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Questions from a Michigan noob

Submitted by bludwig on Thu, 13/09/2012 – 00:11

Glorantha Discussions

So I’ve recently discovered the world of Glorantha and I’ve fallen in love with it. I’m particularly interested in Stafford’s material, so I’m trying to get involved in HeroQuest instead of the Mongoose Second Age material.What I really love about it are its integration of mythological concepts and emphasis on character, a real rarity these days. Stafford’s shamanic background really comes through in many of the ideas. As a mythology teacher, it’s really pure gold!A few important questions:1) I’m starting to get familiar with a few of the cultures and religions of the setting through the wiki and various internet readings. It seems that a lot of people (myself included!) are fans of the Orlanthi worldview. Besides them, which are the most popular/successful cultures to actually play for an extended period? What constitutes the ‘majority’ PC choices?2) Is any of the Mongoose stuff really worth getting? I don’t want to stray too far from the original vision put forth by Greg and Friends, but in all honesty, there’s a lot of Second Age stuff out there that’s readily available and cheap. Should I ignore it completely, or is there a book or two in all that mess (which doesn’t impinge on the books Issaries/Moon Design has come out with/will come out with in the near future) which is really worth getting?3) I see that I can buy the HeroQuest core rulebook here, but what about the HeroQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha book? I’ve encountered that elsewhere, such as on Amazon and E-bay. How does it differ from the core rulebook, should I buy it, and why isn’t it sold here?4) I’d like to get some of the value packs, but I don’t understand how they work. There’s a price up top, but does that reflect the price no matter which options (pdf vs. physical copy) I choose? I assume by ‘value pack’ I’m meant to be saving some money, but I don’t get how the savings work.5) I’m extremely excited about the Guide to Glorantha book coming out, but I haven’t been able to find a release date. What’s the current guess on the release date?6) I live very close to Ann Arbor, where Moon Design is based. Are there any local shops where I can buy the books directly, without waiting for them to come in the mail? More importantly, is there a way to find players so I can actually play? Will anyone from the company be at U-Con, Ann Arbor’s yearly game convention? In short: how does one find a game?Thanks for your time!
‹ Contributions for Hearts in Glorantha issue 6 sought!
Hearts in Glorantha issue 5 now out ›

1. Popular: Praxian, Lunar.

Submitted by roko_joko on Mon, 17/09/2012 – 06:11.

1. Popular: Praxian, Lunar.  Successful: who knows, probably any.3. HQ 1 is awesome.6. Try meetup and forum.rpg.net.  Also, consider play by Skype/etc.

Thanks for taking the time to

Submitted by bludwig on Sun, 23/09/2012 – 21:04.

Thanks for taking the time to answer! Re: #6, I had already tried meetup, with no luck, but as for forum.rpg.net, I can’t figure out how to find a game through it. It’s huge (one of the largest forums on the net), has no search feature(!), and even after trying very hard I just don’t know how to use it. Do you have any tips? As far as playing by Skype goes, I’m more than willing to do that… way of the future, really… but how does one find a play-by-Skype game?

forum.rpg.net; Skype

Submitted by roko_joko on Sun, 23/09/2012 – 22:51.

forum.rpg.net:post in Gaming Gatherings http://forum.rpg.net/forumdisplay.php?21-Gaming-Gatheringsuse the search tool under the Search Forum linktry googling site:forum.rpg.net heroquest miI think there are other places online to look for players, and if you’re willing to do Skype that’s more likely to work.  I don’t have any specific suggestions though.

> So I’ve recently

Submitted by soltakss on Sun, 16/09/2012 – 11:36.

> So I’ve recently discovered the world of Glorantha and I’ve fallen in love with it.Good news, welcome aboard.> I’m particularly interested in Stafford’s material, so I’m trying to get involved in HeroQuest instead of the Mongoose> Second Age material.Don’t write off the Mongoose material completely. Some of it is flawed, but there is a lot of useful material there. > 1) I’m starting to get familiar with a few of the cultures and religions of the setting through the wiki and various> internet readings. It seems that a lot of people (myself included!) are fans of the Orlanthi worldview. Besides them,> which are the most popular/successful cultures to actually play for an extended period? What constitutes the ‘majority’> PC choices?RQ2 had a lot of Orlanthi, as did Hero Wars. However, there are now so many sample backgrounds that Orlanthi is just one of a multitude of choices. > 2) Is any of the Mongoose stuff really worth getting? I don’t want to stray too far from the original vision put forth by> Greg and Friends, but in all honesty, there’s a lot of Second Age stuff out there that’s readily available and cheap. Should> I ignore it completely, or is there a book or two in all that mess (which doesn’t impinge on the books Issaries/Moon> Design has come out with/will come out with in the near future) which is really worth getting?I would buy all of the bundles that are available, as they are all useful for gaming. A lot has been said about how Mongoose material is not canonical, but it is as good as it could have been, given the circumstances.Sure, the new HQ works are canonical by definition, but who is to say that someone else won’t take over Gloranthan Publication and a#say in ten years time that Moon Design’s material wasn’t canonical? Simon Phipp – Wallowing in my elitism since 1982.

>1) I’m starting to get

Submitted by Jeff on Sun, 16/09/2012 – 05:17.

>1) I’m starting to get familiar with a few of the cultures and religions of the setting through the wiki and various internet readings. It seems that a lot of people (myself included!) are fans of the Orlanthi worldview. Besides them, which are the most popular/successful cultures to actually play for an extended period? What constitutes the ‘majority’ PC choices?
The Orlanthi is the most popular PC culture, although probably Praxian is second. The Guide provides significant background material on the Eight Major Cultures: Hsunchen, Doraddi, Praxian, Orlanthi, Pelorian, Fonritan, Western, and Kralorelan.
>2) Is any of the Mongoose stuff really worth getting? I don’t want to stray too far from the original vision put forth by Greg and Friends, but in all honesty, there’s a lot of Second Age stuff out there that’s readily available and cheap. Should I ignore it completely, or is there a book or two in all that mess (which doesn’t impinge on the books Issaries/Moon Design has come out with/will come out with in the near future) which is really worth getting?
Dara Happa Stirs is a great RuneQuest campaign. Beyond that, none of the Mongoose material is particularly canonical – especially anything dealing with the EWF or the God Learners.
>3) I see that I can buy the HeroQuest core rulebook here, but what about the HeroQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha book? I’ve encountered that elsewhere, such as on Amazon and E-bay.
That’s the old HQ1 rules system which has been superceded by HQ2. And we think the Guide will be far far far better of an overview of Glorantha than it.
>5) I’m extremely excited about the Guide to Glorantha book coming out, but I haven’t been able to find a release date. What’s the current guess on the release date?
November-December.
>6) I live very close to Ann Arbor, where Moon Design is based. Are there any local shops where I can buy the books directly, without waiting for them to come in the mail? More importantly, is there a way to find players so I can actually play? Will anyone from the company be at U-Con, Ann Arbor’s yearly game convention? In short: how does one find a game?
Good question: Rick – do you have an answer?Editor-in-Chief, Moon Design Publications

Any word?

Submitted by bludwig on Sun, 23/09/2012 – 21:15.

Any response from Rick on this one yet? The U-Con game list is out and I don’t see anything on it relating to the game, which surprised me… I thought that you would certainly want to take the opportunity to promote the game in your own backyard!Glorantha seems to have a ‘cult’ following, which would make this board a pretty good way to get a group together. With the advent of Skype, a fairly good group could probably be pulled together just via forum post. Has anyone done that? In short, I’m still wondering how to actually find a game, and am hoping that since I’m so close Ann Arbor, you might even know some kind of local opportunity to play.I’ve bought the books from the site, received them yesterday and am reading them with relish. Thanks for your help.

be brave – be Orlanthi !

Submitted by RoM on Thu, 13/09/2012 – 16:03.

In Glorantha you can play a character from basically any background. Over the years a lot of official and fan material on various cultures had been published. If you like you could play a Praxian nomad or an inhuman Troll. I hope that the upcoming Guide to Glorantha will provide even more information on remote regions and obscure cults. If you want to use the new Moon Design publications (what I strongly encourage) there are already many options where to start. You could run an Orlanthi series in Sartar. You could also start in the city of Pavis and play Yelmalio worshippers, Lunar soldiers or settlers, riverfolk from the Zola Fel or old Pavisite people. Most of these characters can also be put together in a mixed adventurer group. You can ask you players what character concepts they prefer. If you wait until the Guide to Glorantha you will probably get a lot more options. However in the end it will probably come to the question if you want to play a brave, freedom loving, caring and strong character. Or if you want to go for a demon worshipping, pillaging sissy, who will eventually destroy the universe. CheersRobin

Value packs

Submitted by Charles on Thu, 13/09/2012 – 09:06.

I suggest that you add a value pack to the cart, choosing the options that you want. You will see a discount in price compared to buying the components individually.
I accept that the way the value packs work right now is not imensely transparent. It would be much nicer to show the discount as a percentage and show the discounted amount. However, improving that will require me to change the PHP code and I am worried that I would cause more issues than I would fix.

The Mongoose books are value

Submitted by metcalph on Thu, 13/09/2012 – 01:24.

The Mongoose books are value for money considering that you can get the pdfs for a dollar.  Some bits are good, some… not so good.  The problem is that Mongoose apparently liked to rush its products out the door as quickly as possible and the not-so-good bits are largely hastily written padding.  Dara Happa Stirs, Pavis Rises and the Abiding Book are probably the best of the lot.
Hero Quest Roleplaying in Glorantha is HQ version 1.0 whereas the current version of HQ is 2.0. The rules are more elaborate (even though they were streamlined and so forth from *its* predecessor Hero Wars: Roleplaying in Glorantha) and some of them don’t make much sense (concentration).  It’s still useful for some gloranthan colour and facts but I wouldn’t pick it up for that alone.
Who to play if not orlanthi characters?

Submitted by Herve on Thu, 13/09/2012 – 15:06.

Welcome to Glorantha, oh you Michigan Noob With A Cool Alias.
Everybody likes orlanthi : they are brave, they rebel against all odds, they can fly and throw lightning, their God is BadAss++ – he beat every other major power. He is married to the Most Beautiful and Bountiful Woman of the universe. His people fight the evil red chaotic bastard empire. What’s better than that ?
Everybody hates orlanthi: they are a noisy, smelly, loutish tribe of belligerant imbeciles who stubbornly cling to their outdated old ways. Their God broke the world and trashed every other pantheon, leaving a lot of bad memories and unsolved ritual feuds behind me. And he’s like the wind: blowing this way and that, and failing when you need him most.
Why not play as civilized lunars from the Splendid Heartlands, where Sophisticated Cities shine with a silver light under the Glorious Moon? Where you can search for Knowlege without any senseless taboos imposed on you by dull-witted elders?
Even better, why not play malkioni, people of the One God, possessors of the only True Magic: Wizardy ? They are students of Logic, they analyse the Cosmos and they alone understand its secrets.
And, in both cases, you can also play fearsome warriors from dreaded War Cults, out to remove any obstacle on the way of their Perfect Society.
Good luck in chosing!

Uz iz best.Eat

Submitted by boztakang on Thu, 13/09/2012 – 16:06.

Uz iz best.Eat Everything.Obey yer mother.Dont get sunburnt.*urp!*thas all.

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