Ridge 10
Cholanti River 15
Cinder Pits 3, 8
Cinsina Tribal Lands 9
City of Wonders 6, 11, 12
Clearwine Fort 3, 8, 9, 13, 16
Cliffhome 1, 2, 7, 15, 16, 17
Cold Torch Inn 8
Colymar Tribal Lands 9, 10
Copper Town 11, 16
Corflu 14
Crab Shell Town (Crabtown) 4, 15
The Creek 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 13, 16, 17
Creek-Stream River 1, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17
Cremation Isle 8
Cresent Manor 8
Cross Line 13
Culbrea Tribal Lands 9, 10
Curtali Tribal Lands 9
Dagori Inkarth 5, 6, 13, 14
Dangerford 11, 13, 15
Darsh Peak 10
Daytime Woods 15
Death Line 13
Delecti's Ruin 8, 9, 16
Dew Drop Inn 3
Dinacoli Tribal Lands 9
Ditali Tribal Lands 6
Division Hills 15
Dogbone Hills 15
Dog-Rat Valley 10
Donalf Flats 11, 15
Donalf Stream 15
Donbry 11
Donkey's Only 4
Dozalin River 15
Dragonewt Wildlands 11
Dragon Creek 15
Dragon Pass 5, 6, 7, 13
Dragon River 15
Dragon's Eye 1, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15, 16, 17
Dragonspine Hills 13
Drum Point 10, 13
Dry Spot 8
Duck Ferry 8
Duck Point 1, 2, 8, 11, 16
Ducks Tribal Lands 9
Duck Valley 8, 13
Dundealos Tribal Lands 9
Duel Field 13
Dunstop 1, 11, 13, 16, 17
Durengard 11
Dwarf 1, 2, 4, 7
Dwarf Ford 4, 13
Dwarf Mine 11, 16 , 17
Dwarf Run 13, 16
Earthshaker Temple (Temple of Maran Gor)(Shaker's Temple)
1, 2, 13, 16
Eastern Rockwood Mountains 7, 14
Elder Hills 3
Elken Vale 10, 15
Engoli's Fold 15
Enothea Cut? 10
Erena's Trail 15
Esrolia 1, 6, 7, 11, 12, 14
Fairjowl 10
Fallen Hills 13
Falling Ruin 16
Famegrave 8, 16
Famous Bell 10, 15
Far Point 1, 16
Farvine 8
Filichet 11
For Loss Hills 15
Fort Engoli 15
Four-Winds Hill 10
Fox Hollow 10, 15
Furthest 1, 6, 7, 11, 13, 16, 17
Gardinl? 13
Gejay Hills 15
Geo's Aldachur Inn 17
Geo's Alone Inn 17
Geo's Always Open Inn 17
Geo's Boldhome Inn 17
Geo's Cave Inn 17
Geo's Creek Inn 17
Geo's Duck Inn 17
Geo's Horsing Around Inn 17
Geo's Jonstown Inn 17
Geo's Last Stop Inn 17
Geo's Outer Inn 17
Geo's River Inn 8, 17
Geo's Runegate Inn 17
Geo's Shaker Inn 17
Geo's Swenstown Inn 17
Geo's Wilm's Church Inn 17
Giant's Stairs 15
Giant's Stile 15
Giant's Walk 4, 15, 16
Glass Wall Fort 4, 16
Glowline 13, 14
God Forgot Islands 6
Goldedge 1, 11, 13, 16, 17
Golden Horse Valley 7, 13
Good Ale ? 8
Good Farm Vale 15
Goodfork 10
Goodhaven 10, 15
Good Hill 8
Grazelands 1, 7, 11, 13, 14
Green Dragon 16
Greenhalf 15
Grey Dog Inn 3, 8
Grizzley Peak 13
Grubfarm 15
Guardian Hills 13
Handra 6
Harvest Home 8, 9
Haunted Lands (Shadow Plateau)1, 6, 11, 12
Hendrikei Tribal Lands 1, 7, 12, 14
Heortland 6, 7, 11
Herongreen 9, 15, 16
Hidden Greens 14
Hidden Valley 11
High Pole 8
Highwater Falls 2, 4
Hillhaven 8
Holay 14
Honor Rock 8
Hound Knob 8
Howling Tower 8
Humakt's Tower 15
Hump 8
Hunting March 8
Hydra Mountains 7, 11, 13
Hydra's Hill 16
Indigo Mountains 13, 15
Ingan 10
Iristhold 8, 16
Ironspike 15, 16
Isle Dangerous 13
Ivory Plinth 2, 7, 13, 16, 17
Jaldonkill Fort 16
Jaldon's Rest 15, 16
Jaldon's Wrong River 1, 16, 17
Jansholm 1
Jarolar Keep 9, 15, 16
Jaskor's Hold 15
Joh Mith's Path 15
Jonstown 1, 2, 9, 11, 13, 15, 16
Karse 6, 7, 11, 12
Katorplose 6
Kero Fin 8, 13
Ketheala 5
Kheldon Tribal Lands 9, 10
Khorst 6
Killard Vale 10
The King's Road 15
Kordros Island 13
Kosh 11
Kultain Tribal Lands 9
Kust? 8
Larnste's Print 12
Larnste's Table 3, 13
Leaden Hills 1
Lesser Ridges 15
Lion Mountian 8
Lismelder Tribal Lands 8, 9
Little 8
Lizardwood Flats 15
Lizardwood Wilds 15
Locaem Tribal Lands 9
Longdoe Hills 15
Lookout 10
Lookout Isle 8
Lookout Mountain 15
Loom 8
Loom and Shuttle Tavern 8
Lorthing River 15
Lorthing Vale 10, 15
Lost Man Hills 15
Low Temple 11
Lunar Empire 6
Lunar Manor 8
Lunar Tarsh (Tarsh) 1, 7, 11, 14, 16
Lunch Lake 15
Lysos River 7, 11, 12
Machine City Ruin 12
Malani Tribal Lands 9, 10
Mallard Town 8
Malthin River 12
Manirian Islands 6
Manville 8
Marof House 13
Marsh Edge 8
The Marsh Strands 12
Marzeel River 1, 11, 12
Mill Village 8
Milran 12
Mirror Sea Bay 11, 12
Mislari Mountians 6, 14
Mount Passant 11
Mourn Sea 6
Munchrooms 15
Muse Roost 7, 11, 16
New Coast 6
New Crystal City 1
New Fens 6
New Hills 15
New Place 8
New River 12
Nimistor River 6
Nine-Moss Hill 10
Nochet 1, 6, 7, 11, 12
No Man's March 13
North Post 1, 16, 17
North Vale of Flowers 15
Noshian River 6
Nymie Valley 8
Oakstead 8
Oak Valley 15
Odd Tower 8
Old Elf Ruin 8
Old Saint's Road 15
Old Top 8
Old Tower 8
Old Wind Temple (Wind Temple) 1, 2, 7, 13, 16, 17
Oltini Caverns 15
Orlaman's Keep 10
Orlanth's Hill 15
Ormsgone Valley (Red Dragon Valley)
7, 13
Ormthane's Valley 8, 15
Oslir River 7, 13, 14
Ostor Colymar 8
Owlflight Creat 15
Paps 14
Pavis 14
The Pavis Road 15
Pedastal 11
Pegasus Plateau 8, 9
Pennel 12
Perilous Hills 15
Phorthan's Land 8
Pie Hollow 8
Pimper's Block 16
Plains of Prax 16
Poljoni March 15
Poor Village 8
Pralorela 5, 6
Prax 6, 7, 12, 14
Princeros Tribal Lands 9
Proposed Lunar Temple 13
Quackford 8, 13
Queens Post 1, 16, 17
Quintus Vale 13
Quivin Peak 10, 13
Quivin Peaks 3
Rainbow Mounds 3, 8
Ralios 5, 6
Ramalia 6
Red Bird Fort 3, 10, 15
Red Cow 15, 16
Red Dragon 16
Redstone 15
Refuge 6
Richbeer Vale 8
Richberry Trail 15
Richberry Vale 10
Rich Post 1, 16, 17
Ridge of Thieves 15
Rightarm Islands 6, 12
The River 1, 2, 4, 7, 9, 13, 16, 17
Riverine Trade Route 6
River of Cradles 14
Rockwood Mountians 15
Roundstone 16
Rune Gate Fort 3, 8, 13, 16
Runnel River 12
Sacred Top 10
Safe Trail 15
Saird 14
Sambari Pass 13
Sambari Tribal Lands 9, 10
Saronil's Hill 10
Sartar 1, 7, 11, 14, 15, 16
Sartar's Bridge 8
Sazdorf 15
Scorched Valley 15
Shade Table 4
Shadow Plateau 1, 6, 11, 12
Sharl Plains 15
Sheep of Luck Hills 15
Shining River 11
Shuttle 8
Site 8
The Six Sisters 15
Skithi Vale 13
Skull Ruins 16
Skyfall Lake 2, 4, 7, 11, 13, 15, 16, 17
Skyreach Mountains 11, 13
Slave Wall 1, 2, 11, 13, 16, 17
Smelch 6
Smoking Ruin 16
Snakepipe Hollow 1, 2, 7, 11, 13, 15, 16, 17
Solanthi River 6, 12
Solflint River 15
Solthi 11
Solving 11
South Vale of Flowers 15
Spiderlands 15
Spinosaurus Flats 8
Stael's Hills 8, 15
Stagwood 8, 16
Starfire Ridges 3, 8
Starl's Ridge 3
Stinking Forest (Stinkwood) 1, 4, 7, 11, 13, 15, 16, 17
Stoorlock 15
Storm Hills (Storm Mountains) 1, 6, 7, 12, 13
Stone Cross 1, 11, 12, 16
Stonegate 15
Stone Next Ruin 8
Stonewood 1
Storm Walk Mountain 1, 6, 12
The Stream 1, 2, 8, 9, 13, 16, 17
Sump 8
Sun Dome Temple 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 16, 17
Swan 8, 15
Swan River 8, 15
Swenstown 1, 2, 9, 13, 16
Sword Hill 13
Sword Vale 8
Sylangi Tribal Lands 9
Syphon River 12
Talfort 11, 13, 16
Tamlane Hills 8
Tarinwood 5
Tarkalor Keep 3, 8
Tarndisi's Grove 3, 8
Tarpit 1, 11
Tarsh 1, 7, 11, 14, 16
The Tarsh Road 15
Telmori Tribal Lands 9
Temple of the Reaching Moon 1, 13, 16
Thorgeir's Cow 10
Thunder Hills 8
Tink 8, 9
Toena 15, 16
Too Far 16
Tolar Hold? 11
Torkani Tribal Lands 9
Torkan's Last Fort 15, 16
Torkan's Vale 15
Tourney Alter 14
Tovtaros Tribal Lands 9
Trachodon Marsh 6
Trade Path 15
Trader's Path 4
Trade Site 10
Trader's Valley 16
Tradethink Market 8
Travelling Stone 11, 16
Tres Tribal Lands 9
Troll Lake 9
Troll River 9, 15
Troll Ruin 16
Troll Strait 11
Troll Woods 1
Two-Pine Ridges 15
Two Ridge Fort 9, 15, 16
Two Sisters 8
Two Top 8
Two Wink 10
Upland Marsh 1, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 16, 17
Uz River 15
Vale of Bones 15
Vale of Flowers 1, 2, 7, 16, 17
Valley of the Chalk Man 15
Varna's Path 4
Vayshan's Run 8
Vent 6, 12
Visel 16
Volsaxi Tribal Lands 7, 11, 12
Vulture Mountain 15
Waha's Trail 15
Wasp's Nest 7, 16
Wastes 14
Web Valley 15
Wenelia 5, 14
Wenelian Islands 6
West End 4
Whitewall 1, 6, 7, 9, 12, 13
Wild Mountain 10
Wild Temple 1, 2, 11, 13, 16, 17
Wilford 11
Wilm's Church (Wilmskirk) 1, 2, 9, 11, 13, 16
Wintertop 1, 2, 7, 8, 16, 17
Woods of the Dead 15
Wolf Hills 15
Wolf Stand 15
Yellow Flower Isle 8
Zalador River 15
Zanthali Hills 15
1-side Isle 8
2-Faces 3
22 Turns 4
3-Ernalda's Temple 8
---------------------
From: JAR...@RMCS.CRANFIELD.AC.UK
Subject: Sacrfice
Message-ID: <940105092...@Sun.COM>
Date: 5 Jan 94 08:27:00 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2730
Ref: Sacrifice for divine favours.
In addition to the Cult of the Bloody Tusk and Black Sun (from
various D grade horror movies) you should also look at the Cacodemon
Chaos Holy Site in Griffin Mountain (maybe also Griffin Island) where
the priest gains benefits from the POW of those sentients which he
sacrifices there (I think that the benefit is an increased chance to
DI; summon a fiend in this case).
-----
Lewis
-----
---------------------
From: fore...@elvis.srl.ford.com (Brian Forester)
Subject: Heading to RuneQuest-Con
Message-ID: <Pine.3.07.9401051...@elvis.srl.ford.com>
Date: 5 Jan 94 05:25:33 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2731
To those who might be looking for a ride...
My pilgrimage will start early Thursday morning from Ann Arbor, Michigan.
I plan to leave Baltimore sometime between 12 and 3pm on Sunday.
at work: 313-322-6786
at home: 313-483-7011
email: fore...@elvis.srl.ford.com
Brian.
ps. As of 5 Jan the Columbia Inn Hotel was still honoring the Convention
rates for rooms.
---------------------
From: oka...@hpcc101.corp.hp.com (Jeff Okamoto)
Subject: Re: RuneQuest Daily, Tue, 04 Jan 1994, part 1
Message-ID: <940105171...@hpcc101.corp.hp.com>
Date: 5 Jan 94 17:11:51 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2732
> From: san...@idcube.idsoftware.com (Sandy Petersen)
>
> I'd like to hereby denounce Jeff Okamoto in front of the entire RQ
> Daily. He's clearly Illuminated himself, and thus is no proper judge
> of whether it is a good or bad influence.
Perhaps that explains why the myriad monsters that destroyed the God Learners
haven't gotten to me yet?-)
> I can only point out that I know for a fact that in playing RQ, he
> frequently, without coercion of any kind, runs sorcerers.
And don't forget the jelmre!
> From: j...@zycor.lgc.com (johnjmedway)
> Subject: "protect" ? !
>
> History leads credence to the suppostitions that
> it was Gbaji who walked away from that final battle. Arkat had become
> Gbaji to destroy Nysalor.
To add a psychological bent, perhaps Arkat and Gbaji joined together and
became a single, new, individual in whom the "destructive through amoral"
and "destructive through 'ends justify means'" cancelled each other out?
Despite whatever else Arkat did, you can't deny that he contributed mightily
to the process of HeroQuesting.
Jeff
---------------------
From: j...@zycor.lgc.com (johnjmedway)
Subject: Yo! Aussies!
Message-ID: <940105175...@hp0.zycor.lgc.com>
Date: 5 Jan 94 17:59:52 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2733
If any Aussie coming to RQ-Con has a few spare moments, I'd like to get
you to pick up a few hard to obtain ( in the U.S. ) items for me.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
| john_...@zycor.lgc.com | Landmark Graphics Corp | 512.292.2325 |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------
From: T.S.B...@open.ac.uk (T.S.Baguley Thom Baguley)
Subject: Rough Guide ...
Message-ID: <940105195...@Sun.COM>
Date: 5 Jan 94 19:56:32 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2734
>From: al...@tcrystal.gla.ac.uk (Allan Henderson)
>> As I was reading my copy of A Rough Guide to Boldhome in preparation for
>> Runequest-Con.
>Sob, weep wail I can't get to the con but if there are any spares left over
>after the con I would love to buy one.
I can't make it to the con either ... I'd certainly buy a copy if there are any
spares ...
Thom
---------------------
From: T.S.B...@open.ac.uk (T.S.Baguley Thom Baguley)
Subject: Yara Aranis
Message-ID: <940105201...@Sun.COM>
Date: 5 Jan 94 20:10:00 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2735
Some interesting points made on YARA ARANIS.
Most of the suggestions are complimentary. In particular:
1. Use of Dragoon tactics for mobility.
2. Expertise in pallisade and stockade construction.
3. Use of long pikes/polearms (probably wielded by local militia but trained
and commanded by Yara Aranis cultists).
4. Use of crossbows (and possibly light siege engines?).
5. Preference for Sable mounts.
6. Units of medium cavalry for countercharges.
7. Suicide infantry tactics (throwing yourself at or under horses??).
8. Special anti-horse and anti-bow tactics.
The cult would thus seem to have an organizing role (teaching militia, building
defenses) and an active combat role emphasising sable medium cavalry and
dragoons. Maybe this would be reflected in the Priest/Rune Lord split in the
cult (if Yara Aranis has Rune Lords ...).
Thom
RQ Daily Discussion List
---------------------
From: eo...@raesp-farn.mod.uk (Geoff Gunner)
Subject: A foul commie plot ...
Message-ID: <940105212...@raesp-farn.mod.uk>
Date: 5 Jan 94 21:24:14 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2736
re: tiph...@aol.com's plot - sorry, that would never go down with the motley
crew I play with. They'd be smart enought to query the information - Orlanthi
sending weapons to chaos creatures ? Very suspicious. I'd have to do some
vicious manipulation into getting them to attack the caravan, and afterwards
they'd never forgive me. If I wanted to get them into trouble the 'vendetta'
would be best - characters casually kill 'a', who's bugging them, but 'a' has
a big brother/mother/family who rush out to avenge 'a', but get knobbled by
the party again, so the leige lord/clan/etc of 'b' steps in to put down this
sort of thing. You can keep this one up for months, it's one of the most basic
plots there are (read 'Njal's Saga' for a great example), and the players get
to do lots of killing (which is what they're *really* interested in - forget
this pansy _Role-Playing_ concept- for wimps ! )
On Pam's 'N. American Indians' considering slaying a captured opponent to be
an honourable act - isn't there something as well to do with how much pain the
enemy can stand ? I got the impression that for a lot of tribes on the N.E.
coast warfare was THE most important thing in your life - everything else was
subserviant to it, you being measured by the number of enemies you had killed.
Errr ... a bit off the point of 'sacrifice' being evil (And remember the Druids,
a fine and honourable body of men as you could wish not to meet). Evil is,
after all, in the eyes of the beholder, same as madness, beauty, etc.
What should be the yield of a sacrifice ? Two approaches;
1) all MP's are available if a sucessful ceremony skill is made
(or 1/10th POW if enchanting ?)
2) You're summoning a Demon, which will need a certain number of MP's in
order to appear.
Anyone ever seen anything official on this ?
Jeff Okamoto says:
`If they choose the "Light Side" and protect, then they are [in the manner of]
Arkat.`
You have to be kidding ! Arkat laid waste to how many countries ? Definitely
of the 'purify by fire' school of thought. And (although the events are lost
to Gloranthan history) what evil did Gbaji do ? Called the 'deceiver', not
the 'destroyer', after all. IMHO Gbaji was the good guy, but Arkat, being the
winner, rewrote history (A vaguely related point; try finding a reference to
Satan early on in the Bible. Apparently Lucifer started out as the guardian
to the gates of Heaven, but got a very bad press deal).
And Arkat wasn't above a little amorality himself (definition - 'absense of
morals' - how many cults, with different moralities, did Arkat join ?)
Arkat was as much a Heroquesting environmentalist as Saddam Hussein is the
Desert EcoFreak.
A long time ago I mentioned a 'SpiritQuest' I'd been contemplating. Using many
of the excellent suggestions that have appeared on the digest, three victims
were subjected to the horrors of an unplanned quest. They seemed to enjoy it
(or at least get very involved and frustrated, which is just as good).
A brief summary for the interested (I apologise for the length; long letters
are a Very Bad Thing).
Players: Orlanthi Female, Orlanthi Male, Humakti Male, all initiates of
local spirit of the valley (only ones in party).
Dream: from their wilderness stead the characters hear a womans voice.
Exiting stead, find themselves in town square at night with Ernalda statue.
Volunteer to continue; told to find the golden sheaf.
Town does clever fade, being replaced by springtime forest (it was midwinter).
Meet talking shadowcat, who has been told to guide them.
Guided to a clearing with single stalk of wheat (golden in sunlight).
Take it, vigourous dispute involving semi-arrow-tranced elves (5 in number).
Use wheat as a compass for direction.
Meet Fox, who laughs at them, says 5 is a *very* symbolic number, with a
Chalana Arroy healer they could all go REALLY interesting places.
Arrive at neat and orderly village in high summer, downtrodden villagers and
a bunch of (5) warriors armed with spears and hoplite shields.
Vigourous discussion regarding merits of spear vs. sword; Spearwielders defeated
and leader captured.
In village beautiful woman in green dress, golden girdle, looking not dissimilar
to statue in town square.
She asks have they come as liberators ? "Yes".
Asks male Orlanthi is he the one ? "Err.. ummm .. no."
Male Humakti says "I might be". On encouragement from Orlanthi, says he is.
Fox nearly chokes with hysterical laughter. Male Orlanthi realises too late ...
Humakti given kiss of marriage from woman. Party depart village. Male Orlanthi
undergoing much grief and self-chastisement.
Going along a straight path (no curves) arrive back at village ("Huh?") in
autumn. Village much shabbier, but people have a happier air. Invited into
stead on condition that they prove themselves (either by feat of skill or
answering a riddle each [answer to do with each person's cult]). Fox kicked
out of stead. Humakti chooses skill and defeats himself in best of 5 attempts,
Orlanthi fail in riddling and are shown the door.
- then - dream takes on a nasty turn, involving the presence of the ex-God
Thoughtwarper (defeated in Godtime by Yinkin just north of characters stead)
and the shadowcat, said shadowcat getting a severe beating from Thoughtwarper
and only living with party's magic (party at time of fight suffering from
warped thoughts).
Cat and Fox repeatedly say this shouldn't be happening (before and after).
Back on path, trees becoming bare of leaves, find cave with (5) trolls in.
Benefits of healthy living demonstrated forcibly to trolls. Find Mistress
Race troll who informs them the 'way is open'.
Out other end of cave, to find village in early spring (v.windy) looking even
shabbier with the unaesthetic addition of (5) crap Broo. Crap broo explain to
party the merits of a life filled with vile deeds; party barely counter broo
persuasive arguments.
Re-enter village, where big celebration is held, much feasting, Humakti gets to
rejoin woman in green dress and enjoy the benefits of married night-life.
Party leave hall, each in posession of small clay object.
Characters wake up; 4 different opinions of events from the 3 players.
Obvious, wasn't it ? Geoff.
---------------------
From: jh4...@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Jonathan Heidbreder)
Subject: Re: RuneQuest Daily, Wed, 05 Jan 1994, part 1
Message-ID: <1994010523...@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu>
Date: 5 Jan 94 11:11:38 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2737
please cancel my subscription to Runequest Dailly
jh42393.uiuc.edu
---------------------
From: 10027...@CompuServe.COM (Nick Brooke)
Subject: Catching Up
Message-ID: <940106000110_10...@CompuServe.COM>
Date: 6 Jan 94 00:01:11 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2738
________________
Human Sacrifice:
Do I have the only copy of Griffin Mountain on the Daily? Read the Chaos
Holy Ground 'scenario' for a set of human sacrifice --> POW gain rules.
Admittedly, there are special circumstances, and this is under RQ2.
I'm reading a new history of the Aztecs and Spaniards, "The Conquest of
Mexico", which seems to be pushing the blame for the obscene number of
flowery deaths in the late empire onto one cihuacoatl, Tlacaelel, who was
(apparently) an obsessive Huitzilopochtli cultist. But I wonder if this
isn't just revisionist Political Correctness on Hugh Thomas' part.
__________
Star Wars:
Not the only one, Pam: 'far as I could see, the Empire was evil because
Imperial officers spoke with English accents and their soldiers wanted to
check peoples' passports. I'd concur on the latter, dissent on the former.
Has anyone else on the Daily ever had to fill out a U.S. visa form?
____________
Yara Aranis:
While I like Sandy's explanation, the 'combined arms' = dragoons pun was
too tempting for me to pass up. But does she have four or six of them?
====
Nick
====
---------------------
From: ca...@panix.com (Carl Fink)
Subject: Boy, it's hard to think of interesting subject lines.
Message-ID: <1994010601...@panix2.panix.com>
Date: 5 Jan 94 15:14:18 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2739
san...@idcube.idsoftware.com (Sandy Petersen) writes in part:
R>I'd like to hereby denounce Jeff Okamoto in front of the entire RQ
>Daily. He's clearly Illuminated himself, and thus is no proper judge
>of whether it is a good or bad influence. I can only point out that I
>know for a fact that in playing RQ, he frequently, without coercion
>of any kind, runs sorcerers.
Well, in my current game every PC uses sorcery. No! You don't need
those torches! It's a different rules set! Anyway, I'm just doing it
for playtesting!
j...@zycor.lgc.com (johnjmedway) writes in part:
>...History leads credence to the suppostitions that
>it was Gbaji who walked away from that final battle. Arkat had become
>Gbaji to destroy Nysalor.
No, it doesn't, you heretic.
R>"Glorantha overview" == ?
R>You mean the old box, here. Right?
Yes.
---------------------
From: ddu...@radiomail.net (David Dunham)
Subject: Gloranthan cultures; Yara Aranis
Message-ID: <1994010601...@radiomail.net>
Date: 6 Jan 94 01:34:36 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2740
>From: Paul....@mettav.royle.org
>Subject: From: Tom Zunder
>Orlanthi culture is so Californian as to be a caricature
Huh? Orlanthi culture is sort of a cross between Cymric/Celtic and Viking.
Check out King of Sartar, which has the most detail of any work on the
Orlanthi.
>I like to think of many Gloranthan cultures in transition from
>matriarchies to patriarchies.
From King of Sartar: "This [when the Feathered Horse Queen appeared] was a
great time for the Earth Tribe. In Tarsh the goddess controlled the
sacrificial Illaro dynasty, and in Sartar the Orendanae sat upon the tribal
rings of the three main tribes. In Esrolia they were strongest of course,
which was the reign of High Queen Bruvala." Seems like matri/patriarchy is
not necessarily a linear transition in Dragon Pass.
>From: san...@idcube.idsoftware.com (Sandy Petersen)
>I'd like to suggest that historically the best defense
>against cavalry was highly-trained infantry, ideally heavily armed
>with pikes.
In my games, horse nomads tend to have bows, so they just ride around
outside spell range and shoot arrows into the infantry. I don't recall
anyone coming up with real effective tactics against the Mongols, either
(tho someone who's less hazy on history no doubt knows; my guess is
firearms?).
The Lunars introduced caltrops to Prax; they're probably a Yara Aranis
invention. But they're not much good unless you have a little time to
prepare your position.
The Scythians had metal armor, too. It's conceivable that when the Pent
nomads withdrew into isolation after the Nights of Horror, they lost some
of their access to foreign metalworking. But since they can find bronze
lying around, they could surely pound it into armor.
>I DO know what Yara Aranis' two unique Rune spells happen to be
Last time you said she provided Kill Horse (cannot be resisted). Which I
figured to be a 3-point reusable spell (like Sever Spirit).
Note that arrow range is 120 metres for a composite bow (which we can
presume nomads use, since Earth nomads did), and rune magic range is 100
metres... Those darned rules...
BTW, since Yara Aranis is described as Horse Eater, I give her a ritual
spirit magic that lets her worshippers do so. It's probably something like
Bloody Cut...
David Dunham * Software Designer * Pensee Corporation
Voice/Fax: 206 783 7404 * AppleLink: DDUNHAM * Internet: ddu...@radiomail.net
"I say we should listen to the customers and give them what they want."
"What they want is better products for free." --Scott Adams
---------------------
From: graeme....@anu.edu.au (Graeme A Lindsell)
Subject: Human Sacrifice in Glorantha
Message-ID: <940106032...@cscgpo.anu.edu.au>
Date: 6 Jan 94 19:29:26 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2742
Carl Fink writes re human sacrifice in Glorantha:
> Nope. In fact, it's definitely done -- see _Cults of Prax_ for a
>Yelmalion version, and the _Prosopaedia_ for several examples of trolls
>doing it. It just isn't in the rules anywhere.
See also the description of the construction of the Temple of the Reaching
Moon in _King of Sartar_ (I think it's in the saction about Tatius the Dim
in the CHDP). Both willing and unwilling sacrifices are mentioned.
Also we're told that the Lunar Empire has gladiators. Correct me if I'm
wrong, but I think the Roman games evolved from human sacrifice by combat.
I wouldn't be surprised if the origin of gladiatorial games in the Empire
was from Dara Happan customs, since we see the Yelmalions doing something
similar in _Cults of Prax_, and I don't think they copied it from the
Orlanthi.
Here's another vote for calling the Aztecs "evil". They seemed to have a
problem with conspicuous consumption of human beings.
Sandy Petersen writes:
>IMO, any aversion the Morokanth might have towards eating
>humans is minimal. It's obvious that the only difference between a
>herd man and a "real man" is a Rune spell: why waste the spell?
What about the opposite? I'd think a hungry tribesman would probably
prefer to eat a Morokanth before one of his own herd animals.
Graeme Lindsell a.k.a gal...@huxley.anu.edu.au
RQ Daily Discussion List
This is the RuneQuest Daily Bulletin, a mailing list on
the subjects of Avalon Hill's RPG and Greg Stafford's
world of Glorantha. It is sent out once per day in digest
format.
More details on the RuneQuest Daily and Digest can be found
after the last message in this digest.
---------------------
From: wat...@computing-science.aberdeen.ac.uk (Colin Watson)
Subject: Various comments
Message-ID: <9401061134.AA12031@condor>
Date: 6 Jan 94 11:34:14 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2743
____________
Geoff Gunner wrote about plot ideas:
>re: tiph...@aol.com's plot - sorry, that would never go down with the motley
>crew I play with.
I liked the plot idea, but I agree that the Stormbull PCs would have to
be outstandingly dumb (which is not beyond the realms of possibility;-) to
follow the plot without question.
I'd prefer to run it from a different angle: set up the PCs in the role of
the Orlanthi delivering the supplies; have them inexplicably attacked by
a band of berserk SBs; let them try to discover what's happening after
they (hopefully) suppress the SBs; then they can try to track down the
Trickster who set it all up and/or proceed to the fort as they were
originally instructed.
This way there's less chance that the PCs will spoil the plot by
asking sensible questions: and you have the SBs as NPCs who can be as
dogmatic as you like.
>They'd be smart enought to query the information - Orlanthi
>sending weapons to chaos creatures ? Very suspicious.
I dunno. There are some fairly shifty Orlanthi around these days...
____________
David Dunham wrote:
>Orlanthi culture is sort of a cross between Cymric/Celtic and Viking.
I never really saw what was so Celtic about Orlanthi. A Storm God certainly
doesn't seem very Celtic to me. They're more like Vikings without ships.
>Check out King of Sartar, which has the most detail of any work on the
>Orlanthi.
I think I will. I must've missed something.
_______________
Human Sacrifice:
My tuppence to add to the ongoing discussion:
Remember, in the real world it wasn't only outsiders and enemies who were
sacrificed; victims were sometimes extracted from the ranks of followers
(and even leaders). Sometimes it was an honour to be sacrificed; folks even
volunteered. This is true of the Celts, tho I dunno about the Aztecs (didn't
one of their methods involve playing some kinda ballgame to elect victims?).
In Glorantha I think chaos cultists are as likely to go around sacrificing
each other rather than outsiders who's souls are pledged to other gods already.
_____________________________
Sandy wrote about Yara Aranis:
>...some kind of anti-archery spell, the exact nature of which escapes me.
>...no doubt the RQ Daily can come up with a
>better spell than we had then. I hereby throw it out to you guys.
>What's the anti-archery spell of YA?
Well, I don't know if YA has any runic justification for this, but the
best way to screw archers would be with a spell which increased the
strength of the wind locally (like Cloudcall increases cloud cover). If
they could whip up a gale (with several/many castings I guess) then any
missile fire would become pointless. Granted, the downside is that the YAs
couldn't use their crossbows, but so what? real men fight toe-to-toe.
(I suppose the perfect spell would have a lull every coupla rounds so you
can fire yer crossbow - but that's a touch game-mechanicky...)
(And note, of course, that Sureshot whould ignore the effects of wind-strength.)
'course, a wind-affecting spell would have other uses too: at sea for example;
or against airborne attackers.
___
CW.
---------------------
From: JAR...@RMCS.CRANFIELD.AC.UK
Subject: Home of the Bold
Message-ID: <940106122...@Sun.COM>
Date: 6 Jan 94 11:24:00 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2744
Hi Slavering Hungry RQers who want to buy Home of the Bold
I have I couple of spare copies which I will auction at Convulsion'94.
So if you missed out last time be sure to sign up (there are not many
places left). Also there will be an opportunity to get hold of the
book which David Hall et al. are writing for the Malkioni FFG "How the
West was One".
There you go, can't get to RQ Con from the UK, but now you don't need to!
-----
Lewis
-----
PS. Nick: Glad to see that there are two of us who own (and have read!)
Griffin Mountain.
---------------------
From: gwd...@mcs.drexel.edu (William Dugan)
Subject: digest
Message-ID: <940106142...@mcs.drexel.edu>
Date: 6 Jan 94 14:28:40 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2745
Please include me on your mailing lists rfo the RQ daily difest. My adrress is gwd...@mcs.drexel.edu
Thank you!
---------------------
From: sta...@MIT.EDU
Subject: Eating those poor humans and other rambling thoughts!
Message-ID: <940106193...@al-burro.MIT.EDU>
Date: 6 Jan 94 19:35:06 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2746
Greetings!
However well intentioned eating sentients is poor form. I cast one
'yea' vote for calling the Aztecs evil for doing so. The difference between
casting a Divine spell or not for the Morocanth is the difference between
eating a sentient and not. I am looking primarily at human motivation here.
There are several races that are interested in sacrifices and
consuming sentients. Most of the ones I can think of are Chaotic, e.g.
Tuskriders, Undead, etc., but there is at least one example of a non-Chaotic
race that practices the eating of sentients whenever possible
The trolls are quite fond of Dwarf and Elvish flesh; then again, Zorak
Zoran is not exactly my idea of a great role model for the kids.
The trolls also consume their own at the time of death if memory
serves me properly. Just out of curiousity, what was the old Mistress Troll
view on consuming sentients? They were all immortal. The Curse of Kin came
*after* the Great Compromise, during the Second Age right? So, Zorak Zorak
and gang existed when there were just Mistress Trolls true? It would be
interesting to think that somehow Trollish society had 'degenerated' after the
Curse of Kin, but the theory does not seem to fit Gloranthan history.
Given the Troll example, it does not appear to be strictly Chaotic to
consume or sacrifice sentients in Glorantha, but it is kind of 'disturbing'.
The Trolls consider the Elves to be plants and the Dwarves to be rocks, but
the Trolls also consider these races to be sentient don't they?
Sandy: I chafe at the notion of alignment as well, but I would call the
madman who serves the evil Lord CE(Chaotic Evil). The fact that he serves
some organization ultimately is not a total reflection on his personality. He
is probably being cowed into it. And, *how* one serves is very much a matter
of personal choice. The Judges Guild had a three digit code for alignment
where each letter specified the persons conviction to a world view in
decreasing order of importance; so, the character could be CEL (Primarily
Chaotic with Evil tendencies, but way down deep may be willing to act in a
coherent and organized fashion to accomplish some end.)
Got to go, off to a thesis committee meeting!
In service,
Rich
---------------------
From: san...@idcube.idsoftware.com (Sandy Petersen)
Subject: re: RQ Daily
Message-ID: <940106200...@idcube.idsoftware.com>
Date: 6 Jan 94 08:08:15 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2747
Tom Zunder sez:
>I think Ompalam is not only not chaotic but strikes me as
>potentially very lawful. I think he is incorrectly classified,
>unless his slavery is based on deception. I cannot see an overt
>reason to make him chaotic. Again, unless his cult is actually evil
>or corrupting, it could be regarded as a decent and upright
>institution.
I don't think that Law is the opposite of Chaos (in Glorantha), but I
agree that Ompalam is not chaotic. As an American Civil War buff who
has had plenty of thought about the practice of slavery, I feel that
it is both evil and corrupting. In Fonrit, Ompalam is regarded as an
integral part of society, of course. His cult institutionalizes
slavery, and is not "Seductive" at all. It behaves the way slavery
does -- coercion and force. The slaves are forced to worship Ompalam
(he is one of the very few gods to receive involuntary worship), and
the masters receive all the benefits, amongst which are heightened
control over their slaves.
>I'd like to ask Sandy how much of Cthulhu or the Dreamlands has
>crept into his RuneQuest Glorantha gaming?
A fair amount of Dreamlands, not so much Cthulhu, I don't think. When
I feel a desire for horror gaming, I pretty much play CoC. On the
other hand, Jeff Okamoto, or other guys who've played both games with
me might have a different opinion. I like the Dreamlands feel of
travel, exploration, and wonder, and I try to put that into my
Gloranthan games -- we do a lot of traveling and seeing new strange
sights never before beheld.
>I ... liked the way that cultic power varies. ... an odd cult ...
>may be weaker. It reflects the power of the cosmos, not game balance
>(spit!).
I, too, dislike "game balance", a boardgaming term first misapplied
to RPGs by Gary Gygax.
Thom Baguley sez:
>[Yara Ararnis would thus seem to have an organizing role ... and an
>active combat role .... Maybe this would be reflected in the
>Priest/Rune Lord split in the cult (if Yara Aranis has Rune Lords)
I would expect such a militantly active cult to have Rune Lords. The
fact that the cult seems to have two roles also seems to support the
existence of priests as well, so Yara Ararnis wouldn't be like
Humakt, Zorak Zoran, or Storm Bull, who lack priests.
Dave Dunham sez:
>I don't recall anyone coming up with real effective tactics against
>the Mongols
Most of the Mongol's enemies were low-quality infantry (Chinese) or
other cavalry (Europeans, Arabs). Good defenses against cavalry
didn't appear until a century or two later, with the development of
really skilled infantry -- English longbowmen, Genoese crossbowmen,
Swiss/German pikemen, etc. If effective anti-horse troops had been
fielded vs. the Mongols, the Mongols might still have triumphed by
virtue of their superior morale and generalship, but it wouldn't have
been a walkover.
> Last time you said [Yara Aranis] provided Kill Horse (cannot be
>resisted)
I misremembered, When someone else in the Daily said that she should
Frighten horses, my memory returned like a shot and the entirety of
her anti-horse spell became clear to me.
>Note that arrow range is 120 metres for a composite bow (which we
>can presume nomads use, since Earth nomads did), and rune magic
>range is 100 metres
It can't be easy for nomads firing from a galloping horse to ensure
that they're always in that 20m zone between rune magic and archery
range. Surely this isn't a precision affair. And let's not forget
that Lunar Magic lets magicians in the Lunar army cast Slow at very
long range.
Graeme Lindsell sez (re: Morokanth eating humans):
>What about the opposite? I'd think a hungry tribesman would probably
>prefer to eat a Morokanth before one of his own herd animals.
For some reason I suspect this is uncommon. After all, there are no
"herd morokanth" around to serve as an example. I think that most
Praxians would not eat a Morokanth any more than he would eat a troll
or elf. Murder and rob them, yes.
I view the Morokanth as very much the "odd man out" amongst the
Praxian tribes. While the human tribes freely steal slaves and wives
from one another, I play them as reluctant to sell humans to the
Morokanth, and likewise as more willing to kill a defeated Morokanth
than to take it prisoner.