> On 16/07/07, Greg Stafford <Greg_at_3bGMdS0gD7tBD5tAv8z6TSGauDbeguNwWRWjnNOmvg-IaL9V8MQa6SL94oZcZId1iOsGPHiJCfoeww.yahoo.invalid> wrote:
>> Not necessarily.
>> It appears to me you are forgetting a couple of key points:
>> 1. Cooperation is always possible.
>
> Not forgetting, just not emphasising I think.
>
> Cooperation doesn't seem to be a big part of things in Glorantha *at
> present* since I don't recall a lot of cultures saying many good
> things about foreigners and their strange ways. This could be an
> artifact of my relative lack of familiarity with the setting compared
> to some people.
I think that it's natural for human beings to mistrust strangers.
I think it is widespread in Glorantha to mistrust strangers.
That is part of the reason why the Lunar Way--"We are all us!"--is so
strange. And note that th Lunar Empire consists of MANY cooperating
cultures.
Nontheless, even people who are not Lunars do cooperate--the Holy
country of the Pharaoh was one such, for instance.
Furthermore, the motivation for cooperation often lies in having a
common enemy.
And let us not forget the famous axiom of tribal peoples everywhere:
"My brother and I fight, and that is OK, but when my cousin threatens
us, we are united. My cousins and we fight, and that is OK, but when
the other clan threatens us, we are united. The clans fight each
other, and that is OK, but when the other tribe threatens us, we are
united. The tribes fight, and that is OK, but when the
Grazers/Praxians/etc. threaten us, we are united." And so on.
>> 2. Also, IMPORTANTLY: Remember that most people in ALL cultures use
>> mixed magic, and thus "pay the same costs" for their magic.
>
> I am trying to, honest!
Well, maybe if I had presented the HQ rules differently it would be easier. :)
> The impression that I got from most cultures (other than those in the
> Lunar Empire) was that one tended to dominate
Yes, this is likely. But they are mixed nonetheless.
> - and my reading of the
> mechanics suggests that, unless one's common magic is required for
> staying alive, concentration is often a "good deal".
But you are thinking through the rules, as is common; not from the setting and the story. You realize that no one in Glorantha ever says "I have concentrated magic." No one ever says, "Why do we spend to HP for a point in magic?"
> Perhaps it might
> have been clearer if all common magic was a talent and there was some
> other term for the "basic" magic obtained from a particular religion?
Let us see what comes out of the new edition that will be done after the QW rules make heir appearance.
>> Marginalization is not due to their dominant magic system.
>> It is due to their relative population more than anything else.
>
> I had merely wondered if their visible socio-political state of
> affairs was due to some unfortunate alignment of cosmic forces and
> geography.
So some will say, in Glorantha.
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