Playing in the 2nd Age (Was Re: Status of Mongoose RQ publications' Glorantha)

From: ian_hammond_cooper <ian_hammond_cooper_at_x9_FcjMmkWFORUOc1iRbUhbKfohsRWlGm3Wuh5lIKLq6yrbSMBqMnca5q>
Date: Tue, 05 Jan 2010 19:45:32 -0000

>
> Seems reasonable. If you can work in a bit more of what makes the Second Age
> distinctive then that would be a bonus.

My biggest disappointment with the 2nd Age so far was that I really felt that player characters as God Learners was an ideal proposition that never seemed to me to be carried through in the Mongoose products.

Let's face it the God Learners have a built in reason to adventure - military and spiritual conquest of the world - that can justify both normal and other world scenarios. My mental analogue for the God Learners has always been Victorian explorers 'discovering' Africa, Rider Haggard novels, or British Museum's agents looting Egyptian treasures. Frankly if I run a 2nd age game I want the Orlanthi to be native bearers who run for the hills when they see the dreaded clan boundary stones of the Black Pines clan. Throw in the SteamPunk elements of Machine City and the whole thing has quite gothic tones. Anyone for a God Learner van Helsing hunting down vampires?

I understand that there is a fondness for playing Orlanthi that tends to make the default position in the 2nd age that the traditionalists are the good guys (and the fact that well they probably are<g>). But considering we have ended up in the 3rd age with the Lunars being the 'also rans' in game terms it would have been nice to reverse this in the 2nd age.