Date: Wed, 21 Apr 93 17:15:07 +0200
From: RuneQuest-Request@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (RQ Digest Maintainer)
To: RuneQuest@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (Daily automated RQ-Digest)
Subject: The RuneQuest Daily, Wed, 21 Apr 1993
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---------------------
From: MAB@SAVAX750.RUTHERFORD.AC.UK (Mystic Musk Ox)
Subject: Sent this before, don't think it got through...
Message-ID: <9304200741.AA03695@Sun.COM>
Date: 20 Apr 93 07:40:00 GMT
>>I suspect that those tables have been frigged for player character
>>backgrounds, and don't necessarily reflect the 'real' population breakdowns.
>>I don't really have any idea on how real populations do break down into
>>percentages...
> I don't think they've been mucked with too much, something like 40%
>chance of being a Farmer? Doesn't sound like too exciting a career...
>(Especially not to my poor player who, given three chances at the table,
>still managed to get Farmer as his family's occupation).
Well, I feel that 80%-90% Farmers would be nearer the real number. I
used to give three rolls too on those tables, except you reroll until
you get three different backgrounds, then choose one. Or you could
just let people choose (but then no-one picks Farmer!).
----------------------------------------------------------------------
> The Firearrow spell can be quite useful, cast on rocks etc., but has
>anybody ever used it on a flask of oil? With the thickness of the flask
>determining howe quickly the missile is consumed. Depending upon the type
>of oil in the flask you could possibly produce a small explosion or just a
>shower of burning oil.
I think that the type of oil used in flasks etc is unlikely to be one
that will burn easily, ie it will be vegetable based, rather than a
petroleum based product (except maybe for Mostali). So, unless you
heat it up a lot, it won't burn very easily, and won't explode (but
then neither would a petrol flask).
I also have bad memories of D&D games where whole parties used to go
round firebombing monsters. They don't like it when the monsters start
doing it back...
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>> I could go on about GoG and what a waste of paper that was,
>But I don't agree with this. If we hadn't had all that broad (albeit shallow)
>coverage, we'd not know anything "official" about any of the cults that
>weren't in _Cults of Prax_ or _Cults of Terror_ [and we wouldn't have had
>interesting debates about whether or not Babeester Gor rune magic is gross or
>not :-)]. While I'd like to see long forms of many of the cults in GoG, it
>covered much less than half the names of Gloranthan deities that I had noted
>down.
Yes, I agree, I think GOG is quite useful. I have RQ1, RQ2 etc, but
due to lack of funds at the time was never able to buy Pavis, Big
Rubble etc. For years, although I thought RQ was the best system (and
still do), I never played it because it was so tied in with Glorantha
AND there was very little information available. Also (heinous crime
it may be to say so) I was never too keen on Prax as a place to
campaign, and I STILL don't know enough about how the tribes operate,
or even what some of them are, to feel comfortable enough GMing them.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>I've always wondered about the logic of barbarians likeing to go on
>>war parties or cattle raids. If only 10% died then it would only take
>>10 years to kill off all the able bodied males (assuming it is not a
>>geometric progression). Does this mean that in fact casualties from
>>raids etc were very low and thus they did do a lot of raiding. Or was
>>the number of raids low eg only every couple of years and we have
>>been overdoing our estimates of barbarians willingness to fight.
>>Comparisons to historical pre-fire-arm data would
>>be interesting if anyone knows any figures.
> Um, you are assuming that nobody gets born?
10% losses a year is still rather high. I think that (as in most
combats, power struggles etc) actual losses would be fairly small, but
there is a lot of manoeuvering for position. Once one side gets in a
good situation, the others have to decide whether to fight or flee.
Most times they will give up, sometimes they will fight and take
losses.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Why not just present the info in formula manner?:
> Agility: DEX + STR - SIZ - 10
etc,etc
Excellent (and simple) idea. Wish I'd thought of it.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Regarding large scale battle rules, has anybody tried out the Hordes
of the Things set from Wargames Research Group? They are a variant of
De Bellis Antiquitis (DBA) from the same people, modified to allow for
magic (which they treat basically as long range firepower), different
sized armies etc. I have played DBA (but not HOTT), and they resolve
out quite quickly (eg 1 hour for a battle), and require few figures
(or you can use card counters), emphasising command and control over
the details of units behaviour. They even include campaign rules...
Cost, about #4.00 I think.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------
From: SPB1@VMS.BRIGHTON.AC.UK (Ghost Dancer)
Subject: RQIV
Message-ID: <9304200805.AA05362@Sun.COM>
Date: 20 Apr 93 08:04:00 GMT
Hi all,
Does anyone know when the next draft of the RQIV rules is likely to be
available. My campaign is currently on a brief hold whilst I rough out
the next seasons plotline and I am taking the oppertunity to convert
over to the RQIV stuff. I currently have the version 2.0 draft and
think that the changes are great. What I was wondering is do I go with
what I've got or do I wait another couple of weeks for draft 3.0 or
whatever??
Although I haven't had the chance to play with most of the RQIV stuff
yet what I see I like, a few comments are as follows:
Character Generation, much slicker. I idea of being in control of what
you generate is wonderful. So far I've done a couple of NPC's and two
players took the option of generating new RQIV characters and putting
their RQIII ones on hold, they also liked the freedom to personalise
their character. One comment was roughly as follows "It's nice to be
able to start with an idea and build a character to fit rather than
the other way round"
Skills, some nice new ones here. Also the new sections on training
etc... are much nicer and worth the extra work.
Combat, the changes seem logical, I'm going to start the next session
with a Bar room Brawl just to test the new rules so I'll know more
later.
Spirit magic/combat, love it. A learnable skill at last, this should
really seperate the Shaman from the people with high POW.
In general I can't wait to play it.
And now a few thoughts on older versions:
RQII - A nice easy system, some ideas like magic were a bit rough but
the whole idea of Glorantha supported the system and made the game
worth playing.
RQIII - The changes to the system from RQII were nice at first and
made the game seem more realistic, but after you played for a while
you started to see the rules flaws and the unwieldy complexities.
Worst still Glorantha got dropped for ages and then only returned in
dribs and drabs. Glorantha is now on its way back in and IMHO is
better and far richer than ever before. A few classic scenarios and
locations would do well to be revived (Cradles - Balastor) but in
general Ken R's future plans seem fine.
Question: What will happen when RQIV appears, will we have to wait
years for everything to be rewritten to fit again ?
Idea: Release a supplement containing all of the character conversions
from the RQIII scenario packs to RQIV. It could also contain a more
detailed write up on converting to RQIV and a couple of short
scenarios that use some of the new RQIV ideas such as a bit of
military intrigue (Intrigue/Torture/Military Custom etc) or the
players getting involved in a minor battle (Battle Skill). This would
of course not address all of the problems of useing old material with
the new system but most of the changes do tend to be character stat
related, providing cult organisations don't change of course!!!
._
/! \ Alternative
/-!-/ Realities Jarec
/ ! \ Games Club e-mail: SPB1@VMS.BTON.AC.UK
---------------------
From: trystro!rune@Think.COM (Peter Maranci)
Subject: Cry of the Lagomorph (RQ Problems)
Message-ID: <9304201101.AA04918@Early-Bird.Think.COM>
Date: 20 Apr 93 03:21:29 GMT
Rather than recapitulate the many comments from previous posts, I'll
just throw this out: I know that others have already said this, but
we're getting *way* too involved with RQ rules here. From what I've
seen and heard, RQIV may be a mass of rules resulting in a book larger
than any other system in existance. To move from the beautiful
self-contained simplicity of the RQII Red book to the impending
mammoth rules of RQIV seems backward, to say the least.
This was brought home to me when I read the RQII "Pavis" and "Big
Rubble" supplements recently. Everyone has been talking about new
rules to fix comparitively unimportant problems while ignoring the big
picture: rules AREN'T why RQ went down the toilet!
For those who *must* have some rule content: am I the only one who
feels that Armoring Enchantment and Strengthening Enchantment must go?
They make very high armor and hit points much more common than under
RQII, and really change the feel and balance of power of the game.
Such abilities should be gained through HeroQuesting -- or at the
least they should be made much more expensive. One AP or HP for each
point of POW would be reasonable.
-->Pete
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Peter Maranci
trystro!rune@think.com or rune@trystro.uucp or pete@slough.mit.edu
"Hey! Your Tien fell in my Atyar!" "Well, your Atyar got in my Tien!"
Thanatar -- two great Chaos Gods that go great together!
---------------------
From: awr0@aberystwyth.ac.uk
Subject: Spelling of Sorcery
Message-ID: <9304201355.AA08241@uk.ac.aber.fronta>
Date: 20 Apr 93 15:55:26 GMT
I apologise for all those people who were offended by my spelling of
Sorcery in that previous message. May a trollkin bite my kneecaps.
Ok, onto sewious stuff. Me and a few friends are puttin' together a wee
little version of Sorcery which fits into Glorantha nicely. It's has
everything RQ3 sorcery hasn't. Style, a reason for being and attitude.
There is just ONE SMALL problem. (Isn't there always!) The Moon Rune
has been classified as an element in our system. The way we've defined
the way it works, is that it effects the mind. Either positively or
negatively. I.E. can cause nightmares or can cause wet dreams etc.
Anybody have any other ideas on the Moon rune?
Adam
---------------------
From: burt@ptltd.com (Burton Choinski)
Subject: Behavior notes
Message-ID: <9304201502.AA12863@vino>
Date: 20 Apr 93 15:02:44 GMT
awr0@aberystwyth.ac.uk (Adam) comments:
>Looks like I've stirred up a few hornet nests. Oh well.
All the better for the game, no? :)
>On Cults in general :
>GoG is ok for quick reference, but it needed to be written in the format
>that is represented in the back of Cradles. This gives you a feel as to how
>your character should behave. Not just lists of spells available etc. It's
>the detail that makes a cult, not the number of cults.
I second this motion. In my new RQ group (beating on the Rev 4 draft
patching the rev 3 set) I have (had) 2 Humacti warriors. Well, to
make a long story short, they were in a city on Jonatela, started a
bar fight and proceded to kill the people when they responded. When
approcahed by the town guard at the door of their inn room (which
happened to be the best inn in the city) who requested their presence
at the city square (said Humacti players said they wear black heavy
chain...not TOO obvious and easy to identify, huh? They wore it into
the bar, and the bartender and surviving victims could point that
small fact out). The watch requested they leave their armor and
weapons in the room. The argued successfully that they should be
allowed to carry their stuff, as it was sacred to them. Well, after
closing the door, lighting the bed on fire and opening the door again
and trying to float the story that one of them accidentally knocked
over the lantern, then attacking the first soldier to go to the door,
they basically try to escape. The trickster in the group wisely
pulled a Conceal spell on himself and bugged out...he wasn't involved
in this mess, except way back in the bar that night he just did a
hotfoot to a drinking caravan guard. Humacti #1, who also the night
before had water thrown on him from a window above (peasent kid
dumping water on a supposed noble), kicked in the door, broke a few
ribs in the man downstairs,
went upstairs, found the kid and beat him senseless with a switch (the
Humacti was from the Kingdom of War, which I have since deemed does not
follow Humact in the least :p) Total Losses In city: Merchant caravan lost
3 soldiers (death and maiming), Local citizen hospitalized, 10 city soldiers
killed or maimed, most important inn to the city burnt to the ground.
Now Humacti #1 managed to elude the city guard and escape. #2 was
captured. At this point I had to slam on the brakes. Humacti #2 was
offered his freedom if he would swear an oath to bring back #1 for
justice (necktie party).
End result, Humacti #2 had to kill him for Humacti honor or bring him
back to die, else face a 33pt sever spirit (i.e. he dies). End
result: One dead and one maimed Humacti.
Now, had there been some sort of "behavior guidlines", these two would
not have picked Humact, but perhaps taken Storm Bull. I clamped down
HARD on them after this, telling them what future Humacti can and
can't do.
The only ones who played close to cult behavior where the Tricksters
in this sad case, but then, tricksters have an almost open license to
be major jerks. :)
In any case, the combat provided an ample test of both my
pre-generated foot warriors (my NPC program) and the RQ-IV combat
system. Dodge works fine, where levels of dodge reduce levels of
attack success. We tried the same system for parries this time, and I
must agree that while it does go fast I will use the rules listed in
the draft.
On a related note, I plan to put together a comprehensive sheet of
skills in postscript form. This list will detail all the RQIV and
RQIII skills in alphabetical order, along with the modifing trait
(agility, knowledge), starting percentages and difficulty rating.
When done, I'll FTP it to the soda site and drop a note here.
-- Burton
---------------------
From: brandon@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov (Brandon Brylawski)
Subject: Re: The RuneQuest Daily, Tue, 20 Apr 1993
Message-ID: <9304201655.AA04757@caldonia.nlm.nih.gov>
Date: 20 Apr 93 16:55:26 GMT
With regards to Chaos Features again:
I submit that GOG's contention that any chaos feature permanently
taints the individual who gets it was not meant to deny the
possibility that a hero- quest or other personal tranformation
couldn't get rid of it. Of course, for anyone less powerful than an
advanced initiate, this is not much of an option, as heroquesting is
risky even for heroes. Still, it's worth a try, and your priest (or
perhaps your local Chalana Arroy temple) might be able to point you
down the right path, if you don't get killed first. If I were a Storm
Bull that acquired a chaos taint, I would probably go out alone and
fight every enemy I could find straight away until one of them slew
me. This would rid the world of the chaos within me in a manner useful
to my God.
With regard to Tricksters and Chaos :
I have viewed trickster cults, including Eurmal, as having three
runes: Illusion, Disorder, and the "third rune", which varies from
cult to cult. Some of the third runes that I have seen/thought
of/heard of include :
Death (murderous trickster)
Fire (Promethean aspect - I forget the name of the cult)
Moon (A very interesting subcult - Lunar, but not really under the juris-
diction of the Red Goddess)
The only problem I see with Chaotic trickster has to do with my
understanding of trickster philosophy, which is as follows:
-----------
Trickster philosophy.
We of Eurmal and the other trickster subcults have many and various
purposes, some of which we will never say, some of which we ourselves
cannot know, but one thing we all share : the knowledge that the world
is kept in the proper state of balance and disorder only as long as
no-one ever gains an insuperable advantage in any arena.
We despise sure things, anything that eliminates Luck from the
equation of life, and work to make certain that any enterprise has
_some_ chance of failing.
FoolProof, Certain, FailSafe, Sure, Absolute, Master - these words are
trickster anathema, attempts by people to gain too much control over
things, thoughts, or people. Where someone has no chance to lose, he
inevitably seeks what none should have.
We are Murphy's law incarnate - let all others ever look over their
shoulders, beware the hidden flaw, pay for their carelessness, for
with true certainty comes the power to destroy the world as we know
it. We exist to keep anyone from loading the dice.
So long as the strong know that they might stumble, they will hold
back their full force; so long as the learned know they might be
wrong, they will build no Gods; so long as the powerful doubt their
grip on others, they will temper their actions lest they lose all.
Chance, Luck, Risk, Contingency, Doubt, Worry - these are the powers
that keep the world as it should be.
----
Tricksters put the above philosphy into practice in as many different
ways as there are subcults (perhaps more). Practical jokes,
assassinations, confusion, rumors, odd behavior, impersonations,
thievery, music and theater, raids, stink bombs, ribaldry,
obnoxiousness, buffoonery, arson,random violence - All have the common
thread of making people in general, and especially the powerful,
wonder what is going on, mistrust one another, fear shadowy threats,
laugh, get angry, indulge themselves, drink - anything besides
carefully and coldly seeking and obtaining advantage. The tricksters
are the metaphorical shoestring-tiers of the world, and glory in their
role of spoiler.
As I see it, tricksters do not deal with Chaos because Chaos cheats.
Find any rule of physical or magical nature, and chaos knows a way
around it, to subvert it and overpower it. The lunars have tapped into
this power to make some of their super-magics (e.g. the Crimson Bat).
To tricksters this is, too much of an advantage, so powerful that it
upsets the balance. Remember, chaos is not disorder; the former is a
destructive force that if allowed will turn all to chaos, while the
latter is (for the tricksters) merely the desired state of the world,
one where no one power holds sway.
Brandon Brylawski
---------------------
From: ade@insignia.co.uk (Adrian Brownlow)
Subject: Excellent Idea
Message-ID: <4458.9304201704@piglet.insignia.co.uk>
Date: 20 Apr 93 10:15:17 GMT
Subject: Time:6:00 pm
OFFICE MEMO Excellent Idea Date:20/4/93
> Here's an idea that just percolated out of my forebrain:
> (Ken take note!)
> What if a cults book included a small scenario for each cult writeup,
> giving some cult NPCs, attitudes, etc, and a chance for the PCs to
> interact with the cult in some way?
> Say, 4-5 pages of scenario, and a full cult work up.
> What do you think?
This would be great, not only would it give a better feeln for the
cult but you also get some pregenerated NPCs to throw at the party.
How about an example of each - lord / priest / Adept / initiate at
differing levels of ability eg weak, average, tough and demi god.
A book such as this would be really usefull if it specified all the
interesting (and mundane) customs of the religion.
Ade
---------------------
From: staats@MIT.EDU (Richard C. Staats)
Subject: Hero Magazine, etc.
Message-ID: <9304201714.AA29627@MIT.EDU>
Date: 20 Apr 93 14:25:09 GMT
I was a big fan of Hero magazine and was bumbed out when Mr. Synder
sent me a letter indicating it was being dissolved. Is there any talk
out there of reviving it?
Just to throw in my $.02 on a couple topics. I liked RQ II a lot and
have tried to put my finger on the specifics. Here are a couple
thoughts. First, it was VERY easy to play and learn, but it was not
"goofy" like T&T. Also, it allowed folks to customize their
characters to an extent unheard of in those days. RQ II promoted good
roleplaying. Let's face it, in a lot of game systems, once the PC
gets to a certain point in development, nothing short of a nuclear
weapon will harm them. In RQ, Death is always at your door, and you
would generally rather talk than fight. (A critical by some lucky
punk can ruin your whole day.) the atmosphere was great too. I
thought the whole idea of Runic magic and the structure based on lay
members, initiates and rune level folks was a very nice game mechanic.
hen RQ III came out, I ran down to Heiselmench's (I was in Stuttgart,
Ger. at the time) and picked up a copy. I was a little disappointed.
It wasn't hideous, but my hopes for a new RQ product were so high that
maybe nothing could have lived up to the expectation. Anyway, it was
difficult to roll up a character, and the rules for combat were no
longer so easy to teach. Any all could get a skill (nearly ANY skill)
at above 100% if they just survived long enough. In short, the items
I really liked about RQ II seemed to have gone away. I think the
additional creatures, extra weapons, and addition of sorcery were
good; although fixed point cost spells that do specific things seem to
work better in practice (plus, if PC learns a spell with a lurid name,
it seems to generate more fun for the players!).
I basically patched together some items from RQ II and disgarded some
things from RQ III. For example, I kept the Rune status requirement
to go over 100% skill, and I have a grimoire of RQ sorcery spells. I
threw out fatigue points for most situations. I found the knock back
rules kind of confusing. Etc.
But, the recent releases from AH for RQ have been very nice. I use
GoG as a great source, but now that RoC is out, I will have the PCs
use the cult descriptions out of there; we had been using the Cults of
Prax descriptions. I liked Vikings and Land of Ninja as well, and the
Cities supplement (reissue of old Mayf. games supplement) was nicely
done.
I see the RQ III progression kind of like the origional Star Trek
progression. The original series was great. Then the first movie
came along, and it was kind of a bust. But, things got better after
that. It seems that RQ III is heading that direction too.
I like what I have seen of the RQ IV rules.
In service,
Rich
---------------------
From: roger_nolan@NeXT.COM (Roger Nolan 3rd Party)
Subject: Garbage
Message-ID: <9304201754.AA12467@oz.NeXT.COM>
Date: 20 Apr 93 03:54:14 GMT
in <9304191356.AA29169@deca.aber.ac.uk> "Bits 'n Pieces"
seh0@aberystwyth.ac.uk writes:
>I still love boxed sets
Me too, take note AH!
>RQ2 and the prevalence of Glorantha ...Apple Lane, Fangs and An Introduction to
>Roleplaying .....Griffin Mountain, Runemasters, and, for that matter, Thieves
>World,
Err, yeah. OK point taken. I'm just jealous coz I sold most of my RQ2
stuff when I needed beer money at university.
>As for Plunder, I never used it to randomly generate treasure located
>on a random encounter
No, obviously, but most of the stuff there was only interesting at
best.
Anyway, Enough. RQ2 is dead, long live RQ4!
>Surf Stoneshell of Snakepipe Hollow. Then again, maybe venturing into Snakepipe
>Hollow isn't the best idea in the world.
If that's where the waves are, no giants are gonna keep us off the beach.
Cheers
Rog
---------------------
From: MOBTOTRM@vaxc.cc.monash.edu.au
Subject: Cult & Scenario format idea for a Cults Book.
Message-ID: <01GXA477RQGM9S3R5D@vaxc.cc.monash.edu.au>
Date: 22 Apr 93 04:22:25 GMT
G'Day all,
Mike Dawson's percolating forebrain suggested yesterday (re: Clarification
for Adam) that
>What if a cults book included a small scenario for each cult writeup,
>giving some cult NPCs, attitudes, etc, and a chance for the PCs to
>interact with the cult in some way?
>Say, 4-5 pages of scenario, and a full cult work up.
>What do you think?
I think this is an excellent idea, and one we have in fact tried in
ToTRM already: The Spirit Cult of Ulforg - "Stony Bones" in issue #8;
The Hero Cult of Revenant - "Niall's Revenge" in issue #9. As the two
cults are related, if they were both to go into some Cults Book or
other, I would combine the two scenarios into one.
I think the narrative sections in CoP and CoT were there for the same
reason: to show how the cult works in the real (Gloranthan, that is)
world. It would be a shame to lose such sections, even if they were
replaced by the scenarios.
---------------------
From: STEVEG@ARC.UG.EDS.COM (Entropy needs no maintenance)
Subject: Re: The RuneQuest Daily, Tue, 20 Apr 1993
Message-ID: <01GX95F0JLFM002CSG@UG.EDS.COM>
Date: 20 Apr 93 17:38:34 GMT
Tricksters:-
Disorder is supposed to have strong powers against Chaos (Zorak
Zoran's little secret)
The storyline in Cults of Terror had Odi being illuminated by riddles
posed by some tricksters...
Movement:-
>> Armies marched at a much slower speed than today forces
The usual source of the very short daily movement rates in most games
compared with rates of covering rough ground when hiking (predicated
on well documented pre-modern troop movement rates, which also include
hours taken on logistical activity - making & breaking camp; foraging
&c.) even though in historic times, roads would have counted as rough
terrain after some rain & some carts had been past!
The Romans had a ~20mile separation between two outposts south of
Hadrian's Wall, which involved a hike over the top of the Lake
District - in the usual straight line - that was apparently a one-day
march for Legionnaries in full kit.
Who's got the chaos:-
My feeling is that initiation into Primal Chaos is a sufficient step
for any being to become chaotic "under the meaning of the Act".
Gaining a chaos feature implies involuntary initiation. Other means
of becoming chaotic no doubt exist; but so must paths of cleansing.
Beware... by one of marks@slough.mit.edu (Mark S. c/o Tom Yates)'s
suggestions I too am chaotic >:-)
Morbid fascination:-
The RQ2 BOXED SET - and only 20% of the price of the replacement RQ
deluxe when that came out.
Not only that, but to this day RQ2's *still* being recommended to
people as a good thing to move on to from xD&D (as recent Usenet
postings show...) with the admonition "but avoid RQ3". I wouldn't be
surprised if there were a small but healthy samiszdat running.
For a RQ2-base RQ-light I'd take very little of substance from RQ3;
mainly the restricted spell lists and a little of the shamanic
material, enough to give a dichotomy between the spirit path & the
divine path. I most certainly wouldn't bring in the ENC% reduction to
spellcasting (a D&D-oid "wizard's can't wear armour" aberration) or
the RQ3 flaky END rules (did I tell you about the unarmoured jongleur
carrying his kit on his back who was MORE encumbered than the fighters
who had their packs on their riding beasts).
Cult books:-
As someone who is more interested in the cults than the scenarios, I'd
MUCH rather see a string of "Cults of" books (with ~6-8 pages/cult &
perhaps ~1/4 page devoted to interaction hooks). Titles gratefully
received would be
Cults of Sartar
Tarsh (including major Southern -nonSolar- Lunar cults )
The Lunar Empire (Solar + lunar cults not already covered above)
the East (in as many volumes as required - Teshnos, Kralorela &c)
Ralios
the West (Malkioni heresies)
that would give far more material for us to chew on in these pages
than any number of scenarios!
---------------------
From: SPB1@VMS.BRIGHTON.AC.UK (Ghost Dancer)
Subject: We are lucky
Message-ID: <9304211009.AA08098@Sun.COM>
Date: 21 Apr 93 09:50:00 GMT
Hi all,
I would just like to say a few things concerning RQ and Glorantha.
Over the years that I have been gaming (nearly 18 now) I have played a
great many different systems and experienced a lot of different
companies attitudes and I can honestly say that RQ is unique. It is
very refreshing to find a system and a game world that is as rich and
varied with such a strong feeling of belonging to the players. Too
many other games companies keep their products tightly in house with
an impenatrable wall between themselves and the players. RQ is the
opposite, thanks to Gregs rare vision RQ and Glorantha has always been
promoted as an extended group of friends all working to produce a
world that is more complete and more varied than any one persons
vision could ever conceive.
We have now achieved a state of interaction in which everyone can one
day dream of producing an official scenario, cult or source pack that
has a realistic chance of being published. We have an excellent zine,
ToRM, that is as near to an official product line as you can get
without becoming 50 pages of in house glossy ads and an editorial.
This mail group is by far one of the most heavily used, thought
provoking and informative in existence without all the usual flaming
and bickering that usually clogs up so much band width. Lastly we are
lucky to be supported by such an open, friendly and approachable bunch
as Ken R, David H, Oliver J and the rest (the list goes on and on), we
are all indebted for your time, care, thought, vision, openness and
approachability.
We are all in some way responsible to RQ and Glorantha in the same way
that the Seven Mothers are responsible for the Red Goddess. We took an
idea and gave it life and energy that will endure for a long time, may
it continue to grow and become enlightened.
Thank you one and all for your time, effort and passion.
._
/! \ Alternative
/-!-/ Realities Jarec
/ ! \ Games Club e-mail: SPB1@VMS.BTON.AC.UK
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From: DO9EA00@sysa.computing-services.manchester-metropolitan-university.ac.uk
Subject: PC/Cult interaction
Message-ID: <9304211009.AB08098@Sun.COM>
Date: 21 Apr 93 08:52:08 GMT
PC/Cult Interaction
===================
Whenever a PC is initiated/has a holy day or is elevated in cult
status to say Rune Level, I make the PC roll play the ceremonies and
any precursors. This can lead to an interesting situation. Some
Years ago (in RQII) I had a PC about to be elevated to the status of
Rune Lord in the cult of Orlanth, first he had to be intervied by the
local Cheif Preist.....
Preist: You say that you feel that you have recived a calling from
mighty Orlanth, and as such belive you are ready for elevation in the
Cult to the statius of a rune Lord.
PC: Yes, I have received a vision in which I was instructed (etc etc...)
Preist: I see from our records that you have tithed 23L to the cult in
the last five years, why is this...
PC: That is 1/10th of my income.
Preist: In FIVE years you earned only 230L ?
PC:[ANo, but after paying for spells, weapons, food, accomodation, new
armour, healing .... I had 230L.
Preist: What ?
PC: Well, My personal well being is much more important than that of
this temple !
Preist: I dont belive you have the correct attitude. So If you will
tithe 3500L in goods or in kind to the temple in the next season I
will reconsider this case.
PC: Get Stuffed, Who do you think you are that you can order me
arround like this.
Preist: Your High Preist!
PC: Well I never wanted to be an Orlanthi anyway I much prefer the
cult of Storm Bull.....
Priest: Get out and don't ever come back....
Strangely enough when the PC found a stSrm Khan hehe found that they
did not require a PC who was so self centered.....
On a more serious note I find it adds a lot of interest and atmosphere
to the game. PC enjoy the freedom of acting in comaradery with others
outside the current party. "Sorry, but I am invited to the local
temple for a Banquett in honour of the feast of light bringers...."
David Ingram
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From: tzunder@cix.compulink.co.uk (Tom Zunder)
Subject: Various RuneCzar RoC Cult books Cradle RQ Companion Heroes
Message-ID:
Date: 21 Apr 93 13:23:00 GMT
Various
RunCzar
Heroes
Sceanrios
Cult Book
RQ2?
RQ Lite
Invisible God as an Invention?
--------------------------------------------------------------------
tzunder@cix.compulink.com.uk
How Illuminating!
--------------------------------------------------------------------
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From: T.S.Baguley@open.ac.uk (Thom Baguley)
Subject: Chaos
Message-ID: <9304211308.AA19874@Sun.COM>
Date: 21 Apr 93 05:44:47 GMT
>From: marks@slough.mit.edu (Mark S. c/o Tom Yates)
>Subject: Chaos, what is it?
>Message-ID: <9304190425.AA28574@Sun.COM>
>Date: 19 Apr 93 04:28:00 GMT
> A Chaotic Interlude
>I ran across an interesting question during last night's
>game. What makes a being chaotic? No, I'm not asking a
>philosophical question here. I want to know what actually is
>needed to taint a person with chaos.
I would say that one of two thinks would taint someone with Chaos.
Firstly, being tied to a chaos cult (i.e. sacrificing a point of power
to establish a link). Lay membership would not be sufficient. Nor
would being initiated into a Lunar cult unless it possessed the chaos
rune. Secondly, possessing a chaos feature (this should only rarely
occur by accident).
The only way of removing a choas feature or taint (as the current
rules stand) would be to DI and join the Cleansed One subcult of a
River God such as Zola Fel.
Note that any illuminated being will probably not register or be
chaotic for most purposes.
Thom