> my initial impression
> is that "Peace Doesn't Pay". The short game I played a peaceful
> clan and had CONSTANT troubles with feeding my people, keeping
> up the cattle, and so forth (though I did manage to win - partly
> by constantly asking my tribemates for cattle, and partly by
> engaging in frequent cattle raids towards the end). Disgruntled,
> I made the next clan a Uroxi War clan, and the results have been
> MUCH more impressive. I've got more cows than I know what to do
> with, LOTS more weaponthanes, and I don't seem to get raided as
> much as I did last game. (It's early days yet; it's possible that
> my military bearing will be my undoing when it comes to forming
> a tribe, I suppose). Is this bias real, and if so, is it intentional?
> What are the benefits of a peace clan?
Given that the Orlanthi are stalwart farmers and cheerful cattle raiders both, we figured the Balanced Clan is the default. War Clans have to raid more, because their fertility magic isn't so good. As you point out, clans you raid aren't going to be as willing to form a tribe with you... A Peace Clan is going to have a harder time in the early days, but when it has the protection of a tribe, its fertility emphasis can shine. (Of course, by that time in the game, you tend to be doing better economically anyway, so it's probably the harder of the three choices.)
There's also a definite factor of learning the game -- most people get their tribe formed much quicker the second time around, which is why the long game isn't always that much longer than a short game.
> Finally, one of the things about KoDP that I find entertaining is
> the cattle raids. I'd love to run my players through something like
> this; anyone got some decent mass combat rules for Runequest
> (other than YfB), or shall I just wing it?
YfB being?
We played through many cattle raids using PenDragon Pass (Pendragon has reasonable mass combat rules), and my web site has Thomas Lindgren's additional cattle raiding rules.
David Dunham <mailto:dunham_at_pensee.com> Glorantha/RQ page: <http://www.pensee.com/dunham/glorantha.html> Imagination is more important than knowledge. -- Albert Einstein
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