Re: MGF & Ecology

From: Sandy Petersen <sandyp_at_idgecko.idsoftware.com>
Date: Wed, 6 Dec 95 18:15:59 -0600


John Hughes
>I'm no biologist, so Sandy or someone, what's a good rule-of-thumb
>for Gloranthan variation? Around 5% over a hundred Km?

        Well, if there is some mythic or chaotic reason for variation to be greater, it can be whatever you please. I'm sure _all_ the Shadow Cats born in the shadow of Mount Zedec have pink-tinged fur, for instance, but nowhere else.

        Other than that it's hard to figure, since climatic variation in Glorantha seems to be more abrupt than on Earth. In Fronela you have a colossal glacier just a couple hundred miles away, yet the land is extensively forested. Pent is a huge flat land, but it doesn't seem to have any swamps or bogs unlike (for instance) Canada or Siberia.

        Points to think on, however -- small animals change more than large ones. Cougars change little over the entire Rocky Mountains. Pocket mice vary tremendously. Animals that migrate change less than animals that do not (for obvious reasons). Plants tend to change more than animals. Weather and vegetation are more important to an animal's variation than are other animals, whether predators or prey.

        I would argue that major natural (as opposed to magical) changes in animal or plant species in Glorantha probably only need to be brought to the player's attention when they are in a different land or a significantly different ecozone.

        Example: Deer in and around Dragon Pass. I would tell the players that the Deer from the high Rockwalls were different from those in the lowlands or hills, and that deer from the deep Wenelia woods were different still. Also that deer from the eastern part of the southern Rockwoods (where Stormwalk Mountain is located) were yet more different. Also, the Pelorian deer are not the same as Dragon Pass or Kethaelan deer.

        If my PCs went as far as Kralorela, which I'd put in a whole different ecological realm, there would be _no_ deer recognizable to the PCs.

>My problem is that if I spend a considerable amount of time
>developing a local ecology, it most certainly won't mesh exactly
>with what say Dave Hall and Co. have developed for the Lismelder >area.

        True enough. I suppose it would be nice if we could all sit down and figure out a generalist ecology for Greater Genertela (i.e., everything but parts east of the Wastes and the Shan Shan), and then have everyone more or less adhere to it, except with local mythical or chaotic or manmade alteration.

        This seems unlikely. To make things a bit easier, here is a first stab at it -- an attempt to give a basic skeleton on which we all can build.

ECOLOGICAL REALMS OF GLORANTHA         GENERTELAN = Jrustela and all Genertela west of the Shan Shan and Teshnos. The realm here is basically similar to the Pleistocene Nearctic of Earth.

        VITHELAN = Kralorela, Teshnos, Fethlon, Teleos, Vormain, East Isles. The realm here is basically similar to the Oriental realm of Earth (India, SE Asia, Indonesia, etc.)

        ERRINORAN = Pamaltela north of the mountains, from Umathela to Dinal. The realm here is ??? Probably not that much like anything on Earth.

        DORADDAN = Pamaltela south of the mountains. The realm here is somewhat African, with plenty of dinosaurs and weird stuff.

 Sandy


End of Glorantha Digest V2 #257


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