Date: Fri, 19 Feb 93 16:14:54 +0100 From: RuneQuest-Request@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (Digest Subscriptions) To: RuneQuest@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (Daily automated RQ-Digest) Subject: The RuneQuest Daily, Fri, 19 Feb 1993, Carse in Glorantha This is an semi-automated digest, sent out once per day (if any messages are pending). Replies will be included in the next issue automatically. Selected articles may also appear in a regular Digest. If you want to submit articles to the Digest only, contact the editor at RuneQuest-Digest-Editor@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM. -- Send Submissions to:Enquiries to: The RuneQuest Daily is a spin-off of the RuneQuest Digest and deals with the subjects of Avalon Hill's RPG and Greg Stafford's world of Glorantha. Maintainer: Henk.Langeveld@Sun.COM -------------------- From: tzunder@cix.compulink.co.uk (Tom Zunder) Subject: Karse Message-ID: Date: 18 Feb 93 22:35:00 GMT Carse, City of Evil! "Carse, or Karse, is a city of quiet vice, a cesspool of unbridled trading and profiteering with any willing to exchange coin or bolgs for sex or goods. Under the Pharaoh Karse was the place where the loose Northern Hendriki let off steam and the pleasure seeking rich boarded for the journey to Casino Town. Now, under the Red Moon, the filth of Carse grows worse. Under the rule of the quisling Baron Bogardis Almareth, nephew of the good Baron Egriff taken away in chains by the Lunars, Carse has capitulated all honour to the sickening rule of the chaos goddess. Some two thousand troops are stationed at Carse at all times and the heel of repression grinds down any who would stand in it's way. Carse was always a place of corruption, now it is beyond repair. When Orlanth comes to sweep away the forces of Chaos, surely he will blow down the walls of Carse and put all within to the sword!" The speech of Erik the Bloody, rumoured Cold Wind activist in New Pavis, 1620ST. Transcribed and circulated anonymously. Karse Military Records Division. Sun Dome 1602ST. Population: Four Thousand Souls. Ruler: Baron Egriff, acolyte Karse, initiate Orlanth Species: Human (99%), Trolls (1%), Others (1%) Religions: Issaries (55%), Karse (85%), Ernalda (30%), Orlanth (20%), Argan Argar(3%), Dormal(3%), Humakt(3%) Industries: Trade, exporting Heortland produce to Esrolia and transhipping Esrolian goods to barges for export north to Heortland. Fishing and agriculture are self sufficient and do not generate trade. Politics: Loyal vassal of Pharaoh, independent within Heortland. Notes: Well known for its immorality and vice. Known as a bolthole for the scum of Kethaela. GM notes on Karse This section is an attempt to convert Carse, the Chaosium/Midkemia universal fantasy city into Karse, the city on the Mirrorsea in Glorantha. Although medieval in feel Carse can be used quite easily, with the following details for the personalities listed in the book, with the addition of some more people to fill the need for Gloranthan religion to be well represented. Rumour has it that Sanctuary was Karse in the Chaosium house campaign but I'm sure that Karse will have many incarnations. This is just one and I hope it might be of use to some. You will need to buy Carse to make full use of any notes but I think it (and Cities) are well worth the investment. If you don't want to then you can make use of most of this if you want. All trademarks, copyrights acknowledged. Additional material copyright T H Zunder 1993. Personalities 1622 ST All are Karse initiates unless otherwise stated. The cult of Karse is explained below. Baron, Bogardis Almareth IV. (45, male) Brown hair and eyes, average build, strong and competent. Nephew of Egriff. Bogardis is an acolyte of Issaries Garzen and regards himself as the Merchant Baron of Karse. He sees no point in challenging the Lunars overtly, they bring trade and money. The Baronial house trades itself, controlling the salt and Corflu cotton monopoly. Baroness, Winoma Almareth. (30, female) Daughter of an old Karse family with Esrolian trading links. Slender, fair and green eyed. Member of Sharwen, and Ernalda acolyte. Chamberlain and High Priest of Karse, Gran Darwellan. (51, male) High Priest of Karse and acolyte of Issaries. Thin, tall with dark hair and blue piercing eyes, Gran runs the city treasury as administered by the cult of Karse. Under the control of the city council, headed by the Baron, Darwellan administers both religious and secular spending. Has been suffering from shaking and fits recently and it is rumoured he has been cursed. Divination cannot find any cause. (Mild epilepsy, not fatal, unknown trigger.) High Priest of Issaries, Garzen, Silven Erstiasson. (52, male) Tall, heavy, unfit. Silven heads the formidable Council of Trade which runs all city markets and collects all tithes, taxes and tolls on behalf of the Karse cult and certain others (at a 2% handling charge). Reputed to have sold his second wife for a profit, he takes the concept of free enterprise so far that he always pays a small fee before entering a house but then charges a higher one to speak! High Priestess of Ernalda, Hilya Heylonsdottir. (39, female) Short, plump and slightly smelly, fair hair and green eyes. Priestess of most women of Karse and of most of the rural population in the outlying Barony. Mother of seven children, four of whom live, Hilya has great social power. Politically the High Priestess has had a limited role in city politics, largely used as ambassadors and go-betweens in any trade discussions with Esrolia. Secret leader of Sharwen. High Priestess of the Seven Mothers, Zar-ek Xenorides. (45, female) Tall, elegant, highly attractive, red haired, green eyes. Priestess of the Seven Mothers temple, illuminated. Direct liaison between Karse city council and Tatius the Bright. Has agents in the field and a growing congregation in the re consecrated ex-Orlanth temple. Sheriff, N'tara Lakven. (35, male) Commander of the Karse permanent militia. Dispenser of Low Justice. Yanafil Tarnils Sword from Sylila. Loyal to the Baron as the duly appointed ruler of the Lunar Empire. Holds a higher oath to the Lunar Provincial Governor directly, a fact known by all, since N'tara does not keep it a secret. Tall, heavy, red-haired with black eyes and a quick temper. Ambidextrous. Deputy Sheriff, Feylen Alkara. (29, female) Deputy commander of Karse permanent militia. Yanafil Tarnils initiate from Sylila. Commands watch in evening, skilled in rapier, head easily turned by pretty boy. Captain of the Guard, Bullroarer Redhand. (37, male) Tall, heavy and red haired as N'tara. Good drinking buddy with N'tara but unrelated. Bullroarer is a Tarsh Seven Mothers initiate and organises the Karse non-permanent militia in its patrolling and training duties. Only loyal and pro-Lunar citizens are allowed to join these units which are largely symbolic and made up of pre-Lunar guardsman put out to grass. Magistrate, Gehazi Zemwara. (51, male) Tall, gaunt, balding brown hair. Dispenses Middle Justice from admin buildings (H-17) Appreciates a good meal and takes a bribe for unimportant matters. Was an ambassador to the Shadow Plateau as a younger man and speaks good Darktongue. Initiate of Argan Argar, takes private commissions to resolve troll trade issues. Organisations and Politics. The Sharwen The Sharwen is a female organisation based around the Ernalda and Uleria cults which aims to overthrow the patriarchy of Karse and "re-instate" the matriarchy which they claim preceded it. Close links with the Red Earth Alliance in Esrolia, they have recently seen the Lunar way as offering the path to improved female power. The Sharwen has a long history in Karse but only recently has it become militant. The Iron Fist The Iron Fist is a male oriented secret organisation which grew up originally as a men's club with some hostility to the Sharwen. Made up almost entirely of Orlanthi it became militant with the invasion of Heortland and the taking of the city. Now completely underground it holds secret Orlanthi ceremonies and keeps contacts alive with rebels and the last Orlanthi King Broyan. Increasingly desperate and alienated it engages in acts of brigandage and terrorism. NB: Because of this dichotomy in Karse society the Ernalda and Orlanthi cults are not as friendly as usual. Orlanth has been banned within the city walls, following an Iron Fist outrage on some Lunar women. The Orlanth temple was stormed by Lunar spirits and re consecrated to the Seven Mothers. The Ernalda High Priestess is the leader of the Sharwen, the leader of the Iron Fist is an anonymous Wind Lord. Karse (permanent) Militia This is actually made up of Lunar troops transferred to Karse as part of a regular tour of duty. It is considered a cushy number, although Iron Fist attacks are increasing. It is called a militia since fictionally it is the continuance of the original Karse militia unit. This force numbers some 200 men at all times rising to 1000 (in temporary accommodation) at times of tension or manoeuvres. Karse Guard This is a non-permanent group of Karse citizens who have declared their loyalty to the Empire and initiated in the Seven Mothers. They perform limited guard duties and are trained to fight. They are the basis of any future citizen force for Karse. This unit numbers about 50. Brotherhood of Dalshra Karse includes some sorcerers and Malkioni. They maintain a quiet and discreet organisation named after the High Wizard of Malkion in Nochet. They are known of by the Lunars and are quiet. Sorcery in Karse is not explicitly forbidden but is frowned upon and never practised in public. Troll Caravanserai The Caravanserai in Karse is a troll trading outpost with about thirty troll kind living there. They trade troll and human goods between Karse, the Shadow Plateau and other troll settlements. Most are initiates of Argan Argar and support a shrine to him. Many humans are also initiates of Argan Argar and a priest or acolyte often holds large worship ceremonies at holy and high holy days. {The caravanserai in Carse is Arabic, simply translate camels to beetles, Abdul to Azgrak, and away you go!} The Cult of Karse Karse was an Issaries trader. On her trading through the Dawn Age she yearned to settle and raise a great market city in which to let all peoples come together and trade their goods and knowledge. To that end she travelled and traded with many, eventually meeting with Argan Argar and the Only Old One and receiving from him the grant of lands at the mouth of the CreekStream. There she began the city of Karse, building from the profits of her market the walls and infrastructure of the great centre of trade we know today. Karse is a demi-deity, a spirit embodied in the city she founded. The cult of Karse is inescapably entwined with the Issaries cult and indeed the cult is almost a subcult of the Trader God. It does, however, have a seperate existence. It's Runic Association is with the Trade Rune. It has no role to play in funeral rites and so on. All divine magic and divine magic from Karse only works within the city boundaries, as defined by the consecration of land by the cult. The city does therefore extend some way beyond the current walls. Priests of the cult may use divine intervention beyond this radius. Lay Membership Lay membership of the cult (or higher) is compulsory for all within the city boundaries. Membership can be gained by the payment of one penny a season, in exchange for which a bronze button bearing the season and the year is granted. This is worn as a badge for the relevant season as a sign of membership and may be demanded by any city official, cultist or guardsman at any time. This button is the same size and value as a clack and may be used as currency after the season's end. In Karse coins are often called "buttons". The buttons usually bear the head of the current ruler on one side and an animal head representing the season on the other side. There are no cult restrictions, limitations or duties on lay mebership of Karse. There are also no benefits save that of entry to the city. Initiate Membership Initiation into the cult of Karse is a requirement for all who reside within the city boundaries for more than one season a year. Initiation involves the sacrifice of one point of POW and the payment of 21 pennies a season to the cult, and two days of work. (This work may be replaced by the equivalent of two days income and the tithe by four days work.) Initiation is denoted by the giving of a silver button, identical to the bronze lay member button in design, which must be worn or carried for the season and may be used as currency thereafter. Initiates may sacrifice for divine magic on a one-use basis save for spells which are one-use for a priest. Cult Skills: Orate, Speak Heortling, Speak Tradetalk, Evaluate Spirit Magic: Glamour (max 2 taught by cult), Befuddle Acolyte Membership Requirements: Standard RQ plus must be an initiate of an associated cult. Duties and benefits: Acolytes may sacrifice for divine magic as priests, paying as initiates. They may receive divine intervention only within the city boundaries. They must spend 50% of their time on cult or city affairs. They must pay a tithe of 10% of their income to the cult. Priest Membership Requirements: Standard RQ but must also be an initiate of an associated cult. Duties and Benefits: Standard but may request Divine Intervention beyond city boundaries. Only 1 priest can be supported in Karse per 1500 inhabitants. Common Divine Magic: Excommunication, Mindlink, Worship Karse Special Divine Magic: City Harmony, Create Great Market of Karse ( as similar Issaries spell GoG p49 but limited to Karse ) High Priest and Chamberlain There is one high priest in Karse at any one time. This person is also appointed Chamberlain and controls the treasury of the current ruler. Only priests of Karse may be elected to this post. Duties and benefits: As a priest but must have been a priest of good standing for three years before appointment. Appointment is by the city council, upon which the Baron has total veto if exercised. A high priest may roll 1d20 for divine intervention within the city boundaries of Karse. Associate Cults Issaries: Create Market (GoG p49) Argan Argar: Safe (GoG p28) Spirit of Retribution Karse herself, POW 30, will hunt down any city official who betrays the city and engage them in spirit combat. If defeated then the victim will have his shadow permanently stolen. If reduced to 5 MP then Karse will withdraw. Karse is not a violent goddess and as such betrayal is to do with threatening the trading entity of Karse, not changing the ultimate overlord to whom it answers. Notes Karse, Issaries and, to a lesser extent in recent history, Argan Argar are intertwined in the city. Tithes are collected by the Issaries temple on behalf of Karse, at a 2% handling fee. The temple of Karse adjoins that of Issaries. Most Karse priests are also Issaries initiates or even priests, since both gods allow multiple membership on equal footing. Argan Argar is now a smaller force than in the days of the Only Old One, but many Karse priests of history were also of that cult and many still follow the "darker path". -------------------------------------------------------------------- tzunder@cix.compulink.com.uk "May the Red Moon Illuminate You All! -------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------- From: SPB1@VMS.BRIGHTON.AC.UK (Ghost Dancer) Subject: Worshipping whilst on your Holidays Message-ID: <9302182055.AA26370@Sun.COM> Date: 18 Feb 93 15:04:00 GMT It's nice to see the subject of where do people worship whilst out of their normal area come up. It is a problem that I have often been left trying to deal with in my games, sometimes more successfully than others. In general I look to the real world to try to find a point of reference from which to base my rulings about worship and temple duties. In brief anyone below Rune level can get away with not attending Temple worship providing they are devout and uphold their ceremony observance in kind, praying etc.. High holy days are a bit tougher and will at least require the devotee to spend the day performing Temple type duties, trying to convert the heathen etc.. Of course normal worship is expected should a Temple or shrine be available. Rune levels have a harder time, generaly they can only opperate away from their temple with permission of their temple superiors or with permission of their God, usualy obtained by Geas or DI. Rune levels who are unable to observe High Holy days may have to undertake some form of task on that day in line with their Gods mythic past. All worshipers will of course lose the ability to gain temple benefits whilst so absent (such as gaining Rune Magic) and will be expected to spend an appropriate amount of time performing catch up worship when once again near to an appropriate Temple. This is definitely a subject that should be given some sort of coverage in RQIV if not before. ._ /! \ Alternative /-!-/ Realities Jarec / ! \ Games Club e-mail: SPB1@VMS.BTON.AC.UK --------------------- From: brandon@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov (Brandon Brylawski) Subject: Re: The RuneQuest Daily, Thu, 18 Feb 1993 Message-ID: <9302181725.AA23102@caldonia.nlm.nih.gov> Date: 18 Feb 93 17:25:52 GMT Dan writes: > There is a quite simple and easy fix we use all the time. I call it >the anti-ping rule: for every 5 points of damage absorbed by armor/shields/ >magic, the PC takes 1 point of general system damage (i.e. not location >specific). So if a PC absorbs from 1-4 pts of damage, no effect; from 5-9 >pts does 1 additional damage pt in addition to anything not absorbed by >armor; etc. I've had no problems running this in my campaign. Ooh, I like this. getting hit hard should at least fatigue you if not actually hurt you, even if the armor prevents any focal injury from occurring. Brandon Brylawski --------------------- From: jacobus@sonata.cc.purdue.edu Subject: Use of Shields, Parries, etc. Message-ID: <9302181746.AA27076@sonata.cc.purdue.edu> Date: 18 Feb 93 07:46:04 GMT An Idea which is worth lifting from other games is that shields have hit points. In other words, if they are used to parry, they stop all of a blow, but the damage is subtracted from the hit points of the sheild. When this hits zero, the shield is useless. Note that these hit points may not be all that high, considering that it was common practice to make shields out of something cheap and get a new one before each battle. However, some shields were made VERY well and designed to be re-used. The latter were usually common in those cultures which had large infantry armies, the former, flimsy shields, were more common to cavalry-heavy armies. Basically, your flimsy shields would be designed to hold up to one good day's battle, and not be worth the trouble to repair. They would be lighter and cheaper than a good shield. A good shield might have quite a few hit points and more than a couple of armor points in its own right. These would be the Scutum of the Legionnaire or the Bronze shield of the Gaul. --------------------- From: alex@dcs.gla.ac.uk (alex) Subject: Those pesky priests again. Message-ID: <9302182318.AA02334@carcass.dcs.gla.ac.uk> Date: 18 Feb 93 23:18:42 GMT Okay then, a quick, minimal fix to the Problem of the Priestly POW Perverse Perquisite (okay, I'm feeling alliterative, so sue me). Use the usual procedure for determining success of the Worship Ceremony. If the ceremony skill roll is less than the priest's POWx5%, (s)he gets a "POW tick", but not otherwise. For the sake of consistency, this could be applied to all participants in a High Holy Day ceremony, but that's by the by. I'm somewhat more inclined to put a POW-based limit on the actual Worship chance, but that'd tend to put a hard top onto maximum chance, rather than leaving open-ended, as it is at the moment. Don't know whether that'd be significant or not. What happens when the priest blows his roll anyway? No gain rolls, obviously, but apart from that? Punters queuing up for their money/magic points back? An UnWorshipped diety? Inactive initiates? Nothing much? Incidently, I'm not entirely clear about the use of Ceremony skill in enhancing spells/rituals. Does this require a successful Ceremony skill roll, or is skill only relevent for determining the maximum increase in casting chance? Alex. --------------------- From: STEVEG@ARC.UG.EDS.COM (Entropy needs no maintenance) Subject: Re: The RuneQuest Daily, Thu, 18 Feb 1993 Message-ID: <01GUVZ5U9YMQ000LM9@UG.EDS.COM> Date: 18 Feb 93 17:22:01 GMT > Has anybody figured out what the "dark Earth" rune of Babeester Gor > signifies? This is the one that is common to Maran Gor, Ty Kora Tek and also Gorgorma of the Two Mouths. I call it the Dust Rune, myself, as it is connected with the sterile aspect of Earth. Other runes that I first saw in _Gods of Glorantha_ are:- The disk with "ears" rune of Gorgorma is Shadow; the X on lozenge is Dragon (as in Godunya & Immanent mastery), and the up arrow is Pamalt's own Rune. >> >>If anyone has managed to find a work-round to this problem, I'm eager to >> >>hear it. Thanx for the suggestions, guys! >> But D'Artagnan lived in a vastly later period from Sir Lancelot, where >> guns (and perhaps longbows) ... RQ, according to the write-up in RQII, >> was meant to simulate a more classical, even primitive world OK, so what about the Classical Greek warrior going of to battle clad only in helm, with huge shield & long spear? Or the Periclean era peltast or velite? While the Three Musketeers seem to be an abiding influence on players, the un- or lightly- armoured warrior was common on the battlefield at all times (merely eclipsed by the iron-clad nobility of the high middle ages). >> Especially in such things like spirit magic. RQ spirit magic heal >> creates a world where people are not very worried about major wounds. >> How many fantasy worlds, apart from Glorantha, can you think of where >> people can stick their legs back on after they are chopped off? Almost every FRP(*) supplies copious magical healing, leading to casual treatment of wounds; the "Well Fred & I each took 100 hit-points but we stomped dem balrogs" syndrome which causes some folk to look askance at other well known systems. It's just that since most systems treat characters as amorphous blobs of hit points, the possibility of severing limbs is one of the trademarks of RuneQuest (see also Gimpy's Tavern...) (*) not only pure fantasy - ShadowRun magical healing makes gunshot wounds but a mere inconvenience... >As someone else pointed out the Rules system must influence the world so you >can't KEEP the WORLD OUT OF THE RULE SYSTEM Certainly a world is best described by a system that goes with its grain; and emphasises its unique points. While certain kernels of the mechanics may be pure (e.g. Skills are %age scores; armour absorbs damage) others must reflect the flavour of the world (Donating POW to the gods gives spells; Iron does special things). Typically the latter rules tend to be concerned with the magical nature of the world (usually its most unique point), and become the bone of most contention. (I've known at least one player give up on gaming because he was never satisfied with any of the magic systems he designed or encountered!). > but many of the rules structures seem to be dated compared with more recent > systems: no standard set of skill difficulties, few default skills for > people skilled in a related area,etc. If anyone can still find copies of it, the _Lands of Adventure_ system (written by Lee Gold, published by the late lamented FGU) is a good starting point for RQ skill system improvements. While in some respects it stood to RQ as C&S did to D&D, there were a number of things worth stealing, such as evolving default values for skill categories. > 2. Numbers. (Trollkin or Rubble Runners by the dozen.) The brittle nature of RQ characters shows here, redoubled & in spades! As Greg has often recounted in the past of massed trollkin "Two of them did for Rurik Runespoon!" As an heuristic from experience, for a moderate initiate (~75% skills, 6 point armour, medium shield) one troll is too much, one trollkin to little, and two trollkin almost too much. --------------------- From: peterw@computer-science.manchester.ac.uk (Peter Wake) Subject: Re: The RuneQuest Daily, Thu, 18 Feb 1993 Message-ID: <9302191157.AA16295@r2.cs.man.ac.uk> Date: 19 Feb 93 11:57:39 GMT >[Paraphrasing, Steve is perplexed by the problem that a bad guy strong enough >to hurt a well-armored character will smush lightly armored characters >and kill on a single crit.] snippity snip >On the other hand, against the RuneLord in full iron plate(12), Shield IV (8), >protection IV (4) and a large iron shield(24), even a maximum crush (40) >points will ding. Anything (short of criticals) that worries him will turn snip snip There appears to be a bit of a RQII hangover persisting here. In RQIII there is *no* limit to the size of spirit magic spells. That means you can have Protection 12, Bladesharp 10 or whatever. I've run a RQIII campaign that started off three years ago with brand new 2d6+14 year old characters, they're now 12 years older and half of them are rune levels. The average protection in the party is 8, everyone has 10 or so points of Bladesharp, the Humakti Sword has 14 I think. Of course this makes the problem *even worse*. Boo hoo hoo. There's no limit on divine stacking either. Shield XII is OK. (Please correct me if I'm wrong). This does mean that a lowly initiate can have Protection 10 for 300 guilders however, much cheaper and lighter than plate. Perhaps that's what those elusive swashbucklers use, or perhaps they have even more. Just get Mr. Friendly Shaman to bind you up a nice big spell spirit and you can have your INT for other spells. What, your cult doesn't allow you to learn Protection? You can still buy a matrix with it in... It all depends on what the referee wants in his campaign. Actually what happens is that most every hit not parried or dodged severs a location but does not kill. This is a pain under the RQIII severed limb rules (regrow/regenerate required to restore). I got the players to vote on this and we agreed to keep the gross spirit magic (as that was only aggravating the problem) but decided to ignore the severed limbs need regrow clause and let them be healed as per maimed limbs. Still characters do die from criticals and on torso and head hits. Too bad they should know fights are dangerous. Remember Ressurection is a reusable spell in Glorantha. Plus there are so many d10 divine intervention rolls. "But the point of this is that the low level characters get creamed," I hear you say. It's true, there's no doubt about it. My solution is to keep the party balanced and not mix low and high experience characters. The rules of Runequest reality seem to make this a practical strategy for all concerned. A Rune Lord can't afford to have weaklings in his retinue, they just die and are lost to the cult. Maybe even Zorak Zoran realise this (there's death and then there's losing, and losing is bad). Maybe this doesn't help many people. Perhaps it'stime for a Rule Lord to be retired and become an NPC so that your party can be balanced? If everyone wants to play Rule Lords perhaps the weaker characters ought to be artificially propped up to give them a chance of survival. How do *you* do it? I can't tell you that, it's your campaign. -- Peter Wake