RE: Digest Number 1677

From: Paul Chapman <estarriol_at_...>
Date: Wed, 5 May 2004 10:36:07 +1000

"Yeah, I've found that. Again, it's not organized in a way that makes things easy. I realize
that this is endemic to Gloratha, but everything is cross-referenced in such a way that
you are always jumping in the middle. So you get the feeling there's a coherent
explanation *somewhere*, but you only get to see bits of it."

:-)

Well, I'm afraid to say that there's going to be a lot of that sort of feeling.

One of the beauties of Glorantha is that it's so huge, so much has been written about it, and so many people have been gaming - and creating - there for so long, that finding out about any part of it is an honest-to-gosh research project. To me, that's part of the appeal.

Nonetheless, I have my concerns that the world may require too much effort to get into for a new player, or more importantly, a new narrator. There is a strong need for overall introductory materials, as narrators especially will tend to not be happy with the "we can tell you loads about the Orlanthi, just play here for now" attitude.

Roderick has recommended some very good books. I would add to that list, as the two best introductions to the world as a whole, with overall maps:-

• Glorantha, Introduction to the Hero Wars (I think this was in the Hero Wars boxed set, I think it's out of print now. Trade paperback format)
• Genertela, Crucible of the Hero Wars (might be slightly out on that title - this was the RQ3 Glorantha introductory book and it was very good IMHO).

There is a new Heroquest corresponding introductory worldbook coming out soon (this year, if schedules are where I remember them being), but I appreciate that's not much help to you now.

I am returning to London, UK in a couple of weeks after being overseas for a while, if you're in the vague area, I'd be happy to meet up and discuss stuff, lend you books, and we could maybe discuss playing. If you let us know where you are, I'm sure someone in your region from this list will be glad to offer more help and support.

Cheers,
Paul C