From: RuneQuest-Request@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (RQ Digest Maintainer)
To: RuneQuest@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (Daily automated RQ-Digest)
Reply-To: RuneQuest@Glorantha.Holland.Sun.COM (RuneQuest Daily)
Subject: RuneQuest Daily, Thu, 24 Mar 1994, part 1
Sender: Henk.Langeveld@Holland.Sun.COM
Content-Return: Prohibited
Precedence: junk
X-RQ-ID: 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.
More details on the RuneQuest Daily and Digest can be found
after the last message in this digest.
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From: davidc@cs.uwa.edu.au (David Cake)
Subject: Re: Source material availability
Message-ID: <199403231139.TAA11317@cs.uwa.oz.au>
Date: 24 Mar 94 03:45:58 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 3386
>Subject: source material availablity
>Message-ID: <9403171842.AAwhqo08801@relay1.UU.NET>
>I want to express concern over the availabliity of source material.
>
>I just got off the phone with AH and they claim there is NO definate relase
>date
>for _CoT_. How can so many of you quote from an unprinted source?
Actually, we quote from the out of print RQ2 supplement Cults of
Terror. I had no idea that the RQ3 chaos cults book (long overdue) was
called that, I thought that it was called Cults of Dorastor.
>To top it off, RQ Cities & Griffin Island are now out of print as well(or at
>least none in stock at AH) and NO plans as of this morning to reprint.
>
Personally, I don't think that you are missing out on much. RQ Cities was a
generic cities with about a dozen words changed in the entire book to make
it a RQ supplement, and Griffon Island is non-Gloranthan, though based on
the Gloranthan Griffon Mountain.
>I have bought all that I can get my hands on in print to weave the fabric of
>Glorantha and bring it to life for my players. So far it has been wonderful
>fun
>but now I am running into walls. What about, where can I get more on Sartar?,
>The Rubble? who are the GreyDog Clan or Lismelder? Pavis is reasonably well
>documented but where can I get more on the Rubble? Is Nochet really Sanctuary?
>
The Greydog clan comes from the TOTRM house campaign, Nochet is not
Sanctuary (the small nearby city of Haven is - I guessed this from the
name, but someone (Sandy?) confirmed it), the Rubble is well documented
only in the much loved but long out of print Big Rubble boxed set, and we
would all like more information about Sartar.
The very dodgy availability of source material is one of the worst
problems with RQ/ Glorantha. Part of it is that the RQ3/RQ2 change meant
many good supplements disappeared and have never been released (I guess
because the number of players is not big enough to support a brisk reissue
schedule and new stuf), and partly I blame Greg and Chaosium for having a
very disorganised and haphazard approach to the whole thing. Since Wyrms
Footnotes folded RQ info has appeared scattered across half a dozen
magazines, all on an ocassional and irregular basis and mixed in with lots
of non-RQ stuff. TOTRM looks like it has stopped that - and replaced it
with the other problem that the main source of info is now a semi-pro
magazine available only on mail order. This would all not be so bad if not
for the fact that much of this source material is actually really important
stuff that really should be in supplements and rulesbooks, not magazines at
all. There are enough long form cult writeups to fill a cults book, so why
hasn't it been produced? Not to mention the loads of stuff that Greg writes
but does not polish up for publication (or publishes only in obscurity like
GRoY).
And of course AH have had their share of the problem too.
So, in short, I agree, you are getting a bad deal. I would
definately advise increasing your efforts to subscribe to TOTRM, but you
really should be able to go down to your store and buy source material. As
a consolation, I am sure that asking here would produce a response in some
detail. For example, I have stuff produced for my campaign that I would be
happy to post here, like a summary of all the notable of Pavis, for
example.
Cheers
Dave Cake
>I don't mind making it up as I go (in fact it's a speciality of mine) but I
>hate to be contradicted later and I'm starting to see a lot of that. Some is
>from my lack of Knowlege and while I am dilegently pursuing my studies at the
>Knowledge Temple but it's reference shevles appaently have some gapeing holes
>and no way to get copies. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
>
>Speaking of help, can more then one spirit engage a single being? If so, how?
>
>Thanks,
>--
>
> /> Chris Cooke
> //
> (//////[O]>=====================================-
> \\
> \> cookec@mml.mmc.com
>
>
>
>--
---------------------
From: davidc@cs.uwa.edu.au (David Cake)
Subject: Re: Humakt
Message-ID: <199403231139.TAA11320@cs.uwa.oz.au>
Date: 24 Mar 94 03:46:13 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 3387
I loved Jespers story, though I have to admit to having a very
different slant on Humakt in Sog City, Fronela myself. You see, a sizable
percentage of the Kingdom of War worship Humakt, so the cult is generally
identified as a god of savage killers and slavers, also religious fanatics.
The reaction from the populous is not so much like Krarsht, but more like
Zorak Zoran in Sartar - but with the added complication of being
politically identified with the bad guys, overtones of Nazism would be
appropriate. This is not how everyone feels about them - the barbarians
from nearby Oranor worship Humakt, and there is some fairly pro-Humakt
Arkati feeling among some emigres from Ralios (Sog is a real melting pot)
but that is how most people see them. And of course, the real challenge for
the Humakti is that by and large the populous are right - most of the
Humakti in Fronela are Kingdom of War sympathisers who despise non-warriors
and kill for pleasure, and worse, the extreme factionalisation and power
struggles of the KoW have proved a very fertile bredding ground for heresy
and schisms. Such hideous (to a Theyalan Humakti) heresies such as the Lead
Cross HeroQuest path (who kill healers for the crime of resurrection, and
gain special powers over undead), and the Humcti (stolen from Paul Reilly's
campaign via his notes in a long ago RQ-Digest, who worship death in all
its forms including poison and disease, and are associated with Mallia as
well) are just some some of them. Humakt is only sometimes about honour.
Cheers
Dave
---------------------
From: yfcw29@castle.edinburgh.ac.uk
Subject: Thieves World in Glorantha.
Message-ID: <9403231139.aa14542@uk.ac.ed.castle>
Date: 23 Mar 94 11:39:48 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 3388
Thieves World in Glorantha :
Someone asked about this recently. Sorry, I can't remember who,
I deleted my copy of that daily by mistake.
I have used Thives World as the city of Karse, south of Dragon Pass,
next to the Shadow Plateau. I remember reading somewhere (either in
the pack itself or in a copy of Wyrm's Footprints) that Chaosium
sugested using the city of Refuge in Heortland. However, we now know
a bit more about Refuge and it does not fit.
Karse seems to me to be an excellent place to set a game. Kadakithis
became a Trashite prince appointed by Fazzur Wideread, along with a
contingent of Lunar and Tarshite troops enforcing his rule. This lot
were involved in a lot of political infighting when Fazzur came out
of favour. Karse is the seaward gateway for trade to Sartar, Tarsh
and the Empire, so I played it as a cosmopolitan hotbed of intrigue.
The game only lasted a few months, but we played every week and got
quite a lot done. The players were Tarshites working for Kadakithis
(or Caerlan as he was called in my campaign). Thus they had a nominaly
Theyalan culture, with Pelorian influences. They all worshiped Seven
Mothers in various aspects. They were all members of the Fazzurite
faction and were destined to throw in their lot with Argrath
in the end. Unfortunately we never got that far. If I run that campaign
again I might start with the players participating in the seaborn
assault on the city, staged from Corflu.
The fact that Heortland has strong western influences meant I could
legitemately have a lot of sorcerers in Korflu. There was even an
expatriate community of Kralorelans. The proximity of the Shadow
Plateau meant that Downwind became a troll gheto called darkside.
It all worked very well. I hope these ideas are useful.
Simon Hibbs
yfcw29@castle.ed.ac.uk
---------------------
From: pmichaels@aol.com
Subject: Thoughts to share
Message-ID: <9403231023.tn50076@aol.com>
Date: 23 Mar 94 15:23:42 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 3389
Hi all! I had a few thoughts which I thought I'd share.
First, all this talk about elves got me thinking about the primal elf concept
of the Grower. This, of course, got me thinking about the primal dwarf
concept of the Maker. I thought I'd share some of what I came up with so
far:
Growing requires only one, the Grower.
Making requires two, the Maker and the Made.
Growing is a process done by the Grower.
Making is a process done to the Made by the Maker.
Growing is done for the implicit purpose of the Grower.
Making is done for the explicit purpose of the Maker, not the Made.
Growing is to create by increasing, expanding, or intensifying a source
already within the Grower.
Making is to create by forming, combining, or altering materials to become
all of or part of the Made.
Growing is a realization of potentials already existant in the Grower.
Making is a creation of new form or function, which did not exist before it
was Made.
Growing implies constant change, of varying degrees and rate.
Making implies a sudden change, then there is stasis in the Made.
Growing can only happen in certain directions, to certain degrees, and, at
certain times. Growing is limited in the Grower by both internal and
external constraints. The Grower cannot ungrow, but can have parts die and
grow in a different direction.
Making can happen in any direction, to any degree, at any time. Making is
limited only by the external Maker. The Maker is limited by the materials
available. The Made can be remade or unmade by the Maker.
I
'd be interested to hear what implications for elves and dwarves others make
from this.
Som
eone asked about Gloranthan slang. Here is something I wrote a while ago.
In the area of Dragon Pass surrounding the Druulz homeland, many humans use
the phrase that something is "like a Duck Tower" or that someone is looking
for something "like a duck for a tower." It is used in a sarcastic satiracle
sense, meaning that something is an absurd or suicidal attempt to regain a
thing lost by time such as youth, beauty, fame, or fortune. Most ducks, and
many humans close to ducks, have heard stories that there once was a place
called Duck Tower. Some tales claim that Duck Tower was or is a place of
safety and refuge. Some stories even state that ducks could learn to fly
again there. It is clear that the human phrase originates from one of these
stories. Other tales claim that Duck Tower was a great temple of duckish
pride and power during the First Age. Some stories place Duck Tower's
origins during the Gods Age, saying that it was the greatest building in
Ganderland, the long lost duckish empire. Still other stories claim that
Duck Tower was a place of terrible evil and death. At least one of the
stories links Duck Tower with the duckish race's loss of Ganderland and of
flight. Another tale says Duck Tower was t
he home of a powerful duck vampire somewhere in Prax.
Greg's comment about magic users developing a spiritual organ in a certain
direction reminded me of this sorcerous spell varient I adapted a while ago
from the _Land of Ninja_ spell Create Mandala. I like it as it gives sorcery
more of the traditional European fantasy feel. If used, this varient would
probably popular among the Brithini since any familiar they might create
would not be immortal without the use of further magic. (Besides, why would
they use that magic on such an inferior life form anyway? If the Invisible
Creator ment for animals
to live forever, they would.)
Create Wizard's Staff (INT or POW) / Ritual (Enchanting)
These spells are varients of the Create Familiar spells. With this
spell, an inanimate object is made into a type of familiar, but it is not
transformed into a complete creature as per Create Familiar. The outward
form is an object with a series of mystical symbols upon it. The object may
be of any material, executed in any medium. Wooden staves and ivory or metal
wands are the most common forms for sorcerers, but wizards have also been
known to put this power into scroll work or carvings within their wor
kshops.
A sorcerer may use an object created by a craftsman, but he must then
sacrifice an additional point of POW to attune it to himself.
The staff is created in an enchanting ritual, but the 1d100 roll must be
successful for whatever Craft skill the sorcerer uses to create the staff as
well as for his Enchant skill. The sorcerer may transfer a desired number of
points of INT and POW into the staff. Both forms of the spell must be cast
at once, using the Multispell skill, as additional enchantments for the same
object are not possible later. For each point of INT so transferred, the
staff gains 1d10 INT. For each point of POW transferred, the staff gains 1
POW. Hence, if a sorcerer puts 1 point of INT and 3 points of POW into his
staff, it would have an INT of 1d10 and a POW of 3. Each chara
cteristic point taken from the sorcerer requires spending one hour in the
Enchantment ritual.
The sorcerer may use the staff's INT to store spells, it's magic points to
cast spells, and it's POW to add to his own in resisting spells cast at him.
In order to do this, he must be touching the staff or have it clearly in the
line of sight. A staff is automatically created with the condition that i
t is only usable by the creator.
The staff may not cast spells of its own volition (it has none) but may
be ordered to cast a spell stored in it at a given time or under given
circumstances.
The staff will do this even if the sorcerer is not present when the
conditions are satisfied.
Only a minor telepathic link exists between the sorcerer and his staff. He
will know its relat
ive direction from him as long as it is within 10 kilometers from him.
Spells affecting emotions will not affect the staff nor be transmitted
through it to the sorcerer. Only spells actually directed at destroying the
staff can affect it and it can resist such spells using its own magic points.
A sorcerer may have only one staff at a time. If he wishes to create a new
one, he must first destroy the old one. All resources stored in the old
staff are lost.
Lastly, I ran into a nice quote which struck a chord in me. It seems to me
to speak to both Glorantha and to those of us who tell stories ab
out Glorantha. It is from _Crow and Weasel_ by Barry Lopez (1990).
" 'Remember only th
is one thing,' said Badger. 'The stories people tell have a way of taking
care of them. If stories come to you, care for them. And learn to give them
away where they are needed. Sometimes a person
needs a story more than food to stay alive. That is why we put these stories
in each other'
s memory. This is how people care for themselves.' "
(I also think this quote speaks to the stories people tell themselves about
themselves and others in everyday life on Earth, but that's another
story.) ;-)
Peace, Peter
---------------------
From: sandyp@idcube.idsoftware.com (Sandy Petersen)
Subject: re: RQ Daily
Message-ID: <9403231705.AA10638@idcube.idsoftware.com>
Date: 23 Mar 94 05:05:10 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 3390
Dave Dunham says:
>Looking at the map of Genertela, I'm struck by the fact that Krjalki
>Bog must be a source of water in the Wastes.
I've assumed it to be so. On my nomad adventures in the
Wastes, The players had to visit the Krjalki Bog several times. Once
they got so desperate they went looking for one of the Hidden Greens
for water (with success). During the rainy season, of course, there
is water in the Serpents (dry river bottoms), which mostly drain into
the Bog anyway. I expect that in the Wastes, like in the American
western desert, if you dig deep enough down in a river bottom, you'll
always find water. Maybe not enough for a whole herd, but enough for
a lone rider.
No one was tempted to go down to the coastal marshes, though.
I suppose they're brackish anyway.
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From: 100116.2616@CompuServe.COM (David Hall)
Subject: Convulsion '94
Message-ID: <940323220057_100116.2616_BHJ82-1@CompuServe.COM>
Date: 23 Mar 94 22:00:57 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 3391
The convention is now completely full. I already have 12 people on the
residential waiting list and 3 on the non-residential waiting list.
We'll just have to find somewhere bigger next time.
For those who are attending, PR2 is being printed up now and should be out
to you in the next couple of weeks.
David Hall
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From: jacobus@sonata.cc.purdue.edu (Bryan J. Maloney)
Subject: Dahfee and Dahnald
Message-ID: <9403240327.AA20040@sonata.cc.purdue.edu>
Date: 23 Mar 94 17:27:28 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 3392
I had heard of a cult of "Dahfee and Dahnald" for Ducks. Does anyone out
there have a copy of it?
---------------------
From: robmh@aol.com
Subject: Dangerous Snails and Fishing with Kelp
Message-ID: <9403232255.tn71052@aol.com>
Date: 24 Mar 94 03:55:30 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 3393
Hi y'all,
Thought I'd post three paragraphs from notes about a trip to the tidepools of
the Salt Creek estuary on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state. The
snails mentioned in the first paragraph aren't local; given some growth
hormones and a shot of Chaos they'd make fine Dragon Snails, wouldn't they?
I beg pardon for the real-world chemistry mentioned in the second paragraph,
I wouldn't mean to include it in Glorantha, only the effects. I'd be curious
to hear nominees for the people most likely to use the fishing technique
mentioned in the final paragraph.
Frank told us about predaceous snails. Dangerous critters. I especially
liked the cone snails, twenty types, not in this area. They grow little
cones inside of themselves, each with a small hole in its sharp tip. They
reach back with their tongue to get a a cone on the tip of their tongue.
When a fish swims by the snail's tongue shoots out using the cone as an
armor-piercing tip into the fish's belly. As the cone snail withdraws it's
tongue it squirts venom through the hole in the cone. The fish veers
squiggles and dies. The snail oozes over to consume the corpse.
I didn't know that bull kelp's flotation gas was carbon monoxide! I picture
an ancient indian saying about a person who has despaired of life: "She has
gone to suck upon the bull kelp."
The bull kelp fishing lines employed by the indians were also cool. Coiled
when wet, they dried into their coils. When wet again they extended to their
natural length and strength. Strong fishing lines that never got tangled!
--Rob Heinsoo
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From: jacobus@sonata.cc.purdue.edu (Bryan J. Maloney)
Subject: Godlearners and species
Message-ID: <9403240359.AA20506@sonata.cc.purdue.edu>
Date: 23 Mar 94 17:59:32 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 3394
>What I meant was not that Gloranthans didn't know that they were baddies,
>but that they didn't know much about the details, and certainly wouldn't be
>quick to accuse anyone of God Learner tendencies since they'd have no idea
>what those tendencies were.
If only human nature were as pleasent and intelligent as that. Are you
familiar with the McCarthyist era? People who had no idea what Communism
was were accusing other people of being Communists willy-nilly. Are you
familiar with Nazis? They made a great deal of press out of false and
convenient accusation. Are you familiar with the eras of the witch
trials in Europe and the Americas? People who had no idea what a witch
"really was" were accusing each other often enough for too many people to
be executed for my taste.
The Godlearners are the "Godlesss Commies" of Glorantha. Nobody really
knows what or who they were, but they were evil, and they did strange
things and asked too many questions and made too many strange things.
Thus, anybody who is "too wierd" just might be a Godlearner. Better
cut his head off just to be sure about it. After all, when those Godless
Commies start infiltrating your home town, you may never know who is
and who isn't one of Them.
Remember, the Godlearners are insidious and wicked, and they tempt the
unwary with promises of unholy knowledge and power. Your own family
and village-mates are probably not godlearners, but that wierdo from
Pavis who wears a grey robe might be one. He SAYS he's a Lankhor Mhy
Grey Sage, but you'd better keep an eye on him, just in case. After
all, the Godlearners can cite Scripture to suit their evil purposes...
No, this way of looking at the world isn't rational, nor is it very civil
nor very nice, but it is all too common, today, and in our past. It may
just be a part of that nebulous thing called "human nature".
Now, as to species. The only species I know of that can interbreed and
produce viable offspring are plants, and they have to resort to
poloyploidy to do so, and their offspring do NOT breed true but very
often revert to one or both parental types. Thus, the hybrid is
still a dead-end so far as species mixing is concerned. Ernst Mayr's
gneral rule still holds. As for species that cannot breed within themselves,
I'd like to see specific examples of this.
---------------------
From: JF18974@academia.swt.edu
Subject: Trolls and Cruelty
Message-ID: <01HABTE6KSXU99DV2L@academia.swt.edu>
Date: 23 Mar 94 16:45:19 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 3395
First, my apologies to Mike Dawson if I misconstrue any points he made;
I've already deleted that particular digest (my disk is getting *way* too
full), but I must take issue with one or two points:
It seems he states that cruelty is akin to a virtue among the
Uz. That I don't particularly disagree with, although the connotations
that "cruelty" has among humans probably doesn't hold in Darktongue.
However, I believe Mike says something about Uz consuming children, both
human and their own. Trollpak clearly states that Uz do not eat other
Uz for food, excepting funeral ceremonies (and Kin, but they don't count).
It also states that most will not kill other sentient races for food,
unless particularly hungry, or in the case of Mostali and Aldryami, who
are children of food gods anyway (according to Uz). The Uzko that I
play would probably not eat the child of a human under normal circumstances,
preferring to ransom it, or even raise it as a slave. I do worship
Argan Argar though, which might account for a more "human" (for lack of
a better term) outlook.
Again, I apologize if I misunderstood what Mike wrote. Also, if
I'm misquoting Trollpak, I'd appreciate correction, but I *think* I've
got it right.
Jim Flammang
---------------------