It occurred to me that perhaps a more palatable model to some (which still has the same end results) is to say that their responsibilities constrain them.
What I mean by this is that just like in the RW the more responsibilities you have the less freedom you have to do whatever you want. For example when I was in university and sponging off my parents I was pretty much free to do whatever I wanted to and consequences be damned. Now that I'm a married wageslave with two kids I have much less freedom to do whatever I want. Of course this is a choice I've made.
The Queen of the U.K. is even more constrained in what she can do and even say because of her responsibilities toward the realm and the monarchy The pope is in a similar situation.
Of course you can point to all sorts of irresponsible leaders as counter examples but perhaps they don't take their responsibilities seriously?
In Glorantha the gods may be constrained by the responsibilities they feel towards their worshippers. They have so many individuals, nations, elements, etc. to be responsible to that they are severely constrained in what they can and cannot do.
Just to forestall one potential criticism. No, I'm not trying to defend the Great Compromise. That would definitely be the Orlanthi's take on the situation but not necessarily any other cultures.
What do people think?
On the subject of why you need any "objective" knowledge to run a campaign
what do you do in a situation where two cultures clash? It's crucial to
know what
each culture believes but I also want to know what happened in the past if
the two cultures have conflicting takes on the same story.
What I want to know "objectively" is what happened in the past, a rough
chronology of events. This would be especially useful if a party was
investigating
something and realized that something they had believed in was false.
That's
MGF in my books.
I have a question as well. How the heck would a Gloranthan assume some
other
culture's gods and their magic was false when they could actually experience
it.
Could a Gloranthan stand their smoking from the aftereffects of a lightning
bolt and
claim, "Oh, but that's not real magic."
Oliver D. Bernuetz
bernuetz.oliver_at_cbsc.ic.gc.ca
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