Re: Re: What world-building lessons have you learned from Glorantha? [Part 1]

From: Guy Hoyle <guy.hoyle_at_F9cHm0gY_ffDPX8bEOJFGwC2OZKk7R0T7yvWg3c4XbZPNaGFYjjC8BVlBg_2kuEncz>
Date: Tue, 17 May 2011 07:16:02 -0500


Stewart,
That's the kind of thing I am looking for: what to do, as well as what not to do. Thanks1
!
Guy
On May 17, 2011 5:20 AM, "Stewart" <stu_stansfield_at_NE94adclmpsyN6vukS2R9jHiC9K5xwRccjtn3U1B6PL-RqFPCznBWtHi83Ehqo0YiLJGYxifu87CqQE3LLNG3q7XkR7m.yahoo.invalid> wrote:
> This list has been depressingly quiet of late, so here's a provocative
take on Guy's question. It's more "What world-building lessons have you learned from Glorantha *to apply to future Glorantha*?" than what, I sense, Guy intended.
>
> It's a Lunar Seven. First three are below.
>
> 1. BE REALISTIC.
> An incredible wave of optimism spurred and accompanied the Hero Wars-led
Renaissance of Glorantha; a feeling that was more vital than anything that has developed since. This was what Glorantha had been waiting for. An army of authors was ready to unleash a horde of Gloranthan supplements on the world. Of which few appeared.
>
> I wrote 10,000 words for--hang on, let me get this right---the book after
the book after the book after Men of the Sea. Thankfully, Rick et al. are pushing a sensible publication model. 'Official' Glorantha has consolidated. There simply isn't the market, nor the resources, to serve Glorantha as some want.
>
> -------------------------------
>
> 2. FORGET DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS: YOU SHOULD BE BURNING TROLL PAK.
> Yes, I did just type that. Troll Pak is arguably among the greatest of
RPG--nevermind Gloranthan--supplements. It's also had the worst influence of any supplement on Gloranthan publishing. The optimism I mentioned above? It was mingled with Gloranthaphiles' arrogance. Glorantha didn't just allow a wealth of splatbooks into diverse topics - it deserved them. Every race, every culture - they all needed their own Troll Pak. Duck Pak. Elf Pak. Dwarf Pak. Nasobeme Pak. We'd devolved into the paradigm of the microstudy.
>
> Earliest Glorantha wasn't like this. WB&RM/Dragon Pass, Nomad Gods;
campaign packs such as Pavis, Griffin Mountain, Borderlands - they all embraced a kaleidoscopic sense of variety. Even Troll Pak, to be fair, was highly diverse. You opened those books and boxes with a real sense of wonder.
>
> But with Hero Wars? The focus fell on individual races or religions to the
detriment of the broader picture, and their relationship with other Gloranthan elements - no, text boxes and bullet-pointed adventure hooks tacked on as an afterthought don't count. It was the paradigm of regional experts and project leaders focusing on narrow topics. Analysis overrode synthesis. We'd lost the sense of perspective.
>
> Collections were discouraged; they would diminish the possibility of
writing in greater depth elsewhere. "We can't let you incorporate X in Y; that would tread on the toes of the person who's writing Z." (Z, incidentally, would never see the light of day.)
>
> It's time to stop taking Glorantha apart, and start putting it back
together. Recent supplements are a good start.
>
> -------------------------------
>
> 3. WELCOME TO FANTASY EUROPE.
> Related to the above is the next point. Glorantha has always, from the
first stories of Snodal, through the Superheroes and Heroes of WB&RM/Dragon Pass, etc. had a human focus. I don't deny this. But this focus was nested in a web of wonderful, magical races and cultures. Trolls. Dwarfs. Ducks. Newtlings. Wasp Riders. Beast Folk. And so on.
>
> Look at the WB&RM/Dragon Pass board--which, I believe, is the most
brilliant, inspirational piece of art created for Glorantha--and count those massive, magical Dragonewt cities. And roving dinosaurs. Now think of the paradigm of Sartar as explored in the past dozen years. Bit of a disconnect, eh?
>
> Recent Glorantha has been written by people whose predominant interest has
lain in human cultures. Their efforts are considerable, often brilliant--and nobody else is writing bugger all, so we can't complain. But the trend is noticeable.
>
> Men of the Sea certainly wouldn't get done under the Trade Descriptions
Act (1968). There are twenty-seven herobands in Masters of Luck and Death; only three deal with Elder Races in any detail. All of them were written by Peter Nordstrand. If Peter hadn't contributed to the book, I doubt there'd be any. HeroQuest is the worst. Ten homelands. All of them human, bar one. The exception? Puma People. (Don't. Just don't.)
>
> Gloranthaphiles lambasted RuneQuest 3 when it moved from Glorantha to
'Fantasy Europe'. Yet Hero Wars and HeroQuest have spent much of the past dozen years doing something similar.
>

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