From: RuneQuest-Request@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (RQ Digest Maintainer)
To: RuneQuest@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (Daily automated RQ-Digest)
Subject: RuneQuest Daily, Mon, 25 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",
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Selected articles may also appear in a regular Digest. If you
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Send enquiries and Subscription Requests to the editor:
RuneQuest-Request@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (Henk Langeveld)
---------------------
From: wk039316@rzcipa01.rz.tu-bs.de
Subject: Submission
Message-ID: <9310220539.AA26577@rzcipa01.rz.tu-bs.de>
Date: 22 Oct 93 07:39:05 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2079
Submission for RQ-DIGEST
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From: graeme.lindsell@anu.edu.au (Graeme A Lindsell)
Subject: Lots o' Stuff
Message-ID: <9310220745.AA28909@cscgpo.anu.edu.au>
Date: 22 Oct 93 17:45:14 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2080
Sandy Petersen writes:
>I'm going to say a Bad Word here: Heroquest. I do NOT wish to open up
Nothing bad about that word: there was a fairly big discussion
about how "mundane" heroquests are a couple of weeks ago, with several
posters supparting views very similar to your own.
>In the ritual, one or more Humakti perform
>special oaths and swearings against a known enemy person. Then, they
>go after him, bolstered with special magic. Once they kill the chosen
>enemy, he cannot be resurrected.
This sounds very much like an assassination ritual to me :-). I
suppose the Humakti would reply that they kill openly, not like
some sneaky assassin (actually, if I said that to a humakti's
face, I'd expect he'd just kill me). Was this or a similar ritual
performed by the Household of Death, though their declared aim
seemed to be the protection of Sartar? This version would make
the Humakti into the ultimate guards, since if what they have
sworn to protect dies, so do they.
> re: Graeme Lindsell
> Most sorcerers don't admit... {etc.}
I think you have your attribtion wrong here, I can't remember asking
about sorcerers. The comment about resurrection is interesting
though: it's stated in the Genertela pack that the Brithini
sorcerers can resurrect other Brithini, but this is the first time
that anyone's mentioned that other sorcerers can do it. You imply
that shamans have access to resurrection as well.
David Dunham writes:
>Quite possibly, older, retired Humakti do farm.
They must be pretty poor Humakti, allowing themselves to get old!
:-).
Seriously, I'd expect most older humakti to become weapons
teachers or something else associated with the military rather
than farm, though some may. You need to be a pretty dedicated
warrior to join Humakt, the less dedicated would probably join
those cults that have retirement plans (ie Orlanth).
johnjmedway writes:
>Greg also (over?)stressed one
>other thing regarding Humakti: They mean ONE thing. DEATH.
Well if that's what he said he did overstress it: they also
mean TRUTH, and there are those Swords who would emphasize that
part over death.
Roland Volz writes:
>Besides, CA is associated with Orlanth.
She is also associated with Yelm, check out the Yelm cult
in GoG. Given that Dara Happa is where Yelm is worshipped,
the I expect that there would be plenty of CA worshippers
there.
>Actually, you mean a PERFECT Humakti never kills at a distance.
That's right. Just like Humakt. The purposes of the geases are
to make the initiate act like humakt. A perfect Humakti chooses
to forgo tha ranged weapons (except for throwing knives) and act
like Humakt, and never slay at a distance. Why then should
Humakt's most powerful spell allow one to do just that?
Loren Miller on Polytheism:
I agree with what you say, though I doubt the results would
be all-out religious war. The disappearance of lay-membership
as a cult status in RQ3 and the increase in the number of initiates
helped create this situation IMO. When most people were lay
members and initiates were faily rare then the situation
would be more like true polytheism.
I think the easiest game-mechanics way to implement what you
want is allow a cultist to join most associate cults in a
pantheon as an initiate but not to enforce the 10% time/money
rule, in the same way that rune levels can choose to do so,
just getting the rune magic but not the DI, ransom or much
real chance of cult progression. It's really just the POW
and MP's the god wants, and these associate initiates would
give those minor gods most of their support.
Graeme Lindsell a.k.a gal502@huxley.anu.edu.au
---------------------
From: s.phillips@gla.ac.uk
Subject: Running a Sartar Campaign
Message-ID: <22_Oct_93_11:03:16_A116EC@UK.AC.GLA.VME>
Date: 22 Oct 93 10:03:16 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2081
Hello everyone (And Sandy - fawn! fawn! Bootlick! etc.),
I mentioned ages ago that my GM (Harry) is off to Japan so to keep myself
and the other players from going cold turkey I have decided to take over
running RQ. Gosh! What a can of worms. How does anyone do it? I thought I
knew a lot about RQ but I find I-know-naffin. I had to look up how to
calculate HP...
Still I am soldiering ever onwards. To avoid clashes with Harry's RoC
campaign I have decided to locate in Sartar. That is where the *BIG*
trouble begins..
Sartar I thought. Great we have KoS, we have good write ups for Orlanth,
Ernalda, loads of old examples in WF, the Genertla book, What my Father
Told Me, ..., it should be fine. Woah! To my dismay I found it all sadly
lacking. I have Vikings but then Sartar is Celtic/Saxon. I know they
have Long houses (that's in WMFTM -GP) and I know how the Clan is organised
I have a list of some of the tribes etc.. & I have Apple Lane. But I
need help.
All you Sartar lovers out there. What is it like for you. Any good
adventure ideas etc. Jeorg, you play in Sartar don't you. How do you
do it?
I have chosen to take WMFTM as my base. I have made everything said in it
absolutely true. I have rolled up everyone mentioned and filled out the
Varmandi even down to the Tree House. Oh, and I gave them a lake (not
mentioned)..
(oops run out of time I will finish this later - Cheers!)
PS. Why doesn't Sartar have any big Lakes? There is one south of Whitewall
but that aint Sartar. I kind of fancied some lake settlements. Crannogs?
Hedeby? even some of those German ones built on Islands and totaly
surrounded by staockade in the water. - sigh!
Cheers Sam. x
Not Scotland But Sartar
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From: eosgg@raesp-farn.mod.uk (Geoff Gunner)
Subject: Bits and pieces ...
Message-ID: <9310221155.AA22076@raesp-farn.mod.uk>
Date: 22 Oct 93 11:55:19 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2082
re: Sandy's words on Humakti.
I am humbled and shall remain silent for at least the next three days in
repentance. I have seen the divine light ... but : (!)
I'm guessing that Orlanthi Culture loosely follows 5th - 10th Century
Germanic-type society, with a tendency to include the tastier bits of Norse
culture. IMHO the number of dedicated soldiers was quite low, the majority
being farmers who could fight. The Viking phenomena arose because of
overpopulation, which doesn't apply to Dragon Pass. So the majority of
fighters would be Orlanthi. So okay, perhaps 2% Humakti. More modern
societies are different; as distribution methods improve we can support a
larger population living off the land, so there's more scope for a bigger
standing army. Look at the problems in medieval (and earlier) times in raising
a fighting force - were'nt a lot of battles timed to be in the quiet periods
between harvests, because you could then press-gang the peasantry into fighting ?
'Nuff said ( by me, at any rate :-( )
Attached is a poor attempt at mapping the Gloranthan year to an Earth year;
any comments ?
Gloranthan Clandaric Equivalents
Sea
2nd Week May, Apple Blossom
5th Week June
5, 7th week Midsummer Solstice
Fire
1st Week July
5th Week August
7th Week September, Harvest
Earth
2nd Week Fall
4th Week October
8th Week November, Trees bare
Dark
1st Week December
2nd Week Snow
4th Week Midwinters Solstice
5th Week Jan
Storm
1st Week February, New Life
1, 3rd Week Valentines Day
5th Week March, Pancake Day
Sacred
1st Week April
2nd Week Easter
---------------------
From: s.phillips@gla.ac.uk
Subject: (more about my Sartar Campaign Plans)
Message-ID: <22_Oct_93_14:15:16_A10242@UK.AC.GLA.VME>
Date: 22 Oct 93 13:15:16 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2083
(Back again!)
Sorry, where was I.
Hmm! I have just re-read my last posting and it was rather rambling.
I will try to be a bit more clear this time.
(recap) I have started to plan a Sartar campaign and I am looking for
advice from anyone who has already succeded in doing this. Any comments on
what I have done, changes you would recommend and anything I have got
blatently wrong would be appreciated. I would like to get the feel of
Sartar right as I have been a player for over 10yrs now and, allowing
myself a bit of an indulgence, have been giving it a lot of thought..
Here is an account of how I have got on so far..
* Sartar, though one of the main places mentioned in Greg's writings,
actually has less campaign stile info about it than is first
apparent. There is a *lot* of history but not a great deal of
every day type stuff. In a letter I got from GS back in 1987 he said
that Sartar was Saxon/Celtic. Viking is easier to find resources for and
is very similar and so I have included much of the Vikings in it.
* I chose to model my campaign on What My Father Told Me (WMFTM). It
is absolutely brilliant. It states that the Varmandi Clan (the one
mentioned) is located in the Ormthane Vale near Apple Lane. The
Varmandi's also get a reasonably big write up in KoS so they seemed
a good clan to choose.
* I first chose to locate the Varmandi clan south of Apple Lane,
around the spot where a ruin is marked. I drew maps and designed
the Stead etc (more on this in a mo). But Alas! my first
experience of being Gregged (or maybe more research was called for)
I found the Ormthane Vale, home of the Varmandi Clan, on the TrollPack
map. It is *north* of Apple lane. Not much harm done. The *South* bog
is now the *east* bog, but that's about it really.
* I chose the Viking model for a Stead as I have a *lot* of stuff about
the vikings. I have a good collection of children's picture history
books which are brilliant source books. I highly recommend the Usbourne
'time-traveller' book of Vikings for sheer character (and characters!)
and the How-would-you-survive-as-a-Viking book which is immensely
detailed. (if anyone want's ISBN no's just let me know). I find these
children's books to be better than many adult texts. They cram loads in
and are full of great ideas. They are also *very* accurate the Usbourne
book is written by one of the leading writers of adult texts. I know a
first year historian who used it as a revising text. Anyway, my Varmandi
stead has a Long house and another four or five stead-houses in the main
settlement along with a tree house (I couldn't resist putting the bard
up in it - sorry!), an unfinished piece of defensive wall, Barns, storage
huts etc. The Shepherds have smaller houses outside the main settlement.
The stead houses tend to be divided by occupation and status. Sartarian
houses appear from literature to be rectangular rather than round. I
would have liked round houses (Celtic) but I went with rectangular. They
don't have a temple as such but instead have an open air shrine with
standing stones. What are these like? I kind of fancied a wind rune shape,
are all open shrines like Pairing Stones (two large slabs slightly leaning
in towards each other)? What about roofed temples? I fancied the Celtic
style - Large, round, hut-like buildings with a hugh hole in the center
of the roof above the hearth. This would allow all the benefits of an
open temple with a cosy indoor atmosphere.
* I felt my stead needed a fishing lake so I gave them one. As I said before
there don't appear to be *any* lakes in Sartar at all. Why? I think it
needs them. This way my players can roll freely on the RQIV professions
table. (more on this in a mo). Also it fits every picture of a Viking
stead I have seen.
* Technology level is hard to decide on. What the average clan would have
will be very different from what is in the towns etc. Sartar was the Great
Builder and the 5 Sartar cities (Boldhome, Jonstown, Wilm'skirk,
Swenstown, Ducktown?) have some of the greatest walls after Old Pavis. But
what of the smaller settlements. My stead has *no* stone buildings at all.
It has a very small peice of defensive wall, earth mound, ditch, Wooden
wall. It was an unfinished experiment and covers around 10% of the stead
perimeter. Should it have a full wall? Asterix's village did (another
good source - especially for the Lunars!). Runegate has a wall. The
Sartar dynasty roads have towers along them and are butressed in places.
Are they stone cobbled?
* The two closeby settlements are Apple Lane and Redbird fort. Apple Lane is
easy, although fitting it in with everything else isn't so easy. Where is
the Lunar presence? Why are the houses so advanced? The road going through
it isn't a Great Road. How do the clans feel about the weirdo's who live
there, what with their Shamanism, three eyes, funny coloured skin,
trollkin, Chiminies etc. Gosh! Why would anyone go there..
Redbird fort I chose as a wooden fort in the shape of a wind rune.
The Lunars have added stone buildings to it, temple, barracks etc.
It surrendered around the time Jonstown did as was missed out by the
main armies (along with Apple Lane) who headed South after taking
RuneGate. Runegate has stone buildings, towers and a big hole in the wall.
The temple (a round hut type) has been closed down.
* RQIV experience rules are great. I highly commend them. But do they
favour the heroic PC rather than the less than heroic NPC? I find you
cannot create anyone older than 30ish who isn't bordering Rune status.
Is everyone of status at least an acolyte? If so my stead ends up with
a heap-load of powerful people.
* Orlanthi cults & Initiation into them caused a few problems. I want my
players to experience initiation in game time. To do this I have made up
an excuse why they haven't been initiated. The priest, along with the old
leader (the Rastorlanth - is that a title?) and his housecarls all went off
on a rebellion and haven't returned. Would the stead have it's own priest
(Godi). Would they wait? It has been over a year now and the clan needs new
warriors and less children. One of my players wanted his 17yr old lad to
join Ernalda instead. I wouldn't let him saying a) Ernalda won't take him
until he is adult - ie initiated into Orlanth b) A young *male* warrior
would die rather than join Ernalda as his main cult, he would sooner
drive a *wagon* for the rest of his life.. ptoo!
* Jonstown:What is it like? It has big walls. Is probably stone (mostly)
It has guilds and temples (including a large Y-shaped Lhankor Mhy temple).
What would the Orlanth temple be like? How would the Lunars have changed
this place? They've been here Nigh-on 20yrs. It's funny really that of
all the places is Sartar, Jonstown is the most talked frequently mentioned
but there is practically nothing written about it (itself). The index
reference of it's founding in KoS appears to be a mistake.
* Gentle Vastyr is the new clan leader. A gentle farmer voted in by the
Ernaldan womenfolk. He is well liked but the remaining men would rather
a warrior in charge. Could he be an Acolyte of Ernalda? He obviously
can't be a priest. Would Orlanth Rex be more suitable? I opted for both.
* The Eurmal: I decided to have a trickster on the stead. He ran off when
the Rastorlanth left. He now lives on a small Island in the lake. He
always went there when his protecter left as he fears the womenfolk would
do for him (and he's right). He will return to the longhouse when the men
return.
* I want my young Orlanthi to have had little or no contact with the outside
world (apart from other Colymar). Is this realistic? Warriors, traders etc
would cross the Elder hills to visit Apple lane etc but what of the
others? Perhaps the odd raid on a neighbour. Something nasty perhaps like
trollkin or small chaos band.. But no real regular contact with the
outside in these troubled times. Is this againsed the Orlanth unspoken
virtue: Independence?
* Virtues: I have adopted PenDragon *style* virtues. But instead have the
Olanthi ones.. Courage, Wisdom, Generousity, Justice, Honour, Wyrd. I
also gave them Viking characteristics +1 Str, +1 Siz.
So that's about it so far. Feel free to E-mail me direct. I have been
using my Apple Mac to produce plans etc so if you want to see all this when
it's finished give us a call.
- Any Criticism? Be as cruel as you wish..
Cheers!
Sam x.
Sam Phillips,
Not Scotland - But Sartar.
---------------------
From: nrobinso@sirius.UVic.CA (Neil Robinson)
Subject: Golden Bow
Message-ID: <35299.nrobinso@sirius.uvic.ca>
Date: 22 Oct 93 17:48:16 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 2084
A few of us have been playing the 'hunt for all the information on
a topic' game. A grazelander is returning home during the Sacred
Time, and we need to work out more information.
Here's our big question:
The gods of the Grazelanders include a Jardan the Warrior, whose master
warriors are called the Golden Bow (KoS p. 108). Now the grazelanders
are apparently the remains of the Pure Horse People who were all but
defeated just outside of Pavis by a combined force of praxian nomads
(the Battle of Alavan Argay). Prior to this battle, the Pure Horse
people also suffered a loss to the Trolls, where their War God (Golden
Bow) was crushed (KoS 193). RoC also mentions this.
Does this mean they worship a Dead God? We are currently feeling that
the other Grazelander deities, particularly Pole Star, are making up
for the Golden Bow/Jardan's loss, and it is one reason for the success
of Hiia Swordsman, a vendref hero cult that is gaining in popularity.
Oh, are we going to have a 'most used KoS' contest at RQCon?
Neil Robinson | "Never underestimate the power of human
nrobinso@sirius.uvic.ca | stupidity." - L. Long
2996 Dysart Rd. Victoria B.C. V9A 2K2 (604) 385-1642