From: RuneQuest-Request@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (RQ Digest Maintainer)
To: RuneQuest@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (Daily automated RQ-Digest)
Subject: RuneQuest Daily, Wed, 20 Oct 1993, part 1
Reply-To: RuneQuest@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (RuneQuest Daily)
Sender: RuneQuest-Request@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM
Precedence: junk
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: rowe@soda.berkeley.edu (Eric Rowe)
Subject: Elves, Plant Compendiums and gospel spreading.
Message-ID: <9310190624.AA25860@soda.berkeley.edu>
Date: 18 Oct 93 16:24:50 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2043
>From: Paul Honigmann, Oxford, UK
>Subjects: Elves; new spells; Request for info on Red Emperor, Lunar religious
> knowledge test.
>
> ELF PSYCHOLOGY
Very good. Thank you.
> ELF PHYSIOLOGY
A good friend of mine, the grey sage Rodin Greenbeak is currently undertaking
an exhaustive study of Elf physiology and anatomy. For now though, he is
just trying to discover what the best dressing to use on them is.
> That's enough on motile plants, now I'd like to go on to some other
> subjects:
No, there can never be enough on motile plants. Now that I finally
have caught up on these darn digests (took 4 weeks) I can let everyone
know that if they wish a complete Guide to Gloranthan Flora they can
e-mail me at rowe@soda.berkeley.edu or just ftp it from the archive
site there. It lists all official and unofficial gloranthan plants
currently published with only a few magazines not included yet.
Lastly, in the realm of spreading RQ and glorantha this is one of the
main reasons I have been so busy lately. Try and guess which is the
advanced glorantha group and which is the beginner.
GAME: RuneQuest
HOST: Eric Rowe
TIME: 5:00-
ROOM: 211 Dwinelle
INFO: Campaign set in Pavis. Characters are young adventurers eager to
explore the ruins of the giant city. Good times and much loot for
the lucky in the big rubble. Being served as lunch for a troll
meal for the not quite as lucky. Bar fights, street gangs, treasure
maps, chaos hordes, deep dungeons, scary noises, piles of loot and
a city guard to collect taxes on it all.
GAME: RuneQuest
HOST: Eric Rowe (rowe@soda)
DAYS: Saturdays
TIME: 11:00-5:30
ROOM: 211 Dwinelle
INFO: Campaign set in the Lunar occupation of Sartar. Players are lunar
oppressors keeping down the Orlanthi natives by force. Looting and
pillaging helpless villages while crucifying those who resist their
new tax increases. Currently garrisoned in Slavewall, guarding the
entrance to Snake Pipe Hollow and the chaos that spews from it.
eric
---------------------
From: gal502@cscgpo.anu.edu.au (Graeme A Lindsell)
Subject: Humakt, Resurrect, Chalana Arroy.
Message-ID: <9310190625.AA11607@cscgpo.anu.edu.au>
Date: 19 Oct 93 16:26:01 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2044
Graeme Lindsell here:
David Cheng's Humakti Death Song:
This is a nice write-up, but I think the Swords would get
the same effect using a DI: slightly more POW, but hey,
who needs it anymore. I think a separate Sword or Battle
Trance spell is needed.
Colin Watson writes re resurrection:
>Seriously, I wouldn't expect existing campaigns to ditch Resurrect. But
>once you start using it, players tend to become *reliant* upon it. I've
>seen this happen in AD&D (one of the reasons I don't play it much any
>more). In the RQIII campaign that I play in, there so little evidence
>of Resurrection that one of the players didn't even realise it existed
>as a spell in the Rules!
Yes, this is one thing I have noticed about peoples responses to
my initial posts on Resurrection: that almost no-one uses it. A lot
of people have stated a variety of reasons why, the basic one being
that there aren't enough high healers for them to resurrect everyone.
This is probably true for an initiate level campaign, but it doesn't
address the problem of a rune level campaign, where the players are
certainly important enough to warrant at least consideration for
resurrection. If there are PC CA's in the party, the AD&D situation
could easily arise where death is a temporary inconvenience.
Joerg proposes that Resurrect should be a type of LBQ. I agree.
Joerg also writes:
>cure disease needs to be cast almost every day
But as far as I can see they can't. Unless I missed it, the
various Restore Health spells are one-use even for Chalana Arroy
(someone point me to the reference if I'm wrong). Resurrect appears
to be easier than restoring health!
>A heroquest with a certain risk for healer and company would be as
>appropriate IMO.
Yes, very true. I just want to escape an AD&D like blase attitude
to death - only Storm Bulls should treat their own death so casually.
>They might even have had one of the darker
>Earth deities utter a curse of incurability _until Malias grip on the region
>is released_!
Well if they did the Talastar papers don't mention it.
Roland M. Volz writes:
>IMHO, Chalana Arroy should be a popular goddess in non-Lunar-dominated
>countries
She is a Solar god as well (maybe Pameltelan too). Given the way
the Lunar Heartlands are presented, I would say there could be a
great many CA's there.
>Swords are special to him for several reasons (they are
>shaped like the Death rune, they are the only weapons whose
>*only* purpose is to kill things, etc.)
Swords aren't shaped like the Death rune, the Death rune is shaped
like a sword! Spears, Bows, Slings are all meant to kill things.
It has also been argued on this list (by me and others) that he is
quite literally the Sword God, that "Humakt" is actually the name
of the Unbreakable Sword, once owned by Orlanth.
On a more rules related note, I don't like the current Sever Spirit
spell because it is cowardly: no real Humakti kills at a distance!
Paul Reilly writes:
> What do people think? Should we take RQ material as canonical for future
>submissions? Is Glorantha splitting into two worlds, Greg's rapidly shifting
>one and the more permanent RQ Glorantha?
Well it would be more stable, but it could lead to the situation where
new material from Greg becomes worthless for RQ.
I wrote:
>iii) What happens to Renekot, and Fort Hazard, when Hakon dies?
>1622 isn't it?
I checked out Dorastor last night: Hakon dies in 1621.
MOB vs Jeff "Wakboth" Kennett: congratulations! Pity you didn't
manage to get the Block to fall on him though.
Sandy Petersen: welcome to the daily! Now I can say to my friends:
"Well, Sandy Petersen wrote saying..."! Would I sink that low? Do
you need to ask?
[his analysis of CA's]
I agree with most of this [aside: I was using the popultion figures
for Sun County: 2% of the female population are CA initiates]. A couple
of quibbles:
>On the other hand, most CA cultists (being homebodies) only get POW checks
>once a year at worship time
Don't the priests who lead a worship ceremony get a POW check?
>Remember that many of the deaths are those of children,
>whom the Healers would give a higher priority to than a murderous
>adventurer
Ah, but what about the important Rune Lord? It's in a rune level
campaign that Resurrect becomes potentially abusive.
Storm Bull:
>In most tribe's fortresses, you'll see the king sitting
>flanked by his guards -- burly berserks
I had always envisioned the Humakti in this role, and was rather
surprised when KoS almost never mentioned Humakt at all. I noticed
that in Dorastor there are no Humakti at Hazard Fort either, though
there are plenty inside Dorastor itself :-) Is this a recent change t
o Glorantha, downplaying Humakt in Theyalan society?
Graeme Lindsell a.k.a gal502@huxley.anu.edu.au
---------------------
From: gal502@cscgpo.anu.edu.au (Graeme A Lindsell)
Subject: Sandy's .tar file
Message-ID: <9310190729.AA13698@cscgpo.anu.edu.au>
Date: 19 Oct 93 17:29:48 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2045
Graeme Lindsell here
Can anyone tell me what to do with Sandy Petersen's
.tar.111.Sandy_Petersen.attach file sent in the last
Daily? I uudecoded it fine but my attempts to use
tar -xf to get to it result in a message
"tar: tape blocksize error"
Anyone know what I have to do? Tar's man file is a
bit unhelpful.
Tiny RQ section:
"7x7x2 participants". I think this refers to the temple size
needed to regain specialized cult magic. A minor temple starts
around 100 initiates doesn't it?
---------------------
From: glidedw@sfsuvax1.sfsu.edu (Godzilla's Home Boy)
Subject: Sorry boys and girls, Chaos calls
Message-ID:
Date: 18 Oct 93 17:47:44 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2046
I gotta get off of the thing now. I have other needs to meet. I have to
develope a means to smuggle small amounts of baksheesh into Russia, to
permit some business partners to stay on the Internet. Too bad it's so
damn Lunar, this beuracracy!
So whomeever does this, please REMOVe my name from this list, I'll call
you later.
Bye
Sandor goes POOF! and he isn't there.......
---------------------
From: watson@computing-science.aberdeen.ac.uk (Colin Watson)
Subject: Re: RuneQuest Daily, Tue, 19 Oct 1993, part 1
Message-ID: <9310191107.AA11298@condor>
Date: 19 Oct 93 11:07:10 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2047
______
Geoff:
>Don't make Glorantha a stereotype - it's got a lot more to offer.
Yes indeed! I wholeheartedly agree with this. It really hacks me off when
people assume that every initiate is going to be a model of their God. I
think truly pious initiates would be few and far between. Sure, if you're
at a loss about how to play a character then it's a fine place to start,
but it certainly isn't the *only* way. Peer pressure and cultural background
are quite likely to force people into inappropriate cults: some will adapt,
others will rebel.
In a similar vein, even with extremists like Humakti, I think you'd have to
go a long way to find a squad of initiates prepared to cast a spell like
Death Song, let alone a legion. (But it *is* a damn good idea for a spell:-).
For most people, human weaknesses are likely to overcome Divine aspirations
IMHO.
____________
Neil Harold:
>1-H swords are popular 'cos they are preferred by Orlanth who
>really likes sword due to a tip from a minor Snow spirit who recogised
>their mobility use and rebellious nature. This is because shields
>make excellent sledges and the 1-H sword can be used for steering!... :-)
Well, I guess that about wraps it up for spears.
Gimme a sword every time. :-)
(They really do look a lot cooler too, IMO).
______________
Sandy Petersen:
Did I say Peterson yesterday? Sorry, I meant Petersen.
___
CW. (Colin Watsen:)
---------------------
From: allan@tcrystal.gla.ac.uk (Allan Henderson)
Subject: Nysalor riddles
Message-ID: <16910.9310191221@sushi.tcrystal.tcrystal.glasgow.ac.uk>
Date: 19 Oct 93 12:21:03 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2048
From Allan Henderson
I have recently been running a game where Gabji riddlers have been appearing and
attempting to spread the word covertly. This is all very well and makes for an
game of intrigue and suspicion, but the one thing that lets me down is inventing
the riddles. All my recent attempts could be used as light humour rather than
the spread of an evil(?) god. Does anyone have good riddles out there ?.
Cheers,
Allan
---------------------
From: kenrolston@aol.com
Subject: Dorastor Art
Message-ID: <9310190824.tn170651@aol.com>
Date: 19 Oct 93 12:24:28 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2049
Newton, re: Dorastor Art and Gloranthan Art Traditions in General
Gloranthan publications do not have a very coherent vision of the historical
and cultural elements of the visual or plastic arts. I have struggled as
developer to give some direction here, but all I have is undergrad survey
courses in the history of art, and sophisticated readers expect a fully
developed, rationalized presentation of Gloranthan period art.
In short, we are bluffing. I speak on behalf of myself, the artists and
graphic layout folks, and the various Profound Eyes (for example, Mike
Dawson, Oliver Jovanovic, and Stephen Martin) who help me during playtest and
development. We do the best we can with time, knowledge, and fevered
inspiration. I personally am especially proud of the recent graphics in RQ
materials. I only hope we can continue to improve given our limited
resources. I also want to praise Dan Barker's illustrations in Tales of the
Reaching Moon.
Greg has shared a little of his sense of the varied architectural
traditions in Glorantha (for example, he thinks the Lunars have lots of
large, broad, Freudian-suggestive domes on their public buildings), but in
general, we must conclude that some sort of censorship has suppressed the
writings of Gloranthan art historians and critics.
Would the Daily like to perform a service in compiling known references to
Gloranthan art and architecture, and to speculate on its mysteries?
Ken
---------------------
From: brandon@caldonia.nlm.nih.gov (Brandon Brylawski)
Subject: Re: RuneQuest Daily, Fri, 15 Oct 1993, part 3
Message-ID: <9310191458.AA12469@caldonia.nlm.nih.gov>
Date: 19 Oct 93 14:58:43 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2050
I love the Humakti Death Song. It fits perfectly with my idea of Humakt, and
is incredibly heroic and true to the way of Death.
Brandon
---------------------
From: brandon@caldonia.nlm.nih.gov (Brandon Brylawski)
Subject: Re: RuneQuest Daily, Fri, 15 Oct 1993, part 2
Message-ID: <9310191527.AA12534@caldonia.nlm.nih.gov>
Date: 19 Oct 93 15:27:32 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2051
With regard to healing spells, Mark Wallace and the rest of us tend to play
that severe wounds (over maximum in one location in one blow, or circumstances
like that) don't heal rapidly or well, and double-max wounds can take
days or even weeks to heal, even with spirit magic. One way to put this
in concrete game terms is a scheme I have seen written about before:
The largest healing spell cast on a single location works at full value,
the next largest at half, the next at one-third, one-fourth, etc.
For example : Bignose the Unruly takes 6 points of damage to his 4 - point
arm. The best sprit healing spell available is Healing 3. One casting wil
stop the bleeding and let Bignose use the arm again (6-3 = 3), but it
will take 3 more castings, with an effect of 1.5, 1, and 0.75 to restore
it to full strength.
This can be combined with a CON roll when recovering from wounds, as follows:
Make a CON x 5% roll when recovering from a max-damage wound, or CON x 2%
recovering from a double-max wound. Apply the result as follows:
Critical, Special : location is fully recovered and ready to use.
Success : location is fully healed, but a little tired for D3 days.
Failure : location is healed, but weak for D6 days.
Fumble : location heals poorly. subtract 1 HP from this location permanently;
the location is moderately impaired (max wound) or near-crippled (double-max).
Divine magic would succeed on an 01-90 and only fumble on a 00, regardless of
CON.
Permanent damage could be healed only with divine magic and substantial recovery
times.
Impairing wounds to the head, chest, or abdomen might put out an eye, decrease
APP, decrease CON, or Speed , for example.
Crippling wounds to these locations might cause brain damage, short-windedness,
ill health.
brandon
---------------------
From: sandyp@idcube.idsoftware.com (Sandy Petersen)
Subject: RQ Daily
Message-ID: <9310191530.AA04451@idcube.idsoftware.com>
Date: 19 Oct 93 05:30:23 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2052
Hi everyone! I don't know what the cause of that last garbled
message was, but I'll try to reproduce it as best I can in
English here. Wish me luck.
re: Feathered Horse Queen
The Feathered Horse Queen is not the original ruler of the
Grazelanders, but an outsider who came to the Horse folk,
defeated their shamans in magical contest, and proved
herself their ruler. The most conservative Grazelanders
have always felt a little ambiguous about her, and only
her obviously benign rule has kept her in power. That, and
her personal power and her fostering of the Hiia Swordsman
cult as an alternative to Golden Bow. The Hiia Swordsmen
make up her personal bodyguard, while the more traditional
Golden Bow act as the tribe's main elite warriors.
re: Sun Domers & Dragonkill War
Certainly all of the Sun Dome's soldiers were killed in the
Dragonkill War, but there are plenty of Sun Dome wor-
shipers that aren't warriors (women and children spring
to mind). Probably they left Dragon Pass or were killed off
during the troll cleansing following the War though. But the
building itself could still remain to be recolonized when the \
humans returned. I seem to recall a history of Dragon Pass
stating that Sun Domers were among the earliest human settlers
of the new Dragon Pass (the Grazelanders being the first).
re: God Learners & Tim Beecher
I'm sure there were God Learners interested in research for
research's sake, but I believe the majority of them to be after
power and wealth. Remember, theirs was a mercantile culture,
not an artsy mystical structure like the EWF.
re: Humakt & Geoff Gunner
Humakt is an Orlanthi god -- he is not an alien god to the
Orlanthi culture. Even though Humakt severed his bloodlines
to Orlanth, he is no enemy. I would expect to find at least as
many worshipers of Humakt in Sartar as I would Storm Bulls.
Maybe more, with the lunar suppression of Storm Bull in
recent years. Since the Orlanthi are so warlike, I'd expect
more like 4-6% Humakti among them. More in some areas, less
in others. You probably wouldn't find a Humakt temple in an
outlying area, but they'd be in every large town. You'd certainly
have plenty of Humakti further south, in Heortland, with its
larger population. I agree with your supposition that Humakt is not
just for lost causes. I do think that many Humakti warriors are
loners or clan outsiders, since it is a bit of a break with
the ol' Orlanthi family line.
I like your idea of the drunken unshaven Humakti being
lectured by their Swords. In my own campaign we had one
Orlanthi (played by Ben Monroe) get so drunk on his holy day
that he paid his cult tithing to Humakt by mistake. When his priest
found out, he had to pay another 10% to Orlanth. It didn't seem
fair to him somehow, but the Humakti weren't about to return the
money (they did offer to duel him for double or nothing).
You mention spindly timid Storm Bulls bullied by their dads. Don't
forget 98-lb weaklings who hope to seem "tough" now they're with
the right crowd.
---------------------
From: lhankor@aol.com
Subject: RQ Digest
Message-ID: <9310192349.tn198814@aol.com>
Date: 20 Oct 93 03:49:49 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2054
I got your address from KenRolston recently as a great source of new RQ
material. I am interested in subscribing. Any information you could send me
would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Lhankor@aol.com