From: David Cake (davidc@cyllene.uwa.edu.au)
Date: Tue 12 Aug 1997 - 13:10:57 EEST
>I think that the one menses a Gloranthan season works very well!
But I also think that, given the dualist nature of the Theyalan
Earth religions, and that the 8 week seasons seem to be known around the
same places, that 4 week menses work well, and have the neat feature of
being both similar to the real world AND mythically resonant. And Greg
likes it. Of course, this has the disadvantage that the Sacred Time throws
it out by two weeks every year, but I don't see that as a disadvantage - it
means the omens for fertility vary each year, which is neat.
I can see the Pelorians wanting to tie everything to a celestial
body - but I don't think its a universal thing. And I think someone should
point out to Greg Trotsky's excellent description of the links between
Shargash and menstruation - I'm sure he would be interested.
>> The romans wrote that the celtic warriors fought without
>> armors, naked.
Whereas proper Orlanthi go into battle protected only by a generous
coating of woad and a healthy dose of Orlanths blessings, which looks like
they are virtually naked, but is a lot tougher. Or course, there are many
Orlanthi without the holy means to do this, and they either go into battle
naked anyway and rely on their dodge ability, or wear armour. I'm sure in
most Orlanthi big battles there are a few people naked but for blue paint.
Orlanthi Shadow Cats
As the subject has come up, I'm afraid I might descent into rules concerns,
and note what damn monsters these things are. According to the RQ3 rules,
their species max POW is 38! Which means they can main a POW of 18 and
still have a 100% Pow Gain roll, or have a POW of 28 and still have a 50%
chance. Yikes! Mist, the shadow cat ally in my game, is becoming a real
headache, nailing everybody with spells constantly.
Its enough to make me want to return to the RQ2 rules for Species
Max POW, under which they have a somewhat more modest Species Max of 28.
(yes, I know it says something about spirits having a chance to
And it leads to a running joke in our campaign about Shadow Cats
increase POW of 5% - thats disembodied spirits, not awakened animals)
and their Wind Lord allied spirits - the shadow cats are such magical
powerhouses that they leave their owners in the shade.
[as everyone else has corrected Trotsky on the completeness of Fixed Int
creatures, I shan't bother]
And lastly, just a little thing to warm the hearts of those of us who were
on the RQ4 list many moons ago, but I just saw E. Gary Gygax describe
himself as a 'grognard' in an article he wrote. Its good to know that
peculiar term survives.
Cheers
David
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