If anyone has seen my comments over on RPGnet regarding Hero Wars versus RQ adapted to D20, you may already be familiar with the difficulties in my HW campaign. In brief, I'm the only person who is familiar with Glorantha (and, at that, I'm not a "Gloranthan scholar"), and my players learn about the setting through me. This makes it difficult alot of times to get the players to pick up the setting and run with it. I get frustrated at times, but I do have fun, and my players are seeming to have a blast.
I think one key thing that I've learned is to not write/use plots that depend on them their knowing the setting. My players have also learned to ask the magic question: "are there any myths about this?" Now, while "traditional" HW would encourage the players to make these up (at least by my reading), this is where I provide them. In a way, I'm leading them by the nose. If I know they're going to ask about myths and use them to guide them (not for everyday things, mind you), then you can prepare as such. In a recent scenario, they were faced with a bit of Wakboth that escaped from under the Block and had possessed a hydra. I gave them a related myth that gave them some guidelines on how to defeat the thing (and gave each of them a key role).
Another thing that I've come to terms with is completely embracing the concept of "your Glorantha may vary." It took me a little bit to realize that just because I'm writing behind the current history (my campaign started with the Lunar invasion of Sartar, which I promptly moved the players and their clan away from to Prax), I don't have to follow it to the letter. I can let my players, or me, break the history; they won't know the difference. Now, I'd like to have history follow the same broad strokes, but I'm not feeling limited by it.
I also have to agree with Graham; you can create interesting, suitable characters with players who don't know anything about the setting. I find "think a cross between vikings and germanic tribes" to be enough of an initial handle. A recent addition to my game started with "I want to play a warrior to keep it simple." After a handful of questions (like "do you want a straightforward one?"), I handed gave him about three different Orlanth sub-cults that I thought fit the bill, and he picked one (Starkval the Weaponthane).
I can't suggest strongly enough, however, that the most important thing to do is to make the game your own. Don't be afraid to fold, spindle, or mutilate the setting to fit your and your players. I have, and I think it's what's making my game enjoyable.
Mike Ryan
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