Bell Digest v930812

Date: Thu, 12 Aug 93 17:45:49 +0200
Message-Id: <9308121545.AA28097@glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM>
From: RuneQuest-Request@glorantha.holland.sun.com (RQ Digest Maintainer)
To: RuneQuest@glorantha.holland.sun.com (Daily automated RQ-Digest)
Subject: RuneQuest Daily, Thu, 12 Aug 1993, part 1
Reply-To: RuneQuest@glorantha.holland.sun.com (RuneQuest Daily)
Sender: RuneQuest-Request@glorantha.holland.sun.com
Precedence: junk
Resent-To: appel@soda.berkeley.edu
Resent-Date: Mon, 18 Oct 1993 21:15:13 -0700
Resent-From: Eric Rowe 
Status: O

The RuneQuest Daily and RuneQuest Digest deal with the subjects of
Avalon Hill's RPG and Greg Stafford's world of Glorantha.

Send submissions and followup to "RuneQuest@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM",
they will automatically be included in a next issue.  Try to change the
Subject: line from the default Re: RuneQuest Daily...  on replying.

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 enquiries and Subscription Requests to the editor:

RuneQuest-Request@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (Henk Langeveld)

---------------------

From: kenrolston@aol.com
Subject: RuneQuest Daily Submission from Ken Rolston
Message-ID: <9308092043.tn31599@aol.com>
Date: 10 Aug 93 00:43:31 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 1370

Semi-Formal Announcement to the RQ Daily from Ken Rolston, RuneCzar

I am now a freelance RuneCzar.
   AH and I have a tentative agreement to continue publishing RQ supplements
according to our original schedule. I will continue as an out-of-house
developer, editor, and production coordinator.
   Strangers in Prax is scheduled for release in November 93, Cults of
Dorastor in January 93. The schedule after that depends, but I'm likely to
choose two out of four projects that have promising prospects.
   First choice is Soldiers of the Reaching Moon by Mike O'Brien. I very much
want to arrange a contract for this project.
   Prax Companion (by Reaching Moon Megacorp), Tower of Night (vampires in
Talastar by Pat Elwer), and Lismelder Pak are all plausible contenders.
   One major alteration in our current publishing scheme is that all art --
maps, interior illos, and cover -- will be done in house by Matt Pumphrey and
Steve Langmead. It saddens me to lose Roger Raupp and John Snyder in
particular, but it keeps productions costs down to a point where AH is
comfortable continuing to publish supplements. I am confident of their fine
art and illustration skills -- this is not a repeat of the Dobyski
illustration debacle. It also gives me spectacular control over the schedule
of completion and details of the art -- and may even permit me to increase
the number of releases, since each will be more modestly budgeted. My only
worry is that AH might carelessly limit the amount of time the artists are
given to complete their assignments. My strategy in the short term is to
narrowly limit and focus the art assignments -- and worry about them.
   The major change in this arrangement is that I will not be doing the
extensive writing, design, rewriting, development, and general fussing I have
been doing on past products. The manuscripts I receive will be far cleaner,
more completely developed, than any in the past -- or this isn't going to
work. This suits me just fine. I spent far too much time writing for River of
Cradles, Shadows on the Borderland, and Dorastor. I will also be arranging
for out-of-house developers by contract wherever practical. Mike Dawson's
development of Strangers in Prax (which is coming along splendidly, I might
add) is a good model.
   A further benefit of this new regime is that I will consider writing
original designs for RuneQuest, or developing my old designs for RQIII, or
collaborating on original designs with other RQ writers. In the final
analysis, I am a designer by preference, and would much rather design than
edit and develop.
   The prospects for a new edition of RQ in the near future are uncertain. I
would cheerfully entertain the prospect of adding another project to the
schedule -- a RuneQuest Rules Companion. This would include one or two
RuneQuest Lite schemes and the most promising and acclaimed-by-consensus
aspects of the RQIV project. I personally am most interested in an RQ Lite,
and will be working on a proposal for that myself. Advocates for RQIV in its
various incarnations should consider making proposals to me on this project.
   In conclusion, I suspect that the new arrangement is in many ways
promising. There is a real chance that I will be able to release even more
supplements per year, since the basic design and production costs are now
significantly reduced, and since we now have about got the major production
routines ironed out. The four new RQ Renaissance products represent a
standard that Avalon Hill intends to maintain.
   I have guarded optimism about the in-house art provisions. Langmead and
Pumphrey are desperately sensitive to the need for first-class art, and eager
to achieve to the standards of recent publications. I've seen their work, and
am most satified. They both acknowledge that the crucial element will be in
our preparing detailed art orders, complete with ample visuals references.
   As for RuneQuest and Glorantha, my fate is now tragically linked with
their survival -- and their potential for renaissance. My love for both has
been sorely tested by my trials with the past four supplements, but now
things look pretty good to me. The basic challenges of development and
production are whipped. A steady stream of first-class manuscripts are
available. Greg is back in the Gloranthan saddle. RuneQuestCon looks lovely,
and the live roleplaying Home of the Bold looks splendid. (Wouldn't that be a
great supplement?) And a hard core of RQ Glorantha fans and writers have
formed a print-and-electronic network to support and enliven RQ dialogue. I
think a slow but steady renewal of RQ Glorantha's prospects is assured.
   Me, I'm looking forward to a producing a bunch of stupid games celebrating
senseless violence and soul-crushing gaiety.

Ken Rolston



---------------------

From: f6ri@midway.uchicago.edu (charles gregory fried)
Subject: Another cult....
Message-ID: 
Date: 10 Aug 93 08:08:49 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 1371

Greg Fried here.

Hey, great news from the RuneCzar, eh?!  If they can maintain a steady pace
of publications, with the quality evidenced in the recent materials, the
Renaissance may just well survive its birth pangs.  We all owe thanks to Ken
for what sounds like an arduous task.

And now I have a cult for your delectation!  Or expectoration, as the case
may be.... Let me know of your reactions!

Marlok
Lord of the Darkforge

I.  MYTHOS AND HISTORY
In the Godtime, Marlok was a spirit of the Darkness.  Like so many of his ilk,
 before the coming of the Sun, he rejoiced in the realm of gloom.  But unlike
 so many of his brethren, Marlok was not so much given to riot and rampage;
 his mind was keen, and he explored the secrets of the shadows.  He discovered
 lead, the sacred ore, but knew not then what to do with it, other than chew
 its softness.

When the Sun came, Marlok was aghast, like all his kin.  The Surface was no
 longer hospitable, and he, with many others, retreated to the ancestral pits
 of Hell.

When Zorak Zoran gained possession of the Sword of Death, Marlok became
 fascinated with this instrument and its secrets.  He followed Zorak Zoran
 about, marvelling at his deeds with the Weapon.  Marlok begged Zorak Zoran
 to let him see, to let him touch, the Sword, but Zorak Zoran cut Marlok
 across the face and chased him away.

When the Sun was killed, Marlok, along with his brethren, was forced back to
 the surface world.  But along the way, Marlok noticed that some of the lead
 he had once observed had become red hot with the Sun's passage.  He found
 a way to gather this molten material and bring it with him to the surface,
 and thus Marlok stole some of the Sun's ebbing power.  Crafty Marlok
 also discovered ways to nurture the fire in the lead, and in this fire, he
 learned to fashion the lead itself.  First he designed an instrument like
 the Sword of Death, but it was blunt and crude -- the first mace!  

Marlok gave many such instruments to his brethren, to conquer a hostile world.
 But they were suspicious of his powers over fire and his strange ways. 
 Insulted by his kin's lack of gratitude, Marlok made his own way in the
 world.  He was dissatisfied with his first attempt to replicate the weapon
 of Death he had seen, and as his skills improved, he tried many other forms,
 gaining expertise in copying the many weapons he came across, becoming
 obsessed with the many varying interpretations of the instrument of Death. 
 Marlok plundered the secrets of other gods who were left vulnerable in the
 mayhem of the Great Darkness and the GodsU War, learning how to work with
 other metals and building a vast collection of weapons.  With others, he
 bargained his skills to learn their lores.

When Chaos and the Devil came, seeking tools to torment and destroy the
 cosmos, Marlok hid his vast store of weapons in a pocket of Darkness. 
 In the last, great combat against Chaos, before the Dawn, Marlok opened this
 store to all those who would fight against the common enemy.

II.  CULT ECOLOGY

Marlok's runes are Darkness, Fire and Death.  His holy days are on Fireday;
 the seasonal holy week is Death Week, and the high holy day falls in Darkness
 season. 

As the Darkforge, Marlok fulfills an important role in the cosmos.  It was he
 who allowed the denizens of Darkness to first make use of the crafts of
 matalurgy, without which they would have been mortally vulnerable in a cosmos
 sundered by Death.  But Marlok is eager to equip all those who are as 
 fascinated as he by the instruments of mortality.

III.  THE CULT IN THE WORLD

Marlok worshipers are mostly weaponsmiths.  Troll weapon crafters often
 worship this god, but his worship is not limited to the Darkfolk.  Human
 smiths, especially those without many scruples about whom they serve, and
 those working to supply large armies, occasionally worship this god.  Some
 thieves and assassins also are devoted to Marlok.  Obsessive weapon
 collectors sometimes worship Marlok.

The cult ritual weapon is a lead mace, but worshipers are permitted to use
 any weapon.

IV.  INITIATE MEMBERSHIP

Skills checked: weapon skill and smith's and weaponcrafter's skills. 
 Cult advancement follows standard parameters.  

This cult can teach fire spirit magic, as well as Glue, Detect (Metals),
 Bludgeon and Repair.  The cult teaches two special spirit magic spells;
 the spell Molten Lead is only taught to initiates:

Molten Lead.  Variable, touch, instant, passive.   For every point of this
 spell, the caster can cause one ENC of lead to become red-hot.  Such lead
 will retain its form unless hammered, or delivered a blow in combat, in which
 case it absorbs only one half its normal AP value.  Lead weapons treated with
 this spell do an additional d6 burn damage.  Lead sling bullets treated with
 this spell will adhere to their target, doing a d4 in the round after they
 hit, and d3 in the round after that, possibly burning through armor.  If cast
 at an enemy's lead armor, the caster must touch the armor to be affected,
 overcome the enemy's POW in a resistance roll, and employ enough points
 of the spell to affect the armor's ENC.  Lead armor affected by this spell
 takes three rounds to heat up, and then delivers a d3 damage per round until
 taken off.

Strengthen Metal.  Variable, touch, temporal, passive.  Each point of this
 spell adds two points to the AP of a metal weapon or object for the duration
 of the spell.

V. CULT DIVINE MAGIC

The cult has access to all common divine magic, and can summon both shades and
 salamanders.  The cult also provides access to the following special divine
 spells:

Duplicate Weapon (2 points, Ritual, Reusable).  By use of this spell, the
 caster may copy any weapon he has seen, so long as he has the appropriate
 materials, and succeeds in a Ceremony and a Craft Weapon roll.  The
 production time is normal.  If the weapon is one he has only examined
 briefly, the caster produces a serviceable exemplar; if the weapon is of a
 type already familiar to the caster (i.e., he has already normally crafted
 such a weapon), then he makes a copy that very closely resembles the
 original.  Magical qualities in the original are not duplicated.

Mold Metal (Variable, Stackable, Ranged, Reusable).  This spell allows the
 caster to shape metal.  The spell must be stacked at the proportion of one
 point per point of ENC of the metal.  The spell only confers the general
 shape desired by the caster; the caster must use his craft to complete more
 delicate work.  Hence, the spell can only make the crudest weapons
 immediately: maces, mauls and the like.  If cast on a metal weapon in an
 enemy's possession, the caster must overcome the opponent's POW; edged
 weapons are permanently blunted (that is, until sharpened), doing 1/2
 damage and losing any capacity to impale.  The spell has no deleterious
 effect on blunt weapons, other than changing their form somewhat.  If cast
 on metal joined with other objects, not in the possession of an opponent,
 such as metal casings on a door, the caster must overcome with his POW the
 total hit points of the object.  If cast on magically enchanted metal, the
 caster must overcome, with his POW, the hit points of the object, plus the
 points of magic in the object (double for rune or special magic); if the
 caster loses this resistance roll, he loses the Mold Metal as a reusable
 spell (and, if this magical object is in the possession of an enemy, he must
 overcome that opponent's POW first, too).

Summon Weapon (Variable, Ritual, Special).  This spell summons to hand
 a weapon that the caster has placed in Marlok's Shadowpocket.  To
 place the weapon in the Shadowpocket, the caster must sacrifice one
 permanent point of POW for each ENC point of the weapon (round up fractions)
 and successfully complete a Ceremony.  The weapon then disappears into the
 Shadowpocket, to be retrieved whenever the cultist casts the Summon Weapon
 spell.  At the end of the spell duration, the weapon returns to the
 Shadowpocket.  If the weapon is broken in use, the spell must be sacrificed
 for and cast again.  If the caster dies, any weapons still in the
 Shadowpocket go into the great store of Marlok, and he may at times make
 gifts of such weapons to his worshipers.

VI. SPIRIT OF RETRIBUTION

Any worshiper who offends Marlok will be seized by the spirit, Weaponlust. 
 Any time he sees, or even hears of, any unusual, valuable or exceptional
 weapon, he will be attacked by Weaponlust, who fights for three rounds. 
 Weaponlust will only return POW taken if the apostate gains possession of
 the weapon in question.  Weaponlust has POW 3d6+3 when attacking initiates
 and 3d6+6 when attacking acolytes, lords and priests. 

OK, that's it.  Do the runes seem right?  With all the emphasis on metals,
should Marlok own Earth instead of Fire?  

GF out.

---------------------

From: gadbois@cs.utexas.edu (David Gadbois)
Subject: Re: ToTRM 10
Message-ID: <9308101652.AA26604@earth.cs.utexas.edu>
Date: 10 Aug 93 06:52:45 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 1372

   From: jacobus@sonata.cc.purdue.edu
   Date: 9 Aug 93 08:05:24 GMT
   X-RQ-ID: 1369

   HELP!

   Has ANYONE out there actually seen Tales of the Reaching Moon #10,
   or further?

Issue 10 was delayed due to computer problems.  It is now out in the
Europe and will be mailed to North American and Israeli subscribers in
a few days.  (I delayed the mailing so I could include the RQ Con
pre-reg booklet.)  South Pacific subbers will have to wait a bit
longer.

--David Gadbois

---------------------

From: curtiss@netcom.com (Curtis Shenton)
Subject: Now what?
Message-ID: <9308101956.AA11872@netcom3.netcom.com>
Date: 10 Aug 93 19:56:45 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 1373

       While I've been quite impressed with the RQ products coming out
under Ken 4 products a year just isn't enough to bring RQ back to life.
AH needs to really push RQ and spend some money on advertising,
something they aren't likely to do. And RQIII is a lousy game system,
unless it's revised I don't think w'ere going to see RQ grow in
popularity. Which means that to me things look kinda bleak. 
	Now here are my ideas for how to solve these problems. First of
all why can't AH and Chaosium work out a deal to allow Chaosium to also
put out RQ material? Right now you have companies like Atlas Games which
do supplements for other systems, heck even bigger companies like SJG
who just put out GURPS vampire, are doing this. It could only help AH's
sales by giving RQ a bigger presence on the shelf. As for RQIV I'd
really like to see a RQLite come out. It wouldn't need to be a large
boxed set like RQIII was. I'd like to see something along the lines of
Elric! Quick and dirty character creation and combat sections, a new
sorcery system, and then lots of Glorantha background.

	And speaking of Elric! I'm curious if anyone else has given much
thought to adapting it to Glorantha. I think by just dropping the magic
system(I like it alot but it's not Glorantha of course) and lowering the
skill numbers in character creation would be enough. And then just bring
over the old RQ magic rules of course. One trick I'd definetly use from
Elric is the bonus for not taking spells. Since Greg seems to be
implying that magic isn't quite as common as RQ leads us to beleive an
option that allows characters who don't take spells to get some sort of
skill or stat bonus would be nice.
-- 
Curtis Shenton curtiss@netcom.com internet & 4@3091 WWIVnet             
Currently designing a fantasy setting for WotC. If you are interested in
baroque steampunk technology in a fantasy setting and want to playtest email
me and I'll give you the info on joining the mailing list.

---------------------

From: runei@ifi.uio.no (Rune Andre Isene)
Subject: Glorantha the LPMud
Message-ID: 
Date: 12 Aug 93 00:34:13 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 1374


I mentioned this project in earlier digests (read your backlogs!)
I have now been able to find a site.
Anyone interested in either coding, comming with ideas or just wanna
 hang around, mail me NOW
Currently we are not open to the public, need to talk to Greg first and
 listen to how he feels about this.
So, mail me and i might just invite you over

-Jan

---------------------

From: henkl@glorantha (Henk Langeveld - Sun Nederland)
Subject: Experimental gateway: RQ-daily -> rec.games.frp.misc
Message-ID: <9308112303.AA17612@glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM>
Date: 12 Aug 93 03:03:09 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 1375


This is the first issue of the Daily that should be 
copied to the Usenet newsgroup rec.games.frp.misc.

Loren, David, can you send an ack when this shows
up out there?

--
Henk	|	Henk.Langeveld@Sun.COM - Disclaimer: I don't speak for Sun.
oK[]	|	RuneQuest-Request@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM

---------------------

From: Ola.Knutsson@ina.hv.se (Ola Knutsson)
Subject: sub runequest Ola Knutsson
Message-ID: <930812.100213.366@macpost.hv.se>
Date: 12 Aug 93 11:02:13 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 1376

Hello

I'm sorry if this mail is sent to the wrong place.

I tried to subscribe to the runequest digest on glorantha and presumed I should 
mail to LISTSERV@Glorantha. This mail bounces back with the message 'No such 
mailaccount'. What am I doing wrong?

Ola Knutsson
V{xj| University, SWEDEN
email: Ola.Knutsson@ina.hv.se 

---------------------

From: james@vortex1.exeter.ac.uk (James Andrews)
Subject: ToRM 10
Message-ID: <15256.9308120806@euclid.vortex1.exeter.ac.uk>
Date: 12 Aug 93 08:06:31 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 1377

I think its a good job that the God Learners did die out, if the gross stuff
in ToRM ten thats all at sea is a small indication of what they were like.
Perhaps the God Learners played D&D and that was their secret.
-- 
James Andrews, Computer Development Officer, Exeter University Maths Dept