YGWV.
I hope you will excuse my occasional incursion into this, and especially
bear with my "divine corrections."
The entire point of me writing down those conditions and attitudes in all
of my Gloranthan material is to deliver to you my vision of the world.
I present these as a starting point, not a set of laws. I think that
Glorantha doe snot conform to these standards, except in the same way that
"All Americans own cars," or "all Brits like their beer warm." Life is more
complex because individuals interact and none of us conform to everything.
The material I've presented about the Humakti such as their outcast way of
life and severance from clan and humanity, their obsession with Death,
their penchant for murder and abrupt actions caused by commands form their
god, Death; and the aversion of women and children upon meeting them on the
street are given to you for two reasons:
1. to be plot tools.
If your campaign has them as friendly Irish cops, happily married with
their own cozy stead then what happens when a cult brother comes to town
who is the rigid psychopath I have presented. What if your sister becomes
one?
The drama that I love to see and feel in Glorantha comes from the intense
conflict of what is and what ought to be. Living up to expectations of cult
behavior, for instance, is meant to be difficult and limiting in certain
ways. These are not normal human ideals, and the intensity of the plot
comes from your hero trying to live up to these expectations while living a
life that has the everyday temptations and complications of life: the cow
is sick, some girls were kidnapped, your baby has colic or some neighbors
are poaching your hunting lands.
Then add the imperative of the Hero Wars, where things are going to happen
no matter what your characters do. And finally, the epic scenarios that
will allow your character to be in and, perhaps decide the results of
critical events. The long-term implications of actions are going to come to
fruition a couple of books down the line in many cases. But even the death
of Orlanth, a new planet rising into the sky and Dragonrise will end, and
your heroes have to go home someplace.
2. As guidelines for upcoming material
Most of the scenario characters to appear in future supplements are going
to follow the conventions that we've set out in the published works.
Humakti are going to be grim and somber black-clad swordsmen, and most
everyone will avoid being near to Death and cross the street to avoid it.
I expect people to do as they please, and think HeroQuest is going to make
that apparent and expected.
Greg Stafford, greg_at_...
Issaries, Inc. 900 Murmansk St., Suite 5; Oakland, CA 94607
Phone: (510) 452 1648 Fax: (510) 302 0385
Publisher of Hero Wars, Roleplaying in Glorantha See our site at:
<www.glorantha.com>