Since this will be our first in-depth HW supplement with a focus on the Lunar Empire, Martin has a certain responsibility to convey enough of the flavor of Pelorian culture, religion, etc. I feel that it should not contain a lot of esoterica, theological debate (how many Parts of the Emperor can dance on the head of a pin?), and so on; that's the kind of thing that a referee, or gamemaster, or whatever the heck we call She Who Runs the Game in HW should include if she thinks it's appropriate for her campaign. Sure, the true complexity of Lunar theo-politics should definitely be hinted at, but as we see on the Digest it's a live firecracker; personally, I don't know any players who'd be likely to become that involved in the struggle. YMMV, but I think that'd be a BIG turn-off for SGU; they'd have to play for a LONG time before most of the arguments made sense.
I personally have enjoyed the Soviet analogues as a model for the Lunar empire; damn clever, those Brits. However, I do see the point that the model would sort of break the suspension of disbelief that is so important for Glorantha. Perhaps a compromise is in order here; the RMM Lunar material is well-crafted material that shouldn't be discarded lightly. I encourage Martin to try and work some of it in, since it gives the aforementioned She a nice hook to use when running the game. Maybe more emphasis on the Roman or Byzantine similarities (though I always caught a hint of Baghdad as well).
Above all, leave room for Her Ladyship to make her own imprint upon the Empire. Don't straightjacket her with too many details like the different parts of the Emperor's soul, or Masks and Egi; that kind of thing probably won't be very useful at the beginning of HW for most game masters, especially ones new to the Lozenge. The background material here should be mostly skeleton and muscles; the game master hast to bring the thing to life.
I think all the flack Martin has taken is likely to prove detrimental to the process of getting this material published. Though I generally tend to take Nick and MOB's sides in most debates, I think that Martin's job is a difficult one; he has to go with what he thinks is right, with Greg's approval. I hope he considers the opinions of the others on the list, and I hope that everybody realizes that Martin IS the one who's writing this book, like it or not. No matter who wrote it, somebody was bound to get their feelings mangled.And eve though Glorantha is Greg's baby, I hope that the numerous midwives it has had will also be allowed some input into its future.
My relationship with Glorantha goes back to 1979, when I picked up 1st-edition RuneQuest. To me, Glorantha was a couple of maps and a handful of strange cults back then; the campaign I later ran with the aid of a DRAGON PASS map and CULTS OF PRAX would have seemed very strange to anybody on this list, but it kindled in me a love of this familiar yet exotic world. I hope that Glorantha can be nurtured for several generations to come.
Guy Hoyle
We Meddle in God's Domain So That You Don't Have To
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