Re: How powerful are City gods, Tribal spirits, petty gods...

From: Jeff Richard <richaje_at_gTfWvrWvycySqbkI0O6_gmYTzCUBhry6P97Nu66uRDBLAsgTT1n3F4YnHVEXG-TbozvK>
Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2009 07:24:47 -0000

I'm not particularly interested in a narrative v. simulation discussion on this forum (especially since I think much of it is overwrought), but as an author I want to jump on this:

> However it is a lot easier to get over concepts of scale with
> numbers than words. And with magical abilities it is particularly
> important because we have no real world comparator. With Glorantha
> this applies even more because it doesn't follow the standard
> western fantasy model.

There are not going to be any stated characters in the Sartar Book, most specifically because that would make no sense under the HQ2 rules. There will be detailed one or two paragraph descriptions of significant non-player characters, so that a Narrator can develop an idea how that character can or should be fitted into their story. But whether in your campaign Prince Temertain is a major plot obstacle or merely a source of comic relief depends on your story, not mine.

Let me give a real world literary example. Godmund of the Glittering Plains is the mythical king of Jotunheim in numerous Icelandic romances (including "Bosi and Herraud", "Helgi Thorisson," "Hervarar's Saga," "Thorstein Mansion-Might" and several others. He's always the same character, but in some stories he is a mighty obstacle, and in others little more than comic relief.

And so it should go in your saga.

Jeff