Jane's comments

From: Carlson, Pam <carlsonp_at_wdni.com>
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 1997 11:50:00 -0700


Jane Williams once again brings great wisdom and gender equity to the digest:

>You're all missing the point here. In troll language, the word for female
troll is "troll". They're the default gender. Now, what's the word for "male troll"?

Precisely. I had thought of this too. It is obvious that "troll" refers to the female. Term for a male troll? How about "Uzling", or "Uzlet"? Even better - "Uzzle"...



> Are college campaigns more prone to this kind of thing, I wonder?

When I played in college, we were all science majors. Sci-fi campaigns were especially slow. We spent an entire evening once wondering how one could teleport down to a planet from orbit without shedding a huge amount of potential energy. Where does the energy go? Do you heat up?  Do you arrive in an explosion?

We did have a great plot once though, about an evil corporation that tried to starve a colony by substituting a shipment of grain seed with the genetically engineered dextrorotary (or levorotary - whichever we don't have) version.



Jane didn't much appreciate GRoY and FS, relative to KoS.

THe works are very different. KoS is much more conventional and objective - written from a post historical viewpoint unfamiliar with magic or with actually living in Glorantha in the 1600's. It leads one to speculate about the future.

The Pelorian works are all written by past Pelorians, and from their very based POV's and agendas. Thus they have info on many levels - historical , mythical, and cultural. Sometime the same event is described in all three, which gives you clues about what actually happened, as well as more insight to each culture. Rather than direct gaming material, these works are almost like a big book of puzzles to ponder and solve over the course of a few years. They lead one to speculate about the past. Part of the game, then, is to figure out the mystery.

THe biggest myth differences I found were that KOS is almost entirely about Orlanth (with some bits about the Grazers). Orlanth's myths run along a distressingly similar vein: Orlanth is held captive - Orlanth pounds captors. Orlanth meets a foe - Orlanth pounds foe. Orlanth encounters problem, Orlanth finds something to beat up to solve it. Yawn.

GRoY, FS, and Entekosiad were full of lots of different deities. These deities respond to problems in a myriad of different ways. Murharzarm dealt with the river dragon by organizing bucket and shovel brigades, giving the old FDR "nothing to fear but fear itself" speech. Avivath, a  one-armed Yelmic avatar, played Zorro among the masses of urban Dara Happa, zapping evil emperors with great sunspears in public spectacles, then disappering back into the common folk. Naveria was a heroine who defeated giants, solved riddles, married a king, and brought new culture to a whole people, just to find her father. Then she sacrificed him. Lodril, when held prisoner in Hell by the evil Monster Man, got out of it not with force but with kindness. Running through all these narratives are POV's that reflect the huge tensions betwen the sexes and the classes that exist in Peloria.

Sometimes these works, especially FS, reflect on Northern Maniria, but otherwise they do have little effect on Dragon Pass. They still contain the magical wonders - walking statues, vampires, zombies, elves and trolls, giant predatory birds, and those loveable dinosaurs - but from a more matter of fact POV. All in all, these works show how varied and mystical cultures in Glorantha can be.


Does anyone have any questions they want answered or new ideas to put forth? How about some fresh air?

All IMO -

Pam


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