From: RuneQuest-Request@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (RQ Digest Maintainer) Sender: RuneQuest-Request@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (RQ Digest Maintainer) Organization: Lankhor Mhy and Associates To: RuneQuest@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (Daily automated RQ-Digest) Reply-To: RuneQuest@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (RuneQuest Daily) Subject: RuneQuest Daily, Mon, 03 Jan 1994, part 1 Message-ID:Precedence: junk X-RQ-ID: out.going/rq-daily/Intro This is the RuneQuest Daily Bulletin, a mailing list on the subjects of Avalon Hill's RPG and Greg Stafford's world of Glorantha. It is sent out once per day in digest format. Note: During holiday season, the Daily will only appear on Monday and Thursday (i.e: Dec 23, 27, and 30). Normal distribution should resume on Jan 3, 1994. More details on the RuneQuest Daily and Digest can be found after the last message in this digest. --------------------- From: carlsonp@wdni.com (Carlson, Pam) Subject: RE: Divine Magic and Sacrifice Message-ID: <2CFD1748@itlab.wtc.weyer.com> Date: 1 Dec 93 22:13:00 GMT X-RQ-ID: 2710 >Subject: Receiving Divine Magic from "human sacrifice" >I'm curious if anyone has considered the implications of sacrifice: I have read nothing indicating that chaotic and evil deities would grant divine magic through the sacrifice >of a non-worshipper's life (and POW). Any comments on this idea? Why would only chaotic or evil deities accept human sacrifice? Some native Meso-Americans practiced it, and I've never heard them described as "evil". I've also read somewhere that some native North Americans considered it an honor to slay a respected enemy if he was captured. (This may not be true - I'm at the mercy of popular fiction on this one. Does anyone else know more?) One thing I've always admired about RQ is it's "greyness" - none of this alignment drivel, or ultimate good vs ultimate evil. In fact, Morokanth use humans as food animals, so it seems a small step to the occasional slaying of a captured enemy for a mystical purpose; maybe releasing a useful point or two of POW in game terms. Does anything in Gloranthan mythology preclude this? Pam / Probably the only person in the Western World who watched "Star Wars" and wondered about the billions of reasonably happy people who must be living in the Empire./ --------------------- From: carlsonp@wdni.com (Carlson, Pam) Subject: RE: Antirius Message-ID: <2CFD0B69@itlab.wtc.weyer.com> Date: 1 Dec 93 21:22:00 GMT X-RQ-ID: 2711 From: 100270.337@CompuServe.COM (Nick Brooke) >From the Horse's mouth: "Antirius" is NOT just the Dara Happan name for Yelmalio. Most of the Antirian mythology is utterly unrecognisable as Yelmalion, and rightly so. Is there any more info on this cult? What is the mythology? Is it printed anywhere? Pam --------------------- From: henkl@yelm (Henk Langeveld - Sun Nederland) Subject: Re: Heroquesting? Message-ID: <9312301347.AA26232@yelm.Holland.Sun.COM> Date: 30 Dec 93 15:47:44 GMT X-RQ-ID: 2712 In rec.games.frp.misc you write: >My first letter went to wrong place, >so i'm asking again. >I have read some articles about heroquesting, >some from books (for example, elder secrets), >but there`s not that info i like to have, >only pure rules and such. >So, would somebody tell me something more >correct about heroquesting,to this this >newsgroup or direct to me. >jla@cs.tut.fi Several people have created their own rules for heroquesting. I don't think that any rules would capture the spirit of the game. Think of it as a game within a game, where the characters roleplay their gods' and cult heroes' lives. Beware, though, as the game is not without risk... -- Henk | Henk.Langeveld@Sun.COM - Disclaimer: I don't speak for Sun. oK[] | My first law of computing: "NEVER make assumptions" --------------------- From: okamoto@hpcc101.corp.hp.com (Jeff Okamoto) Subject: Re: RuneQuest Daily, Thu, 30 Dec 1993, part 1 Message-ID: <9312301631.AA24527@hpcc101.corp.hp.com> Date: 30 Dec 93 16:31:52 GMT X-RQ-ID: 2713 > From: nh0g+@andrew.cmu.edu (Nils Hammer) > Subject: Illumination > > I suggest that anyone who has read thoroughly "knows" somewhere in the dark > parts of their heart that ARKAT is actually Gbaji in disguise. Although this will sound Lunarish, I see Arkat and Gbaji as two sides of the same concept. By itself, Illumination is not "evil": it is a new way of viewing the Universe, and also provides some special abilities (evading spirits of retribution). What an Illuminated being chooses to do with that ability makes that being "good" or "evil". If they choose the "Dark Side" and become amoral, then they are Gbaji. If they choose the "Light Side" and protect, then they are Arkat. It is unfortunate that Gbaji the Deceiver's effects were much more obvious and devastating than Arkat's more subtle efforts (he's the first HeroQuest environmentalist). Thus Illumination has come to mean Chaos. Jeff --------------------- From: paul@phyast.pitt.edu (Paul Reilly) Subject: Re: RuneQuest Daily, Thu, 23 Dec 1993, part 1 Message-ID: <9312302148.AA05427@minerva.phyast.pitt.edu> Date: 30 Dec 93 21:48:28 GMT X-RQ-ID: 2714 Lots of stuff... I (Paul) will have to reply piecemeal to a lot of this when I get time. Sandy on Dryads: Good job, the 'woodland spirit' was one of the improvements in feel in the transition to RQ3. We play that a grove can have a nascent Dryad that has not yet manifested but can be 'summoned' into existence. And of course your ghost example is a good one. Oops, have a ride home which is leaving now. Will get back on the weekend (I hope.) - Paul --------------------- From: sandyp@idcube.idsoftware.com (Sandy Petersen) Subject: re: RQ Digest Message-ID: <9312302151.AA00546@idcube.idsoftware.com> Date: 30 Dec 93 09:51:49 GMT X-RQ-ID: 2715 Tim Westlake begs: > Does anyone have writeups of any of the cults of the 7 mothers? Yes. There are at least sketchy writeups of all of them. DANFIVE XARON: a cult of repentence and toil. A person accused of a crime (or any person, for that matter) can escape punishment if he makes it to this cult in time. Anyone is accepted, but the requirements are extremely harsh, and punishments are both punitive and swift. It's not really a battle cult, but sometimes the militarily-skilled members of it are required to perform suicide missions in wartime. Not a PC cult, really. DEEZOLA: she is a healing/earth goddess type. Among other powers, she has the preventative Heal spell mentioned in an earlier RQ Digest. She also is the wielder of the reusable Resurrect that is available to the Lunars; they and Chalana Arroy are the only deities with a reusable Resurrect. IRRIPPI ONTOR: his cult bears the same relationship to Lhankor Mhy that Etyries bears to Issaries. A few shared spells, a few different spells, the same basic cult outlook. They are similar enough that in some places the two cults share temples (frex, the Pavis Lhankor Mhy temple has an Irrippi Ontor contingent). JAKALEEL THE WITCH: a darkness goddess with secretive and sinister powers. Not common. Encourages sorcery. SHE WHO WAITS: little is known of her. She probably has no cult, but who knows? She might be a Lunar secret waiting to be sprung. TEELO NORRI: she has a very vestigial cult, with mostly lay members. Her few priestesses run the Lunar welfare system. YANAFAL TARNILS: a cult very similar to Humakt, except without a reusable Sever Spirit. Has geases, too, but many are different from Humakt's. Follow many of Humakt's strictures, like fighting fair duels, and other honorable stuff. Cult priests are called Scimitars. Nils Hammer points out: >I feel that the comment about "everyone knows" that Nysalor >Illumination is fundamentally related to chaos shouldn't go without >challenge. One of the best things about RQ is the variety of >cultures, and the ambiguity about who is in the right Well by golly, I'm challenging your statement. Sort of. I submit that all major cultures and important philosophies in Glorantha that know about Illumination believe that it is connected to chaos, from the Lunars on down to the most barbaric Orlanthi. This doesn't mean there's not hot debate about it. Frex, philosophers from three important cultures might reason as follows: ORLANTHI: Chaos is bad. Illumination is chaos. Ergo, Illumination is bad. LUNARS: There is no bad. Chaos is just a force like any other, the most dangerous force to work with, but still just a force. Illumination lets you see the true meaning of reality and its relationship to chaos, and is therefore good. KRALORI: Chaos is bad. However, Illumination, though OF chaos, enables the evil within chaos to be neutralized and dissipated. Hence, it is the secret goodness within the evil of Chaos. (Of course, if we had no chaos, we wouldn't need illumination.) These statements aren't meant to be authoritative in any way, they're just off the top of my head. John Hughes mentions: > ... the immortal "Blad-ger, My Axe." Apparently I'll never live that down. --------------------- From: carlf@panix.com (Carl Fink) Subject: AH releases Message-ID: <199312311008.AA11306@panix2.panix.com> Date: 31 Dec 93 00:08:13 GMT X-RQ-ID: 2716 fkiesche3@aol.com writes: R>Anybody know what the next Avalon Hill release will be? Cults of D? Glorantha >overvew? RQ IV (ha!) A "Glorantha overview" has already been released. I think the next release will be _Strangers in Prax_. --------------------- From: jjm@zycor.lgc.com (johnjmedway) Subject: Yara Aranis and the Lunar cause Message-ID: <9401021826.AA12170@hp0.zycor.lgc.com> Date: 2 Jan 94 18:26:06 GMT X-RQ-ID: 2717 >> Date: Mon, 20 Dec 93 00:10:33 +0100 >> Subject: Volume 10, no 5: Paul Honigmann update (includes quiz) >> >> ... >> LUNAR CULT OF YARA ARANIS >> ... >> I suggest that YA is much more involved with horses than the other two >> war cults of the Empire. (Come to think of it, I always think of the Lunars as >> being like the Romans, who were mainly infantry.) Horses are neccessary for >> maneuverability on the plains of Pent, and mobility is a neccessary element >> of strategy against the Pentans. This is a bit of a contradiction within the >> cult, as one of Yara's titles is Horse Eater, but so what. Perhaps they have adopted Sables? Maybe they also specialize in some form of mobility/transportation spells to offset the Pentans mobility. >> However, the cult has been very successful against the Pentans, so it must >> have some key advantage(s). I imagine the main one is metal armour. However, >> too much will restrict maneuverability so it's only usually on torso and head. >> Similarly, tempered scimitars will be a far superior weapon to wooden spears >> and crude axes, etc in the Pentan armoury. Lances and bows of the Pentans would provide a great advantage, unless the Y.A. use them as well. If the Pentans don't use shields, though, they would really take it on the chin from other cavalry, especially medium cavalry. >> YARA'S BREATH (Throw Horse, etc): Spirit magic, 2 points >> This spell acts a bit like a Demoralise on a horse. The user must succeed >> in a POW vs POW roll against the horse. Success means the horse becomes uneasy >> and the rider must make a Ride roll each round to control it. The origin of With the Pentans rather high riding abilities, this isn't worth 2MP. If it reduced the rider's chance of success, ( maybe with stacked MP ) then it would be more worthwhile. >> TWOSWORD (Doubledge, Yara's Talons etc) - variable: >> This is like Bladesharp, but it works on two scimitars simultaneously. >> ... Kinda neat idea, but I want to make sure I got this straight: 2mp = TwoSword-1 = Both swords at better attack +5% ( bladesharp ) and +1 damage 4mp = TwoSword-2 = Both swords at better attack +10% ( bladesharp ) and +2 damage ... What about more than two swords, such as after the caster uses Arm of the Godess to grow another one ( or two, or ... )? >> I've been toying with a full write-up of the Cult of YA recently. Anyone >> want to see an unofficial Cult description? Sure! >> MYTHOLOGICAL ENGINEERING AND THE WHITE MOON >> ... >> Wars are being fought. You can see why the Yelm pantheon is friendly with the >> Lunars - if Orlanth is tamed, the Golden Age will return. Contrariwise, most >> other gods revel in the freedom and power they have out of Yelm's control: so Also the Lunars may well have messed with the Dara Happan Yelmites mythology, hence their acceptance of the Lunars. >> crypto-capitalist Storm cultist oppression. Hopefully future publications will help out the Lunar cause. Poor sods, bad press from day one, and it's only gotten worse. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- | john_medway@zycor.lgc.com | Landmark Graphics Corp | 512.292.2325 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------- From: malcolm109@aol.com Subject: Manirian Map Index Message-ID: <9401021744.tn05096@aol.com> Date: 2 Jan 94 22:44:39 GMT X-RQ-ID: 2718 As I was reading my copy of A Rough Guide to Boldhome in preparation for Runequest-Con, I became a little frustrated with the "Getting There" section. It describes two routes from the Lunar Empire to Boldhome, and in the text it names a number of obscure but interesting sounding place names. I immediately checked the maps provided, but I couldn't find all of the place names. I then went to my RQ materials, and while looking through a number of maps I eventually found all the place names. I discovered in this search that I have 17 different maps of the Maniria/Dragon Pass/Sartar region! And almost all of these maps list some unique features not found on other maps. So I created a project for myself. I listed the place names from each map, and arranged them in alphabetical order. After the names, I listed the map[s] in which that name occurred. Now when I come across a Manirian place name in some Gloranthan text I can just check my handy Manirian Map Index and find which maps if any that place appears on. If anyone is interested in seeing this I can post it to the digest. It contains a whopping 466 names! --------------------- X-RQ-ID: out.going/rq-daily/Extro [The rules of the game] Send submissions and followup to "RuneQuest@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM", they will automatically be included in a next issue. Please include a Subject: line. Articles without it will be ignored, returned, or delayed. 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)