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A humble request for Gloranthan consultation.


Nakana

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As I've stated elsewhere, I'm fairly new to BRP.

My aunt however, is not. She started playing RuneQuest in the 80's and with all my talk recently of BRP she is really starting to miss her adventures in Glorantha. I know that she would love to go back.

...and I would love to take her back.

Yet, there are a few problems. First, I've been building a world in my mind and on paper ever since I started playing D&D and while it would be great to do some Gloranthan adventures - I prefer to use my own world. (The solution that I have come up with is to link them in some fashion.)

Secondly, I know very little about Glorantha; have very little resources about Glorantha; and don't have months of time to read all the many books that I could find.

Here is where (hopefully) you guys come in. :)

I do have some information about the world and I've been going over them when I can. This also raises many questions lol.

I'm hoping that perhaps you will be able to answer some questions that I have, as well as provide me with other information of importance.

Questions:

1. Is there any possible way to travel to Glorantha (magically or otherwise?) It seems like I read somewhere only natural born citizens are able to travel to and from Glorantha.

2. Is the "Second Age" the same as the "Imperial Age"? If so, where can I find information specifically about the Modern/Current Age? (If the history of Glorantha has changed since the 80's I want to introduce her to the current Glorantha)

3. How do you pronounce "Genertela" and "Pamaltela"?

4. Is there any particular castle or landmark of renown throughout the lands? If so, can you tell me a little about it? (This is more about a way to describe to her character where she is (and having the player figure it out) without spelling it out.)

That's all I can think of as of right now.. I'm sure more will come in the next few weeks.

I hope noone finds my request too troublesome, and rather views it as an opportunity to introduce me to a world that has brought many people incredible joy throughout the years.

Thank you,

Nakana

BGB = BRP Gold. New book = BRP Platinum.  Stay metal. 

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1. Is there any possible way to travel to Glorantha (magically or otherwise?)

As Dementos Yossarian, late of the Imperial Scout Service, will tell you it's perfectly possible if you mis-jump your Type-S Scout/Courier and perform an emergency landing in Skyfall Lake. Getting out again is the tricky bit.

As Greg is fond of saying, Your Glorantha May Vary - just go with whatever story works, the more mystical the better. A word of warning, though - it can be tricky running a game with players who know more about Glorantha than you do.

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Gods have dropped out of the sky quite a few times in Glorantha so I don't see why you couldn't drop some players out of the sky too.

Second Age is all Mongoose stuff, old RQ is all Third Age (which is probably what your aunt played in). If you said it was Second Age she would understand some of the concepts but would be totally in the dark about the detail. I don't know what 'Imperial Age' is...

Genertela - gener... as in generator, ...tela as in teller?

Pamaltela - pam, al, teller?

There are lots of significant landmarks. Look for Delecti's Marsh, Snake Pipe Hollow, Apple Lane, Kero Fin. Snake Pipe Hollow and Apple Lane are also two very fine RQ3 adventures. Your aunt may well know them, so you could look for something called Return to Apple Lane. Moondesign have it (will require work to translate i suppose though ) here it's free!.

Troublesome Trollkin are always welcome :)

Edited by MrJealousy

Mr Jealousy has returned to reality!

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1. Is there any possible way to travel to Glorantha (magically or otherwise?)

Any way you can imagine and describe in a way which does not ruin your players'

suspension of disbelief.

2. Is the "Second Age" the same as the "Imperial Age"?

Yes, the age of the Empires of the Godlearners and the Wyrms Friends. It was on-

ly used in Mongoose publications, the original Chaosium publications used the much

later Third Age.

3. How do you pronounce "Genertela" and "Pamaltela"?

The way I pronounce them is probably different from the way an English speaker

does pronounce them, so I pass on this one.

4. Is there any particular castle or landmark of renown throughout the lands?

The easiest one to describe would probably be The Block, a huge piece of rock with

the devil trapped under it (or so they say ...). Unfortunately it is in a wilderness re-

gion and guarded by a cult of berserkers, so perhaps not a perfect place to enter

Glorantha.

Thinking about your overall problem, running a game for someone who potantially

knows the setting better than you do, I remembered a method I used with several

well known settings: The setting is in a parallel universe, and therefore very similar

to the original one, but not identical. There are major and minor differences, so the

players' knowledge about the original setting may be partially wrong - and the refe-

ree can surprise players who thought that they knew all about the setting.

"Mind like parachute, function only when open."

(Charlie Chan)

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First and foremost, above all else.. I want to say thank you! Perhaps nowhere on the internet will I find such a community that adheres to courtesy and respect, and promotes encouragement and growth like I find here at BRPC. Just about any other forum, all I see is people quick to reply with snide comments and that "I'm too cool to care" attitude. I'm absolutely loving these forums, and you all have my gratitude!

A word of warning, though - it can be tricky running a game with players who know more about Glorantha than you do.

Thinking about your overall problem, running a game for someone who potantially

knows the setting better than you do, I remembered a method I used with several

well known settings: The setting is in a parallel universe, and therefore very similar

to the original one, but not identical. There are major and minor differences, so the

players' knowledge about the original setting may be partially wrong - and the refe-

ree can surprise players who thought that they knew all about the setting.

I completely agree, and have even brought that point up with her, however, she absolutely does not like GM'ing.

That's why I want to focus on the current Modern Age of Glorantha (I secretly checked and the RQ she played was the Avalon Hill edition/version?) but with the modern age, any discrepancies can be explained by the passing of time and things changing. From what I'm learning of Glorantha, that explanation could be completely feasible. So while it IS Glorantha, it doesn't have to be exactly the way she remembers it. ;)

Mr. Jealousy - Thank you! Not only for the help in pronunciation, but also for the scenario!

If the original publications were based in the Third Age (most likely what she played) then I definitely want to focus on many years later than that. So basically I don't want to spend a lot of time researching the Second Age stuff. Correct?

As far as the method of traveling to Glorantha, here is what I'm coming up with:

After several adventures in my world breaking the characters in (and all the stories are connected) it leads the characters on a quest based around the "Book of Creation". Now a focal point here is to alter a mortal's understanding of what a "book" is. This is not a typical "book".

The "Book of Creation" is a magical crystalline and transparent cube, that is so perfect there are no seams. (It was perfectly cut out of a solid piece of crystal). On each of the 6 sides is a white glowing runic symbol.

---Fast forward to the final showdown--

In the seemingly final battle with the evil wizard (timeless cliche I know, but fun and it works), the wizard will cast a spell using the book that completely envelops her character with a vibrant blue mist and *poof* she disappears. (The other players are to try to finish the battle with the wizard and will find out afterwards that her character is not dead but transported to another place - quest lead-in)

Her character wakes up in a clearing in a forest, begins to look around and sees [insert Gloranthan landmark here].

Once the other characters have discovered a ritual that will take them to Glorantha, they are reunited and will have a purpose in Glorantha (possibly using the Return to Apple Lane scenario MrJealousy provided). After that quest, when it is time for the players to go home, I suspect her character will chose to stay in Glorantha; I'm thinking of how to tie her character in some significant way to Glorantha. (Perhaps she was the lost [insert significant person of Glorantha here] that was stolen as a baby and had no memory???)(Or even maybe a "lost goddess"??)

This is just a quick rough draft/summary of what I'm thinking. Please feel free to critique/contribute as you see fit. (In other words if for some reason it doesn't work, please tell me and why)

I know it's another wall of text, but I get excited about it and start to type/ramble. lol.

BGB = BRP Gold. New book = BRP Platinum.  Stay metal. 

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If the original publications were based in the Third Age (most likely what she played) then I definitely want to focus on many years later than that. So basically I don't want to spend a lot of time researching the Second Age stuff. Correct?

Yep, you can ignore the Second Age completely, it will be a distant and mostly forgotten

past. However, you could run into the problem that there is very little material about Glo-

rantha many years after the Third Age, which means that you will probably have to adapt

Third Age material to your setting's point in time. On the other hand, with little official ma-

terial in the way you can freely create your own version of Glorantha. Have fun with it. ;)

"Mind like parachute, function only when open."

(Charlie Chan)

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1. Is there any possible way to travel to Glorantha (magically or otherwise?) It seems like I read somewhere only natural born citizens are able to travel to and from Glorantha.

Beings come from the other planes to Glorantha all the while, so I don't see why someone can't burst through from another plane/world.

There might be a bit of a culture shock because of the different races and the way that gods are worshipped, but at the end of the day it's just a fantasy setting.

Simon Phipp - Caldmore Chameleon - Wallowing in my elitism since 1982. Many Systems, One Family. Just a fanboy. 

www.soltakss.com/index.html

Jonstown Compendium author. Find my contributions here

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To everyone,

Thank you all so much for the great advice! You have no doubt saved me a ton of time by knowing now what not to read and where to focus.

I am looking forward to immersing myself with Gloranthan lore over the next few weeks.

Cheers,

- Nakana

BGB = BRP Gold. New book = BRP Platinum.  Stay metal. 

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  • 4 months later...

Not quite thread-necromancy... but at least Rune-level healing! ;)

To everyone,

Thank you all so much for the great advice! You have no doubt saved me a ton of time by knowing now what not to read and where to focus.

I am looking forward to immersing myself with Gloranthan lore over the next few weeks.

Cheers,

- Nakana

So... any word? How'd it go / how's it going?

Wish I had noticed this thread before!

C'es ne pas un .sig

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Hi guys,

While Your Glorantha Will Vary (YGWV), Genert, the destroyed god, is pronounced GEN-ert, the first G is like the G in Guru. It is not a J sound.

Pamaltela has no "R" sound at the end. It is Pam-alt-ell-uh.

ps: I am not trying to be picky. Please pronounce it any way you want in your campaign, but we at Moon Design stick with how Greg says them.

Edited by rmeints

Hope that Helps,
Rick Meints - Chaosium, Inc.

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While Your Glorantha Will Vary (YGWV), Genert, the destroyed god, is pronounced GEN-ert, the first G is like the G in Guru. It is not a J sound.

Which nicely avoids the amusingly-sounding Genertela.

Simon Phipp - Caldmore Chameleon - Wallowing in my elitism since 1982. Many Systems, One Family. Just a fanboy. 

www.soltakss.com/index.html

Jonstown Compendium author. Find my contributions here

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Yep, I was mightily surprised with this, having mispronounced the word since the '80s. For the sake of not wanting ridicule from my troupe, I'm gonna keep pronouncing it with the 'J' sound as well ;t)

" Sure it's fun, but it is also well known that a D20 roll and an AC is no match against a hefty swing of a D100% and a D20 Hit Location Table!"

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Yep, I was mightily surprised with this, having mispronounced the word since the '80s. For the sake of not wanting ridicule from my troupe, I'm gonna keep pronouncing it with the 'J' sound as well ;t)

That's the way we pronounce it in the Empire. Only those Orlanthi rascals and their animal-loving friends in the Wastes use the hard "G". And they even pretend that it is the correct pronounciation, based on their alleged descent from the god himself.

Proud member of the Evil CompetitionTM

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And how do they pronounce it in Kralorela :P ? I think this is the point: there should be as many ways to pronounce "Genertela" throughtout Glorantha as there are cultures. Think about all the was to pronounce or call Jesus. Or Zeus Pater / Jupiter.

Wind on the Steppes, role playing among the steppe Nomads. The  running campaign and the blog

 

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