Free Will and a last kick at objectivity

From: Bernuetz, Oliver: WPG (Bernuetz.Oliver@cbsc.ic.gc.ca)
Date: Wed 18 Jun 1997 - 01:16:44 EEST


I was thinking about this Free Will business and the gods and
how they are said to lack free will (whatever that is) which makes
them incapable of acting independently.

It occurred to me that perhaps a more palatable model to some (which
still has the same end results) is to say that their responsibilities
constrain them.

What I mean by this is that just like in the RW the more responsibilities
you have the less freedom you have to do whatever you want. For example
when I was in university and sponging off my parents I was pretty much

free to do whatever I wanted to and consequences be damned.
Now that I'm a married wageslave with two kids I have much less freedom
to do whatever I want. Of course this is a choice I've made.

The Queen of the U.K. is even more constrained in what she can do and
even say because of her responsibilities toward the realm and the
monarchy The pope is in a similar situation.

Of course you can point to all sorts of irresponsible leaders as counter
examples but perhaps they don't take their responsibilities seriously?

In Glorantha the gods may be constrained by the responsibilities they
feel towards their worshippers. They have so many individuals, nations,
elements, etc. to be responsible to that they are severely constrained
in what they can and cannot do.

Just to forestall one potential criticism. No, I'm not trying to defend the
Great Compromise. That would definitely be the Orlanthi's take on the

situation but not necessarily any other cultures.

What do people think?

On the subject of why you need any "objective" knowledge to run a campaign
what do you do in a situation where two cultures clash? It's crucial to
know what
each culture believes but I also want to know what happened in the past if
the two cultures have conflicting takes on the same story.

What I want to know "objectively" is what happened in the past, a rough
chronology of events. This would be especially useful if a party was

investigating
something and realized that something they had believed in was false.
 That's
MGF in my books.

I have a question as well. How the heck would a Gloranthan assume some
other
culture's gods and their magic was false when they could actually experience
it.

Could a Gloranthan stand their smoking from the aftereffects of a lightning
bolt and
claim, "Oh, but that's not real magic."

Oliver D. Bernuetz
bernuetz.oliver@cbsc.ic.gc.ca

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