HQ2 does not have totally subjective or arbitrary levels for resistances. It explicitly provides a mechanism to deciding what resistance to use for each contest. We've been using the draft rules in our game group for several months now, and I can attest that it works, and nobody has ever complained about arbitrariness.
...
> Of course I'll be the one filling in the blanks, but I'm trying to
> portray Glorantha for my players to the best of my understanding of
> how She works.
As if you are the director of a film, with your players as the audience? I believe HQ2 aims for a more interactive style, and that HQ1 (despite appearances) was intended for that style too. Quite simply, HQ might not be the game for you, and there is nothing wrong in that. Trying to bash an unsuitable game into the shape you want is probably not wise.
...
> Problem is that I don't have a good grip at what abilities City Gods
> and Tribal Wyters are supposed to have. Are the physical armies the
> key, or is the magical battle against a titanic 10w4 resistance what
> determines the fate of the city. Seeing how 10w4 was implied by Greg
> earlier to be the level of magic wielded by the Red Emperor, I don't
> think it can actually be quite that hard to take Furthest. It's not
> like it had the Emperor personally defending it with the magic of the
> Moonson. That's why I'm thinking augments.
...
Rather than leaping into numbers, perhaps it would be better to start with qualitative descriptions, then translate those descriptions into numbers for whatever game system you are using? Greg, bless him, seems rather poor with numbers, so starting with his numbers is probably not so good.
Jeff Richards wrote:
> [for example] the dragon
> that protected Boldhome, or the great statue of Raiba that guards
> Raibanth.
...
IIRC, the narrative sources indicate that the dragon and Raiba both opposed, but unsuccessfully, a major Lunar army, Another source indicates that a hydra (or, perhaps, The Hydra) was summoned at Carantes to oppose a major Lunar army. I think we can say that "the combined magic power of a large city (its guardian/wyter) is about as powerful as a major army". Teelo Imara herself defeated Raiba, but the implication is that her victory was not obvious from the start, suggesting we can say "the guardian/wyter of a large city is comparable in power to a Super Hero".
IIRC, Greg has said that guardians/wyters are necessary for a community to combine its magic, rather than acting as a mob of individuals. That suggests that the strength of the magic of a guardian/wyter is roughly proportional to the number of people in its community.
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