Of course there are always elements I miss, such as a few more illustrations showing environments and milieu. A small picture or two capturing some of the cities so nicely described in the main texts would have been a hit.
But overall, no one has any reason of accusing Issaries Inc to release sloppy, "hard to digest" volumes anymore. One of the thresholds putting newcomers off is gone. (Now, I would cry with joy if "Glorantha, Intro to the Hero Wars" (GIHW) were to receive the same treatment. Seldom have I seen a text more in need of the standard roleplaying supplement format than that "box-filled" book.)
One point where ILH1 is a real winner is usability. Seldom have I seen a supplement that can be of immediate use to both player and narrator – and the player can really choose to read anything between 2-3 pages and the whole of the book. If they choose the latter the campaign will probably be a really in-depth Pelorian experience, with the characters very knowledgeable about the ways and days of the empire. If they choose the former, the new "Homelands" presentation is probably the perfect limited info an impatient player can accept to read before beginning play. And after a session or two maybe they will also be interested to delve deeper into the cities located in their part of the empire.
A thing that came as a complete (and extremely pleasant) surprise to me was the detailed information on the satrapies and their cities. 24 pages, or so, out of 63 can be described as nothing less than the Lunar geographical gazetteer. Something I have yearned for since the old RQ3-supplement "Genertela". And do you get details? Holy balls of Bentus! it's a small miracle how much info Laurie, Quadros, Galeotti, and friends have managed to cram into paragraphs maybe 20 lines in length. It wets your appetite, invites you to visit places with your Heroes and still leaves all the room a creative Narrator could wish for developing his own city in the Empire. In this aspect ILH1 complements GIHW sooo well. Laurie and pals tread a bit lightly on the cultural and societal stuff, where GIHW presented a more deep loaded picture on Lunar, Dara Happan etc, culture, but gives you much more on people and places in the empire. They try to give you a first hint of "how it looks like". But why, why, why don't ILH1 tell the reader to point a browser to the fantastic Lunar map at Issaries' website? One or two new readers may wonder how they are to supposed to find all the places named in the text on the much more limited map printed in ILH1. And that may rob them of the very inspiring experience of sitting with one hand on a large full-color map of the Empire and the other hand flipping through the pages of the ILH1 describing most of the places named on said map.
There are always discussions going on how difficult Glorantha is for the newcomer. The first product I bought and read besides the RQ2 rules was the Pavis box back in 1983. I was 15, and, being Swedish, struggling with the language. I had not seen Cults of Prax. Equipped with the cults of Black Fang, Kyger Litor and Orlanth and a very sketchy Dragon Pass history from the rulebook I met the extremely detailed chronology of Pavis and Prax. I got ludicrously short descriptions of gods and temples I had no ideas about. Did I make mistakes in presenting Pavis to my players? According to Glorantha gospel: definitely and grotesquely. According to the experience of my players: definitely not. They got treasures, combats, and checks (and some very entertaining roleplaying experiences in the "welcome to the city" episodes). Did they mind, when I changed the Humakt and Storm Bull cults a few months later when I had bought Cults of Prax? No, it was only cool to get some new cults and spells. And, most important of all, did I get addicted to the world even though I had this very limited first run-in with it? Of course I was. As a gamemaster/narrator I soon discovered the joy in collecting new pieces of Glorantha and puzzling them together. Connections, connections, connections, and every so often a strange mystery that thwarted me. (But I still can't say that my and the players experience of Glorantha necessarily is more enjoyable today. It was fun then, and it is fun now.)
With this fond memory in mind I arm myself with only the Hero Wars rules and flip through ILH1 and try to envision myself without my tons of Glorantha knowledge collected in 20 years time.
What do I get first? A very basic introduction: "Children of the Goddess" where in-character voices from the Empire tell me about the Red Moon Goddess, the Emperor and the Empire. I realize that the Empire is not like the Roman Empire, more like the short-lived Empire of Alexander the Great, or the Empire in Star Wars, composed of many different cultures. I understand that the Goddess' religion is extremely strange and complex. She has simply too many hard-to- pronounce names. Do I give up? Wait a minute, the Rules told me something: "The Lunar religion is extremely rich, complex, and subtle /…/ Most Lunars cannot readily explain the differences between all the various aspects of the Moon, nor do most of them feel the need to do so." Ah, I don't need to perfectly understand all those names and all that mumbo-jumbo. When my Hero/the characters encounter Lunars I will treat them like some Hare Krishna sect. Then I don't have to worry about all those complexities. Read the Lunar Credo, it's something your characters have learnt by heart, but they don't need to understand it. Not even all the priests does. When I look in the rules I also get a rudimentary explanation of all those names strewn across the pages here: Verithurusa, Sedenya, Gerra…
Next part, the Timeline of the Lunar Empire. Here there's definitely difficulties. Lot of strange one-liners that don't make sense. Much like having the old Pavis timeline without the history. Well, some of the one-liners are explained at other places in the ILH1, so I use the index to search for explanations. But still, a reference to the free Red Line history online at Issaries' site would not have hurt. There the interested can delve deeper. And of course the next book in line ILH12 will expand upon this short outline. One thing though. Maybe a little box on the greatest nemesis of the Empire – Sheng Seleris – could have been included. With enough deduction I can puzzle together the importance of this dark foe throughout the book, but it could have been made more clear.
Then follows an overview of structures holding the Empire together, an overview which at the same time manages to make it clear that there are also huge differences between the various parts of the Lunar/Dara Happan colossus. Short and concise sections on government, laws, finances, travel, and the army. Of course the information is very packed and full of terms and names. But, I once again take the Rules as a guide in sifting the important from the not-so important. Thus I realize that Yelm is important, and the Red Dancer in Power is not so important. Reading about the Dara Happan/Yelmic law increases my understanding of the harsh solar religion. There is no scenario set up, but I feel the inspiration to present two different trials for my players – a draconian Dara Happan one and a lawyer-riddled Lunar one. That would give them a roleplaying experience as inspiring and fun as the court episode in the old Pavis box.
Taking the comparison further, of course Pavis was a little bit easier to understand since it detailed the politics of a very small community. The Lunar Empire is huge and fragments are left hanging everywhere. But those fragments are so fantastically evocative that they ought to tickle everyone's imagination. For instance, in the section on laws I read "the Rinliddi apply the Solemn Code, a slightly less draconian form of the Antirius Precepts, enforced by the White-Winged Justiciers". Since I read in the ILH1 that the Rinliddians are very bird-fixated, and since I also read that the Antirius Precepts are extremely harsh, an image comes to my mind:
Three spooky figures draped in flapping, sweeping white cloaks and feathers give a singing performance of call and response in which the law is droned forth in front of the unfortunate accused. Their voices rise towards heaven just like their deity Tholm the Hawk rise towards the Sun, who is the ultimate source of all justice. If the singing voices reach high enough the accused is found guilty and executed. But he has a small chance, if he can respond with a bird-cry, and if a sparrow of forgiveness (or whatever) flies in circles over the open courtyard the Justiciers may change tone and settle for a lesser penalty.
Is this speculation correct? Certainly not, but most Narrators and players should be stuffed full of images like this when reading ILH11 and go for it. They will not do any more faults than I did back in the 80's with the Pavis box. And they will have a good time. All in all, the section on the structures of the Empire should not prove more difficult for the novice than the sections on Pavis Politics and City Background was for me in 1983.
(Now, the reader have to excuse my verbosity, but I must keep on a
little while longer.) A large part of the book is made up of the
geographical gazetteer, as already mentioned. How would I have
reacted to this dense wealth of information if I lacked the knowledge
of all small-press articles and fanzines that already have given me a
large dose of Lunar knowledge? I take the Satrapy of First Blessed as
an example. As a player I can choose to read whatever strikes my
fancy. I don't have to exactly understand everything. But the city of
Elz Ast with the new occupation Thief-Taker immediately inspire me:
How cool to be a sort of William of Baskerville in a teeming
metropolis filled to the brim with criminal associations and dusty
occult scrolls, hiding hideous secrets.
As a Narrator, I have to read and re-read a little bit more. (Just like I did with the Pavis box once upon a time, just like I did with the Dragon Lance series once upon a time, just like I did with Masks of Nyarlathothep once upon a time, etc…) But the index is of immense help. The first strange conception "Avian Return Movement" is explained in a separate box. Next item: the city of Birin, an old pirate refuge, now a famous galley city. Here I encounter an obscure historical reference to the Emperor Kewetdevsus, of whom I know "nada". But since it's simply an historical reference I don't have to bother. Maybe when I buy the Dara Happan book next year I will encounter this name again and get some revelation. That's part of the joy of uncovering Glorantha.
"Korer warriors" I read then, they guard the city's tyrant. Supposedly Korer is one of those thousands of gods and spirits inhabiting the Empire. He is only mentioned once, so I don't get him explained. But he seems to be a cool thing, so if I play in Birin I will make him up. The text offers me some hints: "People call these tattooed killers the Scar Guard because of their dark rituals of strength and courage". Actually, HeroQuest is a much better system to extrapolate such a sentence than RuneQuest ever was. I give the Korer affinities of Strength and Courage, magic which requires rituals with sacrifices and "forced" extraordinary support from abducted drifters, sailors and ne'er-do-wells. The Guards mark their magical strength with tattoos and scars.
Each city is filled to the brim with cool images and imaginative names: "Irrippi Ontor Academium", "Particulate Halls of the Alchemists of Eyzaal", "Blind Ghost Weavers of Pelanda". It goes on and on and on. The Index contains about 1200 entries, so there's a lot to sift through, but I can't see why this necessarily would be harder than it was for us teenagers when we had our first encounters with Glorantha, Pavis and Prax in the 80's. Then it was "Jaldon Toothmaker", "Ernalda", and "Yanafal Tarnils" which were the strange names.
In fact, the Lunar Empire could prove a better testing ground for new campaigns than the Heortlings in Dragon Pass. Firstly, because this actually is the first "official" supplement on the Empire and everyone can start from scratch and build their personal images of cities, peoples and cults. The Heortlings are covered in much greater detail that may well deter many newcomers. Secondly, in the Glorantha present (the 1620's) their is much less critical events happening on a detailed year-by-years basis than in Dragon Pass, with it's detailed Hero Wars chronology. If you want to avoid world-shattering events and play in a Status Quo, ILH1 may be the right choice for you. Much like Pavis was for me back in the olden days.
To sum it up, ILH1 is exactly as good introduction to Glorantha as Pavis or Griffin Mountains were during the RuneQuest era. And it should inspire people to play in Glorantha and discover Glorantha exactly as good as those supplements did then. Well, I have to admit, apart from one thing. It lacks scenarios, which Pavis didn't. But it's easy to see why. Pavis covered about 150 pages, ILH11 72. Economic realities being what they are forces Issaries' to choose. Either scenario or background. Not 150 pages with both. And if a scenario book hit the shelves without the background of ILH11, I think those scenarios would hang unintelligible in a limbo.
And here comes the best part: ILH1 doesn't totally abandon you in
this respect. Five pages make up the Seeburn Association, a Dara
Happan organization that organizes the lives of the people in the
City of Virindum in First Blessed Satrapy. The Seeburn can be
described as the community to which your heroes can belong. Not as
tight-knit as a clan, and more variable than a Sartarite tribe, it
offers the perfect place for Heroes to play many different
characters. And the Narrator is supplied with a lot of plot hooks
(provided by Laurie, Quadros and Galeotti) that with very little
effort can be turned into a full-fledged story arc. If their only had
been a map of Virindum and stats for two or three important NPCs, it
had been as good introduction scenario as "Welcome to the City" in
Pavis ever was.
I think that ILH11 will turn into a Gloranthan classic, and if it can only find it's way out to the markets it may well turn into a roleplaying classic as well.
Cheers,
Patrik Sandberg
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