> I understand that abilities and such are purposely vague, but it seems
like
> the rules themselves are vague, too. And it's incredibly disorganized -
> seems like all over, there are terms which are used, then defined ten
pages
> later (if they're defined at all).
Yep. There's an ongoing rules discussion on hw-rules_at_egroups.com to try and
sort out the vagueness. As for the disorganisation, you are right. And an
index would *really* help. If Issaries, Inc. added page references to the
Glossary entries on their website
(http://www.glorantha.com/hw/glossary.html), that would be a good first
step.
> Anyway, I have some specific questions:
> What happened to Urox? Elmal? Eurmal?
They were apparently deemed to be too funky (needing too many special rules) for the core rulebook. Look for them in the Orlanthi Players' Book ("coming soon"). There is a draft animist version of Storm Bull at http://www.glorantha.com/hw/keywords_praxians.html, but this probably isn't what you want (Praxian style worship, not Heortling "Urox") .
> Why are seven major aspects of Ernalda listed, but only three are
described?
Space constraints, surely. All of her major aspects will doubtless be fully
described in the Orlanthi Players' Book ("coming soon"). Just as I expect to
see all the Lunar goddesses in the Lunar book. That's an unworthy nitpick,
IMO.
> Wealth/Pricing/Buying Stuff - What? Why on earth was this done?
So our characters can act like heroes, not accountants. When was the last time you saw Conan rooting through his breechclout for small change? If this kind of thing bothers you, it's simple to retrofit (using, say, the RQ3 economic model).
> Why are some affinities/secrets/whatever under the various gods'
> descriptions listed in boldface, and others not?
The layout is not of the best, I think we will all happily agree.
> Questions about the sample character, Kallai, page 28:
> "Great deity: Orlanth 13": What? Where did that come from? Where in the
> rules does it say who gets a "great deity", what "great deity" they get,
> what it means to have a "great deity", and what it means to have a "great
> deity" of 13?
I believe the specifics explaining this were axed late in the day, along with a lot of runic guff explaining precisely how pantheons are put together. The "great deity" is the head honcho in your pantheon. I'd assume this is used in Communal Worship (p.179) as Kallai's relationship to his pantheon; the rating of 13 probably arises because it's a Community rating (p.25). Nowadays, you probably write this as "Worship Storm Pantheon" (a Heortling ability that Kallai doesn't have, cf. p.45, which does exactly the same: all theists are meant to get something like this, cf. p.182).
In other words: it's confusing to see where this came from, but it all makes sense really! Some late edits weren't reflected in Kallai's character sheet -- his ranged combat skill is another hangover from a prior draft of the Warrior keyword.
> "Initiate of: Humakt": Huh? But he's a warrior, not a god-talker.
> God-talkers are the only ones who have the "initiate to (god)" skill. Or
> does that mean that they're able to initiate other people?
Yep, I'm certain that's what the god-talker's ability means.
> "Devotee of: Humakt 17": How did he become a devotee? Does every character
> get to be a devotee of somebody, as opposed to a just plain initiate?
All Heortling characters can be initiates or devotees from their cultural keyword (cf. HW p.45) -- you can decide which you want at character generation. The occupation keyword refines which cult you can be in, and any funny stuff (e.g. only spirit-talkers usually get the Kolat magic package; most god-talkers are devotees).
> And what does the "17" mean? When answering that last question, please
keep in
> mind that the character has a specific "mythology of Humakt" ability, as
> well as specific Humakt affinities. So if this "devotee of Humakt 17" is
> neither knowing about Humakt nor being able to channel Humakt, what is it?
See "Devotion" on p.181 -- it records his relationship with his God. Skeletal suggestions for how to use it are on p.185.
> "Eastern Customs 13, Eastern Languages 13, Foreign Customs 13, Foreign
> Languages 13": You mean to tell me that "foreign languages" is a single
> skill? As opposed to, say, "French" or "Korean"?
If you don't like it, you can very easily turn his character sheet into a long list of language skills. Hero Wars is using the common narrative convention that proper heroes don't faff around learning to "talk foreign". See the language suggestions on HW-NB p.17.
> Why not, say, "Kallai can kill things", leading to a "kill" skill of 13,
> obviating the need for "sword" or "spear" or whatever; he just can kill,
> regardless of whether he has a particular implement handy or not?
Actually, the HW rules go a long way in this direction. "Close Combat" ability, anyone?
> Finally, I'll say something positive: I really like the Mostali and
Aldryami
> pictures, in that they look nothing like stereotypical fantasy dwarves and
> elves. Gives them a really cool distinctive feel.
Me too. Shame about the more stereotypical pix in the Glorantha book.
Though that Duck on p.240... I'm not a duck-lover, but even I wouldn't have wished *that* on the poor buggers!
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