> > Yes - that's why it's such hassle to run unless you have those
> > imagination-free players we mentioned.
>
> Now that's just silly.
No. Most of the material you'll need to handle what the players are likely to do just isn't there - and it could have been, quite easily.
> I love the Cradle Scenario - I don't need to
> have an answer to my players questions, I just want them to ask
> questions and come up with their own theories. Even if they are
> wrong. Some times especially if they are wrong.
But how do you know whether or not they're "wrong"? They come up with a theory of how to retrieve Pinchning - is it right, or not? Will it work? If not, in what way will it fail? You're on your own - the explanation of what happened to it isn't there.
> > How can it possibly be *preferable* for the GM to be denied the
> information
> > they need to respond to the players actions? Unavoidable at times,
> yes, but preferable???
>
> I have found that sometimes keeping things deliberately vague as to
> what the underlying issue is actually results in the players
> developing more interesting theories than my own.
Sure. But having the information in the first place wouldn't prevent this, nor prevent you using the players ideas instead of those in the scenario (or an interesting mix, whch often works even better).
> I've had entire
> plot arcs where certain key issues where a mystery from even myself -
> and they worked brilliantly. Did Snorri really steal Orlkar's Bull
> or did it just wander away?
Ask the dice, or see what's the most fun. But if that's what the scenario's about, the GM probably ought to have a pretty good idea.
> > Probably, yes. But in what way does it fail? That's most of the
> game, after
> > all - interesting ways in which the PCs fail, and what they do
> about the consequences.
>
> That can certainly be worked out in play.
As long as you have enough background to work it out, yes.
> The key issue is that the heroquests, rites and ceremonies fail.
So if this was a debating contest against a clan chief whose support you want, you'd be satisfied with "you fail", without having any information of his likes, dislikes, the reason he's biased against them, the fact that he's being blackmailed...? Just "you fail"?
> > > Until Iceland, the traditional
> > > Orlanthi myths, heroquests, and everything else just doesn't
> work. "just doesn't work" is not a useful description.
>
> Expand on it then.
But the expansion is what I'm buying the book for! I can write my own plot and description, sure, but if I have to write the lot, why bother buying someone else's?
We're presented with a situation - a problem to solve. So far, so good. The book assumes the players will focus on one aspect of the problem, and take one of a very limited list of methods of solving it. Well, they'll probably focus on some other aspect, and do somethng else. So you need the basic background about what's really going on, so you can make sure that what you invent fits.
> > > Unless you are playing Kallyr and her ring.
> > That's roughly the level I'd be bringing the players in at, yes.
> OK, then you are already operating in YGWV territory
Of course. Everybody is. Except for those poor sods stuck with the imagination-less players.
> which is just
> fine, but it does mean that things will happen in your game
> differently from the canonical story. But that is just fine.
Obviously what happens will be affected by the PCs. Otherwise what's the point?
> Check up on the Eleusian mysteries. Demeter and Persephone deal
> with the rebirth of the world - a far more impressive feat than
> merely killing some giants or trolls.
(adds item to to-do list)
> > > Not as much as many people seem to think. Arkat might not have
> > > changed the cult of Humakt at all - Makla Mann seems to have
> been a
> > > more significant definer of Humakt.
> > And he was a follower of Arkat.
>
> And? The point is that Arkat did not appear to significantly change
> the cult of Humakt - or indeed of any of the cults that he joined.
But his followers did, as you point out. And a follower is, well, a follower. If Makla Mann did something, Arkat probably had a finger or two in it.
> > > > > The God Learners never understood Orlanthi mythology
> > > > Well, they'd only read the RQ2 material, not the HW books :)
> > > That's exactly right.
> > In your Glorantha, too?
>
> Yep. The God Learners bought the old RQ material. And got very
> angry upon learning about Elmal from their undersea prisons.
Oh, so that's where they are, is it? (adds item to long-term plot elements).
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