Wot is Glorantha?

From: peter metcalfe <metcalph_at_voyager.co.nz>
Date: Tue, 23 Dec 1997 13:34:41 +1300 (NZDT)


>From: Sergio Mascarenhas <sermasalmeida_at_mail.telepac.pt>

>GLORANTHA IS NOT GLORANTHA ANYMORE. IT REALY IS ALTERNATE EARTH.
To a certain extent, there is a good reason for this. In attempting to make Glorantha realistic and lifelike, it's often better to steal from real world cultures rather than to rely on tired cliches from fantasy literature which in turn are based on weird misunderstandings of the medieval world.

Secondly to mitigate this alternate earth trend, it is sometimes useful to mix and mash two or more RW cultures to describe a single gloranthan culture. In that way, the borrowings will become less aparent. But given this some resemblences are bound to occur like a sore thumb. No matter how much work is done to make the Pentans unique, someone is always going to think of them in terms of Genghis Khan or Attila the Hun or Timur the Lame.

>The second point that make me love G was the presence of rich and colourful
>non-human races. Here also the Alternate Earth Syndrom made extensive
>damage:
>- - Almost all the intelligent and socialy developed populations of G are
>humans (where I would expect to find from 40% to 50% of non-humans).

I sense a contradiction here. By wanting intelligent and socially developed populations of non-humans you are in effect wanting them to become more human. What's wrong with Guhan, the Blue Moon Plateau, the Nidan Decamony, Slon, the Umathelan Forest, the Errinoru Jungle, the Dragons Eye and Jrustela in terms of sophisticated non-humans?

>- - Most non-humans races never found the depth of treatment of Trolls (2)
>and human cultures.

Dwarves are highly developed (even though you don't like them) as are elves and the Tusk Riders. The morokanth are to some extent the most human of the non-humans and can be treated as Praxians in mentality. There is plenty of information on the 'newts but playing them as PC's true to Stafford's ideal has always been a problem. The mentality of Chaotic races (Broos, Ogres and Scorpion Men) has been virtually covered in the chaos related material (Dorastor et al.) to date. The merfolk AFAIK are about the only undeveloped nonhuman race(s) to date.

>- - Quantities of stupid and ADD-like creatures were thrown in below-average
>packs like Elder Wilds.

If you mean the Grotarons and Nasoblemes of Elder Secrets (or even the monster stats!) then I would have to agree. But I don't consider Elder Secrets to be below average in that apart from the pictures and the repeats and the stoopid monsters, it's good.

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