Nick Brooke <100270.337_at_compuserve.com> quoth in discussion with David Cake
>MAGIC
>
>>> Some things are "magical" in Glorantha which we would say were psychologi-
>>> cal or intangible in the real world. [e.g: Fanaticism, Demoralise, Morale]
>
>> I know a lot of people believe this. But I'm sorry, it just doesn't make
>> any sense.
>
>Wot? I'm saying that in Glorantha, the spells of Fanaticism, Demoralise,
Morale
>are clearly magical; in the real world, these states are not considered
magical
>but psychological; there is therefore a difference between Glorantha and the
>real world. And that's exactly what the sentence I quoted above says.
>
>> To say that 'Fanaticism' is the same thing as 'being really angry' is to
not
>> compatible with rules as they stand now.
>
>Phew! Glad nothing I said made that crass mistake, then!
Indeedt, the fact that in Glorantha you can obtain a frothing rage by either giving a stirring oration regarding the vileness of your opponent at the appropriate moment, which works there and on earth, or, if the gods/spirits have given you the spell, you merely wiggle your fingers for a couple of seconds and the same apparent effect happens begs a question. Does the non magically frothed up person get the same combat effects as the magically frothed person? Is beserk c/o the Bull achievable by the very cross, or is the equivalent of fanaticism the limit for the mundane?
{snip on hoplites}
>I'd suggest reading Victor Davis Hanson's "The Western Way of War" and the
>collected essays on "Hoplites" he edited for a more psychological look at
>hoplite culture. You seem to be putting a lot of emphasis on how *easy* it is
>to stand in a giant, armed rugby scrum, pinned in front of the enemy and
wholly
>reliant on your comrades' support to prevent yourself from being killed,
>without first wondering why anyone would want to do such a stupid thing.
>Granite Phalanx tells you it's possible. Granite Phalanx knows the secrets of
>hoplite warfare, and imparts them to his followers. It is because we hoplites
>are One in Granite Phalanx that we can prevail!
An excellent book, (I would like to read his earlier thesis on Greek warfare however I have not found it out here), his view on the Greeks creating the mindset of a fight to the finish rather than skirmishing etc may be questionable if you go beyond the European context (relying on memory here, read it some time ago), but the essence of the book is very solid, and the information of armour evolution and hypothesis for same was excellent. But I would have thought that Granite Phalanx as an organisation, not just a cult, by the esprit de corp it builds in its members, provides the fear of being seen to fail those around you that the early hoplites gained from fighting for their crops/business associates/family.
Aden
Rambling through the godplane with an umbrella in case the sky falls on his
head.
End of Glorantha Digest V2 #455
WWW material at http://hops.wharton.upenn.edu/~loren/rolegame.html
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