Re: Re : [WorldofGlorantha] Praxian tribal campaign

From: Chris Lemens <chrislemens_at_...>
Date: Thu, 14 Mar 2013 18:56:45 -0000


> But now let us talk about the look and feel of being a Praxian nomad.

I'm on vacation this week, so please excuse whatever autocorrections Apple supplies for me.

One key difference in playing a Praxian clan game, compared to a Heortling clan game, is that the nomads are not settled. A well-developed Heortling game can tie lots of things to locales. Go there and the thing happens. The nomads move on, but their social context goes with them. So, in Heroquest, the relationship skills might take in new significance. It makes it a little difficult to narrate. Most narrators, when creating, think of physical and social setting together. One of the nice things is that, if you want a short dungeon crawl, you can have a series of them just by lacing along. But if you want to have an intra clan conflict, it is more difficult because the rival clan can simply run away.

Within the clan-based traveling unit, there are a number if overlapping social structures that can be the source of conflict. At the top of the clan are the khan and kheen, whose conflicts are over their respective spheres of authority. They both can have conflicts with factions among the elders. Then there are the sacred societies within the clans. Their agendas are secret and may play out through open strife that appears to be about something else. Finally, there are the fellow travelers, if you will: the bachelors following the clan and hoping to impress a wife, rhino and agimori clans, etc.

One of the big decisions a party will have to make is whether to stay with the clan or move off with some other group. Going it alone is pretty tough. You need both the energy of youth to fight and herd and the knowledge if years to know what to expect and where to go. Obvious alternatives are joining a bachelor band (if the characters are all male) or a sacred society that moves around (if the characters are mixed sex). This is one of the reasons I like the option if playing a rhino clan, which is little more than a small family. It can join up with a clan of any tribe.

On chrome, a new narrator should pick a nomadic culture that the narrator knows best: American Indian, Berber, Bedouin, Mongol, or even Masai are all good options. Use that as their base of understanding and chrome, even if it isn't canon. Then remember that beasts are everything.

More later

Chris            

Powered by hypermail