:-)
Greetings!
The discussion has really taken off!
Several quick thoughts . . . {author quickly dons his flame
retarding undergarments -- ah, that's better.} ;-) Let me start off
by saying, as a GM, I'm a big Humakt fan. Many players have played
Humakti characters over the years in the Campaign, and they have
played some truly *heroic* PCs. I'm also a big fan of the RQ
players/GMs/designers out there and have universally enjoyed getting
to meet and interact with the whole community. So, what follows is
amongst friends. :-) In general, I take Keith's and David's
positions.
The two principle concerns in a DI are the relationship of the
worshipper to the god *and* the god's perspective of the situation.
I've always considered Humakt to be more long sighted than his
brethren Zorak Zoran and Storm Bull. I also work from the assumption
that folks in Glorantha work pretty much the same as folks in the real
world unless noted otherwise.
Let us assume the individual making the request is a Death Lord
in good standing. He or she has fought many battles, destroyed many
undead and welcomed many into the bosom of Humakt. Now, the Death
Lord set out to fight a group of Broo, but when the Death Lord
advances into the valley, he discovers it is a trap. The Death Lord
spies a group of Broo ahead. He cautiously walks forward; it will be
a hard battle, but he believes with the help of Humakt, he can
prevail. As the Death Lord navigates a narrow gully, several tons of
feces and rotten animal carcasses begin raining down on him. The
Broos begin hooting and hollering at him. Although he does not *fear*
death, the Death Lord sees no honor or benefit to Humakt in being
buried in a pile of filth and suffocating. Our hero requests Humakt
to send him outside the valley so that he might gather forces and
destroy this place.
The Humakt who does not allow for tactical retreat via a DI in
the face of *overwhelming* odds and certain destruction will promote
more cowardice than the Humakt who allows for such provisions. Either
than, or Humakt is more properly the God of Suicide and Depression
than Truth and Honorable Death. ;-) If Humakt sees no difference
between the two then all his worshippers should just go commit
suicide. It takes some real courage and an acceptance of death to
plunge a short sword into your abdomen and rip out one's own entrails.
Since this practice is apparently *not* widespread, let's assume that
Humakt makes some distinctions about how death occurs.
If the worshippers knew that their god would never spare them
from a tactical error (assume the God of Truth does not mislead his
worshippers about this!), it would make for a *very* conservative cult
(compared to what it *might* be) indeed! I can imagine the
conversation around the pickle barrel . . .
Initiate: Death Lord, we should go attack that festering hell
hole of broo up the road! Their raping our children and cattle!
Death Lord: Well . . . Billy, we're not sure how many broo are
up there. We lost twenty-seven Humakti up there last year. Let's
wait a spell; maybe they'll just go away. Me, I'm enjoying myself.
(No, he wouldn't have ended up as a Death Lord in any campaign I
ran, but it illustrates the point.)
The alternative is a *clever* Humakt, the god, who wishes to
promote Honorable Death and Heroism. This god would not only consider
the many who the Death Lord might kill if spared, but this Humakt
would also *want* to spare Death Lords now and again *just* to make
them take more chances! (Forget the d10 thing for a second --- I'm
all for having GMs make some tough choices --- asking for a DI does
*not* assure the god will grant it, even for a Runelord, and by
deciding that Humakt will *never* allow retreat in the face of the
enemy, you are also making a hard choice, just a less flexible one.
--- Nothing wrong with this mind you, just not my vision of Humakt.)
We should not assume the Death Lord who knows Humakt might
deliver him is any less heroic than the Death Lord serving the god of
suicide. The Death Lord who serves the smarter Humakt could make the
same appeal for a deliverance DI to Humakt and be *willing* to accept
death if Humakt so wills it (i.e. refuses his request).
Even Storm Bull allows his worshippers to avoid overwhelming
nests of Chaos, would not the more tactically sophisticated Humakt not
be more so inclined?
Apologies in advance to all who might take offense. Honestly
none intended.
Et philos,
Rich Staats
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