The Uncomfortable Topic of Broos

[RippedShirtKirk]

Let’s not beat around the bush here: Broos are, by their very nature, rapists. This can be a very tricky topic to handle in-game (even though they are usually portrayed as ‘mating’ with herd animals most of the time, based on their iconic imagery). How have you-or has it even come up-handled the subject of Broos in Glorantha? Has it ever caused you any trouble? Has the very nature of Thed ever caused an issue with your gaming group? How did you handle it? (I have a new player that’s joined the group, and they are having a rough time with the fact that Glorantha has a “race” that’s inextricably tied to rape-and I understand that this is a very sensitive subject, one that i want to treat as maturely as I possibly can. )

[Roman Kucinski]

I think a simple (and for me the best) way to handle such things in roleplaying is to show them but not live them.

As a gamemaster you should show their rapist habits. People fear them. Maybe your PC will encounter some broos doing the act !
Actually, it should be fair enough for each player to imagine what their characters are facing.

So it’s not necessary to let this happen to one of your PC. I would even recommand not to. Better not take the risk to have a player feeling badly around the table. This kind of thing is pretty insane. A lot more than every cubic meter of blood and guts you would throw to your players.

[Rudy]

We have had adventures where a gang of Broos have raided a farm, and it wasn’t pretty. In the end the party prevails, but they are too late to save the prisoners, and have to make some very tough decisions. It’s about as rough as a game can get, I guess. However, if it comes up, a PC will always get the option to fight to the death, rather than be subject to the Broos destructive lust. One of the PC’s developed a passionate hatred against Broos, and might charge them on sight – rarely the best option. But you cannot field Broos and then not mention their method of procreation, I feel.

[RippedShirtKirk]

Quote:

Quote from Rudy on September 10, 2013, 21:02
We have had adventures where a gang of Broos have raided a farm, and it wasn’t pretty. In the end the party prevails, but they are too late to save the prisoners, and have to make some very tough decisions. It’s about as rough as a game can get, I guess. However, if it comes up, a PC will always get the option to fight to the death, rather than be subject to the Broos destructive lust. One of the PC’s developed a passionate hatred against Broos, and might charge them on sight – rarely the best option. But you cannot field Broos and then not mention their method of procreation, I feel.

And their method of procreation is part-not all-of what makes them universally reviled and feared. Plus, to omit that portion of their nature, and for our Gloranthan purposes, the mythic source (i.e., Thed, and her unjust violation) of the Broos’ racial lusts, is to lessen them as an antagonist species. It’s never been an issue until now, but I have a new player who has some concerns..

[Scott Martin]

The lore is primordial but if it were me, I’d let the players guide me on what aspects of the world stay in the deep background and what makes it “on screen,” as it were. For example, broos are canonically horrible but that doesn’t necessarily mean that even among the Orlanthi their proclivities are a matter of public conversation — given the taboo nature of Other Brother, I would think they’d be even less eager to talk about these things than we are.

Nobody wants to be caught alive by broos. Those who know why don’t have to be told. Those who don’t know why may eventually find out, but until then all they need to know is that it’s a horrible fate just like being caught by scorpionmen is horrible. And depending on the game, your players may never be in a situation where this becomes a plot point, much less even meet broos at all. As long as the chaos they do encounter is horrible, there are plenty of flavors for the game master to choose from without making the players themselves uncomfortable enough to reduce Gloranthan Fun.

[Martin Helsdon]

Whilst it may not be entirely accurate, if you want to convey the horror of broo reproduction without going into graphic detail an out-of-game note about the real-world species of wasps that utilize spiders as living hosts for their larva, or a certain popular sci-fi xenomorph with a similar lifecycle might suffice. Not quite the same as Broo reproduction, but nasty enough.

If something is going to derail game play, then don’t show: have NPCs mention the many vile habits of broo but blanch at describing the fate of livestock. An NPC farmer noting how a certain Broo raider killed a few years ago resembled his lost livestock might suffice. And then I knew what had happened to my cow… And then refuses to say anything more.

[David Scott]

Everybody knows broos mate with other creatures to breed. As to who has witnessed this I would say few and far between. As to who has witnessed the birth of a broo, I’d say few and far between. I’m sure everyone knows a story about a friend of a friend that was caught by broos. They of course exploded giving birth alien style. I suspect most are just stories If your players have a lifestyle that exposes them to this – Storm Bulls for example then yes, but they should be aware of what they were up against. As Martin said

Quote:

if something is going to derail game play, then don’t show

The threat of broo horror in game is more useful than actual that actual broo horror. It’s up to you as a narrator to judge your group’s ability to deal with stuff. Not everyone wants to deal with the actual blow by blow nasty stuff – gloss over it. In this case don’t use an NPC to show how the monster works – you don’t have to do it. Not everyone wants to play in that kind of game.

[Rudy]

Quote:

Quote from Martin Helsdon on September 10, 2013, 22:28
Whilst it may not be entirely accurate, if you want to convey the horror of broo reproduction without going into graphic detail an out-of-game note about the real-world species of wasps that utilize spiders as living hosts for their larva, or a certain popular sci-fi xenomorph with a similar lifecycle might suffice. Not quite the same as Broo reproduction, but nasty enough.

If something is going to derail game play, then don’t show: have NPCs mention the many vile habits of broo but blanch at describing the fate of livestock. An NPC farmer noting how a certain Broo raider killed a few years ago resembled his lost livestock might suffice. And then I knew what had happened to my cow… And then refuses to say anything more.

Yup, that sounds like a sensible approach. I have had PC find still-living Broo victims, and made them decide what would be the humane thing to do. It did add drama, at least, and considerable discussion and dilemma for the party. But they’re not phased by it, it remains fiction after all, not worse than your average Alien film.

[Simon Phipp]

We generally show the results of broo mating, not the event itself. So, a broo bursts from the belly of a bison, Alien-style, and immediately scurries away, leaving the PCs to run to catch it or try to heal the bison. We also show broos sneaking up to the herd, for the PCs to run in and kill them before they can mate.

Where the victims are humans, or other intelligent races, the aftermath is especially poignant, particularly if the PCs do not have access to magics to kill the broo larva. The only options are to wait until nature takes its course and kill the broo/heal the victim, or kill both victim and broo beforehand, to save time (it’s a kindness really).

I did run a scenario where broos visibly mated with captured Uroxi lay members, but that was a diversion designed to draw off a Storm Bull contingent in an army. It was done tastefully and quickly, well as tastefully as possible under the circumstances.

[David Scott]

On the subject of healing the results of Broo birth and larval infestation, i’d say it’s rare. In the case of a herd animal, the trauma is going to be severe. Is healing even an option? As for killing the larva, not one is going to want to eat or drink anything from that beast, best let its spirit return to Eiritha’s womb and burn the tainted corpse. Storm Bulls would surely be in agreement with that.

As for people (npc), I’d say the same applies. Are you really going to do the alien 4 scenario with the guy saying “what’s going to happen to me”. With a hero, that’s going to be different, possibly a whole adventure to find a Chalana Arroy healer to help. The aftermath, if they survive is going to be worse than relife sickness. We’ve got a whole movie genre to draw on – chaos dreams, nightmares of your body exploding, fear of broos, and the fact you were raped…

[Erick Eckberg]

My players have encountered all sorts of broo-induced depravities, including the conundrum of what to do with “expectant” broo victims/prisoners. My players are some pretty “hard-bitten” cutomers (in real life), but none-the-less, I’m not running some perverted sideshow here. They all know what broo do, and hate them for it, and IF a player were ever in some inextricable situation where they were at the (un)mercy of broo, I would simply gloss over it; “Well guys, poor Harmast was captured by the broo, you can all imagine what happened next, ready to create a new character?”

[Erick Eckberg]

Also, Testament to Greg Stafford’s brilliance = Broo vs Orcs: “Orcs ain’t nuthin’, get a load of these bastards!”

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