Bell Digest v940902p1

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, Fri, 02 Sep 1994, part 1
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X-RQ-ID: Intro

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.


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From: CHEN190@csc.canterbury.ac.nz (Peter Metcalfe, CAPE Canty)
Subject: The Blue Wizard ponders...
Message-ID: <01HGM1V8XSG2ED56JW@csc.canterbury.ac.nz>
Date: 2 Sep 94 09:19:48 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 5988

Harald replies
    
>   Since I haven't seen anything other than GRAY on Entekos, I'm probably 
>   not in a position to comment with any certainty on the nature of the ur-
>   Entekos.  I would accept the following as true:  she is Pelorian, not 
>   Dara Happan, in origin and is associated therefore with the ancient 
>   earth cults; she is linked by Plentonius with a host of air related 
>   titles (I concede that it is unlikely for her to transmute herself); she 
>   is the Mother of Moons.
 
Agreed in total.  Given the title of the pre lunar moon tales 'Entekosiad', I
would say she is mainly Pelandran.
  
>   Is Entekos a Green Age or Golden Age entity?  Given the general Dara 
>   Happan feeling towards goddesses and the patriarchal tendencies of the 
>   Golden Age myths, I would call her a Green Age entity.  If this is the 
>   case, does she exist before Aether exists?  If she does, she can't be 
>   an entity of air.  If after, then she can certainly be an 'air' figure.  

I think I see a basic assumption here that I in any case consider wrong. 
Pletonius says that the Gods Wall is of the 100 gods and goddesses bowing down
before Yelm.  This dates to 6250 YS.  Ask yourself the following:

1)  Do you really believe Pletonius's assertion that Yelm was so farsighted to
    predict gods that did not exist?

2)  Given the identity of Gods Wall IV-1, what is the earliest possible date 
    for its construction?

3)  Would Ezelveztay really take the shape of a fire rune in the Gods Wall.  (I
    am refering to the picture on page 1).

4)  Is Murharzarm really a spitting image of his father? (compare cover to
    picture on page 1).

This should lead you into what I consider the right solution without any God
Learning.

>     Thus, 
>   Entekos might be the child created in the first union of earth and sky, 
>   rose up to her place, and was then torn down by Umath, though she left 
>   a calm space where her moon had been.
 
This is an interesting idea.  It would account for the hatred that exists
between Orlanth and Yelm.
     
>   I concede this as unlikely, but I would ask whether the 
>   beastriders might not have reached Dara Happa prior to the battle as 
>   mercenaries in the employ of the Theyalans who had been around since the 
>   1st century reawakening old spirits.
 
This is plausible as the First Council reached into Prax in 62 ST (according to
Humakt in CoP).  I still have no idea what this was about (despite 14 years of
waiting).
  
>   So...my thought is that the tripolis did not have a unified mythos, that 
>   each city and its surrounding area had its own unique mythos that 
>   Plentonius merged together.  

True, the Prince of the Ten tests had to acknowledge Eusibus's city as one of
the seven cities of Anaxial in the GRAY.

>  Yelm, therefore, is a manufactured deity!  

I disagree.  Pletonius may have fudged things a little but he was not a God
Learner.

>   The true Dara Happan sun gods are Murharzarm in the north (probably from 
>   Yuthuppa and brought from the city that won--hence the mythic city of 
>   Yuthubars); 

Actually Buserian is the Solar God of Yuthuppa.

>   Antirius in the central region (though many of his myths 
>   suggest a southern Pelorian origin, as do the later Sun Dome temples); 

IMO this is Murharzarm.

>   and Shargash (or the earlier name Nemarthshar) in the south.  

For Alkoth.  IMO these are the three men created in the tale of the making of
men in the GRAY.  Gievn Solar bias it is no wonder the women aren't named.

The rest of your speculation is interesting.  I won't comment further to avoid
'polluting an otherwise pure well' (quoting Greg when I asked him something),
but keep up the good work.

_Peter Metcalfe

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From: mcarthur@fit.qut.edu.au (Robert McArthur)
Subject: toilets and fundamental wastes
Message-ID: <199409010921.TAA11145@ocean.fit.qut.edu.au>
Date: 2 Sep 94 05:21:16 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 5989

What struck me the other day thinking about Glorantha, is that how close is
it to middle/last-middle age earth?  For example, sewage and cleanliness
used to be a large problem in Europe (and still in in many places in the
world where large numbers of people get together).  How about in the larger
populations of Genertela - even Boldhome or Jonstown are going to have a lot
if its like earth.

My reason for thinking it is what sort of ambiance do we get walking into
a Sartarite city?  In Europe one of the first things we moderns dudes would
notice is the stench!  In Glorantha, do having cults of healing and cults of
disease mean that, where healing is dominant, there is sanitation?  Do
healers connect sanitation and disease? *Is* there any connection in
Glorantha between the two?  Are there 'germs' or are people visited by a
minor but pesky disease spirit for a while?

Any thoughts on the state of toilets and trash?
Robert

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From: niwe@ppvku.ericsson.se (Nils Weinander)
Subject: Nasty cults and winged critters
Message-ID: <9409011140.AA12575@ppvku.ericsson.se>
Date: 1 Sep 94 15:40:49 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 5990

Nils Weinander writing

Add me to the interest list for Ian Gorlick's writeup of the
nasty cults.
_____

Sandy writes:
> I suspect giant eagles in the Shan Shan  
> side of the Wastes, since the so-called "Eagle Hsunchen" (i.e., wind  
> children) are known there, so presumably there's eagles, too.

Am I the only one to find Wind Children suspicious creatures? They
have feathered wings and are known as eagle hsunchen in Kralorela.
This would indicate bird/sky connections, but they are in fact air
related. This is weird.

/Nils W

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From: lfoste1@gl.umbc.edu (Linwood Foster Direwolf)
Subject: Re: The revival of the net.plot.book
Message-ID: 
Date: 1 Sep 94 10:01:11 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 5991

Has the net.plot.book been posted yet?
Just thought I'd ask.

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From: joe@sartar.toppoint.de (Joerg Baumgartner)
Subject: Disease
Message-ID: 
Date: 1 Sep 94 15:23:30 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 5992

David Baur mused about the size (POW) of Disease spirits.

IMO things contaminated with mundane diseases don't contain the 
spirits before they have contaminated a host creature, but as 
soon as they have, lots of no-POW disease spirits of the 
appropriate type can enter the victim without any resistance 
except its natural defenses.

These micro spirits go by the name of germs in certain circles.
-- 
--  Joerg Baumgartner   joe@sartar.toppoint.de

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From: SMITHH@A1.MGH.HARVARD.EDU (Harald Smith 617 726-2172)
Subject: morocanth and aerial predators
Message-ID: <01HGLIH9IUV4RTDJHM@MR.MGH.HARVARD.EDU>
Date: 1 Sep 94 06:51:00 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 5994

   - Martin asks about morocanth defenses against missile fire.
   
   One possibility, mentioned also by Sandy, is that the morocanth really 
   use darkness to great effect.  They travel and herd by night when 
   missile fire is useless and then retreat to large encampments by day to 
   sleep and protect the herds.  I picture them using the circular type of 
   defense used by wagon trains to fend off Indian raids in the American 
   West.  Set up large mobile shields, darkwalls, flame retardant blankets 
   (i.e. with Extinguish matrices in place), and make maximum use of rough 
   ground, scrub brush, hills, etc. to keep raiders back.  Then at night, 
   the morocanth hunters range out using their superior night vision to 
   track those who did raid them to steal their foes herds.
   
   - Aerial hunters
   
   Sandy mentioned most of the assorted animals.  I definitely see a range 
   of hawks here:  vrok hawk, sun hawk, etc.  Of course, there are ravens 
   scavenging too.  And what of the Thunderbird?  Is that a special species 
   or just a spirit without any allies?  I would think a nice grey bird (an 
   owl species perhaps) with heavy wings might be interesting here.
   
   --Harald



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From: sandyp@idcube.idsoftware.com (Sandy Petersen)
Subject: Re: RuneQuest Daily, Thu, 01 Sep 1994
Message-ID: <9409011741.AA13722@idcube.idsoftware.com>
Date: 1 Sep 94 05:41:28 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 5995

Alex:
>Joerg and I can both claim to have cohabited, country-wise, with  
>_Alces alces_
	really? What country? I know there's none in Scotland or  
mainland Germany. 


>But _Cervus canadensis_ isn't _that_ much bigger, is it?  

	1) it's not universally agreed to be a separate species from  
C. elaphus. One school of thought believes the two groups to be  
subspecies. And yes, it's quite a lot bigger. Ian Gorlick summarizes  
nicely: 450 kg for U.S./Canook version, 300 kg tops for European  
midget variety. 


Ian G. also points out that moose cause Big Trouble up in canada,  
eating trailer-trucks and the like. Perhaps in the U.S., where the  
moose population must cohabit with a much denser human population,  
the moose have learned to be more skittish around people. 


Unless stimulated to further action by needling beyond endurance, I  
plan to cease posting about the great Elk controversy. 


Ian G.
> For those who think of burros as small, you should realize that the 

>common burro is actually a dwarf variety of the wild ass. The wild  
>ass masses in at almost 300kg, as big or bigger than the zebras. 

	But zebras are rather small equines, compared to the domestic  
horse -- pony-sized -- 300 kg isn't that huge. Admittedly, even I  
knew the onagers were lots larger than the feral burros of the  
American southwest. But the small burros are more useful than big  
ones -- they eat less, are easier to care for, cost less, and can  
carry plenty. If you want a big pack animal, horses or oxen are  
better bets than large asses.
	Certainly small-time farmers in Tanisor would be better off  
with burros than onagers. 


Morocanth defenses:
	A surprising number of people have come out in favor of  
pavise-type shields. I can't believe the Morocanth use these in a  
raid or mobile battle -- it would further hinder their  
already-limited mobility. However, portable interlocking pavises  
would be an excellent way to defend a small morocanth camp during  
daylight hours -- sort of like a Hussite wagon fortress. Efficient  
against arrows, and mounted enemies. If the enemies climb off their  
steeds to attack you, you can make a sally. 



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From: 100303.141@compuserve.com (Staffan Tjernstrom)
Subject: Playing around with mundane magic  - Rune Magic
Message-ID: <940901170733_100303.141_BHB54-2@CompuServe.COM>
Date: 1 Sep 94 17:07:33 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 5996

By request of the other referee (sadly not on-line) of our joint G campaign, are
his extensions to the battle (spirit) magic rules....

Jon Tarry:

Variant RUNEQUEST Magic Rules

I have always been confused as to why in both 2nd and 3rd edition
Runequest, there exists a system for both Critical and Fumble
results for mundane skills, but not for Magic.

Given that Spirit/Battle Magic is tightly controlled by the
restraints placed upon the Spirit/the controls exercised by the
mundane 'Heroquest' associated with learning the spell. This may
go some way to explaining the discrepancy.

However, I enjoy a 'random' element asociated with spell use
(particularly as Spirit Magic is prevalent, and encouraged, in
my campaign!). The following rules are what myself, and my co-
referee came up with to achieve what we felt was a more
consistent approach to Magic and the Mundane Skill structure.

In line with skills, Spirit magic spells succeed AUTOMATICALLY
on a dice roll of 05 or less.
They also fail AUTOMATICALLY on a roll of 96 on more.

A roll of less than 20% of that required (a 'special' success),
will result in maximum effect occurring. For example, a 'special'
result while casting a Disruption spell will cause 3HP of damage
to the relevant location (assuming the target's POW has been
succesfully overcome in the usual way.)

A roll of less than 5% of that required (a 'critical' success),
again works AUTOMATICALLY. In addition a random beneficial effect
from the following Table occurs:

CRITICAL EFFECTS
Roll 1D10
      1  Half Magic Point (MP) cost. Round up.
      2  +25% to resistance roll. If none associated then No
         effect.
      3  Spell acts as if 5MP put behind it when cast. (ie need
         6Pts of Countermagic to negate the spell.)
      4  Double Range, OR Duration, OR Intensity. (Choose ONE)
      5  Double effect.
      6  Zero MP cost to cast.
      7  Affect TWO targets for the cost of one spell.
      8  Spell ignores Magical defenses. (eg Countermagic, Shield
         Countermagic, Protection, Reflection, Absorption, Chaos
         Feature.)
      9  Next spell works AUTOMATICALLY. No need for POW vs POW.
     10  At DM's discretion Spell acts as though Matrix Creation
         had been cast as well. Care needs to be exercised with
         this as it may create powerful matrices!


The converse situation involves a 'fumble' result on the dice
roll:

FUMBLE EFFECTS
Roll 1D10
      1  Spell fails AUTOMATICALLY, no other effect (normal
         MP cost.)
      2  Next spell cast has minimum effect. DM's discretion.
      3  Next spell cast, has HALF Range, OR Duration, OR
         Intensity. (DM's choice).
      4  -25% Resistance roll for next Attack spell. (either
         Cast or Hit By.)
      5  x2 MP Cost
      6  Caster suffers the effects of a Befuddle spell.
      7  x3 MP Cost
      8  Spell Works, REVERSE on self, OR Hit nearest friend
      9  Spell lost from Memory for 1D3 weeks!
     10  x4 MP Cost

The above Tables are of course only Guidelines. Feel free 
to make any amendments or ignore anything you feel is
inappropriate to your game.

Thanks go to Staffan Tjernstrom for help with development
of the above as well as to our regular players for their
help and comments. Any thoughts or comments on this subject
appreciated.

JONATHAN TARRY.


Now for my ha'penny's worth (ha'penny, roughly equivalent to a bolg).

Recovery of Rune (Divine) Magic:

Since I can't remeber who said what, I am going to ramble across the points I
remember...

Firstly, I do agree that the present 1 day to regain 1 point is difficult to
justify from a society viewpoint, though I concede that as a game mechanic it is
justifiable.  I play that two priest-hours regains 1 point (ie two priests
praying for 1 hour gain back 1 point into the temple Truestone).

As an avid RQ2 Barbarian, I am very dubious about the whole 'give RQ3 Initiates
re-useable Divine Magic' schtick [sp?].  IMHO Rune Magic is a reward from the
Gods to their _devout_ followers for services rendered.  Thus an Initiate would
gain a single use spell as a great reward (cf the gain from a mundane
HeroQuest].  Rune Lords also gain only one use spells, for the same reason,
though they have greater access, being more 'heroic'.  Since the Rune Lord's job
is (at least in the majority of cases) to be the cult's strong man the POW cost
of this is to a great extent overcome by the amount of POW gain rolls they will
have.  Hence I have no real arguments either way on the 'lower echelons'
recovery apart from - They Don't.

On the subject of the number of Lay/Initiates present when the priest tries to
regain - I like.  However, bear in mind that not all Priests are Temple bound
(eg a wandering Issaries Goldentounge).  I feel that it would be easier for the
Priest to regain a spell in Boldhome market during Sacred Time (ie automatic,
and all) than stuck in the middle of Pent with nothing but a set of two-week Lay
Baboon guides, but that it will still be _possible_, maybe with a price attached
(a great chance to have that mischievous ally start babbling about Genert
maybe).

Looking forward to the economy notes!

Harry Bushtill
Goldentounge
etc...


---------------------

From: curtiss@netcom.com (Curtis Shenton)
Subject: Some ideas on Rune Magic
Message-ID: <199409011706.KAA26039@netcom9.netcom.com>
Date: 1 Sep 94 03:06:03 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 5997

I've been working on some ideas for my own nonRQ/nonGloranthan campaign
and have come up with something that would work pretty well for
Glorantha. It's sort of a variant Runepower system I suppose.
	A worshipper sacrifices POW into a pool of Rune Power that they
can draw upon later. But the only spells they can cast are those they
have earned through various minihero quests. For example for an Orlanthi
to get Darkwalk they need to steal something from a Kygor Liter
worshipper. FOr a Humakt to get Beserk they might need to have fought a
foe or group of enemies that were more powerful then they or otherwise
been in some sort of combat where they expected to loose and die and yet
fought anyway. Not only would different religions have different quests
for the same spell but I assume that different temples would sometimes
have very specific quests you need to go on to get a spell. And some
spells you may just get access to because becoming an initiate of the
cult attunes you to some of the basics of the gods power. I suspect all
Orlanthi would be able to cast Cloud Call under this system for example.
	Any comments or suggestions? Has someone already posted this
idea and I'm just recreating the wheel? :)
-- 
Curtis Shenton curtiss@netcom.com internet & 4@3091 WWIVnet       
Interested in the process of designing unique magic/psionic/etc power
systems in an rpg? The loc-l mailing list is set up for discussions on
this topic. Email me to find out how to sign up.

---------------------

From: paul@phyast.pitt.edu (Paul Reilly)
Subject: Re: RuneQuest Daily, Thu, 01 Sep 1994, part 3
Message-ID: <9409011803.AA01639@minerva.phyast.pitt.edu>
Date: 1 Sep 94 18:03:06 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 5998


  Martin asks (sensibly)

>how have the Morokanth managed to survive on the
>plain(e)s of Prax?  Even the Bison and High Llama riders have
>some members with missile weapons.  Against Zebra, Sable, or


  We play the Morokanth as clever and "sneaky", after all they are darkness
creatures.  It is true that they would lose in a "fair" stand up fight, so
we give them the following compensating advantages:

1.  As the main nonhumans of Prax, they have learned to cooperate among
themselves better than most of the other Praxian tribes.  Morokanth clans are
readier to help each other than, say, Sable clans are - when a Morokanth
Khan sends out the fire signal for help, his neighbors (maybe 50 km away!) 
will come and help, without asking "What's in it for our clan" until AFTER
the crisis is resolved.

2.  They have a superb sense of smell and are good at finding waterholes, etc.
While the animals of the other tribe are a great help in these matters, the
Morokanth are the all-Prax champions.  They have a sense for when an underground
stream comes near the surface, for example.  This gives them 'ecological'
advantages when competing with the other tribes.

3.  They are better at night than humans are.  This is one area in which the
mounts of the other Praxians aren't that much help - they often have poor night 
vision as well.  While this is not such an advantage on defense, it is very
useful on reprisal raids against other tribes, typically conducted at night.

4.  They have gotten pretty good at intelligence, and tend to know when the
other tribes are massing against them.  They then scatter and hide or, 
sometimes, hole up in a strongpoint until the war fever blows over.

5. They like marshy ground and wetland plants, and go down near the coastal
flats, the Fever Trees, the Devil's Marsh, the Krjalki Bog, etc.  They are
immune to several human diseases (Yellow fever equivalent?) that make such
places distinctly unhealthy for humans, and they like to eat some plants that
humans can't live on.  In short, they have a different niche from Praxian
humans.


  If a Morokanth group does get caught out on the flat by a Praxian clan, they
could well get wiped out if the animal riders want to do so.  However, such
a clan would be under blood feud from the whole Morokanth nation, whose
memories are even longer than their noses...
---------------


---------------------

From: paul@phyast.pitt.edu (Paul Reilly)
Subject: Re: RuneQuest Daily, Thu, 01 Sep 1994, part 3
Message-ID: <9409011812.AA01715@minerva.phyast.pitt.edu>
Date: 1 Sep 94 18:12:58 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 5999


  Paul Reilly here.  Sandy writes:

> Herd men... slow down your herd to a comparitive crawl.

  Hmm.  In a sprint, yes.  I'm not sure about that in terms of miles
per day.  Humans are awfully good long distance runners, and herd men
may be even better.  In _New Scientist_ I saw an article comparing 
efficiencies of land animals on long distance travel - humans beat all
others except kangaroos, who have special tissues that are quite elastic and 
recover a lot of the energy from each bounce.

  I think that herd men may be less gruesome to eat than Sandy apparently does,
also.  Westerners disdain monkey, but many peoples happily hunt them
for food.  People adjust.

  Otherwise we look pretty much agreed. Sandy does bring up the endurance of
herd men later on.

  Remember that herd men have been selectively bred, and probably are bigger,
have more stamina, and give more milk than their distant human cousins.  After
all the Morokanth use captured Bison riders for breeding stock...

  And as Sandy points out, the herd men can fight.  Our Morokanth Khans keep
prize fighting bulls and when two Morokanth tribes meet there is often a 
boxing match.