Re: Wuxia, Xena, Grubby Ducks, Jellyfish

From: Alex Ferguson <abf_at_yeats.ucc.ie>
Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2000 02:24:05 GMT


Gary R Switzer:

> All over Glorantha there are (or soon will be)
> lots of people with the stat "Close Combat-12w" whether it's a
> Western Knight on his horse, a naked Ralian on the pole of his
> chariot, a Shargashi, an Orlanthi huscarl, a duck bandit in the Zola
> Fel, a Shan-Shan Hunchen, a PoIM'er, a Vormain Samurai, etc,
> not to mention numerous Monsters Tougher than the Usual Sort.

Well, perhaps if nothing else, the kralori martial arts rules, when they manifest, will at least somehow mandate more interesting ability tags for striking, bending, spindling, and folding your fellow man, which accordingly given the much greater clues as to appropriately grotesque (in magnitude, whichever the sign) sit-mods to apply.

> > I'm tempted to conclude that 'more wuxia' is as objectively useful
> >a standard as 'MGF'.
>
> Well yeah. My point is there's plenty of room in Kraloria for every
> kind of bizarre martial arts forms anyone can think of.

To some extent, but at the rare risk of sounding like Jeff Richard, I think it's first of all important to establish a Norm to deviate from. That way we can work out if such and such a person is a perhaps crude, but in some way legitimised part of the collective mystical apparatus of the society and state, some wacky ol' person doing all sorts of slap-happy whacky stuff, devoid of mystical content of any kind, or warming a cell in the chambers of Archexarch Seven Dragon and Wisdom for promulating an Incorrect putatively mystical method.

> Whether a
> particular form or style is appropriate for a particular character is
> open to debate, probably in the bar at a Con.

Great stuff, another man who wants to by me a drink! Mine's an ale (or nearest ethnic equivalent) with an Ardbeg chaser, you being a member of the Retail Bourgeois, Gary. ;-)

> "One day when not a cloud was in the sky and not a breeze was
> stirring, peals of thunder suddenly rumbled overhead. Kukai hurried
> to the Palace and chanted spells in a loud voice, while fingering his
> rosary. Something plummeted to earth: incredibly, it was some kind
> of strange, giant barbarian, riding in a chariot! The man was seized,
> locked in a large coffer, and thrown into the Suam Chow. Servants
> dug up the ground to a depth of three feet at the spot where the
> mysterious rider had landed, and exarchs loudly recited exorcisms
> and prayers of purification."

Good work, men. But don't forget the ritual apology to Thrunhin Da for the water-pollution, in case she 'takes the nip', and expresses said mild vexation by flooding the entire country. (Again. Hate it when that happens...)

Cheers,
Alex.


End of The Glorantha Digest V7 #376


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