> I'm a firm traditionalist, and lovingly caress and use only RQ2
> stuff. Am I alone in this?
I'd like to hope so, you plonker. Sadly, there are other idiots out there=
who've been trying to kill our favourite world through neglect since Aval=
on
Hill bought the right to print Greg and Sandy's works. Listen, matey: mos=
t
Gloranthan products include oodles of Gloranthan flavour and Very Few
Rulesy Bits. And a genius like yourself can *surely* work out how to
bastardise a RQ3 character or rule back to beautiful RQ2sville?
> I'm just about to run a campaign with Lunar Characters, is there a
> good source anywhere for the Lunar Empire?
"Genertela Book", part of the (filthy, evil) RQ3 boxed set, "Glorantha:
Genertela, Crucible of the Hero Wars", includes 17 pages on the Lunar
Empire itself, not including the sections on Dragon Pass and Prax. This i=
s
*the* source for what goes on inside the Lunar Empire.
Just out: "Tales of the Reaching Moon" magazine, issue 16, is a Lunar
Special, including cult writeups using (stinking) RQ3 mechanics for the R=
ed
Emperor and Danfive Xaron, plus scenarios set in Carmania, the Provinces
and Dragon Pass, loads of fiction, a map and description of the Red Moon =
by
Greg Stafford, etc.
Greg's recent books "The Glorious ReAscent of Yelm", "The Fortunate
Succession" and "The Entekosiad" include *loads* of Pelorian mythology an=
d
history, but it takes work to turn this into directly gameable material.
Don't buy these unless you're willing to put some effort into it, but it
will repay dividends in the depth and background of your Pelorian
characters and campaigns. If you want to buy just one "useful" book, I'd
recommend "The Fortunate Succession", as this includes modern Lunar histo=
ry
and links it to what's gone before in old Dara Happa.
> Does anyone have or know of a copy of the "Borderlands" pack they
> are willing to part with? My Lunar chappies are nobles off to carve
> fiefs for themselves in the Pavis region.
It'd be cheaper to buy the (vile, festering) RQ3 supplement "River of
Cradles", which includes much reprinted material from "Pavis", "Big Rubbl=
e"
and "Borderlands", as well as copious amounts of New Stuff, including
details of the other Lunar Grantlands along the river valley on pp.43-48
(inc. maps, cutaways of a typical fortified stead, etc.). "Borderlands"
usually goes for Big Bucks at auction, as you can see in the "Meints Inde=
x
to Glorantha".
If you're adventuring in Prax, you probably want the two Praxian Special
issues of "Tales", #14 and #15, which include (RQ3 - urgh!) scenarios,
Spirit Cult spells, oasis descriptions, myths, a map and description of t=
he
Wastelands, etc. All using the (abhorrent) RQ3 rules.
And while you're about it, why not pick up "Sun County" and "Shadows on t=
he
Borderland", two RQ3 (ach! spit!) scenario/campaign packs set along the
River of Cradles, in the same part of the world your Lunars are heading o=
ff
towards?
OK, DanJKahn, I admit I'm taking the piss (but only a little). But if you've really been treading water quite self-sufficiently for the last thirteen years or so, how come you need our help now?
> I keep seeing the abbreviations GRoY and FS and I was wondering what
> the actual titles of the books were and who published them (along
> with the Entekosiad).
GRoY =3D "The Glorious ReAscent of Yelm" (aka GRAY to some): Dara Happan mythology of Yelm and history of the early Empire, written in the third century ST, and including substantial chunks of astronomy/astrology.
FS =3D "The Fortunate Succession": history of the Dara Happan Emperors (including the Red Emperor) from the reign of Yelm up to the Seventh Wane=
of the Lunar Empire (i.e. NOW), including maps and notes on how art, architecture and religion have changed through the centuries.
Both these books (and "The Entekosiad": mythology of western Peloria) are=
by Greg Stafford, and are published by Wizard's Attic, who also distribut=
e
other "small press" Gloranthan publications. They sell by mail order, and=
can be contacted on the U.S. freephone number:
1-800-213-1493.
> I was wondering if anyone knows a current contact address for TOTRM.
> The only address I have for them is several years old (at least).
The editorial address hasn't changed for several years, and is:
David Hall
21 Stephenson Court
Osborne Street
Slough
Berkshire SL1 1TN
United Kingdom
David can be contacted via e-mail at <glorantha_at_compuserve.com>. The
Reaching Moon Megacorp has local distributors in the US, Australia and ma=
ny
European countries, but writing to David is a good first step.
> I'm sure that I've seen write up/map of Horn Gate, and for the life
> of me I can't find it amongst my many sources.
I don't know of a detailed map and write-up. Some information on Horn Gat=
e
was in "Borderlands" (which you may own, as a Man of Many Sources), and w=
as
reprinted in "River of Cradles", p.45f.
> We've been playing that the day and month's runic association decide
> the weather pattern and intensity; is the feeling that the season and
> weeks would be very defined in their start and end weather wise? E.g.
> the weather patterns don't gradualy meld into one another but Sea
> moves into Fire season and Prax starts to bake day 1 of Fire, or is
> the season weather merge a more probable one?
IMO, the change in seasons is more gradual and unpredictable than you suggest, as otherwise some important everyday Gloranthan activities (e.g.=
farming, sailing) would become "too easy". The change of the seasons is fore-ordained, but Fire Season can be "too hot" or "too wet" depending on=
circumstances beyond the comprehension of most Gloranthans. "Griffin Mountain" included random weather generation tables for each season in Balazar, with a note saying:
"Changing tables between months should be done carefully,
but allow the weather to take incredible shifts, to occas-
ionally let winter begin with a full ice storm to make
everyone aware that things will be tough ahead."
This seems to support both approaches: a season's weather can "begin with=
a
bang", but is more likely to gradually change.
> Assuming that the Sacred Time is not a good time to be out, how do
> the Tribes manage? Would a mini tent city have arisen around Horn
> Gate of those poor unfortunates and tribes seeking shelter? Would
> some form of hard shelter be required?
I'm not sure Sacred Time is "a bad time to be out" -- it may just be that=
it's "a good time to be involved in sacred rituals", unless you want to b=
e
left out from the Good Luck of the reborn world for the coming year...
Obviously "hard shelter" isn't required at a normal Sacred Time, else how=
would thousands of Animal Nomads have survived for all this time? But if it's a Bad Year, or the Gagarth Winds play up, or Nasty Urain starts falling, there are *miles* of underground passages through the Horn Gate which could hold the desperate Praxians, Oasis Dwellers and Unfortunates.=
I'd prefer this to be something that happens as a one-off (and maybe a taboo-breaking one-off, at that) faced with disaster at the Year's End, rather than the routine annual event which would tend to turn the Mysterious Ancient Ruins into a Multi-Storey Underground Animal Park...
> The Lodril priests with the Lunar army simply cast a mass version
> of Suppress [Oakfed], or "Prove Lodril is Master/Father of Oakfed
> Ritual" as it is also be known. This ritual was more powerful and
> more polished than the Shamans' ritual and so they were defeated
> magically. There is no great mystery to it, it's simply the appli-
> cation of superior magical sophistication backed by superior force.
I'd be inclined to give the Lunars much more credit for originality and improvisation than that. Several factors give them credit for excellent tactical thaumaturgy in winning the magical battle of Moonbroth.
It'd be hard for the Lunars to have known for certain that they'd face
Oakfed shamans. Given the nature of Praxian magical warfare (if Nomad God=
s
is any guide), Oakfed's Great Spirit may have been summoned only weeks or=
days before the conflagration at Moonbroth: little enough time to prepare=
a
coordinated response.
Treating it as "routine" for the Lunar army to have a supporting continge=
nt
of Lodril priests is unlikely, IMO. More probably, when the nature of the=
the threat facing them became clear, the Lunars looked desperately for a
solution to the magical holocaust that faced them. Although *not* a god o=
f
Military Magic, the Lodril cult is a widespread and popular Pelorian
peasant cult, with obvious appeal in the barracks (god of drinking, sex,
and R&R generally). It's likely that the General or the Lunar Magicians
quickly assembled a contingent of Lodrilli from among the ranks of the
Pelorian units, and that any priests or acolytes in their number were the=
re
quite by chance.
Then again, Oakfed is the native wildfire god of Prax; Pelorian Lodril an=
outsider on the Plaines. What gave the Lunars the additional strength the=
y
needed to defeat Oakfed's shamans on his home ground was the proximity of=
the geothermal springs of Moonbroth Oasis, an obvious but previously unrecognised Holy Place to Lodril, God of Vulcanism.
So, in the face of an overwhelming threat from Praxian wildfire, the Luna=
r
Army was able, quickly and inventively, to come up with effective magical=
countermeasures. Their superior magical sophistication allowed them, in t=
he
face of an unprecedented peril and in the middle of an unfamiliar desert,=
to make use of the natural magical advantages which they happened to have=
about them.
::::
Nick
::::
End of Glorantha Digest V4 #547
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