Chris
Rune Keywords
The runes that govern Glorantha generally also bind your hero. Everyone in Glorantha has runes, but they mean different things for different people. This is what they mean for Praxians.
Before you initiated into the Praxian Tradition, your runes were dormant. They affected your personality, but little more. As keywords, you could use them to augment and create breakout abilities beneath them only as personality traits.
The ordeal of your initiation into the Praxian Tradition awoke your runes. Now you can use them in an additional way. Your runes make you more—or less—attractive to spirits with whom you deal. That means that you can also use your runes to augment any magic ability, charm, or ritual under an animist tradition keyword (like the Praxian Tradition), but only if you use a rune that the spirit involved also has. This is particularly useful when you are negotiating with a spirit. It is even more useful once you join a spirit society and can use your charms as active abilities. Your narrator may also treat your runes as flaws when you try to deal with spirits that have incompatible runes.
To select your runes, you can follow the three steps below, or simply pick any three runes. Because Praxians perceive your runes as your spirit knots, the information below reflects how Praxians perceive and categorize the runes. It does not reflect the absolute nature of Glorantha. The Praxians could simply be wrong.
Pick an Elemental Rune
Normally, your elemental rune reflects the tribal aspect of your spirit. You should discuss with your narrator and the other players whether you should choose a single tribe. Even if you do, you can always choose a rune that is unusual for your tribe, but other members of your tribe will know you are odd. A woman can always take the Earth rune and a Bullman can always take the Air rune, both without being odd. Choose one elemental rune:
Air: This rune is normal for Bison tribe members. It is associated with passionate, proud, and unpredictable personalities. It is incompatible with other elemental runes.
Darkness: This rune is normal for Morocanth tribe members. It is associated with cruel, cold, secretive personalities. It is incompatible with other elemental runes.
Earth: This rune is normal for Rhino tribe members. It is associated with pragmatic, prudent, and worldly personalities. It is incompatible with other elemental runes.
Fire: This rune is normal for Impala tribe members and common among Sable tribe members. It is associated with loyal, pure, and honest personalities. It is incompatible with other elemental runes.
Moon: This rune is most normal for Sable tribe members, though it is not dominant even there. It is associated with flexible, open-minded personalities. It is incompatible with other elemental runes.
Water: This rune is normal for High Llama tribe members. It is associated with mercurial personalities. It is incompatible with other elemental runes.
Pick a Power Rune
Next, choose a power rune. This is rune reflects your dominant temperament. You can have more than one Power Rune, but not two opposed power runes. The power runes are:
Change (Conflict, Mobility, Movement): This rune is associated with adventurous, dynamic, impulsive, and reckless personalities. It is incompatible with the stasis rune.
Death (Conflict, Endings, Separation): This rune is associated with relentless, ruthless, unemotional personalities. It is incompatible with the life rune.
Disorder (Trickery, Trouble): This rune is associated with destructive, reckless, and selfish personalities. It is incompatible with the harmony rune.
Fate (Destiny, Prophecy): This rune is associated with fatalistic, idealistic, and philosophical personalities. It is incompatible with the luck rune.
Harmony (Cooperation, Healing, Unity): This rune is associated with forgiving, merciful, and peaceful personalities. It is incompatible with the disorder rune.
Falsity (Concealment, Illusion, Tricks): This rune is associated with faithless, scheming, and wily personalities. It is incompatible with the truth rune.
Life (Fertility, Love, Plenty): This rune is associated with benevolent, generous, and lustful personalities. It is incompatible with the death rune.
Luck (Fortune): This rune is associated with bold, carefree, thrill-seeking personalities. It is incompatible with the fate rune.
Stasis (Immobility, Stability, Unchanging): This rune is associated with exacting, inflexible, stubborn personalities. It is incompatible with the change rune.
Truth (Honor, Knowledge, Openness): This rune is associated with blunt, observant, honest personalities. It is incompatible with the illusion rune.
Pick another Rune
You can choose a second power rune, a form rune, or an occupation rune. The Praxians recognize five form runes:
Mineral: This rune is associated with stolid personalities. It is incompatible with other form runes.
Plant: This rune is associated with friendly personalities. It is incompatible with other form runes.
Beast: This rune is associated with excitable personalities. It is incompatible with other form runes.
Man: This rune is associated with social personalities. It is incompatible with other form runes.
Spirit: This rune is associated with open-minded personalities. It is incompatible with other form runes.
Praxians also recognize these runes, which they associate with ways of life. Other cultures disagree with both their naming and their categorization.
Bullman (Eternal Battle): This rune is associated with angry, fanatical, violent personalities.
Crafter (Making): This rune is associated with creative and resourceful personalities.
Entertainer (Amusement, Art): This rune is associated with creative, outgoing personalities. (Note that entertainer is not an occupation among Praxians. But they do respect their great story tellers, singers, and so on.)
Gatherer: This rune is associated with appreciative, intrepid personalities.
Herder: This rune is associated with patient, stoic personalities.
Hunter: This rune is associated with independent, intrepid personalities.
Leader: This rune is associated with charismatic, just personalities.
Spirit-talker: This rune is associated with distant, otherworldly personalities.
Trader (Communication, Exchange): This rune is associated with calculating, fair personalities. (Note that trader is not an occupation among Praxians. But they know that it is better when some people talk to other clans and tribes, and especially Outlanders.)
Warrior: This rune is associated with confident, proud personalities. Other unique runes exist; narrators and players should feel free to create specialized runes that describe abilities not covered by the common runes described in the next chapter.
Praxian Spirit Knots
Runes manifest to Praxians as the spirit knots. When they use their spirit sense, one of the things that they can tell about people is what kind of spirit knots they have. Praxians can tie actual knots that represent the spirit knots well enough for other Praxians to know what they mean.
If you are a normal Praxian, your spirit knot tells about your connection to your ancestors. The first knot is usually a connection to your tribe. (This is the first rune you chose.) The second knot is usually a connection to a powerful ancestor who lived before time and whose spirit has influenced your birth. (This is the second rune you chose.) The third knot is usually a connection to an ancestor who lived since time and whose spirit has also influenced your birth. (This is the third rune you chose.) If you join Daka Fal's spirit society, you can use your spirit knot to contact these ancestors. If you join Waha's, you can use your first knot to contact your founder. If you join Eiritha's, you can use your first knot to contact your protectress.
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