What books for Glorantha?

[weasel_fierce]

So it looks like we'll be doing MRQ2 soon.

Other than the new 2nd age Glorantha book, are there any other "essentials" for a fairly basic Gloranthan game?

I imagine there's a Cult book as well?

What about dragon magic stuff's ?


Cheers!

 

[ThatGuy]

The "Cults of Glorantha" book is a must. And not just for Glorantha if you ask me. You can find a blue print in that book for just about any Cult you want to make.

There is also "Pavis Rises," "The Abiding Book," and "Races of Glorantha," which makes for 5 Glorantha centric books (including the Glorantha core book)

Where your adventure is taking place and who is involved would dictate which books are must haves, I would think.

Some of the other posters on this forum are more informed on this than myself. Soltakiss, Phil Hibbs, and Lord High Munchkin come to mind.

Edit: And of course Loz & Pete!

 

[weasel_fierce]

This will probably be a fairly straight forward Dragon pass romp.
So mostly I just need whatever stuff covers the Orlanthi cults, and any special options for them with regard to professions and such.

Or maybe a re-run of an old 3rd edition duck campaign we did

 

[Deleriad]

Pretty much all you need is the core Glorantha book and Cults of Glorantha.

The core book includes character generation and EWF magic as well as background.

Cults book gives you all the cults you'll ever need.

 

[Richard]

If your looking for an Orlanthi campaign 'Blood of Orlanth' fits the bill (Not in Dragon Pass though but easy enough to move). Pavis Rises is good sandbox material. Dara Happa Stirs isn't much use (unless you just want a good gaming read or you are running a party of rebellious Dara Happans in which case it is excellent! ).

 

[weasel_fierce]

Pretty much all you need is the core Glorantha book and Cults of Glorantha.

The core book includes character generation and EWF magic as well as background.

Cults book gives you all the cults you'll ever need.

Thanks!

To everyone as well

 

[danskmacabre]

So for a starting GM for Glorantha, if I just want to run some adventures, nothing fancy to start out with, which book/s for MRQ2 should I buy?

 

[Deleriad]

So for a starting GM for Glorantha, if I just want to run some adventures, nothing fancy to start out with, which book/s for MRQ2 should I buy?

Glorantha core book and Cults. Assuming you already have RQ and Monster Coliseum then you have all the tools you'll need. Don't forget that Signs & Portents has free adventures in it and that Living Glorantha as three free scenarios too.

Of the other books: Races is useful if your players want to play trolls, ducks or dragonewts.

Pavis Rises is useful for the obvious.

The Abiding Book goes into very fine detail about the Middle Sea Empire.

 

[danskmacabre]

if your players want to play trolls, ducks or dragonewts.

Possibly a purchase for later if it works out.

Pavis Rises is useful for the obvious.

Not obvious to me what's it about?

The Abiding Book goes into very fine detail about the Middle Sea Empire.

So like a detailed sourcebook then..

 

[Richard]

To start out (No frills just getting stuck in with maximum action and adventuring value...)

* The RQ2 rules of course.

2nd Age
*Glorantha 2nd Age Core rulebook
* Cults of Glorantha
*Blood of Orlanth (Adventures/Campaign, You may want to run a few Signs and Portents one off adventures before this to get into the swing and give players some experience)
*Pavis Rises (Adventures/Campaign)
* The Abiding Book (IF you've kicked off and you find that the Middle Sea Empire is going to play a central role in your game).

3rd Age (I honestly don't think the conversion is that big a problem)
* Get the spectacular 4 Moon design volumes - Cults of Glorantha, Pavis and the Big Rubble, Gryphon Mountain and Borderlands. Awesome value.

 

[Deleriad]

Pavis Rises is useful for the obvious.

Not obvious to me what's it about?

It's a source book with a series of adventures set in and around Pavis in the second age. If you wanted to run scenarios there then it's unmissable, otherwise it is useful background but hardly obligatory.

Blood of Orlanth is mentioned. It's a good starting campaign but it is for the previous edition of the game and it looks like it might be out of print as I didn't notice it in the online store last time I looked.

 

[danskmacabre]

So what's this 2nd age and 3rd age all about then?
Is it different eras in the Glorantha world?

How are they different from each other?

 

[weasel_fierce]

So what's this 2nd age and 3rd age all about then?
Is it different eras in the Glorantha world?

How are they different from each other?

yeah, they are different historical periods basically.

The 2nd age is more epic I suppose you could say. Two great empires in conflict, both trying to reshape the world to their views. 3rd age is one empire in conflict with those it is absorbing. A bit more localized. Maybe a bit more grey scale too (the lunars aren't all inherently evil, just like the orlanthi aren't all inherently right)

 

[Loz]

Glorantha has several ages.

The Second Age is also known as the Imperial Age: it sees the God Learner Empire and Empire of the Wyrms' Friends vying for control of the world on both mythic and mystical levels. Their actions lead to a massive correction by fate which wipes out both and heralds the Third Age.

The Third Age is known as the Hero Wars. It sees Chaos begin to reassert itself and a new god (the Red Goddess) being born. An empire arises around the Red Goddess's worship and the Lunar Empire seeks to dominate the barbarian Orlanthi with new magic and religious practices.

The two ages share much in common but there are many differences. Sorcery is more common in the Second Age as it is practiced by the God Learners. In the Third Age, as people return to the old, traditional gods, Divine Magic tends to come more to the fore.

Its pretty complex to summarize; lots of depth to both ages.

 

[Ultor]

I run a Third Age campaign, which a few new players are joining. They asked me the difference between the ages and I could do no better than quote Deleriad from a previous post:

My personal view of Third Age Glorantha is that it's somewhat like, what if the Romans had discovered nuclear bombs while the Greeks had dabbled in Lovecraftian science. The two empires had then both imploded and taken large chunks of the landscape with them and only the fundamentalists who had refused to have anything to do with either, had survived into a "new dark age." Only now, some more fools with more brain than sense had managed to hurl a portion of the planet into space in order to make a moon. To me, that's the backdrop.

In other words, the God Learners and the EWF caused massive disasters. Most of the God Learner lands - Jrustela, Seshnela, Slontos, large parts of Kralorela - disappeared into the sea and ocean travel was impossible until about 50 years ago. Every human in the EWF (except in outlying areas like Pavis) got eaten by Dragons. It took a long time for people to recover, and those who clung to tradition survived best. In the meantime, the Lunar Empire arose and used their strange magics to take over the land of Dara Happa, traditionally the lands of the Solar Pantheon, and have been conquering ever since. The traditionalists believe they are making the same mistakes as their imperial predecessors.

In other areas, there are other disturbances, but they haven't been well chronicled yet. The Kingdom of War has arisen in Fronela, killing all it encounters. In Ralios, Arkat has returned - five of him. In Seshnela, Church and State are united against the people. Chaos is surging out of the Wastes, the Elder Races are unleashing their own projects and some really weird things are happening in the East. I have no idea what's happening in Pamaltela...