(good for their day, but rather clunky) RuneQuest rules themselves. My fa=
ve
bits of RQ1 were the "mythic origins" for monsters and the William Church=
maps at the back, esp. the Block.
b) I still play Glorantha-based RPGs and write scenarios, freeforms,=
cult writeups and the like for RuneQuest and other systems, but I seldom
write (or read) game mechanics any more, preferring a rules-lite freeform=
y
style;
c) I also write Gloranthan articles and fiction (including myths, histories, folk-tales and poems), and see these as ways of enhancing our gaming experience (FWIW, I know one gaming group in the North started an inter-clan feud over an in-game telling of one of my folk-tales!).
BTW, Chris postulates that a Glorantha where the gods struggle for
supremacy through their worshippers is incompatible with a Glorantha wher=
e
the Lunars could be correct. I can't understand this. Consider this
(Orlanthi/Monomyth POV):
Saying that the Orlanthi POV is by definition "correct" and that the Luna=
rs
are necessarily wrong (and, I suppose, demonstrably wrong within Gloranth=
a,
else what's the point of saying it?) looks like decreasing the role-playi=
ng
complexity of the gaming world of Glorantha, giving players less to worry=
about. Why should the answers to moral questions be so simple?
You may not recall that Greg wrote WB&RM (the first Gloranthan gaming excursion) from a morally-neutral standpoint, bringing out the best and worst features of Sartar and the Empire: yes, the Lunar battalia includes=
the Crimson Bat, but the Sartarites have Werewolves and Headhunters (and usually Zombies, too) on their side; articles in early WFs were scrupulously even-handed, and the Arduin Grimoire role-playing stats for heroes showed a "Neutral" Argrath opposing a "Cyclical" Red Emperor: no easy answers there, and deliberately so.
Speaking personally, I make a case for the Lunars whenever I can: because=
it's good fun, it provokes the predominantly pro-Orlanthi/Sartarite gamin=
g
community, it's enjoyable to play scenarios as agents of the Evil Empire,=
and (like it or not) there are thousands upon thousands of good and pious=
followers of the Lunar Way from all walks of life who deserve a more inspiring worldview than: "We're all dupes of Chaos who deserve death".
I agree completely that the Lunar Empire is an archetypal Evil Empire in
likely-terminal decadence which will shortly face serious military setbac=
ks
including a successful rebellion in Sartar, leading to many years of wars=
across Dragon Pass. But it's an interesting setting *because* it is locke=
d
in a pattern of internal and external conflicts which force the "politica=
l"
actions of the Empire to deviate from the "religious" imperatives of the
Lunar Way. This means Lunars can have crises of conscience just as easily=
as Orlanthi (if not more so), which is surely a Good Thing.
What I'm trying to avoid is "knee-jerk" roleplaying:
+ All Lunars are Evil, and they all know it, and act that way too!
+ Murdering Lunars (and suspected Lunars) is always morally right!
+ After all, even the Lunars know that their "religion" is false!
+ Let's kill the Teelo Norri nuns: they're foul Chaos-spawned dupes=
!
I'd rather help develop Glorantha as a world where we don't write off a
whole civilisation as "Chaotic Evil"; where we can see that *within* the
Evil Empire there are protesters and reformers, zealots and heretics,
pacifists and dissidents, as well as corrupt leaders, maniacal warmongers=
,
decadent sultans and scheming politicians; not forgetting the urban and
rural populace, largely untainted by any of these weird and disruptive
beliefs and activities, who make up the bulk of the conscripts and settle=
rs
those blinkered Orlanthi Fundamentalists have been happily butchering in
countless bygone gaming sessions...
Nick
PS: heard from Sandy at Games Day '86: one of the doubleplusgood things
about the "What the Priests Say" pages in "Gods of Glorantha" was that ma=
ny
newcomers to the world of Glorantha, on reading all the pantheons'
accounts, ended up convinced that the Orlanthi Barbarians were "the bad
guys" of the world. Well, I mean: just look at their track record, eh?
End of Glorantha Digest V4 #491
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