I'm known as a heretic who doesn't play in Glorantha, but it's not because I don't like it. And certainly not because there isn't a lot of material for it (in fact, the volume of material turns me off, personally). Glorantha has some features that are really unique.
For me one of the most important things about Glorantha (and it's translation into the HQ rules is one of the reasons I use them) is that the setting is non-materialist. I'm using that term in the Marxian sense, very specifically. Most RPG worlds have some sort of materialist explanation for religion. In most cases the gods are just some extrememly powerful beings. For example:
Tekumel
Jorune
Shadow World (Rolemaster)
Harn
All D&D worlds in some ways, too (the Norse Pantheon sits beside the Elvish
Pantheon and the Orcish Pantheon?).
The authors of these works all believe that to have gods that give magic, they have to simply be beings that are just beyond the comprehension of the characters. The problem is that, as players, we know that they're just powerful beings. Meaning that playing a priest has this sensation of being a thrall to some being that's decieved them - the myths about them creating the world are not true, they're lying to their priests and followers.
In Glorantha, if a Myth says that some god created a particular mountain range, that god created that mountain range. If there's a god of the sun, he doesn't just embody the sun, a star somewhere out there, he is the sun. Along with the other gods that are the sun.
Yes, this means there are contradictions, and that the contradictions are true! On some metaphysical level at the very least.
This doesn't make Glorantha easy to approach, by the way. In fact it makes it a challenge. But a very, very worthwhile challenge. Glorantha asks you to try to understand the viewpoint of a member of a non-materialist society. And asks "what do you think such a person would do, especially when exposed to challenges in their belief system."
I walked away from Glorantha way back in 1984 because at the time using Runequest it had some of the metaphysical problems that D&D did. Rather, it was no better than the other worlds in this respect, because of the gaming system being used. Hero Quest has brought me back to Glorantha, and more importantly, the spirit of Glorantha has now infected other fantasy worlds via the use of the HQ system meant to represent this sort of reality.
So Glorantha is great for more than just sentimentality or the absolutely massive amount of info on it, or even the cultural depth. It has some really serious theme built in as well.
Mike
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