"Malcolm Serabian" <R_Carter_at_msn.com>
>The monomyth makes Glorantha more user friendly. Instead of having to
>memorize
>5 different gods of the cold sun, 1 makes things just a little bit easier. It
>is a way to get new players and gm interested in Glorantha.
I think you've got it a bit backward - who ever said anyone needed to know the names of the 5 gods of the cold sun to play? Unless you choose the conflict between such religious schisms as a theme for your game (and some of us might), then all your players need to know is what you think they should know.
If you are running in Prax, and your players want to know something about the world, or about the gods worshipped there, or whatever, then let them read some of the introductory stuff in River of Cradles. Do they need to know that the magicians in Fronela use different magics, or that in Imther they think of Orlanth as the Trickster Orlantio? No. Do you need to know as a GM? Not really - if you don't want to use, say, the Imther material, or the Dorastor stuff, well, don't send your campaign there. If you find GRoY and the Entekosiad strange and confusing, well don't run a campaign that deals with the mythic underpinnings of Pelorian belief - hardly that harsh a prescription. Skip over the bits of the digest that don't interest you.
In short, if you like to believe that the RQ2 Orlanthi stuff is correct all the time, then run a game from the Orlanthi viewpoint and ignore our multi-cultural babbling. You still have to deal with Elmal/ Yelmalio, but if you can't deal with even that, just ignore it in your game - - so, you won't be 'official' Glorantha. So what.
But DON'T say I should restrict my exploration of Glorantha because of the limitations of your players!
>I'd just like to not have to
>have my players get a degree in Gloranthan Mythology in order to play the
>game, and understand the supplements!
The supplements that are designed to be played are quite understandable, and perfectly playable, no degree necessary. Pick up ROC, SC, Shadows on the Borderlands (ignore Strangers in Prax due to its 'challenging' use of an NPC or two with different metaphysical beliefs - or pick it up as an example of how this needn't cause your campaign to crumble), and you have a pile of adventures complete with a quite reasonable amount of background, enough to play in the Pavis/Prax region. If you are feeling adventurous, throw in Codex#1 and tales 14 and 15. If you want simple Sartarite background, maybe even pick up King of Sartar, read the Report on the Orlanthi, and ignore most of the rest of it... Now you've got a bunch of playable material, complete with background. Its all playable. The religious schisms and multi-cultural perspectives can all be kept at a safe distance. You can still have fun.
But I think if you are prepared to play in a world with different cultures, you should be prepared to play in a world where those cultures also have different languages, interpretations of history, and religious beliefs. And if your players don't feel up to dealing with that, don't tell them about it. And don't tell us to stop, just because your players aren't interested. We are.
(heroically resists the urge (as one of four Certified Apple Engineers in Australia) to make cutting and savage comments about the use of the term 'user-friendly' by someone posting from msn.com, and to make pointed references to the appropriateness of a call for market share at the expence of intellectual depth emanating from that particular direction) (well, almost resists)
Cheers
David
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