The philosophy of Glorantha

[Utgardloki]

Taken from another thread:

[/quote] Anyway, that is starting to get into the philosophy of Glorantha.

I am curious about what the philosophy of Glorantha is.

Glorantha seems different from other game worlds in that to me it is not so much a setting as a world that has a number of possible settings in it.

I've been trying to think of ways to explain Glorantha to new players, but come up with a blank with regards to explaining things. I like to find ways to "pitch" my campaigns in a few words designed to spur interest. And of course I love to create things for new worlds.

Certainly the magic system is different from D&D, and this may affect the way things happen. The uber-powerful spells of D&D do not seem to be present (they weren't in the original rulebooks). On the other hand, the original source materials had magic a lot more common than in D&D worlds, kind of like Eberron. I've been thinking along these lines and concluding that this could have a major impact on women's rights.

Also the gods are very important. In D&D I get the impression that the worlds exist before the gods, who then put their stamp on the world. (Except for Ravenloft, which is created and continually reshaped by the Dark Powers.) In the Glorantha universe, I have the impression that the gods have a much deeper involvement with the creation and preservation of the world.

I appreciate any and all insights.

 

[StephenT]

I've been trying to think of ways to explain Glorantha to new players, but come up with a blank with regards to explaining things. I like to find ways to "pitch" my campaigns in a few words designed to spur interest. And of course I love to create things for new worlds.

Glorantha is a world where the laws of myth replace the laws of physics. It's a cube of earth floating in an endless sea, and the sky is an inverted dome over it. Magic is as common as breathing: whether it's a farmer enchanting his plough, a mother curing her child's cuts and bruises or a merchant making himself sound more plausible to a customer - or, for that matter, a nomad tribe calling fire from the sky to burn down a thousand square miles of forest to make grazing land for their herds, an immortal wizard casting a spell to sink every boat that attempts to cross the open sea, or a desperate group of rebels summoning a 20-mile long dragon to eat the enemy army. People on Glorantha can meet the gods face-to-face; they can even become gods themselves. (Unlikely, but it does happen).

(So far, the gamebooks have mostly covered the smaller-scale magic in detail and left the huge world-changing spells to GM discretion)

Glorantha is a huge and detailed setting. Some people feel intimidated by this; others see it as an opportunity to run any type of campaign, because you can pick your corner of the world and ignore the rest. There is huge variation - the stone-age hunters of Balazar, the Renaissance city states of Safelster, the 'Romans v Gauls' atmosphere of Dragon Pass, the epic fantasy of Loskalm v the Kingdom of War, the wuxia-style mysticism of the Eastern Isles and Kralorela, the Arabian Nights fantasy of Fonrit and the nomadic hordes of Pent... and more. A lot of the published material focusses on small-scale, gritty scenarios; cattle raids and blood feuds - but there's also scope to get involved in (literally) earth-shaking events.

An important part of Glorantha's philosophy is that every culture and society believes itself to be in the right - that its way of life is the best, and that its view of the way the world works is correct. With a few small exceptions the setting doesn't go in for D&D style 'good races' and 'evil races' - but that doesn't stop conflict from happening anyway. For example, the Char-un people believe that the highest honour they can give a foreigner is to allow him an opportunity to demonstrate his courage and strength of will before the gods - and so they torture him to death. From their perspective, they're doing him a big favour. The Char-un's neighbours may not agree - and even regard them, in their terms, as evil.

This subjectivity also applies to gods and myths - the source of magic. Each culture has its own explanation of how magic - and the world itself - works. In general, people obtain magic from powerful supernatural entities in return for whatever favour they desire - worship, sacrifice, following certain taboos or rules, etc. Some people can manipulate cosmic forces directly - the classic and much-feared sorcerors - or simply have innate talents. Each culture has its own myths on the way the world works and why things are the way they are - these follow the general pattern that "everything was once perfect and gods and mortals walked the earth side by side; but then the gods fought each other and most of them died, almost destroying the world in the process; our people managed to survive through our ancestors' heroism and magical secrets - our enemies survived too, but clearly they must have used lies, treachery and dark sorcery; and now the gods no longer act directly in the world, but we mortals can call on their power to fulfil their desires and do magic."

 

[ned-kogar]

That's a great summary.

Nice work.

Ned

 

[Urox]

Glorantha/RQ isn't that difficult to describe to gamers-- as told to me some 20-odd years ago (coming from a AD&D background):

A. Everyone knows magic

B. The Gods are real, and you can call on them

C. Characters are not just treasure hunters, but strive to become the heroes of legend

D. The Lunars and Chaos are bad

 

[HyrumOWC]

Glorantha/RQ isn't that difficult to describe to gamers-- as told to me some 20-odd years ago (coming from a AD&D background):

A. Everyone knows magic

B. The Gods are real, and you can call on them

C. Characters are not just treasure hunters, but strive to become the heroes of legend

D. The Lunars and Chaos are bad

I agree with everything except for the first half of D.

Hyrum, always been a Lunar guy.

 

[SteveMND]

Hyrum, always been a Lunar guy

Ah, a man after my own imperialistic heart!

"All right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health, what have the Lunars ever done for us?"

 

[Gaheir]

Indeed, the Python's argument is what the NPC apologists for the Lunars use in my games! The Lunar Empire can bring much good, (see Steve's post), but at what cost? There is no minor taint of chaos!

 

[HyrumOWC]

Hyrum, always been a Lunar guy

Ah, a man after my own imperialistic heart!

"All right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health, what have the Lunars ever done for us?"

Exactly.

So what if the Crimson Bat eats a few people every now and then? Sometimes you have to break some eggs to make the omlet of civilization.

Hyrum.

 

[Urox]

So what if the Crimson Bat eats a few people every now and then?

The point I was trying to make is that foes are as likely to be be humans of another culture as well as traditional monsters.

GM: Okay, you've signed up to take the casks from Clearwine to Holy Country. There are two routes you can take -- the short direct route through Sun Dome, or the roundabout way through the Chaos Woods -- which one do you choose?

PC1: Ugh, Yelmalians...
PC2: I hate them...
PC3: Let's take the other way...

 

[SwordSage]

Hyrum, always been a Lunar guy

"All right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health, what have the Lunars ever done for us?"

Bah, Sartar himself gave us sanitation, roads, public order, and the fresh water system over a hundred years ago. Chalana Arroy gave us medicine and public health 2000 years ago. The Colymari invented wine before they went bad. Lhankor Mhy gave us education in God Time. The Creekstream River gives us irrigation and has since the rivers began flowing.

All the Lunars ever gave us is mass crucifixtion, higher taxes, and fat useless Lunar governors.

The only thing we've ever wanted from the Lunars is less Lunars.