[Glorantha] Re: Glorantha Digest, Vol 12, Issue 453

In message <771978fc0611150508u4d6fc0b3j27ff000a3ba0898a@mail.gmail.com> Roger writes:
>Donald:
>
>Just where are these cults defined in HQ, the Hero's Book or ILH1?
>> There's a sample character for Irippi Ontor in the Hero's Book
>> but that's all.
>
>Not true - HB gives full character sheets including lists of feats for YT,
>D, and IO - which gives you all the info you would get in a full theist
>keyword if you are willing to do a little reverse engineering.

Well yes, if you include brief lists intended to give an idea of what a particular cult can do. They certainly aren't proper definitions of the cult magic.

>So ILH2 contradicts not only HQ, HB and ILH1 but itself.
>
>You can handwave it all away as down to the wonderful multivariousness of
>the Lunar Way (in fact what other choice do we have?) but to me it looks
>rather like a last minute change added without thinking through all of the
>implications.

I won't dispute that the concept of Lunar magic has changed between the release of HQ and ILH2. Indeed there were changes between HQ and ILH1. However that's a consequence of people investigating and discussing ideas as they filled them out. I doubt if there is any world (not even the real one) where more study of something doesn't cause the student to change their view.

I don't think the mixed magic change was last minute at all. It appears in ILH1 with the Seven Mothers cults having a mixture of feats and charms although the idea that most Lunar cults use multiple types is new. More likely the couple of discrepancies you point out are a failure to cross check every possible part. If you've ever written anything major you'd know how easy it is for that to happen. With multiple contributors it must be ten times worse.

It might be nice for us to be able to work with a complete and unchanging understanding of Glorantha but it's never happened and I doubt it ever will.

-- 
Donald Oddy
http://www.grove.demon.co.uk/