Remarks re: Mark's remarks on KoW from Sandy Petersen on 1995-11-20 (Glorantha Digest Vol 02)

From: Sandy Petersen <sandyp_at_idgecko.idsoftware.com>
Date: Mon, 20 Nov 95 16:26:11 -0600

Mark Smylie
>Personally, what the KoW does and how it does it is intricately
>bound up with why; I think it makes an enormous difference in how
>the KoW would operate it, what it would "look" like, depending on
>whether it's a troll conspiracy, a Chaos Pit, Humakti gone bad, or
>if Lord Death is actually Prince Snodal being punished for killing
>the God of the Silver Fleet.

The KoW operates in the most effective manner possible to the GM's imagination. Its soldiers are aggressive, cunning, energetic, tactically competent, utterly ruthless, and fanatically brave. They display ingenuity, initiative, and are creative in the use of tactical tricks. They are probably the only folk left in RQ III who retain the skills of _Sense Ambush_ and _Ambush_.

PCs should be able to defeat a like-sized group of KoW soldiers only by displaying better-than-normal competence, cooperation, or luck. The exact difficulty of the KoW warriors should, of course, be crafted to your own players' combative skill - -- whatever their skill, the KoW should stretch their abilities.

I play my own KoW warriors (which, alas, my players have so far avoided meeting, though it's only a matter of time) as generally Bluto-like guys (average damage bonus = +1d6) with 90% weapon skills, sorcery spells pre-cast and their own supply of battle magic. Typically, a given unit has all sacrificed for the same divine magic, which they cast in coordination. There are exceptions to this of course, depending on the type of unit the troops are composed of. KoW scouts are generally wiry little fellows, vicious as weasels.

>Hm, sorry if I was unclear; the KoW doesn't really worship the War
>Machine IMO, it _is_ the War Machine, or at the very least the War
>Machine made manifest.IMO, killing Lord Death would be a minor
>glitch for the KoW, maybe causing at most a few days

I also concur with both these statements, with the cavil that Lord Death on a Horse is undoubtedly their finest leader and general, and killing him would definitely be a minor victory, causing their military strategies to be slightly inferior until a new leader arose forth with equal or superior skills. I don't think that Lord Death on a Horse is the only thing holding the KoW together, and I do not believe that the KoW seethes with internal rifts. I believe that they are unified in the monolithic manner that Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany _appeared_ to be to their enemie, but for real, in the KoW's case.

SandyP.