Re: What does death by "natural causes" look like in Glorantha?

From: ryancaveney_at_Qn0VppdOq6UaOlC2IEDrK4anVSgC-BWBRG6SoJcBvvs0BdGwfFPhZ4bByuRgrT9y
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 2010 10:04:52 -0800 (PST)

Trotsky wrote:
> ST, for all its many good points, does have a somewhat
> idiosyncratic approach to which runes the gods have.

I'd say rather that ST and TR both have an overly specific presentation of the runes attached to the magic that worshipers get from their gods. They don't really list runes for gods, they list runes for subcult affinities, which seem to try to maximize the difference between otherwise similar cults. For example, the Ernalda the Healer cults also have only Harmony, without either Life or Earth, including Votenevra the Earth Healer! Also, TR claims only Vanganthi can fly at will; all other Orlanthi fly only on holy days. Screw that! So far, IMO, the one major improvement that HQ2 offers over HQ1 is the simplified distribution of runes in the magic system. Unfortunately for newbies, it goes to far in the direction of any god can do any magic: the only thing which prevents it is if the GM knows Gloranthan myth really well. Somewhere in between, there is a happier medium (e.g., not all Air rune theists can fly, but any Orlanthi with at least Air + Movement > 50 can).

Ryan