Moon Rites review

From: Osentalka_at_aol.com
Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 17:02:49 EST


MOON RITES - the review

The cover is a greyscale picture of the Crimson Bat in front of the Red Moon= ,=20

except that the greyscale is in fact a redscale. The backcover has a lunar=20 priestess in fromt of the Red Moon; also very nice.=20 The interior layout is professional looking (good man this John Hughes), and=
=20

the illustrations are also good (I liked especially the ones done by=20 computer; you can also see them at the GloranthaCon webpage).=20

The book starts with "Power Greya Two-Eyes", an excerpt of Greg Staffords=20 Lunar novel. When you liked Gregs Orlanthi writings you will LOVE this one,=20 because it is more accessible than a lot of his other writings. Greya will=20 become known as widely as Harmast; at least in the Glorantha tribe, as far a= s=20

i am concerned.=20

"Broken Pot County" by Mark Galeotti describes the folk of the Durnvokings,=20= a=20

primitive barbarian culture northwest of the Yolp mountains, in the Lunar=20 Empire. They are a not so typical Lunar culture, but an interesting one; if=20 you are in their lands as a Lunar to spread the faith of Sedenya, or as=20 Olanthi to seek potential allies against the Lunars. This article will be=20 enaugh to start a campaign in this land.

David "Our man in Aggar" Millians tells us the "Aggari Tales of Creation".=20 Everything sounds familiar, but at the same moment strange. The feelings I=20 had previously only with Harald Smith=C2=B4s descriptions of Imther come her= e to=20
mind.=20

Simon Bray gives us three descriptions of "Dirty little Gods" which didn=C2=
=B4t=20

made it upon the God=C2=B4s Wall. They are very funny, but also feel right i= n=20
their gloranthan content. The will find a place at least in MY Glorantha.=20

Peter Nordstrand gives us a hero band: "97 Child Missionaries of Raibanth".=20 What will your Orlanthi characters do if the Lunars missionaries they have=20 sworn to kill are KIDS???
What will your Lunar characters do to protect this innocent child missonarie= s=20

who seek to pray in Dragon Pass?

"The Surgeons of Vitality" is a masterpiece to bring the insane modern=20 plastic surgeon into glorantha, and let it feel right! That is why I love=20 Peter Metcalfe; he can add a piece of satire into glorantha, without making=20 it feel wrong. These guys are wonderful adversaries.=20

"The Crimson Bat" YES this part of the book is about the bad Bat. The Bat is=
=20

a Cult and a hero band in one! Roderick Robertson (the man who doesn=C2=B4t=20= drive,=20

but maybe he can ride the bat???) shows us all details of gloranthans=20 "Deathstar".=20

Mark Galeotti tells us something about the things he knows best: Crime and=20 Punishment AND the Lunar Empire. "Crime and Punishment in the Lunar Empire"=20 is not only about Thieves. It=C2=B4s about how they and their kind are handl= ed in=20
the Empire. And that can be very different: Dara Happan, Lunar and Carmanian=
=20

judgement in the empire is not the same. Now we can truly imagine how=20 important it can be to be a Lunar Citizen.=20

In "As the Moon turns" Stephen Martin, Alex Ferguson and Nils Weinander give=
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us an expanation why the calendars in glorantha, have different length of=20 month (moons). Maybe the gloranthan correct reason, maybe not, but a very=20 good and logical sollution.=20

Nils Weinander gives us two Narrator characters "The Lunar Twins". A nice=20 background description is given along with their Hero Wars stats. You can=20 join one or the other, or get one or the other as adversary. If your group i= s=20

Orlanthi or Lunar makes no difference. These two are useable as they are.=20

"Fellowship of the New Wane" by Bryan Thexton is a hero band of Lunar=20 fanatics which hate the Empire. The use for a series are obvious:=20 Friends/Allies or Foes/Adversaries? Your Orlanthi group might like them=20 because they hate the empire, but might also hate them because of their love=
=20

of Sedenya. Your Lunar group might love and hate hem exaclely out of the sam= e=20

reasons, but the other way around.=20

Trolls! Yes, "The Ice Fair of Yolp" is an episode about Uz in the Lunar=20 Empire. The most loved nonhumans of glorantha are brought into action by=20 James "Uz - The Trolls of Glorantha" Fruzetta himself.=20

(Almost) Everybody has visited it, (almost) everybody loves it: Pavis! "The=20 Imperial Society for the Reclamation of Pavis" is an article about, well, th= e=20

Lunars in Pavis. Bo Rosen and Ian Thompson give us new informations about=20 this hero band. Give your Pavis campaign a lunar touch!=20

Gian Geros "Encounter with a Dilettante" describes a Lunar Character with=20 stats. Feels like a not so naive Version of Jaxarte. :-) =20 A Lunar whom you might meet at some point (when your narrator owns Moon=20 Rites).=20

Finally five "Rules of Game Mastering" by Sandy Petersen show you why he is=20 such a successful GM.=20

This book is worth every single cent that you might have to pay for it.=20 Moon Rites is a great collection of lunar articles by some of our most=20 talented (fan-)writers.=20
It is a great book by itself, and will enhance the "Imperial Lunar Handbook"=
=20

greatly when it hits the shelves.=20

And remember: This is a GloranthaCon fundraiser, so it's a small print run!=20 If you don=C2=B4t buy it now, you might not get the chance to buy one when=20 "Imerial Lunar Handbook" is out, and you feeling you might want it=E2=80=A6

If you are not going to GloranthCon: Buy at least this fantastic book!=20

If you are going: Buy it nevertheless... :-)

See you in Toronto!

Cheers

Andr=C3=A9=20

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