Do you want a book of chaos for Glorantha?

[The King]

Mongoose is preparing a (generic) book on Necromancy, but nothing on Chaos which is after all the biggest villain the world hads ever seen.

Warhammer had its Realms of Chaos and we "only" had Cults of terror and Lords of terror.
These books are long out of print though, so may be some of you would like to see the definitive book of chaos for Runequest/Glorantha
with creatures, gods, chaotic features, etc.

 

[soltakss]

RQ2 had Cults of Terror, RQ3 had Lords of Terror, Dorastor and The Book of Drastic Resolutions (Chaos).

It would be nice to see something similar for RQM, but chaos is apparently not as strong in the second age.

However, we know that Than Ulbar was powerful in the second age, the cults of Than and Atyar were joined together, some God Learners used the Atyar and Than cults to gain more knowledge and the people of Pavis summoned powerful chaotic forces to help them when the nomads sacked their city. Not to mention the Clanking City and the God Learners' little imp friend who helped them with HeroQuesting. Dorastor was starting to awaken at this time as well. I'm not sure about the other Chaos Nests, they seem quite quiet in the Second Age, but there seems to be enough chaos around to make an interesting book.

 

[The King]

RQ2 had Cults of Terror, RQ3 had Lords of Terror, Dorastor and The Book of Drastic Resolutions (Chaos).

Dorastor is more a regional book IMO, while the book of Drastic resolutions was rapidly out of print (even now book of Darkness and Prax are easier to find).

In fact, I am thinking of a sort of compendium not so much as to release a block buster book because of the title but because I would also like to know more about Vovisibor and Bolongo and the role of chaos in Pamaltela (there is also the mother of monster which give birth to a spawn every day), as well as the surviving parts of the devil in Prax which are talked about in the Nomad Gods boardgame.

So, with what you explain and what I ask, a lot more could be added.

 

[duncan_disorderly]

I'd like a Gloranthan Chaos book for MRQ, providing it's not just a glorified Monster Manual and lists of Chaos Features

More information on Chaos in Pamaltela would be good, as would more on how chaos is seen and treated by the Godlearners, the EWF, the Kralori, the Dara Happans, The Carmanians etc.

 

[Osentalka]

The fight against chaos is not the theme in the Second age, but in the first and third.
I think we could keep the Second Age more interesting without getting to deep involved in fighting chaos.

 

[Loz]

More information on Chaos in Pamaltela would be good, as would more on how chaos is seen and treated by the Godlearners, the EWF, the Kralori, the Dara Happans, The Carmanians etc.

You get to see just what the Dara Happans have to say about Chaos in 'Dara Happa Stirs'. Dorastor is a very real threat.

 

[Rasta]

Y'all at Mongoose read me mind. I would love for this book to come out. Include options for making a chaos campaign please thank you with sugar on top.

 

[The King]

The fight against chaos is not the theme in the Second age, but in the first and third.
I think we could keep the Second Age more interesting without getting to deep involved in fighting chaos.

It isn't as much a thematic approach than a deeper knowledge of chaos that was left more or less untold but still quite interesting

 

[homerjsinnott]

Mongoose is preparing a (generic) book on Necromancy, but nothing on Chaos which is after all the biggest villain the world hads ever seen.

Warhammer had its Realms of Chaos and we "only" had Cults of terror and Lords of terror.
These books are long out of print though, so may be some of you would like to see the definitive book of chaos for Runequest/Glorantha
with creatures, gods, chaotic features, etc.

Would have been nice to have a poll that lasted more than 5 minutes...

 

[The King]

Would have been nice to have a poll that lasted more than 5 minutes...

It isn't closed. I put the value "0".
I had a similar problem sometimes ago on another poll.

Of course you're free to give your opinion.

 

[khazwind]

2nd Age Chaos? Hmmm ...

Well, supposedly it's not much of a force. Then again, the God Learners did create Thanatar. It would be interesting to see some real inside info on how the GLs might blunder into some serious trouble (after all, Chaos is *only* a myth told by primitive cultures and doesn't really exist).

Could lead to some very interesting CoC style adventures. Of course, where your typical Uroxi adventurer might face Cacodemon and just think, "Chaos, Hulk smash!" an orthodox GL could suffer a real shock when something that "only exists in myth" bursts into reality and starts chewing up the retainers.

OTOH, it would be fun to drag one of the truly Chaotic cults across the path of a group of GL PCs and watch them hasten the destruction of the empire , I mean, rifle the myths of savages for the glory of Malkion.

So, yeah, I want a chaos book.

 

[Arioch]

Well It couldn't hurt ot have a chaos supplement
Ken

 

[homerjsinnott]

Would have been nice to have a poll that lasted more than 5 minutes...

It isn't closed. I put the value "0".
I had a similar problem sometimes ago on another poll.

Of course you're free to give your opinion.

Sorry about that, I keep being loggged out and hadn't noticed.

New computer time.

 

[The King]

Well It couldn't hurt ot have a chaos supplement
Ken

Welcome aboard BTW. 8)

 

[nellist]

I'd certainly like to see what Mongoose thought was happening to the newly emerging Chaos in Dorastor, only a few years after the greasefire and other signs of "life".

Another poster mentioned the Chaos from Nomad Gods. I don't believe that Gas, Stomach , or the Devil's Hand, have ever been dealt with in a role playing game. What are the Godlearners making of Cwim? I'm sure Krarsht has her own machinations involving Godlearners, Dragons and the like. There shouldn't (IMO) be loads of broos and the like wandering around (as they seem to in a lot of third age RQ2 adventures) but Valastos gave her warnings about the Broo of the Black Pus, so things are starting to get worse and I think it would be more of a CoC style investigate weird goings on, rather than fighting foul monsters.

Keith

 

[khazwind]

Just got Clanking City and if that place isn't a natural breeding place for Krarsht cults behind the scenes, I don't know what is. Would a Transcendent have enough humanity left to register the taint of Chaos?
I could see Thanatar worship (maybe even Cacodemon) springing up in the GL universities, Seseine cults among the aristocracy.

And how would a Cog persuade their superiors that not only were the primitives' myths of chaos actually real (a major heresy) but that such chaos was actively undermining the Flesh/Machine god?

 

[TRose]

Well there are said to be Krasht tunnels under Jrustela, which problely date to the second age as nothing much was there in the First age and Krasht does not have much dealing with the Elder races that live there in the third age . But in my opinion Krasht is almost the perfect Chaos cult to prey on the 2 empires. Than Ulbar might have been the most powerful Chaos are in the second age , but then its also pretty much out in the middle of no where. Chaos gets to survive in Than Ulbar cause nobody else really wants it.
My guess as far as Chaos goes the God learners thought it was defeated and never really gave it that much thought, and perhaps even thought they could control it for their own benifit. Dangerous idea for sure.

 

[Loz]

My guess as far as Chaos goes the God learners thought it was defeated and never really gave it that much thought, and perhaps even thought they could control it for their own benifit. Dangerous idea for sure.

The God Learners most likely view Chaos as just another set of physically manifesting myths that are there to be plundered. It is the flipside to their structured, ordered view of the universe, and as such an enemy, but messable with, nonetheless. That its relatively low-key in the 2nd Age is, to them, evidence of Malkioni superiority, but that's a dangerous assumption because, for all its nastiness, Chaos has a fair degree of subtlety that the God Learners just can't be bothered getting to grips with. If Chaos could be directed against Dara Happa and the EWF, then the GLs would be happy to meddle, but again, that's a dangerous strategy because Chaos is quite capable of meddling right back.

This could be a very good way of approaching a book on Chaos: the nastiness is obvious, but the subtleties are not, especially when viewed from both GL and EWF perspectives. The EWF in particular, with such a mystical view of the world, might have an inkling of what possiblities Chaos offers to its Great Dragon Project, but ignores the obvious.

Hmmm....

 

[The King]

There is also probably the new approach of the Nysalor cult.

While Arkat is seen as a traitor and almost forgotten excepted by trolls, Nysalor was never really considered as a chaotic entity like, say Ragnalar, Malia, Thed and Wakboth.
In fact, considering the Nysalor riddles (from the 3rd age view), the representation is quite perfect: it is not about evil broos, chaos taints, etc. but about the philosophical approach to see the world.
Nysalor's cult in this way could really be played as the advocate of the devil and its propagation should be able to put well established rules into question (whereever there are coming from), confusing minds about what is good and adequate and what is not.

 

[khazwind]

I could be wrong but ...

I see the GLs POV being something like this:

The otherworlds are (small 'c') chaotic, but are nevertheless a source of temporal power. Primitive myth provides useful metaphors for navigating the otherworlds but remain that, just a metaphor.

The idea that the myths contain some objective reality would be anathema to a GL and, as I said above, I think it would be a major psychological shock to find that mythic creatures/personae could emerge into reality beyond the control of a sorcerer.

Then again, I could also see some foolish lizard-kisser believing that chaos is an expression of the Cosmic Dragon (conveniently ignoring the dragonnewt view of Chaos) and unleashing all sorts of problems in the empire.