Re: Grazers

From: David Dunham <dunham_at_pensee.com>
Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 10:06:42 -0700


Oliver Bernuetz (a suspicously Rathori-sounding name if you ask me, though I suppose it's suspiciously Aldryami-sounding too -- didn't someone say the two were allies?) asks

>are the Grazelanders the Scythians of Glorantha?

Yes. No.

As my web site <http://www.pensee.com/dunham/glorantha/grazer1.html> says, "The closest terrestrial analogs to Grazer culture are the Scythians or Plains Indians."

But they are not just Scythians in Glorantha. For example, I don't think the age groups have any Scythian analog. Nor is "Mars" (according to Herodotus) their main deity. And I think it unlikely that the Grazers have females who carry weapons (politically correct game designers to the contrary).

The use of analogs is two-fold:

The Grazers and Scythians have both had to solve many of the same problems. It's likely that many of them were solved the same way (e.g. both are nomadic, and it seems logical that both would drink fermented mare's milk).

And analogs allow you to quickly fill in details when you don't know them or don't have time to make something up.

But analogs shouldn't prevent you from coming up with your own details and making a Gloranthan culture cooler or more fun to play than an earthly equivalent.

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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