From: RuneQuest-Request@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (RQ Digest Maintainer)
To: RuneQuest@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (Daily automated RQ-Digest)
Reply-To: RuneQuest@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (RuneQuest Daily)
Subject: RuneQuest Daily, Mon, 31 Jan 1994, part 3
Content-Return: Prohibited
Precedence: junk
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From: devinc@aol.com
Subject: RQ3 annoying rules questions
Message-ID: <9401300520.tn19460@aol.com>
Date: 30 Jan 94 10:20:42 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2942
Thought I'd toss off a few annoying questions re RQ3 rules (even though the
RQ4 rules will address a lot of these problems):
a) To bind a spirit with Spirit Magic requires casting of Control Spirit.
This spell requires one to engage a spirit in combat and defeat it BEFORE the
spell is cast. The problem is, Magic Spirits, Spell Spirits, Power Spirits,
and Intellect Spirits cannot engage in spirit combat. Therefore, how does an
enterprising young spellcaster capture and bind such spirits? In other words,
how d
oes the caster initiate combat with spirits that cannot engage in such
combat?
b) When a limb is maimed or severed, is the seven day limit to cast Regrow
Limb still in effect. The RQ3 rules don't set any such limit. Does this mean
there is no limit? That would essentially mean that no one would eve
r lose a limb permanently in RQ3 Glorantha.
c) There is a sentence in Sun County implying that Healing 2 is still needed
to stop bleeding, but RQ3 rules seem to imply that ANY Healing (even 1 po
int) will stop bleeding. Which is correct?
d) Does one add one's Magic Bonus to the chance to cast Spirit Magic? Sun
Countyshows the bonus added, but other scenarios do not, and the RQ3 Magic
Book does not address this directly. It does say so explicitly for Sorcery,
implying that it does not therefore app
ly to Spirit Magic. Does the bonus also apply to Divine Magic?
e) RQ3 Creatures book says that Vampires cannot use Spirit Magic or Divine
Magic, yet the Vampire in the Sun County scenario has Divine Magic, and it is
implied that he could cast Spirit Magic had he not forgotten all of his
spells. Which is correct? Also, RQ3 mentions none of the vampire's Rune
Spell-sucking ability from RQ2 and from Sun
County. Is this ability still intact?
f) When an impaling weapon criticals, does it do maximum impaling damage,
ignoring armour? In other words, if a Composite Bow Criticals, does it do 18
points of damage ignoring armour? The rules imply this, but it seems to make
impaling weapons very dangerous.
Why would anyone want ot use anything else?
g) When a Chalanna Arroy is resurrecting someone, she must engage the
departing spirit is spirit combat. May she use Spirit Block and other such
spe˙lls? If so, it would be almost impossible for the Chalanna Arroy to lose such
a combat.
h) For that matter, when a cult initiate is learning a spell from a Cult
Spell Spirit, can he use Spirit Block
and other such spells? Again, if this were true, no initiate would ever lose
such combats.
i) What happens when one spirit fights another in spirit combat? Do they
have to both be Visible per the spell? Can they damage each other
permanently? What happens to a spirit when it is beaten down to zero MP,
aside from its susceptibility to binding? Is it "unconscious"? Also, can a
Visible spirit be affected by a b
asilisk gaze?
j) Is long-term fatigue regained like short-term fatigue? By long term, I
mean the 1 fatigue point lost per hour of Ritual or the 1 fatigue point per
hour lost due to marching long distances. It seems ludicrous that 12 fatigue
points lost during a 12 hour ritual are regained in an average of 12MR (2
minutes).
I have a Daka Fal Priest in my campaign, and many questions have arisen regar
ding his abilities:
a) When you summon an ancestor, how long does it stick around for? 15
minutes seems way too short for a ritual that could take up to 24 hours to
perform, but forever is ridic
ulous.
b) How long DOES it take to summon an ancestor? 1 Hour per MP of the spirit?
c) How exactly does Axis Mundi work? It says that all Summon spells are
treated like ordinary Rune Magic. This is VERY vague. Does that caster still
have to make his Summoning %, or merely the 01-95 roll for all other Rune
Magic? Does the Summon Spell take 1 MR to cast or still take however long it
normally takes (see question e above)? If the caster fails to cast the Summon
Spell, is the spell used up, like regular Di
vine Summoning spells, or can he try again next MR like normal Divine Magic?
d) How exactly does the Visibility spell work? Does it make a single Spirit
Visible or all spirits within range Visible? What if you only want some of
the spirits within range to be Visible? For that matter, you must generally
see the target of a spell to cast the spell upon it. By definition, you don't
see the target of the Visibility spell until AFTER it has been cast? How does
this happen? What happens if you randomly cast a Visibility spell and 2
random spirits are floating around in the area, which one is made Visible?
e) Do spirits gain POW-gain rolls for overcoming targets' MP's? If so, which
spirits? If so
, is it the old RQ2 5% chance, or is it normal chance?
f) What happened to the Lunar Scimitar! In the Genertela Pack Book 3 for
generating a Lunar character, Scimitar is nowhere to be found! Sickle i
s hardly an adequate replacement. What gives?
g) Has anyone ever worked out a system for determining if a resurrect spell
is available at any given moment. Certainly, with accidents and marauding
nomads, et al, the four priests at Pavis must be constantly using their
spells? How do the Chalanna Arroy decide who is worthy of such limited
resources? Do they cast it on people on a first-come-first serve basis? If
so, I pity the important Orlanthi noble who dies right after a peasant has
been brought in for resurr
ection! In fact, how does anyone near a Chalanna Arroy temple ever die except
by old age?
h) How do people assassinate others in Glorantha? Death is not permanent, so
the soul as well as the bod
y must be destroyed. I can think of a few ways:
1) Dip the blade in Blade Venom and expose i
t to Soul Waste
2) Use acid, enough to destroy the entire body
3) Invent POW destroying
poisons
The rules for resurrection also imply that if the head is severed,
resurrection cannot
occur. However, there are no rules for severing heads or vitals in RQ3. How
is this done?
i) What are the exact benefits that a Priest gets over an Acolyte? Until I
know, I cannot figure out why anyone would be the former.
j) Can Magic Spirits be taught other spells? Also, do Sorcery-oriented Magic
and Spell spirits also have Intensity, Duration, Range, Multispell, etc? What
if a spirit knows a ritual; how can it cast the spell, since it has no body
and presumably cannot perform many of the dances, gestures, etc. required by
such?
k) Does the endurance spell erase long term endurance like that from marching
or casting rituals. If so, it is an awesome spell, for even one point of the
spell can allow a caster to d
o ceremony indefinately, without tiring.
l) Why am I asking so many questions? Didn't anyone playtest RQ3, especially
the spirit rules and Daka Fal rules?
Devin Cutler
devinc@aol.com
---------------------
From: MOBTOTRM@vaxc.cc.monash.edu.au
Subject: Live Action Trollball - The Supertroll '94
Message-ID: <01H8B8HP4O569D6B3C@vaxc.cc.monash.edu.au>
Date: 31 Jan 94 10:44:25 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2943
LIVE ACTION TROLLBALL AT RQ CON, OR HOW I WENT TO VALIND'S GLACIER AND LIVED
By MOB
It's 9 am and 9 degrees, Fahrenheit. While sensible RQ Con goers were
safely tucked away in bed after Saturday night's drinking and
debauchery (hi Nick), me, Nils Hammer, half-a-dozen mad trolls and
about a dozen even madder spectators braved the elements and went
OUTSIDE for the inaugural North American Live Action Trollball
Championship (the Supertroll, if you will).
Live Action Trollball is of course loosely based on the Trollball game
presented in RuneQuest's TROLLPAK, "a gonzo trans-dimensional mutation
of American football". The live-action game has been a staple at some
Aussie cons for years - for a detailed write-up see John Hughes's article
in Tales of the Reaching Moon issue #8, from which I have plundered
certain parts below.
For the game's American debut, Nils and I fine-tuned the "rules" late
on Saturday night, our creative juices aided by the gargantuan troll-
food meal from Eat at Geos a few hours earlier (plus a few stout ales).
Valind did his best to keep all but the heartiest from taking the field,
and so we only ended up with three players per side, however one of these
was a true MISTRESS RACE troll. The dozen or so spectators were amply
served by a troll-food cafeteria (a large pile of appetising stones on
the sidelines), and were actively encouraged to throw snow-balls at the
players on the arena. The playing area itself was in true trollish
fashion irregularly shaped and bordered by trees, about 30 yards long.
Weapons ranged from rolled-up hats and scarves to inflatable replicas of
Munch's "The Cry" and a five foot long blow-up Stegasaurus. To ensure
all weapons were safe, all players were required to beat themselves over
the head for one minute. Sadly, once out in the below-freezing air, none
of the inflatables lasted the distance, and the players wielding them
were reduced to using them more like flails or whips than clubs.
The game was hard-fought, with rampant cheating on both sides
occasionally punished by kicks from the giant referees (Nils and I).
Peter Maranci's Bozztown Bashers were the eventual winners after scoring
a goal in the dying seconds of the game, following a brilliant play where
an attempted Befuddle was capably blocked by Countermagic. Shortly after
the final goal was scored, the trollkin almost lost its head.
So great was the Bozztown Bashers' victory in the inaugural Supertroll
that their opponents' names have been erased from history (sorry, it was
so damn cold I think the ink in my pen packed up and my brain was
numb). Players on the both sides won a chance at the Dart Competition
at the close of the con, but I would like to immortalise their names
here on the daily. Would the frostbitten five who joined Peter come
forward and achieve trollball Fame of Hall status!
For those of you itching to take part, the second North American Supertroll
will be held in balmier climes at RQ Con 2. Near a swimming pool
hopefully. Proud sponsor is Argan Lager, the troll beer that corrodes
the parts human beers can't reach!
For those of you who can't wait til then, here's
DA RULES
1. Trollball is a ROLESPORT: more than scoring goals or dismembering
trollkin, roleplaying is what makes this the sport of heroes. As John
wistfully reminds us, "...it's the chants, the insults, the songs, the
rubber chickens, the facepaint, the Kyger Lager t-shirts and the random
attacks on spectators that make Trollball such a satisfying experience.
In trollball, you learn to appreciate the beauty and poetry that dwells
in the heart of an Uz."
2. Play begins with the giant referee standing in the centre of the field
and throwing the trollkin in a random direction. How random might depend
on who the giant wants to win or other unfathomable reasons - such is the
nature of disorder!
3. The game is played at Walking Pace, yes WALKING PACE. When moving,
imagine you're SIZ 28, lumbered with a huge gut and weighed down by a
rock gizzard still disgesting that dwarf from last night. Better still,
imagine you're a Ray Harryhausen Dynamation(tm) monster - think of "Clash
of the Titans", or better still "Jason and the Argonauts" or any of his
"Sinbad" movies. Move at several frames per second. And don't forgot to
growl a lot.
Moving too fast is punished by getting kicked by the giant referee.
4. Any palpable hit on a location takes out that location. What do we
mean by "palpable"? In a nutshell, any hit that gives a satisfying THUD.
If you get hit on an arm, you drop whatever you're carrying (weapon,
trollkin body part, whatever). If you get hit on a leg, you fall down, but
can still drag yourself around. If you get hit on the body or head, you're
down and out for the count. You can still growl and scream, but one of
your teammates will have to drag you to one of the Healers on the
sidelines.
5. Healing. Unless you know a Heal spell, any time you're injured you've
got to get yourself to one of the beautiful Xiola Umbar priestesses at
the sidelines. They'll touch the location and you'll be fine, ready to
leap in and crack heads again. If you are so badly discommoded that you
can't get to the sides under your own steam (eg. taken a hit to the body
or head, lost both legs, drunk too much Powzie, etc.) one of your teammates
will have to drag you over.
6. The trollkin. Australian experience has shown that using a small human
(eg. a 13 year old Warmallet player) as a fill-in trollkin proves to
be unsatisfactory. Humans proved difficult to dismember and it became
hard to recruit further volunteers. A good substitute is a large rag
doll whose limbs and head are attached to the body with strips of
velcro. The trollkin is considered "alive" as long as the head
remains attached. (At RQ Con our trollkin's head was more securely
attached, so we played it that if it lost two or more limbs it was
dead). If the trollkin "dies" then the referee puts it back together
and begins a new play.
7. The referee. The giant referee can punish infractions (real or
presumed) by kicking the offending player. The player then RUNS 30
paces in the direction specified, and can then shamble at troll speed
back to the game shamefaced but angry. Don't forget to pelt him
spectators!
8. Magic. Magic? Trollball doesn't allow magic I hear you say! Of course
it doesn't, but then again it does add extra spice to the game. Just don't
let the giant referee catch you.
The magic system for Live Action Trollball is incredibly simple, more as
a result of Nils and I thinking it up on the fly on Saturday night than
from any special insight. Here's how it works. Each player draws 3
random slips of paper with the names of spells on them. To cast a spell,
take out the piece of paper, shout what spell you're casting, screw up
the piece of paper into a ball and throw it at your target. If it hits
the target, the spell works! Throw the screwed up paper at yourself if
that's who you want to effect. Spells are only usable once - once
you've screwed 'em up they're gone.
Here's a list of the spells we used at the RQ Con Supertroll:
*HEAL - restores one location.
*BEFUDDLE - act like you're on Dreamweed til someone belts you.
*DISRUPT - destroys the location hit by the bit of paper.
*JUMP (self only) - once cast, game stops and the player is allowed to
take 20 steps in one direction. Play then resumes.
*MOBILITY - move at jogging pace for a while.
*SLOW - move at 2 frames per second for a while.
*DISPEL - negate effect of one spell (except Disrupt or Heal).
*COUNTERMAGIC - use if hit by an incoming spell. Negates that spell.
Finally as John Hughes says, 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.
I'll leave you with John's team, the 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".
---------------------
From: joe@sartar.toppoint.de (Joerg Baumgartner)
Subject: Yet more Hsunchen speculations
Message-ID:
Date: 30 Jan 94 14:24:38 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2944
David Dunham in X-RQ-ID: 2922
[Me]
>>Votanki from Balazar might be seen as Dog-Hsunchen
>which I also don't see. They don't turn into dogs. Dogs are their friends
>and allies but not something they particularly worship.
Ref: Dorastor - Land of Doom p.119
The Telmori "hold permanent rivalries only with the dog-people of
Balazar and the cat-people of Dragon Pass."
Of course the main reason for this rivalry may be the fact that these
animals (!) have strayed from the Hsunchen path by letting themselves
become domesticated, and therefore aren't able to transfer their
special magics to their human counterparts, something like partial loss
of the Beast Rune.
Same for Praxian herd animals, and cattle, horse and sheep.
--
-- Joerg Baumgartner joe@sartar.toppoint.de
---------------------
From: joe@sartar.toppoint.de (Joerg Baumgartner)
Subject: Joerg again
Message-ID:
Date: 30 Jan 94 14:24:49 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2945
Boris in X-RQ-ID: 2930
> Okay, I give up. Maybe I'm overlooking something obvious, but I can't
> find the reference. In the ongoing "Praxian are/are not Hsunchen"
> discussion, there have been several references to "Hrelar Amali". Could
> some better educated Gloranthan scholar please tell me where this is
> discussed, please?
A quick look into my database yielded for Hrelar Amali:
$GB 70f; $RQC 9 (JTC 1473); $KoS 72
(Genertela Book, RuneQuest Companion: Jonstown Compendium, King of Sartar)
City of the gods, built where Flamal was cut down by Zorak Zoran and buried.
Now holds temples to each and any deity of Glorantha.
If anyone has a pressing question like that and can use this kind of info,
email me directly. Only a short note, please, since I pay for my mail.
--
-- Joerg Baumgartner joe@sartar.toppoint.de
---------------------
From: prharmaty@aol.com
Subject: HeroQuesting again (by Paul Harmaty)
Message-ID: <9401300949.tn25055@aol.com>
Date: 30 Jan 94 14:49:31 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2946
At RQ-Con Greg Stafford stated he could find no Humakti willing to go on a
Humakt HeroQuest where he is guaranteed to meet Humakt (and thereby die).
John Medway and Bryan Maloney have been kind enough to reply to my posting
regarding reluctant Humakti Heroquesters. Their insight into the cult(s) was
appreciated but neither of these gentlemen provided me with an answer that
satisfied.
My unstated supposition was that the HeroQuest would involve something that
was of great significance to Humakt. After all,
it isn't every HeroQuest that puts you face to face with your God. If the
HeroQuest places
you at your God's side, isn't that as good as it gets for a devote follower
(John, I wouldn't expect the less than fanatical to take up this quest).
Perhaps I expected too much from the HeroQuest.
If it was a Monty Haul affair I wouldn't expect ANYONE to take up the
challenge.
If a devote Stormbull worshiper must die while assisting his God defeat the Devil,
wouldn't he? Perhaps S.B. HeroQuesters routinely die to ensure that this
myth/history is never changed. I think they would. Woul
d Humakt's followers not die to preserve their God's existence / place in the
cosmos? This seems sacrilegious IMO.
In the grand scheme of things wouldn't a God's followers support their Go
d even onto death? I envision this type of 'ritual' (not actual) death to
take place all the time during Sacred Time when the myths are reenacted to
ensure the continuance of the universe. If the HeroQuest was an extention of
these myths that required a real death, wouldn't someone take up the call and
stride onward towards his destiny?
So.... given that it would have to be a noble cause / righteous
death / yada, yada... what would cause a true believer to avoid this
HeroQuest?
---------------------
From: devinc@aol.com
Subject: Re Illumination and Dorastor Land of Doom
Message-ID: <9401301425.tn39896@aol.com>
Date: 30 Jan 94 19:25:38 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2947
Well, I reread Dorastor Land of Doom and found that some of my Illumination
questions had been answered via changes from the COT write-up.
Specifically, it states that no longer is one's illumination skill rolled for
each Sacred Time. I hated this rule because it meant that someone with a mere
3% in Illumination would become illuminated inside of 33 years. This led to
my theory that by now almost everyone in Glorantha should have been
illuminated.
DLOD also states that Illumination originated from Rashoran, thereby
providing a reason why Arkat could be illuminated without influence from
Nysalor.
Also, DLOD states that Illumination can come from poems, plays, songs, even
objects...not just riddles.
Finally, it seems that an Illuminate can deny his Illuminated state. Almost
as if, while his mind knows that illumination is a valid paradigm, his heart
still clings to the old ways of thinking. This means that many il
luminates would probably not want to spread their "curse" to others.
Thanks to the DLOD people for cleaning up an intriguing but rather messy area
of Glorantha.
Further to DLOD, in the descr
iption of the Hungry Eater on page 76 it mentions that it has the attack of
"Inversion", yet the description for this attack is nowhere to be found. Can
anyone tell me what this power is. It sounds nasty, but if it isnt, then the
Hungry Eater may be one of the few Special Encounters in Dorastor that a
party could defeat (although not bloody likely).
Finally in the writeup of Ralzakark on page 81 it mentio
ns that he has the ability to summon up the "Sky Terror". What is this? It
sounds mean.
Devin Cutler
devinc@aol.com