Red Devastation, diagrams and the Hero Wars from Jeff Richard on 1998-07-18 (Glorantha Digest Vol 06)

From: Jeff Richard <jrichard_at_cnw.com>
Date: Fri, 17 Jul 1998 17:10:55 -0700

Colin writes about Red Devastation:
>Someone, I cannot remember who asked if a better set of rules than
>Warhamster was available for Glorantha. May I suggest John Medways Red
>Devastation rules by far the best I have ever played for Glorantha, my
>self and the Seattle Farmers had a mighty battle using this set of
>rules,(one all Jeff next con is the decider.....).

I second Colin's approval of Red Devastation. It is a magnificient system - - particularly when moderated or is that narrated by John Medway. If it is being run at Convulsions, PLAY IT! It is well worth it!

Julian Lord writes:
>PS I disagree with the diagrams representing the relationships of the
>four main philosophical currents of thought in Glorantha. It looks like
>they're turning into an alignment table from an AD&D book by Gary Gygax!

I agree that some folk certainly have gone overboard on the diagrams - although like many things on the Digest, I can imagine Gloranthan scholars obsessing on these classification schemes. Personally I think it is useful if not pushed too far - just use it as an overly-general approach for comparison.

On yet another tangent, I recently got to witness a heroquest that beautifully illustrated the conflict between the Orlanthi initiatory mysteries and the Lunar initiatory mysteries. An Orlanthi of Sartar, troubled with ever growing "new problems" that have wreaked havok in Sartar during his lifetime (foreign "overlords", growing clan and tribal strife, new religions, deteriorating social institutions, etc.), decided to follow in Heort's footsteps and travel to the End of the World. Heort's Quest for the Second Son is possibly the most culturally important heroquest of the Orlanthi - it is the adult initiation for the Heortlings and the knowledge that the Second Son imparts on Heort might shock many members of the Digest, particularly those who consider themselves "rabid Orlanthi".

Anyways, armed with the secret of the Second Son, the Sartarite heroquester travelled on to the doom of the world - where there is no difference between life and death, no difference between chaos and existence and where all that was is no longer. There he travelled to meet the world's doom and overcome - just as Heort did. What he found was another quester - a devote Lunar seeking illumination through understanding that the end is just a beginning. The Sartarite was asked to sit down by the Illuminate and understand the cycles of the world. Instead the Sartarite summoned whatever powers he still had and cast the illuminate into the Predark - defining the world again into "us" and "them", "life" and "death". A very interesting insight into the two cultures. Maybe if y'all are real nice, one of the Seattle Farmers who participated in that session might even write it up from their perspective.

Jeff