Beserkers are pychotic fruitcakes - and so say all of us from Dougie on 1999-04-23 (Glorantha Digest Vol 06)

From: Dougie <dougiepunk_at_bigfoot.com>
Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1999 11:05:51 +0100

Okay, since I seem to be being dragged into these debates more than usual at the mo, I'll throw in my tuppence re. Strmbulls. What certain people seem to forget is that Stotmbull is a cult of besekers. In the RW (eg. Norse and Celtic culturers) these people, who could shrug off all sense of personal danger and throw themselve at any number of enemy where, basically, psychotic.

In the Sagas they are always portrayed as being intensely disliked but still, as has already been mentioned, damn handy to have on your side in a tight spot.

For the praxians and the Orlanthi, there are never truly "times of peace" and in a world full of squelching chaos hordes having a frothing psycho you can give a big axe to and point in the right direction is surely a blessing. I'm sure that no cheifden / khan tec. lets a bunch of 'Bulls hang around causing trouble for long before finding a new chaos menace to send them off to fight.

BTW, I hate using the magic spell as the mechanic for beserking. IMG using RQ it's a skill that is also tested in other stressfull situations eg normal social interaction for a 'bull. If he makes the roll he looses it (if he lost it at a tribal gathering frex he would start a punch up with all the local waha boys). Thus the more adept you get at becoming a psychotic bezeker, the more anti social you become. In PdP a very high Reckless score is needed.