1) clan magic vs death magic 2) deep humakti 3) studly kings 4) spiders ----------------------------
David all makes the excellent point that extreme cults ARE limiting, but general ones are less so. PC's tend to be drawn to extremes, because players feel the need to excel, but they rarely roleplay the true cost of their sacrifices. (Game worlds are one of the few places we can get something for free.) But when you play a culture based campaign, ( as opposed to a bunch of aquaintences wandering around fighting things), these costs add up.
Here's an example, from, JEFF RICHARD's Taming of Dragon Pass Campaign:
Theya Two-Mothers is a gyda (acolyte) of Ernalda. She is an important person in the clan because she feeds people, saves lives, and is renowned for her prudent decisions on the clan ring. She has lots of high skills: (an "Onslaught" of earthy-types!)
around 90%: Ernalda Lore, Ritual, Chiurgery, First Aid, Plant Lore. around 75%: Animal Lore, Stewardship, Awareness, Intrigue, Orate. around 50%: Flirt, Swim (part of being prudent!), Orlanth Lore, Axe.really bad: Battle, Ride, Hunt, Bow, all that PC-action stuff.
She has 26 points of reuseable rune magic:
Worship Ernalda
Sanctify (in use)
Divination (generally requires a sow)
Bless Crops (8 castings)
Bless Cow
Reproduce (for humans)
Heal Body
Summon Land Spirit
Command Land Spirit
Spirit Block
Summon Gnome (4d6 - a big one)
Command Gnome
Gnome Binding Enchantment
The Heal Body goes to (ranked by priority): her kids, her brothers, her husband, her kin, important warriors of her clan, carls of her clan, cottars of her clan, stranger-mercenaries. She hasn't yet made that gnome binding enchantment, because she keeps sacrificing for more Bless Crops. (Being a war clan means lots of carls need extra help with their fields if they want to have food for the winter.)
In spite of all this, she can still split the skull of a Grazer warrior with the axe she carries for desperate situations. She would never seek out the opportunity to do so, but if someone threatens her kin, she can become inspired to effect small feats of mayhem - especially from behind!
Now, Theya really hates the Orleving, ("Hate Orleving" Passion 17/20), because they killed her brother Utag, and they take cowardly, dirty reprisals for the clean, honest raids of the Varmandi. Now the Orleving have started targeting her and her kin, which really burns her bacon. She is familiar with the rituals of the Orindanae of the Colymar, as she is an initiate into their Six-Goddess mysteries. But she knows that the Blast Earth magic of Maran Gor comes with a terrible price - casting it might cause her to become infertile. This would not only slow down her baby producing-arms race with the Oddisons, but might even impair her ability to bless the clan's fields.
(It doesn't matter what the rules say about Maran Gor - Theya believes
it.)
So, Theya hesitates to tred the path of the Dark Sister, because the cost to her life as a whole isn't worth the small gain it would make in her vendetta. Maybe later, when she's 50 or so...
Jim Says:
>I like the surroundings in my games to be playable. For me, a Death only
character is limited and mostly unplayable. These are the types of
characters
(PC and NPC) that are boring to have in a game. They limit the
playability
and in the end limit the fun we can have in RPG.
Precisely! That's why we never play Humakti or Babsites!
Seriously, when I think of Humakti, I think of most of Clint Eastwood's
characters.
"Outlaw Josey Wales" was a man driven by a sense of despair and justice.
"High Plains Drifter" was a supernatural avatar of justice.
These are, to me, interesting, "deep", and appropriate Humakti. They are good for cameos, but in no way represent a substantial portion of society, or any part of society a normal person would want to have much to do with. Humakt may feature prominantly in Sartarite morality plays, but you wouldn't want your son to have to become one.
(Unless your're a heartless, twisted bastard like Mad Blood Malan....)
VS Greene:
> Is there anywhere in Glorantha where the (god) king is considered by the people to not be righteous and/or studly? Is there a culture that says "Our head god is tyrannical, impotent and a total wuss"? :)
I can't think of one off hand, but it is commonly said of opposing culture's deities. Frex, Orlanthi speak so of the Evil Emperor, (or Yelm in later years). The solars probably think the same of Argan Argar, or Oralantus - that's why (they think) the trolls and barbarians spend so much effort raiding the Rich Land!
My point was that a ruler should be connected to the land and life if his/her people are to prosper. Therefore, I would think that a bunch of carls or cottars would not be thrilled about having a Humakti landowner, unless the landowner/lord was also pretty good at performing the Orlanth the Husband rituals.
James waxes poetic on the abilities and loyalties of giant spiders.
(sentient, magical, poisonous, dexterous, etc).
I think that the sentient spiders are connected to Aracne Solara, and spend their time doing more esoteric things than ferrying trolls to war. Sure, the non-sentient runt males might do so, but the web spinning, magical, sentient females have far better things to do. Much like sentient horses would be too sacred to carry solar soldiers into battle, or the rare, mystical giant alynxes would do more than hunt bunnies for Orm the Sartarite, these paragons of spiderdom, (indeed, of the ancient time-spinner), are not lowly combat machines.
(Based on the giant spiders in the spider woods in Dorastor - a very
cool bunch of beasties.)
Pam
Powered by hypermail