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, Tue, 12 Apr 1994, part 2 Sender: Henk.Langeveld@Holland.Sun.COM Content-Return: Prohibited Precedence: junk --------------------- From: staats@MIT.EDU Subject: Earth vs Glorantha Message-ID: <9404112059.AA22228@milanese.MIT.EDU> Date: 11 Apr 94 20:59:37 GMT X-RQ-ID: 3599 Greetings! I just wanted to add a couple of bolgs worth of thoughts to this discussion. From a gaming standpoint, the more Earth-like the RQ version of Glorantha is, the easier it is to suspend disbelief, the name of the game in roleplaying. It is a very neat thing that Greg could stand in the mountains of Australia and ``see'' Sartar. It is much easier for gamers to ``see'' waving fields of grass under a blue sky than totally alien flora and fauna under a puce sky. I always imagine that Glorantha would be very much like Earth except for noted differences, e.g. magic works, there is a giant whirlpool in the center of the sea, etc. I also assume that, at the very least, human motivations and behavior are similar to those found on Earth. Along those lines, it seems completely reasonable that Glorantha would sport games similar to those played by peoples on Earth. There are many excellent books on the history of gaming, and it is amazing just how similar games are the whole world over. Games were and are played on Earth for a variety of reasons, and not all of these apply directly to liesure time activities. Various religions have associated with games throughout the ages. Games have been used to settle disputes in lieu of bloodshed. Games are used as a means of honing survival skills. The list goes on. If Gloranthans are anything at all like their Terrestial counterparts, games should be widespread, and many of them would be similar to games played on Earth. The similarities between cultures in Glorantha and real, historical cultures on Earth, give the GM a great chance to introduce bits of atmosphere to a Campaign session. The default interpretation of things in Glorantha should be Earth-like unless directly stated otherwise. Tschuess! Rich Staats --------------------- From: codexzine@aol.com Subject: Blatant Codex Broadsheet Message-ID: <9404111933.tn646710@aol.com> Date: 11 Apr 94 23:33:08 GMT X-RQ-ID: 3600 "Codex #1 was brilliant"---Ken Rolston, RQ developer of multiple Avalon Hill projects ====== "...I like it a lot. It really makes me miss my Pavis days (and I wish I'd had this mag when I was running RQ). The material on Prax and Pavis makes these locales come to life. Good job."---- Jonathan Tweet, game writer and designer ======== I'm quite impressed. You made beautiful use of the Babylonian pictures to illustrate historical Pavisites....I thoroughly enjoyed reading Codex 1....and the print is prime quality .... " ---Jeorg Baumgartner, publisher of the German RQ magazine Free INT =============== "I just got issue one in the mail. It's really superb and I thank you for for your efforts in improving and disseminating Glorantha."--Brent Krupp ====================== ============================ Codex dedicates its entire contents to discovering the nature and secrets of Glorantha through scenarios, articles, fiction and essays. Issue 1 was a Pavis special, with about half of the issue examining facets of Pavic history, Lunar strategy in the city, details of life and infamous residents. Very well received at RQ Con, the US edition of #1 is currently sold out and becoming a collector's item. Issue are 32 pages typeset, plus front & back covers inside & out. See details of UK subscription for possibilities of getting a copy of the first issue as printed in England. Issue 2 is a western/Fronelan feature due out in April. It focuses on the city of Galastar and its rebirth after the lifting of the Ban. Also to be included is Greg Stafford's map of the God Plane, Paul Reilly's Tribes of Mortasor, and more. Subscription & Submission Information============ Codex costs $4.00 US per issue direct from my hand, or $5.00 first class US Mail. Foreign customers, see below for delivery options and prices. Checks or money orders only, please for all mail orders. Make checks payable to M. Dawson Foreign Codex Subscription Rates to the UK and Europe as of 2/14/94: Airmail, generally a week or two delivery: $6.75 US funds per issue. Surface mail, an unknown, mostly random delivery time varying between 4 weeks and 3 months to the UK or Europe. $ 5.25 US funds per issue. I hate to be stern about this, but I cannot guarantee that your subscription will EVER arrive via the surface mail method. Sorry, only US funds acceptable. (A Postal Money order is available from most country's posts, and can be issued in US dollars. This works for me.) Codex now has a UK distributor. Contact Colin Phillips at cphillips@blue.demon.co.uk for UK rates and information. By mail: Colin Phillips 98 Constable Court 4 Stubbs Drive London SE 3EG Residents of the UK: If you already have a subscription through the american address and want the UK rate, the balance of your subscription can (and will be unless you say otherwise)be transferred to Colin for future issues. (You may choose NOT to do this, if you are a total completist collector. There will be minor *cosmetic* differences between the US and UK editions.) Codex has an Australian distributor, curren tly selling #1. Contact Andrew Bean at ABEAN@GEEL.DWT.CSIRO.AU for details. Americans, Canadians, please do NOT subscribe via Colin unless you must have every copy of every RQ thing that comes out. Send to Colin for only those things I am sold out of in the US. The publication schedule is intended to be quarterly, but depends in large part on submissions. The next issue is scheduled for release in April 1994. Outside the United Kingdom, and for any submission matters, send all paper correspond ence to: M. Dawson/Codex PO. Box 9286 Richmond, VA 23227-0286 USA Send E-mail correspondence to codexzine@aol.com When subscribing, please include the following: Explicit list of what issues you want (in any cover letter, and on any check or Money Order) US customers: ZIP + 4 if you know it (check your junk mail) email address if any evening phone # if you don't mind (in case of confusion) your address, properly formatted for a delivery label (important for foreign subscribers) DO NOT send submissions to Colin or Andrew. All production work takes place in the US. Thanks for putting up with my clogging up the Digest. Mike Dawson codexzine@aol.com >|< "I am impressed not only with the content, but also with the production. Your magazine is clean, well edited, and of course, a necessity for all Glorantha lovers. I initially signed up for just two issues. After once glimpse, I want more. I'll be sending another check to you on payday. I intend to track down every RQ fan that I can find and force them to subscribe."---- Matt Thale --------------------- From: argrath@aol.com Subject: Cults & Non-cults Message-ID: <9404112001.tn647964@aol.com> Date: 12 Apr 94 00:01:10 GMT X-RQ-ID: 3601 Joerg says in X-RQ-ID: 3578: > Cutting a flaming first reaction, a question, Martin: How do you define > a cult, when you say there weren't any in Prax? Greg Stafford had something to say about this at the Con, and it will appear in the booklet from David Cheng. To paraphrase: there is a continuum from spirit cults all the way through regular divine cults (as presented in CoP and GoG) to mystical entities that can't be worshiped. So it's a bit like defining "red"--I know it when I see it, but giving you the exact wavelengths of the boundaries is a bit problematic. I wanted to write a first order approximation here, but I found it to be too obvious and fuzzy to be helpful. > Prax lay in one of the three directions the Theyalan missionaries went > in the First Age. Apparently, by around 35 ST, they came with Humakti >bodyguards (according to Cults of Prax, p.32). Surely they brought the >concept of cultic worship with them, and they seem to have reached the >Paps, where remnants of the Golden Age priesthood held out. Well, the reference you cite speaks of an army, not missionaries. I'd just have to think that the missionaries had little success, given the statement that Praxians didn't have cult structures until after contact with the PHP. As for the Paps, yes, these oasis people are useful to the Praxians, but that doesn't mean there's any osmosis of religious ideas/practices. > The Uz from Dagori Inkarth knew cultic worship at least from the Dawn >on. Another possible 1st Age influx of these practises. Hum. You gonna try to be like a troll? Seriously, I don't think the Praxians had any reason to think their religious structures needed changing until the PHP kicked their butts. And if it ain't broke, don't cast Repair. --Martin --------------------- From: MOBTOTRM@vaxc.cc.monash.edu.au Subject: Strangers in Prax Message-ID: <01HB38R4C56Q934XMQ@vaxc.cc.monash.edu.au> Date: 12 Apr 94 23:49:23 GMT X-RQ-ID: 3602 Yesterday I was lamenting that I hadn't yet received my copy of Strangers in Prax. Today I get a welcome surprise in my letter box: it's arrived! And yes! Anderida DOES have purple hair! Cool! Cheers MOB --------------------- From: devinc@aol.com Subject: Re: RuneQuest Daily, Sat, 09 Apr 1994, part 1 Message-ID: <9404120257.tn665173@aol.com> Date: 12 Apr 94 06:57:59 GMT X-RQ-ID: 3603 Devin Cutler here: MOB writes: "What do other people think about making direct comparisons between terrestrial and lozengial locations?" On the one hand, I see nothing wrong with presenting information as in Dorastor Land of Doom which helps people who are lucky enough to know of the Earthly places described to visualize Glorantha. The space taken up is small and, for those who don't know what the author is talking about, no harm is done. On the other hand, I am extremely worried that Glorantha is becoming anthropologized. By this I mean that given regions in Glorantha become essentially transplanted Terran equivalents, to the detriment of the fantasy feel of the game. This has two undesired effects. 1) It makes playing in Glorantha a lot like playing in Alternate Earth, only with weird names 2) It makes those of us without degrees in anthropology very reticent to try and publish anything for RQ. Example, Pamaltela is quite obviously an amalgem of African and Australian cultures. While using Terran equivalencies is fine for a starting point, I would hate to see something submitted for inclusion in Pamaltela and rejected simply because such things might not have occured in Terran Africa or Australia. I am not saying that this has already happened, but I think it is something to guard against. I am also NOT saying that I thinkg Glorantha should be a single homogeneous entity. I appreciate the various cultures and such. I just want us to avoid going overboard. --------------------- From: devinc@aol.com Subject: Strangers in Prax Message-ID: <9404120258.tn665181@aol.com> Date: 12 Apr 94 06:58:13 GMT X-RQ-ID: 3604 Devin Cutler here: Continuing on with Strangers in Prax. While I like the supplement a lot, is there any chance that the writers of these supplements can: 1) Stop letting RQ2 anachronisms slip into the supplements 2) Ever get the spell casting percentages of NPC's right? Frex, take the writeup of Count Julan on page 27: POW 18, INT 17, DEX 20 This would seem to give a spirit magic spell casting percentage of Pow x5% = 90% plus magic bonus of 25% for a total of 115% - ENC. However, the supplement lists Julan's casting % as 75% - ENC. This could make an extremely big deal in combat. RQ3 has never been able to get spell casting % correct. Every supplement that I have read (and I have them all) botches these. Why? It's really not that difficult of a mechanic to understand? Perhaps the above was a fluke? Nay. On page 29. Princess Anderida has POW 20, INT 16, DEX 15 for a total casting % of 129% - ENC. The supplement lists her % as 94%. Hey, only 35% off. Her allied spirit Vectis has POW x5% as his casting chance, with no mids for Magic Bonus. Maculus on page 30 has a POW of 16, INT of 18, DEX of 13 for a casting % of 96%. Supplement lists it as 75%. #1 - Be consistent. Sometimes , even when figured correctly, Casting % includes magic bonusses, sometimes not. Which is it? #2 - It can't be that hard to edit the NPC stuff to weed out RQ2isms and botches like the above. Hell, I'll volunteer to do it at no charge! --------------------- From: ddunham@radiomail.net (David Dunham) Subject: Chariots; nomads Message-ID: <199404120712.AA10910@radiomail.net> Date: 12 Apr 94 07:12:52 GMT X-RQ-ID: 3605 Sandy answered me >>Has anyone run across references to actual people (not gods) riding >>chariots? >Sounds like a Solar thing to me. I suspect that actual combat in >chariots has vanished in most parts of Glorantha, but might have been >common in the First Age, say. (Except where supported by magic or >mytholigical importance.) Travel and racing in chariots may still be >popular in places. I note that the old Nomad Gods game had a spare >counter depicting charioteers. There will of course be Orlanthi chariots somewhere in Ralios because I as GM will decree so, but I was hoping to find a reason why Orlanth's Charioteer is still quite well known. And even has a cult (a small one, but worth describing in Gods of Glorantha) that does teach Drive Chariot. I vaguely recall that chariots were outmoded in warfare by mounted cavalry. But there are still parts of Ralios with few horsemen... Joerg answered my question about the 40000 Grazelanders >I always understood this figure to include all humans of the country. Greg said [private correspondence] that the 40K _didn't_ count the vendref. I haven't really done the full numbers game, but I have the Grazelands at 7316 km^2 (132 hexes in the Dragon Pass boardgame; we calculated the hex at 55.43 km^2). If the population is 40K, that's 5.5 people/km^2. Which is a quite large amount, if a note I have is correct [alas, I didn't bother to write down the source]: Hunter-gatherer lifestyle has a carrying capacity of 0.1 person/km^2 dry farming is 1-2 people/km^2 irrigation 6-12 people/km^2 (I do have a text [Anthropology, by Ember & Ember] which says the Basseri, who raise sheep, goats, donkeys, camels, and horses in Iran, support 16000 people on 38850 km^2, or 0.4 person/km^2. The Grazelands is much better land than their arid homeland. Another figure: the Lapps, who herd reindeer, need 200 reindeer to provide for a family of 4-5 adults.) So it does look like the 40K figure has to include the vendref, and that either the Glorantha pack made a mistake, I calculated area wrong, or my assumption that terrestrial productivity = Genertelan productivity (magic balancing out Genert's death and the negative magics of evil spirts etc.) is wrong. Making a quick estimate from the map on p. 59, the real area of the Grazelands is more like 18000 km^2, which gives a more reasonable 2.2 people/km^2. This still implies that there aren't farmers on top of 40K horsefolk. ---------------------