Character Sheet Is Up!!!

[Lord Twig]

However, given his appreciation of anthroplogy, etc., I wouldn't have been surprised if Stafford had gone about the name this way:

"Hmm, these plant-rune creatures call themselves Aldryami, however, in their arrogance, most humans wouldn't call them by their actual name, since few cultures bother to do that. Instead, they'd call them something that is vaguely reminiscent of their nature, but given their laziness, humans wouldn't really care if the term wasn't entirely accurate, as long as it was simple and easy for them to use. Hmm. In english, the fantasy term 'elf' fits that bill nicely."

Bah, I doubt it. More likely he had classic elves and dwarf in Glorantha then started thinking of how he could make them different. Something more like:

"Hmm, elves live in the forest and dwarfs live underground. But everybody has elves in the forest! How can I make them different. Elves don't just live in the forest, they are a part of the forest. No, heard that before. They are not just part of the forest, they grow from the forest! Because they are plants! And dwarfs are made from rocks! No ones done that before!"

Elves in Glorantha were more elf-like in the beginning and have become more and more plant-like over time. It is much more likely that he started with something familiar and worked his way to the bizarre than to just start with weirdness.

Please note, I like the whole Elf/plant thing, I just think it can be taken too far.

As for having a problem with Gloranthan trolls. The Gloranthan trolls are closer to mythic trolls than the Gloranthan elves are to mythic elves. They are large green or gray, with large noses (though smaller ears) and will eat people. Actually they can eat anything, including people. The only thing Stafford really added was a well developed society for them to come from.

 

[SteveMND]

Well, perhaps, but in going off the oft-quoted wikipedia entries, there is very little in common between mytholigical troll and Glorantha trolls aside from the name, I think... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll

heh. Actually, in looking over that Wikipedia entry, it's pretty clear that whoever contributed to it was a RQ fan. In the "trolls and gaming" section, most fantasy gaming trolls get a sentence or two; the Gloranthan trolls get a full mini-writeup, including mythology and other rather esoteric facts.

Edit: Hmm, and who knew there was a sub-genre of heavy metal music called troll metal? :shock:

 

[Archer]

As for having a problem with Gloranthan trolls. The Gloranthan trolls are closer to mythic trolls than the Gloranthan elves are to mythic elves. They are large green or gray, with large noses (though smaller ears) and will eat people. Actually they can eat anything, including people. The only thing Stafford really added was a well developed society for them to come from.

Well, I do not know. Trolls generally stole away people rather than ate them.

 

[Urox]

Bah, I doubt it. More likely he had classic elves and dwarf in Glorantha then started thinking of how he could make them different.

A quick survey of some old material shows WBRM had Troll Gangs (under Cragspider's control) and The Dwarf (a whimsical fellow who likes to give out gifts), but no elves.

RQ1 clearly identifies Aldryami as a "race" with elves as a sub-type (even more so than RQ2).

 

[burdock]

steve MND wrote:

Besides, what's an 'elf?' it's a word used to describe something that doesn't exist in the real world

What do you mean by THAT !?? Its certainly news to me......

 

[GbajiTheDeceiver]

Talislantia was great and horrible in that regard, and it's radical departure from what we are familiar with was both it's greatest strength and its worst weakness. A lot of potential customers were turned off by the sheer 'difference' of it, and didn't want to spend weeks or months becoming familiar with such an alien outlook and design.

That sounds absolutely bang on to me.

Glorantha is enough of a culture shock as it is, so use of terms like "elf", "dwarf", and so on helps to soften the blow.

 

[Rurik]

steve MND wrote:

Besides, what's an 'elf?' it's a word used to describe something that doesn't exist in the real world

What do you mean by THAT !?? Its certainly news to me......

Don't worry about what he says. He doesn't believe in Santa Claus either.

 

[Chardros The Reaper]

I've been in the Phantom Zone or something and hadn't even checked out the 'updated' character sheet since it's been posted. It's not great but certainly better than the first one, it's amazing what getting rid of the distracting logo in the background did for it. The sample character sheet is also most welcome. I'll probably still create my own sheet like I always do 'cause I can be picky about them but I still think it's better than just about any d20 sheet I've seen! As least you don't need a magnifying glass!

 

[Balgin Stondraeg]

(For the record, my biggest concern is the lack of general hit points. Without them, fights that should have been resolved in a couple of rounds dragged on forever.)

That has got to either be a major typo or a really bad design mistake . Locational health without total health is just wrong for many reasons (most of them mentioned in previous posts).

Why do fantasy settings always have to have elves btw?

You haven't played in Magnamund (the Lone Wolf setting) have you? It does perfectly well without elves (and, in fact, adding them would almost ruin it).

There also used to be a roleplaying game called No Elves (and it's major selling point, according to the adverts, was that it had "all the usual fantasy things, dwarfs, trolls orcs, BUT NO ELVES!!!!). I wonder what happened to that game.

 

[Archer]

You haven't played in Magnamund (the Lone Wolf setting) have you? It does perfectly well without elves (and, in fact, adding them would almost ruin it).

I played the old solo-adventure books, yes.