Official Answers from Chaosium
- RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha Quickstart – Q&A
- RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha – Q&A by Chapter
- RuneQuest Gamemaster Screen Pack – Q&A
- RuneQuest Glorantha Bestiary – Q&A
- The Red Book of Magic – Q&A
- The Smoking Ruin & Other Stories – Q&A
- Pegasus Plateau & Other Stories – Q&A
- RuneQuest Starter Set – Q&A by Book
- Weapons & Equipment – Q&A
- The Prosopaedia – Q&A
- The Lightbringers – Q&A
- Earth Goddesses – Q&A
- Mythology – Q&A
- The Lunar Way – Q&A
- The Glorantha Sourcebook – Q&A
- Dragon Pass – Q&A
- The Gods of Fire and Sky – Q&A
Chalana Arroy
Healer, Requirements to Belong
The first sentence appears to mean that for an Initiate the oath is less restrictive in terms of never to harm an intelligent creature” than for a Lay Member at the top of the same page (“never to harm a living creature”). Is this intentional?
Becoming an initiate doesn’t remove any of the obligations of being a lay member, unless specifically noted.
Warding Rune spell and the Chalana Arroy cult
Corrections
Lightbringers page 43 tells that Chalana Arroy is allowed all common Rune magic spells.
RQG page 290 tells that Chalana Arroy is allowed all common except Warding.
I suspect that Lightbringers needs correcting as Warding would cause damage.
There are two separate errors here.
RQG is correct, but the Rune spell list from associates is incorrect. Issaries provides Create Neutral Ground. This is the non-damaging version of Warding.
Lightbringers page 43, should have Warding called out as not available. The replacement from Issaries, Create Neutral Ground is correct on page 47.
I have corrected Rune Magic by Cult and Associate Cult too.
Daka Fal
Shaman-Priests (Rune Priest) – Requirements for Acceptance
How many taboos and gifts can a DF shaman get in his struggle with an ancestor?
Treat the whole process as RQG pages 384 to 355. The differences are:
Stage 1
- They create their own Axis Mundi (they need to have the Rune spell)
- The Greater Entity is Daka Fal
Stage 2
- As written
- Note that the POW sacrificed reduces magic points. Dropping below 17 affects the Magic Category modifier. It is usual for a shaman to have at least 19 points of POW, as if they qualify they won’t be below the 18 required to be a priest.
Stage 3
- The shaman’s fetch is not awoken here. See Stage 5
- Stage 4
- Replace Bad Man with an ancestor.
- If the ancestor wins a round (shaman loses magic points), the player must choose a taboo from the Taboo table.
- If the shaman wins a round (ancestor loses magic points), they gain a single shamanic ability.
- The contest ends when one combatant reaches zero magic points.
Stage 5
- First, the shaman’s fetch is awoken here as Stage 3.
- The shaman gets a free shamanic ability, in addition to any others previously gained (as usual)
Note that if they have failed, they have lost the POW sacrificed, and must keep the taboos. They can of course try again next sacred time.
The number of taboos and gifts will depend on the number of rounds required for the spirit combat to end, plus one free shamanic ability in step 5. Per LB 85, the weakest spirit can have as little as 7 POW (35% Spirit combat) and the strongest 36 POW (180% Spirit combat) – more powerful than Bad Man!
While a potential shaman-priest of Daka Fal only needs Spiritspeech at 90%, plus the usual priest requirements, they would be advised to get their spirit combat up to 90% too, plus Spirit Dance. Remember they should be an assistant shaman before attempting this (to access the training).
Sample Ancestor Cults
Rune Spells
Do the example ancestor cults give access to all of Daka Fal’s rune spells?
Yes, they are Daka Fal with the name changed, and additional background and associations.
or do they only provide the one special spell in their description?
No.
Foundchild
Rune Magic – Beastmaster and Draw Beast
Two of Foundchild’s special rune spells, Beastmaster and Draw Beast, do not share a rune affinity with him – his runes are Death and Harmony, while both of them are Beast only. Is this intentional?
Yes. This reflects that the hunter in order to understand their prey more needs to become the hunted (like the unfortunate Actaeon). Foundchild hunters need to increase their beast over man (unlike Yinkin & Odayla hunters who’s gods are beasts). However it’s not really an issue as Man/Beast starts at 50/50.
Lanbril
Requirements to Belong
Correction
Full Priests receive the usual allied spirit, carried as per Master Thieves.
They are not limited to DEX×5 limit in Manipulation skills but may increase as high as they wish. Also, they do receive an increased POW gain roll.
Note the last sentence is redundant as all priests receive an increased POW gain roll.
Master Thief (Rune Lord)
Clarification of requirements
A potential Master Thief must be an initiate and be a master (90%) of five skills taught by the cult:
Per Lay member skills, page 113:
- Act, Climb, Conceal, Devise, Evaluate, Fast Talk, Hide, Jump, Listen, Move Quietly, Sleight, Scan, and Search.
- Dagger, Shortsword
- Feign Death, Foil Restraints, Shadowing, Streetwise, Voice Mimicry, and the cult language of Thieves’ Argot.
Rune Priest
Clarification of requirements
Why 15 rune points, the usual requirement is just 5.
This is because Rune Priests of Lanbril serve as the ring’s bosses and leaders. Each Priest oversees a different ring. This means that there are effectively only High priests. So:
Under RQG 282, Chief and High Priests. The criteria for becoming a High priests is 15 Rune points.
However.
In Mythology 148, Chief and High Priests. The 15 Rune points criteria for becoming a Chief/High priests was removed.
Keep the 15 Rune points criteria to become a Rune priest of Lanbril. This keeps the bar high for setting up successful rings.
Magic Chirper and Farsee
This says that Farsee is often cast on the box, yet the RBM description for Farsee only mentions the caster being affected by the spell, and it is tagged as a Ranged spell.
The range of a spirit magic spell is given in the spell description. It defines the maximum distance from the caster at which the spell’s effects can occur.
RBM, Range, page 108
So in the case of a Magic Chirper, the spell’s effects occur on the chirper.
Humakt
Initiates and Bladesharp 4
Can Humakt initiates begin (or can begin) the game with Bladesharp-4?
Yes if they use 4 of their 5 slots of Spirit Magic.
Note that free of cost doesn’t mean it’s in addition to the five points of starting spirit magic. It will take up four of the five points of starting spirit magic (as will fireblade). Note that in the Initiates of Humakt box in Lightbringers, page 109, it is listed as Bladesharp (var.) not Bladesharp 4.
However, it would stand to reason that a standard, 21-year-old, starting character, would have been initiated more than one year prior to entering play. Are we meant to understand that the character does not begin with Bladesharp-4 but can acquire it at any time, or they can acquire it after one year of game time, or they can begin play with it if they were initiated more than one year prior (which seems almost surely to have been the case), or something else
Note that my players quickly realised that Bladesharp 4 costs 500L to buy in game, so getting any of the other 50L/point variable spells at 4 would save them 500L by getting Bladesharp 4 for free later.
Beginning with Bladesharp-4 in addition to other spirit magic means Humakti will begin with almost as much spirit magic as a shaman’s apprentice, which doesn’t seem right.
see above.
However, the rules as written don’t make the situation explicit (unlike, for example, the fact that Ernalda initiates get Ignite for free in addition to other spirit magic.) Ruling that a Humakti doesn’t begin with 5 points of other cult spirit magic plus 4 points of Bladesharp is likely to cause bad feelings in my game, so I would like to have firm backing from the rules corrections if I make that decision
Note that with Ignite, in the Initiates of Ernalda box, in Earth Goddesses, page 26, it specifically states that it doesn’t count against their 5 points of starting cult spirit magic, and that this equivalent text is not in the Initiates of Humakt box.
Gift 14 – Immune to Demoralize spell and Ghouls
With the Gift : Immune to Demoralize spell. Does it prevent you being demoralized by Ghouls (Bestiary p.98) ?
- LB 105: Immune to Demoralize spell
- RQB 98: If a victim is overcome, they are Demoralized as per the spirit magic spell.
Yes.
Gift 14 – Immune to all Fear effects (including magic and Passions)
Can you give some examples regarding the new gift n°14: Immune to all Fear effects (including magic and Passions)
It works on physical and magical fear effects – look if they contain fear in their description.
eg, Rune spells: Fear, and Elemental Fear and Pantophobia in Madness.
Any Fear passion (so no Fear (Dragons))
From the Bestiary, eg
- Satyr’s Madness
- Kyger Litor’s fear spirits and their possession
- Fearshock
- The glare of Urgan
Does this Gift works like a permanent Rune Spell Fearless RBM 51 ?
Nearly. Except Demoralize and the Madness sections, which do not contain the word – fear, not fears in this context.
Does that also mean that this gift include gift 13 ?
No.
Mastakos
Mastakos Holy Days
It says Mastakos holy days correspond to the holy days of the dominant cult. I take it that where the shrine is in an Orlanth temple,
Shrines are found in great temples of Orlanth and Magasta.
Orlanth is dominant and where in a Magasta temple, Magasta is dominant.
If there is a great temple yes. It’s possible that there are great temples to both in a region and that they both have a Mastakos shrine. There will likely be some kind of cultural divide as to which temple a Mastakos worshipper attends.
Does this mean that in Orlanth areas, Mastakos gets a minor holy day every Windsday?
No, in these great temples, associate cults can’t receive any Rune points on minor holy days (per RQG 315).
What about a transition to an area in which neither Orlanth nor Magasta is a dominant cult, like Caladraland?
Caladraland has no major Magasta worship see Mythology 152.
Does Mastakos take the holy days of Caladra & Orelion or Lodril instead?
No in this case it would be Orlanth.
The only area with any crossover would be the humans in the Right Arm Islands where Magasta has 2% of worshippers and Orlanth 10%. IIRC Magasta only has minor temples here, so again Mastakos would be worshiped in an Orlanth great temple.
An underwater offshore Merfolk great temple to Magasta would have a Mastakos shrine in it. It’s worth noting that Magasta is too terrible to be worshiped by many land-dwellers, although a few sea-going peoples maintain minor temples to him.
Odayla
What are the Bearwalker (Rune Lord) Benefits?
Always use the Rune Lords section (RQG 278 or Mythology 146) unless contradicted or changed by the cult write up. The same applies for other cult ranks.
Orlanth
Orlanth Dual Initiation with Eurmal
Can an adventurer be an Orlanth runelord and a Eurmal initiate at the same time? Is that something totally possible lore-wise and cult-wise or an aberration?
Yes it’s not forbidden in the rules. But note:
- the adventurer must have one of Orlanth’s runes at 90% and one of Eurmal’s at 50%.
- the adventurer effectively has no spare time – 90% is devoted as a Rune lord and 10% as an initiate
- the adventurer effectively has no income – 90% is devoted as a Rune lord and 10% as an initiate (but is supported as a Rune lord)
- The adventurer will be limited to the local subcults of Eurmal. For example in Sartar to Dismembered, Frightener, Fool, Lightbringer, Thief, or Shapechanger (see Eurmal Temple and Shrines), and shrines give the all of the subcults Rune spells not just the usual one. Some of the subcults may be at odds with honourable behaviour of a Wind Lord.
The role-playing hooks are endless. The adventurer is clearly under the orders of the local Clown priest too…
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Page Last updated: 2026-06-02 15:21:26