mostali and the world machine

From: manderson_at_andyne.com
Date: Mon, 22 Dec 1997 14:20:38 -0500


in v5#298, Sergio Mascarenhas <sermasalmeida_at_mail.telepac.pt> wrote:

>- - In some cases, it was better not to try at all. I'm thinking about the

>developments made to dwarfs (with their Word machine culture): IMHO it
>realy sucks and is completely useless and ridiculous rubish. It could find

>some space in Paranoia, not in G (3).

this is somewhat unfortunate, as the gloranthan nonhumans are one of the many areas which differentiate glorantha from other RPG settings (and the RW)
in a Really Big Way. many game worlds have elf and dwarf cultures which slavishly
follow the hackneyed AD&D model. glorantha ain't one of them. the big three
nonhuman races (aldryami, mostali, uz) are each unique, and fairly well supported
by published material. the uz especially have loads of supporting stuff, probably
because their culture makes them less xenophobic/insular than the other two.
i find the mostali culture extremely interesting, although it does make it difficult to
play a dwarf PC.

their culture and beliefs also fit neatly into the gloranthan environment. the dichotomy
between Grower and Maker, the nostalgic yearnings for the lost Golden Age, the
hyperconservative, rigid culture of the immortal brithini; all have a relationship to the
mostali culture.

Mark Anderson
Third Assistant to a Ninth Level Tertiary Sub-Cog in the World Machine


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