Steven E. Barnes writes of PC races:
>When I wrote my snide remarks about the alienation of
>Gloranthan races, I assumed I would be flamed or ignored.
>Imagine my surprise when I started reading messages basically
>advocating disallowing non-human PCs.
>
>As a 20th century white middle class male, can I really get
>into the head of an Orlanthi barbarian? A Lunar citizen? Can
>I roleplay a woman? The answer is probably not. But rather
>than give up because of insurmountable cultural differences,
>I choose to try anyway.
Hear! Hear! I too, was amazed at the turn of this topic, and for pretty
much the same reasons. Like Steve, our RQ campaigns have always been
populated with a veritable menagerie of non-human PCs, from the SIZ 2 STR
18 ball of muscle that was Captain Taddy the Newtling to my own favourite
PC Anaximander Duck (who at one point considered joining the Agimori and
becoming a "Duck-and-a-half").
Some nonhumans might be easier to play than others, but there lies the
roleplaying challenge! (And non-humans can also be ideal for beginning
players who don't know much about Glorantha and the ways of the world:
their finding out can become part of the roleplay rather than homework. As
Melo Yelo the baboon PC discovered: showing one's arse is not a polite way
to greet the Lunar governor, and that horse he got when he joined the army
was not his first month's rations...
Bugger what your GM says, anyone wanting to play the nonhuman of their choice should sign up for my tournament RUNE METAL JACKET. This allows you to create a PC from virtually *any* race you would care to, and while the majority of players have been content playing a human trooper, we've ogres, tusk riders, zombies, ducks, and more - not mention the Pamaltelan jungle elf or the Red Vadeli!
Cheers
MOB
[XXIX. 21-005] This is a mystical explanation of the universe, popular among the Earth-rune cultists of the Holy Country and cosmologists like myself. It is disliked by the Lunar authorities (who have officially "disproved" it), probably because they have not managed to insert a verse in praise of the Red Moon. Columbus Mercator, Grey Sage.
"In the beginning there was only Chaos, eternally consuming.
That which could not be consumed by Chaos was gathered together,
and became the Darkness.
That part of Darkness which was lighter flowed upward,
and was called the Primal Ocean or First Waters.
That part of the waters which was solid floated to the top,
and became the Broad Earth.
That part of the Earth which was not bound was lifted up and placed above
the Earth,
and became known as the Sky or the Primal Flame.
That part of the Primal Flame which was impure was cast out of Heaven,
and was later called Umath the Destroyer, who started the Godswar and ended
the process of creation."
Alternate last verse:
"The Earth seduced the Sky, tarnishing the dome of the Heavens. It cast
off impurities, which were later called Umath the Destroyer, whose final
act was to separate Earth and Sky forever."
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