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, 28 Jun 1994, part 7
Sender: Henk.Langeveld@Holland.Sun.COM
Content-Return: Prohibited
Precedence: junk
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From: ROBERTSON@delphi.intel.com (Roderick Robertson)
Subject: Gloranthan Miniatures
Message-ID: <2E250EEB200D4A6A@delphi.intel.com>
Date: 27 Jun 94 18:17:00 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 4860
From: FKiesche3@aol.com
Greetings:
>I've heard that Gloranthan miniatures are still sporadically available.
>However, due to a lack of trying, imagination, or who know what, my local
>gaming store can't seem to help me (but, then again, these are the folks who
>tried to order River of Cradles from Chaosium even though I told them it was
>by Avalon Hill and gave them a stock number!).
>Can anybody point me towards a source? If memory serves, there were a couple
>of folks manufacturing these little gems. I am interested in Gloranthan minis
>only, especially for the Broos and the like. For humans, if anybody knows of
>rough equivalents, that would also help... Game store, phone numbers, etc.,
>would be greatly appreciated.
There are a number of manufactureres of Broo-like figures.
1. Trollkin Forge - Produced a line offigure specifically for RQ,
including about 10 different Broos. I think Chessex is distributing
these now.
2. Ral Partha - Had a line of specifically Runequest figures, but I
think they discontinued it. They also had some Gloranthan-inspired
figures in their regular line (Rhino and Bison Riders)
3. Citadel Miniatures (Games Workshop) - produces a line of Beastmen
for their Warhammer Fantasy Battle game. They are expensive (~$2.00
per figure), but have many more "types" than any other manufacturer.
4. Grenadier Miniatures - Have at least one 3-figure set by Julie
Guthrie (Goatkin, I think its called).
Except for Trollkin forge, these are major Figure houses, and if
your store can't find them, you're in *VERY* bad shape.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Good Trolls are nearly impossible to find, large Orc figures work (in
some lines), but are usually armed with swords instead of maces, and
bows instead of slings (Trollkin are the same way, use smaller orcs).
Morocanth were only made by Trollkin forge.
Elves - Everyone's got elves (well, not Essex or Wargames Foundry)
Dwarves - ditto
Skeletons - ditto
Dragonnewts - Trollkin forge, some reptile-man figures (Grenadier or
Ral Partha are your best bets here).
Baboons - Ral Partha used to have a 3-pack, or Trollkin forge.
Ducks - Ral Partha has one, Trollkin forge one. Archive miniatures
made a bunch, but their molds burned many years ago.
Scorpionman, Dragon Snail - Ral Partha's RQ Monsters of Glorantha (?) pack
Jack o'Bear, Walktapus - Trollkin Forge, or the RP MoG pack
Humans - Everyone has humans, but my preferred lines are:
Ral Partha: Greeks, Romans, Gauls (not very good), Incas, Aztecs,
Ancient Near East, Assyrian, Hittite, Vikings. They also had a
Gloranthan Adventurers pack (10+ figures), and Viking Adventurers pack
(good for Orlanthi/barbarians).
Wargames Foundry: Early & Late Imperial Romans, Gauls, Saxons
(ca 500 AD), Picts, Franks, Greeks, Persians, Carthaginians, Spaniards
(Punic War), Vikings/Saxons (1066), Eastern US Forest Indians (early
1700's)
Essex Miniatures: a huge Ancients range, but not as many poses per
era/equipment (For example, Essex has one Late Roman archer, Wargames
Foundry has four). Essex packages armies for De Bella Antiquitatus
(DBA, a wargame). These usually thirty to fifty figures, and run
$35-100, depending on mix of Cavalry to Infantry, and whether it has
elephants or chariots. So far I have bought three of these, and have
my eye on two more. They're a pretty good deal, if you can look at
them before buying.
Alternative Armies has a nice line of Irish-looking figures,
suitable for Orlanthi. They have a nice figure of a chief held on a
shield carried by two men.
Age of Reason (Don't know the manufacturer off-hand) has a large
line of Forest Indians, they sell in a bag of 20 or 25 mixed figures
for ~$30.00. I haven't bought any, but they are good foot Praxians, or
Balazarings. The packs are split by armament, so you can buy a bag of
Warclub and hatchet men, or Bowmen, without getting muskets mixed in.
The Lord of the Ring line (can't remember the manufacturer) has
some good figures, but they are larger than normal (~30-35mm instead
of 25), and cost $2.25 for foot figures. I buy them only for
personalities, not rank-and-file! They have good 'Generic Celtic' figures
(Dunlendings), a few good Orlanthi (Rohan infantry) and some other bits
and pieces.
Grenadier sometimes has good figures, same with Citadel, but they
tend more towards Medieval than ancient.
I tend to buy sight-unseen only from Essex and Wargames Foundry.
However, Ral Partha has some very good looking lines (I've just
finished some of their Incas, I really like them). Grenadier has
probably the worst bad-looking-figure ratio, I'd always want to look
at the figure before buying. The only exception is Julie Guthrie, I'll
buy her stuff unseen.
You can drop me a line for more info on addresses, etc. I'm at work
right now, with no access to my (paper) files on manufacturers
Roderick Robertson
Robertson@Delphi.Intel.Com
---------------------
From: jacobus@sonata.cc.purdue.edu (Bryan J. Maloney)
Subject: Totalitarians and "efficiency"
Message-ID: <9406271911.AA15828@sonata.cc.purdue.edu>
Date: 27 Jun 94 09:11:04 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 4862
My readings on totalitarian states in general and Nazi Germany in particular
have taught me a few things:
Totalitarian governments, and any governments of modern states that were run
on the "leader principle" (fuehrerprinzip) shared one unusual quirk in
organization. They were generally set up so that various governmental bodies
overlapped and no single agency had a unique claim upon any of their
functions. If possible, they also did not neatly fit into each other
geographically, so that one set of "districts" would partially fall into more
than one set of "districts" at a "higher" level of organization. This has
one salutary effect from the point of view of such a government: It causes
no end of squabbling among the underlings. This squabbling requires the
Leader to intervene, mediate, and "show his wisdom" often. It also makes it
harder for a power base to build up under the Leader out of his ultimate
control.
Now, an authoritarian bureaucracy can be an entirely different matter, but
authoritarian government doesn't care if you dedicate yourself to "the cause",
it just wants to to shut up and sit down.
---------------------
From: clay@monsta.metronet.com (Clay Luther)
Subject: Alone References
Message-ID:
Date: 27 Jun 94 08:28:24 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 4863
Could someone please lead me to references to Alone in Dragon Pass?
I've recently begun a game which takes place in the region around Alone, but
I haven't yet found any good descriptions of the place.
Thanks.
Oh, and it's good to be back :).
--
Clay Luther clay@monsta.metronet.com
Systems Administrator clay@gojira.monsta.com
Monsta, Inc. (214) 407-0029
---------------------
From: sstair@cs.utep.edu (Steve Stair GS)
Subject: Gloranthan miniatures
Message-ID: <9406271949.AA01601@grouse>
Date: 27 Jun 94 20:49:34 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 4864
Fred Kiesche:
> I've heard that Gloranthan miniatures are still sporadically available.
> Can anybody point me towards a source?
Ral Partha still has some listed in their catalog.
(Broo, Troll & Trollkin, a Walktapi, a Scorpionman, a Jack-o-bear,
a Dragonsnail, and some non-human adventurer figures [Duck, Elf, etc...])
Stephen Stair
sstair@cs.utep.edu
---------------------
From: vladt@interaccess.com (Kevin Rose)
Subject: Gods & Women
Message-ID:
Date: 27 Jun 94 10:37:49 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 4865
This got lost for three days by snail.Sun.Com, so it's a little old.
Cullen: "Red Goddess"
How about "Tello Nori"? Not a totally accurate I'll admit, as this was the
name of the girl who was murdered to allow the goddess to manifest physicly.
Greame: "Loskalm with it's rigid internal structure"
How is Loskalm any more rigid than any resonably civilized country? A
meritocracy should result in a continual stream of fresh blood into the
higher ranks. I would doubt that you would get the vicious succession
battles that happen in hereditary feudal nations, or the truly ossified
cultures that develop in herditary leader cultures.
Also, the reason why the "castles spanning the walls, a great sing of
oppression" is true is that a citadel in a fortified town is designed to
protect the ruler against his subjects. The citadel is not needed if the
people are trusted.
Nick:"Armies advancing"
I think I meant 5 miles, but even so, I was being a little to slow. I'm
not an real fan of pre-modern warfare, so some more modern examples:
Falkland Islands 4km per day. IAF's 1967 conquest of the Sinai 50km/day.
Vistula-Oder Offensive 9 km/day. Belorussian Strategic Offensive 7.5 km/day.
Invasion of Germany (Nancy to Nurnberg) 2km/day. Advance across France
1944 16km/day. Operation Cobra 10km/day. Fall of France 10km/day. Fall of
Poland 20km/day.
Anyway, the problem isn't so much how fast the troops can march but actually
conquering the territiory. As I understand it, Loskalm is covered with a
significant nuber of fortresses. Leving them behind is bad, so they will
have to be reduced. This will probably take a while. Or they can charge
foward and have their rear laid to waste. If the Loskalm are able (and
willing) to perform a scorched earth operation this becomes a real
problem, as the army will starve. But this is a pretty pointless issue
anyway. . . Field Magic changes everything, and not enough on that has
been published to allow much in the way of interalation.
Devin,Cullen, etc. : "Women in the Lunar Empire"
I may be missing something here, but the last time I checked the only
female non-priestess role models were a small subset of the Eel-Arish
clan and the daughters of the red goddess. The Heartland is very
paternalistic, with women either the daugter of someone or the wife of
someone. They have more rights than in some cultures, but are the
culture is not female oriented. Women are "indespensable", as in all
solar cultures, as they keep your house and bear your children.
I'm sure the law doesn't prohibit women from doing weird things, like
developing a morbid interest in weapons, but you'd certainly not want your
daughter doing that. I would expect that the "appropriate" cult for
female warriors in the heartland would be Yelorna, or the Blood Spillers
for skilled and very rebelious women.
Carmania is not much better, if any better. I'm sure that a woman is not
prohibited from doing odd things, but she might not have home to come
back to.
Jar-eel exists and is very impressive, but she is so far beyond normal
that she doesn't really count, any more than Joan of Arc affected the
French army's interest in enlisting women. (Name a second female French
combat arms general?) Women in the Lunar empire have a lot more career
paths open for them than did a 15th century French woman, but it is not an
equal opportunity poster land.
Prax, land of Zero oportunity for women
rebels. An interesting question a friend of mine came up with regarding
women in Prax: If equal numbers of male and female children are born, and
a significant number of males are killed in raiding and fighting, what
happens to the "extra" women? As one of the major objectives of Praxian
raids are girls and young women, our assumption is that they become
slaves. As the women have no combat skills at all, our guess was that
rebelious or upity girls tend to have their protectors wander off while
she is out taking care of her herd. . .
---------------------
From: 100102.3001@CompuServe.COM (Peter J. Whitelaw)
Subject: Campaign Notes
Message-ID: <940627205101_100102.3001_BHJ83-1@CompuServe.COM>
Date: 27 Jun 94 20:51:01 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 4866
Hi all,
I am pleased to say that the responses I received to my initial posting of
Taskan material were positive. The remaining material somehow got lost between
me, Henk and the Daily so here you will find the remainder of the notes
currently available.
The last part posted to the Daily should have been 'Cities of the Taskan
Heartland' part III. If those of you who are interested in these notes find
that this was not posted (sorry my own filing is too far behind to know whether
it was or not) let me know and I shall re-post.
This final set of postings, in three parts, concerns the religions of the Taskan
Empire. These would seem topical bearing in mind the recent debate here
regarding the importance of devotion in worshippers. Certainly in this campaign
one generally gains status not for one's beliefs but for being able to conduct
ceremonies and the religious affairs of the cult in an appropriate fashion.
Certainly the author of the notes, Jon Drake (whose academic knowledge of the
topic is impressive), would support Nick's contention:
>I'll lend my weighty academic backing to the thesis that personal devotion
>to the deity was *far* less important in real-world ancient religion than
>the correct performance of rituals.
All the best,
Peter
---------------------
From: 100102.3001@CompuServe.COM (Peter J. Whitelaw)
Subject: Taskan Empire Notes pt.7
Message-ID: <940627205126_100102.3001_BHJ83-4@CompuServe.COM>
Date: 27 Jun 94 20:51:27 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 4867
TASKAN RELIGION
================
Part II
Taskan Emperor worship
The Taskan Emperor was born 352 years ago, the illegitimate son of a Jekkarene
priestess. She fled into the badlands to have her child to escape punishment
for her indiscretion, and Zygas Taga was born to her in a shanty-town that
served as an outlaw stronghold. He grew up to become a chieftain of these
outlaws, and due to his remarkable successes the numbers of his band swelled to
thousands. The fruits of his plunder allowed him to equip his followers to match
any standing army of the day.
His fame was such that kings and chieftains would send embassies to him bringing
tribute and offers of friendship. At length Zygas Taga accepted an invitation
from the city of Zarina to aid them in their war against the powerful
neighbouring state of Taskay. En route to Zarina he drew his army up before the
city of Sorandib and laid siege to it in order to have its spoils and supplies.
After striking a deal with its ruler that was to be instrumental in his later
deification, he raised the siege, continued his march, and joined the Zarinians
on the field before Taskay. When that city fell and Zygas Taga made his
entrance at the head of his army, its people threw themselves at his feet,
calling him their God, and begging to be spared from the spears of the
Zarinians. Zygas Taga acceded to their wishes, and in the following days his
deification was made official at a ritual held in the precincts of Thesh, the
patron god of Taskay.
From that day forward, all those who sacrificed to his name were declared under
the protection of Zygas Taga and his army. The following 17 years saw the
submission of Pryjana, Tarsang, Felkar, Ramlyrra and finally Zarina. All the
city states Tarsenia were now united under his rule. Then, at the age of 57,
Zygas Taga shut himself up within his immense palace at Taskay, and provided the
populace with his familiar to be their new overlord. Carved from stone in his
likeness and animated by magic, this new regent was known as the Marble
Simulacrum. The Simulacrum led his armies to the capture of Yegusai, which
bordered the Empire to the East, but was destroyed in a crushing defeat suffered
at the hands of nomads as the army advanced through the Korazoon desert towards
Djesmirket. Within 3 years the void was filled by a new familiar, the Iron
Simulacrum, which to this day holds court on the Emperor's behalf and leads the
core of the Taskan army into battle.
In 1052, during the turbulent period that followed the fall of the Korantine
Empire, Zygas Taga was declared husband-protector of the Jekkarene Moon-goddess,
an event through which the Jekkarenes won the protection of the Taskan army
without submitting to Taskan rule. From that time there has been a separate
cult of Zygas Taga in the Jekkarid which stresses his personal feats as a hero,
warrior and ruler of men. The devotees of this sub-cult are a military caste of
aristocrats, for whom virtue lies in emulation of Zygas life before his
apotheosis.
Zygas Taga is worshipped at temples in every major city of the empire. The
patriarch of the cult is the Iron Simulacrum. In attendence upon him are a
college of priests who general the Taskan army, and are known as the Iron
Companions. Each province also has its own college of Zygas Taga priests who
not only see to the proper observance of rites and festivals honouring the
deified Emperor, but also form the government administration.
Cults
Machank
Cult Ecology
Machank has no unified cult, just shrines, temples and holy sites. At some of
these places there is a staff of attendants and priests, but many receive no
more maintenance than the ministrations of a state-paid official who sees that
it is kept from falling into ruin. Conversely, Machank's priests need no temple
and no congregation to receive his support, just a past record of bloody combats
fought and won - or at least survived without recourse to flight. The cult has
no official hierarchy, and its priests may be lone hermits, or members of a
college with its own rules and charters.
Initiation
In times of war Machank receives the prayers of many. Only those who are
prepared to enter battle in the full expectation of meeting their end dedicate
themselves to him. The supplicant who presents himself at a temple or shrine on
Machank's holy day and sacrifices Power to him is sent a spirit by the God.
Alternatively if a priest can be found, the priest can summon the required cult
spirit at any time if a properly prepared sanctified area is available.
If this spirit defeats the supplicant, matching its mp against his STR, that
character has been rejected by Machank as unworthy of his warband. As a result
he will suffer Machank's Curse, which almost assures him of injury next time he
is involved in a fight. If he defeats the spirit it takes covert possession of
him and he gains the ability of Fanaticism. In any situation of stress - ie a
combat round - the possessing spirits' magic points are matched against the
character's. If it wins, the spirit drives the character into a berserk frenzy.
This has the effect of the spirit spell fanaticism, combined with an extra 3
points of STR, and lasts until there are no visible enemies, combat is over, or
the character collapses from exhaustion and the character's player succeeds in
an INTx3 roll. Until this is made the Machank fanatic takes his aggression out
on unarmed prisoners, civilians, or the corpses of the dead. Initiates of
Machank are immune to the spirit spell demoralize.
If the initiate does not renew his status on the next annual holy day by
resacrificing power, he is automatically excommunicated and loses all benefits.
There is no shame in this, unless the character has never engaged in a serious
fight in which it might be considered that the God favoured him with survival.
Most of Machank's devotees come from the ranks of the professional army, and are
formed into units of shock-troops. The twenty year term for which the regular
soldier enlists is reduced to five years if he joins the ranks of the Machank
fanatics. He also gets a bigger share of the spoils of war, but the proportion
who live out their term to enjoy these spoils is disappointingly low. Not all
those serving in the Machank Battalions are recruited from the regular army;
some are civilian volunteers, often escaping from the forces of law and order or
perhaps some shameful episode in their past. A minority of the God's followers
are individuals who out of personal motives such as revenge pledge themselves to
him in the hope of receiving help in making a violent end of their enemies. In
the old days of aristocratic rule, when feuding was common between the great
families of Tarsenia, young nobles would dedicate themselves to him before
fighting bloody duels.
Machank has no spirit magic spells to give his followers. Initiates may learn
the Divine Magic spell Bless Weapon on a one use basis. Each point of this
temporal spell adds 1d6 damage to the weapon on which it is cast.
Priesthood
There are few priests of Machank. If anyone has survived more than five years
in his service he may both retire from active service and retain a useful
function to the god. It only requires that the individual sacrifice for the
spell Worship Machank at a Temple or other place sacred to the God. A priest
can turn his fanatic rage on and off at will, for he now has authority over the
bloodthirsty spirit that resides within him.
Machank's priests may spend their days in attendance on a temple, supported by
the donations of soldiers returning from the wars with a share of booty, or
perhaps by a subsidy from local government. A wandering priest lives off his
private means, or by alms given or menaced from others, or by teaching the
martial skills that he has learned. Many go in for making public harangues,
urging the people to petition the Emperor to prosecute wars against one
potential foe or another. It is often suggested that Machank's priests are
behind plots to stir up conflict with neighbouring peoples, thereby creating
conditions in which war becomes more likely.
Priests of Machank may learn the following Divine Magic as reusable spells:
Armouring Enchantment; Bless Weapon; Sanctify; Soul Sight; Strengthening
Enchantment; Summon Cult Spirit (a successful summons roll calls one per point
cast); Worship Machank.
---------------------
From: brandon@caldonia.nlm.nih.gov (Brandon Brylawski)
Subject: Re: RuneQuest Daily, Fri, 24 Jun 1994, part 6
Message-ID: <9406272059.AA19542@caldonia.nlm.nih.gov>
Date: 27 Jun 94 20:59:17 GMT
X-RQ-ID: 4870
Gary James writes of a more powerful Chalana Arroy curse.
I too, rule that Chalana Arroy has a major curse, which I term "May the
blessings of the White Lady be removed from you forever!" Unlike the lesser
curse (the 2 mp for 1 hit point curse), this requires such an expenditure of
magical energy that it is usually a dying curse, or given only to those who have
committed such atrocities that they are beyond all reasoning.
The Curse of Removal prevents all spirit healing from working on the cursed
one, including Heal Wound, as the power to perform this comes from the spirit.
Only sorcerous healing and Heal Body (from other than CA, of course) works on
the benighted individual.
Brandon