Question for Glorantha fans

[malifer]

Hello,
I am really new to RQII. I bought the core rules on 5/21/11. Although I am not new to pen & paper rpgs, this is my first Runequest book. And I really, really like the rules.

So with the recent news about RQII becoming Wayfarer and Glorantha going away, I wonder what I would be missing if I don't bother getting the Glorantha books.

I am the type of person that tends to just create their own homebrew world, but I do like a solid campaign book with neat ideas and hooks.

In a perfect world I would have the money to buy all the books and I would have the time to play every day, but I sadly do not.

So Glorantha fans please tell me why I should get the RQII Glorantha books before they’re gone.

What does Glorantha bring to the table?

How great is the Races book?

Thanks

 

[Khamulcalle]

If you want a great world with tons of stuff within it...then RQ is it. There are the MRQ1 and MRQII but if you check ebay you will be blown away by all the material that this world has. Glorantha was created, well hold your breath....1966!!! that is 8 years prior to the world know about RPG

That are so much info, it's a great read. If there is stuff you dont like it just to remove it (well it's your version of Glorantha hehe!)


/Khamul

 

[PhilHibbs]

So Glorantha fans please tell me why I should get the RQII Glorantha books before they’re gone.

What does Glorantha bring to the table?

How great is the Races book?

The attraction of Glorantha is hard to explain. At least, I find it hard to explain. It's a peculiar mix of realistic, dirt-under-the-fingernails daily life that has all the complexity and subtlety of a believable world, juxtaposed by easy access to powerful magic and weird races like ducks, talking tapirs, and incomprehensible draconic people. It's the Marmite of roleplaying worlds, you either love it or hate it (and the analogy does hold true, because there are a few people who are indifferent, despite the advert).

One of the distinctive features, which has been carried forward to other RuneQuest settings, is the close integration of religion and culture. If you aren't an active part of the local religion, then there is something odd about you. This has been true throughout human history up until the very, very recent past. It is something that some people object to, our own disinterest in religion often translates to our characters, and that can be another barrier to "getting into" Glorantha.

I'd say the races book is the least essential. The non-human races in Glorantha require quite a bit of effort to "get into". They aren't just slightly larger or smaller humans with different shaped ears and +1 to a couple of stats. There's plenty of fun to be had with the different human cultures and cults.

 

[duncan_disorderly]

. It's the Marmite of roleplaying worlds.

What, Banned in Denmark?

 

[ThatGuy]

I would recommend the Cults book, if nothing else, because it gives you a good blueprint of cults that can be adapted to any homebrew pretty easily.

And it is great.

As a player that grew up in Glorantha, but doesn't visit as much anymore, I can say that Glorantha shaped my view of RPGs, and made many intolerable.

Alignment, for example is a trite, foreign concept to me, because everyone thinks they are doing the right thing...right? Or if not, they have a reason for doing the wrong thing...right?

This concept, that everyones world view is correct and valid- even when they are directly opposed, or even incompatible- is one of the unique and powerful aspects of Glorantha that make it unique and alluringly addictive once you "get it."

I mean, Trolls are treated as a race with complex social strata, powerful gods, deep seeded racial hatreds and rivalries, and sometimes ride huge moths. How awesome is that?! You can actually run a whole campaign as a party of Trolls in Glorantha and it would make total sense and play extremely well. There would be character motivations and political intrigues. Maybe even some romance. Seriously.

In other worlds, trolls are just canon fodder that regenerate unless burned. I mean, there's no comparison when it comes to depth of concept.

You could go on and on, (and I hope some do), but Glorantha is worth the exploring, even if it is only used to inform your world of how to be a better world.

At least, that's my opinion.

 

[PhilHibbs]

Another thing about Glorantha is, there are no upper limits. The power scale goes all the way from normal folk up to the gods. There's nothing really special about someone who can throw magic around, anyone can learn to do it and acquire that power. And to really climb the scale, you go HeroQuesting, and come back with boosted stats, new skills, new magic, magical loot, or less tangible benefits for your community (more weddings, births, fewer feuds, etc.)

This is one thing that the HeroQuest system does so well, but it's more difficult in RuneQuest. It's a tradeoff between scale and detail. HQ has the scale, RQ has the detail. I like the detail approach, and I'm prepared to work at it a little harder to get the scale to work.

 

[taxboy]

Agree, the cults book is worth a read, even if you insert into your own world. I love how the cults are so intertwined into everyday life - brings "clerics" to life like no other system...

 

[malifer]

Thanks I will look into the cults book for sure.

 

[Hopeless]

So can you tell me what differences there are between MRQ1 and MRQ2 version of Glorantha?

I don't mean the core rules just is it worth picking up the MRQ2 version if you've bought the MRQ1 version?

 

[Runefang]

I agree that the races and cults books are good to get. You could always homebrew your own version of Glorantha using bits and pieces.

As a really old RQ/Gloranthaphile group , we have played many different types of races and cultures, but the intracacy of the RP experience we get from Glorantha has usually exceeded those of other systems.

@ThatGuy

I mean, Trolls are treated as a race with complex social strata, powerful gods, deep seeded racial hatreds and rivalries, and sometimes ride huge moths. How awesome is that?! You can actually run a whole campaign as a party of Trolls in Glorantha and it would make total sense and play extremely well. There would be character motivations and political intrigues. Maybe even some romance. Seriously.

One of my fondest games was when we played (inetenionaly) a entire group of small misfits, which included 3 trollkin, 2 ducks, 1 dwarf, 1 baboon, and 1 elf (really small size, but deadly).

The group had starting background adventures which included going through dreamquest, and all ended up together at Apple Lane and became a group from that point on. They moved on to other adventures and became part of the Munchshroom Trollkin Clan after defending it. The group used it as a home base and actually had it grow into a power after expanding the caves and setting up a Gorakiki Wasp nest (Trollkin pilots!)

We scrapped along for awhile as a pathetic group, struggling to survive and deal with all the details of that, to working on diplomacy with big trolls who would love to eat you if you messed up badly.

The richness of detail in the world is what always drew us back, even after splitting up to various parts of the world, we still play via email.

 

[Rungard]

If you like campaign books with ideas and hooks, I'd recommend of course Glorantha the Second Age and Pavis Rises. If you can get hold of Dara Happa Stirs and Blood of Orlanth, those are good campaigns too. :wink:

Glorantha is for you if you like a different fantasy world, different from the typical Tolkien-based medieval worlds.

Glorantha is based instead on how the Ancient peoples of the Earth, like the Assyrians, the Persians, the Celts, the Egyptians or the Greek, thought and viewed the world. It is like those ancient worlds, but magic is real, instead of only superstition. And that's because the Gods are very real in this world. Just as f.ex. the Greeks thought that Zeus was a very real god. In the same way, the PCs do not only think that Glorantha is flat, but it its actually flat, so what they think and believe is right!

The good thing is that Glorantha is not just a copy of ancient times, so you never have the feeling that you're playing exactly a Greek warrior, for instance. For example, if you play a character of the orlanthi culture, who follows the pantheon of Orlanth, god Air and Thunder, you will find traces of Celtic, Greek, Pict or Thracian culture in it.

So what does it bring to the table? Epic campaigns where the characters fight for their gods or their empires (for their culture), where cultural clashes are usual and where everyone can use magic and thinks their magic source (spirits, gods, or natural laws) is the best and right one.

It is a diverse setting and you can play it from very different points of view: a nomad clan, a barbarian family, a group of adventurers, a group of merchants, a group of misfits, a group of heroes trying to change the world (Dara Happa Stirs)...

:wink:

 

[Jujitsudave]

Glorantha is OK, but it's not my preferred setting. It is true that in the books there is some very quality campaign info for any setting, but unless you are planning to get involved in Glorantha, I wouldn't invest heavily in it.

Vikings and Empires are 2 supplements that I bought at the same time and they are some of the finest quality books I've ever seen. Those books have details that span any type of setting.

Personally, I feel that if you want to play in a setting LIKE a certain culture/time period, why not just game IN that real-world setting? Too often Earth gets glossed over when our own history has great stories and great characters to use.