Experience checks to traits are awarded by the gamemaster if the character's behavior, rolled OR roleplayed, is significant. Acting courageously in the face of life-threatening danger is worth a check if the character in question is notably Cowardly or is an otherwise unremarkable person. A character noted for his or her courage, however would not get a check unless he or she rolled a critical success.
Having spoken at length with Greg about the future of Glorantha at the recent GenCon, I believe the new rules will integrate much of the societal and behavioral aspects of PENDRAGON because they better reflect the mythical theme Greg wants to evoke: Man as member of his Community. In the community as well as on heroquest, it is often more important how a person behaves than how skilled he or she is. If a person conforms better to his or her community's expectations of how he or she should behave, that person will typically reap greater benefits from the community than the individual who intentionally stands apart from his fellows.
By way of example, look at the difference between a sturdy Barntar farmer and a stalwart Humakti warrior. The farmer produces the grains, cereals, and other comestibles which support not only his or her family, but the clan as well through tithes of foodstuffs. Those tithes can mean survival for the entire clan in harsh times. Since the services of the warrior elite, however, are called on infrequently except in times of war, the warrior represents a constant drain on clan resources if he or she is to remain in fighting trim. In order to earn his or her keep (or, at the very least, not raise the ire of the freemen against him or her), the warrior must perforce find patronage among the clan or tribal nobility or else turn to mercenary work.
In the event of a devastating harvest, the farmer, whose years of hard work have helped fill the granaries of the clan, can expect in return for the clan to support his or her family to a certain degree until they can support themselves. However, the warrior would find him or herself without any support save that which he or she could arrange, perhaps having to fall back on family or cult assistance. The farmer has less freedom to go off wandering on adventure, to be sure, but is certain to never go wanting. The warrior pays for his or her lack of defined social obligation with uncertainty, but also gains the freedom to choose his or her own lifestyle or liege. In RUNEQUEST, it is quietly assumed that the player characters number amongst the non-conformists; in the new rules, that assumption is not necessarily warranted.
A key point about his current vision for Gloranthan gaming which Greg made stuck in my mind: how you perform is more important in mundane reality; how you BEHAVE is more important on heroquest. In the world, one's skills are enhanced by one's traits; on the Other Side, one's traits are enhanced by one's skills. Think about it for a bit, and the concept will amaze you in its simplicity and elegance. It certainly amazed me.
I begin to ramble, so 'tis best that I sign off for now....
Long live the Undead Trout!
Michael Schwartz
kidfenris_at_aol.com
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