G and Earth disparity, and the confusing Adept

From: Mikko Rintasaari <rintasaa_at_mail.student.oulu.fi>
Date: Fri, 15 Dec 2000 23:31:13 +0200


> From: "Probst, Bruce [IBM GSA]" <Bruce.Probst_at_team.telstra.com>
> Subject: Glorantha <> Earth
>
> > Mikko Rintasaari <rintasaa_at_mail.student.oulu.fi> writes:
> >
> >Nope. They did indeed have these things in the warring states
> period, which is definitely bronze age.
> >Ahem. So you say that 1600 era japaniese is a sensible mix with the
> Celts?
>
> but then writes:
>
> >Marvelous! I've always run my G like that. Having no horizon is
> interesting, and drives home the fact that G is not Earth to the players.
> >Why should we have a horizon on a flat world?
>
> Your attitude confuses me ... on the one hand something that would
> be impossible on Earth offends you, but on the other hand something else
> impossible on Earth delights you. Do you want Glorantha to be consistent
> with Earth or not? (Hopefully not, otherwise many more disappointments will
> be coming your way.)

Okay. Here's the score. I don't think Glorantha is Earth, and I like to underscore the difference in subtle ways. The fact that (my) Glorantha is flat is not all that obviously different from our round planet. Afterall, many Earth cultures have tought that the Earth is flat. Haze in the air and shapes of the ground will still limit how far you can see to pretty much what the limits are on our round planet. (But thins like Kero Fin can bee seen all over Dragon Pass.)

I think Glorantha is pretty much like a dream of Earth. I think if one made a world from the collective mythological subconscious of bronze age / early iron age peoples of Terra, you'd pretty much get Glorantha. And that's what it is for me. Incidentally that's pretty much what Glorantha is anyhow, since Greg has been drawing so much of his inspiration from folklore, religion science and old myths.

But at least my Glorantha is a "projected image" of a certain time of Earths cultures.

I don't want to mix late middleage christians with the celts, nor do I want to mix bronze age Chinise with late feodal Japaniese.

I treat Glorantha as a living, breathing world, though. It may have rosen from the dreams of humanity of Terra, but it has gone it's own way.

I choose to stick to the bronze age cultures, because I find them infinitely more fascinating than the pseudo middleage of D&D and countless other game settings.

> As to whether "Japanese and Celts" are a "sensible mix", it's
> irrelevant any way ... there are no Japanese *or* Celts on Glorantha. Or
> Chinese, for that matter.

What I mostly meant, is that you can't really have advanced "middle age" cultures brushing shoulders with bronze age or early iron age peoples. The more advanced people would conquer the lesser without effort. That's why I don't like treating the westeners as middleage christians in full plate armor and lace wielding heavy cavalry. They would have walked all over the other inhabitants of Genertela a long time ago.  

> If your argument is that the (rough) equivalent to early iron-age
> technology being around at the same time as the (rough) equivalent to late
> medieval technology is confusing/contradictory/nonsense, then
> Kralorela/Vormain should be the *least* of your problems. Technology-wise,
> none of Glorantha makes sense in comparison to the real world.
>
> Bruce Probst

I discard the parts that make too little sense, and work with those that work best for me.

        -Adept


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