I just have to echo this. I still think Thunder Rebels is the best RPG supplement ever written. Particularly its first part manages to bring the culture to life like no other, with its evocative writing and ingenious tidbits of color. I also think that this color, like mentioning the word gyrda or telling of how many cows this and that insult is worth in weregild, is essential to what makes the book so good. But, very importantly, its color, and colorful descriptions I'm after here. Bringing the same terms into general talk or rules parlance would be a mistake.
And this is also where I think maybe HQ1 in general and ILH2 in particular went a little wrong on the magic side, and which HQ2 seems to be addressing. I mean, I found the effort in trying to model the differences in the gloranthan magic systems valuable, but the result seemed to end up too constrictive with its three distinctly separate systems, necessitating more rules, exceptions and names for each of these exceptions at every turn (and on the rule level).
Though, I have to say also that in my mind, ILH2 is equally the best RPG supplement ever written, but for a completely different reason than Thunder Rebels. What I see in ILH2 is actually a complete framework for thinking about belief, spirituality and enlightenment so powerful that it makes it possible to actually harness a roleplaying game as a means to ponder those concepts for real. Which, yes, is heavy stuff, and I certainly understand if many people don't want that in their game and would prefer something more fun and easily understood.
(so, I guess I also agree with everyone)
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