>I was wondering if there is any Kralorelan source material published
>besides GoG and Glorantha (boxed set).
Not much.
>Nils or Sandy or anyone else in the know on Kralorelan mysticism ...
>would a one-use mystical poem be imbued with specific mystic effects
>or simply allow the user to concentrate more mystic energy to create
>greater effects with his/her own mystic talents?
The poem creates the effect. The poem _is_ the effect. It is like a spell, but more powerful.
>my ultra-civilized Kralorelan citizens use mysticism instead of
>sorcery, altho there are also sorcerors found in all the cities and
>the outlying villages have their share of village elders (wise
>men/women) who practice a form of spirit magic instead (based on the
>kami of shinto religious belief).
I have begun to play that the sorcerers (who are in every city) also practice Mysticism, but of arcane subjects. Mysticism, in my rules, consists of magic enhancements of ordinary skills. A boxer would have devoted much time and meditation to his Martial Arts, and thus would have remarkable abilities here. An elderly and wise farmer would have semi-magic Plant Lore and Craft Wood. Etc. But a sorcerer would have grown wise in the ways of a magic skill, like Summon, or Dark Lore, or something along those lines.
There is some spirit magic in Kralorela, but mysticism fills most of their needs.
>I've introduced my PC to hsunchen, barbarians from the Bliss of
>Ignorance, a rebel band hiding/running from the army and bullying
>helpless villages, assassins, soldiers, miscellaneous citizens,
>street burlies, undead, spirits, a tiger, and a troll. I would
>expect most of Kralorela to be short on "monsters" except by the
>action of the intelligent races. I would also expect chaos to be
>very uncommon.
>Does this sound accurate?
Kind of. Kralorela actually has quite a bit of non-human action going around, but it is incorporated into the society and culture.
Examples: Dragonewts; Dragons; Uz (in the Kingdom of Ignorance); Hsunchen (the Hsunchen of Kralorela are relatively more monstrous than further west) -- thus, a Tiger Man may often have a striped skin or fangs, as another example, Wind Children are considered Hsunchen; undead (of course); hostile Zabdamar mermen sorcerers; a huge variety of didactic demons; etc. Also, some groups of humans are so alien that they act kind of as monsters. Examples: the dragon warriors, who as they reincarnate gradually turn into man/dragonewet halfbreeds; the amazons; the sacred criminals; etc.
Chaos is not so much uncommon as highly subtle and secretive. Huan Tos do not raven around and eat people. Instead they lurk at the fringes of the village and are known only as a soft and melodious voice, requesting most reasonable favors in return for mighty rewards (think of the Phantom of the Opera). The four main chaos influences in Kralorela are:
Huan Tos Undead (the Kralori have more varieties of undead than the rest of the world combined) The Amethyst Dragon of Greater Chaos (and its minions). Human chaos worshipers (especially Thanatar and Krarsht).
Most Kralori monsters represent some kind of moral lesson. Here follow descriptions of two Kralori monsters.
DUOCANTH -- The amphibious duocanth is vaguely reptilian, its body covered with huge spiny scales. Atop a mottled body is a crescent-shaped head, eyes spaced evenly around the outer curve of the crescent. The beast's curved mouth is on the crescent's underside. From the base of the body sprout six boneless limbs. By tradition, three are termed "tentacles". These are long, muscular, and ridged for gripping. The other three are termed "tails". These are shorter, stouter, with a cluster of spikes near the end, plus a stinger-tip.
Duocanths are creatures of the water. Each has its own lake, pool, river, or bay to which it is tied. When within its body of water, it has all the full strength and powers listed below, but the further it roams, the weaker it becomes. In general, smaller duocanths can roam further. Thus, a STR 6d6 duocanth can travel several kilometers from home with few adverse effects, while a STR 15d6 duocanth is only able to wander a few dozen meters. There are legends of even more powerful duocanths, even more restricted.
Duocanths are capable of any type of magic. Normally they use Kralori mysticism, specializing in water magic.
To generate a random duocanth, roll 1d10+5 for the number of STR and SIZ dice to roll.
characteristic average STR (6-15)d6 21-53 Move 2/6 swimming CON 4d6+6 20 Hit Points 21-37 SIZ (6-15)d6 21-53 Fatigue 41-73 INT 1d6+12 15-16 POW 3d6+12 22-23 DEX 3d6+6 16-17 hit location (d20) pts tentacle 1 01-02 6/7 to 6/13 (.33) tail 1 03-04 6/6 to 6/10 (.25) tentacle 2 05-06 6/7 to 6/13 (.33) tail 2 07-08 6/6 to 6/10 (.25) tentacle 3 09-10 6/7 to 6/13 (.33) tail 3 11-12 6/6 to 6/10 (.25) body 13-18 9/11 to 9/19 (.50) head 19-20 9/7 to 9/13 (.33) Weapon SR Attk Damage Bite 5 35+17 to 23 1d6+1d6 to 3d6 Tail smash 5 50+17 to 23 3d6 + 2d6 to 6d6 Sting 5 15 + 17 to 23 1d6 + 2d6 to 6d6 + poison Tentacle 3 50 + 17-23 2d6 to 6d6
NOTE: the bite receives half its damage bonus.
Each round, the duocanth can use its tails for either a smash with the spikes, or a sting, but not both. A successful sting injects poison with a POT equal to CON.
The tentacles do damage equal to the duocanth's damage bonus. Once a tentacle hits, the duocanth can choose to hang on, doing no further damage with that tentacle until a second tentacle also lands a blow and clings. At that point, the duocanth can begin to constrict the victim with both tentacles, just like a walktapus, doing normal rolled damage to each location, with armor only counting until it is broken through.
DEFENSES: A duocanth's thick, fluted scales act as swordbreakers -- a weapon that hits the duocanth's torso and does not get a special or critical hit is automatically caught in the scales and follows normal swordcatcher rules. The duocanth can only "grab" one weapon at a time, and if more than one weapon are potentially caught, it must select which one it is actively using its dermal muscles to restrain.
The weak point of the nandi stems directly from its unnatural power. Naturally enough, the most favored prey of a nandi is another, older, nandi, since by devouring such, the beast can gain all the knowledge which the older nandi had consumed in _its_ lifetime. And if the eaten nandi had in turn devoured _another_ nandi, well ... The most fearsome foe of a nandi is its own child. Naturally enough, nandis prefer a solitary existence.
A nandi's mouth is not made for speaking, but of course any nandi who has eaten a human can understand all the languages with which its prey was familiar.
Nandis are large four-legged mammals with a shoulder hump and a low-slung long-snouted head. They are large, with skulls a meter long, and mouth split back to the eyes. Their fur is mangy, and hangs in strips. The more knowledge and wisdom they attain, the more lumpy and hairless their shoulder hump becomes. Eventually the lumps on the shoulder hump become horns, thrusting every which way.
characteristic average STR 2d6+12 19 Move 5 CON 1d6+12 15-16 Hit Points 19 SIZ 3d6+12 22-23 Fatigue 35 INT varies -- POW 4d6+12 26 DEX 1d6+6 9-10
hit location (as per 4-legged beast)
rh leg 4/5 lh leg 4/5 hind q 4/8 fore q ?/8 (note: forequarters armor is equal to 4 plus the number of spells the nandi knows.) rf leg 4/5 lf leg 4/5 head 4/7 Weapon SR Attk Damage Bite 7 40+5 1d10+2d6 Spell 4+ -- varies
NOTE: a nandi can cast a spell simultaneously with biting. It can only cast 1 spell per round.
MAGIC: may know any or all spells, from mysticism to Rune magic, to shamanry (complete with fetches).
End of Glorantha Digest V3 #132
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