I am not sure at this point if there is anything to be gained from a retrospective examination of how well the RuneQuest rules fit Greg Stafford's current (or indeed last-but-one) vision of Glorantha. Clearly they did not present a world with four *exclusive* magic systems, or four *exclusive* Otherworlds, like the one published in 1st edition "Hero Wars" (and subsequently repudiated, to a greater or lesser degree... let's see).
> [In RQ] Glorantha seems limited in Prax, and neighboring countries.
That said, Greg published an article about how the RQ rules for Malkioni Sorcery might work in 1979, well before RuneQuest 3 came out. I've attached it below.
> I think if categorization of Spirit Magic was fixed in RQ era,
> Pamaltela might not become center of Animism...
I would be astonished if anything about Pamaltela was particularly well defined before Sandy Petersen took it in hand (RQ3 era). But Pamaltela is stated to be the centre of animism (OK, "naturism") in the "Cults of Terror" fourfold cosmology. OK, that states "Pamalt" to be the god of the elves (instead of their implacable foe), but hey! Nobody's perfect.
> I can understand your position as a main innovator of Sorcery.
I don't recognise that label. I have had almost nothing to do with sorcery: again, Sandy Petersen is the guru for this. My Western works are about Malkionism, not Sorcery.
Cheers, Nick
by Greg Stafford, from "Son of Sartar" #3 (1979)
Several developments have motivated me to publish this unfinished magic system for RuneQuest. It is a major part of a development of Gloranthan magic being mastered in a Fronelan campaign run by Charlie Krank.
THE WRITTEN SOURCES When I began writing stories and encyclopaedias about Glorantha way back in '66 the setting was very mediaeval. That was my primary source for fantasy, after all, and I hadn't a great deal of exposure to other sources or to life in general. Those first stories took place beginning Year 2 in the Kingdom of Frowal, which later became the Kingdom of Seshnela after the first book. From there the time and space of Glorantha have grown immensely into the world we now know.
But Seshnela has never left Glorantha! There has always been a "mediaeval" area of Glorantha which dominated the Western lands. Their entire mythology and magic were also different. However, I was not interested in portraying that at the time of RuneQuest's publishing, hence they have had little development.
Of late, however, other local referees have been setting up areas of the continent which include the West. Charlie Krank, a very ambitious fellow, has undertaken (among other things) the Kingdom of Loskalm in Fronela, the last major hold-out of the unsullied civilisation from that Dawn Age Seshnela.
This write-up contains some of the more important notes we have constructed for such a social system. It may appear familiar as 'character classes,' but ought to put new meaning to those words when the entire structure is completed.
Of necessity this will abbreviate almost everything except notes on the Sorcerers, Ceremonial Magic, and Demonology.
THE CULTS OF SESHNELA Before Seshnela broke away from its parent civilisation it was part of the Brithini. The Brithini were a powerful human race from before the darkness. Their Founder was named MALKION and they are sometimes called the Malkioni. Malkion had four sons and one daughter by the goddess Britha, an earth deity. Each of the sons got one of their father's Great Gifts when he went from the earth. The gifts made them King, Wizard, Warrior, and Farmer. (The wizard was ZZABUR, hence the cult is sometimes called the Cult of Zzabur instead of sorcerers. A very theistic way of viewing it, though).
The Kingdom of Frowal was originally part of the Brithini lands. But after Time began, the king's son, HRESTOL, took upon himself a bold quest wherein he was guided by his Founder and found the means to attain the ends he sought. He broke all social bounds when he returned and began the class of KNIGHTS.
The Knights of early Seshnela were an idealistic bunch of goodbodies who combined all of the best possible attributes with a proud and non-oppressive moral code. Over the years the strength and aims of the knighthood has changed, but the institution still remains.
The Brithini conceived a deep and passionate hatred for Hrestol and the Seshnegi. Zzabur was the most feared of their race and from this stemmed a distrust between knights of Hrestol and wizards of Zzabur.
There were also, at this time, priestly cults of elements (five of them) and also the cult of Malkion, which was a religious adjunct to the knights and also a national cult for the Seshnegi. (Malkion had mystical connections which the God Learners of the Second Age connected with Flesh Man of the Lightbringers.)
In the Second Age the cult of Arkat Chaos-killer formed a peace between wizards and sorcerers which is common in many places, but is generally not acceptable to true and pure Hrestoli. (By the way, the True and Pure group gets extra strengths for being so.)
Final notes: Sir Ethilrist is a worshipper of some form of Hrestol. Also, the Carmanian Empire which the Red Goddess crushed worshipped him. Seshnela was destroyed by Zzabur at the end of the Second Age.
METHODS OF WIZARDRY There are three general methods of Sorcery. To make it fit within a conception of the previously presented theistic form of Gloranthan worship it is useful to envision the individual human being as the deity which is worshipped or invoked to perform. This fits in perfectly well with Gloranthan mythology and cosmology wherein people are all descendants of Grandfather Mortal who was created with bits of all of the deities in the cosmos, therefore being a microcosm of the universe himself. The three methods are:
General Sorcery
In this manner a wizard may attempt to cast a spell using his own innate skills at that particular magic.
General Sorcery is a Knowledge skill, which can be learned by studying with your master in the cult, or from a grimoire or demon. It gives a percentile chance to cast any "known" spells (available at that skill level and learned by the caster). There are risks of fumbling when casting general sorcery spells, and other risks and costs if learning sorcery from a book.
Ceremonial Magic
In this a magician is able to reproduce a magical act by use of sympathetic magic and other skills. It requires props and time.
Allows the casting or augmenting of powerful spells, but takes many hours to prepare and cast.
Demonology
This is summoning a spirit or demon or god and engaging it in spirit combat to force it to teach magic to the individual.
A way of learning magic without books or reading rolls. A summons must be made (takes magic, probably) and then the thing which comes must be fought in spirit combat. Driving it down to 0 inside the pentagram will cause it to teach any one spell which it knows.
This will take on some more meaning and flesh (ha ha) when I draw up a different list of spirits and how to determine if they know magic. There is, though, a demonic hierarchy in Glorantha as well. I'm just not sure what/how it is. There is not quite the same dualism in Glorantha as the Christian theology on Earth.
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End of Glorantha Digest
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