Undead Trout reveals all!

From: Ramos-Tavener, Doyle Wayne <st670_at_Jetson.UH.EDU>
Date: Wed, 21 Aug 1996 00:36:23 -0500 (CDT)


Michael Schwartz sez

>Having spoken at length with Greg about the future of Glorantha at the recent
>GenCon,

So the Undead Trout knows all, eh? While I was slaving away in the bowels of MECCA, you were perfideously picking away at Greg's brain. Damn you, damn you. :)

 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.

This all sounds very way-cool. I've been working on home brew rules for a Sartar Campaign off and on for about six months, and one of the mechanics I had come up with was something to help the players "get" this very concept. It went something like this

                      Integration/Alienation

This is a set of two paired statistics which act to simulate the way in which characters are mentally in tune or out of tune with their community. These statistics are not balanced, that is, (on a 1-20 scale) if you have a rating of five in Integration, you aren't compelled to have a fifteen in Alienation. Each is developed separately, and rises or falls of its own accord. Each is first generated in Character Generation, based on the background of the Character in question.

In Sartar the chart for determining this would look something like this.

Base Integration

Social class:
Thanes 4
Carls 3
Cottars 2
Thralls 1

Head of Household's Occupation:
Noble 2
Priest 2
Farmer 2
Warrior 2
Crafter 1
Entertainer 0
Herder 1
Hunter 1
Kolating 0

Tribe:
Old, well established tribes (Colymar) 2 Newer tribes (Lismelder, "traitorous northern tribes") 1

Base Alienation

Social class:
Thanes 1
Carls 1
Cottars 2
Thralls 3

Head of Household's Occupation:
Noble 0
Priest 1
Farmer 0
Warrior 0
Crafter 0
Entertainer 1
Herder 0
Hunter 0
Kolating 1

Tribe:
Old, well established tribes (Colymar) 0 Newer tribes (Lismelder, "traitorous northern tribes") 1

Miscellaneous
Raised in a city 1
Raised in a large city 2
Raised in a "Borderland" (River of Cradles) 2 Home destroyed by war 1

The Gamemaster and Player then determine any additional modifiers based on the Characters specific background, using the "Check" system below as a guide.

During play of the campaign, different experiences the Characters undergo will allow them to gain a "Check". This works like a normal skill or personality trait, i.e. if the player rolls over the rating at the end of the session, season or year (whatever experience system you happen to be using), the rating goes up by one.

Integration Checks

Eliminate threat to community (bandits, excessive Lunar taxes, etc.).

Hold "Office" for traditional period of time (see below).

Participate in "Initiation ceremony" (Adulthood, Marriage, Elderly status, New social class, Priesthood, etc.).

Cultural Personality Trait reaches 16+.

Cultural skill at 16+ (see below).

Alienation Checks

Travel to a foreign land.

Interact socially with Non-Human race.

"Traitorous" Behavior.

Betrayal by a cultural superior.

Hold office in a suspect sub-culture (Humakti, Storm Bull, Eurmal).

Culturally inappropriate Personality Trait at 16+ (Cowardly, Arbitrary).

Non-Cultural skill at 16+

OK, so what's the game effect of all this? Each skill would have a notation of either Cultural or Non-Cultural.

*No Cultural skill could be raised above the Integration rating.* *No Non-Cultural skill could be raised above the Alienation rating.*

Further, some skills would have to be narrowed somewhat, to reflect a cultural bias. There would be no 1H sword skill, for instance. Rather there would be skills like 'Orlanthi Axe and Shield Technique' or 'Orlanthi Fyrd Fighting' This wouldn't be true for every skill, but some would certainly be affected.

An Office is defined as some position of responsibility within the community. This could be anything from Tribal King to Clan Lawspeaker. There would be certain Offices that would require a minimum Integration for a character to qualify for them.

I should note at this point that I don't see these ratings as being very perceivable by NPC's. They are reflected in behavior, and that's about it. The idea here is not to straitjacket characters, but rather focus their role-playing on the goals mentioned above by Michael. Further, these are ratings for player characters only! There is no reason to bother with them for NPC's.

I'm also thinking that when a character gets a 16+ in both ratings, this would indicate that the character has achieved "Heroquest Consciousness". They would be integrated enough to participate in their society's rituals, and alienated enough to use them for their own benefit. I'm not completely sure about this, however.

If you play RQ, you would probably want to convert a "Check" into a flat gain of 1d3 to 1d6 percentiles.

Well, that's basically it. This thing is not playtested in the least, so beware. I'm posting it not as a recommendation, nor as my opinion about The Way Things Ought To Be, but rather as report of what I intend to do. If you have any comments, suggestions, or critiques (besides "Bah, more Roolz!"), please feel free. I'll probably use it as long as it doesn't destroy play balance in the new system (I wouldn't think it would, but you never know).

>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.

It sounds yummy. Where do I sign up?

thanks

Doyle


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