Re: "I'm not dead!"

From: Andrew Dawson <asmpd_at_usol.com>
Date: Mon, 17 Apr 2000 00:13:27 -0400

>Date: Fri, 14 Apr 2000 02:18:00 +0100 (BST)
>From: Alex Ferguson <abf_at_cs.ucc.ie>
>Subject: Re: "I'm not dead!"

[snip]
>For HQing purposes, it certainly poses a puzzler or two. If I go back
>to the Golden Age, and cut some fellah's head off, what happens? Am
>I weilding Death, with consequences as above, or am I just having a
>bit of harmless dismemberment fun? What is it that determines the
>difference: is it the act sword that I brought with me, which has a
>little bit of death inside it? Is it in my own person (my soul, my
>lethal intent, my spirit, whatever...) in some manner? Is it more
>to do with the manner of the decapitation, and what 'story' it appears
>I'm here to perform (or am performing, regardless of my actual intent).

After pondering this, I came up with the interpretation of this that I would use for my Glorantha games:

If you go back to the Golden Age (or Green Age, or anywhere pre-death), then you can't take any implements of death with you; they just don't exist. If preparing to go to the period that "predates" death, then the Heroquester should prepare appropriately and not carry implements of death. If going to a predeath age as part of a Heroquest that also includes going to a postdeath age, then the implements of death disappear or are otherwise unusable when in the predeath part. The same applies (along with some penalty for inappropriate preparation) to any implements of death that the Heroquester tries to bring to a predeath age. I suppose that there could always be a special Heroquest to prematurely introduce Death, but I don't have any reason to use that yet in my game.

Thanks,
Andy

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