Bell Digest v940428p1

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, 28 Apr 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: SYS_RSH%PV0A@hobbes.cca.rockwell.com (Scott Haney, AFDS770 Functional Test X2069)
Subject: Gods, Goddesses, and Professional Wrestling with Myths
Message-ID: <01HBNUYQAVYO9I603M@hobbes.cca.rockwell.com>
Date: 27 Apr 94 06:00:00 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 3824

>> by our myths, humans weren't present at the creation of the world

>Nor were Gloranthan humans.

Yes and no.  I was speaking of the Compromise, or the creation of the 
world "as we know it."  (Or at least play it.)  I never meant to 
imply that people were present from day one.  Sorry if it came out 
that way.


>The whole origin of "mono-myths" is earthly.  Now, they may not be 
>as neat as the Gloranthan one, especially in the Bad Old 
>God-Learning RQ2 days, but still...

mmmmm...okay, I can go with that.

>Then what is?  What should we compare them to, Venusian religions?

Sounds good to me! :)   Actually, I never said we couldn't *compare* 
them, only that the comparison doesn't always produce a good match.  
To say "X cannot/should not happen in Glorantha because X doesn't 
happen on Earth" is silly and makes for a boring Glorantha.  
Comparisons are great, but sometimes the differences are more 
important than the 'samenesses.'

>> Hindu myths don't include the Christian god

>That would be somewhat anachronistic.

Yes, although some Hindu friends of mine (my "peria-parents") have 
stated that one could make a case of the Christian god being an 
incarnation of a Hindu god.... :)


Scott

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From: carlsonp@wdni.com (Carlson, Pam)
Subject: headers
Message-ID: <2DBEA6F8@itlab.wtc.weyer.com>
Date: 27 Apr 94 17:52:00 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 3826




Carlson, Pam:
> To: "news%glorantha.holland.sun.com" 
> Subject: woman warriors

Was this address in the message headers?

Yes.  For roughly the past two weeks, your incoming messages have been 
labelled:

news%aft-ms.holland.sun.com

We have wierd server connections that I don't entirely understand.  Often 
our main server adds lots of internal codes to an incoming address, and it 
likes to switch "@" to "%".  When I reply to a Daily, I just hit "REPLY" (in 
Microsoft Mail), which sends the message to the same address that sent it. 
 Should I do something else? I could COMPOSE a new message, using the 
Glorantha@Holland.Sun.Com address.

Pam

Still in The Slow Lane of the Information Highway.

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From: sschne00@reach.com (Scott Schneider -- HRA - Chicago)
Subject: RuneQuest Daily, Wed
Message-ID: <9404271340.AA16665@cl1..reach>
Date: 27 Apr 94 13:40:16 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 3827

subject:
--------------------- Forwarded Message ----------------------
subject: Those Pesky berserks, redux

Joerg Baumgartner in X-RQ-ID: 3804

More Damnable Lies!!

The true story of Little Brother, the Stick and the Lariat is told 
in the secret story of "Why Little Brother Don't Come to My Home 
No More", known by all who have fought with Him in the Eternal 
Battle. As is known to all us kumiss drinkers, it explains the 
deceitful and compl-  complicat- uh, difficult tricks used by  
Little Brother in order to get Big Brother Bull Storm to save his 
ass, after losing Fralar's son Yinkin. It also explains the origin 
of Storm Bull's Secret Bad Wind power, the creation of the Secret 
Spray Oasis, and the great anti-Chaos Finger Magic. These powers 
are revealed to all good Storm Berserkers during their 
initiations, and may actually be acquired through questing. This 
myth will appear in the Beastriders of the Wastelands package, 
should it ever see print (or in TOTRM). BTW, the unpublished 
Wastelands maps are awesome.


Actually, Beastriders of the Wastelands builds its mythology on 
fragments of Golden Age tales, moves through the deeds and epics 
of Storm Bull, and concludes with the full development of the Waha 
and Eiritha lifestyles. (I'm also following up with a mini-package 
on a Paps campaign, which will have more Golden Age lore, and take 
a distinctly female-oriented approach to a campaign package ((A 
Year in the Paps)) ). 

*======== Regarding ========*

Date: Wed, 27 Apr 94 07:00:27 EDT

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.



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From: timbee@timbee.rnd.symix.com (Dogs Playing Poker)
Subject: A Source is a source (of course of course)
Message-ID: <9404271524.AA21950@timbee.rnd.symix.com.symix>
Date: 27 Apr 94 15:24:54 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 3828

Disparity between published material and questions:

There seems to have been several threads in the last couple months 
regarding "it says according to group X {group X fact} but this is 
contradicted by other material that says group Y {group Y fact}.
If you think about it this makes perfect sense. If a heroquest
occurs in which a Stormbull defeats a Red Goddess initiate using
a spell traded from a Humakti (Never saw the Sever Spirit Coming).
You will likely hear the following descriptions:

Stormbull: Hrelga the Hulking struck down Jasmel Bribetaker dominating
 the worthless lunar in fighting prowess and magic
Red Goddess: Jasmel Moonglow was overwhelmed by the combined might
 of two cults after a glorious and prolonged struggle
Humakt: When the Stormbulls became serious about defeating their enemy
 they came to those who truly know how to fight, and showing this unusual
 wisdom Hrelga the Hulking defeated Jasmel Bribetaker
Dormal: A struggle between lunars and locals occurred while Sandar of the
 Red Sails discovered 3 new and exciting islands with exotic goods to trade
 while avoiding the Black Squid of the Swift Tide and stranded John Barleycorn
 on the Island of the Unending Itch.

Winston Churchill once said something like "History will be kind to me for
 I intend to write it". The truth in Glorantha is different to each group even
 within the same locale. The only source of truth is the GM (and he/she isn't
 always telling).

Adding to Encounter Tables:

This is a subject I covered in the Chaosium Digest a while back but I thought
it applies here too. When I GM I like to use encounter tables. I added to the
encounter tables rumors. I use them to clue in players to what's going on but
also to add color into the game. For example, Dermar Darkwater is out bar
crawling in Pavis, when he enters the Kicking Llama bar . One of a group of
a band of nomads sitting together says "I don't know why the Troll with the
Aluminum shield has been buying plants from the Lunars but the matrix on his
mace definitely is ..." and shuts up on seeing Dermar. This could be a complete
fabrication but can Dermar afford to guess. Who would be interested in knowing
this and what can they tell Dermar? Definitely a useful GM tool if handled 
properly. In my campaigns the best merchants traded in valuable information.

Tim Beecher (my opinions <> my firms opinions)
"Robbing the Cradle is worse than Robbing the Tomb - Jim Croce, Car Wash Blues" 

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From: rowe@soda.berkeley.edu (Eric Rowe)
Subject: Town/City Design
Message-ID: <199404280335.UAA23505@soda.berkeley.edu>
Date: 27 Apr 94 13:35:12 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 3829


Just came across a reference that I think should have some relevance to
Glorantha.  It seems in ancient china some towns were layed out in shapes
that resembled animals or symbolic patterns when viewed from above.

Tsuen-Chen Fu was built in the shape of a carp, Wung-Chun was laid out in 
the form of a fish net.  Others towns resembled snakes, stars, sunbursts
and dragons.  It seems some Gloranthan town/cities would follow this same
idea.  This is probably especially true with Holy cities/towns and runic
designs.  My question is where on Glorantha are these likely to be most
prevalent?  The pantheon rich central Genertela?  Or does the runic designs
give power to strange rituals of sorcerers in the far west and east?

eric "Send in your ideas for RQ Con 2"



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From: thecam@aol.com
Subject: Arachne Solara Worship
Message-ID: <9404280043.tn77193@aol.com>
Date: 28 Apr 94 04:43:58 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 3830

Greg Fried sez,

> Another issue: the "unreachable" Arachne Solara --
> Someone brought this up.  At the RQCon I asked GS one of my several
> questions for a buck: Can A S receive cultic worship?  No was the
> answer.

> But what about this: on page 78 of the "Elder Races Book" of _Elder
> Secrets_ it says:

> "All beast men worship Arachne Solara, creator of the universe."

> And on p. 80, on centaurs (and what a lovely illo on that page, too!):

> "Nature religion dominates, with worship of Arachne Solara as Goddess
> of Nature practised in winter....."

> Too bad Sandy has signed off, cause he and GS were the authors of this
> book, and they were both there for the $-a-question session.  I find
> these passages pretty weird, especially considering that the beastmen
> are about the most unnatural critters around, being the results of EWF
> experiments! (Talk about experimentation without respect!) But it
> says the beasties worship A S as a nature goddess.  What
> do they get in return for their cult practice?  Or is this religion
> simply mystical meditation, with no manifest 'usefulness' to them
> powergaming beastfolk?

From what I've been led to understand, your last question is correct. The
beastmen worship, sacrifice MP and POW, etc. but get no real return. A S is
just too powerful to recognize worship from us puny mortals.

Dave Camoirano
TheCam@aol.com

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From: mcarthur@fit.qut.edu.au (Robert McArthur)
Subject: GRoY - phone # of Wizard's Attic please
Message-ID: <199404280611.QAA14831@ocean.fit.qut.edu.au>
Date: 29 Apr 94 02:11:34 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 3831

From what I have been told, Wizard's Attic (PO Box 718, Hayward CA 94543) is
one of the few stores selling GRoY.  Can anyone tell me their phone number,
or the address and phone of any other store selling it... and of course it
would be nice to know before posting whether they still have any copies.

Thanks
Robert McArthur

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From: lindsell@rschp1.anu.edu.au (Graeme Lindsell)
Subject: EPIC, Christianity, the Invisible God...
Message-ID: <9404280658.AA05562@Sun.COM>
Date: 28 Apr 94 21:57:10 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 3832

Mike Dawson or David Chang (I was confused by the >'s)

>This is NOT associated in any way with Greg Maples EPIC system,

 Is there any news about when EPIC is going to be published? Greg
Stafford was talking about it when he was in Australia, which was
October '92.

 PS To Mike: Got Codex #1 today, looks very impressive!

Martin ? (argrath@aol.com) writes:

>Yes, but there has been separation between the ecclesiastical
>powers and the temporal powers, as a result of the way
>Christianity BECAME a state religion.  In Islam, there was never
>this separation.

 I understood that the Eastern Orthodox Christianity was far less
separated from the state than the Catholic Church, with the Byzantine
emperor being it's effective head. Have I got this wrong?

Devin Cutler writes:
>Female Size should be 2D6+3 (or 4) period.
>Female Strength should be 2D6+1 or so.

 Aren't they both 2d6+2 for female NPC's, and female PC's who'd prefer
the smaller SIZ? That's what the stats given for Humans in the Creature's
Book says, from memory. Personally, I'd be inclined to give them higher
CON, say 2d6+6, though this has problems with RQ3 encumberance IMO.

 Re: The Invisible God.

 A few weeks ago, there was a discussion about whether the Invisible God
really existed or not, with some posters pointing out how little he (or 
she it) gives to its worshippers. One point I would make in reply is 
that the major sorcerous cultures we've had described (the Malkioni and 
the Mostali) both believe in a single unifying concept behind Gloranthan 
reality (the IG and the World Machine respectively). I'm not sure that 
this proves anything but it would seem a unified world view is 
helpful for sorcerers (as it is for scientists). As for whether the IG 
gives anything else, its lack of response could demonstrate it's extreme 
power, given the Gloranthan inverse relationship between power and free 
will. Arachne Solara does not give anything to her worshippers: do you
doubt she exists.

 (Aside: I've often wondered whether the Invisible God and Arachne Solara
are one and the same)


--
Graeme Lindsell a.k.a lindsell@rschp1.anu.edu.au
"I was 17 miles from Greybridge before I was caught by the School Leopard"
Ripping Yarns - Tomkinson's Schooldays.

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