Subject: Broohaha, Volume 3, Number 4
First distribution: March 25, 1989
This issue:
Semi-completed Heroquest: The Hero Plane (Steve Maurer)
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HEROQUEST rules for Variant RQ....
Author: Steve Maurer
Copyright(C) 1989 Steve Maurer (permission to copy for personal
non-profit use is hereby granted, as long as this copyright
notice is included in the text. All other rights reserved.)
NOTE: THIS IS NOT A CERTIFIED VERSION OF GLORANTHA. I HAVE NO
RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CHAOSIUM, OR ANY OF ITS STAFF.
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THE HERO PLANE (The God-Time)
The God Time is a very weird place, even for a Gloranthan. It
is both the history of Glorantha, and yet also runs somewhat concurrently
with time within Time. You can think of Heroquesting as a very magical,
and very weird form of time-travel.
In this text, Hero plane, God Plane, and God-time and the are used
interchangeably. However there is a subtle distinction between them.
The Hero Plane is everywhere beyond Time. The God-Plane is the place
in the Hero Plane where the various gods reside (their respective domains);
these are called the Heavens (or Hells -- for gods you don't like). The
God-Time is the furthest 'back' the Hero plane goes, the mythical time
before wars or Chaos invaded; to enter the God-Time, a Hero must fight
through both the Lesser and Greater Darkness, and the Chaos wars.
The Child Time
Time is the god(dess) who now orders the universe. The power of
time is such that even the gods cannot individually oppose him/her.
Time is also called Compromise, or "The Compromise".
Time's function is fourfold: First (and foremost) Time prevents
Gods from fighting. Gods, even eternal enemies, may only act in
accordance to the rules set forth when s/he was born. The rules are
set in God-tongue, and thus not understandable by mortals, but they
can be roughly translated to:
o No direct fighting.
o No cursing or harming those who do not worship you (but you
may send a minor curse on those who spurn you).
o No claiming the souls of spirits that are not yours.
o No helping worshipers unless called upon. The more you are
called upon, the more you can help. But even when you can
help, you may only help your worshiper, not harm another.
This is the basis of RuneSpells. It is perfectly all right for a
god to "help his/her worshiper" by giving the worshiper a part of
the god's abilities -- even if these abilities are used to hurt others.
In fact, this practice was common even before the child Time came into
existence.
Time's second function is to order the universe, to make sure that
events happen in sequential fashion. To allow only cause and effect,
and outlaw effect-and-cause. Thus all augury magic is useless in
Glorantha, except for the occasional glimpses that Arachne Solara
(Time's mother) may give.
Time's third function is to insure that the powers and curses which
were in effect at Time's birth are still in effect, and to give each of
the great powers places in Glorantha all their own. In simpler terms,
this means that Time is responsible for all "natural processes": the
seasons, the process of birth, growth, and death, that weakness and
death results if mortals do not eat (even if they do not exert themselves),
that creatures descended from the gods conquered by the air gods must
breathe air or die, that those descended from gods who were killed must
always meet inevitable death. All these "processes" Time enforces.
Note that "natural processes", are sanctioned by Time. They are
not, under the rules of The Compromise, a direct interference. If a
creature foolishly challenges one of Valind's blizzards during the time
allotted to that god, then Valind is not responsible for any harm which
comes to the creature. Note also, that even these "natural processes"
may be opposed, by those strong enough to oppose them. Time, like all
gods, is not immune to change.
Time's final function is to provide a direct communication between
the gods and the world within time. With a few exceptions, a worshiper
may ask for divine aid, no matter where he is.
The Absence of Time
The reason why it is important to know the rules of Time is that Time
does not exist on the Hero Plane. NONE of the Laws of Time work on
the Hero Plane automatically. Each must be specifically invoked.
This means:
o If you personally meet a god, and the god doesn't like you, the
god can smunch you into tiny little bits. (Or do other things
that are much worse).
o "Natural Processes" do not occur, unless someone specifically
wills it. You can be smunched into tiny little bits, but you
will not die unless Death is specifically applied to you (or you
will Death upon yourself). By passing beyond Time, you pass
before Death (Death knows this, and often tries to block the
paths of which he is aware). Your need to breathe, eat, and sleep
is diminished to almost nothing. Fire does not burn (unless it
wants to), ice does not freeze you (unless it wants to). All
natural powers/events still may occur (and many of them do),
but only because someone (or thing) invokes them against you.
Many deserts, for instance, are a part of the realm of the god
of Thirst -- so in them thirst will incapacitate you.
o You cannot ask for Divine Intervention, unless you are actually
at the feet of your "present" god (who knows you). On the other
hand, your God isn't restricted from giving you all the help you
need.
o You do not regain Temporary POW ("Magic Points") naturally. This
is another "natural process", Time is responsible for. Luckily,
it is relatively easy to regain Temporary POW for some cultists.
o All magic you have in effect before you go onto the Hero Plane
usually disappears in the ritual which sneaks by Time. If it
doesn't, then it only lasts only for it's subjective time.
o All magic with a Duration, that is actually cast on the Hero plane
remains in effect permanently (until you exit).
o Any Rune Magic that you use on the Hero plane is gone permanently.
Time does counts the spell as being uncast, and your god (once you
get back onto the normal plane) is not allowed to replenish it.
(If you manage to meet your god on the Hero Plane, you can get
all your Rune Magic back).
o Elementals can't be summoned unless you are in their primal plane.
However, Elementals stay around forever until they are "killed".
While in their primal plane, they must be spiritually killed, as
they can simply remanifest any body which has been destroyed.
o The one exception to the loss of Rune Magic, is that magic which
is stored in Truestone while inside Time, may be regained inside
Time. The spell may be cast on the Hero Plane. This is one of
the many reasons why Truestone is so valuable (in addition to
it's holy significance to most cults).
o You do not have to (nor can you, unless you concentrate on it)
strictly obey the laws of causality. If a group of Heros on the
Hero Plane split up and then rejoin, it is expected that each
group will remember different subjective time than others (much
like relativity, actually). Typical Heroquests take many years
of subjective time (sometimes hundreds).
o Because causality doesn't always exist, you may run across "earlier
versions" of Gods, Heros, or other creatures. The god that you
worship may not recognize you unless you go to his final resting
place ( basically where the god is "now" ). In general, the
further back in God-Time it is, the harder it is to get there.
o You may eat portions of the enemies you defeat, not only deriving
sustenance, but gaining a portion of their power. The more you
try to eat however, the more difficult it is to "digest" the
power. In addition, if you eat too much, you may become more like
what you just ate, than what you are yourself. This can happen
even to the gods ( Lodril is a classic example ). This form of
power acquisition is shunned by most (except for creatures of
Darkness and of Chaos).
o Time actively works to prevent those who would contravene the
compromise from entering the world. When attempting to exit
the Hero Plane, Time will extract a toll. For every heroic
ability, you must spend temporary-POW points (ranging from
50-temp points for a small ability, on up into the thousands).
You need not supply these temp-POW points yourself. Worshipers
may supply them for you.
o The track that you take through the Hero Plane is never washed
away by time. Paths not only travel between PLACES, but also
travel between particular EVENTS. You may follow a path made
by another, and it will follow to all events that person found
(including ambushes, treasures, etc.) However see the caveat
on this below....
Rules Before Time
Even before Time, the Universe enforced a few rules which not even
the gods had the power to change. The most important is that an event
cannot happen more than once (can't be reversed). What happens happens.
This has several effects:
o You can never meet yourself.
o You can't change the history of the gods. For example, you may
not go back and try to jump in front of Orlanth's killing blow
against Yelm. What happens if you do, is that you find an echo
of the original event, and "become" one of the players in it.
This, Sorcerors call a "re-enactment", or a "shadow" of the
event. If you in the course of the re-enactment, you DO manage
to change bad "history" then you do not suffer the curse associated
with the act; if you re-enact a triumph, then you get some echo
of what the originator of the path received.
Following the various gods this way is called "walking in a gods
footsteps", and is one of the most common forms of Heroquest.
Many cults make a big mystic thing out of this, saying you BECOME
your god. But as any Sorceror or Shaman will tell you, that's
simply wrong.
The Universe doesn't prevent people who don't worship a god from
following the god's path, but as matter of practicality, only
the god's cultists do. Not only are they the only ones who know
their god's paths and it's dangers, but often the rewards are
something that would be prized only by a cultist of that god.
It is VERY dangerous to walk an unknown path, for not only do
many lead to certain destruction, but many others lead to rewards
you do not want. (The God Learners resolved to discover the
paths of various Gods and Heros, and abused them -- earning the
emnity of nearly everyone).
o If you make your own path, you will not become part of any
re-enactment. This is far far more dangerous than following
a known path, but can also lead to greater rewards.
o If something bad happens to you on the Hero plane, you can't
later try to stop it from happening (not even a god can do that).
The BEST you can do, is try to repair what has been done, but
again this usually requires another Heroquest to find a cure.
It is usually beyond the scope of the gods. ( Hero Plane curses
and blessings are usually permanent. )
o Even in their present state, the Gods are not immune to change.
If you decide to go where the god is "now", and take him or her
on in one-on-one combat (and you win -ha-ha-) then you may injure
the god (and perhaps derive some benefit). You may persuade
a god to do something, or may teach a god some new craft.
This is the way to become a "hero of the cult". Gods, in general,
are far more tolerant of Heros than they are of any other cultist.
Simply meeting your god is often a way of freeing yourself of a
god's minor restrictions (not curses!).
o If you are destroyed by some forms of Chaos on the Hero Plane,
even the memory of you may be removed from the world.
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