High Stats

From: martin <102541.3423_at_CompuServe.COM>
Date: 29 Apr 96 13:29:42 EDT


Peter Metcalfe:
> With respect to Onslaught breaking the acceptable Humakti code of conduct, I
>think most Sartarite Humakt Priests wouldn't allow him (or a human who
>worshipped Dorastran Humakt) inside their temple to sacrifice or regain rune
>magics etc as he is obviously not worshipping 'Death in the Service of Life'
from >their PoV. (However if he managed to sneak in and regain his magics thus
>proving that he *does* worship Humakt, they would try and kill him for being an

>'obvious' illuminate IMO).

Tell me where is is this code of conduct? This higher morality? Who enforces it? Who created it? Who disobeys it for their own ends? Who perverts it because they feel like it? These are all questions you have to ask when talking about some kind of absolute moral code which has certainly never existed in the RW so why would it exist in Glorantha?

My take on it is that Swords are the ultimate of the God. They are the priests and weapon masters. They have proven their ability to wage war, to kill and to treat other Humakti and others with honour (which IMO includes killing them). After their initiation it is pretty much up to them how they conduct themselves. Any large groups of Humakti will form an organised structure and will consider some things "right" and some things "wrong". They may even have been formed around a hero of the cult whose skills, magics and philosophy were examples to others. Thus I think that there are "schools" of Humakti. I imagine a Greydog Humakti arguing ferociously with a Haii Swordsman Humakti over the exact truths of their faith, who has the better, more pious magic, who has the better sword technique etc. They may even come to blows but this is what Humakt is about. I also believe there are "wanderer" Humakti who are a small percentage but form a vigorous grup that brings the fear of Humakt to many and often gives the others new areas to explore, new culs to follow and new styles of swordplay to learn.

In my campaign, the only Humakti player in the group was severely troubled by the schism in his temple. A stranger had come in, challenged his High Priest and won, thus proving his way was better. The High Priest kept some loyal followers who felt the victory to be less important than their own loyalty but some of the warriors saw this newcomer as a new path to follow and he gained converts to his belief. The PC involved in all this faced a moral crisis. He admired the skill and ferocity of the newcomer but also admired his High Priests honour and gravitas. In the end, he chose to follow the newcomer but not without considerable thought.

See, if a Humakti Sword isn't liked by one temple, he damn well goes and forms his own or even takes over another via the duel. Its rather like the way certain group animals exist. There is a dominant male who rules but eventually he is toppled by a newer, younger force. I firmly believe that Arkat was such a force and was unique in being able to unify the Humakti as no other has since.  

>[Martin defends Onslaught's 'stats'. Apparently it was not a joke]

No, _that_ wasn't.

Me:
>I suppose you were objecting to his capability? Well I thought about it
>and it seems to me that anybody who spends nearly thirty years constantly
>fighting and warring, much or that time spent without sleep to allow more
>time and having been on several heroquests, that they would be good at
>what they do.

Peter:
>The average roman fighting in the legions was in for a 25 year stint
>but they didn't have anything like Shortsword 200% when they retired
>let alone bite 160%! Compare Onslaught to Blue Annis in the Puzzle
>Canal (who was supposed to be a real terror for Rune Levels to cope
>with); he would simply kick butt. Onslaught also appears to have a
>good chance of taking on most of the Horrors of Dorastor and winning
>(frex with his 'warhelm' being immune to acid, he could headbutt the
>Giant Gorp that Eats Away Dorastor to death!). This should indicate
>to me (at least) that Onslaught is a trifle overpowered IMHO.

Onslaught is about as far from a common fighting man as you can get. A legionnaire could have lived his entire life in the service with little more than border skirmishes every few months. Onslaught goes looking everyday for war and combat. He is not invulnerable however, he has a relatively low POW compared to Anderidas maximum and he cannot have magic up all the time. It is quite conceivable for a well orchestrated attack to take him out in moments. If you give him time to prepare, sure hes super tough but its all he does. As for headbutting the giant gorp! What a wonderful imagine that brings to mind. One problem, the rest of him isn't immune to acid......

>So whats Harrek then? He makes Onslaught look rather small and pathetic.

>Theoretically yes. Having seen the stats for Onslaught, I'm surprised
>he didn't feature as a (40)-40-40-40! unit in the Dragon Pass Board
>Game.

Er..I don't think so. I was talking to Sandy about this kind of thing a while ago and he postulated that Ralzakark would be a Dragon Pass Hero of Combat Rating (2) or at most (3) and thats including all his Sword Broo. Plus this includes all the hero powers that weren't wirtten up like the ability to summon a Sky Terror (whatever that is, but Sandy assured me you wouldn't want to meet it in a dark alley). When he told me that it really makes you wonder about how tough the other units are eh? I believe strongly that Argrath probably has several Onslaught type warriors serving him. Harrek is just too frightening to think about. At combat level (20) he is going into battle with several _heros_ at his side and a small horde of Rune Levels but on his own he's probably a (5)-(10)!!! So I think that there are _more_ heros and potential heros wandering around than is often given credance to. In that regard I don't think Onslaught is out of place. If you think he's over the top, lets see _your_ version of say Argrath to compare, how about that?

Martin Laurie


End of Glorantha Digest V2 #518


WWW material at http://hops.wharton.upenn.edu/~loren/rolegame.html

Powered by hypermail