Re: Changing THE Glorantha

From: Nick Brooke <Nick_Brooke_at_compuserve.com>
Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 11:49:50 -0500



Richard's back!

> I'm sorry you ran out of steam before answering some of my points
> at the end of my last post.

You're probably alone in that, the way I waffle on! But I'll have a look at the Emphasised Bit, and see what I can suggest.

> I want to run my campaign in THE Glorantha. I am faced with the
> situation where my knowledge of the world is partial, though I
> want my players, ultimately, to be able to play a significant
> part within it.

This is natural, admirable, understandable, etc. etc. We *all* have a "partial" knowledge of the world; I'd imagine most of our players and characters want to achieve Significant Things; the definition of "significant" is not worth quibbling over. The only problem would be with your notion of "THE Glorantha" -- most of us are happy to run Gloranthan (or semi-Gloranthan, etc.) games, without worrying about enforcing absolute adherence to any unpublished/unwritten Truths. The Game's The Thing!

Take an example: is the campaign "Tarsh War" describes significant? Well, yes, of course, if you were there; and it paves the way for Fazzur's invasion of Kethaela, which would have started off rather differently without Thrax et al. on the spot (i.e. it'd have started with the Governor-General nobbling the Tarshites himself, using his superior numbers, firepower, strategy, etc.; and with any surviving officers from Thrax's expedition facing a very uncertain future). And the invasion of Kethaela is surely a "significant event". But, win or lose, the result of "Tarsh War" needn't cock up Gloranthan continuity, *even though* it puts the players in command of thousands of troops during a major Lunar military campaign. (Now, *could* it cock up the future? Of course, if you wanted it to. But it doesn't *have* to, whatever the outcome may be: and that's a spectrum from Glorious Victory to Abject and Ignominious Defeat, involving the deaths of hundreds or thousands at either extreme).

> I can only do this if it is made clear to me what parts of THE
> Glorantha which I know are sacrosanct and what parts are individual
> GM controllable. If you say it's all sacrosanct, then my players
> will not be able to affect events. If you say none of it is sacro-
> sanct then at some point or another (probably pretty soon) I'm going
> to go wildly divergent...

OK, this is obviously a tricky one, as there isn't a Yes/No, Either/Or answer to your question. Clearly there's a bunch of different "parts" to consider, and they aren't all of equal importance.

To begin with, are you trying hard to use the established Gloranthan background "as is", or are you making changes (e.g. friendly trolls; Vikings in Pent; timeline advanced by 100 years; new cults from your own mythology replacing existing Gloranthan ones)? If the latter, then worrying about what else might be "sacrosanct" is rather odd: implicit in deciding to make a Big Change, surely, is the understanding  that it will change some parts of the way the world works. If there are no trollkin IYG; if the Pent Nomads are a civilised trading state, or a horny-helmed Scandinavian mob, then your own campaign is likely to drift out of touch with the rest of ours, in proportion to the emphasis you place on the differences. (In my Glorantha, there may or may not be Grotarons. Does this mean I'm "not playing in THE Glorantha"? I don't see why: it's irrelevant to me whether or not the species exists, and I don't plan on setting a game somewhere it would become an issue).

If the former, the first "point of consistency" is established background:  *don't* go changing huge swathes of published "fact" without considering the knock-on effects. (Example: Harrek's sack of Sog City. I'd imagine almost all games in the modern period assume this happened at the date given in the timeline, 1615 ST. If you change this, doubtless  for a good reason, have a think about what else might change). Changing minor or local stuff is fine, and even exemplary -- a lot of the best material on this list is when people say, "I read about XXX in the Genertela Book, and that got me thinking..."

Next, what do you think the future timeline of Glorantha looks like? (I'm not being facetious, here: although there's a published version in "King of Sartar", this *obviously* leaves out events outside of the Dragon Pass region, and lurches into the mythic after the CHDP leaves off). If your game is outside Dragon Pass & Prax & the Holy Country, you have a pretty free hand deciding what will happen and when: the "Events of the Hero Wars" are there to suggest themes, and none of them are attached to a firm timetable. If you can extract the One True Timeline from KoS & GB, and want to stick to it, do so. I'd recommend you give yourself a bit of leeway, here: nobody will really mind if you have events happening slightly earlier, or later, than they are in print -- especially not if they're your players, who know full well they oughtn't to be keeping track of such things -- so knock together a draft timeline for the events you want to have happen, and maybe start working out which of them your PCs can get involved with.

Next, what are the Big Events of your campaign, and are they also Big Events in the "established" future history? If you want to be 100% compatible with the Cradle scenario, but your players happen to be in Teshnos when it happens, you don't really have a problem, do you? Likewise, the Dragonrise of 1625: fun event, well described, plenty of room for PC involvement, and no worries if you decide not to game it through (it can happen "offstage").

Next, and *very* important -- who are the heroes of your campaign, and what are their heroic deeds? I ask, because it seems clear to me that your player characters ought to be *the* heroes: outsiders, like Argrath or Jar-Eel or whoever, may be Heroes with a capital H to the rest of the world, but a game spent scuttling around underfoot  trying hard not to derail their character continuity won't be much fun for anyone. Instead of following them around, find things to do where they *can't* accompany you, or bail you out, or steal your credit: Significant Heroic Deeds that your PCs can accomplish, which complement the Great Events of the Hero Wars (or maybe even develop some of them in greater detail), but which aren't identical to the (few) known Heroic Accomplishments of the heroes from WB&RM. These are your scenarios; the rest is narration, background colour, briefing papers and known recent events.

Finally, have a sense of proportion. There are many *great* campaign themes in the "Genertela Book" -- your campaign probably won't cover them all. If your players never venture north of Aggar, then the Unveiling of Charg, the Defeat of the Kingdom of War, the Wizards' Invasion of Seshnela (etc.) aren't likely to have much effect on your game, other than as "noises off". (Consider the "Revolt in the Redlands" event from WB&RM/DP: something happening on the far side of the Empire draws away personnel who'd otherwise be used in Dragon Pass. As GM, when should this happen: randomly, at a fixed date, or when it becomes Dramatically Appropriate?). You'll have enough on your plate keeping your players under control, without needing to worry about the (unknown) hero in the (unknown) distant land who overcomes the (unknown) foe using the (unknown) secret and thereby Saves the World! NB: all those (unknowns) could well be the events in someone else's Gloranthan campaign; or those in your next game, for what it's worth. Don't resolve them all this time around!

On to the afterthoughts:

> I do not like to run God-killing campaigns. I like to run well
> balanced campaigns in a believable world. However, I like to
> give characters, eventually, an opportunity to be *special*.

That's good. The example you gave of "special" rune-level PCs was a mission where, in your game, win or lose, the outcome of the Hero Wars would be irrevocably altered. Now *that's* what I call special!

> I do not like to have pre-determined scenarios where people have
> to be killed, defeated, whatever at some point.

OTOH, you did propose this as the kind of thing you wanted to see *more* of (scenarios with set dates and known future consequences) when you were asking for Blank Events. Now, if *you* don't like it either, let's not chew on it any more! :-)

> All I'm asking for is a little bit of extra information, which you
> may well have, and which would give me flexibility within my own
> campaign.

Well, with a polite request like that, what can I do but reply with a parable from the Good Old Days?

I heard this one from Greg in '85, when he attended the Games Day con in London. Seems there'd been a RQ tournament game at a US con where you could bring your own characters (it must have been tough!). And three characters turned up holding Balastor's Axe, each with a first-hand account of how they retrieved it from the Big Rubble.

Greg said this was a good example of what some Gloranthans call the "RuneQuest Effect". As the End of the Third Age draws near, Chaos threatens to destroy Glorantha -- as it always does. Reality starts to warp and ripple. Things change. Events go awry. Places twist and fall. People are credited with different deeds in different sources: the "Annotated Argrath's Saga" is just the most obvious example of this. It's a known Gloranthan phenomenon, it's part of the End of the Third Age, and it's why you'll be lucky if the events in your own campaign ever exactly reproduce those of "THE Glorantha". Whichever that one might be...

In fact, the RuneQuest Effect means that if you do manage to follow the "official" timeline with 100% accuracy, *that's* not Gloranthan! Or, at least: the existence of THE Glorantha, including the Rune-  Effect, means that all other Gloranthas should suffer from the same effect in order to be considered identical with THE Glorantha, which of course they are. And aren't. If you see what I mean...

In short, why worry? Set a game in a part of Glorantha you like the look and feel of; use what we know about the Hero Wars as a dramatic backdrop for your own great adventures, sweeping historic events, blazing cities, lost treasures and unspeakable evils; and *nobody* will hold you to account if you're having fun while you're playing. Your players won't ('cos they're having fun); you won't ('cos they're having the fun you wanted them to); and we won't ('cos you don't want to post all the campaign details to us as they unfold). So where's the problem? Be consistent with what you know (up to a point), but don't lose sight of the aim of the game, which is to enjoy yourself while allowing the players to achieve their Significant Goals.

'zat "flexible" enough?

::::
Nick
::::


End of The Glorantha Digest V5 #363


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